Amanda Alva

I had a dream last night of a dear friend from school and have tried multiple times to find her online and haven't had any luck. She should be around the age of 28 and she has a mom named Trudy.

I thought - heck - why not put it online. No reasoning in finding her, just she's been heavy on my heart and mind today since having a dream about her. Kind of weird.

Randi

100% Over Stimulation

The reason for going to Vegas on vacation (planned 5 days before leaving) was for warmth and sun - and we received both items! YAHOO!! :o)

The day we flew in (Monday the 26th) on a bumpy ride into Las Vegas (which sounds like others had a bumpy ride too) we arrived at the MGM Grand and were hungry. Well, we ended up eating at a very expensive Chinese restaurant within the hotel. It was really good food, but way more than we wanted to spend. (AND they corrected me with using the wrong spoon for the soup!) We crashed early this night.....(I was so extremely tired having had taken motion sickness medicine!) (oh and did I say that you can hear everything in this hotel? EVERYTHING! Anyone talking in the hallways, the people next door, etc.? Upon arrival the door next to us (room 312) had a sign on it that said "Club 312!" - they played some hip hop type music and talked some of the night.....PLUS the helicopters, sirens....it was crazy - like I'm saying..... 24/7 OVER stimulation!

Tuesday we got up and moving around 9:30am and went to the Rainforest Cafe for breakfast. We didn't want any gut bomb breakfast so ordered some oatmeal. (Wait, I forgot to mention......no coffee pots in the rooms - so we had to 1) order coffee out at the restaurant and/or buy it). Well.....now we have another issue - Randi is a complete coffee snob and has a very sensitive stomach - AND head (ugh) as I cannot have palm oil (in most creamers) and I *need* enough coffee to not give me a headache......(now if that doesn't show you how much 1 cup of coffee can control a person!) I ended up getting Starbucks coffee 3 of the mornings and 1 morning trying to drink regular coffee....with lots of non-dairy, non-palm oil infested creamer and LOTS of sugar..... After the breakfast and yummy fruit....we piddled around - wandered around. We headed down the strip (we were on the North end) and we walked through every hotel, casino along the way all the way to the South end (Treasure Island) for a free show at 7:00pm. Well, the show was cancelled due to high winds! So, we made our trek back......in hopes of catching the Bellagio's dancing waters at night.......they too, were cancelled due to high winds - nice huh? Oh well, we got lots of exercise, got to see lots......and it was warm! :o) (and by the way, at this point we still hadn't lost any money we gambled!) :o) (and we stayed up almost till 12am!)

Wednesday we had planned on laying out by the pool and just relaxing. It wasn't all that warm for pool laying...the wind was blowing, the sun would come and go.....so we literally laid out for 1 hour and I was done. We were going to head to Freemont Street to see the light show that night - but decided to just stay close to home and hang out. We had a blast just chillin'.

Thursday we got up a bit later and wandered this time using the Monorail and seeing a few different hotels. Well.....what we then decided is that for the time it takes us to get to the monorail station at each hotel, and then to walk to the hotel destination - we could've walked there in the amount of time! (we ended up walking back!) It was fun to see some new sights though.......Thursday night we saw KA' by Cirque de Soleli - absolutely amazing, astounding, and we were 4 rows from the front. It was crazy and amazing what people can do. We packed up Thursday night......

Friday at 5:00am came TOO early and we showered the night before so we could just pack up and go.......and we did just so. When we walked downstairs to catch the shuttle I said to K "Did these people get up way early or did they stay up all night?!" She said "probably a bit of both!" there were LOTS of people and it was 5:30 AM!! We had a smooth flight home and then caught the shuttle back to the Red Lion in Portland and then made the trek for home and got home about 3:30pm. (Bless K's heart as she drove all the way to Vancouver - and drove 98% of the way home due to my stress issues and motion sickness sleepyness) AND for those who know me - KNOW I don't sleep in cars :o)

Today we started our laundry, planted our garden (Onions were planted awhile back, rhubarb is growing like crazy (anyone local want some?), corn, cucumbers, our raspberries are going to go crazy this year, carrots and last will be beans! I made some dinner for Jenae and family (lasagna) and visited with them for a little bit. She absolutely amazes me. She's moving around pretty well (having just had a C-Section on Wednesday).

I am so thankful we got a few days to recoup before having to go back to work.

A few things I learned over vacation:

1) I hate flying. It stresses me out to no end. I just hate it.
2) Unschooling makes 100% sense - not only to me - but to my partner also :o)

With that.....I'll sign off.
Randi

Whitlock's New Family Member

Please help me in welcoming Shaun and Jenae (my cousin's) new baby:

MADDEN MICHAEL

8LBS 6OZ

20" LONG

MAY 28, 2008 7:36 AM

Proud Siblings:

Mason and Mia (and I was going to post pictures of them - but realized I have no recent pictures of them online and it'd show them all *very* close in age - and perhaps Mia at the same age Madden is! :o)

Randi

Life Is Good Recap

LIFE IS GOOD RECAP 2008 (with maybe TMI)

