Busy and about to combust

It has been 4 years since I have slept in. (Sorry to any of those w/o kids - it is worth it!) This was preceded by late night and early mornings followed by early mornings of work.  What can I say? I worked on a golf course, so it was work and then play and then led into a long night of.....socializing? Hey, it all led me to meet and marry Marc. Best thing that ever happened until the birth of our children which has led to no sleep, which leads me to this blog about an even bigger loss of sleep.

I was so lucky to stay home with both kids for as long as I did. I also feel lucky to take this opportunity to start a business for the benefit of their future - both environmentally and (hopefully) financially! But with this great endeavor has come a lack of sleep. Who cares that I fall asleep at 9pm right after Lola goes to bed and am facing away from Marc, convince him that, no, I am really not sleeping. I don't care that I drag myself out of bed and let the shower wake me up or that I depend on caffeine. Even being told that the microwave breaks down the caffeine molecules (thanks, Paige) has led me to drink cold coffee as to not lose any source of energy. What does bother me....blood shot eyes. Gross. At first I thought I might have to fight off a nasty eye infection as I have done it before. I am horrible about my contacts. Nope. No pain, just a lot of redness. A lot. I had to stop and think about it. I thought it was a mythical thing. Something that some people experience, but for me, it only existed in cartoon format. That was until yesterday. And going to bed, I crossed Marc's path ask him why his were so red....same thing...tired.  I tried to get to bed even earlier, and the half hour really helped and the redness has subsided, thankfully.

Princess party photos

As Turi describes in his post, we had a joint birthday party for Lola and Sofia last weekend.   The theme was Fancy Nancy, and everyone turned out in all their fanciness.  And thus, a new album is born.

Finally, a real update

Geez, this has been a long time coming.  I actually had to make a list of all the "stuff" that needs to be blogged about here and updated for you, my loyal readers.  And for the ages.  It's getting late, I multitasked my way through updating photos while watching The Office, so I'm going to try to keep it sort of concise and just get it all out there.

This blog started as a sort of extension and continuation of a paper journal that Morgan and I started trying to keep up with after Lola was born.  We'd write in it occasionally with updates on her growth and what was going on in our lives.  After a while, we got lazy about keeping it up, and since I was trying to keep up with photos on the website anyway, I figured this could be our own virtual journal to look back upon someday and see what our life was like "back then".  So, in that spirit, some of this is just recording events for the sake of recording them, more than actually putting it out for you crowds (that's a joke, feel free to laugh) of readers in the here and now.

So, since last I really wrote....

My 37th birthday has come and gone.  Fairly uneventful, not really a landmark.  We went out for killer sushi at a new place on 5th St., "Sushi Lover".  Overindulged and enjoyed all of it.  Thanks to Turi, David, Bart, Max, Maggie, Rayna, Kelly, Carol, and Paige for sharing the evening.  Two words: Renee Chips.  If you were there, you know what I'm talking about.

EcoReno is clipping along.  Never having opened or run a new business, we don't really have any basis of comparison, but we seem to be doing OK; customers every day, some days more than others, plenty of people interested and giving positive feedback even if they don't actually buy, advertising seems to be working, and perhaps our most visible mention in the press appeared today.  It's all really happening.  During the good times, it feels like this could really be the start of something successful and good; other times, I think "What's the worst that can happen?  It doesn't work out, we have some debt, life goes on."  So there you go.  It certainly has made our lives much busier in a lot of ways, and trying to keep all our schedules and commitments and goings-on straight is probably the worst of it.  So that's not bad.

Halloween.  Lola was a ladybug, Sidney was a pirate.  We hit Raley's for trick or treating one night, did some real neighborhood trick or treating another, and I busted a punk spray-painting a fence.  Pretty standard fare, little fanfare, and the candy continues to haunt our household with its sugary evil.

Grandpa Dave came for a really nice visit, providing a good excuse for a few days off for me and plenty of eating, drinking, and being merry (usually in the form of board games).  Perhaps the only real major outing was a drive over to Nevada City, allegedly to see fall colors, of which there were few.  A nice little day trip regardless.  And it's just nice to hang out and enjoy family time, even if you're not doing anything touristy or special, just doing everyday errands and lounging is made more enjoyable by the presence of visiting Grandpa.  Maybe he begs to differ.

And last, perhaps most recordable for posterity, we had a little election this week.  This is almost certainly the election I've had the most strong feelings about in my lifetime so far.  I have felt the most amazing feelings of hope and cautious optimism the last few days.  I didn't realize how....glum? grey? cloudy?...the last 8 years have felt until it lifted.  I sincerely hope we haven't put too much of a burden for the future on the shoulders of our next leader.  It truly feels like he has become our leader in the true sense of the word, not just "president" (from 'preside' which doesn't really have much meaning to us in our everyday lives.  We need to be led, not presided over.)  I really, really, really have such hope for the future yet mixed with fear that we've just put too much faith in this man.  He is still just a man, and despite being arguably the most powerful man in the world, his power does have limits and he is not able to turn lead to gold.  I think I am caught up in his election coinciding with Lola's birthday, the dawning of a new regime colored blue, feeling like we're close to the bottom and we've nowhere to go but up, and wanting this king among men to lead us to a better future.  Please oh please, let it come true.  I won't blame him if miracles don't happen, but I hope optimism has some power to help make the change that needs to happen.  (On a less philosophical, more tangible note, I am glad to see how many officials I wanted to see win, did indeed win.  Some lost, some questions failed, but overall, on both a local and national level, Tuesday, November 4, 2008, may someday prove to be the day that things got better.  Cross your fingers with me.)   I sort of rambled my way through this topic because I've had a lot of strong feelings the last few days and they've been hard to put down in clear words.  Today I read a very good post by a friend that hit the nail on the head in a lot of ways.  Read it now.

