Hacker Widow

Archive for the ‘Life’ Category

since my last post, that is. Talk about a whirlwind!!!! The house is up for sale (Anyone interested??? Anyone???), Rob has already been working in San Luis Obispo for 3 months, and our oldest is getting MARRIED next month!!!! Yikes!! Ok…breathe…  It’s actually going really well. She knows what she wants and we are making it happen. It going to be beautiful!! And then,(fingers crossed) we’ll be in SLO by Nov. I’ll try to be better about blogging our progress…

That pretty much explains my life at the moment. I really can’t explain how it feels. Some personalities are ok with waiting for circumstances to dictate the course of ones life. I don’t happen to be one of those. I consider myself a pretty laid back person but this is ridiculous. I just want to move on to the next phase of our lives.  :0/

For years, our favorite place in the world to visit has been San Luis Obispo, CA. We were first introduced to this wonderful city when we stayed at the Apple Farm. This lead us to the actual exploration of the city itself. We have walked Monterey and Higuera more times than I can count. We always visit our favorite shops, some are no longer there. But the overall feeling of the place is “Welcome!” Now, we actually have the opportunity to live there. My hubby has accepted a job at a GREAT company there is in his second week. It’s a wonderful opportunity, and he is inspired once again. I, on the other hand, am now standing in the middle of our home thinking, “What in the WORLD have we gotten ourselves into??????” I really hate to pack… no , really, I HATE to pack… We are two pack-rats who got married and produced 2 baby pack-rats. AARRRGGGHHHH!!!!!! I really have no idea how I’m going to get through this. The only thing I can think of is to just stay focused on the end result. SLO…SLO….SLO…. I can’t wait to be able to enjoy the SLO life on a regular basis…

All I wanted for Mother’s Day this year was to spend the day with my family in our favorite place, San Luis Obispo. They were so sweet and gave me my wish! First, they showered me with gifts..

This beautiful Willow Tree box was from my youngest…

My oldest made my favorite Key Lime Bars from scratch, mmmmmmm!!!

Hubby did pretty good too… ;0D

Then off to SLO!!

First, lunch at our favorite place..

With our 2 beautiful daughters…

As we walked around, we came upon an amazing site.  First, I saw this dog…

A very forlorn looking guy. So sweet and of course I wanted a pic… So I walked around to the other side of the car for a better look and saw…

THIS guy!! I fell in LOVE!! He was the most amazing looking hound.

Just LOOK at that face!!! He was amazing!!! This guy DEFINITELY made my day.

So we said goodbye to our favorite place…but not for long :0)

This day is definitely bitter sweet. It is a day that I’ve been looking forward to for about a year. I had hit burn out pretty badly after 9 years as a Behavior Aide and had decided to take a year off. Then 4 weeks ago, God sent our life into warp drive! Rob has a new job in a wonderful city, I have to get the house ready to sell, the girls are entering the next phase of their lives, our family dynamic is going to radically change, and I will be a stay at home mom again. WOW!! I consider myself pretty easy going but this is alot in a short amount of time. The hardest part will be leaving the little girl I’ve been with for the better part of 3 years now. She has been the toughest but most rewarding assignment I’ve had so far. I love her like a daughter and when she smiles, it just melts the heart. Being with her 1-1 for so long, it made it hard to really see her progress. She has come so far, and I am SO proud of her. She will probably never understand this, or really care, but that’s OK. She will always be in my heart, like one of my own children. The laughter, the tears, and definitely the stories to last a lifetime.

On to the next great adventure!!

