Easy peasy left over quesadilla

Left over pulled pork
Smashed black beans
Corn Tortilla
Mango Salsa
Shredded cheese
Two corn tortilla
Sour cream
Guacamole

Put the good yummies between the tortillas, cook in pan on the stove until heated through, flip, let the tortilla cook for a couple minutes. Add sour cream or guacamole to dip in.

New and old

Its been nearly a year since I've posted here. Life just seems to be getting and staying away and my thoughts are so fleeting. I thought I'd drop in an update for you all. We are moving! We put the house on the market on May 19th, exactly 12 years to the day since we got the keys to it. This house is where I came to on my wedding night, found out I was pregnant in, brought my babies home to, trained my doggies in, loved my husband and growing family in, shared all the holidays and every day routines in. This was my safe haven when the FFP was away at the fire accademy. This is where I struggled and overcame depression, hard and easy times, a miscarriage. Its where I sat on the couch and watched Grey's Anatomy via phone with my best friend who lived 120 miles away while both of our husbands were working. This is where the rose tree is planted outside the little window by the door that my husband planted when Hollywood and my parents flew to Savannah, GA just after 9/11 and I was pregnant and scared to death.

This weekend a young man came for a second look and put in an offer. We accepted and we went into escrow today. We also put an offer in on another bigger house with a pool on the other side of town.

Why We Send them to School

My children go to public school. I went to public school from 2nd grade on and FFP always attended public school. Things are not what they were 20-30 years ago though. Things have changed and I would say for the better. We have an amazing school with amazing teachers and staff. We have supportive parents and we truly do feel like a family.

 But our district is in trouble. At first we thought it was just financial trouble. They (down at the district level and the school board) made it seem like we were headed for disaster. If we didn't make payroll the state would come in and take over. That wouldn't be good for anyone. They needed a loan right then, they needed the teachers (who account for an astronomical amount of the cost to run the district, imagine that) to give up their smaller classrooms numbers, in fact dropping 160 or so teachers from the district, their raises and their adjust their benefit packages. And they did. Now they came back and said we want more even though there is money there... but they "project" a deficit so they ask the teachers for more. They ask them for it all, they ask them to live on less and work more and give no room for negotiations for a projection 3 years down the line.

The teachers keep bringing things to the table, they keep begging the district to take the $ and make it better. The district has no rebuttal, nothing to counter offer, nothing. So now the teachers feel like they'll  have to strike. I don't want my kids to go to school where there is a strike, where there are not enough people to watch them all, who have no investment in their futures trying to corral them, where they will receive no real education because the district refuses to budge because they think that this may work today but have no plan to make up for the "deficit" that doesn't yet exist 3 years away. My children will no go to school if there is a strike and I support those amazing and wonderful teachers who shouldn't have to worry about getting their salary cut by 11-13%  after so much already.

Let me tell you... I will bring them coffee and food and stand beside them because I know how hard they work for our kids, I know how hard they work for our community, I know how hard they work for their own family and the district has no idea, that is very apparent.

CRAZY Summer and

Things have been so crazy around here I'm sorry for the lack of posting! Summer is over and the kids are into school knee deep. I've started running again and the FFP is busy taking fire classes and hunting. Not a lot of time for much family stuff but we did get a weekend or two away this summer for camping and a trip to the beach. We had so much fun at Butt (seriously... it is called that) Lake once with Good Neighbor, Julz and all of our kids. FFP came up one day and GN's parents were in in camp site across from ours. We got the perfect spot right next to the beach and would sit right in camp and watch the kids play in the water. It was perfect!

I did get a girls weekend away at Bailey Creek (Eagles Nest owned by the Simmons Parental units) and 5 girls w/ lots of wine and vegetarian food was a blast! I won't even tell you how many bottles were consumed because you'll probably not even believe me! We did crazy things like run through the sprinklers on the golf course, do self pedis while watching old movies and lots and lots of silly laughing and talking. We had a BLAST!

Got the hubby off of work so we went to the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk and Monterey for a few days too. We had entirely too much fun on the rides at the beach before heading to Monterey for the night. We even ate at Bubba Gumps and it was probably the most amazing sea food I've ever eaten which isn't saying a lot, but hands down best service in any restaurant too. We all crashed hard that night then headed to aquarium the next morning. The kiddos got to do the scuba dive (more like snorkeling w/ dry suits and scuba gear) in the little cover and they loved it! So worth the $$$!) The aquarium is one of my favorite places and I love that the kids still love the touch pools. I'm sure they'll outgrow them but I'm not in a hurry for that at all! We checked out tide pools too and saw seals, otters a pod of killer whales all out by Lovers Point. It was an amazing trip!

For most of the last 7 years I've walked in the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer. This year I crewed. I took GN with me (she's my 3 time AWBC buddy, my hot red headed friend, momma and Aunt Sandy with me. We packed a crazy amount of stuff into 2 and a half days. Friday night we went to see Wicked! It was wonderful and I would totally see it again. Saturday GN and I worked our fingers to the bone crewing rest stop #1 and RS #3. We were exhausted beyond reason and actually changed our clothes in porta potties without getting dirty. We are that good. We headed out to AT&T park to see Sir Paul McCartney play. He was absolutely mind boggling freaking incredible. Momma and Aunt Sandy had seen the Beatles in 1965 at the Cow Palace. So I'm glad they got to experience that with us. I'm not sure if GN's hubby will ever talk to me again but Oh Well. We finished off the weekend with another crazy early morning wake up call and off to RS #1 for more crew duty. Today we got to cheer and bring everyone in. Much better than the 12 hours of cutting fruit. Next year I'm back to walking for sure!

