Tag: blog

Fire on the Mountain

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Tuesday afternoon I got a call from my mom telling me that there was a fire at the ranch. Her voice was all I needed to hear to know that it wasn’t good and that they had no idea if their homes, business and escape route were about to go up in flames.

Montana is experiencing the same drought most of the west is having and everything was crispy dry when we were there in July when the norm is lush and green. It was dry to the point that the annual 4th of July fireworks that my step brother puts on (and that rivals most municipal fireworks show) had to be canceled. And now hearing how quickly a small fire in a tree went to structure and life threatening in under 10 minutes, it was a good decision.

Because of the rural location, fire support is hard to come by – or is unconventional to say the least. A neighbor has a water truck, but if the neighbor doesn’t answer the phone, there’s no water truck. The closest fire department is a half hour away and the forest service has to scramble helicopters to come to the rescue. Thankfully the ranch boarders Yellowstone National Park and sits on an 80 acre lake so once help arrived, they were able to gain control of the situation.

This is a picture from last summer of the Paradise Valley

And this is a picture of from the height of the fire yesterday – you can see how yellow the grass is.

Thankful for the forest service and the three available slurry bombers – this picture is about 50 yards from the parent’s deck

The aftermath. The estimate was about 100 acres burned. The sad part is that it will take close to a decade for this to become lush and green again.

I think it’s safe to say that the family is feeling blessed that this wasn’t worse, but sad that it happened at all.

Baylorisms – Part 5

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I keep saying that I need to keep a list of the funny things B says – because by the time I get to my computer, I forget half of them! She is now at the point where she knows she’s not saying something right and has begun to say “Do you know what I’m talking bout? Does that make sense??” trying to convey her thoughts. Such a crack up and getting smarter by the minute.

Zanya – The name she gives a lot of her stuffed animals. I have no idea where it came from or what it means.

Nayday – Her horse’s name, the only one not named Zanya.

Hanitizer – The combination of Hand Sanitizer

Rondry room – Laundry room. She can say L’s, but for some reason that doesn’t translate to the laundry room.

Loyal-ler – Lawyer. As in “you don’t look like a loyal-ler when you where cowboy boots to work, Daddy”. Jury is still out on whether this is a good or bad thing.

Scoops – the arm motion that goes along with freestyle swim stroke. While watching the Olympics, she announce “oooh, look at her scoops!!”.

Suri’s Burn Book

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I saw on one Melissa F’s Facebook page (what?! you don’t read Fontyfest?? You so crazy) a link to a blog called Suri’s Burn Book. It is, in a word, amazing. Short, snarky and all told from (allegedly) Suri Cruise’s perspective. I am dying and so grateful for this new little gem. Thank you Mrs. Fonty for the introduction to such a lovely and hilarious way to waste 5 minutes of time!

Spelling Lessons

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Apparently I used the wrong version of counsel when writing an email to Peter and my mom this week. This morning I got a post it note on my desk:

I thanked Captain Spelling and then went back about my business. He then proceeded to make fun of my spelling abilities, which, he has known for the last 13 years are less than stellar. I told him that the way I would remember the difference between council and counsel is that the S in legal counsel is for shithead.

That was enough to make Captain Spelling retreat from the office. And gave me an excellent pneumonic device for remembering the difference between the two words.

Big Girls Don’t Cry

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We have been on a mission to turn Bay’s room into a shared room for her and her soon to be brother. It has been quite the process. What should have been just moving some furniture, a new bed and some bedding, has turned into a multiple weekend project.

First, the garage needed to be cleaned out and reorganized to be able to hold the extra desk from the office and other odds and ends. Next the kitchen set and table and chairs from B’s room moved to the office. Finally the changing table and bookshelf had to be emptied and moved around in the bedroom so that the crib could be moved and then the big girl bed assembled.  Then the furniture didn’t fit in the room so there was another rearrangement. Then there was a discrepancy in the color of a few items so there was spray paint involved. Countless trips to Lowes, Home Depot and Target….And trust me, this is the short and sweet version. There were many arguments, coercion of friends to help move furniture, a few tears, a lot of cleaning and the realization that we have far too many hobbies and crap in general.

In the midst of all the chaos, Bay was transitioning to her new bed. Part of the reason this is all going on now was that I wanted her to have lots of time to move into her bed when she was comfortable. It turns out, she not only was ok with sleeping in her new bed, she insisted on it. She loves her new bed. As we were putting the sheets on it, PW began giving me puppy dog sad eyes. When I asked what was wrong, he responded that she’s a big girl who doesn’t need her crib anymore. I laughed a little because he gave me the business when I got upset about deconstructing her room a few weeks ago in preparation of the furniture move. It wasn’t until I reached into the crib to take the sheets off that I realized that the soft pink sheets are never going back on.

We stood outside her door that night looking at her room and fighting off the urge to snuggle her and cry “you’re our BABY!! You can’t grow up yet!!”. We checked on her a few hours later and were happy to see that she was tiny in her giant twin bed – it made my heart happy to see that at least for now, she’s still little.

Here’s a sneak peek of the room – the final results will be up on Scottsdale Moms Blog for Pregnancy Week (5 contributing writers are currently pregnant!) at the end of August.

