tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9602407563854385522024-03-15T18:09:27.345-07:00The Bower Family HappeningsThis blog is here for folks to follow our comings and goings as we wade through the craziness of graduate school (Julie), working (Dave), growing into a big boy (Eddie)...and chasing tennis balls (the dogs).The Bowers!http://www.blogger.com/profile/14571813809345871673noreply@blogger.comBlogger703125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-960240756385438552.post-37920854742448047752016-01-12T11:48:00.005-08:002016-01-12T11:48:59.029-08:00New blogAll right, I finally started a <a href="http://compostista.blogspot.com/">new blog</a>. One that is private so I can use it as a diary without offending or embarrassing anyone (myself included!).<br />
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Send me an email if you'd like to be added to the reading list. Fair warning: not everyone will be added, just like I don't tell everyone everything in face-to-face conversations.The Bowers!http://www.blogger.com/profile/14571813809345871673noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-960240756385438552.post-18249834751667922562015-04-28T22:57:00.004-07:002015-05-01T09:29:00.661-07:00Bigger and Better and the Blog Status<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiSh2SrMBp7ixRuDY9dA3TVf729JdtyicdBTGFbBvcSekkilpgrqFthvTT-to8mPA3Knxb8wLN9LsLKqd9IUMMOKVjFlEDilX3hFVIuHOMmKQL30huQ9y5SMBV3Tr1XUrjEdzp5GMfJ5gD/s1600/20150427_174320.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiSh2SrMBp7ixRuDY9dA3TVf729JdtyicdBTGFbBvcSekkilpgrqFthvTT-to8mPA3Knxb8wLN9LsLKqd9IUMMOKVjFlEDilX3hFVIuHOMmKQL30huQ9y5SMBV3Tr1XUrjEdzp5GMfJ5gD/s1600/20150427_174320.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">What I see when looking down, taken yesterday.</td></tr>
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My plan for a second baby was always that we'd try to get pregnant while I was in the editing phase of my dissertation. Of course, the universe had other plans. </div>
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April: First my IUD was not retrievable by the local family medicine PA (let me assure you that wasn't fun) and required a sonogram to locate it.<br />
May: Our local medical clinic doesn't have a sonogram machine so I had to go all the way to town for the scan. Once the sonogram confirmed it was still there I had to book an exam with a proper OB/GYN to have it removed.<br />
August: And what a headache THAT was! I was warned that I'd likely require medication or a mild sedative since there'd be...um...some uncomfortable prodding of my cervix. And because of that, I'd be required to have a driver come with me. So we had to organize extended childcare for Eddie so Dave could go with me to town (4 hour round trip). All that nonsense for the OB/GYN to easily pull the IUD right out. Dave had settled down in the waiting room with all his water exam study materials only to see me emerge smiling and drug-free 10 minutes later. At least we got to go out for a sushi lunch date before coming home. My dream of conceiving right away didn't happen and I was feeling a little lousy about it. Was I too old? Suddenly infertile? Are the hormones going to take a long time to dissipate?<br />
December 18: filed my dissertation and celebrated with a lavish sushi dinner at Livermore's Hanabishi with a complementary glass of plum wine.<br />
December 20: discovered I was pregnant!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCZQpycgS4B6E_mj4izBo02eG-dDeFi8Nmt44bvnyfuFkZuMAcPj8vNu4FK8Te1KyQ8vgfpVNUBYEhq4K88Z9XyLBFfrqp_ROFlG9rJ-Z4aOE6mCWnI1z_1B6NiLTB6Ot5AZhDhB7tEdO7/s1600/20141221_153306.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCZQpycgS4B6E_mj4izBo02eG-dDeFi8Nmt44bvnyfuFkZuMAcPj8vNu4FK8Te1KyQ8vgfpVNUBYEhq4K88Z9XyLBFfrqp_ROFlG9rJ-Z4aOE6mCWnI1z_1B6NiLTB6Ot5AZhDhB7tEdO7/s1600/20141221_153306.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I was in Mountain View when I took these tests and texted them to Dave.<br />
He thought they were ovulation strips and didn't bother to respond, figuring I was just letting him know my status. </td></tr>
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December 25: started feeling really awful (nausea, extreme bloating and fatigue)<br />
Mid-February: finally started feeling like a happy pregnant lady rather than a sleepy bloated balloon who didn't want to eat anything for fear of barfing and heartburn.<br />
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At 10 weeks I had one of those fancy blood tests for sex determination and genetic screening. I had the OB write the sex on a paper and seal it in an envelope. We have decided to not open the envelope and will just wait for the surprise come late August.<br />
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Right now I'm 23w4d along and I've gained about 23 pounds. Ouf, it seems like a lot but I'm right on track with my weight gain compared to Eddie's gestation. In fact, I'm only a week later in this pregnancy than I was with Eddie. The baby is due August 21, almost exactly a week after Eddie's birthday. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ4vEIU75dxkf7rwmQ7mDQA04vdc9WIxtT-w6nl2aUrmTnl2Z_d1_QkfUcSyUzXVyT68IynnNwkzFWoC-n455i9Uir7G-XoHpsaD8Zw5ZRfMYW4uGztzHecyj_GnpX83cPlfKIsehGDfGj/s1600/20150427_175028.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ4vEIU75dxkf7rwmQ7mDQA04vdc9WIxtT-w6nl2aUrmTnl2Z_d1_QkfUcSyUzXVyT68IynnNwkzFWoC-n455i9Uir7G-XoHpsaD8Zw5ZRfMYW4uGztzHecyj_GnpX83cPlfKIsehGDfGj/s1600/20150427_175028.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Even my shadow is looking pregnant these days.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiMxBk8SYazpD3U_aRWnLewq1YNAmG4mUwdnAo1j2_rWWHSfG62MG39oYFth7ffV0pSilXuMLLdKxTJ-AoHDrv6Q97RLl8cb74JPXzs7WxMqKQwwdQ0-5EZdQ_7Y4QcGN_WzNgC1UL-nnX/s1600/1429669246025.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiMxBk8SYazpD3U_aRWnLewq1YNAmG4mUwdnAo1j2_rWWHSfG62MG39oYFth7ffV0pSilXuMLLdKxTJ-AoHDrv6Q97RLl8cb74JPXzs7WxMqKQwwdQ0-5EZdQ_7Y4QcGN_WzNgC1UL-nnX/s1600/1429669246025.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I've been walking a lot...and had to get fitted for proper walking shoes to accommodate my increased weight. </td></tr>
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And here are a few more pictures of my belly and pregnancy shenanigans to keep the post interesting.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1n3cJbCowRCcAn4o2JaO0IfuA5jzIFw6y267xDYfHuRaM0Ss67QKjd9fYsVWxjgkD-TUcq6wGVx4pitlS5sCcwt-NMl6l9Rkv3EZw1dNav6rLG2YAYWp-f6mxik13zS9IxW2ffA15UvSz/s1600/IMG_20150426_202714.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1n3cJbCowRCcAn4o2JaO0IfuA5jzIFw6y267xDYfHuRaM0Ss67QKjd9fYsVWxjgkD-TUcq6wGVx4pitlS5sCcwt-NMl6l9Rkv3EZw1dNav6rLG2YAYWp-f6mxik13zS9IxW2ffA15UvSz/s1600/IMG_20150426_202714.jpg" height="400" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">In the last week I've had a terrible time sleeping. My entire back has been aching after just a couple of hours in bed. I posted a want ad on the local Facebook trading post for a pregnancy body pillow. A family sold me a Snoodle the wife used only once. Dave picked it up while I was cooking dinner. The dogs approve of it and so do I! I haven't slept this well in a long time. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBLflmSfhhyphenhyphenWtffQR8Gx9Yzt1gSsdAhoxJWS_DmJt2b7kDfiVWQkJbAhTjQwhmswfFIUbRoKs46RuvCfx_qALydmSjny4w-JGssZz0iPxPLy8Y_kbLNTAyim8vtUr6_TSPEw64Z2-OHc31/s1600/20150223_205144.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBLflmSfhhyphenhyphenWtffQR8Gx9Yzt1gSsdAhoxJWS_DmJt2b7kDfiVWQkJbAhTjQwhmswfFIUbRoKs46RuvCfx_qALydmSjny4w-JGssZz0iPxPLy8Y_kbLNTAyim8vtUr6_TSPEw64Z2-OHc31/s1600/20150223_205144.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I bought a fetal doppler from a friend and it's been so fun to listen to the heart beat whenever I want! Especially when I couldn't feel the baby move yet. I started to feel it at only 13 weeks this time! OB says I have a posterior placenta so it makes sense that I felt it sooner.</td></tr>
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I'm still contemplate my return to the blog--whether to keep this one public vs. private or to start a new private blog. Living here, we've lost our anonymity and that's a combination of troubling and annoying. Most likely I'll keep this one public and just start a new one. I'll keep you "posted." Haha. The Bowers!http://www.blogger.com/profile/14571813809345871673noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-960240756385438552.post-19821140428291094742015-01-23T11:07:00.002-08:002015-01-23T11:15:06.960-08:00Flu and the October-December Picture Roundup<div>
Monday was the MLK holiday so we all had the day off from work and school. My only commitment that day was an ambulance district meeting (I'm on the board). About 30 minutes before the meeting I got a cough--it was weird how suddenly it hit me. One of the other directors was there donning a face mask and gloves because he had come down with the flu. I guess it was a sign of things to come--that night both and Dave and I got fevers and body aches to add to our coughs. My FIL called to inform us that he'd also gotten the same symptoms. A couple days later he tested positive for influenza at urgent care. So I'm sort of assuming that Dave and I have the flu, too. </div>
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Eddie was fine--totally asymptomatic--so each morning I'd drag myself out of bed to get him up and ready for school. And then yesterday we kept him home when he came down with a fever and cough. Poor kid is on day #2 and seems pretty uncomfortable, even with medication. Dave reminded me that our second day was the worst, too. </div>
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We are soooooooooooo lucky to have our good friend and neighbor, Naomi, taking care of us. She calls or emails a few times a day to check in and see what she can do/cook/buy for us. So far it's been homemade soup (chicken noodle and pozole), popsicles, ginger tea, a face humidifier, nose ointment, juice, tuna salad from her job (which she knows is like crack to me), 7Up, Gatorade, Tylenol for Eddie, and probably more. And just now another friend of mine stopped by with some homemade carrot/orange/ginger juice. Aren't we lucky?</div>
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So....since October I haven't posted anything. Let's see what we've been up to by skimming through my phone pictures:<br />
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October 25 we put on a pumpkin patch for the community. Although I only had about a month to plan it, I ended up getting all the costs donated by individuals, the Soroptomists, and the local grocery store (we even ended up with about $120 toward next year's event). The pumpkins were free and we sold my father-in-law's apples to raise funds for the airport. The event was supposed to be outside in our <i>actual</i> pumpkin patch among the apple orchard trees but it was really rainy so we moved it inside one of the industrial buildings. Less ambiance but still fun for the kids.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjozAwByAbOjdzgz9KFeahwR_MH2iu6KIp7OecfsUE80GOJyZe1qPFFX1OGQnatmOJjOpaycnQ_caJDIWcwmo5Lz02os6b_Gs6GhEn3QOkKSL27iG9q2ubSzp6GJaR0M4LBw8vnW_okXJrX/s1600/20141025_123749.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjozAwByAbOjdzgz9KFeahwR_MH2iu6KIp7OecfsUE80GOJyZe1qPFFX1OGQnatmOJjOpaycnQ_caJDIWcwmo5Lz02os6b_Gs6GhEn3QOkKSL27iG9q2ubSzp6GJaR0M4LBw8vnW_okXJrX/s1600/20141025_123749.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It was fun to see all the little kids come to pick a pumpkin.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizz8rfnpjSDf33lMOBsze1B_fMy_UF0-AXyM8j5sRxWZOAmsrbCOEYBn5sEpUdL00dJz-GHVNKXYIaUJ2u6yQuAak06SM2HLSsYBu_I2G5daUIUymFKxSTKkr1_ANidwNduqbqTJwkRoVA/s1600/20141025_123937.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizz8rfnpjSDf33lMOBsze1B_fMy_UF0-AXyM8j5sRxWZOAmsrbCOEYBn5sEpUdL00dJz-GHVNKXYIaUJ2u6yQuAak06SM2HLSsYBu_I2G5daUIUymFKxSTKkr1_ANidwNduqbqTJwkRoVA/s1600/20141025_123937.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We made a straw bale pyramid for climbing, let the kids inside the big trucks and had a photo board painted by my friends.</td></tr>
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In November we harvested the last of our summer garden goodies.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb720oTiQrhJn1V_q1ilILhe6SldOT2xbgQsjSFZ0bloW2BCv144GYtrNaeGvEX5B53ZknOgzWivtaz3ujgJN3mBpHMgQgRT2qlBZfzqit2HzedtnJhCnkys-l-nksUz8hbl5n5w0cTGEc/s1600/20141108_131646.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb720oTiQrhJn1V_q1ilILhe6SldOT2xbgQsjSFZ0bloW2BCv144GYtrNaeGvEX5B53ZknOgzWivtaz3ujgJN3mBpHMgQgRT2qlBZfzqit2HzedtnJhCnkys-l-nksUz8hbl5n5w0cTGEc/s1600/20141108_131646.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Whenever I harvested I took a picture with my feet in it. This time we all helped so we had 6 feet in the picture.</td></tr>
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Later that month Edward and Jennifer hosted a whiskey tasting party at their apartment's community room. It was awesome. They'd started me tasting whiskey several months before and it's a good thing because I didn't used to like it. Okay...I still don't <i>like</i> it but I can appreciate it now.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilf3dIvLWsaHS2VF6WhoximH339BEYYVuLQXnC5x94YmuVCX7V2o_d4nOuXULq3dYu-FLuG5x97PkqDauq-BnGLdyDeHJEP_JTBiqF3yjhhJOgH07NSAh7X6LYhiwY_bcm56eCKRG817O4/s1600/20141115_182336.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilf3dIvLWsaHS2VF6WhoximH339BEYYVuLQXnC5x94YmuVCX7V2o_d4nOuXULq3dYu-FLuG5x97PkqDauq-BnGLdyDeHJEP_JTBiqF3yjhhJOgH07NSAh7X6LYhiwY_bcm56eCKRG817O4/s1600/20141115_182336.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Everyone was asked to bring a bottle. Miraculously, they didn't end up with an repeats. I was a jerk and brought a mystery bottle (the painted black one in the middle with the orange topper) and made people guess what it was. But then I was dumb and forgot what I'd brought so poor Edward was right even though I didn't give him credit until I looked at the original bottle picture in my phone. Oops. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoDLrYRAXcJ9vDpWo5hhF9Lsj7Zoc_lVSPPrSR9J6-BTrHKyjHlTscw_rF9C78-8UwdQMoPjgKz5ZlDj95voeNp2ETXaVh44FY-esXorAoJeFnKAqBvtCFpwt8z3weNgr4cQgXpQJApUYo/s1600/20141115_195126.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoDLrYRAXcJ9vDpWo5hhF9Lsj7Zoc_lVSPPrSR9J6-BTrHKyjHlTscw_rF9C78-8UwdQMoPjgKz5ZlDj95voeNp2ETXaVh44FY-esXorAoJeFnKAqBvtCFpwt8z3weNgr4cQgXpQJApUYo/s1600/20141115_195126.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Edward's parties are always fun because I get to see these lovely people!</td></tr>
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For Thanksgiving Dave's brother Mike and his family came up to Gualala. Eddie and his cousins had loads of fun playing. They all arrived while I was out delivering meals to home-bound folks through the senior center. It was a lovely, sunny, warm day and it was a nice change of pace to drive around to new neighborhoods (such as they are in the country) and meet new people.<br />
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I started cooking the Thanksgiving meal for our family a few days in advance. Dave and I took all the dishes up to his parents' house that morning--including the brined turkey and roaster oven--and let everything cook/reheat. It was perfect: my kitchen was spotless when I left that morning and my dear mother-in-law didn't have to cook! All I had to do was make gravy before dinner.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRHQ_reGYHZRA9ZCzyF9ho-59Zoa0lecGpYmL7p-clSBXCZQhhUrXwGEAaBuP5CydXnukzM2MkRoqJF0uvNHVxW6Yy2vZXy-Tl_Ko7wGo_2G4d27W4SRjjjRNIf6FfX55M8Lk9XCE2zvGl/s1600/20141127_165432.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRHQ_reGYHZRA9ZCzyF9ho-59Zoa0lecGpYmL7p-clSBXCZQhhUrXwGEAaBuP5CydXnukzM2MkRoqJF0uvNHVxW6Yy2vZXy-Tl_Ko7wGo_2G4d27W4SRjjjRNIf6FfX55M8Lk9XCE2zvGl/s1600/20141127_165432.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">All the Bowers (all you see of Papa is his hand and belly).</td></tr>
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This autumn was marked by MUSHROOMS in abundance. I dragged Eddie out into the woods with the dogs several times after school. We got lucky with the abundance! <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMeJUHGn6tN3-iPAGgviEFAYo7dI-Xga1pXrpwCeW_EkuTSW4QNSkIajCbjiLn72FHIZgamAsWqNpqj1U5d6LNEAjcLXxrW_D3Du2I7HBJBa2EkeaUs0hKS13Urj3YH1pg32i0SMu15w53/s1600/20141202_170552.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMeJUHGn6tN3-iPAGgviEFAYo7dI-Xga1pXrpwCeW_EkuTSW4QNSkIajCbjiLn72FHIZgamAsWqNpqj1U5d6LNEAjcLXxrW_D3Du2I7HBJBa2EkeaUs0hKS13Urj3YH1pg32i0SMu15w53/s1600/20141202_170552.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One afternoon Eddie and I went into the woods with a bucket, a latte-filled paper cup, and his school backpack (had our hats and water bottles in it). We found SO MANY black trumpets and pig's ears that I ended up stuffing all those containers with mushrooms.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8OKFD0RpiEEFQhJxqj6B9NaP4vHhUa_dwrUirOQqaOeTuIAXor3h3OmpwKCJdPY6b8-FRwfziY1yu8e1vBmJQQnyvpglmt0VxhqmCKSSDBiZD-TaVmMi13RK27B-nif2sLdGkHntTYxgn/s1600/20141206_112500.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8OKFD0RpiEEFQhJxqj6B9NaP4vHhUa_dwrUirOQqaOeTuIAXor3h3OmpwKCJdPY6b8-FRwfziY1yu8e1vBmJQQnyvpglmt0VxhqmCKSSDBiZD-TaVmMi13RK27B-nif2sLdGkHntTYxgn/s1600/20141206_112500.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">So many trumpets!</td></tr>
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In early December I was getting oh-so-close to finalizing my dissertation. Every Wednesday I drive Eddie to school and then pick him up (rather than busing). So I get to spend a few hours in the itty bitty Coast Community Library typing away. My favorite spot is the teen section and I use some giant environmental impact reports to raise my screen to an ergonomic height.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEWZTgAWZQKUIE77IlnFFwkWdPSjV7F8VJff5jLJQU-c69CS9rqr1uwBYa0nVYD4kY4WqKPViIoH6zec4pfsho7-JwrPi5Cyiz56OrjCvK36a0wPGdrY9WmxpVmRPkaPkdlDuZfcfQXCm8/s1600/20141203_101014.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEWZTgAWZQKUIE77IlnFFwkWdPSjV7F8VJff5jLJQU-c69CS9rqr1uwBYa0nVYD4kY4WqKPViIoH6zec4pfsho7-JwrPi5Cyiz56OrjCvK36a0wPGdrY9WmxpVmRPkaPkdlDuZfcfQXCm8/s1600/20141203_101014.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This was my last Dissertation Wednesday in the library. (I was pretty excited about the 'last' part.)</td></tr>
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In mid-December my dad and brother kindly came to town to help Dave finalize some of the new kitchen installation things. We're turning this giant house into 2 residences and the first step is to install a second kitchen downstairs. It's been...a lot of work. I can't wait for it to be done. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8eWsvT4-9AWmxi9BO4VRAzSLJbKKY2KeeMubwVgQmaTgrdrV0rEolyX7I_jDck7gcn97xNgAtf8TSTTgpz_q25Ab2ke56nSVDdH5W-YA0spKeZ3CEEL4idTFS7rvpMpCJEEHbE2j07EHt/s1600/20141212_184839.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8eWsvT4-9AWmxi9BO4VRAzSLJbKKY2KeeMubwVgQmaTgrdrV0rEolyX7I_jDck7gcn97xNgAtf8TSTTgpz_q25Ab2ke56nSVDdH5W-YA0spKeZ3CEEL4idTFS7rvpMpCJEEHbE2j07EHt/s1600/20141212_184839.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Eddie sure likes having Grandpa and Uncle around.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHtVS7HdSYlDh_cv_453BHIZ9f6GeVHmj_BfYific4Z90Ese22jkHOPZwMS2Z6882J-T6iYWSpNvcJtlt_utp9_BmIIJHvZO4Q5IzOd0k6HRul6hgikyrFKzmVxCxzBl_pMSBppPzVQ-KL/s1600/20141213_084838.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHtVS7HdSYlDh_cv_453BHIZ9f6GeVHmj_BfYific4Z90Ese22jkHOPZwMS2Z6882J-T6iYWSpNvcJtlt_utp9_BmIIJHvZO4Q5IzOd0k6HRul6hgikyrFKzmVxCxzBl_pMSBppPzVQ-KL/s1600/20141213_084838.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">There was lots of reading going on while they weren't working.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiguHUxNMsTLnh2c4r-aYRa-iTRt8HS_yI54o5q9PIDfp6e1PmxaVJVHlJ7scEdYKoxvs68Bo-_Q7sCLinEDkFK52k7vierKU1bi2Q35-lMOBXKg7TcuhFf0OwPxrcTXwDrxcrDd28qCrvC/s1600/20141213_093806.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiguHUxNMsTLnh2c4r-aYRa-iTRt8HS_yI54o5q9PIDfp6e1PmxaVJVHlJ7scEdYKoxvs68Bo-_Q7sCLinEDkFK52k7vierKU1bi2Q35-lMOBXKg7TcuhFf0OwPxrcTXwDrxcrDd28qCrvC/s1600/20141213_093806.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And lots of snuggling.</td></tr>
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On December 18, 2014 I officially changed my title to Doctor Mama! My dad went to Davis with me for the day so he could photo-document everything: getting signatures from my committee, filing the dissertation with Grad Studies, etc. I'll definitely do a proper post on this soon.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnsC92EOKwdWrzOMsXjun9ktmrkrR0fcDXJkTdrUI_KH9hVPPO4ikJ38rxA0PijFO6eAEUXu0eCrMiP9AmaZIRDZMjMpNHq13mqWxGgBAX4n0mK2EjkuiD_WgKYhwDkcvLaJwPXb_q6vZR/s1600/20141218_133931.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnsC92EOKwdWrzOMsXjun9ktmrkrR0fcDXJkTdrUI_KH9hVPPO4ikJ38rxA0PijFO6eAEUXu0eCrMiP9AmaZIRDZMjMpNHq13mqWxGgBAX4n0mK2EjkuiD_WgKYhwDkcvLaJwPXb_q6vZR/s1600/20141218_133931.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is immediately after it became official--me holding my new UC Davis alumni pin!</td></tr>
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The next day, I collected Eddie from Dave and Santa Rosa so we could spend some time in Livermore with my dad. Then we packed up and went camping (in a cabin) with Dyani's family and Edward and Jennifer in Morgan Hill. The kids had fun biking in the mud and horsing around.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtmzFa98m9QkYMYMb11BIAzwipaPOkfxIb6hD5kF2OtxLrvoB17LPZ7305Cy1k3MEI9C2atRpOdYMitxAHdQEsmP-PnevFA6jlX54DbsQb36qOQOsjugo-gr35iy-nG3pl8fv5XABRBGDt/s1600/20141220_175041.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtmzFa98m9QkYMYMb11BIAzwipaPOkfxIb6hD5kF2OtxLrvoB17LPZ7305Cy1k3MEI9C2atRpOdYMitxAHdQEsmP-PnevFA6jlX54DbsQb36qOQOsjugo-gr35iy-nG3pl8fv5XABRBGDt/s1600/20141220_175041.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Batiste and Eddie...gosh they used to be wee babies!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT75LvL3oYCkyew6LJ1tfze7I7enDupNeTVnashS87q-GXYN-bt0mXTH3FtUe76p0salS4XN64mVhW65SBtVBX6codk8xj8recGhX2IwmV_LvPlUuYjRKIcf2T8HOiHGbhCEAb43tuJQk2/s1600/20141220_185434.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT75LvL3oYCkyew6LJ1tfze7I7enDupNeTVnashS87q-GXYN-bt0mXTH3FtUe76p0salS4XN64mVhW65SBtVBX6codk8xj8recGhX2IwmV_LvPlUuYjRKIcf2T8HOiHGbhCEAb43tuJQk2/s1600/20141220_185434.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gaudilliere-Bower-Levie-Whitney family dinner!</td></tr>
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I love shopping at the Asian and Indian markets of the bay area. So of course Eddie and I had to make a pit stop at 99 Ranch market before heading back up to the coast. He really wanted to have fish for dinner so we got (way too many) 2 trout and 2 snapper. Papa John was very, very happy--he loves seafood.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_fjnbqc8fUjSmMixtTYB1VaRS7SkZsHECQqhnuG6WJKlov6NAJAEAEI44MxjHt_HeB6j1XCLbP8J4YCU2lhPZ7Q7kC90ejnw3EXy_R-i6PVhtyohivP9xelJn3VMabhYqRr_4Ma4c2r7q/s1600/20141223_183806.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_fjnbqc8fUjSmMixtTYB1VaRS7SkZsHECQqhnuG6WJKlov6NAJAEAEI44MxjHt_HeB6j1XCLbP8J4YCU2lhPZ7Q7kC90ejnw3EXy_R-i6PVhtyohivP9xelJn3VMabhYqRr_4Ma4c2r7q/s1600/20141223_183806.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Happy Bowers with their fish dinner.</td></tr>
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Suddenly it was Christmas 2014! We kept it small as usual, just the three of us. I am always amazed (grossed out a little?) by how many presents my friends' kids get for the holiday. Luckily Eddie doesn't know what other families do and he's overjoyed with his 3 "big" gifts. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhs8CgvzYFwIxRCxdLihwZYtqxhCWb4ZqPM1oLZUkn_dLSF6_-B-_SJDoh0AoK8brVqmUum-ZvBhE0COh5khTsKOInksztafJmtIM60eouGdqpWLiRKGfbP0h43k6Nco7u1QYhRzyDIHQbY/s1600/20141225_075051.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhs8CgvzYFwIxRCxdLihwZYtqxhCWb4ZqPM1oLZUkn_dLSF6_-B-_SJDoh0AoK8brVqmUum-ZvBhE0COh5khTsKOInksztafJmtIM60eouGdqpWLiRKGfbP0h43k6Nco7u1QYhRzyDIHQbY/s1600/20141225_075051.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Happy Christmas big boy!</td></tr>
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Just for documenting, here's what we got. Eddie received an 800 piece LEGO set (airplane, boat, helicopter), a Transformer LEGO book, and a flip-over RC car. Dave received a coffee cup warmer for his office, 2 belts...and I don't remember what else. (Mental note: I've really got to step up my gift giving effort for him.) He gave me a Burkey water filter for my emergency supplies stash, a digital kitchen scale, and 4 types of kitchen thermometers (I'd just been complaining about how my cheese and meat thermometers go missing all the time).<br />
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The Saturday after Christmas we had dinner at my in-law's. John actually did most of the cooking, surprisingly. Peggy said she sent him to the store for a turkey and he came home with a TWENTY SIX pound turkey! For a 5-person dinner. Oh my. The whole meal was delicious.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1QRdkn54ex32VMCyRVT8inPIlN6_MyFzIf9m7sXF3x0hxOdN1y5NoOriTIl0asop9k-3Ny84he_YSzb1FxqXG0WqM0peQZ1S1Eewa14sFxNlkX0jy2LG730pAQUTcS4nOAhvRParFg6V7/s1600/20141227_174834.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1QRdkn54ex32VMCyRVT8inPIlN6_MyFzIf9m7sXF3x0hxOdN1y5NoOriTIl0asop9k-3Ny84he_YSzb1FxqXG0WqM0peQZ1S1Eewa14sFxNlkX0jy2LG730pAQUTcS4nOAhvRParFg6V7/s1600/20141227_174834.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Christmas dinner at Grammy and Papa's.</td></tr>
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The Bowers!http://www.blogger.com/profile/14571813809345871673noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-960240756385438552.post-40118278090160533852014-10-09T18:58:00.002-07:002014-10-09T18:58:49.169-07:00The Bowers Still ExistHi!<br />
<br />
Long time no blog, eh? Well, we're still alive. We're just busy. I promise I'll hop back on here after I file my dissertation.<br />
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In the meantime, here's a very quick look into my life at the moment.<br />
