Thursday, September 23, 2010

Summer {Part 2}

bumblebees bzzzzzz'd
lazy dogs lay
Butterfly flowers...
And succulants grew...
In my secret garden

laying poolside
with twin babies
toy cars vroooming
and a quick trip to the city by the bay
All good things must come to an end.  Goodbye Summer, 2010.  

Hello, Fall.  I'm ready for you.

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Conspiracy Theory

I think there is a conspiracy between the U.S. government and Hollywood to try and sway the general tv watching public into not having children.  Maybe our government sees another baby boom coming and thinks it will be too much on our fragile economy to handle?

I turned on the tv last night and a movie called Motherhood was playing.  Have you seen it?  It's an Uma Thurman movie, not her best by a long shot.  The jist of the movie is how to balance motherhood, self, career, and marriage, and how it's just not possible without becoming a crazy neurotic bitch.  I stopped watching after stay at home mom, Uma, has a particularly bad day and decides she is going to run away.  She jumps in her station wagon, lights a cigarette, pops in a tape of something she would have listened to before having  children, and heads for New Jersey. 

Maybe there have always been movies like this and I'm just now paying attention to it because I am in my child bearing years (at least according to society and the ladies in the grocery check-out line. Not according to science.  Science would've liked me to be done having children and expecting my first grandchild).  But I remember movies like Baby Boom and tv shows like Murphy Brown, portraying mother's as strong women who balanced career and motherhood.

Anyway, back to the point.  There is a lot of stuff out there right now that focuses on women's lack of control of self once becoming a mother.  There's a whole genre of "mommy bloggers"  that focus primarily on how hard it is having kids.

Another movie that scared me to death: Marley and Me.  I was so distracted by Jennifer Aniston and her tirades and fighting with her husband after having kids that I forgot the movie was about the dog.  I'm sure there is some truth to all of this but isn't there a good side to having kids, too?  Where are the shows about that???

Schools should stop preaching abstinence and instead take their students to the local movie theatre for a little show and tell.  The scene in Marley where Owen Wilson's character stays in his car longer than necassary after a day at work because he doesn't want to go in and face his family was enough to make me want to practice abstinence!

A girl can dream

Now that Markus is based in San Francisco and reality is setting in that we may be moving to the city by the bay, my new obsession is to look at craigslist apartment ads in our favorite neighborhoods.  Most in our price range are studio and 1 bedrooms.  Which, after owning our 3 bedroom  home for the last 3 years, can be a little depressing.  We will think of it as the "living bohemian" chapter in our marriage.  It will be quaint and kitchy.  I envision myself scouring flea markets and buying local produce from the farmers' market on the weekends.  And, on the upside, I will have no problem decorating an apartment that small!

But after laying my eyes on this listing over at Hooked on Houses, I'm not sure I can downsize.  I'm thinking we need to start playing the lotto!
The size is a little garish for my taste.  I don't think we need our own basketball court or au pair suite. Our children can play basketball at the Y and our au pair can stay in one of the 7 bedrooms ;)  But I will take that kitchen, the views, and the fabulous decor and attention to detail.  The molding alone makes my heart skip a beat.  Not to mention the panoramic view of San Francisco from almost anywhere in the house.

More photos can be found on the properties web site.

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

There's an island way out in the sea

In June
 we slipped down to the islands 
and spent a few days in paradise
 It was nice.  



Slow down and everything you are chasing will come around and catch you.  ~John De Paola




Good night, moon

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Summer 2010 {Part 1}

A baby was born, Ella Josephine Fowlkes.
Markus is a natural with babies. Can't you tell from his posture in this picture? He also shaved his head without telling me. I wasn't a fan but it grew back quickly :)
We did some yard work to get ready for summer. I forgot how green our grass can be. Oh, and check out the fence. Markus pressure washed it, and everything else that he could get his hands on. And I finally convinced Markus to re-stain our deck. It was reddish brown and I HATED it. Now it's a beautiful green and I LOVE it. It's such a beautiful color. I wish I could paint the house green!



