Guilty baggage of Summer

I have had guilt this summer. Lots of it. I have lost my blogging mojo and pretty much let it fall by the wayside. I have wanted to blog, but the inspiration and time haven't been there for me. (also after hearing that blogging is stupid from family members eventually it make you feel like it is a waste of time, even though I love it) I have had to go back to work part time (about 25 hours a week, which doesn't seem like much but apparently those 25 hours used to be used for my blog and all that it entailed (comments, blog stalking, etc.)) It has been hard to fit everything in, and so my poor little beloved blog has come to a screeching halt. (It has been demoted to remaining a quiet, fly under the radar blog that will never be a powerhouse like so many others.)(So I have guilt from a unloved blog.)

As for my job, (I have been working for this company since last year and just decided to pick up more hours.) I have enjoyed getting out of the house, but am sad that our situation has made it so. I am sure I am not alone when I say thing were getting really tight financially for us. It was getting to the point where we were pretty much barely making ends meet and there seemed to be a new bill every month that had to be paid. (In the last 6 months we have had our cars in the shop at least FIVE times usually costing us at least $100 every time with a couple of the times costing us over $400.)  It was pretty depressing and there was no easy solution anywhere on the horizon. I know there are people that are in worse situations than us, but MAN, I would really hate to be them because our situation was pretty gloomy. (So add Guilt from not being able to be financially comfortable . And the guilt of leaving Bub. Oh the guilt!)

Then of course, there was my mother and her health problems. I am happy to say that all her chemo treatments are completed. (And all her numbers are great so she is doing well) She is also in great spirits, but is still super tired which will just take a while to get over.  I wish I was in a better situation to fly down there (or drive) to spend time with her but, there hasn't be the funds or time to do either. She understands, but I still wish that things were different. (So add motherly GUILT squared!)

So to sum up, blog-guilt plus financial-guilt times parenting-guilt, with motherly-guilt squared equals Summer of Guilt!

Yeah, I am spent! I hope the Summer of Guilt is finally coming to an end. And hopefully that season will pass like the smoking hot temperatures that are roasting the Northwest. I am done with feeling in this gloomy rut. I am ready and recharged. And now (after this confessional blog post) felling pretty guilt-free.

Small Disclaimer: There is no real reason to worry about my mental well being (Mom I am looking at you!) Sometimes you just need to ramble on in a blog post. So no worrying about Moto! (Mom, I am still looking at you!) Everything is wonderful! :)

Summer stuff

This summer has just flown by. We have done all sorts of things like this:
Park time on the sunny days....
Dragon Festival in Chinatown in Seattle. (I had always wanted to see a Dragon Dance and this one was great especially with the applause-hungry dragon dance teacher kept making the kids dance because the audience loved it. Did I mention it was really hot and they looked miserable, but hey anything for applause, right?)

Went to the Bite of Seattle and got out of our comfort zone for sure this year. The best thing was fried alligator and the homemade strawberry shortcake.

We have also been learning about parenting, of course. First rule of summer, always bring every member of the family their own water bottle because some of them drink open mouthed after eating strawberry shortcake. Yummy!
The other thing is to childproof everything. Even if they don't want to be. (don't worry, he has become a pro at removing these little buggers from the sockets. He thinks it is a game. I wish I could get my money back because it hasn't really child proofed anything.)
What have you been doing with your summer?

Exploring the city I love

Last week, we had some very dear friends come and visit. Like I have said on a few other posts, it was a busy weekend. We saw almost EVERY touristy thing to see... Top Pots Donuts, The Space Needle, The bathrooms at Experience music projects (very clean), Kerry Park (one of the best views of Seattle by far!), Ballard Locks, Fat Burger, The movie: Thor (surprisingly very good... and Thor is HOT!), Starbucks, Pike's Market, the Gum Wall (strangely hypnotic, but makes you crave hand sanitizer just lookin' at it), the Aquarium, The Waterfront, Gasworks park (scene of some bum fight that made it seem a little ghetto), Alki Beach (and Cactus Restaurant, YUM!), The troll under the bridge in Fremont, The outside of the Asian art museum (great place to try to have a picnic of cold cut sandwiches (did I mention my new nickname is FT for Frozen Turkey, a name I proudly earned after I attempted to chisel frozen turkey apart using the handle of a baby spoon. They can't call me resourceful!), and then when the picnic doesn't work out, close enough to a Dick's Drive in to save the day), Bruce Lee and Jason Lee's graves, Chinatown, Uwajimaya, and of course a Mariners Game (which only proved that Seattle's baseball team is at least better than the MN Twins.). After that weekend, I can safely say that we have a great grasp of what makes up Seattle. It was such a great time that I hope they can come back and visit with their cute little one (Baby Beckham, perhaps??). Thanks again Mellors for pepping up the sometimes gloomy Seattle. Seriously, it was a hilarious time!

