My husband has 34 kids

And they impact our life more than I thought. In the past week for them, he’s bought toys, made some cry, cleaned up puke, talked about racism, handled bullying…And those are just the stories that have made it home to me.

When Jeremy graduated in December and started teaching a third grade class in February, I was proud of him and excited for him, but I guess I didn’t really think anything would change.

I definitely never thought about the emotional connections and trust involved–and I mean from both sides. Jeremy really cares for these kids’ best educational interests and these kids rely on him for much more than reading from the teacher’s edition book.

I also totally underestimated 9-year-olds. Here’s a note he brought me recently:

The outside of the note.

It reads, “TO: Mrs. Tish” then “Don’t Read Mr. Tish”

And when I opened it:

The inside secret message.

Hahahahahahahahaha! We are awesome. But really? A cookie request? Totally random but it cracked me up. Thank you, Lazarya! But, you’re not getting cookies. Also, don’t forget to study more about punctuation and contractions. 😉

I don’t remember ever thinking about my elementary school teachers as real people or asking about their spouses or hobbies. These kids are hilarious. He won’t tell them his first name and you would think he had winning lotto numbers they way they pester and plead to learn it.

I think this is stuff that parents never know happens. I don’t know. Please share any funny and random stories from your or your kids’ school days. Speaking of school days haunting you, I can’t end this post without sharing this website…

That's right, http://www.awkwardschoolphotos.com

Fantastic.

You can search for elementary, middle or high school. You can also search for yearbook photos and quotes. I had an awkward photo in third grade where I posed with balloons. But I won’t be submitting it…This guy wins anyway.

Hehehehe. Oooooh, sigh. God bless him.

Happy awkward school flashbacks. Enjoy the rest of your week!

Fit Friday: Grape stomping edition

I was reminiscing about my San Diego trip last year and decided I’d make this Friday a fit one…the old world Italian way. With lots of antioxidants (from the wine, of course) and cardio from grape stomping in Julian!

http://www.julianca.com

It’s a small, historic  gold-mining town known for its apples. They have a vibrant community life and often have events.

I was lucky enough to not only find the event through San Diego Magazine via PDB, but actually have planned to be in the area with my Mom the weekend they held their annual Grape Stomp Festa.

Of course, we put it on our itinerary immediately. We landed Friday afternoon and got up at 9 a.m. Saturday to head to the Festa.

It's a beautiful drive.

The town of Julian is an hour north of San Diego so we had plenty of time to take in the scenery. The landscape really changes and it was fun navigating the winding roads and steep elevation changes.

We knew we were getting close when we saw these adorable signs!

There were others before these that said “Eat Me” and “Drink Me” so naturally “Stomp Me” and “Make Me Wine” followed. 🙂

First look at the town.

We finally made it! We paid the entrance fee, picked up our commemorative wine glasses and made a bee line to the long line of people waiting to get their turn to stomp grapes.

While we waited in line, we took advantage of the sights and opportunities nearby.

Like posing with the locals.

.

And posing with the real stars of the show--the grapes!

After an hour, it was finally our turn. The thing about waiting in line for an hour is you get to meet great people. The family behind us were so fun and nice enough to snap our picture while they waited to get in.

Finally time to stomp!

We weren’t very good stompers. Everyone is far more concerned with taking pictures than making wine but it was still a lot of work. Grape stomping is great exercise for your calves, quads, hamstrings and glutes! 🙂 Also, the barrels are so full that it was hard to stomp without making a huge mess and falling on your butt so core strength and balance was key.

It was amazing to have so many people from all over just having a great time. Unconcerned about how many dirty, sweaty feet you are sharing a tub with–that’s unity.

Mmmmmmmm, grapey.

Gotta love the feeling of grapes between your toes in the sunshine.

Here’s a picture of the family we made friends with in line:

Look at how many people fit in one barrel!

The guy taking the picture was so hyper and fun. We all took a picture together but it was on his camera…and I have no way to get ahold of him. I do know that he was a chef and had just opened his own bakery. Funny that someone else has family pictures with us in the mix.

After we enough fun and our toes started to get pruney, it was time to hop out and head to the water spigot.

Luckily, you could hose off once you got out or we would've had purple "socks" all day.

Once our stomping was over, we could explore the rest of the Festa. They had a ton of wineries represented all selling samples and bottles.

My favorite was this passion fruit wine.

I would’ve bought it but the employees were so rude! I know it was a crowded, long, loud and hot day, but they weren’t happy and made sure we knew it. It also meant I would’ve had to check a bag at the airport and that’s against my rules.

