Beautiful People

Twins B-day and Resolution Updates

2012-01-11T00:22:00.000-08:00

Today has been a very productive day. Little Hands Learning Center received a switcharoo as I rearranged lots of things in the main classroom this morning. I was very happy to find my newly renovated restrooms complete, although incorrect. I was supposed to have a regular sink and a utility sink, and instead I have two regular sinks... We shall see how long it takes to get that fixed.

At home Daryl and I worked on getting the kitchen in order. We cleaned off the dining table, the counter and the kitchen. I made Panda Orange chicken with white rice and veggies for dinner. We even cleaned up after dinner, so everything was clean (and put away!) before he got ready for work. He has been an amazing help since I had a couple days of not feeling well.

Yesterday, I went to the doctor to get an injection in my right shoulder to help with some extra pain I was having. It was fine all day, but last night I realized it hurt more!! But it wasn't a constant pain, it was more like bruising, so I figure it was from the injection itself. Today I am noticing it all feeling a tiny bit better. I also went in for my Physical Therapy consultation. I am hoping to get started on some aquatic therapy to alleviate even more pain and a lot of the stiffness.

This coming weekend we will be celebrating the twins fifth birthday. It truly seems surreal to me that they are already 5! I can remember so vividly the early days in the hospital, bringing them home so tiny in their carseats, and the constant lack of sleep all new parents are subjected to. Many people have asked me how we did it and my only response is that it was all we knew and we just had to do it. We have tried to give our children more than they could ever ask for. We want so much more for them than we had as kids. I am continually amazed to see how they react in the midst of every setting. Each trip we take, their reactions and learning is what makes it so much more enjoyable for me as a parent. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy traveling and exploring too, but it is so much more unique to see it through their eyes.

As I reflect on the last 5 years, I am so thankful to be blessed with such an amazing family and have met some truly special friends. I will never know the path that awaits us or our kids, but I am hopeful and trusting that God has a great plan for us all.

Resolutions Update: things are not going quite as well as I had hoped, although they are going which is still a great thing! I am cooking more healthy choices at home and attempting to get more exercise. I am still working on a budget that is appropriate and feasible for our household.

Well, I'm off to bed. It's gonna be an early morning tomorrow and a long day! We have lots and lots to do to begin our prepping for the desert trip this weekend. Celebrating the twins birthday in the dirty Superstition Mountains OHV Area. It's gonna be a blast!!

Beginning Again

2011-12-29T18:10:00.000-08:00

Well, from the looks of things it's been over a year since I have posted to my blog. Apparently, I do not need to resume, but rather begin again.

At this point in my life, I am finding myself in need of several changes. I find myself for the first time feeling the need for New Year's Resolutions. I have never felt the need to have them before as I never felt that I was in need of changes badly enough. I mean, before now, resolutions were just changes that I most likely wouldn't stick with anyway.

Since it's been such a long time since I have posted on this blog, I think I should do a little catching up. over the last year, we have all been pretty busy. The most interesting thing that I have done is opening Little Hands Learning Center. LHLC opened it's doors in July of 2011. It's hard to believe that it has already been six months. It has been a slow start as the word is getting out about us being there. I have been operating as a parents on site program this entire time as I did not have enough restrooms to apply for licensing to accommodate drop off care. The restrooms should be done within the next week or so and the application for licensing will be in the mail as well. That's a very exciting thing for me as I have dreamed of this center for many years. I can see the completed center in my mind, complete with plans for additional centers. My problem is realizing that it takes so long to get to the pictures in my mind.

As I set out into the 2012, I feel as though the three resolutions I will be making are necessary for both home and business success. For the first time in my life I feel the absolute need for change. I will be making the following resolutions:

Make Healthier Choices

I understand that this is a bit broad, however, my focus will be on losing weight and making healthier food choices. I will also be trying to squeeze in more exercise, however, that is secondary to eating healthier.

Better Organization

This one pertains mostly to home, but somewhat to business as well. I am fairly organized with the business because I have to be. There is no way to be productive and successful without being organized. Home however, tends to be in disarray because it can be. I will be utilizing www.flylady.net to learn new strategies to implement. If anyone else is interested in these strategies, let me know and we can hold each other accountable. I am already gonna be working with one friend to keep each other on our toes.

Better Financial Choices and Budgeting

Again, slightly broad, but I know what I mean. I will be focusing on cutting excess spending. If we don't NEED it, we don't buy it. I will also be attempting to go back to my coupon clipping days where I can save a ton of money through strategic coupon use. I'm not talking extreme coupon clipping, I'm just talking regular coupon clipping. I used to do it and could consistently save 40-60% of our grocery bill.

I will be trying to update my blog at least once a week (trying to keep things attainable) and updating honestly on how things are going. January will be a tricky month for the budget however because it is the Twins birthday. We will also be playing catch up on a few things from the holidays.

