End of July

This summer is just whizzing past. I guess it still feels like a school schedule even though I havent had a kid in school for years. Maybe I am just getting ready for when the littles start school.  And so on to August. A month filled with fun.

A Hole

Jacob left today.  It will leave a hole in my heart.  We have been co-workers since 2000.  We both started out as cashiers way back when and then we both ended up in the warehouse.  He's been unhappy for awhile and it was time to move on.  And it finally worked out for him to do so.  He got another job and I wish him great success.  Perhaps there will be room there for advancement.
I will miss our gab sessions and our friendship on a daily work basis.  I'm sure we will stay in  touch like I do with some of my other friends who used to work with me.  Work is going to feel different though.
That said.....I am going to apply for his job.  Liz said she thought there were still benefits attached to it although not as good as when Jacob got the job.  Any benefits are okay with me as I have none right now.  That position is a guaranteed 20 hour work week and Liz wants to keep it at that.  I would like that.  So we shall see.
It may be time for both of us to grow. And his growing may have helped my own.

Dinner

Hayden from upstairs came down and asked if we had had dinner yet.  We had not. I was just getting ready to think about it.  Well he wanted to borrow my bbq.  He made meatloaf burgers and shared with us.  Both kids snubbed naturally.  I and Mike enjoyed them though.
I have discovered that Connor doesn't seem to like beef.  He isn't interested in steak, burger or roasts.   Connor does like pork though.   Audrie isn't interested in any meat except chicken nuggets. Keeps me on my toes.

Heisen Gathering

Dave asked if he could have the kids on August 25th. My brain is fast so I comment for the Heisen thing up at the winery. Yup. I wonder if he was going to say anything about it or if he figures since we are getting divorced I no longer am part of his family. Who knows? I already knew and hadn't decided yet about going, but I will let him take the kids and show them off. I just found it a little amusing.

Hunger Games

The boys here play Hunger Games. I've never seen the movie so it goes over my head.  Anyway they are playing and they have to keep reminding Audrie to get out of the basketball court when they do their gun run. She gets so excited when there is a leftover one that she gets after the boys run. Then she runs around telling how she has a gun. That part doesn't thrill me, but I love how the bigger boys let her play as long as she stays out of their way. And she feels like she is included even if she really isn't.

Farmer's Market With Audrie

Audrie and I had a girls' day.  We went to the Farmer's Market.  She immediately made a friend on the playground.  They played for almost an hour.  Then we did the market getting our $5 match.  We came home loaded with stuff this time.  Corn, cherries, beans, squash, tomatoes and an onion.  Then she spent about half an hour in the fountain. I think I finally convinced her to quit drinking the fountain water.  All that bleach....yuck.  The Hawaiian Festival was going on so we saw lots of interesting things and ran into Kaina.  Funny how he was so surprised that we were there.  I have been every year since the year he invited me.  I just don't go with him anymore.  Doing my own thing.  We had a good day.

No Nap

But I got Pat's house finished and I got to shop at Costco by myself.  I'm not sure that is a good thing.  Anyway I am again stocked up on diapers and wipes.
Picked up Mom and had her over for dinner.  We had meatloaf with baked potatoes.  Audrie chose then to take her nap so we had a quiet meal.  :p

Thursday

Brenda and I traded so I ended up with the day off. The littles went with Papa to the river. I cleaned the carpet. Looks like I need to do it every six weeks or so through out the nice season. We track in the sealant off the parking lot with our bare feet.  Looks a lot better. Sean naturally does a much better job but I can't afford him that often.
Both kids took naps with no complaints. That playing at the river wears them out. I would have had a nice nap also but it was a phone afternoon. Mom called. Then the conservative republicans called to complain about Obama. I told them not to call me anymore as I am a liberal democrat. Then Mike called and then Mona. Maybe tomorrow will be a better nap day for Nana.

