I'm leaving town!

Tomorrow I am headed north to Portland for a weekend away. My girlfriend and I have been trying to make this happen since we were there for the Revolve Tour last fall. At the time we were with about a gob-trillion high-school girls, this time it will just be us.

I haven't really travelled with friends just for fun trips. In 2000 my sister and I went to Victoria BC for a weekend. Jason and I have gone to the coast once or twice and then there are the weekends we go away for his races. Last summer I drove to Seattle to visit a friend for a few days. Also, I travel a decent amount for work. Those trips are with coworkers (employees) who are my friends, but there is always that "I'm the boss, you're not" undertone to our relationships. It doesn't mean we don't have fun though.... All that to say, I'm really excited to get away with no purpose in mind other than fun and relaxation.

Mommy & Me---FYI

This is our newest thing at work....what do you think?

Sylvan Learning Center is happy to introduce--

Mommy and Me

· Experienced Early Childhood Educators
· Story time using Sylvan’s Early Reading Program
· Calendar time introducing Sylvan’s Math Essentials Program
· Creative time for art and sensory development
· Fun stories and activities enhance weekly themes
· 6 week session for $60.00
· For children 18 months to Pre-K

Get a head start on your early learner’s education. Sylvan Learning in Medford is now offering Mommy and Me classes for families and their children ages 18 months to Pre-K. Experienced Early Childhood teachers will transform Sylvan’s math and reading programs into fun-filled classes where children can participate in age-appropriate activities. Each class will follow a similar format to create a structured early-learning environment. New weekly themes, music and movement activities, story time, and art projects ensure that an exciting time is had by all!

Classes are offered Tuesdays or Thursdays from 10:00am-11:00am
Tuesday Sessions: March 4, 11, 18, April 1, 8 and 15
Thursday Sessions: March 6, 13, 20, April 3, 10 and 17

The fun and learning begin March 4th; sign up now, space is limited.
Call Sylvan Learning today: 779-0503
724 S. Central, Suite 115

3 reasons...hmmm

So this evening I got this from a dear friend...
Good evening girls,
I need your help ... please reply to this email with three good reasons why I should start blogging!
I am struggling to commit and would love your encouragement. **** and I just can't take the exclusion from that special club ... T**** - you're next!
Thanks friends,
****
**** indicate depersonalizations... not flagrant vulgarity

So here goes. I really can't tell you why you should blog, I can only tell you why I do it.
Reason #1--Writing practice.
I am now a "published" writer. Me! The girl who almost cried when the GTF tore apart her Writing 120-something research paper. Writing is a skill I would like to improve and this is a good place to practice.
Reason #2--You get to know me.
If you are my friend, you know just how quiet I am--even among friends. When I blog I am telling the stories friends share with each other, but I usually don't. Either you can't hear me or because I know you can't hear me, I just sit back and let other people share their stories.
Reason #3--Record Keeping
I like to scrapbook...my kids lives. I want to remember those details. But in those books you will seldom find me in pictures or stories or otherwise. I used to have a perfect memory. I could tell you first, middle, and last names in chronological order of the guys my FRIENDS dated. Now I am starting to struggle to recall what we did last weekend. The simple act of putting these random events or emotions of life in print (or online if you will) locks them into my memory so someday I will be able to tell the same story over and over like our parents and grandparents do now.

One really good reason not to blog--your friends. "So, are you going to write again. Each time I check it is still the garage door story." Decide up front if you are going to let this be something that makes you feel guilty for neglecting. I don't. I can't. I don't have time for that.

Good luck with your decision. We'd love to have you.

Man Rules

I found this while searching for blogs written by men. My husband is liking the concept of reading blogs but finds the ones linked from my site entirely too female…not yours Steve. These are not original, or I would just link the blog I found it on. I’m sure they made the e-mail rounds among men, but not being a man, I hadn’t seen it. Also as I try to make this a family site, you’ll notice some *’s noting replaced or eliminated words. Feel free pass it on to your husband, but being male, he has probably already seen it.