Happy Anniversary

OK, I know have been missing in action for the last week. I promise it wasn't on purpose, I have just been so busy. We had some wonderful house guests, a few birthdays, an anniversary and trying to catch up on work. So lets start at the beginning. It was Soder and my anniversary last Monday. We have been married a crazy 7 years! I can't believe it. It has gone by very quickly. (Sometimes during the 7 years it has seemed like it was so slow, but looking back it doesn't seem like it has been that long.)
This is the point where most people would get all lovey dovey, but as Soder knows, I very rarely get that way (if I was all gushy about him, he would know I would either be hormonal or lying.) Instead I will just say that it has been real! (I know too mushy, right?) And seriously thanks for letting me yell when I need to and making me laugh when I need it. You get me, Dummy!

You can take the girl out of the ghetto....

Ok, so I am not really from a ghetto, at least not the typical kind. I was raised in a small town in Utah that has 2 stop lights and one grocery store. It was on the wrong side of the freeway when it came to high school, so I like to think I came from a Utah- ghetto. I am actually proud that my family was resourceful (I think that is ghetto talk for economically challenged.) We weren't poor, but we weren't rolling in money. When things broke we fixed them, or let me rephrase, my dad fixed them or jerry-rigged them to work again. My dad was so good at repairing things that during my life at home (roughly 22 years) we had ONE vacuum and only two lawn mowers.(when we bought the second lawnmower we actually all stood around it and got a picture with it, like it was a new car.) That is what I have inherited. I love to jerry-rig things to work, especially if it saves me money or I can get a SCREAMING deal on it. (I hate to pay for things to be fixed, seriously it is one of my biggest pet peeves.)

When I found that I loved to take walks with the baby and the dogs, I also realized that there was a certain weather phenomenon that happens up here all the time, rain. I went online and looked for a rain cover for the stroller and to my shock, they wanted almost $50 bucks for it. I found the stroller/car seat on sale for around $100 buck so I was NOT going to spend half the original cost for a piece of plastic to keep it dry. I would sooner use a garbage sack to keep the baby dry. Since I didn't really want to look like a hillbilly with a hefty sack as a rain tarp, I decided to go look at a local gently-used kid store to see what they had. They didn't have many choices, but one of them that I figured would work was a mere $3. I figured for that price I could either make it work or it wouldn't be that big of a financial risk if it didn't.

Today, I got it out and hooked it up to the stroller. Why yes, those are pipe cleaners holding it on. And yes it did it's job and only looked a little hokey. And yes, my dad would be proud!

Not for the squeemish!

About a year ago a very pregnant Moto got out of bed to help a sick dog throw up in the bathtub. When she mustered her big body out of bed, she managed to step on a needle in the carpet that was from a previous tennent. She found the needle in the carpet after the fact and saw that part of it was missing. (the tip part) She thought to herself that there is no way that it could have been lodged in her foot, but she took precautions and put ointment on it and a band-aid and moved on with her life. (it would twinge pain every so often, but nothing horrible.) It took a LONG time to heal.
And after Baby was born, she did make it into the doctor to get a booster shot for Whooping Cough, (which also has a tetanus shot with it, coincidentally) and she asked the Dr. about her toe. He poked it with a needle (ironic) and checked it out (there was a tiny blood blister looking thing on it.) The Dr. said that the chances of the needle being in there is very slim and not to worry about it, toes take a long time to heal.
So Moto didn't worry about and went on with her life. Then one morning almost a year after the first event, Moto woke up and her toenail was bugging her. So she pulled out her toenail clippers and trimmed the nail. (this is the part where it get seriously icky). After she trimmed it, she noticed there was puss on her finger from her toe. So she squeezed her toe and a black object poked out of an invisible hole on the tip (under the where the trimmed nail previously was). She pulled on the black object and out came about a centimeter size needle!
ICKY! ICKY! ICKY!
Now Moto's toe feels fine and she has an unbelievable story to blog about. Moto took a picture of the needle she pulled out of her toe, but only after she figured the only way to guarantee she wouldn't step on it again was to flush it down the toilet. So before the flush, this is the picture of the evidence...One more round, of ICKY! ICKY! ICKY!

