Hiking the Trails

So this morning I had talked a friend into hiking the trails with me. Little did I remember that a week ago we had tons and tons of rain. So, needless to say the trails were in less than perfect condition. We get started om our hike with our toddlers in jogging strollers, and after a few minutes I realize why they close the trails during heavy rain and for a while after. There were huge craters and crevices everywhere where the water had run off. In addition there were loose gravel and rocks which made it pretty challenging maneuvering a stroller with a 35 pound kid in it. My friend is athletic and goes to the gym all the time, but she is not used to pushing a stroller up and down hills under these conditions. Not that I am either, but I do walk these trails all the time and it was hard even for me.

To make light of the situation I tell my friend "At least you don't have to go to the gym today!" Her reply "I already went...this morning at 5:30! Thought the hike was going to be a walk in the park." Oopps!

Rough Week

This week is almost over...yeah! It's been a little rough to say the least. Hubby out of town, the little one not sleeping, and some stuff going on with my dad. Sometimes I wonder why I am being tested. It's like someone is going "Let's see how far we can take this before she snaps." In spite of it all I have managed to keep myself together, not my appearance...heavens no. Good thing hubby is out of town and not having to see my disheveled look. But I have been able to keep the household together. Rooms have been cleaned, laundry has been done, the dog has been walked, the toddler has been entertained with park play and playdates, and I have even managed to squeeze in a few workouts. It's the only way to keep my sanity...to keep myself busy. If I sit down I'm afraid I will not get up. Anybody ever had that feeling?

I did accomplish something very important though. I wrote my letter of resignation and mailed it to my boss. Yes, I quit my job in these tough economic times. I can't handle the stress level right now. Not with a toddler who seem nowhere near sleeping through the night. It was like a weight had been lifted off my shoulder. Now I can focus on my family and think about what I really want to do with the rest of my life. I am interested in the field of wellness promotion rather than dealing with the acutely ill. If I can do something to prevent people from getting hospitalized in the first place then I would feel more accomplished. I'm going to look into it...after some well deserved rest. Good night everyone!

Another sleepless night...3 episodes of nightmares for the little one. What doesn't kill you make you stronger...right?

So the 16 year old got a job today at the local movie theater. No more laying around doing nothing on weekends...yeah!

Sleepless nights

So hubby is out of town, and the little angel slept in my bed from midnight on. It wasn't very cozy let me tell you. He was tossing and stirring, moaning and snoring all night long, and he kept kicking off the blankets which meant I got cold. Then of course like a rooster he is up for good at 6:30 am. It's going to be a long day.

Silent Night

Everyone's in bed, the house is quiet and I have my thoughts to myself. Pretty good feeling I must say. Alone time is not something that come in abundance over here. There is always somebody needing something, so right now I am content.

Well, maybe I am crazy, but I just wrote my letter of resignation to the hospital. And in today's rotten economy. It was a very liberating experience. I feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders. What am I going to do now? The heck if I know, but I am free. I guess I will sleep on what to do with the rest of my life.

Cell phone drama

My 16 year old can't find her cellphone. It's lost...in her room or on the couch. She is panicking and hyperventilating. "It's gone, now I don't have a phone." Well, you had it less than an hour ago, and you haven't left the house, so it's not really gone is it? "Yes it is. I've looked everywhere." So, she rants and raves at me and the poor boyfriend for the next 15 minutes.
Then the boyfriend finds the phone in the shoe closet on the floor. She had dropped it on top of a shoe while she was getting another pair. Teenage girls, what else is there to say...if there is no drama we'll have to create some.

9 am at the park and we're the only ones here. And we have already done our powerwalk. What are we going to do the rest of the day?

So hubby left this morning for Hawaii...to work. So the toddler and I are eating our cereal alone. We're going to miss you daddy.

When it's Raining...

It's still raining. Starting to run out of ideas to entertain the little angel. Today we went to Jungleland, an indoor playground, with our buddies. Hayden loved it. He got to run around with his buddies, and I got to hang with my friends, a win win situation.

