Splish Splash

For the past few days, errands have been all about back to school for Justina. We have gotten new white uniform shirts, a new uniform skort, some socks, and school supplies. We also managed to get a trip in to the recycling center. And that meant washing the bins out. Justina and Abby volunteered to do the job.

Justina and Abby really dove into washing the bins out. They started at 2:30 and continued until 5:30. They really must have had some fun!

In Other News . . .

We are all still smarting from the loss of Marshall. Fifteen is a longtime to have a dog. There will defintely be a lengthy time of grieving. We know it was the right thing to do. But if doing the right thing were easy, then everyone would be doing it more often I guess.

Amanda and Alyssa have just finished their first week of school. Justina starts next Wednesday. Tomorrow will be a soccer Saturday. Alyssa has a tournament this weekend in Santa Barbara and Justina has her first game tomorrow. Last night, Alyssa and I watched the dismal performance by both the U.S. men's and women's track team in their 4x100 relay heats. They really shanked it big time.

Don't forget the Olympic poll! Until the next time, take care and God bless. :)

Goodbye Good Friend

Today was not a happy day in our household. Our beloved family dog of 15 years, Marshall, has passed away. Several months ago, we noticed some tumors growing allover his body. He was 15 years old and we knew that it would only be a matter of time. That time was today.

James got Marshall as a puppy at only a few days old. The litter had been hit with the parvo virus. He nursed him back to health and got to keep him. Marshall was a very hyper young dog. As he aged he became a wonderful family dog. He loved the kids (his girls). He loved to sleep in their room at night. If they were spending the night at a friend's house then things just weren't right in his world. And woe to the person who came between him and his girls.

The last few years of his life were rough. He had ingested some medicated lamb feed that nearly killed him. He had spent a few nights in the emergency vet hospital being administered activated charcoal. Miraculously, he survived. And then there was a dog bite that he never fully recovered from. He was definitely stiff in his hind leg after that. Eventually, his hearing would go. And then we noticed some lumps on him when petting him. At 15, we knew he didn't have any fight in him to survive cancer. And to whose benefit would it have been anyway?

In the past month, he slept most of the time. He began to have difficulty going up and down the stairs. Gradually, he lost weight. And last week, he stopped eating. James and I knew it was time. I called the vet this morning and made an appointment for when I knew he was off work and Amanda and Alyssa would be home from school. Tina, a family friend, came over and watched Justina and Abby. James carried him to the car and we drove to the vet's office.

Our final moments with him were bittersweet. In the vet's office, he seemed somewhat at peace. We pet him for several minutes and said our tearful good-byes. He was still thinking of his girls as he reached his head up and licked the tears from Amanda's cheek. A gentle and humble creature and yet so noble in his duty to his family. He was loyal to the very end.

Goodbye Marshall. You were such a wonderful dog and we miss you terribly. Goodbye good friend.

We would like to extend our appreciation to Dr. Porte and the staff at Animal Clinic of Santa Maria for the compassion they extended to our family, and especially Marshall.

1124 Timber Lane

About a year ago, my husband came home and informed us that the Air Force was closing the East Base housing on Vandenberg Air Force Base. All the houses were scheduled for demolition and the land would be returned to natural habitat. Why do I bring this up? Nearly eight years ago, we lived at 1124 Timber Lane in East Base Housing on Vandenberg Air Force Base.

Periodically, on trips to Lompoc, we would stop and see what progress was being made. Appliances, windows, cabinetry, etc. were salvaged for Habit for Humanity. Then there was the asbestos removal. This process had been going on, month after month, block by block. We would drive down empty, house-less streets where co-workers, neighbors, and dear friends once lived. "What squadron were they in?" "I miss them. They were such a neat family." "Remember that barbecue we went to?" The whole housing development is a ghost town now. Brush growing over front yards, dunes of sand where lawns once grew, and even a young deer carcass (probably a coyote kill) . . .

One afternoon, we stopped by the light blue house with the dark blue trim. We walked around the yard. Many a battle was waged with gophers there. They had clearly won the war. Most of the fence around the nearly quarter acre back yard was missing. The door from the laundry room to the outside was open and some of the windows had been broken. Looking in, it had become a rodent's paradise. The parquet wood flooring was buckled and coming up. But it was nice to know that the Air Force left the refrigerators running in all these houses the whole time. Oh, they had also replaced the hot water heater . . .

