Summer's Coming People

I have been in such an upbeat mood for the last few days and I think it's because summer is on the way. Of course, it has rained a lot here the last few days, but pffft, I'm used to it now. Summer coming is such a great relief and I am so glad the windy, cold, rainy nights are over.

We have been working in our garden the last few months trying to get everything in order for the growing to begin. It has been quite troublesome with grass, but they will all die in good time. Here is a latest Smilebox on our garden.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Jeff and I have recently gotten our Facebook profile pages back and have actually spent time trying to figure it all out. My Space was such a waste of time it was so "high school"-ish that we didn't like it, but with FB we are able to reconnect without all the dramatics with other people getting the way. I know Jeff has been talking to his sister on there and a few other friends, but I have reconnected in ways I never thought I would. Old friends are now new friends and even people from high school I wasn't friends with are now great friends to me. I hope it lasts.

Skylar has official lost a tooth and is no longer my little baby. His bottom, front left tooth. The one beside it is loose as well and I hope it doesn't fall out while he is eating and he swallows it. That would be bad, but just like the bell it will all pass in good time.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Even though it was back in April, Earth Day was celebrated by us at the Oregon Garden. They had booth set up for arts and crafts for kids and I sat through a class on how to green your cleaning given by the Oregon Environmental Council.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

These Smileboxes are a great way to share what's going on in your life with family and friends. It's easy to sign up. Click the link below to learn more about them.

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We finally replaced our old mattresses. They were in such bad shape it was really quite terrible that we were still sleeping on them. We ended up buying an Englander Mattress and box set from the local furniture store here that we simply love.

For Mother's Day last month I got homemade cards that were made with love. They were a nice surprise and I love the thought that was put into them.

Skylar has been watching this program called Hip/Hop Harry. It's quite funny to watch. He likes it because they do a lot of dancing and he follows along.
This version on You Tube is funny.

Skylar got his new ATA Shirt the other day. He looks so smooth in it.

We now have added a treadmill to our workouts. I have started running on it for about 10 minutes a time, 20 minutes of walking and 10 minutes of running. I miss running everyday like I did when I was in my high school years and first years of college. Jeff, of course can run longer, but whatever, I will catch him in due time.

Oh, and thanks to the stupid neighbor cat, we no longer have our fish in the fish pond. The cat ate our two goldfish that came from Arkansas with us and our Koi as well. Damn cat! I am starting to only like my cat, Meia.

Saving the earth one day at a time

Ever since I attended massage school/spa school in Tigard, Oregon I have gotten more into earth-saving-techniques. I say they are techniques, because you have to remember to do certain things, like bringing your own bags to the grocery store and placing that empty orange juice container in the recycle bins in the garage, or turn the water off when "the boy" is brushing his teeth. Things like that you see are hard when you aren't used to doing them for 20 plus years before you started.

With the saving of the earth techniques getting better we have celebrated Earth Hour in our house now for the past two years and this year in April was no different. We love to do it because we can play hide/and/seek in the dark and it's even funnier when someone runs into something in the dark.....Jeff. We also played a scavenger hunt in the dark, talk about fun, which was really a load of fun. Skylar had a blast.

Along the lines of recycling I came up with a great idea for homemade weights. We love orange juice, the pulp-free option of course, so when I emptied out one, I filled it with water to water my indoor plants. While doing this I realized how heavy the container really was, so I filled another one up and started lifting them daily just for fun to see it if would build any muscles. And it has. So to make your own, just simply fill up empty juice containers. And lift them just like weights. The fat handles on the container make it easy to hold onto as well.

Skylar will be starting kindergarten this coming September, which is odd for me since school in Arkansas has always started in August, so it will take sometime to get used to. Skylar will only be attending kindergarten though here in Oregon and then he will be going to Lake Hamilton Primary School when we move, hopefully the economy will be on our side when the move time comes. We want him to attend Pioneer School here in Lebanon and in order for him to go there we had to fill out a school transfer sheet and state the reason we want him to attend that school. Our house sits in the Cascade School District Zone, so we had to fill out the form for him to go to another school. I like Pioneer; it reminds me a bit of the Lake Hamilton Elementary School, sort of. The schools here are bit weird to me. Instead of having one school and the primary, elementary, middle school, jr. high and high school all being in the same area and with the same name they are all spread out and with different names and different locations. And the kids attend the schools till the 8th grade them move onto the high school. There is so many schools here in this small area it's hard to keep track. Pioneer School will be a good fit for Skylar for his kindergarten year though.

