Finding Footprints in the Sand

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Happy Birthday to Son3

Son3’s 11th Birthday Today…

He requested donuts and presents for breakfast…

Annoying Orange… check it out on you tube…

Nerds Candy…

The Bee Movie…

we’ll be watching this after dinner tonight…

Too excited… the big present… he has no idea… I splurged a bit and got him something he would love but never ask for…

He’s in disbelief…

Still can’t believe it…

A Nintendo DS handheld system… old enough that games are still available and in cheaper previously used form…

He’s been asking for a Nintendo Xbox like his older brothers but I told him not til he’s 13 as he has his brothers older systems and his own computer games…

So a handheld was a splurge but yet in between getting a new system… and he could use it on long trips now that son2 has his phone to keep him entertained in the car…

It was a bundle package so games too and a case with accessories…

What he really wanted for his birthday was the Spore game for the computer… but it’s not really available anymore and when you could find it and once you added the expansion packs it was kinda expensive for one game… So I figured a bit of an upgrade to the Nintendo handheld system and the ability to get the Spore game used and cheaper and him able to spend his own money on more used games would be a better investment of a birthday present…

He was finally overcome with excitement and fainted…

Not really but he’s quite the dramatic when hubby is filming…

Son2 showing him how to use the system… It’s cool cause he can take pictures with it and record himself… He’s always making sound effects and making up songs, so that was a great feature…

He has since played with his new system… Allowed son2 to play with it while he went swimming at the neighbors and then off to visit with another friend and jump on the trampoline… Now we are waiting for son1 to get home from the gym so we can have pizza and cake… Son3 will be having Carl’s Jr, his birthday request… Then son1 is off to another birthday party… He’s now off for the next five days as his 25th birthday is tomorrow…

Happy Journaling…

Saturday, July 21, 2012

July Twenty First

I have this weekend off… I worked the last two weekends due to vacation requests… so now I am off this weekend and next weekend…

I have been pondering posting for a new position… it would be a promotion to salary and a raise as it is the position that my boss has but at a much smaller store… actually one of the managers at my store got a promotion to that store and suggested to my store manager that he take me with him… store manager said no, anyone else but me… not because I wasn’t qualified but because I am doing a good job and he didn’t want to lose me… then the other day my new boss brought up the position and that what she had seen of me so far impressed her and that I should apply for the position as they had no good candidates yet…

So just being complimented this week put me in a good mood at work…

Do I want to do it… I don’t know… with hubby not working, it would make sense with a raise involved… however I would have to commute 45 minutes each way… and since it is a small store and salary I would have to work more days and hours… I’ve only been back in management just over a year now, so wondering if I’m really ready… I’ve just gotten settled in my position in shoes and still trying to make a name for myself… although my sales are up this year which is why my boss doesn’t want me to leave…

Then there is rumor of changes coming but we don’t know when… changing some things back to the way they were 18 yrs ago, if what they are saying will happen how I’m thinking… meaning we will either need less supervisors or more…

Maybe this week hubby and I will take a drive to the other store to get the feel of it… supposedly since it’s much smaller then my store in a much smaller town, it’s very laid back and quieter…

Today we slept in a bit and hubby made egg mcmuffins without the Mc… I vacuumed, wiped down the bathrooms a bit, washed the rugs and towels, washed son3’s bedding, cut son3’s hair, filled the birdfeeders and been on the laptop… still lots else I wanted to do but here it is already 5pm…

Hubby mowed the back yard and cleaned up the backyard, went to Supercuts for his haircut and is now making turkey burgers for dinner…

Son2 and son3 have been on the computers and playing video games and being bored in between… only three more weeks til school starts… son2 did mow the front yard and empty the dishwasher…

