Take the next left and prepare to be captured

242/365 - Playing ball with Leia while watching TV (Warehouse 13).

Like our "curtain"? We were getting a glare on the TV even with the blinds down so Robert threw up this sheet. Some day we plan on replacing the blinds with wooden ones which will not have any gabs but until then we get to be all classy and stuff.

In other news, I've "met" Carus's teacher for this year.  (By met I mean spoke to her on the phone.) Carus has also done some lessons on how to navigate the school system and she will do some of the summer school lessons they have available for her tomorrow. 

School officially starts next Wednesday for both kids and I'm getting excited. I've been craving the schedule of school and missing the busyness.  I've been watching friends and family send their kids back to school on Facebook and I love it. I love the rituals and traditions of it.  The back-to-school outfits that have been specially picked out, the poses on the first day on the front steps, at the bus stops, in front of schools, or in their classrooms.  The grins on those kids faces. 

It is the best.

Note: Reminder for Race for the Cure - Please read, donate (if you can) and pass on this link: http://bit.ly/rukLlC

Now she knows how I feel

241/365 - Timmy kitty!



Today the kids were doing chores and Carus had the chore of washing down the counter and table where she eats – mostly because they were covered in her messes she never cleans up.


And then Adam made lunch and didn’t clean up his mess.

She had a fit.

Now she knows how I feel.

Note: Reminder for Race for the Cure - Please read, donate (if you can) and pass on this link: http://bit.ly/rukLlC

That's all witty and stuff

The wall is finished (mostly) round 2! And the stones were placed on Craigslist and carted off today.  Robert will cut off the 4x4 poles and then top the wall with 2x4s. 

238/365 - Doing tricks for treats. Leia now knows how to shake.  Yoda can still sit. (He also knows leave it, but that's pretty much it.)


Saturday we went out to the in-laws house where Robert built his mom a little fence to fence off her garden from her dogs.  In the picture - MIL Barbara, Lady (1 of their 2 dogs), Robert and FIL Alan.  Robert is explaining what he did with the fence to Alan.


239/365 - While Robert was building a fence, Carus and I took Yoda and Leia (who got to go bye-byes with us) for a walk. 


Autumn flowers seen on walk with Carus.


Fire hydrant seen on walk with Carus.


Seen on walk with Carus.


Blackberries eaten on walk with Carus.


240/365 - Honey bee seen on one of my Rose of Sharon bushes.  I got this photo with my macro/fish eye lens, and I had to get quite close to the bee. Mr. Bee was sitting there cleaning himself, or at least that is what I'm assuming he was doing, which allowed me to get a photo of him. Hehehe, he wanted to be pretty for his close up!


There was another kind of bee buzzing around the flowers, which I liked more. It was more fluffy/furry and it had pollen stuck all over it's butt, which I found kinda funny. What's the difference in the bees? Would the honey taste different? 


Rose of Sharon flower.


And since I've REALLY really forgotten to add this to the bottom of my posts, I'm going to REALLY really emphasize - Please read, donate (if you can), and pass on the link! Email it to your friends, family, coworkers, neighbors, and frenemies and enemies. 

Note: Reminder for Race for the Cure - Please read, donate (if you can) and pass on this link: http://bit.ly/rukLlC

"The Question of Or"

236/365 - Sunset and pretty clouds.


237/365 - Hehehe I am talented. I got them both to sit, face the same direction, look at me, AND cock their heads the same way.

Yeah, it's been one of those days...

235/365 - Too long of day at work + pubescent child who insists on talking back + prepubescent child with mood swings and my issues of too many projects, not enough time and so must do all projects at once = cranky cranky poopy pants me. Felt a little flavored malt beverage/"bitch beer" was in order

Who would've thought I'd actually miss them?

232/365 - I went to a photography workshop at Chimpsy on Saturday. Learned lots! Now let's hope I retain all that I learn.


We were photographing under the Fremont Bridge in Portland.


















