I lost a load of laundry. I don't know how that is possible, but it is. I am missing my favorite pink Hana Surf sweatshirt from Maui, my new orange and white striped dress from Target, and white zip-up sweatshirt-- all of which, I need desparately. I am sure there are other articles of clothing missing, but the named 3 are the ones that I miss terrible and am obsessing over finding. I have searched the house. I have searched the car. I have searched mom and dad's house. How do you lose a load of laundry?! If and WHEN I find my beloved clothing, you will be the first to know which ridiculous place I lost them in. Hopefully I don't lose my mind in the search...
UPDATE: The lost load has been found. During the time of the flea infestation, David and I stayed in my sister's room for 3 weeks. I put a bunch of clothes in one of her drawers and as I was doing so I thought, "I hope I don't forget these are here... naaah. How could I forget when there would be so many things missing?"... I guess I should listen to myself better. Brigitte found them and it all came back to me...
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
lost and not found
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
halibut tacos by hubby
David caught last night's dinner. And he made last night's dinner. He's been looking up recipes for the halibut that has been living in our freezer since his Alaska trip and found a fabulous recipe for halibut tacos. He went to TJ's and Oliver's to get the ingredients and started dinner before I was even home from work. He smoked up the kitchen, opened the windows, messed up the kitchen, and cleaned it up. The tacos were done shortly after I got home. Sweet husband. Delicious tacos. Glorious.
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
summer madness
Well, it all starts on Thursday. Just a couple weeks ago I opened my planner and flipped through the summer months to look at the summer as a whole. It was the first time that I noticed how many trips have been jammed into our schedule. I'll admit, I was shocked- and then stressed- and then sad that my husband is spending 21 of his summer days without me. And then I returned to my stressed state. I had the same sort of summer-shock last year, and I imagine I will continue to have summer-shock annually as long as we work with youth. With as much as there is going on in the next few months, I know that once Thursday hits, summer will be over in the blink of an eye. It all ends up feeling like one long, crazy month. But when it is over, and we are looking back, I am positive it will look like this:
It will be blessed. We will be tired. Somewhere in there, David and I will get sick. At least one youth group kid or counselor will get injured- hopefully not me (knock on wood). Neither David nor I will have worn enough sunscreen and will have more freckles to show for it. The youth group will have an abundance of crazy, but hopefully not illegal memories. Somewhere in there, a vehicle will break down or get a flat tire. We will learn which kids can be trusted and which of them need to be watched 24/7. The combination of quirky personalities, ridiculous games, and lack of sleep will cause us to laugh more than we thought possible. Yet between laughing fits, we will take innumerable deep, cleansing breaths in order to deal with difficult situations without resorting to violence. David will have drank an ocean of water and a lake of coffee. We'll love God, the kids, and each other more. We will have prayed more in 3 summer months than the rest of the year combined. And we will be thankful everyone survived and more than ready for our yet-to-be-determined vacation at the end of August.
*deep, cleansing breath* I can't wait.
Monday, June 16, 2008
dessert @ ravenous
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
blogmaze of inspiration
Lately I have been very into blog-hopping, namely, blogs having to do with decorating the home. I started out at Sarah's blog where I was led to start reading Domino and within Domino, I found Scrappy Girl, and well, from there- I have just been all over the place. The blogosphere is a never-ending maze, but I like it. Here are a few faves from my wanderings.
Via Scrappy Girl> Staples Cabinet Makers
How much do I want each and every piece on this site? So much.
Via Another Shade Of Grey> Handgrown Pottery > Beautiful Fun
Two wonderful words. I'm glad someone realized how nice they sound together.
Via decor8> Stray Dog> Artichoke Lamp
I'll take it in Vienna Green. Thanks.Via Desire to Inspire> sfgirlbybay> Both share inspiring home photos without my having to crack a single Better Homes & Gardens mag!
(left) I'm not a huge fan of the orange/pink combo. A little too bright for my muted seafoam, coral, and powder pink taste, but I love the door and the idea to paint it coordinating colors. 
it's better not to wonder
Sunday morning I was walking around barefoot on our church lawn and noticed the bees buzzing along the grass. I hadn't been stung by a bee since Jr. High and caught myself wondering if I would have some sort of reaction if I was stung- if maybe I had developed an allergy in my beestingless years. Luckily, I enjoyed my walk on the grass without a single bee encounter.
Flash forward to yesterday afternoon. I got home from work and was tidying up our kitchen when I saw some peacocks out back. I decided it would be fun to get a picture, ran to get my camera, and headed outside. By the time I was outside, the peacocks had made their way into the cow pasture. I don't mind saying hi to the cows, they are very sweet, so I went to open the gate and *SWARM* a dozen or so wasps flew out of the hollow of the gate and *STING* they found me. Luckily I only got stung by two of them before I ran away. Unluckily, I had put on a strapless dress before heading out into the heat and they found my bare shoulder.
