Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Golf Tournament Fundraiser at Sandpiper and Bacara Resort & Spa
On Sunday June 22, my husband and I drove over to Santa Barbara, California to participate in the 3rd Annual Athletes Against Autism Golf Tournament. (Our 9 year old son is Autistic and we have supported Cure Autism Now/Autism Speaks and Athletes Against Autism for years.) We stayed at The Bacara Resort & Spa and, as always, it was gorgeous. This hotel is not for the "budget-minded" but it is simply amazing. The grounds couldn't be prettier and we've always found the staff to be extremely courteous and helpful.
The golf at Sandpiper was great (we loved playing with Lamar Green and Don Felder!) and we're hopeful that LOTS of money was raised for this very worthy cause. We're already looking forward to next year!
Saturday, June 21, 2008
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
9 Years Ago Today (Thursday June 17, 1999)...
This is what I wrote in my journal...
Today is the big day!
I feel so "out-of-whack". I've never felt such an amazing mix of emotions - total excitement yet complete fear at the same time. I am not a big fan of hospitals (have never been admitted to one before and don't even usually like to visit them) but because I've been to Labor & Delivery a few times in the past few months for NST's, I feel a little more comfortable. Those visits have allowed me to become familiar with the layout of the floor, the rooms, the nurses etc.. I'm a little scared about what labor will be like - especially an induced one. I want to remember every minute of it and can't wait until I have a story to tell..
The only unfortunate thing casting a small shadow over this otherwise beautiful day is that I can't seem to get this nagging fear out of my mind that my body will somehow mess up this induction. I'm deathly afraid of being sent home with no baby. I'm trying to think positive, though. Hopefully, by this time tomorrow, we'll have our son! I think I'm still having trouble believing that this is about to happen for us. I don't think I'll believe that I am actually - finally - a Mom until I'm holding our little boy in my arms!
I have a busy afternoon - lots of cleaning, straightening up and preparing to do. (My parents and sister will arrive on Saturday - probably the day before Chase and I come home from the hospital.) I'm also taping the U.S. Open golf tournament - it's on for 6 hours today. I plan on bringing the tape to the hospital with us so my husband has something to keep him occupied (relaxed!) during the first few (slow) hours of the labor tonight.
Wish us luck! If there are no complications, we should all be home Sunday sometime (Father's Day!) and I'll send out a quick e-mail announcement (to those who have asked that I do so) as soon as I can!
Thursday, June 12, 2008
The Bird People
A few weeks ago, we realized that some birds (at least 2) somehow made their way down a vent on our roof and ended up - stuck - in a piece of 12' long ducting directly above our kitchen stove. It was horrible for a few days - we could hear their wings and their chirping and knew that they needed help but didn't know what to do for them. We called two pest control companies but couldn't get anybody out soon enough and, within a short period of time, the chirping stopped. I tried to make myself believe that perhaps they somehow escaped but, instinctively, I knew that they didn't. On Memorial Day, an electrician friend of ours was kind enough to come out to the house and help my husband "take care" of the problem. They had initially hoped to take the vent over the stove off and retrieve the birds that way. It didn't take long to discover, though, that that was going to be impossible - just because of the way our vent and hood were installed during the homes' construction 5+ years ago. They decided to go up into the attic space instead and cut through the ducting. I did not assist (or even supervise) but was later informed that two deceased birds (and lots of twigs) were found. Everything was cleaned up and we made plans to, on another day, get a piece of screen to put at the top of the vent so that something similar would never happen again.
Unfortunately, it did happen again.
A few nights ago, I heard what sounded like baby chirps up above my stove. The chirps were very faint and sounded far away - not close like the other ones. I figured that the nest and birds were closer to the roof than the bottom floor of our home and when our electrician friend came out again, he discovered that I was right. A nest was found with 4 very young (naked and pink) birds in it. He - bless his heart - climbed up onto our very steep-pitched roof, cut open the vent and carefully removed the nest before installing a screen and re-attaching the vent. He placed the nest in a nearby tree and hoped that the Mother would continue to care for them there. For a little while, it seemed like she would. I saw her bringing food and, from the ground, could see 4 hilarious "little" (huge!) bright yellow mouths stretching out of the nest. Over the next 24 hours, though, her visits became fewer and fewer and I now haven't seen her in about 24 hours. I read somewhere that nestlings that young need to be fed every 10-15 minutes. The baby chirps have now stopped and there are no more yellow mouths stretching out to be fed. I know they have all died.
For some reason, I'm completely upset about it I know that things like this happen in nature all of the time - that's what I'm trying to tell my daughter, at least. I just wish I'd never seen the little buggers. Seeing them and their adorable, pitiful little selves just made them more "real" to me, I guess. My daughter told me this morning that she's glad I take care of her and her brother better than the birds' Mother took care of her babies. (Aww!)
I have to do some research on how I can prevent this from happening again. In addition to these 2 horrible incidents, we (every Spring) have a family of doves that try to make a nest in one of our patio ceiling fans. The nests are less than adequate and eggs end up falling out and smashing on the ground every year - yet they continue to return! I'm seriously considering purchasing some type of bird deterrent. This is all just too upsetting. What will keep birds at an arms length from the house? A scarecrow? Plastic owl?
Unfortunately, it did happen again.
A few nights ago, I heard what sounded like baby chirps up above my stove. The chirps were very faint and sounded far away - not close like the other ones. I figured that the nest and birds were closer to the roof than the bottom floor of our home and when our electrician friend came out again, he discovered that I was right. A nest was found with 4 very young (naked and pink) birds in it. He - bless his heart - climbed up onto our very steep-pitched roof, cut open the vent and carefully removed the nest before installing a screen and re-attaching the vent. He placed the nest in a nearby tree and hoped that the Mother would continue to care for them there. For a little while, it seemed like she would. I saw her bringing food and, from the ground, could see 4 hilarious "little" (huge!) bright yellow mouths stretching out of the nest. Over the next 24 hours, though, her visits became fewer and fewer and I now haven't seen her in about 24 hours. I read somewhere that nestlings that young need to be fed every 10-15 minutes. The baby chirps have now stopped and there are no more yellow mouths stretching out to be fed. I know they have all died.
For some reason, I'm completely upset about it I know that things like this happen in nature all of the time - that's what I'm trying to tell my daughter, at least. I just wish I'd never seen the little buggers. Seeing them and their adorable, pitiful little selves just made them more "real" to me, I guess. My daughter told me this morning that she's glad I take care of her and her brother better than the birds' Mother took care of her babies. (Aww!)
I have to do some research on how I can prevent this from happening again. In addition to these 2 horrible incidents, we (every Spring) have a family of doves that try to make a nest in one of our patio ceiling fans. The nests are less than adequate and eggs end up falling out and smashing on the ground every year - yet they continue to return! I'm seriously considering purchasing some type of bird deterrent. This is all just too upsetting. What will keep birds at an arms length from the house? A scarecrow? Plastic owl?
Monday, June 09, 2008
Pictures From Our Baja, Mexico Cruise (5/31/08-6/2/08)
On Friday May 31, 2008, we left the kiddos with Grandma and Papa and drove down to Los Angeles and boarded the Royal Caribbean ship Monarch of the Seas for a 3-night (long weekend) cruise to Ensenada. We had such a great time! I've put up a few pictures here - enjoy!
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