California Wildfires

I know they are pretty much all done with, but I think it would be rude of me not to mention the California wildfires for a moment.

The pictures have been quite incredible. The amount of land and houses destroyed by the numerous fires is just unbelievable. And the people who actually died in these fires is just heartbreaking. I know plenty of people who live in San Diego and so I had quite a few friends and sorority sisters affected by the wildfires. Fortunately, none of them or their families lost their homes, though so many others did. I did have a friend who's cousin is a firefighter in San Diego, and who was burned in efforts to stop one of the fires.

I could never imagine what the people of Southern California had to go through. The air quality was real bad. Which kind of reminds me of the Oakland Hills fires of years ago. We did have ash in the air, but I don't remember it being hard to breath or anything like that. I just hope those who were personally affected by these fires are able to recover and heal quickly. And God Bless the firefighters and all others who helped and assisted in controlling the fires.

Shorter, and shorter

So I cut my hair, again. I went real short this time. Shorter than I have in a long while. And Katie, I actually like it this time! :) I really do like it. It doesn't look that great in this picture, but you get the idea. It is a lot harder to style than the last haircut, but I'm starting to get the hang of it. It definitely is a lot easier to manage when I don't do anything to it either which is great for those days when I need to shower and go. I think I may have to stick with short hair for a while.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

I know its been a while since I've updated my BLOG. Things have been real busy lately. Its funny though, I couldn't tell you what I've been busy with. :)

So, Halloween was this past week. It was so much fun this year because Ethan was really into it. In the days leading up to Halloween, he was asking to go Trick or Treating. I'm really surprised he remembered/knew all of that stuff. Things got real bad when he saw the bags of candy we bought at Costco. All he wanted was to have a piece. Poor kid, Greg and I had to hide it so he would stop asking.

So, Ethan and his cousins were the three little pigs this year. Since they aren't old enough to know they have a choice, us moms get to choose. And yes, we chose to dress our kids up as pigs. :) They were real cute. Especially when it was the three of them together.

The Friday before Halloween, the boys had their "mommy and me" class. So they got to wear their costumes there.

The teacher set-up trick or treating for them, with the kids going to different classrooms to trick or treat. And us moms brought the treats, so there wasn't any candy, just little toys. They loved it. We also got to do a little pumpkin patch in the auditorium with another class. That was fun too cause they got to look for their own pumpkins, little ones.

On Halloween, Aunt Jodie and I got the boys all dressed up in their costumes and took them to my sister's work to show the kids off, and they were definately a hit. How could they not be in these costumes? They each had their bundles, Ethan with straw, Nathaniel with sticks, and Xavier with bricks (paper bricks). They were just adorable. We all met up again in the afternoon at my grandma's house for group pictures.

Ethan and I then went home where Greg, my mom, dad, sister, brother, and brother-in-law all joined us for dinner. Dad and Kimmie helped Ethan make a jack-o-lantern before dinner. Then once it got dark and we had our first trick-or-treaters, we took Ethan out for him to trick-or-treat. The kid just LOVED it. He was constantly asking my sister, who took him up to each door, "We get more?" It was too cute. And he got used to people asking him what he was, meaning what was his costume? But he would answer, "I'm two" thinking they were asking how old he was. Sometimes he would say "I'm two" withouth them even asking.

I'm really surprised how not shy Ethan is. He would chat away with whoever answered the door. Just have a long ol' conversation with them. I couldn't help but laugh the whole night. Here' s a little video of him having one of his great conversations. I know he's hard to understand, but basically, he says the lady with a basket, the one she's using to hand out candy, but he think she's using it get candy. Its too funny.

Thanksmas 2007

So, every year, my roommates from Freshman year of college, and I, get together and celebrate Thanksmas (Thanksgiving and Christmas). We used to celebrate them seperatley, but when we all started moving away, we started combining the two.

Since its been 10 years since we started college, we decided to make a weekend of it and get a cabin in Big Bear. It was just wonderful!!!! We had a wonderful time!!! Though the weather was real cold, I just wasn't ready for that, I loved that our house was right on the water. It made for a great view every morning.

Before I get to all of the fun stuff, let me start with the bad. The house layout was just awesome. We had like 3 little homes. However, what sucked was that a third of everything didn't work. 2 of the 5 bathrooms were unsafe to use. The 3 that were unsafe leaked, one on top of the other. And the bottom one leaked everywhere. 1 of the ovens had a gas leak and we couldn't use it. 1 sink didn't have running water. 1 refrigerator wasn't always cold. Now mind you, the bad oven, bad sink, and bad 'frig were all in 3 different kitchens!!!! Can you believe that?!?!?!?

