Hidden horrors exposed

Before I was a mom, I used to look at the highchairs of friends' children in bewilderment.

It looked mostly clean, but there were always dried bits of food clinging to the pad and crumbs jammed in the nooks and crannies.  It looked like a slightly less than appetizing, let alone healthy, place to eat.  

"I don't understand!" I would cry internally.  "These are clean people!  How is that chair not clean??"    

Now that I have my own little solid-food eater, I get it. 

It is just not possible - or reasonable - to wash that pad after each feeding.  What it is, is inevitable that the pad is going to get dirty.  Really dirty.

We wash her tray clean after each meal and that's what really counts.  That's what food meant for her mouth is going to touch before going in, so I take care to wash it well.  

The crumbs on the seat will get brushed off, but likely not until the end of the day.  This means I only have to do that activity once versus three times a day.  

My old before-motherhood self would ask, how hard is it to brush crumbs off after each meal?  You wouldn't think too difficult, right?  But consider: Rosie eats, then gets cleaned up in the chair, then gets picked up out of the chair (which means my hands are full) and taken to play or many times to go down for a nap.  At that point I get back to my full-time job, or if it's the weekend, to the 1.1 million things I have on my to do list.  

Brushing off crumbs is low on the totem pole until the end of the day when I'm finishing tidying up.

So, I get it now.  And I apologize to all my friend and family moms who I silently judged for not having a sparkling place for their kids to eat.  

   

Sunshine and sunbonnets

We have been sooooo cooped up...

But no more!  Nice weather is here and I think it's here to stay!

What a gorgeous weekend we had!  Finally, finally, we have been able to spend some real, solid time outside.  Sure, there have been walks, runs, a handful of nice days here and there, but this weekend was the start to some serious outdoor time.

I made sure Rosie spent basically as much time outside as I did.  Since her arrival in November, I can pretty confidently say she knows exactly what each of the rooms in our house is like.  She's seen it all!  It's time she started learning about the great outdoors.

I found her a couple cute new sun hats over the weekend and Saturday afternoon she donned one of them and helped me plant some flowers...

Are you familiar with Sunbonnet Sue?  The old quilt pattern?  I have a Sunbonnet Sue quilt from when I was a little girl.  I think Rosie looks like a Sunbonnet Sue in the photo above.  Compare Rosie to the pattern here...

I also think it's quite appropriate that Rosie is playing with her giant ladybug while helping her mama garden!

Here she is modeling her new, cute hat...

We didn't spend as much time outside today.  She did, however, get some experience with lying in the grass.  She seemed to really love it.  She stayed very still and relaxed for quite some time.  I love how loung-y she looks...

Her legs, which are ALWAYS moving, were still - for several minutes...

Todd said I needed to move her around so she could mow the yard...

The poor dogs have been particularly cooped up.  They've done a number on our yard - brown spots, dead spots, bald spots - and Todd has worked hard to try to fix it.  This means the dogs have been quarantined to the house or the back "yard" which they hate.  Yard is in quotes because in its current state it can hardly be considered a yard.  It's just concrete.  No wonder they hate going back there and love to lounge like this instead.  Oh, Lulu...

Not to be outdone, here's Rigby posing for his lounge lizard shot...

Everyone is enjoying our nice weather!  

Our junk, your treasure

A couple weekends ago, Todd and I had a rather impromptu garage sale.  The weather was outstanding, and we were already mostly prepared, having spent time months ago pricing an ever growing mountain of "junk" in our basement...

Our neighbor decided to throw some stuff in his driveway too and before you knew it we were hocking ill-fitting clothes, unread books, and tools Todd had no use for, among many, many other items, like these...

And these...

The goal was to purge so we could walk through our basement to our only operating bathroom without tripping!  We had a good turnout and sold about $300 worth of stuff.  And the stuff that didn't find a good home landed at GoodWill, Craigslist and eBay.

Which is how we sold that big turquoise tub there!  That's the old tub from our main floor bathroom that is under renovation.  That tub has been taking up space in our garage for MONTHS, but thanks to Craigslist will have a new home in a cabin being built on Casper Mountain...

Even Rigby and Lulu got into it.  They were the official Garage Sale Greeters...

It might have been before the official first day of spring, but our spring cleaning sure felt good! 

Rigby & Lulu - an average morning in the yard

Here's Rigby.  Handsome lil' puppy, isn't he...?