We threw a party on Memorial Day. The adults played ladder golf
Girls vs. Boys
And the kids had fun with the water toys
Christian, Weber, Capri - Age 2
The Morales twins were also there. Look at those eyelashes!
There was a day in July where we didn't think we would see this guy again. Charlie got out of the back yard and spent the night in puppy jail. This was the photo we used for his missing poster. It makes me really happy to look at this photo, now that he is back home.
We got out on the golf course once. Markus has such a better swing than me. I'm just worried about hitting the ball. I don't really care where it goes as long as it's up.


We went to see the Flying Squirrels game for Father's Day. That's the name of our new baseball team. Their motto is "have fun, go nutz".

Weber is telling Markus "Dude, this is my Sasa, Step off".
But that's okay because his sister stole my man later in the game. Twin power.
Whew, I'll have to finish this up tomorrow, it's almost my bedtime. I took more photos than I thought and I'm only in July. Stay tuned for part duex...

Monday, September 13, 2010

Do you wanna?

That sentence makes our dogs go crazy! It doesn't matter what you say afterwards, they know they are going for a walk. It's the same thing everyday; Charlie has to sit and be quiet before we put his leash on. Meeko, not so much. The saying "you can't teach a dog new tricks" was invented because of Meeko.

So, you would think after almost 2 years of going on walks, Charlie would hear "Do you wanna" and immediately sit down. But, without fail, he acts like a crazy animal. I love it and hate it all at the same time.

What a goof!

Friday, September 10, 2010

10 things I love about Fall

10. Sleeping with the windows open
9. toasting marshmellows & snuggling to keep warm by a fire
8.
Dexter, Dexter, Dexter!
7. Mums, winter pansies, & asters
6. Halloween
5. Apple picking {& pie eating}
4. Fall back
3. Boots, sweaters, & jeans
2. Pumpkin patch {& carving}

1. Fall Foilage

What are you looking forward to with the change of seasons?

Goodbye, Summer

I have been reading a lot of posts about the end of summer and how much fun everyone had. I am not one of those people. Summer is usually my favorite season and I look forward to it starting December 26th. But this summer was off. I was restless. It was too hot and I couldn't find my grove. August was especially awful. I'm glad it's over. I'm hoping September will bring better weather, a better mood, and more time with family & friends.

Life has changed since the beginning of the summer. My perspective is different. One of the things that has changed is Markus' job. We started the summer in anticipation of him landing the job, and when it finally came my nerves set in. All of the what ifs and daydreaming about a new life together became a reality. Reality is waaaaaay different from daydreaming. Be careful what you wish for. It's scary and a little lonely thinking about uprooting our family and moving to California. But I'm also really excited and looking forward to a change. Our life has felt a little stagnant the last year and I am open to new possibilities and challenges. I just keep trying to remember that wherever you go, there you are. I think that is the key to making this move successful. I have to remember that if I am not happy with myself then I will not be happy with myself in a new place.

And so I am going to take the change of seasons and the change of our new life as a time to work on myself and figure out what is making me unhappy. I don't like feeling restless and not being able to sit still and relax. I did not read one book this summer. Not one. I didn't have the patience to sit down and relax enough. I didn't work on the house or take pictures. I didn't cook or entertain. I hardly went for walks with the dogs or did yoga. I wanted to go to concerts and I didn't see one. I blamed it on not having anyone to go with but I could have made more of an effort. And I certainly didn't blog because I didn't have anything nice to say. Looking back I'm not really sure what I did. And that makes me sad that I wasted what could be our last summer in Virginia (at least for awhile) doing things I can't even remember. I think when we got the news of Markus' new job I just froze and stopped living. It was like the news was too much to take and so I just didn't do anything.

So I'm getting all of this out in the open so I can make a conscious effort to work on doing things I enjoy and making myself content again. And hopefully the change will do me good. If I'm not back to blogging and taking photos in a few weeks, send chocolate and anti-depressents ;)