We are going to the GREEN EXPO thing today

http://www.blueoceanevents.org/

There will be a lot of vendors there, telling about how to GREEN UP your life including your home. I know Bill is just so wanting to get that Green friendly FAKE GRASS for the new house We are going to research prices and stuff on things like Recycled denim insulation, solar water heaters etc. I guess we missed Ed Begley Jr BOO HISS... but oh well. There will be a lot of things for kids there too so hopefully Spencer will get reallllly tired out.

Half a roof. Also - out of the rubble... TULIPS

Those 250 tulip bulbs I planted in NOV 2006 are still blooming. Even when there is no house there... Tulips are my very favorite flower, and I THOUGHT I had bought a variety, but I got like 30 shades of pink ones. I did not realize I had bought that many pinks, and then of course when you plant them they are all bulbs ... so then, you know I mostly care about when they bloom. I like to stagger them. SO I planted them all and then in the spring when they came up there were a LOT I mean a LOT of pink ones...

Anyway they are blooming!

Bad News: More Complaining...Good News: We might go camping soon.

Today we were informed that if we are going to be in our rental Goat Farm after the end of June 2008 that we have to pay the rent ourselves after that day The only problem is that our house may not be finished until the end of the summer.

Which means that either we pay the $2K a month rent ourselves after that, in addition to our mortgage, OR we maybe get a tent and "rough it" in the back yard until the house is done. I am sure they would not mind moving those bulldozers and clearing a little spot for us. OR we could also move in to Spencer's little play house, OR the tool shed, both also in the back yard. There would be no running water, but there is a Port a Potty on the front lawn.

OR maybe we could rent like a FEMA trailer type thing and just park it in the driveway? That is also an idea. I think the tent idea is probably the best, because then we get to have campfires every night. Well, unless Code Enforcement drives by...

I have always wanted to spend the hot humid months of July and August in a mildewed insect filled tent. I guess those years as a Brownie and Girl Scout will not have gone to waste.

This just gets more and more fun every single day. I hate getting all mad about stuff and most days I try to pretend that I am not living with a goat, and that my life is NOT freaking upside down, and just get on with things. WHO DOES IT HELP TO BE ALL BITTER AND MAD AND PISSED OFF 24 HOURS ABOUT THESE STUPID LITTLE THINGS THAT HAPPEN??? However, some days it is harder than others to stay serene about this (now almost a) year of complete disruption that we did NOTHING to bring on ourselves. I am also sick of having to fight for every single little thing.

Today, in addition to doing stuff for the lawyers, I also worked on something I am writing. I also went grocery shopping and I signed Spencer up for summer Swimming lessons. He has been off of preschool for a week and he goes back Monday. I want so much to be the fun and patient mom, where we read books and play and go places and do stuff together, but instead when stupid stuff like this house thing happens I am already annoyed, and just have no patience and he gets on my nerves. I mean, he is FOUR - this is his JOB, but still - He does not listen half the time, Every two seconds he is taking his clothes off or doing stuff he is not supposed to and he is just loud loud loud and wired wired wired. And then he is also a normal little boy, and does goofy little boy stuff , like using 3/4 of a roll of TP in the bathroom, or begging us for strawberries over and over and over or just being wild.... We are losing it. I am trying to get lawyer stuff done, Bill is trying to finish instruments, and he is jumping all over us, making huge messes, just going insane. We need a babysitter. We need a vacation.

I know no one got hurt, and we still have a house where a lot of people are losing theirs, and no one is sick, and Spencer is healthy and we have much to be grateful for, and we have it better than a lot of other people.. I am not forgetting that, BUT OUR HOUSE WAS DESTROYED, our lives were interrupted, we have been through a whole lot of crap no one should have to go through, we have to use expensive lawyers to fight for every single thing to be corrected just so we can be whole again, and I know that we will recover from this and we will go one with our lives and the drama will end eventually but I will NEVER EVER be the same after this. ALL this crap and seriously? These are not even REAL problems, and I KNOW that and I get to feel guilty for being pissed off about them on top of everything else.

