Return from blog-holiday...

It certainly wasn't planned, or even a conscious decision, but somehow I ended up on a "blogging vacation" after the first of the year. I've been incredibly busy with appraisals, we've been busily buried in basketball season with the boys, and the time has just gotten away from me. When I have had a few minutes of free time, I haven't really wanted to be sitting at the computer.

But I'm back. Busy as always.......but I'm going to try to get back in the habit of updating the blog. :)

Dane's basketball team lost only one game this year, so they all feel good about their season. That one game was lost by only four points in the very last minutes of the game, and was to a team that they had beat in overtime earlier in the year. Not bad, boys!! I think Dane is leaning towards wrestling next year as a freshman, so there is a good possibility that this was Dane's last basketball season.

Grant's basketball team also did very well this year, and was undefeated in regular season play. They had a tournament one weekend that didn't go "their way", but its going to be fun watching these boys take the court next year as 7th graders.

Both boys finally succumbed to the flu this week, and have been home several days. So far, the girls have both been healthy and we're hoping they avoid it. (Please....please......please.......)

Mike and I have both got a million things going on with work. Its nice to have interesting, mentally-demanding jobs, but we both admit that there are days that the simplicity of an "easy" job looks appealing. I'm fully aware of how quickly I would be bored in a less demanding field, but I have my days....... :)

And lastly, I was an unfortunate participant in a "fender-bender" in South Bend this week. Not my fault.......but the suburban took a good blow to the rear end and has the dents to prove it. My neck and back have been sore, but otherwise, no injuries, for which I'm grateful. The suburban will be headed soon for repairs. More of an inconvenience than anything else.

More rambling soon!

2008 already!!

2008 has arrived. It is 2008. The year is 2008. Hmmmm.....

I will turn 40 this year. Wasn't I supposed to have my life in perfect order by age 40? Another hmmm.......

I have now been self-employed for over two years, which coincidentally happens to also mean that it has been over two years since I have sat and looked at the clock for an afternoon, willing it to be 5:00 NOW. Instead, I always find the end of the workday creeping up on me far sooner than I am ready, as the amount of work to be done always exceeds the number of hours available. I'm feel fortunate for that, but the feeling of time slipping away has increased exponentially with my workload.

All of you that watch/read the news know that the U.S. housing market is floundering a bit these days. This has a direct affect on the appraisal industry as a whole, and appraisal businesses from an individual standpoint. My business has been affected, but so far, less than many. However, I find myself trying to see into 2008 and gauge the economic course of the months to come. There are opportunities available to do other things, but I'm hesitant to leave the comfort of this "niche" I have carved for myself. I LIKE WHAT I'M DOING! Two and a half years ago, I couldn't say that.

So I am at a point of pondering. Pondering the future. Pondering the past. And pondering where I want to go and what I want to be when I grow up. Wasn't I supposed to have life all figured out before age 40?

The end of our Christmas

Twas the night AFTER Christmas,
when all through the house,
not a creature was stirring,
not even a mouse.

The stockings were emptied,
the presents unwrapped,
we'd just all settled down,
for a long winter's nap.

Okay.........enough of the rhyming. Around 11:30 pm on Christmas night, we were suddenly awakened by several brilliant flashes of light (the kind that light up the whole house) and 3 or 4 deafening booms. Instant pandemonium, and with no idea what was making the horrible racket...FEAR!!! We looked out the blinds for great balls of flaming I-don't-know-what in the front yard or SOMETHING! Nothing visible, but darkness. The boys ran out of their room demanding answers. The power had gone out with the first boom, so Mike is scrambling to find a cell phone to call 9-1-1. Our hearts are racing and blood pressure is high while we dig out flashlights and dial for help. All while waiting for the booming to resume.

Its all rather amusing in retrospect, but wasn't the least bit funny at the time. After our call to 9-1-1, the PUD showed up and found the cause of the problems right across the road from us. They stumbled around in the dark for awhile over there, apparently fixed whatever needed fixed, and the power came back on. End of story.

But WOW! Talk about feeling like sitting ducks in a nuclear war! Like I said......pretty funny. In retrospect. :)

A "Mom-of-the-Year" moment

Grant will NOT be nominating me for the 2007 "Mom-of-the-Year" Award and here's why:

Last Thursday, Grant had a very busy evening scheduled. He went to school all day, came home on the bus, and then had to be back at the school for basketball practice at 5:00 pm, and across the street for the Elementary Christmas Program at 6:30 pm. Very do-able, but busy.

