This years V-day mix! Not bad for last minute!

Well, It is valentines day once again. And that means that it is Mix time. This years theme is .. You! Yes! You! And you thought I would choose something like “The Wind” as my theme eh? Given previous productions, I can understand why! However it is a V-Day mix and Vday is all about celebrating your loved ones and .. possibly even sharing your cooties with them. And frankly, I already share enough cooties with fowl creatures to want to dedicate this mix to the birds. Although I do love our chickens and geese (or  the ocean breeze, the sunsets, the mountains and valleys and everything holy that I can lay my sight on).  and I would gladly spend hours on end singing their praises.. But the truth is.. I already do this year round  in my various writings and conversations and pictures. So then what to honor this year?  I decided that I rather than look to my yard for inspiration, I should instead turn inward and take a moment to stroll through the “Garden of My Hear” and praise those that populate it. In other words, this mix is for YOU! Click the number to link to the actual song on Youtube. Enjoy! .

1. Greg is a Damn Good Man so how could I not?

2. My spunky Darling certainly is wild.. and crazy .. and funkyl.

3. This one should be called “You are the SONshine of my life.”

4. Mom’s love is as blinding as the sun caught on her bling.

5. Thoughts of Dad still make me cry.

6. GG and GNor.. this reminds me of the Scottish highlands and the sea salt that runs in my veins. (Grandpa was a sailor!)

7. Grandma Bea was a nocturnal Recluse and grandpa was just fine with that as long as they got to dance together.

8. Billy, Rach, the girls, Aunties, Uncles, C.Mc9, all the cousins and their families, my steps and their families.. and any family I might have missed… I can only burn so many songs on a disk and I had a lot of ground to cover.. anyway.. Love you and this one is especially for you all.

9. To all my Soul Sistaz from da hood. You know who you are.. Holla!

10. For the music makers and poets whose notes, words and laughter have rained down on my  soul and made my garden lush.

11. Angele - You know you are a cute little heartbreaker

12. Irie.. Always remember this.

13. Aden.. Still waters run deep.

14. For neighbors past and present of course

15. This goes out to all the teachers who give sooo very much for so very little

16. This is for the kids friends and classmates and their families

17. Surf guitar and a focus on Earth.. why this one goes out to those surfrider environmentalist friends.

18. For those whose lives cross mine via line and feed.

19. For the nameless like that guy I exchanged a smile with or the pharmacist, teller, cashier who is very much a part of these small slices of life.

20. To ALL  in this everloving world.. because what I do here reaches far beyond my sight and effects the tangle we are all a part of ...as do everyones actions.  

21. And finally what good is a mix without a final shot of morphine to drift away on? May you be  
lucky and loved!

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 In other News, All of Connors bloodwork is normal and good. Next to see a neurologist.

Willow did excellent at the science fair.

Greg is now back from a week in Boston and it looks like he is going to have an opportunity this year to travel to Europe. Not sure when that will shake out but the trip looks like it will include Amsterdam, Sweden and Italy. It was exciting news.

And as late as it is.. if you want to here about Pro Am  and how close I got to hobnobbing with the elite as well as my thoughts on Superbowl.. Check this.  Bill.. I put this together mostly for you!

What else? Willow's place at the College Prep school is reserved and payments have begun!

Connor has 4 field trips in the next month to study various points on the watershed.

Life is busy and good. And I think this year is starting out just grand!

Meanwhile in Corporate News.. Its getting Brisk.

Today Green Mountain announced a new long-term strategic and commercial collaboration agreement with Coca-Cola, the world’s largest beverage company, to develop and globally launch their Keurig Cold™ at home beverage system. Keurig they play hard ball.  Since Greg started they have done nothing but go big.

Also speaking of Greg and work... He stepped down Saturday night from his position at the Chamber of Commerce. He was not able to pay it as much attention as it required. And I would think not! Jae (his wonderful assistant) mentioned to me that he took 16 trips last year alone. How can he possibly attend to the chamber business from his lengthy drawn out meetings on the East Coast? Green Mountain however will continue to be represented on the board as Jae has stepped up to the plate in his stead. Congrats Jae! Greg and I and some others from the plant celebrated her instatement at the annual county crabfeed this past weekend. I am still stuffed!!

