slumber party in the driveway

We slept in the van in the driveway to see if she would be comfortable enough or if we needed to add anything. Mister made screens for the passenger windows so we could get some circulating air without mosquitoes. The bed is comfortable enough. More so than sleeping on the ground in the tent. The only catch is my tiny bladder. I'm gonna have to cut off the beveraging around 5pm...methinks...also...epic bedhead! 

meet vera

Did I tell you we bought a van? Meet Vera. Vera CamperVan Beethoven. A Transit Connect, to be exact. Yep, the same type of vehicle we were trying to get back in 2010. It only took us seven years.

We weren't originally looking for a passenger van but this one had the right price, was in the grouping for the year we wanted, had pretty good mileage, and was local! The only downside, is that it is black. I swear I feel like THE EYE when I am driving it...which doesn't happen often, as I'm a weirdo with car anxiety and have to take baby steps when driving a new vehicle. If it was me on the bus with Keanu, we'd all have crashed and there would have been no movie.

The first thing and the main thing that the mister did was build the platform. The whole point of the van is so we have something to sleep in without having to pitch a tent for a day. The platform is to create a level place for the camp pad to go so we can catch some ZZzzzzzzs....under the platfor there are three compartments. The center compartment is for the camp chairs, with the other two to house boxes and bags. We left one passenger seat in place as it folds flat enabling us to put the platform on top. This way, if for some reason we need to transport someone we can.

I found a foam pad on Amazon for $10 that fits perfectly on top of the camp pad. It all stays in place with the road trip sheet holding it in. See the chairs there?  Things are happening.

And because, the mister is the mister, we hit up JoAnn's for some sun fabric to create an awning to sit under for rain or shine. Luckily there was a sale and I have a teacher discount card so it cost us just under $50 for the fabric...outdoor fabric is expensive! Yikes! The poles are bamboo pieces we found in Los Osos. We are nothing if not frugal.

So, there you have it...here's to new adventures!

couches, coffee, and coral colored hair

How's that for alliteration?

For some unknown reason I woke up all bright-eyed and bushy tailed before 7am. I stumbled out into the living room and started mumbling about how our neighbor across the street was running a power saw around 10pm. Why? why? Why? Eegads, I was cranky. But then the light bulb appeared (thanks to the mama a-go-go) and I realized he was chop shopping up wood to fit into the bins for bulk pick up day.

BULK PICK UP DAY!

Bulk pick up day is when everyone can pull out all their stuff, crap, and junk to the curb and the trash trucks will pick it all up! Whoo-hoo! It also means, one can cruise around and possibly pick up some new/old furniture...

Which is why I found myself fully dressed and cruising the neighborhoods of SLO in search of a kitchen table we could modify for the classroom. I...and along with a zillion dudes driving big trucks.

Oof. Not a table to be found but I did stop to snap pictures of two awesomely awful floral couches. I also swung by my favorite coffee place for a latte and a scone, which I enjoyed from the chairs we had previously picked up during bulk pick up day many moons ago and are ow in the front yard.

p.s.
I have a new 'do!

early

Mister and I had fasting blood work to take care of (hello middle age!) so I was up at 6am to make it to the front of the line for the 6:30am opening at the lab, the lab where my favorite phlebotomist has the same name as me...first AND last!

We were 4th in line and it was cold, cold, cold this morning! I should have brought a thicker sweater...

After the blood draw (sadly, my namesake was not there), I dropped the mister off at work and headed down to the town where my allergist is. I would be two hours early but I thought a wander through walmart and breakfast panera (thank you giftcards) would take up most of that time.  On the way out of slo I watched crows dive bomb a hawk, a tuxedo cat stalk something in a flowerbed, & a man engaged in fisticuffs with a parking meter.

I had the most lackluster experience at Panera and then I wandered around walmart in search of wicking socks, lipstick, and toothpaste. It wasn't until I was in the toothpaste aisle (my last stop) that I realized I had tucked my drapey cardigan INTO my pants.

INTO my pants.

At least I wasn't trailing a length of toilet paper from my shoe...but I did also step in gum.

Red gum.

Like a wad of it.

Also did not notice till it had thoroughly glued itself to the bottom of my sad sloppy ballet flat...

