growing up in town:

A beautiful day demands a walk...

when i first saw the vacant lot near our home, i thought it looked sad, neglected, and a little like a wasteland.

then we got closer and I realized its a wonderland:

We spent nearly half an hour playing with the "blow-y flowers" and enjoying a warm day in a new way.

artistic:

something about this photograph captivates me.

i can explain no more than that.

THREE:

Today is 16 April 2008.

Indiana is THREE today.

his reaction?

"I DON'T WANT TO BE A BIG BOY!! I'M TWOOOOOO! (sniffle sniffle)"

It's going to be a long day at the Chuck E Cheese.

fun faces:

Ok, Indy...

show 'em your TOUGH GUY face!

Washed and Waxed:

The new cruiser just got its first wash and wax.
It took us a couple hours, but it was fun and she looks beautiful.
Indy helped.

pics from the park party forthcoming

Take my Breath Away:

To be honest, this picture doesn't have anything to do with what i wanted to say today... i just like it.



I had to share this:
Yesterday, as Indy and I are doing the mambo together in the living room, he jumps down off his dancing perch on the coffee table, wraps his arms around my legs and tells me, "I love you, momma, you're my best girl".
Now, i don't know where he heard that, but i had the instant watery eyes and thought to myself... for all the complaining i do, for all the times he screamed until i wanted a drink, for all the piddle i wiped off the floor because he can't aim yet, yeah, its worth it.
(its not that i doubted it before, but that was one of THE MOMENTS if you know what i mean)

I drive like Oncle Nate:

Indy had a minor accident, giggles, and shouts :

"I drive like Oncle Nate!"

I nearly wet my pants.

Long Live Senor Crash!

(its an O not U in the word "Oncle" on purpose, i prefer the french spelling and pronunciation)

Welcome Home:

there are many repercussions to which friends a person chooses in their youth.

i was luckier than most in this regard.

I have mentioned our group a few times here... as we searched for each other and came together as adults, who's shared history made us veterans of a crazy time, most fully recovered. Oddly, most of my current friends i have known for many years. usually in those odd myspace surveys, its my husband who i have known the least amount of time.


There's Terry: He was the high school jock, captain of this and that (my high school boyfriend) full of himself and with a glorious life ahead of him, too good for the rest of us, but Here he is now: a sweet guy, mostly single, who plays with Indy, helps my mom out, hangs out with my brother, plays video games with my husband, and is a great friend.


There's Teresa: loud, proud, brash, and a little insecure, our favorite, she made you want to protect her from life, but Here she is now: the most stable of my friends, with a quiet husband for 7ish years now, stays home and babysits her nieces and nephews and in laws, rediscovered and is a beautiful person


There's Melody: She was the "new kid" never really fitting in, but ever ready to please, bake for us, or just be noticed by us, in retrospect probably more fragile than any of us knew...but Where is she now: well, no one actually talks to her really, in nearly a year. the loss of younger brother from heart failure 3 years ago seemed to shatter that veneer of sanity she hid behind. i feel for her, hope she recovers and rejoins us, but for now am cut off, as i circle the wagons to protect my family.

There's Arica: Beautiful, funny, charming, slightly evil, flitting like a butterfly around life. Loud enough to lead, smart enough not to. Here she is now: two beautiful sons (one brand new) a handsome husband who loves her, who serves his country and all of us, keeping himself and the rest of us safe, fighting for us all in Iraq. Arica, with her humor and strength keeping us all sane, and grounded. wow.


There were others, but there was John: quiet, competent, caring, a fantastic family, he struggled with his image of himself, and of us, he was the most outwardly normal of everyone i knew... because we all know jock's, slow's, new's, tramp's and drunk's cant be normal... and that was the rest of us, in one or more categories. As soon as he could, he joined up with the service and kicked some of this dust. And here he is now: quiet, caring, flashing moments of competence, but unsettled, struggling with his image of himself and a family that evolved from Donna Reed into Ozzy Osbourne while he was away.


Now, this post isn't about all of my old friends who stayed with me... it's about John's parents. As the family changed, they adjusted so that they could still exude the same quiet strength and competence and security that they did all my life... even if Karen has taken to moving the Christmas tree. the history i have with them is sometimes embarrassing, sometimes i try not to remember, but they have always been willing to be there... when i deserved it, when i didn't, when they didn't have to be. even now.

So, the repercussions i started out talking about? Sometimes, when you find a lifetime friend in your youth, your children benefit years later. how? from getting to have an extra set of grandparents most kids don't get to have. the "john's mom and John's dad" that every little kid should have in their lives.

welcome home, Indy's wearing his shirt today!

...they also hold hands with the Easter Bunny:

Do I really need to add anything?

run to mommy hunny!

Happy Easter!

We attended the annual Central Linn Easter Egg Hunt in Brownsville. Indiana participated in the 0-3 age group and found 5 eggs! Sure it doesn't sound like a lot, but it really was. We had a great time and look forward to attending that event again next year.

Is it strange to drive 20 miles to a different town for egg hunting? Probably. But, Brownsville is the hometown of hometowns, the bastion of my family, my favorite memory lane... its Castle Rock in Stand By Me. no kidding.

