Birds and Babbies

It's been the most wonderful 3 days since Thanksgiving. We weren't home for Thanksgiving or "Black Friday" much. I sit here surrounded by, you guessed it, chaos. Our house is a mess and the laundry pile is erupting over the hamper again. The plan today was to get our ox out of the mire and clean but neither Dave or I could muster the courage to do so. We slept in until 11, played with the chillies and cleaned the living room for an entire 20 minutes. Awesome!

J-Bird got to sleep over at G&G Bennett's on Wednesday night. We walked up and spent most of Thanksgiving day there just hanging out and helping cook. TJ finally put it all together and learned to ride his bike that day. We made him get on his bike and ride up to Bennett's. He rocked that bike ride and now he doesn't want to get off. He is constantly asking to ride his "bike with no training wheels." Not bad for a 3 year-old.

Lots of birds this week- I walked the lake with the chillies twice this week and we saw so many birds. The usual geese, ducks, coots, seagulls, pigeons and finches were all around. We were excited to see 2 big pelicans sitting in the middle of the lake both days. It was an unusual treat. Then the most delicious bird of all- the Thanksgiving turkey- made its appearance at Gram Bennett's complete with a fabulous pot-luck meal with both sides of the family.

What we are thankful for this year (as stated on the car ride home from Thanksgiving dinner):

Dad: Mom (Me) who takes care of the family and house, J-Bird who loves math and is a good big sister, T-Bone who learned to ride his bike and likes to play with Dad, Coop who is learning to speak so well and is fun to play with.
Mom: Dave who loves me tremendously, our awesome chillies, that Dave is 2 weeks away from graduation!, church and my calling in the Primary (kids are the best)
J-Bird (6): Jesus, Mom and Dad, my warm house and my warm blanket
T-Bone (3): playing guns at Ben's house and playing super heroes.
Coop (1 1/2): Binks! Noot-nacks (fruit snacks) trains and his softee blankey

And rounding out this long entry is our fabulous crab feed on Friday night at my parents house. I don't remember when the retail gurus named the day after Thanksgiving Black Friday. I think it's lame and accurate all at the same time. To me, the day after Thanksgiving is RED FRIDAY because we drive to Half Moon Bay, buy fresh crab right off the boat and have a crab feast that night with family and friends. It was an awesome day!!



Little Coop was so scared of the crab but he couldn't stop talking about them and wanting to look at them. He would point and say "Babbies" for crabbies then crinkle his nose and back away. So cute. J-Bird was a crab eating machine. Our 6 year-old weighing in at 47 pounds ate at least 1/2 crab by herself. She sat at the table and cracked her way through that crab with the rest of the adults. T-Bone tried the crab too. He liked playing with it more than eating it and provided some entertainment for the table I'm sure.

Wicked Witch Returns

I went to small claims court this morning. After one surprise phone call from our property owner at 7:30 AM, and a mad dash to get J to school and the rest of us presentable I was sitting in court with my two boys about 10 seats away from the wicked witch. Ya'll thought she was melted by Dorothy, but in fact the wicked witch and her 3 flying monkeys resided as our upstairs neighbors for 3 LONG years. Ironically, she took us to court for $1500 because she thought the destruction she did to her apartment was "normal wear and tear." I guess if you're used to houses crashing on your relatives than the apartment wasn't so bad. But I've never had a tenant leave an apartment in worse condition. I had pictures to prove it.

I know, you're thinking "Man that's harsh." To that I say, if you would have been this womans neighbors you would say the same thing. There are only so many times a person can stand being woken up to their ceiling vibrating from music at 7 AM on Sunday morning. And walking up the stairs every other month because the lady can't pay her rent on time gets really old. We won't even go into the many times the 3 little monkeys destroyed things around the complex or were found playing in the pool with no adult supervision (a huge no-no). I know she thinks I am a witch. I am here to tell her that I may be a witch but a very different kind. Glinda was a witch too. I was so patient. I gave her every benefit of the doubt until the last 6-9 months. I think the turning point was when she almost burned the complex down. No kidding. Ignorance IS bliss and her ignorance was threatening MY family's and other tenants safety.

So there we were in court. We listened to the irrelevant facts about how I formed a conspiracy against this woman to charge her for every little thing that she damaged, and we rebutted the false accusations that my actions were in retaliation to her. Thank you Mom, for rushing down to sit with the boys while I went before the judge! The judge took the case under advisement which I've learned means there will be some sort of judgement against the plaintiff. I'm only glad it didn't happen in court or the judge or I might have found ourselves at the mercy of her broom.

So here's to you Ms. Witch. Because of you I am a better property manager. I've learned to write down EVERYTHING and be firm from the beginnning. I let you walk all over me with those pointy shoes and playing dumb attitude when I was a new manager and it will never happen again. I feel lighter and happy now that that is over. I think I'll float away in my bubble now and continue to enjoy life without you living upstairs.

Glinda out.

comfort food

One of my favorite meals to make has become chinese potstickers. (A little burnt, I know, but Dave likes them that way) We had them last night for dinner with vegetable stir-fry and it was DELICIOUS. To me, they are the chinese version of mashed potatoes with gravy- totally comfort food. I could probably eat a dozen with sauce.

It's been a good week in the kitchen for me. Usually I have a hard time getting motivated to cook. Since the weather is finally getting colder I am more willing to spend time in the kitchen- to stay warm.

It's finally official!!

My sis-in-law is getting married! She has been dating her man for a year and practically had the wedding/honeymoon planned these last few months. The proposal was last week and now there's a ring and a date. June 2, 2007 is going to come quick. Yeah! Congrats Denise and Arnold!

What a guy!

Another hectic day at church with no hubby. Being Primary President (kids organization at church) is really hectic this time of year. We had the Halloween party to plan and the annual Primary Program to write and plan for next week. Li-Li and Tina, you two are the best counselors a girl could have. Thanks for all you do to help me and remember what I forget!!

Anyway, the chillies and I were fried after church- tired, hungry and ready for a nap! We pulled into the parking lot at our humble apartment complex and Dave's car was parked in our spot. Yeah, Daddy's home! But he was supposed to be gone until 5. We walk in to find this:

Not the best face on that cute hubby but that's okay. He came home early from board review class and had lunch ready for us when we walked in. What a guy. It was the best thing about the entire day. We ate and took a long snooze. All except TJ that is. That little guy will NOT settle down long enough to take a nap. He ripped apart his room playing and kept busy while we snoozed. It's a good thing J (his bunk mate) is a heavy sleeper.

Thanks babe! You're the best ever!