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Showing posts from June, 2012

Virtual Girls Night Out - Summer Time!

 The summer is in full swing here and I'm doing my best to step away from my natural tendency to act as Julie Your Cruise Director and let my girls come up with their own ideas of how they would like to fill their days.  Yes, some days I do have certain things planned, but I'm easing up on the reins and letting them have "time".  (We're only a week and a half in to this plan, so we'll see how long this lasts ;->).  So let's have a good ol' time at this weeks Virtual Girls Night Out and see what happens! *T he VGNO is for those who want to party "virtually" with other bloggers. Get on your fuzzy slippers, make yourself a cocktail, and have fun!  Leave a comment, along with your blog link, to let us know you've stopped by and visit the blogs of those that have visited as well.  Happy VGNO!* Time For Some Tunes!   The Lumineers " Ho Hey" This so is just so sweet.  Nice and light, perfect for a summer day, froli

David Beckham Plays Beethoven's Ode To Joy

Purely from a Classical music lovers perspective, of course. (to be honest, I can't really make out the song.  ;->  Can you? )

Anniversary of 19 Years

There once was a woman who dreamed of meeting a kind, smart, funny, attractive man.  And if he had a car... that would be a bonus. This woman met this man. A charge was felt between them when they shook hands. 'This means something' she thought.  It did.  It was love. 19 years ago today they got married. Happy Anniversary dear Rob.  Thank you for loving me, making me laugh, making me feel safe and for being patient when I try to cook. Love you.

Stupid Typo

Just sharing a frustration - about my own actions! You know when you have an on-line writing opportunity, and you look at the "Describe your blog" big, blank, white box for a few minutes and think 'OK.  I've got this.  "Describe".  I want it to be different than my past words... um, I'll be right back'.  You look out the window, look over at your dog, waiting for the inspiration to hit and then it does.  You write a concise, detailed description that you're proud of and just as you hit "Send" you see a glaring typo within the first sentence. ARGH! Well, I'm sure that opportunity is shot.  Just frustrating.

Hanker For A Hunk Of Cheese

I'm on my way to the grocery store and I can't get this song out of my head! (And yes, I am a child of the '70's) Guess what's on my list? ;->   Do you remember Timer?

Anxiety With High School Registration

We had our first registration meeting for high school last night.  Unfortunately a boy that caused quite a bit of grief for my girl in school last year was right ahead of us in line.  ( post link ).  Can you believe it???  A bright spot is that she saw another fellow classmate, a nice boy, that she had no idea was going to this school.  That helped with her anxiety a tiny bit. My mind swirls with my own anxiety about this situation.  Socializing is so incredibly difficult for her that I'm concerned about taking her away from the few girls who were able to make their way into her comfort zone.  Yes, her sweet little group of friends is going to the local high school and I'm putting her in a school with someone that can be a bully. This school is so much better academically and is very small and that was the main draw for us.  I'm sure this boy won't be an issue, but you never know.  I'm taking my daughter away from her support group with the hopes she'll find

Easy Way To Save This Summer

With summer season upon us, and my daughter attending a new school in the fall requiring uniforms, I'm looking on-line for deals on hot weather activities to use now and monogrammed shirts and lovely khakis for the fall.  Trying to find good deals on-line isn't new to me but school uniforms are and luckily I've found a site that offers promotion codes for summer fun and the particular clothing store that fits our needs.  You have no idea how happy I am to have come across PromotionCode.org .  (I wanted to name this post "Oh My Gosh You Guys!  Have You Seen This Site?" :-> ) This site is very easy to use and customer friendly.  It's a service that's free to use, no monthly dues of fees, the only thing they want is for you to save money.  You search for your desired store by using the directory and once you see a discount code that looks good to you just click it and you will be directed to the store's website and the code is attributed t

And About That Bribe...

"Hey Mom, do you remember when you said that I could get a parakeet if I improved my grades by the end of the year?  Remember that?"  Oh geez... A deal's a deal.  Welcome to the family little Jirico.  (Not 'Jerico' but 'Jirico'.  It's going to take me a while to get that right ;-> )  Our tiny zoo of a house now holds 2 cats, 1 huge chocolate lab and 1 blue parakeet. St. Francis of Assisi, give me strength

... And Here's Our Freshman!

After all the drama of these final months, Katie did it!  (We did it ;-> )    I'm still a little spent from the graduation ceremony.  It seems our party is just now coming to an end... two days later.  Yesterday I hosted an End Of School Year party for my girls and some of their friends and it seems this turned into a bit of a Slumber Party as well.  I AM SPENT!  But in a happy way. More pictures to come.

We Are So Close!