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWXN2L4TAcwKjxeCzwORpFg-5Sz3Y4CNi2waGkJJ28uQ2i-IDiuVWmug4HogBZCyka0hpfYY09s5Oh1brqrvuuW1w8W1-nteNST5lAhP1va8txncgpu3vj8bAzGSolAk8kFPW1M4mwRPwT/s1600/20141009_170431.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWXN2L4TAcwKjxeCzwORpFg-5Sz3Y4CNi2waGkJJ28uQ2i-IDiuVWmug4HogBZCyka0hpfYY09s5Oh1brqrvuuW1w8W1-nteNST5lAhP1va8txncgpu3vj8bAzGSolAk8kFPW1M4mwRPwT/s1600/20141009_170431.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.7272720336914px;">I'm currently house/garden/18-year-old-cat sitting for my dad while he and my brother are up in Gualala helping Dave work on the house. This is my dissertation station on the kitchen table.<br /></td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiyz4QSum2s1rHefyoLLhIWeKcedS9nVVqGc32c9ejfSLcyvINydcI-kefiScnpH2oVgKI3XfT0CSu30nbaek41mjFU9Lsee5sZuw_cVMXC6u-bLaNomC1H0tcPh3fZYzlS3vqnSTv_4a-/s1600/20141002_091302.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiyz4QSum2s1rHefyoLLhIWeKcedS9nVVqGc32c9ejfSLcyvINydcI-kefiScnpH2oVgKI3XfT0CSu30nbaek41mjFU9Lsee5sZuw_cVMXC6u-bLaNomC1H0tcPh3fZYzlS3vqnSTv_4a-/s1600/20141002_091302.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I set up a work station in the studio apartment of the property my dad recently bought in Gualala. It's just two doors down from the Coast House and makes a nice retreat. And since there's no wifi I tend to get a lot done!</td></tr>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjFVr1AKXYiVwRHmm2CsCHHTUQI6xtT7h3lUqCML8hBMRIkLw7_HYhkvBEMVd8a_hoIn3XgPSWTtY5to4TbiQQV_P-prvC9bWQ1_N4WjZx15UcmjrOJ9T01-F87zhjlJxmOm6zp8kevLqy/s1600/20140924_102043.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjFVr1AKXYiVwRHmm2CsCHHTUQI6xtT7h3lUqCML8hBMRIkLw7_HYhkvBEMVd8a_hoIn3XgPSWTtY5to4TbiQQV_P-prvC9bWQ1_N4WjZx15UcmjrOJ9T01-F87zhjlJxmOm6zp8kevLqy/s1600/20140924_102043.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.7272720336914px;">On Wednesdays I drive Eddie to/from school as a treat to him. While he's at school, I write in the teen section of our local library.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiireC4dqGF9G-MkkxZX53VrrwfmFwVq6yfzPgIuAOYDrEd2EC30jVQFwoel999Yc5Yq7sS1VWpQOtcjso0Rpya04EPPksVABHfRiCfhYxzrhRRTKFTriYg7M10h-HKXbedeg-LLXhx8XZQ/s1600/20141006_160234.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiireC4dqGF9G-MkkxZX53VrrwfmFwVq6yfzPgIuAOYDrEd2EC30jVQFwoel999Yc5Yq7sS1VWpQOtcjso0Rpya04EPPksVABHfRiCfhYxzrhRRTKFTriYg7M10h-HKXbedeg-LLXhx8XZQ/s1600/20141006_160234.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This handsome guy went mushroom hunting with Eddie and me on Monday. We found LOTS of king boletus. He's pointing to one. You really need a keen eye to find them among the pine needles and grass.</td></tr>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb2YSkEbltr3XCWrJoWZOXYzJaLcCWhCGzQ2FgDm4cE5GGH-XJ9W0H30uATwD56yAjWcZ31Lqjscp6zuIjKx9Un0OQa7GyDhE-uNeq4ctt1yo53smfaZo3s8_DGE7GGr_j5D-p9iMU7NnP/s1600/20141002_151636.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb2YSkEbltr3XCWrJoWZOXYzJaLcCWhCGzQ2FgDm4cE5GGH-XJ9W0H30uATwD56yAjWcZ31Lqjscp6zuIjKx9Un0OQa7GyDhE-uNeq4ctt1yo53smfaZo3s8_DGE7GGr_j5D-p9iMU7NnP/s1600/20141002_151636.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.7272720336914px;">Eddie is now in kindergarten. How did that happen?! I cannot figure out where the time has gone.<br /><br />He seems to be doing very well academically. For the last month he's been having some issues pushing his friends and sometimes not listening well to the teacher in the afternoon. I'm hoping it's a phase but I do worry that it'll get worse so we're trying really hard to nip it in the bud (role playing, talking about using verbal communication instead of his body language when he's frustrated, advice from the local family resource center, talking with the teacher every few days for updates, etc.). This behavior coincides with a new, annoying habit of chewing on cloth--like this backpack straps or shirt collar. So it might be stress...? Sigh, parenthood is not always fun or easy. <br /><br />But dang if he ain't the handsomest boy ever!</td></tr>
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I have no idea what led me to the blog...I was just finishing a lit review for my calorimetry chapter...I think it's time for a coffee before I get back to work....</div>
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See you in December!</div>
The Bowers!http://www.blogger.com/profile/14571813809345871673noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-960240756385438552.post-91300899332893225672014-05-21T21:09:00.000-07:002014-05-21T21:09:19.092-07:00Why no blogging? I wrote this last week and forgot to post it...the story of my life.<br />
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Goodness, have I ever gone a whole month without posting anything? Probably. I looked at the archives on the blog recently (looking for a recipe I know I posted in a partiuclar month) and it was interesting to see how many posts I created for every year. It has gone down, down, down steadily.<br />
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Why?<br />
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It seems that life never slows down, lets up, gives in, or calms down. There's always more more more going on. More commitments, more distractions, more house to deal with, more people to deal with, etc. It seems to happen without my consent! Just kidding. Since moving up here my schedule is less predictable. And our giant, disorganized house is a lot to keep up with. Add John and Dave into the meal mix and I'm always busy. Plus, I'm trying to save the airport, volunteering on a board of directors, TAing at Davis (I had to be registered as a full time student to qualify for graduation after being on leave), and working with a local group of folks to start a daycare in Gualala. Oh yeah: and my dissertation isn't done yet. (Closer than last month, though!)<br />
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Last week was slated to be very productive. I had a load of gardening planned, a goal of submitting another chapter to my committee for review, and more. But then I got strep throat. With a 103.5F fever and so much pain in my throat, the week was lost. I was so sick I couldn't even consider watching a show to pass the time. I just laid in bed trying to sleep but mostly staring at the ceiling.<br />
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This week is going better. On Wednesdays I usually spend the day in Point Arena. I drive Eddie to school (instead of have him take the bus) then get breakfast at the co-op. Once the library is open I work there until the afternoon movie starts at the theater (if I want to watch whatever is playing). Today is Le Weekend. The description sounds like something my mom would have LOVED so I'll probably go. I always get a small bucket of the organic popcorn with real butter (swoon!) instead of eating a proper lunch. The movie gets out just in time to pick Eddie up from daycare. Wednesdays are pretty awesome.<br />
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Tomorrow I'll spend the day planting our garden. I know, I know, it's nearly June. But we didn't have time to get it done any sooner...and better late than never.<br />
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This weekend Eddie and I will go to my brother's house to visit and so Jennifer and I can "run" in the Bay to Breakers. I put "run" in quotes because--let's be honest--there's no way I'll be running the whole thing. I can do 3 miles straight and only SLIGHTLY want to die. Seven miles would kill me. But I'll try. It'll be a run-walk-run-walk situation I'm sure. And besides, it's like a fun costume parade so we definitely won't be the only ones walking!<br />
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Thursday Eddie will get his last kindergarten shots. I can't believe he'll be in real school in a few months. Most people already have a second or third child by the time their oldest enters school. People keep asking us when we'll have another baby and at this point we often look at Eddie being crazy (whining about everything, bouncing off the walls with so.much.energy., refusing to do anything when asked, etc.) and think, "Do we really want to have another one? We are exhausted with THIS ONE!" Four-five year old boys are definitely a good form of birth control.<br />
<br />The Bowers!http://www.blogger.com/profile/14571813809345871673noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-960240756385438552.post-89587897827288662102014-04-10T11:04:00.001-07:002014-04-10T11:04:24.227-07:00Kayaking, Fishing, Horse Puppets, and CupcakesA couple of weekends ago we had a jam-packed fun time.<br />
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Edward and Jennifer came up to visit us the weekend after my birthday. They arrived Thursday night and Jennifer worked remotely Friday while Dave worked. I did some school stuff, errands, took Eddie to school, etc. and then spent a good amount of time getting our fishing gear organized. We all bought fishing licenses that afternoon after having an adult-only (!!) lunch downtown. Fishing didn't work out on Friday because we failed to check the tide calendar.<br />
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That evening we had a hot dog and deli salad dinner at one of John's burn piles in the woods. We've done these a lot recently and it was fun to have more people with us this time. I love these dinners because preparations are a snap and there's virtually no clean up! <br />
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgces6eWvtFfw4caVylYZRopqzLDhYOaxcXR_JlWh4fDaG0eksm9_CZLUDwAgPrCztvHHEqR5RZIvBBr6MJmO35Q1RKMDEbS42x8bDdrvKgo3q6Amtr8VN3NzCO4FnMACHOQ4wJd07HBStC/s1600/20140322_183624.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgces6eWvtFfw4caVylYZRopqzLDhYOaxcXR_JlWh4fDaG0eksm9_CZLUDwAgPrCztvHHEqR5RZIvBBr6MJmO35Q1RKMDEbS42x8bDdrvKgo3q6Amtr8VN3NzCO4FnMACHOQ4wJd07HBStC/s1600/20140322_183624.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.727272033691406px;">Papa John and Eddie messing around while we got dinner organized.</td></tr>
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Saturday morning I went up to Point Arena to the school to be a judge for the cupcake wars fundraiser. I had to taste all 28 cupcake entries...ouf. Luckily our friend was there selling his coffee and there was a kid selling hotdogs to cut the sweetness. The event was a raging success, selling out of cupcakes and raising just over $2000 for the school. I'm glad I participated and hope that I can do it again next year...unless I enter in the adult category! <br />
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Edward and Jennifer brought Eddie up to the school once the cupcake thing opened to the public at noon. Dave had met up with a fellow daycare dad to haul big rig loads of donated wood chips up to the preschool. He met us at the school for cupcake treats when he was done.<br />
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As soon as we had gulped down our coffee and hot dogs, Jennifer and I met up with my friend Naomi and went down the street to the Arena Theater. We saw a showing of the London Theater's <i>War Horse</i> play, using the most amazingly engineered puppets. The story is sad but the puppetry was just incredible. You should check out <a href="http://youtu.be/R1q9TXcng7o">this video</a> of a horse puppet meeting real horses--the acting done by the puppeteers is so life like!<br />
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After getting back to Gualala that afternoon we lazed around a bit before having a nice dinner.<br />
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Sunday morning we took off to Cook's Beach for another fishing attempt, this time at low tide. Edward, Jennifer, and I biked there (it took all of 5 minutes down Highway 1) while Eddie, the dogs, and Dave drove. We climbed out onto the rocks to fish, using squid for bait. No one caught anything but we did get some nibbles. I'm not sure if they were from fish or crabs, though. Regardless of the lack of fish for supper that night, we had lots of fun. Eddie had a gaggle of adults to build castles in the sand, the dogs convinced random people on the beach to throw sticks for them, and we all enjoyed the warm sunshiny weather.<br />
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsK6f8jDcBnFUsyXhnUqNy550rNPPWwBTdPLS77QWAu5JlaqY2CuBu7NyPjQlCAqIm23McniGQrgPI4tYlyWD3ngKS2ke7A7RAOUduD3Ecn935hfgBLLwV4W4YVQvmQP6w7uSAq7mTDOBB/s1600/20140323_115306.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsK6f8jDcBnFUsyXhnUqNy550rNPPWwBTdPLS77QWAu5JlaqY2CuBu7NyPjQlCAqIm23McniGQrgPI4tYlyWD3ngKS2ke7A7RAOUduD3Ecn935hfgBLLwV4W4YVQvmQP6w7uSAq7mTDOBB/s1600/20140323_115306.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.727272033691406px;">Auntie Jennifer fishing!</td></tr>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirfvCXenvLRhn8It1mIOF4pTuF-HePGjY8BpvbOQ6qmev3cHKs6sIWU2vSJWf9s9SCPIFHI2A2CLaIbxEnttcS69cfs4XQAJ8NaelVZ-eY9peGDJ-Qj5B8VsS-bXQubQrvDo9WapqGLsxk/s1600/20140323_115318.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirfvCXenvLRhn8It1mIOF4pTuF-HePGjY8BpvbOQ6qmev3cHKs6sIWU2vSJWf9s9SCPIFHI2A2CLaIbxEnttcS69cfs4XQAJ8NaelVZ-eY9peGDJ-Qj5B8VsS-bXQubQrvDo9WapqGLsxk/s1600/20140323_115318.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.727272033691406px;">Eddie, the dogs, and Dave prepping the fishing gear. Well, I guess the dogs are just there to lick up the squid juice.</td></tr>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibqZbmyLfOKUOG6ESaaWtlPv09A_9c-szGwulRIB4-H6Si7dZwtQAphJoT78K-PKiCBxvhdhOKVlS4VM4Tgu1sovJthvRoHN0UYI5qJU9kn0XLIKUBWBpkV6x5wGkjaJ7G1rqc-mUrfvM-/s1600/20140323_115329.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibqZbmyLfOKUOG6ESaaWtlPv09A_9c-szGwulRIB4-H6Si7dZwtQAphJoT78K-PKiCBxvhdhOKVlS4VM4Tgu1sovJthvRoHN0UYI5qJU9kn0XLIKUBWBpkV6x5wGkjaJ7G1rqc-mUrfvM-/s1600/20140323_115329.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.727272033691406px;">Edward and Jennifer.</td></tr>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_UStSq8XsQ23asKg26bMgId9AN8Qu1Ag_qCpWdi0_QT3S5E9CDloRO27oVRyy8Xi0rTW8usJqYyaJL12agV1WTHRZjKXud8QkS4XAYeX64K-XqsZLWLAaGfWzpxL-SILGKuoEOgyOCmaS/s1600/20140323_115220.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_UStSq8XsQ23asKg26bMgId9AN8Qu1Ag_qCpWdi0_QT3S5E9CDloRO27oVRyy8Xi0rTW8usJqYyaJL12agV1WTHRZjKXud8QkS4XAYeX64K-XqsZLWLAaGfWzpxL-SILGKuoEOgyOCmaS/s1600/20140323_115220.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.727272033691406px;">Edward immediately hooked his line on the rocks below us. He spent about a half hour dealing with it, including a climb down the rocks to the water's edge. I would cut the line!</td></tr>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgGYm_e0ny9TpYQT5ZG8PjuyzU3zAlXGhVkW6ZvJqQ_dk_TCOrmvMP8DErEy6x8CSHLUhHrZa4frEdsAcXINklptlBhZeinBH0dwig0q5tkedHAukmCtsx217-zmi-wDqwsa7og9cNKYeI/s1600/20140323_115403.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgGYm_e0ny9TpYQT5ZG8PjuyzU3zAlXGhVkW6ZvJqQ_dk_TCOrmvMP8DErEy6x8CSHLUhHrZa4frEdsAcXINklptlBhZeinBH0dwig0q5tkedHAukmCtsx217-zmi-wDqwsa7og9cNKYeI/s1600/20140323_115403.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.727272033691406px;">Eddie's pointing to a purple star fish we spied on the rocks in the tide pools. </td></tr>
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That afternoon we rented kayaks and took them up river. Eddie and I were in a double and it was his first time kayaking. He did great, even paddling a little. Mostly, though, he collected sticks on the beach and then launched them like arrows from the elastic cargo bungee on the front of the raft. We were happy to run into Naomi and her two doggies playing in the river. Eddie wanted to go home with her and the dogs! But we convinced him to keep playing in the water with us.<br />
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We picnicked on a gravel beach just south of a fly fisherman. Our egg salad and chips lunch was delicious. Just nearby the beach we saw an otter, which was very cool.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhutiVfpI60mYzLE5POB9uLCgeOF7G8kkB2WICHcNItkE3goA5OUpMNgG2Fesi7J3c7GNoGPzO6Eaw7NZrotCS5TFXkntye9LeAiDnWQqiyMt9qlUCfjFzvS4kGjBSDqDxhyphenhyphenZBnDP1PIszk/s1600/Cropped.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhutiVfpI60mYzLE5POB9uLCgeOF7G8kkB2WICHcNItkE3goA5OUpMNgG2Fesi7J3c7GNoGPzO6Eaw7NZrotCS5TFXkntye9LeAiDnWQqiyMt9qlUCfjFzvS4kGjBSDqDxhyphenhyphenZBnDP1PIszk/s1600/Cropped.png" height="352" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me and Eddie!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-7YgxyKYc9QlHFzGcocb45upLXmRpUp9rNg9gpMKQRAnMmMr2GckgkqNXp55OVtdvMhfvmc3H6xAyUr4yVTzVYuY8a3x2T_K3fo4DzQta-XQDs05WtZ55N4yWAZXuxou4bf5Ky2BtR8oX/s1600/IMG_20140323_150113296.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-7YgxyKYc9QlHFzGcocb45upLXmRpUp9rNg9gpMKQRAnMmMr2GckgkqNXp55OVtdvMhfvmc3H6xAyUr4yVTzVYuY8a3x2T_K3fo4DzQta-XQDs05WtZ55N4yWAZXuxou4bf5Ky2BtR8oX/s1600/IMG_20140323_150113296.jpg" height="360" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our picnic on the beach.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGbLVJCefscye4aGPaSHv5uhu5iDcrbpPzYiSqtD2wAqMLud_ZFaD59Ic4ovZi0gOnuqHsdFqptvb8kGl3EPovCs64O0rsWaEShHMjrojho86f6J07xYm3PAh-O-4KCkjB7t7Eft2JCTdY/s1600/IMG_20140323_150909259.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGbLVJCefscye4aGPaSHv5uhu5iDcrbpPzYiSqtD2wAqMLud_ZFaD59Ic4ovZi0gOnuqHsdFqptvb8kGl3EPovCs64O0rsWaEShHMjrojho86f6J07xYm3PAh-O-4KCkjB7t7Eft2JCTdY/s1600/IMG_20140323_150909259.jpg" height="360" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Edward.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAS2gRDYqUN-fZ5trqM3rEVrrMJf1q2Yb9gFNQE3WLmgo6v1M5Cny6YFA0VO4z73bqdeMxUeM39FAq0Cau8AUPt7OzaJocSkaCqUhx4F-zQ6oocdtSwx1TPIxGzJNim2vgyxnCQLKY4s9i/s1600/Cropped+2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAS2gRDYqUN-fZ5trqM3rEVrrMJf1q2Yb9gFNQE3WLmgo6v1M5Cny6YFA0VO4z73bqdeMxUeM39FAq0Cau8AUPt7OzaJocSkaCqUhx4F-zQ6oocdtSwx1TPIxGzJNim2vgyxnCQLKY4s9i/s1600/Cropped+2.png" height="376" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jennifer in her single and Eddie and I in our double.</td></tr>
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After getting home from the river, our visitors packed up their stuff and took off down the road. I sent them off with butterscotch lattes to go so they could have an enjoyable ride. It was a busy, fun, and somewhat exhausting weekend...I can't wait to have them visit again soon!The Bowers!http://www.blogger.com/profile/14571813809345871673noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-960240756385438552.post-75870919747607393882014-04-03T11:46:00.001-07:002014-04-03T11:46:06.939-07:00Dave QuizLet's play a game.<br />
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You might be married to Dave if (select all that apply):<br />
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A. You get emails like this:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6e8Asbeb_0hPEpaIKeuHMFxrmOfovrtJJedF2Z2uiJ6bthSLKjuFfXiYjBkzp7-ETNwzfi_vB-ElUiB7mrv6S3hsLzLMMSSstQ33xUpjwVjdzC6mPrwyF_mWI805ZOlI9VWot6YZHosLJ/s1600/Dave_water+bill.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6e8Asbeb_0hPEpaIKeuHMFxrmOfovrtJJedF2Z2uiJ6bthSLKjuFfXiYjBkzp7-ETNwzfi_vB-ElUiB7mrv6S3hsLzLMMSSstQ33xUpjwVjdzC6mPrwyF_mWI805ZOlI9VWot6YZHosLJ/s1600/Dave_water+bill.png" height="142" width="640" /></a></div>
B. You get calendar event invitations like this:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI55sg7zrfZuOYbdaOFHSAjmaiv1ES1fxXPxjmURDa7jWMOR2vSTslKlsbzkP11GBrIUoBN4n2S8w97-zirEdy6CSOKK-c34WRjQ5qRMMKWudk_QmZUCmZrikamslTX3ZpXPi_5lryAr2H/s1600/David_Calendar.png" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI55sg7zrfZuOYbdaOFHSAjmaiv1ES1fxXPxjmURDa7jWMOR2vSTslKlsbzkP11GBrIUoBN4n2S8w97-zirEdy6CSOKK-c34WRjQ5qRMMKWudk_QmZUCmZrikamslTX3ZpXPi_5lryAr2H/s1600/David_Calendar.png" height="137" width="400" /></a></div>
C. Everything in your husband's office is at least 20% larger than normal (desk, chair, mouse, monitor, computer tower), leaving you unable to use the office in his absence because you are <i>not</i> 20% larger than most wives.<br />
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D. You have to set the table with cocktail sauce when it's taco or burrito night because it's a must-have condiment for your husband (and his dad).<br />
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E. You find yourself refusing to pack food into his lunchbox because you're grossed out that there is mold growing inside and you are teased for being dramatic and overly concerned as he throws his food into the box himself. Ew, <i>mold</i>.<br />
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F. You find a zillion extra pictures on your phone if you let him be in charge of taking the picture. You discover that he just snaps away, even when you're not ready yet.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxfUD96WsHAFgxZlr_oQFyEPx50J77rT8-bzLpYj2MENBXIaY9kOXBrqe7pG7DkEaOJJJNZpmHnn_7EjIluE0qhW3FdqyhhnH43pmhWsuD2qmlwu1C5WjP5kwKaZtLIB5YbXuwzHdBRsEh/s1600/20140312_192108.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxfUD96WsHAFgxZlr_oQFyEPx50J77rT8-bzLpYj2MENBXIaY9kOXBrqe7pG7DkEaOJJJNZpmHnn_7EjIluE0qhW3FdqyhhnH43pmhWsuD2qmlwu1C5WjP5kwKaZtLIB5YbXuwzHdBRsEh/s1600/20140312_192108.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a><br />
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G. Your 5000 square foot house routinely uses only $70 in electricity in a month. Related: you are used to hearing your husband spout off how much money it costs per hour to run such-and-such light fixture and seeing him daydream when he talks about LED fixtures for the garage and kitchen remodel.<br />
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H. He asks you to plot the propane usage so he can calculate how much lower<i> </i>the electric bill will be once we switch from the electric stove to the propane stove. <i>And you do it</i>.<br />
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I. You fear for your life when you have to drive his truck.<br />
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You should have answered <i>all of the above</i>. </div>
<br />The Bowers!http://www.blogger.com/profile/14571813809345871673noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-960240756385438552.post-38210144782517438152014-03-27T11:07:00.004-07:002014-03-27T11:12:34.457-07:00The Dogs and Their KittyGiven the number of dogs-staring-at-the-cat pictures I have on my phone, I figured it was appropriate for a post about it.<br />
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How the dogs interact with the cat varies over the course of the day. While us humans are at work or school, the kitty has free roam of the house and the dogs are locked up in the office. She seems to enjoy having free rein over the house, as evidenced by the tongue lick marks I've found on the butter when we forget to cover it, things she's knocked off the coffee table, and occasionally finding her hiding somewhere weird when we get home. She'll sometimes be up high on a shelf or in a pile of as-yet unpacked moving boxes because the dogs were let out before she could run back her to laundry room.<br />
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But when we are home, a feline-canine magnetism develops that is hard to ignore.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1b-epJZA3_7Y4GwkEfPJ6YoYmQfvu2-9dIy3Mw-nzUqYbTji3gbguVeF_-h2SW9akm9EElge-ljd861zHayLjkPX9buc_mbGJfS5iZFj6iDkmr60f4umEjP6QzXRxjRFEXSKhd4JElBxA/s1600/20140202_104356.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1b-epJZA3_7Y4GwkEfPJ6YoYmQfvu2-9dIy3Mw-nzUqYbTji3gbguVeF_-h2SW9akm9EElge-ljd861zHayLjkPX9buc_mbGJfS5iZFj6iDkmr60f4umEjP6QzXRxjRFEXSKhd4JElBxA/s1600/20140202_104356.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Taters turns into a statue, positioning himself with a good view of the kitty. He won't move a muscle unless you offer him food or suggest a romp outside. And sometimes not even then. We think he stares at her in hopes that SOMEDAY she'll surprise him and want to be chased through the house. But I think he'll have to wait a looooooooong time for that to happen.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5rCOI6AM3gDHd5RaAaL052fyiBYNICnggRBFkLdSSPVnlhKDVB2XMBA_5ZHJoX3I7kc8ZI43F2qWVds77Wv-Z-zhcy8Z5GOdPyF2cSH_WM4QK53WVPpgqTMBLs3IkukjTQsKa8KCozkDf/s1600/20131213_192619.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5rCOI6AM3gDHd5RaAaL052fyiBYNICnggRBFkLdSSPVnlhKDVB2XMBA_5ZHJoX3I7kc8ZI43F2qWVds77Wv-Z-zhcy8Z5GOdPyF2cSH_WM4QK53WVPpgqTMBLs3IkukjTQsKa8KCozkDf/s1600/20131213_192619.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ruby gets magnetized sometimes, too.</td></tr>
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I don't know how they can stand to stare at her for so long. Once bedtime rolls around, they make sure to get a good spot for horizontal position staring while we get ready to sleep. Usually we place Nina on a king sized pillow between the headboard and my pillow. She used to stay there for quite some time but has recently decided that she'd rather walk around the entire bed to find the perfect nest, despite the crazy dogs lurk<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4Bc_PDppi6t5MmLSBMINPBRJHxmB7nJLMaxk_DjRe9rWyoDJ5MIsjumy1xeV8DiXizqYCknpvhvwvisRsgk5hO8YFUyGU_TNffge_M6tPRV8vZszCWt5IXADtT8AdwBCaPjGjHd0xlsx1/s1600/20140129_225948.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4Bc_PDppi6t5MmLSBMINPBRJHxmB7nJLMaxk_DjRe9rWyoDJ5MIsjumy1xeV8DiXizqYCknpvhvwvisRsgk5hO8YFUyGU_TNffge_M6tPRV8vZszCWt5IXADtT8AdwBCaPjGjHd0xlsx1/s1600/20140129_225948.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">If Nina would allow it, Ruby would have her snout shoved into Nina's fur (or better yet, her "undercarriage") whenever they're in bed.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsBnbb6fQ3HIXDZOJy_1Olo1-zhO9e7NMHPraM3LyDmkFtnI073wb-5IFkC2lVuWEsdWt_w3mPFAu-iU16C9xilxZqeupJw5EyUeK5qgdqrgVRmRDNCl2umBUCxQdiG8sbvaGNhj2ftXl2/s1600/20140203_213200.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsBnbb6fQ3HIXDZOJy_1Olo1-zhO9e7NMHPraM3LyDmkFtnI073wb-5IFkC2lVuWEsdWt_w3mPFAu-iU16C9xilxZqeupJw5EyUeK5qgdqrgVRmRDNCl2umBUCxQdiG8sbvaGNhj2ftXl2/s1600/20140203_213200.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pretty girls!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9r2B4XVvH1lIjlO7QvmBlCuJiq7c7JfPwWpUMxDuOyWWg2qIAQG3qkd7NIKOOfBFolF2lxVVfEZbsEaSiImaNVU9YlLzRfWrZL7su-tIif4-O98R9Hg1UEf4qRmPOtlruOzw3mFEdH5bp/s1600/20140101_220134.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9r2B4XVvH1lIjlO7QvmBlCuJiq7c7JfPwWpUMxDuOyWWg2qIAQG3qkd7NIKOOfBFolF2lxVVfEZbsEaSiImaNVU9YlLzRfWrZL7su-tIif4-O98R9Hg1UEf4qRmPOtlruOzw3mFEdH5bp/s1600/20140101_220134.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Clearly, Nina is not too perturbed by the canine affections.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKYgVvJdtZc9q8sOcDwWSiHdRb0DEV40L7hySsTLSmzAXRBFo4C2WLu0V8j9fowPb_WlJ9QLizWocV349kBUe3FkE5gPLqiMS3_8mHIMN3dwOrvDiyLow4n2Nnw-Htagfs8ulRLhgXUKMP/s1600/20140107_200508.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKYgVvJdtZc9q8sOcDwWSiHdRb0DEV40L7hySsTLSmzAXRBFo4C2WLu0V8j9fowPb_WlJ9QLizWocV349kBUe3FkE5gPLqiMS3_8mHIMN3dwOrvDiyLow4n2Nnw-Htagfs8ulRLhgXUKMP/s1600/20140107_200508.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sometimes, Ruby will get too tired to actually stare at the kitty so they'll snuggle up for a bit. Nina tries to groom Ruby, but Ruby always growls.</td></tr>
