Hot Women American Perspective

I had a laugh when I saw that the tree fell because what goes around comes around. DH and I were happy to see that a tree died in our neighbor's yard last year. It was a large pine tree and was growing up to begin to block our view of Orange County and the Ocean/Catalina Island. The tree seemed to go completely brown overnight. It was eventually removed. I have never complained to them about their trees. The neighbors on the other side have actually talked to me about this tree that fell, trimming it on their side of the fence (no problem) and sending their guys over to my side to top it so they could enhance their view. I allowed all that, but asked that the canopy-like structure of the tree remain intact because the tree shades the pool/jacuzzi in the summer and my children have sensitive skin. It is important to me that the kids can swim and play without the sun blazing on their lily white skin. So I imagine that the neighbors are cracking the champagne bottles about now...

It was windy and rainy on Saturday night, but I didn't think it was that bad. Until I came down to breakfast and saw this in the back yard. The gardener is coming tomorrow with some guys and a chain saw to take care of it. The tree always leaned over, so I'm just glad it happened when nobody was there to get hurt.

He is almost 3 months now and I need to come to terms with his hair color, lol. NOBODY on my side of the family has red hair. And almost nobody on dh's side has red hair either. Maybe a distant cousin here or there. Please participate by taking the poll to the left side of the page. ;-)

I know many or most will roll their eyes when I say I have 1.75 more pounds to lose to reach my breastfeeding goal weight. From your point of view that may seem so minor as to be laughable. But I live my life from *my* point of view. And for me, I need to be just a couple of pounds lighter around the tummy to fit into the majority of my wardrobe, and to feel like myself again after the pregnancy. This will still be 5 pounds heavier than my pre pregnancy weight. I have been stuck at a plateau for weeks and it was SO frustrating. Frustrating because I was dieting and denying myself the kinds of treats that I wanted. Frustrating to sacrifice and suffer and not get anywhere. Frustrating because I knew my failure to make progress was due to the fact that I lose control generally in the later afternoon/evening, and if I find a food that appeals to me, I can enter a feeding frenzy. Frustrating because I *know* an evening feeding frenzy is *not* going to be worked off, but will turn t...

Here is a video my 8-y-o shot a few days ago. He was playing around with his camera trying out the video function. You can see and hear me and the 3 youngest boys. Pretty cute, imo.

I was driving with the boys in the car last night and I got all weepy-eyed when I listened to the lyrics closely in the Wild Thornberry's movie. The song is by Paul Simon and it is called Father & Daughter. Substitute the word mother at the appropriate parts. What made me tear up? I think I miss her. I miss those days when she was young and living in my home. I miss being there for her on a daily basis. I miss my little girl. And I am so proud of her for growing into the woman she has become. She continues to slog through school and live up to her responsibilities. She has confidence and knows that she can make a success of herself. She is on the brink of her adult life, with adventures ahead. Here are the lyrics: If you leap awake In the mirror of a bad dream And for a fraction of a second You can't remember where you are Just open your window And follow your memory upstream To the meadow in the mountain Where we counted every falling star I believe a light tha...

So the phone rang again. It was a number and name I didn't recognize, but as they showed the caller ID, I went ahead and answered it. It was a gal who started asking questions about stuff that was ordered over the internet. They were receiving boxes at their house. I told her that my VISA numbers had been stolen and that a bunch of stuff had been charged on January 7th and 8th. She said she saw my name and billing address on the delivery sheet and wondered if I had anything to do with a guy named Shaun Jefferson who had asked them to forward the merchandise to him. I said that he was a thief and he was involving them in moving stolen merchandise. The gals said she thought something bad was happening, because she watches Dateline a lot. I started to take down their information and then I realized that I was talking to Patricia's daughter. Patricia was the person who I was originally informed about; the gal who lives in PORTERVILLE. The light bulb went on. OH! So you ...

Here are the goods. And yes, that is a real baby in the baby bouncer. ;-)

I know I'm overloading you with pictures of this new baby carrier, but I was so excited to achieve a back carry. It is kind of scary to get him up there while tying it, and it takes some getting used to to trust it to keep him up there and safe. I kept and eye on him, then I was able to get to work in the kitchen doing dishes. He squirmed a little then gave up and fell asleep. It feels so nice to have a soft little guy sleeping in a back pack. He gets all slumpy and warm. Hmmmm. But immediately the phone rang and it was my husband wondering if I wanted to meet him at the furniture store. Well, let me tell you, you don't have to ask me a question like that twice. ;-) I high-tailed it to the store with both youngest boys in tow. He had the 4-y-o with him already. We were ostensibly there to pick out end tables for the living room and family room. I had been making noises lately that I wanted end tables. A couple of weeks ago dh called me over to the computer and he ha...

