Life on the Farm

Today, I visited an Ostrich Farm in Tehachapi with a couple of my classmates. We were asked to research potential field trip sites as part of this summer course I'm taking. I was amazed at some of photos I took during the day. Pro.

Good for 8 Hours

We bought a new bed!
(Not the bedroom set,... not a comforter, no drapes...)
BUT A WONDERFUL MATTRESS! It's a California King set (we are used to a queen) and it's made out of Memory Foam and Latex - It is just Heavenly. Like laying in a jar of marshmellowy cream!

I can't wait for them to deliver it! They are hand-making it for us this week! (I feel SO spoiled!)

My back is going to love us!

These were fun during our shopping trip. NO, this is not our new bed. -- But don't we look hobbitlike?!

Progress

It feels as though all I've been typing is home improvements and pets. I guess that's all there is to us!

I am happy to report that since my last post, we have got paint, baseboards, a sink, toilet, water fixtures, floor tiles, upper cabinets - - - I think that's it?

...And a new home for our cat Freebie! He's moving in with someone that works out at Oxy with Matt. They have other pets and a safe neighborhood for him to roam (no fast streets nearby). I feel good about it. I just finished bathing him to make him all shiny and new for his new owners. It was really discouraging... the SPCA is full and not accepting any more cats right now, the "Cat People" are full as well. The only options we were left with was the Bakersfield Shelter (a kill facility). I'm so happy that this family stepped up!

Today I made 40 adults eat unsweetened chocolate! It was awesome! This class that I'm taking right now had us all present our favorite lesson - as though they were our students. I dressed up my classmates in mini-aprons and little chef hats and had them mixing ingredients with their fingers. SUCH A FUNNY SIGHT! My professor seemed to really enjoy himself as well... I think I'll pass with flying colors!

Do, de-Do, de-do ...

That beautiful landscaped backyard you saw pictures of earlier... EXHAUSTING today. Five and a half hours we put in to mowing, weeding, fertilizing, spraying, bagging, blowing... YOU SHOULD SEE OUR BACKS! We weren't very smart. Matt had his shirt off, I was in my bikini top. Dumb. We look like tomatoes now. Half way through, Matt came up to me and said, "you know... I think you might be starting to get a tan. Soon we may want to put on shirts - before we get a little pink." It was probably already too late. But, you know how it is. You're out there... the sun plays games with your eyes. You never look burnt until you come inside.

The rest of the day we've been vegging. Laundry has been endless (it'd been 2.5 weeks). We were confined to our DVD player, having our Dish Network shorted by our contractor last Thursday. Guess what Netflix movies were mailed to our home! ... TWO "Pretender" Series Discs, and Inspector Gadget. ALL OF THEM ARE NOT WORTH YOUR TIME! I'll admit, the Inspector Gadget movie I had wanted to see. I liked the show as a little kid and that part of me was excited to see what Disney could do with it ... THE ANSWER: nothing. They could do nothing good with it at all. It was obnoxious and dumb.

The Pretender. Matt likes it. I think that it has the worst script ever and bad acting on top of that. I ask him WHY he enjoys watching it - he says, he just likes the idea of it. I guess it could have been worse TV time. He could have made me re-watch the Star Wars movies, Close Encounters of the Third Kind (sorry Bill, I'm with Kristy on that one!), or The Lord of the Rings.

I should be counting my blessings.

Granite is Good!

Oohh Lah Laa!

I am a teacher

After typing my "About Me" profile at the right side of this page, I got distracted reading that darn book again. The author, Phillip Done nailed it... This one just made me laugh, tear up, talk aloud to myself, smirk, and sigh. I bet you all can appreciate it too.

"I have sung "Happy Birthday" 657 times.

I hand over scissors with the handles up.

I can listen to one child talk about his birthday party and another talk about her sleepover and another talk about getting his stomach pumped last night--all at the same time.