Once we were wine-ding down (see what I did there?), we toured the rest of the property. Which included this guy:

Horsey!

And the actual winery building.

They were offering an olive oil tasting.

.

A closer look at the processing and mechanics of the winery.

Then we headed out to explore the rest of Julian. First stop? After many recommendations, it was Mom’s pie shop.

When there's a 30-minute line for pie, you know it's going to be good.

They had every kind of pie you could think of but we split a classic.

Are you drooling?

We left only sad that we split a piece and not a whole pie because it was so good. 🙂 Then to offset the pie, we walked up, down and all around.

Plenty of directions to choose from.

It was such great fun–definitely not something we thought we’d do on our trip, or maybe ever. Finally, after seven hours of sun, smiles and stomping, we headed back to San Diego. But, not without souvenirs.

My Mom got this cute little olive oil trio.

My souvenir was less cute. And I’m from Florida so this is particularly heinous because I know better!

Whoops. Oh well. I had aloe and sun block every day for the rest of the trip!

So, that is my old Italian workout story. Hope you have a great weekend!

Grand theft auto

You know that feeling when you walk out to your parking space and you gasp and tense up for a second because your car isn’t there? But then you remember that you parked it somewhere different and all is well again? Let me tell you how much it sucks when that second feeling never comes.

See my little car's butt? That's how we left it Saturday.

I told you yesterday that we had a great party for Jeremy’s graduation this past Saturday full of fantastic people. And for part of it, we pulled my car out of the garage to make room for the ping-pong table. Well, when we moved it, we left it unlocked with the keys in it with full intention of moving back into the garage in just a couple of hours once everyone had left. And then completely forgot and went to bed.

So, Sunday at 9 a.m. we went out to leave for the Jaguars football game, my car wasn’t in the driveway. And, for a second, I thought, oh, because Jeremy pulled it in the garage already. Until I saw his face and in a very flat tone he said, “Adriane, your car is gone.” I kinda laughed fully not comprehending the situation at hand.

He repeated that it was gone. And I asked what he meant. And then slowly I asked if he was kidding. He wasn’t. I just stared, blank-faced, and he called the police to report it. I know he felt like shit. I, also, felt like shit. It was not a fun revelation. We waited for the police officer to show up.

Officer Faust was at our house within 15 minutes. He brought in his laptop and asked lots of questions about if someone I knew could’ve borrowed it but forgot to tell me or if it could’ve been repossessed or if I had an angry family member or ex-boyfriend. It was none of those things.

It took about 30 minutes to get through all the questions and sign the affidavit and such. I had already texted our friends to let them know we wouldn’t be at the game. I was in shock. We laughed with the officer who was so helpful and kind. He was also funny: “If I could cut off one person’s hand for auto theft, I really think incidents would decline.” I agreed!

I told him I had to ask him a cliché question. Jeremy knew what I was going to say. “You want to know the odds of getting it back, don’t you,” Jeremy asked. I nodded. The officer told me it depended, but since it wasn’t a crack deal gone bad or a family member, sometimes it can take a bit. He said most likely, they just went joy riding and they’ll ditch the car when it runs out of gas. I had half a tank–they could’ve gone 150 miles.

He walked out of our house to talk to our neighbors in case they heard or saw something. On the way from one neighbor to the other. He turned and gave us a thumbs-up. Jeremy trotted over and then they both yelled back to me, “We got it! They found your car. Let’s go!”

I ran inside and grabbed my purse and cell phone. Triple checked all the locks and then met Faust at his car. He was on the phone with the officers at my car. Then he asked them a question. “Is it drivable?” Then after a 500-hour pause, he grimaced.

As I jumped in the back of his car, he told Jeremy to follow us in his car just in case we couldn’t drive my car home. (By the way, as I was telling this to my Mom later that evening, she said, “why didn’t you just ride with Jeremy then?” Hahaha! It never crossed our minds. Instead, Jeremy shut the door behind me and ran to get his car to follow.

This is one way to start a Sunday morning, I guess.

Actually, that was kinda fun. Until the officer told me I probably didn’t want to touch that separation screen I was holding. Yuck! Unfortunately, then we got to an apartment complex less than 10 miles from my house.

This was the first thing I saw.

Well, um, that’s no good. It still had half a tank so they could’ve have gone very far, but wherever they did go, they really had fun with it. Granted, my car is super fun to drive! Unfortunately, they had a little too much fun and rather than joy riding and then ditching like decent criminals, they went joy riding and then almost put it in a ditch.

