Dad Turns 58!

Today was a great day.  The weather was beautiful and the kids had no school since it was Veteran’s Day.  We went out to breakfast downtown at a Swedish Bakery.  Then later on, had a birthday party for my Dad.  My Dad has never liked the spotlight and so birthday’s aren’t his favorite thing.  But when you have grandkids…things change!  It’s an all-out party according to them!  And it makes it more fun to celebrate whole heartedly.  So my mom decorated and made a yummy dinner of tacos, asparagus, corn on the cob and then got an ice cream cake and I had the Swedish Bakery make a Lemon Meringue Pie (Dad’s favorite).  It was a fun evening and I enjoyed the hang-out time.  I never get to be there on Monday’s when it’s “grandparents day” (unofficially) since am in San Francisco, so it was fun to actually be there.

 

Happy Birthday Dad/Grandpa!  We love you!

 

 

Bullet Points

A few things:

• I LOVE that we have the next two days off school. No structure sounds nice!
  
• I don't ever want Peyton to stop calling her nail polish "Pol Nailish". I love it.

• I still cannot believe how draining it is to have an opinionated child. Hands on her hips, I-don't-care-what-you-say-I'm-wearing-my-swimsuit-and-flipflops-to-the-bank-in-55degree-weather type opinions. All.Day.Long.

• I love that I get to sub in Jordyn and Lexi's classes. Such cool memories for all of us. Today was Lexi's 2nd grade class. True telling of a good teacher is how their students act when they are not there. I was in utter amazement how on-track these kids stayed all day long.

• I have a love/hate relationship with my custom sign orders. Love doing them, love making the money....hate trying to fit it into my schedule.

• I feel sad that this is Oprah's last season. I don't care what anyone says, I love her show.

• I'm so excited for our health/dental/medical insurance to kick in the first of December...but scared to lose $500 per month to pay for it!

• Happy we just finally bought term life insurance (New York Life) for Tucker and I. Relief.

• I've been a mom for 8 1/2 years and I can't seem to adjust to the fact that I'm in charge of feeding these kids three balanced meals, plus snacks, every SINGLE day. I know that sounds strange, but I'm not a good meal pre-planner, so it tends to always be a nagging thorn in my side with our busy lives.

• On a daily basis, I feel thankful that my sister in law Lyndsy introduced me to Jane Iredale face powder (pricey but worth it!), and her custom blended eye gel. Love them!! She sells both.

• I'm so happy it is finally cold (which means 60's for us). I was starting to be a constant grump from 6 solid months of heat.

And.....that's enough for now!

A Few Extra San Francisco Days

For one of my classes, we spent two full days at the California School for the Blind in Fremont, CA.  This week was a bit brutal because I went to SF Monday, then back Wed night and home late Fri night, and back again tomorrow (Mon).  I am having a hard time recovering from the exhaustion.

 

Aside from being really tired, I had a great experience.  We got to do all sorts of hands-on assessments on each other.  And then the next day, we broke up in groups of 4 people and got to do all of the assessments on a blind child.  Our group got Travis, a 19 year old resident at the facility.  (you can either live there, or just do day-school and he lives there).  It was just incredible.  He was such a cool kid.  It is so fascinating that people learn to live without the function that I use the very most.  Taking away such a basic element causes the visually impaired people I’ve met to develop other strengths and it really shows in their character.

 

(Testing visual acuity)

 

 

(testing visual fields)

 

 

(Testing color blindness)

 

 

Learning how to use all sorts of magnifiers.  My teacher, Dr. Amanda Leuek, is the one with the really curly hair in the middle.  She is so incredible.

 

 

Me, modeling the logMAR chart!

 

 

Testing visual fields again.

 

 

These glasses gave me virtually no vision…it was almost impossible to see the lights!

 

 

 

The big highlight of my trip was getting to stay with Shana.  She lives in Oakland, which is only 20 miles from where I was during the two days.  So I stayed with her for two nights, and took the BART (high speed train) from her house to the School for the Blind. 

Derek and Shana bought this 100 year old house early this year and have spent immense amount of energy and time on remodeling it.  It looks incredible.  I am always happy to spend time with Shana, I enjoy engaging in conversation on 1,000 different topics with Derek and little Maren is just adorable.  I also got to see Donna, Shana’s mom, since she is currently living with them.

