so what did you do today?

people often ask me how my work schedule "works" so i thought i would try and explain it. a couple times a month i get a call from my "boss" and she tells me what hospitals, clinics, doctor's offices need coverage for the next month (vacation, maternity leave, vacancy when someone quits). the work can either trickle or flood in. i try my hardest to work part time, but lets say someone wants a two week vacation covered, i usually have to do the whole two weeks. so i will block off time around it to get stuff done around the house and spend time with the family. my kids have to be in full time daycare, even if i don't use it all because my hours vary so much. when the work is super slow, i find myself having to work graveyard shifts (HELL!!!) and taking call (triple HELL!) and going to super poopy places like beverly hills and santa monica (quadruple HELL for sure, sorry if you live there but traffic SUCKS!) i work with a group of techs and we all share the work, taking turns at places we might not want to go to, but we work together as a team. i like the ebb and flow of the work, some places i like better than others. some places are challenging, but i know i need the discipline. sometimes i work too much and then i cut back the next month, i can do that. which i like. so, today, there was a mixup (my fault) and i had no real plan for the day (nice!)

ok, so what did i do today on a scheduled work day that became a day off last minute (oh, i forgot to mention i actually have a wee account to cover tonight, but thats only for two hours about two blocks away, EZ!) well, i spent some time making this:

the inside is absolutely wacked out polysester (someone will have a gift waiting for them in their mailbox today)

and this:

first time i EVER sewed a zipper, so proud! this bag replaces this:

i hope this is small enough so you don't gag when you see it. my temporary makeup "bag" was way past it's prime!

cleaned up the pad (notice beach towels dry on the elliptical trainer and you can't see the crap stacked by the front door, careful angling with a bit of blur)

spent many more HOURS than i thought it would take to email my local city council members to stop the building of a home depot down the street, oh and "save the wetlands" mention too.

i did manage to have a special breakfast with emily before she went off to camp and spent time chatting with nancy and bill (who take care of lizzie and will be greatly missed when we start preschool in sept, don't worry we'll visit!!!) and now, a quick walk with the dogs, pick up kids, visit and kid drop off to grandparents and off to the two hour gig down the street. hope i can get to the wetlands meeting for the last hour of it, did i say this was a day off? geez!

Good morning!

nice to have the morning off! sleeping in, coffee at the computer, kids jumping on the bed, screaming and yelling, oh well...

flowers up close

i think i will shoot for a picnic lunch in the park today, after i make a few bags (another gift and a much needed make-up bag for myself... trying to learn how to sew in a zipper for the first time, may take all day!)

finally got a check from my wholesale order (half of it) and splurged this weekend on this (while shopping for cleavers wedding). i also bought some coach sandals (to wear to the wedding), which of course i can't find a photo of anywhere, maybe it's a good thing i don't show how much they cost. they are super comfortable though and the last time i spent this kind of money on shoes was when i bought a pair of black dkny sandals for a trip to france (first time with chris). i splurged major but guess what? i still have them and they still look great 10 years later.

the wetlands in the news

a great article was in the los angeles times this sunday, check it out.

this came in the mail today

feels like something is brewing out there on the horizon. tomorrow is the wetlands meeting, held every other month, i am hoping to make it there to catch at least the second hour. i was going to wait until the fall to fire up my bluebirds with button making, bumper sticker printing and t-shirt screening but i think we need to begin sooner than later. even though rumors abound regarding the sale of this treasured property, if it is sold and lost to developers, it could be lost forever. no sense in waiting around to find out, stay tuned! i see some serious craft projects in my near future, maybe a "wildlife" theme?

go to the wetlands website (on my right side bar) and read up on this amazing group of people who want to not only restore the wetlands to protect wildlife, but help clean up the beaches and make an exciting nature reserve (think "el dorado nature center at the beach" theme) that children can visit and help actively restore. if you are a local, please go to the news section and send emails to all the people who can make a difference, just type in your name and address and say: " PLEASE SAVE THE WETLANDS!" this is a critical time to speak out.

i am sure we all agree, we don't need more "do-it yourself" stores and strip malls, this is the last big chunk of open land we have here locally. it can be saved (and restored) but we all need to take a stand. californians seem to have a high tolerance for allowing development on every square inch of land and we are all paying for it now, very little open space remains and EVERYONE complains about it. this is something we can fight for, please help!

:) thanks in advance!

face paint gone wild

last minute birthday gift

liz helping, yes i use the floor to cut out pieces... don't look too close at what i make, edges are always a bit off.

inside... love this vintage apple fabric

done in record time.

the birthday girl's grandma is an artist so she painted faces at the party, this is her lovely work:

and here is what happens when the line is so long an older kid tries to help out:

didnt slow her down much

emily waited for the professional

another great and busy weekend, back to work tomorrow, darn!