All four sides had damage, the engine had damage, the fence they slammed my car into had damage. My heart, has damage. Seriously?! What the hell happened here?

Ugh, this side was even worse.

Dents, scratches, gouges, cracks, coated with mud and a busted front end. Effing great.

Then I understood the grimmace...

 And I don’t even know how you pull this off. Donuts in a field?

See all the debris?

::SIGH::

 

And that, folks, is how quickly life can go from a party to a regret. Of course, the insurance company has deemed it totalled. The thought of them towing away my baby (yes, I know it’s ridiculous but I’m in love with my car) makes me so angry and sick to my stomach.

 

However, a huge thank you goes out to the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office (JSO). They sent a wonderful officer, and quickly. Thanks to a person who called in the wrecked car, they also located my car quickly, processed it for fingerprints and other cop things,  and got me on my way. A+ JSO, and especially Officer Faust! Thanks for your jokes, attention and service during a tough time.

 

So, in my best silver lining attempt, I will share that as far as stealing goes, I did get pretty lucky. I had a much more confident attitude yesterday, before the insurance adjuster dashed any hopes of pretending it didn’t happen and just getting it fixed and moving forward.

 

And, even though it’s a total loss according to insurance standards, this is an awesome car that not only served me well for the seven years I had it but endured a beating from strangers and held up amazingly well, considering…

Not terrible considering it was crashed into at least one fence and who knows what else...

They stole my garage door opener and house keys, which really don’t matter now since we obviously changed all the locks and codes quick, fast and in a hurry on Sunday. They also stole roughly $0.52 and a cosmetic bag with on-the-go essentials in it (pen, paper, tampon, Chapstick, gum, napkins, etc). So weird.

Is it bad to hope that the thief (or thieves) suffer from neck trouble forever? I’d hate to taunt anyone, I get it, and they won so I hope they enjoyed the drive and are patting themselves on the back at clever and dangerous they are. But still… The sad ending is that although my car was returned to me, it’s fate is to be taken away again permanently.

If you are driving around and see a rogue Volkswagen hubcab or have a white car that was slammed into and then left, think of me fondly!

Finally time to party

Somehow…it’s the middle of December! Even though I don’t know how that happened, it means that we got to celebrate something exciting. Mr. Greenhorn graduated from college–hooray!

The tassel that was worth the hassle.

While he was working hard his last few months as an intern and preparing for graduation, I was working hard planning a party. 🙂 So, for both reasons, I was really happy it was finally time to throw it.

Friday, Dec. 9, Jeremy’s parents came to visit and watch him walk.

Proud!

With graduation in the middle of a workday, it meant traffic wasn’t bad and I got to take the day off. Whoo!

Up close and personal.

The Saturday after graduation, we threw a casual at-home party to celebrate. I decided to follow the “Tassel Worth the Hassle” theme and do just a few decorations reflecting graduation items paired with delicious, easy food.

I made meatballs in the slow cooker with cranberry sauce and chili sauce. I also spent $.89 on red velvet ribbon to make adorable wraps. So silly but I amused myself, and that’s what it’s about, right?

Diploma napkins.

I also used 11″ x 17″ card stock to do a little wordplay decoration.

For Jeremy and several friends also in the class of 2011, I hung a sentiment I knew they all shared.

I also made brownies, chocolate-dipped pretzel rods, these bacon and cheese pinwheels and these homemade taquitos.

Rolled food to resemble diplomas (even though they didn't get the velvet ribbon like the napkins).

And maybe because there just aren’t enough excuses to break out helium, I embraced this opportunity to cover my living room ceiling.

Festive.

And, between the static you could create with them, the force you could whack into someone’s face with them and the helium you could suck out of them, they proved surprisingly fun.

Then, once midnight started to close in, all the food was gone and many guests had left, we moved my car out of the garage to make room for a little friendly competition for those who remained…

Serious about my ping pong.

Yep, we broke out our ping pong table.

Haha, we aren't going to be invited to the Olympic team but we had fun.

Eherin is on the right (remember her from running the bridges downtown!). We met because she was in Jeremy’s graduating class, so we got to celebrate for her, too. 🙂

Overall, I’d say was a good time! Minimum leftovers with maximum good company, and in the end, a huge accomplishment. I was even excited for the graduates I didn’t know just because it’s so fun to see a huge crowded arena filled with people striving for higher education and the family and friends there to support them.

