Nectarine Harvest

All the nectarines on our tree seem to be ripening at the same time. They are delicious when eaten pulled right from the tree while they are warm and juicy from being pelted by the sun. Yum! Mia and I love to eat them in the backyard and let the juice drip all over our hands and toes. Then we hose off and that's fun too!

The heat sure is making it hard to keep up with all of the ripening fruit. The bugs seem to be eating more than we are. I am trying to utilize them quickly. We've been having fresh nectarines, I made a batch of nectarine jam, I've frozen nectarines, made nectarine bars(like lemon bars, only the consistency isn't quite right so they are sticky) and nectarine cobbler (far and away my favorite.)

It's nearly a full time job!

I'm also trying to get an old fashioned swing set -- a surprisingly difficult challenge if you want to get a decent one. Hopefully we will be picking it up tonight.

I'm also going to be doing a women-only trail run this Saturday up in Pasadena that is sponsored by "Run Like A Girl" so I'm *really* excited about that.

Am I Too Old For This Top?

So I was trying to decide if I am too old to wear the navel-bearing top I have on right now and I realized... if I'm asking the question, I'm too old. Oh well, I am leaving it on anyway!





Now the real question is, will I actually go to my son's preschool wearing it?





All else is good. I had a good run today and even managed to mow the lawn and clean the kiddies play castle (it was nasty!)





I'm looking forward to Father's Day this weekend, and the Gardens of the Montecito Tour. Not only will I be helping my friend who is putting on the event, but my yard is going to be in the tour. We recently relandscaped our yard, ripping out the grass and replacing it with drought-tolerant plants and hardscaping. The idea was to create a bit of a zen feel, provide some screening in front of our living room windows and establish a hedge to curtain us from our neighbors' terrible yard. Here are the before and after photos:

(Click here to see more images of our new landscaping)
Actually, I see I really need to update the "after" photo. The bamboo and the hedge and all the plants have really filled in.

Houseguests

So, while on an extended hiatus from writing in my blog I had 14 people in my house on one night... and they all slept here... and all had breakfast the next morning.

Insane, isn't it?

Breakfast the next morning involved two dozen eggs, over a pound of cheese, two dozen tortillas, two packages of pork breakfast sausages, one entire casing of chorizo, three avocados, an entire gallon of milk and two pots of coffee. Thank god we didn't do a dinner here.

Overall it was a pretty good experience. The guests were three of my cousins and their kids and my brother. Everyone seemes to handle themselves well -- the only problem was that they clogged BOTH of my toilets. Ewww! Freaking kids!

While the family was here my cousin Angie (finally) graduated from college, we went to tea, had a visit from my grandma, we went to Disneyland and California Adventure and we went to the L.A. Zoo. The day we went to the zoo the oddest thing happened: our visitors from Montana and North Dakota were treated to a rare and spectacular thunder and lightning storm right here in Los Angeles! What are the chances?

Jed's BFF Julian also stayed with us for two weeks. Julian and Jed grew up together in Mount Washington. Now Julian is in the army based in Alaska, but after some intensive desert training he's heading for Iraq in November. We wish him well.

I think Julian got a rare glimpse at what life and outings with two small children is really like. The first week he was here he joined us on a couple of outings, but then I got sick. REALLY sick. So Jed and Uncle Julian took over. I'm the first to say that outings with our two kids can be really tough. I do it all the time by myself, and it's often just great -- but it *is* exhausting.

I spent the second week of Julian's visit bundled up on the counch watching TV and being miserable. I felt bad that I was such a terrible hostess, especially since this was his big LA vacation... but then again he did keep saying that I looked like a mental patient everytime I walked into the room.

A Mammoth Mother's Day

Mother's Day weekend was also really cool for me. The four of us spent three relaxing, warm, fun days in Mammoth. It is unusal for just the four of us to go, so it was really special. Also, Jed did almost all of the work so I got to kick back and read a book. Yay!

Lovely Day

Yesterday was just one of those days for me: a really lovely day. I stop short of saying perfect because a perfect day would have involved something over the top, but it was lovely.

I woke well rested. I nursed the baby and she went back to sleep. I had time to snuggle with my little boy. I got to read a magazine while soaking my foot. We got out of the house without any yelling.