As I am cleaning out my desk area since we moved it, I have come across Burt's Bees books that I get when I order every month. Some of the books I have come across are of the makeup that Burt's Bees used to carry, like the eye shadow and the foundation. I miss the makeup they used to have, but with getting rid of the makeup they have added to the other collections of stuff, like the bath products. Their shampoos are better and so are the baby products, which Skylar and Jeff love.

One of the books I came across was the Burt's Bees Facial Book. It shows how to take better care of your face through natural products that Burt's Bees offers. It came with a green clay mask and I use it often when treating blemishes and other flaws on my face. It gives advice on how to slow the signs of aging down as well and this is a big plus.

Here's to another day of The-Working-Stay-At-Home-Mom!

Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness

We finally moved the entire office upstairs. I am a bit sad that I won't be in the same spot I have been with my writing since we moved into the house here that we currently live in. I feel I am able to be around Skylar more though during the day, because he plays in his room on most days. Other than when I am working with him on pre-school items. My office being upstairs though gives me more time to work on my book without being distracted, so that's a plus. Even though things are all over the place in here, in time it will be more organized.

I finally picked up the antique trombone from the antique shop and was able to play a song on it. It sounds okay, but needs a bit of TLC to be in top playing mode. I was happy to at least blow out "Happy Birthday" on it and it sounding half way decent. Of course it sounds ten times better on my brass trombone, but with a bit of work on the new one I can get it to sound just as pleasing to the ear. The new trombone is made of nickel, and looks really cool. It came with a mouth piece already as part of the price of $94.00, but the case lacked little to be desired. I may be replacing that in time, I don't know yet.

Baz has made his mark on my car now. We left him in the Blazer while we were inside watching Skylar's karate class and Baz got a bit pissy that he couldn't come out with us and bit through both back seat belts. Now he doesn't get to ride in the car when we go places and he isn't too happy about that either. The older he gets, the more he seems to be getting cantankerous in his older age. Jeff contacted the Chevrolet dealership here in our town and it will cost $350 to replace ONE. Nice!

Skylar has been riding his bike without his training wheels lately and he is getting pretty damn good. He rode on one of the busiest roads here in our town for about 2 miles one weekend and this past weekend he rode from our house to a boat slip and RV park called Gill's Landing. He enjoys riding with us without any help and by the end of this summer he will be able to take his bike riding on some trails. He is such a great kid and we are so pleased that he is able to keep up with us when we ride. He will be a great addition to J and S Bike Rides for sure.

Now that spring is here I tend to get more and more wild flowers from Skylar. He will give me Dandelions and have the biggest smile on his face. Even thought dandelions aren't my first flower of choice they are roses when they are given to me by Skylar.

Skylar now has his "Black Belt Club" and his "Master's Club" patches for karate. I spent much of this past weekend sewing on the patches and all his little blue stars. Jeff and I have now been considering joining the karate classes now, but we won't do anything until later this year when we both have more time. Skylar is now a tiger belt and you can view his testing for that belt on his website here.

Here's to another day of The-Working-Stay-At-Home-Mom!

A more mature purchase (Jeff)

Shelly seems to think that her $70 Burt's Bees order is a more mature purchase than a "Who Farted" t-shirt through Spread Shirt. .....Whatever!

View our Spread Shirt shop here.

Unnnn-Yunnnnns

So, yesterday evening Jeff, Skylar and I had quite a laugh over onions. While packing away the groceries in the fridge and beyond, Skylar peered up to me and asked what the bag of white round and flaky things were that smelled funny. We told him they were onions and to place them under the cabinet in the baskets reserved for them all.

Jeff proceeded to ask Skylar how "onion" is spelled and this is the response we got, "unnnn-yunnnnn". Which, in Skylar's defense, that is exactly how it sounds. But, for the sake of "schooling" we had to correct him. How unfair. ;)

I always place a Burt's Bees order every month for about $100 and this month I purchased a product that I thought Jeff would love, and he did, of course. It's called the Plant-a-Seed-Gift. Along with the main product that Jeff loves, the All-n-One-Wash, it also came with a seed pack pictured below.

