Smells Yummy

I love my hometown.

It's wonderfully diverse,

with a fun quirkiness thrown about here and there.

Today I was coming into town with the kids.  

We were stopped at a red light.

Charlie pipes up, "Something smells good."

Carl backs him up with, "I smell hamburgers."

They both said it smelled yummy.

In front of me is a rather nasty looking VW Jetta with big signs on the sides and back that say, "Biodiesel."

We caught this photo of it as it sped away:

There were 3 hippie looking guys cruising around in that beauty (the one with dreadlocks hopped out at the stoplight).

Funny thing is, yesterday I ran into Island Market to buy some Mega Millions tickets (heck yeah I did- it was up to $640 Million!!!- too bad we didn't win...)  

Anyway, after buying my tickets I went back to the car and thought I smelled french fries.  

Then I noticed this same car with a big "Biodiesel" plastered to the door.

And yes, it did make me hungry smelling it.

Odd.

I love it.

And I love Olympia.

"Mom's Better"

I can't tell if he's an Eddie Haskell in the making

or truly that awesome.

Today Carl was pointing out a picture on the yahoo.com homepage to his brother.

It was Kim Kardashian with a whole lotta cleavage.

this is the picture

He was giggling about boobs.

Then my little Carl said, "Mom's better."

A+ little boy.

You made your mama feel like a million bucks.

Well played.

Group Fitness Classes

Just a word, venting style.

Hey- Grumpy Lady In Spin Class Today:

I don't think that if you're seeking solitude, a group fitness class is the way to go.

So sorry I crowded you and took the opportunity to chat with my friends today in class.

I could tell it bugged you by the absolute lack of facial muscle movement when I apologized for wedging myself in there (there really WAS enough room for me...).  Then you promptly got up and moved a few feet away.

It was also clear that you didn't want to hear us chat by the obnoxious "SSSSHHHHHH!" you shouted midway through class.

I'm sure that you have your own issues in life.

And things that bring you joy.

Perhaps it's sitting anonymously in spin class, I don't know.

If that's so then go to the back of the class, not next to a row of bikes all set up together in the front of class.

One thing that brings me joy is going to spin class- where I can connect with girlfriends for a brief period of time without little people pulling on me every 2 seconds with a fresh request or way that I can meet their needs.

This oasis in spin class is my chance to say whatever the heck comes into my head while sweating to bad music and enjoying a much needed opportunity to sit at a friend's side.

So, I'm sorry that I bothered you but I'm not going to let you steal my joy.

-me

Another Chance to Make Myself Look Like a Crazy Person

Holy Moly.

This seems to be the week to knock me down a couple of rungs on the ladder.

When I was finishing up graduate school I had a fantastic opportunity to work on the Union Station renovation in downtown Seattle.

They really worked to make-up something for me to do on it, so the construction company hired me to monitor the subcontractors who did the true restoration work.

It was amazing to watch the transformation of that building.  I'm still proud that I had an itty-bitty role in that project.

Photo by Lara Swimmer

I love this photo from that project.  It was a wedding gift from my friend Lara Swimmer, a fantastic international photographer and one of the wonderful people I met while associated with the construction company.  

And yup, that's ME in the bottom corner.  

Wearing my hard hat.  

I used to climb that scaffolding and watch the artists apply the gold leaf details.

Somehow, for reasons I still don't fathom...

The contractor kept me on and asked me to be a project engineer on another construction job, and promised to train me.

Keep in mind I was an art major with a masters degree in historic preservation, I did NOT know new construction or have an inkling how to be a project engineer.

Somehow I found myself working on a $14 Million construction project (and other larger ones).  I was doing budgeting excel spreadsheets, writing Requests for Information (RFIs), Change Orders (COs) and providing submittals to the building owners.  It was all so beyond my reasoning and hard for me.

But- I worked with some really really great people.

And they kept promoting me...?

So I stayed for a couple of years.

One of the really really great people was the project superintendent.  I loved that man.  He reminded me of Santa Claus and he was always nice, even when I looked like a complete idiot and his blood was boiling over one thing or another that was going wrong on the jobsite.

I left that company over 10 years ago.  They've since been absorbed into another big, international construction company.

Then, last Friday, I zipped through Costco trying to be speedy so that I had time to run home, unload and put away groceries, and pack a lunch- in time to pick up the kids from pre-school and take them to the newly re-done Percival Park.

I'd just parked my cart at the check-out counter when I saw a man wearing the always recognizable Baugh Construction coat walking away from me.

