who I am....

I always seem to blog about where I am, where I am going or what I have been doing. I have begun to wonder if I will ever finish unpacking and my goal is to simply eliminate a box or two each day. I am feeling lucky to have a house big enough to still have room for more even though I have been tossing here and there.
I found this today and thought it was worth sharing since it affected my life so greatly at the time. I wrote this for Bonsall Woman's Club as their spiritual values person at the one year anniversary of 9/11.

"Not so long ago there was a woman named Cheryl, as I am, and she lived here in Fallbrook. She had children in school at Fallbrook High School and Sullivan Middle School as I do, and they even had similar classes with my children.
Her son was in Boy Scouts and in the same troop as my sons.
Her husband put on the same uniform to go to work as my husband does. They were both pilots for American Airlines.
But for the grace of God this is where our lives separate.
On September 11, 2001 that Cheryl's husband put on his uniform and kissed her goodbye for the last time. Not a day goes by that she doesn't miss everything about him.
I am the lucky Cheryl this time and my husband is still here to put his arms around me.

In honor of her husband please.....
Dream what you want to dream; Go where you want to go; Be what you want to be, because you have only one life and one chance to do all the things you want to do."

Rande's eagle project was a memorial to Tom McGuiness and we have never been more proud of him.
I know its not much but I hope people walk by and think of Tom because he deserves to be remembered.

Speaking of which...I have been absolutely dying inside to share this and most of all to 'present' it to Jerry. I decided our anniversary was the perfect time and most of all because I could not keep it inside me any longer.

Palm Springs has the coolest Air Museum dedicated to the people that have served in our wars and the history behind them. They have so many artifacts from the past its definitely worth a trip. On our last visit they have a memorial to members that have earned the Distinguished Flying Cross and you may buy a brick to honor or remember someone. Jerry happened to mention he has the medal which was a big surprise to me since we dont really talk about Vietnam together. Well I decided that my man should be honored as well and went about the business of finding out information and how to make it happen.

Pretty awesome huh?!? I am so proud of him and think every single person that served during Vietnam deserves to be honored as well. They came home beaten and changed and were treated so badly by their own country for doing a job most did not want to do. I was so excited to share this with my man but honestly I couldn't tell how he felt about it. Maybe its part of his past and suppose to be forgotten...I dont know but I am still glad I did it. He was and is an amazing pilot and deserves to be honored.

On a lighter note I would like to give a shout out to Timothy for hooking up our stereo system. I have been without for so long I simply forgot I could fire it up. Seriously the cd player had a Christmas cd in it from forever ago! I came across Adele and decided she needed to liven this place up and that she did. As with everything I do lately~ I think I now need to get new speakers. She wasn't that loud honestly but one of them is crackling now. Darn it!

Jerry and I have had a reality check as we unpack and I do not know why we keep so many silly items from our boys. I came across the ghost costume Timothy wore his first halloween, the bus tag Kyle wore to kindergarten so they could return him at the end of the day, and dont get me started on all the things of Rande's. Not only do we hang on so does he so there is a lifetime of memories in boxes. The only thing we could come up with for our memory lane treasures is our life as a family with our boys was the best journey ever and each and every item brings it back to us. We have been blessed to have all three boys comment this summer what great parents we were and how much they appreciated the way we raised them. Doesn't get any better than that!
Thanks for dropping by.

Latest news

I am presently in Maui celebrating our 30 year anniversary and simply relaxing without guilt!
We will be home the 27th and I promise a great update then. I can't do much of a blog on my iPhone. I have some great before and after photos to show you our progress.
We have come far since we began unloading those big ol trucks and I love
our house more each day as it becomes a home. In the meantime Aloha and miss you all!

2nd trip to Urgent Care

 So within an hour of returning from Urgent Care for my foot I was walking on crutches to the kitchen for water. Caught a crutch on a chair leg and fell but didnt want to break my new glass so I simply did not catch myself at all. I landed direct hit to my elbow and split the baby open. Not much padding there for sure. Well  I scraped myself off the floor sobbing with absolutely no dignity left and went to lay down. I proceeded to continue to bleed heavily and at dinner when I began dripping on the floor we headed back over to UC. Same staff and must say they were happy to see me again...I can be so entertaining under stress for some reason. After an exray and shooting blood all over the wall they bandaged me up and gave the hex sign as we walked out.
I have nothing more to tell you other than I give up. I promise I wont post again until this very black cloud passes over me and I have good news.

Well doesnt our new kitchen look nice from this angle!

 

Poor Jerry...stuck with me forever.