The seeds that came with the gift pack were very cool. They had information on the Colony Collapse Disorder issue and how these tiny seed packet can actually help bring in more pollinators to your garden, particularly honey bees.


Some say, "even if the honeybee ceases to exist, there are other bees that can help pollinate that don't produce honey." What a sad statement to make. I have always loved the honeybee, maybe it's because the honeybee is the state insect for Arkansas. What kind of world would we live in without the honeybee though?

I have been doing a lot of thinking about the baby plans for November and I am such at a loss as to what WE want to do. Jeff will stand behind me no matter what my decision is, but maybe I should get another dog instead. Maybe something like a Pomeranian? Name it Symba and make it ride in a handbag to the grocery store? Ha! I don't think I will ever be one of those kinds of dog owners, but who knows. Jeff, me and the baby conversation is on-going in our house and we still don't know where we stand. More on this later.

Our old computer (Compaq Presario)went into Strong Hold PC here in Lebanon to see if the hard drive could be repaired. It was there for about two weeks and Jeff and I went on Friday to pick it up and the bad news was given to us. The hard drive was in tact and could be repaired but, the Windows SE version could not be restored and it would cost more to repair than the computer was worth. Plus, we would end up putting a lot of money into the computer when we could go and purchase a brand new one for less. I cried. I wasn't quite ready to say good bye to our first computer.

I have been Twittering a lot lately. Mainly posting any type of blog post that I do with 451 Press and Examiner as well as Today. I have been obsessed with it lately and can't seem to stop. But, I mainly use it for publicity for my writings; sot hat's not all that bad.

On Friday, after getting our taxes prepared at H & R Block on Park Street here in Lebanon and being told we are indeed getting money back from federal, we went to eat at Ixtapa and then, on a whim, we headed up to Portland. It was about 9 PM when we got there and we rode the Max Train and walked around downtown for a bit then headed back. Skylar love the Max Train so he had a blast. We ended up parking in a parking garage near the mall. While trying to get everything in order and the things we were taking with us I completely left my drivers door open the whole two hours we were gone. Baz was in the very back of the Blazer and he ended up squeezing through, just like he has done every single time we leave him alone. We came back to the car after walking around and saw the door open and thought the worst.

We saw Baz in the back seat and thought how awesome it was that he didn't bail out and run to find us. We were grateful that no one had robbed us and even more grateful Baz sat and waited on us. We joked the whole drive back about how he didn't get out and just sat and waited on us.

When we got into our house there were a few messages on our machine from people in Portland, one mainly being a woman that was really concerned about him. It was then we realized that Baz had bailed out and was roaming around the parking garage looking for us. She had gotten close enough to him to read the number on his collar and call it. She said she saw him sitting near the mall doors waiting. He then walked back over to the car with the door open and jumped back in. We realized that the situation could have ended up a lot worse, but we laughed knowing that Baz had realized he needed to go back in the car. He is a very smart dog for sure and we are so glad he is so loyal.

We went to eat again on Thursday afternoon at The Downtown Dog here in Lebanon and much to my amazement the owner Teri remembered me and asked if I was the "writer". I was so pleased that she remembered that I was on cloud nine the rest of the evening. Teri, if you are reading this, you definitely have some regulars with us.

We have the plans to hit the wine country this summer and into the fall. The Willamette Valley is amazing when it comes to wine and Jeff and I have always wanted to check it out. Here is a list of some of the greatest wineries in this area.

Until next time, here's to another day of The-Working-Stay-At-Home-Mom!

Spill the D-Tails?

I have been gone from this blog for a few days. It's been rather hectic in our home lately. We are going through almost every single room and getting rid of, donating or sending items to Kendra in Arkansas to prepare for our spring cleaning time. I am dreading the garage. That place seems to be a catch-all through the winter for everything and anything. I was going through the things in my desk area and came across some old Burt's Bees catalogs that I had been saving for god knows when. It's neat to look back on the old makeup line and their face powder and other items that Burt's Bees no longer carries. But, they have really incredible things now that I dig over the old stuff. One product I do miss is the toothpaste though. Bummer!