(this is a picture of one the superintendent gave to me-the one he was wearing was a little more up-to-date)

I was so darn excited to see that man that I scrambled, grabbing Elsa, and raced after him calling his name until he turned around.

I completely left my cart abandoned, with my purse in it, at the check out.

When I caught up to him, he just looked at me stoically, not nearly as excited to see me as I was to see him.

But he humored me.

Let me meet his wife.

Said hello to Elsa.

Then the bagger guy came up and said they were ready for me to pay.

There wasn't an ounce of cool in my approach or talk with that man, or even my good bye.

But in true Superintendent Lantz style- he was calm and polite.

It almost made me miss the days of working with him.  The excitement of something big happening every day.

I was with him on the day of the Nisqually earthquake.  We had ironworkers erecting structural steel for the Boeing Wind Tunnel.  I'll never forget the look of panic on his face as he raced out to check on his men.  Or the relief when they were all accounted for and ok (even though those same iron workers were often the reason for his boiled blood).

I hope his heart has steadied now that he's retired.  That he can do all the things he enjoys.

Truthfully, I was really, really disappointed he wasn't wearing an airbrushed wolf t-shirt or big fancy wolf head rings.

It's so fun to run into someone you never thought you'd ever see again.

Even if you look like a complete a*# in the process.

Oops I Did It Again

I thought I was doing pretty well.

Not to be a big fat bragger, 

but I'm within 5 lbs of my high school graduation weight.

Which I do feel is respectable considering I've had 4 children.

(Not that everything when back to the way it was...)

That was, 

until yesterday.

Look for yourself...

I sat.

It crashed.

And that's not the first time this happened to me.

The other side of swing broke on me a couple of years ago (remember Jay?  I was talking to you when it happened...)

This time I'd just dished up a bowl of my friend Robin's yummy spicy Thai noodle salad (you can see evidence of it laying on the porch amid the scattering of rope threads).

I was feeling a little guilty to be eating noodle salad instead of a green salad.

Think someone was trying to tell me something?

Mark did say it was awesome and he was so glad he was there to see my face.

So not cool.

Looks like the 8 miles I ran on Saturday wasn't nearly enough.

Here's that recipe (again) for those who want the break-your-porch-swing-salad recipe.:)

adversity

It's not something you'd wish on anyone.

Especially when it affects kids and family.

We all seem to handle it differently.

Some of us hold it in and hide it.

Others let it consume them.

Yet others let themselves be an open book inviting everyone who cares to share in their experience.

I admire that strength and courage.

I doubt any of us could anticipate what we would want while facing adversity we don't want to imagine- yet when someone you care about is going through it, that's what you have to do.

Try and put yourself in their shoes and imagine what you would want others to do for you.

Then do it for them.

One thing I've learned is how much it means to hear someone express their genuine concern and well wishes for you.

It makes me realize how very important a community is for us all.

Life can be fantastic, filled with all kinds of amazing things, if you let it.

There are times too when it just isn't all that fantastic and you need that community to lighten your load, lift you back to your feet and wrap their arms around you until you gain your strength back.

I've been fortunate to witness incredible acts of generosity during times of adversity.

And I always find it inspirational.

It pushes me to look beyond myself and try to see the needs of others.

To wonder how I might lighten some one's load,

lift them to their feet,

wrap my arms around them until they can absorb some strength to stand on their own again.

From a simple home cooked meal to a bright bunch of flowers.  From acquaintances becoming friends when they come in and fold your laundry, scrub your floors, play with your children so your mind can wander, just for a little while before reality comes back.

Watching that unspoken affection for others makes me proud to live where I live and know the people I know.

There are good people here in my town.

I hope that everyone facing adversity has that community, can find those who shore up their souls, and warm their hearts again.

Life is fragile yet fantastic.

And I try not to take it for granted, each and every day is a blessing for which I'm thankful no matter how much I might grumble from time to time.

Making a Spectacle of Myself

You ever have days when you're zipping along, trying to keep up with the day and find yourself in a position you didn't see coming?

Well, last week I had one of those days.

I was pretty proud of myself for making everything work...

Pre-school drop off and pick up, morning at the gym, lunch with friends while kids played, picking up kids (by the hair of my chinney chin chin) from the bus on early release day, then back to school to watch a friend's 7th grade basketball game.

As we exited the basketball game, I was racing to keep up with 3 little runners-in-the-school-hallway while hanging up my cell phone with Mark when...

Wooooops...

Down I went.

Not just a little stumble or slip.

My move-

was arms flailing,

full body pitching forward,

landing on my hands and knees,

plop.

