It's that bad!

 I haven't blogged in so long, they took my background away!

Boxed up

 If you can't find me, I'm in the box marked "DENIAL".

Procrastinators Unite!

I sit here today, keyboard at hand,
Pondering a wordy poem.
Not one by Shakespeare, Byron or Seuss,
But one I've written here at home.

It won't be good - I can promise you that -
I am not well versed in the art of rhyme or Haiku.
It's my way of  luring, or drawing you back,
To a blog that has been longing for a post that is new!

"What? You were gone?" You ask in mock shock,
So sweet not to want to offend your wacky friend.
"Save it!" I say, "You know better than that!
The obnoxiously long, 'catch up post', is my trend!"

I like organization - no really, I do!
Getting behind gets me tense, you see?
It's just, well, lately, I've been a wee distracted,
By the life-plan of my husband Ameri.

Caltech first, five years to pursue his degree -
Then on to a job with an environmental consulting firm.
On to "real life", I think. "Wait, no? What do you mean?
You want what? An MBA? You think there is more to learn?!"

OK, sure, might as well do it while we're still poor.
Essays, interviews, and all other options were weighed.
A year and a half we researched the right path to take;
Ultimately, the decision of Stanford was made.

So, off we go, come this August, to land of California North,
Leaving our dear friends in Pasadena and SoCal behind.
We will miss you and thank you for your friendship and love.
Not to be forgotten - thanks to facebook (hmm, a tie to bind?)

I told you it wouldn't be good, even a bit cheesy,
To read my little poem of excuses.
But, hey, what do you expect?
I could think of way worse abuses!

Well, now it's just getting silly, I'd better close up,
More words and I'll lose you forever I fear!
The pictures are coming, I promise, I swear -
They'll be up on Charley & Co. sometime before next year . . .

Crawling . . .

 out of the hole. 

Noah - I hear ya brother!

 Ahhh . . . remember this? As of that moment in time, that was our FIFTH flood in this here town. We've only lived here 6 years. Well, I guess the Powers That Be wanted us to have one more just to keep us on our toes. OR they just wanted to give me something to blog about. 

A recap of my evening last Wednesday:

I was in our front room checking on the girls. Maddie was being a little whiny and so she wouldn't let me put her down. I had to run back into my bathroom to get something and just about landed on my toosh because the floor was soaking wet. I turned on the light and there was water all over the place and headed down the hall. I wasn't too worried at first because I thought it was just a toilet overflowing, but as Maddie wouldn't let me put her down I had a hard time getting the plunger to do its job. Anyway, I finally had to set the screaming Mad girl down to plunge away. As I'm plunging I realize that water is pumping out from BENEATH the toilet. Crap, crap, crappity, crap. Not only is it coming out from under the toilet, but it is now streaming out.

I shove a few towels at the door of the bathroom to dam it up, pick up our now soaking rug in the hall, run back for the screaming Maddie and call Ameri. As I'm explaining to Ameri that we are once again flooding (he's downtown and can't do anything about it), Maddie proceeds to throw-up all over me. Priceless. Nevertheless, I keep my cool, explain the situation to Ameri, hang up, start to change Maddie and myself and head back to the bathroom to check the water. As I come back to inspect, the water has broken over my dam, poured out into the hall again and into my closet this time. Here I insert a word stronger than "crap".

Setting a half-naked Maddie down, I scramble for more towels and call Ameri again to tell him it's more serious than I thought - please call a plumber. He tries to get me to go and turn off the emergency water valve (we know where it is now because of the last flood). I try to explain to him that Maddie is half-naked, still throwing up and the water is a river now. He again implores me to go turn off the water. I tell him I already have in the bathroom and I am in the middle of a crisis - will you please call the plumber. Back and forth we go, he doesn't call the plumber because it is after hours and I prepare to head down to the garage to turn off the water. Maddie is still crying, still half-naked, Charley is following me around like a puppy and I'm fuming. I go back into the bathroom to create another useless dam and hear my neighbor plunging - yep the walls are that thin. I think it's the upstairs neighbor so I head up there to tell her I'm turning off our water. Girls in tow, I run up there and she's not home. I hear my next-door neighbor come out of her house and I yell down at her to ask her if she's had plumbing issues. She says yes and she's called the plumber! YAY! We both head down to the garage and there is water pouring out of the pipes below our apartments. Sewage water.

Long story not as long as it could be, I don't end up shutting the water off in the garage because it wouldn't have made a difference anyway, I continue the process of damming and mopping the water, Maddie throws up one more time, Charley got to watch more TV than is good for her and Ameri got home just in time to clean up the mess. At its worst, there was about an inch of standing sewage water in our bathroom which seeped under the wall into our other bathroom. Fortunately, we have all tile in our apartment and, as it was something that affected 3 different apartments, we don't have to pay for the damage it caused! The other good thing is that we were still supposed to be in Utah this last week, but changed our plans last minute. Remember those "Powers That Be" that I was talking about earlier? Well, though we've flooded several times, we've always be home when they've happened - when usually we wouldn't be. Blessings come in all different forms and I, though I complain about the mess, am grateful that they're never what they could have been!

