Frogs and a list

A teeny tiny frog in Alex's hand, they are all over the place right now.

• This last week has had a boatload of drama dealing with Alex's school. We all hate it.
• The drama that is.
• I have been sick for a couple days, sleeping like the dead. 16 hours throughout yesterday, slept till 10am today.
• I can't even get into a horizontal position or else I will sleep.
• Ugh
• Alex has three days of school left.
• I have 10 days till Summer Session starts for me.
• Work: slowly increasing.
• The pool is fluctuating between blue and green, the heat has such a huge impact.
• The garden is flourishing! Have a week or two before I can harvest our first tomatoes! They are huge!
• I downloaded a ton of Podcasts, business and history and grammar and This American Life, it is all good.
• Casey is home, working local right now, glad to have him here every day!
• If I am feeling better tomorrow I might actually PAINT the ceiling. Snort, we will see. :)
  

Trees are more work than I thought!

Casey and I went over to my parents house yesterday to help my mom with some trees that needed pruning. When I say we helped, I really mean that Casey was going to do all the work, so I dressed as usual in jeans, a tee, and flip flops. With all the rain we have had lately my parents trees had grown a lot and some branches were so heavy that they touched the ground.

Casey got to work with the chainsaw and clippers and I happily spent my time taking pictures.
Until I saw how big the tree branch waste pile was getting. So regardless of my inappropriate clothing and shoes and lack of gloves, I jumped in to help my mom haul the branches to the side yard to wait for bulk pick up day. 2 hours later (!!) the trees were finished, the yard was clear, the waste branches were stored and we were all sweaty and sporing some cuts from the thorns.Sammy spent those 2 hours happily chewing up a chunk of wood. This little pisser gets to spend 10 days with us starting this weekend. I have sworn to teach him how to sit, not pee in the house, and lose 2 pounds.

One final task was left before we could go to lunch. My mom had heard something in the garage the night before. It sounded like it was stuck to the glue traps that they use by their garage doors, and my mom being afraid of snakes just shut the door without looking and called Casey. LOL. Turns out a huge bull frog was stuck to a trap and trying to free himself. Casey helped him out and helped him over the fence with a toss.

Yay for Spring in Texas!

To the Blue Screen and back

My laptop took a header into crapville on Friday afternoon.

The weekend before Finals week.

The weekend where I should have been putting together my English portfolio that is due Wednesday.

The before mentioned laptop was pretty much the only easy source for all the English papers I have written this semester.

Said laptop was sporting a Blue Screen of Death.

BUT!!!

I have a kickass Casey who can fix anything, especially my laptop.

18 hours later, I can see my hard drive again.

And all my English papers.

And my portfolio is 75% done.

So is the Argumentative Paper that I forgot about, well that is completely done as of now.

I will resurface Wednesday afternoon, after finals and after I back up every single thing on this machine!

:)

Penny Medicine

Casey hurt his back this week, hurt it enough that he spent an entire day in bed, flat on his back with as little movement as possible. I found Penny giving him a dose of her loving.With Bella down below close enough to lick any hands or elbows that came close to the edge of the bed.
Archie and Sammy were running around like the loons they are.

And Betty was just trying to figure out if we had gone downstairs yet.

Guess who won?

Nothing makes a morning exciting here in Texas like Casey running back into the house asking for the camera.

It usually means one of two things.
a) He wants to take a picture of someone being an idiot
b) There is some animal he found and wants to take a photo of it.

Today it was B, which I knew because he kept chanting FrogSnake, Snake eating frog, CAMERA CAMERA CAMERA!

Behold the Texas Frog Snake!

Otherwise known as Luncher and Lunchbox.

Ultimately the winner was the Grackle, a Texas black bird, it swooped down and snatched this buffet up, because Casey broke up this duo with the axe since we can't have that bugger in our yard. Not with kids and dogs and ummm, me being a ninny. I could barely look as he took the fatal swing. If he had been shooting it, I would have wrestled him for the rights to pull the trigger. But the axe is a bit more Texas Chainsaw Massacre-ish. Where as I am a bit more Dirty Harry-ish.

But anyways, WELCOME to LUNCH in TEXAS. We love it here. Truly, we do.

Positive

Just 15 minutes ago I was sitting on the deck, contemplating a major business decision with Casey. we both had cups of coffee in our hands and a pup by our knee. The sun was shining on our new berry bushes and I was making a mental note to water them. Casey was talking out the business issue while taking apart the automatic sprinkle.