Next event for us in Brownsville? Pioneer Picnic. Yes, i rail against it every year, but still we attend. Sometimes, you just have to go home again.

up close and personal

over the 3 years i have been blogging i have often talked about Waverly Park where we go to feed the ducks. The goose population has really taken off there and although occasionally they can get a little rough (re: bite) most of the time the geese come right on up and eat nearly out of your hands. So, on our ramble to feed the geese we have picked up bits of leaves, grass, rocks, feathers and various flotsam... i think i am going to have his grandpa build him a box to hold all his nature treasures. i feel a bit bad about throwing all this fun stuff in the trash when we get home.

couldnt resist:

Every now and again i get pictures i just have to share. Here are a few from the last couple of days:

This first one is Indiana and his daddy with the South Fork of the Santiam River in the background:Next was a sweet moment at the top of the Falls at McDowell Creek Park:And Last, but certainly not least, was this absolute marvel... Indy with his Oncle Nate (i like the French Spelling better than the English, I am pretentious that way). This was also taken at McDowell Creek park:

there was a good shot of me at the falls, also, but i will save that for another day... Oh, yeah, the car... I still haven't actually taken a picture of it. well, i have, but it was lousy. So, you must still wait for pictures of it, sorry!

tummy troubles update:

The news of the day? Indy is keeping food down! He was cleared by Doctor Bartlett today and is feeling fine!

Feelings of relief sweep through our home, and a big "thank you" goes out to all of our friends and family who kept Indy in their thoughts the last few days.



Pictures and all that junk on the new car coming in the next day or two. It's funny, we were all excited about the car for a few hours, then Indy got sick and it just sort of wasn't that important. I am, of course, back to being excited!

Hospital Run:

So, we were at the car lot today buying our new car and instead of getting a regular dinner, we hopped over to Wendy's and got a quick bite for Indy, then went back to continue the marathon session at the dealership. The car dealer actually bought our lunch/dinner which we thought was kind of nice.

UNTIL:

about 4 hours after Indy ate his cheeseburger kids meal he was violently ill. I'm talking exorcist vomiting. So, we cleaned him up in the bath with his dad, i washed his sheets and put fresh blankets on his bed, wiped down the walls, scraped up the floor and back to sleep he goes. 2 hours later he awakens again from a deep sleep violently spewing. We threw him into the new car and headed for the er. The nurse leads us to our little cubby-hole where Indy proceeds to vomit more... this time getting not just the bed, himself, but me and the nurse as well.

Diagnosis: FOOD POISONING.

Bad Food from Wendy's. Good news, he is spewing everything as his body combats illness on its own. his stomach is working hard to right the wrong. he shouldn't need hospitalization unless he dehydrates or cant hold liquids down by noon or develops a fever.

For now he takes a few sips of his clear liquid diet, throws them up, cries a little, then rests until he tries again. its going to be a very long night... but be SHOULD be just fine in a day or so.
in case you are curious... yes, he threw up in the new car on the way home from the doctor. thankfully only on the blanket he was covered in.

Sprout Card Update!

The completed card:

<--- Outside

The card is all ready to go to sprout. the submission form is signed, now we just need to go to the post office to send it off!

just 6 more weeks until Indy turns 3!

<---Inside

Indy and the gang...

We love sprout...

i mentioned it before, but we really do. This will be the cover of the birthday card that we send in for Indy's birthday, hoping it get picked to be on the Birthday greeting bit of the "Sunny Side Up Show"! Sure, his birthday isn't for another 6 weeks but got to get it in Early!

Do i look 34?

Ok, so I am still having a little problem with the number thing. My friends are almost all older than I, and seem to think that I am being ridiculous since they are all passed this age and are not old.
But, when i think of my "twenty-something" husband- thirty four seems old. well, older.

i dont think you can see the streaks that well in this photograph, but sort of in the front. and besides, i kind of like the picture; as much as i can like a picture of me.

more pics of Indy when i can get him to sit still long enough... maybe i should figure out the "rapid motion" setting on the camera.

i feel, cough cough sniffle... much better!

Just needed a "bit of the pretty" to brighten my spirits. I am feeling a bit better, my head seems to be shrinking. And the bass drum throb is now less constant.

I took this picture a couple years ago at

Sahalie Falls with the old Kodak camera that Duck now enjoys. It was a nice trip, and i got this lovely picture to remind me that not always will i be sick and stuck inside my home with a cranky toddler who thinks we should be outside at the park because its 45 degrees and sunny.

Indy is now swimming. NO, i didnt throw him in the river. He goes to the gym.

sick

i have been so sick for the last week that i havent posted, photographed, or even thought about blogging... i am sort of feeling better, but not really. enough to be upright anyways. expect new stuff soon-ish, but not today.

headaches, cigarettes and streaks!

this post isnt about Indy, so if he is your only interest here... feel free to move along:

So, i started taking Chantix yesterday. Just took my second pill and printed out my form from the support web site to track where and when i smoke. I have quit before (both times i was pregnant in fact) and once stayed quit for 2 1/2 years, but it wasnt to be. So, i am trying again. This time with a little help. Good Luck to me.

My doc has been having me track my migraines for the last 6 weeks (two more to go on the tracking program before she gives me some kind of relief). The only thing i have learned since tracking them is that my head hurts more often than i thought, but not all of the little aches do i call migraines. A real killer migraine has to last for more than a day, knock my from my feet and require something more than a tylenol. but thats just me. i only call it a migraine when its a killer, otherwise its a headache. I suppose i also learned that the doctor is sadistic, she gives me NO RELIEF from the headaches for 2 whole months. When i go back in after tracking, THEN she will prescribe something. In the mean time i am sucking down every outdated prescription pain killer that i got from the dentist last year and never threw away! hmmmm.

on a lighter note... (pun intended... you'll see)
My husband isn't one of the light in the loafer type fellows. He COULD be one if he wanted to, though... He highlighted my hair a couple days ago, with some really nice red-gold streaks. We used a box from the local department store, and he pulled my hair through the little cap and everything. It isnt the first time he was involved in styling my hair. about 16 months ago i had him cut off about 3/4 of a foot of hair from my head. I never regretted it. So, if Lowe's ever treats him wrong, he has a great career as a "stylist" to fall back on. heheh.