We are hours away from my girls graduating to the next grade.  Lily will be in Sixth grade and, after days, weeks, months of micro-managing, Katie will be graduating - with good grades - and becoming a high school Freshman. YES!!!! To say that this outcome is a relief is putting it incredibly mild.  In all honesty, I won't be completely relieved until I see those final grades.  But I have a verbal agreement from her teachers what her final grades are, and they are just fine with me.  (*this area of personal comment has been deleted after realizing Lily still has 3 years to go at this school and who knows who is reading my words/thoughts. It felt good to let it fly though!  That's for sure*) My education of raising a daughter who has her way of learning doesn't stop at a certain age.  As I've said before, dealing with someone who is "high functioning" gives you a false impression that some things that should be basic tasks aren't so basic. But you f

Looking Into Improvements

Our home was built in 1940 and it has those old walls that can be pretty drafty.  It's annoying.  Some day, I day dream, some day we'll have a house with nice, quiet walls that won't let in all of the traffic noise.  Years ago I had an idea of having insulation blown into the walls but we found of that wouldn't really work with our homes structure. Recently I learned about Insulated Concrete Forms so I've been researching ICF homes to see what owners thought of the product and how it changed their home.  I want a much more insulated feel than what we have and this might be the way to go.  Insulated Concrete Forms use Durisol, which is a proprietary wood concrete material, meaning it's cement bonded with wood fiber.  No matter how much I like the idea it comes down to ICF cost , which is something I'm still researching.  But this product sounds incredible, with its declaration of being soundproof, 4 hr fire resistant - with zero smoke and fire spread, and

Am I Making A Mistake?

I have so many emotions going on I'm just trying to figure out how to cope.  My husband's stress level with his work is high.  Financial situations aren't in a comfortable place and... my oldest daughter is graduating from 8th grade this Wednesday evening. With regard to my husband, I am doing what I can to be supportive, but I never know if I'm doing enough.  Guilt over not contributing more with my income weighs on me.  And this whole trying-to-get-my-daughter-into-our-preferred-high school situation has its own levels of stress that I don't know which direction is right! Bottom line:  this school will provide a better education.  However, it requires a lot of responsibility and I don't know if she's capable of that now.  She's struggled with certain tasks for years but seemed to head in a positive direction around 6th grade.  (She was diagnosed with high functioning Aspergers Syndrome in 1st grade.  I hesitate to bring this up because, after years

The End: Traveling Heart-Shaped Rock Project

After 3 attempts at sharing a little heart-shaped rock from the Oregon Coast with those bloggers that would like to receive it, I'm sad to say the rock has been "misplaced" again and therefore I am giving up on the Traveling Heart-Shaped Rock Project . A sincere 'Thank You' to all that signed up and a huge 'THANK YOU!' to all that were able to participate by receiving this rock, taking a picture of it with something meaningful to you and posting that image on your blog.  Some included a special gift for the next recipient which was a special touch that I never expected.  The slide shows of it's travels are posted below. There is a part of me that thinks this idea can still work.  Many people, from all over the globe, shared their interest with me and I put their addresses on my list.  But who knows what happens once something leaves our hands.  It's up to the Postal Gods to deliver the goods, and we all know how things can be mis

Struggling Through These Days

I lost my cool yesterday.  Many times I forget about the certain "wiring" of my 8th grader and this whole situation with her class work/home work and how those things determine whether she gets into our preferred High School just overwhelms what I see as logical, and makes me blow my top.  Unfortunately I blew my top all over her. Being "high functioning" at things should be considered a good thing.  It can mean that you are at the top of your game and people look to you for guidance and answers.  It isn't good, however, when you are "high functioning" in the Asperger's arena, which creates false capacity judgements by those that are with you most every day.  Teachers don't clue in that you need "more".  And your parent can forget and lose their cool when a situation, that you had all been working toward improving, just keeps being, well, broken. We are so close, so so close, to this school year being over and it is beyond frustra

I Did. Really.

There was a heron - a great blue heron - in my backyard. I saw a shadow out my window and looked up to see this incredibly large bird fly through the air and land in a pine tree.  I ran for my fancy new iPhone (that I'm still trying to figure out) and made a video.  And you know what???  After trying for almost an hour to get that *&$#! video to load, it won't. So here I had what felt like a Pterodactyl flying in my back yard and I can't get the video to work.  I just had to share. Stock photo used for reference.  This bird is HUGE!

I'd Like To Give It A Try

I have a feeling I could make some happiness come my way ;->

Looking For Space

Tiny house.  We live in a tiny house.  I describe our home as 'Little, but filled with a lot of love'.  I say that but it doesn't make tripping over ourselves any nicer, especially in the kitchen.  I was reminded of our tiny size this morning while trying to make breakfasts and lunches as Rob was also trying to make his breakfast smoothie.   It’s like playing a game of Twister with knives. When I think of what we could have in our home that would make things move a bit smoother the only place we can go is up.  And by that I mean moving some cabinets out of the way and getting some lovely hanging enclume pot racks in their place.  Or perhaps a wall mounted enclume rack .  That way I could use it as a shelf and have pots hang from it as well.  Not only was our time living in New York City fun and exciting it also proved helpful in learning how to live in a little space.  I think it’s time move some of these ‘70’s looking furnishings out, and include an enclu

Do I Have To Go?

I don't want to go. My oldest is graduating from Eighth Grade in a week and I don't want to go to the ceremony.  It isn't that I don't support her.  It isn't that I don't want to honor this accomplishment.  It's just that I am a pretty emotional person and I don't think I can get through the ceremony without breaking down into a huge puddle of tears.  Wet, messy, please-someone-give-that-woman-a-tranquilizer tears. What am I going to do to get through this night???

Learning A New Language

;-> *Thank you Maria Acevedo (Pinterest)