Sid is starting to pull himself up into standing position! He is very proud of himself. He is crawling at such a fast rate too. If he knows you are coming after him, he hits high gear. He is also getting some top teeth which really interrupted his schedule last week. He seems so much better now. He is waving hello and good-bye. I like this age. He keeps us on our toes.
Lola is continuing to go to school and loving it. She is dressed and ready on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. We can't get out the door fast enough for her. It is a great school and we really like the staff. We are going to register her for summer and fall.
I rode Marc's Vespa to work yesterday. It was so fun. A little scary on the busier streets, but I held my own. I think I need a pink one of my very own. Wonder if the kids would ride in a side car? Kidding. Not the safest thing for them. We did pick up a bike trailer at a garage sale this week. Needed a little mending that Marc easily eventually completed. I had been wanting one that Costco is selling, and this one was a steal! It can be used as a stroller as well. We picked up a helmet for Sid and can't wait to get out and use it!! I did take them out for a walk and used it as a stroller. I put the handle on thinking that it 'clicked' into place and as I pushed them out onto the steep driveway, I was left standing there with the handle in my hand and the stroller speeding into the street!! I caught it half way into the street. THANK GOODNESS there was no traffic! There are pins that hold the handle in. It must have been a sight. I think Lola really liked going that fast as she did not know they were unattended by me. I am still embarrassed to walk outside thinking that my neighbors are still laughing at me or cursing me for being such an irresponsible parent.
I have an escapee...... I better run.
Monday, April 28, 2008
Saturday, April 26, 2008
Shaking
I think Reno is known for it's unstable weather. One day it is 80 and the next day it snows. The wind can be pretty intense. It is just something that I have come to accept and love about Reno. Now, the earthquakes. Well, I am not feeling very comfortable with them.
For those that are not in this area, we have been experiencing some seismic activity around here. To quote someone from the paper, it is very 'unnerving.' To think that nature has such a control over an event that could be catastrophic! Nevada is the third highest state for seismic activity. Between some big ones we felt on Thursday and the following afternoon, we had some 150 tremors to follow.
You can miss them if you are driving or walking around or just not paying as close of attention that I devote to it. Sometimes it is probably my imagination as well. And to sound like I sit on my rear all the time, I have felt a number of substantial quakes in the past few days. One that made me run in to Sid's room while he was napping. Yep, he was sounds asleep. Last night Marc and I were awoken from slumber by a 4.7. Marc went for Sid and I went for Lola, who was sitting up wondering what the heck was going on as books were toppling from her bookshelf. She came back to bed with us. I reluctantly put Sid back in his crib and then laid awake to feel a couple more good sized ones and wonder if I could move away until after it settles. Or maybe it is just something I have taken notice to.
So, I will accept that it could happen and that is that. But I don't like it and I still think that I feel them all the time. In fact...is that a little rumble now?? Maybe just Cina walking by.
Time for anti-anxiety meds and an updated homeowners insurance policy that covers earthquakes.
For those that are not in this area, we have been experiencing some seismic activity around here. To quote someone from the paper, it is very 'unnerving.' To think that nature has such a control over an event that could be catastrophic! Nevada is the third highest state for seismic activity. Between some big ones we felt on Thursday and the following afternoon, we had some 150 tremors to follow.
You can miss them if you are driving or walking around or just not paying as close of attention that I devote to it. Sometimes it is probably my imagination as well. And to sound like I sit on my rear all the time, I have felt a number of substantial quakes in the past few days. One that made me run in to Sid's room while he was napping. Yep, he was sounds asleep. Last night Marc and I were awoken from slumber by a 4.7. Marc went for Sid and I went for Lola, who was sitting up wondering what the heck was going on as books were toppling from her bookshelf. She came back to bed with us. I reluctantly put Sid back in his crib and then laid awake to feel a couple more good sized ones and wonder if I could move away until after it settles. Or maybe it is just something I have taken notice to.
So, I will accept that it could happen and that is that. But I don't like it and I still think that I feel them all the time. In fact...is that a little rumble now?? Maybe just Cina walking by.
Time for anti-anxiety meds and an updated homeowners insurance policy that covers earthquakes.
Genes
When people look at Lola they always say she looks like Marc.... and me. The big eyes and eyelashes come from Marc and the color may be from me (or Nana). Sid looks like Lola, but has his differences. Then my mom brought me this photo. I can't believe how much he looks like I did.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Happy Earth Day
Just a few minutes to catch up before heading to work, seems like lots to talk about here.
