235:365, a new chapter

This summer has been full of change and new and scary things. It has been full of challenges and learning and standing my ground and waiting and hoping and wondering and a whole hell of a lot of worrying.

But on Monday, a new chapter begins. I start my new job for a new organization. I am both completely excited and totally freaked out, I feel like I am starting a new high school or something! I had been with my old job for 9 years, but with a reorganization and reduction in force my position was eliminated and I was placed on administrative (paid) leave until they could decide where to place me-seven weeks of  going back and forth with HR about my qualifications, meetings with other departments to discuss why I thought I should be able to bump into one job and not another and even an hour with a lawyer to discuss my rights.
It was a vacation to limbo-land, and trust me, limbo-land doesn't include drinks with umbrellas or pool side service.

In the meantime, I was also applying for new work and scheduling interviews. It was encouraging to know that other offices liked what they saw on my resume and were willing to give me a chance to be part of their staff, even if my old place of work didn't see the value in what I did, it was clear to see that others do.
I was offered and accepted a new job a couple of weeks ago and last Friday gave my official resignation for my old spot. It was a relief, but also a real energy drain too. Saying goodbye is never easy, even when it is the best thing to do.

Wish me luck on my new commute (an hour one way),
my new schedule (three tens and one eight, with Wed. off)
and my new job!
If I'm not around much in the next few weeks, you'll know why!

amusement

Our weekend (last weekend that is) didn't just include a wedding. It also included a third birthday of a very special and important girl in our world, my best friend's little girl L. They decided to have a day at Six Flags amusement park and since we were headed back from the Bay Area anyway, we made the stop in Vallejo on Sunday.

The day started out cool and foggy (perfect actually), but warmed up nicely by the afternoon. The kids went on a ton of rides, ate ice cream, and watched the dolphins. Both O and L haven't stopped talking about the dolphins and whales. I love it.

It was such a sweet day, but boy did we wear out the kids. O actually asked when we were going home because he was tired. We hardly got them buckled into their seats before both of them were totally asleep for the rest of the ride back to Reno.

Thanks for being such an amazing little girl L and for including us in your life and special day!

sweetness

If you have been following along from yesterday's post, you know we just went to a wedding over the weekend.
 All that was sweet, but not as literally sweet as the fact that they had a doughnut man to serve dessert instead of the traditional cake.

Yes, you read that right, a doughnut man!!

do you love his hat, perfect, no?

It didn't matter if you were a little kid, or a big one- these little bits of fried dough were so melt-in-your-mouth yummy, it was hard to not go back for seconds, ahem.

I loved this idea (and the doughnuts too!) and am now hunting down a reason to hire a crew to come and make these sweet, bites of joy for us.

231:365, a wedding

We haven't been to a wedding in 3 or 4 years, all pre-kids..which makes for a very different wedding going experience...but that is neither here-nor-there, this summer/fall we are making up for our break in assigned seating, bouqet tossing and aisle walking. We have three ceremonies to attend. This was the first of the batch and it was so very sweet.

I snuck a peak in the church after the ceremony while they were doing photos. I sort of wanted to stalk the photographer around and learn the ropes of shooting a wedding, but held myself back. I really do need to find a local photographer I can second shoot for...
I was in love with the stained glass work in this church and the pastor had such nice things to say. It made me cry, in a good way.

After the ceremony we blew caution to the wind and almost totally skipped nap time.
We let the kids sleep for only about half an hour while we checked into the hotel and then headed to the receoption. We visited with everyone out in the court yard. Drinks were served and horsdevours passed around.

Don't worry, his was just lemonade, though the amount of 'body art' he had on by the end of the night might have suggested there was something else besides lemonade in his cup.

The cousins all got to run around and play while the adults visited and enjoyed the wonderful Bay Area weather.

I was so excited to see they had an instax camera 'photo booth' set up.


It was a very sweet afternoon/evening indeed.

family photobooth 2

It's been a LONG time since I posted a photobooth shot.
This one was taken in the spring at the Board Walk in Santa Cruz, CA. Sadly, the 'real' photobooth is gone and only the digital booths remain. But we jumped in anyway...