We finally moved my desk upstairs and I have been trying to get organized ever since. My gosh, where did all of this crap come from? But we are on the home-stretch I will guarantee you that.

The weekend before the last, which would be the weekend of the 14th of March, we headed out to the bowling alley here in this town I live in to celebrate Scott's, Jeff's older brother, 40th birthday. We thought it would be a hoot to buy him Arkansas Razorback items for his birthday. He is actually an Arkansas Razorback basketball fan so he loved the items. We ended up getting him things that my mom found such as a coffee mug, two shirts and a Razorback hat. We bowled a few frames and had a pretty good time. Scott enjoyed us being there and we were glad we got to celebrate this milestone with him as well.

The rain seems to never stop here in Oregon. It will be sunny, but still chilly; with no rain then 20 minutes later it's pouring down rain and even sleeting on occasion. The summers here don't make up for it though. I miss Arkansas weather something terrible around this time of year.

Jeff told me about a new spin on spaghetti. I always hated it when I was growing up and my mom would make spaghetti, because we would have to get the noodles out of one pot, place it on our plates then scoop out the sauce and pour it onto. Sometimes, when I was eating it, I would have noodles that didn't get any sauce. Of course, I was a child and didn't understand the concept of mixing the tow together in my plate, but I ate it anyway, even when I came across bland noodles that were sometimes dry. Jeff's concept was to mix the two together in the pot before even serving them. I loved this idea and it makes me enjoy spaghetti more now as well.

So I have been doing the Kelly Ripa workout now for about a few months and have dropped 27 lbs. Of course, Jeff is the only one around me that has said that he sees a difference. Gotta love him. He has been doing some of the exercises with me and has dropped a few pounds himself. He is losing the belly he gained when he was working the graveyard shift at Selmet too, which he is pretty happy about. The one exercise that is working for me and my chest area is the throwing of the medicine ball back and forth. I really enjoy it and Jeff makes it competitive as well, and that's a great way to keep me focused. Our goal is July 4th, to drop the lbs. we have focused on then December 25th is our goal for all around health. We are sticking to the plan slowly as we go and trying to build muscle to replace the fat. Jeff pushes me to do more and I have been sore everyday it seems. But, as Jeff says, "you can't make an omelet without breaking some yolks". WHAT? Hopefully in seven months I can have the bragging rights as well.

I finally got my glasses fixed to the right prescription. I have had the new frames for about the last three months, but I was getting headaches like crazy from staring at the computer for long hours. I had the frameless glasses before, but I went with frames this time and I am glad I did. It just gives me face a whole new look. Here is what the glasses look like.

Here's to another day of The-Working-Stay-At-Home-Mom!

Can I have a moment to Think? (Jeff)

Shelly has asked me to step in here and give my two cents from time and time so I thought why not today?! Of all the days, today is a good one.

Shelly and I have little tiffs every so often about her not getting an answer to a question she asks me, right away. I always give back the answer of nothing because I'm thinking about the question and how I want to answer it in the best way without rocking the boat in the structurally build relationship we have. I mean, men have to be careful right, because if we even give the slightest hint of a wrong answer it could be something that WE pay for till pigs fly.

The thing that gets me is, women want the right answer but they don't want to wait for the right answer, so I hear, as I'm thinking of the correct response, "hello!, are you going to answer me?" And I respond with, "I'm trying to think." That really gets under her skin for sure and I actually enjoy it. Call me crazy, but just that little sentence can bring up a whole slew of burn a hole into my back feelings within the women, and it's enjoyable to watch them steam for a few minutes.

Shelly thinks I give that answer because I can't think of anything else to say and she's so wrong. I actually give that answer because I like nothing more than to piss her off at that very moment. Why should women always have the last word, or the final say-so or the pants in the house? Why can't the all-mighty man stand up and declare his freedom from woman? They man will finally be the ones to shout to the mountain tops they are free from the binds of the woman. Yes! That would be a glorious day, but for now I have to go my wife needs me.

The-Voice-Of-The-Working-Stay-At-Home-Mom's-Husband!