Things I Miss

I can not express how happy we are to be back in Ohio, in our own home. It's been three months now (in case you missed how long I haven't posted). I could carry on about all of the things we missed. But there are a few things I miss about our time in California

A Good Morning - it's a breakfast and lunch place that is absolutely yummy. They had a machine that makes fresh squeezed orange juice. The omelets were divine. Chris loved their eggs benedict. There were Mickey Mouse pancakes for the kids. It was just fabulous. Except for the fact that it was a little small and crowded. We usually timed it right to not end up waiting for a table but by the end of our meal there would be a people lined up next to the door waiting for seats.

Squirrels - we don't have any squirrels here in our Ohio neighborhood. It's something I've always had around growing up and it feels weird not to look out and see a couple racing across the yard. For all of the rotten things about the house we rented in California, it did have some nice wildlife. Of course there were also rats and snakes and we once found a dead vole, but I once found a half eaten rabbit in our yard here. Anyway, the hummingbirds and squirrels were nice while we were there. The squirrels were particularly entertaining because it quickly became clear that it was gray squirrels versus black squirrels. There was chasing and leaping and chattering.

The Gym - since I didn't work (with the exception of tutoring over Skype during naptime) I didn't have much to do. We eventually developed a routine to our week and part of that routine was going to the gym. There was a kids room there with someone to watch over the kids while I worked out. Xander and Josie loved Jasmine and asked about her several times when we left. There was a plethora of cardio and lifting equipment. After some trial and error, we ended up going in the mornings three times a week. Two of those days I would attend Body Pump and the last day I would attend Zumba if there was a different instructor than the regular. The regular instructor drove me nuts. Some days I'd even go sit in the jacuzzi and relax. Between the pregnancy and not going to the gym, I feel like I've really regressed with my health since we've come back.

The Car Wash - I know there are plenty of car washes here, but they are all automatic with no one to work it. It was a little more expensive (okay, let's face it, everything was a little more expensive) but it was fun going to a fully manned car wash and seeing everyone doing their part. The penny horse for the kids and the free popcorn also added to the experience.

The Parks - while there were no parks close enough to walk to, there were many small parks with playgrounds in driving distance that I could probably spend a month going to them all. Part of our weekly routine was going to the park two or three afternoons a week. At first I was annoyed because they all had sand which would get into pockets and shoes and make a mess in the car and at home but I adjusted. It was rare for there not to be other kids and their mom/grandmother/nanny playing, so there was always someone to have a little chat with. We even met one family that we became good friends with at one of the playgrounds. The weather rarely became bad enough to stay home and since our house was so small it was nice to get out.

New Camera!

We finally did buy a fancy new camera. One of Chris's current coworkers let us borrow his Nikon D40 to try it out before buying. I had so much fun trying to take pictures of the kids. I also spent too much time taking pictures of random objects like the mini Christmas tree we have out. I would take a picture, change some setting, take another picture, compare pictures, change settings, take a picture, etc. Since the coworker was going to sell the camera on eBay, we went ahead and bought it.

The lens was lent to us along with the camera but had to be returned. I spend a lot of time trying to research which lens to buy and ended up getting the same one we used. I thought I wanted zoom but ended up getting a 35 mm, which should work well for the pictures of the kids. I already posted a bunch with taken with the sprinkler ball.

Here are a few of my favorites so far.

I really need to work on getting the camera level instead of slightly tilted.

I also need to be careful of focusing on Josie's face and not the hair that is a few inches closer.

That's right, lots of curly hair pictures.

Practicing bowling.

I forget what was happening but this was definitely an action shot.

This is the look he has when asking for a Nintendo DS but before I tell him no.

Revolutionary!

Here are a couple videos that are changing my (domestic) life.