We purchased a small wet/dry vac that night because I just know that there will be another flood in our future. In fact, I may die in one. Just sayin'. BUT, my friend Sherri says that the minute you buy preventative measures, you more than likely won't have that problem again. I say great! It's the cheapest insurance I've ever bought toward future disasters. Keep your fingers crossed folks!

Out of the Mouths of Babes

 I was holding both girls in my lap tonight just joking around with them and Maddie was being dramatic. She kept saying, "I scared. I scared!"

I kept telling her there was nothing to be scared of. Suddenly, she grabs the front of my shirt, pulls it open, looks down and says, "Mom scary boobs!"

Thanks Mad. 

After that little episode, we've moved to the floor and Charley is "flying" on my feet. This is our conversation:

Charley (as she's flying in the air): "Mom, I know almost anything (meaning everything)"

Me: "Oh really Charley?"

Charley: "Yeah, anything except what you tell me."

Hmmm. I'm trying to decide if she meant that when I tell her about something she doesn't know about that that would fall under "except what you tell me", or if she's just being honest and letting me know that she remembers everything except what I've told her. You know, selective memory? If my experience holds true, I'm leaning toward the later!

Gotta love 'em - the little darlings.

The long road home.

As it was a vacation of sorts, we made the decision to drive down the PCH to go home. It tacked on a few hours to our trip (!), but it was a good choice. We had lunch in Monterey, missed 17 Mile Drive around Pebble Beach because we were running out of daylight (sad, but we’ll catch it next time), and ended our day in a blaze of glory. Literally. I could have taken shot after shot the drive was so beautiful. Luckily (for you) we ran out of daylight half way down! We hit some pretty intense fog in the darkness that freaked Charley out a little bit, but, other than that, I would recommend the drive to all.

Smile Charley, smile!

Can you spot the lighthouse?

Our little angels were exhausted when we got home, but they were so excited to see the Christmas tree was still there that they refused to go to their beds!

Golden Gate Bridge

We took the long loop back to Berkeley just so we could show the girls the Golden Gate Bridge. Charley loved it!

 

My cute family – San Francisco in the background.

Action shot.

Charley’s new pose. She refuses to show her teeth in pictures anymore because, “Ladies don’t smile like that Mom!” Oh, my. I’m really in for it with this one.

Me with America’s next top model.

My Maddie.

Alcatraz

Palo Alto/Stanford

We had a great Thanksgiving this year with just my brother Steven’s family. Thanks guys!

As Ameri had the next day off, we decided to take advantage of that rare gift and go up to Northern California to check out some of the schools up there that Ameri is applying to. As Ameri was going to take a class at Cal State Berkeley on Monday, we decided to stay in a nice hotel on the water there. In my opinion, it was the only redeeming thing about the city of Berkeley! I’m sure many would disagree with me about the place, but I’m hoping we don’t end up there . . . people are crammed together like sardines and it is one dirty, ugly city! But . . . that’s just my opinion!

On a better note, we also had the opportunity to visit Palo Alto and the Stanford campus. Wow. Wow. Wow. I fell in love instantly!

Charley introduces us to Stanford University. . . a HUGE campus!

The Main Quad – isn’t it gorgeous?  

Someone needs a haircut!

Even the ladybugs liked us! :)

My Princess Diana shot.

At Play.

After Charley’s Thanksgiving feast at her preschool, we decided to go and enjoy the great outdoors. Well, it’s definitely not like the great MONTANA outdoors where I grew up, but our lovely, local, manicured outdoors suffice! :) Regardless, we give thanks to God for our little slice of Heaven. As a matter of fact, as we were walking around the gardens Charley said, “Mom, I think this is what God’s garden looks like.”

I couldn’t agree more Charley!

Charley wanted to take a picture.

Checking out our next real estate purchase . . . if only!

Hills. Need I say more?

Taking the initiative.

Don't you love it when your toddler climbs over to her crib, tries to climb in it all the while saying, "Nap, nap!"

Oh, wait . . . that never happens - except for today! What a little angel. Sweet dreams! 

Exciting News! For a mom at least . . .

 Maddie loves to be naked. She also loves to be in the bathroom when Charley is using it - she's quite curious about the whole process. She likes to take off her diaper and sit on her little potty while Charley is doing her business.

While Charley was at school today I decided to put in "Elmo's Potty Time" just for kicks to see if she'd watch it. (She's only 22 months and has a short attention span so I wasn't expecting much!) About 10 minutes into the movie she starts tearing off her diaper and saying, "Elmo potty! Elmo potty!"

I figure if she's going to be naked, I might as well put her on her potty and let her watch the show. Two seconds after I get her seated, she proceeds to use it. Wow! Now, to a lot of you reading this you'll be thinking, "Is that what your life has come to Kristi? Are you REALLY that excited about a little pee in the pot?"

The answer my friends is yes. I am. It's a milestone - Maddie's on her way to "kicking the habit". Bless you Elmo.