I fix staplers that won't staple and zippers that won't zip, and I poke pins in the orange caps of glue bottles that will not pour.

I put on Band-Aids and winter coats and school plays.

I say "Cover your mouth," after they have coughed on me.

I am a teacher.

I examine new braces and new blisters and holes in mouths where teeth have just fallen out.

I wear 4-leaf clovers and dandelions in my shirt pocket that have just been picked with love at recess.

I spend Thanksgiving vacation writing report cards, Christmas vacation cleaning my classroom, and summer vacation taking classes on how to relax.

I push in chairs all the way, push swings higher, and push sleeves up while children are painting.

I say, "Use two hands!" when they carry their lunch trays. I say, "Accidents happen," after they did not use two hands.

I wear green on St. Patrick's Day, red on Valentine's Day, and my bathrobe on Pajama Day.

I poke straws into juice boxes and untwist thermos lids that are too tight. I unpeel oranges that are too tight too.

I attend soccer games and Little League championships and funerals for guinea pigs.

I answer to both "Mom" and "Dad".

I am a teacher.

I have worn green marker, red paint, yellow chalk dust, glue stick, and glitter all on the same day.

I hate glitter.

I have spelled out because and beautiful and friend six million times.

I am a teacher.

I have given 842 spelling tests and have written "Have a Good Summer!" that many times too.

I collect milk boxes and coffee cans and egg cartons.

I can make a telescope out of a toilet paper roll and a totem pole out of oatmeal boxes. I can make snowflakes out of coffee filters and a space shuttle out of a Pringles can too.

I know when a child does not understand. I know when a child is not telling the truth. I know when a child was up too late last night. I know when a child needs help finding a friend.

I am a teacher."

~32 Third Graders and One Class Bunny by Phillip Done

YEAHH!! Drawers!

It has been a feat ... we were asked to pick a stain for our new bathroom cabinets from a book. You and I both know that the little 1/2 inch picture is not a good representation of how it will end up looking. We asked our guy if he could get the painter to use a sample of the wood we are getting and stain it a few of the colors. The painter grimaced (to say the least) but did it anyways, and I AM SO GLAD! We were leaning towards something called English Chestnut, but ended up going with Red Mahogany. Today, it arrived and it looks really good. The granite counter tops with the sink should be here soon!
I can't wait to have bathroom storage again... And look at all that room for my junk! It's like Christmas!!!

Lost in Translation

It was amazing ... Today, I learned that I don't have a clue what my husband deals with day-in and day-out at work.

Matt's been going to a conference here in town the last few days involving safety in the oil fields. Since it was their last day, the "conference people" (for lack of a more technical term) took everyone on a tour of two oil fields, and to see the exhibit at Kern County Museum called "Black Gold" (a.k.a. history of oil mining in the Cali. valley). Spouses were invited, so I went.

The man with the microphone on our tour said so many acronyms in one sentence .... It was complete jibberish. I was able to understand the conjunction words (with, the, and, however...) and that was about it. Everything was so far from my world of knowledge. It was amazing, everyone else there was able to interpret what was being said, AND make logical questions up to follow each statement.

I am proud to say that I now know a few new things.

Oil derricks/wells used to look like this:
They don't anymore.


The front part of the derrick is, in my opinion, excellently named..."horsehead."

Elk Hills uses computers, ... Chevron on James Rd. doesn't.

The pipes are off the ground so that they don't corrode.

There are coyotes, kit foxes, and rattlesnakes out there.

Lots of people loose fingers and arms working the oil drilling rigs, hence all the safety meetings.

Sometimes steam is used to make the oil flow better for maximum production.

Aside from that.... it was mainly a blurr.

"Garden of Weedin"

The difference between

a weed and a flower

is judgement.

Someday, when I read my pamphlet on my camera, I will be this good.

I was perusing the "blogger blogs" by topic and found these pictures. I've never seen better! They were too beautiful to keep to myself. Click on them to make them big! JUST AMAZING!