If Jerry knew how to do craigslist I would already be listed in the free stuff category.  I am one big mess and I don't understand why.
Its badly sprained and I am suppose to not walk on it for 1-2 weeks. Seriously? I am going to Hawaii in 9 days and nothing is stopping me nor am I going to shelp around in this boot.  It clashes with my pareos and swimsuit ...guess I will be diligent until my flight and then aloha baby!
I did polish my toenails for the trip to Urgent Care and I think it helped. I intend to ice it with a beer bottle next and cross my fingers my man doesnt list me in the classifieds tonight.

shoe time

I am one of those people that loves to have their shoes in one of these organizers. To be truthful I have a shoe fetish even though I hate to use that word describing myself. So of course that translates into WAY TOO MANY shoes...I have always felt that Jerry would not be as aware of just how many pairs I have if they are in one of these sweet things so I always set one up...or two. Well I bought the damn thing over a week ago and have been tripping over it in my closet since. This morning I was busy unpacking clothes and accidently hit it and it fell over (all 30 lbs.) onto my foot. I will tell you I used all  my best swear words because it hurt like a son of a gun. My foot began to swell and forgot to stop! Holy smokes I look like Fred Flintstone now! ( I really would have polished my toenails if I knew I would be posting a photo.) So today has not been quite as productive as I hoped because of this incident but check out the finished organizer!

Yaba daba doo!

Now I just need to make another organizer and find the REST of my shoes!! The bad news is I cant wear any of them until the swelling goes down but hey I am organized and know where they are.

I listed our boxes and packing paper on Craigslist Sat. and we had 4 parties show up to take them all away! I actually had to tell a couple of people we were cleaned out. Very nice to be able to recycle and help out others trying to move. Needless to say its awesome to have them gone and be able to see our patio again. I would like to tell you we are done unpacking but the garages are still pretty darn full. We are working on it I promise!!                                                                                                 

Sweet Chloe

So while we have been traveling around a box arrived with my sweet Chloe's ashes. Of course I burst into tears at the thought of her and stuck the box in a safe place in storage. Well I opened the box this week because that is what I have been doing every day. Opening boxes over and over...
Look at what I found..There is also a sweet poem about how she is waiting for me and we will be together again. Yes I cried all over again but honestly this is so lovely how they have returned her to me. Her adorable little paw print...I am truly touched that a pet crematory would go to this much effort. I know it sounds awful but it seems too nice to put in the ground. Well, no matter what I thought it was worth sharing. Love you Chloe Joe and I will see you again!

just a bit of comparison

Old kitchen

Old wood knobs.

New oil bronzed knobs!

Another before kitchen.

Well today was spent looking at pavers for the patio, travertine for the floor, picking up a fan we ordered and deciding on another, hitting up Target for stuff we know we have but cannot find...etc. Needless to say I did not make the progress I hoped for on the house so photos are limited. I thought I had more before shots but you get the idea. I must tell you one of my favorite things is our new refrigerator! It has a chilled beer drawer! Its as if they made it especially for my family!!

Isn't this the coolest thing since sliced bread?!

So tomorrow I will try to add a few more but I am so easily distracted my progress is not always visible!

Home Sweet Home!

Two trucks like this and a trailer to get all our stuff here.

I don't know if I could express how it feels to be reunited with the things you love and feeling like you are home better than this. Grace and Buster are so happy to be here and love their new home so far! (Can you see Buster in his house?!) Grace found her favorite toy she had not seen in months and ran thru the house as fast as she could~I wish I could muster up the same energy but completely understand her joy. I have missed my treasures because they are such a part of who I am. I know people say material things are just 'stuff' cluttering your life. For me they are memories and experiences and bookmarks of all we have done and been.

We have been working nonstop since Sunday to unload the trucks and trailer and unpack boxes and create a home. As often as we have moved we are realizing we are definitely aging and this move is taking a huge toll on us.  We are just not capable of doing all we use to and we keep asking are we ever going to stop feeling so tired? Rande said the first day, "This place is really nice~ why dont you plan on staying awhile?'   Such words of wisdom!

I am sorry but I had to share my awful bruise with you...its even worse now but I don't want to scare you off my blog. I went into the back of the truck thinking I could lift our headboard...seriously its pine and I have done it before. Well when I did, everything behind it fell forward so now I am simply trying to stop the bed from hitting the ground. It pushed me down onto the steel ramp and I was stuck lying there  because the bed fell on my foot and trapped it. Seriously not a pretty picture and my crying for help was oh so pathetic. Poor Timothy came running and tried to lift me off the ramp but my foot was still stuck. I wont bore you with all the scrapes and bruises I have acquired but again...this moving stuff is for kids.

Everyday we move a little closer to being a home and I try to remind myself to look over my shoulder at how far we have come since Sunday. Monday we set up beds for the first time and spent the night. It was heavenly to be back in our own bed again after 10 months of sleeping around. I really feel good about this place even though there are more necessary fix it projects than we can possibly get to any time soon. The best part is the weather has turned into beautiful fall temps and we can actually turn off the AC and enjoy fresh air and being outside. I think we are both looking fwd to the mild winter this year and seeing our yard come together with desert colors. Speaking of which the pool guy is suppose to come today and hopefully we get going on that big disgusting hole in the ground. There is nothing prettier than a pool and  I am going to love having a jacuzzi to relax in sitting under the stars.

First dinner in our new house!

 I will post photos tonight after another day of unpacking boxes so you can get an idea of the before and after. I hope you all like our home and actually get to come see it in person soon.
Thanks for dropping by and I am sorry its taken so long to update but I have never felt so overwhelming exhausted for so long.