In the middle of my kids' school hallway,

with no one in sight that I could giggle with about it.

Of course I popped back up, shook myself off and continued racing down the hallway to catch those darn runners before they ran right into the parking lot full of distracted drivers.

It truly wasn't pretty.

I'm used to making a spectacle wherever I go.

But usually that spectacle is created by my herd of children (or me nipping at their heels trying to coral them).

This spectacle was completely my own.

Ouch.

Ouch on the ego as well as the knees.

Some days you have to live a little low on the grace level.

Girly Girl?

If I hadn't witnessed it with my own eyes, I never would have believed it.

This morning Elsa wanted to take a shower with Sarina, that's pretty normal.

The price, according to Sarina, was that Elsa had to be willing to wear whatever Sarina picked out for her and let Sarina do her hair.

Apparently, Elsa REALLY wanted to hop in that shower with her big sister because she agreed to it.

The amazing thing is, not only did she let Sarina dress her in pink from head to toe

but when Sarina left the make-over make-up out in the playroom

someone, of her own accord, got into the make-up and did her own make-over.

See for yourself.

It's true!

This is what I saw from the kitchen, and it drew me in...

From the side, I could see what she was digging in to...

And now for the application, with her own hands!

I'm so happy I could sing from the mountain tops.

Of course, her next outfit just a couple hours later wasn't nearly so cute: blue track pants, spiderman swim trunks pulled over the pants, and a spiderman t-shirt.

But for a brief and shining moment, I had a little girl dressed in pink again.

If that's what it takes, I'll leave out a little blush and eye shadow every now and then.

And did you notice her big brother armed in the background.  So glad he's working on his shot.  He might need it one day.

That same big brother, the other day was walking around with his blanket his nonna made for him, rubbing against his lips (his version of sucking his thumb but shhhh don't tell anyone).  He announced to me, I kid you not- blankie slung over his shoulder ready to rub- that his hands were becoming "man hands" and he showed me how thick the palms of his hands are getting.  Sweet sweet boy.

Other big news, big brother number two started his first t-ball practice.  It's going to be such an exciting year of baseball for him.  He'll be playing with all his buddies from pre-school.  It's a dream team and Mark gets to coach it.  He's so excited about baseball that he told me on Friday that he wants to coach baseball when he grows up.

And big sister had her 10th birthday slumber party (just a month late).  I took the girls ice skating and they were awesome on the ice.  So cute and full of concentration, even while boy watching...  Yikes!  Boy crazy already?!

In all honesty, I was paranoid about having 5 young girls ice skating from 7:45- 9:45pm in Parkland.  So I bought bright fabric, cut into strips to make matching scarves for the girls- so I could easily find and count heads.  But it wasn't bad.  The kids out there were just young kids out on a Friday night.  Nothing too rowdy or crazy.

That's about it for the updates.

Perils of technology and unsupervised children

I think that too much of something can be a bad thing.

Like technology.

Case in point...

Tonight I was upstairs putting a sick little 3 year old in bed.

The rest of the motley crew was roaring it up downstairs.

I was moderately annoyed that they were being so noisy while I was trying to put the "baby" to bed.

Little did I know what was really going down without supervision...

Child number three was sitting proudly on a stool

completely naked.

Ok, not a huge deal, it happens often enough.

The kicker is that his big sister was on skype with her friend.

Holy moly. 

Totally inappropriate.

Poor kids running wild without someone present to keep them from doing something they might regret down the road.

Like when he's in school with said sister's friend and she says, "I remember when I saw you naked on skype."

I wonder if one day he'll have that dream that he's in the middle of school without a stitch of clothes on.

Who knows, he may be a proud nudist.

But jeez, I really hope that was the only naked-on-skype incident I EVER have to deal with.

Please oh please oh please oh please.

In his defense he was instantly sorry he disappointed me, but I think he enjoyed the attention while he had it...

A Ray of Sunshine

Do you ever have that feeling when you're somewhere,

surrounded by people,

but feel alone?

I'm weird like that, I guess.

But today I had that feeling.

Which is fine.

Sometimes it's nice to feel anonymous.

Then in walked a friend and I felt a real smile on my face.

Like when you walk from a cool shadow into a warm pool of sunshine.

It brightened my day and warmed me right up.

Sometimes it's the little things that lift your spirit.

And it happened not once but twice.

Sweet friends are tough to come by.

Sweet friends that stick around year after year are even better.

I'm so glad I got to bask in their sunshine, even if it was just for a brief period of time.