All of this before 8:30 in the morning...

a new capsule

A week or so ago, when I did laundry, I found that the tops hanging in the bathroom to air dry looked really good together...almost like they would make a good capsule...so when I took them down, I rifled through the dresser for some finishing pieces and voîla! a nifty mild summer capsule!

Thee are eleven pieces, two of which are sweaters so I'm not how much I would wear them, but everything is is super nifty...I think...

Top to Bottom:
chambray top from LOFT
navy linen top from LOFT
blush colored top from LOFT (I'm suspecting a theme here)
sleeveless blush top Vera Wang for Kohl's
sleeveless black & white top from Penneys
floral cardigan J Crew
bergundy 3/4 sleeve sweater from Marshall's
blush tulle skirt from Target
black & white plaid skirt Old Navy
denim capris Dana Buchman at Kohl's
chambray trousers The Gap

What do you think?

of course

My hair looks freakishly white when wearing a white shirt which I do not often do as white shirts are not really good friends with preschool classrooms. Tomorrow, the white hair goes away...I'm working towards my natural color whatever it may be...not grey, certainly, but I wish it was. 

I was going to write about the Beatrice Sparks books I read in junior high and how they scared the crap out of me which is probably why I was such a goody goody, but the moment and momentum have passed and so instead, I wax poetic on how awesome my hair looked to day, the day before I hit up the hairdresser because I cannot take the bonkers any longer. It looked great. 

Of course it did.

the view from the garden

This is the view from the garden. This peak you see is a mighty popular peak here in town. It seems, no matter how early I am up, someone is already at the top of the peak. Me? I have never been up. I know the views are supposed to be STUNNING but the crowds are just not my thing. I prefer the wander around the base that leads into small forests and sometimes crosses paths with deer, cattle, and wild turkey. But this view, this view? I quite like it. Even with the power lines criss-crossing in my vision.

We've seen solitary figures at the top, and large numbers at the top. We've seen numerous helicopter rescues, and right now, just moments before writing this, I saw three or four flashlights flash as law breaking hucksters make their way down the peak past sunset.

I might venture up someday, but don't hold your breath. I'm quite happy with the view from below.

i got nothin'

nothin' to share...I'm trying to commit to writing ten days straight and truly my creative juices are stuck to a pan somewhere in the back of a cabinet.

when I was in second grade, we were given our very own journals made of that public school newsprinty paper with the pale red and blue dashed lines across its length carefully stapled inside two pieces of colored construction paper. we were assigned to make daily entries and mine consistently went something like this:

"Dear diary,
Today I woke up, watched cartoons and ate cereal for breakfast."

every single day. forty something years later, things haven't changed much...

"Dear diary,
Today I woke up, drank some water, ate some cereal, and watched Gilmore Girls."

and there you have it. my life in a nutshell. 

avocados

I couldn't sleep last night. Stupid songs were stuck in my noggin and my brain would not turn off. It was warm but not hot and I tried, I really tried to hit the hay at a decent hour but with every toss and turn,  I worried I would wake the mister up and so I hied back to the living room to see if music would cast away the commercial jingle and maybe make me sleepy...

It didn't.

That may be due to my choice in tunes thanks to prime music on amazon...I felt nostalgic and so of course I thought Guns N Roses would do the trick.

It didn't.

So, from there, I listened to Bombadil and that really helped...my eyes grew droopy and I decided I could crash right there on the sofa once I put the laptop away...

I didn't.

No sooner had I drifted off to snoozeland my eyes popped open and I sat up quickly with a thought in the noggin...

AVOCADOS!

I had dental work done on Monday and due to my wonky jaw, I have to jump through all sorts of hoops to get me through the process. Dental work usually leaves me groggy and in a state of mouthy discomfort for a few days after so I need to stock up on soft foods such as applesauce, yogurt, pudding, and....avocados.

I was certain I had bought two avocados on Sunday but just then realized I had neither enjoyed them, nor seen them in the kitchen, anywhere. I was certain I got them. I remembered the price sign and stopping my cart to back up to ogle the jewels of the guacamole world. I remembered chuckling to myself as I was reminded about the first time I was sent out to purchase avocados for my brother and how thinking the soft, darkened fruits were bad so that I arrived at my brother's with two very green, very gloriously hard ovoids and how he laughed and very nicely, with no snark at all, teach me the ways of how to select a perfect avocado.