At ten minutes before 5, he hollered at me in my home office that we needed to get moving or he was going to be late for practice. I dropped the appraisal file I was working on, grabbed my keys and off we went. As we hopped in the suburban and slammed the doors, I looked over at him, in shorts and a t-shirt, and said, "You didn't grab any clothes for the concert, did you?" I got a blank look in response. "GRANT, you're not going to have time to come home and change! You need clothes to wear!!" Grant starts to hop out of the suburban, and, being the wise Mom that I am, I tell him, "I will run in and grab you some clothes! I'm faster!" Sixty seconds later, I am back with a polo shirt, and a new-looking pair of jeans out of the clean laundry (Our school Christmas concert is not very formal, and most kids wear jeans. I'm willing to go along with that, as long as they are clean and not overly-faded-looking.) Finally, off we go to basketball practice.

The next hour is a whirlwind for me. Pick up girls. Pick up Dane at wrestling practice. Take girls home. Food. Mike decides to stay home with the girls. (We had ALL done the High School Band Concert the night before.......) Dane goes with me back to the school for the Elementary Christmas Program.

As Dane and I are walking down the sidewalk towards the high school gym (where the program will be), we notice Grant coming out of basketball practice across the street. Even in the semi-darkness under the streetlights, something doesn't look right...........Dane asks, "What's wrong with Grant?" I reply something about not being sure. Grant appears to be holding his stomach with both arms.........He spots Dane and I coming down the sidewalk and starts towards us, still hugging his middle. ???

When we get close enough, Grant yells, "MOM!!!!!! You didn't grab MY pants! These are DANE'S PANTS!!!!"

Suddenly it becomes clear. He is holding his hands around his middle because he is literally holding the pants up under his armpits!! The legs are dragging on the ground and Dane is laughing uncontrollably!!! Grant looks LESS than amused, but it was impossible not to laugh! Keep in mind, Dane may only be 22 months older, but at this point in time, he is about 12 inches taller and 60 pounds heavier than Grant!!! :)

So anyway..........there was NO time to run home and get different pants. We got creative and used the belt that Dane was wearing to secure the jeans around Grant so that he didn't have to hold them up. He wasn't overly happy about it, but honestly, in the middle of a group of 250 or so kids....Nobody noticed!!! And, quite a large number of kids were there in basketball shorts and t-shirts, so I guess we could have skipped the change of clothes altogether. But it is somehow better in my sick little mind to have my child there in a new-looking dark blue jeans and a polo shirt, than in sweaty shorts and a t-shirt.

Grant............even if I'm not Mother-of-the-Year, I love you!!!

Do you believe in miracles?

When I started this blog and titled it "In the Midst of Miracles," we had just reached a point of stability in life. The girls' adoptions were final, we were living in our new home, I had just opened the appraisal business, and everything was going great. Our life is not easy every single day--that wouldn't be normal. But overwhelmingly, we continue to be very blessed. Every once in awhile, I get a reminder of exactly how I continue to live surrounded by miracles. Here is our most recent miraculous story:

In April of 2007, my youngest daughter, Jennica, was diagnosed with a very serious neurological condition called Nystagmus. It is a condition that, while caused by the brain, is manifested in vision and has to do with convergence. It is generally very debilitating, and the majority of people with this diagnosis never have vision better than 20/60 and, therefore, never have driver's licenses, often struggle desperately with basic reading, and other very basic functions that contribute to leading what most of us consider a "normal" and independent life. Most written sources on the condition state that there is no cure and that it is permanent. Period.

On top of the diagnosis of Nystagmus, we were also told that, much of the time, Jennica's brain was most likely only seeing what her left eye was seeing. When her left eye was covered, her brain engaged the right eye, but as soon as the left eye was uncovered again, the brain returned to the use of only the left eye. Puzzling...and worrisome!!

Fortunately for us, our eye doctor has expertise in the field of brain-eye connection (which is why we were there to begin with). She was able to tell us that both of Jennica's eyes physically have good vision. The problem was not in the vision, but in the way that the brain perceived the vision. So............with this heavy load to bear, we went home with a stack of exercises to work on. Dr. Inverso was quite positive that, because she is so young, we had a good chance of "re-training" her brain. WOW! Heavy-duty stuff......Especially for a newly-turned-three little girl. And remember from earlier posts, this is a child that we were told at birth had a high likelihood of autism, a very high probability of learning disabilities, and heaven-only-knew-what-else. Jennica has defied the odds and has NONE of the issues we were told to expect.