After my photography workshop Robert and I met up with some friends for lunch and to go get the guys fitted for suits for these friend's wedding. I really liked the colorful rows of TIES at The Men's Warehouse.






233/365 - Adam and Carus are back! They had a good trip and I'll try to upload their pics tomorrow or something. I missed them! Who'da thunk it?


234/365 - Eeek, yearly review at work was today. I'm nearing the anniversary of my start date of my job - just finished my 3rd year - and every year on/around the anniversary date I have to be reviewed. This is supposed to be my worried face...

But don't worry, the review went well. I AM awesome, of course.*


*I know it's not evident by the photo so you are just going to have to trust me.

TGI &^#% F!!

It's been a lllooooonnnngggg week at work. Volume has been high and we've had overtime available every day this week. I wasn't able to do every day, but I still have done some and I have been ready for Friday since, oh Monday at 10 a.m. (I start at 8). HA! I guess it's job security though, so there's that.

230/365 - Kids went with Gramma for a little road trip to see Great Gramma Pat.


They'll be back Sunday or possibly Monday afternoon. Have fun guys!


Yoda tried to go bye-byes with the kids and grammas.


231/365 - Today Leia didn't have the kids to play with so by the end of the day she was a bit antsy and was barking at me to get off work. So I took her and Yoda for a nice long walk and by the time we returned they both just crashed.

Wanna go bye-bye?

229/365 - I have had a very sore throat on one side for a couple days. It's also involved the side of my tongue too, which makes it hard to talk, eat, and swallow. It hasn't been fun. Robert convinced me to make an appointment to make sure it wasn't strep and I went during my lunch break. It isn't strep. They didn't even feel the need to strep test me. I went to the pharmacy after work to pick up the prescription of lidocaine they gave me for the pain. (It might have also had to do with the fact I was talking funny.) And since it was a quick trip, I took my Yoda pug. He loves to go bye-byes.

The wall part deux

228/365 - Diving doggy!


Our construction site of a yard...


The new retaining wall in front.


The new retaining wall on the side. You know. Where the first retaining wall with the stones before...


Robert wasn't happy with how the wall was and wasn't able to extend it around one of the man hole covers we have in our yard.  Enter conversations with the neighbor behind our house with several wooden retaining walls and 30+ years in construction and voila the retaining wall redo was born.

We are currently trying to resale the stones from the first wall and this one is moving along well and is more than halfway done so there's that.

I swear, if he tries to redo it again I'm pretty sure I'm going to have to hurt him.

Note: Reminder for Race for the Cure - Please read, donate (if you can) and pass on this link: http://bit.ly/rukLlC

Wildflowers

227/365 - Wildflowers seen on my walk this evening.


I also edited in a version of black and white...not sure which I prefer...





Edited to add: I had meant to include this at the bottom of all my posts from now until Race for the Cure, but I've been forgetting. So trying to remember and now - Please read, donate (if you can) and pass on this link: http://bit.ly/rukLlC

Cookies and Shakespeare!

226/365 - Forest Grove Theatre's Children's C.A.S.T. production (http://theatreinthegrove.org/wp/) of Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream. I went with Carus and our friend Jessica and her daughter G.




Alternative 365 - Homemade samoas cookies made today. Carus and I did the shortbread cookie base, a friend Jessica and I did the caramel/coconut topping, and I put on the chocolate touches.


These cookies do take a bit of work and I have a couple pointers to share in addition to the recipe if you want to try to make them (they are good and I do suggest you do make them).  \Just make sure you have time.

1) The freezer is this cookie's friend.  I put the dough in the freezer after cutting them out before trying to transfer to the baking sheet.  It helped SO much in keeping it from squishing when trying to transfer them. 

2) Coconut is not hard to toast. I had never done it before and was a bit intimidated.  But toasting it in the oven was very easy and it smelled so yummy.

3) The caramel/coconut mixture was a bit of a pain in the ass to get to stick to the cookie (thank you Jessica for your help carameling/coconuting my cookies). Keep the mixture warm and be patient. It's also okay to use your fingers - bonus, you can lick your fingers.

