I'm Back...I think.

Oh my....I have missed my blog! I have just been so incredibly busy these days. There are so many updates, I will give just a few...more later.

- My dog tore a tendon in his foot from a laceration involving getting his foot stuck in an iron gate. One month in a cast so far, $700.oo and counting...The vet suggested physical therapy, I laughed as I wrote out a check, signed it and shook my head walking out the door....yeah right.

- Setting up and taking down a portable skate park 4 x a week at work will surely get me in better shape.

- I broke the lens on my camera phone....embarrassing.

- I am finally taking an active role in having a healthier head of hair. I spent about 2o bucks on products today...my limit.

- Dos Padres has the best Mexican food ever...check it out. San Miguel.

- If all else fails, kill them with kindness. Interesting week at work. A co-worker is not so fond of me I have learned.

- School can wait.

- The sun is the best therapy ever. Thank God for spring, I was beginning to fear I was bi-polar.

- Rimadyl will give your dog wicked gas.

- Humor is the best therapy by far.

There are so many changes taking place in my life right now, but for the time being - finding the humor in whatever I can is a wonderful thing.

DONE!

Well, we did not take the Librarian's suggestion and make her mission from scratch using a gingerbread recipe - nor did we use sugar cubes. Yes folks....Michael's is a dangerous place, and inside you will find model kits for making 4th grade missions, with all the little overpriced details to go with it. This actually turned out to be a good thing because it was kid-friendly and Naomi was able to do mostly all the work by herself with a few suggestions here and there. Like everything else, I wish we'd had more time....but I think it turned out really cute. I heard somewhere that taking pics of your kid's projects is much easier and realistic than keeping them around for years and years while they collect dust in basements or on shelves. We will keep it around for a while - until the next big project.Under construction
Done! I didn't get around to taking pictures while she was adding the finishing touches. I will admit I was trapped in my room studying - leaving her to her own devices mostly. You should see the mess. Lovely :)
Cheers! It's only water...

4th Grade Mission Project

Naomi is gung ho and so excited about her Mission Project. She already completed her report and is chalk full of information regarding Nuestra Senora de La Soledad, of which she will randomly spout off facts at any given time of the day. She was not too happy about going to bed tonight without being able to add any details to her model yet. "Tomorrow sweetie....mom's tired." I just love watching her put so much time, effort and thought into something. Luckily I am nowhere nearly creative enough to even try to be one of those parents that takes over their kid's projects. More pics later next week of the finished project.

Vacation.....the end :(

On Tuesday night we ended up in San Rafael at Aunt Jani's house. My mom has 4 sisters and one brother, so there is a lot of family to cover. Naomi had a blast with her new friends Christina and Marcos (13-year-old twins) .

And of course, the last leg of our trip - driving through San Fran, and crossing the Golden Gate Bridge - our favorite part. All in all, I racked up one ticket bypassing a toll at a private bridge up in Vacaville - and spent a small fortune on new tires and a brake job just to get there, but oh well...what can you do? Oh and note to self, when leaving for a 4 hour drive, don't fuel up on 3 cups of coffee.....I had to stop 3 times on the way home!

Vacation Part III

On Easter Sunday, we went to Carl's new church up in Vacaville, All Saints Episcopal Church - where we got to watch him give the Easter sermon. I abstained from taking pictures during the service.....ha ha

Naomi's Easter dress looks like a tablecoth.... I love it :) Carl's dog Baby....my new best friend and sleep mate. She snores
This handsome devil is my cousin Robin's baby boy Aiden, I've been waiting 15 months to meet this little guy. He ALMOST makes me want to have another baby. ALMOST They made us wear lame hats during the tour at the Jelly Belly factory. Embarrassing, but totally worth all the free jelly beans. And of course......Marilyn in Bean form. I was looking at the picture up close and said..."Why are there white jelly beans on her lips amidst all the red ones?" Yeah, I was tired.