These changes are not just changes I want to make for a year, these are life changes that I want to put into place throughout our lives. I am hoping that the budgeting one will start out very strict and then be able to lax slightly to be more comfortable.

If you are reading this, please do not hesitate to ask me about any of my resolutions or changes being put into effect as I need the checks and balances of friends and family to make sure I am continuing as I should be.

I hope the New Year of 2012 will find you all love and happiness as those are the only things we truly NEED in our lives.

Just a Sunday

2010-10-03T19:39:00.001-07:00

Well, its been a lazy Sunday today, when it should've been a highly productive day. I have been unable to get the motivation I need to get stuff done, knowing I had quite a few things that I wanted to do. I will probably end up staying up late and doing things later tonight, although I have to be up early in the morning.
Tomorrow afternoon I have a Dr appt. Tuesday is grocery shopping. Wednesday is all day cooking day with Stephanie. Thursday is a Babywearing presentation for the El Centro breastfeeding support group. And pack to go to the desert. Daryls bday is Sunday so we are having his party on Sunday, so the cake has to be made, too. It's gonna be a busy week ahead, but I am looking forward to our first desert trip of the season. Hopefully my lull in motivation does not carry on into the week ahead.

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2010-06-26T18:47:00.001-07:00

Why am I blogging instead of sleeping?

2010-03-27T03:56:00.000-07:00

It is nearly 4a.m. and I am blogging instead of sleeping. I have no idea why, but I seem to by wide awake and have no interest in trying to lay down and go to sleep. I have not been blogging much lately, but feel like I really need to get back to it so I can verbalize (or textualize) my thoughts. (at this hour I get to make up my own words) I have been feeling like there are a few things in my life that need to change. Nothing "major" but just things. One thing is that I need to be much better about keeping up with chores around the house. Another is to be more organized around the house. I also want to lose weight and start cooking healthier for my family. I have come to realize that I need to cook much healthier and teach my children much better eating habits. I do not fry everything we eat and we do not eat a ton of sweets and so on, however, we do snack more than I would like. We definitely eat out way too much and we just don't eat a large enough variety of vegetables and things. This will be my goal over the next couple of months is to completely revamp the way I cook and make sure that I am creating a variety of healthy meals for us all. I am also going to be cutting down (one or two meals a week) on the amount of meat we consume. It is not a bad thing to eat meat, but it is not necessary to eat it with every meal. Well, I suppose I need to try to get to bed. Hopefully I will be awake throughout the day tomorrow. :)

the big 3-0!!

2009-12-09T13:01:00.000-08:00

well, today, i turn 30!!! it is hard to believe that i am entering my 30s although i think i will be okay. i have outgrown my 20s and am ready to enter my 30s as a time of stability and settling into my family. i think as a general rule, your 20s are viewed as your partying years and years to figure out your direction in life. i feel that i have grown up beyond the constant partying and have a pretty good idea of the direction i want my life to go in. its time now to focus on my family and my greatest desire in establishing a childcare and family resource center. i am tremendously frightened by the enormity of the project, but inspired by it at the same time. it is something that i completely believe in. i truly enjoy being a mom, also. i am honored and blessed to have been given two beautiful and amazing kids! the twins have been an awesome addition to our family. its hard to believe that they will be 3 next month. they have such great little personalities. christmas is gonna be great! they are just at an age now to be really getting into christmas and getting excited about it. Jr keeps saying "santa is gonna bring me a motorcycle." unfortunately, i think santa will run out of motorcycles, but i he will have a few jeeps in stock. :) it will be great to see their excitement christmas morning! so, i guess i am ready for my 30s, i'm blessed with an amazing family (all of my family), and spectacular friends.

sigh again with the inability to title my blogs..

2009-11-09T20:53:00.000-08:00

there has been a lot going on lately. i feel like i havent really slowed down for over a month... and looking at my calendar, it is not getting much better. i am working on getting my house organized. things are out of control with the clutter and i am having a really hard time dealing with it these days. well, it has been almost two months since my last blog. since then, we went to vegas for a wedding, halloween haunt at knotts berry farm, had a big ol' birthday bash in the dirty desert for daryl's 40th birthday, spent three days in san diego for part one of my lactation educator class, went to a halloween party, survived halloween, the time changed and now here we are... um, i guess that's the last two months in a nutshell :) I am currently looking at a calendar where all weekends have something going on until sometime in January.... I don't know when i will ever have a weekend to just sit around the house, but i guess it balances out with the fact that i can do that on the weekdays if i really had to... There are a ton of things that i need to be doing and never seem to be doing the things i should. well, someday, i guess i will get organized and quit procrastinating... (or not, whatever) :)