First, off it's sort of spring birthday season around here. Happy birthday to Lola's Nana today, and last Friday to Morgan. Had a nice little gathering Friday night here, followed by dinner out at Lulou's on Saturday night. Quite delicious, quite expensive. I celebrated Morgan's birthday by paying a visit to Reno's first microbrewery, then picked up ingredients for a honey wheat beer I'm planning to brew and rhizomes to plant some hops out back.
Also speaking of birthdays, I just heard from an old friend (Bret for you out there who might remember him), announcing the birth of his daughter Evalina on Saturday night. Congrats to Bret and his wife, welcome to Evalina.
In a recent spate of eco-activity around here, partially Earth Day inspired, partially coincidental, we've been purging some plastics around here to avoid bisphenol-A, and I've been ballparking solar systems. Sort of dismayed to realize that just to offset about half of our electric consumption with solar, we're looking at probably close to $20,000 up front, even after generous rebates. So I dunno if that's going to happen. Might start with solar water heating.
Two final brief blurbs and then I'm out:
Sidney has two new teeth coming in. Yay for teeth, but boo on the accompanying crankiness and how bad it makes him feel. :-(
Recent movies seen: No Country for Old Men - excellent, violent, tense, really enjoyed. Juno - Excellent in all respects, story, characters, music, dialogue. Totally loved it.
First, off it's sort of spring birthday season around here. Happy birthday to Lola's Nana today, and last Friday to Morgan. Had a nice little gathering Friday night here, followed by dinner out at Lulou's on Saturday night. Quite delicious, quite expensive. I celebrated Morgan's birthday by paying a visit to Reno's first microbrewery, then picked up ingredients for a honey wheat beer I'm planning to brew and rhizomes to plant some hops out back.
Also speaking of birthdays, I just heard from an old friend (Bret for you out there who might remember him), announcing the birth of his daughter Evalina on Saturday night. Congrats to Bret and his wife, welcome to Evalina.
In a recent spate of eco-activity around here, partially Earth Day inspired, partially coincidental, we've been purging some plastics around here to avoid bisphenol-A, and I've been ballparking solar systems. Sort of dismayed to realize that just to offset about half of our electric consumption with solar, we're looking at probably close to $20,000 up front, even after generous rebates. So I dunno if that's going to happen. Might start with solar water heating.
Two final brief blurbs and then I'm out:
Sidney has two new teeth coming in. Yay for teeth, but boo on the accompanying crankiness and how bad it makes him feel. :-(
Recent movies seen: No Country for Old Men - excellent, violent, tense, really enjoyed. Juno - Excellent in all respects, story, characters, music, dialogue. Totally loved it.
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Spring in Reno
Apocalyptic windstorms and
snow on the tulips. Welcome to Spring in Reno.
Bonus this morning: a little earthquake
snow on the tulips. Welcome to Spring in Reno.
Bonus this morning: a little earthquake
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Calamitous Camping
I was going to head to Portland for my birthday this weekend even taking Sunday off. It was to be a little escape for Momma for less than 49 hours. Plans fell through. I decided that I wanted to so something, as I did not want us to be sitting here on Saturday or Sunday wondering what we should do after the day has already passed.
I decided since the weather was nice, we should go camping. Good weather, break in the Eurovan, and we could take Cina. Marc grabbed a California Camping book from the library ( I won't even link to it so as to not waste your time.) And he chose a camp site fairly close near Colfax. It was rated as one of the writer's favorites.
We packed up. Sleeping bags, cooking necessities, food, diapers, chairs, and more all filled the van. It was a beautiful day. Sid got a nap the whole way there and Lola was beyond excited for camping. Even Cina was delighted as she gazed out the window of the van.
It only took us about an hour and a half to get there. After a very narrow, winding road we were in a canyon next to the North Fork of the American River. It was very beautiful. We pulled in. Finally, after some confusion, found our site. The first problem was that our table and fire pit were on one side of the road and van parked on the other. This would be fine, except we were sleeping in our van and all traffic (mainly a lot of foot traffic) went right through our camp. I don't think this site would be appropriate for even for tent sleepers as there was no good place for a tent. We had a toilet pit close that was infested with bugs until the maintenance crew came by and sprayed it out. But Lola refused to use it, even after clean up. She had to go a number of times and took it upon herself to just start peeing near the big rocks at our site.
