Cumpumbers and Pamatoes and other interesting things

My Little D is a smidgen over two and half and to my delight he still massacres words every now and then. For example, "cumpumber" is his word for cucumber and "pamato" is his word for tamato.

His older brother could pronounce words like "kaleidoscope" "rutabaga" and "trapezoid" perfectly at age 1, which always made people think he was older than he was.

But not Little D. He called grapes "beeps" for a long time. Chicken nuggets were "chicken nugwits" and he replaced every "S' with an "H" so "snack" was instead "hack" and "Santa Claus" was "Hanta Claus".

My husband and I would correct him every now and then, just to make sure he knew the correct way to say such words and then we let him figure it out on his own, which he did. There's only a few words he doesn't get now and it sort of makes me a little sad because it means he's growing up. My last little baby is very quickly becoming a big boy -right before my tired eyes.

Anyway, I have seriously neglected my blog and I haven't been checking in with a lot of you and I feel bad.

But there's only so much a mortal woman can do, you know? And this blessed job search is the pits. So much has happened since I posted last but instead of throw all kinds of crazy at you all at once I thought some pics of our trip to the farm to pick "pamatos" would do nicely....for now.

We are big fans of community supported agriculture. In the summer, we basically buy a "membership" to one of the gobs of small farms around the area and then we get all of our produce from them until the fall. The farm we have "belonged" to the last couple of years does this thing called "salsa time" where it's members can come out to the farm and pick 50lbs of tamatos, peppers, garlic and cilantro to make salsa.

This year we picked the perfect day and the perfect time to visit the farm as the weather was gorgeous and we were the only folks there. It was heaven.

A lot of people tell me that I am very lucky to have little ones that like veggies enough to eat them raw....off of the ground. I would have to agree.

Let the games begin

Oh joy - my job search has started in earnest people and all I can say is.....it blows.

A lot.

Every single minute I have spent on the computer in the past couple of weeks has been dedicated to prowling job boards, placement agency websites, newspaper websites and "how to write a kick-ass cover letter" websites.

No blogging, no Facebook, no Twitter, no email. No nothing.

I feel disconnected. Unplugged.

I did come across a position pretty early on in my search. It happened to be with a past employer - an "esteemed institution of higher learning". I thought I just might luck out and end my job search in short order seeing as how I worked for so-called institution for almost three years, and I did a good job while I was there. I also had every single iota of experience they were calling for so I wasn't surprised when I landed a phone interview. How could I not, really?

I also fully expected to be called back for an on-campus interview.

However, about three days after my phone interview, I received a rejection email from the search committee chair letting me know that they while they appreciated my interest in the position they selected finalists whose experience better suited their needs blah, blah, blah.

Whatever, Cornholio.

I do admit that my telephone interview wasn't stellar. I spent my entire morning running after, cleaning up after, and refereeing my boys. I laid Little D down for his nap and kicked The Captain out the door with the sitter about 5 minutes before the start of the interview. I was prepared, but not ready for it. If that makes any sense?

And it probably didn't help me in any way that the department Vice President is still pissed that I left my job after The Captain was born - after I promised that I was coming back and after he created a new position for me that kept me from traveling so much.

I don't really have much to say about that except 'Sorry dude, but that's how the cookie crumbles. If you didn't have a dick you'd understand'

Sadly, being cast away like a piece of trash by a former employer hasn't been the cherry on top of my delightful job search. I think that might be the numerous rejections I have received for jobs that require nothing but a heartbeat and a will to live to qualify.

This whole job search thing may be harder than I thought.

It was a whopper!

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So we took the boys fishing last weekend. It was The Captain's third or fourth time and as you can see, he already has the ability of a seasoned pro. Just look at the whopper on his line!




But Little D was not to be outdone by his big brother and landed his first catch of the day too.

We took them fishing at some ponds outside of town. I hate fishing in ponds. Actually I just plain hate ponds. Especially the kind that have half weed, half nasty-ass scum-of-some-type covering the surface. These ponds did - as you can see by the picture. Doesn't that look like the perfect pond home for a swamp monster, or a dead body??? Shiver.

I have never been a fan of large, murky bodies of water. I have always had a problem with swimming in them because I'm totally afraid that something could be lurking right below the surface, just waiting to get me. I saw a movie a loooong time ago about a big swamp blob that ate a pack of swimmers after they took an innocent afternoon dip. I was at a very impressionable age so I'm sure that's why I'm such a freak about it.

Anyway, after the boys grew bored with fishing, they ate some watermelon and then went exploring.

Then we drove to a nearby peach orchard and picked some peaches.
Notice Little D going for all the rotten fruit on the ground. But he quickly figured out that the peaches from the tree were much tastier.

After we had eaten/picked our fill we went home. The boys were muddy, tired, sticky and exhausted - a sign of a very good day.

Looking back at this summer, I think we have had quite a few great days and I'm really thankful for that. I have enjoyed being able to spend more time my boys, taking them to the beach, the zoo, and the water parks.