First, how to fold a t-shirt quickly. They say 2 seconds in other versions but I count getting the t-shirt flat as part of the time. It's easy, I didn't even need to practice. The hardest part is remembering that when you are done one of the sleeves is outside of the fold and that is the side you should pick up the shirt so it doesn't fall apart. You may not understand the words (Japanese) but the technique is easy enough to pick up.



Next, I found out that I have been tying my shoes wrong for 30+ years. Thanks, Mom and Dad. The hardest part of this is I automatically double knot, which defeats the purpose. Also, the laces on my Converse are so long that I need to double knot them anyway. This one is a bit longer because it is explained.

Camera Envy

A few months ago I checked out a book from the library called something like "How to Take Pictures of Your Baby." Not because we're having a baby, because we're not. Don't ask again. But because I want to take better pictures of the kids. I want cute close-ups of goofy grins and twinkling eyes with the blurry backgrounds. I want to capture the moment they pop the bubbles and run through the sprinklers.

Of course the biggest advice in the book is to get a better camera. A digital SLR is what it was referred to as. The kind where you change lenses and do all sorts of focusing and changing things called aperture and ISO. And when I looked into it, it's kind of expensive. Like more expensive than my fancy Kitchenaid Stand Mixer and fabulous Dyson vacuum cleaner. I mean, if I'd had to pay for the mixer or the vacuum. Anyway, the camera body and lenses are expensive even on ebay or craigslist.

So I have tried to focus on the other parts of picture taking, like composition and framing and what not. But I keep glancing at craigslist.

When we went to Yosemite I was astounded at the number of SLRs. Yeah, some had point-and-shoots like us. But there were obviously serious photgraphing (yeah, I said photographing) going on there. Super zoom lenses, tripods and camera cases were everywhere.

Then it happened. Our camera broke! The lens wouldn't retract. We could review pictures but because it could no longer focus or zoom, no more pictures.

I know we can take it somewhere to get it fixed but this is obviously a sign! All of the research I've done will come to fruition in a fancy new camera! My children will look adorable no matter if I snap a picture of a tantrum or have bad lighting! Well, we'll see. Chris is asking around for suggestions on cameras and lenses and we'll compare notes. Then, new camera! Whee!

Matchy-matchy

Have you seen my new purse? I've only had it for a year. However, if I'm with the kids I will be sporting the diaper bag. But if you catch me by myself I will have my purse.


I seem to stick with Fossil purses. I don't care for leather purses with a lot of hardware. I want canvas and pockets. This one veered a little from what I usually get but I adored it. But I didn't buy it the first time I saw it. Any time I buy a purse on impulse I end up regretting it. And of course it was gone when I went back for it. I had to do an intense internet search to find it and then I had to wait until it was on sale.

More recently I decided that my wallet should be replaced. My old one has been good for well over five years, why not try something new. And I found this cute one, again from Fossil.

But when I went to buy it, the store had only one and the corner was all rubbed off. I was disappointed but browsed for a few minutes. Then I found this one. And I may or may not have named the little bee on it Herbert.


It wasn't until I went to check out that I realized how well it matched my purse. While I wanted to get a wallet that would compliment my purse, I didn't mean for it to match. Ah well, since the wallet (and Herbert) spends most of its time in the diaper bag I don't really need to worry about it.

Trying Something New

While on vacation in San Diego, we tried a couple new places to eat. The one that I picked was called Pacific Coast Grill. It had good food reviews, stated it was child friendly and prices weren't bad. Imagine my surprise to show up, see a dark restaurant with lots of couples and not be given a children's menu. But the waitress had the children's menu memorized and bread appeared on the table immediately so we decided to tough it out.

Now most of you know that I am a picky eater. While growing up my mom would make me a hamburger any time there was meatloaf or spaghetti because I wouldn't touch them. In college I survived on cereal, pepperoni pizza and Mountain Dew.

Then along came Chris. On our second date he introduced me pineapple and ham pizza that he made. I was in love (with the pizza). Slowly, over eleven years now, he has gotten me to try new things. I'm still not a fan of Mexican cuisine but I've warmed up to Chinese and am willing to try new things more often.