I was asked by the babywearer ladies to get a picture of the wrap outdoors. The different lighting can help them to get a better feel for the real color of the wrap. See what I'm learning from the connoisseurs? I had the best time at synagogue today. DH and I had not gone since the baby was born. I got SO much attention with little baby A in the sling. He was alternately sleeping, nursing, burping, hiccuping and cooing. The congregants went wild. I know a lot of it was Baby A's good looks/baby charm, but I don't think I have gotten this much attention at one event since my wedding day.

Finally loaded the pics off the camera, so now I can share them with you. First, you have to see the new Vatanai wrap. It arrived in the mail yesterday: Here he is sitting up. He is really not old enough for the disk. But we had cleaned it and he looked so cute for a minute before he slumped and needed to be rescued. :D Here is the sleepy one. He doesn't actually sleep that much during the day, only it is a lot easier to take pics of him when he falls asleep off of me. Otherwise I am constantly holding/rocking him. Another sleepy pic.

Yikes. The day started off...interesting. I answered the phone and found that a lady was calling who worked for a catalog company. A charge had been placed on my credit card, she confirmed the first and last 4 digits of the card, for something under my name that I didn't order. She advised me to cancel the card. I called the card company and found that in the past 2-3 days, a bunch of odd charges had been placed on my card over the internet for sporting goods, clothing and even teleflora. Totaling over $1500.00. I told them to reverse charges on all of them and cancel the card. Now I am without a credit card (I have others I don't want to use) until tomorrow. They are rushing delivery. The catalog lady gave me the delivery address of the goods. Porterville, CA. I have half a mind to go to the house myself. OK, I won't. But can I call the police in Porterville and can they do a sting? Tell the folks the stuff needs to be picked up at a mail boxes place and the...

A gal made a post today about how she hates being pregnant. For some reason, it was really easy for me to relate to that. Here is what I posted: I don't enjoy pregnancy either. Terrified the entire first half of pg that something is wrong with the baby. Terrified the entire second half that something will go wrong before the end or during childbirth. Incredibly uncomfortable in the third trimester. Horrible reflux/scalding stomach acid. Huge baby wedged up under my ribcage. Gigantic bowling ball pressing down on my bladder with every step I take. Can't bend over to pick up after my other kids. Can hardly lay down with them to read bedtime stories. Can't walk without my pelvis cracking and pain in my hips/sacroiliac joints. Culminating with #@%^&! childbirth. My baby is finally over 2 months old and I am beginning to feel human again. There *is* a light at the end of the tunnel. I'm grateful for every one of my healthy, lovely kids. But that doesn't mean I hav...

I am both looking forward to it and not. I love spending more time with the boys, but it will be nice to get back on schedule too. I got another good night's sleep last night, 3 days after the prior one. Baby A slept from 9:30pm to 4:30am and then to 7:30. I slept full-on until 7:30am and I feel like a million bucks. I continue to organize around here, although I have a full time wrecking crew right behind me, as you can imagine, with all 5 boys here this weekend. But I persevere. And I have been much more strict lately about making them clean up after themselves, and making the older boys do chores. Even though it takes longer to supervise them performing these tasks, eventually I will be able to relinquish some of my responsibilities and delegate. The 17-y-o is sick this weekend so he gets a pass. My 8-y-o and I just got through making the 17-y-o's favorite dish for lunch. He is upstairs, so we will surprise him with it. It is an old recipe from my mom, called Seven...

We are expecting a heavy rain this weekend. I have used it as an excuse to "batten down the hatches". The kids and I picked all of the oranges off the tree. They are delicious. DS-8 took the rocks and dirt out of the outdoor drain. He wore gloves and said that it was the dirtiest/muckiest job he had ever done in his life. What a kid! What a helper. He was also climbing on the ladder to get the oranges. He got all except the very highest. I got those using the ladder with a long grabber-type claw instrument. We put away all the ride-on toys. I also cleaned the garage and got all the accumulated boxes and junk organized and put away. Now the space for the 3rd car is open for the most part. The problem with the garage is that in a really heavy rain the water pools by the back garage door, and sometimes drains across that portion of the garage. So all the things on the garage floor need to be water proof. I have also been organizing the disorganized parts of the h...

I read a nice message from my Rabbi today in the monthly newsletter. I want to share it with you. Let me wish each of you a good new year: May the surprises turn out to be happy. May you feel content with what you possess. May your health and love remain strong and steady. May you count your many gifts and know that you are a gift to others. May you see yourself through others' eyes and your own too as beloved. May the Holy-One's spark and embrace offer you purpose and peace.