Getting To Know Your Friends

From time to time I get this email titled "Getting To Know Your Friends" where you answer all of these questions about yourself and then forward it onto all of your friends, who in turn answer the questions about themselves and forward it to their friends and also back to you. I sometimes just read them and delete them, and sometimes go along with it. After receiving it the other day from my friend Mindy, I decided it will make for some good blog material. Oh, and I did change a few of the questions.
1. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE? No. I think my parents were just following the trends of the 1970s when everyone named their daughters Jennifer and Jessica
2. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED? Tuesday. Don't ask.
3. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING Sometimes
4. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT? Turkey
5. DO YOU HAVE KIDS? Bella 3.5, and Rowan 1.5
6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU? I'm sure we'd goof off like crazy
7. DO YOU USE SARCASM A LOT? Is there any other way to communicate?
8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS Yes
9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP? Never
10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL? Cinnamon Life- But I never buy it.
11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF? No.
12. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG? I had a 9lb 9oz baby without an epidural- so yes.
13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM? Daiquiri Ice from Baskin Robbins.
14. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE? Their teeth (of course) and the overall "vibe"
15. RED OR PINK? Pink
17. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST? My dad, and all my friends that don't live close by.
18. WHO IS YOUR CELEBRITY CRUSH? Peter Krause, especially on Six Feet Under season 3
19. WHAT COLOR PANTS AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING? Workout clothes, just rode my bike downstairs.
20. WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU ATE? A peanut butter Cliff bar
21. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? The TV- Dale is watching American Choppers
22. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE? Why would I want to be a crayon?
23. FAVORITE SMELLS? Lemons, dryer sheets, basil, cilantro
24. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE? My friend and coworker, Melissa, filling me in on some dirt.
25. DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON WHO SENT THIS TO YOU? She is my husband's ex...What's not to love?
26. FAVORITE SPORTS TO WATCH? Tennis and basketball- I have a short attention span when it comes to sports, so I need constant stimulation.
27. HAIR COLOR? Brown
28. EYE COLOR? Brown
29. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS? No...I'm lucky, I've got 20/20 vision, but I've always thought it'd be fun to wear glasses.
30. FAVORITE FOOD? Watermelon. Without a doubt. I wish I could have it year-round. Both my kids were summertime babies and with my pregnancies I'd eat a watermelon a day.
31. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS? Happy endings
32. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED? American Flyers while Dale and I rode our bikes.
33. WHAT COLOR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING? A dark blue tank
34. SUMMER OR WINTER? Summer- long days, warm weather, and of course watermelon
35. HUGS OR KISSES? Both ;)
36. FAVORITE DESSERT? Frosted brownies
37. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING NOW? I don't have one going at the moment
38. WHAT IS ON YOUR MOUSE PAD? I have a super high-tech laser mouse that doesn't need one
39. WHAT DID YOU WATCH ON T.V. LAST NIGHT? Dr. G Medical Examiner.
40. FAVORITE SOUND? That clicking sound the keyboard makes when I clock-out at work
41. ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES? Rolling Stones
42. WHAT IS THE FARTHEST YOU HAVE BEEN FROM HOME? Europe
43. DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT? Yes, actually, my ability to recall facts and figures from airline crashes. For some reason, I am strangely fascinated by them. Like if you asked me about the worst disaster in aviation history, I'd say, "1977, Tenerife. Two 747s collided on the runway. It was a terribly foggy day..." Oddly enough, I love to fly.
44. WHERE WERE YOU BORN? Olympia, WA
45. WHAT'S YOUR SIGN? Pieces

So I am expecting all of you out there to post a "Getting To Know Your Friends" of your own!

Bella's Email

Bella's two best buddies, Brendan and Wyatt, moved to Arizona last year. She misses them so much and talks about them all the time. When we drive past their old house, She'll say things like "Is Bernie (Brendan's nickname was "Brenny", and Bella's version of Brenny was Bernie) still at Arizona? When is he coming home?" The other day she got the sweetest email from them:

From Brendan:
"Hi Bella. I really miss you. My daddy is 31 years old. I like eating fish with you Bella. I like sword fish that are jumping and swording the other swordfish. I want to invite you to come to our house. We could play with you and you could eat breakfast with us."

