How I became a Pig Farmers Wife: Part 2

So...Before I jump into the marriage part of my life, let me go back a little to the dating part. Hunting, fishing, camping...outdoor life in general, has always been a part of our relationship. I mean, we met on a camping trip..that seemed to have set a tone for everything else. Even on some of our "dates" (if you can even call it that) consisted of me, sitting in between Pete and Eric in the front seat of a red pick-up scouting for deer. Or me, sitting on the side of the river watching Pete fish. One time, I even whitnessed an actual hunt. Pete is primarily an archery hunter. Which means he uses a bow and arrow...which, I think, is much harder than using a gun. Anyway, as I was saying, I actually whitnessed Pete taking down a deer. At the time, I had never really been exposed to any sort of hunting so everything was new to me. Pete, Eric and I had been driving around scouting for deer one summer evening. We were on private land that they had permission to hunt on. Anyways, lo and behold..there is a little buck about 50 yards away. I watch Pete draw back his bow as the little buck stood there. Everything was silent except for the cicadas humming in the oak trees. My heart was pumping! It was pretty exilerating. And then "thunk!" he releases the arrow. I will not go into great detail, but I will tell you, that at that moment...I realized what this sport was to him. I understood why he did it. It's not something that I can really explain, but I gained a lot of respect for the sport and especially for Pete that day.
Hunting continuted to be a part of our relationship well into fall with turkey season, winter with duck season, and spring with another turkey season and fishing. Many weekends were spent with me waiting for him to come back from a day trip and we would spend the evenings together. Little did I know I'd be doing this for the rest of my life! But I was in love...
Even our honeymoon was "outdoors-y". No, not on exotic beach in Tahiti. But on a trip to Yellowstone in Wyoming. Again, little did I know how much this would forshadow the rest of my life! We drove to Wyoming from California staying in nice hotels the whole way. But once we got to Jackson Hole, we actually camped at a very nice KOA campground. Yes, camping on our honeymoon! Pete would get up each morning and walk down to the Snake River and fish and we spent the rest of the day looking for wildlife and taking in the glorious scenery of Yellowstone. If you've never been there...it's absolutly amazing.
It's funny to think back on this stuff now...As we get ready to enter the next chapter in our lives...when I'm often finding myself asking "how in the world did we end up here?". When really, it's been a part of us all along.
To be continuted...

recovering

from my cold.
Here's how nap time went today.
I send both children to their rooms to rest quietly. I'm lucky enough that the both fall asleep. I go to my room for a cat nap of my own. I read for a while and as my eyes grow heavy, I close the book and snuggle down into the bed.
And then it starts.
That little infuriating tickle in the back of your throat.
ehem....ehem...
You try and clear your throat and ignore it. But it persists. So you give in and cough just a bit.
It subsides just long enough for dreams to start taking over and then....Tickle, tickle...you're jolted from sleep into frantic coughing. You hide under the covers to hopefully find that dream land again. Trying desperately to ignore that incessant tickle, tickle, tickle.
Ehem....ehem...EHEM....You're eyes start to water. Which of course makes your nose run. Tickle....tickle, tickle. Oh, you could get out of bed and get some water. But you're not about to let this dang tickle take over your blessed nap! EHEM! MMMM..EHEM! Tickle, tickle.... Tears are streaming down your face, snot is ready to pour out of your nose....Ehem! OH FOR THE LOVE OF PETE!......
Then, you cough so hard and for so long you feel like you're going to hork up your lunch. And you finally give in and get some water.
Yeah.
Nap time was like that.
Fun, huh?

more Pig Farmers Wife story to come tomorrow. :)

I'm feeling cruddy today...I got a cold. So more Pig Farmers Wife story will have to wait till I feel a little better...but for now here is a conversation I just had with Jake:

J: I'm the coolest guy in the whole wide world.
M: oh reeeaallly?
J: Yeah, Mommy, I am.
M: What makes you think that?
J: You see this nice shirt?
M: hmm hummm.
J: Well I think a lady will see me in it and want to kiss me. Because I am soooo cool.

Where do they come up with this stuff?

E! Hollywood True Story: How I became a Pig Farmers Wife.