I had a wonderful run and the temperature was perfect -- and Mia laughed the whole way. Back at home Mia and I puttered and played and while she took a nap I got to do some arm and ab exercises and take a shower.

Then we went to lunch with a friend of mine who is just a ray of sunshine. The food was great and I got to play with my new phone/GPS unit and it worked awesome!

Back at home again we played some more and while she napped I made turkey pesto meatballs and popped them in the slow cooker, relaxed and my brother came by for a visit.

The evening continued in the same idyllic manner. I sipped a glass of wine while the kids took turns in the swing. I raked up leaves. Dinner practically finished itself and the family ate together without any incident. No one complained and everyone gobbled up their meatballs.

After dinner we went on a brisk walk and finished before the mosquitos came out. After a quick bath for the kids, my husband and I took turns reading to them and then tucked them into bed.

By 8:40 the evening was our own. And it was good.

Blow Job Diet Huge Success

After 10 days the Blow Job Diet has been a huge success -- for my husband. It has been a complete failure for me.

It seems I just can not pass up on my evening wine and/or dessert. In fact, most evenings I still ended up having both. Which means that after 10 days, my husband had gotten about 6 blow jobs (though he did manage to take care of business with me about an equal number of times) but, I still owe him about 10 blow jobs.

The good news is that even with not being able to exercise for the past week due to a toe injury, I still never seem to gain any weight. I just can't lose any weight. I feel good, and good about my body -- but I'd like to feel GREAT!

Other News

Mia is saying a lot of new words. Aside from mama, dada and uh-oh, she now says: hi, bye, dog, hot, more, baba (bunny) and a few other sounds that mean a variety of things. I LOVE it. Love, love, love it. She is just so precious.

Jared has started saying, "Mommy, you're pretty. I love you." I don't know who put him up to this, but I love them. Daddy may even get an extra BJ if I find out it was him. It's just precious.

Jared is really into reading these chapter books right now, we just devour them. It's so great to see him developing such a love for reading -- albeit listening right now.

The Blow Job Diet

Like so many of us, I am constantly hoping to lose that *last* pesky 5 pounds. I've come up with lots of diets. I give up wine. I give up chocolate. I give up everything for 10 days. But, it never sticks.

Last week I came up with a new one: every time I have a drink OR a dessert-type treat, I have to give my husband a blow job. Now it's not that I don't like giving blow jobs, it's just fine, but I'm usually so tired at the end of day that I just don't want to bother. So I figured this was a great idea... even if I don't lose any weight, the hubby will be VERY happy.

So far it's just working out OK. The first couple of days it was really hot. I'd take a sip of wine or a bite of cake and we'd share a secret smile... but nearly a week later, he's had 3 blow jobs, and I've only had sex once.

By Friday I found myself eyeing the wine bottle and thinking: Gee, if I drink a glass of wine, he'll fall asleep happy, and I'll just be frustrated, because unfortunately, with the kind of days he pulls and the very few minutes of awake time we have with no little kids around -- round two just isn't gonna happen.

I have a feeling that the longer I keep the diet up, the better it will work.

I'll keep you posted. I have to admit, it seemed like a better idea when I first thought of it.

Hooters Rules

So, I was right 750 ml was overpriced. Not only was it overpriced, the food just wasn't that good. It sounded fantastic on the menu -- but it just wasn't that great. We spent nearly $200 -- and that included just two glasses of wine -- and did not include the babysitter. Not good.

After that disappointment we agreed that this week we would do something fun and cheap: I suggested Hooters and Jed jumped at the invitation. A pitcher of beer and enough spicy wings to get things sizzling for hours was less than $40 and it was so much tastier than the week before!

Jed bought some electronic drums. I got to hear them for the first time tonight -- very cool. He also got us a new game for our Playstation; it's called Rock Band and it is kind of like Guitar Hero only you have a guitarist, a drummer and a vocalist. I think you can even have a basist. Very fun!

And look here is a blog about my neighborhood, Montecito Heights: http://montyheights.blogspot.com/ Too cool!

We're off to Disneyland tomorrow. With a 1-year-old and a 4-year-old -- that's an adventure. Wish me luck.