Spring is here!

Spring has sprung!!!!  There are signs all over place:

These little cuties were newly planted last year.  LOVE!




The Rhododendron's are opening!  One of my favorites!  Beautiful!



Spring is such a lovely time.  All the beauty of the outdoors awaken, shiny and new.  The blossoms come quietly then explode into color where the was none.   I want to see your favorite thing about spring but I can't figure out how to let you post pictures as comments.  Feel free to drop them on my facebook page or e-mail them to me.  I'll make a collection and post here.  How fun!  Please share!

Take some time to enjoy the beauty that is emerging.  Breathe and be thankful for having seasons to remind us of all the important things.

Presidential Hand Me Downs

I saw this story and it cracked me up so I had to share.  Sasha Obama wore a dress on Easter that was seen on her older sister Malia back in 2008.  **GASP** 



I think it's funny that this is even newsworthy.  The Blogger commented that it was a "good call from Mrs. O."  First, this is the most normal presidential family ever and I love that!  Secondly, I think it's great that they don't care if it's been seen before.  Third and finally, who among us didn't wear hand me downs?  I remember waiting for certain items to be outgrown and passed on to me.  Praying they wouldn't be too well worn when they got here.  Haha those were the days!

This here is a very lovely dress.  It looks beautiful on both girls.  I'm glad this made the headlines.

Easter is weird...bah humbug!

I hope you had a joyous Easter!  I tend to be a scrooge and this post will surely prove that.  Sorry, it's not sac religious as much as it is just general scrooginess. 

I wish we celebrated for 5 days like some European Countries because I would be in bed right now. 

I notice that everyone celebrates in a different way.  I think that's great!  For me a wonderful service and potluck at our church and a quiet day at home was just perfect!

I love my birth family very much but the holiday celebrations are a bit overwhelming for me.  There are on average 30-50 people, some of whom I don't know.  I went to Easter last year and it was fun.  There's no way I'm going to sacrifice my body for the adult fight to the death easter egg hunt.  It's always just a bit too loud and raucous for me.  I'm sorry if that hurts any one's feelings.  I think everyone knows it but I have yet to say it aloud.  I must own it.  It has nothing to do with my love for them!  I think they know that I'm good for a couple full gatherings a year.

Snohomish County residents should be aware that on Easter, their hard earned tax dollars were spent paying 3 sheriffs to sit in their cars outside the Catholic Church near my house.  Apparently they were there to monitor traffic.  Since they were in their cars and not out on the street I'm not sure what the concern was.  They were there on Christmas Eve and Christmas as well.  I will admit, I don't care for it.  I think the church should pay for their own security or traffic monitoring.  I sure as hell don't want to pay for it!!  Maybe what I'm pissed about is how long it takes them to arrive at the scene of an actual crime. 

Easter food is scary!  Cadbury eggs are fairly good but they make me sick after just one.  Peeps should be outlawed just because they're gross.  There's no way I would put one of those in my mouth.  I would however watch it blow up in a microwave, that is pretty fun.  I will consume the ham!  So Yummy!

As for the Easter Message, yes I'm a Woman of faith.  My beliefs may be a little far reaching from the traditional message.  Suffice it to say I celebrated Jesus' Resurrection yesterday and I will leave it at that.

What rating would your life be?

If this blog had a rating system, which perhaps it should, mine would probably be PG13.  That was never my intention.  My thoughts are a bit on the edgy side so I guess it's fitting.  Having this thought made me wonder how they define PG13 for films?  Here's an interesting interpretation:

PG-13 - Parents Strongly Cautioned - Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13. These films may contain sex references, up to four uses of explicit language, drug innuendo, strong crude/suggestive humor, mature/political themes, moderately long horror moments and/or moderate action violence. There are usually no restrictions on non-sexual nudity. However, bloodshed is rarely present. This is the minimum rating at which drug content is present; with the exception of Austin Powers and Click. Marijuana smoking is the only illegal drug use that can be depicted in a PG-13 film, with the exception of Forrest Gump, in which a brief scene depicts an actress snorting cocaine. While PG-13 films usually have more profanity than PG films, this is not necessarily the case. A film that is given a PG-13 rating due to profane language and/or racial insults is given this rating because it contains more of these elements than a PG rating would permit, or the film contains uses of stronger profanities than a PG would permit. A film rated PG-13 for "intense violence" is given this rating if blood is present in a violent way. The films Gremlins and Indiana Jones: Temple of Doom are well known as the movies that PG-13 was created for. In recent years, this rating has been used for the majority of American films released. Some films that have received a PG-13 rating have a director's cut with an R rating. Daredevil is just an example of this practice.^[15] Examples include The Simpsons Movie, Eat Pray Love and Casino Royale.