Trek North

We went up and visited the cousins and Aunt Treva.  Seems like we miss Uncle Isaac a lot.  Poor man has to work when we are there.  The littles were so good.  They behaved the whole long ride up.  That is an accomplishment since it takes 2.5 hours to get there with good traffic.  They behaved the whole time we were there and then they slept the whole ride home.
The kids had a great time playing with their cousins.  Connor really connected with Braeden this time and Braeden really connected with him.  It was so heart warming to watch Braeden feeding Connor some of his chili. Audrie spent the majority of the time chasing the dog around.  Poor Emmi.  She realized that Connor was Braeden's boy and Audrie is too old to baby now.
We went with a couple of boxes of clothes for Treva's non-profit thing.  We came home with two boxes of clothes and two bags of toys.  What would I do without all the help that she has given us since we first had Audrie? We so appreciate all she does for us.  Thank you Treva.

A Zoo Invite

The Mini had an appointment for repair today. So I planned a trip to the zoo instead of always utilizing babysitters.  And it seemed like a good time to do a zoo trip.  Last minute I invited Cassie.  She turned me down flat because she had a lot of stuff to do today.  Say what?  She is homeless, has no job, has no responsibilities.......and yet she is too busy to spend the day with her kids.  We are again stretching out the time in between visits and it makes me sad.  Makes me sadder to know she is still doing all the normal Cassie things and seems to be trying to figure out how to get to Indiana to be with David.  What about the little kids?

Zoo Day

We got up early and got going.  We dropped the Mini at the appointed time for the new water pump and tires.  Then we hopped a bus to the transit center where we caught MAX.  Down into the tunnel and then up the elevator to the zoo.
We only perused half of the zoo today.  No hurry.  I think our laissez-faire attitude made some woman mad because I didn't make Audrie quit petting the chicken quick enough for her tastes.  Oh well.  Audrie was having a good time and behaving.  We saw Lily the baby elephant.  I'm not sure she grew much from the last time we saw her.  We had a nice time and Connor was even more enthralled than last time.  He loved the bears.
Then it was time to reverse the MAX train, bus order.  Dropped us right at the door of Mini Portland.  We still ended up waiting another two hours for the car.  New water pump, new drive belt, some new bushings, a new bulb someplace and new tires.  Came in just at $1200.  I was pleased.  The tires were still on sale for buy three get one free and there is a $70 rebate.  Got to love that.  And the tires at the dealership were cheaper than the last set I bought at Les Schwab.  I keep feeling like I am becoming a dealership gal.  I always get a better deal and I never feel ripped off there.  My only complaint is having to drive almost to Beaverton, but still worth the job they do.

Relaxing

I am sitting outside, sipping a glass of wine, enjoying the quiet and watching the moon. It was a trying evening. I made the mistake of letting Audrie skip her nap and I paid for that decision. She was wound up and couldn't behave. After we got home she behaved but whined a lot. Tomorrow will be another day to practice patience.
As for the little man.....I can't get his stubbed toe healed. He keeps stubbing it and won't keep band aids on it. I can't keep the ace bandage on so we are doing the best we can there. That arm must be healing.

Battle Ground Cruise In

The little kids and I went to the BG Cruise in with some neighbor kids and Josh.  There were some fantastic cars.  Connor was enchanted.  But the motorcycles got him excited.  We saw Lightning McQueen.  Met some dogs.  Saw some people I knew.  It was pretty cool watching the cars actually cruise.  I've only ever been to car shows where the cars are parked.
We walked down to the gas station and was checking out some of the cars in the parking lot.  Tristyn tripped me and I fell on one of the trucks.  The owner was not happy with me touching his truck.  I couldn't help it and until I was on my feet with balance I wasn't going anywhere.  He made me nervous when he started to grab my hand off the truck.  And to think I was worried about Tristyn bumping one of the cars with the stroller.
We headed home with just enough light left to get through the trail.  Audrie found some cats and got all excited.  She caught one and thought she could bring it home.  Nope.

Down Day

The kids and I had a down day today.  We did go over to Papa's and grazed on some berries.  Audrie discovered that the cows really like peas and not just the pods.  Nana Nita and Ky stopped by for a quick visit.  And we cleaned house.  Just a quiet day with not much happening.  We need those once in awhile.