Cleaver gets married!

did i mention that cleaver is really "leslie" and she married a "chris"?? they have also been together almost exactly the same amount of time as we have, within months. this was their wedding program, pretty unique i would say.

the happy couple! my camera went buggy

pogo and cleaver... i am looking a bit peasanty... cleaver is glammed up. fun times for all! congrats bif and cleaver!

for "new" grandpa

thanks for the gift box! lizzie loves her marine outfit.

time to admit that when it comes to lizzie, the last baby for our crowded house, her toilet training... taking months now and her pacifier addiction are low priorities for me. we talk openly with her about growing up and getting ready for school (she starts in the fall) and i just feel fine with her babyish ways. she talks clearly (sans paci) and has great ideas and insight, she plays well with others (most of the time) and makes it to the bathroom on her own when she remembers to.

maybe i am getting older and more relaxed (lazy!), or maybe i just finally get it, that she will get through each stage of development on her own time. i tend to read parenting books (a lot!) but i mostly read them to find bits and pieces of insight rather than blanket remedies for everything regarding raising kids. emily zoomed through babyhood and liz is taking her time. two different kids, two different ways and i am definitely a different mom this time around.

off to cleavers wedding! hope i remember to take my camera, i am sure it will be wacky and unique if i know cleaver!

did you see the paper this morning?

remember these photos?

well, here is this morning's paper: kathleen tearing it up on a wave and

lizzie just plain tearing it up!

and yes i asked the photographer if she was SURE she really wanted her in the photo! yikes!

my kids make me so proud!

liz gets a day at the beach

surf camp day 3

i have never experienced weather at the beach like we had today. it felt like a tropical island or how it was in virginia when i lived there. humid but breezy with warm moist sand. it rained last night and this morning and everything was just clean and fresh. clear skies with a gorgeous light, perfect for photos... i went a little overboard.

surfer mom kathleen came prepared to ride some waves, she and her surf pals (including her sister paula) will be in an article in our local paper this week...

of course lizzie fits right in... uh, yeah.

back to the water for more surfing and splashing (yes she has a pound of sunscreen on, don't worry!)

she's out.

Camp Wintaka 50 year reunion, WOW!!!

Flicker the light of the campfire, wind in the pines

Stars in the heavens, a moon that shines

A place where people gather, make friends of all kinds

A place where all men's troubles are always left behind

So give me the light of the campfire, warm and bright

and give me some friends to sing with, I'll be there all night

For love is for those who find it, I've found mine right here

Just you and me and the campfire and the songs we love to hear

da da, da da, da da, da da

So green are the valleys, sweet as the clover

gone are the cold winds, forever more

The roses now are blooming, the oceans so blue

The sun above is setting, upon our love so new

For love is like a warm fire, soft and low

And when you know your true love,

your heart will really know

For as the leaves are falling,

and friends begin to part,

These memories of the summer

will stay, in every heart

da da, da da, da da, da da

so give me the light of the campfire

warm and bright

and give me some friends to sing with

I'll be there all night

For love is for those who find it

I've found mine right here.

Just you and me and the campfire

and the songs, we love to hear

da da, da da, da da, da da

I stayed in these tents, kaloli.... i spent many hours looking off these stairs at the gorgeous view across the valley below

I went to Camp Wintaka in 1976, 77, 78... age 9, 10, 11... i was in kaloli, notch and sanyoda... three wonderful summers spent making lanyards and macaroni necklaces... canoeing in the lake, horse back riding and making friends to last a lifetime. I looked up to my C.I.T.'s (counselors in training) and my counselors as heroes... wanted so desperately to be like them. It is something i will never forget and spending time up at Camp Wintaka for the 50 year reunion was more amazing than i could have imagined. My last counselor "Figgy" was there as well as several other counselors I truly loved (Stormy for one).

My favorite little "event" of the weekend was finding the chapel still intact: here is my 1978 version, almost 30 years ago...

and today

and i am not even sure how to describe this, i feel so inept (if thats the right word) but Ruth aka "rascal" whom i had never met... who was my good buddy Pat's partner... was the most amazing revelation of the weekend. she was the superstar counselor whom everyone knew, someone who truly captured the essence of camp wintaka during that most extraordinary era( the camp ran all summer in the sixties and seventies with supersonic energy). she is lovely and genuine, youthful and sincere... someone i would have truly looked up to as a camper and who i found myself mesmerized by this weekend. i am so thankful to have taken the chance on that vascular account long ago in which i became better acquainted with pat and through her found ruth. you never know what you might stumble on in this roller coaster called life... but i truly found in ruth the magic i remember as a camper up at camp wintaka and i think she felt it too. thank you sooo much for coming ruth!

here is ruth in her camp shirt from the seventies

that's a big tree!

rascal with her buddies

the lake in the seventies

the lake is now a meadow... and no more

horses!!!

for ruth:

Who can sail where there is no wind

without oars to be rowing

who can sail far away from friends

without tears a flowin'

I can sail where there is no wind

without oars I'll be rowing

but i can't sail far away from friends

without tears a flowin'

Stay tuned for more about Camp Wintaka!