We set up, ate, and then decided to take a hike down to the river. Off we went down a dirt path and then right into rugged, rocky terrain. Huge rocks to try and maneuver over with dog, toddler and baby on my back. Not fun and we couldn't get very far. So we headed to the other side of the campsite. This is where there were kayakers and rafters getting in and out of the water on a very small beach type area. We headed over a bridge and it ended into the road we had come in on. We couldn't hike in the other directions as we were were in a very deep canyon with very steep sides. So we headed back into camp.
I asked Marc what time it was thinking somewhere around 3pm. Nope. 1:30. We had been there only a little over an hour and had seen all we could really see. Ugh. Two young kids - one that needed another nap shortly and the other who took to greeting everyone that trekked by. It was......well, boring. It would have been great to have been able to go further on a walk or hike or at least an area where you could get near the water. Nope. Nothing. Marc and I chatted about the idea of leaving, but we had put some time into getting ready. Did we really want to pack it all up and head home? We thought we could stick it out.
I got Sid to sleep and put him in the camper across the road. Lola and I headed down to try and find some better vantage points to get to the water. It was still very rocky and I wouldn't even let her hand go for a second fearing she would fall in. As we walked back to camp, some Indian type drumming started from the other end of camp. Loud drumming and chanting. We got back just in time to see Sid being extracted from the van after a very short 15 minute nap. Then I asked what time it was....again.
I love life. I like free time. I do not like the idea of wasting time or wishing it by. It really had come to a point of waiting to make dinner, start a fire and go to bed which were all hours away.
It was time to go home. I was ready. I felt defeated. Weird banging, boredom and aggravation of nowhere to go.
We were home by 6pm. it was still fun, just not a good place to take the kiddies. We were tired. We cooked our intended camping dinner on the electric stove and the grill. Even cooked our intended breakfast on the very same stove!
I am in no way giving up on camping. I am looking forward to doing a lot of it this summer. It just will require a bit more investigation.
I decided since the weather was nice, we should go camping. Good weather, break in the Eurovan, and we could take Cina. Marc grabbed a California Camping book from the library ( I won't even link to it so as to not waste your time.) And he chose a camp site fairly close near Colfax. It was rated as one of the writer's favorites.
We packed up. Sleeping bags, cooking necessities, food, diapers, chairs, and more all filled the van. It was a beautiful day. Sid got a nap the whole way there and Lola was beyond excited for camping. Even Cina was delighted as she gazed out the window of the van.
It only took us about an hour and a half to get there. After a very narrow, winding road we were in a canyon next to the North Fork of the American River. It was very beautiful. We pulled in. Finally, after some confusion, found our site. The first problem was that our table and fire pit were on one side of the road and van parked on the other. This would be fine, except we were sleeping in our van and all traffic (mainly a lot of foot traffic) went right through our camp. I don't think this site would be appropriate for even for tent sleepers as there was no good place for a tent. We had a toilet pit close that was infested with bugs until the maintenance crew came by and sprayed it out. But Lola refused to use it, even after clean up. She had to go a number of times and took it upon herself to just start peeing near the big rocks at our site.
We set up, ate, and then decided to take a hike down to the river. Off we went down a dirt path and then right into rugged, rocky terrain. Huge rocks to try and maneuver over with dog, toddler and baby on my back. Not fun and we couldn't get very far. So we headed to the other side of the campsite. This is where there were kayakers and rafters getting in and out of the water on a very small beach type area. We headed over a bridge and it ended into the road we had come in on. We couldn't hike in the other directions as we were were in a very deep canyon with very steep sides. So we headed back into camp.
I asked Marc what time it was thinking somewhere around 3pm. Nope. 1:30. We had been there only a little over an hour and had seen all we could really see. Ugh. Two young kids - one that needed another nap shortly and the other who took to greeting everyone that trekked by. It was......well, boring. It would have been great to have been able to go further on a walk or hike or at least an area where you could get near the water. Nope. Nothing. Marc and I chatted about the idea of leaving, but we had put some time into getting ready. Did we really want to pack it all up and head home? We thought we could stick it out.
I got Sid to sleep and put him in the camper across the road. Lola and I headed down to try and find some better vantage points to get to the water. It was still very rocky and I wouldn't even let her hand go for a second fearing she would fall in. As we walked back to camp, some Indian type drumming started from the other end of camp. Loud drumming and chanting. We got back just in time to see Sid being extracted from the van after a very short 15 minute nap. Then I asked what time it was....again.