In conclusion, wasp stings still hurt. I am still alive. And I am still not allergic to the striped stinging insects.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Friday, June 06, 2008
baby mama
Location: The Roxy in Santa Rosa
Snacks: TJ's Kettle Corn and Strawberry Licorice
Scenario: Since Baby Mama has already been out for a while, and it was the middle of the day on a Thursday, we were the only ones in the theater. We were amusing ourselves by talking at full volume until the middle of the movie when a woman decided to join us in the theater. The rest of the movie was filled with her loud laughter and coughing fits. David mentioned that it felt like we invited her to our house to watch a movie and it was just us 3 in the living room. It wouldn't have been so bad except that she laughed at every part of the movie whether funny, sad, or touching. It was strange. Then when the movie ended she just stared at us as she walked out of the theater. I felt weird.
Review: The movie was cute and funny. Of course it was funny. The main actors were Tina Fey and Amy Poehler. It wasn't an amazing movie, but we enjoyed it. It was light-hearted and quirky enough that it fit well into Date Day. My suggestion is- rent it on DVD and enjoy with a smoothie.
date day
Yesterday David and I escaped the house and decided to take a day off from everything. Between the flea problem and normal life, we hadn't had a date night in quite a while, so we made it a date day. We slept in, David made Belgian waffles with coconut syrup, and we headed to Healdsburg to check out the antique shops. We both found antique pieces to add to our wishlists, but we were there to window shop, not buy. If I had $900, I would have been going home with two pink striped chairs that match my pink couch. And if David had a couple thousand dollars, he would have been going home with an antique pinball machine. But alas, we left empty-handed. No, actually, we were holding hands, so not empty-handed. After antiquing for a couple of hours, we decided it was time for a movie- using the Buy One/Get One Ticket coupon from our Entertainment Book. It has already paid for itself. We went to see Baby Mama and then went home to chill for the rest of the evening. It was nice. I like date days.
Wednesday, June 04, 2008
heidi ower and the messy shed
For as long as I can remember, I have loved to clean. In Jr. High I used to go over to my friend Hillary's house and we'd hang out in her room and if it was a mess and driving me crazy, I'd clean it as we talked and listened to oldies. If I wanted to do something nice for a family member, I'd clean for them. I have always looked forward to those Saturdays when I have an entire day to clean to my heart's content.
Next to our house we have a shed about the size of our bedroom. It's a wonderful thing to have as there is very little storage in the house and I'm... well... a packrat. As my parents have emptied their attic of all my old things and David and I have acquired other things, the shed has gotten more and more cluttered. For a while now, I have wanted to empty it into our driveway so I can go through everything but, with the animal droppings, spiderweb ceiling, and low light, there was no way I was going to pull everything out on my own. Although I will point out, I went in there with our Dyson a few months ago and vacuumed up every spiderweb, spider, and bug I could find. I thought it was pretty gutsy- and I felt like a superhero ridding the world of spiders. But now that the spiders and their webs have returned- no thanks. On Saturday, I finally asked David to pull everything out and our driveway was filled with boxes of who-knows-what. Well now- I know what.
There were porcelain dolls - stuffed animals - porcelain clowns from my youth (wind-up ones whose legs and heads spin. scary.) - books, books, and more books - afghans from grandma - Smooshies - an entire carboard box of ticket stubs and letters and anything else that seemed memorable at the time that I now can't recall what it was from - long skirts and matching tees from highschool Mexico trips, as well as my white platform tennies - my diaries from 1992 through 1998 - Kirsten, my American doll - rubber duckies from the year I liked rubber duckies - graduation caps and gowns from highschool and college - a friend's ATM card... oops - my rock and shell collection - and... pretty much anything else you can imagine.
It was fun going through everything and walking along Memory Lane, but I can only enjoy 10 porcelain dolls for so long before it is time for them to find a new home- at my parents' garage sale. I managed to fill 2 large boxes with whozits and whatzits galore. But I confess, I kept some of the thingamabobs. Only the special ones though. In all of the organizing and purging, I couldn't help but remember The Berenstain Bears and the Messy Room. Every time I organize a closet, room, or storage space, I hope that it ends up looking like their clean room: everything neat in a box and labeled. That's what I used to think of when I'd go through my closet in Jr. High and that is what I was thinking of Saturday when I started going through our shed. I almost wonder if that book is the reason I love to clean. Could be. Saturday was only Phase 1 of the Shed Project, but when it is done, I imagine it will look something like this:
Monday, June 02, 2008
toast to us
David sent me this eCard on our 6th monthiversary of dating. The picture and note made me laugh. I married him because he is funny... and a lot of other things.