Here's Lulu.  Cute lil' girl who really seems to love herself some water.  Here she's wallowing in the wet grass as the sprinklers run...

She hadn't seen the sprinklers on before and thought they were her drinking fountain, popping up just to bring her water...

She couldn't get enough.  She's been that way since we've had her: a water drinking addict...

Still drinking.  Actually, I think she tried to bite it here...

Check out that tongue!  Slurp, slurp...

Rigby doesn't understand this behavior.  He'll immerse himself in a river past his armpits just to get a drink of water, but he doesn't like sprinklers, or hoses, or showers...

Lulu is fascinated with water...

More Rigby...

Lulu joining her big brother.  She likes to be next to him all. the. time...

What's that...?

And that...?

Ah, typical.  Mr. Calm and Steady and Miss All Over the Place...

Rude awakening

5:10 a.m.

Twenty minutes before our first alarm was supposed to go off.

I heard Rigby's tags jingling then...

Heave...hack!  Heave...hack!  Heave...hack!

I threw the covers back.

"He's puking!"

I flipped on the bedside light, burning Todd's retinas out, and jumped out of bed.

By the time my feet made it to the floor I heard another wave of heaving and hacking.

"Oh no!  TWICE!"

I ran upstairs for the Resolve carpet cleaner, a sponge and the whole role of paper towels.  Todd got out of bed and we both started taking care of a spot, only Todd realizes I had grabbed Oxy Orange, a degreaser, and had already sprayed it on the floor. Fortunately, his brain worked enough at that time to remember the Resolve was right there in the basement.

"Why is it, when Rigby pukes, he always chooses a carpet to do it on?  Even upstairs where there are hardwood floors he goes for the rugs."

5:20 a.m.

We climbed back into bed and I turned off the alarm.  I needed a little more time to get rid of that jump-out-of-bed-too-quickly sick to your stomach feeling.

6:45 a.m.

Up and at 'em.

We're thinking the world would be so much more on time if everyone's alarms sounded like something puking.

Addiction

Todd and I are convinced drug dealers have a new way to mule cocaine: In the form of these Country Time Lemonade candies.

Seriously folks, one hit and your hooked.

We first discovered them at the auto shop Todd takes his work truck to.  There was a bowl of assorted candies on the counter and we each chose one of these lemonade candies.

Holy cow!

They aren't like your every day, run of the mill lemon drop - which, don't get me wrong, I love.  Instead, they are like little disks of concentrated Country Time.  You can actually taste the sunshine that made those lemons ripe (if they were made with real lemons, that is).

Of course, we grabbed our candies as we were headed out the door and didn't realize the goodness until we were eating them in the truck - too late to go back and grab the rest.

The thing is: these candies can NOT be found at the store!  At least not at the stores I shop.  They've been on my grocery list for a month.  I check every time I go to the store.

No luck.

Todd and I have each craved them after that first experience and agree they must be laced with some illicit drug.

I was in Cheyenne last week for a conference and when I came home there was a Country Time candy on the dining room table.

"Where did this come from??!!" I yelled.

Todd had gone to the shop and brought one back for me.  Isn't he the best??  Or maybe he's just helping to support my habit.

Either way, I was strong.  I resisted temptation. I wanted to save it to satisfy a really strong craving for them.

Which, after writing this, is right about...now.

Court t.v.

I went to court today.

Not because I did anything really wrong - like the girl who took one look at the judge and was upset because he's the one, "she gets every time!"  Or the guy who didn't show up for his drug tests, missed probation, and a host of other things that landed him in cuffs and a nice police escort.  These are just examples of the packed courtroom.  Apparently, Friday is a big day at the ol' Municipal.

Nope.  I am clearly not like those folks.  I was the nicest dressed, most innocent looking person in the courtroom - and I stuck out like a sore thumb.  

So, what did I do?

I slid on a patch of ice a few weeks ago and rear ended a pickup.  This landed me a "following too closely" ticket, which I was hoping to dispute. I have a great - I mean GREAT - driving record compared to most.  I've never received a speeding ticket in the 17 years I've had a license!  I do NOT want this ticket on my record.

So, I stressed last night about what I was going to say to the judge.  I looked up the Wyoming statute I apparently violated.  Todd and I looked up the historical weather data for the day of the accident and the day before.  We did this because I disagree with the officer's accident report which stated the roads were dry and there were no environmental circumstances that could have contributed to the accident.