So everyone is talking about the rain. I'm actually okay with it; I still like it. We have sunshine almost 365 days a year, so having a week's worth of rain is soothing to me. The gloomy light is actually a comforting contrast to the constant sharp sun light. Another perk of the rain is that dust and dustballs are not as visible as they are in sunlight. I don't feel as compelled to constantly have to clean. It's relaxing. I can actually sit by my laptop, check my mail, go on facebook, and write about my day without feeling guilty and stressed out over things I should be doing. When the weather is nice I feel like I have to be out there walking the dog, going to the park, run errands, clean house. When it's raining we all have a good excuse not to be out there driving. It's okay to curl up on the couch, watch tv, read a good book, and basically be lazy. Anyone else agree?

Yesterday's Playdate

Yesterday we went to a friend's house for a playdate. All boys...four of them. They had so much fun. It's such a privilige being able to stay home with a child and watch them grow into little individuals and learning the rules of negotiations...well sandbox level, but still...!

Got a little further on my project. Hope to finish tomorrow if I can keep the little angel occupied.

My project in Hayden's room so far...

Early Bird

It's 6:08 am, and I am the only one awake. It's very strange. I never wake up before the toddler. Well, good thing he is still sleeping. We have a very busy day ahead of us. We have two playdates today, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. And somewhere in between I would like to finish painting in his room. I'm doing a Winnie the Pooh theme, so I'm painting the characters on his wall. So far we have Winnie himself and Ior. Still need to do Piglet and Tigger.

Rainy Days

So, now it has been raining since Sunday. Figured I'd better buy the boy a raincoat. No such luck. Went to Target and they had absolutely no rainjackets left. "Are you getting anymore?" I asked. The sales girl who looked like she'd barely graduated from highschool informed me that they're not getting any more winterstuff! They are preparing for their spring and summer stuff. Well, it sure doesn't look like summer to me. It has been pouring like crazy. Finally settled on a wind breaker type jacket. At least it is water resistant even though I would have preferred water proof. Maybe I should have my mom send one from Sweden.

Playing in the Rain

Couldn't keep the toddler from wanting to play outside...rain gear or no rain gear. At least he had rainboots. He wanted to feed the bunny (yes we have a 10 year old bunny who lives outside in a cage), and he wanted to make mudpies. So, I opened the door to the backyard, let him out and then watched desperate housewives on my laptop with one eye and keeping an eye on the toddler with the other. Multitasking is my middle name.

.

The Art of Keeping a 2 Year Old Busy

So, it started to rain yesterday, and it's going to rain all week. We're used to going for walks every morning and then stop at the park to play. Then it's lunchtime followed by a nap, and in the afternoon we either visit another park, play outside, or do stuff around the house. Now we're going to have to rethink our schedule. The park is too wet, and we actually don't have any great rain gear. Yes, we have rain boots. but that's about it. If we had been in Sweden this had been a non issue. There is no bad weather, just bad choice in clothing. If you have a toddler you'd still go outside and they'd look like a little michelin man all dressed in layers of clothing, winteroveralls, and boots.

So, now I'm scheduling my week with playdates to prevent bringing down the house from boredom. Today we're going to the mall to run around and people watch, tomorrow I'm dropping the toddler off at a friend's house, on Wednesday we're both playing (well, the moms are having coffee) at another friend's house. Then on Thursday I will have a little girl over to play with my angel at our house, and on Friday we're going to an inside play ground called Jungleland with a group of friends. It's going to be a busy week. Hope I will survive!

Date night

Hubby and I had a date last night. For real! We had received giftcards from the oldest daughter for christmas to have dinner and a movie on her. Finally we got to use them. The other two girls babysat the toddler. Oh, what a bliss! Had this delicious cobbsalad fo dinner and then we saw Avatar. OMG what a movie. Absolutely amazing. Thought I wasn't going to like it because of all the hype. But if you haven't seen it yet you have too. Who ever thought up this story is a genious, and of couse the graphic is unbelievable.

After the movie it was raining outside, so when we came home we started a fire in our bedroom fireplace. A romantic ending to a great night... ; )

Last night when we got back from the park I asked Hayden what he wanted for dinner and he replied "a cheese burger". Don't know where that came from.

...and then the little angel woke up, threw a major tempertantrum, got over it and happily walked to the park to play.

Tried to put our little angel down for a nap a few times without success. Finally he succumbed to Barney the purple dinosaur, and the house is suddenly quiet.

Mother hen

So my new newest driver took her car to school today. She starts at 7 so it was still kind of dark when she left. Like a mother hen I couldn't help myself, but had to send her a text saying "don't forget to turn off your lights or you won't have any battey left". I received a text back " Yes mother I was safe and I turned my lights off ". I think I will drive her nuts with my over protectiveness. Well it's hard to let go when they are only 16!

