Lakeshore Ladies

Welcome to Amy's continuing journal of home and family.

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Transitioning

Hi all -
I know it's been a long time since I've posted. I have been exploring alternate means of staying updated with folks. I am on Facebook, if you'd like to find me. I have been feeling a need for a change, and so have set up house at http://chickgarden.blogspot.com

See you there.

posted by Amy at 11:12 PM

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Wednesday, May 7, 2008

Gardens and anniversaries

Yesterday was our 7th wedding anniversary. My darling brought me daisies and told me he'd marry me again in a heartbeat. I thought about how lucky I was to have somebody who brings me daisies and loves me so fiercely.

My Kwanzan cherry tree also bloomed yesterday, which was a pleasant anniversary gift. We had removed a gigantic silver poplar from our back yard a couple of years ago (our neighbors cheered - it suckered and fluffed like a cottonwood and was aphid-ridden and just a horrid, invasive tree for everyone), and planted the flowering cherry tree some yards away in its stead. It is covered in pink carnation-like blooms every spring, and is quite beautiful (and doesn't fruit, which I love). Genevieve was sick at home for the second day in a row yesterday (nothing that involved unpleasant bodily functions; just a slight fever and a lot of crankiness). So, I put her into the big hammock in the back yard while I planted and weeded nearby. Poor kiddo was pretty tired and whiny, and conked out for several hours on the family room floor later that day. Sophie (the cocker spaniel) was thrilled that I was home, and laid down in the shade in the yard while I worked. Rough life there, Soph.

I am gambling on our last frost date, and hoping the forecast is correct in terms of no additional freezes this week (we will be to 90% confidence sometime next week), but I couldn't resist putting in our vegetables and a number of new perennials. We'll have tomatoes, beans, carrots, radishes, watermelon, pumpkins, peppers, acorn squash, strawberries, cucumbers, zucchini, lettuce and swiss chard before long - fresh and lovely. I planted a number of shasta daisies, rudbeckia (black eyed susans), centranthus (Jupiter's beard), phlox, penstemon, a viburnum and a climbing rose (and a number of miscellaneous perennials that Genevieve picked out a few days ago at the flower market - "Can we have one of THESE, too, Mommy?" I cannot resist a child holding flowers - how can you possibly say no?). I added rosemary, marjoram, and basil to my herb garden. The kids (especially Eleanor) wanted table grapes, so I bought a vine and need to get a trellis set up for it. It should bear 10-14 pounds of white seedless once it's established.

I had told my father about my gardening plans a few weeks ago, and he commented that my late grandmother Susan would approve, and that I'd be on par with her gardening skills once I knew all of the latin names for everything I planted. I replied that I already knew exactly where I had planted teucrium aroanium, it was keeping it alive that was the challenge. He laughed, and said I got THAT from my mother. (I'm sure she appreciates being associated with plant death, Dad!) So far, I think I managed to move my alcea (hollyhock) and a couple of bunches of achillea (yarrow) without killing them; we'll see if that trend holds!

I was awakened at 5 am this morning by heavy rain on the roof, and the realization that it was back to reality at work today, with plenty of catch up to do after being gone. I suppose I'd better go DO that work now! I'll have time to visit my new plants later.

posted by Amy at 9:55 AM

1 comments

Friday, May 2, 2008

Sleepover Rover

Well, we've decided to head to southern California for a vacation in the near future. I cannot wait. I'm looking forward to going somewhere just for the hey of it (usually we go to visit relatives in some part of the U.S. - which is great, but also has limited our travel plans somewhat in the past), and I admit that I'm jazzed about taking the kids to Disneyland. They will be 11, 8, and 5 when we go, tall enough for nearly all the rides, and young enough to believe that it really IS Mickey Mouse when they meet him. Sarah is the most excited about Legoland in Carlsbad - that there is an entire park devoted to her favorite Legos is beyond her imagination. I'm not really sure what she thinks it will be like, but I hope it lives up to her expectations. Dave and I are making sure we have plenty of time to relax and do things outside of amusement parks as well - the beach, maybe the SD Zoo, maybe just swimming or reading a book.

Leaving home for a while poses the problem of what to do with our furry friends. We have 4 cats at home, and they're easy. They require food and love, which is easy for Dave's mom to take care of when she gets home from work.