Bull-hooey!  Casper got over seven inches of snow the day before! That was only one of the things I was trying to figure out how to say last night without using the word bull-hooey.

I was so caught up in laying out my argument I couldn't sleep.  At about 12:30 a.m. I finally gave in and marched upstairs to pop a Nyquil gel cap.  Then I got up early this morning and worked diligently on my talking points, going over them with Todd who, as a law enforcement guy himself who goes to court time to time, coached me on better ways to word things.

I got dressed in my best black slacks, a nice shirt and black belt and heels and took myself to court ready to plead my case.

I panicked when I discovered this wasn't the type of court hearing I was so ready for.  It was an arraignment. I wasn't going to get a chance to tell my story.  The judge, who I genuinely believe is a nice guy (he treated everyone nicely - even the guy that got cuffed), made it clear this wasn't the time to launch into an elaborate defense.

I didn't know what to do.  When I was called to the podium and asked how I wanted to plead - I had no idea.  So, I admitted it.  I told the judge I didn't know what I should do.  I tried not to babble about my wonderful driving record and how I had been hoping to present my side so it wouldn't show up and affect my insurance.  I sounded pathetic.  And stupid.  Both of which I normally hate seeming, but in this case I was at his mercy.

As a judge he can't advise me, but I kind of got the sense he wanted to.  He gave me a look that was so sorry for me.

He explained my options: Plead guilty or guilty no contest and I pay a fee and my infraction goes on my driving record.  Plead not guilty and it goes to trial.  I didn't want to bother with this.  It just doesn't seem worthy of a trial.   Particularly when I have no witnesses or anything.  He told me the fee for the ticket was about $120 and that he typically stays close to that.

I literally stood there debating for a long, quiet-in-the-courtroom minute as all the horrible offenders who seem to know all the ins and outs of the court and the legal jargon stared at my back.

Finally, the judge said, "Miss Sears. If you really don't know what to do, you could buy yourself some time by pleading not-guilty, we'll set a trial date, and if you decide before the date you don't want to go to trial you can simply pay the fine."

"Ok.  I plead not guilty, your honor."

So...now I have a trial Feb. 14.

How romantic!

Postal puppy

You know that cliche about dogs and postal carriers not getting along?

That doesn't apply at our house.

Rigby always runs out to greet him, but this isn't done with any growling, barking, or the ripping out of the seat of the postman's pants.  

And the postman always gives Rigby a nice pat before he turns back down the stairs too.

There are some dogs in the neighborhood that bark at just about anything - including the poor postman.

Our front porch?   A safe haven...

Todd Cousteau

Todd is a highly credentialed diver!

I knew this, and knew about his easily half-ton scuba trunk with all his gear packed inside, but I had never seen him dive.

Until last week.

He volunteered to help the (water) ski club at Alcova look for a cable used to tether their slalom course, which had been cut by vandals and was resting somewhere on the lake bottom.

Getting geared up...

He's under - somewhere around that flag.  It initially made me a little nervous to watch because I wouldn't want to be down there, but also I was worried he might drown. He didn't, of course...

Todd Cousteau...!

He didn't find the cable, which was fine.  But we did get brats and kraut with one of the members and his wife  at their camper!

Seasonal upset

So...it's winter. It's freezing. We've had tons of snow dumped on us. And we haven't been able to get a car in the garage since we've moved in to the new house.

Why? Because there's a ton of stuff that needs gotten rid of!

Todd thought it was too late in the year to have a garage sale, not being summer 'n all. But I said, who cares?! Who says you can't have a winter sale, right? With some fun lights, some warm drinks, and maybe some additional crap to sell from friends, we might be able to draw some folks over!

And that's how this Saturday's winter garage sale came to be.

There are seven homes coming together to do a little "winter cleaning."

Last night, a bunch of folks came over for a "pricing party" and to organize items by category, but it really became more of a swapping party - there's some good stuff!

So, if you're in the area on Saturday stop on by (send me a message and I'll give you the address)! We'll be there - frigid temperatures be damned!

Pricing all the loot...

Recycled cycle

For the longest time I've been wanting a cruiser bike. The kind with fenders, and a chain guard...what you envision yourself riding to farmers' markets on with a basket for flowers and produce.

Well. This afternoon it happened.