And I thought to myself, "Self, this is what having a small business is all about. Working in the midst of our daily life, at any time of day or night. Making the decisions, weighing the positives and negatives, all while enjoying coffee and pups."

So nice to be doing it with Casey. The guy who I balance, the guy who balances me. Hard and Soft, Bulldog and Retriever. Some days I am the bulldog, some days he is the retriever, but we always try to balance. Without even thinking about it. Nice.

For the love for Rug Doctors

Casey is my rug doctor pro. He has been dutifully cleaning all the carpets in the house for the last three hours, and probably has another three to go.

This all started because poor old blind Betty got sick in front of the sliding glass doors two days ago. So I busted out my favorite Christmas present from last year, my Little Green Clean Machine, and went to town. Since the spot was in a high traffic area, my fabulous cleaning job just exposed how dirty all the carpets really was. We lived with a perpetual sunspot for two days, got fed up with it and then we went and rented the big red machine.

If anyone came to our last holiday party in San Diego then they will remember how much of a perfectionist Casey is when it comes to cleaning the carpets. He goes over the carpet at least four times, and from every direction. The floor was damp for days! I imagine our carpets this time, will dry out just in time for Christmas. :)

Now all the downstairs carpets are beautifully clean and fresh and WHITE!!! I super vacuumed everywhere before he moved to a new room and I even tackle the base boards. It is amazing how much baseboard cleaning can brighten up the look of a room. I even scrubbed down the walls, door frames, and doors. Gah I swear Alex and the dogs have been rubbing every dirty hand or paw they have ever had on those walls.

Hmmmm... clean house!! Makes me happy!

Pictures to come later when I can retrieve my camera from downstairs. Alex and I are currently boarded up in the only dry room in the house, my craft room. Which is only dry because it was too messy to clean quickly!

These days.

Casey giving our army of dogs yummy treats. They know who has the goodies.

Casey's travel plans are a bit different this week, so we get to have a whole Sunday with Mister Man.

He is currently snuggled up warm and toasty in our bed, catching up on sleep. He slept a lot yesterday as well, which I don't mind because he held my hand even while sleeping as I watched cheesy family shows on TLC and got all weepy.

And he even held my hand some more last night as we watched Austin city Limits with Iron & Wine, and he agreed. There is passion and depth to that music that I have been falling hard for.

And then we watched Robot Chicken and laughed and giggled.

And then he synchronized his light to turn on when I turned mine off and we gave me the most mischievous grin ever.

And then I fell asleep to the sounds of Casey rumbling around our house and I felt safe and happy and loved.

I love these days.

You.

Dear Casey:

Have I ever told you how much I loved that you pursued me 15 years ago? You were everything that my teen aged heart wanted in a guy. You were HOT, smart, funny as all get out, you were the popular guy, you romanced me with poetry and flowers, you were passionate and opinionated, you were the dangerous boy who was so so so good. When we first flirted you had long pink hair and you took me to meet your parents at a competition. You use to point out that my jawline was strong and defined, something so little that you so vocally admired. You thought my body was awesome, something that I had never thought myself. You taught me to love me as I was through your words and actions and love.

Seven years ago we married at our winery. We said our vows in front of all our family and friends, people who had supported us in our decisions for years. You wiped away my tears through my laughter, you held my hands tight and never took your eyes from me until we both looked at Alex. You gave me the magical wedding that I had imagined, all feminine and girlie and beautiful. You picked a wedding ring that I get complimented on all the time. And you didn't smash cake in my face, thank you thank you thank you.

A Couple weeks ago I hung up our collage frames that we had stored for years. They are full of us, young us, the beginning of us, and I have loved staring at them remembering those moments and others not pictured. Alex has been learning those early stories, the small details about you that I remember. Like your hands, how they were always callused from your music playing. And how you would play with Matt every single day after school. I have told him about the ham and cheese sandwiches we use to share at lunch and how you use to call my winter coat my Patting bear coat. I have shown him all the pictures of us snuggled up so tightly in each others arms and he pointed out how you are doing the finger scratching thing you do in all most all of them. You do that to him sometimes.

