its time for ten things about ME again!

Yes, that's right... the perpetually self absorbed mother of fabulous sons has decided once again to tell the world (ok the whole world doesnt read this mommie blog, but they should) some facts about herself:

1) I am 34 years old and it took me a damned long time to like myself, but now i do. I am not real concerned about people who dont.

2) I am returning to the world of higher education this fall, after a 13 year sabattical. I intend pursing my RN degree so that i can continue to care for my mother in law as her medical conditions deteriorate.

3) I do not currently have a valid drivers liscence. I didn't miss it until we bought the new PT Cruiser. now i think its time for me to drive again.

4) I am a slacker. There is always so very much for me to do, and often i dont get it done, just because... but thats ok, as i age, the memories of time on the porch with friends and family will be better than the memories of laundry washed and folded.

5) I am currently married to a southern redneck who can backyard barbeque like nobody's business. (i have been married a couple of other times as well, but they couldnt grill like chris can)

6) I go through periods of "obsession". I find a song i like and listen to it over and over, i find a place i like to eat and go no where else for days, i find an author i like and compulsively read all of their work.

7) Contrary to popular opinion, i am not an idiot. i have found the center for my focus and dont pay a lot of attnetion to things outside my mein. it works for me.

8) I currently reside in Oregon. I was born in this very town actually, although i have not lived here my whole life. i did get out, i just chose to return.

9) i cant think of very much else interesting about myself... but i can think of a millino things about my children... go figure.

10) i spent almost an hour trying to come up with 10 things about myself... and had to cheat on two of them, so i think i will now go think about myself for a while. oh wait...

Swing Baby!

It's all about Big Bad Voodoo Daddy tonight!

Riding Double:

Indy took his best girlfriend out for a gallop on the neighbors wooden horse. The two rode double up and down the sidewalk for ages, chasing butterflies and kittens and other children.
All the laughter and shouts of glee reminded me of my fortune that i am able to stay home with him, and not miss these moments.

Sometimes we grumble about not having that second income. It's hard to see our friends with extra cash to play golf or see a movie or buy a new CD; i feel bad that i cant afford to take my kids out to lunch or shopping at the mall, but really... it's worth it. There's always a picnic of homemade sammies (sandwiches) at the park across the street, and it's nearly free to walk to the lake a few blocks away and feed them old bread (there is a bread outlet near here that will sell a grocery bag full of "animal feed" bread for a dollar!). Ice tea is inexpensive to make and wonderful to sip on the porch.

So, we aren't living in a big house, with an even bigger mortgage. So, we aren't driving matching Expeditions. So, we spend less time in restaurants than our contemporaries... less time on the golf course than our friends. We have Indy, riding double with his girlfriend on a borrowed stick horse. I feel bad for my friends... i am sipping tea on my porch watching my baby play and grow and learn and share and THRIVE, they are at work.

Parkrose Paint Party '08:

We had a heck of a volunteer crew come out and help College Pro Painters!

We had a great time. There was a whole herd of us painting, talking, trimming, eating, babysitting and just getting together in a wonderful community effort to make our homes look beautiful. Even Indy got to do the painting bit...Honestly, it warms my heart to see our neighbors come out and help one another. Today it was suggested that we might do a small community vegetable garden next year. we have our first neighborhood watch meeting to start our group next month. and we have our community safety fair coming up, too! Great Things are happening in our neighborhood!

Oh, and I am being put forward as a resident/candidate to sit on our board of directors for our partnership housing community. Wow.

Keeping the boy(s) busy:

Well, Duck says (and i quote), "I DON'T DO WORK!"

Indy, on the other hand, had a great time painting. Our neighborhood partnership had lots of volunteers to paint the buildings in our community. We all received t-shirts, and a nice lunch was provided. Tomorrow the paint crew (and of course all of us neighbor-hood volunteers) will be finishing the trim on my neighbors home and beginning on our house! Hopefully i will have more and better pictures to share then.

WOW!

i LOVE LOVE LOVE this picture:

Duck, Indy, and Desiree... aren't they adorable! (i didn't take the picture, no. and for those not in the know: that pretty girl sitting next to my sons is Duck's girl.... i kept asking for a picture of them to share and he came through for me)

may you live in interesting times:

So, as i mentioned before, we all who live here were given notices that there were to be no fireworks in our community due to extreme fire danger. The neighborhood parents didn't listen and let their children play with fireworks anyway. Through their negligence and lack of supervision of their children, we had a small fire.
The children (not Indy obviously since he is only three and supervised to the nines) lit a firework that got away from them, scorching the back fence and fire-ing a small patch of running from the back fence clear to the back road. the fire department came out to put out the remaining flames and hot spot or two... Random passersby helped put out the fire on the road side, and neighbors with pitchers of water from their homes put out most of the fire on our side of the fence. It would have been easier to extinguish if our exterior faucets worked, but the property managers deactivated the faucets to keep residents from washing cars and having swimming pools or watering the back yards.

no one was hurt, and the culprit(s) were not formally apprehended, although all the children in the neighborhood are talking about who did it. The day following the fire, after the police, fire fighters and apartment managers had come and gone, all who were involved in talking to the police (again except us) had their cars vandalized, presumably by the fire-starter(s). I assume we were left unmolested because most of the children in the area adore Indy, accept me, and fear Chris's wrath.

Let's Catch Up:

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condolences to a friend's family:

my explanation, quickly, of why i haven't recently blogged: the printer isn't hooked up to our pc at the moment... that's where the camera card reader is. thus, i cant access the pictures with the pc meaning i cant put up any new pics of Indy and Duck up here... and we all know the real reason ya'll come here isn't to hear me ramble, its for the pictures!

today i decided i would ramble a little and show an old picture of a friend.
I met David years ago. His cousin John was dragging him around somewhere, or maybe it was the going away party, or maybe later it was a bar. the "when" is lost in the mists. David was a nice man, with a big heart, who life didn't play fair with.
i heard this morning that he left us last night.
I will miss his occasional rides past my home: he would ride his bicycle around town, and if we were out on the porch he would pull up and chat. we had him over for a few bbq's last summer and he was even at the block party for labor day weekend '07 (that's when this picture was taken). We always waved when we saw him walking his sister's dog. We weren't close friends, but i feel the nice guy lost, just the same.
To his family and loved ones, I'm sorry for your loss.