I bought a cute red cruiser bike in Ft. Collins, Colo.

It doesn't have a basket, but I am SO excited all the same!

I've been watching craigslist like a hawk for one and today I decided to make the trek down to check out some bike sales I'd seen.

This is the one that came home with me!

How much is that doggie in the window

I want a dog more than anything.

I've been desperately wanting one for years but couldn't have one in D.C., because it was against my apartment building's rules. And, even if I could have had a dog I wouldn't have. I just couldn't justify having one in my studio apartment or with the lifestyle I had.

But when I decided to leave D.C., the vision of my new Western life very clearly included a dog. Even more specifically, a dog poking out of the window of the Jeep Wrangler I've always wanted, ears flapping, tongue dangling, as we bounced through the mountains on our way to some wilderness adventure.

So...that hasn't happened yet.

I've been really wanting to change that, despite my current landlord's policy against pets, which doesn't seem to matter since two of the four apartments have one.

Since I have been talking about this forever, my boyfriend Todd and I went to the animal shelter to just...look around. If you had any inkling of how badly I want a dog you would wonder if I was a masochist for doing this. Why would anyone go to an animal shelter and torture themselves staring at penned up puppies if they weren't going to walk out of there with one??

I did it anyway.

I'd been looking around online at dogs available for adoption and didn't really see anything I loved. I realized this may be a longer process than I initially thought. I might have to "shop around," so to speak. Maybe I would find my dream dog in Laramie or Ft. Collins, Colo.,...

What harm could a little trip to the animal shelter do?

Silly Kim.

In a cold, barren cell sat Ray Romano: a 6-month-old black lab puppy who was darling. Aside from his name, which I would promptly change, he was just the right kind of lab - no snouty nose; long and lean, not stubby...and he loved me. He cuddled up against my hands through the cage. He howled when I walked away. He reminded me of my family's old dog Rajah when he was a puppy...

OMG. I started crying (and am getting misty-eyed now!). I wanted Ray Romano. I wanted to walk out with little Ray right then. But I couldn't. Todd and I have decided to try living together (more on this later) and we're in the midst of figuring out where that will be. Until that's settled it didn't seem to make sense to get Ray Romano then.

I had to leave. I couldn't take it!

Window shopping for puppies is soooo not a good idea.

Back

I'm back!

July was a killer on my schedule! - and my ability to keep my little blog updated.

After trips to Vail, Dubois, Wyo., Lamar, Colo., and Vegas, and several days of cowgirling it up at Frontier Days I am ready for a quiet August.

However, if you know me that just means a little more time doing stuff closer to home - not a kabash on doing stuff in general.

So, I'm back and will be much more consistent in my updating.

Ahhh...August!

Proud to be an American

I was standing in line at Wal-Mart yesterday wearing an old USO (United Service Organizations) tee I had gone for a run in. I got the shirt after helping fill care packages at a USO event with my boss on Capitol Hill a few years back.

A man standing in front of me suddenly asked if I worked for the USO. I told him no and casually explained that a group of friends and I had helped at one of their events.

He told me he was a soldier that had been stationed in Afghanistan in '05. As the soldiers were heading out, a line of USO workers handed each of them a care package. He said it made all the difference and he really appreciated it.

He then stuck out his hand and said, "Thank you."

He said thank you to ME.

I shook his hand - and my head - and said, "No, thank YOU."

Right then, it was his turn in line and with a question for the pharmacist they were off looking for what he needed in the aisles.

I picked up my prescription and as I turned we caught each other's eye. I smiled and waved and took for the door.

Then I remembered the back of the shirt says in very large letters, "DO STUFF FOR OUR TROOPS".

I'm glad he saw that. Reminding people about our troops is one of the very reasons I love wearing that tee.

Moments like the one in line are all the other reasons...

Crazy serenity

I love having a schedule full of events. Even if I don't end up doing something on my calendar, I like to have it there just in case.

This is one of those weekends where I have a million things planned. And I want to do them all. It was a jam-packed day today and I'm tired, but I can't miss the fun things going on tomorrow, so I'm going to do it all again.

Today was the first "work day" for Frontier Days. They have several of these work days scheduled for all the volunteers to help get the park ready for the big event. I spent four hours cleaning, raking a million pounds of pine needles, helping a man I saw fall off a ladder at the PR committee house, and enjoying the BBQ they fed us all after. The man who fell was lucky. I think his shoulder's pretty jacked, and his face was scraped up, but at least he was conscious and kicking. The paramedics hauled him away...