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Our sleeping arrangements shift depending on our moods (do we want a cat taking up space in the bed tonight?) and Eddie's requests (sometimes he wants Nina to sleep with him). Like I said, she usually sleeps on a pillow in our bed. But sometimes she sleeps with Eddie--and half of those times he ends up in our room in the middle of the night complaining that Nina is walking all over him. So then we put her outside the hallway and she goes about her nocturnal feline business.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyTtQGGGSNsstJsNYDIVnrkjJHCKqToruFSSsUue7eVVRb0vZCw_58maXFEO2mtIAnAwlC0zmtAxvq5SG1ZwZeVhwQp9sH0b7RjkyrhE7A0s_Y2Ste21Q4KGPEQ6miuvx6kfsSs0M8ikKQ/s1600/20131220_062007.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyTtQGGGSNsstJsNYDIVnrkjJHCKqToruFSSsUue7eVVRb0vZCw_58maXFEO2mtIAnAwlC0zmtAxvq5SG1ZwZeVhwQp9sH0b7RjkyrhE7A0s_Y2Ste21Q4KGPEQ6miuvx6kfsSs0M8ikKQ/s1600/20131220_062007.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Eddie and kitty!</td></tr>
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I get up to pee nearly every night and lately I've been finding Nina and Taters snuggled up together in the middle of the bed, where Taters sleeps every night. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixALJ5f5zntSRa-hLp4hB4Spdh9wsLgqnEPsGZBzUW0I9_xEa5ocB0q5F2YaMDfyqYClYnVKD2zGyyZOfPdUWu1BR2P4OeeKopWNthNkG3gDcrhyphenhyphen_r2wdQX8LxjQu_xu7Qp_LX5xOSh82Y/s1600/20140212_051516.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixALJ5f5zntSRa-hLp4hB4Spdh9wsLgqnEPsGZBzUW0I9_xEa5ocB0q5F2YaMDfyqYClYnVKD2zGyyZOfPdUWu1BR2P4OeeKopWNthNkG3gDcrhyphenhyphen_r2wdQX8LxjQu_xu7Qp_LX5xOSh82Y/s1600/20140212_051516.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">ISN'T THAT ADORABLE?</td></tr>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFNX6fldRo3yKuKabGBp8_UBSPfr4NWqtZghWd06nX4plrGEvP0A_q1AnickfH382o8TGLsR9809EoHcIm2JE_caiWWlRshjtOtUKJsPCnCsNhSKpjgtExJohvF3ys307y1qYdumvNZbp0/s1600/20140323_010834.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFNX6fldRo3yKuKabGBp8_UBSPfr4NWqtZghWd06nX4plrGEvP0A_q1AnickfH382o8TGLsR9809EoHcIm2JE_caiWWlRshjtOtUKJsPCnCsNhSKpjgtExJohvF3ys307y1qYdumvNZbp0/s1600/20140323_010834.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.727272033691406px;">Here's another one in case you didn't realize just how cute it is to see your dog and cat (and husband) snuggling.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLF6Cv5kQXeUkSayhnjnVyDQEFSf8ebsaQeNpXgZM5AqlBrpeFS374AUY2dCCPTgpXCfbTuWQLG5ttAbt1xz4Tx4TSPTZ9HgNqy28MEWhOCViJ_JFgKXUkre29-kBtkrSzhGzJOyYEPBxi/s1600/20140314_230341.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLF6Cv5kQXeUkSayhnjnVyDQEFSf8ebsaQeNpXgZM5AqlBrpeFS374AUY2dCCPTgpXCfbTuWQLG5ttAbt1xz4Tx4TSPTZ9HgNqy28MEWhOCViJ_JFgKXUkre29-kBtkrSzhGzJOyYEPBxi/s1600/20140314_230341.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sometimes Nina chooses the weirdest places to sleep. She's soooooo soft and silky and warm that I put up with it.</td></tr>
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<span style="text-align: center;"></span><br />
<span style="text-align: center;">I think they'd snuggle this way during the day if it weren't for annoying Ruby trying to police the situation. We call her the Yard Duty, except she growls and barks instead of blows a whistle.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiS0Eil96p8v_AzA514VylNm6lm5dYDG3mTlIXK81gdVgX7Ge5SBOUIK9Ujrqc8MwcJq-UUbs4ULWJ8A10hts3p6NbnQVX9dyTkMZjq6yulrZCUew6kceYIgiBWz2HVanhpkBkPEXHD9fF/s1600/20140214_211035.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiS0Eil96p8v_AzA514VylNm6lm5dYDG3mTlIXK81gdVgX7Ge5SBOUIK9Ujrqc8MwcJq-UUbs4ULWJ8A10hts3p6NbnQVX9dyTkMZjq6yulrZCUew6kceYIgiBWz2HVanhpkBkPEXHD9fF/s1600/20140214_211035.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">In this case, Ruby was warning Dave to stop bothering her. He was stroking Ruby's head with one of Nina's shed whiskers and she was NOT happy about it. Of course, I could have taken a similar picture when Ruby is "protecting" Nina from Taters....Ruby seems to think Nina needs protecting sometimes.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEDsF48Berix9VsQBy-jQVgQYhoB-VQePGvFZcOG6pCF95TTtyfuw-DAPWjswTvQZy481LhzLPgwixyvhHj-KujdNgCIVlUkEz8Z_3qcuMBkNrnXd_QlE1Pr-TZszABY7-hUH23JjSotR7/s1600/20140317_220344-MOTION.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEDsF48Berix9VsQBy-jQVgQYhoB-VQePGvFZcOG6pCF95TTtyfuw-DAPWjswTvQZy481LhzLPgwixyvhHj-KujdNgCIVlUkEz8Z_3qcuMBkNrnXd_QlE1Pr-TZszABY7-hUH23JjSotR7/s1600/20140317_220344-MOTION.gif" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ruby wasn't thrilled at getting a bath from Nina. </td></tr>
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Oh, the complexities of inter-species homes...The Bowers!http://www.blogger.com/profile/14571813809345871673noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-960240756385438552.post-2485742709731144212014-03-11T19:47:00.000-07:002014-03-11T19:47:01.147-07:00Work, Study, Play Weekend<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Saturday I volunteered us to help at Eddie's daycare workday. We worked with two other dads to install a 30'x20' wooden border around the swing set. In a couple of weeks a dump truck load of wood chips will be delivered and we'll rake those around the swings for a soft cushion. I got to dig some of the post holes, something I hadn't done since the last time we did a daycare work day in 2011. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiH3h0wzH5tPzkf8Df1uErWVlOWfb-6f833pwUP8cdfVUexIvPIaRrDOz3STC5CrjG_F_DhrB3zR-sL-yftobdBogVty-hydRDrqkqCfZU6qHJR7cQ7PShvWqSBTcRqMGtyEF9zZJPvxDI/s1600/20140308_105353.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiH3h0wzH5tPzkf8Df1uErWVlOWfb-6f833pwUP8cdfVUexIvPIaRrDOz3STC5CrjG_F_DhrB3zR-sL-yftobdBogVty-hydRDrqkqCfZU6qHJR7cQ7PShvWqSBTcRqMGtyEF9zZJPvxDI/s1600/20140308_105353.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Eddie got into each of the 24 holes we dug to make SURE they were deep enough. He was a happy, dirty kid that day.</td></tr>
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There was one other kid there, two year old Drake, who had a grand time running around with Eddie. Toward the end, the kids and I went to the general store to get burritos and chips for everyone.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRi9emUvxFDHF28PD8Nt-QRFijmNjSW_FyX3Dkmts6y87KunxRUbbWBfVeQT2kSChWeN6EzD1x8ckNama68anDO9pC0AhcEklQ5SaNXMzUqtz0QYyIenVwr1y9cIyPnOQdtK8tzFguyukJ/s1600/20140308_112749.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRi9emUvxFDHF28PD8Nt-QRFijmNjSW_FyX3Dkmts6y87KunxRUbbWBfVeQT2kSChWeN6EzD1x8ckNama68anDO9pC0AhcEklQ5SaNXMzUqtz0QYyIenVwr1y9cIyPnOQdtK8tzFguyukJ/s1600/20140308_112749.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Drake and Eddie picked all the yellow sour grass flowers and floated them in the rain water the pooled inside the giant tires.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
When we got home, Dave spent some time studying for his upcoming water operator exam. I took a short nap while Eddie watched some shows. Since I didn't take any pictures on Saturday afternoon, I had to work really hard to remember what we did the rest of the day. It's crazy (embarrassing?) that I find myself forgetting what happened just a few days ago. I was able to determine that we went running at the airport together before eating a lasagna dinner with Papa at our house. Oh, and I know I made a double batch of <i><a href="http://www.food.com/recipe/perfect-chocolate-chip-cookies-americas-test-kitchen-387119">America's Test Kitchen Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies</a></i> (the name doesn't lie). <br />
<br />
Sunday was the start of Daylight Saving and we had a yummy breakfast of bacon, eggs, grits, and venison sausage with gravy. Dave went to the office to study while Eddie and I did our usual Saturday chores--washing the sheets, cleaning the bathrooms, and vacuuming. Eddie's room was a COMPLETE AND TOTAL DISASTER and it took him a 1.5 hours to clean it all up--and a third of that was with me "helping" him (read: getting on his case about NOT playing with everything and just putting it all away). He and Dave are going to be gone one night this coming weekend and you better believe that I'll be removing about 30% of the stuff from his room. Less stuff, less to clean up! He doesn't play with much of it anyway, it's just in the way of the toys he wants to find.<br />
<br />
That afternoon Eddie had a 6 year old girl, Tali, over for a movie. It was this sweet child who held Eddie's hand when he was scared to get on the big scary school bus for the first time and sat next to him in the "preschool" seats for the whole first week. (Bless her heart!)<br />
<br />
Anyway, she brought stuffed animals and popcorn to share. I brought out the tubs of my own stuffed animals from childhood and we all had a grand time digging through them. We even found one of my mom's <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Topsy-Turvy_doll">topsy-turvy doll</a>, a toy that probably lived here on the coast back in the 1940s. Eventually we settled on the couch downstairs to watch <i>Mulan</i>. I wanted to watch something new that none of us had seen, but kids are kids and they wanted something familiar. It was a sweet change to have a calm little girl in the house who sat contentedly, petting the dogs, and cuddling her stuffed toys. Before her grandma picked her up, we all drew chalk art outside. <br />
<br />
I made clam chowder that night, which was ready when Dave got home. Mmmmmm, if I didn't know how much butter was in it I would want to eat it every night.<br />
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd0B7qTwPJtQ7wPBWOOza8ZIbJnPL9ffSwYhxXvm0bQAg_rpZLlKybnH6xUMsIzjpev0LtXRWNdVgF4eCfy920BuxSe9eGkLctoqsykX6ojfp4PWy5X5pgKNBGG8qUMt9A8qq4ihnnrciM/s1600/20140310_205434.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd0B7qTwPJtQ7wPBWOOza8ZIbJnPL9ffSwYhxXvm0bQAg_rpZLlKybnH6xUMsIzjpev0LtXRWNdVgF4eCfy920BuxSe9eGkLctoqsykX6ojfp4PWy5X5pgKNBGG8qUMt9A8qq4ihnnrciM/s1600/20140310_205434.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.727272033691406px;">Taters made a good bed desk for Dave.<br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi688fKpuN28ho2rVosQqZEtO9OTvzIwg0rW__lh2BdoUiAnDo1r4riS2zpYldliJK7la5fnA2-cvbzxrkYDUVzVVyLgjwhD3-F2OE7vTvvZ0oZcvZBTAsd61s4z2xtzD8vXnjvL_NaL3fH/s1600/Screenshot_2014-03-10-16-48-44.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi688fKpuN28ho2rVosQqZEtO9OTvzIwg0rW__lh2BdoUiAnDo1r4riS2zpYldliJK7la5fnA2-cvbzxrkYDUVzVVyLgjwhD3-F2OE7vTvvZ0oZcvZBTAsd61s4z2xtzD8vXnjvL_NaL3fH/s1600/Screenshot_2014-03-10-16-48-44.png" height="640" width="360" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.727272033691406px;">A text conversation between Dave and I. He's slightly obsessed with anime.<br />PS. I adore our profile pictures--both of Eddie with pirate face paint from a day at Cassie's when he was a wee tot.<br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The Bowers!http://www.blogger.com/profile/14571813809345871673noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-960240756385438552.post-28628250117253761662014-03-05T10:21:00.000-08:002014-03-05T10:21:00.073-08:00BiscottiEver since tasting a <a href="http://www.costeaux.com/breads/products.asp">biscotti sample</a> at the grocery store before Christmas, I've been on a biscotti kick. Last week I finally decided to make some. It was my first time and they came out super good. Next time I want to make a copy-cat version of the ones I tasted at the store (chocolate chunk and pistachio).<br />
<br />
I used <a href="http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Biscotti/Detail.aspx?event8=1&prop24=SR_Thumb&e11=biscotti&e8=Quick%20Search&event10=1&e7=Home%20Page&soid=sr_results_p1i1">this recipe</a> as a guide, but modified it by adding orange zest, almonds, and chocolate chips, and swapping out half the sugar for maple syrup.<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>3 cups all purpose flour</li>
<li>1 tablespoon baking powder</li>
<li>1/2 cup vegetable oil</li>
<li>3 eggs</li>
<li>1/2 cup sugar</li>
<li>1/2 cup maple syrup</li>
<li>1 teaspoon vanilla extract</li>
<li>1 tablespoon orange or mandarin zest</li>
<li>1 cup coarsely chopped almonds</li>
<li>1/2 cup chocolate chips</li>
<li>sugar for dusting</li>
</ul>
<div>
Preheat oven to 375F. Beat wet ingredients plus zest in large bowl. Mix flour and powder in a small bowl, then stir into wet ingredients. Mix in almonds and chocolate chips. Scoop out half the dough onto a baking sheet lined with parchment or silicon sheets. Oil your hands and shape dough into a rope shape the length of the pan. Pat down to 1/2" thick. It will be about 4" wide, depending on your pan length. Repeat on a second pan. Bake 25-30 minutes until slightly browned. Cool on racks until you can handle them. Cut with a pizza cutter into 1/2" thick slices. Return to pans, cut side up and bake for 6-10 minutes. Flip over to other cut side for another 6-10 minutes. They should cool to be crispy, perfect for dunking in coffee, milk, or cocoa. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgskKQsab0_F24X9xlWBNmtdXJSkbyfEb7Y2cUxcaLQClTpA6FvlOEnTL5sFHaW_LIjaSca5mzFbnzKIN8jkJ8Nc5LMZjF094IeWcgUxEh6HyC0ZWCphG-KDWAnAbFLeaTt_E8yYcKzbTCM/s1600/20140227_212651.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgskKQsab0_F24X9xlWBNmtdXJSkbyfEb7Y2cUxcaLQClTpA6FvlOEnTL5sFHaW_LIjaSca5mzFbnzKIN8jkJ8Nc5LMZjF094IeWcgUxEh6HyC0ZWCphG-KDWAnAbFLeaTt_E8yYcKzbTCM/s1600/20140227_212651.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The recipe made two giant cookies.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCpILYTz6dNIkzH2iyVbjGaxSv4Y_n6fcRaslZR3aL7vd46hQ7GjCs-LewKuu5vUXliyx1siqZ4Kj3BDqZLHYMObznjkejlwdnxmEEnKrYyM1ENj2FhvUgwd_X_WAgEGSN8T_6TSjg4dQZ/s1600/20140227_213048.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCpILYTz6dNIkzH2iyVbjGaxSv4Y_n6fcRaslZR3aL7vd46hQ7GjCs-LewKuu5vUXliyx1siqZ4Kj3BDqZLHYMObznjkejlwdnxmEEnKrYyM1ENj2FhvUgwd_X_WAgEGSN8T_6TSjg4dQZ/s1600/20140227_213048.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I used a pizza cutter to slice them while still warm.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7P65CisaZUyrPopMKZxEBdixLMGDSBekiaRXOhyphenhyphenSdl9SWPmhZjhdDKKhfRVygZjGdVG0utBY_jKxe_HclxlISrVXT3KDrvas09t0QO3x38ZB5gVgaN2_A8RvD2gdfd1k6TYSA4X4iAGqm/s1600/20140227_220400.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7P65CisaZUyrPopMKZxEBdixLMGDSBekiaRXOhyphenhyphenSdl9SWPmhZjhdDKKhfRVygZjGdVG0utBY_jKxe_HclxlISrVXT3KDrvas09t0QO3x38ZB5gVgaN2_A8RvD2gdfd1k6TYSA4X4iAGqm/s1600/20140227_220400.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">After the second baking I let them cool a bit...</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzXcdiFA7NnOP1YZsUVP1Qnw5ubJ3LK5rd6w42ywtM-tIjiU4VgUvJSRWC63u_zHrTwyvDS3kXP-my5u7Xv-1PZn1MGLy0sVNysrsMVc9ssqZ1xZGLssWe2DMG77wOnTZ8nozGDkc6A0FT/s1600/20140227_220734-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzXcdiFA7NnOP1YZsUVP1Qnw5ubJ3LK5rd6w42ywtM-tIjiU4VgUvJSRWC63u_zHrTwyvDS3kXP-my5u7Xv-1PZn1MGLy0sVNysrsMVc9ssqZ1xZGLssWe2DMG77wOnTZ8nozGDkc6A0FT/s1600/20140227_220734-1.jpg" height="476" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">...and then made a silly face instead. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I brought them to the office so folks can munch on them with an afternoon coffee now that we have a Keurig maker. One of the guys said, "How DARE you bring those in here? Ooooh that's dangerous, girl." I laughed and pointed out that he didn't <i>have</i> to open the tin, he could have just walked on by. He said, "I have to tell you, those are the third best biscotti I've ever had...no wait, those are the three <i>best</i> biscotti I've ever had. I ate three already this morning!" What a nice compliment!The Bowers!http://www.blogger.com/profile/14571813809345871673noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-960240756385438552.post-65702562063490204972014-03-03T20:46:00.001-08:002014-03-03T20:46:38.089-08:00Eddie's SongsI'm in the living room working on the couch and Dave is down the hall in our room. Eddie's in his room, singing loudly, even though he's supposed to be asleep.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaU412j42K2e-VjOVKaftDLbjvDr4kleoTDQyde18CFBhCoNi-lNeNskzfyjV5hw37IiqTjkRwbgSU_iW91KMRjXjY686WYgtNYA_6-djGLnmCspTmoRNySenmm6HMzlQ66dhsJ8935r2j/s1600/Eddie+sings+gchat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaU412j42K2e-VjOVKaftDLbjvDr4kleoTDQyde18CFBhCoNi-lNeNskzfyjV5hw37IiqTjkRwbgSU_iW91KMRjXjY686WYgtNYA_6-djGLnmCspTmoRNySenmm6HMzlQ66dhsJ8935r2j/s1600/Eddie+sings+gchat.jpg" height="310" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />The Bowers!http://www.blogger.com/profile/14571813809345871673noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-960240756385438552.post-91823303612548182532014-03-01T13:37:00.001-08:002014-03-01T20:35:30.258-08:00Summer 2013 Garden TallyWell, I am finally done processing all of my 2013 garden produce. I know, it's just about time to start planting the 2014 garden.<br />
<br />
What got me to the finish line were the dried spices I had stowed away in the laundry room until I had time to deal with them. In the evenings I like to settle down on the couch to watch a show before bed. I like to have something for my hands to do while in front of the TV and rubbing the seeds off dried plants filled that need. <br />
<br />
Throughout last summer I collected dill seed heads whenever I was in the garden and spotted some. I stuffed them into paper sacks, which I left open to dry. It took me weeks of rubbing, but I finally finished with a quart jar nearly overflowing.<br />
<br />
Last spring I planted cilantro here in Gualala during spring break. By the time we moved up here the place was a weed-veggie jungle and I didn't remember anything about the cilantro. I found the scraggly plants when I was weeding one of the beds. By then it was flowering and the honey bees really liked it, so I left it alone to go to seed. The heads were sort of scattered throughout the plant so I hacked them all down once they had dried in the garden and brought them home. Our kitchen table was piled high with the dead plants for a few days. Dave and I would watch something on the laptop while rubbing the seeds off. We got a whole quart!<br />
<br />
In the fall, before it got too cold (not that it ever really got cold this last year), we walked around the neighborhood and collected wild fennel seed heads. The stuff is a weed around here. One of our neighbors asked what we were doing and he commented that he'd never even tasted fennel. I said it was a common spice in sausage and after he smelled some that I crushed in my hand he realized he <i>had</i> eaten it his whole life. I was able to get a pint so I might take a few tablespoons to him so he can try cooking with it.<br />
<br />
As I was putting the dill and fennel away this morning I realized just how many seasonings I've been able to grow. Herbs are obvious: the green or "herbaceous" part of any plant like basil. But spices always seemed like something regular people just purchase, rather than grown. Not so: I was able to grow lots of seeds for seasoning.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimN3rVgzQuKXMqmRgZ0IX0qg0u_GHjv5NT8PSuViBO5KsJGDf7lPp5KHq9B1_xE3UL7psAKUzdLjCq7egBRIYPSkwwmSpW5G1pI039PgnPQE-HpJTxZ9aM875Cwcn6jbWc3KdOg8AWtG_i/s1600/20140301_113228.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimN3rVgzQuKXMqmRgZ0IX0qg0u_GHjv5NT8PSuViBO5KsJGDf7lPp5KHq9B1_xE3UL7psAKUzdLjCq7egBRIYPSkwwmSpW5G1pI039PgnPQE-HpJTxZ9aM875Cwcn6jbWc3KdOg8AWtG_i/s1600/20140301_113228.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Top: serrano peppers from my dad, lemon verbena leaves, fennel seeds, mint leaves, Thai peppers from my dad.<br />
Bottom: dried onions, coriander, dill leaves, dill seeds, tarragon leaves.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
And here is some of the rest of our dried foods stash. We haven't tried everything yet, but I can report that the zucchini works well in lasagna instead of noodles (just rehydrate for a few minutes with hot water until they're pliable) and the carrots resemble fresh ones when cooked in soup. The bell peppers are good enough to eat like crackers!<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPpKQ6PpLOEY_siKCZfV3EOUFGdKAPAKCmw1qyL296-OEVsn8pnh78XGfS_kTxRpyluD_X5gPQuRYUpkPnBO2MFSplfiFlNBbrbdHTkEILb8_JSwhW7yxi7NcUaYdfB88NI29Wcfv49iAy/s1600/20140301_113308.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPpKQ6PpLOEY_siKCZfV3EOUFGdKAPAKCmw1qyL296-OEVsn8pnh78XGfS_kTxRpyluD_X5gPQuRYUpkPnBO2MFSplfiFlNBbrbdHTkEILb8_JSwhW7yxi7NcUaYdfB88NI29Wcfv49iAy/s1600/20140301_113308.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Some of our dried veggies and fruits from last year. Zucchini and yellow squash, bell peppers, carrots, apples, peaches, apricots, beans, and eggplant. I haven't tried the eggplant yet but I'm not confident that we'll like it. Maybe in lasagna?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The final tally for all frozen, canned, and dried "put up" food for 2013 was:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>12 quarts plum pulp (will make jam or fruit leather later)</li>
<li>14 pints no-pectin plum jam</li>
<li>12 pints pectin plum jam</li>
<li>3 trays dried apricots</li>
<li>24 quarts canned apricots (for FIL)</li>
<li>7 gallons frozen apricots (for pies)</li>
<li>26 cups frozen strawberry peaches (for pies)</li>
<li>14 pints pineapple apricot jam</li>
<li>11 pints low-sugar apricot jam</li>
<li>9 pints low-sugar apricot peach jam</li>
<li>4 quarts apricot simple syrup (left over from canning--excellent mixed with champagne or rum)</li>
<li>24 quarts canned pears (my dad actually did this for me using pears given to the Bowers by their lawyer...the guy's family operates a produce packing plant and gave them some cases of fruit after one of their meetings...weird, right?)</li>
<li>2 quarts canned pear simple syrup (good with champagne)</li>
<li>5 dehydrator loads of zucchini</li>
<li>4 pints dried onions (grown in Davis)</li>
<li>2 gallons frozen blackberries (for jam or pies)</li>
<li>30 pounds canned green beans (my dad and Jennifer helped with this)</li>
<li>5 gallons frozen green beans</li>
<li>10 quarts Gravenstein apples (for pies)</li>
<li>6 quarts dried Gravenstein apples (for snacking)</li>
<li>14 pints candied jalapenos (canned)</li>
<li>12 cups frozen pesto</li>
<li>4.5 quarts fermented peppers for hot sauce (jalapenos, peppinos, Hungarian hot wax--will be ready next month)</li>
<li>3 quarts fermented cayenne-garlic (accidentally got some yogurt along with the whey inoculate in there)</li>
<li>7.5 quarts canned tomato basil sauce</li>
<li>11 quarts frozen rosemary pizza sauce</li>
<li>9 quarts frozen <a href="http://bowerfamilyhappenings.blogspot.com/2012/08/summer-produce-eggplant-and-zucchini.html">ratatouille</a></li>
<li>4 quarts frozen chopped chard</li>
<li>7 quarts frozen hot salsa fresca</li>
<li>15 pints canned chipotle salsa verde</li>
<li>18 pints canned salsa verde</li>
<li>1 pint dried bell peppers (store bought)</li>
<li>1 quart dried carrots</li>
<li>1 quart dried figs (from a local family)</li>
<li>1 quart coriander seed</li>
<li>1 quart dill seed</li>
<li>1 pint fennel seed (wild)</li>
</ul>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
We purchased some of the produce from a local family ranch (some basil and tomatoes and beans) but most of it was from our garden. You can see why settling down to write my dissertation was so hard during the summer--never mind the distractions of moving, starting a new job, and my mom's passing. In the next few weeks I'll spend my evenings planting seeds in peet pellets to get our 2014 garden started. </div>
The Bowers!http://www.blogger.com/profile/14571813809345871673noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-960240756385438552.post-2853067382559222472014-02-28T10:06:00.000-08:002014-03-01T13:42:59.074-08:00Rainy Friday and Last Week's Vacation<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Another week has gone
by. I really do feel like I trot along at a brisk pace each day just to keep my
family going going going. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.5pt;">Lately I've been
daydreaming about having one floor of the Coast House completely finished and
livable. That'll be a lovely change, in part because it means we can consider
having a cleaner come a couple times a month to do deep cleaning. How amazing
would it be to have some of our weekend chores done for us so our weekends can
be more 'family play time' instead of 'getting ready for the upcoming week
time'? With all the dusty construction and us using rooms on both floors it
doesn't make sense to clean some of the rooms, let alone pay someone else to do
it. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.5pt;">Last week was a nice
change of pace because Eddie was out of school for President's Week--something
I never got as a student. All of us had President's Day off on Monday and Eddie
went to daycare on Tuesday while I worked. That day we tried carpooling for the
first time with a first grader named Tali. Her grandma dropped her off in the
morning and I drove the kids to daycare. Eddie loved having a friend to ride
with! Tali's grandma did the drive home and Eddie seemed to get a kick out of
driving in a different car and in a big-kid booster seat. We still haven't
moved him to a seat belted booster yet because the five-point harness seats are
safer, but we keep thinking about it since it's hard for him to unbuckle
himself. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.5pt;">Wednesday morning Eddie
and I packed up the van with bikes and clothes, dropped some things off at the
office, and headed to Auntie and Uncle's in Mountain View for a vacation. We
had a grand time of seeing friends and a movie, biking, playing tennis and
hockey, eating at Google, watching the Olympics, sleeping late, and eating at a
brewery with some of Edward and Jennifer’s friends. Less fun (but not
traumatic) was doing all the ‘town’ shopping—Costco, Home Depot, Trader Joe’s,
the international market, Michael’s and Jo-Ann Fabric, a Craigslist purchase…I
think that’s it. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.5pt;">I let Eddie pick out a
Redbox movie in Petaluma for the drive down 101, which we return in Mountain
View when we arrive. This time he got a Barbie Christmas movie. On the way back
home he picked out a Barbie twin princess movie. Our headrest DVD player broke
so I just fold the middle van seat down and bungee cord my laptop to it, using
a USB player. The only issue with this cheap set up is that I can’t reach back
to turn the volume off when he falls asleep so I often have to listen to the