Mayonnaise Jar & Two Beers

2009-09-12T16:20:00.000-07:00

When things in your life seem almost too much to handle, when 24 hours in a day are not enough, remember the mayonnaise jar and the 2 Beers. A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, he wordlessly picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls. He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was. The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was. The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with a unanimous 'yes.' The professor then produced two Beers from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar effectively filling the empty space between the sand. The students laughed... 'Now,' said the professor as the laughter subsided, 'I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The golf balls are the important things---your family, your children, your health, your friends and your favorite passions---and if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full. The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house and your car. The sand is everything else---the small stuff. 'If you put the sand into the jar first,' he continued, 'there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff you will never have room for the things that are important to you. Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Spend time with your children. Spend time with your parents. Visit with grandparents. Take time to get medical checkups. Take your spouse out to dinner. Play another 18. There will always be time to clean the house and fix the disposal. Take care of the golf balls first---the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand. One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the Beer represented. The professor smiled and said, 'I'm glad you asked.' The Beer just shows you that no matter how full your life may seem, there's always room for a couple of Beers with a friend.

My thoughts: Have you evaluated your balls and beer lately?? (Golf balls, that is!!) Take time to make sure that your priorities are being placed into your jar in the right order. If not, there may not be room for everything. I totally agree that family should be first, then your outside responsibilities, followed by the small stuff. If you place everything in the jar in the appropriate order, there will definitely be room for a couple of drinks with friends. It is something that is so often overlooked when we have so many balls, pebbles and sand to deal with, but at the same time it is so very important to take that time and make the room. I have only come to realize this over the last two years and even more-so over the last month or so. I think of it this way... the golf balls, pebbles and sand, once in the jar, are not going anywhere. The beer however, if left unattended will evaporate and need to be replenished. Don't forget to take the time to replenish and quench the thirst in your life. I look at my mayonnaise jar and am very thankful to S and V for always helping make sure my balls are moist!!

Vegas Wedding

2009-09-10T16:49:00.000-07:00

We just found out a few days ago, that a friend of ours has decided on a Vegas Wedding later this month. They will be getting married in Vegas on September 26th. Really short notice, but I am looking forward to a great weekend. I am just not sure how they will be able to pull everything off in the next two weeks!! I am going to try to help as much as I can, but I think they are going to try to keep things simple, so that should be helpful.

Labor Day Wknd

2009-09-10T16:16:00.000-07:00

Labor Day Weekend proved to be a busy time for us. We ended up doing quite a bit of driving, but we all had a great, relaxing time. Thursday, September 3rd we were at Sea World. We got there in the early evening when lots of people were already leaving. It was nice that it was no longer packed as it had been earlier in the day. We took the kids on a couple of rides in the Sesame Bay of Play, grabbed some funnel cake and ice cream, and headed over to the last Shamu Show of the day. The kids absolutely loved it as usual! They were screaming so loud that people were turning around laughing to see how excited they were to see Shamu. At the end of the show, JR decided he wanted to go down and see Shamu. He tried to run through the crowds away from us to get to him. I caught up to him and said it was time to go and he was devastated! The poor little guy kept crying for Shamu. "I want MU!!!" We had to tell him that Shamu went nite-nite and even then, he still cried. Now he was repeating "MU go nite-nite!" (still crying). After leaving Sea World, we drove up to Pomona and stayed with D's sister. Friday morning and early afternoon was spent in the LA area, then heading south to San Clemente. We met up with my sisters at Trader Joes. At this point the traffic was picking up on a Friday afternoon of a holiday weekend, so we decided we better stay in the area until after traffic died down a bit. We headed up the road to Pines Park (which is the park we were married at). The kids had a great time playing on the playground, but it was hot so I suggested heading over to the beach. We went down to San Clemente Pier and had a wonderful time in the water. There are pictures posted on my facebook page. The kids had a blast!!! We were ill prepared for the beach as it was an impromptu trip, so we all ended up soaked! It was just amazing to see how much fun the kids had though. They are such little fish!! Saturday morning we left for Lake Havasu City, AZ. We have friends there and typically go out there at least twice a year, however, we had not been there since last Labor Day. It was great to see friends and just relax. It was a "go with the flow" weekend. No schedules, no plans, just hanging out. Sunday evening we went to a friends for a bbq and some swimming. Of course the "fish" had a fantastic time in the water. Karizma was jumping from about 3 feet above the water to her daddy and JR decided that he didnt want anyone to hold him anymore and just started swimming back and forth across the pool! It was a much needed relaxing time away for us.

2009-08-20T14:22:00.000-07:00

life is so unexpected and crappy at times. i just lost a dear friend of mine. over the last week, we have lost a family member, and two close friends. i have lost friends before and (maybe because i was much younger) i was not as affected by it as i am now. of course i was devastatingly saddened as i am now, however, i wasn't thrust into a state of realization of my own mortality. it is frightening to think of not being here. not for myself, but for my family. particularly thinking of my friend i lost today. she was a young mom. two beautiful little girls only 2 and 1... she was a beautiful spirited person, inside and out. her girls are going to be deprived of the love of their mother. if there was ever a time to claim the unfairness of life, this would be it. i am unable to understand these losses of the past week. all so unexpected and crushing.

daily goings ons...