Now, I admit that after reading all the information on Nystagmus and what we were facing, I wondered if this was finally going to be "the one." The thing she couldn't overcome........

On November 30th, Jennica went back to her eye doctor. I'm overwhelmingly humbled and thrilled to report that the Nystagmus is GONE. G-O-N-E!!! And just as miraculous, her brain is now "seeing" with both eyes!! The eye doctor worked and worked to make sure that she was giving a correct report, and finally admitted that she could find no sign of either condition! WOW! We will continue with the eye exercises for several more months, just to be sure that we have given her brain an opportunity to solidify what it has re-learned, but the likelihood of these conditions returning is reportedly very, very slim.

So our stubborn, wonderful little daughter has once again beaten the odds. She has DEFIED the odds! Nothing short of..........well.........a miracle!!!

Yeah, yeah, yeah.......I've been ignoring the computer

I arrived home late last Thursday evening via a rather circuitous route through storm-ravaged western Washington. I have to admit that I was unprepared for the vastness of the storm damage. Shortly after daybreak on Friday morning, I was standing in our front yard with my mouth hanging open at the sheer number of fallen trees. One hundred-year-old hemlocks and spruce snapped like twigs on the 20 acres of timber surrounding us.

We got lucky! Although we have numerous trees down, nothing hit our home or outbuildings. Power was restored late Wednesday and has remained "on". Other than a whole lot of trees to clean up, we have NO damage!! Far too many others were not as fortunate and I feel for them! Many roads still remain closed, and the clean-up of flood waters to the east of us have barely begun. What a mess!

It's nice to be home! I gained a lot of knowledge at my classes, but it sure didn't turn out to be a great time to be away.

Here I sit...

Still feeling worthless tonight. I'm buried in classes, evaluating the effects of financing concessions on market value, compounding rates of change, sinking fund factors, and other appraisal mumbo-jumbo. While Mike continues to hold down the fort at home with the kids. All roads in and out of the region continue to be closed due to massive numbers of downed trees, mudslides, and flooding. The power lines that are down are the BIG ones, so I'm relaying news to Mike that they are saying they will be without power for another 2-7 days. I'm not yet sure when I will be able to get home. Its a real possibility that my class will end in a few days and I may be stuck here for an additional day or two. Geez..........I hope not!!

But.........since I've spent all this money on these classes, lodging, etc., and I can't get home anyway, I'm trying to focus on the course content so I take home some valuable knowledge. Honestly, the information so far is not really NEW to me, its just being applied a lot differently. The "common sense" ends of the business I do really well with. I can isolate major contributors to value and all that. The more complex financial calculations sometimes get me flustered, as I don't always see a practical day-to-day application for them. But here I am, and in order to complete my designation, I have to have the course hours, so.....what the heck. Complex financials and all......

As usual for me, the largest gain from classes is ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS from my classmates. I thrive on meeting people from different backgrounds and different places. The appraisal industry, as a whole, does not generally attract people directly from college. And freshly-graduated high school students very rarely go off to college with the goal of becoming an appraiser. The end result is that you get an incredible melting pot that makes up the group of people known as real property appraisers. And this class is no different!! We have a 60ish-year-old retired paramedic that broke his back in a helicopter accident working Lifeflight, we have a 70ish+ retired Navy guy, we have a 45-year-old real property investor that owns apartment buildings across three states and is just entering the appraisal business, we have a Japanese immigrant that got a clerical job at an appraisal firm and has decided to become an appraiser herself. We have people from Alaska, and California, and Hawaii, and Texas, and Puerto Rico, and Virginia. And we are all very diverse and bring different skills and backgrounds to the field. FASCINATING!! As is also typical, there only about 5 women in the class of 30+. In the lower-level appraiser courses, the ratio tends to be more equal, but the higher level courses........for whatever reason, many of the women just don't pursue that high. I hope it changes in the future!!!

My new Puerto Rican friend has spent five weeks in the United States since September, all in appraisal education. He is very advanced in the field, but only a year older than I am. He is nearing completion of both his MAI and SRA designations (a huge accomplishment), and is flying through the class with ease. The incessant rain here is driving him insane and he is anxious to get home to his wife, children, and sunshine. His English is quite good, but I have taught him two new words: nit-pick, and folks. And today he learned the phrase "back seat driver". :)

So........I need to run and get something for dinner and then it will be back to my motel room for a long night of studying. As boring as that sounds, I have to admit that it is downright luxury compared to my family's current accomodations.......sitting home in the dark and waiting for the world to reconnect them to the "outside".

A hurricane hits home...and I miss it!!