We lived three blocks from Los Padres Elementary School where Amanda and Alyssa went to school. Amanda and Alyssa both learned how to ride their bikes without training wheels. It was Justina's first home. It was home to one of my fondest memories of Justina as a baby - a one-year-old running around on the front lawn in just a cloth diaper watering it with a hose. It was where the kids would just walk down the sidewalk along the backyard fence to the park. There was Amanda's eighth birthday party in record heat when I was eight months pregnant. Justina learned to walk in that house . . .

That was our house with the curved driveway. There is a keyhole-shaped patch of ground behind it.

That was the park. As you can see many of the houses have been demolished already,

including the ones just west of ours.

As for the actual building itself, . . . well? The acoustics were terrible. The pipes were rusting. There was an earwig infestation of Armageddon proportions that had taken over the closet of Justina's bedroom. It was a constant battle with the gophers. The driveway sloped into the garage, causing it to flood during a heavy rain. Then there was the termite damage. Of course, there was no accounting for the tonnage in lead that was in the paint alone. It was so flipping small - 1,000 square feet! Yet somehow I managed to host Amanda's and Alyssa's baptism celebration for 50 guests in that house . . .

Soon, a construction fence went around the house. The asbestos removal process began and we knew the time was near. And then that time had arrived. The house at 1124 Timber Lane was no more. Our side of the block had been obliterated. Still there are many houses left to be torn down.

All that is left is the foundation. The sidewalk to the left of the curved driveway leads to the park.

There is the old adage that a house does not make home. After driving down Timber Lane, I believe this to be true. For everything I hated about that house, there are plenty more memories that make me miss it.

In Other News . . .

Day four of the Spider bite treatment and the red streak is finally beginning to fade. The blister has shrunk. Today, she returned to soccer practice and had a friend over for a couple hours.

Alyssa's soccer team finished pool play in second place in the Anaheim tournament this weekend. They played a semi-final game on Sunday at 8 a.m. and lost 1-0. James said she did pretty well and had some wonderful saves. (I hate missing her games.) She had soccer practice this evening in Santa Barbara.

I didn't watch any Olympics yesterday. I spent all Sunday working on our 4-H club's newsletter. Praise the Lord and pass the peas, that is finally finished and I got it in the mail this afternoon. My lack of computer skills greatly impeded the task. But on Saturday, I did watch Michael Phelps win his eighth gold and Dara Torres swim to a silver in the 50 meter freestyle, missing gold by a hundredth of a second. This woman is 41 and I'm 38. She could probably swim 500 laps before I could dog paddle 50 meters. Incredible!

Today is the anniversary of Amanda and Alyssa receiving their First Holy Communion six years ago at Saint Louis de Montfort Church in Orcutt. It was at 11:30 Mass and the priest was Father Mark Newman.

Don't forget the new poll! Until the next time, take care and God bless.:)

It's in the Bag

You tossed your ballots in the cart and now it is time to checkout the results of the Paper or Plastic Poll. The question was what is your preference when grocery shopping? There were a total of 16 votes cast (which made us ineligible to use the express lane). The choices were paper, plastic, reusable cloth bag, other, and don't care. The best buy winner was plastic with 5 votes (31%). There was a tie for second between paper and reusable cloth bag with 4 votes a piece (25%). Three people (18%) voted that they don't care.

Personally, I hate plastic shopping bags. They usually do not contain my groceries when I am driving home from the store. I arrive home to find bottles and produce that have rolled under a seat, or worse, fall out upon opening the door and break allover the driveway. However, they are very handy when having to dispose of a crappy diaper. I do like paper bags, but I learned that they can be a breeding ground for roaches. Lovely I say.

I do have some reusable cloth bags from Albertsons. Supposedly you get a 5¢ per bag discount on your groceries when you use their cloth bags. But when I put them up their with my groceries, they start bagging my groceries in the plastic bags. After a couple times of asking them to use the cloth bags and getting the response, "we already started with these," I did raise holy heck with the manager. It's not about the 5¢ discount. It's the principle. And it is a huge pet peeve of mine when people don't want to be put out to do their job, but I digress.

The new poll is up! Inquiring minds want to know all about your Olympic watching habits. And do tell a friend!

In Other News . . .

If you remember yesterday, I mentioned that Alyssa's soccer team is playing a tournament in Anaheim. They won their first game 3-0 and tied their second game 1-1. There is one more game in the pool to play between the other teams. That result will determine how they place in the pool and what game they play tomorrow. And so far her back is feeling good.

