First Day of School

Well I forgot to get the camera- because my brain is mush right now. So here are a couple of low quality pics with the phone. The boys had no interest is holding still for 3 seconds to get a photo taken.

But they sure were happy to be going to school. 

Coen was tired of the mom trying to take pictures.

This year Coen wasn't so happy about the teacher he got. I liked who he got. So we had several discussions about this new transition. At the end of the day he said very seriously "Mom I kept an open mind, and I gave it a try and I already like him." Shortly after that we ran into Annie who told Coen her friends who had Mr. Carr loved him. Coen said "I already love him too!"

I hope we have a good year, even though we were only a few days into the year and Coen was starting his daily whine about wanting to stay home with his mom. 

A little collection of randomness

As part of my commitment to blog a little more I went through the last few weeks of pictures and picked a few to show you a little of what is going on in our life this week. 

There are a lot of great flowers in the yard!

Grandma and Grandpa Conley took the boys camping with Joseph in the Mt Lassen park for a week. It was great to have a kid free week- except both Alma and I got really sick. But before that happened I was able to go out for sushi and a pedicure with my girlfriend Becca. I got this great kelly green pedicure. I loved it. The problem was the lovely lade doing it then put on neon yellow flowers and as a topper she added a red gem. Not really for me. This picture doesn't really give you a feeling for how bright it really was. And as an extra special treat- I took this picture while taking a bath because I was talking to Becky and she wanted the craziness recorded. That being said I got a ton of compliments this week. So I keep getting to say thank you for something I really don't like. 

These are the colors of the chairs for my new waiting room- I am starting to get really excited. This is really the only fun thing to buy. Pictures of autoclaves and vision testers are not as fun to look at.

Now Don't Have a Heart Attack

Yes, folks it is true. I am updating the blog. And I am including random pictures of the kids at the river. this is what summer is all about for me- lazy hot afternoons at the Yuba River. This was just a quick evening run with Becky and her kids when they stopped in town on their way to Oregon. Is there anything better than being in the canyon with the trees and cold river water, the water smoothed boulders? I think this is one of those magical spots that speaks to all Nevada County natives. But the pictures have nothing to do with the update- just included for fun.

 

After months of listening to the guilt trips from Becky for months. I am finally sitting down to write a little bit. This summer I realized that there are several people in my life who this little blog is our primary form of communication. And not just the acquaintances that it would be nice to keep in touch with. It is some of the women I love and value the most. Who live far from home but I wish were a part of my every day life. Women who love me and my kids. I realized I missed our virtual relationship. I missed the comments and sharing of our lives. So I am recommitting to this silly little thing called a blog. But more importantly I am committing my long distance friendships, to sharing a little part of me with those I love (and any stranger who happens across my little corner of the internet).

It isn't that there isn't anything for me to share. In fact the problem may be that I have too much to share. this has been a transformative year for me. In almost every aspect of my life things are drastically changing.

 

The most obvious one is that I have lost 35 lbs this year. I still have a ways to go. But I am happy with my progress so far. I am having a very stress filled summer so my goal is just not to gain any weight until October and then I will shift focus back to the weight. I know Andrea, you want a picture. I will get on that. I think there are some okay ones from Ohio.

But the even bigger change has been that I have started a new medication and it has given me 5-6 totally pain free hours a day. I still need to do my regular massage and exercises. I still need a little vicoden- but I can't tell you how amazing it is to have pain hours every day. After 4 years of almost constant pain I can't believe how amazing life is with a little pain free time every day. It is the first time I have felt hopeful about the future in a long time. For so long I have been terrified of a future with unending pain.  But now I can see a brighter future.

 

An even bigger change it that I have started therapy as well this year. I have had such great success with the medication for my back and it convinced me that this pain is mostly stored anxiety and trauma. So I decided to try some EMDR therapy. This was a good decision. I have had some progress there- but a lot more work to go. A couple of amazing moments have made all the work worthwhile.

There is still more.

 

I have also been in the process of leaving the pediatrics practice I have been at the last ten years. I will go into a partnership with one of the pediatricians I have been working with. The opportunity to own my own business, to make my own decisions about patient care and how the office should run. It is an amazing opportunity. But it is also crazy stressful and terrifying. There is a lot of money invested, a million decisions and things to oversee, and a new working dynamic to figure out. I have noticed that the weeks that are getting more and more stressful are also weeks that my pain is worsening. So you can see why I am putting the weight loss to the side for the summer. I am just happy that with all this stress my weight is just holding steady.

 

I am looking forward to sharing all the fun things we have been doing this year. We have had trips to Texas, Michigan, and Ohio this summer. So I will keep posting so you can all see the great things our family has been up to.