...annnddd here's one for "The Momma" ...

I'm calling it "The DandyDaisy Day".

Just so cheerful.

How can this not make people smile?

Our Master Bath

The decision to "upgrade" our master bathroom was due to a Monday morning mishap on my part. A few months ago I was showering before work, reached out of the sliding glass doors to grab my towel off the rack. When I began to lift it from the bar, the entire shower door shattered into thousands of little shards and fell down upon me. Needless to say, my hands and feet were sliced. I had glass chunks all in my hair, and stuck to my body. Matt had already left for work, so I couldn't call for help. I had to walk out of the shower, across the glass covered tile to safety.







It was a fun way to start the week. Can you tell where I was standing in the tub??!!

That night, I dropped by Home Depot to figure out how much replacing the door was going to cost us. It was upwards of $350. I didn't purchase anything. I just went home. We converted the VERY small guest bathroom into our "new Master bath" for the time being, and just kept going with life.

A couple other factors added in to our decision to redo the bathroom... The first being the hideous floor tile. Second, the inability to keep the counter clean. Third, the constant fight between Matt and I over the one sink shoved towards the wall. Fourth, my excessive counter space needs. Fifth, crappy tub insert. Sixth, showerhead out of the drywall... Seventh, NO exhaust fan (COME ON!! Bakersfield heat, opening a window to let the steam out??!! Who planned this??!!)

We loved the guest bathroom of Matt's parents new home. Seeing their shower revealed to us that our shower area had potential. With disregard to the tile and the granite, we copied it exactly. (Thank you M&D!)

We began demo about 3 weeks ago and have been living out of poorly labeled boxes since.

The guy says that it should all be done by the end of next week. Here's where we are at currently.

They framed the shower and moved the sink plumbing to the middle.

They also moved the shower drain to the middle. They framed the bench in the shower. Tiled, and installed the granite seat.

The cabinet stain samples should be here within the hour, and the cabinets will be installed by Thursday! Once they are in, our tile guy will come back (Friday) and finish off the floor. Our plumber Steve will return to place another toilet, which should function Friday (THANK GOD!! ) Tom (contractor) will be here to install the fixtures the following week, and to do final touches... door frame, painting, medicine cabinet, hang the mirror, shower door installation...

I can't wait!

Weekend bliss

We finished sealing the firepit, and this weekend we were able to put it to the test! I don't know what I was thinking, not taking a picture of it while the fire was going. Smores proved slightly difficult because our sticks weren't long enough to get down into the pit near the coals... My darling Matt loves to eat charcoal, so he had no difficulty lighting his mellos on fire.

I am happy to say that the ugly orange colored firebrick that lined the inside of the pit is now a respectable ash color. We chose the orange - cause our choices were either orange or pink. For those of you who know me, I don't do pink. But the orange firebrick was causing my eyes to focus on the rust color in the tiles and the rocks... not my favorite. We actually dug through the pallet of stones at the Brickyard to find the pieces with the least amount of orange. I am realizing as I type this that, I may be difficult to please.

Just an update: we still own Freebie. He is now on a special diet to reduce crystals in his urine.??? He had no infection. The expensive medicine caused him to vomit eight times the first night - ALL over our living room. Thank God for tile floors!

Since I'm home right now, we've decided to try them as "outside cats." The first couple of days they just hung by the door and cried to get back in... but now they have taken to exploring the yard. I have to say that Bear, amazingly is less of a wimp than Freebie! Say goodbye to Mangina, I think I'll call him Magellan!

We bought a couple of hanging plants for the backyard hooks. I think my original crayola illustrated drawing of the "potential" backyard is almost complete!

Today, at 9-10ish am my contractor told me that he'd be at the house installing that fan in our bathroom, finishing the door, moving the ac vent from inside our shower to over the sink... it's 12:15. Oh where, oh where could my contractor be? Oh where, oh where could he be???