So will scanning the menu at this restaurant I decide to try something a little different than normal. Kabobs. Ok, so that isn't too new. But I chose to have steak and salmon. I am not much of a seafood person (did you hear what happened to me at freshman Homecoming?) but I keep hearing how it's oh-so-good-for-you. So I took a chance.

And it was fabulous. It was the teriyaki sauce that made it taste not so fishy. It was the first time in quite a while that I actually cleaned my plate.

In an effort to start eating healthier, last night we had salmon, rice and asparagus for dinner. I thought "This needs teriyaki sauce!" but alas there was no such sauce in the house. But in a flash of inspiration I looked up a recipe online. I had all of the ingredients so I whipped out a pot, set it on the oven and threw in the ingredients. Chris had already started to grill salmon and some steak but the sauce was ready in minutes so he poured some on.

Again, fabulous! Xander even ate the fish with no complaints, even asked for extra sauce.

I love it when a plan comes together.

Doctor, Doctor, Give Me the News

Last week I received a letter from our family doctor in Ohio. He stated that his practice would close in June and he would be moving to West Virgina for a new position. So I am stuck with finding a new family doctor (and perhaps a pediatrician) that will accept our insurance. And I need to this without meeting the new doctor because we are in California until August. But I need to get it done so that records can be transferred over before the old doctor moves away.

You'd think it would be easy with all of the websites and technology nowadays. The insurance website lists the doctors, right? Yes, except that for some reason they don't have any doctor's in our zip code. I can't tell if it's a technology glitch (a message came up one time implying such) or if there are really no doctors close to us. I may try to call the insurance but have to work up the nerve to be on hold for twenty minutes before I talk to someone.

I sent out a couple emails to local friends asking for recommendations. The one doctor repeatedly recommended is not taking new patients. Boo! And since all of the patients from the old doctor are trying to find a new doctor, I am nervous about availability.

I guess I'll wait for a few more recommendations and then just call to see if they take our insurance. I just hope that I don't end up having to drag a sick child on a forty minute car ride to be told it's just a cold.

Weather Warnings

I woke up last Friday to a text asking if we were going to be okay, with the wall of water heading our way. I was confused a little. I didn't see anything about a big storm heading our way. Then I checked the news on my phone and saw the earthquake and tsunami in Japan. Then I turned on the television to hear about the tsunami warnings in our area.

I wasn't worried about us. There is a line of mountains directly between us and the ocean. There is a bay near us but it would still be hard for the water to get through to the bay and then to here. We're down in the lower bay area.

While I wasn't worried about us, I was still glued to the news throughout the day. Some lower regions along the coast were evacuated and the highways clogged. Some people went out to see what was going on and get pictures. One of those guys was actually knocked over and pulled out to sea. Some of the harbors were destroyed. There was a clip of a distraught woman on the news that sticks with me. She clearly was wealthy and upset about the boats getting destroyed but since some of those boats were homes I can see how is was upsetting.

That of course pales in comparison to the destruction in Japan. I saw a clip last night of people wandering through the wreckage while it was snowing and I just can't imagine what it must be like. There are lots of videos out there, but I thought the six minute clip (that now I can't find) really showed the tsunami best. I figured it would be a huge wave that came in (thanks, Hollywood) but these six minutes show the destruction totally differently.

Today, as we are getting ready for lunch, Full House was interrupted with a tornado warning. This one threw me for a loop for two reasons. First, they have tornadoes here? What? Second, where do we go in this shrinky dink house? I texted Chris and informed him of the warning and that we would be in the coat closet.

I thought that when we moved here our biggest concern would be an earthquake. The Big One is coming and California will float away from the rest of the continental US. Tsunamis should be expected, I just didn't know that. Tornadoes though?

Side note: I really should get an earthquake kit together.