A Long Road

After spending several days here sleeping off the last binge, Mike felt the need to move on. Probably needed to get high. And so he left and I felt relief. Then the phone started ringing in the middle of the night. Seems he got himself arrested. I know no details as I did not answer the phone. Guess he is exactly where he needs to be right now. He is on a long road.

Mini Mini

Took Mini for service today.  Just needed an oil change until they got into it.  Now it needs a belt and a new water pump.  Oy. I've already replaced that pump once.  Guess my "water issues" continue.  Wonder if it is because I'm an Aquarius.  :p  So next week we have another appt. for that work to be done and while we are at it we are going to put the good tires back on it.  Will be an expensive day but then we will be ready for a road trip north.  And while the work is being done I think a trip to the zoo is in order.  The dealership is happy to give me a day pass for MAX.  And I know the littles would like that.  MAX and the zoo.
And I was reassured that my car will not suffer the horrid death rattle.  The engine in mine is different than the ones with the problem.  I was kind of coming to that conclusion on my own anyway.  I have almost 110k miles on it and if it was an issue it should have blown by now.

Mom Stuff

A good share of the day was spent on Mom's stuff. She got a good amount of groceries that should tide her over for awhile. Her house is clean and we had lunch out. Connor was very good. Audrie was mostly good. It is good for us to spend time with her. It is good for her for us to spend time with her.
She was happy to get out of the house for a bit.

Super Saturday at the Farmer's Market

It was WIC voucher day at the Farmer's Market.  That means if you are on WIC you can come to the Farmer's Market and get vouchers worth $20 for each child over 1 year old up to $40 a family. I have done this every year that Audrie has been eligible.  This year they both are so I got the $40. While picking up the vouchers there was a sign about stopping at the healthy families booth and getting a free bag of produce. Did that.  It was a few carrots, zucchini, an onion and parsley.  Then I hit the SNAP booth to get get my $5 of tokens off my food stamps which gave me the $5 match from New Seasons.  Then I shopped and got corn on the cob, peaches, baby yellow potatoes and strawberries. Yum.  I love the Farmer's market.  And I have lots of vouchers left to use later in the season and the SNAP match is good every weekend.  Got to love free food.

Whew

Rush week is over.  Whew.  And it isn't even like we worked hard.  Maybe that was the problem.  Anyway I got lots of hours this week.  Good thing because the rest of the month is going to be light.  Start back on two day weeks next week.  That could last until the middle of August.  Time will tell.
Next week is just as busy for me, just not with work hours.  Car goes to the shop.  Dog goes to the vet.  Mom goes to the doc.  I go to the dentist.  Dang it is going to be an expensive week also.  Least I don't have to cover Mom or the dog.  And so it goes.

Six to Sunset

Curtis Salgado. What a man, what a performer. And the park was packed. Every concert I attend there seems more crowded than the last.
We met Cassie there. She played with Audrie on the playground. Connor was already done as he had fallen twice. Bandaged arm throws off his balance. We watched about 3/4 of the concert before Audrie needed to leave. She was rocking out for awhile though.
It was a nice evening.

Kids Sidewalk Club

We went to the kids thing going on at the skatepark.  All Connor wanted to do after his snowcone was to play at the skatepark.  A stroller just doesn't work with skateboards.  Audrie got to enjoy half the program before we needed to leave.  They had a puppet show and played games.  She loved the bubbles, but she does love bubbles.  It was a good time.

It's Over

Rush lasted one day.  And it wasn't a big day at that.  I think I recall last year being the same way.  Summer is always so much slower.
And now on to the future.  Liz said they are ordering a little later so we won't have our big push at the beginning of August.  Going to make for a lighter summer.  Gives me and the little kids more time to play.  :)

First Day of Summer Rush

Connor went to daycare. Got his ace bandage wrapped really well by Miss Barbie. Nana did almost as good after his bath. And he is definitely favoring that arm.
Rush started. Stayed steady all day. No gret hordes of people. Spent half my day in the bag check room and the other half on security. I was floored by how much bad hair I saw. Hope it's not a trend because over processed fried hair just looks bad.
Heard inventory went really well and there were no issues with Michal and my section.

