Butterflys

Yesterday we went to see the butterflies at the SB Museum of Natural History. It is a really cool exhibit, and this year it was free!! Last time we went, the year my sister died, it was $2 a person. I was so happy that we got to do this fun thing for free!!

But, it also reminded me of the last time we went, 2 years ago. It was in August, and the hills far behind my mothers house were on fire. Bob was employed and all seemed relatively ok with the world. We were all worried about the fire, which based on the last 3 fires they have had here in SB, was craziness!! My Mom and I left Bob and the kids in charge of the SB house and went to Seattle to my sister's memorial service. Bob had his evacuation plan, a list of radio stations to listen to so he could track the fire's progress. The announcer always ended with, be safe, be prepared and have a plan. I have always thought that was fine advice, so Bob was prepeared. Looking back it was laughable, as the likelihood of that fire impacting the greater community was so remote. But, hey it was his first fire, I wanted to make sure my peeps were ok!

Ending the flash back... the kids, now so much bigger, enjoyed the butterflies, Hannah and Sam were so cute giving each other hugs and trying to catch butterflies for each other! It was a nice trip. We all recalled the Zaca Fire and Katie's funeral.

California Dreamin'

It seems like a winters day here in not-so-sunny California... but that is ok! The kids and I have been chillin' with Grandma. She has been taking really good care of all of us. I think I might gain 15 pounds. That isn't such a good thing.

The thing I love about coming to my Mom's is wine time. It is absolutely my favorite time of the day. This happens during the space of time between the kids eating dinner and taking baths and going to bed. For some reason I can not recreate the vibe at my own house. But essentially, the kids play in the backyard (we have one of these at home) and my Mom and I chill. Sometimes my Aunt and her puppy swing by, but lately it has just been us. Mom usually has a glass of wine, I have been working on my May/June sock. The kids play together well... it is so awesome.

I don't know why we can't do this at home.. part of the problem is that the weather does not really allow for it but 3 months a year. Probably the other part is that after dinner we try and clean up the massive mess the kids have made during the day. Maybe we need to move cleaning up to before dinner and have that time after dinner to all chill together. I don't know, but for now I am enjoying wine time here in Cali.

A very busy weekend

This weekend was super busy. I scored a ton of yarn, buttons and needles from a friend of mine, who had a connection with a woman who owed a now defunct yarn store. My basement is slowly becoming yarn heaven. The yarn is mostly novelty, but I am slowly coming up with some projects that are pretty interesting. The ball bands have price tags that are all over 15 bucks. Some are even 30 bucks. I would never be knitting with yarn like this in real life, so it is sort of fun. As well as a creative challenge. I will post some pics, once my camera and computer are talking again.

On the topic of the computer and camera not talking, I was trying to get some stuff done prior to leaving for California, and the computer died. Yeah, again. The brain trust at Dell promise me that it is the power cord this time, so they are sending another one, in 2-3 business days. The other thing I was reminded about was that I have catastrophic and accidental breakage coverage. I think the guy was trying to get me to tell him that my computer was broken so they would send me a new one. Something to think about... Maybe I should let the kids use it... but that would take 7-10 business days to replace. Bob has handled this all much better than I did. That was the event that put me over the edge. As I like to say, my ability to cope was outstripped by the events of the day.

Tomorrow we leave for California. It should be nice to have a vacation from my life. I already know I am getting a massage in 6 days... yeah!! For now, I hope the gods of airline travel smile upon us and that the trip is smooth.

Mac wants to know why the people that read my blog don't read his... you know who you are! LOL hi from mac!

Yarn Barf

Today I spent the better part of 2 hours untangling a 450 yard hank of yarn. I will never do that again! It was so frustrating, somehow the ends of the hank meshed together... so I would unwind a little, then turn the other direction and unwind some more. Of course this was done after much untangling! If it was alpaca, I might have felt differently about it, but it wasn't.

The kids started summer vacation today. Can you believe I now have a 4th grader, 1st grader and preschooler? I can't! It seems like yesterday they were just little (9 lb plus) babies in my arms. I remember our very first day of school, we were living in the apartment and driving over here. It was not the smoothest transition, but now Mac can walk home by himself and today was lamenting the fact that school was over and he would not see his friends. What a difference 9 months make!

Forgot about the underwear

So, here is the scene, we are at the library listening to a children's musician. As these things go, this group was alright, Macaroni Soup if your interested in checking them out. Anyway one of the songs had some audience participation, the kids had to get up and dance based on what they were wearing. We were sitting near the front.

"Everyone wearing blue jeans" Sam couldn't get up and dance, he was wearing khakis.

"Everyone wearing white socks" Sam couldn't get up and dance, he wasn't wearing any socks. Joys of fur lined crocks.

"Everyone wearing underwear" Sam couldn't get up and dance, he wasn't wearing underwear. This was not a shocker for me, but the lady singing was a little surprised, that was her one thing to get everyone up! Sam is a fan of being commando...

"Ok, everyone with a belly button, everyone has a belly button, so everyone can get up a dance." She said this, while looking straight at Sam.

We all danced!!

They strike again, part 2

Unfreakin' believable, but the swine have come back to the well for more. I apologize to swine everywhere for insulting them. I have met the Devil. I suppose at the end of the day, you do what ever it takes to get the Devil out of your life.

That said, some good happened yesterday, I got another package of yarn in the mail. It was so cool and fun to have another surprise in the mail!!!

This morning my husband got a call from a very influential man in his industry. Essentially, to guys who do what he does, it is like getting a call from a rock star. That was pretty cool, so we will see what comes of that.

I guess the right perspective for the day is: 1) got call from rock star, 2) got Devil out of life. All good right?!

They strike again...

***warning, some language might be offensive***

Because I can not say this to the sucktastic douche bags that my husband used to work for:

Dear Joel, Lynn and Leon:

I guess things are really bad for the business right now. I guess that the $3,700 that you legally owe us, under IL state law, is going to materially impact the business, because it is so much more important to you than it is to us. You can have it. I don't want it, even though my family could live off it for a couple of months while we look for another job. You take it. When you put gas in your fancy car and take your wife out to dinner, remember who is paying for that.

The cost to us emotionally, is not worth the argument about it. We want to put this horrible situation behind us and move on. We will win.

This bs about the fact that the employment contract my husband signed isn't valid because he worked for a different division is all smoke and mirrors and another example of your underhanded unethical business dealings. Grasping at straws are we? You told us that you had the authority to offer him the job. I have to believe that once you start to believe in people and treat them with respect, you will get that back. Until you can do that, well, then you will always believe that you are being taken advantage of...

Remember, you are an evil troll, your in-laws are also evil trolls, and the illness and bad things that come to you are created by the evil that you have enveloped yourself in.

I am looking forward to getting my bright, talented, honest, loyal and wonderful husband back from the very dark place that you people pushed him into.

Enjoy the money we have given you. I won't itemize the amounts, but it is a fairly substantial amount. I am glad that you feel your endeavor is so important as to have us pay into it. May the karma that you have sewn in how you have dealt with us soon come back for you to reap.

Susanna

With this I hope that I will be able to move on, and focus on the next steps on this journey!