Justina has taken three doses of her Keflex and soaked her foot in warm water with Epsom salt twice. The streak is still there and the blister has refilled. There appears to be no improvement yet it doesn't appear to be worse wither. I called the doctor and he said that it usually takes 48 hours with an oral antibiotic before there is some noticeable change. So stay tuned for that.

Until the next time, take care and God bless. :)

Bite Me!

Late Wednesday evening, after her soccer practice, Justina was complaining about her foot itching and that she had a bug bite. Well my little Jussie monster can sometimes be a bit of a drama queen. So I was not all that attentive about it. I saw it from a few feet away and it looks like a little red insect bite, maybe a flea or mosquito, but nothing out of the ordinary. Or so I thought.

Justina's foot this afternoon before her appointment

By Thursday evening, a reddish ring and a small blister had formed. Okay, maybe this is not an ordinary bug bite. She didn't have a fever and her appetite was not suffering. She was playing with her little sister without any complaints. So we decided that in the meantime we would keep an eye on it and try to get her into the pediatrician in the morning. Our regular pediatrician was on vacation. Instead she saw the nurse practitioner in our HMO office, who in turn asked the other pediatrician to look at it. The verdict was that it was most likely a spider bite and now it was definitely infected. The blister was popped and a culture was sent to the lab to determine what sort of nastiness was in there. Then onto the the fun part - what to treat it with.

Alyssa, Justina, and Abby are all allergic to penicillin. And both Alyssa and Justina are also allergic to sulfa drugs. But all of them have done well with cephalosporins, a distant cousin by marriage to penicillin. Actually, it is analogous to penicillins and some people who are allergic to penicillin can tolerate cephalosporin and some can't. So she is on Keflex. If the culture comes back and something else is indicated, then we will go from there. In the meantime, she has to soak in warm water and Epsom salt twice a day and change dressings each time until the swelling and inflammation are gone. And hopefully that will be by the end of this weekend.

In Other News . . .

The Olympics are really wrecking my sleep! I am writing a letter to the International Olympic Committee requesting that all future Olympics be held in cities closer to the Pacific Time Zone. Last night, I did manage to watch Michael Phelps get his sixth gold medal in the 200 meter individual medley and Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh beat the Belgians like waffle batter in women's beach volleyball. But I just had no gas left in the tank to watch the women's all-around gymnastics final. Instead I invoked the power of the spoiler and hopped online to see that Nastia Liukin and Shawn Johnson won gold and silver (respectively) and that the "15-year-old" Yilin Yang from China got bronze. Now I don't want to take anything away from Miss Yin, but I just learned from my Berlitz Chinese-English dictionary that 15 Chinese years is the equivalent of 10 or 11 years everywhere else.

Amanda and Alyssa started school today. Alyssa is a sophomore and Amanda is a senior. They had their pictures taken, got their lockers, and bought their books. Once again, we managed to pay for the books without having to auction the family dog on ebay. Those textbooks are so heavy and expensive that I am thoroughly convinced that they are sold by the pound. They will not have school on Monday as that is freshman orientation. Alyssa said that she would like to make a special trip to the school that day to check the "young 'uns" out. Afterall, she was a freshman once but that was so last year.

James and Alyssa left for Anaheim this evening for a soccer tournament.This will be Alyssa's first time playing since her back injury. She is still experiencing some random back pain. And I have put in a call to the specialist. I think it is time for a more aggressive approach than what he has taken. She has rested it for a few months now. Dear Santa, all I want for Christmas is a Red Ryder BB gun, some slippers, and for Pete's sake, some healthy kids!

The Paper or Plastic Poll ends tonight. Stay tuned for the results tomorrow. Until then, take care and God bless, especially all my Phelps phan peeps. (And yes, I did just go there!) :)

A Little Bake-cation

Alyssa, Abby, and Justina hanging out in Abby's wading pool.

Abby fell in love with this little pink life vest.

Summer has certainly flashed by and is nearly over. And I wanted to squeeze in a little trip before school started. So last Thursday, the kids and I drove over to Bakersfield to visit my mother. We left Thursday afternoon and stayed until Sunday evening.

