Guilty Pleasures.

In case you ever wanted/needed to know I have a few guilty pleasures. One of them is OPRAH. I am not a big TV watcher, but I love me some Oprah. I especially love to hear her say, "All New" and today is just that!!

What I can't wait to see is if she is still curvy Oprah or not. I like curvy Oprah. I like it when curvy Oprah was getting a little more curvy than usually and just finally admitted that she likes real food. Wasn't that liberating? Poor Dr. Oz and Bob Greene, they were probably furious with her, but I love it!

I respect her search for personal growth and well being, although I did give an eye roll when she did her Vegan Cleanse at the end of last season. "Here we go again," was my take on that. Dairy=another guilty pleasure. I am far from joining the Vegans.

One sure bet, politics will be on the agenda (Obama). Probably a good book or two. Definitely Dr. Oz with his know-it-all body science. Someone to motivate us all to be do gooders. Any more predictions out there?

Dear Grandma,

Thank you for the birthday card, it will stay displayed on my entry table for awhile longer because every time I see it I think of you. I want to show you the cute shoes I bought today (thanks to you). I think you will like them, I know I do.

What do you think? Fun. Flirty. Colorful. Are they me? I love them, but I love you more! Thanks for thinking of me and for letting me spoil myself with something fun.

I love you!

Jen

p.s. You should see the shirts I also found, they go very nicely with the shoes.

31 Candles

Today is my happy birthday! The older I get, the longer birthday's seem to last. You get early birthday wishes, on the day birthday wishes and belated birthday wishes. It's great! I call it MY BIRTHWEEK. It started Sunday with many friends at church who thoughtfully read the Relief Society calendar and remembered my special day...thank you! Following church, we had a yummy dinner with my parents and brother coming up to join us. Mediterranean Tostadas. Truly delicious. I will need to share this recipe, you will love it!



Today, Max remembered it was my Birthday and so did Sam (guessing by the gigantic smile on his face when he woke up). Many friends called, some serenading me and my lovely friend Jeanette came bearing a delicious chocolate cream pie. If Max had not been a witness to this gracious gift I would have taken a fork to it immediately!

An evening picnic with my favorite boys enjoying my favorite indulgence was the perfect ending to a wonderful celebration of my 31 years.

I have been quite reminiscent lately...more of that for another day.

p.s. I've missed our little blog. The summer was spent with enjoying time with the boys. How easily distracted I am by their loving attention! Not to worry, with a lot to catch up on, there will be many posts to come!

Brace Yourselves.

Because Sam is such an easy going baby, I often will lay him down for a nap and listen to him babble, laugh and play for 10-20 minutes before he falls asleep. For some reason today, I decided to check on him and what I found was quite a sight.

First...naked baby standing up with a big drooly grin. Happy. Naked. Cute. Until I walked closer. The smell hit me and then I looked in the crib. From the trail of evidence I have concluded that he started to poop in his diaper then took it off, continued pooping and played in it.

I know. Gross. Disgusting. A bath followed the cries of "Oh, Sam!" and "Max, HELP!"

And I actually thought wearing only a diaper would be a good idea. Good for staying cool in the heat, but not so good for conserving energy, as I have spent hours of added laundry to my day!

Oh my goodness...excuse me while I change another explosion!!!! I think we may have a problem here...

5XDL640

What is that you ask? The license plate of the crazies that threw things at our car, attempted to run us off the road, and made the 3 hour drive home from Los Angeles very long and scary.

In Valencia on Highway 5, Leon accidently cut someone off on the freeway. Truly accidental and actually not even close enough to causing any harm. We were quickly made aware of this mistake by the long HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOnk the driver gave. Apparently Leon's action was aggravating enough to the driver that he decided to throw what I am guessing by the stickiness of my car was a bottle of soda at me through the passenger window. Completely unexpected and terrifying.

About 10 miles down the road the crazy driver swerves over 3 lanes to the far right lane we were cautiously driving in and the passenger now begins tossing whatever he could at our car while giving hand gestures and screaming at us...all while driving 70 mph. I only can imagine what they were saying...but was more concerned with our car full of precious cargo staying in our lane and not getting in an accident.

I begin to then instruct Leon to not attempt to pass them and stay slowly and safely behind them. I figured we were less likely to have any more confrontations if we were behind them.

Of course I am determined at this point to call 911 and then become frustrated because I am on HOLD for the "next available operator" for about 10 minutes. What if this were a life or death emergency? I was starting to think it could be. The operator instructs us to stay behind them and maintain a safe speed and distance.


So the rest of the drive we are making sure that if 5XDL640 is close ahead, we duck and cover and pray we make it home alive. I also thought of the VERY IMPORTANT REASONS the driver could be so angry...

Maybe he was transporting a wedding cake and as he put on his brakes the cake toppled over.

Maybe he was delivering an urn of ashes and they scattered as he put on his brakes.

Maybe his family earns a living delivering eggs from LA to Fresno and they cracked when he put on his brakes.

Maybe when he put on his brakes, he spilled his Slurpee all over himself and he threw it at us to show us what a mess it makes.

Yeah, probably not. We made it home safely and that's all that really matters, although I really hope the CHP found him and pulled him over and found out there were several warrants for his arrest and took him away in handcuffs! All revenge aside, it really is good to be home alive.

This is our dog Rocky. He joined our family when Max was 4 and I was going through a serious bout of baby hunger that felt more like starvation. I thought a dog would satisfy Max's need for a sibling and offer companionship. I also thought a puppy would satisfy my need for an infant. Four years later, I now have a rebellious "teenage" dog who drives me crazy.

Last week I thought I wanted to kill him or just beat him silly (don't worry, I didn't...but I really, really wanted to) because he ate ALL of my herbs. Thyme, Rosemary, Basil, Sage, Parsley, Cilantro. EVERY SINGLE LEAF OF EVERY SINGLE BUNCH. I thought I was in a dream...I couldn't believe my eyes...GONE....ALL GONE.

I got over it, until today when my healing wound was reopened. The 4 foot tall barrier Leon built around the garden was proven worthless by this mutt. After scaling the fence, he dug up my tomatoes and tore up zucchini, cantaloup and cucumber. So, if you see him wandering around town, do not feel pity for this dog and do not return him. He had it coming.

Lately.

I have several posts that I have started and haven't finished.

I have wondered who reads this blog of mine anyway?

I have enjoyed midnight sewing projects and have been thinking outside the box.

I have watched Sam master crawling and sitting up in the middle of the night crying.

I have appreciated friends...old and new.

I have tried to be more patient, and sometimes succeeded.

I have been wanting more babies.

I have been sweeping and mopping everyday.

I thought I'd share...in case you were curious.