I was going to say the same thing!

So, there you have it. That’s what we’re celebrating. And, as with most milestones, we’re now looking forward to what might be next. Hope you are having a great week!

I got my husband to eat tofu! And other recent accomplishments…

Yep, you heard it here first! My ultimate carnivore (but good sport) of a husband let me make a completely vegan dish (with no back-up)–Broccoli “Cheese” Pasta Bake. And? He liked it!

My brother liked it and my Mom liked it, too (and she is not a whole grain pasta fan). I also loved it. It was delicious comfort food and fairly easy to make (OK, more difficult than opening a box with the powdered cheese product but still not by much).

All that remained. 🙂

If you want the recipe and instructions, visit Emily at Daily Garnish. It’s her recipe and she detailed it with beautiful pictures to boot. The only amendments I made to her recipe was adding a quarter cup more almond milk and just a few french fried onions crumbled on top.

Here are some other recent accomplishments I’m celebrating in the greenhorn house and marking off my goals list!

• Finally, updated my resume. How embarrassing that it still contained college clubs I belonged to…Now it’s refreshed and appropriately reflective of the present.
• I saved more than I spent at the grocery store…again! At Publix I spent $19.23 but saved $21.94–hooray! Last time was at Winn-Dixie where I spent $52.38 and saved $59.75. Can I just tell you how much I am looking forward to counting this year’s couponing experiment up at the end of this year? A lot.
• I am missing my California girls’ getaway with my Mom (which come hell or high water I will post about this week) but luckily I have her here for a bit to enjoy a girls’ stayhere instead.
• I’ll refer to myself as an extroverted nester. I love to be with people but I tend to huddle in my house and enjoy my couch time more. This past week in particular, I really focused on getting out and enjoying time with people I love: My Mom and brother (Hi Derek!) visited; I went to my beautiful friend’s (Hi Cheryl!) bridal shower with a ton of great gals; I brought lunch to my sister-in-law and her sister to meet her newest baby (Hi Angel and Vanessa!); had my brother-in-law for a short visit (Hi Jeff!); and I got to visit and have dinner with my cousin-in-law’s family (Hi Jason and Amanda!). Such fun, and I’m so grateful for everyone.
• Someone made me day by visiting here after Googling “catahoula husky mix.” The description of Alaska on my Characters page led them here and it not only made me happy to see a random visitor but made my heart melt that she can still exist via this great interweb thing we have. Whoever you are, I hope you give your dog (catahoula leopard or not a huge hug from me.
• I headed back out to the yard this weekend. Jeremy and I made a good start with some snapdragons and veggie container garden, but we hit a stopping point with cost and arrangement. My Mom was able to wrangle me away from the frustrated edge and we made some beautiful decisions to liven the front yard.

I hope you are feeling accomplished. It’s a great feeling, even over little things! C’mon and tell me, I’ll celebrate with you.

A hard goodbye

Got up this morning and looked at the floor before putting my feet down to make sure I didn’t step on Alaska…habit.

='(

After a wonderful eight and a half years and a highly successful 10-month battle with cancer, an unsuccessful two-day fight in the pet ER this past weekend meant it was finally time to say goodbye.

It was incredible how quickly it happened. I shared her lymphoma story when we discovered she had come out of remission in August. We beat the cancer back for a short time more but last week, we found out the chemotherapy would no longer work. We knew it was coming but I think it still hit us harder than we expected.

Thanks to everyone who has reached out with support and well-wishes, they are certainly appreciated. I know how I’ve felt when dear pets of friends and family have passed. Knowing you are not alone always helps.

My sympathies and gratitude go out to the strangers we’ve met through this process, especially at Southeast Veterinary Oncology (SEVO). I think they (Dr. Locke and Nurse Kelly, specifically) helped me as much as they helped Alaska.

Some of the photographed memories with her are public on Flickr. They are my personal photos (so no stealing) and many are not polished, flattering or inspiring–just a collection of love and time.

I’ll get back to trying new things with typical greenhorn enthusiasm soon. But for a couple days, it’ll be quiet around these parts.

Those are what we call memories…and they’re wonderful

I feel very lucky to have grown up with grandparents. Good ones.

1. My paternal grandfather (they called him Honey). He was a Navy veteran and a firefighter.  He passed away before I really knew him but I think we got along great. 🙂

In his youth.

As I knew him. He and I (at 3 months old). Enjoying a hot Jacksonville July, which I think explains our matching shirtless attire.