Vacation Part II

Saturday night, we headed to Aunt Becky's for an early Easter dinner and egg hunt. Naomi got to meet all the new baby cousins. It was really our first holiday where she was able to play with other kids, as on her dad's side of the family, there are no babies yet! Here she is with her 2nd Cousins Tarika and AngelHalf of Tarika, (oops) Arjen, Naomi, Aiden, Elliana, Easton and Angel - I am one of the youngest of 15 cousins on my mom's side, and they basically all just started having babies a few years ago. Naomi had a blast helping out with the younger kids. And yes, that's a tree.....for Easter. Why not?
That's my cousin Zack, Nay, Angel and Aunt Judi, hamming it up. (Aunt Judi is my mom's sister) My brother Carl made it in the picture too apparently. He's probably wondering why nobody ever took the tree down last Christmas.Candid pics are the best

Our Mini Vacation

Road Weary, this is Naomi and I after getting home. The only picture of me.....I am always behind the lens it seems. Basically we first drove up to Vacaville, which is a suburb of Sacramento. That's where my brother Carl lives - in a very nice house, which I forgot to take pics of but nice nonetheless with all the amenities of home.
Naomi and her cousin Emma, (Carl's oldest daughter). These were taken before our trip, but we had to get Emma in :) Don't look at my messy Kitchen!
Too funny

Adorable

Rejected Children's Book Titles

1. You Are Different and That’s Bad
2. The Boy Who Died From Eating All His Vegetables
3. Dad’s New Wife Robert
4. Fun four-letter Words to Know and Share
5. Hammers, Screwdrivers and Scissors: An I-Can-Do-It Book
6. The Kids’ Guide to Hitchhiking
7. Julie Was So Bad Her Mom Stopped Loving Her
8. Curious George and the High-Voltage Fence
9. All Cats Go to Hell
10. The Little Sissy Who Snitched
11. Some Kittens Can Fly
12. That’s it, I’m Putting You Up for Adoption
13. Grandpa Gets a Casket
14. The Magic World Inside the Abandoned Refrigerator
15. Garfield Gets Feline Leukemia
16. The Pop-Up Book of Human Anatomy
17. Strangers Have the Best Candy
18. Whining, Kicking and Crying to Get Your Way
19. You Were an Accident
20. Things Rich Kids Have, But You Never Will
21. Pop! Goes The Hamster...And Other Great Microwave Games
22. The Man in the Moon Is Actually Satan
23. Your Nightmares Are Real
24. Mamma’s on crack and I don’t care
25. Eggs, Toilet Paper, and Your School
26. Why Can’t Mr. Fork and Ms. Electrical Outlet Be Friends?
27. Places Where Mommy and Daddy Hide Neat Things
28. Daddy Drinks Because You Cry
29. There Was an Old Woman Who Swallowed a Pill
30. I'll Give You Something to Cry About.....

Ha ha

Haircuts, Road Trips and Laundry......

I have been fretting over my hair lately. Just when it starts to get REALLY long it starts to look haggard, so I go in for a trim and I feel like I'm back to length one again. I am proud to say though that I didn't chop it all off, as I have in the past out of frustration, and I still have long hair, albeit a bit shorter but with less split ends. Naomi went full boar and got a cute bob cut, courtesty of our friend Edith, who is amazing with a pair of scisssors!

The past couple of months have been a bit rocky, I am happy to be getting out of Dodge for a few days, as we are off the Bay Area to spend some much needed time with family and friends. Alas, before Nay and I set out on our adventure I have a butt load of laundry to do....ick.

Pictures of lots of cute babies to come!

Sensitive Ponytail Man

One of our enrichment programs for our kids this quarter happens to be Drumming. Our instructor, who shall remain nameless (Sensitive Ponytail Man) is just that. Very softspoken - and gives off that old hippie vibe. For those of you that knew me back in the day.......well, you know that I was just that. A bit of a Deadhead. I went to Paso High for all of two months in the 10th grade and my nickname was "Herb." In other words, you could smell me coming from a distance. Not something I am proud of at all, just what it was.

Anyway, a funny thing happened in our last session. Sensitive Ponytail Man announced to all our kids that we would be having a "Special Surprise Guest" at our next lesson. The kids perked up with Junior High delight and some of them even looked HALF interested. I was thinking, "Very cool, maybe it's an old Hippie bandmate from back in the day and he'll bust out some sweet beats," or whatever.

After the class was over and the kids were making their exit SP Man approached me with a twinkle in his eye and told me that the "Special Surprise Guest is you Margo." Wink wink. Creepy!