I love life. I like free time. I do not like the idea of wasting time or wishing it by. It really had come to a point of waiting to make dinner, start a fire and go to bed which were all hours away.
It was time to go home. I was ready. I felt defeated. Weird banging, boredom and aggravation of nowhere to go.
We were home by 6pm. it was still fun, just not a good place to take the kiddies. We were tired. We cooked our intended camping dinner on the electric stove and the grill. Even cooked our intended breakfast on the very same stove!
I am in no way giving up on camping. I am looking forward to doing a lot of it this summer. It just will require a bit more investigation.
Friday, April 11, 2008
Downs and ups
Wanted to post this yesterday when, it seemed, the world was so full of bad things I felt compelled to document it. Things aren't as bad right now ~ I'm on the back deck with a cold hefeweizen, thinking about what I need to do for a brief camping outing this weekend. Since we're working folks, and need to be back on Monday, a quick jaunt over the hill to a campground near Auburn should whet our appetite for outdoor life for the season.
But yesterday, it seemed the future was pretty dark. Just enough thoughts coming in that made me really pessimistic about our future as a species. Consider:
So, that's all. Almost time for dinner and I've still got to dig out camping gear in the garage. If you haven't seen it yet, check out my letter to the editor.
But yesterday, it seemed the future was pretty dark. Just enough thoughts coming in that made me really pessimistic about our future as a species. Consider:
- The Tibet/China situation
- Plastic water bottles - Take your pick, filling up landfills or poisoning you, and that's besides the oil consumption to make them.
- The economy - and by extension, gas prices, beer prices, unemployment, etc.
- Energy drinks - Had a drug/alcohol awareness class. Absurd amount of caffeine, and kids drink 'em like soda. I hope by the time Lola and Sid get to that age, they'll be off the market.
- The end of the Internet
So, that's all. Almost time for dinner and I've still got to dig out camping gear in the garage. If you haven't seen it yet, check out my letter to the editor.
Sunday, April 6, 2008
Updates and such
I'm posting this pre-upgrade to the Wordpress software that runs this site, just in case I break everything horribly. If you can read this tomorrow, I've probably been successful. That, or I ran out of time.
Mostly just decided that it's been a shamefully long time since I added any photos, so we now have Easter photos, a few photos from Utopias night, a new Sid video on his page, a new Lola video on her page, and new photos in Sid and Lola's albums, respectively. Whew. Lots of uploading today.
It's been sick time around here lately, first Lola's cold, then Morgan's cold and stomach issues, now Sid's cold and my stomach issues. Nobody bad enough for professional care, just enough to feel crummy. Still, it's getting easier to feel better as the weather gradually turns more spring-like. Another sign of spring: the nest out on our back deck that has been here since we moved in has been re-habitated, they're adding on with more detritus, and looks like we might have eggs and baby birds before long.
Aside from that, I just have a few random tidbits to scatter to you, o faithful readers.....
That's all for now. Upgrade time. Fingers crossing....NOW.
Mostly just decided that it's been a shamefully long time since I added any photos, so we now have Easter photos, a few photos from Utopias night, a new Sid video on his page, a new Lola video on her page, and new photos in Sid and Lola's albums, respectively. Whew. Lots of uploading today.
It's been sick time around here lately, first Lola's cold, then Morgan's cold and stomach issues, now Sid's cold and my stomach issues. Nobody bad enough for professional care, just enough to feel crummy. Still, it's getting easier to feel better as the weather gradually turns more spring-like. Another sign of spring: the nest out on our back deck that has been here since we moved in has been re-habitated, they're adding on with more detritus, and looks like we might have eggs and baby birds before long.
Aside from that, I just have a few random tidbits to scatter to you, o faithful readers.....
- New brewery coming to town. Excellent. In other beer news, still expensive.
- Latest online game obsession pairs well with my sweepstakes obsession. Register for the sweepstakes, then Clear the Skies. Also found this fun little game today, perfect for me. I hate overly complicated games that take forever to finish. In case it's not clear, you have to burn the rope.
- And lastly, I've been thinking about emergency preparation lately, partially due to hearing a speaker from the County department that plans for such things, partially due to recent earthquakes and murmurs over the possible impending big one. So one of my goals for the future is being ready for disaster.
That's all for now. Upgrade time. Fingers crossing....NOW.
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