I Lost Chris's Heart

For the Valentine's Day during the time I was pregnant with Xander (2007, for those of you not keeping score), Chris decided he wanted to buy me a special ring. He doesn't buy me jewelry very often and I don't feel the need to have a large collection of expensive baubles. The thought of Chris wanting to get me something nice before the our firstborn arrived appealed to me.

Chris was able to design a ring on a website. He chose a sapphire for the center (my birthstone) and emeralds shaped as hearts on either side (his birthstone). A ring to symbolize how I'm the center of his heart. Squish!

I wasn't able to wear it through the end of the pregnancy. I was scared to wear it while Xander was newborn for fear of scratching him. I was able to wear it when he was a little bigger. Then I was pregnant with Josie and the same order of events occurred.

I've been wearing this ring for a couple months now when tragedy struck Friday morning. I realized one of the green hearts was missing. I have no idea when it fell out and there is no sign of it anywhere in the house (which doesn't mean much).


I'm sad that it is gone. But not as freaked out as when I thought I'd lost my diamond wedding earrings when we moved. Chris said he'll buy me a new ring and at the time I replied "Why, I'll just lose it too" but I wasn't serious. Hint, hint.

Date Night!

Lori and Dave, my friends from Ohio, decided to vacation in California last week and were kind enough to visit us for a couple days. I feel a little bad that we didn't do anything exciting together but they did say they were tired from days of sight seeing. We treated them to sitting in our living room and going to the playground a couple times.

They were kind enough to repay us with babysitting! Whee! Freedom for an entire evening! Date time! And we were specifically told to stay out as late as we wanted.

Chris and I headed for dinner first and, despite Chris subtly asking for a burger and beer, we ended up at a nice Chinese restaurant called Chef Chu's. The kids don't do well with rice or noodles so I figured we should take advantage of it while we could. There are all sorts of celebrity pictures along the wall of the waiting section. Turns out the son of the owner is a movie director. I was especially entralled by the large Justin Bieber (oh, I had to look up how to spell that!) Never Say Never poster.

We debated going to see a movie but settled instead on bowling! It has been forever since I've been bowling. When I was little my family would go a few times a year. At various stages my grandparents and parents have been involved in leagues. I was a gutter ball queen in those early years but too stubborn to allow bumpers to be put in.

Imagine my surprise as I managed to get a couple strikes, several spares and even scored 101 in my second game. If only I had found a better ball, I could have gotten a turkey! (That's three strikes in a row for those who don't remember their grade school bowling lesson.) (What, you didn't have bowling in gym class? Heathen.)

At one point during the evening the little girl a couple lanes over from us was playing with her bowling ball and dropped it. Of course it rolled right over into our lane and down into the gutter. It proceeded to roll most of the way down, stop, start to roll back towards us, then stop completely. We had to ask an employee to get it. He kidded me about not throwing it hard enough when he went to hand the ball back to me at which point I told him it was the little girl's ball. Her mom made her apologize and I yelled at her for ruining my concentration. Just kidding, I wanted to see if you were still paying attention.

After bowling, Chris and I picked up a couple desserts and headed home. It wasn't a late night out, because the kids will still be up at 6 am, but it was so nice just to be out together and not feel rushed, harried or pestered.

Any of you planning on visiting us better be prepared for some serious children time.

Have Computer, Will Tutor

Since having the kids, I have been tutoring in order to make a little extra money. I enjoy teaching and, quite frankly, I like talking to anyone over the age of three during the course of the day.

I advertised when I first started. I made business cards, for lack of a better description, and handed them out at the local schools. The last high school I taught at has me listed as a tutor. I even signed up at on online tutor search site.

Each year I've had about three or four students. Some found me through the high school I taught at, some through the business cards. A couple students are from the school I currently teach at, either to prep to get into my class or after they've gone on to high school.