Our trip didn't start out so well. There were at least two sections of Highway 166 that were undergoing construction, with the road reduced to one-way traffic as they were paving long sections of the road. The first stop lasted about 30 minutes. The second stop was less than that, maybe about 5 to 10 minutes. (I think we hit it at the right time.) To make matters worse, the road was so chewed up at the Cuyama stretch that the speed limit was 35 mph for about 20 miles or so. Now that area is a huge speed trap. So you definitely do not want to get nailed for speeding especially in a double fine construction zone. Needless to say, our normal little two hour roadtrip became three instead.

But we made it and enjoyed dinnertime with my brother, Pat, and Nonie. (That's what our children call my mother.) After dinner, my mother pulled out some maps she had of the central Sierra Nevadas in California. We reminisced about pack trips we had taken years ago, particularly out of the packing station at Quaking Aspen through places like Fungston Meadow, Big and Little Whitney Meadows, Franklin Pass, and Rattlesnake. Wonderful times for sure.

The next day, the kids and I were a little slow getting around, but we planned on driving up to Delano. Alyssa has expressed interest in science and wanted to explore various careers in science. So she spent a few hours with the agronomist for our family business. Meanwhile, Justina, Abby, and I went down to the cold storage to my brother Chris' office. Abby was introduced to the forklift, namely the forklift horn which she honked with almost neverending delight. Next, we drove into town to eat luch with Chris. Amazingly, my car was clean enough that he could ride in it with us. After lunch, we went back to the cold storage and picked some black seedless grapes from one of the vineyards nearby. I also got to see the "micro-winery" that my uncle Luis had built and subsequently Chris has continued. I have to say that it defintiely beats the heck out of the basement it used to be in.

Abby (right) stopped honking the horn on the forklift long enough to take this picture with Justina (cell phone pic)

Justina in a vineyard of black seedless grapes (cell phone pic)

Later that evening, the kids went swimming. Nonie had gotten a little orange wading pool for Abby. I went in the big pool with her for a bit, but for the most part she hung out in her little pool. And Lord knows how much Abby loves water. After dinner, Nonie and Justina played a little Go Fish. And of course, we watched the Opening Ceremony for the Olympics.

Justina has an aweseome Go Fish hand

Saturday morning meant some more swimming for the kids. And after lunch, Abby went down for her nappy-nap and Justina played quietly by herself and with her Nonie. Alyssa and I went to the Pyrenese Restaurant where Chris was with some friends from high school. We stayed for a couple hours and then we headed back. But there was a little detour made to show Alyssa my alma mater. Later that evening, the kids did some more swimming before dinner. We stayed up late watching Olympics - American women's beach volleyball team against Japan and swimming where Bakersfield native Larsen Jensen won the bronze medal in the 400 meter freestyle.

Pancakes have become the signature Sunday breakfast when visiting Nonie's house. I don't know how exactly it evolved this way, but it has. Nonie just fixes pancakes on Sundays. Chris came over and of course, we watched more Olympics. This time it was the American men's basketball team against China. Normally, we need to wait until the evening to swim as it is so hot during the day in Bakersfield this time of the year that even swimming can be unpleasant. But surpisingly, the weather was cooler on Sunday. So the kids swam most of the day. We headed out that evening around five o'clock.

From time to time, the kids and I like to stop in the great no-tropolis of Tupman at the Tule Elk Reserve. We don't do it everytime, especially since it is usually getting dark or is dark by the time we leave Bakersfield. But this time we stopped. The last few times we went, some of the cows were near the fence by the road. Unfortunately this time was not the case, but Alyssa and Justina did get to see some of the elk through a telescope mounted on a viewing platform. There are elk in the Los Padres National Forest outside of Cuyama, and we have been privilege to see a herd here and there on a couple occasions duirng our years fo travel between the central coast and Bakersfield.

Justina, Abby, and Alyssa at the Tule Elk Reserve outside of Tupman

In Other News . . .

Abby returned home to find that the side rail of her crib had been removed, converting her crib into a toddler bed. She had been climbing out if it and it was definitely time.

And of course, I don't need to tell you that the Olympics are going on, that is unless you live in a cave. In which case, you wouldn't be reading this blog. But I digress. We have been watching as much of it as we can. And I admit it, I am a Phelps phan.

Only one more day left in the Grocery Poll. So stuff your ballot in the shopping cart!

Until the next time, take care and God bless. :)

Good-Bye is Never Easy

For the past couple years we have gotten to know a military family through our 4-H club. The husband was stationed at Vandenberg Air Force Base and they have three great daughters. In the course of the past two years, one or two of them have been in James' Shooting Sports Project and my Primary Project. The youngest one, Abigail, is one of Justina's favorite friends. And on Tuesday afternoon, she had to say good-bye as the family is moving to Virginia.