annoying dialog or songs. Or I just crank up the volume on my podcasts.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigHWUTwaimtZ80T8QuJD8Zk76wkdJXvnTfaW8Ohw4R9wsI98bt58Y-64gw3uVjlQ3DEGpgD25WsZ0T5qXW3WaQpephEpAx60aIGU-7N34CaAf9GyFrACUOLFU6Wcz4EIzZ3TFeACYWDELv/s1600/20140219_183954.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigHWUTwaimtZ80T8QuJD8Zk76wkdJXvnTfaW8Ohw4R9wsI98bt58Y-64gw3uVjlQ3DEGpgD25WsZ0T5qXW3WaQpephEpAx60aIGU-7N34CaAf9GyFrACUOLFU6Wcz4EIzZ3TFeACYWDELv/s1600/20140219_183954.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">On Wednesday night Edward and Jennifer put on a "cowboy dinner" for Batiste as a late birthday present. He loves all things horse and cowboy so it was perfect. We listened to authentic country music (according to Edward who actually researched it), wore cowboy garb, and ate pork/beans/cornbread. It was really fun.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Eddie was upset that he doesn't own cowboy boots so I offered to let him be a sheriff instead--and since sheriffs sometimes have to run after the 'bad guys' that his regular shoes would be best because who can run fast in cowboy boots? (No one.) Then he was upset that he'd broken his sheriff badge...so I gathered up all the brooches from my mom's 1960s jewelry box and let him pick one to wear as an alternative. You can see in the picture that he chose the sparkling rhinestone one. We ended up bringing all of them so everyone could wear one. It was so sweet that <i>all</i> of us humored him by donning a fancy brooch. The options included: a few long stem roses, a turtle, a donkey from Jerusalem, and an engraved name plate.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq-HCYFlfhOmjIT9PWzZWrw54gD7mYDFSJTaQvLfk9lB_I1p6QfGpqsmledDZmJeZwqajNc9s842OEYkQUagxKRb4475wch3iVkx_38m0hBx34I-riUmFqf0ZiA3w8nZoXYsaj_aE_4n-b/s1600/20140221_193743.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq-HCYFlfhOmjIT9PWzZWrw54gD7mYDFSJTaQvLfk9lB_I1p6QfGpqsmledDZmJeZwqajNc9s842OEYkQUagxKRb4475wch3iVkx_38m0hBx34I-riUmFqf0ZiA3w8nZoXYsaj_aE_4n-b/s1600/20140221_193743.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">On Friday we played tennis with Jeremy and Janine and then ate at Google for dinner as Jeremy's guests. It was yummy and fun! Edward always says he'd work at Google just for the free, delicious food...now I know why. We got dessert after filling our dinner plates because it always runs out. All these geeky Google guys were in line to get some mascarpone berry pie, taking a long time to balance their dinner plates while trying to cut/serve a piece of pie. I noticed a single piece left in a pan next to the long line and everyone just ignored it. So I slide out of line, took the whole pie pan, and scooted another whole pie to the front of the counter. That prompted the line to split into two so folks could serve from two pies instead of just one. Aren't these Google people supposed to be good problem solvers?</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsGdhal3-6zAa5DMRVPTEaWVnHuxHX2oKFDGvmnuYz3x0bzdNt0IMKgqwJuFJZJAF402VHUInWZKDulBN16b69TQkcvaG4v1yvJDr6_fmeIkJD43eUAa2rk1VorKLdqCkeaMjsQ5d9SY64/s1600/20140222_110338.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsGdhal3-6zAa5DMRVPTEaWVnHuxHX2oKFDGvmnuYz3x0bzdNt0IMKgqwJuFJZJAF402VHUInWZKDulBN16b69TQkcvaG4v1yvJDr6_fmeIkJD43eUAa2rk1VorKLdqCkeaMjsQ5d9SY64/s1600/20140222_110338.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Auntie, Eddie, and I biked to the movie theater to see the LEGO movie. Uncle had some major scrapes on his leg and hands so he had to drive to the movies and we met him there. That was SUCH a fun movie. I can't wait to see it again when it comes to our local theater.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSlIUS7njyNZWwjfKvM5JmGxsVJbhTaTxsN4U4yOH2gW8pTOAHiHSU9VBKaZXZ4Q2z-IdvAHEA_Mme_b7ObNGVTWZpSE41jhujzOwAR-qHHdsuPQzjkXZMvLceoLxq3aJad9RrvO3J_MLk/s1600/20140222_105707.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSlIUS7njyNZWwjfKvM5JmGxsVJbhTaTxsN4U4yOH2gW8pTOAHiHSU9VBKaZXZ4Q2z-IdvAHEA_Mme_b7ObNGVTWZpSE41jhujzOwAR-qHHdsuPQzjkXZMvLceoLxq3aJad9RrvO3J_MLk/s1600/20140222_105707.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">To get to the theater we had to go up and over 101 on a path. Every other time we've done this, Eddie's had to walk his bike part way up the overpass because it was too steep for him. Not this time! We were so proud of him for biking up up up all by himself. </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9Ol0Ev3zbgzfKttahe0Stl-XDxjLwDiec46Jk4uZc4EWxaGwioRQCpumecksId9bu0n9PynwhP8rDmFk9vSbmPMQzxUGcfUC2INPC1O5nWpFodstfKx8KmzDbUag21RN5qYcbBufUrkBk/s1600/20140222_140648.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9Ol0Ev3zbgzfKttahe0Stl-XDxjLwDiec46Jk4uZc4EWxaGwioRQCpumecksId9bu0n9PynwhP8rDmFk9vSbmPMQzxUGcfUC2INPC1O5nWpFodstfKx8KmzDbUag21RN5qYcbBufUrkBk/s1600/20140222_140648.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">We watched the USA men's hockey game against Canada so Eddie wanted to play some hockey before we left. </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5jwTUUnMfS2xBstcUmA_7CUlbgAv8qng9GKnN0ACquWZFIgF8dF-ol2sz5nS55tI0jurfEZ8tVtaTqBBBNXSjDCssoJtM5oNtUOldlcg68XqJENnNiqxEx-Ch7CeGVCzgIlCm3rioygRV/s1600/20140222_142202.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5jwTUUnMfS2xBstcUmA_7CUlbgAv8qng9GKnN0ACquWZFIgF8dF-ol2sz5nS55tI0jurfEZ8tVtaTqBBBNXSjDCssoJtM5oNtUOldlcg68XqJENnNiqxEx-Ch7CeGVCzgIlCm3rioygRV/s1600/20140222_142202.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.727272033691406px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Blurry Ninja Turtle family photo before we left for home.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I made sure to get us back to Gualala on Saturday night so we would have Sunday to get ready for the week. It was nice to spend time with Dave on Sunday, having not seen him since Wednesday morning. He'd taken PTO on Thursday and Friday to work on insulating/sheetrocking the garage for his workshop. It's coming along nicely!</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN8S2I9idLk-rbZ1Nmu5MkQ9f1K-qBka6J-Hu75VaHGn3eL7VeqVSNHAxoQAZDyIVVK2hIXmlpraiL4DkX0KMjfL4z9ycdDGRUBEXbg9JmPoOcEz7I1dQT4qsd5j6_-zdin8Lvm58ZQ_7_/s1600/20140223_155505.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN8S2I9idLk-rbZ1Nmu5MkQ9f1K-qBka6J-Hu75VaHGn3eL7VeqVSNHAxoQAZDyIVVK2hIXmlpraiL4DkX0KMjfL4z9ycdDGRUBEXbg9JmPoOcEz7I1dQT4qsd5j6_-zdin8Lvm58ZQ_7_/s1600/20140223_155505.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Sunday afternoon we moved horse manure from the neighbor's dumping spot to our composting spot at the airport. I drove the big rig up there, something that is fun but difficult because the seat doesn't move close enough for me to use the pedals so I have to perch on the end of the chair. </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhueZg6zbVGsa2rey5EwH3702Jb6OEPIGE07gzqhd3S1_1iNPejV-SAaBF3E9I20A88KQEte4yq_oE2BGZa40Jml7bB-x9Xu_p-ovYFW5z4DIFQGFxG2yXfssHcYfFo4izqeHHkaD9bvThX/s1600/20140223_161633-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhueZg6zbVGsa2rey5EwH3702Jb6OEPIGE07gzqhd3S1_1iNPejV-SAaBF3E9I20A88KQEte4yq_oE2BGZa40Jml7bB-x9Xu_p-ovYFW5z4DIFQGFxG2yXfssHcYfFo4izqeHHkaD9bvThX/s1600/20140223_161633-1.jpg" height="438" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Dave was veeeeeeeery patient with me while I slowly and clumsily maneuvered the backhoe to load the dump truck. He took over the mixing and stacking after it was dumped. The way he operates that thing makes it look like an extension of his own body. Is there anything sexier than watching your husband expertly stack manure for you to make compost? For me it ranks only second to watching him hold a baby.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">When we were in Mountain View we went to a thrift store where I scored a(nother) Donvier ice cream maker. So of course we had to make some ice cream that night.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF_B6nqMkkNfO-524gXK6h1RMG_I6zMSBvjF0q-zugs-D4hCJM3CIcRFZnswtUTXPKjJ4mA60CNTOsfo0bqzR-YDozJYkbrH0YjF347NjUt_KmVFqWBPF-a3AyRwvq9Mz1PufhBvUppvo1/s1600/20140223_192335.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF_B6nqMkkNfO-524gXK6h1RMG_I6zMSBvjF0q-zugs-D4hCJM3CIcRFZnswtUTXPKjJ4mA60CNTOsfo0bqzR-YDozJYkbrH0YjF347NjUt_KmVFqWBPF-a3AyRwvq9Mz1PufhBvUppvo1/s1600/20140223_192335.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">This is rocky road, made using our leftover rainbow marshmallows. It is super yummy.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"> The end of this week brought a storm from the south. We enjoy watching the weather change outside the window each morning while we get ready for the day.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzqgIR5kx3KyzGnD97Zt8siNqLJfEYfiR9_KmGViQifdagUL-2jWAxSAoq4RJAN69aWo8N1N-9Iw-y5n5RIdYP_AReurfihp3Pg7C3-zA05NYUGd_66oPEwslQMomyzBUl770Ffq5oGRS0/s1600/20140226_174739.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzqgIR5kx3KyzGnD97Zt8siNqLJfEYfiR9_KmGViQifdagUL-2jWAxSAoq4RJAN69aWo8N1N-9Iw-y5n5RIdYP_AReurfihp3Pg7C3-zA05NYUGd_66oPEwslQMomyzBUl770Ffq5oGRS0/s1600/20140226_174739.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I love seeing layers of clouds, each a different color.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcIa2t2olQWUBPIC3Kz2D_lrcFDaGcBStN1s7_z1LezkhyphenhyphenpIxPOIrAS2IQtADHsewFaWrpPvIN4E-J4_CY_hKYBolKsBkKiLmMO1qeYS6u4_WGzy0R55xq1UV09KvGuctn2AUzhK_xTtyG/s1600/20140227_070112.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcIa2t2olQWUBPIC3Kz2D_lrcFDaGcBStN1s7_z1LezkhyphenhyphenpIxPOIrAS2IQtADHsewFaWrpPvIN4E-J4_CY_hKYBolKsBkKiLmMO1qeYS6u4_WGzy0R55xq1UV09KvGuctn2AUzhK_xTtyG/s1600/20140227_070112.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">We watched a dense rain squall move toward the house yesterday. Sadly, it went north of us...I was looking forward to a brief pounding of rain.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">There is currently a gale force wind advisory in effect up here--lasting 1.5 days. So far we've experienced one power outage blip here in the office and my FIL had a water customer at his door early this morning because a branch fell on her water line and caused a major leak.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">If the wind isn't too crazy tonight and there's power in Point Arena, we're planning on having a pizza and salad dinner at the pier after work. Eddie should really enjoy that. On my list for today is finding references for two statements in my second chapter/second draft, making all the verb tenses the same, sending it off for review, and doing data crunching for my third chapter.</span><br />
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The Bowers!http://www.blogger.com/profile/14571813809345871673noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-960240756385438552.post-71308856711084324132014-02-23T21:35:00.000-08:002014-02-23T21:35:04.124-08:00Valentine's DateEddie's friend Mason hosted Eddie for a sleepover last Saturday so Dave and I could have a date night. Our first date night on the coast, actually. We dropped him off at their house at 4:30 that afternoon and hung out for a bit. We'd not been to their house before so it was fun to get a tour of their 1900ish country rental house.<br />
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Dave and I stopped by the general store in their town to get a couple of things before our dinner reservation at <a href="http://www.unedaeat.com/">Uneda Eat</a>. Neither of us had eaten there before and we were excited to get to try it. I had a spicy carrot soup with vanilla yogurt and grapefruit to start and Dave had a salad. Then we did our usual eat-half-and-switch with a clam and crab pasta dish and a hangar steak and polenta plate. It was all really yummy. The itty bitty restaurant was packed when we left.<br />
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We juuuuuuuust made it to next door to see <i>Philomena</i> at the <a href="http://www.arenatheater.org/">Arena Theater</a>. We both enjoyed the movie a lot. It's something my mom would have really enjoyed seeing with her friends.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLOw9TYIsv9u4tsO3jA1TLjl-q7FBGImVWM2-oxVimKSRYEdmY8s_2vfxcdmx6r5HqZCkmKVqBD303VDPKuF9ej-p27s8pSP05a-Cc8XMPMDjjbb3Gl_6-VFnix_4vt_FdaNAA9xopoJdZ/s1600/20140215_173624.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLOw9TYIsv9u4tsO3jA1TLjl-q7FBGImVWM2-oxVimKSRYEdmY8s_2vfxcdmx6r5HqZCkmKVqBD303VDPKuF9ej-p27s8pSP05a-Cc8XMPMDjjbb3Gl_6-VFnix_4vt_FdaNAA9xopoJdZ/s1600/20140215_173624.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The theater on the right and the restaurant to the left. My mom used to see movies and newsreels in that same theater when she was Eddie's age. Weird.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGA4DL0urwl4pCjmAkuwgNofP-e8StztZp44VtJSbx3qH59OE4YTvTtnMVRTGFh9L2RlM4seMegQk9Mlo2Uf7cOP2HWvDO_gjMvyXIx9Plj1vBNhZKIXeEiMfcunMC1gKYo0BtsumeX73D/s1600/20140215_173843.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGA4DL0urwl4pCjmAkuwgNofP-e8StztZp44VtJSbx3qH59OE4YTvTtnMVRTGFh9L2RlM4seMegQk9Mlo2Uf7cOP2HWvDO_gjMvyXIx9Plj1vBNhZKIXeEiMfcunMC1gKYo0BtsumeX73D/s1600/20140215_173843.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The theater has one of those cute little booths for the ticket sales.</td></tr>
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After the movie we went home, greeted the pets, and then dragged a spare mattress and boxspring out to the upstairs livingroom. We built a big fire, moved the tv near the bed, and settled in to watch a movie. Well, we chose a bad movie to watch on a romantic night: <i>The Whistleblower</i>. It was a good movie with great reviews but not for a date night. Anyway, we made it through the movie and went to bed at midnight. But I tossed and turned until nearly 2 am when I finally admitted defeat and went downstairs to our real bed. Ruby made me let her out to potty at 3 am and after that I finally fell asleep. All total, I got 4.5 hours of sleep. But that's what coffee is for, right?<br />
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Eddie wasn't due home until 11 am so we walked the dogs downtown to <a href="http://trinkscafe.com/">Trinks</a> to get a scone.<br />
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When he and Mason arrived, it was clear that they were both exhausted from their big boy sleepover. Mason's parents reported that the boys stayed up until 11 pm telling each other fart/butt/poop jokes and moving from bed to futon to tent and back again. (His parents were spying on them with the video baby monitor.) Then early-bird Mason had late-sleeper Eddie up before the sun to play.<br />
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So everyone had a wonderful night! Except maybe Mason's parents who had to endure all that sleeplessness. We can't wait to host Mason for a sleepover so his folks can have a date night of their own! The Bowers!http://www.blogger.com/profile/14571813809345871673noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-960240756385438552.post-89525872968284324362014-02-20T09:10:00.002-08:002014-02-23T21:34:48.718-08:00A Story of Julie and Her CatsI got my first cat just before I entered 9th grade. While at the "back to school" outdoor quad dance at my soon-to-be high school, a kid approached my group of friends and he was holding a box of kittens. Most were tabby cats. He was looking for homes for them. I took one, knowing full well that my parents would NOT be pleased. Growing up in a very messy house with a less-than-organized mother, my brother and I were always told that our family "just isn't set up for pets." Humph. <br />
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My dad was on a business trip for the week so when I called home from a pay phone (collect, mind you) my mom answered. I informed her that I was bringing home a kitten. She sighed loudly and, exasperated with me, said, "Julie, why do you do things like this to me???" And I hung up. </div>
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Of course, she's a cat person so I knew I could get away with it--at least until my strict father came back home. But I'd worry about that later. I remember that she had pink chewing gum residue stuck on one ear and was the size of a 6" sub sandwich. She was our little secret because my brother was spending the night at a friend's house. That night we took the kitten home and I scooped up some garden soil and put it in a box for her to potty on. And she peed for me right when I placed her into the soil in a squatting position. </div>
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The next morning, I heard Edward come into the house and he came straight to my room. I quickly tucked the kitten under my bedspread. She wriggled around and Edward immediately asked what was under there. When I pulled her out, he was so surprised and happy! But I do remember him making a comment along the lines of, "ooooooooooh Daddy's gonna be SO MAD when he gets home!"</div>
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We kept that kitten hidden from my dad for a couple of days once he got home. I have no idea how. Once, I lost track of her in the house and my dad came home from work. I dashed around the house looking for her and found her curled up sleeping on top of a piece of posterboard that had fallen on top of the heater vent, behind the couch in the living room. What a quiet little angel.</div>
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Eventually my mom said I had to tell my dad about "the cat." She referred to her with a deadpan tone, worrying that we'd ALL be in big trouble. So I put the tiny kitty in my arms, draped a towel over her, and carried her into the dining area. I told my dad, "I have a surprise!" and took the towel off my arm. He glared at it, and then at me. <br />
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Excitedly, I announced that we have a kitty now. <br />
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He said, "NO WE DON'T." <br />
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"Yes we do, Daddy! Look? Isn't she cuuuuuuuuuuuute?" <br />
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"WE DON'T HAVE A CAT, JULIE. WE'RE NOT SET UP FOR THAT RIGHT NOW." <br />
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And then I proceeded to tell him that we'd had her for a whole week...so really, we ARE NOW set up for having a cat. He was.....um, not impressed. I begged to keep her and eventually he said we could "try it for a month" and then see how it was going and re-evaluate. Right, re-evaluate. That was in September of 1996. We never looked back, and she rapidly became HIS CAT.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8HI7OgiV62rJgGZ6ECWXZF8bDHm5kZGpyNyb1YAt_6vKi3p3dIDal068aVBCO5OuXqIN4klTHLsH3mcLCvXzCDMuI4TjWLlv2AwKqer_lD8H-ePDPGXXW4kQ5jq1sk9L5vR0-cAdSdxrW/s1600/partiotic+cat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8HI7OgiV62rJgGZ6ECWXZF8bDHm5kZGpyNyb1YAt_6vKi3p3dIDal068aVBCO5OuXqIN4klTHLsH3mcLCvXzCDMuI4TjWLlv2AwKqer_lD8H-ePDPGXXW4kQ5jq1sk9L5vR0-cAdSdxrW/s1600/partiotic+cat.jpg" height="640" width="478" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A guy must REALLY love his cat to pose for pictures with her like this. Am I right?</td></tr>
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We named her Tekah Le Anne but she had oodles of nicknames, like everyone in our family.<br />
<ul>
<li>Kittiest kitten</li>
<li>Baby kitty kitten angle face</li>
<li>Scanda-who-vian...you know, her coloring and Scandinavia...</li>
<li>The Sock Nest Monster since she likes to collect and disperse balled up socks, which my dad so lovingly puts back into a pile for her every.single.night. </li>
<li>TekahTheMeowMeow (one word) from Eddie because he first called kitties "meow meows" when he was a baby</li>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPsUeNYe2b3BvP3n5jMki5MTT2VEyelfr00wiH6GvLcAF6rCw8N394-_FGbMfxguINRXrEUoaFFKjz40m4JVGyE-5OBqbGvnAUWToqlwhOLjLKrFFiMFO70qmtMFXVuILjfp8TgO0MfVu2/s1600/Tekah+drymounting+I.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPsUeNYe2b3BvP3n5jMki5MTT2VEyelfr00wiH6GvLcAF6rCw8N394-_FGbMfxguINRXrEUoaFFKjz40m4JVGyE-5OBqbGvnAUWToqlwhOLjLKrFFiMFO70qmtMFXVuILjfp8TgO0MfVu2/s1600/Tekah+drymounting+I.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.727272033691406px;">My dad emailed this to me a couple of years ago and said it was Tekah "in her office." She likes getting up onto his work tables so she can see the quail and song birds outside.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgAd4kf5czltbeNR5oNS6jH6hxYnp7byBmzp15T7Dcq6Dj494yisnkbzm1a9fee9W7OQTopjFhDJ6xo3tlcolbMfedg4ZpufMMo4X8RNlbgBQyfVuk0eP6UdeQ3d97ulxhfpdeH4TgSngn/s1600/tekah_in_her_office.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgAd4kf5czltbeNR5oNS6jH6hxYnp7byBmzp15T7Dcq6Dj494yisnkbzm1a9fee9W7OQTopjFhDJ6xo3tlcolbMfedg4ZpufMMo4X8RNlbgBQyfVuk0eP6UdeQ3d97ulxhfpdeH4TgSngn/s1600/tekah_in_her_office.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Such a pretty kittenkitty!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw3sH1Uo8d8bk3awSxmhv4UIAAR0HfyxF-7zITOAhCMqODp0Qh5G9gNXZRw5wLwReygJDSX2HMNJa73KAALw_NIsGn6RlktXGYxaQNoVIEZ6lLW5S3wt0C8uTVaTTBbfEO6NEUidj2vGl5/s1600/how+to+enjoy+The+Office.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw3sH1Uo8d8bk3awSxmhv4UIAAR0HfyxF-7zITOAhCMqODp0Qh5G9gNXZRw5wLwReygJDSX2HMNJa73KAALw_NIsGn6RlktXGYxaQNoVIEZ6lLW5S3wt0C8uTVaTTBbfEO6NEUidj2vGl5/s1600/how+to+enjoy+The+Office.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tekah loved "watching" tv with my mom in the evenings.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIev6pZYfwsSplHWHvbqEa2tiVVj7jah5vlRsTXLkkGEyybjJDFQhPVQJJMNosRhytNyCzCgFi3zFHr4I5UTrpJW7Iox-tBj-hOrXWLgOHz7RLnqWpNDRW0OGh_NLOdnaib0aBCx30Ltvj/s1600/IMG_20130806_093235.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIev6pZYfwsSplHWHvbqEa2tiVVj7jah5vlRsTXLkkGEyybjJDFQhPVQJJMNosRhytNyCzCgFi3zFHr4I5UTrpJW7Iox-tBj-hOrXWLgOHz7RLnqWpNDRW0OGh_NLOdnaib0aBCx30Ltvj/s1600/IMG_20130806_093235.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">At nearly 18 years old, she's looking a bit scruffy and skinny but we still think she's so pretty.</td></tr>
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Sooooooooooo I've always wanted a cat in the Bower family. Dave was allergic but has grown out of that and most other allergies (thanks, Lyme disease). Eddie LOVES kitties and always asked if we could have one. So we (well, <i>I</i>) decided we could adopt one once we moved. Then, since my FIL didn't start construction on the house until AFTER we moved in, acquiring a kitty had to wait until there were no more holes in the walls. </div>
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Eddie and I stopped by the local Humane Society place a few times to visit with the kitties over the summer. There was a long haired calico one who was super vocal and friendly and didn't mind the stomping 4 year old boy I brought with me. Her name was Nina. One day on the walk back home from the farmers market, Dave, Eddie, and I stopped in at the Humane Society on a whim.<br />
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Nina was still there. Dave picked her up and I could tell that he fell in love hard and fast. As a "dog person" he kept acting like he was doing me a favor by letting us adopt a cat...but I could TELL he was re-evaluating his position once he met Nina. That afternoon we took home the application and agreed to call the Humane Society office with our decision later that week. Well anyway, that was the idea. But instead I made Dave give me permission to call from work the very next day to confirm our decision to adopt her. And then I went home and ordered a litter box and crate off Amazon.<br />
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The next Sunday we picked her up. She wouldn't come down from a high shelf so the staff made us wait in the front room while they convinced her to come down. We gladly paid our adoption fee plus an extra $40 to the shelter for food or other expenses.<br />
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Nina's "home base" is the laundry room upstairs. It has a door so we can lock the dogs out as needed. She's never had a potty accident or even barfed up hair balls. Whenever we are in her room she meows for attention and loves to be held and pet. I don't know how we got so lucky!<br />
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj442tqLvegy88arrP4wQPsi2kgbgUkd7ekEsT0UL1fAbf1gMx22UYk0AiQD-orWTc-uD3MRHTkjUnmL5kfNtO-VXeVpa6efKzwcSZKGKFZpNPiecmUS1rr9H6r2z5auqjF_iVNqUzudqo8/s1600/20140213_164052.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj442tqLvegy88arrP4wQPsi2kgbgUkd7ekEsT0UL1fAbf1gMx22UYk0AiQD-orWTc-uD3MRHTkjUnmL5kfNtO-VXeVpa6efKzwcSZKGKFZpNPiecmUS1rr9H6r2z5auqjF_iVNqUzudqo8/s1600/20140213_164052.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.727272033691406px;">A rare picture of Nina without dog snouts around. She's rarely alone but when she knows the dogs are locked up she'll venture out to see us (usually when we stop at the house during working hours).</td></tr>
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The first couple of days she was a bit hesitant to come to us unless the door was shut. To encourage her, we first offered her nibbles of tortilla chips. It was amusing how much she liked them! Then Dave realized that kitties love dairy--so now she's trained to "ask" for a spoonful of latte foam every morning and a 1/4 teaspoon of vanilla ice cream every evening. And by "ask" I mean to meooooooooooooooooooooooooow for a whole breath (or two).<br />
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Yeah, Dave's in love and is now a certifiable dog AND cat person.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9sTbCvgmA0yxJU3IXvRU0DHUozcJO_bOpzkE5_2HsXEgN2d4Tj2lFfn1dln7Dli1uFHdUtKWOV2RfMo6UNOziv-0FcFvL-S-HTaqY7eh-Z_EEF1XAUYwlOg-9O0661viBWZu_YyzM5GId/s1600/20130921_214959.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9sTbCvgmA0yxJU3IXvRU0DHUozcJO_bOpzkE5_2HsXEgN2d4Tj2lFfn1dln7Dli1uFHdUtKWOV2RfMo6UNOziv-0FcFvL-S-HTaqY7eh-Z_EEF1XAUYwlOg-9O0661viBWZu_YyzM5GId/s1600/20130921_214959.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">He can't go into the laundry room for any single thing without stopping to love on her. Even if it's to grab something out of the pantry to get an ingredient that needs to be added to a simmering pot <i>right now</i> he still has to stop for a kiss and to whisper sweet nothings to her. He's such a good people and pet dad.</td></tr>
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Nina's nicknames so far include:<br />
<ul>
<li>Nina Bina</li>
<li>Nina Bambina</li>
<li>Nina Barina</li>
<li>Kittykitty (saying this to Taters makes him RUN to see her if he isn't already right in her face)</li>
<li>Meowmeow</li>
<li>Meowmers</li>
<li>Meowington</li>
</ul>