2009-08-12T00:35:00.000-07:00

the last couple of days i have spent in the kitchen. i desperately need a new dishwasher! after cleaning the entire kitchen, i had to cook dinner, which now means i have to clean the kitchen again... today i got up and the kitchen was still clean, but all the dishes from yesterday needed to be put away, and the fridge needed to be cleaned out. this in turn created more dishes needing to be washed. after washing all those dishes, it was time to make dinner again, so i still have a dishwasher (used as a drying rack) full of dishes that need to be put away and now dirty dishes from making dinner tonight... wow, no wonder i am tired of being at home. so where in all that am i supposed to clean the rest of the house? i think i need a house elf :) (i'd even settle for a gnome at this point). i have been in a bit of a slump the last few days also, maybe too much down time??? i had been very busy up until sunday morning and i woke up with nothing on my calendar for the entire week... this causes me to feel like i have all the time in the world to finish stuff and therefore never finish anything even though i have way more time to finish than i normally would... (get it?) that was a lot of rambling to say that if i have deadlines, i work more efficiently. i am happy to say that i now have at least two things on my calendar for the week and am anticipating a couple more to develop over the next day or so. a great example of having plenty of time to waste: i have needed to do laundry since sunday, but since i was free i just kept telling myself i had plenty of time to do it, and now it's the middle of tuesday night and i still haven't started a single load... (haven't even sorted any of it yet) i suppose in light of all the procrastinating i am doing, and considering its getting very late now, i should head to bed and get a fresh start tomorrow with some deadlines in place. i think it's partly the accountability. if i have no deadlines, i have no accountability if something is not done. however, as a general rule, if there is a deadline, there is generally some sort of accountability attached to the deadline (otherwise, why would there be a deadline?) which means i will work more efficiently to meet the deadline and be accountable for my actions. i believe this started when i was in fourth grade. i had a teacher who did not push me to excel and i decided that if i already knew how to do the work, that i didn't have to do the homework... boy was i wrong! got a D in math that year, just for not turning in homework, but my thinking was, homework is for practice, i knew how to do it and therefore didn't need to practice. sounded good at the time, i suppose. i quickly learned a lesson in being accountable for my actions even if someone is not looking over your shoulder telling you to do something. i still have a problem with excessive amounts of homework. (and by excessive, i mean homework pertaining to stuff i already know how to do.)

i can never think of a title.

2009-08-12T00:04:00.000-07:00

i generally sit down to update my blog having no idea what i am going to update it with. it just seems to me that the day to day happenings are so trivial and that there should be more substance... on the other hand, it makes a nice record to keep track of some of the little things that occur and would otherwise be forgotten. i am extremely out of practice with my writing and need to brush up a bit in the vocabulary department. it seems that every year i live in this armpit of hell, the intelligent words that have seeped into my brain are being sucked out. i rarely find opportunities to use decent sized words in daily conversation outside of home and close friends. (and even at home, there's a lot of 2 1/2 year old conversations, which can be intelligent, just not full of great vocabulary.) i have been volunteering with the imperial county breastfeeding coalition and attending regular meeting. this has provided some great brain stimulation over the past few months. although this has come at a price of doing a lot of planning for the worlds largest baby shower. the event was last week and it was a success! i also presented a piece on "babywearing" and was nervous as hell!!! it's been many, many, many, many moons since i last spoke in front of so many people. (hundreds!) also, this fall, i am anticipating joining the early care and education council as a member and hope to keep on my toes with regards to my loss of intellectual stimulation over the years. i guess i just need to go back to school, but that would require a lot of money, which no one has these days. it would also require a lot of time which i am lacking as well. i don't see where i will fit in between raising twins, keeping up with the house, trying to become a la leche league leader, and preparing to take a lactation educator course... did i mention all this is while trying to get a non-profit child care and family resource center up and running?? whew, i guess i'm a bit ambitious.

people...

2009-08-04T23:07:00.000-07:00

you know how you can come across someone in your life that seems fairly normal and then you realize their far from it. i actually prefer not to use the word normal, because it is so relative and changes with people perceptions of what may or may not be normal to them. so lets use the word intelligent. you meet someone who at first seems intelligent enough, and then every single time you see this person they manage to amaze you again... and not "pulitzer prize winning" amaze you, more like "rides the short bus" amaze you. you are then forced to wonder how they have managed to deceive so many people to get where they are in their current positions. unfortunately, i have come across more than i care to discuss over my lifetime (which isn't a terribly long one yet), however there is one in particular today that began to stick in my mind like a splinter all day. how is it that people are so deceived by the appearance or facade that one can envelope themselves in? they pass themselves off as regular folks but they are clueless in more ways than one.