Man Laws
Read 'em all or you show no intestinal fortitude and in fact are a woman.

1. Thou shall not rent the movie "Chocolat".

2. Under no circumstances may two men share an umbrella.

3. Any man who brings a camera to a bachelor party may be legally killed and eaten by his fellow partygoers.

4. When you are cornered by a buddy's wife, girlfriend, mother, father, priest, shrink, dentist, accountant, or dog walker, you need not and should not provide any useful information whatsoever as to his whereabouts. You are permitted to deny his very existence.

5. Unless he murdered someone in your immediate family, you must bail a friend out of jail within 12 hours.

6. You may exaggerate any anecdote told in a bar by 50 percent without recrimination; beyond that, anyone within earshot is allowed to call BS*. (Exception: When trying to pick up a girl, the allowable exaggeration rate rises to 400 percent.)

7. If you've known a guy for more than 24 hours, his sister is off-limits forever.

8. The minimum amount of time you have to wait for another guy who's running late is 5 minutes. For a woman, you are required to wait 10 minutes for every point of hotness she scores on the classic 1-10 scale.

9. Complaining* about the brand of free beer in a buddy's refrigerator is forbidden. You may gripe if the temperature is unsuitable.

10. No man is ever required to buy a birthday present for another man. In fact, even remembering a friend's birthday is strictly optional and slightly gay.

11. Agreeing to distract the ugly friend of a hot babe your buddy is trying to hook up with is your legal duty. Should you get carried away with your good deed and end up * * with the beast, your pal is forbidden to speak of it, even at your bachelor party.

12. Before dating a buddy's "ex", you are required to ask his permission and he in return is required to grant it.

13. Women who claim they "love to watch sports" must be treated as spies until they demonstrate knowledge of the game and the ability to pick a buffalo wing clean.

14. If a man's zipper is down, that's his problem --- you didn't see nothin'.

15. The universal compensation for buddies who help you move is beer.

16. A man must never own a cat or like his girlfriend's cat.

17. Your girlfriend must bond with your buddy's girlfriends within 30 minutes of meeting them. You are not required to make nice with her gal pal's significant other*--- low-level sports bonding is all the law requires.

18. When stumbling upon other guys watching a sports event, you may always ask the score of the game in progress, but you may never ask who's playing.

19. When your girlfriend/wife expresses a desire to fix her whiny friend up with your pal, you may give her the go-ahead only if you'll be able to warn your buddy and give him time prepare excuses about joining the priesthood.

20. It is permissible to consume a fruity chick drink only when you're sunning on a tropical beach... and it's delivered by * supermodel... and it's free.

21. Unless you're in prison, never fight naked.

22. A man in the company of a hot, suggestively dressed woman must remain sober enough to fight.

23. If a buddy is outnumbered, out manned, or too drunk to fight, you must jump into the fight. Exception: If within the last 24 hours his actions have caused you to think, "What this guy needs is a good *-whoopin", then you may sit back and enjoy.

24. Phrases that may NOT be uttered to another man while weight lifting:"Yeah, baby, push it!""C'mon, give me one more! Harder!""Another set and we can hit the showers.""Nice backside*, are you a Sagittarius?"

25. Never hesitate to reach for the last beer or the last slice of pizza, but not both. That's just plain mean.

26. If you compliment a guy on his six-pack, you better be referring to his beer.

27. Never join your girlfriend/wife in dissing a buddy, except when she's withholding * pending your response.

28. Never talk to a man in the bathroom unless you're on equal footing: either both urinating or both waiting in line. In all other situations, a nod is all the conversation you need.

29. If a buddy is already singing along to a song in the car, you may not join him... too gay.

30. All men are required to re-post this bulletin so their buddy's have no excuse for not knowing what is and is not acceptable.