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And garsh do we LOVE HER to pieces!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkMAiRbZHIqGTr4n3QifdmDfyrVR6ZNN08yRpJzf5lbC824nZu8BmfYVoDAMsWq38fsHjG03z_-S4WHwY1iVTcA4pRo3_IH_Tjh9NB8Ntleq8BrQrFK-UmZS7YrAY2twzZFSgeAJgg8nWw/s1600/20140222_225457.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkMAiRbZHIqGTr4n3QifdmDfyrVR6ZNN08yRpJzf5lbC824nZu8BmfYVoDAMsWq38fsHjG03z_-S4WHwY1iVTcA4pRo3_IH_Tjh9NB8Ntleq8BrQrFK-UmZS7YrAY2twzZFSgeAJgg8nWw/s1600/20140222_225457.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nina rubbing her face on mine...while Taters stares intently.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2-IKICtA5YZiAi-pp1s4KsrQdwD6XkFZPTK6KaxOhOtxXPMiXuisQA1VOeWIMKR-ImIKxPchlF0hJ1Hf4ifzOC3quUQG-MhZ7PHAuP4jhfsOPFVNb3Y7Tip9xA9eYtcegXxXUk60bp_Do/s1600/20140223_000102.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2-IKICtA5YZiAi-pp1s4KsrQdwD6XkFZPTK6KaxOhOtxXPMiXuisQA1VOeWIMKR-ImIKxPchlF0hJ1Hf4ifzOC3quUQG-MhZ7PHAuP4jhfsOPFVNb3Y7Tip9xA9eYtcegXxXUk60bp_Do/s1600/20140223_000102.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me and my happy kitty snuggling one evening.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaREkTj2qEGxQBy8UyNKJ1Kwl5iwcrkxiSPTGMqRDPxiiob-BvAGkA7HXAa8d5v598lhgnjkDdICnT2FfkrsZ6DAWb7GJChTsxnTrccCrC8vvRO4IEoDUNrZDSeoK3D3jXB7SPTClEPHNt/s1600/Grammy+Nina.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaREkTj2qEGxQBy8UyNKJ1Kwl5iwcrkxiSPTGMqRDPxiiob-BvAGkA7HXAa8d5v598lhgnjkDdICnT2FfkrsZ6DAWb7GJChTsxnTrccCrC8vvRO4IEoDUNrZDSeoK3D3jXB7SPTClEPHNt/s1600/Grammy+Nina.bmp" height="640" width="440" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My in-law's were wary of us getting a kitty, claiming that they are highly allergic. But...they're not. And they love visiting Nina!</td></tr>
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The Bowers!http://www.blogger.com/profile/14571813809345871673noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-960240756385438552.post-61114532215534595762014-02-11T22:18:00.001-08:002014-02-12T15:44:23.806-08:00The Last MonthGoodness, it's been a whole month since I updated the blog. I know I need to post SOMETHING when both my brother and my dad bug me about it.<br />
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Okay...so what have we been doing over the last month? First, what I have <i>I</i> been doing over the last month instead of blogging? When things get overwhelming, I tend to make lists. So:<br />
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1. I'm spearheading the fundraising efforts for the family's airport. I've made calls, written letters, created a Facebook page and a website, processed the payments/donations that have been made, created membership swag, etc. Two weeks ago I was interviewed by a reporter from the Airplane Owner and Pilots Association. To prepare for that I pored over the airport deed and transcribed a recording I made of my FIL about the history of the property. And for months before that, I worked with a pilot friend to convince AOPA that our story was worth an article in one of its publications.<br />
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2. I've become the public relations person for the water company, which I love doing...most of the time. As a chatty person, I'm pretty good at calming irate customers down and explaining things to them. Last week threw me for a loop when I ended up being interviewed on a live radio program. Dave and our office manager had both been asked repeatedly to go on the air to discuss water conservation. Of course neither of them would agree to it so that left me. I didn't mind so much, but was caught a little off guard when I phoned the woman at the local station and she asked me to come down in 10 minutes to do it. Ack! A little ironically, it was raining that day--the first day in a loooooooooooong time--so I walked down the street from the office and did the show. I could have been more prepared, but it went okay.<br />
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3. Last week I submitted my second (or third? depends on how we chop/edit things) chapter to my PI and to my post doc. I dreaded the reply from the post doc--he's a highly skilled writer and top-notch ecological statistician. But his reply was much, much more positive than I feared so that made me super stoked. Now that my two working days for the week are done I will sit down to fix and reorganize it to resubmit.<br />
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4. I was stay-at-home sick for a couple of days and now I have a lingering cough. One day about two weeks ago I stayed in a half-sitting/half-laying-down position on the couch watching Land Girls on Netflix (so good!) and snoozing allllll day. Dave let me sleep in for a few days and the extra sleep seemed to speed the recovery process. For a few nights I was taking the green flavor Nyquil. I don't know who decided that was a marketable product. It is DISGUSTING. And how did we end up with a bottle in our house? I have no idea. But it has three times the cough suppressant as our Kirkland brand cold capsules so I took it. It did require some major encouragement from Dave to swallow the stuff....and resulted in major gagging from me. <br />
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Okay...so what have "we" as a family been up to? I'll have to refer to my picture archive to answer that.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU_05a4M1LYlyWcnOgPuH6pkWHPpNFgd4duXLAXRyq8wsQpZekYtk9AdPFBlOOrOGGNhiAnepbvFHU6fdGkpThEZqsggXR0kWAT4ZoRuekYYf2qiq0zEAiCnOtgwr_KgcdsG2QaDUJv9bi/s1600/20140118_155634%25280%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU_05a4M1LYlyWcnOgPuH6pkWHPpNFgd4duXLAXRyq8wsQpZekYtk9AdPFBlOOrOGGNhiAnepbvFHU6fdGkpThEZqsggXR0kWAT4ZoRuekYYf2qiq0zEAiCnOtgwr_KgcdsG2QaDUJv9bi/s1600/20140118_155634%25280%2529.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We went to Livermore for a weekend in mid-January. We did a LOT that weekend and maybe I'll get around to posting about it at some point. Or maybe not. Here's a shot of my dad and Dave getting ready to install laminate wood flooring in the family room. It was quite an undertaking since none of the prep work had been done before we arrived, but Dave made sure it was all installed before we left on Sunday evening.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_8nWz_Wdm0XxADHzd1IGAuBSyctJbyBXjm3X-KYNAl4wKUEC9wDR-lvEJ9VfX5QURjdQPdk1c2pJ8lUvLC4ydvK5_tuv0z8clOgefl1T9PwzPJZIHizpZ3UHtFLUNs_vXstdETxV3fFGp/s1600/FB_IMG_13901067499281209.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_8nWz_Wdm0XxADHzd1IGAuBSyctJbyBXjm3X-KYNAl4wKUEC9wDR-lvEJ9VfX5QURjdQPdk1c2pJ8lUvLC4ydvK5_tuv0z8clOgefl1T9PwzPJZIHizpZ3UHtFLUNs_vXstdETxV3fFGp/s1600/FB_IMG_13901067499281209.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">While in Livermore, Jennifer and I attended a charity ball for my childhood friend's little girl who is fighting brain cancer. It was a fun event and it was touching to see how many people came out to support Delaney. I got to reconnect with a few girls I grew up with that I hadn't seen in person in more than a decade.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbdVBVXNT4nQ7GCJrQelUg_bzxEhAkpwEoS_5-c7tHqtA3Bek_p02UMKBIQhEYxvGEDWioiu4R-luzTNkITFtphEF4m0KfJueigIINldRJAUB2zHvxXTFatfLM0A1PVKltWItAaM0RGnOw/s1600/20140119_195938.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbdVBVXNT4nQ7GCJrQelUg_bzxEhAkpwEoS_5-c7tHqtA3Bek_p02UMKBIQhEYxvGEDWioiu4R-luzTNkITFtphEF4m0KfJueigIINldRJAUB2zHvxXTFatfLM0A1PVKltWItAaM0RGnOw/s1600/20140119_195938.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We celebrated Christmas in January, the Levie way. And although my mom wasn't here with us this time, we upheld her non-stocking stocking tradition of office supplies, treats, and random things from the dollar store each individually wrapped and placed into shopping bags. She'd be so proud.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgwGq1AZ_97u0e2XgXZziJs0ETPqg2kxh0vPHFJv5kS95mdMmkqLb1zprqkv3eI66ipLeuZmOLi6I8fvBekJihYPYDEgAYhzKhpAsLTNEhEbqNvaQWJvXipEPOZThP6BHjOySL4SjmYLcV/s1600/20140120_134605.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgwGq1AZ_97u0e2XgXZziJs0ETPqg2kxh0vPHFJv5kS95mdMmkqLb1zprqkv3eI66ipLeuZmOLi6I8fvBekJihYPYDEgAYhzKhpAsLTNEhEbqNvaQWJvXipEPOZThP6BHjOySL4SjmYLcV/s1600/20140120_134605.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Eddie received a new-old bike from Uncle for Christmas! It was my old bike and then my brother's old bike. DO YOU SEE THE COLORED TIRES? Edward really went nuts getting that bike decorated with a Spider Man theme. We were all really impressed with how the bike turned out--and even more impressed with how well Eddie did transitioning from his teeny weeny bike to this bigger one. It's about twice the size but he did just fine, even zooming down the gravel hill on my dad's road the afternoon he received it. Back at home, we've spent a considerable amount of time biking around the neighborhood and the airport.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCQLr14-GTPhzTiCD2d8W7UGPOYZv4i1KoCWnfog8V1VNVzgolQvFSHmPSsEKThpVzIhhmc-_IQafBKmJeaUS5Npi98MUwYafKV8jud5eadDH-fbEK-K-nGl5Qy-HJHeUaO6T7LW6wQF5G/s1600/20140126_112149.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCQLr14-GTPhzTiCD2d8W7UGPOYZv4i1KoCWnfog8V1VNVzgolQvFSHmPSsEKThpVzIhhmc-_IQafBKmJeaUS5Npi98MUwYafKV8jud5eadDH-fbEK-K-nGl5Qy-HJHeUaO6T7LW6wQF5G/s1600/20140126_112149.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Eddie FINALLY got to have a friend over to play. Mason came over for a few hours one Saturday. The boys had a grand time playing in Eddie's new downstairs bedroom and making gun shaped bread before we took them to bike at the airport. Up to this point, Dave and I felt that that construction at the house made it too unsafe for kids to visit. It felt so nice to let Eddie have Mason over!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqMp2E6CU3b9ZINYfvyf3krA4cjYhViyf1zjnMjXQX2KO3OerF6rq5Vf8zYdyiyRcshxgTtAw-LphcJCn7jOf6hnR6-Cmr5DaebILGNDXowh8ZZdP-Z3sCZhUccWeLZHxdxXeljxxvclRx/s1600/20140207_185722.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqMp2E6CU3b9ZINYfvyf3krA4cjYhViyf1zjnMjXQX2KO3OerF6rq5Vf8zYdyiyRcshxgTtAw-LphcJCn7jOf6hnR6-Cmr5DaebILGNDXowh8ZZdP-Z3sCZhUccWeLZHxdxXeljxxvclRx/s1600/20140207_185722.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sorry about the blurry photo...last Friday when the drought-quenching storm hit, we settled into the upstairs living room to watch a movie together. It was amusing to see three generations crammed onto a tiny loveseat sofa to watch a VHS copy of Aladdin. I had to hold myself back from singing the whole movie.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioARCormAvJs1guPuz4AVg6pNueGXQY4N5fUNY_xOq_34XZqy7dHJQ0w4i2McUZvF3nFgiM6V8YPdArgBvWsi-dDibVgV66QNJ2pNWjn_DbeOdgft2NlOU08pK3TFZ2KT9xC6XQIxqace7/s1600/20140208_113230.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioARCormAvJs1guPuz4AVg6pNueGXQY4N5fUNY_xOq_34XZqy7dHJQ0w4i2McUZvF3nFgiM6V8YPdArgBvWsi-dDibVgV66QNJ2pNWjn_DbeOdgft2NlOU08pK3TFZ2KT9xC6XQIxqace7/s1600/20140208_113230.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Last Saturday the rain REALLY came down fast and heavy. We got almost 6" that day! All of us love playing outside, wet or not so we took Eddie to the river to check out the flows. We'd been checking the USGS river flow website constantly. Our gauge maxes out at 400 cubic feet/second so we wanted to go see it in real life at that point. In this picture Eddie and Dave are standing north of the river beach where we play in the summer. Eddie was confused, asking where our beach was. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8vmMdjGANhGYFAI2N37S95u3u_9PScDHQ3VBFqBX-AQN_TzBtMiX_xhLbMXBL7badbNTfLIkEGLQpjDOEl4fBn93rDK36j-GlAE6TaROE4MQR8Hm7SNIafMlmVlYy-uRfZI5JvwTfNeAi/s1600/20140210_193927.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8vmMdjGANhGYFAI2N37S95u3u_9PScDHQ3VBFqBX-AQN_TzBtMiX_xhLbMXBL7badbNTfLIkEGLQpjDOEl4fBn93rDK36j-GlAE6TaROE4MQR8Hm7SNIafMlmVlYy-uRfZI5JvwTfNeAi/s1600/20140210_193927.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Valentine's Day is coming up on Friday. Eddie is getting pretty good at writing his letters so we thought it'd be good for him to address and sign his cards for his class. All NINETEEN of them. I started out having him do 2-4 each day but he decided he wanted to power through a large number of them at a sitting and then take a few days break. It worked out pretty well and we're quite proud of him. I hope he doesn't notice that I went back and wrote the names on them in black ink...but I worry that his teachers won't be able to read his writing to help him 'deliver' them to each kid. </td></tr>
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Where does the time go? Our weekdays feel like treadmill program:<br />
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<ul>
<li>Dead stop at 5:40 am since we're still cozy in our bed.</li>
<li>Slow walk at 5:45 am when we wake up.</li>
<li>Increase to a brisk walk at 6 am when we're scrambling to make/drink coffee, get lunches ready, and start Eddie and Dave's egg-and-cereal breakfast before one of us gets Eddie up around 6:20.</li>
<li>The jog starts at 6:50 when we start urging Eddie to finish his food. Why-o-WHY does it take kids so loooooooooong to eat their food?</li>
<li>We increase to a run at 7 when one of us literally runs out the door to warm up the car and put Eddie's lunch/backpack inside.</li>
<li>At 7:10 we're back at a run getting Eddie out the door, into the car, and buckled up. If we leave the kitchen at 7:10 then we're able to get to the bus on time.</li>
<li>We get to walk (or sit!) for about 20 minutes before rushing out the door to work. This is the time I eat breakfast.</li>
<li>Then we're off to work. That's either a run or a walk, depending on the day.</li>
<li>I leave the office at 4:30 pm to drive north to get Eddie. Once I walk in the door of the daycare it's an uphill hike. Getting Eddie to leave his friends and toys is a chore in and of itself. </li>
<li>The moment we step into the house it's a run all the way to bedtime. We get dinner on the table by 6 pm and almost every night Eddie has to take a potty break in the middle of the meal. Shower happens next around 7 pm and we try to get him into his room "for the night" by 8. I put that in quotes because he always comes back out for a kiss or to tell us "something important" like what he wants to wear the next day. </li>
<li>Luckily one of us cleans up the kitchen while the other does Eddie's bedtime, leaving post-Eddie time for a show or work or whatever...until we clock out no later than 10 pm. </li>
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I wish there were more time to play with Eddie at home on weekdays! It seems that there was a lot more "free time" in Davis on weeknights. I really think it's this giant, disorganized house that is sucking the time out of our lives. </div>
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Anyway, that's what we've been up to!</div>
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The Bowers!http://www.blogger.com/profile/14571813809345871673noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-960240756385438552.post-69567756586295518792014-01-11T22:14:00.003-08:002014-01-11T22:15:34.724-08:00Holy GranolyI've been making this granola for several years now. It's a modified version of <a href="http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Megans-Granola/Detail.aspx?event8=1&prop24=SR_Thumb&e11=megan%27s%20granola&e8=Quick%20Search&event10=1&e7=Recipe&scale=45&ismetric=0">Megan's Granola</a> on AllRecipes.com. Once Jennifer entered our family, I started making it gluten free instead so I can share it with her.<br />
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This recipe is a great way for us to use up the dark honey we harvest each September. It's a little intense in flavor kind of like a mild molasses.<br />
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This granola is soooooooooo yummy!<br />
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<u>Granola</u><br />
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<ul>
<li>8 cups rolled oats</li>
<li>1.5 cups oat bran</li>
<li>1.5 cups unsweetened coconut flakes</li>
<li>1 cup sunflower seeds (the cheapest ones are in the snack packs at the store--they're salted so I just rinse them in a sieve first)</li>
<li>1 cup pumpkin seeds</li>
<li>1 cup finely chopped almonds (I pulse whole almonds in the food processor)</li>
<li>1 cup finely chopped pecans (again with the food processor)</li>
<li>1.5 teaspoons salt</li>
<li>1/2 brown sugar</li>
<li>1/4 maple syrup (it's okay to use maple flavored syrup like Log Cabin)</li>
<li>3/4 cup honey</li>
<li>1 cup of vegetable oil</li>
<li>1 tablespoon ground cinnamon</li>
<li>1 tablespoon vanilla extract</li>
<li>2 (or more) cups dried fruit, such as cranberries, raisins, chopped apricots or apples</li>
</ul>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimpiekRtmTRvifIcU7kTkaWgEIf1ohd4YWf_rjXAoT_Nn1QwYcKK5jep-W9HgkJhPD3K3wTOfzaIRBc6Wp21l_XdC1V5F5UKFkwcsFN9Tz1BG1wtMPBhPPalVg7s_eVs5jK_a8ld8YeCIS/s1600/20140111_170824.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimpiekRtmTRvifIcU7kTkaWgEIf1ohd4YWf_rjXAoT_Nn1QwYcKK5jep-W9HgkJhPD3K3wTOfzaIRBc6Wp21l_XdC1V5F5UKFkwcsFN9Tz1BG1wtMPBhPPalVg7s_eVs5jK_a8ld8YeCIS/s1600/20140111_170824.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I used to make the granola all at once, but then we had Eddie so now I break it into parts over a whole day: measure out dry ingredients, make sauce, bake, cool, mix in fruit and package for storage...and then the dreaded clean up. <br />
Here are all the dry ingredients.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqisdNyNxKCRRuJU74jxktr4xJo2mfDjh-8_Ht15_alF44fhV2eyylJ5i0zY8grfafox3SqP98_g2HrCOEr0of63eyLjWtY3RMBkvWETwkzAhCg7MZFaW7-mvTloDB_Esbku0LhrtfQ9Sn/s1600/20140111_171445.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqisdNyNxKCRRuJU74jxktr4xJo2mfDjh-8_Ht15_alF44fhV2eyylJ5i0zY8grfafox3SqP98_g2HrCOEr0of63eyLjWtY3RMBkvWETwkzAhCg7MZFaW7-mvTloDB_Esbku0LhrtfQ9Sn/s1600/20140111_171445.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The sauce calls for what seems like a lot of oil. But per serving it's only 1.5 teaspoons. I omitted the oil once and it stuck really badly to the foil. </td></tr>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb5ofLL8HyiatzN4XZRM0Wda7KOoq5DvitVc-UV7X_tqErT3fw9jkQ7cBPobFm7jbGWuWXAa-hU0AcVNxiCavaMqLS9KKh74pnCaJO1YCTHKTIOl6nlqEJzGJZCE7H1Txc4GcrFgFcHhEV/s1600/20140111_171452.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb5ofLL8HyiatzN4XZRM0Wda7KOoq5DvitVc-UV7X_tqErT3fw9jkQ7cBPobFm7jbGWuWXAa-hU0AcVNxiCavaMqLS9KKh74pnCaJO1YCTHKTIOl6nlqEJzGJZCE7H1Txc4GcrFgFcHhEV/s1600/20140111_171452.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.727272033691406px;">I always use my giant restaurant supply store bowls when making granola--it makes a lot! Here it is uncooked.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio5vuAhGqHZebdwJuyFZmGM6OotlYxgLNXuWSnVmgB5HVt_HKSxnwJdrXsGysomAQW1qmDk5Wt_CwDda6B1e8CzcHTpd0EtI_0RlbTKACowSRMhehHou9_5SC5HecLNTQueoAcdBEy51wD/s1600/20140111_180122.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio5vuAhGqHZebdwJuyFZmGM6OotlYxgLNXuWSnVmgB5HVt_HKSxnwJdrXsGysomAQW1qmDk5Wt_CwDda6B1e8CzcHTpd0EtI_0RlbTKACowSRMhehHou9_5SC5HecLNTQueoAcdBEy51wD/s1600/20140111_180122.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I stir and rotate the pans every 6-7 minutes to prevent burning.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoAT3gV_eMBtVbkqx9lew4Vy8E3_1QKff3-uv_Wb0OCHzj7RTujrjbEn9GF3ZQSDhVTMZt_tui-Hd_ilLyNO6V40Z0mts-c5DZPRVspvlDNB9NtoGPlcV-NQDv1JF3tlOCr1OxWEUNNGur/s1600/20140111_195911.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoAT3gV_eMBtVbkqx9lew4Vy8E3_1QKff3-uv_Wb0OCHzj7RTujrjbEn9GF3ZQSDhVTMZt_tui-Hd_ilLyNO6V40Z0mts-c5DZPRVspvlDNB9NtoGPlcV-NQDv1JF3tlOCr1OxWEUNNGur/s1600/20140111_195911.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dave and I like having some clumps mixed in with the loose granola so I try to cook at least 1/3 of the recipe a little longer than the rest to preserve some clumps. Even better is to use extra sauce in one portion for better clumping.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjucnCCwFQr-Rrt3mNMPFqeCWDhOulWldp_AphF2i4II3KwQHDI94WNlx51-14OEw45TZmU2GhX68n6t0QQI1_QyS6-xLViTjAbERqdNgUQEaflut9KA_Gldh4btzEmSlSfcS3-u-U3BNZn/s1600/20140111_200128.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjucnCCwFQr-Rrt3mNMPFqeCWDhOulWldp_AphF2i4II3KwQHDI94WNlx51-14OEw45TZmU2GhX68n6t0QQI1_QyS6-xLViTjAbERqdNgUQEaflut9KA_Gldh4btzEmSlSfcS3-u-U3BNZn/s1600/20140111_200128.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">You can use any dried fruit in the granola--we usually add raisins and cranberries.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmFKkeiNvyw8pA_TlBvOR9o5HxK1FScz7X3IR1MdA8GIm-a5s9n1_htknRZZEBWUqJTq8h19CnqjYY_PWWhwYPK2sWJ2BuSUCQJ4TRjoUsL8omr2DpyLKoxCiEHLpts73JzgxQT9TnVFDa/s1600/20140111_201050.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmFKkeiNvyw8pA_TlBvOR9o5HxK1FScz7X3IR1MdA8GIm-a5s9n1_htknRZZEBWUqJTq8h19CnqjYY_PWWhwYPK2sWJ2BuSUCQJ4TRjoUsL8omr2DpyLKoxCiEHLpts73JzgxQT9TnVFDa/s1600/20140111_201050.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Half gallon jars are about as tall as a cereal box so it'll slide right into the cabinet next to our other cereals.</td></tr>
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Enjoy!The Bowers!http://www.blogger.com/profile/14571813809345871673noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-960240756385438552.post-35993575836193604132014-01-10T10:30:00.001-08:002014-01-10T10:33:09.344-08:00Christmas Break Trip to the Bay AreaEddie was off of school and daycare for two weeks so we took advantage! <br />
<br />
The first week we went down to Livermore/Mountain View. This was to visit Grandpa and Uncle but also to give Dadda some time alone to work on the Coast House. We're soooooooooo close to having a kitchen downstairs. The 'honey do' list didn't get completed due to some water company emergencies but that's okay. I'm thrilled to report that after a week out of town, we came home to two (almost completely) finished bedrooms downstairs. We got to move in and hang curtains in them upon our return. YAY!!!!!<br />
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I'll have to remind myself of what we did on our bay area adventures. Here goes:<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD3400kULsg7oUbbqF1ZoFx4OTvk_SkJGb2SroR2GA-w3NUpqHpnJN1ciHXzfTYaqMZJ15JZuzinzGGkgEQlwAVldg8QBGRCs0JXFGxwd6pbARqpz1aM90jSRvixpx1izJjvI4PsBMfTfH/s1600/20131220_093705.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD3400kULsg7oUbbqF1ZoFx4OTvk_SkJGb2SroR2GA-w3NUpqHpnJN1ciHXzfTYaqMZJ15JZuzinzGGkgEQlwAVldg8QBGRCs0JXFGxwd6pbARqpz1aM90jSRvixpx1izJjvI4PsBMfTfH/s1600/20131220_093705.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Eddie and his classmates performed the most adorable renditions of Jingle Bells in English and Spanish at the elementary school holiday concert. Eddie's in the green shirt. The kids sang along with a recorded tape but you could hear Eddie adding his own opera-style touches to the songs.</td></tr>
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Right after school was out for the day, Eddie and I drove down to Livermore to my dad's house.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAHJ4EJPihzRW7NHKC08eK8C7D2lTqmX3QbXh-ww8BFYm9h_11f3kPrI-rgOoGu82qW-PLhjDUJi8gfNlZdagEvNVxaCIOmqW8XN-AGBwQ2xWSPW_g2Jt3DH-y4G40y4xWMuenGBfttsBs/s1600/20131220_205918.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAHJ4EJPihzRW7NHKC08eK8C7D2lTqmX3QbXh-ww8BFYm9h_11f3kPrI-rgOoGu82qW-PLhjDUJi8gfNlZdagEvNVxaCIOmqW8XN-AGBwQ2xWSPW_g2Jt3DH-y4G40y4xWMuenGBfttsBs/s1600/20131220_205918.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Eddie helped Grandpa grind up beef and potatoes for some yummy hash for dinner. My dad also made Harvard beets. I knew Eddie wouldn't want to eat them if he saw them so I made him close his eyes for a taste first. He loved them--even after he saw them. He and I ate so many that our pee was pink the whole next day!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje3fYphsDEDOmPyMbbRm-oaMGNi0PqBTqZth2KpDh6ZQaev6olJ-cg6sjafvKTRhfSOPwqOev-Iukzo0ujL5qrIQj7gVjrWg6AbSW_DUPYXgE5oX2xo2Z6GXETY8jBE73bh18q5HHO9vVf/s1600/20131221_080500.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje3fYphsDEDOmPyMbbRm-oaMGNi0PqBTqZth2KpDh6ZQaev6olJ-cg6sjafvKTRhfSOPwqOev-Iukzo0ujL5qrIQj7gVjrWg6AbSW_DUPYXgE5oX2xo2Z6GXETY8jBE73bh18q5HHO9vVf/s1600/20131221_080500.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">When Eddie wasn't whining or yelling (driving Grandpa up the wall) he cuddled a bit.</td></tr>
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It was beautiful outside during our visit (thanks, drought) but I did struggle with keeping Eddie busy during out visit.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCnKudxpJHd6BGWscVl1W6nYWs_VkxoUvq3QjpClwmgXGKtJIXcFTEZycDC1pW7AsRKILUSep7X374CNfrI3Qfpu1_mp9pvKP3wS858MPtRyHKwdX_HKch1gX8WZ_MNb6XNxggNvq8hZjK/s1600/20131221_100037.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCnKudxpJHd6BGWscVl1W6nYWs_VkxoUvq3QjpClwmgXGKtJIXcFTEZycDC1pW7AsRKILUSep7X374CNfrI3Qfpu1_mp9pvKP3wS858MPtRyHKwdX_HKch1gX8WZ_MNb6XNxggNvq8hZjK/s1600/20131221_100037.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">He did a lot of dishes...and Grandpa had to position two 25 pound sacks of lead shot on the stool to keep it from sliding out from under Eddie.</span></span></td></tr>