No place to go

On Sunday, Soder has been taking an art class. It happens to be in Seattle and this week, since I was a good girl and finished all my work before Sunday we went along with him. After a long discussion between baby and I, we decided that we would go and hang out at Gas Works Park, one of our favorites. It was so great to get out of the house and actually be in the city. This has been a long, long winter (so far) with many days filled with rainy goodness that has kept us trapped in our house (that and the fact that there isn't very much extra in the bank account to go and wander around aimlessly. I find when I wander I spend, and when there isn't any to spend it is better to stay home.) It was cloudy and thankfully didn't rain on us. We were able to take a few pictures and wander around, through the tons of goose poop and mud. It was a great time. We still had time to kill before we had to pick Soder up, so we took a little drive up Queen Anne Hill. It is seriously such a great area. I loved all the stores and neighborhoods. I was scouting for a park up there (for when we have some visitors this spring), but didn't find it and ended up driving around longer than I had expected because I got a little lost. My partner fell asleep on the way back to where we were picking up Soder so I didn't do any more fun exploring, like get a cup of coffee. So our exciting adventure ended up with Baby asleep in the back, and me reading my magazines in the car while we for class to get out. Regardless, it was a great time to be out from these four walls. I really needed that, and I think the cabin fever has left for at least a few more weeks.

Elite club

Yesterday, as I was shopping at my favorite bullseye store, I came across an elite group of women. It was funny because none of them know they are in this group, but they clearly are. After about 9 a.m., this group congregates in most stores. The main requirement to be in this group are that you are a women with small children in tow. While wandering aimlessly around the store, they waste time browsing and shopping for a great deal. Their children are in the golden time of day, right after breakfast, but before nap time. They make small talk, either with the baby or with any passerby, as they peruse each aisle. I myself found that I do belong to this group now. I was also more than happy to chat with complete strangers and wander aimlessly looking for a great deal. I also realized that I, like most of the women, will talk to the only set of ears that is with them, their children. I find myself discussing with Baby about any and all matters of topic, from what kind of plates should I buy or if I could really find a better deal someplace else. My outing with Baby is great because I find that he is probably more entertained by me than most of the other people in my life, including Soder. It is a good thing that we have been on a strict budget, otherwise I have the feeling that I would be down there every day, enjoying the 'meeting' with my new club and overspending while I am at it. Heck, after a few more children, I might even become chapter president!

Goal accomplished

Soder's 'evil' number
Baby even participated
At the starting line
After the race... we survived.

On Sunday, Soder and I did our first 5k. While it wasn't the one I was hoping to do when I posted about this, we decided to do this one instead at the local city street festival, Salmon Days. It was a great time and we really enjoyed it because my sister and her family were participating in it as well. I was worried that the race started off as a bad omen when we saw Soder's number, which was 1666. I think he might use that as a reason not to do any others, that and he apparently has a weak right ankle that bothered him for the last mile of the race. I beat Soder because I am a faster walker. Baby was a great participant that slept the whole time and added a better workout to my walk because I was pushing 16 pounds plus the weight of the stroller. I was just proud that we all finished. I had a great time and can't wait to do another one.

The Big Day

My birthday came and went without any real excitement. I survived. On Saturday night, my sister was nice enough to babysit my sweet baby. We went to a wonderful restaurant, JaKs in Issaquah, where we had a lovely, grown-up meal. On Sunday, my sister cooked me a lovely salmon dinner with a delicious ice cream cake. It was a perfect weekend. Thanks to my family and friends for the wonderful presents and well wishes.

Goodbye 20's

Tomorrow is the big day! I will leave behind my 20's and move on into my 30's. During the last decade, I have learned and experienced many things. Here are some highlights from the last 10. (in no particular order)

• Living (for 2 summers) in a tent in Glacier Nat'l Park
• Going to Weber State
• My Coffee Guys
  
• Soder
  
• Getting married
  
• Moving from Utah to Seattle
• Having Baby
• Adopting Thing One
• Adopting Thing Two
• Working at Snappy Cafe and the people I met
  
• Working at the Gap and the people I met
• Working at Weber County and the people I met
• Working at JW and the people I met

I think the thing that has made the last ten years so great has of course been the people. I love all the new people and relationships that have been created over the last decade. I can't wait for the next ten! I bet they are only going to get better.

Random Post

Apparently when they count the posts on blogspot, they count the post that are drafts that you haven't posted... so I am at 297 not 301. Oh well, my 301st post still counts. (at least in my book!)