 

 

Random Acts of Kindness

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Scottsdale Moms Blog participates in a Twitter Tasting thing (that’s the best explanation I can do) with Fresh and Easy. It’s a really fun idea – basically Fresh and Easy contacts the SMB group and invites us to participate. Those that are in receive a F&E gift card and the names of three wines. You take your gift card and pick up the designated bottles. Then sign onto a Twitter room (?? I don’t twit so I don’t fully understand what I participate in) and follow the instructions as to which wine we’re tasting first. Then all you have to do is drink and tweet about if you love or hate. Does it sound like a fun and free way to drink? Then I’ve done a good job explaining.

I was contacted by Erin at F&E a few months ago about participating in a tasting but sadly had to decline as Mr.Man was on his way.

While on the phone screaming at Kodak Gallery about where the hell my archive DVD and  where the hell my pictures are on Shutterfly, FedEx arrived with a very heavy package. I began to open and pull out Fresh and Easy brand baby item after item. Perplexed, but still yelling on the phone, I opened the card. It was from Erin and her Fresh and Easy team congratulating us on our upcoming baby! I was so shocked by the sweet gesture, I gave a momentary reprieve to Kodak Gallery. It was like the best and worst customer service all happened in the same 30 seconds.

I was completely struck by how thoughtful someone I have only ever exchanged emails with could be. It’s good inspiration to do random kind acts.

There was also a GIANT chocolate bar in the box…it didn’t make it to the photo….

We’re Alive :)

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Phew. I think I’m safe saying that we are all healed! What I thought was a sinus infection (and in my defense, the doctor agreed with me) turned out to be a nasty virus. Which, of course, B got too just about the time I started thinking I might not die after all. Our air conditioning went out the same weekend (thank goodness for parents who live close, pay their utility bill and weren’t home!) and there was a severe drought of sleep due to the constant coughing and sleeping in someone else’s house (Bear was thoroughly confused and literally paced allll night). It was, in a word, ugly. I don’t think PW has ever been to excited to go to work on a Monday morning.

Bay was out of school last week (this one I had planned for) so we had a week of swim lessons and play dates lined up. Every day started out with breakfast, get dressed and suddenly it was 1pm. I really have no idea where each day went. But it flew by and this week is a blur of doctor’s appointments (for me) and back to school fun late this week (for her). We spent all weekend making her room into their room so get excited for some sneak peek pics. The big reveal comes later in August on Scottsdale Mom’s Blog pregnancy week – there are 5 contributing writers all pregnant!

And thank you to those that checked in after seeing the blog was not updated – it’s nice to be loved 🙂

Veni Vidi Vici

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Phew. I’m exhausted.

I don’t write about it often because The Goon Room is my happy, work free space, but once in a while work creeps in. For those that don’t know, my mom and I own and run a small water company in southern Arizona. Why? Well, that’s a really  long story so let’s just leave it at we have this investment and we are working our tails off to get it on the track to functioning in the black and within all of the governing agency’s guidelines.
That said, we started out on a journey to get a rate increase last year. It took a year of data and document collection to get to the point of filling out the 50 page application – which turned out to be over 200 pages once we added all of our supporting documents. Many months, many hours of auditing by the corporation commission, many inspections, many meetings, many nasty letters from customers, many problems and roadblocks, many tears and many “if we don’t laugh we’re going to cry” moments later, we got it. After waiting nearly 6 hours to be heard in an open meeting before the commission, the final vote was 4 yeses and 1 no – a win for us.
I was sick with nerves all day waiting for our turn to be heard – so when the decision was made, the relief of the moment felt more like a hang over and less like victory. Today, it’s sinking in that we did it. We have taken a failing company and in just over 2 years have brought back into the black (even if it’s just barely in the black, it’s black by God). We’re not done yet, we still need a loan and then start a massive construction project which are daunting all on their own. But damn it if we’re not one big step closer to the finish line. And yet another reason to celebrate with a large bottle of wine in October. Until then, Ben and Jerry’s will have to do!

Millions of Peaches

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Peaches for me. Millions of peaches, peaches for free.

Look out!

Anyone? Anyone? Presidents of the United States of America – or the theme song of eighth grade.

I have been craving peaches this entire pregnancy. Canned don’t cut it. Frozen either. And the little ones from the grocery are either too hard, too soft, no flavor or too far gone. But finally, finally! Costco had the big box of big peaches last weekend. There are a dozen softball sized fruit and after one day sitting in the fruit tower in the kitchen, they are perfect! I’ve eaten all but 2…back to Costco I go!

I’ve been eating them as is, but I have big plans for the next box. Peach and blueberry cake. Sugared peaches. Grilled peaches with amaretto cookies, peach pancakes…my mouth is watering just typing this!

Mom’s Night Out

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It’s that time again! Scottsdale Moms Blog is hosting Mom’s Night Out on July 31st at Sanctuary Camelback Mountain Resort!

The location and date promise to be the perfect combination for a great night of relaxing, catching up with friends, meeting new ones, winning some prizes and enjoying a glass of wine.

Tickets are going fast so round up your friends and get yours asap! Click here for the details…