I am an Old Lady!

As Becky so kindly pointed out the day after my birthday- I was now closer to 40 than I am to 30. And I just can't believe it. My little Grandma Conley once told me that she thinks she is 16 in her head and she is always a little surprised by the little old lady when she looks in the mirror. I think I am that way a little as well. I just can't seem to wrap my head around the fact that I am an adult- with children! I have a real job with very real responsibilities. This summer we will have our 10 year anniversary. How is that possible? Aren't we still trying to get to know each other?

And yet no anxiety about age. I am so proud of the changes I have made, the things I have learned. I like me better at 35 than me at 20. The only problem is how fast my boys are aging. Their childhood seems to be whizzing past in the blink of an eye. I don't mind getting older- it is the boys that tears me up.

And so I had a great 35th birthday. It was just your usual every day in my life right now. I went to Coen's class in the morning and made zucchini bread with the kids. Work in the afternoon. And Indian food that night. A pretty great day in my pretty great life.

Any time I am feeling a little old I just remind myself that Alma has childhood friends with kids in college. Now he is an OLD man!

I also have some thoughts to share after this weekend. But I just took my nighttime muscle relaxant (yes the back is only getting worse) and am feeling a little woozy- so time to stop writing.

I got to go hang out with a fellow crafting friend (and girlfriend from high school) tonight. We put our boys to bed and then meet at her house to play with her room full of toys. Tonight she convinced me to enter my first contest. So I made this little card for this contest.

Coen's 5th Birthday

To celebrate the week and a half after Coen's Half birthday we will post pictures from his birthday this summer. We had a party here with cousins and one in Tulare. He and Lukey's birthdays are only a few day apart from one another so we had a big party for all the family in Tulare. We were down there for a week to hang out at Susie's new vacation home. In case you didn't know Susie has bought a home around the block from Becky. She is guessing that the central valley is the next up and coming vacation destination for the hip and is trying to get ahead of the market. Now it is no Nevada City (top 10 destination in the US) but there is some charm in the dairies and soy bean fields and deathly heat. It was a 107 while we were there. Let me say that again 107. And we were staying with my cheap sister who wouldn't lower the thermostat below 85- which means it was 95 in my upstairs bed room. I even offered to write her a check for the rights to control the thermostat. No go from miss cheapy-cheap. Anyways we drove towards the lemon groves for some GREAT antiquing. Great selection, great prices- I so wanted to buy buy buy but I controlled myself.

Anyways Becky has gotten a pool within walking distance- so I think Susie needs to buy a vacation home here in Nevada City with a pool. And then she will have a house in a real vacation destination.

Back to the birthday- the best part was seeing all our cousins and their kids and our aunts and uncles. As usual I love to see all the kids running around having a blast together. And now for 1054 pictures.

So a funny story about this little guy. One reason we went down to visit was to work on the boys swimming skills. Well- Beckett swam once in his new floaty and then took it off and walked into the deep end and sunk to the bottom. Thank goodness Kirtee noticed! He then did it later that day but he was so scared that time (he got much deeper) that it didn't happen again. I think I was at Becky's house putting kitchen cabinets together when this happened.

This is Susie's new house- it is charming.

Luke

Charlie

This strange guy hangs around a lot.

Birthday boy one

Birthday boy two

Glowing swords and water guns- best party favors ever.

Ice cream sunday bar

(I am not pregnant)

When we got home we had a joint party with Aunt Laura.

This was their cake. Laura picked the flavor- Coen picked the decorations.

More Catch Up From the Summer

One of the highlights of the summer is Camp Lazy Dog. A week where all the grandkids get together with my dad and Holly for a week of cousin fun.

Here are some of the highlights.

The boys dug in the sand. Joseph may have spent 90% of the time buried in the sand.

There were new barn cats to cuddle.

A day was spent at the beach.

Isn't she cute?

This other girl hides from the camera.

These people hang around with us too.

This is what the teenagers do while the little ones run in the waves- they eat chips and check out guys.

Cousins

Grandpa with all the cousins

The whole gang

This guy is always ready for a party.

Coen and Beckett spent a lot of time up in the tree house.

And we had an early 90th birthday party for Grandma Conley

We practiced our lasso skills

We also spent late night playing cards, Marshall and Charlie laid in their tent reading (so did I), and I woke up periodically to refill the air mattress that had an annoying leak several times a night. Thanks to Susie and Troy for hosting our camp out at their house. I left a day early so I missed the day at the cabin in the Carmel Mountains. We also hiked at this great state park with great rock formations and caves. It was a really great week.