"I had a 50/50 chance on that one..."

Jason returned home from his business trip to D.C. to find three loads of clean laundry all put away, a house no less messy than when he left and the bedroom redone. (No I'm not usually this amazing. But I'd been sick for one month and just finished my dose of antibiotics so the burst of energy from feeling well again made me feel like superwoman!)

"SooOOooo? What do you think!?" I waited with great anticipation for Jason's overwhelmingly excited (yeah right) reaction to the room redo.

"I like it," he quickly chimed. But knowing I'd want some more details he rummaged around his brain a bit and came up with, "It's....ummmm....a lot brighter."

"No," I replied flatly. "It's not. It's darker."

"Oh. Yeah. I figured I had a 50/50 chance on that one," why he kept trying, I'll never know. "It was a lighter blue right?"

"Ummm, no. NO it was not."

"Oh," he said with a chuckle of surrender. He knew any further effort would be in vain. "What color was it before?"

WHAT COLOR WAS IT BEFORE!!?? Seriously? Seriously. Honestly people, I don't think he even would have realized I'd done anything to the room if I hadn't brought him in there and said "What do you think!?" Oh the poor man was probably in agony trying to figure out what I was referring to!

Oh, his brain was no doubt racing through possibilities, "Oh my gosh. She did something and I'm supposed to say something....something encouraging...somethin insightful...something specific. I am SO screwed!!! Blinds...is it the blinds? No. No I think we had those before. Curtains...she took down the curtains. O crap! Did we ever have curtains? A picture...did she frame a new picture? Nope...those are pictures taken of us 7 years ago...phew I'm good there. Paint! Did she paint? No. It was always blue. Right? Oh man! What the crap am I supposed to think something about!!!???"

This is why I get free reign on home decor and I'm a happy little camper. But the abundance of folded underwear in his drawer...now THAT he noticed. Bless his oblivious little heart! Oh how I do love him!

And now my friends...you can tell me what you think. And you can also see how DRASTIC the change was and I'm sure find the situation all the more funny!

Laser Beam Focus Baby. Laser Beam!

"I might be going to San Diego for a month," Jason announced two Tuesdays ago.
"Umm, Okay. When would you leave?" I asked.
"Monday."

Thank the Lord he didn't end up going on that month long trip on such short notice. This schedule oriented little lady wouldn't have dealt well with such drastic, sudden change!!! (although we would have joined him in sunny California for a bit.)

But he did head to D.C. for meetings this week. He flew out Tuesday and got home at 12am on Friday, only to eat breakfast and head in a little late to work to pull a 12 hour day followed by another 12 hour day tomorrow. Just in case you were wondering...that's on top of 10 hour days last week, and a 10 hour day last Saturday. AAAAaaand he'll also be pulling 10 hour days next week too.

Needless to say I have felt like a single parent! But I must admit. Aside from an all out meltdown the first night daddy wasn't with us at dinner (Ella not me), we have done remarkably well. I even managed to do three loads of laundry, keep the house just as neat as when he left, AND paint our entire bedroom!!!

Because my chances of seeing my hubby in the next two days are slim to none, while my chances of going absolutely batty after a week of "single parenting" are moderate to high, I've skiddadled up to my mom's for a quick Fri/Sat visit and will also be helping a very preggo friend paint her nursery!

It's not forced overtime that he's working. It's optional. So why are we putting ourselves through all of this? Because we are laser beam focused on one goal...DEBT FREE LIVING.

That's right. We spend money only on what is necessary. We have a strict budget that Jason brings home in cash and puts in little white envelopes and when there is no more money left in that envelope... that's it for the month baby so spend wisely!!! Every spare penny and every dime of that sweet, sweet time and a half over time pay gets thrown at debt. It might sound strict, but it's incredibly freeing! I can't wait until the day that we are completely debt free...imagine how much more we can give! Imagine how we'll live then!?

Big sacrifices now...big reward later. Eye on the prize...and on the family camping trip coming up this weekend! :) (Don't worry, we'd never be so extreme as to let it jeopardize our relationship or our babe!)

Stay tuned for pictures of the Master Bedroom/Bathroom redo. You WON'T want to miss it!

4th of July

This 4th of July we headed up to Jason's Family Camp known as "Everyone's Camp" because everyone is always welcome. We knew this year Ella would be old enough to enjoy it and enjoy it she did! (As did we. Although camp is a different experience chasing after an 18month old, we tag teamed and took advantage of naptime and bedtime and got in plenty of time fishing, swiming, going for boat rides, sitting around the fire and playing games.)

Ella took long naps. Went to bed around her normal time and woke up at the bum crack of dawn each morning popping her head over the edge of the pack n play and saying, "Mama! Daddy! Owsigh! (outside) Wa-wa! (water)" repeatedly. For the sake of others trying to sleep in on their long weekend we traded off getting up with her and taking her for walks and occupying her until everyone else arose. Then we chased her around camp all day long. We SO look forward to many fun times at camp and are so grateful for the opportunity she will have to grow up on a lake around many friends and family!

