Tickle time and massages...

This was part of my birthday present... tickle and massage time... two of my favorite things, and for fear that Joseph would find it and throw it away (he hates tickle time), I took a picture... it lasts longer...



Ok, so I’ve been neglecting my blog… It’s been insanely busy at work, and since I now have the mortgage monkey on my back… duty calls. Averaging 60 hours a week I’m sure has taken a couple years off my life, but my down payment is just about covered, and then it’s on to the furniture. Yes, I’m a workaholic… thanks mom!!! I feel like I’m neglecting the apartment, but more importantly I’m neglecting my Joseph… sorry, my love… I hate coming home to find him asleep, and I’m sure he’s not happy about spending every evening by himself, or kissing me goodbye at 6 in the morning, when I’m barely alive. These are the sacrifices we make for adulthood… well, I hate it!!! I miss my days off, cuddling with Joseph while we watch trashy television, and I miss our nightly massages…. ahhh… those were the good ‘ol days, when life was simple, and I only had to furnish 800 square feet. But here I am on day 6 of a 12 day stretch at work, and just as money hungry as ever… damn the man!!!

My garden is moving along… I’ve eaten two beefsteak tomatoes (delicious!!), the Purple Cherokee’s are setting fruit, and the Schefflera clippling I stole from my mother has successfully set its roots and is now growing babies… YAY FOR ME!!!

On the flip side my gladiolus never grew flowers, just grew leaves and died… and my persian buttercups have yet to grow flowers, only leaves as of now. My friend, Sharlotte, gave me an orchid for my birthday, which I’ll probably kill before the month is over… I don’t do well with finicky plants…

Our house is still being built... Joseph and I visit every couple weeks and take pictures… here’s what it looks like as of a week ago… Do you notice something new in the front window… yes, it’s the SOLD sign. Yep, it’s all ours.

We had our family’s 2nd annual pool party at my parents last weekend and it was a huge success thanks to 6 different kinds of beer, an electric wine bottle opener, and the Margarita Machine... No, it wasn’t all about the alcohol. Did I mention Joseph and I kicked some serious butt in volleyball (you too, Dave)… yes, Dad, you can have a rematch next year… better bring your “A” game, or do the smart thing and switch teams...

Anna

Dad, Joseph, and Me

Kelley

Lexi

Cora, Stu, and Trish

Me and Joseph... Damn, I love this man...

New beginnings...

We received some wonderful, early birthday, news today... Lennar accepted our offer on our dream house. It's 2250 square feet of happiness, and has 4 bedrooms, and 3 baths, perfect for our future growing family and my need to create. The kitchen opens up to a beautiful great room overlooking our backyard... which will be dirt for awhile, but with the help of Joseph's Aunt, we will have a sanctuary to enjoy for years to come (my kitchen table is filled with landscaping books and magazines... time to do my research)

I hope this house see tons of loud family parties filled with laughter and tequila... and also that my dad follows through with his threats and spends a couple nights in our guest room (I could just imagine waking up to him and Joseph sitting in the living room watching cartoons and eating Lucky Charms... classic!).

We are so over-the-moon excited!!!

The downside of being a NICU nurse...

I've been a NICU nurse for 3 years now, and most of the time it's positive and extremely rewarding, but it only takes one bad day to throw you up against a wall and spoil your spirit...
I got a call at 7am this morning telling me the baby I was taking care of for the past two weeks died last night. He was having such a good weekend... he was sick, but stable... and that phone call seriously jilted me...

My prayers are with his family, who lost their son way too soon... They gave him love and whispered sweet words in his ears while he slept. I can't even begin to imagine what they must be going through, but I hope they enjoyed what little time they had with their lovely boy...

This is how crazy I've become

I worked twelve hours yesterday (11a-11pm), then because I just hadn't been torturing myself enough I slept in one of the sleep rooms for 4 hours (well, actually I only slept for 45min), and then got up and finished up the night shift (3a-7a)... I thought I was trashed the other day, but it doesn't even compare to what I'm feeling today. I didn't even have to take a benedryl... I came home, took a shower, and then passed out for 7 hours with absolutely no interruption. That's how freakin' exhausted I was... no benedryl!?!... I haven't done that in years. I go back to work tomorrow until Thursday and then I'm off to Fort Bragg for three days with my love... THANK THE LORD!!