Now for the fun. I think the best part, for me anyways, was that Ethan and Jake (who's 5) played together really really well. Nope they weren't perfect, but the fact that I didn't have to referee the whole time was just so relaxing. They played together without anyone throwing punches, without anyone crying. It was nice. I actually could sit around and just relax.

It was also great to spend time with some of the greatest friends I have. Some of them I don't get to see but once a year, so it was wonderful to spend the whole weekend with them. We are all so close, with so much history, and such a bond between us all. It was so nice to sit around and talk and laugh and catch up. Just to sit around and be girls, it was so wonderful. There was of course the crazy parts. The drinking, partying, staying up late, the crazy dares, and crazy antics that went with it. To kind of relive some of the good old days, it was great. I love those girls. And I LOVE mashed potatoes!!!! :)

What's also great about these gatherings is that all of the guys we are with get a long so well. Take 6 girls who are friends, though all very different. Now add their six boyfriends/husbands who are even more different, and imagine they have to spend 4 days together. Should be totally bad, but it went so well. They all know how to have fun and do it well together.

We also had two baby showers. Shawna and Trisha are both expecting. Shawna is expecting her 2nd on Thanksgiving and Trisha is expecting her 1st on March 4. It was fun, but it was also cool cause we made the boys play shower games. The first one was geared towards them, we made them chug beers through baby bottles, and the second everyone had to eat baby food and guess what it was. I am so sorry I made Ethan eat that stuff as a baby.

It was a wonderful weekend. I love hanging out with this group of people. We had a great time together and I can't wait to see them all again.

Swimming Like A Fish

So, Ethan and Greg have been taking a swim class. At this age (18 - 36 mos), they don't actually teach the kids how to swim, they just get them familiar with the water. They get the kids used to floating on their backs, jumping in, kicking, paddling, all while having a parent in the pool with them.
Its so cute to see Greg and Ethan doing this together. And its probably better that its Greg rather than me. I would be so nervous or scared. Greg has much more of that "Ah, what the heck attitude" so he kind of just throws him around the pool. Its good though. Ethan just loves it, and he's so not afraid. He's definitely the least afraid kid of the group. He loves to jump in, blow bubbles, and he's even putting his head under the water.

When I was watching him last week, the instructor wanted to be sure Ethan was actually holding his breath under water. So she just let him go and let him fall. I freaked out!!! And Greg, who was standing a foot away, said he had to try so hard not to reach over and just grab Ethan. But when the instructor pulled Ethan up (after what felt like an eternity for me) he was totally fine. He actually held his breath. He didn't freak out or start coughing or choking, and I was sure he was going to. He was totally fine. I was so impressed by that.
I added a little video. Its the instructors version of "the wheels on the bus"...except its "the kids in the pool". Its real cute.

Here Comes The Bride.....

As we all know, I am a huge fans of weddings. I love planning them, I love going to them, I love the wedding showers, buying the gift, all that. I have three to go to next year, and I'm so very excited for all of them.
Lauren Clum and her fiance Paul will be getting married in April. The 26th to be exact. That is a great time of the year (I should know, that date falls right between mine and my sister's anniversary.) I'm sure there is going to be a great guest list for this one, some people who I may not even have seen for a while.
Then in June, the 14th to be exact, my baby cousin Stephanie is getting married. I say baby cousin, but she's not. In fact, I'm the oldest cousin, so they all are baby cousins to me. But she is the baby girl of the group of us that grew up together. I have not met her finace yet, but I do get to meet him when she comes home for Christmas. Steph is in the Army, so its kind of hard cause she's not here for us to talk wedding stuff all the time. But she is getting married here, and I can't wait to see her walk down the aisle.
Then....here's the big one....or should I say the new one....Michal and Ed are getting married next year!!!!! For those of you who don't know, Michal is a sorority sister of mine from SSU. We went to Sonoma together and got real close. I even convinced her to get a job at WAMU, which is where I was working at the time. And she did. Well, while working at WAMU, I met Ed, and we ended up working at the same branch and living together. From there, Ed and Michal met, then years later, started dating. Well, Ed proposed to Michal this past Friday, and I am just so excited.
Greg and I were talking about them the other day and how perfect they are for each other. They are just so much alike, so laid back, have the same interests. Not only that, but they were friends for so long before dating, it was just a great foundation for their relationship. I just can't say enough how happy I am for them. And I'm sure they are getting to have an awesome reception cause Ed and Michal are always looking for the next great, big party!!!