The countdown to the countdown

The flu has been an ever present and unwelcomed guest in my home since mid dec. viciously cycling through most of us. Greg and aden have brushed aside it's most peristant advances with relative ease but even they have not gone totally unmolested by its grimy presence. Irie is home fighting what little remains of the germ now that the rest of us have finally stood up and kicked the living shit out of it. I feel as though I have done nothing but sleep for the last three or so weeks. Even while greg was gone which is almost unheard of. 

I am Flabbergasted....how fast time passes. Overwhelmed by work that has piled up. What work? A complete overhaul on the Surfrider website is in order for starts. Why? Because I'm still the listed all over it as the main contact! That has to change and ASAP. Along with some other items. Anyway.. It's a priority .. And taxes! But they can wait because it's time to get my valentines day gift created.. That's right.. I have not even created it yet.... but my drafting is well underway and I'm quite pleased with what is forming ...Let along mass produce and distribute!!! I need a few long nights. And I need them now.  Time to get productive! The Almighty knows I've not liked being out of commission this long. But it was necessary. I am now rested enough to burn some midnight oil.

How's the zen doodling in the mornings going? Not really going. No more than I have been doing planks.. I need to practice some personal discipline. ( one side of me giggles at that thought and wonders if I need to get some rope!) Anyway.. I digress. 

Willow has not been doing much with her bass but she and Irie have been getting to know thier way around the old ivories! I'll have to record some of that soon for you. 

What else? Connors bloodwork is being analyzed. He didn't like it. Almost passed out at the sight of his blood. The kid is so sensitive. He dissected a fish in class and it was traumatizing .. This week they are looking at pigs hearts..

Lots of field trip for school coming up. I need to seriously attend to my calendar! When is spring break? When and who all are coming to visit? Eeks! Fun lies just ahead!  Just need to put some things in order.. Ah yes.. I'll begin that tonight! 

Snapshot

Greg is in Vermont battling the icy cold. We are at home fighting colds .. Or is it the flu? I don't know. All I know is that I am tired of being tired. Willow is tired of the huge pounding sinus headache and dizziness. Connor is tired of the body aches. Soup bed and books have been out order of business for some time. With the exception of willow and I making a turn around trip to donner to visit the meuseum, monument and cabin sites for that ill fated group. Willow is covering the donner party with her history day project. This years theme is "rights and responsibilities". Her angle is that there are times when canabolism should be a right. Anyway at that point neither of us where feeling very  bad so we went up Friday night and came back Saturday. I had a very weird experience that night. At 1:30 in the morning emergency dispatch called to make sure we were ok. Apparently 911 was called from my phone across our locked hotel room while we slept. Weird. We were on the waters edge at the docks. Many have died in those waters. Maybe it was a phantom call? Anyway, Sunday I took to bed. And by Monday night we were all out of commission. We are heading for the Dr.s today. See if we can't get things mended up. That and take another stab at finding the source of Connors tremors. Could it be his thyroid? We will see.  In the meantime enjoy the slideshop of pics I have uploaded this month..  (We are still trying to figure out how I can access Greg's!)   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxiTv3eIjZc

Well what do you know?! ... or... As the tides flow

Its been a crazy few .. has it been 2 weeks or only one week?.. I don't know how long its been since I sat at the keyboard to send you a few strokes.. but I know it has been too dang long! Anyway.. We have been immersed in life and setting some courses.

First things first.   There was Connors Mindcraft birthday party. I created a pretty cool snack table and "cake"  (jello and rice crispy bars and cake).  Greg has the pictures and someday Ill get them downloaded. There was a huge bounce house. Connor has never had one and has always begged and I don't expect he will ever get one again.. he's getting to old for them... and soooo .. eh.. what the heck.. a little indulgence! :) The boys were interesting to watch but we occasionally had to intervene  when one's Bruce/Hulk began to met another's  jykle/hyde. We didn't want blood drawn at the party! But anyway.. it was interesting to see how quickly boys can flip from passive to aggressive. All told it was a very pleasant party. Everyone had fun and there were no real injuries. Whew!