House looking less like just a bunch of wood. Oh, and my brother had a baby

Look! As you can see we have a nice naked house here

Hopefully we will not have to keep that Port A Potty after it is built.
We are somewhat confident we will be able to afford indoor plumbing.

Awwwww. This is my brother, located somewhere in the Midwest. I am sure that he is going to get mad for me putting up this picture.I COULD NOT RESIST!!!! THIS LITTLE BABY IS SOOOO CUTE. Fear not, my brother, NOBODY reads this. Seriously. I think even most of the lurkers have hit the road. I really mostly write this for my own amusement. That is why so many posts about talking dogs and dressed up cats.

Sometimes you find one that merits its own post....

This is such a blog.. Its called

STUFF ON MY CAT

http://www.stuffonmycat.com/

It is a blog from a guy who just simply puts stuff on his cat.

Hilarious.

WHY didn't I think of this?

But then, I do not have a cat.

How should she have answered?

Chelsea Clinton was asked about the Monica Lewinsky scandal at a college yesterday. Specifically, she was asked her opinion "on the criticism of her mother that how she handled the Lewinsky scandal might be a sign of weakness and she might not be a strong enough candidate to be president."

She answered that she did not think that was any of their business.

Something about this answer bothered me. On the one hand I don't think she should have been really asked to comment on that, but then, she was there representing her mother. SO to completely expect that it would never come up I think would be a mistake.

As to what kind of answer she should have maybe prepared, well saying that it is "none of your business" I think was a mistake. Most people disagree with me, but I think it was a LOT of people's business and it is a question on the mind of many people.

I think I would have answered it differently... maybe saying just.. you know - NO it is not a weakness but then I see that would be opening a door...

SO then how about saying maybe FIRST , well that is not a question I should have to answer, but I can say that my mother is a very strong person and she is well equipped to deal with the responsibilities that come with the office.... etc.

I GET the fact that Chelsea was an innocent bystander in the Lewinsky scandal, and she should not have to answer to the decisions made by her parents then. etc

On the other hand, if her mother is going to put herself in the position of intense scrutiny, AND Chelsea is going to campaign on her behalf , she of all people should know what that brutal process is like and what she has signed up for, having literally grown up on the campaign trail.

It seems weird to me then, that she would respond that is is "none of your business."

If she is sitting in a coffee shop with her boyfriend and NOT on the campaign trail for anyone and is just trying to live her life, that question is truly rude. I do not think you can have it both ways however, and if you are going to go out there for your mother the candidate as her representative you need to come up with a better answer to that admittedly rude but probably inevitable question.

Just my opinion.

Lewis and Clark... WOW.

OK so Last week I started watching the Ken Burns thing on Lewis and Clark, not realizing, as I should have that it was not a mere two hours long and that there was a PART TWO. I finally found the part two and taped that too and got to watch the exciting conclusion. Turns out, they make it to the coast AND all the way back.. Sorry if I ruined the ending for you. BUT the journey - WOW. They went through a LOT of crazy stuff. They ran out of food and had to eat a couple of horses even. They almost froze to death, and Lewis I guess was like depressed like every single day. They once got lost and a trip that should have taken 4 days ended up taking 53 days. They were really incredible brave. I was disappointed in finding out that Clark was pretty racist, but then that was common in 1806. Also disturbed to learn that all this time I have been pronouncing the name of their female Native American companion wrong:

Its not

SACK UH JA WEE AH

it is

SUH COGG A WAY UH

WHO KNEW?

Anyway Poor Lewis ended up killing himself, and Clark, who was then put in charge of like Indian Affairs for the New West was always frustrated that he could not do more to help them.. THis is the abridged version...

ANYWAY. They both felt like failures in the end, and I mean if you have ever been to Oregon you know that if a guy in a Saab with a GPS can get lost and never come back how easy could it have been for a bunch of guys with horses and Elk pelts and no socks??

