Saturday morning from the Lanai...

MAUI - Here we come!

Stay tuned for pictures and stories!
Love
-The Martinez Family

Idle chatter

Oh how we are all counting the days until vacation...  I think we're all relishing in the fact that we can pack up a suitcase, don a hat, scoop up a plane ticket and escape reality for a week.  ALL OF US.  Well, except Reuben, who thinks Disneyland would be a better place than Hawaii.  Pffft.  He has no idea.  I honestly think he's going to commandeer the plane and stop in Anaheim.  Although landing may be an issue he hasn't thoroughly thought out.

Life has been non-stop around here.  Birthdays, yes I am working on a post for the Monk's birthday, Anniversary parties, okay really it was only one party, and graduation is tomorrow!  Egad.  OH and baseball, but that's over now.   Solomon's team came in 3rd place overall, and 2nd place in the west side teams.

We finally had some good weather around here, albeit short lived, but we were able to get the tomatoes and peppers planted.  The weather has gone on vacation again, leaving us with clouds, rain, and wind.  I'll be lucky to get one tomato this summer.  I'm beginning to think summer has forgotten about us.

I'm still not done with my dress.  I've got to make a few, uh-hm, adjustments to the bodice and really I just haven't had the time.  I'm hoping this weekend, but now that I think about it, maybe not.  I think next weekend looks a bit more promising.

And, in closing, since we've been having so much fun light painting, a few shots from a couple weeks ago.  Marty surprised me with a cold cathode.  The red light in the pictures is the cold cathode.  We've got a few more ideas in mind, just as soon as we find a little more time.

A whole lot of nuthin'

We've been doing a whole lot of stuff, but a whole lot of nuthin' is getting done. I swear Marty and I have been running like marathon competitors but we never seem to get to the finish line. Maybe that's called being a parent?

The weather has been CRAP here. My tomatoes and peppers still aren't planted and the lawn went almost two weeks without being cut because it wouldn't stop raining. Marty had to take a survival pack and a machete with him when he ventured out Tuesday night to cut the grass.

Marty's brother, Keith, is getting married to a fabulous lady, Mari, this summer. They live in Colorado, but are coming up here to tie the knot. And you know, me, being a brilliant as I am decided that making a dress for their wedding was the smart and cheap frugal thing to do. Well, heh. Can I just say, boy was I wrong. $70 bucks worth of fabric later... I've been buried in tulle for, oh, maybe 9 hours now and I haven't even attached the bodice to the skirt yet. Oi. About 45 minutes into the first sewing session, I decided I could have bought a killer dress for less than I paid for all the fabric and saved myself the obsessing and stress. If I actually finish it and it actually fits, I'll let you know. If it doesn't, then I'll never speak of this little mishap again.

School is almost out for the summer, 11 days to be exact, and the boys are ready. Summer is already shaping up to be a busy one... Keith and Mari's wedding, then we'll be taking the boys to Hawaii for some much needed R & R, and then the first week of August Marty has a mandatory meeting in Philly and I get to go with him! Sqeeee! The furthest east I've even been is Montana. Liverty Liberty Bell here I come!

Reuben will be graduating in 11 days as well. I have to say I am really proud of him. He's worked hard this last year of high school and is really turning into quite the articulate young man. He's registered for summer classes at PC already and will have no time off, straight to summer classes after graduation.

Today is Solly's 13th birthday! Mazel tov! A birthday post will be coming with photos after our celebration tonight. He's requested pot roast, so that's been a cookin' in the crock pot all day. Can I get an AMEN for the crock pot!?

1960

1960

11 and all grown up

Friday came and went in a flash and our darling little Woody turned 11. It's hard to imagine just 5 short years ago, I was meeting this cautious, but curious 6 year old boy, who stole my heart just like his Dad did.

Not much has changed with the curiousness, but the caution has begun to wear thin. Bolder and bolder he becomes as the days pass. And the questions come and come. In fact they never end.

As always I oblige the boys with their favorite dinner on their birthday, and no surprises here, Julian picked Chicken Pot Pie. The weather was actually lovely, so we ate outside. Thank you to my wonderful Mother in Law who gifted us with a generous donation to our new patio table and umbrella. Every moment the sun is out we've been out there enjoying it.

Saturday was party day. The weather couldn't have been better, sunny, warm, no wind, it was glorious. We had a small gathering with a few of Julian's friends and our family. We BBQ'd, played bingo, badminton, had a great penguin pinata, and the kids played in the sandbox for what seemed like forever.

I'll let the photos do the talking....

1960

belair, originally uploaded by andromeda521.