Casey, I love you, all of you. The guy you were, the man you are today. Today your hands aren't callused from playing your bass but from the pen caps you click open and closed while you teach. Today you play with Alex every chance you get, always challenging him to a game of some sort. Today you make cheese pizzas and share them with us both. Today you steal my Ugg slippers and wear them around with your heels hanging off the back. Today I have tons of pictures of you snuggled up with Alex or with one of the pups. Today you work your ass off to give to us. You give us time, you give us security, you give us all of you.

I have wanted you from the beginning, have wanted you in my life for always. I am so glad that you are Alex's Daddy, that you are my husband, that we moved to Texas together, that we have stuck together. I am so glad that I have 15 years of you to look back on and to smile over.

Happy Anniversary Casey. I love you.

Nicole

Google Rocks

Casey has been in London for the last week, and will be there till next Saturday. We were worried about the cost of roaming with our cell phones, so he looked into all sorts of nifty stuff. Even though we have AT&T, it was CRAZY expensive to call and use minutes. Those Belgrade Hostile commercials aren't telling you about the fees. Anyways... We are a chatty family when he is on the road, making sure that we talk at least once a day, usually always at bedtime. And we didn't want to miss out on our conversations, because he IS in the UK and we are gearing up for school to start. There is so much to talk about!

Anyways... that brings me to Google Talk. Google Talk is basically Internet phone, free, and crystal clear. Even with Casey being allllllll the way over there, we have all most zero delay in sound and the quality is clearer then our cell phones. So if you ever need to chat for free, make sure you have your laptop, mic and speakers, and go Google Talk.

It's awesome and easy!

14 days across a big pond.

I am thinking of you Casey!
XOXO...

I appreciate...

It has been a week of Casey days in our home. Casey travels alot, alot is not an exaggeration, so when he has a week at home it truly is special. We just had 11 days of Casey. 11 days to spend with our Mister Man.

In that time frame Casey slept in, but had breakfast every morning with us.

He also did hours of work on the yards, but spent hours converting Alex's old slip'n slide into a Mega water slide for his playset. He then fixed up the playbox so it was safe for Alex, by filling in the random holes with more pea gravel.

He also cleared all of his laundry baskets that were full of random clothes that needed drycleaning or were donations. Now his side of the bed looks great, mine not so much.

He flagged down the ice cream truck for special evening treats.

He ate three serving of my cinnamon rolls in one day, because they were good.

He stocked our freezer full of fresh meats and grilled the best flank steak ever.

He made fajitas last night, even dicing up the onions and bell peppers.

He gave our pups love all day long, always stopping for a snuggle and ear rub. Our pups worship him, and he always is up for pup playtime.

He played dozens of games of Lego Starwars. Dozens!!

He read Alex's devotional and story books every night. Complete with voices and tickles.

He watched trashy celebreality with me. Even late night Big Brother.

He works very hard to provide for his family. Never complaining about the trips, never complaining about the work. Always diligent in his business and time away from us.

I appreciate Cassey and all he does.

I also love pictures like these...

Father's Day Gift

What do you get a guy for Father's Day when he has everything he wants or buys it for himself? You make him something! This past Father's Day I made Casey a picture, to be specific a silhouette of Twain. It is perfectly imperfect, shows our boys lovely face and it makes me happy to think of Twain. It took him a second to figure out what it was, but then he traced the line of Twain's nose, I knew that I had gotten it right.

I must say that this is my favorite Father's Day gift ever!

SofaKing Excited as Casey would say

Oh yeah we are excited, seven days here as a duo. SoFaKing Excited.

Mid week and still more to go.

This week has been busy from sun up to sun down and past that. I have been working alot, which is great, but it gets tiring when you juggle work and home and outside commitments.

Casey has been an awesome support at home this week, we exchange Honey-do lists every day. Well, let me rephraze that and say I email him a honey-do list and he does what a honey does and does it. But this week, it has been incrediabley helpful, especially on the Alex front. It has been great to get home, late for me, and have laundry, homework, reading, and chores all completed by bugman. And (AND!) Casey even had dinner ready and HOT (so yummy) waiting to put on the table when I got home last night. I totally and completely appreciated that because my day was long and the night before was short.

Tomorrow night will finish my crazy week of obligations and open up 3 days of no outside work, just house work. Which I am looking forward too. Working at home, maybe warming the couch or cooking up a storm. Love our work. Love the body draining fatigue that comes from working hard and getting things done.