As always, we ate VERY well up at camp! The evidence is all over Ella's face in this one.

She LOVED the water...but only on her terms. She wanted to go in only as far as her knees or thighs and splash. She did like it when you twirled her around with her legs in the water. Other than that, if you tried to take her deeper or do anythign else with her, she'd scream bloody murder. She liked the boat only when it was going slow...but once again she loved the "fishies"!I'm not sure exactly what she is to her her...I think her second cousin...but Ryleigh and Ella loved hanging out together which I was so hoping they would. Ryleigh is 3 and moves at a bit faster pace, but Ella was intrigued by her! They often got into impromptu giggling fits with each other and could be caught randomly hugging one another frequently.

Little Bunny Foo Foo

As many of you know, we have resident rabbits at our home. Yes I said rabbits plural. At first we thought it was just one. Then I saw two together. And now I've seen three together. You know how rabbits are.... there's no tellin' how many of them actually live in our little forest.

They come right up on our deck sometimes. They don't typically hop away right when you go outside...only if chased do they scamper.

They eat my plants. Jason wants to shoot them. Ella LOVES them! She likes to look for them in the morning, point to them and say, "See! See!" and then hop around and make her bunny noise. So I want to get some more Liquid Fence (seriously the best product ever...totally effective for anything bothering your plants yet safe for animals, peopel, children, and the environment!) to protect my perennials and coexist peacefully with the little Foo Foos.

Here's one of our foo foos munching on the grass just off our deck this morning. Here's Ella's impersonation of her furry little friends.

The Aggieman Adventure Race - an Adventure in more ways that one!!!

I knew the POO had really hit the fan when I was nearing the York Exit on I-95, going about 60mph and caught a glimpse of a red kayak flying through the air behind me. That kayak was formerly attatched to the top of the Jeep I was driving. I watched in horror as it crashed down to the pavement, bounce three times and skidded to a stop with each end resting equally on either side of the rumble strip.

"Sorry I can't do it, I'll have Ella because Jason's gone that weekend," is the response I had given to my sister Jen months earlier when she asked if I'd be support crew for her and Greg at the Aggieman Adventure Race Triathlon (read: kayak 2mi, bike 25mi and run 3mi up a mountain).

"You can still do it. Ella can just sit in the car while you load the kayaks. You just drive right down to the water." And to Jen's credit, that is exactly what the info packet made it sound like. So I signed on!

I got the inkling that the info packet was not so accurate and that I was in over my head when they had the support crew briefing 30 min before the race. What led me to that conclusion?

Clue #1) Most atheletes had a 2:1 ratio (like TWO support people for ONE athlete...not the other way around like me.)

Clue #2) No one else had a baby on their hip

Clue #3) Hit me around the time I learned that I did not just have to drive my car down and load a few kayaks, but I had to be at water's edge, in the thick of the athletes coming in off the water, get my racer's kayak out of the way as fast as possible, drag it down a beach and up a ramp and THEN go get the car to load it. Mind you, I was doing this x2.

But hey, I was there. They had no one else, and 'bout the time that I lugged a kayak right past two support people carrying theirs and heard one say, "C'mon, she's beating us and she's alone with a baby!" I thought I was going be just fine. OH, HOW PRIDE DOTH COMETH BEFORE A FALL!

After the chaos of getting both kayaks out of the way and down the beach with Ella (perfectly behaved child, bless her heart) on my hip, I got to the car, got Ella strapped in and then drove down to the water and scrounged a bit to find people to help me hoist the boats up into the J racks. With each boat SECURELY & PROPERLY fastened to the racks I remembered that I hadn't picked up their transition gear. I scooted up, found their stuff, threw it in the back and breathed a sigh of releif...

"The hard part is over," I thought. "Now I just have to make it to the second transition area in time to put their running gear out, slap the bikes on the car and my job is done." My biggest concern was if Ella would get bored and fussy or not. OH, HOW I MUST LEARN TO THINK BIGGER!!!

I really wasn't concerned with making it to my destination on time. I knew my way perfectly. And gosh darnit, I was almost to my exit when that dang red boat went airborn. I remember sucking in a huge gasp of air, uttering an explative and thinking..."That did NOT just happen!" OH, BUT IT DID. IT SOOOO DID.

I thanked the Lord that only one van was behind me and had been able to swerve out of the way. I pulled the Jeep over, ran to the kayak and dragged it out of the highway just as a barage of three lane traffic was approaching.

