sick

very sick. went to bed at 8 p.m. and been sleeping all day sick...fever that won't quit, runny nose that won't stop, aches, chills, pains...no appetite...haven't eaten all day...back to bed...

happy birthday daddy!

hanging out instead of blogging...

nurturing marriage

i'm going to have to do a "stay tuned until later" post...i don't usually like these but i'm just running out of time to do this post...i went to a very inspirational meeting that included practical tips on nurturing marriage...good timing with manuel's birthday tomorrow...valentine's day this weekend...my birthday monday...sorry to leave you hanging...this photo was taken on our honeymoon in the cook islands (self-portrait)...i'll blog soon on all that i learned...

pink fingernail polish

today our neighbor claire came over to play. she is a couple years older than sea (in first grade down the street where sea may start kindergarten in the fall)...she had her nails painted so sea begged her to go home and bring back some pink nail polish and do her nails...i love this next shot with sea in her too tight (too small) orange pants, pig tails...waiting patiently while claire concentrates on doing her nails...

remember sea does not usually hold still for anything so she REALLY wanted pink nails...

admiring them and even letting them dry...
and then her toes...
i have much more meaningful things to blog about but am just so tired...so i thought these were cute photos and i could get the ideas down quickly...i should add that i'm very "hippy" or "earthy" or "natural" and own nothing like this myself...no make-up (ok, maybe tinted lip gloss) and was just thinking how in part i went that way because my mom would say things to me like how i needed to wear make-up to look pretty (she would correct me now and say "prettier" but you get the point) so because i tell sea she doesn't need anything to be prettier she will probably try to rebel or be her own person and become way into these things...or not...i like to think i'm helping us both me more balanced about these things...

toes

so i was in the car headed to my mom's house...to attend mom's network...a meeting at my mom's church that includes lots of yummy potluck food (homemade muffins, egg casseroles, crepes, you name it), free child care for 3 hours (!!!), a devotion, book reviews and give aways (i've won two books the times i've gone) and then a main speaker. but it was pouring down rain...poor visibility, dark, and i was a little tired. so i turned around and came home (very unlike me...i guess when you become a mom even if you are naturally spontaneous safety takes precedence)...sea was shocked...sure i made a mistake and i would keep going to "mimi's house"...story fell asleep before we turned off my street (no nap today)...so as we were driving home sea said "mommy? how come you sing 'hit the road jack, don't you come back...' and you are coming back?" which made me chuckle...this is a short post because i just sent out an evite for our birthday brunch (potluck style) this coming monday (manuel's birthday is friday and mine is monday...day after valentine's day...long weekend...i'll be curious to see who makes it) and i am in full gear trying to at least pick a date and venue for my 20 year reunion...so i leave you with my children's adorable toes...if you love the photo as much as i do you HAVE to click on the short video to watch me nibbling on both of their toes...story has an infectious laugh...

quotas and coffee ramblings

getting in a quick post to meet my nablopomo quota...more meaningful posts when i have more energy and time...

i'm having one of those days where i'm just really behind on everything...just cleaned up breakfast and lunch messes are already taking over when i should be thinking about dinner...clothes should have been dried and piling up to be folded...bed only half-made, bills strewn around the room (i was looking for our home warranty's number to call in a claim about water damage that pushed up our hardwood floors in the living room)...been on the phone with hotel banquet managers about our reunion...again, talking quotas...how many people do i expect to come? what is the room capacity? price per person? how many people would also want to stay at the hotel? how do you guesstimate these things? going back and forth on dates and everyone has some reason a date doesn't work for them so now we have to decide how to decide whose needs are most important or how to choose? sea and story having a particularly difficult time sharing or getting along...so many "to do" lists i can't even find where i wrote them down (my husband used to joke i bought all these great books on organizing my life and the irony of course was that i was too disorganized to even FIND where i'd put them in order to begin...)

i've been borderline addicted to coffee which, i know, many people are...but i don't like things to control me...even substances...so as much as i enjoy coffee, i usually stop drinking it when i feel like i have to have a cup in order to feel ok or not get headaches or whatever...but today i caved and had a cup just to get by...that is the other problem with this addiction, i want to enjoy and savor the cup like it is special and makes me feel more energized, not like i need it to function...

really i just think i need more sleep...so some things have to go...it probably should be blogging or facebook or e-mails or spreading myself way to thin all over the place...but these things motivate me to do the mundane daily stuff...guess coffee will have to be my motivator in the short-term...still welcoming any advice on high school reunions...