The Ken Burns thing on the Corps of Discovery is great and so is this one book I read about it once called UNDAUNTED COURAGE I think was written by Stephen Ambrose who was in the documentary. I read it so long ago, I had forgotten so much. and then I went to look for my copy but remembered that it was one of the many books I had that flew out the roof when the house exploded.

SO anyway. The point is, I love PBS.
Here are sites with more INFO

http://www.pbs.org/lewisandclark/

http://www.lewis-clark.org/

AND THIS PLACE IS ten miles from CANBY!!!

http://www.endoftheoregontrail.org/joomlaeotic/

and now that I live here in OR I am gonna head over to Oregon City which is like ten miles away and take a look at that L & C museum thing they have there.

Anyway.

Could not resist this one....

Maybe it is because there is no preschool this week.....

We will go thru a LOT of colors but.....

Our House will probably end up looking almost exactly like THIS:



I know us. WE are BORING.

Some PEEPLE have all the fun...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/05/AR2007040501976.html

Every year the staff of the Washington Post have a diorama contest where the requirement is the use of PEEPS

Look at the slide show on this year's entries... I think the winner was the King TutPeep.... My favorite in the slide show has to be either the SAY ANYTHING peeps or DATELINE one

Hilarious.

More pics of Faux Chateau

http://www.flickr.com/photos/villebois_rental/


STILL for rent. It is easiest to see the 68 photos if you do the slideshow. GAWD It give me the creeps just looking at them. I hated just about every minute living there.

Family of Stalkers

How lame are we?

I had some overdue library books that I wanted to get into the drop box by the time they open on Monday so since my family and I were all going crazy and getting on each other's nerves we decided to take a drive into Canby. We dropped the books off at the library night box, and then we decided to look at the progress on the house..

BUT since we were there we started talking about exterior paint colors, and since we had a camera and a car and not much to do, we decided that a good way to spend Easter was to drive around taking pictures of house paint colors we like and then compare them when we got home.

Wow this is what passes for entertainment in Canby... Not really Most people were with their extended families, but since my only extended family live in Michigan and Florida and Bills are all down in So Cal, and no one came up to visit us, and we did not really plan a huge dinner or anything, we decided to stalk other people.

SO we had our frozen Costco Casserole , broccoli and Fresh Strawberries for dessert dinner, and then headed out with the binoculars, night vision goggles and high speed photography and surveillance equipment.

A good time was had by all!!!! No seriously Bill is on a deadline to finish some instruments for a guy who is going out on tour, so he has a lot of work to do. Spencer and I watched the Tigger Movie and hung out, and Bill hung out a lot too. Amy was in the goat field for a long time today. That dog loves that goat.

SO here are our pictures.....

WHICH COLORS WOULD YOU PAINT MY HOUSE?? PLEASE VOTE!!!!

ONE: This is one of Bill's favorite's - it is very dark Brown. I am not fond of it... Also there is a house directly across the street from our new house that is painted like this as well - part of why I do not like it.

TWO This is one we both agree on that we like okay but I am not sure this color would get old very fast.. BUT the red door is good luck in Feng Shui so it has THAT going for it...

THREE: This one only Bill Likes....

FOUR: This is my VERY VERY VERY all time favorite, and there are NO red houses ANYWHERE around us BUT Bill says it would look like a barn.... but I still love it...

FIVE: Here is a final option that Bill hates and I like a lot Just do the house in this stucco. Ithink it looks nice, but Bill grew up in a stucco house in CA so maybe that is why he does not like it. THis house is right behind us...


VOTE FOR YOUR FAVORITE!!!!!!!!!
(Please vote for the red one...)

If you HAVE TO visit Costco, this is the way to do it...