My cocker spaniel Sophie, however, has been my shadow since February when I brought her home from the shelter. She hangs out with Dave during the four days I'm at work, and follows me around faithfully the instant I'm home. As I type this, she is lying on the floor next to me, just happy that I'm nearby. She is definitely "my dog," and would rather be petted than fed, and although she's essentially housetrained, won't go outside unless I'm in sight (I have to remember to take her out every few hours, because she won't take herself consistently). Fortunately, going outside every few hours is good for my disposition, too, so I wouldn't say that I mind. The kids adore Sophie (especially since Sophie doesn't care if they put funny hats on her or play with her ears), and find it funny that she is so attached to me. "She LOVES you, Mom!" (giggle giggle). And Sophie is a nice, quiet walking companion, and gives a lot of love without asking for much in return. It's a relief at the end of the day to sit down with a cup of tea and a warm doggie at my feet.

We thought about bringing Sophie along for the trip - she travels well, and is the easiest and quietest of my 5-year-olds to take in the car, frankly. The trouble is that our destinations are less dog-friendly; Disneyland has kennels, but she'd be in a cage all day, and we'd have to come back to spend time with her during our visit (the Disneyland folks don't touch the dogs, and I don't think she'd be sufficiently cheered by the cute pictures of Lady and the Tramp on the building). The hotels are dog-friendly, but Legoland isn't. Neither is the zoo, neither are certain areas of the beach, nor most restaurants of course. So, Sophie would largely be cooped up all day without us - not fun, and certainly a big guilt trip for me.

So what do you do with a goofy dog who just wants to be with you during your non-dog-friendly vacation? You try to find a substitute "you" for the week. I came across a program called "Sleepover Rover" which places dogs with screened dogsitting families for about what it costs to board at a kennel. Sophie and I are going to go meet Pam and her four bassett hounds today (hopefully Sophie won't be overwhelmed by the "pack"), in hopes that Sophie will get along with her droopy friends and can stay with them while we're gone. I hope it goes well; Sophie is definitely more of a people-dog than a dog-dog; she may not like being surrounded by dogs. If she went to stay with cats, though - we'd be set! (She is absolutely submissive to our four cats, who enjoy ruling the roost perhaps a bit too much!)

Wish us luck!

posted by Amy at 8:55 AM

1 comments

Friday, April 25, 2008

Bad Poons

Eleanor recently chose an animal for her African Animal Report for first grade. She chose the baboon. Genevieve calls these critters Bad Poons. Apparently there are Good Poons and Bad Poons - and the Bad ones are more fun, of course. Here are a few more recent comments from the peanut gallery:
In the "I Want It... What Is It?" category:
Eleanor: (Knocks)
Mom: (Getting dressed on the other side of the door) "What do you need?"
Eleanor: (After trying unsuccessfully to open the locked door - because "what do you need" is apparently easily confused with "come in") "Can I eat these things?"
Mom: "What things?"
Eleanor: "I don't know."
Mom: (With a shirt half over my head, trying not to laugh) "Um, ask Sarah what they are, then come back and ask me again."
It turned out the "things" in question were canned peaches. Yes, Eleanor, you can eat them. As a side note, anything you don't want Eleanor to eat has to go on the top shelves, where they're harder to see. That girl will eat anything that looks edible (as evidenced by the preceding conversation)!
Also from Eleanor - we had an interesting conversation about skeletons in the car today. Sarah was talking about the plastic Lego skeletons she has included in some of her Lego block sets. Eleanor commented thus: "You know, skeletons are alive, and then you die and they're dead, and then people can get inside them and pretend to be alive, but they're not really alive, because skeletons are dead." Hmm... not sure what to make of that one (first thought is that she saw a skeleton costume at Halloween last year). Alrighty then.
And yes, we've been having some birthdays lately. Here are some pics from Gennie's 5th! (And Sarah is 11 now - wow. Middle school here we come. Yay?)

posted by Amy at 8:40 PM

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Saturday, March 29, 2008

A Dose of Wooooo....

Here I go, talking about myself and my work again. Sorry.