Ok, I admit it, I’m having a mid-life crisis. Who’d of thought! It’s still hard for me to believe. I sit at work or at home and feel restless. I feel like there’s something else I should be doing. Something that will be more meaningful, more fulfilling, more helpful, more memorable, more enjoyable… It has GOT to be out there, right? Something that will make people stand up and take notice. Something meaningful. Sadly, my job is sort of like that now. Any normal person would be intrigued, inspired and motivated. But me, I have hit burn-out so bad after 9 years, I can’t appreciate it any longer. I no longer have the motivation to create and inspire the kids I am with. Why? What has changed? Just because I had a few birthdays? What is it that made me so totally switch my thinking? A few years ago I was wanting to acquire more education to be able to delve deeper into finding out what creates Autism. Now, thinking about going back to school just makes me tired. Will this change? Is there hope to find ones passions again without buying a new motorcycle or running away with an 18 yr old? (Just kidding, honey :0) ) I guess we’ll find out…

So on a Friday night in April, I partied with a bunch of wild ladies up in Fresno. Actually it was national scrapbook day, but it was still fun. I basically went so I could try to get some new ideas to finish the 3 albums I have left to do.

What I mean by that is the scrap-booking industry is going hi-tech.  They are starting to drift away from the more traditional type of scrapping like I do…

To the more advanced process of computer programs. There is something to be said for being able to do an entire album in a couple of hours. To have all your pictures categorized and at the tips of your fingers. To have hundreds of pre-made layout if you,like me, have serious brain farts and just can’t think of one more theme to do. Then you just download it to their website and receive your album in a couple of days. Wow…

But, I walk into Michaels and look at all the beautiful papers and stickers and just can’t resist.  I kind of go into a trance and immediately start envisioning all the pages I could do… Sigh, I think it’s a serious sickness… It takes me months to finish an album. This is a definite con. I don’t know, I think I’ll stick with the more traditional way…. at least for 3 more albums  ;0)

A couple weeks ago, we took a day trip to San Luis Obispo. This is one of our favorite places to hang out. On the way, we were amazed by the wildflowers that were bursting out everywhere.

These were in the hills right outside of Paso Robles. You can’t make out the purple, but the colors were soooo vibrant! Hard to resist the touristy trappings, so we pulled over and started snapping pictures.

Just amazing… Too bad it will all be brown in a few weeks.

I went to visit my Dad today. He lives in an Assisted Living Facility’s Alzheimer’s unit.He’s had quite a lot of funny experienced in there, I’ll write more on those later. Today was not a funny day. Today was not a good day. Today was a day when he was incoherent, tired, and restless. Today was a day I watched him walk around his room for 10 minutes trying to remember how to put on the pair of sweatpants that he had in his hand. He’d decided that he wanted to get more comfortable and change out of his slacks. After rounding up his sweat pants, (they are usually in a variety of odd places, like the bathroom storage cabinet or at the top of the entry closet.) he just kept walking around the room. I assumed he was looking for a shirt to wear. He then stated he wanted to change into different pants. I reminded him that they were in his hands, and that all he needed to do was go into the bathroom and change. He then unbuttoned his pants and pulled them down enough to show me his three shirts that he was wearing. I suggested that he’d probably be more comfortable if he took a couple off. He did so. I just don’t get it. We can put a man on the moon. We can take picture of the sun. We can take in depth readings from some of the deepest depths of the oceans, so WHY can’t we figure out how to curb this horrible disease??? A disease that slowly strips a person of their wit, their charm, their compassion, their love, their humor, their dreams, their joy, their family and finally their hope. I can tell you first hand it is one of the most painful experiences I’ve had to deal with. Watching this horrifying disease grow stronger and stronger and seeing my Father become less and less.

After the fun of making goodies and decorating eggs we will continue on to the main event…DINNER!! Can you tell we’re dieting?? LOL. Anyway, we were in for a major treat this year. Our oldest daughter can up during her spring break and wanted to show off her culinary talent.

See that intense look? She’s raring to go!

She started by preparing dessert first since it had to sit.

MMmmm.. fresh berries.

Her creation… Mixed Berry Trifle with a lemon curd sauce. Yep it tasted THAT good  ;0)

Next the prepping of the potatoes and asparagus.

Asparagus tossed with EVOO, garlic cloves and parmesan.

Potatoes tossed in EVOO, and garlic cloves..

Then, she prepared a Bourbon and brown sugar glaze for…..

THE HAM!!!!! MMMmmmmmmm

It was such an amazing dinner. I am so proud of her and her accomplishments! We’ll have to have a coming home party so other can taste her wonderful cooking.