Here's the deal...I live with my husband and children in my hometown. My husband is not anative, but I've lived there pretty much my whole life. And, in the Pacific Northwest, we don't often experience "extremes" in weather. We get a lot of rain, but temperatures rarely drop below 35, and rarely rise above 90. We get a few days per year on each end of the spectrum, but for the most part, things are very moderate.

So, I'm currently out of town for two back-to-back professional education courses. I leave town....and lo and behold, the biggest windstorm of the last 45 years hits. I'm sitting several hours away, warmly enveloped in a nice hotel with a ton of shopping, restaurants, etc. nearby......while my family about gets blown off the face of the earth!! Talk about a WEIRD feeling!!

Today, I spent most class breaks on the phone with Mike, receiving constant updates. They have already been without power for 24 hours, and are being told to expect another 2-5 days without power. Literally, every major road in and out of town, as well as all the surrounding towns and cities, is closed due to downed trees and/or flooding. Interstate 5 is closed between home and my current location, due to massive flooding. Mike says that the 10 acres of undeveloped property behind our home looks like it was freshly logged due to the massive number of fallen trees. A window in my parents' home just miles away blew out from the sheer force of the wind. WOW! So much for living in a moderate climate!

So.........while I sit here typing in the cozy warmth of my motel room, my husband and children are home in the dark, eating cold food, and hoping for the off-chance that tomorrow might bring restored power. Schools are closed.......work is cancelled.......and a tree fell on the girls' day care facility. In stark constrast, this evening I had grilled cajun shrimp alfredo for dinner, at a wonderful restaurant with many friends and colleagues from all over the country. We watched Monday Night Football on a big-screen TV, and laughed with our fellow classmate from Puerto Rico as he yelled obscenities in alternating Spanish and heavily-accented English. We invaded Starbucks at 7:30 pm...while my family sits at home in a dark home, in a dark town, in a very dark and flooding region of Washington State.

Pull up a chair...

Okay, Folks...You better grab a cup of java, or whatever it is you drink, and pull up a chair. I've been absent of late, and have some catching up to do. I'm finding that when I get this far behind, it gets more difficult to sit down and blog because of the sheer volume of information bursting forth from my head. (Nice visual, eh?) In any case, I've been a busy girl, so here it is:

1) My sister's ordination in Spokane was a fantastic experience, and I'm so glad that my Mom and I made the trek to be there! She was surrounded by 300+ great friends and family members, and it was an occasion to remember. Many people flew in from many places so they could share in the celebration, and they were gracious and wonderful. Her church family threw a classy party after the ordination, complete with a great meal cooked by a REAL chef and live music. No paper napkins in sight! So a huge congratulations to Marj! We are so proud of you!

2) As a side trip with Spokane, Tiersten rode over with us with the idea that she would spend a few days near Spokane with her grandparents (Mike's parents) who live closeby. She is such a confident and spunky kid but, much to our amazement, she was NOT a happy camper with this plan. The biggest point of contention was that she was away from her SISTER. She demanded to talk to Jennica on the phone regularly, and absolutely insisted that she come back home with my Mom and I from Spokane when we left. So.......her trip was cut a little shorter than planned and we're all still a little stunned. We thought she would LOVE being the lone center of attention for a few days. Goes to prove.........just when you think you've got your kids figured out........ :)

3) Dane's Football Awards Ceremony also occurred in the last few weeks. I always find it enjoyable to sit back and watch my growing sons interact with friends and coaches in these settings and this time was no different. He is clearly respected and is often the brunt of large amounts of good-natured ribbing and harrassment, which he dishes back as well as he receives. Last year, he earned the nickname of "Dane-gerous" during football season. This year, they ended the season simply calling him, "Touchdown." He was elected by his fellow teammates as the "Most Inspirational." The team went through some real learning experiences together this year (more off the field than on) and I'm proud that he earned that award. Way to go, Dane!! Grant is very much looking forward to being part of the Junior High team next year, as Dane bumps up to High School.

4) On November 9th, Mike and I and six of our closest friends flew to LA and took a 4-day cruise to Mexico on the "Monarch of the Seas." Several of us had never cruised before and I admit to being a little skeptical as to whether this was going to be "our thing". Honestly, we had an ABSOLUTE BLAST! If you haven't tried it, I strongly recommend cruising as a GREAT way to travel. We have so many great stories and memories from this trip that will stay with us a long time. The international crew provided outstanding service and spoiled us rotten, the food was terrific, and the weather was great.........right up until we landed back in Seattle in the middle of a storm. :) The photo posted below is of the 8 of us in Ensenada!