I'm looking for work now and will probably end up going back full-time. Even though I knew this time would come sooner or later, it's still going to be hard, so my plan for now is to enjoy the rest of the time that I have left and really make the most of it. I think I hear the beach calling my name again!

Ouch - that hurt!

I started my day by shelling out $950.00 to our friendly neighborhood plumber. I guess the good news is that now my toilets flush again and my dirty little monsters can finally take a bath after going all weekend without one.

I HATE! HATE! HATE! unexpected repairs - especially ones that cost an arm and a leg. And it only figures that I almost had enough money saved up for new windows, which we desperately need. Now I'm probably going to have to go through another winter with our shitty-ass, old-as-dirt windows because my dear husband, bless his heart, violently opposes using credit cards which means we try to save up for big ticket things instead of whipping out the plastic. I must confess it's nice not to have any credit card debt, but when things like this happen I really hear Mastercard calling my name!!!!

I know it could be a lot worse so I'm trying to look on the bright side of things - which I usually try to do. But sometimes it would just be nice, for once, not to feel like some circus juggler trying to keep all the balls in the air - you know?

I'm off to cry in my coffee now.

The New Normal..almost

So I got a little taste of my soon to be "new normal" (being unemployed) this week and all I have to say is that I may need to starting take some super vitamins.

So far I have survived a trip to the coast, two trips to the water park, and a trip to the zoo with the kids....by myself. Don't get me wrong -I had a great time, but right now I am so freakin tired my eyes feel like there's a slow acid drip eating away at them. Sweet.

My boys are loving this new routine - I can tell they're trying to figure out what they could have possibly done that was so awesome as to deserve all of these exciting adventures with Mommy.

However, they're not going to be to happy when they wake up tomorrow morning and find out they have to go to school/daycare - at least for another whopping four days as that is all I have left to work. Quite frankly they're going to be pissed off and I completely understand - I don't want to go to work tomorrow either. Like I said in my last post, I'm actually looking forward to spending more time with the boys while there's still a good chunk of summertime left. And isn't there such a thing as "short timers" syndrome - or does that only apply to high school seniors?

Anyway, I also have a gnawing feeling that I am going to jump through all the hoops to get signed up for unemployment and Cobra to just turn around and not need it. At least that's my hope..sort of. Does that even make sense?? I do want this layoff to be a temporary thing, but just not too temporary. How crazy is that? I must sound like a complete idiot!

Oh well, if I do sound like a raving lunatic I'm placing the blame squarely on my fatigued body, my water-logged brain, my sunburned back and the stomachache I have from eating a Big N Tasty at McD's this afternoon with the kids!

Downsized....and I'm not talking about my waistline.

The inevitable has finally happened - I have been "let go" as of today. Or I guess I should say "temporarily" let go as of today.

I'm really not surprised - the writing on the wall has been there for quite a few months. Our work has slowed down to barely a drizzle and it's been painfully slow and boring at work.

My boss is calling this a "temporary thing" and has already told me that he will need me back on board in as soon as a month or two if the company wins any of the project bids that we currently have out right now.

So for now my plan is to apply for unemployment and COBRA and to look at the positives in this situation - which to me appear to be numerous. To begin with, I'm going to get to spend more time with my boys and they will be super happy about that. Secondly, this could be the break I need to decide if this is the path I want to continue down. I stumbled into this work quite on accident and just kept chugging along quite frankly because the job fit my needs at the time. But now I'll have a chance to look at what else is out there and actually go for other opportunities without feeling like I'm going behind my boss' back. If I do decide this is what I want to do and here is where I want to be, then it will only be a matter of time until things return to work as usual around here, and I can definitely live with that.

My biggest concern in this whole situation is my poor husband. I think I better have a nice cold beer waiting for him when I break the news to him tonight!

As promised......

The saying 'better late than never' certainly rings true on my blog. I have been trying to post my Hawaii pictures for some time now but lately it seemd like one thing after another has popped up and then "poof" the day is gone.

So without further delay, here are just a smattering of shots from my recent vacation - that already feels like a distant memory. How sad, huh?

This is a shot of Little D strollin towards the water at Chuns on the North Shore.

Here's my hubby getting high of the Plumeria flowers we used for the wedding leis. The scent was heavenly!

This is Kellen's first catch of the trip. He loves going "Gecko hunting" in Grampa's backyard. If you look closely, you can see a dark spot right behind the Gecko's eye. They only get those spots when they're really pissed off.




Little D is getting a piggy-back from his cousin, Sean. He had so much fun playing with his cousins and hangin' with the "big boys".


Little D wasn't sure what to make of the prehistoric looking Jackson Chameleon that Daddy caught. It took him a while to warm up to it and he never did touch it.


The Captain hanging out with his cousin, Marisa. Yes, her daddy has his shotgun loaded.

Little D strolling the resort grounds at the wedding rehearsal


The Captain being cute with a fan



Can you believe these two are cousins? Little D is the only blond-haired, blue-eyed kid in the entire family. He definitely sticks out.


My sister-in-law made a beautiful bride.

I could have laid here for days on end.