A life I never expected.
June 1995: It was 3 days before high school graduation. My good friend was having a small get-together at her house and there were some boys from our rival school there. Cute boys. One was not really my type at all, but SO funny. I don't think he noticed me. The summer passes and I find myself calling in sick to work (which I'd never done before) to go to another little party with friends. Lo and behold...the funny guy is there. And I can't really explain it, but something clicked. And we spent the next 4 years together on and off.., mostly on. We were great friends, we did everything together. We spent birthdays and Thanksgivings and Christmas's together. I just figured he was "the one". I'm sure our families expected us to get married. I expected it. In fact, he actually bought the ring. But he never asked. And he wasn't the one.
To this day, I still can't quite tell you how it happened. But after 4 years he, the one I thought was "the one", was gone. And somewhere, there was someone else who was praying for "a good girl".
The next few weeks I was pretty miserable. You know...heart sick. The only thing I knew to do was turn to my friends....friends that I propbably hadn't paid a lot of attention to in the last 4 years. But they were there for me anyways. We would hang out at a local bar on Friday and Saturday nights. It was the summer, in a small town and there wasn't much else to do. Word got out that I was single and it was like boys were everywhere...like white on rice. But I didn't notice any of them. Not really.
My girl friends and I decided we were going to go camping "girls only". We had it all planned out...just us girls and NO BOYS. huh. Well, that didn't work out. Of course all the boys found out about our little trip and decided to crash our party. They showed up Saturday morning bright and early, knockin' on our camp site. On the way up the day before, Teri had told me that "Pete had a major crush" on me. I had NO IDEA who she was talking about. I kind of just sluffed it off and didn't really think any more about because I honestly had no idea who he was. Anyways, we'd gone down to the lake in the morning and by lunchtime we were hungry, so we all headed back to camp. Just as we were walking up, I noticed a red Toyota pick up idling right in front of our campsite.
Me: Who is that?
Teri: oh that's Eric.
Me: no, Eric does not have a truck like that.
Teri: That's Pete's truck. Eric is in the passenger seat.
Me: Pete?....As in Pete? The guy you were telling me about? That Pete?
Teri: Yeah.
My heart started thumping as we walked up to greet our new guests. Crap...did my hair look ok? I mean, it's pretty hard to stay "cute" when your camping, you know? I mean, even if he wasn't cute, I still had to be cute. He had a crush on me, I couldn't let him down! I walked up to the passenger side and said Hi to Eric. I'd known him since high school. I looked across the seat at the driver and saw nothing but solid muscle. Oh boy. Heart thumping again. And then he turned and looked in my direction. I'm not sure if I believed in love at first sight, but if this wasn't it...I don't know what is. He had the most beautiful sparkly green eyes that literally made me go weak in the knees. I'm not usually the agressive type...but I'll tell ya, I made sure he knew I liked him before the weekend was over. When he left Sunday morning, he said, "Can I call you?" After a few weeks of dating he said, "you know, I was lying in bed one night and I prayed that God would let me meet a nice girl. Three days later, I met you". And that was it. We were married a year later.
To be continued...
PS...there is a link on the right with pictures of the ranch. I'll have more to my story later, but I just can't write it all in one sitting! Don't worry, it's not an epic story, or harliquin romance....just a little background as to how I got to where I am now. :)

Yes, I'm a copy cat

Ok, so I totally copied Chrissy with her photo collage. Hey, it's a good idea. I had all these pics of Meg over the last day or so and they needed a home together. :)
I can't believe it's been a week since I posted. I guess not a whole lot is going on. We're settling into our new routine. I really like being able to run erands and just do all the stuff I used to do in 2 days, and get stuff done whenever I feel like it. Or need something, or want something. It's nice. What's also nice is that Tracy is basically a bedroom community. People mostly just sleep here...they work out of town...Well, just over the hill in the Bay Area. Which means there's not a whole lot of people out during the middle of the day. No more fighting down grocery store isles on Saturday mornings. And Costco! Costco is like....empty! For real.
Jake is having a bit of a hard time adjusting to every day being a "stay at home day". I can't really blame him...I mean he's been with other kids 5 days a week since he was 9 weeks old...with the exception of the 5 months I was on maternity leave last year. The sad thing is...just like the rest of the town...there's just not a lot of kids home during the day here in our neighborhood. Jake is constanly saying "can I go play with my friend?" and looking out the window for someone. And when I tell him no one is home..."BUT MOOOOMMMMY! I can just go knock on their door, ok?" It just breaks my heart. Oh, and the neighbor I met last weekend?....Uh huh..she IS a SAHM and let me tell ya...SHE's the one not coming out of her cave. Not the other way around! We've been outside every day this week, and we hear her kids playing in their back yard...but they never come out into the ally. See, all of our "back yards" are about the size of a postage stamp, so most of us just open our garages and let the kids go crazy in the ally. They can ride their bikes and run...all the neighbors look out for the kids. I actually really like it like that. The only bad thing is, some one really needs to be out there just to keep an eye out. (at least until they get a little older...all the kids on our street are between 1-5) ANYWAY...poor Jake hears the other little boy down the street and begs me to let him go play with him. He did get a few oportunities this week...but always in their house...never outside. Which I think is just weird..especially because despite the cold wind, it's been pretty nice outside. And when I go over and get him, Jake asks if the little boy can come play down at our house, and the answer is always "no". It's just weird. I'm not ready to think this girl is unfriendly. I think she's just got her thing going on. Her schedule, her play dates or what ever. Or maybe she has just as many social anxieties as I do. Because I'm really shy. The thought of having to talk to someone new just about gives me a panic attack. But it's just the thought. If I actually go and do it, I'm totally fine....I'll talk your head off if you let me! Anyways, so I'm trying to find things to keep the boy occupied. We've been going to the "big park" in town, the library, and on walks. Good thing he is starting school at the end of summer, because he just craves that social interaction.
Megan is taking to the changes around here just fine. I think she's too young to notice too much anyway, but she's a lot like me in that she's just a go-with-the-flow type of gal. :)
Pete of course likes the changes...you know, more home cooked meals...well maybe meals that aren't so rushed...like at 7 o'clock! And I don't think he's had to fold any laundry in 2 weeks. (he used to do about 90% of the laundry!)
So anyways, that's about it. See..nothing too interesting. So now it's the weekend and who knows what we'll do...Monday looks like we (all of us) might head up to the ranch since Pete has the day off. There's been a lot going on up there so I'll be SURE to put my memory card INTO the camera before we leave, I'll take some pics and do a little update here.
Have a good weekend!