Indio Getaway

2009-07-26T23:04:00.000-07:00

4 adults, 2 teenagers, and 5 children ages 6,4,2,2,2.... all in the same room... sounds like fun! (ok, so it was a 3 bedroom unit at our timeshare) it actually turned out to be amazing fun! my friends and i loaded up our children and a few teenage siblings and headed out for a little getaway. it was a women and children getaway. it might sound chaotic and crazy to anyone who may not know us, but we all expect the craziness when we get together, so we just go with it. we all adapted very well, especially considering that we are all on very, very different daily schedules. we all gave a little and it was a beautiful weekend (actually midweek, but weekend to us, 3 day, two night). we were in a three bedroom unit that had three bedrooms, two bathrooms, and a full kitchen stocked with everything but the food. we handled that quite nicely though. we planned a few meals ahead of time and everyone brought stuff to pitch in together and of course we all tried to feed an army and ended up with way more food than necessary, but it was great to have a variety. the teenagers were amazing with all the little kids too, so it was fantastic to have a few extra hands when going to the pool or cooking. i think i owe them pizza or something fun :) anyway, we were there from tuesday afternoon to thursday morning. tuesday we checked in, unloaded and put away all of our groceries. for dinner, sl made spaghetti using some of her fresh homemade sauce and then it was off to the pool. there was a lazy river, a kids wading pool and a regular large main pool. wednesday we got up and made breakfast. pancakes, eggs, and fruit. yum... shortly after we were joined by another friend and her son for the day. she gave us haircuts and we sat around talking some salon gossip. lunch was sandwiches followed by naps for the little ones. as soon as they woke up, we headed out to the pool. it couldn't have been soon enough for k as she said, "mommy, i go shwimmin" every time she laid eyes on her bathing suit. spent about an hour or so in the pool before coming in and making dinner. menu was sopes with rice and beans. fantastic! thanx vm! after dinner, of course it was back to the pool. after dinner was actually (in my opinion) the best time to go to the pool because the sun had just set so it was still light however we did not have the blazing hot sun scorching us from above. got everyone herded back into the room, cleaned up and put the little ones to bed. then it was time to sit around the table and talk. don't even ask me at this point to tell you what we talked about, cuz it's not like we were contemplating solving the worlds mysteries or anything, we were just having great conversation and staying up way past all of our bedtimes :) thursday morning was taking it easy, breakfast and packing, playing with the kids and headed out right at noon when it was checkout time. when i got home my hubby asked me what we did, i said "cooked, ate, went to the pool, hung out together and never left the resort." he said that sounded boring and i told him it's only because he doesn't know how to slow down and relax. just be.... we need to do more of that.. just be... vacation often times ends up being how much stuff we can do or see before we have to return to the monotony of everyday life, that we forget to actually be on vacation. life is so much go go go go go, that for vacation we need to stop stop stop.... it was a fantastic getaway and i cant wait to do it again!

Time

2009-07-26T08:54:00.000-07:00

where does it go? i just happened to realize that there is only a week left in july and its on to august already. what happens that makes time go so fast? it seems like it takes absolutely forever if you are at work or in situations you don't enjoy, but then all of a sudden the time is gone and you are looking back at an entire week, month or even year and wondering how it passed you by... this summer has been full of activities and vacations. we went all the way to colorado springs, colorado in june (which i still need to blog about) and july has been full of little mini getaways and a getaways with a few friends and all of our children. august looks to be a little more tame than june and july had been, however that can change at any time, and most likely will. it is just interesting to look back and realize the relativity of time as it pertains to situations, days, people, and lives... in the moment, can seem so long, yet you look back and find yourself saying, "wow, that was 20 years ago!"

almost caught up

2009-07-14T01:15:00.000-07:00

*sigh* i am almost caught up and now it is after 1am so i am most likely done posting for the night. upcoming posts shall include our vacation journal, a rundown of our vehicle shuffle last week, an update on my volunteer work and business ventures, and possibly some general ramblings. who knows what i might come up with these days... (especially in the middle of the night like this.)

ENJOY

Fourth of July Prep

2009-07-14T01:03:00.000-07:00

as we just arrived home friday about noonish, we needed to get started on preperations for our fourth of july party the next day. i know, who plans to go out of town right before hosting a party? apparently, i do... saturday morning was more of the same prep work, followed by a trip to walmart, and more prep work. it wasn't all that bad though, cuz we had lots of hands pitching in to help, so it went fairly quickly and smoothly. 5 pm rolled around and guests began to arrive. we were almost ready, which is a triumph for us as we are never on time. the pools were set up and filled with water, the shade was set above the bigger of the pools and the food was mostly all prepped. all the kids had a blast (as far as i know) playing in the water and a few of the adults got in too. i was even able to step in for a couple minutes here and there. later that evening we decided to drive to calipat to see their fireworks display and set off some fireworks of our own. we missed the city fireworks, but we were able to set off our own safely and legally (mostly). all in all, it was a successful gathering. (i think) :)

Stop Taking Our Money!!