This past summer I had to let a couple students know that I would be moving away for the year and would be unable to tutor them during that time. The one girl left and called within five minutes (seriously, I thought she called because she left something at my house) and said she'd like to continue working with me. She asked if I could get a webcam and Skype.

I talked it over with Chris and we decided it would be no problem. I talked with the parent of the other student I was going to tutor and they wanted in on that too. I even talked to a couple people who said "Why don't you try teaching your class that way, so you don't have to take a year off from teaching?" I decided against that because I am just too hands on with projects and I didn't want to deal with parent conferences, grading and other nuances from across the country.

So now I have three days a week that I put the kids down for their naps and turn on the computer. It has worked out extremely well, thought it's not as nice as being there. I use a white board to hold up problems and show work and my students do the same. There are little problems like feedback or connection issues but they have been minor.

There are only two little problems. The tutoring needs to be during nap time because otherwise I spend too much time shooing the children away and trying to distract them. "Who are you talking to, Mom? Oh, hi Clare! Look at this!" And there is the time difference of three hours. So even if I wanted to tutor in the evening, it's ten o'clock at night for my students.

I'm still getting requests for tutoring from different places. I received a call from a mom from the high school and she said I had such nice things said about me, it was hard to turn her down. And despite putting up a sign saying "unavailable" on the tutoring website, I am still getting requests from their. Which reminds me, I have to go politely decline someone that just sent an email today.

I've thought about tutoring here in California. However, this house isn't big enough for me to tutor a student while the kids play quietly in the other room. There is no other room. It's a dining room/ living room combo. I'd have to lock the kids in the bedroom and then would find every stitch of clothing, every diaper and every wipe strewn across the floor.

Not Cold Enough

On Friday morning, as we prepared breakfast, we noticed that there was some strange water in the freezer. We figured we'd left the door cracked overnight and went about our day.

After lunch, I noticed that the ice cubes were definitely melting. I had repeatedly checked that the door was closed throughout the morning, so my reaction was "uh-oh."

That night at dinner Chris pointed out that the milk was definitely not as cold as usual. He pulled out the refrigerator to check the coils and vents, but there was a back covering everything. We promptly emailed and texted the landlady to let her know we had a problem. She let us know that she'd come over Saturday to check it out.

Her "checking it out" only involved getting measurements. She didn't bother even opening the doors or pulling it out. Instead she went out and bought a new refrigerator. Which is awesome except that for whatever reason the store couldn't deliver it until Wednesday.

If it were just Chris and I, we'd make do. But having the kids and eating most meals at home presented some problems. So we splurged on a mini-fridge!

Isn't it cute? Reminds me of college. And, oddly enough, it's louder than the old, full-sized refrigerator. We're keeping some basics in it and going to the grocery store daily to pick up meat for dinner.

Meanwhile, Chris rolled the old refrigerator out into the courtyard for the guys to pick up when the new one is dropped off. He tossed most of the food. That created a problem unto itself. They have mini garbage cans here to impose the rules about less waste. The landlady already filled half of it with her garbage and we'd already filled the other half. So, Chris dropped two more garbage bags into the yard waste bin (which is not used) and I transferred them onto the top of the garbage can this morning just before the garbage truck came through.

The new refrigerator should be here tomorrow. I don't expect anything grandiose but I am excited that all of the shelves should work to hold in food and not break and let food fall every time the door is opened.

Fixer Upper

I keep meaning to post things about the house we are staying in. I plan on doing a nice post about the plants that bloom around here. We saw tulips coming up in a neighborhood lawn while out walking this weekend. Tulips, in January! It blows my mind! I'm used to tulips in March and April and worrying about them when they get an inch of snow covering them. Not here though.

However, things aren't looking all that peachy at our place right now. I could show lots of pictures and rant on and on about things that need fixed or that we would change. Then I remind myself that it's not my house and it is perfectly suitable for living in.

However, when you come home to overgrown bushes and mud every day, it can be a downer.