A Trail Walk

Feels like we didn't get to do much on my nice five day weekend.  So after dinner we headed on over to the Burnt Bridge Creek Trail.  We took Tristyn, the neighbor girl with us.  She has more energy than Audrie.  She ran the trail stopping at points of interest along the way.  Connor loved her pushing him.  Must have been a different ride for him and he voiced his displeasure when Audrie tried to push him.
I guesstimated that we walked about a mile and a half.  They got a kick out of throwing rocks and sticks in the ponds and the creek.  It is a great bike trail as the pictures show.
Afterwards we hit the McDonalds nearby for ice cream cones and some play structure time.  Even Connor did a little playing.  When we got home Nana again fixed the ace bandage.

Breathing

I found that I was holding my breath again and I don't like it. Too much Dave. Too much Mike. Too much Tanya. After I dropped Mike off in Vancouver I realized I was breathing and that I hadn't been. I must remember to make the effort to breathe. I set down the house rules today and maybe that did it for today.
I just hate that when my plate gets too full I seem to shut down.

Amazing

The little man is amazing. He is taking his arm confinement with ease. He even managed to ride ths scooter today. He had a bottom bath and two rewraps of the ace bandage.  He had a little Tylenol this morning and then just a little more at bedtime. He doesn't act like it hurts. Maybe he has his Nana's pain tolerance. That could be a good thing.

Broken Bone

Took Mom to the bone dr. Today. She got a beautiful blue cast. She goes back in two weeks to see how it is healing. She will have a cast for four to six weeks. While we were there a little boy came in with a cast. Slightly older than Connor. My thought was how horrible it must be to have a little kid with a broken bone. That was my mistake.
My little man rode his big wheel off the deck at his Papa's house. You guessed it. He broke his arm. Where the break is is too far up the arm for a cast. So he has a sling, and then the whole thing is wrapped to his body so he can't use it. He will be like that for a week and then go see the specialist to make sure it is healing right.
He is a trooper though. He is managing to do all the things he wants to do. Nana is having a harder time than he is. It is hard to pick him up when you can't get under both arms.

Fourth of July

We had a great day. Brought Mom over and we bbqed marinated pork chops and red potatoes with garlic and onions, and had corn on the cob. The little man ate the pork and the corn. Audrie naturally snubbed it all.

On the way back to Mom's to drop her off we saw two deer. Audrie thought that was cool.

And then it was time for fireworks. Audrie was not afraid. Kristie, one of the neighbors, helped her do a couple of roman candles. Both little kids had pop it's. Connor enjoyed the fireworks. I was amazed he stayed awake long enough to see any of them. But when it was bedtime, it was bedtime. I think he was asleep before I walked out of his room.

It was a nice night with a spectacular show done by the neighbors. A benefit of living in a neighborhood.

Home?

Home is where I make it and right now it is on Clark Ave.  Dave texted and asked if we were coming home for July 4th.  Ummm....yeah right.  We are staying home for July 4th.  Mom will come over for dinner and we will watch the neighborhood fireworks.  Starting new traditions.

Fireworks Before the Holiday

Light 'em up. And they have been. We actually stayed up and out long enough to watch. The neighbor lit theirs since they will be elsewhere for the Fourth. Audrie was scared, but didn't want to go in. So we got a chair and a blanket and she cuddled in. She peeked out from the blanket and watched that way. We both decided that we liked the blue ones best. Connor slept through it all and probably will tomorrow also. It's an advantage to staying home.

Terrific Tuesday

My part of the store inventory is done. Spent almost six hours counting office supplies. A nice lunch was provided and we got to eat outside. Now I am off for the next five days. Got to like that.
My new neighbor, Lowry, shared some milk with us. He got it from his church. I graciously accepted and said it would replace that gallon that Connor took out of the car and dropped.
My place was the community center for the youngens. I had some pre-teens and some teens hanging out here. Josh said I'm the cool mom now. I have an iPad anyway. Seems to be the big draw.

Pics From Dinner