Today is a special day for Joseph and me... it's our 2 year anniversary and now we have the whole evening to love on each other. He just brought me a glass of wine and a plate of crackers with seafood salad in bed (classy and delicious!!), and now he's in the kitchen making his famous Balsamic Pork Tenderloin... so good!! After dinner we're going to pamper each other until we fall asleep... nothing else could be better after a long week at work.

My love... you are the love of my life and the man of my dreams, and these last two years have been incredibly blissful. I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with you... I love you more than you will ever know... Happy anniversary my Honeybush!!!

Weak, or human?

I worked 16 hours last night, and barely got home (thanks to my blaring music and strong wind)... I finally fell asleep at 8am and then woke up at 2pm and that was it... No more sleeping for you, Jess... that's all you get!! Now I'm watching "The Hills" re-runs trying to relax. I'm so trashed!!! I only have to work 4 hours today... thank GOD!!!... and I plan on getting 12 hours of sleep tonight with my love beside me. I haven't seen Joseph since he kissed me goodbye (when I was half asleep) yesterday morning.... he had a 6am meeting this morning, but he made sure to close all the curtains and turn down the bed, so all I had to do was collapse into my pillow. It was wonderful, but I really wanted him here... I didn't sleep well.

If you didn't already know it by now I really really want my house... I'm working as much as I can while my body will let me, so from now on it's balls to the wall... until I land straight on my face... which I have a feeling will be soon. Everyone at work keeps saying, "You're young... you can handle it." I'm sorry, but I don't know if I can handle it... Am I weak, or just human?

My little nubs...

Yes, I've been neglecting my blog... I've been having busy mornings of workouts, gardening and cooking... but my garden is flourishing right in front of my eyes and soon I'll be drowning in tomatoes... YAY!!! I picked up a new tomato plant from the Farmer's Market a couple weeks ago (It was 107 degrees here in Sacramento that day... Joseph and I spent the morning strolling through the Farmer's Market holding hands... it was wonderful!!)... it's a Cherokee Purple Tomato plant and it's just a baby, but so was my Beefsteak plant and look at what a heifer it is now!!! Remember what it looked like a few weeks ago (it's the brown round planter in the back... you can barely see the plant)...

...Oh, and here is it's first tomato "nub"... isn't it darling? I can't keep track of all the new flowers...

Well, it hasn't been all sunshine and tomato nubs around here... the only herb seeds that successfully germinated was the thyme and the other three never even made an appearance... oh, well you live, you learn. I think the soil got too dried out from the sweltering heat we've been having here in Sac, and they just didn't want to come out and play. Poor lovies, I never gave them a chance. I'm trying to remedy these piss poor conditions I've provided my poor babies by buying them a cozy seed sowing house courtesy of Ebay... YAY!!! I also decided to germinate them in moist paper towels first to give them a little running start... hopefully some will make it out alive.

I've realized I like to sow seeds myself... if I get a baby plant I feel like I'm cheating (and plus, the seeds are much much cheaper and you get TONS of seeds in one package... it's a win-win situation). I like the thought of starting from scratch and tending to it until the plant is big and strong. I know what you're thinking... this woman needs a baby, so she can stop obsessing about her mini-garden... and you would be absolutely correct *wink*...

I started a gardening journal . It's not fancy what-so-ever (it's just a spiral notebook), but it's helping me keep track of what goes wrong, things I seem to do right and I even have a gardening calendar to admire it's progress. Yes, I'm very "Type A" bordering on neurotic... thanks Mom!!... the organization keeps me sane...

The Censor, The Garden, and Mary

Miss Suzi Blu has inspired me again!! Damn that woman!! :) If you haven't already gone to her ning network, please, I beg you, GO!!! (http://www.suziblu.ning.com/) There are so many workshops to fall in love with and they are sure to unleash the creative passion that you thought didn't exist. One of the newest FREE workshops is centered around a book called "The Artist's Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity" by Julia Cameron. The first chapter is about creating a sense of safety by acknowledging your inner critic (you Censor) and basically telling him to shut the heck up... he's the one who plants "Negative Nelly" thoughts in your head anytime you get a compliment. Have you ever really payed attention to children... they will compliment themselves with such conviction and without hesitation because they're free from self doubt (that negative crap we adults force feed ourselves). Go ahead, try saying something nice about yourself and just listen to your Censor weasel his way in... We don't need to hear any more from the peanut gallery, so could you kindly SHUT UP!!!... I still have to do my positive affirmation homework, but so far I'm loving this book...