So.......now that I'm rather getting used to living out of a suitcase, we're home for a few weeks and then I'm off to a killer 8 days of continuing education. In the meantime, I hope this blog finds you all busy and happy!!

Celebrating with my sister!

This weekend, I will be in Spokane celebrating my sister's ordination with her. I'm honored to be attending, and honored to be the youngest sister of this amazing woman. As a child, she was constantly in trouble for openly speaking her mind, but today, I see it as one of the greatest of her many assets. She is one of the most passionate people I know, and has the intelligence to turn that passion into positive things. Please read the following link:
http://www.stonewallnews.net/pages/full_story?widget=full_story&content_instance_id=832&open

Never one to travel the easy path, Marj.......you've earned this one!!! I'm so proud of you!! See you Saturday!!

Some welcome news in the appraisal world

I do not often post about the many varied issues that are important to the appraisal world, as I use my blog as a personal place to share family stories and photos with friends near and far. However, today is a big day for appraisers nationwide, so I'm going to make an exception and celebrate in print just a little.

Dane had an orthodontist appointment this morning, so it was late morning before I reached my desk. One of the first things to hit me from my computer was today's headline that New York's Attorney General is pursuing a lawsuit against a LARGE business group, with some evidence that they have been pressuring appraisers to fraudulently inflate market values.

Virtually every appraiser in the United States has been subject to, at one time or another, pressure to state a market value above or below a certain range. Regardless of who has applied that pressure, it is a stressful component of a profession that, by sheer nature, needs a reputation for ethics and honesty. Unfortunately, many appraisers have fallen prey to that pressure. I myself have dealt with pressure and spent many a sleepless night staring at the ceiling and wondering if, by holding my ground, I have alienated enough clients that I will need to apply at McDonalds next week.

The current mortgage mess in this country can be at least partly blamed upon greedy lenders, greedy consumers, and greed at every other level of the transaction. Those of us that have steadfastly refused to fraudulently inflate values are excited to see some progress being made to regain professional appraiser independence. WAHOO!!! Its going to be interesting to watch this case as it progresses, and the "ripple effect" on the mortgage industry as a whole could be enormous.

We survived!

Well..........despite Tiersten getting sick yesterday and coming home early, and despite Grant's sickness Tuesday night, and despite Jennica being completely insanely hyper through trick-or-treating and until 10:30 pm last night.........we survived another year of Halloween!

I do have an amusing point to make......we were SO busy trying to get everything done and get everywhere we were supposed to go.......we did not take ONE SINGLE PHOTO of the kids in costume. My Mom did..........but I didn't.

And lastly, a funny story about Jennica. We got home about 8:00 pm, stumbled in the door with all four kids, and Jen promptly vanished. Five minutes later, Mike looked at me and asked, "Where did Jennica go?" I shrugged my shoulders and we started calling for her. I walked into her room just as Mike was dragging her out from under her bed by her ankles. Still dressed in full costume, and stuffing candy into her face as fast as she can unwrap and stuff. Mike looked at me with this totally exasperated look and said, "Guess who I found under her bed eating candy?" Before I could even answer, Jennica gave me this huge cheesy ear-to-ear grin and gave me a "thumbs up" sign. I couldn't help but almost laugh. So Mike turned to her and asked, "Jennica, was eating all that candy worth getting in trouble?" (She had been asked to take her candy bucket into the kitchen!) All he got was another big huge cheesy grin and another "thumbs up" sign. Yi Yi Yi!! What are we going to do with her??

Hope you had a Happy Halloween! The best thing about Halloween? It only lasts ONE DAY!!

Well...THAT was an interesting evening...

Every family has them.........evenings that are so full of chaos that you feel like your hair is on fire. Once again, I'm a control freak. (Have I mentioned that before?) So...I did everything possible IN ADVANCE to be prepared for yesterday evening, knowing that we had many things to do in preparation of Halloween and wanting to hold down the stress level so we could enjoy some family-bonding time carving pumpkins. This is how it went........and enjoy the humor because we are!!