Funny, the owner did trim these bushes yesterday. I don't know for sure what prompted it but I do know that trimmed off chunks of bush are lying in a long pile out there now. I am confident that they will be there for days to come.

I think I've finally broken Josie of the habit of running through the mud, getting in the car and then smearing her shoe all over the car door.

Ah, but better than coming home to overgrown landscaping is coming home to a water heater next to the driveway!

It's not lawn art, I checked. I left a subtle hint that we'd like it gone in the owner's mail. It's a flyer advertising free pick up of large items this week. I highlighted the date and where it listed water heater. See, I told you it was subtle.

We've told everyone about the compost pile in the back yard.

Nothing to fence it in, just grass and leaves added to it every other week. And children trying to climb into it. And the ant trail leading to it. Squirrels digging into it. Nowhere for it to get used.

The best part of the pile is the plywood and wires thrown into one end of it. Totally biodegradable!

I can only hope that the trimmed bushes get added to the compost pile.

Life Gave Me Lemons

One of Chris's coworkers invited our family to get together with his family and we've done so a couple of times. It's nice to go out to breakfast with another couple and their little kid. During the course of the last get together they lamented that their lemon tree had so many lemons that they didn't know what to do with them. My response was "Send some over, I've got a stand mixer." And so it began.


It started out with four lemons. After combing through my Better Homes and Gardens cookbook I decided to make lemon bars. The 'furnished' home we are in even had a zester and old fashioned juicer (you know, where you take half of a lemon and crush it onto the juicer and twist it). I have got to get my own zester and juicer.

The lemon bars turned out pretty tasty. I'm not a huge fan because of the lack of chocolate in lemon bars, but I still went back for seconds. We ended up sending most of them with Chris for work (with some set aside for our friends who sent the lemons). They were such a hit that more were requested.

Which meant that I needed a few more lemons. And somehow a dozen more were sent over. So I made the extra lemon bars and then eyeballed the rest of the lemons, debating what to do with them. I actually wanted to try lemon meringue pie, but the stirring and cooking never seems to coincide with the kids leaving me alone long enough to stir and cook.

After more time spent looking through my cookbook, I decided on lemon sponge cake. I was adventurous and put it in a bundt cake pan, but it didn't come out of the pan easily. So it doesn't look all the pretty and had a chunk missing. I made some lemon glaze and dribbled it over the cake.


Oh, it is so delicious. It's angel food cake with a lemon kick. When Chris found out I made it from scratch, well, he used some foul language to express his delight.

I still have at least six lemons left, so that pie might still be made.

Working Out

As I left the gym on Friday, someone stopped me and said they noticed I'd lost a few inches. Yeah!

We joined a gym when we arrived in California. In Ohio, we have free weights in the basement and we had a treadmill but sold it when we left. I never got into a good workout groove while there, though there were a couple attempts at running and using a Jillian Michaels workout video.

The gym we are at has a kids area where someone will watch the munchkins while I workout. It took a couple weeks for Josie to get acclimated but the kids are now excited to go. It has limited hours (9-1 and 5-8 during the week) and sometimes it is full by the time I get there. And there have been repeated times that the kids have severely runny noses and coughs, so I don't get to bring them in.

Overall, I've really like working out at this gym. I tried the Zumba class a couple times but didn't care for it. I'm not sure if I disliked the class itself or the instructor who wore super tight clothes that displayed enhanced assets. Now I'm taking the Body Pump class. It's weight lifting to music and it's focused on repetitions. It gets my heart rate up and I enjoy being in a class, it's more motivating.

On other days I used the elliptical and have finally worked up to running again. I'm not great at it or fast but I was so thrilled the first time I ran a mile. For Christmas I even received an arm band and ear buds so I can listen to music while I run.

I have to admit, I also like the hot tub in the pool area.

I haven't lost much weight. I've lost a few inches as fat converts to muscle. But I have felt so much better in general. I may have to join a gym when we return to Ohio...