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On Saturday afternoon we packed up Clifford the Big Red Truck and headed up to my dad's cabin. Auntie and Uncle rode their bikes there and had a fire going for us when we arrived. It was cooooooold up there! This was Eddie first time to the cabin. My dad and his friend bought the cabin property--Far Side Ranch--when I was in fifth grade as a place to take their suburban kids to learn how to handle/shoot guns, build fires, and other wilderness essentials. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTr3sDSFS-ZbhWIsQaGHTrFCVsz-AFKwvuNnq1Y79Y1BOSfgUeqV6IrACZ3VNIwkyd0IYzh1SwYUDyyvNWxRnnFh3spO9NCFS2fsOlg2W1JdPomJ7_FNw6aJcNPLtE83nm-D6XffLp01FQ/s1600/20131221_232242.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTr3sDSFS-ZbhWIsQaGHTrFCVsz-AFKwvuNnq1Y79Y1BOSfgUeqV6IrACZ3VNIwkyd0IYzh1SwYUDyyvNWxRnnFh3spO9NCFS2fsOlg2W1JdPomJ7_FNw6aJcNPLtE83nm-D6XffLp01FQ/s1600/20131221_232242.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Eddie and I slept in the Wreden's room. It was below freezing outside and not much warmer in the bedrooms but still, I found Eddie uncovered when I finally went to bed.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmXh_afB77z0CKWCuH1A9hZ-arapsXKEBB8880Z61BT-KXFkeYXqtypF6ioiMZYASQmrNakn90RJzEkKCXQ8HqViY0jStFrwfa-Nohv-NrPGrVD-OZOtqmlRPBOfu9fOWUyIUIdrxLCYXP/s1600/20131222_091257.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmXh_afB77z0CKWCuH1A9hZ-arapsXKEBB8880Z61BT-KXFkeYXqtypF6ioiMZYASQmrNakn90RJzEkKCXQ8HqViY0jStFrwfa-Nohv-NrPGrVD-OZOtqmlRPBOfu9fOWUyIUIdrxLCYXP/s1600/20131222_091257.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Eddie woke up the next morning ready to play! But it was soooo cold outside that we kept busy inside enjoying a fire and reading books, being as quiet as possible so Auntie and Uncle could sleep in.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLZQXvO3RMH0pQTeB2KPMZJ1ju5v98vVst8b7yrnhuOxC4NI5zIorF0xKxiV9sLFE-CR0D8XBXjyI9Sp_ssQcgrO4IYl-rKuTkWYzj2vk1mSiHTZJWCEkJ1PK0sDSggr8f8zYipCJl9IWp/s1600/20131222_095106.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLZQXvO3RMH0pQTeB2KPMZJ1ju5v98vVst8b7yrnhuOxC4NI5zIorF0xKxiV9sLFE-CR0D8XBXjyI9Sp_ssQcgrO4IYl-rKuTkWYzj2vk1mSiHTZJWCEkJ1PK0sDSggr8f8zYipCJl9IWp/s1600/20131222_095106.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The most exciting thing for Eddie (besides pooping outside since the cabin bathroom is currently out of commission), was throwing rocks on the icy pond.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgjeKMXjfQOE5UrjbNG0bjxdl604Q_wY0yDDMEHEJnc5OGDJVbiuX1guOSRYt1sAA5GBtgkPeKP8a3EiKdXCpwjTeIxu2pPJz4Ch3d77PHpWQxBzlvYG9m3apWTl62ElJiqUquYdKG8roQ/s1600/20131222_102130.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgjeKMXjfQOE5UrjbNG0bjxdl604Q_wY0yDDMEHEJnc5OGDJVbiuX1guOSRYt1sAA5GBtgkPeKP8a3EiKdXCpwjTeIxu2pPJz4Ch3d77PHpWQxBzlvYG9m3apWTl62ElJiqUquYdKG8roQ/s1600/20131222_102130.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We cooked up a yummy gluten free breakfast once everyone was awake!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDhaJcQEDPPEByCggCbspAm3W-B645f20xdjLXIoAgck4xEThjJlR_eEegK-KAx6qLiR0X5lCUom3blZBKtBDsRFGaAI2WSjVK1L88XomzNSiCtUmNm8SDMusNulxb-y8ywwbh-vAnG31e/s1600/20131222_121323.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDhaJcQEDPPEByCggCbspAm3W-B645f20xdjLXIoAgck4xEThjJlR_eEegK-KAx6qLiR0X5lCUom3blZBKtBDsRFGaAI2WSjVK1L88XomzNSiCtUmNm8SDMusNulxb-y8ywwbh-vAnG31e/s1600/20131222_121323.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We hiked through the chaparral to see the valley. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimZgbrbcfyp6VoYsEI47dkVinK0C9B3yOxiRrVoyGXOHeN9O0jp3RHGD3bfheVRBmUn7vBfj9R8rOsAd1vi6jS8MZ2HxWd6s2VDKIucxezXTISaeHWxp63HNDVQzzuLSisU5JGPsvimLTr/s1600/20131222_161601.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimZgbrbcfyp6VoYsEI47dkVinK0C9B3yOxiRrVoyGXOHeN9O0jp3RHGD3bfheVRBmUn7vBfj9R8rOsAd1vi6jS8MZ2HxWd6s2VDKIucxezXTISaeHWxp63HNDVQzzuLSisU5JGPsvimLTr/s1600/20131222_161601.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is the front of the cabin. My dad and Carter (co-owner) came up on Sunday afternoon to repair the leaky roof and hang out. We had a yummy outdoor pasta lunch before we packed up and headed back to Livermore.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYMuoCqtROiRzLj4Ni-b5OSqoUOAX-KBROjxQoDKmQ8lZnWd0TsTTowErI9f29dGkeC0nU8-EW0jx-TrWsUjyGnXCh6jG_tPSj6e7Pe7pwd2WBBCD99SwZQmaEQlClN3CJdmQ5hI0lmMxY/s1600/20131222_231545.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYMuoCqtROiRzLj4Ni-b5OSqoUOAX-KBROjxQoDKmQ8lZnWd0TsTTowErI9f29dGkeC0nU8-EW0jx-TrWsUjyGnXCh6jG_tPSj6e7Pe7pwd2WBBCD99SwZQmaEQlClN3CJdmQ5hI0lmMxY/s1600/20131222_231545.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Eddie and I shared my mom's old room at my folks' house. It is weird to sleep in there but at least we have an attached bathroom and a heater (in an otherwise unheated house).</td></tr>
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There were a few must-do's for our Livermore visit: visit a new park, have ice cream at Loard's, visit Deacon Dave's house for the lights display, get donuts at Donut Wheel, go sledding in the snow, and see friends. We did most of those things.<br />
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We visited two new-to-Eddie parks and got to have an ice cream date before a quick visit with my childhood friend, Ariel, at a coffeeshop.<br />
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Visiting Deacon Dave's almost didn't happen--but we braved a crazy long line while Eddie did the pee-pee dance the whole time. (If I'd had someone with me I would have been able to find a place for him to pee but since I was alone--as I was most of the trip--he had to hold it. I offered for us to leave and find a potty but he was determined to see the lights.) <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTGiDJ3mZulRPPzFsqIUzhRZJQkOp_P7Z7Trm-Tub9qT5BhAq3xzb5feXU0QwbgJEpDS3FKYEScggibdq4_FL0Tkuvd73nAxkSCnUFXh85sH2cwIkFip2y-bnK9-TxdOvbV87tLiivazZq/s1600/20131223_192853.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTGiDJ3mZulRPPzFsqIUzhRZJQkOp_P7Z7Trm-Tub9qT5BhAq3xzb5feXU0QwbgJEpDS3FKYEScggibdq4_FL0Tkuvd73nAxkSCnUFXh85sH2cwIkFip2y-bnK9-TxdOvbV87tLiivazZq/s1600/20131223_192853.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Eddie stood still just long enough for a picture before we bolted back to the car.</td></tr>
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When we heard that one of my friends, April, was stuck at home with the flu, Eddie and I decided to pick up some Thai food and her favorite hot-and-sour soup to deliver to her house. She mentioned it was her hubby's birthday and they'd have to miss out on celebrating because of her flu. So we picked up a dozen donuts and delivered half of them to her house so they could have a small celebration. It felt good to do something nice with Eddie--he was a little confused why we couldn't stay to play with her kids but I think he sort of figured out the charity.<br />
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Visiting other friends just fell between the cracks--the effort involved in finding suitable times was too much for me toward the end.<br />
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We also cancelled the snow trip, which we'd planned to do with Uncle after Christmas. There just wasn't enough snow to justify a whole day's driving to and from the Sierra. Hopefully there'll be a significant storm at SOME point this winter so we can get some frozen play time logged.<br />
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My dad has been on a fermentation kick lately. He told me that the sauerkraut was ready so I suggested that he corn some beef so we could have Reubens one night. While the meat was smoking, Eddie and I made a batch of caraway rye bread.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd2FDGWOpUgNRZqpK7-1z3UkL-E1bcgNyPQXuwRQvmIwWxtyF7lnn54ghq2k1aUfykyvZSFVk7YdTCuMYRASbAbiXT7JePEntCu2GhZ7vFS0l8QrI_N0nEhMtDJuaIhf6F7JvMz6iUrMyu/s1600/20131223_205731.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd2FDGWOpUgNRZqpK7-1z3UkL-E1bcgNyPQXuwRQvmIwWxtyF7lnn54ghq2k1aUfykyvZSFVk7YdTCuMYRASbAbiXT7JePEntCu2GhZ7vFS0l8QrI_N0nEhMtDJuaIhf6F7JvMz6iUrMyu/s1600/20131223_205731.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Homemade Reuben sandwiches! Blurry, but gooooooooood.</td></tr>
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We ended our visit to Livermore a little earlier than planned. It was clear that loud, rambunctious Eddie had worn out his welcome in my dad's usually-quiet house. Karma-wise, I'm not sure what I did in previous lives to deserve to have a child with two sets of grandparents who are um...not as kid-accommodating as I'd like. Everyone loves Eddie, of course, but as an active young boy his energy requires a lot of 'directing.' And I was just plain tired of having to control it in order to keep my dad from grumbling. I'm working on reducing my intense jealousy toward alllllll my friends with parents who eagerly (or at least willingly) babysit and hang out with their grandkids. Mamas and Daddies need a friggin' break sometimes! That they don't have to pay for. Especially at other peoples' houses. <i>Grumble grumble grumble</i>.<br />
<br />
So...we headed to Uncle's apartment in Mountain View on Christmas Eve!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUH0EvjjxLhUYjzvzBrUfyXhAgN4mAVK5hshX_zQhUqx3nYYXdbGEK3D_AYpTtdRLUAMnc1bM8FZRfGiatyMIRHVKS1nVcp8oDOKDud8GXm3BbS7hCq5TzZq7dyjigAsgLLlByyK2GQzwX/s1600/20131225_121728.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUH0EvjjxLhUYjzvzBrUfyXhAgN4mAVK5hshX_zQhUqx3nYYXdbGEK3D_AYpTtdRLUAMnc1bM8FZRfGiatyMIRHVKS1nVcp8oDOKDud8GXm3BbS7hCq5TzZq7dyjigAsgLLlByyK2GQzwX/s1600/20131225_121728.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cartoons were watched...</td></tr>
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<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsF5ZEJRoAl5rs65SWibLPaKUXa0WW64Yyo0v9qHOaWQMiB8gk1S0nRrlW9S1JvCoWs-HML0rJfn-V-Qn70AV6DI_U0-krTJeJiWkyxBuBpkrks5TmdB6cqApaxKTsEj70W5xyONJXjPhP/s1600/20131225_133924.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsF5ZEJRoAl5rs65SWibLPaKUXa0WW64Yyo0v9qHOaWQMiB8gk1S0nRrlW9S1JvCoWs-HML0rJfn-V-Qn70AV6DI_U0-krTJeJiWkyxBuBpkrks5TmdB6cqApaxKTsEj70W5xyONJXjPhP/s1600/20131225_133924.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We went on a 9-mile Christmas Day bike ride through the Googleplex and along the bay trail.</td></tr>
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I don't know what I was thinking, but I totally forgot to bring along snacks for this ride. Our first stop on the ride was to the grocery store for dinner fixings so we ended up nibbling on the green beans during a break.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyxDpC1SxqtPnxDtZ5C6pTOe8NnwKRrKjGPuELZ4ViSA8XiEu4gFQc8GiZ_jfy6G4oHbnMn_7rgBQ_Z0pTo_QwK1uid_PGu-GWxikygZn4u5n0yV6BT2TkaVFhQv9VwCnMloOnyjxAl3D1/s1600/20131225_141449.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyxDpC1SxqtPnxDtZ5C6pTOe8NnwKRrKjGPuELZ4ViSA8XiEu4gFQc8GiZ_jfy6G4oHbnMn_7rgBQ_Z0pTo_QwK1uid_PGu-GWxikygZn4u5n0yV6BT2TkaVFhQv9VwCnMloOnyjxAl3D1/s1600/20131225_141449.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Eddie, Uncle, and Auntie. It was 65F on Christmas--a lovely day for a ride.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe_4WJLPbu9Qrwk4_aK1gY89mS87RKxIZV-WrpXZX0YhPp7Y-sW_4afO4lKiH7uPqt30mYjgwxZth-zHKjzwmtgK6lrnN6SYvP1wXn-qVC7ED1IJFYTYxcvecrqVtKSI1ZntUcj_kmKONj/s1600/20131225_142758.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe_4WJLPbu9Qrwk4_aK1gY89mS87RKxIZV-WrpXZX0YhPp7Y-sW_4afO4lKiH7uPqt30mYjgwxZth-zHKjzwmtgK6lrnN6SYvP1wXn-qVC7ED1IJFYTYxcvecrqVtKSI1ZntUcj_kmKONj/s1600/20131225_142758.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Eddie, Uncle, and Auntie on the bay trail. Our goal was to go see NASA (in the distance on the left) but Eddie was getting tired so we headed home instead.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKaVaYVP_fd-9gVMWYyf-xSI0DHsc9CnV7IdRssY05ACzMgMLUArQPAjEcpi8brEdHI5Y83tKwMuhiXiuAKKhqqlJrKPI_r1jJzgnlMlSw28-bEt42sGomAJVUf5d3uYJkBUHvOOWjJNWT/s1600/20131225_144111.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKaVaYVP_fd-9gVMWYyf-xSI0DHsc9CnV7IdRssY05ACzMgMLUArQPAjEcpi8brEdHI5Y83tKwMuhiXiuAKKhqqlJrKPI_r1jJzgnlMlSw28-bEt42sGomAJVUf5d3uYJkBUHvOOWjJNWT/s1600/20131225_144111.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Eddie has totally outgrown his bike but that didn't stop him from zooming around.</td></tr>
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Dyani and Brice invited us over to share their Christmas dinner with her parents and grandmother. We really enjoyed the roast goose and veggies, plantain stuffing, warm veggie quinoa salad, and Aunti's homemade egg nog ice cream. The wine and Auntie's guava cordial were the icing on the cake. Or maybe sitting at the table and singing Christmas carols in French and English was the best part...it's hard to say!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqLdve_gysKNLOkBxO7W7QjThPRJuLeQxvZagxj9TQ42x4QR8yvkxSMXMHfU7UWK92WbAvVbBbKBF6X7PigdJEd7YMK7cn_y0YuGyD_Mtd2mb5EF2rP1pifdrA_yEjq_XEiSQ3hZVvIPxv/s1600/20131225_190241.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqLdve_gysKNLOkBxO7W7QjThPRJuLeQxvZagxj9TQ42x4QR8yvkxSMXMHfU7UWK92WbAvVbBbKBF6X7PigdJEd7YMK7cn_y0YuGyD_Mtd2mb5EF2rP1pifdrA_yEjq_XEiSQ3hZVvIPxv/s1600/20131225_190241.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Eddie and Batiste were two peas in a pod. I couldn't believe that they both sat at the table for nearly the whole meal! Letting them have some play time was much-needed for Eddie, who was definitely getting tired of hanging out with just me by this point on the trip. The boys played pretty well together, with regularly spaced bouts of whining/crying when one wanted the toy the other was playing with. 'Tis the age.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx5ABAdXQKjFx_LQkdQopVYG7zzhsP4pQO5PTukbo8sIYCnKlvht-9HrGuQRcwj6JYSwdHRPym_aI1Lwp9gAkbQLt5Uiz_5wylaJW0oxHHjgdTqsFP2jG8hyphenhyphenwekqbbMPJZPWL5RXjdYJiF/s1600/20131225_214452.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx5ABAdXQKjFx_LQkdQopVYG7zzhsP4pQO5PTukbo8sIYCnKlvht-9HrGuQRcwj6JYSwdHRPym_aI1Lwp9gAkbQLt5Uiz_5wylaJW0oxHHjgdTqsFP2jG8hyphenhyphenwekqbbMPJZPWL5RXjdYJiF/s1600/20131225_214452.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Batiste, Kateri, and Eddie. Eddie used those bells to sing Cascabel (Jingle Bells in Spanish) for everyone at the table!</td></tr>
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The day after Christmas we went on another bike ride to return some Redbox movies. Auntie was working from home that day and we wanted to keep the place quiet for her. As soon as we got back, we went in the hot tub--one of my favorite things to do at Uncle's house!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN3otgOj6GfqkAUOztPYpDMyPKny1ARwKyRpSJljNuDvhPCo7DHLHy55mZJnNDyMZKATWH0fIeCYCaZLMxNM_BFX2S1hBhuDY8aTFun02JVN61i7EUQopL419YIgEVg6cXr11BqIf5ZIep/s1600/20131226_142037.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN3otgOj6GfqkAUOztPYpDMyPKny1ARwKyRpSJljNuDvhPCo7DHLHy55mZJnNDyMZKATWH0fIeCYCaZLMxNM_BFX2S1hBhuDY8aTFun02JVN61i7EUQopL419YIgEVg6cXr11BqIf5ZIep/s1600/20131226_142037.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sunny and warm! I should have packed shorts.</td></tr>
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At the Coast House, we didn't yet have a living room set up. It was SUCH a treat to sit on the couch at Edward's and watch movies with Edward and Jennifer after Eddie was in bed. We watched two holiday movies: The Family Stone and Four Christmases. We'd all seen them before but sometimes familiarity is just what you want.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibo8ff5udGz5MmpilT1beKyVmHANUejkdSJVMZrUkl4M5o54BHUMNPkrFXPXuwZqJ5B-iM8fdxjYxaQ_V_ImmEJeFg_ruI22swOcRUIMtr4lbNpyDLkh6_j_RSTwV5LjU60hDkGywTWEvC/s1600/20131227_114217.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibo8ff5udGz5MmpilT1beKyVmHANUejkdSJVMZrUkl4M5o54BHUMNPkrFXPXuwZqJ5B-iM8fdxjYxaQ_V_ImmEJeFg_ruI22swOcRUIMtr4lbNpyDLkh6_j_RSTwV5LjU60hDkGywTWEvC/s1600/20131227_114217.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">After the van was packed up on Friday, Eddie and Uncle played cars in the living room for a bit.</td></tr>
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Dave and I made an arrangement with Santa that he'd not visit our house until we got home. Santa said it was fine since Gualala is sooooooooo out of the way anyway. Eddie knew this, so he was an eager helper on our drive back up the coast. He was such a good boy on our Costco run--I think he knew he needed to be extra good so that Santa would actually come. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH1c33JSMZTqAh6xkh9zGRVZJtUQXX8FH3f_gn__RUjbJdJwi1Ph7gSrmJ-o08oVOUp5hTj30RAHfEYrMKTL9cZ2INBI6w1WMxZdkFrD-G6OFlLJEuenPgVfJ41ZOlExeaz08-rEVQr76t/s1600/20131227_125246.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH1c33JSMZTqAh6xkh9zGRVZJtUQXX8FH3f_gn__RUjbJdJwi1Ph7gSrmJ-o08oVOUp5hTj30RAHfEYrMKTL9cZ2INBI6w1WMxZdkFrD-G6OFlLJEuenPgVfJ41ZOlExeaz08-rEVQr76t/s1600/20131227_125246.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Eddie insists that we use a giant orange flatbed cart at Costco. He likes it because he can hop on/off unassisted whenever we need to load something onto the cart. I can completely trust him to get those two gallon packs of milk out of the fridge compartment and put them on the cart <i>unassisted</i>. I get some glares from fellow shoppers when I stand at the cart while Eddie gets the milk but he likes it, I swear! See what an independent kid he is? A 40 pound kid holding a 25 pound sack of sugar. So sweet, hahahaha. </td></tr>
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Overall it was a good trip, if not completely exhausting for me. But the goal was to let Eddie see Grandpa and Uncle (check!) and to give Dave some time to work on the house without Eddie trying to "help" (check!).The Bowers!http://www.blogger.com/profile/14571813809345871673noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-960240756385438552.post-89646573223841443052013-12-13T11:38:00.001-08:002013-12-13T12:51:01.225-08:00Shopping TripYesterday I went to Santa Rosa to run a ton of errands. Here's how it went down:<br />
<br />
<ol>
<li>Dropped Eddie off at the bus at 7:15 am.</li>
<li>Ate breakfast, cleaned up the kitchen, and pulled out of Gualala at 7:45 am.</li>
<li>Pulled into Lowe's at 9:15 am to pick up a new, super-discounted, super-efficient washing machine. Dave calculated that it will pay for itself in only 3 years <i>in water alone</i> over continuing to use the old top loader we currently have in the Coast House.</li>
<li>Nearby shopping center for all the stocking stuffers and some Christmas gifts. The Dollar Tree and grocery section of Wal-Mart were both out of smoked oysters so Edward will be purchasing those for our stockings this year. I got a hazelnut iced coffee at the McDonald's inside Wal-Mart and it tasted like pure sugar. </li>
<li>Taco Bell for some nachos, which I ate in the car with the windows down, enjoying the sunshine and listening to NPR. It was a nice break from the shopping madness. I was ready to stop shopping at this point--but I knew I needed to finish my list of to-do's to make that 4 hour round trip worth it (not to mention the day off of school work!).</li>
<li>Costco for a carpet steam cleaner and the usual bulk groceries. Among many other things, I bought a fresh 50 pound sack of whole wheat flour since I discovered that our supply had gone rancid in the hot Davis garage this past summer. I also bought a double pack of bread...for half the cost of the sack of flour. I've GOT to get back into the homemade bread habit because it's so much cheaper.</li>
<li>Spent 20 minutes packing the car--remember there was already a washing machine box in there and I needed to fit in a steam cleaner box AND a cart full of things for me and my MIL. And knowing I had other errands and it was a warm-ish day, I needed to arrange all the cold items together to keep them cool for the rest of the day.</li>
<li>Got a phone call from my MIL that she wanted cotton yarn from a nearby fabric store. When I got there, I called to find out what color(s) she wanted. She said "one of each except black." I told her that there were 30+ colors and she still wanted one of each color. So...I loaded up a cart with 40 skeins of yarn for her!</li>
<li>Old Navy to get a supply of pants for Eddie. Until we had that week of sub-freezing temperatures, he had refused to wear anything but shorts <i>because pants make him run less fast</i>. He had exactly 4 pairs of pants in his dresser, two of which were 4" floods on him. And that's really a lot considering he's only 43" tall in the first place. A couple of months ago I paid for our new garage door installation with my Old Navy credit card so I had TONS of rewards to use for my purchases that day. I got him 4 pairs of jeans, exchanged a pair for myself, and got a few things from the clearance for myself. </li>
<li>Haircut at the mall...just the split ends trimmed off. FINALLY. This was on my to-do list (whether in Gualala or anywhere else) since October.</li>
<li>Picked up dinner at Chipotle, never mind the fact that I knew I wouldn't get home until way after dinnertime. Normally I get a fatty burrito,but this time I got a salad with the lettuce on the side (to prevent it getting soggy on the drive). </li>
<li>Got myself a grande no water soy chai at Starbucks.</li>
<li>Drove home, arriving at 7:30 pm, just as the boys were exiting the shower. I sang along to <a href="http://crawdadrepublic.com/">Crawdad Republic</a> and listened to the <a href="http://www.radiolab.org/story/apocalyptical-live-paramount-seattle/">beginning of a Radio Lab podcast</a> during that dark drive. The podcast was amazing even though it begs more questions for me than it answers...I might have to look up the prof and email him. Eddie and I talk about dinosaur extinction theories all the time so I'll have him listen to it or watch the video soon. The music is upbeat and complex and sorrowful all at the same time. Edward and I went to high school with the band members, which makes it even better to me. I downloaded the album when we moved to the coast and I listen to some of it nearly every day when I drive to get Eddie from daycare. It's become the soundtrack to my new life as a coastal, motherless person.</li>
<li>I unloaded the van all by myself (minus the washer, a monumental task with all those purchases) because I didn't want Dave or Eddie seeing their gifts. </li>
<li>Put Eddie to bed.</li>
<li>Watched an episode of <a href="http://movies.netflix.com/WiMovie/White_Collar/70166091?trkid=13630398">White Collar</a> and drooled over Matt Bomer while I ate my super spicy Chipotle salad. I think Dave was even drooling a little--he agrees that the guy is "very handsome." </li>
<li>Fell asleep at 9:45 pm. Errand days are looooooooooooong.</li>
</ol>
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And because no post is worth looking at with out a cute picture, here are two that Dave took last weekend. Eddie asked him to take his picture with sister. These two bicker, fight over toys, and make too much noise for my delicate ears most of the time...and then sometimes they're sweet. And seeing them be sweet together is crazy cute! Aw, melt my heart!</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe0_bidjiJTFUcMCGQHPzXhJV-5iJx6qljlgfjJvRGp57VdvLs3_qaUOhT3Ln0g0g8U7cdPIpOjtAeHnQ_6Cfz317y5cxxNbZx7Q2S_3JDGGDyau02zI2BsvrhvVETEn5y1xJ3SemnZGvk/s1600/Eddie+and+Ruby+12.2013.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe0_bidjiJTFUcMCGQHPzXhJV-5iJx6qljlgfjJvRGp57VdvLs3_qaUOhT3Ln0g0g8U7cdPIpOjtAeHnQ_6Cfz317y5cxxNbZx7Q2S_3JDGGDyau02zI2BsvrhvVETEn5y1xJ3SemnZGvk/s1600/Eddie+and+Ruby+12.2013.png" height="574" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cute Eddie and my beautiful baby girl. Isn't she a gorgeous dog? I love love love her expressive brown eyebrows.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzkKUMtiojLhqDr2t_09j-Mmqs_dkirPnaWshDyFn_EKddKSGgCdvxsd_nuUxZAYXNMZjtx8JMSkugQ5l-9Ya63blabffLfiWrXkAYYaSccoBXU2K4Gb0TPMfgKK6DdAKSLLn1rTlRVBXm/s1600/Eddie+and+Ruby2+12.2013.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzkKUMtiojLhqDr2t_09j-Mmqs_dkirPnaWshDyFn_EKddKSGgCdvxsd_nuUxZAYXNMZjtx8JMSkugQ5l-9Ya63blabffLfiWrXkAYYaSccoBXU2K4Gb0TPMfgKK6DdAKSLLn1rTlRVBXm/s1600/Eddie+and+Ruby2+12.2013.png" height="602" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dave asked her to smile and she did!</td></tr>
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The Bowers!http://www.blogger.com/profile/14571813809345871673noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-960240756385438552.post-19124534133237501532013-12-05T09:07:00.001-08:002013-12-05T09:07:10.796-08:00Marry Me, Korean BeefLast weekend I was stumped about what to make for dinner each night this week. Here in Gualala, Mondays and Tuesdays have become crock pot or frozen Costco pizza nights to make evenings easy since we both work those days. So Sunday I prepared a crock full of <a href="http://m.allrecipes.com/recipe/77575/pumpkin-black-bean-soup?ast=pumpkin%20soup&asas=&asat=Quick%20Search&ase=event10,event8">pumpkin soup</a> mostly using items from the freezer (pumpkin, black beans, beef stock, tomatoes), amped up with coriander, cumin, and garam masala. I love most soups topped with yogurt and cilantro so I had to buy the latter to complete the meal. The crock moved from the fridge to the cooker at at noon on Monday when I popped out of work for an errand. I love living 2 minutes from work!<br />
<br />
<a href="http://bowerfamilyhappenings.blogspot.com/2011/09/way-i-cook.html">Typically</a>, I base my short term meal planning on some ingredient that I will have on hand for a desired dish, just to use it up. Not knowing what else to make for the week and being without our CSA box until spring, I went to my <a href="http://www.pinterest.com/jewissab/food-i-want-to-make-eat-etc/">Pinterest recipes board</a> to get some ideas. I spied something that made me remember a Korean beef recipe on my friend's blog AND a similar recipe in a magazine for <a href="http://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/thai-beef-with-basil">Thai beef</a>. I liked aspects of both, so I combined them. Since I omitted key Thai ingredients like fish sauce and basil, it ended up tasting more like Korean food.<br />
<br />
And....it was amazing. Dave liked it so much that he had a second small serving instead of his piece of candy from the advent calendar. Yeah, it was that good. Thank you, Leah, for posting your Korean beef recipe on your blog a few months back!<br />
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The pictures I took were terrible because it was already dark out and our kitchen lighting SUCKS. But trust me, you should make this.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKyWu9F_vQOfTkRPErTdPLnMyb6nW5PB3nJS6-lsvkfNg7b_W6Ef7LEzEi1P9tawe7AFt-ZYeE1NZTC058WOyS1eeQmqiltx7Yv69iI-wutRFUhBJkpgR-hsse6zX58BhLH9JjmqScFnbs/s1600/20131204_182330.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKyWu9F_vQOfTkRPErTdPLnMyb6nW5PB3nJS6-lsvkfNg7b_W6Ef7LEzEi1P9tawe7AFt-ZYeE1NZTC058WOyS1eeQmqiltx7Yv69iI-wutRFUhBJkpgR-hsse6zX58BhLH9JjmqScFnbs/s640/20131204_182330.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">You can't see it in this crappy picture, but it was a very pretty meal since I used yellow and red bell pepper. This would be excellent made for a pot luck.</td></tr>
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<u>Korean Beef (with spinach)</u><br />
<br />
Beef<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>1.5 T oil</li>
<li>1 t sesame oil</li>
<li>1/2 t (or more) red pepper flakes</li>
<li>6 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced</li>
<li>1.5 pounds ground beef, 15-20% fat</li>
<li>1/3 cup low sodium soy sauce</li>
<li>1/2 cup beef or chicken stock</li>
<li>1/3 cup brown sugar, packed</li>
<li>2 t minced ginger</li>
<li>3 cups packed spinach, whole leaves (although I would double that next time)</li>
</ul>
Salad<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>2 medium carrots, julienned</li>
<li>1/2 cucumber, seeded and julienned</li>
<li>1 bell pepper, julienned</li>
<li>Handful of cilantro, chopped</li>
<li>2 scallions, sliced thinly</li>
<li>Juice of 2 limes</li>
<li>1 t sugar</li>
<li>1 t sesame oil</li>
<li>1 t sesame seeds (garnish)</li>
<li>More pepper flakes (garnish)</li>
</ul>
<br />
In a large skillet, heat oils on high, cook pepper flakes and garlic for just 30 seconds. Add beef and flatten out on bottom of skillet for maximum browning. Brown heavily, 8-10 minutes. <br />
<br />
Add soy sauce, stock, sugar, and ginger and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to medium and scrap up brown bits from bottom of pan. Fold in spinach and let wilt, about 2 minutes.<br />
<br />
Remove from heat to a warmed oven until ready to serve.<br />