Grant comes home from school. Lets me know that he has volunteered to bring brownies for his party today. Grant and I put together his costume. (I'll post photos later...) Dane comes home and both boys get to work on some random chores.......feeding dogs, picking up their room, that sort of thing. (Dane's last day before wrestling practice starts.) Go to store and get brownie mix and go pick up girls. Get home, start dinner, Mike comes home. Mike and I fold five loads of laundry while dinner is cooking. Dane mixes up brownies and gets them in pan. Brownies bake while we eat. Clean up everything after dinner. Dishwasher running. Brownies cooling. Now baking cookies because brownies smell good. Pack 6 pumpkins into the house and carve them. (Thank heavens Mike had gutted them all Tuesday evening.) Clean up pumpkin mess, try to keep Jennica out of trouble. Cookies cooling. Empty backpacks from school, load backpacks with costumes and whatever everyone needs for school. Get laundry put away, cut up brownies and get them ready to transport to school. Get girls in pajamas. Get girls in bed. Load an appraisal file in computer that needs to be ready in the morning. Send off a few business emails on loose ends with different files. Empty dishwasher. And at 9:15......Grant starts throwing up. Clean carpet. Mop bathroom floor. Wipe down wall. Finally stumble our way to bed. At which point, Mike says, "Sure glad we had a nice relaxing evening at home. We really needed that." Laughing out loud........

Every family has evenings like these.

I'm the Halloween version of Scrooge

The title of this blog pretty much says it all. Halloween as a kid was great fun. Halloween as non-Mom adult wasn't even too bad. But I gotta say, Halloween as a parent pretty much sucks!

Parties started last weekend. Parties are still going. Parties will take place all day tomorrow. Every day I explain to the girls that today is not the trick-or-treating day. We've been talking costumes for WEEKS. They will be tired long before we ever hit the trick-or-treating trail. I am, by nature, a "let's-make-it-at-home" type of parent when it comes to costumes. Unfortunately, the gazillion football and school and work events that in which we have been partaking have not really left ample time in the schedule to make costumes. Grant and I are making his costume. We went easy with the girls and they are "zipping" into their store-bought costumes.

And then there is the whole candy thing. We teach our children not to ask strangers for candy, and not even to ask people they know for gifts. And then we tell them that Halloween is exempt. Go ahead, kids.............dress up in a costume and its okay to to knock on people's doors and expect them to give you candy! And does anyone's kids really eat that candy? Our sits around for weeks, we eat the stuff we like, and finally dump the rest in the garbage. We have the additional problem that we only trick-or-treat with families we know. Many of the stops along the way involve grandparents or elderly people that don't get many trick-or-treaters, so they all have something "special" set aside for our children. Our kids are likely to come home with BIG candy bars, toys, cans of pop, and possibly even some cash. Not kidding here!! I trick-or-treated the same neighborhood as a child and one house was famous for giving silver dollars!!! And remember, we live in a rural area, so trick-or-treating is a driving from house to house event. No walking here!!

Before I was a parent, I knew a Mom that actually told her kids to go home after trick-or-treating and eat ALL the candy they wanted. Sometimes, she said they ate until they barfed. But the kids knew that when they went to bed, whatever was left of the candy went in the garbage. At the time, I thought it was a bizarre concept. Looking back, I have to give her credit ... it was a way to bring an abrupt end to Halloween leftovers.

Tonight, we will carve our pumpkins at home. And then, tomorrow, we'll stuff little people into costumes, smile, and do the whole nine yards that is Halloween in America in 2007. I will congratulate children on their costumes and hand out candy. I will chat pleasantly with other parents. But if you happen to see me out trick-or-treating, know that behind the smile...........I'm hoping that Martha Freakin' Stewart chokes on her carameled apple.

The "Man in the Pot"

As a parent of four children that are all virtually "fearless", I admit to taking great delight on the rare occasions that one of them actually shows a little genuine fright. I am quite seriously afraid of snakes and all four of the kids know that and flaunt it whenever possible. So.......I just consider it getting even. They've all been known to dangle things that slither........just to watch me squirm. This summer, Jennica even thought that the garter snake she found should come inside. YUK!

To get to the point of this story, Jennica went to Mary Bridge Hospital with Mike yesterday for her routine ear-tube check. (By the way, tubes are out and ears are great!) On their way home, Mike stopped by a Halloween store to look for a skunk costume for Tiersten (Yep......a skunk!). As they walked in the door, Jennica immediately spotted a huge pot with these life-size moving legs sticking out and kicking!! She flipped out and pretty much climbed Mike's legs!

Several hours later, when they got home, the "man in the pot" was all she could talk about. I was totally clueless and she was SO earnest about telling me and so frustrated because I was grasping her seriousness, but couldn't imagine what in the world she was jabbering about. Mike explained, and I tried very hard not to laugh, as this was obviously very serious to her! We have continued to tell her that it was a silly decoration and she doesn't seem to be having nightmares, but it sure made a BIG impression!