Apple Pie

Confession

I have a serious problem. It's really no big secret. I've had this "issue" for most of my life. Marty is aware and does help me try and battle it. Sometimes, I can be in real denial of this problem. I just simply ignore it and pretend it doesn't exist, secretly hoping no one else will notice and it might just go away. Heh. Right.

I'm talking about hoarding folks. Let's face it, I have enough tenancies to become a full fledged, self denying, pack rat. For example, I have items in my kitchen that I haven't used since I moved into this house over 3 years ago. "BUT, you never know, I might need THAT!" And I'm not talking just a few items, I'm talking several.

I have shoes and clothes packed into my closet that haven't seen the light of day in 5 years. For example, a totally CUTE pair of nine west wedges. I can't even remember the last time I wore them. Suits, shirts, sweaters, some 10 years old.

When I moved to California in 2005 I packed up my apartment and half if it went with me, the other half went into storage. When I moved in with Marty the storage unit was unloaded and those boxes came home with me. Some of those boxes haven't even been unpacked. BUT I can't get rid of what's in them! I might need it! Really!

Maybe I'm too frugal, or cheap, or have too much sentiment. I just can't seem to get rid of anything.

My Mother in Law is having a yard sale next weekend. And I am attempting to ahem, "get rid" of a few things. Please wish me luck. I may need a 12 step program.

Light, gardens, and Twig

Below is Marty and I's first attempt at light painting. We got a wild hair last week after we got the camera and well this is what we got. There were a few others, but this one is our favorite. This photograph is straight out of the camera. No editing, aside from converting the file to a jpeg.

This photo is from two nights after the first. I helped Marty lock up the college on sunday night and we decided to use the theatre. All I can say is we are addicted. We are both thinking of items we can use to paint with light.

Here is my newly planted herb garden. The fencing is to keep the dog out. She thinks we planted this stuff just for her to dig up. It's great. She already pulled out the orange mint. P.S. Please ignore the green paint. That used to be the color of our house. Then it was white and pretty soon it'll be something else. I am leaning towards a nice medium grey. But we'll see.

My darling Husband built me this fancy new raised bed. I ordered some amazing heirloom seeds and can't wait to plant them. Mammoth red cabbage, leeks, beets, and these little carrots.



And finally, Twig, or Lou, or Tiny, or whatever you want to call him. I took this when messing around with the new camera and I think it turned out pretty good. And besides how can you resist the cuteness?

It's here. And other ramblings.

The new camera came. My mom was here for the weekend. Baseball season is in full swing, kicked off by the jamboree. I bought my darling Husband an orb and I bought myself a yellow vase. We tore out A LOT of ivy and planted some herbs.

Wow. What a mouthful.

Oh my. Last friday came in a whirlwind. The new camera came after what seemed like an eternity of waiting. It's very overwhelming, but I'm getting the hang of it. Seriously, the shutter is like buttah. And, I've been experimenting with different combinations of aperture and shutter speed and have NOT been using it on auto. GO me. Not to say I'm a fabulous photographer yet. Maybe, if you're lucky I'll post a photo, but it will be difficult, cause we are our own worst critics and at this point every photo I've taken is rubbish.

My mama drove up from Sandy Oregon on friday afternoon to spend the weekend with us. I can't even remember the last time I saw her, terrible isn't it. We missed Christmas and mailed gifts, and finally said enough was enough and she drove up here. We had a great time. We watched baseball, made pizza, had a bon fire, even though it was cold and did a little shopping.

The Cal Ripkin Baseball League kicked off on saturday with the annual jamboree. It's an ALL DAY thing. Baseball all day. Opening ceremony followed by two inning mini games. Burgers. Wind. Sun. Two wins and a loss. A couple of missed balls and a couple of good hits. Now regular games have begun, twice a week until the middle of June. I WILL NOT eat burgers two nights a week. I will not... I will not...

While my mom was here we did a little shopping in between games on saturday. There is this fantastic store in town which sells the coolest house wares and decorative items. The woman in the store was kind enough to let us upstairs to the secret sale section, where I scored. 50% off. It was like Christmas! I found this great tall yellow vase for my kitchen. I've really been into yellow lately. Maybe it's because I can't wear it, so I like to decorate with it! I also found Marty an orb. It's made from concrete and has a little stand. It looks great on the fireplace hearth.

Sunday before my mom left we made a trip to Airport Gardens, a huge place of weakness for me, a bought a few herb plants for the garden. My mom wanted to look at their selection of sedum and their small ornamental pines. Marty and I ended up spending more than her. Oops. See, weakness. Then after my mom left Marty and I ripped out most of the ivy in the front yard. A couple of weeks ago Marty started the project by ripping down the ivy that was engulfing the madrona tree. Now we can actually see the tree trunk and are planning a nice little flower bed around it. If you ever think about planting ivy, DON'T.

More to come on the gardening in a later post!