We made one more trip to Butt Lake with the Cafferata clan and added a dash of Simmons since Doc is dating the youngest of the Simmons boys. We had a blast and spent a whole day over in Mickelson Cove doing things like Kayaking (thanks to Gail) and the boys fished for crawdads and reading books and visiting with friends. Lots of yummy camp food too! All in all it was a pretty awesome summer.

Happy UnValentines Day to you

The most we get into Valentines day is buying the kiddos the little sugar filled Vcards for their classes. The hubby and I would rather do random acts of love throughout the year than to devote the same day as everyone else does to declare our unabiding adoration for one another. As it is I have memorized so many different anniversaries of our courtship to marriage that Valentines day seems very obsolete. On February 3rd he brought me a dozen roses because it was 15 years to the day from the day we met. April 14th will be 15 years since our first Date and our first Kiss. December 19th 1997 was the date we got engaged. so on and so forth.

This last year we didn't do anything for our 10 year wedding anniversary because it was summer time and the FFP is a firefighter and we were keeping our fingers crossed for a strike team. We did get away to LV for a few days right after Christmas and it was so nice to spend one on one time together while on Vacation... by ourselves. We haven't done that since our Honeymoon nearly 11 years ago. Not that we don't usually have time alone together, I mean with me a stay at home mom and him working 10 days a month the time the kids are at school are well spent. We run errands together, go to coffee toether, go to lunch, clean up the house or the yard, watch a movie... you know the typical. We have spent more one on one time together in the last two years than most of the rest of our marriage combined. I'm a little spoiled. So when I renounce Vday in lieu of an evening with friends and Wii you understand. I would rather have those little sweet moments all year than a day that requires a card, flowers (that I love to get not on the same day as everyone else) or candy (dark Chocolate please) dictated by Halmark.

Love you babe.You are my sunshine, my strength and my knight in shining armour still after all these years. 15 years and 12 days ago I met the man of my dreams and I wouldn't want to change a moment of being in your arms.

OMG its 2010!

I feel like such a slacker! Its already been a heck of a year and we're only the middle of February. Lots of things to look forward to though. Hollywood is doing another chess tourney on Wednesday in Corning and has Baseball tryouts for Farm League on Saturday. Blondy is enamored with videogames right now but is interested in horseback riding and I just need to find a facility I feel comfortable with to start lessons and is doing great at rollerskating. We hope to take them to Shasta to learn to ski over the Spring Break. Both the boys are doing very well in school but this new "Everyday Math" concept at school is so far from the way I learned math in 2nd and 4th grades that I'm having some trouble helping them with homework. I find myself keeping every peice of paper explaining a concept in hopes of finally understanding. I don't seem to be getting very far.

FFP is working as usual and there is no real hunting season going on so he's been home a lot. Our Friend "Huntin' Buddy (HB)" and his son "Junior" have been spending a lot of time with us, trading favors when we need them or when we do. Lots of tree cutting and dinners made with them and I'm thankful for them both. FFP has made an amazing friend and I'm thankful for him although sometimes this brofriend thing gets a little old. LOL Hubby is looking forward to Elk hunting this fall and helping out with Baseball this spring. Hopefully his buddy will come through and he can get some pig hunting in, my wild pig supply in the freezer is dwindling rapidly.

HB and Jr. have become an intergral part of our family. We all look forward to the time spent with them. Dinner and Wii time about once a week (or more) to catch up has been the nice routine we've made with them. Its been a rough few months for them. Unfortunately HB found out that his wife was seeing someone else right before Thanksgiving and I've been a little bit furious at her actions and the way she has treated them and her friends. One negative toxic friendship scratched off this list. Glad to have HB and Jr in our lives though. They had dinner with us last night and the bottle of wine was just what I needed after a really crappy week.

I've still got my running buddies although I'm out of the running loop due to injury. I just volunteered for my first race as water station with my boys for the Habitat for Humanity Home Run 5K. I'm looking forward to helping more with this charity as well as the Local Livestrong Campaine this fall and the Avon Walk with Breast Cancer this summer where I will do my first stint as a crew member with Good Neighbor. I'm active in a book club as well as various activities around the kids school. I'm hoping to start with KOR the Kettlebell class again this spring to get my strength back after this strange injury.

I guess thats all for now. A little update with more to come soon.

I should be at church

But I am all cut up from a fall on my long run yesterday and can't wash my hair. The whole right side, including my knee and arm from wrist to elbow are all cut up and the thought of getting back in the shower after the excruciating pain from washing out my wounds yesterday is just too much. I know God doesn't care if I have clean hair but I do.

FFP is working a 96 this week. He had to pay back a trade so I could do the Avon Walk so Friday was free, normal shift Sat, OT today (so few and far between he thought he should take it) and regular shift on Monday. Ugh. I miss him. The boys miss him.

The kids are ready for their first full week of school. I'm not. I need to go shopping for food before this big week. I forget how I hate making lunches for Blondy. He is so picky. I wish he would eat something besides cereal and bagels and the occasional PB&J. Hollywood wants me to send him to school with Sushi.

Did you see the post from the first day of school? (aren't my boys too cute?!) and the crazy big spider in our front yard?