On the gardening front... After all my stressing over my bulbs not sprouting I went out on my patio Saturday morning and found that two of my bulbs had indeed broken free (and a couple days later a couple more made their debut).... I tell you, I have never been so freakin' excited and I must have gone out to "check on them" about 20 times throughout the day just to bask in my success. I was all ready to dig them out and "force" them, but I guess all I needed was a little faith and patience. I was so inspired by my newly discovered green thumb that I went out and bought lavender and star jasmine plants and a bunch of herb seeds... and yes, I will sow them myself... that's right, Martha Stewart, there's a new girl in town... Watch out!!!

Some other good news... I have finally finished my commissioned piece for the The American Cancer Society. Her name is Mary and I am completely head over heels in love with her. All day Monday I painted away at this background... I lost count on how many layers I put down, but the end result is beautiful, I think, so it was all worth it. I couldn't bare to not have a remembrance of her, so I dropped her off at Sacramento Giclee this morning so I can have a print all to myself (and anyone else who loves her)... Her she is...

AJF #3

I Never Said Nothing...

... Inspired by the song by Liz Phair, I picked out one of my naughty pin-up girl pics, and started creating... I accented the pic with a white Gelly Roll pen, added a little edging and journaling... The white circles and yellow "splotches" are made with the cardboard of a toilet paper roll (yes, I use anything I can find... and it's free... YAY!!)


The journaling reads...
LIFE IS TOO SHORT FOR REGRETS... and it's certainly too short to pretend you are someone you're not. Every life needs a little scandal and intrigue... and every woman deserves the right to be a little naughty... BE NAUGHTY!

I just ordered some gardening books last night after an inspirational hour of Martha Stewart "On Demand" videos... I'm telling you, that woman is a freakin' genius!! I was, however, a little disappointed to find out the bulbs I planted won't make their debut until Spring of NEXT YEAR!!! How the heck did I not know that? I'm not a patient woman, and I have a feeling I'll be digging them out before it's time, but I really hope I won't... they're too beautiful to ruin....

I'm still working on my commissioned piece for The American Cancer Society, and I promise I'll have it finished by Tuesday... her name is Mary... She is strong and beautiful and I can't wait to show her off...

AJF #2 (On Monday... ooops)...

Celebrity Surf...

I bleached this photo after doing some textured background techniques and collaging some misc papers I had lying around... Bleaching is so easy and fun, and I love how it gives an antique feel to any picture... Just briefly dip the pic in water, then a bleach solution (two parts water to one part bleach) and watch the years drift off the page... The blue pigment will lift off first, then the red and yellow last... play around with how long to leave it in the bleach solution (just keep in mind more pigment will lift off when you give it a final rinse under cold water)... then pat with a paper towel and Voila!!!

The journaling reads...

This day was the perfect birthday... a day on the boat at Folsom Lake with the folks... Just sun and water... good company and good food... I don't need much and this was simple a perfect example of simple perfection... The only thing missing was the sweet kiss of my love... who was at work... still a great day... July 2007

Homecoming bliss...

This is what I came home to Saturday morning at 730am, after I finished a grueling 16 hour shift... Joseph left early in the morning for a golfing extravaganza, and he made sure all I had to do was take a shower and plop into bed. The kitchen was clean... the bed was made with my side neatly folded down, waiting for me... my nightgown was laid out and the dark curtains was pulled tight all around the apartment, perfect for a daytime sleep.... ahhhhh... Joseph is so wonderful... how did I get so lucky?

I have worked 36hours and had 15 hours of sleep in the past three days... I am exhausted, and happy to have today off, even though it's cleaning day and I won't get much rest. I feel at peace because I know Joseph will be home soon and I will spend the remainder of this busy day in his arms...