Now in the midst of planning and executing Connors Party, we have been chasing down our High School options for Willow (and possible school courses for Con as well). This meant that the morning of Connors party I took them both to a private college prep school to the north of us for placement testing and then we returned Wednesday morning for entrance interviews. Here is the link mom..  The school boasts the number one choir in the state. There is horse riding in PE. Students uniforms are as follows.. anything as long as it is crisp clean and modest. Much of the reading and homework is done on Ipads and they are planning to  begin to integrate Google glass into the classroom soon.  If a time should come when we would have to move.. she could board there and get a continual HS experience.. If doing so was the right option anyway. And undoubtedly the curriculum and education she will get there will prepare her for college and a career in the sciences which is what she aspires for.  Our interviews went well. Willow was easily recommended for admissions. The existing 8th grades  have priority for seats in the HS until the end of January. So by mid February Willows seat should be secure! WOOT! She will be able to take a bus to and from school from a stop just 4 blocks from Gregs work. Nice.

Now on to Connor... As wonderful as this school is.. it may not be the best fit for him. At least not right now. He has the character for the school, he is motivated to do and be his best, but he would be quite outpaced in the college prep atmosphere.  I think that kind of pressure would be negative and weighs heavier than the good that can come from switching his schools at this point. So the plan is that next year he will continue at his existing school. This will also be good for him as he is such a social creature and he has a good little group of friends there that I would not mind him growing up a bit more with. His only sorrow that comes with this decision is in the knowledge that he will be separating from "Sissy farts a lot." But it would happen sooner than later and as she is going off to High school.. now is a good time.. as hard as it might be.

And I have been in the midst of a cleaning/rearranging frenzy. Dervish winds ablowing... and speaking of winds.. I hear there is some incredible surf out there (Mavericks this weekend I hear).. Drool!

But first work.. A surfrider blast to put out, a Tardis to Build (belated Christmas gift!! Really need to finish it!), some geese to water, Appts to make, a sick kid to watch, and an overnight research trip to Donner for homework.   Sunday I need to make a much deserved play date with Asilimar!  ~:)~

Here enters a Young Man

Today is my sons 11th birthday. Crazy right?! (Yes I bought me a present too. which Ill show off when it arrives! :)  Anyway.. he asked me to bring in my zuchinni bread to share with the class. It proved a wonderful snack which no one was allergic to or turned down. Happy this school allows homemade snacks. Happy he'd request that recipe. And overall just thrilled at what a courteous young man he is becoming. The currents are shifting.. the rapids of puberty approach.. Fun times ahead to be sure.. but still.. let us be blessed through this passage!! Hormones rage passion and heartbreak.. egads!   I think we are ready to take the challenges in good stride. That's my boy!

brakes squeal

Car stops. Dust Swirls.
I started downshifting on Friday.
Whew. Finally on the other side of the holidays.
Finally I can stop.
House clean
Bills paid
Kids all off to school.

Its been a busy couple of months. And it would appear that my only down time has been the occasional pit stop. Im afraid I did not really have much time to write home from the throne. Did you miss me?

By in large the holidays were good to us. Greg got a nifty little bonus that let us splurge and also  resulted in a longer vacation than we had been initially planning. Our turn around weekender turned into a somewhat impromptu week road long trip which allowed us to pay a visit and celebrate the season with about 50  "local" (Meaning all of us in a 100 miles) AFA'ers. We had timing and energy conflicts all year which had prevented us meeting up prior (with the very wyrd exception of running into Steve and Sheila at the Nugget when I was in Reno catching up with Dave during his visit stateside). Anyway.. I ramble.. longer story told shorter.. we were happy to be able to get together for an afternoon of reconnections with one another and with our deepest roots. Greg contentedly played chess for hours as he was unable to carry on much conversation having just had oral surgery that reestablished his gum-line. Painful.

The next morning we hit one of the most amazing brunch places we have ever found.. a place called Midtown Creperie or something like that. Its located on the Miracle Mile in Stockton. Everyone of us thoroughly enjoyed our Louisiana style meal.

From there we were off to visit a good percentage of my cousins in foresthill along with my Lovely Aunt and Uncle. Even if I have not seen them for a million years there is no doubt they are family. It was a warm and cozy reunion.  Except for stargazing which wasn't that warm but boy it was worth it.. The sky was so clear and you could see so deep into the heavens. The milky way stretched its spill across a broad expanse.  It was breathtaking. Expansive. And I had thought we had a good view from our home! bah! Magnificent. The kids were all of similar age and got along perfectly. It was wonderful. One of my cousins spoke of an off the grid comunitee that she had her eye on. I really want to hear more about that and am looking forward to a good sit down visit when they come down in March.