<br />
Make the salad by mixing all ingredients together.<br />
<br />
Serve beef over rice and top with salad and garnishes.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjerTxiur9uA7qpQJg-PTkixZafBnzXgcYo_9WW1fiSLBDxzAOuMjW2eK2sjg5RWcyc2WrAN-H8lXlgkj80H2uIk4e88TNtqf-tgRXNmOd5wb6-j8PQYKaP7cB2XgXV9YxyrSa_zHHGSJtZ/s1600/20131204_185250.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjerTxiur9uA7qpQJg-PTkixZafBnzXgcYo_9WW1fiSLBDxzAOuMjW2eK2sjg5RWcyc2WrAN-H8lXlgkj80H2uIk4e88TNtqf-tgRXNmOd5wb6-j8PQYKaP7cB2XgXV9YxyrSa_zHHGSJtZ/s640/20131204_185250.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Even Eddie liked it! But first he insisted on cutting up his salad.</td></tr>
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I hope the rest of the week is just as yummy! (Although I doubt anything could top that beef...) We're using up the left over rice as a substitute for pasta in a <a href="http://frenchfood.about.com/od/salads/r/risonitarragon.htm">tuna salad</a> served inside romaine heart leaves tonight. Tomorrow we'll use up some frozen corn for <a href="http://www.cooklikeachampionblog.com/2011/06/corn-cakes-with-goat-cheese/">corn cakes with goat cheese</a> since we have everything on hand for that, including locally made fresh goat cheese. Mmmm. I wriggled my way onto a local goat cheese maker's email list and picked up my first batch last week. It's really good.The Bowers!http://www.blogger.com/profile/14571813809345871673noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-960240756385438552.post-77683007368943113162013-12-04T10:25:00.001-08:002013-12-13T11:52:50.908-08:00Since November 5....<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Oh my goodness...where have I been? It has been nearly a MONTH since I last posted anything. My poor dad must be going through withdraws for lack of pictures. Of course, if he were on Facebook or Instagram or had a cellphone to which I could send him pictures of Eddie like *everyone else* then I wouldn't have to post anything here.</div>
<br />
Except...I should post stuff here because while pictures 'tell a thousand words' I can't take a picture of my brain so you'd never know what I've got to say. Someday I'd like to use one of those blog-to-photo-book services and order a hardcopy of this thing to keep foreverandever as a journal. So blog I shall.<br />
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This will be short because I want to get some work done today. I have a self-imposed deadline of 12/31 for submitting my second chapter to my professor. For now I'll ignore the fact that he sent back revisions to the first chapter back in the summer and I've not made any changes to it yet.<br />
<br />
Since November 5 when I last posted:<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHZf00mjs6umOv1wq6G90yo-OO8GjI9FhPS5Y5cHHclspWBr9x3lz0hWcVSAydxmSPC16uMlB1oz1tCmfZR9LNp71zl8pnBGjMcg83mBriN7qs3hk8hyZJzRSLH0kAL-PmevOZO8qXd9xG/s1600/20131108_183127.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHZf00mjs6umOv1wq6G90yo-OO8GjI9FhPS5Y5cHHclspWBr9x3lz0hWcVSAydxmSPC16uMlB1oz1tCmfZR9LNp71zl8pnBGjMcg83mBriN7qs3hk8hyZJzRSLH0kAL-PmevOZO8qXd9xG/s640/20131108_183127.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The dogs are obsessed with Nina Kitty. If you say "meow" or "kitty" around Taters then he BOLTS to attention (if he isn't already on kitty patrol) and runs to her room to see her. Her litter box and food are in the laundry room so she's in there a lot. I don't blame her since there are high places to keep away from the dogs and a sunny window sill with a blanket on it for napping.</td></tr>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYaAyIc8RKIgUmwYBYIH6IJM1poKiXUbVf77yto4K0oxsaxwSpaVUjfRz8IGIN3DfjlZjKnaks1W5dn_gbLhYH9lWrRzH9OZ_nNBqXXjlUa5Ql-lEH02JV9OErgQTn8ydrQ68txxfBMeNc/s1600/20131111_200224.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYaAyIc8RKIgUmwYBYIH6IJM1poKiXUbVf77yto4K0oxsaxwSpaVUjfRz8IGIN3DfjlZjKnaks1W5dn_gbLhYH9lWrRzH9OZ_nNBqXXjlUa5Ql-lEH02JV9OErgQTn8ydrQ68txxfBMeNc/s640/20131111_200224.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.727272033691406px;">I made 23 pints of roasted salsa verde using the zillions of green tomatoes from the garden. It's gooooooooooood. And now there are only carrots and chard left in the garden.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbUVFlwv-YzxXukAS1a6HoK28FPHwxAalABsX7zWQR5Y5t5NSIDZDu8S42XhyfEkpwVMH6f9JslL-QT2ufvFOyJlzPuRLLkpDQaL83UkkgMUNA3PVJhD2S6IR9jwCkcD5dVTu374b4vieb/s1600/20131109_115840.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbUVFlwv-YzxXukAS1a6HoK28FPHwxAalABsX7zWQR5Y5t5NSIDZDu8S42XhyfEkpwVMH6f9JslL-QT2ufvFOyJlzPuRLLkpDQaL83UkkgMUNA3PVJhD2S6IR9jwCkcD5dVTu374b4vieb/s640/20131109_115840.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ruby got sick with bloody stool, vomiting, and no appetite for a week. After $700+ in vet bills she recovered on her own without intervention beyond antinauseau and antibiotic shots and lots of xrays. There was a blockage but we never figured out what it was.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVOVvpfujzNfdqO8xZmJ7xuIwp69tEX3v7ZlUzDCVGEXhz6aYazbezFjMh2Wg3Hjf2zNxvZ9QhREVjqm6qdCa9C4SPPVFKqQtWAlpYeEp1sz5anhT6P3NRWk4er_K3AAzy_0X_2WSVG5HD/s1600/20131116_124823.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVOVvpfujzNfdqO8xZmJ7xuIwp69tEX3v7ZlUzDCVGEXhz6aYazbezFjMh2Wg3Hjf2zNxvZ9QhREVjqm6qdCa9C4SPPVFKqQtWAlpYeEp1sz5anhT6P3NRWk4er_K3AAzy_0X_2WSVG5HD/s640/20131116_124823.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I did a small honey harvest with John a few weeks ago. We only got 18 quarts this time.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYdm_RQfpoErjtuhVNMON8zg-7Ifop0u16Oj1ywvxm-qLVkktsOHkna-XgUIlOoa2xq5UqVlxJWHDd7YYX9ND4urioLq2i_p-OJI-dTAwLRKN0-Lt1djdViT3TbonBEYi1vmElY6xg2PpR/s1600/20131114_075540.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYdm_RQfpoErjtuhVNMON8zg-7Ifop0u16Oj1ywvxm-qLVkktsOHkna-XgUIlOoa2xq5UqVlxJWHDd7YYX9ND4urioLq2i_p-OJI-dTAwLRKN0-Lt1djdViT3TbonBEYi1vmElY6xg2PpR/s640/20131114_075540.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dave bought us a phone holder for the vent in the car. I LOVE IT. I used to set my phone behind the steering wheel so I could use speaker phone. But this is easier and I can take selfies! Haha.<br />
<br />
I'm now the in-law driver, taking my MIL and FIL on the two hour drive to Santa Rosa for medical appointments and shopping. I took this picture on the way to pick up John for one such trip. Sometimes I feel a touch resentful that I have to spend my time doing this, but it IS one of the reasons we moved up here--someone has to step in to care for aging parents and there's no one else around to do it. And at the end of the day I am glad that person is me because I wouldn't want them to have to pay someone else to do it. At least they buy me lunch and a Starbucks treats for the drive home!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7FvQJlxyv9EAGmGui823KdzMx8ywYXtFR_GXbDFvmebQY9d8j9ccgVnLe2QZqmmRyZ2OJkFmaNzZ3w9Ns3LomnJHsbf2ZLBDEt4lvyAM3HQecRMKbYjxOW7CUIceb8CyEHv1MAuVAuhvX/s1600/20131110_162841.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7FvQJlxyv9EAGmGui823KdzMx8ywYXtFR_GXbDFvmebQY9d8j9ccgVnLe2QZqmmRyZ2OJkFmaNzZ3w9Ns3LomnJHsbf2ZLBDEt4lvyAM3HQecRMKbYjxOW7CUIceb8CyEHv1MAuVAuhvX/s640/20131110_162841.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Eddie had Veterans Day off of school and a few days later stayed home sick with a slight fever, body aches, no appetite, and sleepiness. Dave kept him home one day I stayed home the next to give him a healthy 24 hour buffer before returning to school. It was nice to spend extra time with him, even if he was sick for most of it. Once he recovered, I took him to the park. It was about 50F outside and he still insisted on wearing shorts. I was amazed that I convinced him to wear a sweater. This picture commemorates his first Superman swing experience--my favorite as a kid.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgeoP9hEGPoDWOAhDyEyImO0H0iDyOj4A5nXx7MBuwLpCclCkRZUkTGiW2790-PmsBcMma6-82-D3KQN_ajhAjWH8Yj1eEj_0z14hW_mVXhXLFBufzbTf1fdjoMRY3VGTeSTrKDA03gLhV/s1600/20131117_160556.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgeoP9hEGPoDWOAhDyEyImO0H0iDyOj4A5nXx7MBuwLpCclCkRZUkTGiW2790-PmsBcMma6-82-D3KQN_ajhAjWH8Yj1eEj_0z14hW_mVXhXLFBufzbTf1fdjoMRY3VGTeSTrKDA03gLhV/s640/20131117_160556.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Eddie wanted me to take him on a walk around the neighborhood to see the houses that are for sale. (Anyone want a $400k cottage or a $1.25m multilevel house both with ocean views?) He didn't want to walk so I suggested a stroller ride. He pointed out, "But I'm a BIG BOY and strollers are for babies!" So we settled on the wheelbarrow instead.<br />
<br />
Notice his Hulk shirt. I got this for him as a surprise addition with one of Dave's recent Old Navy orders. HE LOVES IT. For about two weeks, I washed that thing every other day for him. One night I promised to wash it when he went to bed. About 40 minutes after saying goodnight we could still hear him in his room singing, laughing, reading to himself. Dave and I were talking in the kitchen and we hear Eddie yell, "HEY GUYS! ARE YOU WASHING MY HULK SHIRT?! AND KEEP IT DOWN IN THERE! I'M TRYING TO SLEEP!" It cracked us up.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyr1VLEsym09N_o-FFnL9aVUL58s5jKV-r_pKJuDazkSF6rIu5ZMzEGbvOnrSZwmtCoAPknGdtxout0ikJmZ0Kp4_j1dZXBf2Ij6lJuTmvS8oq6XCsgaAfVRpqZe8dLfIuFt1MopySTzhx/s1600/20131119_072324.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyr1VLEsym09N_o-FFnL9aVUL58s5jKV-r_pKJuDazkSF6rIu5ZMzEGbvOnrSZwmtCoAPknGdtxout0ikJmZ0Kp4_j1dZXBf2Ij6lJuTmvS8oq6XCsgaAfVRpqZe8dLfIuFt1MopySTzhx/s640/20131119_072324.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">On Monday, 11/18 we tried to get Eddie to ride the bus. He refused. But the next day he rode it like a champ. And has every day since then. WOOOOOOOOOO! I used to drive him to school at 7:45 am and would get back to Gualala at 8:30 am. Now he's on the bus at 7:15 am and I don't have to get to work until 8:30 am. I've spent that extra time eating a hot breakfast, going grocery shopping, or getting to work early.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmtlZZjWCdep1nfyJ6fl-zKXBCXPz5tQ6aeSHLImC9jK1-XYpxmKt7Dxzl0Ij4nHp7rSEoIdIyV_JtpCJwTiVR60GO-33p3bVYCuyWIAKyNErxhZFO2PYV60bQZz7BJukjaLkcq_6z-tGG/s1600/20131124_225120.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmtlZZjWCdep1nfyJ6fl-zKXBCXPz5tQ6aeSHLImC9jK1-XYpxmKt7Dxzl0Ij4nHp7rSEoIdIyV_JtpCJwTiVR60GO-33p3bVYCuyWIAKyNErxhZFO2PYV60bQZz7BJukjaLkcq_6z-tGG/s640/20131124_225120.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The dogs are still obsessed with kitty.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEUOm908ED1NGeWoeNSKyJC94LKis-L5pCUD5OQH6dpZmmEXCsKB7h5mvIFyFscUDyV1tXnPJo85R2rPrE4T99H7FSaAu0WBkTIvQAhWVJJJJ5shcxsWATBkLO1UydaC41dwrX9EC2_KAP/s1600/20131126_093705.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEUOm908ED1NGeWoeNSKyJC94LKis-L5pCUD5OQH6dpZmmEXCsKB7h5mvIFyFscUDyV1tXnPJo85R2rPrE4T99H7FSaAu0WBkTIvQAhWVJJJJ5shcxsWATBkLO1UydaC41dwrX9EC2_KAP/s640/20131126_093705.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Eddie had no school for Thanksgiving week so we took him to Disneyland for the first time. It was a looooooooooong drive but we survived. Don't worry--we were stopped in traffic at a light when I took the picture.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq8luR7_002LJFLlX5g2qC23p1lZVW69rBVsNbJiVRH7b6LXQkq6BcUv795c3pNLX-le8tYdjWD-e3_lnFQ6BuiAa4hhRHsQ4-wy3P-dK1UdbDCDwyEDhDd3cY6WLaBK89OMcR0tS3U_YM/s1600/20131128_120841.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq8luR7_002LJFLlX5g2qC23p1lZVW69rBVsNbJiVRH7b6LXQkq6BcUv795c3pNLX-le8tYdjWD-e3_lnFQ6BuiAa4hhRHsQ4-wy3P-dK1UdbDCDwyEDhDd3cY6WLaBK89OMcR0tS3U_YM/s640/20131128_120841.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our Costco Disney package included character dining passes so we had a special Thanksgiving lunch at Ariel's Grotto. Eddie wasn't too keen on the food, but seeing the princesses was a hit. "Mama, are they REAL princesses?" Of course, Eddie. =)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib0aAPubZuwCYR5CDHMgbXiKbNXTxPZpEvmtaGRow9bQtHILAWGke2C5mt3DEfM7j98lljyAPk3AE457kcO717wg8fKqpSE1LcBjkY4xIVZJcC6ZyByJpPO1jzcuJYoIYrjxbkOU6SI_N_/s1600/20131128_195818.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib0aAPubZuwCYR5CDHMgbXiKbNXTxPZpEvmtaGRow9bQtHILAWGke2C5mt3DEfM7j98lljyAPk3AE457kcO717wg8fKqpSE1LcBjkY4xIVZJcC6ZyByJpPO1jzcuJYoIYrjxbkOU6SI_N_/s640/20131128_195818.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">For Thanksgiving dinner, we ordered pizza and salad room service and watched Kung Fu Panda. They boys are holding up teeny tiny Tabasco bottles that came with the pizza. <br />
<br />
I realized that my 32nd Thanksgiving was the first ever without my mom--I'd had Thanksgiving with her every single year--throughout childhood (obviously), college, and grad school. She loved relaxing as much as she hated cooking so I'm sure she would have approved of our room service decision. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAYYDQo9j-1PNdmVzzGo35Ve-x4FAo9qn59CAjWAaK0Qg8nbu8mXTk6lw8lXgvY9b9_kJx4CwHFIjju9TmCYAhwlUUx4iR2cI86-HFOlXbm01pn9y0VllpInGAS3uFzNR6YWA_W2KaSyw2/s1600/20131129_125441.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAYYDQo9j-1PNdmVzzGo35Ve-x4FAo9qn59CAjWAaK0Qg8nbu8mXTk6lw8lXgvY9b9_kJx4CwHFIjju9TmCYAhwlUUx4iR2cI86-HFOlXbm01pn9y0VllpInGAS3uFzNR6YWA_W2KaSyw2/s640/20131129_125441.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Eddie's favorite ride was <a href="http://youtu.be/0DK4IDqY4EY">Autotopia</a>. I have NEVER seen him so happy in his entire life. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgQGAxLXJLppstf2vkXH_9BL6pKoBOAhn2CmS6qPKf7_IR9To0_mWU61jZm3bPnDsTOy00gjaHj_S8sxESUa6GHUWscNKaccwYUPnZmWXqyLgKako0BV7cz_rzFcCTeMEA0nfMyfRxe184/s1600/20131201_090923.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgQGAxLXJLppstf2vkXH_9BL6pKoBOAhn2CmS6qPKf7_IR9To0_mWU61jZm3bPnDsTOy00gjaHj_S8sxESUa6GHUWscNKaccwYUPnZmWXqyLgKako0BV7cz_rzFcCTeMEA0nfMyfRxe184/s640/20131201_090923.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">When we got back from Disneyland, we started bringing Nina into our room at bedtime. She sleeps on a pillow near my head and LOVES the extra attention.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrFbGAW1VAL8HcPCXtEWvI-vkKnFnIfTU2QggrSayDpCXdM9wii-JkJsz7WIPnjmWBAHRH8Q9YcJh1z5QmTwBQJPqqCl4rrg1NLOY7J1CIAYMsjEpSWJ-_8iExnTcfpTGESfrQbmk1XeCZ/s1600/20131203_204303.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrFbGAW1VAL8HcPCXtEWvI-vkKnFnIfTU2QggrSayDpCXdM9wii-JkJsz7WIPnjmWBAHRH8Q9YcJh1z5QmTwBQJPqqCl4rrg1NLOY7J1CIAYMsjEpSWJ-_8iExnTcfpTGESfrQbmk1XeCZ/s640/20131203_204303.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Well, she likes the human attention anyway...the dogs still love staring at her. She was purring loudly in this picture so I know the gawking dogs don't bother her much.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Annnnnnnnnnnd that's what we've been up to! I'll be back again soon...but maybe not until the end of month after I've emailed off this next chapter.<br />
<br />The Bowers!http://www.blogger.com/profile/14571813809345871673noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-960240756385438552.post-15811093251867408432013-11-05T15:11:00.002-08:002013-11-07T20:53:06.881-08:00Halloween 2013Guess what Eddie was for Halloween? If you're not sure, think about these facts:<br />
<div>
<ul>
<li>He's a boy</li>
<li>He thinks he's really strong and tough</li>
<li>He's four</li>
<li>He loves weapons</li>
</ul>
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Answer: NINJA!</div>
</div>
<div>
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<div>
He debated on his costume for a couple of weeks...until we got to the store last month and he spied the double sword/double sai ninja weapon pack on the shelf. HE NEEDED TO HAVE THESE WEAPONS IN HIS POSSESSION. So he promptly decided to be a ninja. </div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7TZ8iKS38T5EXL89GE0gifcnItDOj4leu3tz_94Txf06ygWaUVOEnGuRnJ6_puNtJjaNJebJL5OxWhyoZEv50MZf3_Tu7jD3_QUF6TaUIAug85E5mnTDOySbrjzFKnra1JQdStGSfV81c/s1600/20131031_165736.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7TZ8iKS38T5EXL89GE0gifcnItDOj4leu3tz_94Txf06ygWaUVOEnGuRnJ6_puNtJjaNJebJL5OxWhyoZEv50MZf3_Tu7jD3_QUF6TaUIAug85E5mnTDOySbrjzFKnra1JQdStGSfV81c/s640/20131031_165736.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">Have you ever seen such a cute ninja? You can tell from his mouth that he was making sound effects for me as he posed.</td></tr>
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</div>
<div>
And of course he was the cutest (I mean FIERCEST) ninja around. But he's a terrible ninja because they're supposed to be quiet and sneaky and he thumps his feet wherever he goes. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
We didn't need to decorate the house for Halloween this year because it was scary enough with all the CRAP everywhere. </div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV1wVJdTCdLCepKLY_QQEvkjk5FOiqdgKp8e17YWZXD3vMzguc4Y9sTZGw-CWfH34UESRnVMRqthpFvk6q8sHH16tXY28K2B7WiWUPSeT2PbwIIAQ7yegdZXPP1ftDpJh81lMhRM4_a5D-/s1600/20131031_165422.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV1wVJdTCdLCepKLY_QQEvkjk5FOiqdgKp8e17YWZXD3vMzguc4Y9sTZGw-CWfH34UESRnVMRqthpFvk6q8sHH16tXY28K2B7WiWUPSeT2PbwIIAQ7yegdZXPP1ftDpJh81lMhRM4_a5D-/s640/20131031_165422.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">See? It's like a creepy hoarder's house: piles of crap everywhere. We had to move two bedrooms out for carpet installation and the only semi-available space was the soon-to-be-downstairs-kitchen. </td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibyEh37AHbsba0_0jMRNJSaJptl1j8YN2iK9oKL2y6bHnU2zgcABAIA7s0ab79-97fvo99n1JZrTcFfLvRD1qQ0HPCeVj_GEC3Whs-P6BSBlF09GhI8VndqDYXMjzPg15KqP5bmXbv5FU1/s1600/20131031_165511.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibyEh37AHbsba0_0jMRNJSaJptl1j8YN2iK9oKL2y6bHnU2zgcABAIA7s0ab79-97fvo99n1JZrTcFfLvRD1qQ0HPCeVj_GEC3Whs-P6BSBlF09GhI8VndqDYXMjzPg15KqP5bmXbv5FU1/s640/20131031_165511.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The entry way into the house. Looky there, a kitchen cabinet in a box! Next to a new stove in a box! SIGH.</td></tr>
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<div>
But we did hang our inflatable spiders and spider lights and ate off of paper Halloween plates. And we carved our pumpkins.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8gjqYMlNv22S_Ok0-Z2RMCk43bu4BtlJFM59AKSE53vSRC_jXhScpLhgwEvvvFHKv0qMbhP2EFUvIOgJeQ9Iczhtn9WKC-sL7eg5_jLSEdbA51-U583IU9-EhhTxFqk01zBZmOtZFu9b-/s1600/20131031_200008.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8gjqYMlNv22S_Ok0-Z2RMCk43bu4BtlJFM59AKSE53vSRC_jXhScpLhgwEvvvFHKv0qMbhP2EFUvIOgJeQ9Iczhtn9WKC-sL7eg5_jLSEdbA51-U583IU9-EhhTxFqk01zBZmOtZFu9b-/s640/20131031_200008.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dave's, Eddie's, mine. We let Eddie draw a face using a permanent pen, then we cut the shapes for him, and he gets to erase the pen marks with nail polish remover. </td></tr>
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<div>
There was a parade and a party at preschool that morning and I attended both. The preschoolers led the parade and got to go through a 5th grade classroom, where they were each given a goody bag. Back in the classroom there was an impressive spread of festive foods--I didn't eat any because seeing all the slobbery kids touching everything grossed me out. But I'm glad they all enjoyed the treats!</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5CfiLAXSRY6peVGfibogacO7GfHvZ4iIAEFEYtGuIcbsVXKPnEXOE2LmYPbQvD8RKS0JoLj5LHce9g-qVS4nPHZ4xbehtlFx9U8ari7CGMKMrd-sK9DbRYkAKL13zBat361optcPzEfXd/s1600/20131031_100518.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5CfiLAXSRY6peVGfibogacO7GfHvZ4iIAEFEYtGuIcbsVXKPnEXOE2LmYPbQvD8RKS0JoLj5LHce9g-qVS4nPHZ4xbehtlFx9U8ari7CGMKMrd-sK9DbRYkAKL13zBat361optcPzEfXd/s640/20131031_100518.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Parading kiddos! Since he couldn't carry his weapons at school, he opted for a knight helmet instead.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWDyIeIUw_q5jeQmDxKbHF1URBOgdatIhUiX4jLrBAgx0AZm09kH9YvaMhoSV3LUQ1zLCcifIHMYFjmvalY4CETves8GAGwGiDbGclyPwmihtSS9_doTifSqnt_IDY1KvW88LOmi3zcNkd/s1600/20131031_104408.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWDyIeIUw_q5jeQmDxKbHF1URBOgdatIhUiX4jLrBAgx0AZm09kH9YvaMhoSV3LUQ1zLCcifIHMYFjmvalY4CETves8GAGwGiDbGclyPwmihtSS9_doTifSqnt_IDY1KvW88LOmi3zcNkd/s640/20131031_104408.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.727272033691406px;">Eddie and his friend Charlie were super excited to find glow-in-the-dark teeth in their goody bags. </td></tr>
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<div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioDoF199H3hV-bARt-HynoimQ1ygl5-hcuP16otdXT3xeEdYhlm0hxfcx7xQp5zx9y4xgYzpJKRpXsF9oLF1B9X-iJN3kPsHUOza12h2iWrTxwW7Z4b53PYCQZ9AHsOpyrw9RfdoTnizlF/s1600/20131031_102523.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioDoF199H3hV-bARt-HynoimQ1ygl5-hcuP16otdXT3xeEdYhlm0hxfcx7xQp5zx9y4xgYzpJKRpXsF9oLF1B9X-iJN3kPsHUOza12h2iWrTxwW7Z4b53PYCQZ9AHsOpyrw9RfdoTnizlF/s640/20131031_102523.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Eddie went straight for the blue gummy worm jello mold.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
That night, we took Eddie trick-or-treating along Gualala Court, one of two places kids go around here. It's a loop, actually, and most of the houses were decked out for the holiday. One even had flame throwers (cue four year old boy enthusiasm for gratuitous displays of flames). His best buddy, Mason, and another friend were there so Dave and I got to socialize with their parents. </div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3BAtaAL8Mc06u-be_cVV7b4yG-5mjq6qFqQ0I-SeL2xqz92igzYBoyHwZ1oTNcQOwa28quoQiUSGE0JOVW9Q7jHGmEV_M6NpTxSMk5CYBejSnHTSwlNb6HS3Am6iHIMLIkrNYtnSj49jR/s1600/20131031_190519.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3BAtaAL8Mc06u-be_cVV7b4yG-5mjq6qFqQ0I-SeL2xqz92igzYBoyHwZ1oTNcQOwa28quoQiUSGE0JOVW9Q7jHGmEV_M6NpTxSMk5CYBejSnHTSwlNb6HS3Am6iHIMLIkrNYtnSj49jR/s640/20131031_190519.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mason the storm trooper, Eddie the ninja, and Rylan the ninja turtle.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
All total, Eddie got 29 pieces of candy--I know this because he counted it that night and again every single night thereafter. He thinks that's a LOT of candy and we're going to let him think it is. No one needs to tell him that his mama used to haul home half a pillow case full when she was his age. <span style="text-align: center;"> </span></div>
<div>
<span style="text-align: center;">For dinner that night we had a decorated Costco take-and-bake pizza. Pinterest had all sorts of ideas on decorating pizzas so I combined three ideas into one. It looked best uncooked.</span></div>
<div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvULFtZrriIfjoaEN8aljWvTMrIdcEcDEmqWxgHqlvOhuW1uHgIYhxKg8_8wXEWcrgKbXBVi7uUaX2FbOXjGFvzVPlfGS_j2LJG-KFC-Dmkp3LwYksVIgoSV8Tfw3pfpXx0AGNb1gRxQYV/s1600/20131031_173903-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="638" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvULFtZrriIfjoaEN8aljWvTMrIdcEcDEmqWxgHqlvOhuW1uHgIYhxKg8_8wXEWcrgKbXBVi7uUaX2FbOXjGFvzVPlfGS_j2LJG-KFC-Dmkp3LwYksVIgoSV8Tfw3pfpXx0AGNb1gRxQYV/s640/20131031_173903-1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaPNn2SCNSO9n3ffAIGTrNy6Fpk0ulzpT5OJSFmqTGpLOzJvMrXFMskGiSOk8GJ1pyCmJm6VgUZVz-tsaSPZfuO_KdJ1hfE8lw5AOzl4qeCRPfvk4DQLU2czaCWliJUz0TZybKzmwmrUrt/s1600/20131031_181135.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaPNn2SCNSO9n3ffAIGTrNy6Fpk0ulzpT5OJSFmqTGpLOzJvMrXFMskGiSOk8GJ1pyCmJm6VgUZVz-tsaSPZfuO_KdJ1hfE8lw5AOzl4qeCRPfvk4DQLU2czaCWliJUz0TZybKzmwmrUrt/s640/20131031_181135.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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I hope everyone had a fun, safe Halloween this year! I saved the best part of this post for last...the gif of Ninja Eddie.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6yKQ38khmclMD4SaEOG1jqwZJG3tiIX9xUEBacHi8U8qGecX7A1RnkkIGVHSNt9nmaaKihiUlg81zWXDqOKLYR9FNU2OgnGs0Fnwzg23z7zL0h-4YhI8ctWIjExgJjo559rs969Rw2rHM/s1600/20131031_165730-MOTION.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6yKQ38khmclMD4SaEOG1jqwZJG3tiIX9xUEBacHi8U8qGecX7A1RnkkIGVHSNt9nmaaKihiUlg81zWXDqOKLYR9FNU2OgnGs0Fnwzg23z7zL0h-4YhI8ctWIjExgJjo559rs969Rw2rHM/s640/20131031_165730-MOTION.gif" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I canNOT get enough of these gifs!</td></tr>
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The Bowers!http://www.blogger.com/profile/14571813809345871673noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-960240756385438552.post-91953571918605459472013-11-04T15:34:00.002-08:002013-11-04T15:34:36.733-08:00Chestnuts and Firewood<div>
Last week several people at work started getting a cold. Dave was out sick Thursday and Friday. That meant I got to (had to?) take his dad "to town" for his doctor appointment and a meeting at the drinking water office on Friday. It was a long day but we did get a lot done while in Santa Rosa. My favorite things were the restaurant supply store (ever so conveniently located next door to the roofing supply company where we had to buy some stuff), eating out for lunch, and getting an ice cream before driving the two hours back home. I was hopeful that Dave would be all better by the time I got home, but he wasn't. So he stayed home in bed all day Saturday, too, while Eddie, John, and I attended the 32nd Annual <a href="http://zeniranch.com/">Zeni Ranch</a> Chestnut Festival. </div>
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I haven't been since before Eddie was born. This year's was more fun than I remembered--lots of music, tons of food, and lots of people to chat with. Eddie had a grand time running around with other kiddos. John and I spent about 30 minutes picking chestnuts way up on the hill where other folks hadn't gone yet. Next year I need to bring sturdier gloves--the sharp spines came through my leather gloves and poked my fingers too much.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW2sU3MD553efDx06i44TMN6IygWJVerdRx5AnoMx8clIM0Uzl4dPhsaiJzy7uXZsjjbh5e89dhUXsl_PY6Dex4Jy7Bqs6w89Vou0kWAGLMEEIlIAh37n-X425juon-QbmCQy2qthfDhyphenhyphens/s1600/20131102_142858.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW2sU3MD553efDx06i44TMN6IygWJVerdRx5AnoMx8clIM0Uzl4dPhsaiJzy7uXZsjjbh5e89dhUXsl_PY6Dex4Jy7Bqs6w89Vou0kWAGLMEEIlIAh37n-X425juon-QbmCQy2qthfDhyphenhyphens/s640/20131102_142858.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Eddie and Papa heading up into the chestnut orchard.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4UeRN9p_R2X-rxcEUVVnswCEbXgApWEbuVMMnXA3Vm7xF_kAbof5dsVwi5gk4JjMP0G-zRgzIEoTijodKohmTCj4IwW5xIf0ep5N1mOcqmiRfGG7Rnyi4LYy_U9a1O24ChZQqtVNi_5L6/s1600/20131102_144642.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4UeRN9p_R2X-rxcEUVVnswCEbXgApWEbuVMMnXA3Vm7xF_kAbof5dsVwi5gk4JjMP0G-zRgzIEoTijodKohmTCj4IwW5xIf0ep5N1mOcqmiRfGG7Rnyi4LYy_U9a1O24ChZQqtVNi_5L6/s640/20131102_144642.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me and some chestnuts. They grow in clusters of about 4 super spiky shells, with about 2-4 nuts in each shell. You can see the yellowish spiky balls all over the ground below me.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHzy1tE_FuWm5-SFSgvS3Eas9MWbnbd6wtnpFkAyZoyb7exo-6OGN0CEGfUMwX9fAccNTHEi7r5pg8CumrTNfY7pkVk9sIvsUiLyadxU-nSIDzv-Ekb6QMB2o8F8Ue8BfszunBRE7n15mF/s1600/20131102_145018.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHzy1tE_FuWm5-SFSgvS3Eas9MWbnbd6wtnpFkAyZoyb7exo-6OGN0CEGfUMwX9fAccNTHEi7r5pg8CumrTNfY7pkVk9sIvsUiLyadxU-nSIDzv-Ekb6QMB2o8F8Ue8BfszunBRE7n15mF/s640/20131102_145018.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me, my bucket o' nuts, and John's shadow.</td></tr>