4) Don't dip the cookies in the chocolate, hold the cookies up-side-down in your hand and spread the chocolate on the bottom. Still messy, but a lot easier.

5) Freeze the cookies again to set up the chocolate. But let them "warm" up a bit before you try to eat them.

They are really good, but if you want a little less work - go with the bars recipe.  Which I might do next time...

No big whoop!

224/365 - This year Carus will be homeschooled - kinda. We have signed up with ORVA (Oregon Virtual Acedemy) with K12 which is an online public school. It is completely free to enroll, they send all the books and supplies you need (we still have to buy pens, pencils, paper, glue, scissors, etc - but we already have most of that stuff so no big whoop). And they will even provide you with a printer and computer to use, if you qualify. We do not. But again, we already have those so no big whoop. Her boxes arrived yesterday and she was most excited over the science box with the rocks and minerals in it (I was surprised it wasn't the art box with the paints and pastels, but that was a close second).

Carus has been asking to do homeschooling for a year now, begging basically. She was both bored and not challenged much last year as well as experiencing some bullying last year; frankly we were not happy with her teachers/school. Her teachers' response when I brought up the bullying was, "well, it's not just one-sided." And while I know she was picking back, because that's what kids do when they are picked on, they pick backl  It's not what I wanted to hear, nor what I should have heard. We were talking with her about how she should handle things without picking on the other person, I need her teachers to back that up with watching out for her and the other students and diffusing situations.

I'm freaking out a little over the decision to do it and I'm still a little "I've totally ruined her life" and all. But mostly, I'm excited. This programs sounds AMAZING and really do feel it is the right decision for her and will help her exceed so much.  She can move as fast or as slow as she wants/needs.


The rest of her supply photos are here.

225/365 - Can you guess what I'm watching?  Having a nice relaxing Saturday evening catching up on some of my DVR'd shows.


Doctor Who

It's that time again - Race For The Cure Portland 2011

Hello all, It's that time again and I'm back to bug you a bit.  Carus and I will be walking the 5K in the 20th Annual Komen Portland Race for the Cure this September 18, 2011.  Adam doesn't want to participate this year, but it's okay, we will be joined by my mother-in-law, Barbara, and several friends and coworkers participating.  Please join us, we'd love to walk with you.  We are doing the un-timed 5K walk. Whether or not you donate, please forward this email to your friends and family - how many people can we reach? First some facts from Komen (edited by me) and a few from straight from me and then I'll find the links you'll need to give us some money to help in our efforts to find a cure for breast cancer. The Facts:  One in eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in her lifetime.  Think of the friends, aunts, neighbors, sisters, mothers and grandmothers in your life, easily eight women.   My grandmother has had breast cancer, and thankfully has survived. My cousin has breast cancer, and is still fighting. One of the women Carus and I will be walking with this year battled breast cancer last year and is thankfully winning right now.  Her daughter will also be walking with us. It's clear that Komen has made a difference in the last 20 years.  20 years ago, the five-year survival rate for breast cancer diagnosed at its earliest stage was 74%.  Now we celebrate that it is 98%.  But, until no one fears a diagnosis of breast cancer, we still have a lot of work to do. Will you help me?  If you have only $5 to give, I will be as grateful as if you have $50 or $500.  The size of your contribution is not important, because every dollar adds up and makes a difference. You can donate online by clicking the link below, or you can donate by mail (please indicate on behalf of "my name" in the memo line of your check), along with matching gift forms if your employer has a matching gift program, to: Komen Portland Race for the Cure Unit 15 PO Box 4500 Portland, OR  97208 The links: MY donation page: Click here to visit my personal page. Join our team, Providence Imaging for a Cure, I would love to walk with you!Click here to view the team page for Providence Imaging for a Cure Carus's donation page: Click here to visit my personal page. Thank you for your time! Remember to please share this page. Rebecca

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