From Wyatt:
"I want to come to your house and I really miss you. We want to come to Shelton and go to Bella's house and I want to slide there. I like your slide. And I really like your house."

Walker Park

After a long, dreary winter of rain and snow and wind, spring is starting to tease us a bit. We woke up today to beautiful, blue skies. As Dale and I were hanging out in the kitchen having our morning coffee, he brought up the topic of yard work. I told him that I wanted to do something fun instead- Then the phone rang and Dale got called into work.

So fast forward to 3:30...With Dale back home, the kids fed, napped, and put together, we made our way down to Walker Park to take pictures and skip rocks.

Lunar Eclipse

Did you know that as I type this, there is a lunar eclipse occuring? I was just outside, braving the cold, to get some good shots. I had my tripod set up in the middle of the street, which I'm sure made the neighbors think There goes that crazy girl with her camera again.
I didn't think I'd actually gotten any good shots when I was outside, because I was having trouble finding the right aperture and shutter speed. But after pulling them up on the computer, I was happy to see there were a few decent shots. I liked this one the best.

Disney Cruise

Saturday night I met up in Olympia with my good friend Jamie. I had my heart set on eating at my favorite restaurant, The Lemongrass, especially since Jamie had never eaten there. I knew once she had a taste of their pad thai, it would become her favorite restaurant too. It's little hole-in-the-wall, and since they don't take reservations you just have to show up and hope the wait isn't too long.

Unfortunately, we ended up at the Hearth Fire. The wait at the Lemongrass was just too long. We had a great time anyway, and she is always fun to be with. During our dinner, we were talking about how awful it is when our kids embarrass us in public. I went on to tell her about the Disney cruise that we took back in April, and how great it was because whenever our kids freaked out, nobody gave us a second glance. That's because everyone there was with their kids, and sooner or later it was their kids making the scene.

Anyway, Jamie was telling me I should blog about the trip. I had thought about it in the past, but considering it was 10 months ago and seemed so after-the-fact, I hadn't done it. I didn't want my blog fan base (all 10 of you) to think that my life is so boring that I have to blog about things that happened almost a year ago. But the truth is, my life is so boring that I have to blog about things that happened almost a year ago.

So here are some of our favorite cruise pictures:

Update: Rowan's Eating Habits

Thank you for all the tips to getting my little guy to eat better. I also talked to the kids' new daycare lady (whom I adore) and her reply was "Well, he won't starve to death." So utimately, Dale and I have decided that if Rowan chooses not to eat what we give him, then he chooses not to eat. Period.

HOWEVER...

I plan to be the strict rule enforcer just as soon as Rowan starts feeling better. I got a call around noon today from daycare saying he had a fever. I went and picked him up then took him right over to our doctor. After the doctor looked in his ears, he went strait to his prescription pad and started writing. "Which one?" I asked, meaning which ear had an infection- considering I was just in that exact same exam room just two days prior with Bella's left side ear infection- the doctor gave me kind of a sad-eye look and said "both."

So, needless to say, Rowan got his favorite scrambled eggs dinner tonight. I am such a softee when my kids are sick.

I Want Your Opinion

I know most of my blog reading friends out there have small kids like mine, and I want to know how y'all handle this situation with your picky eaters. Let me back up first and start from the beginning. Bella is almost 4, and from the get-go she was a great eater with a hearty appetite (I actually thought it was because I was such a great mom!) Then there's Rowan. He's 17 months and totally picky! It drives me crazy. Come on, now who doesn't like chicken?! But every time I try to feed him a little bit of it, the second it touches his tongue, he recoils in horror. Whips his head back and forth, face all distorted. Then he's instantly mad, and will usually cry at this point, then swat at any plate, cup, or person in his reach. It's pretty much this same game with any food besides A) toast, B) scrambled eggs, and C) bananas. Now, in his defense, he is a great kid otherwise (very sweet and affectionate) but with food it's where we battle.