Serves her right for dangling a snake in my face.......... :)

I can see the light in the distance...

This coming week is our LAST week of football for 2007! Two weeks ago, I couldn't wait to get there, and now I'm going to be a little sorry to see it come to an end. Both of our boys have really matured this season and its been wonderful to watch! There teams have also been incredibly successful, with only one loss to each team. And, important to the Mom here, NO MAJOR INJURIES to any kid on either of their teams. With one week still to go...I'd better knock on wood......

Also, this past week, I turned 39! Mike made dinner on my birthday and my parents joined us and the four kids for cake and ice cream. It was nice to be home for the evening! And......last night, Mike shocked me with a surprise birthday party! He had started making some noises on Thursday about doing some house-cleaning, at which point I didn't catch on. I still didn't totally catch on Friday night as we were working around the house together and he was doing a more in-depth cleaning than usual. But Saturday, I got a little suspicious that SOMETHING was up. In any case, I still didn't guess that our usual rowdy group would all show up at 6:00 pm dressed in Mexican costume, carrying a ton of food, and........a pinata!! As always, we had a great time together and it was a lot of fun. I even won a round of Poker!! (Now that I think about it, maybe they let me win because it was my birthday. Nah........they're not THAT nice. :) ) In any case, by the time we re-possessed our children and got them into their own beds, it was 2 a.m., but THANKS to Mike and the rest of the gang for a great birthday! A few more weeks and we'll be sailing the West Coast of Mexico......

Lastly, a few weeks ago, we upgraded our camera. The last one had been as tough as nails through a lot of abuse, but a cup of apple juice on our camping trip this summer was just too much for it. We're having a blast playing with our new toy as, obviously, digital cameras have come a long way in the last few years. I've posted new photos of each of the kids above. At top, the girls playing on the playground at one of Grant's games. The photo of Grant (#26) was taken in Pe Ell on October 14th, where he had probably the best game he's ever had (so far anyway)with two fumble recoveries, two quarterback sacks, and some general knocking-other-people-down. And, lastly, the photos of Dane (in green,#50) are of him making a touchdown, and doing what he loves most..........smashing somebody on the gridiron (he's the guy in green on the TOP of the pile).

I feel like a hamster on a wheel...

Its Sunday night at 6:30 pm. If I could do anything I wanted right now....hhhmmmmm........I think I would go to bed and pull the covers over my head and sleep for a solid 12 hours with no interruptions. I'm in that mood where I just want to be left ALONE for awhile.........peace and quiet........ALL ALONE!!!

It actually was a good week and I'm truly grateful for that. In fact, I feel a little ungrateful even admitting that I'm craving time alone. But its one "benefit" of being a one-appraiser-business that we generally get a lot of time alone (I don't think I've mentioned that my trust assistant, Jennifer, has moved to Vancouver..... ) and we get accustomed to that mind-organizing time. This past week was just one of those that the schedule was VERY full every minute of every day with activities involving other people and I've got that "hair-on-fire/claustrophic" feeling tonight of not being totally brain-organized going into Monday morning. I HATE that! The "control freak" in me really NEEDS to know exactly what to expect every moment of every day this coming week. If I'm prepared for the things that I KNOW are going to happen, I deal better with the unexpected things that always come along. Am I making ANY sense here?

I've actually got some really funny stories to share from the kids this past week, but I'm too stressed at the moment to think they're very funny. I KNOW they're funny, but I can't focus enough to put them down in words.

So now that all you people know how truly insane I am.........well..........yeah. Good night!! I'm still running on the hamster wheel......

I'm starting a club...Wanna join?

Its been awhile since I've gotten on my soapbox, but upon reading the news today, I'm motivated to express my not-so-in-demand opinion. So here goes...

I've decided to start a club. People Against Poor Judgement On My Space. PAPJOMS. Hmmm....That doesn't really have a ring to it. Well........something like that. Wanna join?

Now, before you get your hackles up, I'm not against My Space itself. I'm against "Poor Judgement" on My Space. In my experience, this happens to include almost the vast majority of My Space accounts that I have surfed, but let's just say thats a coincidence. And My Space is not the only one of these venues--there are others that are equally as obnoxious. So please include those as well under the heading that I am terming as "My Space".

Here are my gripes:
1) My Space is providing an easy venue for VAST amounts of poor judgement to surface. I've seen two news stories in the past two weeks involving sex offenders using My Space as a method with which to meet their victims. Both of these instances went so far as to actually result in the victims meeting these criminals and crimes being committed. All of the involved victims were below the age of 18, and apparently, using My Space without parental supervision or guidance. (Not to say that the parents would have been any smarter than the kids.....)