Son1 is out and about and who knows where or with who…

Son2 and I were discussing moving rooms around once son1 moves out… the computer desk in son2’s room and the computer desk in the art room will go into the front room once son1 moves out… then son2 is giving son3 his bed, son3 is getting rid of his cabin bed as he is getting too big for it, and son1 is giving son2 his futon bed… then once son1 is cleared out of the front living room, we will move everything from the art room there temporarily… son2 is moving into the art room which used to be son1’s room before he moved out the first time and is closer to the boy’s bathroom… and then the art room stuff will move back into son2’s old room which used to be the computer room way back when son2 and son3 were little and shared a room… first however son2 has to start cleaning his room as he mentioned at the beginning of summer he wanted to redo his room since he would be going to college… he hasn’t done anything yet…

Has anyone ever been to Comic Con… Last year son2 said he was going this year as he would be 18 and he could go if he wanted as he would be an adult and even if he didn’t have a job yet he would sleep in his car… lol… no he didn’t go… and yet I never really thought about it before but it would be a really cool place to go for vacation… above is a picture I took from Facebook of the cast of Supernatural at Comic Con this year…

Happy Journaling…

Fresno Chaffee Zoo Sea Lion Cove

After years of planning and fund raising, our zoo is finally opening the first new exhibit this Fall: Sea Lion Cove…

They are in the last phase, as the animals have been introduced to their new home and will have a few weeks to adapt before opening to the public…

The following is an article from the Fresno Bee…

Zoo's Sea Lion Cove welcomes its first tenants

The Fresno Bee

Wednesday, Jul. 18, 2012 | 02:44 PM

The first tenants of Fresno Chaffee Zoo's new Sea Lion Cove exhibit moved in Wednesday.

"Ariel," a year-old harbor seal from Albuquerque, N.M., and two rescued California brown pelicans were in their new home -- a 200,000-gallon, 12-foot-deep pool.

The exhibit is set to open to the public on Aug. 27.

The $10.5 million exhibit features rock facings with faux starfish, mussels and barnacles clinging to rock walls with coastal-looking cliffs climbing to 20 feet.

CRAIG KOHLRUSS/THE FRESNO BEE

"Ariel" a year-old harbor seal is seen through the underwater viewing area in the new Sea Lion Cove exhibit at Fresno's Chaffee Zoo on Wednesday.

Gallery: First tenants at Fresno Chaffee Zoo's Sea Lion Cove

A circular trail leads visitors into the exhibit with amphitheater seating for viewing. The meandering trail stops at a second, elevated viewing area before sinking below ground with underwater views through a 37-foot-long, 8 1/2-foot-high and six-inch-thick glass pane that weighs 11,000 pounds.

The exhibit can fit up to 12 sea lions and seals. The zoo now has three sea lions and one harbor seal in its existing 26,000-gallon pool.

The following pictures were taken by the Fresno Chaffee Zoo…

The following pictures are my pictures taken of the sea lions/seal old home…

Happy Journaling…

Thursday, July 19, 2012

July Nineteenth

Yesterday I was quite lazy on my day off… Although I did do laundry and make dinner… Lots of talking with hubby… I think I was more having a quiet day then a lazy day as I probably could have stressed too much about things…

I find I am having trouble committing to anything lately… as I wait for hubby to get a job… when he first lost his job, it was like a new venture with all kinds of possibilities… I even lost 35lbs and we were walking every day… I even took a promotion back into management… then I had the car accident and hubby found out he had cancer… the no job has now gone from one year to two years of hubby not working… shadowing the happiness of hubby being cancer free even…

I have been trying to wrap my mind around losing weight again, since I have now gained 20lbs back… but the more I think about it the more I eat… also since the car accident I now have a bone spur and herniated disc in my neck… plus the discovery of a degenerative spine/arthritis… so I haven’t been all about the exercise, not even walking… it’s not that my neck bothers me unless I over due but that I now have to be aware of all I do so that I don’t aggravate it… I’m also on Gabapentin which numbs all the nerves so I don’t much move anymore in general… as it inhibits feeling physically and mentally…

I found the above graphic on drinking water that I committed to for all about three days…

