quarantined.

that is what my house should be. there should be yellow caution tape all around it, a big red bio hazard sign on the front door, and people walking around in giant yellow hazmat suits... this week sucks. it started off on wednesday morning (around 12:30 am) with aubrey SCREAMING that she had thrown up in her bed... she was pitiful. so bad that she was throwing up out of her nose. she finally fell asleep around 3:30, woke up at 4 to throw up, back asleep, woke up at 4:30 to throw up.... a vicious cycle. finally, about 3 pm everything stopped and she seemed to be resting comfortably for the rest of the night. slept all night. i thought we were in the clear.

both aubrey and ava woke up thursday morning with horrible coughs. i mean horrible. they both sound like they have been smoking for 50+ years. and then of course, my throat started to hurt. and hurt worse, and worse.

now here it is, friday evening. aubrey is laying on the couch, still coughing her lungs up... if she doesnt seem any better by tomorrow, we may make a trip to the urgent care. Ava is a bit grumpy, but won't sit down and rest. she seems fine, til she starts hacking. and im sitting here, with a kleenex shoved up my nose because its so stuffy, but running at the same time. my throat is on fire and the side of my neck feels like i went 3 rounds with Randy Couture.

stay far away from our house. in fact, i would wash your hands with anti bacterial soap just because you are reading this... spray lysol all around your computer.

i hope you all stay well.

36 years.

36 years. that is how long my parents have been married for today. 36 years = 432 months = 1878 weeks = 315569 hours

i wrote a thank you note to my parents a while back, and i think i can remember most of it. so, bear with me, because what better day to tell them thank you than on their anniversary.

to my parents,
thank you for being such wonderful examples for me.
thank you for teaching me how to put a worm on my hook.
thank you for allowing me to bake in your "just cleaned" kitchen.
thank you for teaching me manners & morals.
thank you for letting me get my ears pierced, again, and again, and again.
thank you for taking in a stray dog.
thank you for letting me experiment with my hair. after all, its just hair!
thank you for letting me paint the sky.
thank you for being with me while i gave birth to my daughters.
thank you for loving my daughters even more than you love me.
thank you for being strong parents of a strong soldier.
thank you teaching me how to change the oil in my car.
thank you for taking us camping.
thank you for the many pictures of doyle & i on paul bunyon.
thank you for putting up with hours upon hours of middle school and high school talent shows.
thank you for encouraging me to sing, even when i sounded like a dying cat.
thank you for taking me to get my first tattoo. im sorry that i have gone overboard.
thank you for always putting family first.
thank you for all that you have done for me, i hope that one day i am half the parents that you two are.

and if you are wondering why this blog post is in "coral" its because the traditional gift for the 35 year anniversary is "coral". they don't seem to have one for 36 years, so im just improvising :)


i love you mom & pop!

family first.

i have totally neglected my blog. there goes my 365. i have had so much on my mind lately... haven't really felt like blogging. right now, my grandpa is in the ICU at our local hospital... he really needs some prayers. my attention has been on him, my granny, my mom and my kiddos. family comes first. i have stayed home from work for a couple of days, so my mom could be at the hospital. in spite of the bad situation, i have taken advantage of being home with the girls... getting to take Aubrey to school, painting with her, trying to teach Ava some new words, dancing with her... and i actually took out the camera to try and get some good pics of Ava... i forgot that trying to capture good images of a 2 year old is like trying to nail jello to the wall.


but, here are the 2 pics that came out ok, i suppose.

please keep my grandpa in your prayers. thank you!

global warming.

its january 12th. middle of winter. and yet, here in so cal, its 84 degrees. i am sweating. my children have on their summer clothes. i even made juice pops for them to eat because its soooo darn hot. i hate the heat. i loathe the santa ana winds. i've never been a beach kinda gal. i've decided i'm moving.

rock star (in my own car)

if you ever pull up beside me at a stop light, chances are you will see me and wonder what the heck i am doing. 9 times out of 10, i will be singing "open arms" by journey. i know, corny huh? but i love that song. and i love singing that song. when i leave work, and all the life has been sucked out of me, i get into the car, turn that song on, and sing like i AM steve perry on stage in front of millions (minus the tight jeans & mullet). there is no question that i have always wanted to be a rock star. i have been singing since before i was talking... there was a time when i was kinda known for my singing. but times change, paths change, and now i am content to be a rock star in my own car.

exhaustion.

i had every intention of making a post last night... and then exhaustion set in. through the week, i have to get up at 4 am, get myself ready and leave the house at 5:15ish to make it to work at 6. i get off at 3, come home and then be "mom" til 8 pm. then i normally get things ready for the next day, and go to bed around 10pm. exhaustion caught up with me last night. i can't really even tell you what time I fell asleep, i think it was close to 7:30. there has never been a time that i haven't put aubrey to bed, but i didn't last night. i was out cold. i felt like i was getting sick. i am still all achy. i feel like i went 3 rounds with randy couture (except my ears aren't all ugly). but i am up. ready to be super hero mom today. groceries have to get bought, household necessities have to be bought, kids have to be fed, bathed, fed, house needs to be cleaned... scratch all of that, maybe i should go back to bed...

two.