Poor Spencer - We tickled him all morning, and goofed with him, and he ran around after the dog and we went to visit the new house etc and I guess we wore him out, because on the way to Costco: CRASH!!!! He was out and we knew he was in one of those moods where he is just NOT going to get up. The only thing do do at times like this is, put down Bill's coat, and throw him in a cart. You have to put the groceries in a separate cart. He slept on the way there, on the way in, alll through the store, on the way back out, and all the way home. He crashed in his bed and he is still as asleep now. What this means for us is, he is going to be up at the crack of dawn tomorrow am. Usually in fact when this happens, he comes into our room at about 5 AM and starts jumping on both of us until one of us wakes up.

My brother just had his first baby Friday night... a girl they named AnaMaria. He was gushing into the phone about how she is so sweet and precious and beautiful and of course they are. I wanted so much to tell him to just wait until she is 3 and refuses to wear clothes, throws her socks out of the car window or puts your ipod in the freezer.... THEN call me and tell me how much fun you are having..... but I couldn't. He will find out soon enough.

More progress on the house.

Also it is time to pick out windows. We spent the afternoon with one of our attorneys Herb (Robin) Going over stuff. Joel (Batman) is still in Africa but he will be back in April. Its a quiet Good Friday around here. Yesterday we bought a 50 lb bag of this stuff called COBB that this lady at Curves who has a bunch of goats told me that our goat would love. We did not want to buy that much but it only comes in that size. Luckily Elmo DOES like it, and also 50 lbs of that stuff is like 8 dollars.

Amy the dog and Elmo the goat are reallly reallly good friends lately and I think it is going to be hard for Amy to leave the goat when it is time for us to move off the Goat Farm. NO WAY can we take the goat with us, as A it is not our goat and B you cannot have a goat in the city. I used to not like the goat, but I am gonna miss the little fella when we move back. Maybe we can come back and visit.

Multiple Choice Test Friday

THIS is one of the funniest books I have ever READ...

Remember there is only one right answer.

1. Who would you rather be stranded on a Desert Island with?

A. Hugh Grant
B. Curious George
C. Maureen Stapleton
D. Barbara Streisand


2. If you could live for one day as a different person who would it be?

A. Scooter Libby
B. Aretha Franklin
C. Dan Rather
D. Princess Margaret


3. Which is your favorite type of coffee?

A. Nonfat half caff mochachino
B. Half caff laugh staph streptomycin
C. Skinny tall caramel macchiato on the half shell
D. Frozen coffee crap from 7-11

4. What is your favorite cocktail?

A. Draino on the rocks
B. Sloe Ginn Fizz Bloody Mary
C. Windex Spritzer
D. Turpentine-tini

5. What the hell should Tydwbleach do with Master Thespian Fridays now that she has completely run out of ideas????

A. Go back to Master Thespian Friday
B. Start training for Ostrich Riding Team for Beijing
C. Master Recipe Friday
D. Fill in your answer here:________________________

I cannot wait for those ZERO comments....... WHERE ARE YOU PEOPLE??? DOESN'T ANYONE LOVE ME???? hahahahahahahahah

House has half a roof.

I wonder if we get to keep that orange thing? It could come in handy doing yard work.

Another Spencer picture, house picture...WW thing.... Color I like

Point of Information: For those of you playing at home, This is a Four year old.

In this picture it is nearly time for him to leave for preschool, and he needs to find his shoes, and get his lunch out of the fridge, and then get into the car. Instead, he decides to sit down and build a car wash. Also you can see in the background a pretty interesting chair. THAT CHAIR CAME WITH THE HOUSE. It will stay here when we leave.. It is very comfortable. You may also notice that I like to decorate with Guitars. Well, who doesn't, really? They make a certain statement...

New House Progress... Or maybe this is how we will have to leave it... not sure yet.


WW thing I got last night.

This is the color I want to paint our new house... Bill says it will look like a barn, does not like it. I guess you have to picture the color on YOUR OWN house, which is much HARDER.

They have more stuff up... I could not stay because I was late getting home from WW but they have done a lot more on the house.

Also at WW I got this little thing for coming for 16 weeks. Its an award for showing up... but I did show up. Siri is about to get her 10% Key Chain. I am jealous of her.