2009-07-14T00:30:00.000-07:00

ugh... where to even begin with the state of our state... california is in bad shape and the governor seems to be taking it out on the wrong people. i do not agree with the areas that he is cutting his spending. i feel as though he is trimming the meat, not the fat. i do not think that the education of our states children should be sliced apart because the government of the state cannot manage to maintain a working budget. i understand that cuts need to be made, but i believe they can be made in other places. also, my family as well as friends of mine are department of corrections families. we are suffering a 15% reduction in pay already and are facing the possibility of an additional 5% cut. where are the cuts to the chp and their salaries? where are the cuts to the inmates? unfortunately, i am not big on inmate rights and benefits, so i believe a lot of money can be saved there. i do not think the inmates deserve better health care than the working, productive people of this state, and yet they do. they are first in line to see specialists of any kind. they are not required to pay any out of pocket expenses or co-pays. they receive better health care than the people of the state that are on medical. the message there is that if you are ill and cant afford your healthcare, do something to get yourself thrown in prison for a short stint and get your medical bills on the tab of the state of california. then when you get out, you are healthy with no medical bills looming over you as so many people incur.

anyway, i am ranting and raving about this much more than i should, but it just baffles me to believe that the deficit is so very large... i know when i balance my budget, if there is a deficit i certainly don't allow it to grow exponentially. i fix it and balance it again, so that it will be right for the following month. how is it that every year the deficit grows and grows? who knows....(obviously not the governor and his peeps...)

a month?? how can it have already been a month?

2009-07-14T00:10:00.000-07:00

um, i had no idea that it has been a month since i have updated my blog... um, i need like an alarm or reminder or something that will ding at me and say "hey, dodo, inquiring minds want to know..." :) anyway, wow, it's been a long time and we have been up to a lot since my last post.

we took a road trip to colorado springs, colorado, by way of the petrified national forest in arizona and albuquerque, new mexico. i will post a seperate blog about the vacation. i started a journal while we were on vacation, i just need to finish it and post it from my blackberry. (hopefully sometime this year, as we all know how prompt i am).

so to briefly overveiw that last month, we went on vacation, came home from vacation, went on a mini vacation, had a fourth of july party, played the vehicle shuffle all of the week following the fourth and now here we are.... lol, my month in a nutshell... i guess people would like to know more huh??? i'll see what i can come up with.

The Day the Earth Stood Still

2009-06-05T11:19:00.000-07:00

in 1951 a movie was made. "the day the earth stood still." it was about the human race destroying the planet earth and a council of beings from other worlds decided that in order to save the planet, the race needed to be destroyed and allow the planet to heal... 1951... this movie was remade in 2008 and i just watched it for the first time a few days ago. why is it that we had a sense of this in 1951 and are in the situation that we are in as of 2009. over fifty years have elapsed since the original version of the movie and yet we have continued on this path of destruction... something to think about....

Going Back to Go Forward

2009-06-05T11:03:00.000-07:00

for lack of motivation to get anything else around the house done, i am sitting in front of the computer contemplating what to blog about and have decided that the topic of the moment will be "going back about 50 years." in this day in society, it is unlikely that people think of going back as a way of going forward. i, however, tend to believe that we must go back before we can go forward. what has happened to respect, politeness, common courtesy and the importance of family and friends. 50 years ago, there would be kids playing together in the neighborhood, parents sitting on the front porch watching all the kids (not just their own) and you knew all your neighbors names and could borrow a cup of sugar without question. today, in order for any neighborhood kids to play together, you have to schedule a play date. you often don't know the names of your neighbors. i have lived in the same house for over 7 years now and don't know my neighbors by name and would certainly not feel comfortable enough to go knocking on the door for a cup of sugar. it never occurred to me until after i had kids of my own, that community, camaraderie and good old fashioned neighborly goodness was lost and more importantly that we need to find it.

society seems to be so focused on the importance of independence and success that we seem to have lost sight of what is important. kindness, generosity and raising our kids with respect and values. we are such a busy nation that we don't even have time in our children's day at school to include music and art. we as a people have placed academia over all else. can this system be part of our children's issues with low self esteem and a sense of failure. some children do not excel in academics, however are amazing artists and musicians. unfortunately, they may never know their talents because they were never provided the opportunity to explore those areas of learning and expression. they were merely handed textbooks and schedules. these are the areas that the artists and expressionists may feel failure.

i think it is time for us to take a step back and look at where we have come from, where we are, and where it is that we want to go.

Board meeting 5.30.09

2009-05-31T20:38:00.001-07:00

We had our first board meeting today! Little hands learning and family resource center will be applying for nonprofit status and incorporation status within the month. I am very excited that my board and I are on the same page about most things. It will be wonderful to see the progress throughout the summer as we begin submitting our paperwork and grant proposals.
Sent from my BlackBerry Storm

hum diddly doo...

