the twenty-fifth of July

Monday was Nick's birthday.  

The problem with that is that Nick's birthday was on Tuesday (in my summer mind).  

 I don't pay attention to days and dates in summer.  

All I know is that his birthday is on the 25th, and Tuesday was the 25th.  I am sure of it.  I checked the calendar at the beginning of July, and that is what it said.  So, it was quite a shock to me when Sunday rolled around and I discovered the truth about what day the 25th really was.

So, I scrounged up a last minute plan Monday morning when I woke up extra early fretting over my dilemma so Nick wouldn't figure out my mistake.  Unfortunately, I made the faux pas of suggesting we see Harry Potter that night, and Nick saw right through me.  At that moment, he kind of figured out that I was flying by the seat of my pants.  

Yeah, he's not that into Harry Potter....I should have known better.

So, after apologizing in the alleyway next to the restaurant, I took Nick to Cafe Mimosa in San Clemente. 

His "You seriously thought I would want to see Harry Potter" face.

My lack of calendar awareness also kept me from buying Nick a birthday present on time.  This was a huge disappointment.....for me.  For Nick, not so much.  I pride myself on my gift giving giftedness, and it really bothered me that I didn't have something for him.  But, as we walked the shops in San Clemente, Nick found the HAT OF HIS DREAMS.  I couldn't have bought him a present this good even with all of my gift buying talent. (I am still buying him a gift though, and it will be a gooooooood one.)

Then we went to the beach with his new hat. 

(And my new sunglasses.)

Nick is a proud Californian. Hence, the hat.

Then we had dinner on the deck.....and mojitos.....mmmm.

So see, I didn't do too bad for not planning.

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Our Trip to AZ

Amy and I made the four hour trek to Arizona this weekend, all for the sake of my dear mother.  She has a classroom to decorate, and that is a big to-do in this family.  Kristina even flew in from Atlanta to offer up her graphic design skills.  Don't you think she should fly out and do the same for me in my classroom? 

Four hours feels like four minutes when your listening to this goodness.

There was some N'Sync thrown in there too, but seeing as how we were too busy recalling our dance moves to these tunes, we forgot to take a picture.

We made a couple of stops along the way.

Hawaii in my mouth...mango pineapple smoothie.

Then, we arrived!

We drove straight to the classroom to help out.

But, not before playing a little hangman.

Even at this point, Dad still didn't know what the puzzle was.  Seriously, Dad?

But, I can't really knock my dad too badly, because it's not every  man who spends all day every day in his wife's classroom making her bulletin boards perfect and building her anything and everything she asks for.  And, it most certainly is not every man who goes into someone else's classroom, sees that they used double borders around all of their bulletin boards, and then comes back into his wife's classroom and does his own set of double borders. Because, no one's classroom can be better than his wife's classroom.

After spending the whole next day in the classroom, we headed out on the water, thanks to Aunt Sandy and Uncle Ron and their sweet boat.

 We woke up the next morning and headed out on the water again. This time....with an inner tube.

Kristina was the only one to fly off, and she flew off at least 5 times.

Even mom and dad gave the tube a try.

And now I need a neck transplant.

After that fun, we finished up the classroom.  It looks AMAZING.

She meets her class in ONE WEEK!

GO MOM!

You can see video footage of some of our tubing adventures here.

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twenty-eight

Nick is 28 today!

To celebrate, I am going to make a list of 28 things I love about him.

But, not today.

Today, I will be busy entertaining him.

Happy Birthday Nick!
I love you!

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To My Forlorn Husband in California

My feet miss you.

(And OBVIOUSLY you can tell these are my feet.)

Ah, but Arizona is nice right now...and that river...oh, that river.  I love it.

(Don't be jealous.  I love you more.)

Thank you for taking care of my puppies.

I will see you tomorrow.

And, then the next day, you will be 28.

Love,

Me

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Why I am the luckiest....

Because these are my dogs. And, because this is what I got to wake up to this morning...a first for these two.

Because a couple of weeks ago, my Belle could hardly walk, and I thought I was going to lose her.  And now?  She is chasing Brontie down the hall, jumping off the couch, climbing stairs, following me everywhere I go, and back at her escape attemps.

Because Brontie makes me laugh everyday with his quirky personality and his fear of stairs.

Because these two have become friends who actually really enjoy each other (most of the time).

Because when I am with my dogs, I know that Jesus loves me.

(And being with Nick is pretty great too...but, let's focus.  This is a post about the dogs.)

I may not have human babies right now, but gosh darnit, I have babies, and they are the cutest darn babies around.

(See, I really am one of those annoying dog people....please don't hate me.)

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Forever In Blue Jeans

During the baseball game on Saturday, they played some good old Neil Diamond....not the typical "Sweet Caroline" that is played at most events.  No, this was the Neil Diamond of my childhood reverberating through the stadium.  And, oh it took me back.  That Neil.  Neil was the only music we listened to (other than Psalty and Colby that is) and he was a part of our everyday life. 

Mine was a unique musical childhood.  I mean, how many people can say they had a picture of a frog with a crown on his head hanging in their house?  Take this frog print, add a little, no add A LOT, of 1970's flair, and you have something not even close to the picture that graced our wall.  But, you get the idea.

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And what, you may ask, does this picture have to do with my musical childhood? Well, if you were a true Neil Diamond fan, you would know that there is a line in his song, "I Am, I Said" that goes "Did you ever read about a frog who dreamed of being a king, and then became one." And, when you are my mom, you want to honor Neil, even in your home decor.  That picture hung in the hall of the very house that I am living in RIGHT NOW.  This house has Neil Diamond's spirit living in it.  And to prove it.... when we came home from that game, guess what was sitting in our entry way.  Neil Diamond's Greatest Hits!  I am not making this up people.  I swear....Neil is here (and no, he's not dead). 