Today was a good day.

It was SO nice outside. Like almost spring. I actually wore short sleeves! Hello! It was awesome. :D
Jake woke me up at 5:30 this morning. I'm like, what the heck are you doing? Turns out he'd peed in his bed...but didn't tell me that until...oh like 8 hours later! See, when he came in my room he just said his leg hurt. (He NEVER comes in my room in the middle of the night. Ever.) He's been saying this for like 2 days now. He keeps pointing at this teeny tiny scratch on the back of his leg telling me it hurt. Last night the miniscule scab even flaked off of it so how could it possibly be hurting still?? I decided he must need some extra attention or something, so I let him get in bed with me. Naive me didn't get that the "hurt leg" was just a cover up for the pee. When he tells me about it 8 hours later, I say "why are you just telling me this now? why didn't you tell me when you came in my room?" Jake: "cuz I thought you'd be mad". Me: "Well I'm more mad that you didn't tell me". Wet sheets at 5:30 in the morning, frustrating yes, but accidents happen...and not very often with this kid so I can't really be mad. But the thought of that pee sitting there all day...ewww!
Anyways, so that was that.
So much happened today...I'm trying to decide what or how to report it all....First I got some awesome cleaning done out of Jake. Totally Huck Finn'ed the kid. (as Jude would put it!) I brought out the vaccum and he really, really wanted to do it himself.
me: well I don't think you're quite big enough to vaccum
Jake: but mooooommmmmmyyy! I really, really want to clean something!
!!opportunity!!
Me: well, I dunno. hmmmmm. I don't know what a kid like you could do.
Jake: Mommy. (very seriously) I could do LOTS of things. I'm a good cleaner.
Me: Hmmmmmm...well..I guess you could clean these windows for me.
Jake: YES! Mommy, pleeeaaaase let me clean them!
And so..he cleaned the bottom half of my french doors, the front of the oven and dishwasher, and then, he dusted the base boards. Nice!
After that, we all went outside. It was just so nice. It's funny, when the weather gets like this, after weeks of cold and rain...people just start popping out of their houses. Like coming out of hibernation. I met a neighbor and her two kids this morning. I'm pretty sure she's a SAHM...she's got a boy just a teesy bit older than Jake and a little girl who's 2. Perfect! They just live a few houses down...but I hardly ever see them out so I've never really talked to them before. But, now this is bad...She says, "are you new in the neighborhood? I don't think I've ever seen you before". Me: (i'm like completely shocked she's saying this...You've never seen me??) "oh, no..we've lived here 2 1/2 years". So either SHE never goes out or I never go out. Anyways, she was nice, but I'm such an idiot...I have NO social skills what so ever..I didn't even ask her her name. smacks head against wall...dumb, dumb! But I did mention that we were always home and her son was more than welcome to come knock on our door to play. So that was good. I guess.
We went back in the house, had lunch and sent Megan off to nap upstairs. About an hour or so later, Jake notices that Cody from across the street and the other little boy we met this morning were out playing in the front. So I let Jake go out too. That's the great thing about this neighborhood...there are a TON of boys all within a year or two of each other in age. I wanted to go out too...but I didn't want to leave Meg in the house alone. Anyways, Brian, Cody's dad came over and asked if Jake could go with them up to the park...it's just at the end of the block. I figured since the dad came and asked, it would be fine...you know adult supervision and all. Anyways, so when Megan got up, they were still there so I took her and walked up to the park. We ended up spending the rest of the afternoon. 5 boys, Megan, me, Cody's dad and another mom. It was nice to actually talk to some adults...you know, haven't done much of that in the past week or so! Brian says to me "haven't seen you in a while...I can't even remember your name". (oh jeeze! why does no one know who I am?!) I told him I only come out of my cave when it's above 60 degrees! LOL!! It's true...ya'll know how much I LOVE winter and all. ha ha!
And so..this is how the day ended.

