Where do all the fingernail clippers go?

Every couple of years, I buy a bunch and put them in the car, my nightstand, the bathroom, the desk, etc. and somehow they all slowly disappear.

All we have left right now is ONE that I got free when I bought some nail polish; none of the ones I purchased (which by the way, are always the TRIM brand, they are the only ones that cut decently for me) have vanished.

Good thing they're cheap.

Getting caught up...

Harry has been sick since Saturday, well, probably longer. On Monday I took him to the doctor and he has strep throat. This is his first major illness and we've been home all this week. Aside from the panic attacks, lack of sleep and images of ER visits, I have gotten caught up on all our filing, laundry and other assorted B.S. and it feels really really good.

Wee Beastie

Here is our first baby picture! I am 13 weeks, 5 days pregnant! It has been a rough 1st trimester, I lost all of Spring Break to feeling like absolute hell, but the worst is over now.

My Ancient Parakeet

This poor old bird will be TEN years old in May. He is finally starting to get "old" and I am worried about him. He doesn't file down his beak anymore and his left foot (or whatever its called) is kind of crippled and clawed. He also rarely sqwaks or sings anymore; which is very sad. I am afraid to help him out with that beak because I don't want to have to try and grab him and give him a heart attack. Since he is so old, I'm probably going to let nature take its course, but I dread the day when I find him dead in his cage.

She fooled us...

but considering that we are the dumbest people alive, it probably wasn't the most difficult task.

Our dog is a GIRL.

We just found this out yesterday at the vet. The breeder said that the dog was a boy and we took their word for it.

Since Barnaby is not a girl name at all, we are going to call her Daisy, which was my first choice for a girl dog's name.

I feel very lame and guilty about missing the boy dog that we never had.

You know you're getting older when...

it takes some work just to look regular-acceptable-humanish.

Here's what I mean. I am getting ready for the day. I look in the mirror after brushing my teeth, brushing my hair, putting on some moisturizer and am dressed and I think ACK! Too Scary! Even for just taking Harry to school and maybe running to the store.

So, I put on my BE, AND eyeshadow, AND eyeliner, AND mascara, AND my eyebrows (I have invisible brows-why can't my hair be that blonde? not fair) and at that point, I feel like I look "normal."

I think I can see why older women tend to have hair that gets shorter and shorter. If you've got to put on your 'face' every damn day, who has time for futzing with hair?

Now I just need some elastic waist pants and slip on shoes.

Our new Car?

I don't think it technically is a car. Anyway, it is a 2004 Saturn Vue and I just love it. Tons of room, lots of stuff I'm not used to (like, power door locks and windows and keyless entry, etc. Oh and a 6-disc CD player!) and these crazy big tires that plow through anything. Bring on the snow!

Goodbye Little Red Saturn and Goodbye long hair!

On Dec. 29, Brian was smashed into by some guy and my Saturn is officially totaled. (Brian is perfectly fine) Such a bummer. It was grand and glorious having no car payments!

I also made Brian chop off a ton of my hair, probably about 6 inches of dry, frizzy, fried-out ick. I will post a picture when I have one.

Being a Homebody

We have stayed home all week, mostly in PJ's. We get bundled up to take Barnaby for his walk around lunchtime. It has been so wonderful and I actually took some pics too!

Happy Holidays!

from the Hamby-Wimers

More cute puppy pics

His first night home was pretty uneventful; he slept all night. This morning, He and Harry got up before me and he had an accident downstairs, but that was the only one. Pretty great start.

New addition to our family

Welcome our 7 week old Beagle Boy: (name & details to follow)

My Pumpkin

Here is Harry at the Ferrari Farms pumpkin patch.

First Field Trip

Today Harry's class went to Reno Fire Station No.13. Very cool.

Gettin' into the swing

Harry is adapting to school pretty quick. While he does look forward to the weekend, he is still pretty enthusiastic about going to school every day. I'm sure the day will come when we have to drag him out of bed, but for now we are enjoying our new schedule.

As for me, I still haven't gotten used to the "free time" and I tend to fill it up with chores. I am not a big morning person, so it's not like I am really into doing something crafty in the morning.

My house hasn't been this clean in a long, long time.

I'm wearing Savanna's pants!

I cannot believe that I can easily get into them! Granted, she is not a skinny one, but I am just thrilled!

I think I have gotten so used to wearing baggy clothes, that the fact that I really did lose weight hasn't registered except for on the scale. It makes me want to go and try on new clothes that I can't afford.

I am easily entertained!

.9 miles each way

Our school district will not bus elementary kids unless they live more than 1 mile from the school and we live .9 miles from the school. I think that's a pretty fair trek for a 5 year old, so we drive him every day and it takes us 15 minutes! We end up sitting through two traffic lights multiple times because so few cars can get through going only 15 mph and constantly yielding to the walkers. We have tried taking different routes, but the only way it makes the trip faster is for us to go 2 miles in the opposite direction and GET ON THE HIGHWAY and go back that 2 miles so that we can get off at the exit nearest the school approaching from the west.

What's really hilarious is that if we did live that extra tenth of a mile further, we would be in a totally different school attendance area which is much further from the house and then he would be able to take the bus.

I see one poor mom getting off the public bus to drop off and pick up her kindergartener. Can you imagine how much time it eats up for her to make sure she's there on time and then to wait for the next bus? (this is not an urban area, I think the buses run 30 minutes apart) What a drag.

Where was I on 9/11?

Since it was a tuesday and in AZ it was two hours earlier, we were just getting up and getting the kids ready for school. I had the news on and saw everything as it unfolded. I remember being stunned and the whole thing was pretty unreal until my sister called from NY. She lived in the Bronx and had been on her way to work when it happened and she said that traffic locked down so quickly that she decided to turn around and go home.

I don't know how other people experienced it, but for us, it was the beginning of the end of the way we had been living. Up until that day, I felt like everything was going as planned and in order. After 9/11 and the stock market crashed, my husband's company used it as a way to lay off (fire) almost all of its upper management. After 13 years with that company, he was completely blindsided. I had a 9 month old baby and two years of college left. To put it mildly, everything about our lives has been pretty much downhill since then. We've had some brief (but false) glimmers of hope, but it has been a disaster.

We lost everything financially, but we have our lives and I am very grateful for that, probably too much so, because all the other bullshit doesn't seem to matter much. We drive a tiny little old car and that is the only thing we own of value (which ain't sayin' much!) but since we are all still here, breating in and out, I can deal with it.

Harry's First Day of School

It is so hard to believe this is it-no more babies or toddlers or pre-schoolers for me. My third and last kid is off to school. He was great. So happy and excited. I can't wait to hear how his morning went!

Labor Day

I just love holidays like Labor Day...a day off, nothing specific to be done, and best of all, no gifts to exchange or fancy meals to prepare!

Speaking of meals, I was oh so wrong about that one meal not ruining my diet. How can one meal make you gain THREE pounds? I am totally bummed and I guess I will be extra careful from now on. What a rip!