I grew up going to Neil Diamond's concerts, or just being babysat while my parents (and my equally obsessive Aunt Karen, who also honored Neil with her home decor) were at Neil Diamond concerts.  Because, if Neil was playing 3 nights in L.A. and then another 3 nights in San Diego, they were there ALL. SIX. NIGHTS.  And, right now, "Coming to America" is blasting on my speakers, and I am vividly remembering that glorious moment at all of Neil's concerts when he would sing this song, and the bigger than the biggest American flag you've ever seen would drop from the sky.  If that moment didn't make you proud to be an American, then you are not an American.  Neil is so patriotic. 

And it wasn't only Neil Diamond that my parents would follow from place to place. Once, while we were driving, my mom spotted Neil Diamond's back-up singer driving down the road.  (Only my mom would know what Neil Diamond's back-up singer looks like well enough to spot her in this way.)  We followed her...all the way to her house...just so we could see where she lived.  Maybe they could become best friends.

It's so nice to have the sweet melodies of my childhood serenading me once again, after all these years.

Hello Again, Hello Neil.

If you click on all those colored song titles, you will get to enjoy some Neil yourself.  Trust me, you want to click.

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over the weekend...

My weekend started out lovely, meeting an old friend that I have not seen in AGES at the harbor for breakfast.  It was so fun to catch up and reminisce.

Then it continued with a little day trip to San Diego.

We headed down to the Gaslamp District, where we enjoyed some Happy Hour drinks and food.

Then we walked around a bit.

And the whole reason for our trip?

Giants vs. Padres

If you don't know, then you should know that Nick is a huge Giants fan, hence the decision to drive to San Diego for this game.

Petco Park is awesome! The Giants were not so awesome. The Padres beat them 11-3. But what do I care? I don't. I am a Braves fan, as my husband so kindly pointed out during last years playoffs. Despite the lack of excitement in the game, we managed to have a little fun. You don't need an exciting game to make you happy when you are eating starbursts, skittles, sunflower seeds, garlic fries, and churros.  We are just healthy like that. 

And now we are scheming up ways to buy ourselves a little condo in downtown so that we can go spend weekends down there and walk to games.  They are only 1.2 million dollars. So, we are looking for about 730 people to go in on it with us, costing us each $1,644. Then, we can each have it for one day every other year! Such a good deal! Who's in?

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Succulent Succulents

Ever since Katie and Collin's wedding, I have been dreaming about succulents and have been wanting to plant some pots of them for my own.  Nick got me one succulent plant for Easter, then two more for my last day of school.  That was enough to make one pot!

I loved this pot so much, that I decided to go buy myself 3 more succulent plants and plant myself another pot.

Seeing as my parents are now desert folk, I thought it fitting to post some pictures of these little cactii plants.

It's like I have a little piece of my parents right in my own backyard.

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Spray Paint and Swear Words

IN BIG NEWS, my parents are no longer Californians.  That's right! They are moving onward and upward.  Except, they aren't.  They are moving to Arizona.  Which, in my humble opinion, is not exactly an upgrade. No offense to all of my Arizona readers....there are so many of you...wink, wink.  It is however, a really great move for them, and my mom is going to be following in my footsteps as a fourth grade teacher.  And, I cannot complain about the fact that they will be living right on the Colorado River.

But, you know what I can complain about?  All of the crap of theirs that we have had to move.  This is not a normal amount of crap.  This is like "I can't get rid of that half empty spray paint can from 1970 that was bought at Nail Apron!!" kind of crap.  Do you remember Nail Apron?  No, you don't!  Because they went out of business in 1852. 

The other day, when I was moving box after box, I was cussing in my head ALOT!  Then I actually used a swear word OUT LOUD when I was talking to my dad...shocking, I know.  I confessed to him that I had been saying that word in my head ALL DAY LONG.  So, he asked me if I had flipped anyone off that day.  Of course I had not, I told him, because if I was going to flip anyone off, it would be him.  He's the one that has all the s#%@ I've been moving.

It has not been all misery and swear words though.  There have been some fun times had.  Take, for example, when my parents were carrying a 5,000 pound T.V. out of their storage unit, and my dad slipped and fell, with the T.V. landing on his knee.  Good times people.  Good times.

And, not to toot my own horn or anything, but I was the sole daughter helping out for several days in a row.  Each day, I would just pack up the dogs and we would head on over to the storage unit.  They were in hog heaven, those dogs.  There was so much to explore, and Belle even made an escape attempt to explore the wild outdoors of warehouse row.

But, then there was one day when everyone came over to help.  And, not only my dogs were there, but Kristina and Kim's dogs were there.  This made for a really fun distraction.  They were gallivanting every which way, until we had to round up the posse and fence them off.  We concocted quite a little set-up.

There was a bit of an uprising on the part of a couple of these canines.  Belle found a way to push the gate open just enough for Kali to squeeze her tiny body through.  Belle is the master escape artist, and she is teaching the new pups her wild ways.  This happened at least 3 times.  Those two really bonded.

Sweetest moment of the day.

And, despite all the "stuff" that had to be moved (and the stuff that still has to be moved), I am very excited for my parents and this new phase of life for them.  I will miss them, but I know Arizona is only temporary. (It better be!)

And, Mom and Dad, I will move your S#%& anytime, because heaven knows you have moved a lot of mine.  Heck, I'll even stand by while you carry a T.V. and drop it on your leg again, if you want me to.

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