Happy Photobooth Friday my friends!

Hats Off

Fif isn't a big fan of hats.

You wouldn't know it from these photos though.

I am not sure if it is because I didn't keep one on her all the time when she was an itty bitty or what, but she doesn't like them one bit.

Such mean mom for trying to keep the sun out of her eyes and off her sweet skin...

just hanging out...

Today's blog post was brought to you by the color green.

Hot August Nights

It's August.
It's hot.

It's Hot August Nights.

Every year  in August, Reno and Sparks are taken over with shinny, shinny cars and big engines.



 The annual Hot August Nights festival, it is quite the scene of fancy paint jobs and plushed out interiors.



I love that it is a mix of people of all ages and backgrounds showing off their cars and trucks.

On Friday night we headed over to Victorian Square in Sparks to watch the 'cruise', a parade of everything from a VW It to souped up GTOs with extra loud and giant engines.

The parking lots are full of chrome, hoods open to show off the goods and people ready and willing to talk your head off in the gear head fashion.

O was captivated by the 'car-cars', Fifi wasn't so sure of the noise but was a trouper and hung out past her bed time.

cubano sandos

A few weeks ago I was out to dinner, drinks and a movie with my girlfriends and I had a cubano sandwich. It was so tasty that I have been craving one ever since so I decided to make one at home.

Want to make one too?

Ingredients:

Sandwich roll, a sweeter style bread is preferable

mustard

Swiss cheese was on the original, but I only had mozzarella and it was just as good

dill pickles

sliced ham

sliced turkey

bacon, pre-cooked

Ready?

Get out the pickles, the sandwich sliced ones are handy, but you can easily slice your own.

Mmm, bacon. I like to bake mine off in the oven. If you want to do it this way, line a cookie sheet with tin foil then place cooling wracks on them and lay out the bacon. It makes for easy clean up and flat bacon. Just don't do what I did and spill the grease out as you take it from the oven.

I was SO glad nobody was underfoot at that point last night!

Spread mustard on the rolls and lay out pickles, cheese, bacon, and deli slices.

 

It's looking good, but there is one more step before you dig in!

Place the sandwich on the griddle or frying pan with some cooking spray then place a frying pan on top in order to smoosh and weigh it all down.

Let it get all ooey-gooey good and warm. Flip once so that both sides get toasty.

look at all that melty cheese! And there you go, your very own cubano-sando. Cut in half and serve with some slaw or other creamy veg. I only had some mango around so I sliced that up and it went nicely on the side.

Enjoy!

11 months

She turned 11 months on Monday.

I am running late on her photo because she has been full of piss and vinegar lately.

I couldn't get her to sit still long enough or without snot and tears until last night.
This month has been all about mobility.

Fifi took her first steps on the 22nd of July and continues to test the waters with adding more and mores steps each day.
It's really more about bravery than anything at this point.
I also think it's about speed, she can get to her target a lot faster by crawling.

She loves to climb, climb, climb. 

One afternoon I stepped away and hear shrieking coming from the play room to find her scaling the bookcase. Yes, Fifi is my wild child. Is it part of being the second child, or just who she is? Hard to say.

Other milestones including pointing and I swear this morning she pointed at the dog and said, "daw". She also sings this funny little song, "ling-aling-aling" and will dance her little booty off when you turn on music.

She doesn't blow kisses in the traditional way, but will smack her lips when you blow them at her.

She remains to be one of the happiest, smiliest kids you will ever come across. But don't tick her off or she will totally tell you off in her baby gibberish and possibly pinch you harder than a lobster. She is also a fighter when it comes to sleep, she doesn't want to miss a minute of action. I have to question what it is that she thinks is going down at 1-3am on some nights. It's been a blessing to not have to go into work lately with the newborn like sleep schedule she has been following.

She and O are so silly and fun to watch lately. He loves to pull her around in the wagon or push her in the little tike's car. One of our favorite afternoon things to do these days is to get O's balance bike out and Fifi on the tricycle and ride up and down the street.

It's been a wonderful month and I can't believe that we are coming quickly upon her first birthday!!