I have wanted to try a canoli since I watched Cake Boss (that was before all the drama with the stupid Brother in Law.) Anyways, we finally found an Italian restaurant that made homemade canolis. Last night, we picked some up and had them for dessert after a little chicken alfredo. Yum!

Yesterday, we braved a cooler day to take the dogs to the local dog park. Great times, but we didn't stay very long because our little Thing One was a little freaked out. (She needs to remember how it is to be social... I think she is used to hanging out at home with us! or maybe it is the fact that she doesn't like the other dog's cold nose on her bum... I guess I don't blame her.)

I have lost all creativity when it comes to editing my pictures. I have no inspiration. I have tons of cute pictures to play with, but no extra umph when it comes to having fun and editing them. I am a little sad about this, but I think the creativity part has not been there for my blog lately either. Maybe I need to go find my inspiration again. I don't know where to start looking, but maybe it just consists of me leaving the house more often.
On the brighter note, this arrived in the mail. I have the feeling that because of the blog post a while back Soder was right on the ball. A+ for him! 30 is a mere 6 days away. Good-bye 20's you have been good to me!

One last thing, dear blog readers, If you wanted to get me a present look no further than just following my blog. What better way to say good bye to my 20's than reaching 20 followers. (I would be beside myself if I could get to 30 follows, but I won't press my luck. I promise I will not be asking you to follow me again for a long, long, long time. If you don't want to follow you also could just leave a comment. I would love to hear from the silent readers from all over the world! Ok I am done begging for comments and follows, I am almost a wise and refined 30 year old... I need to act my age, right? That is what 30 years olds do, right? Right?!?

Aquarium Time

Last Sunday, we took Baby to the aquarium for the first time. I know that some may think that he is too young (at a mere 3 1/2 months) to understand what was going on, but I was surprised at how much he enjoyed it. He loved to look in the aquariums at the moving fish and all the lights. Of course, half way through he decided it was nap time, so Soder and myself got to enjoy the outdoor creatures (i.e. the otters, seals and birds) with the little guy asleep. I love the otters and seals and can't wait until Baby is old enough to appreciate them too. Soder had a great time as well because it was his first 'real' aquarium. (the only one he had ever been to is the one in SLC and that one is built in an old converted grocery store. Much different from the Seattle Aquarium) I am looking forward to many more visits there.

Lessons of the day

Today I have learned many lessons after I went to get my new drivers license and my 'new' wild and crazy hairstyle.
1: When they ask you about your weight at the Department of Licenses, you should lie a little because they only time they are ever going to need that info is if you are on the run from the police and they need your size. And I don't know about you, but if they are going to be passing out my weight to the entire Puget Sound police force, I definitely don't want it to be the true size I am.
2: When you decide to be wild and crazy for a new hairstyle for your 30th birthday, make sure that you go to someone you know or that has been personally recommended to you. (Online opinions don't always tell the truth.)
3: When you go to the said online recommended beauty salon for your wild and crazy new look, make sure that the person you have the appointment with knows exactly what you are expecting. Pictures, you think would be helpful, apparently don't always convey what you are going for.
4: Always listen to the advice your best friend from high school told you: Always make sure that the beautician has cute hair. If she doesn't have cute hair, don't expect too much from them because they can't even do their own hair what hope does yours have?! (Truer words have never been spoken.)
5: If you realize that your beautician doesn't have the same vision as you after she has cut the back of your hair super short (and apparently didn't see the pictures the same as you), just relax and try to have a good time or conversation. It is like vomiting on yourself after the first loop of the roller coaster, you might as well just sit back and enjoy the ride because there is pretty much nothing worse that can happen and the damage is already done.
6: When you are in the chair getting your wild and crazy look, it is NOT a good sign when the beautician keeps saying how cute the cut is going to be. It might be acceptable if they say it once, but when it is over 5 times, you might want to start considering a sacrifice for the hairstyle Gods because chances are it will not be the cutest cut ever.

I will post pictures of my hairstyle after I have worked with it a bit more. You would think that after 30 years on this earth that I would know better than to be wild and crazy.... I am just not that kinda girl and apparently the signs all point to no.

Longest week and it is only half over

This week I started a small work from home job helping out some of my sister's neighbors with their business. I think I am finished with it now, but I have been trying to work as much as I can. A little extra money never hurt anyone, right? But it kinda did, because in the process of moving the boxes of work (I bet they weighed at least 40 lbs.) I seem to have tweaked my back a bit. I will be fine, I think I was just in such a hurry to get it all done I did too much. That is always my problem. If I promise someone something, I will burn the candle at both ends to make it work. I hate to disappoint anyone so I will sacrifice myself for the cause. Way to go, Moto. I am sure the pain will go away when I have a paycheck in hand.