2. My paternal grandmother (I called her Nana). She would tell you exactly what her opinion of you and anything else was. A sassy but classy lady who never went out without makeup, a nice outfit and her hair done. She loved written correspondence and never let her grandkids go without hugs. She passed away in 2008.

In her youth.

As I knew her. She and my brother in 1996. Look how cute she was dressed (in her blazer and gold sandals) for putt-putt golf.

3. My maternal grandfather (I called him Poppi). He was the most amazing man. He was the strong silent type. He was a WW2 vet and made the best scrambled eggs with crumbled bacon in them. A farm boy from Tennessee, he married my grandmother after three days of knowing each other in New York City. He used to call me “Appleplumsugardumpling” and I would tell him that nicknames shouldn’t be longer than real names. He was so handsome and slicked his hair. He loved golf and taught me how to swing a club and let me drive the golf cart. He passed away in October 2000. It was my senior year in high school and my spring speech class assignment was an obituary. I wrote one for him. It took me 20 minutes to get through and I almost didn’t finish it through the tears.

In his youth.

As I knew him. He and I before my junior prom in May 2000.

4. But that leaves one special lady, my maternal grandmother (I call her Mima).  She is Italian but grew up in New York in an orphanage with her four older brothers. She is feisty and funny. She is terrified of heights but always a good sport. She loved to try new things and traveled with my Poppi all over the world. She took me to Australia where we rode camels on the beach and ate meat pies. She makes the only chicken tetrazzini I’ll eat and  is a wonderful writer and storyteller.

In her youth.

As I knew her. She, my brother and I in Atlanta for the '96 Olympics (while I was rocking white Keds, scrunchy socks, a mini backpack and overalls).

Mima and I at my college graduation August 2007.

She also has dementia. Something that strained our relationship in recent years–something that was very hard for me to handle after a lifetime of closeness. I was angry and sad and afraid. However, two days before her birthday this year, she wanted to see me. I have never gotten out of the house so quickly. All the things I was afraid of doing or saying or having happen seemed to disappear.

Sept. 1, 2011

I take the opportunity to visit her often now, and although she is occasionally confused, she is the same Mima I know and love.

Most recently, we were reminiscing. She has many stories but can’t always recall details. She brought up Poppi (my grandpa, her husband, who she refers to as “Daddy” after raising four kids with him 🙂 ) and our conversation went like this:

She said, “I miss Daddy.”

I said, “I know you do. Was he the love of your life?”

She said, “You know he was.”

I said with a smile, “I know he was.”

She said, “We only knew each other for three days, you know.”

I said, “I know! I can’t imagine. What was it like when you first got married? Do you remember?”

She said, “I can’t remember how we met. I remember one time, I got up in the morning and dragged myself to the bathroom where I ran into him. I looked like a hag.”

(I laughed out loud at that unexpected description)

She continued, “I asked him, ‘How could you love anything that looks like me?’ And he said, ‘I think you look beautiful.'”

She started to get choked up. OK, so did I.

She said, “He was such a good man. That’s the type of man all women should be lucky enough to have. I don’t know why I got so lucky.”

We shared some more stories when she grabbed my hand, squeezed it, and looked in, my eyes.

She said, “Those are what we call memories. And they are wonderful!”

I had that in my head all weekend. I also don’t know how I got so lucky. I know so many people with grandparents they only knew as distant, mean, in nursing homes or not at all.

I had not shared that story with anyone. I woke up Tuesday to a comment in queque on a month-old blog post about coming home from vacation. It was from my Mom:

How's that for coincidences?

So anyway, I’m sharing this whole experience because a) it has been so powerful for me and b) because I’m new to this. I have never had nursing home visits with someone I love. The aging process, the way the brain works and emotionally handling those two things are really interesting first-time experiences. Who wants to deal with emotions? Ick. I’m a shove-’em-down-ignore-’em-smile-and-keep-going kinda gal.

More interesting is how old the experience is making me feel. Is that weird? It has provided a really surreal perspective. Therefore, I’m also using it as an opportunity to cross off one of my 28 goals–facing a fear. I never would’ve associated this when I wrote that goal in April but, yeah, I’m claiming it.

One of my favorite doodles from Hugh Macleod (fabulous cartoonist at http://www.gapingvoid.com)

I hope you are having a wonderful week. I also hope this is not a downer as a heavy Wednesday and instead inspires you to appreciate loved ones and try something new to make memories. I have it on good authority that they’re wonderful!