Ants

Spring has sprung...kind of. I know last night threatened to freeze and I am sitting here with a mini-heater blowing on my feet, but this is Oregon. Spring is here. With that lovely change of seasons, inevitably come the ants. I know there are products that work really well--my personal fave is Terro. However, you have to put it everywhere. And, while the concept of the traps is much preferable to putting little drops on cardboard squares, the stuff in the traps is really sticky and it dries hard, so if it spills...good luck.

I keep a relatively clean house. I am sitting in my upstairs office and the little critters are roaming amidst my papers. Yuck! What are they looking for? And they stink. If you crush one of them, make sure you use something between your hand and that little creature. That smell will stay on you. Every time your hand comes near your nose, whew!

I have two ant infestation stories which IN HINDSIGHT are mildly amusing. The first happened when my friend Kendall and I were living in West Eugene. West Eugene is a swamp. And the house was older and not really sealed to the elements. We had ants like crazy. We couldn't leave ANYTHING out. By mid-summer, we felt that we had pretty much gotten the problem under control but, well, if it had been under control I wouldn't be telling you this story.

I had swept the kitchen and went to grab the dustbuster (one of my favorite inventions--maybe someday I'll blog about that). I walked into the kitchen with it, turned it on and...ants. Everywhere. They came running (can ants run?) out of that machine. I'll admit it--I screamed. I used the broom to hook the handle and carry the thing out to the back patio where I turned the hose on myself to wash off the creepy critters. That particular dustbuster was never again used.

I said I had two stories, but I've killed over 10 ants since I've been here typing and even though I used paper, I can smell it. Instead of sharing my second story I'm going to go get the Terro and maybe the Raid and deal with this mess.

Updates

You’re Fired—In the weeks since that employee was let go, my decision has been affirmed. I have uncovered several fountains of poison that had been spread by him not least of which was discussing with a client the unreasonable expectations I had for him. Lovely. My primary concern was that the other employees would not feel threatened or put off by my choice to let someone go because of poor performance. That has not happened. Despite business still lagging, the atmosphere has been much improved after his departure. Everyone is pulling together with a can-do attitude.

Garage Door—The freezer and some of the cabinets have been moved. I can pull into the garage far enough to close the door behind me and I can get out of the driver’s side. If I have to take anyone on the passenger side, however, I still have to back out first. We have more cabinetry that can move, but it will be a big project…very easy to procrastinate.

My Dog Died

This is old news, but it needs to be written. I am a cat person. Not a "crazy cat lady," I just prefer cats. Shortly after Jason and I got married we got a puppy. Jason is a dog person and he bonded with this dog. The next year we were driving back from the coast and for "fun" stopped by the Humane Society just to look. There was a dalmation there who I fell in love with. She was on the small side for a dalmation, but very pretty and very sweet. When you rubbed her ears she would groan in ecstasy. We decided against adopting her, but the next day when I got home from work, Jason surprised me with her. Kishka, like every dog, had some issues, but she was mine.

Over the past 2 years, Kishka started losing a weight. She didn't eat less, in fact she ate more. She just dropped all the fat from her body. She also started to lose vision and hearing. She did not seem to be in pain, but was often disoriented or confused. We took her to the vet a year ago and though tests were done, no cause was discovered. In December I took her back and they ran more tests. It was determined that she most likely had a brain tumor. While I felt quite close to this dog, I could not mortgage my home for canine cancer treatment. So on December 21, I had Kishka put to sleep. Jason offered to take her out and shoot her, but I decided to be a big girl and take care of it myself. That and I didn't want to know that my husband shot my dog.

I cried. But less than I expected. I realized that with her, the grieving process had begun long ago. She had become withdrawn. She was not eager to seek out affection nor to bestow it. She had ceased becoming the dog I loved and was just another creature in our household. So, while the event was sad, it did not affect me in the way I expected. I dreaded telling the kids about the her, but she had been so uninvolved in our lives that it was hardly a blip on their screen.

I'm not going anywhere with this, don't expect a tie it all together statement like "I hope I never become so uninvolved in people's lives that I am not missed" or "Isn't grief strange how it appears differently based on the sequence of events." I just thought I'd share a bit about my dog.