And an idea I had for the house, as in how I think it would look nice... This is from a different house in Canby, one that is located sort of near where my Canby BFF Siri lives. Hard to see from the picture. Its hard to take pictures of peoples houses around town of exterior paint schemes you like without looking like a crazed stalker.

Survey: How did Charlie Rose REALLLLY get that Black Eye?

" Seriously? You want a piece of me? You feelin' lucky, Punk?"

A. Was jumped by the McLoughlin Group
B. Late night tryst with Maureen Dowd
C. Suze Orman was trying to teach him to break dance. Again.
D. There was a sale on striped ties at Barneys, and he had to fight Tom Brokaw...
E. Hit in head by wrench trying to fix dripping sink at Eleanor Clift's house
F. Mosh Pit at Seal concert.
G. Jumped out of a moving car shouting:"I AM A GOLDEN GOD!"
H. Just woke up that way, in a Red Roof Inn in New Jersey with Diane Sawyer.
I. Its nothing serious, he is just having some work done.
J. Dancing with the Stars audition did not go so well....was kicked by Debbie Gibson
K. Argument with a toll booth operator got out of hand.
L. "For the last time, Greenspan, I am NOT going to Arm Wrestle you!"
M. Sick of being made fun of because his middle name is Peete. Seriously. It is.
N. Tried to break up a fight between Client Number 6 and Client Number 4
O. http://machinist.salon.com/blog/2008/03/18/charlie_rose

Charlie Rose, the Sexiest Man Alive.

Seriously. I thought perhaps he had gotten into a knife fight with either MacNeil or Lehrer, or maybe had been jumped by the McLoughlin Group. And certainly, whatever happened, he would not go on the air like this... but Charlie cannot be stopped by conventional weapons. Awesome.

When in doubt, just put up more pictures of Spencer....

I have a cold again, feeling feverish and yucky. But Spencer has been having a fun time out on the town. Yesterday we went to McDonald's, because it is one of the few places in Canby (where it rains constantly) you can take a kid to run around indoors. He takes two bites of his eggs or whatever and then goes up into that Petri Dish Play Structure and runs around until he is exhausted. It is on my list of things I always said I would never ever do as a parent - take the kid to McDonald's and let them play on the play structure. This list was compiled before I was a parent.... The list also included things like NO TV. EVER. and NEVER have one of those cars with a DVD player in the back seat.

Later in the day Spencer went to his friend Cole's 5th Birthday party. The party was held at a place that had a rock wall for kids and the grips on the wall were all letters. Here is a picture of Spencer "Climbing the alphabet" as he put it. Oh and yes, he is wearing white socks with his Keen Sandals. Like Mother like son.. I try to dress him at least as dorky as I dress, so as to present to cohesive family unit to the world.

I am going back to bed so I can continue to alternate being freezing cold and boiling hot. My tonsils are the size of canteloupes. I don't understand why I even still have them. My Dad was a doctor and did not want them taken out. i wish they were gone.

They did more to the upstairs...also a dinosaur parking garage

More on the upstairs....

We are thinking this garage would not work for the new house....

We only came to look at it when it was getting dark last night so this pic is weird... I took it with my phone but here is the lastest house pic.

Spence The Builder... Can He Build It? YES HE CAN!

This is the Tower after it got really tall That is Spencer in the background

This is the zoo he built one afternoon, pretty much by himself. It even has a parking garage.

The Final version of the tower. Spencer is in the foreground.

He spends hours in preschool building these structures and usually it is just him and maybe one other kid. The above zoo he did pretty much by himself in one afternoon. the tower was pretty great too. At home, he lost a lot of blocks and stuff in the explosion, and Boogie ate a lot of his mega Blocks BUT that does not phase him....he builds things out of whatever is around. Today it was a parking structure out of like a turned over chair and a bunch of mixed types of blocks and I think a cardboard box. HE builds these really high towers all of the time too, and he challenges himself to see if he can have it not fall. The preschool is used to his creations now, his massive structures, and when he gets going they just let him go. It is not ALL he does but it is clearly his favorite. He is getting more blocks for his birthday

I do not know where he got this, or what it means, but I am very happy to see that he has found a passion for a bit. maybe I can nurture it somehow. I like that fact that he can build something cool out of ANYTHING around him. This will hopefully serve him well later on. I do know that he LOVES his preschool, which is called, ironically enough.... Building Blocks.