"football football" superbowl memories

today we watched the new orleans saints beat the indianapolis colts in the superbowl. just our family...very low key with pizza, cupcakes, a little red wine, lots of snacks and playing thrown in...this photo above was taken in 1998 when the broncos beat the packers in their first superbowl win. i had just started dating manuel a couple years prior and we were living in sacramento...i was waiting tables at piatti (one more football memory is that i was working for a LOT of superbowls...it was my chance to trade shifts and to get something else i needed off) and we put a little money on the game and made over $1000 because the spread was so off...we don't gamble much and i'm not normally a huge football fan...but football has always been synonymous with family for me...

growing up my dad was a huge redskins fan. when i was 11 years old i painted a huge "hail to the redskins" sign in maroon and bright yellow poster paint and put it up on our garage in southern california...they beat the dolphins that year in the superbowl (1983) and i remember my dad getting a lot of phone calls and singing "hail to the redskins...hail, victory...hail to the redskins...fight for victory..." every time he answered the phone even if the caller was not calling for that reason...he continued the song with something like "we will fight them we will beat them we will heap big score...fight on...fight on...til you have won! oh, braves of washington...RAH! RAH! RAH!" i can still hear his super excited off-key shouts with the lyrics changing almost every time (he didn't think the exact words were as important as the spirit and volume) and i'm ecstatic to realize that i'm smiling and remembering these things fondly...my dad has been gone for 3.5 years and i have not been dealing with it well...felt overwhelmingly depressed thinking about him, looking at photos, trying to imagine how life would be if he could be here for so many little things...and i'm happy to report that this "football memories" post is also one of realizing i have some resolution with losing my dad...it will never be "ok" but at least i realize i can be happy about fond memories from the past and actually feel positively recalling them instead of the ache of intense loss...i'm getting way off tangent but had to get that off my chest...or share my joy in the realization...so back to my dad and growing up singing that song and cheering for the redskins as a child...turns out they LOST the superbowl to the l.a. raiders (remember, i grew up 1 hour east of l.a.) the following 1984 superbowl so you can only imagine the phone calls we got then...i think the redskins are the only team with a song, though...then they won again in 1988 (against the broncos of all teams) when i was a sophomore in high school...then they won again in 1992 when i was in my second year of college.

...once manuel and i started dating i adopted the broncos as my secondary team. his family is originally from denver so he grew up with the entire family very involved in every broncos game...we have continued this somewhat as you can see in my little photo tribute with sea and story dressed in broncos gear below...i still cheer for the redskins if we happen to be watching them play...and sometimes i cheer for the san diego chargers (we've lived here in san diego for 5 years now)...they've gotten so close to the superbowl but not quite...but mostly i just enjoy the traditions and family together time of "football football" as sea and story refer to it...
sea just over a year old...



story about 6 months old...
i guess i uploaded these out of chronological order...this is sea again...one something...she still loves that little car and zooms around on it or pushes her brother or vice versa...seeing this monkey reminded me that story really loved the commercial with the life sized stuffed monkey (the one with red "lips" on his/her bottom) that was driving around in a car...he also started practicing "phonics" saying "Buh...buh...buh..." and then added his usual "nana" and was saying banana with a pause in between over and over...so proud of himself and for making the connection with the monkey...
sea again about a year old...
story with poppy...
story with daddy...making a cute face he still makes just before breaking in to a huge smile...
oh, here's one...
i LOVE toes...
squeezing up sea and story...

thanks for taking this trip down memory lane with me...