Ok, truth be told my actual life should be rated R.  I'll try to keep the blog to a PG13.

What rating would you give your life?

Spreadsheet Eyeballs!

Sorry Guys, I have 3 or 4 blogs creating in my head but it's really hard to post right now.  I have a serious case of spreadsheet eyeballs!  Work has been so balls to the wall right now and I love it!  The constant data manipulation gets tiresome on the eyes.  The work is riveting and that's a very good thing.

Thank you MS!!  I love Excel!  I use it for everything in my work and my personal life.  For a person like me that's not able to do math in my head, I'm so thankful!  Could not LIVE without it!!

I can do check boxes, formulas, pivot tables and vlookups pretty easily now.  Have you ever gone to http://www.youtube.com/ and gotten free Excel training?  It's an endless supply of resources!  Check it out...

I'm not sleeping at all to speak of, not sure why.  I just picked up some Melatonin and I hope to finally get a good nights sleep.  Wish me luck.

Sweet Dreams!

Spring Cleaning!

Waking up on this cold Monday Morning I feel satisfied!  Spring Cleaning has begun at the Petersen Household.  It's such a healing to purge, organize and clean in, under and around everything!  The shift in energy is astounding! 

I can't wait to get to work so I can spring clean my desk!  I'm going to spring clean those filing cabinets too.  Hell, I might move everything and clean under it and put it all back!  I'm so excited!  The kitchen at work could use a deep cleaning but I might have to gather a committee for that. 

My yard is a mess but I must begin the process inside.  It's almost as if I clean inside first then the outside will be ready for  me.  That doesn't make any sense as is often the case with feelings.  Mostly it's a case of being too cold to do yard work yet. 

I'm supercharged and ready to go!  Got the master bedroom and bathroom done this weekend.  It's shiny baby and looks amazing!  Me, my dear husband and our two best friends will conquer all:

Miele Sweeper:

Shark Steam Mop

How about you?  Has the spring cleaning bug bit you yet?

Mama Bear is PISSED!

I asked my daughters permission to post a blog about a situation she has going on.  She said no so I'm posting an abbreviated version.  Sorry Honey, please forgive me!  I will only say this:  Her situation makes the hair on the back of my neck stand straight up.  It raises the Mama Bear in me to an ENRAGED ROAR!!!

Obviously, when it comes to our children our main purpose is to protect them.  When they become adults nothing changes.  The defensive instincts of a parent are so strong they are indescribable!  I know that my daughter can hold her own.  She is strong willed like me and she is physically strong and smart.  I know, because I taught her self defense myself (beginning at a very young age).  Somehow, knowing this is not one bit helpful.  I want to charge forth, roaring loudly and rip the face off anyone that wants to mess with my kid! 

I'm trying to respect her wishes and not get involved.  Truth be told, I'm waiting and watching for now.  If this continues, I make no guarantees. 

Enjoy the view!

Life is such a rat race!  We should stop, every day, everywhere we go and enjoy the view!  Here are some views that I have enjoyed.   I hope you enjoy them too!  Don't miss the video at the bottom of the page, stop for 17 seconds and enjoy!  Happy Friday!

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Not much time this morning but I wanted to share one picture and one thought.  I was doing my taxes last night (bleck) and I looked out the window.  I gasped at the lovely evening.  I grabbed the camera and ran outside to take this picture. 

To some it just looks like rain.  To me, it's the tapestry of a rainy spring evening!  The colors are so vivid and the lights bounce off the darks.  To me this is beautiful!     

NEWSFLASH!!!

Are there things on your mind you do not say aloud?  Come on, you know you want to say.  No, you want to SHOUT it.  So do I.  Ethics, morals, the golden rule and a million other rules keep us from ever going up to someone and saying how we see it. 

I'm an exception, for the most part, I speak my mind.  The older I get the less I do it because dealing with people's reactions or their 'feelings' is a pain in the ass.  At work, it is seriously frowned upon even if they taut the value of being "transparent" they don't really like it at all!

So, let's do it!  In here we're safe.  Let's shout it out and get it off our chests!  For once in our lives, let's announce NEWSFLASH and tell it like it is.  Here, I'll get us started:

NEWSFLASH Safeway checker dude, I don't give a damn what you had for breakfast.  Your hands work faster when your mouth is shut and I have places to go so zip it!

NEWSFLASH Bicycling Mom I saw yesterday.  If your son has training wheels, he should NOT be riding in the bike lane on a 5 lane highway where the speed limit is 45 mph!!  DUH!