SO cute. There's another really cute pic on the photo blog so check that one out too. I just didn't want to double post the same pic :)
Happy Sunday to you!

yummmm

I guess I still must be stressed. Cuz I just HAD to make this yesterday. What's that you say? A sheet of brownies last week wasn't enough? Well, if you must know...apparently not. It's either stress or PMS. One or the other. I have to blame my gluttony on something, right? Ok, so it's probably neither.
I'm sure you've probably had this dessert before, I think it was a very popular pot-luck dish in the 80's. It's widely known as Better than Sex Cake. Or also known as Better than Tom Sellec Cake because I guess some people are afraid to say S-E-X. I know I am. And I guess that's were my 1980's reference comes in...because really, who still thinks Tom Sellec is hot? Maybe if you're my mom you do. So anyways, I'm not going to call this Better than S-E-X, and I'm not going to call it Better than Tom Sellec. Heck, I'm not even going to call it Cake...cuz really there's no cake involved.
You want the recipe?

Yummy, yummy dessert
This is for a 1/2 recipe...I put it in an 8x8 glass dish. If you want to make a full recipe just double it and put it in a 9x13 pan. Oh and you could totally go low(er) cal on this too by using fat free/sugar free Cool Whip, pudding, low fat milk and cream cheese :)

1/2 Cup Flour
1/2 Cup chopped pecans
1/4 Cup butter

4oz. Cream Cheese, soft
1/2 Cup powdered sugar
4oz. Cool Whip (1/2 a regular sized tub)

1 3oz. Box of instant Chocolate pudding
1 3oz. Box of instant Vanilla pudding
1 1/2 Cups of cold milk

the rest of the tub of Cool Whip.

Crust:
cream the butter, flour and pecans together and press in the bottom of your 8x8 pan. Bake at 350* for about 15 minutes. Cool. I stuck mine in the freezer while I made the other layers.

1st layer:
cream together the powdered sugar and cream cheese until fluffy. Fold in the Cool Whip. Spoon on top of crust.

2nd layer:
dump the 2 boxes of pudding in a bowl, add the 1 1/2 cups of milk. Stir until it thickens and spoon over cream cheese layer.

Top:
Top with the rest of the Cool Whip and add some chocolate shavings to make it look pretty. Put it in the fridge for a couple hours and then dig in!

Don't worry people, I'm not turning into June Cleaver or anything. The domesticness will wear off in another week when I get bored and/or lazy.

Life of a SAHM

You would think I haven't folded laundry in a year after the pile I folded this morning! Geesh. Laundry is never ending, isn't it? I don't mind washing it...it's the folding that gets me. Especially socks. Man, I hate folding socks. I think I'd rather clean toilets. Maybe.
Things are settling in around here. Trying to get into some sort of routine and start getting some things that have been a little neglected, taken care of. Like scrubbing the showers, cleaning out closets and the pantry. All these are on my to-do list. I really do have to look at this like a job and give myself daily tasks other wise I'd never get anything done. I'm also trying to get up in the morning around the same time I used to. Well, around 6:30 or so. This gives me some time to myself...to figure out what I'm going to do today, read my emails, blogs etc...It also allows me to be ready for my kids when they wake up. I'm really liking this part of my day.
I'm also trying to walk every day too. Today I think, was the the worst walk ever. It is just so flippin cold. I bundled us all up, put hats on etc...but the wind was just unbelievable. The kind that just blows from every direction and makes your eyes water even though you have sunglass on...and then your nose starts running...and your nose and your ears start to feel like if you touch them they'll just break off. Have I mentioned that I hate winter? I couldn't get home fast enough. I'm still going to try and do it though...Spring is coming soon, right?
So that's what's going on around here. I'm glad I'm at home, I know it was the right decision. I can't help but still feel a litte stressed...my face broke out this weekend, I have a cold sore and I ate just about an entire sheet of brownies. You think that might be a sign of stress? hmmm! I can't help but think this is all temporary. I feel like I'm on vacation, or on maternity leave. After all, it was only just over a year ago that I was freaking out about going back to work after having Megan. It's as if time has gone backwards. If that makes sense. I feel like in just a few weeks this will all be over.
Anyways that's all I got for now. Oh yeah, my 365 is all caught up so check it out if you want :)