2009-05-27T21:27:00.000-07:00

for lack of anything better to title this post.... i just wanted to update my blog since it has been a while since i have done so. memorial day weekend was spent in newport beach at the southern california/nevada la leche league conference. it was amazing!! i was so happy to see so many other breastfeeding and babywearing families! where we live there are not a lot of long term breastfeeding families and certainly not a lot of babywearers as most people believe that the best lace for their baby is in their carseat/carrier for as much of the day as possible.... i guess i shouldn't be that harsh, but it's really not that much of an exaggeration. the weather was wonderful as well. it was about 70 the entire weekend. we even got chilly friday evening at the park in irvine and had to put sweaters on the kids!! it was also great driving around my old neighborhood. auntie sarah (and aunt heidi) got to be exhausted by the twins and they had a great time with them while i was in sessions learning lots of great info.

random thoughts

2009-05-11T20:05:00.001-07:00

well, today has been a busy day, but i feel like it has been rather productive as well. i have done some things around the house (although it wasn't the kitchen as it was supposed to be) (nor the laundry for that matter....) but it was stuff that needed to be done all the same. i called the irs and spent another 45 minutes on the phone with them (probably about 42 of those were on hold) to make sure that our payment plan is properly set up. i worked on my business and got some homework done too. i do have a hard time balancing the homework and the business work. i am quite excited to have decided to go the non-profit route and am also excited that (provided i can get enough funding) there are multiple property sites off of hwy 86 and legion rd by the hospital and the super walmart. i would absolutely love to be able to put a child care and family resource center right there. it is perfect for people from imperial and el centro to access and it is not too far for brawley residents. anyway, there is a lot of work to be done and i am interested in finding out how long it takes to become a non-profit once the paperwork is filed. then i can get moving on some grant writing and stuff. a lot of things are left up in the air until i manage to get ahold of some funds... i am optomistic that federal moneys will start becoming available with obamas financial plans being put into place.
well we are just over a month away from leaving for colorado springs and haven't managed to make any solid plans yet. i guess we should get to work on that huh... i know we have a few places in mind to stop, but havent actually hammered out any details.
i am also toying with the idea of going back to school to finish my degree. i need to figure out if i should finish up an aa at ivc then go for the ba later, or if i should just go straight to finishing up the ba...
well, i guess that's enough rambling for one evening.

how is it already thursday???

2009-04-23T11:02:00.000-07:00

it seems like i just put on my status "monday already?" and now here it is thursday. i have class again tonight and i have my sisters coming in from san clemente tonight. they should be here about the same time i get home from class. i just cant figure out where all the time has gone. it's already late april, summer is pouncing us from behind, and i have a to-do list about 1.73 miles long.... a bit overwhelming, but i know it can be done eventually... i think i need to start practicing my deligating skills... anyway, here's to a busy day, followed by a busy weekend, and so on and so forth. however, as busy as i am, i am extremely thankful for my family and my health. love, peace, & chicken grease!!!!!!

a link i found

2009-04-14T17:14:00.001-07:00

http://www.msplinks.com/MDFodHRwOi8vd3d3LnlvdXR1YmUuY29tL3dhdGNoP3Y9NDJFMmZBV002ckE=

about the vacation journal

2009-04-14T16:38:00.000-07:00

the vacation journal came about because i was in the mountains and was going through withdrawals of lack of technology. i got no cell service and in order to get online with the wifi i had to go all the way down to the lodge with the laptop... so instead of posting daily blogs as i had planned i just opened up a document on my blackberry and kept a journal, then i emailed it to my blog and presto, you all have an account of how our vacation went. i believe, however, that there should be no place on this earth in the year 2009 that i should not get cell service... i believe the expression appropriate here is, "WTF"... anyway, vacation was great. it was relaxing and beatiful as it should be. now on to plan our colorado trip in june... if anyone knows of anything in particular that we should stop and see, please let me know. yes, we are driving...