2) My Space is the host of a whole lot of photos, text, etc. being posted with NO thought to the PERMANENCY of internet record. Gone are the days when a note was passed around a high school english class stating who has a crush on whom, who got drunk at what party, what girls are using birth control, or whatever that week's rumor may be--when the note died, so did the permanent written record. Today, these messages are posted on My Space. To be accessed forever and ever. Its bad enough that our teens are engaging in as many adult activities as they are, but to have them posted publicly on My Space? Yikes!

3) And this is where I really start to feel the gripe--Our college and adult users that are exhibiting as poor of judgement (or more so) than our teens. Photos of obscene gestures at the camera, photos of obvious drinking binges, photos of all kinds of things that 30 years from now you don't want your boss/grandchildren/world to witness. Come on, people!! Where is your self-respect? Where is your class? For heaven's sakes, play! Enjoy life! Have fun in whatever manner you desire, and live with the consequences! But don't allow it to be posted on the internet!!!

Consider the permanent societal impacts of My Space. Are our heads-of-state going to be attempting to confirm a Supreme Court Justice in 30 years and My Space photos from a fraternity party suddenly surface? How many sex offenders are out there surfing for their next victim right this minute? How many of us have a moment or two (from which we learned a lesson) and prefer that it would stay a very private lesson and not posted on the internet?

In closing, I'm going to submit the perfect example--I had two close high school friends that briefly dated an upper classman. That upper classman is now a politician. He is highly respected in his field of work, as he should be, for the adult that he has become. I could tell a few stories about him from our younger days. But thats all they are......stories. No My Space posting. No photos from my cell phone that I downloaded to the internet. Just fond stories of silly high school days. As it should be. He has nothing to fear......

If he had been born 20 years later, that may not have been the case, and a scandal could be waiting to break at any time. Despite his hard work. Despite his excellent track record in his job. Despite the responsible adult that he is today. Despite the good he is doing in legislature getting some important bills passed that will benefit our society.

So........If you are a My Space user, and if you perhaps have a photo or two posted somewhere, and if perhaps there are obscene gestures made at the camera, or other immature postings....Enjoy them. Because you might just live to regret the poor judgement you used the day you posted them.

Grant.....little and tough!!

Grant played another football game on Saturday. In this one, they finally met their match and they got beat. They put up a heck of a fight in the first three quarters, but finally got by-passed late in the game.

Grant, again, had a couple of great runs. He is on the smaller end of the kids, but tough as nails!! Its not unusual to see him pushing the last yard or two to a first down with four or five guys hanging on trying to bring him down. This week, he got his arm stomped on, but kept on a trucking!

I took the attached photo from the grandstands this past Saturday. Grant is #26, and he's standing next to teammate and good friend, Darrol. Darrol is about "average-sized" for the boys in their division. GROW, Grant!!! :)

Speedy Gonzales meets Batgirl

The already-a-handful Jennica has developed a few new skills lately, and is finely honing a few that she had previously revealed to us. Its giving me a serious case of "absence-of-patience-itus". Let me explain...

First of all, our youngest daughter has the longest and skinniest legs ever to be seen on a three-year-old. No case of the preschool chubbies here......her thighs and calves are long and muscular. And, boy, can she use them!!! This kid can RUN like the wind!!!

Second (also probably related to those long, thin legs), she has recently learned to climb things VERTICALLY. Like cabinets, specifically. And she is FAST!! She climbs up on our countertops lickety-split, we lift her down, and she's back up there in a heartbeat.

Combine these skills with the fact that she has no fear of ANYTHING, and we've got a problem on our hands. She always manages to get some form of "contraband" out of an upper cabinet(all the lower ones have Jennica-proof child locks on them), hops back down off the countertops and runs for her room like Carl Lewis. She does a "Pete-Rose-type-belly-slide" under her bed, tucks her feet up, and the only way to get her out is to lay on your stomach and drag her out by whatever body part you happen to grab! The other alternative is to leave her under there and ignore her, but thats not real practical if you're trying to get out the door to a football game, or preschool, or wherever else we're headed.

AAAAAAAHHHHHHHH. Once again, she's got us thinking. I will give her credit for that! The standard punishments don't work with this child so, once again, we're having to get creative and think of ways to outsmart her, and provide a deterrent, all at the same time.

So if anyone out there has any suggestions for how to deal with Speedy Gonzales and Batgirl all rolled into one........we're listening!!