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John purchased about 3 pounds of nuts for us to take home. We'll eat some soon and then pop the rest into the freezer for later. I'm hoping to make some stuffing with them for the holidays.<br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCsVKcQKFmSop5w11cA3aaOo4FSetYi7mGPTmNTnXbJJ5637BeDNBv2o_EV_1PInuxuTIpo6GoI6W8KpHRJ4lyOMnEhgkISGdr-HbA_QQ3qrt89WU4IFfNMqZ5RRW5snV5RUGL74hIvm0c/s1600/20131102_151452.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCsVKcQKFmSop5w11cA3aaOo4FSetYi7mGPTmNTnXbJJ5637BeDNBv2o_EV_1PInuxuTIpo6GoI6W8KpHRJ4lyOMnEhgkISGdr-HbA_QQ3qrt89WU4IFfNMqZ5RRW5snV5RUGL74hIvm0c/s640/20131102_151452.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The open fire on which to roast chestnuts.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimwBkEOq9PhM-jKMQRgvZuHCXUUpaz52rtvt7d_L7m2dRSlRAUfZBq5lTuXlZBOjkpdXFq955dQb0XfYvp_R6JGFFQSoSKkH7iaInPuZhoXDU_9Ee43dufUFKRPV_UxUM2Ax3DtWXW3jJI/s1600/20131102_151528.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimwBkEOq9PhM-jKMQRgvZuHCXUUpaz52rtvt7d_L7m2dRSlRAUfZBq5lTuXlZBOjkpdXFq955dQb0XfYvp_R6JGFFQSoSKkH7iaInPuZhoXDU_9Ee43dufUFKRPV_UxUM2Ax3DtWXW3jJI/s640/20131102_151528.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fire roasted chestnuts.</td></tr>
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Before we left, John took Eddie and I up a hill to see the small log cabin he and his father built back in the 1960s to use for deer hunting. Every season they'd rent it and spend a few weeks hunting in these mountains. It still has the old blue and brown painted double hung windows that were taken from the Surf Motel renovation. The Coast House had the same windows up until a few years ago.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5toQbmZfecmzTauKNSwClEU1OBgFWMRqwoy35F3flk6UjABZFS70WZpRZLGOxcyarioDzROQGuhsPJmFJ6B7J0SmSAkz-M2rLOLmZe5egmMrX_FtYsE4PM0km6cxM5mcqA8zrebN0I07z/s1600/hunting+cabin.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="390" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5toQbmZfecmzTauKNSwClEU1OBgFWMRqwoy35F3flk6UjABZFS70WZpRZLGOxcyarioDzROQGuhsPJmFJ6B7J0SmSAkz-M2rLOLmZe5egmMrX_FtYsE4PM0km6cxM5mcqA8zrebN0I07z/s400/hunting+cabin.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The deer hunting cabin.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT2b5Nk5pe14zIASOacQ2M92I3hs3AQl1wETkFNee0x6iRCnpyv7KpwQmGuivR19lgeuMf2iiBjRBYWZFRSZUywzG0IJM-FePKNbizavcZEZc392_uUZUj3psXjIS5oeyBg2lklmEVIVvq/s1600/20131102_163106.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT2b5Nk5pe14zIASOacQ2M92I3hs3AQl1wETkFNee0x6iRCnpyv7KpwQmGuivR19lgeuMf2iiBjRBYWZFRSZUywzG0IJM-FePKNbizavcZEZc392_uUZUj3psXjIS5oeyBg2lklmEVIVvq/s640/20131102_163106.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">John walking down the hill from the cabin back to the ranch festivities.</td></tr>
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Eddie was completely exhausted by the time we left. He fell asleep as soon as John started driving back home. He woke up when we stopped to collect some sugar pine cones on the road--where we happened to have a nice view of the historic Gianoli Ranch Vineyard. I pointed it out to Eddie and told him that it's where his great grandmother Ida was born.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3HqHWOd_N9tklmO7qmqDUbWglG2sGLaGpTYrdVfPwuFU7Lk1lwey8_BwEYzc5h5H5WBrxI3wMxiA9YNyCZS0hJ-d37tNvkYgNJLRza6QTVeDpZhOQlDYz2Pb6vtqHaIp1LTBniAtSyw-a/s1600/20131102_165133.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3HqHWOd_N9tklmO7qmqDUbWglG2sGLaGpTYrdVfPwuFU7Lk1lwey8_BwEYzc5h5H5WBrxI3wMxiA9YNyCZS0hJ-d37tNvkYgNJLRza6QTVeDpZhOQlDYz2Pb6vtqHaIp1LTBniAtSyw-a/s640/20131102_165133.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">You can see the Gianoli vineyard across the valley.</td></tr>
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Yesterday we braved the chilly wind on the ridge and Dave's lingering cold to cut firewood for this winter. Along with a great many other things, this task has been on our list for quite some time. John pulled two felled madrone trees out of the woods for us to cut up. This is a very dense wood so packs a lot of fuel per volume. But dense also means it's harder to chop up with the ax. </div>
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Last year for Christmas Grammy and Papa gave Eddie his own pair of ear muffs for working around chainsaws and riding on heavy equipment. He was excited to use them finally!</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6GkljMZ8xgU0UmVRlnUZ2_w_foDuR-LGZhRq4ZCgqEaY1px46-2LZfXlOAY1QOf5AQjODB5ccMqehEYyr-YxtOPMoQCI6V2nQowU5YXqyYVcuylq1StvFKOd-4siHvKgIDoASIiSBwvtm/s1600/20131103_130459.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6GkljMZ8xgU0UmVRlnUZ2_w_foDuR-LGZhRq4ZCgqEaY1px46-2LZfXlOAY1QOf5AQjODB5ccMqehEYyr-YxtOPMoQCI6V2nQowU5YXqyYVcuylq1StvFKOd-4siHvKgIDoASIiSBwvtm/s640/20131103_130459.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Three Bowers, making firewood for their women.</td></tr>
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Dave and John cut up the first, larger tree and I got to use the chainsaw to cut up the second one. I did some chopping, too, but dang was it hard!<br />
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdH-XU8j8NXGXa_aKe0G_qEf_c4cGjuml47ZxrOZybu6rYySvKMLvxeyjOyWO0ZJhTs930CX_VUkDihNcryVEu-yjHJ0qiiSVAaaXhzcvDf3sxnxVNL8kykdPbDBGyEA20rb3EN-T2kIOW/s1600/20131103_130151.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdH-XU8j8NXGXa_aKe0G_qEf_c4cGjuml47ZxrOZybu6rYySvKMLvxeyjOyWO0ZJhTs930CX_VUkDihNcryVEu-yjHJ0qiiSVAaaXhzcvDf3sxnxVNL8kykdPbDBGyEA20rb3EN-T2kIOW/s640/20131103_130151.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">Dave let him try chopping some of the rounds...he's a little small for that still.</td></tr>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXgIzOOfLITuDspoehzfRMOPg8EWXj7Eb-PdtDiSs8pQppw1c2_u6yRDjRjjL05os6eGQDpu0ewUIvikbyBbrUd9Hzj0bletp5AMi0BJ7EuhT39pijeb-gX18Ovvw-oawkQPUvTo1y9GWs/s1600/20131103_151202.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXgIzOOfLITuDspoehzfRMOPg8EWXj7Eb-PdtDiSs8pQppw1c2_u6yRDjRjjL05os6eGQDpu0ewUIvikbyBbrUd9Hzj0bletp5AMi0BJ7EuhT39pijeb-gX18Ovvw-oawkQPUvTo1y9GWs/s640/20131103_151202.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">Eddie was a very good helper when it came time to move all the wood.</td></tr>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRZftFcWBioQXxPI-bWuKCD63H-Pg7BxVr8tUIUddrxK4A39jLueTWUhddIa7H8ZUJIxPvMX7Qh6pOJI7l5ce3TySljPgwLXjwRhr5tTz-jJ5q_6l3q4oXwM-Zi4PjflnoGBY52wRlwNfo/s1600/20131103_124910.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRZftFcWBioQXxPI-bWuKCD63H-Pg7BxVr8tUIUddrxK4A39jLueTWUhddIa7H8ZUJIxPvMX7Qh6pOJI7l5ce3TySljPgwLXjwRhr5tTz-jJ5q_6l3q4oXwM-Zi4PjflnoGBY52wRlwNfo/s640/20131103_124910.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">This picture cracks me up because my hair is positioned to look like Eddie has a really ugly haircut. Trailer trash boy ponytail anyone?</td></tr>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSovdMmHYS5Og-_HrDt-ndSVgb1lIgwHYxsMXDkObjntW6CpVtevS6dES8y5P-2-uaQbQjG5GhcpagacO7k0Rxn1FJ36sO00gxhymJ-Rl1gxFnC-3ghkgaUAuOHZ0Z2rN9n9iZv-RGHku8/s1600/20131103_125439.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSovdMmHYS5Og-_HrDt-ndSVgb1lIgwHYxsMXDkObjntW6CpVtevS6dES8y5P-2-uaQbQjG5GhcpagacO7k0Rxn1FJ36sO00gxhymJ-Rl1gxFnC-3ghkgaUAuOHZ0Z2rN9n9iZv-RGHku8/s640/20131103_125439.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">GOOD HEAVENS HE'S SO CUTE!</td></tr>
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We stacked up about half of a cord of wood in the breezeway-turned-future-pottery-studio at the Coast House. Hopefully it'll hold us for a while. Of course, we haven't had use of the living room since we moved in because of all the construction and resulting shuffling of stuff in the house. But last week we had carpet installed in two north bedrooms downstairs so we moved Eddie's bunk bed down into it's proper place in one of those rooms. And that allowed us to uncover the couches in front of the fire. So of course we had a nice fire last night.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD83xgD2hDUWsh7R0J4LSLG3FW_7mcnDbWOyhmUb1-QqiEhOJoz_Ayvcy4O4B_yZ1sqwN_XFykhpOjCv2C_0JcFr6rPpSIeDj04CWywXPYkv2tbytZ3BtGXG_-RyF_cfXGNQ0-7gjl2pnw/s1600/20131031_165459.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD83xgD2hDUWsh7R0J4LSLG3FW_7mcnDbWOyhmUb1-QqiEhOJoz_Ayvcy4O4B_yZ1sqwN_XFykhpOjCv2C_0JcFr6rPpSIeDj04CWywXPYkv2tbytZ3BtGXG_-RyF_cfXGNQ0-7gjl2pnw/s640/20131031_165459.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The living room up until Sunday evening. It was unlivable so maybe we should have referred to it differently. You can barely see the stone fireplace at the back left. I'm excited that we unearthed it and the couches so we can enjoy toasty fires this winter!</td></tr>
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The Bowers!http://www.blogger.com/profile/14571813809345871673noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-960240756385438552.post-56857439090450155822013-10-17T19:27:00.001-07:002013-10-17T19:27:25.306-07:00Catch Up!Goodness...I haven't posted anything in quite sometime. I used to blog at my school desk on campus during slow-brain moments when I needed to let my subconscious work out some complex data-related thing. And these days I don't sit at a school desk often enough for that to even happen. So on the rare occasions when I DO sit down to work I actually WORK. How novel.<br />
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I've been struggling to get back on the school work/data crunching/dissertation writing wagon. It's my least favorite thing to do at the moment, but I'm confident that'll change. Distractions include:</div>
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<ul>
<li>The lovely Indian Summer weather. I don't want to waste the warmth sitting inside so when I'm not at my job or sleeping I'm often out and about.</li>
<li>Running. Dave and I were training for our first 5k by running at the airport 3-4 times per week. It may sound silly to train for such a short race, but we're new to the loving-to-run club. I'll have a whole post on how that went but here's a spoiler: it was fantastic! We are still running now that the race is over so we can do other races, too.</li>
<li>Food storage. Oh my goodness, we didn't even get to press apples for cider or harvest honey this summer but I was still up to my eyeballs in canning/freezing/drying/cooking the abundance of fruit for storage. Eddie has figured this hobby out and will make up stories about how once upon a time he picked a whole bunch of [insert his latest food obsession] and he spent "hours and hours" [insert his choice storage method: freezing/drying/canning] it all to "save for the winter." </li>
<li>Eddie. I have a love-hate relationship with this four year old stage. One minute he's a doll who is helpful, considerate, and sweet and the next moment he's an argumentative, mocking, know-it-all, stubborn monster. </li>
<li>Yoga. I still go about 3 times per week and I love it. </li>
<li>Taking care of my in-laws. I've started doing some geriatric-type caregiving for my in-laws, including all the big shopping, providing my FIL's dinners, and making and driving them to doctor appointments both in and out of town. </li>
<li>Work. I am 'in the office' 2 days per week but usually end up doing some extra work throughout the week since a lot of what I do is not water company-specific but for other components of the Bower Enterprises. It has been an excellent way to meet people in the community, make new contacts, learn about all the other projects that Dave has going on, and whatnot.</li>
<li>The dang house. Oh boy, this house. It's huge. It's mostly under construction (= mess that's not worth cleaning up). It's inefficient because of the sheer size, construction chaos, and layout. It can only get better from here on out but it's a painfully slow process because we're not millionaires who can pay people to do the work for us. Have I complained about how we don't even own the stupid thing so it often feels like we're doing all this work for nothing? The good news is that we won't have to decorate the inside for Halloween--it's a nightmare of a haunted house already, full of scary 1960s decor and ghosts of Good Intentions Past. </li>
<li>My mom. I haven't mourned much since she died, at least not outwardly. But we did so much grieving back in 2008 that I felt like it was almost a relief. She was so uncomfortable with her appearance, her story of ignoring the cancer for so long, the prognosis, that we all knew she'd be glad to have it all gone. Now I'm planning her memorial reception--an occasion to remember her at her best. I have struggled with the church a bit to make sure it is a happy memorial but the idea of having a celebratory party disturbs some people. My mom wasn't one for sad emotions so I'm sticking to my guns about it and it can be stressful and overwhelming. It's happening in about 2 weeks but I'm finding that I put off the planning for longer than usual because I don't want to confront her death as real. I finally had to sit down to hash out the details and disturbed me how unsatisfying it felt. Normally I love the rush of getting things organized. (I need a vacation, I think.)</li>
</ul>
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**I was blogging and then BOOM my brain realized I'd done something wrong with my data analysis so I looked and yes indeed, I needed to fix something. So I did, ran some tests, shot off an email to a postdoc to confirm my procedure, and came back. I love my subconscious...I think it'll be what ends up writing my dissertation.**</div>
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So there are numerous distractions. But as it gets colder and miserable outside I won't have so much food storage to take up my time. Almost everything else will still be there but I know my motivation will kick into gear...soon...</div>
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Here are a few pictures to enjoy until I get around to posting something else.</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2NKm0AAsSyseypJGBqbT3W-O7qioq2it8K1fSkqN3904f3rIT35xc-5Cx6IjfillA0xhChlcrQCtGNmDrWp5WPKxon7PCk1K1Y1vV6W0nl7YSIqKUEPJNovXC760bG21DthclX3wTrSQj/s1600/20131015_210019.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2NKm0AAsSyseypJGBqbT3W-O7qioq2it8K1fSkqN3904f3rIT35xc-5Cx6IjfillA0xhChlcrQCtGNmDrWp5WPKxon7PCk1K1Y1vV6W0nl7YSIqKUEPJNovXC760bG21DthclX3wTrSQj/s640/20131015_210019.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We adopted a kitty cat named Nina. The dogs are veeeeeeeeeeeeeery interested in her. Taters wants to nose/sniff/chase her and Ruby wants to guard her from Taters and Eddie...unless there's ice cream residue to be licked off a plate. Then they all get along just fine.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy8824E51Qvo7vsVB4AnNqGioBu-Tnsc-d4oC4Gke8DNmkVjk-OwZNAJSJg_raasBhdN-LH-Tuh1rl9GlX5YQwy6sYLb_FxV1POLWSbiwhyphenhyphen7BVtWk2fz_4-eT1g2kBv2kitmXnu-cckCFy/s1600/20131013_151034.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy8824E51Qvo7vsVB4AnNqGioBu-Tnsc-d4oC4Gke8DNmkVjk-OwZNAJSJg_raasBhdN-LH-Tuh1rl9GlX5YQwy6sYLb_FxV1POLWSbiwhyphenhyphen7BVtWk2fz_4-eT1g2kBv2kitmXnu-cckCFy/s640/20131013_151034.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My Royal Chantanae carrots are HUGE this year! </td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPBo0ynNmMmrlmdeODSCtLP7AHQMUe6oP0HgS6PwWYh6DJRnoUjrtJwLBU8NJbx1AQuSVswzuhT2_01G58MINhhsI3H4P8F1YBBy_Ir_pFj9NZ8T87-rRSHCE1kvr03TeaORAg95NW1UOV/s1600/20131012_211837.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPBo0ynNmMmrlmdeODSCtLP7AHQMUe6oP0HgS6PwWYh6DJRnoUjrtJwLBU8NJbx1AQuSVswzuhT2_01G58MINhhsI3H4P8F1YBBy_Ir_pFj9NZ8T87-rRSHCE1kvr03TeaORAg95NW1UOV/s640/20131012_211837.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"The" cat has become "Dave's" cat.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3FLGQ_t-6ijl34SSlM_F0y9jKwCqysiL6SlMb6o8M4TB3RXRPp-1GDaJ4L9nyWqXqBJwLpArR-Zh7xzL4yCCv4sv0Ie7fMURtuQir7knBE9JxTPjpFYcDGS0EZUypkSzc_B3Fvzg6Br7B/s1600/20131012_094411.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3FLGQ_t-6ijl34SSlM_F0y9jKwCqysiL6SlMb6o8M4TB3RXRPp-1GDaJ4L9nyWqXqBJwLpArR-Zh7xzL4yCCv4sv0Ie7fMURtuQir7knBE9JxTPjpFYcDGS0EZUypkSzc_B3Fvzg6Br7B/s640/20131012_094411.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Here's the Bower-Levie-Whitney team last weekend!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0pCTwVcgU3m0BFpJolzH6ecsouB50cnwdJlT_M2ZT8uGPxTV6JAynYnV5xOxdTzW-fFNqywZGhG9Z6YEmNDRDeBFPimH0VzQDPoBlA99P-EtAGTEtJkkL2eqLmVoz17Eqg0u71IllRtu7/s1600/20131012_163119.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0pCTwVcgU3m0BFpJolzH6ecsouB50cnwdJlT_M2ZT8uGPxTV6JAynYnV5xOxdTzW-fFNqywZGhG9Z6YEmNDRDeBFPimH0VzQDPoBlA99P-EtAGTEtJkkL2eqLmVoz17Eqg0u71IllRtu7/s640/20131012_163119.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We went to the beach after the race.</td></tr>
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More later: Nina Kitty, back to school in Davis, Eddie's 48 month check up, a few perfect weekends in Gualala...and...there's probably more.The Bowers!http://www.blogger.com/profile/14571813809345871673noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-960240756385438552.post-26694082482346684732013-10-04T15:19:00.002-07:002013-10-04T15:19:29.417-07:00Visiting DavisLast weekend Eddie and I went to Davis for Leila's birthday party. Cassie had invited us juuuuuuuuuuuuust in case we wanted to come...and of course we did! We were lucky that Dave needed some alone time to get the newly textured sheet rock primed in the downstairs bedrooms. So off we went on Saturday morning after waking up late, having breakfast, and packing up the van. It was so refreshing to not worry about packing up the dogs and tons of stuff--just the toiletry kit and a change of clothes.<br />
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We made on pit stop in Petaluma for snacks and then went straight to the party. It was at a gymnastics place we'd never been to before, which was fun. Cassie was the only one who knew we were coming so it was really fun when all the other parents got excited to see us walk in. Ahhhhh, I really felt loved. Eddie took off immediately toward the trampoline with his Davis bffs, Leila and Isaac. I didn't see him for the rest of the party except for a lemonade request and then cupcakes/candy at the end.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnfmjeUigEU5PeAsrXZDWXjMpQCuSyPRpuy5hQwrYytkx80eCHP5YMRo2LVaBcN4Og9IjZpTviiokjnyuseNietsv3c89jl5teBQY3qsl8FzfzXMQnzj5JPiqcQFbySqu6t4yJGpHuU8A0/s1600/20130928_121336.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnfmjeUigEU5PeAsrXZDWXjMpQCuSyPRpuy5hQwrYytkx80eCHP5YMRo2LVaBcN4Og9IjZpTviiokjnyuseNietsv3c89jl5teBQY3qsl8FzfzXMQnzj5JPiqcQFbySqu6t4yJGpHuU8A0/s640/20130928_121336.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A kid and his croissant and juice.</td></tr>
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The party was a circus theme, complete with buckets of peanuts and popcorn and TONS of candy. Each kiddo got an empty paper sack to fill with candy as their goodie bag. Eddie did the reasonable thing: he tasted each thing and kept what he liked and handed me what he didn't. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1vLAxGtqwNAiaXIaiKvmOHEnRyEauv3PrPHQDH52nHnwoB2DChm-qllUvtrFCNaQaIbCBOOIDN8nwVlAEUzmydPzW6vVfPrHgofutehKEz7njq36amnZoDJAQqSPxfN5RJ6m_0Rdd-Jih/s1600/20130928_153836.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1vLAxGtqwNAiaXIaiKvmOHEnRyEauv3PrPHQDH52nHnwoB2DChm-qllUvtrFCNaQaIbCBOOIDN8nwVlAEUzmydPzW6vVfPrHgofutehKEz7njq36amnZoDJAQqSPxfN5RJ6m_0Rdd-Jih/s640/20130928_153836.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">All the kiddos enjoying their cupcakes.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2bstMSvwZvflyMAcaVdz24gFrauViNKP0WdqnyTjSWiOCL6IquekvGntTDRhHPIp1mmVN4D8BG-KNog8x8brMCZreyyFSHKo9WC8tv9a5rS_yFbNDnUzrx_KmDIGjDcDJm19lqPABXAWI/s1600/20130928_155202.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2bstMSvwZvflyMAcaVdz24gFrauViNKP0WdqnyTjSWiOCL6IquekvGntTDRhHPIp1mmVN4D8BG-KNog8x8brMCZreyyFSHKo9WC8tv9a5rS_yFbNDnUzrx_KmDIGjDcDJm19lqPABXAWI/s640/20130928_155202.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Eddie's cheeks are rosy red from intense tumbling. </td></tr>
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Before we moved away from Davis, I decided that we should <a href="http://bowerfamilyhappenings.blogspot.com/2012/01/operation-playgrounds.html">play at every single park in town</a>. I found a list/map online and began checking them off. In July we left with two remaining on the list. So after the party ended and Cassie went out with her family, Eddie and I headed off to those parks. The first one was disappointing, having only two baby swings. Seriously, nothing else, not even a bench to climb on. However, the last park did not disappoint. Eddie proclaimed it as his favorite park in town, but I think his memory isn't very good. Rainbow City definitely wins the prize for best park, not this one on Redbud. It was small but we had a good time together.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI17NS02RtAqqdi7rLFR_qeVzeKf-ewO1bCcMj-0mq26kFt1vb8HG5RIZoPnu6JHNh0cYTX5qrcb2gsY_q0PWmViMUccXDkw7a7BlMPh5uDlVc_jyjlWxTD7BDXUFLShBTtx23ADXiYgyl/s1600/20130928_164622.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI17NS02RtAqqdi7rLFR_qeVzeKf-ewO1bCcMj-0mq26kFt1vb8HG5RIZoPnu6JHNh0cYTX5qrcb2gsY_q0PWmViMUccXDkw7a7BlMPh5uDlVc_jyjlWxTD7BDXUFLShBTtx23ADXiYgyl/s640/20130928_164622.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I love these rotating seats--and especially that green metal umbrella thing in the background--it spins and spins you around when you hold onto the bars with your hands.</td></tr>
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We headed back to Cassie's to spend the night. The kids ate pizza on the couch with Leila's dad and uncle while Cassie and I chatted at the table. Everyone crashed around 9 pm. I usually hate sleeping with Eddie because he's a thrasher but this night wasn't too bad. The worst part of the night was all the noise from outside. Cassie lives a block from campus and it happened to be the Saturday night before school started for the year. We were serenaded until midnight with shrieking girls, bike bells, and chanting frat guys. <br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPtPb8LITzY52DMBl1zBYA8tl9Y-Q3jJQA-rczNbpPwEVrx3QaC3pBBf4ggXJ62GGrYhJI7koSBzZYY5JZKGCugNJTUQAogbqvwgUmBxGCWAeOBd29qx1EdztncukeJuP45QmmDtNGQaK_/s1600/20130929_072644.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPtPb8LITzY52DMBl1zBYA8tl9Y-Q3jJQA-rczNbpPwEVrx3QaC3pBBf4ggXJ62GGrYhJI7koSBzZYY5JZKGCugNJTUQAogbqvwgUmBxGCWAeOBd29qx1EdztncukeJuP45QmmDtNGQaK_/s640/20130929_072644.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We slept in the 'infant room' of Cassie's house, a room she uses for her daycare.</td></tr>
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That morning I was in serious need of coffee so we all walked downtown to Pete's. We let the kids play at the park for a bit before heading back to the house to pack up.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcnUl4_xmwRahBEJ9Ydb5cMHZt4_zptwjoxADs4HT5Ol1v2uCuTSVF1bZyE6RNouldLxtd2frTUeDEAC7LmIX4XgGLLdcAmvsboo1RmxYSwddpkwLPO0eARowL7bt5ahmRBL7zO72FJJ2v/s1600/20130929_084703-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcnUl4_xmwRahBEJ9Ydb5cMHZt4_zptwjoxADs4HT5Ol1v2uCuTSVF1bZyE6RNouldLxtd2frTUeDEAC7LmIX4XgGLLdcAmvsboo1RmxYSwddpkwLPO0eARowL7bt5ahmRBL7zO72FJJ2v/s640/20130929_084703-1.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">They were playing pirates, I think.</td></tr>
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It was hard to leave because we love Cassie so much...but it was also fun to run errands with Eddie after we departed. He got to pick out two new fish and an aquatic snail at the pet shop, plus 20 crickets for his classroom lizard. Then we headed over to Wal-Mart to pick up a few odds and ends, including whichever <$20 toy Eddie wanted. He'd been so good with all the driving and change in schedule and he hadn't gotten a new toy in a while so Dave and I agreed to let him pick something out. I steered him away from certain things and he settled on an Iron Man action figure. It has recorded sayings on it and he thought of them said, "Popsicle bread." I finally realized it actually said, "Possible threat" and tried to correct him, but he's sure he's right. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGgvadQ8Fh4M4eUvJ-uuJWhtOXXSNyaNtlY41ChzKZ8PvuUGSsdCa4qGq5rcuP-6at-gUJ_ZZ3LG06zsNgVLW_afzaY2d96PhtGvlzCLW7YUyWB88-mhJxAwnGCYh-rUc4fw9sY9MZhkLM/s1600/20130929_105614.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGgvadQ8Fh4M4eUvJ-uuJWhtOXXSNyaNtlY41ChzKZ8PvuUGSsdCa4qGq5rcuP-6at-gUJ_ZZ3LG06zsNgVLW_afzaY2d96PhtGvlzCLW7YUyWB88-mhJxAwnGCYh-rUc4fw9sY9MZhkLM/s640/20130929_105614.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cassie gave Eddie a huge sack of old princess/fairy dress up gear before we left. Here you can see Kiki, who got to eat her very first food while we were there. She's a chow-down champ!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizHL01u4skotMUOOu23h0JXrNFU7IeQz1zADsRCemsm6ozpY4aax5tWXPato9UI5zWgFpxtoWdMpDnc24Vcu7HnEYTBNLzBYraakdGQ_PBlWwkSdkjvm_YbrZkF-GC47yERBAKNmLHfZl_/s1600/20130929_112354.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizHL01u4skotMUOOu23h0JXrNFU7IeQz1zADsRCemsm6ozpY4aax5tWXPato9UI5zWgFpxtoWdMpDnc24Vcu7HnEYTBNLzBYraakdGQ_PBlWwkSdkjvm_YbrZkF-GC47yERBAKNmLHfZl_/s640/20130929_112354.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Eddie was asking all sorts of questions while the gal scooped out his fish.</td></tr>
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Lab meetings and school have started up again but I'm on leave for the quarter. I'm planning on going to campus for the meetings and some lab work/focused writing time/professor meetings once or twice a month. So...until next time, Davis!The Bowers!http://www.blogger.com/profile/14571813809345871673noreply@blogger.com1