as i hinted earlier, the number two holds some special meaning to me today. today is my baby's 2nd birthday. there is no way that she is two. she was just born. i remember the day she was born so vividly. i was at work (yes, i literally worked up until the moment I had her)... i went to my normal weekly dr's appointments, to which my wonderful doctor told me, "today seems like a good day to have a baby, you are 5 centimeters. go home, get your bag and your husband and get back up here". I was 3 weeks early. so, i called my hubby, who was as shocked as i was, and the race was on. he met me at home, we had to call my dad and tell him to come home from work to watch Aubrey, and my mom met us at the hospital. i checked in at 1:45 pm. at 3 pm, they gave me an epidural (which did not work) and i felt every contraction. at 5pm, i started pushing. at 5:16 Ava Jo was born... i remember every detail of that moment. my doctor was wearing a pink dress shirt and tie (pretty fitting for my baby girl) and the govenator was on TV giving his state of the state address. i was quickly shown ava, and then they rushed her to see the NIC doctors. she had some breathing issues, which i wasn't aware of. my mom stayed with me, and my hubby went with our baby. she is perfectly healthy now. she hasn't stopped making me smile, but she has made my hair turn prematurely gray. she is a dare devil, a mountain goat and evil kenevil rolled into one adorable little girl.

happy birthday to my sweet "baby"

not my fault...

yes, it looks like i have already failed at my attempts to make a post a day, but.... it wasn't my fault! it was a very busy evening, and when i got home from running all my errands, my husband was uploading about 45 CD's to itunes... and trust me, that took all night. SO, in order to make up for it, there will be 2 count them, one... two.... posts today. the number 2 is pretty important today, but I will let you figure that out with the second post later this evening :)

domestic goddess.

i am so not a domestic goddess. i can burn water. literally. but in my new found attempt at staying healthy, eating out less and trying to save money, i have been cooking dinner. i had dinner figured out about 8 am. i knew exactly what i was going to do. i love having a plan!!!
around 4:45 (hubby gets off work at 5) i walked over to the freezer, took out the box of van de kamps crunchy fish fillets and gently placed them on my cookie sheet lined with parchment paper (didn't think i was that fancy, did ya?) then on to the pièce de résistance, the mac n cheese. this wasn't any old mac n cheese. oh no, not microwavable. i was busting out the kind you actually make (gasp) on the stove! so, there i was, slaving over a hot stove and oven when i started to smell something a wee bit odd. at first i thought it was Ava... then i thought it was the candle i just lit in the living room. about the time i actually saw the flame, i realized it was the spatula. apparently you shouldn't put your spatula to rest in the flames. oops.
dinner was a success. only one casualty. and believe it or not, i really can cook. even wolfgang puck has his off days!!!

my new moto.

"nothing tastes as good as thin feels"

i am trying to remember this phrase, esp. when i passed by the bagels and cream cheese, the see's candy, and the holiday treats that were at the office today...

pity party, table for 1.

ever have one of those days? where no matter what you do, nothing seems right? like the funk you are in is pulling you deeper and deeper into a swamp of murky muck water? yup. me too. and today is one of those days. nothing is going my way. from feeling like the goodyear blimp, to looking like one of the ugly step sisters, to being the moron who forgot to grab the coupons on our way to costco, only to realize when we arrived at costco that i forgot them. yeah, that was my day.
and now, its time for this horrible day to end. im off to bed.

dear metabolism,

why did you run away from home? i miss you. please come back.

love, me

slightly obsessed.

when i was searching for books to read before my hand surgery, i was peer pressured into buying twilight. now usually, i am not one to succumb to peer pressure. i was after all, a DARE outstanding student, i learned to JUST SAY NO... but, i was a vampire lover from way back (slightly obsessed with Buffy, so much so that we named our dog Spike)so i gave in. as i laid in bed, i chuckled, wondering what all the hubub was about... after reading it, lemme change that statement to hubba hubba. i am a fan. wait, let me rephrase that. i am more than a fan. i am contemplating changing my last name to Cullen. i am ready to sit in a dark house, on a gloomy day, with my plastic fangs and ride in a shiny volvo. its quite silly actually, a 31 year old obsessed with a 17 year old vampire. but i am. i don't drink (too much) i don't smoke, give me SOME vice! i will have to say that my husband is taking my new found obsession in great stride... he bought me the books, two shirts, and is taking me out for dinner and then to see the movie tonight... i can't wait. im anxiously counting down the hours until i can see edward on the big screen. i bet my husband would draw the line at me sprinkling glitter on him. drats.

a loss for words.

for those who really know me, you know that you would have a better chance of winning the lottery than me being at a loss for words. but here i sit, day 2 of my 365, without a thing to write about. sure, i have SCADS to say, but really, who wants to hear about my boring day at work, about how chilly it is outside, or the fact that i am once again, watching max & ruby thinking to myself what a brat max is (only parents of cartoon aged children would know about max & ruby). i use to think that i had a way with words... i wanted to grow up and write hallmark cards. i could make people cry with the words that came from my head and my heart. i could make a person who was on the verge of crying, laugh hysterically by my quick wit. but apparently, with the deadline of "a post a day" creeping up on me, i am at a loss. ugh, i hope it gets better on day 3.

my 2009 365.

well, my attempt at a 365 blog. im gonna try to do a post a day... just tack that on to my already HUGE list of "resolutions". im not giving up the photography side of this blog, gonna keep that too, but my photography is a part of my 365. its a part of my every day life. what is in store for my wild and crazy life? i have no clue, but its gonna be fun to see where this is going...

will i lose this extra 20 lbs? will my hair stay dark brown? what bone will I break next? will i ever find edward cullen? what diabolical stunt will my children pull next???

i guess we will have to wait and see.... grab a soda, er, i mean water (resolution #1, no more soda) and a rice cake (resolution #2 stop eating junk food) and take a trip with me, through my 365.