Maybe a flying doorknob hit me in the head....

I really CANNOT explain what the hell is wrong with me lately that I LOVE these stupid videos of dogs talking and singing. Stress? Senility? Concussion? Insurance Adjuster Overload? maybe I have been living with a goat too long. Or maybe a sever case of MOMnesia. I cannot be sure, but Heaven help me, I do love these things. I thought for sure one day as I got older I would get somehow sophisticated.... but I think that ship has sailed, and now I am just this kooky gal who cannot resist an Afghan Hound singing along to a person playing The Girl From Impanema" on the piano. Does stress somehow turn you into a big goof?

I dunno... but you gotta watch these. You'll laugh.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCYaw5tGYAs&feature=related


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DIB79nLOlkE&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58CZcCvwND4


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1R56ZdTTh8

And Sometimes you just gotta dance with your trumpet

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wffwg7pA0t8

I KNOW this is a rerun.... but its probably the funniest thing I have ever seen on You Tube.

Sometimes.....You just gotta dance with your walrus.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPghCH5uAeY&feature=related

Three Great ones.

Three AWESOME You Tube things.

I no longer try to embed them. They never work.

1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A61k7iFrQ0w&feature=related
Ray.


2. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0n7C1AyU-9Q&feature=related
You Gotta Tighten Up

3. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbeW94nfPKc
Tell me Girls, are these pants too tight??? HAHAHAH This movie was really fun... Seriously.

I Heart MY NEW CURVES T SHIRT!!!!!!!!

Curves sells all these silly stupid icky OLD LADY-ish Cutesy T-shirts. They have like 12 new ones a month.. Its so annoying. All the old ladies wear their CURVES shirts every day.. UGH. They say things like "I Love my Curves" or "My Curves Blow me Away"(that one has a clothes line on it) or "Created by God, Maintained by Curves"

So uhmm... I wear this stupid gross old huge black T shirt to Curves. It is SOOOO comfortable...I had an idea to make my own shirt as a joke, with puffy paints, and I told Siri and she was like "You TOTALLY have to do that..." SO I did.

See if you can GUESS WHICH Stupid CURVES SHIRT is mine????? HAHAHA I know it will be a challenge.. Bill was like, "Liz that is retarded..." HAHAHAHAHA And DON'T THINK I am not gonna wear it, like EVERY DAY.

Curves Food Drive

Curves baseball Shirt

My Curves Blow Me Away Shirt

I Heart Curves Shirt

New pic of house, Dog in the car,

Yesterday we went to visit the house. You will notice Spencer wore his Bob the Builder helmet from his Halloween costume.... it has part of the top floor done!!!

Also we took Amy our Plott Hound along, who has turned out to be the sweetest dog we have ever had... She is really such a sweet nice dog. So here she is in the front seat of my Toyota.

NEW FEATURE: Stupid List Friday.

Gift Ideas for Lumberjacks

1. Harmonica with Neck Supporter
2. Ax Guard
3. Socks
4. Insect Repellent
5. Sandwich meat
6. Guide on Poisonous Plants
7. Tweezers for splinters
8. Tea Tree Oil Shampoo
9. Book of scary stories
10. Compass
11. Alprazolam
12. Ride to the Airport
13. Organic lemons
14. Pineapple Upside Down Cake
15. Lounge Lizards Album


What do YOU give the Lumberjack in your life?

2 more pics of house being built

They added a big long wooden thing across the top of the garage. now if you will excuse me i have 200 phone calls to make for my lawyers. sigh.