OK, now that you've made it this far, you are rewarded with more than words.  Picture updates!

• New Lola photos


• New Sid photos


• New miscellany including Halloween, Nevada City, and Grandpa Dave

Nothing else of note - nothing read, watched, or listened to worth mentioning right now.  Supper Club ate, joint Princess birthday party coming up, next update when it happens.  And I'm out.

Update

That's about all I can muster for now.  Birthday and Halloween behind us, Election coming soon.  EcoReno in full swing.  More news to come soon.

EcoReno update

One week under our belts with our new business venture.  We've done as well (I think) as we could hope, with fair to good sales every day.  Word is spreading, ads are appearing, and we even got a mention on a local blog about Downtown Reno development.  Additional signage coming this week.  Still figuring out all the nuances of small business bookkeeping and finance.  Overall, I think we're both feeling good about how things are going, people are excited about this and love the shop.

And with that, may I present version 2.0 of the EcoReno website.  If you still see the old one, refresh your browser.  It's a lot closer to what I originally envisioned, more aesthetically pleasing, and easier to maintain.  If you'd like to get on our email announcement list, use the contact form.

Thank you all for your support!

More Palin fun

Great fun from Saturday Night Live:

commute

I have been staying home with Lola (and Sid) for so long that I have forgotten what it is like to have a job that I actually drive and report to instead of just waking up to.  Oh wait, I still have that job as well!  The part time gig at the library was such a release and outlet for me, it never felt like work. Neither does EcoReno really, as it is me. Everything that it has turned out to be....me, with a TON of help from my lovely husband, Deej, Paigie, Lola (my assistant),Sid, Dayday, Micheleine

Friday fun

OK, this item barely qualifies as fun, but first up today is a little historical note, perhaps not well know on this side of the country.  Crossed my screen in an article about something else entirely unrelated, but I was interested enough to read more and it's fascinating.  Consider this - a fire burning, underground in a coal mine, beneath a town, since 1962, and expected to burn for the next 250 years, and the non-existence of the town as a result.   The Wikipedia article covers it pretty well, but winner of "most appropriate website name telling the story" is awarded to DamnInteresting.com's page about it.

Now on to the fun.  You may find this little site somewhere between mildly amusing and totally hilarious, but at least it's clever.  What life would be like with Sarah Palin as president.

And last, in a little nod to "Found", I present this little scrap of paper found at the library this morning.  No idea where it came from.  Can't be bothered to scan, so I transcribe:

"I have a room at the Sands (Empress or back tower) #[omitted] if you got no place you can come by and check it out - bout 11 - see whats up?"

What is up, indeed.

Beer Mecca

I'm back in one piece today from my first pilgrimage to the Great American Beer Festival in Denver.  Needless to say, it was immensely enjoyable.  While poor Morgan was stuck here with kids who turned sick upon my departure, complete with vomit and lack of sleep, I was tasting some of the best beers in the nation, nay, world.  Brian and I went Thursday and Friday sessions, tasting probably somewhere around 70-80 beers if I had to guess.  No, we weren't a total wreck, they only pour one ounce tastes, and over the course of about 4 hours each night, it's pretty moderate if you're there to actually enjoy the magnificent diverse world of beer and not just party like a frat boy.  Denver seems like a nice city, too.  I find myself lacking any real narrative of the last few days other than thinking in images and little sound-bite-like nuggets of recollection.  So with that in mind, here are some highlights in words and pics:

• Best brewery we tasted - Dogfish Head


• Best beer we totally missed out on - Utopias


• Quite memorable beer - The Abyss


• Local breweries represented - Buckbean, Brew Bros, Great Basin, and Silver Peak.  Reno, represent!


• Best schwag - stamped leather Mirror Pond coasters from Deschutes  (honorable mentions: Session Lager temporary tattoos, stickers galore, and at least four free beer magazines)


• Best non-festival things we did - Killer shopping for beer with Lance and Rosie, lunch at Bull and Bush, and late night snack and beer at Cheeky Monk Belgian Beer Cafe, breakfast at Tom's Diner (straight out of Pulp Fiction, seriously), coffee at Illegal Grounds in a neighborhood full of cool old houses

Some pics, courtesy of Brian since I didn't bring my camera...

[caption id="attachment_432" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Great American Beer Festival"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_433" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Lance, Brian, and Marc at the GABF"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_434" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Cool buildings in our neighborhood"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_435" align="alignnone" width="225" caption="$15,000 55-year-old Macallan single-malt"][/caption]

Yes, that scotch is really priced at $14,999.  That liquor store has 64 cooler doors full of beer.

PS: added a smattering of new pictures to the miscellany album, from a few various outings, none enough to get their own album.  Oh yeah, and I missed our first snowfall while I was gone.

This doesn't frighten you in the least?

I am not a McCain fan. He's old, he's a repeat of what we have already had for the past eight years, and I think his company says a lot about him. Cindy McCain looks like she is going to need rehab again soon, and if she didn't fit in when he was first a senator when she chose to move back to AZ, she surely is not gonna make it as First Lady.

When McCain picked Palin as his running mate,  he picked the stupidest person possible. Let's be honest and to the point.  Why? Who in their right mind could think that this woman is even close to qualified for ANY political position?  I think this is one of the best clips of things that she has said that only proves my theory....stupidest person......



Really? Never heard of Time or perhaps Newsweek?  The News-Miner perhaps?  This is just one of MANY stupid answers she has given.

And just to reinforce the fact, McCain is old. He has had melanoma - you can still see it in his face. He could fall over dead VERY soon and that would make Palin your president. I say yours because I am moving to Canada if this happens.