NEWSFLASH Gal at the bus stop.  You are far too large to wear leggings with a mini skirt.  Are you noticing the way people are looking at you?  By the way, where the hell do you work that you can dress like that?  Nevermind, I don't want to know.

NEWSFLASH Lady with the sour puss and whiny voice.  No one is ever going to listen to you.  No one!

NEWSFLASH Facebook game loving friends, I have no nails for your barn!!!  I blocked the game for a reason so posting it on my wall really pisses me off!!

NEWSFLASH Bitch that stole my 3 hole punch at work.  Do you think I don't see it on your desk?  I'm the buyer and I don't recall buying one for you in the last few days...Ummmm DUH!!!!  Seriously?

See, I feel better already!  I definitely should have spoken up about a few of these listed above.  Others are not my business.  It still feels good to get it off my chest!  Here's your chance, please share yours below.

Worst Waiter Ever

I suck at waiting!  I'm a very impatient person in all aspects of my life, however that's not what I'm talking about today.  When someone is in crisis or danger, there's nothing I can do to help and I have to wait for more news, I lose my damn mind!  Playing cribbage is the only thing I've found that can distract me from this hell.

A very good friend had open heart surgery on Friday.  All day I struggled to concentrate at work.  Around 4pm we got news that he had taken a turn for the worse and had been brought back into surgery.  For 3 hours, I waited for news.  I paced around, I stared at my cell phone and emotions bubbled furiously in my belly.  My dear husband finally distracted me with a game of cribbage.  We got good news that he was stable a short time later.

This was so reminiscent of a Sunday afternoon last summer.  I received a paniced call from my Mother saying that she heard on the news that a woman had been killed at the ice caves on Big Four Mountain.  I remember my confused long pause before saying "yes, and??"  She then informed me that my daughter had posted on facebook a few hours earlier that they were heading there.  OH MY GOD!  There's no cell service that far out of town so I had to wait for a couple of hours before hearing her beautiful voice telling me she was ok.   

We learned later that she and her friends arrived at the trailhead just after the emergency vehicles so they couldn't go up the trail.  Not knowing the details of what happened or that we were worried, they went to a nearby lake and had their picnic.  I was so upset and paniced I called everyone I could think of that might know who she was with so we could call their cell too.  I created this cascade of her friends all as worried as me. 

The reports on the internet just made things worse, saying a women in her 20's was killed (later we learned she was 11).  I thought it was possible that my baby was gone.  I can't describe it.  Once again, my husband said let's do something so we played cribbage.  Every time he was shuffling and dealing I dialed her phone then her boyfriends phone again and again.

I hate waiting...

Joy and Pain

Isn't facebook fascinating?  Most days it's silly and nothing earth shattering is posted.  You can almost always find some entertaining videos or hilarious stories.  You will always find impassioned political opinions.  You have to navigate those carefully if you're like me and you have friends in all camps. 

This week, I found numerous dichotomies of joy and pain on facebook.  It was no ordinary week.  My friends were all over the  map!  Some examples:

A lost job
Three new jobs
A baby said her first word
Trips are planned and taken
Anniversaries
75th Birthday (Happy Birthday Mom!)
Brand new car
A lost family heirloom
Home in foreclosure
Downed trees
Break up
New relationship
Car accident
Emergency surgery
Two dead family pets

I was shocked by the range of emotions I was reading about.  I would read a happy post and a sad post.  A celebratory announcement and then a prayer request.  The beauty of facebook is that support system.  Through high highs and low lows and all the in between our facebook friends are there.  It's great that we have a place to go and be ourselves and be supported despite what is happening in our lives.

Strangled in a past life??

I'm convinced that I was strangled to death in a past life.  I know, weird right?!  I can't stand anything around my neck.  Turtle necks are just not an option cause I'll go crazy.  A scarf is only possible if it's soft and relaxed.  

On my walk home last evening, the wind carried quite a chill.  I zipped my North Face jacket (a Pacific NW must have) all the way up and snapped it around my neck.  Suffocation engulfed me.  I knew it was silly so I stuck my hand in to validate how lose it was.  My whole hand fit with inches to spare.  I turned it sideways and I could easily spread my fingers.  It was plenty loose but it felt like a noose tight around my neck.  I unzipped it out of sheer frustration.  How completely irritating!

Whatever is causing me to feel that way has to stop, I need to let it go.  It's especially stupid when you don't even know what it is. 