I got up and stubbed my toe on the coffee table, tripped over my too long pajama bottoms, shinned myself on the mama a-go-go's chair, and then stubbed my toe again on the kitchen table all before I could get a light on in the kitchen. I got the light on, but not before I managed to swipe my phone off the side table so that it clattered and spun across the wood floors. Oof! Sadly, there was not an avocado to be seen and by this time I was more awake than not and feeling a little hungry so why not eat a cup of pudding because chocolate pudding is just like avocados, right?

So, I did. I ate a cup of pudding, in the dark, and hobbled back over to the sofa to settled in with the laptop. I sent myself and email reminder to check the car for avocados...five day old avocados...and then played a game or two of Scrubby Dubby before somehow gloriously dropping my laptop on my own noggin.

Ouch!

Eventually, I guess I fell asleep and when I woke up, I headed out for errands completely forgetting to check the car for avocados.

At some point, after a couple stops, I remembered and checked and...discovered a bag with two very sad and very spotty avocados.

Tomorrow, we're eating guacamole.

taking care of business

Nothing makes ya feel more like a (middle-aged) grown up than spending the day getting yer bits smooshed. Okay, that's only partly true...today I got an ultrasound on my thyroid, a mammogram (in 3D no less), and a wellness appointment done. I also managed a coffee date, and a pizza run. Adulting for the win!

First off was my ultrasound...the diagnostic place I have been going to for the past seven years seems to be under new ownership every other year or so. This time around it is under the umbrella of Dignity Health (I'm not a fan) and it seems the powers that be for DH really do not like their employees...I walk into the main office and the front desk clerks are all decked out in orange smocks. ORANGE smocks...as in OITNB...not the best first impression...at least they are fairly quick. While I was waiting I learned that I did not need an order for a boob smoosh so I scheduled one for later in the day and got my thyroid scanned first.

Next up was my wellness checkup with a brand spankin' new doctor. The office is in a building I drive by all the time that looks a bit of a mess on the outside but the inside is all sorts of mid-century coolness. I may have taken a picture or two...sadly they did not come out very well but here ya go...

The new doc is awesome and I look forward to a continued relationship but now it was time for lunch before the smoosh. I headed home and partook of a slice of two (or three...) of cinnamon toast (not the best choice but it worked) before heading out for a fancy pants boob smoosh but not before I noticed my navy top left all sorts of navy fuzz all over my pits...zoinks and phew! I'm glad I noticed it before heading out...

The smoosh took 15 minutes and was only uncomfortable when she had to move my...ahem...belly and/or chin(s) out of the why. So much siiiigh...but it was fairly quick and the gown she had me change into gave me a great big chortle as it was less a gown and more of a shawl...a very awful hospital printed glorified shawl...there is just no way one can walk with confidence through a hall with other people lounging about in their gowns and shawls...if anything, I gave me a good laugh (though I think I insulted my technician who insisted it was a cape...if ya wanna call it a cape, make it a bonafide cape!)

I ended my grown-up adventure with a coffee date with a favorite person at a new coffee place that I probably will nbot be returning to. Not because it was bad, more because is was so-so and I live walking distance from Scout 2, which is very much delicious. So there ya go...being an adult sometimes mean getting the girls smooshed.

cranky be gone!

I grew up in the home of a sleeper. My mother slept. A lot. Part of it was depression, part of it was the lupus. I grew up in the home of a sleeper on the third floor of an apartment building so I learned to be quiet early on in my life which meant when someone was sleeping...you did not try to wake them up.

Not waking someone up means not starting your laundry at 7:30 in the morning on the third day of the sleeping person's vacation. Sigh. I'm cranky. Also cranky-inducing? The neighbor who uses his garage for an office, the garage that is only a few feet from the bedroom window. The garage he rattles open right after a major loogie hocking fest...aaargh...

The nice muscle relaxing meds have finally left my system and now my neck is crankier than I am. So now I'm cranky and whiny which is a great combo for the second day of summer. See? CRANKY!