Technical idiot

So I'm trying to figure out how to send pictures from my cell, and finally I think I've got it. Took me awhile. I am not very technically inclined.That picture was of my jaccuzzi and pool which has just been renovated. I absolutely love it. But we had more added cost. Had to replace the pool pump which was just replaced last year. Not good enough for this system apparently...aaahh. Another $1500. Now we have to wait a week before we can use it. Can't wait to soak in the hot tub. Just hope it will be worth it. We spend a lot of money on this renovation.

Test 2

Test

She made it! Watch out everyone...ha, ha, ha.

Sitting in the DMV biting my nails. The 16 year old is taking her behind the wheel drive test for the second time. Wish her luck!

climb, do squats and powerlounges. All in the name of play. Who needs the gym?

I like to be efficient. Power walking with Hayden in the stroller for 30 minutes and then stopping in the park to play can be a serious workout. We run,

A Progressive Dinner Party

Had a progressive dinner party last night with our best friends. We're a group of 5 couples and we do a lot of dinnerparties together, but this time we decided to make it more interesting by moving from house to house. We decided on a theme and Japanese won the vote. Each couple was to pick a dish and serve it at their house.

So, we started with appetizers and soup in the first couple's home and of course saki, then we had sushi at our house with a champagne toast followed by white wine, more sushi and a chicken dish at the second house and more saki, and finally dessert and more champagne at the last house. All the food was amazing, and the drinks weren't too bad either. Thank god for having teenagers. Our daughters were babysitting the toddler, and one of them also volunteered to be our designated driver, so we could totally relax and enjoy! All in all a great evening! Next progressive dinner will be Italian, and I am assigned to do dessert. Any amazing ideas anyone?

Watching Hayden rocking out to Barney in his spiderman underwear. Tom Cruise in Risky business anyone? Hilarious!

Hayden and the Turtle

We had a visit yesterday at our mommy and me class from the Reptile family. Just had to show Hayden and the giant turtle. He absolutely loved it.

The Importance of Female Friendships

Had a great night out last night with my friends. The food was fantastic and we had some great conversations. Yes we talked about our kids, but also learned more about eachother as women. We're all different ages and from different educational and socioeconomic backgrounds which makes it all more interesting. The youngest in our group is 22 and the oldest is 44 (which is me). My bonus daughter is 20, only two years younger than my friend. Could not imagine my daughter having two kids at the age of 22 like my friend. But she handles it beautifully and seems mature beyond her years. We all said we have to do this more often because it it so nurturing for the soul to have great female friends. Not that my husband is not nurturing and sensitive to my needs, on the contrary, he does a fantastic job, but there is something about the conversations that women have with eachother when they get close. I look forward to our next getogether with and without kids.

I'm about to go have sushi with my friends. Moms night out. Can't wait to have some great food and conversations.

Enjoying the goat at LA Zoo...

Went to LA Zoo yesterday with the toddler. Except for a couple of meltdowns we had a great day. His favorite part I believe was petting the goats.

Roasting a pig for New Year

Went to a new year's party last night. Dinner and dancing and champagne galore. It was fun. The dinner menu was a roasted pig that had been cooking on a huge barbeque grill the night before. I mean a whole pig. It was pretty gross looking, but actually quite delicious. Check out the picture. Stayed out way past my bedtime. Hubby and I were in bed at 2 am, and the toddler woke up at 2:30. My darling husband took the nightshift and let me sleep. What a sweaheart.

Teen age driving

My daughter didn't make the drive test yesterday. She got too nervous and didn't pay enough attention taking an unprotected left turn. She rolled forward and had her wheels turned. She knew she had to wait for the oncoming traffic, but supposedly the driving instructor got too nervous and failed her. My daughter was heartbroken and bawled her eyes out, "Of couse I wasn't going to turn left in front of the oncoming traffic. I was going to let them pass before I turned left." Well honey, how's the instructor suppose to know that you know what you're doing. Experienced drivers may roll forward slightly and have their wheels turned even though it's not recommended. But a novice? Hell no. You probably scared the s-t out of her.

My daughter used some choice words to describe the terrible instructor that failed her, and I listened and tried to be compassionate, but hey, just get back in that saddle and try again. You won't make that mistake again. She will re test in 2 weeks. We'll kep our fingers crossed. She really is a good driver.