I have a healthy fear of dogs but at least I know why.  At 9 or 10 when I was running away from home the neighbor dog got free and bit me and stole my favorite poncho.  Of course the possibility of rabies had to be investigated and everyone was concerned.  Nothing came out of it except lifelong paranoia. 

This is my Granddaughter Bella and me.  Don't get me wrong, she scares the crap out of me too but I've found a way to let it go enough to be madly in love with her! 

These hang ups can be paralyzing.  I would love to hear what yours are.  Do you have fears or phobias that are slowing you down?  Leave a comment below.

Blended Petersens

We are a mixed up kinda blended family!  In January of 1996 my 5 year old daughter and I moved into a duplex kitty corner from Mark and his 6 year old son.  For a variety of reasons, Mark's divorce and my stubborn independence to name two, we didn't formally meet until June 15th.  Mark and Kesa met and bonded long before that.  It's a very long story but this is the short version.

Two single parents became fast friends and bonded in a support system kind of way.  I'm sure it was only a matter of days til we realized we were in love.  Lafe and Kesa were tight from the minute they met.  We married on August 23rd, 1997 and Mark adopted Kesa on March 23rd, 1998.  Lafe has two Moms.  We are both named Laura and extremely awesome!!

It was not all picnics and smiles trust me.  Blending this family was tough business but that's for another time.  This photo essay is a celebration of the good times, the love and the bonding!  Look at the kids' resemblance, you would never know they are not blood related, it's fascinating!  They are both Geminis (1 year 12 days apart) so their personalities are similar and yet so different.

Lake Chelan, WA the day we got engaged!

Beautiful Wedding!

Adoption day!!  Pardon my ghastliness I was two months into cancer treatment.  Unfortunately, that does not excuse the 80's bangs...

Peas in a pod.

Halloween is our favorite!

Family photos

Our little elves celebrating Christmas

Two Graduations

Snowboarding Exhaustion

Our Adults!!  I can't decide which one of these is my favorite. 

There are no words to describe how much I love this blended phenomenal family!!!! 

Are you nuts???

Yes!  I am nuts, crazy as a loon, completely weird, dork of all dorks, I am a total freak!

See for yourself:

Me and Lafe celebrating Ace Ventura Hair at the crack of dawn camping in the outback.  LOL!

I shrieked when I saw that I could get IN the blue banana!  I'm still giggling about that one!

I LOVE when a young girl gets a camera in her hand and says "make a funny face".  HA!  Thanks Linnea!

I'm sick and tired of pretending to be normal.  I don't even believe in normal.  Could it be true that every single one of us feels like we have this side to us that no one should see?  Sure, we let our inner circle see and they tease.  The rest of the time we straighten our backs, adjust the hem of our sweaters, clear our throats and act like we know what we're doing.  I LOVE TO LAUGH and the silliest, craziest, most disgusting things make me laugh my ass off.  Lucky for me my husband and kids have similar funny bones.

Recently I was talking to someone and said "we should do something crazy" as a gift to a friend that is having health problems.  I suggested building a small photo album full of crazy pictures.  I was full of ideas.  "oh she and I could pretend like we're fighting and the guys could stand behind us a pretend they're betting." and "He could pretend he was having a baby.."  My friend laughed out loud and said "you make me feel normal, I have thoughts like that all the time".  This blog started building in my head.

What if I post a list of things that I think are fabulously crazy fun and you go "OMG, this chick is weird" and you don't get it at all.   Well, that's a risk.  BUT, what if I post said list and you go "OMG, that's great I'm not the only crazy one"??

Either way, I'll take the plunge.  Here's a short list of things I enjoy immensely:

• I love to fart when I know it's going to echo!  The bottom of the stairs in my house is the perfect place cause it echos up the stairs and into the pool room with vaulted ceilings. 
• It totally cracks me up to make a funny face at a child you don't know when you're out in public.  It's even funnier when they cry!
• I think it's hysterically funny to move things on someones desk, especially when they are super organized.
• Scaring my cats is the funniest!  Their feet scurry for seconds before finally launching forward.  The sound of their claws on the hardwood is a riot!
• One of my favorite things is to do strange things in the grocery with my daughter.  I'll walk with a limp or talk in a really weird voice and she turns beat red.  OMG it cracks me up!
• Don't feel bad for her she loves to moon me and I laugh til I snort every single time!
• My husband and I can keep a pun going about one word for an entire evening.  The stupider the better!

Alright so there you have it, I'm crazy and I love every minute of it!  I laugh every day and I don't mean once.  I laugh all day!  I'm not going to beat myself up about who I'm supposed to be or how I'm supposed to live.  I'm ME so deal with it!

Happy April Fools Day!