After that, Molly and I hit up a disappointing garden festival at the depot, took a neat (but a little over the top) Cheyenne trolley tour since it's Laramie County appreciation weekend for residents, went antiquing, got more potting soil at Home Depot, did a whirlwind cleaning of the back patio for a building BBQ I organized, then got showered and had the BBQ with my neighbors.

Whew!

I took pictures of a lot of it, but at this point I just want to focus on this peaceful scene: From my walk downtown first thing this a.m. to get my bike. It's JUST like the pics you see of the cherry blossoms in D.C.

Compare:

D.C. ... (I'm too tired to search for my own pic so I found one online...)


Cheyenne...the Wyoming State Capitol... (This one IS mine.)

Cheap flicks and movie "confessionals"

I went to the Cole dollar theater tonight for the first time. It truly is $1. And they get good movies!

I'm probably one of the last people to see "Confessions of a Shopaholic" who actually wanted to. And since it was super cheesy and predictable even by my chick flick connoisseur standards, I guess it was a good idea to wait until it hit the Cole.

(As a total sidenote I was the first person there and I really thought I was going to have the theater entirely to myself. That had never happened before, and though it sounds kind of fun, it was really rather creepy! Fortunately, a few more girls showed up, keeping it from being the perfect set up for a scene in a horror movie.)

Back to the movie. There was something about it that was kind of inspirational.

I used to be like the main character Rebecca. Ok, I wasn't a total shopaholic, and I never bought any high-end designers, but I did live in the city and liked a good trip to the mall. I loved going shopping and wearing something new to work, or running out to find something perfect for a dinner at a new restaurant or a big night out.

Of course, as a shopaholic Rebecca gets in over her head with her credit card and her finances are ruined. And as you can likely guess, it all magically works out, and oh yeah, she gets the guy in the end too.

I wish that's how it worked in real life and man, do I wish I could say shopping was the reason my finances are still in disarray! But it's not. I decided to quit my job with nothing lined up and move across the country for a new life. Every month I'm still figuring that unemployed time of my life out and it isn't exactly easy.

But leaving the theater I felt the same hopeful way Rebecca did. That's because I know everything I buy is paid for and I'll be figured out long before "D.C. Kim" ever would have been.

I think I'll be seeing a lot more movies at the Cole! I've never been one to pass up cheap entertainment.

Just a regular Wyoming day

Not too much to report these last few days. It's just been life on the Plains...

The weather, though not quite as wintery as we were expecting in Cheyenne, has still been crummy, so I've had a couple quiet nights at home.

Tonight, for example, I signed up for a new gym, spent time making a nice dinner, and am currently drinking a tasty Colorado-based beer while blogging and watching the president's news conference.

Boring? Maybe. But not if you're into politics - ha!

The rest of the week is going to kind of pick up, so I've rather enjoyed a few nights to myself. On the docket for the next half? A work lunch, a potential lunch with Jonna, an appearance on Ch. 5 news Thursday morning to hock some Wyoming-made products, a couple friends from D.C., blowing through town (separately), girl's movie night tomorrow, the free dinner and a movie at the library on Thursday, and who knows what else this weekend.

Pretty tame so far, though - except for the excitement of getting new curtains hung in my bedroom...!

Librarian

I got a library card today - the first I've had in YEARS. Honestly, I couldn't tell you the last time I had a library card...maybe college?

I usually just buy whatever books I want to read, but I decided to spring for a card because I need to get back on track with my family's book club and I didn't want to buy the last book (no offense mom!). I just have no idea what it's about and didn't want to drop money on this particular one.

So, I thought I'd take advantage of Laramie County's AWESOME library.

I've been to a few free events there, but never took the time to really look around.

First of all, it's huge. Secondly, it's got DVDs - like a super cheap Blockbuster - in there! And it's all high-techish. I checked out my book like I would groceries at the self-check register. Maybe these are things all libraries have nowadays, but I had no idea. (This all makes me sound like I haven't been in a library since card catalogs, which I have. And recently. I just haven't checked anything out.)

It has some fun events too, but I already knew that. This month, there is a free "dinner" and a movie each week with discussion. I'm going to try to go Thursday night.

All in all a good "investment."