Tainted Love

So my birthday was on Saturday, and MAN, WHAT A GREAT DAY IT WAS!!!! I didn't do much in the morning or afternoon. I did get a lot of phone calls, text messages, and birthday cards. And I know its all very little, but it is so much fun!!! It makes me feel so special. I ate lunch with Ethan and Greg, just at home. But as soon as Ethan was done, he says "Mom, I'm going to sing Happy Birthday now....Happy Birtay to you, Happy Birtay dear YOU (pointing to me), Happy Birtay to you!" It was absolutely adorable.
Greg and I dropped Ethan off at my Uncle John and Aunt Jodie's house and then took BART into the city. We were checked into the hotel, Club Quarters, by 4pm. The hotel was real nice, especially for the price. And the best part, on each floor, they have these little stations with empty bottles of water at the top, and then a "tap" on the bottom, so you can bottle your own water - for FREE!!! I thought that was just too cool.

We went downstairs at 5pm for dinner at the Elephant and Castle Pub and Restaurant. We had a very large group of 18. It was great. And I got lots of presents!!! That made me excited too. I really didn't expect that, so it was a nice surprise. I really thought I was too old to get presents. The food was really good too. I had their chicken pot pie, and so did three other ladies at the table. It came with red mashed potatoes and gravy, and it was absolutely wonderful. And I just love chicken pot pie, so to have it really good was just great! I tried Michal's meatloaf too, which was really, really good. And I really wanted to try Greg's fish and chips, but he literally at it all in like 5 minutes, so I didn't get the chance. But he says it was so good he really considered having a second.
After that, we went over to Bimbo's 365 Club. I totally scored getting an extra ticket so my brother and his "friend" could come with us. We got inside and happened to be the first ones in there and so we nabbed three tables against the wall that were up on this platform and bordered off. It was great. Total primo spots and since it was bordered off, it kind of felt like we had VIP status. It was awsome.

The concert was great, of course. If you've never heard of the cover band Tainted Love before, you can go to their website taintedlove.com. You can hear some of their music on the website. They have two guys and one girl singer so they do a HUGE variety of 80's music. I think my favorite was "Take Me Home Tonight". I just LOVE that song. And since we had the bordered off tables, we could dance without having to get into the sweaty crowd.

The highlight of the night had to be when this guy tried to fight us!!! The three tables, like I said, were bordered off with two entrances into it, one between the left and middle table, and one between the middle and right table. Well, I was sitting at the left table when a friend, Kim, showed up late, so I told her she could sit at the right table cause, at the time, no one was sitting there. Well, when Kim sat there, this guy, who kept standing against the border, started talking to her and pointing to the extra chairs. He left, so I walked over and said "Was that guy trying to sit in our chairs." And Kim said "Yeah, he wanted him and his girlfriend to sit there. He said he saw two girls leave, so he was going to take them. I told them you guys had these seats reserved." Well, the two "girls" that were sitting there were Jessica and her BOYfriend Mike. When they came back, they sat with us.

Well, next thing we know, the guy comes back with a BOUNCER!!! The Bouncer says "What's the situation here?" We were like, "There's no situation." Then all of a sudden the guy starts flipping out yelling at us. He is leaning OVER the border, yelling at the top of his lungs, pointing his finger at me, Kim, and Jessica, just screaming at the top of his lungs "You guys are liars, you can't reserve these seats, I was waiting to sit there, I saw two girls leave, You guys lie, That's bullshit, I was waiting for these seats, Let me finish." Just going balistic. We of course tried to plead our case to the bouncer, but this guy was just flipping out. Then comes Erica out of nowhere, yelling back at the guy. Then I see Greg finally turn around and see the guy yelling at us and he starts walking over and I'm thinking "Oh crap." And the whole time, the guy just keeps going on "You guys are lying, This is bullshit, You are all crazy" all of this stuff. Finally, Jessica stands up and says to the bouncer, "I'm sober, so I will talk to you and not to him." She takes the bouncer over to the usher, who had been talking to Jessica all night, and tells her what's going on. The usher tells the bouncer how we had been there all night, and the bouncer tells the guy to buzz off. So the guy walks off, totally mad, and THEN, walks over to the sound check guy and tells him what's going on like he's going to be able to do something. It was just hilarious. Yet totally crazy. The guy was just totally wack-o and totally flipping out. It still makes me laugh.

Greg and I ended up leaving the concert around 12:30, walked ALL the way back to our hotel, which was a mile away, ordered pizza, at that at like 2 in the morning, and then passed out. I did end up throwing up (I had 1 1/2 Jack and Cokes, and 1 1/2 Vanilla Stoli and Cokes - at that was 2 1/2 drinks too many). But it was still great and I had a blast. It was so much fun and I really can't wait to do it again!!!