Vacation journal

2009-04-14T16:27:00.000-07:00

April 1st - we arrived at oakzanita springs rv resort. Found a nice space to pull into and got set up. It was evening by the time we got here so after all the setting up we opted to go get some dinner out. We ended up at olive garden for the second night. Karizma primarily ate salad and lil Daryl ate breadsticks, croutons, and daddys Alfredo noodles. He is definitely a carb kid. April 2nd - we drove down to pio pico today. It was a nice mountain drive but being scared of heights isn't exactly a good thing when on the side of a mountain. Pio pico is a nice campground. They have activities and a couple of playgrounds and a kids gameroom. We will definitely be going there to check it out. We left and went into Chula vista. I hadn't realized what a richy kind of area it is. We had dinner at panda express and then headed back to the trailer. April 3rd - Sea World! The kids love sea world! It is always amazing to see their faces during the shows. They have such a good time I don't think we will ever be able to not have passes. We went on the rides in the sesame street area and went climbing up the net structures and across the bridges. April 4th - relaxing day, we took a drive. We drove north on the 79 and went up to lake cuyamaca. Stopped in to ask some questions and found very reasonable prices for renting boats. Maybe we will do some fishing this summer. We kept driving past the lake and ended up at kq ranch. We went in to drive around and check the place out. There was a nice playground, the pool was covered and warm, and they had a bounce house for the kids. Continuing on our adventure we went up to julian. I don't know why but for some reason I was thinking that it was a bit bigger than one intersection. Its a cute little town and we had some good food at a local deli. Walked up and down the one street and then headed back. We took a nice long walk around the resort. The kids love to go for walks and to the detriment of daddys blood pressure, run down the hills and narrowly escape the clutches of gravity as they muster all the balance they have to stay upright. We had a fire and hung out outside. April 5th - relaxed at the trailer April 6th - we went into la mesa to find a AAA office to get some maps. We drove around to a few places looking at offroad stuff and then came to the trailer to grab a few things for the night at home. We went home and did laundry, paid some bills, had dinner. April 7th - traffic court @930am. Then I had plans yo have lunch with Stephanie, Alicia, and Vilma. Daryl took the kids to yuma while we had our "girls lunch." it was a very good time. We were able to catch up on some things and get to know Alicia. I really enjoyed the time to just chat. We headed back up to oakzanita that evening. April 8th - san ysidro outlets, did a little shopping for the kids. It was a good weekend to go because every store we went into was having sales off of their clearance prices so we scored some great deals. April 9th - went to the parent movie morning in hazard center to see fast and furious. Then we went to lunch with Sammie and the boys after tne movie. April 10th - our plan was to go to sea world again, but it was cold and raining. although it meant we probably would have been pleased to find less crowds, chasing two year old twins around in the rain didnt sound like as much fun as hanging out in the mountains and relaxing in the rain. so that's what we did. we took the time to get things done around the trailer and do some installations that needed to be done.

April 11th - got up and headed home. i'm beginning to think we are the only people who vacation and go home twice during their vacation... we went to grandma terri's for the big easter celebration. egg hunt, good food and fantastic family :) it was a good day. we headed back up the mountain, joined by mom, becky and melody. hung out by the fire that night and relaxed.

April 12th - Easter! we drove down to the pio pico campground and we took the kids to an easter egg hunt. then we headed back to the trailer to have dinner and relax some more. (notice the trend here, lots of relaxing on this vacation).

April 13th - Sea World again. we went to see some of the things we missed the last time we went and we also got to see the night time shows which began the day after we went the last time. it's great having passes because it's no big deal to go for just a few hours instead of making it an all day event.

April 14th - home again, home agian, jiggety, jig... Sent from my BlackBerry Storm

Vacation

2009-04-07T00:12:00.000-07:00

well, so far our vacation has proved to be relaxing and interesting. we have been doing a lot of exploring in the mountains. we drove north on the 79 to Julian and south on the 79 to pio pico and went around and up and found ourselves in chula vista. it was a very nice drive, but a little freaky if you don't like heights. let's just say there were a lot of times when i was a little freaked out. it's amazing how many of the trees were affected by the wild fires of recent years. just driving through all the forests, you can still see blackened trees with no new growth. still beautiful, though sad at the same time. we went to sea world on friday and the kids had a great time, as always. they absolutely love shamu and the dolphins. pictures will be coming once we are home.

Prison Conditions Are Too Luxurious - Opinion

2009-03-29T19:13:00.000-07:00

Prison Conditions Are Too Luxurious - Opinion

i just got this link from a friend that knew i would find it interesting. indeed, she was right. since high school, when i delivered a speech on the death penalty, i have felt that our prison system is flawed. one flaw is that the inmates have too many rights and privileges. the second is that the death penalty needs to actually result in death... with an overwhelming budget, it would make logical sense to me to cut the priveleges from the inmates as opposed to cutting the budgets of the schools. we are failing as a people to ensure that our children are taken care of first and out inmates dead last... there should be no question about where the money to make the budget work should come from.

Just checking it out

2009-03-16T17:41:00.000-07:00

I should be doing some work right about now, but instead I am signing up for Twitter and Blogspot... I guess I am just trying to find out what works and give people a way to keep up with me since I am the worlds worst about keeping everyone up to date with the family.

Beautiful People

Twins B-day and Resolution Updates

Beginning Again

Just a Sunday

Why am I blogging instead of sleeping?

the big 3-0!!

*sigh* again with the inability to title my blogs..

Mayonnaise Jar & Two Beers

Vegas Wedding

Labor Day Wknd

daily goings ons...

i can never think of a title.

people...

Indio Getaway

Time

almost caught up

Fourth of July Prep

Stop Taking Our Money!!

a month?? how can it have already been a month?

The Day the Earth Stood Still

Going Back to Go Forward

Board meeting 5.30.09

hum diddly doo...

random thoughts

how is it already thursday???

a link i found

about the vacation journal

Vacation journal

Vacation

Prison Conditions Are Too Luxurious - Opinion

Just checking it out

sigh again with the inability to title my blogs..