Que? Wha? My co-workers and I are conjuring up all sorts of imaginative scenarios trying to figure out just what this is going to entail, and what the hell is just so SPECIAL about yours truly. It was suggested I bring a costume or two in anticipation of an "Interpretive Dance" of sorts, or that I even bust out some of my old moves from my Belly Dancing days......ahem, that was pre-baby I might add. All I have to say to that is that I will be calling in sick, or at least conveniently disappearing for the hour. If anything strange or embarrassing happens, you will hear of it first right here on my blog tomorrow. Just sharing some strange humor from my crazy week. 'Til next time ~

I absolutely love how my daughter will take pictures of herself without even caring about the angles or being self conscious that the lense is looking straight up her nostrils........ahhhh to be 9 again. Ha ha

"HELLO"

I swore up and down I would never buy my daughter a cell phone. After all, it's only been 2 years since "I" actually got one. Alas - I work full time now, and I have to be able to contact her. When I was browsing through her pictures last night I came upon these.....she explained saying it was her saying "HELLO"...in sequence. I don't know if I got the order just right - but if you scroll down really quickly, it makes sense.

Cute

I Like Mike

If you have never heard of Mike Birbiglia.....you are missing out. Everyone needs a laugh every now and then.

Think Fast

This is called “FIRST REACTIONS QUIZ”.You have to type the 1st thing that comes to mind whenever you hear these things. You can’t think and go back and change your answers.TIP: erase all of the other persons answers first..that way u can think in blankHere we go



1. Beer: Coors Light

2. McDonalds: Yuck

3. Relationships: Complicated

4. Purple: Grapes

5. Power ranger: Nothing comes to mind....

6. Weed: Yes

7. Steroids: No

8. Cartoons: Spongebob

9. The President: Speech impaired

10. Tupperware: Burp.....

11. Florida: Ocean

12. Santa Claus: I believe!

13. Halloween: Candy - Denist - pain

14. Alice: in Wonderland of course

15: Myspace: fun place to keep in touch

16. Clowns: I like clowns

17. Marriage: 9 years

18. Paris: Eiffel Tower

19. Redheads: Carrot Top

20. Blondes: duh

21. Pass the: wine

22. One night stands: yuck

23. Donald Trump: COMBOVER!

24. Neverland: I don't wanna grow up....

25. Dixie: Chicks

26. Vanilla ice cream: Good with pie

27. Hooters: Boobs - knockers, melons.....

28. High school: Shortlived

29. Pajamas: comfy

33. Woody: I swear I thought of the car.....nothing else came to mind.

31. Wet Socks: Trip to the snow last year....

32. I still love: Sleeping in on Saturdays.


Creepy....

Stephen Hawking (World renown Physicist)HOTTIE

Books, Research, Coffee, Stephen Hawking...ha ha - COFFEE

I'm tired, my brain hurts. Random thoughts fly in and out at any moment without warning. My mom - bless her heart, in an effort to help me with Biochemistry - went to the Thrift store and picked up a little gem called...."A Bried History of Time From the Big Bang to Black Holes." Stephen Hawking. I really can't wait to get my hands on this book - just as soon as I'm done being overloaded as it is with the THEORY of evolution - cell structures and their cells - and the structure of those cells- all their names and what they do for a living (oh yeah, me and science - it's a match made in heaven) - Periodic Tables, formulas, diagraming atoms, nodding off - drinking more coffee - trying to make sense of it in my right brained universe - then calling it a night and passing out in the wee hours of the morning only to wake up finding I have acquired more wrinkles around the eyes. No, it's not my imagination..... Not just that - but my study area is a complete disaster. I had good intentions and had everything organized and laid out. Now - whatever. After the storm. Can we really call this an office? I need a decent desk.

A New Beginning

Buddy at Big Sur
Breathtaking view

Check out the bug splat

It has been a year of profound change in my life. I would like to think that I am just at the starting point of new and better things to come - that I am giving back in more ways than I am taking. Wanted to post some pics of my most recent drive up Hwy 1 this last November. I'm just excited I actually figured out how to post them on here.



I figure this is a good way to keep in touch with family and friends - because let's face it.....y'all are spread out everywhere - leaving me here behind in Central California. Not that I'm complaining. I just miss each and every one of you - (seriously though, I have no family left here!) and for those of you whom I only know through cyberspace - well, it's just another excuse to chew some fat. So - if you do happen to stop by.....drop me a line - even if you're just lurking. It's good to hear from you :)