Off to truckee for couple of days with no one but ourselves to answer to. Which is a spot on sentence considering that we didn't have much in the way of cell reception. Not to mention a lost charger cord somewhere along the way.  We filled our time with the hot tub, movies in bed (including Heathers!), wrestling (thin walls..oops) wandering the town, strolling the river bank looking for rocks, mani's Pedi's and facials, off roading around the dams, picture taking, and the watching people play hockey near where my three played on the ice.

New Years eve day we headed to Zephyr Cove for lunch before heading to moms. We were surprised and disappointed that the restaurant no longer served milkshakes. It was one of the places I used to go with my pops on the rare get away take the car for a ride trip. Fries and a malt. No more. Now its more haughty taughty. Decent... Looks the same... But not the same.

And NO SNOW! The lack of snow and rain this year is daunting.. heartbreaking even. I pray for rain!

Then off to moms. We settled in and then took in the desolation of smaug. I'm not going to give it great marks as I find such movies dizzy making. I will say that its action packed and everything one would expect given the earlier films and the story. Personally with this series Id rather read the story.

After the movie, Greg and I stopped in on some friends to wish them a happy new year. We laughed and Greg took rather kindly to a bottle of Glen Fiddich. We chatted it up and caught up before leaving before the strike of 12. Actually we walked into moms two minutes before with a bottle of sparkling juice to celebrate with the kids. They were happily watching Labyrinth and the first sound I heard while opening the door was "Dance baby dance" which made me happy. David Bowie singing a magic song in magic pants. Now that's how to kick of the new year!

Anyway, we stayed a few quiet days in Carson, the kids played happily with their cousin and we did a lot of coloring. Mom got the kids these really cool coloring books and introduced us to the art of zendoodle. What is zen doodle? Its sort of like all the doodling I have ever done only on a much more structured basis. Separate sections are created on the page and then they are filled in with various patterns. It is rather meditative and is something I need to return to.  This year I intend to work harder at my art and my passions. Which is perfect given my 2014 horoscope, which reads..

 

The citizens of Iceland love literature, but many are not content to simply read. One out of every ten Icelanders writes and publishes a book at sometime in his or her life. I know it's unrealistic, but I would love to see at least one in ten of all my Libra readers do the same in 2014. I think you're ready to make a big statement -- to express yourself in a more complete and dramatic way than ever before. If you're not ready to write a book, I hope you will attempt an equivalent accomplishment.

 

Now my next big question is where to fit this work in. I work best when the house is quiet. So I suspect early morning will be my time. Need to set the alarm!

 

Anyway, back at moms, Greg and I ducked out for a bit to watch American Hustle. This movie is one that I will brag about. A very well put together flick.. from the story to the quality of acting to the costumes and soundtrack. Nice bit of work.

 I might as well interject a side note about another movie while I am at it. RIPD. It extremely men in blackish but it stars Jeff Bridges who can make any so-so movie a winner just by the way he sits. Such the Dude!!And the frosty comments.. The movie wasn't bust a gut funny but I did laugh quite a bit.

So we left moms and returned home to a call announcing unexpected but dearly welcomed company. Denise! She needed some refuge. It was a nice visit and she helped us get our greenhouse started.

This last weekend was geeky good. We got in a visit with Nell and David in Palo Alto while taking in the Bay Area Lego Clubs annual winter display. Pretty cool. And I need to stop here and take a minute to praise Nell for her knitting. I recieved a most beuatiful scarf that she spun and knitted herself.  I love it! We discussed thier work. They are studing or attempting to find the science to reveal that a far more major factor in stream polution (as compared with brake and tire dust) is the degridation of asphalt.  Its made of oil.. Soo.. No Duh. Right?! They are out to scientifically prove it in order to change laws to prohibit or make asphalt usage more ecologically friendly. Right on.. Nell and David Rock! Speaking of rock.. we need to go concerting with them this year.. can you say Motorhead?! :P

All the while and during all our activities, we have been fighting this damn flu. Add to it Asthma induced by our new down comforter.. Im over it and oh so happy to be returning to the groove..  Time to stop looking back and start looking forward. Out with the old and in with the new! Wonder what wonders are in store?! It will be a great year!  I may or may not get pics up anytime soon. Its not a priority. Connors Birthday preperations are taking precidence at the moment. It is going to be a minecraft themed event.  Anyway... Off I go to settle happily back in.