So here is where I want to know how you handle it. I always give in and make him his monochromatic eggs/toast/banana meal. But Dale is wanting to put a stop to that. He says I am rewarding him for his nightly dinner fit, and that if that's how he chooses to treat his food, than he shouldn't get anything beyond that. Honestly, I agree, but the nurturing mother inside of me just can't let him go hungry. It's so hard for me!

So what do you do?

It's Snowing

It is dumping snow. Lots and lots of snow. I went to the grocery store around 5:30 for cilantro and peanuts (making Pad Thai, yummy...) and on the drive home there was just a hint of snow mixed in with the rain. Now, there's about 4 inches. So why is this blog-worthy? Because it's weird. Since the start of December, it has snowed about 12 times. Seriously, I stopped counting after 6. Sometimes there's just a light dusting, and sometimes there's enough to cancel school. I've lived here all my life, and it never snows this often. Eastern Washington, maybe, but not here over "by the coast" as those east of the mountains refer to us. I can remember several winter seasons where we haven't gotten any snow at all. Now don't get me wrong, I love snow, but I am actually kind of tired of it. AND I have to go to Bremerton tomorrow. Gggrreeeeeaaaaaaaattttttttt.

I bet my friends in Lake Tahoe, John and Rachel, are laughing at this right now.

Eat Pray Love

I have always measured the success of a day by how I was productive. Did I go to work and put in an 8 hour day? If it was a day off, what did I accomplish? Was I diciplined? Did I practice photography? Get the house clean? Cross off every item on my to-do list? Organize something that needed organizing? Did I workout? Teach my kids an important lesson? Make a good dinner?

I always put a lot of pressure on myself to "get sh*t done". Since I have these 2 weeks off, I have officially taken the pressure off of myself to be productive. I've given myself total permission to do just whatever it is that makes me happy. Whatever the heck I want. Like today, for example, after I took the kids to daycare, I came home and went back to bed until 10:00. Then I ate ice cream for lunch, and spent an hour (ok maybe a little closer to 2) on ebay. For most of the day, though, I read my new book.

I started reading this book Eat Pray Love. This is one of the best books I have ever read! I have been wanting to pick it up for several months now, but I am usually hesitant to start a book because once I get into it, I am extremely un-productive. The house could be burning down around me, and I wouldn't notice, or if I did, care to do much about it. So, since this is a Me Doing Only What I Want To vacation, I am totally immersed in this book.

In October I flew to Oakland for a class. The guy next to me was reading this book, and it was the first I'd heard of it. "Is that a good book?" I asked, which is always a good opener. Fred, (sounds like I made up his name) who was a charter boat captain from Bainbridge Island, had nothing but raves about it. "It's about this woman who goes through a nasty divorce", he said, "and then travels to Italy, India, and Indonesia to seek pleasure and spirituality". It sounded like a good book, I suppose, but not a total page turner. During the flight I got up to go to the bathroom, and as I walked down the aisle towards the lav I saw another person reading the book. The cover is distinct and it caught my eye. Then, when I flew home from that trip, I saw a lady in the terminal also reading this book. Since I am a firm believer in the concept If everyone else is doing it, than I should be doing it too (ok just kidding on that) I decided it would be my next book. On my last day before vacation, I was busy with a patient when my co-worker Janie popped into my room. "Have you read Eat Pray Love yet?" she asked, and said she was done with her copy. What perfect timing! And considering my last book was Heavier Than Heaven: A Biography of Kurt Cobain, I could use something a little uplifting.

So I am about 1/3 into this book. She is in Italy right now. Taking in all of what makes Italy amazing. The language, the people, the food. When I was 20, I had the opprotunity to spent 3 weeks there (I mean I practically lived there). The way she writes and the words she chooses to describe her experiences there make me want to be there again so bad! I can pracitcally smell the garlic.

So I am off to bed to bring a close to my unproductive, joy-filled day. I have a book to cozy up with. Ciao Bella.