I've recently been looking into completing a part-time course in massage therapy, so I could work as a CMT for some extra cash and quiet time. It's also directly related to my current state of mind as I contemplate the end of my doctoral program, and think to myself about how I REALLY need a less stressful way to be, and possibly an "out" if I decide I'd rather not continually say "how high" when my boss says "jump." I am going to finish my degree (dammit), but I've been mildly (okay, very) depressed that things never get less stressful, as optimistic about that as I attempt to be. I know what I'm doing is valuable and good, but the job is a weird sort of "Devil Wears Prada" meets the research world - I wear lots of hats, including audiologist, public relations specialist, personal shopper, travel agent, clown for small deaf children, interior decorator, electrical engineer, cat herder, paperwork queen, international ambassador, secretary, finder of things other people lost, computer expert, statistician, chauffeur, graphic designer, and psychotherapist to imploding graduate students. Occasionally, I gather and write about EEG data, too, and write grants and IRB protocols in my spare time. Rather than have a total meltdown and quit entirely, I've decided to come up with possibilities for things I'd rather do than what I'm doing now, and get ready to do those things. I will finish my program, and see how I feel when I'm done, and whether the funding fairy has decided to bless our lab. I'll have a few extra letters after my name, and I won't have any "what-ifs" to wonder about or regret as I pay off my voluminous student loans. Then I will choose which letters I want to use most - Ph.D., or CMT, or a little of both. The amazing (or depressing) part is that I would be making nearly twice as much as I do now, working 25 hours a week as a CMT, and I would finish the CMT program in a little over a year (before graduating with my Ph.D.). Yes, it's reliant upon having a large, regular clientele coming in, and that would be something I'd need to build over time and market to folks well, but still! I want to be careful about saying where the grass will be greener, though - usually grass is greener because it's well fertilized with... unmentionable stuff we don't want to deal with.

Anyway, as part of my research into massage therapy, I've been looking into resources for massage therapists in practice. This has inevitably led to some... interesting resources. See also "Your Friday Dose of Woo" at the Respectful Insolence science blog: http://scienceblogs.com/insolence/skepticismcritical_thinking/friday_woo/ See also the City of Boulder, Colorado. I came across this site: http://www.greenspiralherbs.com/1st%20product%20page.htm As I was looking into soothing scents in massage oils, and down beneath the herbal balms and salves and lavender spritzes, I found a listing for "No More Monsters" spray. Only $8.00 (before shipping) will buy you an all-natural anti-monster spray guaranteed to keep those monsters at bay. Um, wow. I drafted this letter, and almost sent it. I couldn't quite bring myself to be that directly snarky.

Dear Betty and Dan,
My children would like to know which monsters your "No More Monsters" spray keep at bay. Specifically, they want to get rid of slimy, drooling, or loudly snoring monsters, while keeping the cute, fuzzy ones around in case they need a hug. Will these beneficial monsters also be affected by the spray? We are also worried that using too much "No More Monsters" spray might lead to strains of monster that are genetically resistant to the spray, eventually leading to more icky monsters under the bed that are harder to get rid of. We hope that your monster-repelling active ingredients are long-lasting and nontoxic to faeries, brownies, and kitty cats.
Your garden is lovely, and your needlework is amazing, Betty.
Best wishes,
Amy

For those who would rather see cute pictures of my kids than listen to me moan (that would be most of you) - here are the kids making Lego towns on the kitchen table, and Gennie wearing her new sundress, even though it snowed a day or two ago. C'est la vie.

posted by Amy at 11:29 AM

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Monday, March 24, 2008

Happy Sort-of Spring

You may ask just what we think we're doing, celebrating Easter, since we are not of the church-going variety. Well, I think the Saxons were on to something with their celebration of spring and new life (it began as a celebration of the goddess Ostara - her symbol is the hare, and the colored eggs are symbols of life and fertility). There's nothing better than seeing the world come to life after sitting through too many snowstorms. Never mind the excuse to eat chocolate. Did the ancient Saxons have chocolate? I don't think so. Yay for the advent of global economies (probably wasn't as much of a 'yay' for the people growing the cocoa beans at first, but I don't want to think about the history of chocolate - I just want to eat it). Speaking of snowstorms, I came across this recently, and it gave me a good laugh:

I love snow (well, except for driving in it), but still, enough is enough. Spring tends to come later in the Rockies than the equinox would suggest. You think you're home free, and you end up getting snowed on in April. Even so, I am thrilled to see signs of spring poking their way through the soil. Brave little crocuses are already blooming, my strawberry plants are pretending it's safe to come out, and the daffodils are preparing to put on a show. Genevieve has made me smile a lot lately, with her frequent public service announcements, "Spring, Mommy! I see Spring coming up through the dirt! Do you see it, Mom? Do you see it?" I know we'll see a few snowstorms before we're really done with winter weather, but the crocuses (and Genevieve) are doing their best to encourage me.

Anyway, here are a few more pictures of the girls at Grandma Jean's house. After our egg hunt, we headed up to Red Rocks amphitheatre and park near Golden, and hiked around for a while. It was lovely. Warm, even!