Everything is a process that must be worked at…

Holly blocking the way for Danny to leave the room… She knows she scares him…

The Fedex man just came and brought son3’s birthday present…

I found this recipe on Pinterest… Above is my result from dinner last night… Using a bundt pan you place the chicken cavity over the center of the bundt pan… place carrots, potatoes, and onions around… I added pepper, seasoned salt, butter, oil and water… bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes for every pound adding 15 minutes… so 5lbs is an hour and a half… I should have put a bit less veggies and put the chicken more on top of the veggies as only the top half sticking out actually browned… but it was very good…

A hummingbird at the feeder yesterday…

Happy Journaling…

Sunday, July 15, 2012

July Fifteenth

Every day I say I am going to write in my blog… and every day I don’t… It’s not that I don’t have anything to write about… I start several entries in my head throughout the day…it may be that the days fly by so quickly… not that I don’t spend half the day on the computer, when I’m not at work… Partly it is because I never have me time… Someone is always home… I think mostly I just got out of routine and I just need to begin and ignore my surroundings for a moment and clear my head… So I won’t say I’m going to write every day now… I’ll just begin for now…and hope this is the beginning of writing again…

I’m Back… Hubby made breakfast of banana nut pancakes and fried eggs… we discussed Halloween ideas with son2… and son1 and fiancé breezed through on their way to register at Target for the wedding and buy pots for son1’s new beer making kit… Hubby is now outside working on his Jeep Liberty… it has been running hot so he is draining some antifreeze and replacing a part… Son2 is on the computer as always… and son3 is watching cartoons…

Son3 is counting the days til his 11th birthday on July 24th… He has put in many gift requests and thinks that is what he is getting… I have ordered his present that was a bit more then I should have spent but he is also requesting a party which we will not be having… I did tell him two of his friends could come over for maybe a sleep over after his birthday… You will have to wait til the birthday too to find out what he got… We didn’t put up the pool this year as his friend has a built in pool and he has been swimming there… Otherwise he is all about the video games, staying up late and sleeping in til noon almost… School starts one month from today…

Son2 also spends all his time on games, readit and his phone… He has been spending time with his friends too this summer… and applying for jobs but no nibbles yet… He’s finishing up the last details for registering for college which starts on August 13th and deciding which classes to add and which to drop even though he has already signed up for classes… He’ll be taking between three and five classes…

Son1 has been living in my front living room for three years now… Twelve weeks til the wedding on Oct. 5th… He’s rarely here except to sleep as weekends are spent with the fiancé and weeknights he’s with friends or at the gym while fiancé continues at cosmetology school… they still both work full time during the day… they will be renting a relative’s house after they are married and are thinking of going to Hawaii for their honeymoon…

Hubby is still not working… two years end of August… well he did work part time last year for six months… He was getting a bit down and discouraged but I yelled at him and he is once again encouraged… thankfully unemployment is still continuing at the moment… He applies at places every day and reapplies at some and still not even a nibble… Two PSA tests since his prostate cancer last fall and he is still cancer free… The boys, pets and house keep him busy but he needs a job if only to talk to grownups again…

I’m still the supervisor of shoes… Sales are up and we’re doing good… I have a new associate starting today… and tonight is friends and family night… extra 5-15% off… so bring your friends and family from 6-9pm… any Sears store… I have a new boss, less then a month now… lots of changes and people moving around at work… so who knows maybe I’ll get out of shoes after 8 years on the island…

I’m back… had to put the laundry in the dryer… about the only chore I do lately… hubby still does the dishes since he’s home… since son1 never cleans up the front living room, I’ve decided not to clean either til he moves out… plus with the boys home for summer I’d have to clean around their bodies laying around the house…

We saw a humming bird in the yard the other day so we put up the feeder although we never saw a humming bird drink from it in the past… this morning we saw two humming birds drinking from it… so cool…

Hubby has just informed me that the part he replaced on his car was the coolant sensor…

Now it is time to water the house plants and get me ready for work…

Happy Journaling…