One an hour, or so...

I started off Friday with the best intentions of showing you my Friday in a series of hourly shots. And, ummm, dear readers... I only got so far. And it seems that my day involved lots of cooking, which it usually does on Fridays.

6:00am Blog reading, Daily Coyote is a great way to start the day.

7:00am Pup feeding time/play time. Isn't Jenna getting BIG?!

8:00am Nicole Feeding time.

9:00 am Start the bread dough and spy on Archie eating.

10:00am Cinnamon Coffe Cake. Yum.

11:00 am - 1:00pm Loads and Loads of Laundry

2:00pm - 4:00pm School activities with Alex.

5:00pm Shoved two lemons up a chicken's bum, because it tastes good.

5:00pm con't. And made oven fries.

6:00pm Tastey Chicken, look at the crispy skin and lemony butt.

7:00pm Made our 8 year old eat all on his plate.

8:00pm Picked chicken clean for Sonoma chicken salad. Which was fabulous of course! Found hidden wishbone, and won the pull.

9:00pm Cleaned up the rest of the house and checked on the BBQ pork I made Casey, as well as made a batch of rolls to put said pork on. And entertained neighbor with coffee cake and tea.

10:00pm and later... airport trip and sleep much much later.

The End

Beat that Cupid!

Two reasons why Casey is the best... these are two (of many!) random, but incrediably thoughtful things.

What's that?! In-n-Out in Texas? Casey rocks the hard freeze, all for me.
A duel screening of a very popular four letter movie that is out right now, just for me. Complete with mood lighting, potty breaks, tuck-in breaks, and two muffins tangled up in quilts.

Sleep

Casey got home this morning from his business trip that ended yesterday. He has been up for 27 hours straight, and did I mention that he is sick too? Oh and did I mention that a white board fell on his foot and broke his toe this week too? And did I mention that the tetnus shot they gave him has swelled at the injection site? Poor thing.

So we picked him up this morning, and my dad too since his flight home was cancelled. I brought him home, dished up two homemade egg muffins with pepper bacon, had the bathroom ready and welcoming to clean up, and then tucked him into our fluffy flannel bed for a day of sleep. Sweet sweet man.

Call me Smitten

Love is on my mind lately. What with a wedding coming up, Valentine's day, birthdays, friends near and far, and cuddly puppies always ready for a snuggle, love never seems to be far from my thoughts. Especially the variations of love in my life.

For instance, I really love our new bed and I also really love our new flannel sheets. (Ya'll know my love affair with flannel.) Hmmmmm, bed sweet sweet bed.

I really really, times a Ka-Zill-ion, love my son, who is turning eight in 6 days. Like love him to no end forever and ever and ever, like love him so much it hurts and makes me ecstatic at the same time. Especially as I checked on him tonight and he sighed against my check as I kissed him good night. There is still some baby in there somewhere.

I also deeply love Casey, my Mister Man for fifteen years. It sure says something when you have loved someone for half your life. He is the best and I love learning from him. I can smile back on our crazy high school love that started in a 711 parking lot, that moved on to an apartment in Oceanside, to a hospital room and a wee baby between us, to a winery with words of I do, to a new state, to a new place in our relationship. The evolution of love between us is something that takes my breath away.

I also deeply love my parents, especially as I see them as parents to an adult (me) and mellow into time for themselves. I love that they have stuck together and have finally seen Europe together.

I love love love love love love our puppies, had to say it six times for the six of them. Every blessed tail and lick and mess and chew toy and happy face. Every one of those with us and those who have gone on.

And cupcakes, hello! Love me some cupcakes. Yay for baked goods!

I love my friends, all those old and new, near and far. I love remembering things about you, letting you know that I am thinking of you, reminding myself to tell you silly things that happen that you would understand. Knowing that we hold a comfort between ourselves that I truly cherish and love. There is no personal space with me. I am either right next to you snuggled up on the couch or I am not there.

I love my family, both blood and by friendship. I love that any call is welcomed and shared and that we can laugh so much over phone lines. I love that we love the same people and that that won't change.

I love being aware of these priorities. The people in my life who make it worth while and the small comforts that make it even more fun to share.

Texas Date Night

When the kiddo is staying the night at Grandma's the best way to start off a Texas date night is with a carton of BB's, three fresh cartridges, a couple beers, and an empty box. Good times.