Working out

This week, I got it into my head that I want to do my first 5k (walking, not running. I do believe that running is only good when someone is chasing you) ever this summer. I would like Travis to do one with me, but I am not sure if he is up for it. He seems to doubt his ability. Last night, we didn't go for a walk, but we did do Pilates. I often wondered why it was only women on excercise dvds... I think I know why. Travis had a hard time keeping time and I am no excercise expert, but I am pretty sure last night Travis created his own hybrid version of pilates. He claims that he needs to have hand-eye coordination to play his video games, but I think it must only extend from his brain to his thumbs because every other body part was doing it's own thing. He was a trooper and made it through the entire show. I think I got a better ab workout from all the laughing. Way to go, honey!

A day of Assumptions

Earlier this week, my mother and I (with the baby in tow) headed over to Alki beach for a cup of coffee and a pastry. My husband likes to call us Lucy and Ethel because we always seem to get ourselves into trouble. (there are many stories I could tell you about our adventures, but that will be for another day.) While we stayed out of trouble we did have some fun people watching along the beach. My mom said that we were sitting there assuming things about people. (I found this funny because it was so brutally honest) I have forgotten how crazy spending time with my mom can be. The girl in this picture was cracking us up. She was wearing a bikini top with some super tight black leggings and to finish off the outfit she had on a pair of high heels. I had to take this picture incognito that is why it is a little off. It was probably not the most karmically correct thing we could have done, but it was nice to just sit there and have a laugh. (We kept reminding each other that we are no lookers either, so it kept it real.)
Everybody had fun....Liam was completely happy looking at his newly discovered hands.
In this picture, aren't his eyes so big?!
This is the picture taken by me, as you can see for Liam picture taking falls somewhere below looking at his hands.

The next step.

I am in my last classes at school. (It is just a community college and it is just a certification) I have been working on trying to make my logo and my "brand". It is a lot harder to try to create something that represents you. I have been racking my brain trying to come up with something that could be my logo.

This is the first draft of what I came up with. I like it but it is missing something, I can't quite put my finger on it....

Happy Birthday and Happy Anniversary! :)

Luck for me my husbands birthday is today and our anniversary is on Saturday.  It hits at once. I am a big supporter of videos ever since I learned how to make them on my laptop. (Thank you apple!) I hope it isn't too long and is at least a little entertaining.  

Thanks Travis for putting up with me!  Love ya.  Happy Birthday (pictures to come of my USS Enterprise cake for his party on Friday) and Happy Anniversary!   

Epiphany....

We have all been influenced by our other half's.  It is just inevitable that we end up picking up some traits from them, after all they are usually the one that you spend the most time with.  

My husband is a glorified geek. The first time I saw his room, he had anime posters covering his walls. (I still dated him, although I was seriously worried about what else he might be into.)  I soon learned that he not only loved anime (oh for those people who don't know what that is, it is Japanese Animation/cartoons), he LOVED comic books (and hopes to draw comic books one day). While he didn't collect as many as he once did, he knew all about them. 

I have sat through numerous comic-book movies with him, including all of the Spidermans, Superman Returns, Batmans (both newer movies), Ironman, Hellboys (one and two), The Hulks,  Xmen's, and any other one that has come out in the 6 years we have been together. I have sat through countless conversations about Batman's 'cool' new toys... how Spiderman really didn't have the web coming from his hands (but rather from a cool invention he had created, after all he is a scientist)... how they totally did the Phoenix wrong in the last X-men.  

Before tonight, I have never really thought of myself as a geek. I didn't even consider myself a geek when I beat a comic book based video game (Marvel Alliance).  I think I have been in geek-denial all these years, or maybe I hadn't fully come into my own as a true geek until tonight.  

After watching X-Men Origins, Wolverine, I have never been so mad at a movie for ruining a great character. It isn't Wolvie, but another character who is smart, sarcastic and seems to be the long lost brother I didn't know I had. All the way driving home, I just kept saying how I was so mad that they had ruined such a great character.  And then it dawned on me, I am so mad only because I care.  And that was the epiphany.... I, Molly T. Soderquist, is a geek (or is it geek-ette, there aren't many females in this group, I fear).   From this day forth, I will happily listen to all the conversations about Tony Stark and his alcoholism, and how S.H.I.E.L.D is going to create such a great band of superheros,  and how Jean Grey and Cyclops have a child, named Cable.  Thank you, X-Men Origins movie for enlightening me and helping come to grips with my inner geek!