I was having sympathy feelings for Shana the whole time since she is 29 weeks pregnant and definitely feeling it.  Brings back overwhelming memories!

It’s very comforting to have a friend you’ve known for over 20 years.  I cannot believe we’ve been friends for 23 years, it blows my mind.  I am grateful she lives close to SFSU because it brings me relief knowing she is right there if I need her!  Check out these cute pics…

 

 

Harvest Festival Sign Making

A few months back, I committed to having a booth at a local festival.  At that time, I didn’t know it would be after two LONG days in San Francisco.  I was extremely tired, but it was a good day nonetheless.  I had asked Lindy to come with me and run my booth, so she and I had done lots to prepare ahead of time (all the wood signs we cut and painted).  It was really fun to have her there with me!  Jordyn was also a big help and got to have a “big girl” day with Mom.

We sold 8 custom signs (and a few other items) even though there really weren’t a TON of people there.  I set up my tabletop vinyl cutter and people loved the instant signs they went home with!  We will definitely do this again, hopefully at a bigger festival. 

 

Follow Me to San Fran

 

Before you worry about me taking pictures in the car, journey with me on a few highlights of my Monday trips to San Francisco.

I'm always scrambling around  on Monday mornings to print out last minute papers for class, to get the house semi-ready to leave, hang out with Peyton and usually doing something for Trinkets & Treasures.

I take Peyton to my mom and dad's around 11:00 or so. And then I'm off for a three hour drive! She gets so excited for her Monday's at Grandma and Grandpa's, and Jo and Lex get to come over after school until Daddy gets them around 6:00. They hardly notice I'm gone because they get something so fun in return!

I love my GPS. I really would be so confused without it! I also love XM radio. I listen to Oprah channel most the way! I get three hours of therapy…relationships, spirituality, current news topics. And even repeats of old shows to listen to. It’s great!

Takes me three hours, not including any little stops.

I always love when I get to this point. The air feels different and the houses are scattered up the hills as far as you can see.

My parking garage. Costs me $5 per week!

Didn’t get the best pics, but you can see me practicing three techniques in one. Foot sweeping, lower and upper arm shielding as I walk across a hallway. I spend six hours in class. First class is mostly lecture and brain overload (all about the eye, diseases, problems, diagnosis, etc). Second class is mostly practicum (like what I'm doing below) and we are partnered up and moving around with blindfolds a lot. That helps me stay awake.

I take a different route on the way home. I go home via the Bay Bridge, which takes me through Oakland and eventually to the 99 south a good portion of the way. I like being on freeways that late at night (10pm-1am) rather than highways and windy roads.

The view off the bridge that late is really pretty because of all the lights.

I pull in around 1:15 and am really ready for bed. But somehow I am always okay on the drive home. I mean, sure, I’m tired. But not “almost fall asleep at the wheel” type tired. I think angels are helping me :-). Well, besides my “family” angels who help me with my kids so I can even THINK of doing this! I need to have my mom chronicle their “day with Grandma and Grandpa" (and cousins) while I’m gone. No doubt they are not thinking of missing their mama when they get a fun afternoon out of the deal!

Just Hangin’

 

My mom bought this swingset for Jordyn’s 4th birthday.  So 4 1/2 years we’ve had it and, although the girls have obviously grown, they still find ways to take advantage of it!  The amazing thing to me is that it does not have an ounce of rust or sun damage on it.  Amazing!

 

 

This is something they do on the bars at school…I think it’s called the cradle?

 

 

I love this picture of Jordyn and Kylee!  Sometimes Jordyn can console Kylee when even I can’t!  People ask me all the time if holding Kylee makes me baby-hungry.  For some reason it always catches me off guard because the answer is no.  I absolutely love holding her and snuggling her…truly love it.  But I love it as an Aunt, not as a wishful Mommy.  Of course I had a couple years of wondering if we’d have another one, after Pey was born.  But for sure by the time she turned three, I felt much more done and like our lives had really taken on a whole different direction than new-baby.  So it’s not really something I think about anymore because I feel pretty complete and full.  So it’s a bonus that I get to have my little niece around to get some baby loves!

 

 

Still attempting to learn my new camera.  Might take a lifetime.  But I thought this was a cute one of Jordyn :-)