So, to combat the crankiness, I took my cranky self outside to read in the garden. I didn't read for long as I was distracted by the bees, the birdies, and the breeze. After a deep breath or too, I shuffled my no-longer-cranky self into the homestead for a cup of cold coffee...happy summer!

june 20

Today, I woke up with stupid hair. It is not uncommon for me to awake to stupid hair, but today's stupid hair made me grateful I had nowhere I needed to be. No amount of brushing would make it look less than stupid. So, I dampened the brush and now I look like I have a head of stringy, wet stupid hair. It's like I'm a teenager all over again, only I'm pretty sure I would get a whole lotta "bless her heart" looks from strangers.  It's THAT stupid.

Yesterday I had a party with the dentist. An old crown moved out making the snazzy digs at the back of my mouth available for something new. Due to my tiny crooked jaw, something as easy as jazzing up new digs becomes a bit of a blunder. Even cleanings are uncomfortable for me. So, armed with a dazzling array of pills, I took a deep breath and on my very first day of official summer vacation, I had an old crown removed and my bite adjusted. All of this was done while I was a teeny bit doped up with all those dazzling pills. On the plus side, I was less doped up than usual so I could listen to my ancient iphone shuffle through Neko Case, Elizabeth Cotton, Pokey LaFarge, and various preschool related tunes, but I could also feel the discomfort enough that my anxiety shot up and my blood pressure was just kooky. After it was all over, I was escorted down the hall to the waiting arms of mr. a-go-go. I don't remember much except that I got a strawberry milkshake and then fell asleep for five hours.

Which leads me to today, I'm still a smidge groggy but not so groggy I did not notice my stupid hair. My jaw is still uncomfortable and my gums are really pissed off at me, but I breakfasted on a wee bowl of yogurt with a smattering of blueberries and managed to brew up a really awful pot of coffee. The aging witch-baby is sleeping next me, and I can here the neighborhood kites do their best imitations of pterodactyls they can muster. So while the witch-baby holds me captive on the sofa, I will endeavor to finish reading the two library books I have had since April, finish the really awful coffee I brewed, and do my best to get my neck untweaked so that the rest of summer my stupid hair will be a smidge less than stupid.

photo diary: june 6-10

june 6: my kooky class; painting outside; tea party decor; rawr, I'm a lion

june 7: no more coffee; super yummy fruit salad; bluejay; new baskets

june 8: backyard poppies; messy paint; brushes full of paint; making bake sale goodies

june 9: costume ready; making a hoop skirt; history day flags; history day kiddos

june 10: mister's birthday gift; birthday lunch; black bloom to be; homemade birthday ice cream

photo diary: june 1-5

june 1: classroom blocks; old mistermade print; pretty plant; classroom duckie

june 2: new reads; salad for dinner; making a mane; thrifted tray

june 3: fiscalini wander; buzzy bee; bike ride; cocktail

june 4: glitter jars; diy mane; washing all the cups; super sweet melon

june 5: gel socks; family plant; monarch visitor; all the black makeup

photo diary: may 26-31

may 25: scents in the classroom; weighing berries; making art; still life with roses

may 26: leg stretch by the sea; noodles for lunch; not my house; after dinner bitters

may 27: van shopping; banh mi lunch; picnic a-go-gos; dinner with friends and family

may 28: pasadena coffee and treats; vacation reading; fresh air dinner; croquet

may 29: what's in my bag; not my chicken; breakfast decor; ruby's crepe

 

may 30: beans to be; new tea; new pots; old bitters

may 31: butterfly blooms; surprise chive blossoms; walking feet; new addition to the wicker menagerie

photo diary: may 19-24

may 19: new tape; new bowls; old gossip; yellow roses

may 20: smoothie lunch; coffee in the garden; summer plans; cucumber sauce

may 21: tadpoles and polliwogs; moss; birthday cake; visitor

may 22: smoothie fix; blackberries to be; making play dough; homemade gyros

may 23: the genius of kiddos; making prints; classroom messy; poms to be

may 24: iced coffee in the garden; lemon verbena; that sky, first batch o'beans

photo diary: may 13-18

may 13: bad breathing day; colorku; farmers market haul; burrito bowl for dinner

may 14: mother's day pompoms; front yard flowers; more colorku; cupcakes

may 15: restless morning; pretty roses; feathers; making lunch for tomorrow

may 16: color in the play yard; play dough treats; messy brushes; apples on the tree

may 17: warm colors; strawberries on toast; nasturtiums in the morning; new dress

may 18: painted ladies; fizzy fun; play dough tools; paper plate lions