The night before, we had them over for a barbecue. And on Tuesday, I took Alyssa, Abigail, Justina, and Abby (our Abigail) to Avila Barn to pick whatever they had in season, which happened to be peaches and raspberries. Now ordinarily, Avila Barn is a kids' dream, especially during October, November, and December when the whole barn area is covered in pumpkins, a haybale maze, and then eventually Christmas trees. But in August, the pumpkins were far from ready, the site that hosts the haybale maze was bare, and obviously the Christmas trees weren't there yet either.

We first headed to the raspberries as that was the first field we came across. Half the battle for me was to keep Abby from eating the fruit she picked. Justina and Abigail didn't enjoy the berry picking as much because the more ripe berries were out of their reach and the plants were a little on the thorny side. Plus there were bees. However, the bees didn't stop Alyssa, who is allergic to bee stings. She really enjoyed picking the berries.

Well we walked down a whole row of the raspberries and turned left down the dirt road towards the peaches. I think we got about three dozen or so. They were still very firm, but the smell was wonderful. And I have to say that the reaction I got to the whole experience was reverse of what I thought it would be. The younger kids seem to enjoy it the least while the teenager enjoyed it the most. Go figure!

As for me I enjoyed walking around the farm. There are tall weeds and brush that grow along the highway and block the view of of all the crops growing in the little valley behind the barn. So when walking around there, I was amazed at all that was back there. I loved seeing the green pumpkins on their vines, the rows and rows of trees and vines. And it was so peaceful and quiet down there until . . .

Abby had a meltdown!

So we had to head back to the main barn area near the car. but on the way back, Alyssa made another pass through the rasberries. And since this was suppose to be an outing for Justina and her friend, I held out as long as I could as they walked around and looked at all the animals. Then I treated them to some ice cream and we headed back to our house in Orcutt.

Justina and Abigail played some more as Abby took a long nap. Then the time came to take Abigail home. There were lots of hugs and lots of giggles but it was time to go. Justina crawled into the back seat of the Suburban and waved until she couldn't see them anymore. I glanced in the rear view mirror and watched her plunge her face into her hands. I listened to her sob all the way home.

There are those times when it would seem far better that your kids break their arm or leg rather than break their hearts. But when Justina hurts emotionally, it is utterly painful for me as well, more so than with our other kids it seems. I don't know why exactly. I guess it is because she has a hard time verbalizing her feelings or because I have spent probably more time with her out of necessity than with any of our other children. Or maybe it's a little of both or none of that at all.

In the end all I can do is hug her and tell her that good-byes are never easy.

In Other News . . .

Soccer has started back up again! Alyssa began practices with her club team on the beach. And Justina has started practices for the rec league. Also, preparations for the 4-H year are ramping up as well. I am hoping to get over to Bakersfield for a visit this weekend before everthing is going full bore.

Until the next time, take care and God bless. :)

Schweppe'd Away and That's Ain't No Bull

Okay, I was surfing mindlessly on YouTube last night when I saw this advertisement for a Schweppes beverage. It is especially HI-larious if you have any horse show experience. Enjoy!

The Wheels on the Bus Go Round and Round

No wonder they are making a killing on oil.

They aren't having to pay at the pump!

Well the Gas Poll is closed and the results are in! The question was: What are you doing to survive high gas prices? Each person voting could check all that applied. Of the nine people who voted, there were eighteen votes cast.

The winner was Walking More/Driving Less, capturing 55% of the vote. After creating the poll, I realized that I should have made these two separate categories. This was one of my votes. I have definitely been driving less. However, when I do drive somewhere, I try to park in one spot and walk to as many errands as I can. It's not always possible, especially with a toddler. But I do try to when I can.

There was a tie for second place between Cutting Budget Elsewhere and Other. These two categories each received 44% of the vote. I would be interested in hearing from those few of you who read the blog in what "Other" entails. Please feel free to post a comment to this entry and share your ideas. The third place winner was Hypermiling with 22%, followed by an 11% four-way tie among Carpool, Public Transportation, Biking Etc., and my personal favorite Thankful Not Driving a Suburban Like Cathleen. (I really felt the love on that one.)

Thanks to all who voted in the poll. The new poll is up!