I took a breath and went to survey what the crud just happened and make a plan. Turns out the actual rack that was bolted to the jeep broke off!!! So there was no putting it back on the car, and the other kayak wasn't safe to stay there either. I popped the back hatch and started rifling through their bags for a cell phone. Even though I couldn't find one, it dawned on me...Jen and Greg had no phone on them, they were in a race! I didn't have any contact info for anyone associated with the triathlon. Who the heck would I call? I don't have AAA, and I wasn't sure it was an appropriate 911 situation! So much for making a flippin' plan! I had nothin'!

To add insult to injury, the back hatch now wouldn't close and Ella was bawling because the traffic zooming by was so loud! I figured Jen and Greg would know something was up when their crap wasn't at transition 2, but then what!!?? I bowed my head right over that stinkin' back hatch that wouldn't close and said a prayer. Then I started flaggin' people down.

One woman and teenage boy stopped and their solution was to put Ella and me in their car and take us to the transition area. At this point, we're yelling over the noise of rushing traffic just to hear one another talk and my child has ramped right up to flat out screaming. I'm not gonna lie, at this point, I kinda didn't care what happened to that red kayak or anything else in, on or around that Jeep for that matter. This plan sounded good.

I started unlatching her carseat when another car pulled up. Out popped the Fergeson family (OH, BLESS THEIR FIT, FAST ACTING LITTLE HEARTS!!!) The guy jumped up on the Jeep and surveyed the damage. With that he and his sister sprung into action strapping both kayaks to the roof of their car while Mrs. Fergeson jimmy rigged the broken rack so it would flop all over and scratch up the Jeep.

Just then I had the where-with-all to consider how I could get Jen and Greg's transition stuff to them on time. So I sent good samaritan #1 on ahead shoving the gear in their hands and saying, "Can you put these out for racers 21 and 58!?" and off they went.

Then I followed the Fergeson's to the transition site where I had to walk 1/4 mile from where I parked (not fun with baby who did not want to be carried!) Greg had already come through (good thing this hard core support crew sent his gear on ahead or his race would've been finito!) and shortly after I arrived Jen came biking in. I took her bike, she slipped on her shoes and I uttered something to the effect of, "Greg's rack broke, big problem, but everything's okay, finish you're race. Go Jen! Yeah! Lookin' good! Woohoo!" (complete with fist pump). I figured the intrigue of "big problem" might help her game and make her run faster to the finish line to find out what happened! :)

Then, I was apparantly supposed to take two bikes, two helmets, four shoes, a towel, a camel back and some goo and Ella 1/4 mile back to where I parked. At that point I literally said, "Screw this. I'm driving the Jeep up here. If they get DQ'd or something because of it, so frickin' be it!" And with that, I walked back to the Jeep, drove it to their bikes, loaded up the gear and headed up the mountain. (Don't worry. No penalties were incurred. The race people were pretty chill.)

Half way up the mountain I met Greg sprinting down it.

I pulled over, rolled down the window and was all, "How's it going?"

and he was all, "gooood?"

and I was all, "Me, not so much."

And that my friends, was my first experience being a support crew at the Aggieman Adventure Race.

Congrats to Jen and Greg. She finished 2nd in her age bracket, 7th for all women and 43rd over all. He finished 6th for his age brackett, 17th for all men and 24th overall!

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to a WONDERFUL husband and father!

For this Father's Day Jason went away on a 4 day fly fishing trip to Vermont with a friend from down here. (an answer to prayer - I knew Jason wanted a friend down here that is his age, who is a believer, who knows how to and likes to fly fish...so I prayed fervently and specifically and Viola! Enter Tom. Thanks God! And thanks for the added bonus of Tom having a fabulous wife that I love to hang out with, and two little girls as well!)

And just in case you're not a "fish person" and you're wondering...Yes, you should be VERY impressed by that ginormo native brookie Jason is holding in the picture above! He guided a fishing trip last weekend in the Rangley area. It was the first time ever guiding that are and yet, he managed to get his customer into tons of fish and he caught that honker up there, along with a few others almost as big! Yeah. He's a stud.

We sure have missed him the past two weeks while he's been galavantly about in fishie land. We survived...barely (more on that in another post :) But it is so good to know that he is being refreshed and fulfilled doing what he loves to do and we expect him home any minute now!

Winning the War

I think we are winning the war that we have waged against rodents in our home.

We're pretty sure that we've irradicated all the flying squirrells from the attic. (There are no more thunderous ropping sessions going on over head in the middle of the night anymore.)

If there were chipmunks, they're not there anymore. They've certainly retreated to living under our decks. Maybe we'll address that later.

The only things left are mice. We've been knocking them off left and right. One clearly got caught by the trap but not killed and we heard it run away through the wall, loudly dragging the clunking the trap in tow. I felt bad for it. But the clunking stopped shortly thereafter and I think it was out of it's misery quickly. I KNOW it's out of it's misery now, by the stench eminating from the wall where we last heard the clunking. Awesome. Jason says it will go away in a few days when it dries up. Double awesome!