• The unsettled stress/diarrhea 2 days before departure. (Thank you dear Karen for the realization of just leaving home can be very unsettling for some AND thank you go Ginger for teaching me to try living in the NOW!)
• Fear of the unknown - yet excited to be around people who believe in A LOT of what I want to do
• Day 2 at Life Is Good - tears - yet not being brave enough to go out of my comfort zone to talk to people
• Attending Circle Chats (and even waking early for them!) and not having a clue what they are about!
• Making Happy Birthday signs and wishing each one could have been celebrated individually and those people made extra special those days (but did my best!)
• The conversations with Kauleen at meals - trying to grasp it all.
• Being adults - yet - allowed to do FUN things (i.e. door decorations!)
• Seeing people - then going back to the room to look them up in my directory
• Able to learn, watch and grow before kids.
• Missing great speakers, dances, etc. for REAL quality time with people

LIFE IS GOOD PEOPLE RECAP 2008

(People who made impressions on me - not in any particular order):

• Ronnie and Frank - For your willingness to listen, help me grow, let me fly, and accept and love. For all you've taught me and more. I will be forever grateful.
• Chloe and MJ - For the random Hello's, the real life of unschooling and the special people you've both become!
• Kauleen - For coming to Life Is Good for my support and finally in the end, attending. Our hearts, eyes, and lives will forever be chanced for the better. Love you!
• Ginger - To you for my goals of Life Is Good - Knitting and Henna. Your warm heart and peacefulness made me feel at ease. I enjoyed our many chats and appreciate your willingness to have shared your experiences and recommendations! :)
• Jeff - For our chat Sunday night about babies and how they are made with two women! :) For your genuine kindness and awesome example.
• Gillian - For the birthday hug that will forever be remembered.
• Robin B. - For the welcoming "Hello Randi and Kauleen" and being acknowledged. That helped me calm right down!
• Holly (and boys - I forgot their names!) and the chance to be free and run!
• Suzanne - For your realness, your love for Luca and your strength as a single mom. You Go Girl! (...and if we have another Non-Con North - hope you and Luca can make it!) (http://zombieprincess.blogspot.com/search/label/non-con)
• To All The Amazing Breastfeeding Mama's! WAY TO GO!!
• To The Little Girl Who Sang: Twinkle, Twinkle, Yittle Star - The song will forever be my memory
• To Broc - For your gigantic wing span and for making the kids get lots of tickets for their much wanted items! (and too bad we met on the last day!)
• Brenna - We never officially met, but may life bring you great joy and lots of awesome adventures!
• Gioia, Aliana and Gemma - For your awesome dancing and spirit!
• Mary Lewis (and I believe daughter Sarah?) for the chat on the first night of LIG - for making me feel comfortable and for sending off wishes of "happy breeding!" :)
• Renee Cabatic - (we never officially met). Your genuine love and enjoyment of your children shines outwardly. I found myself at times smiling at your interactions with your kids! (I specifically loved you trying to fill out the Fairy Godparent Questionnaire...then asking them what they would've put...prompting and helping by your answers
• The Golds - For your hard work and dedication months (years) before the conference, the workings OF the conference AND especially this conference with the midst of moving / packing - WOW!
• Sharon Wallace - For your outgoingness of stating how it is, how it should be, the needs and/or wants of your family - and it just being so.
• Diana Jenner - Thank you for enlightening Kauleen on the wonders of extended breastfeeding (although she did state that it hasn't necessarily changed her mind :) - and - for the magical baby dust spread on Randi's Amy Steinberg shirt :)
• Amy Steinberg - What a REAL woman. Your concert ROCKED my world.
• TO EVERYONE: Thank you for letting us learn in real life what AP and unschooling is all about - BEFORE KIDS. Thank you to all who shared their experiences, books, stories and kids.

Home At Last!

We made it home today about 3:30pm. I've checked out the many Life is Good digests, looked a lots of pictures (couldn't wait to get home and see some pics that were taken!) and I am completely and utterly exhausted (thanks to the motion sickness medicine that tends to kick my butt!)

So, with that......I'm headed to the couch to put into words some amazing things that happened while we were gone........

Randi

Bedtime Post

What a wonderful day! :) We ran some errands this morning, had a very delightful visit with some dear friends and a yummy dinner (although it didn't settle well with K or I - and hope we don't end up literally getting sick!) and I got some "drums" today. I say "some" because it is a set of 2 bongo drums. They sound AWESOME!! K and I have been playing them! (the cats aren't quite sure about them).

I'm getting very excited for LIG - and have started multiple lists as to what not to forget.

Off to bed.
Randi

Weekend Post

We had a garage sale today - it was HOT. We made a good chunk of money and did quite a bit better than expected! :) It will help greatly with some awesome activities coming up :)

I got up at 5:30am this morning to bake fresh cookies to sell at the garage sale. Let me tell you - they sell AWESOME. I made strawberry rhubarb muffins and they didn't sell as well. So, for future reference, make chocolate chip cookies and sell them 2 for .25 and you'll make some extra dough that way too! :) (no pun intended!)

We went hunting for new bathing suits....(and we've been hunting)....it is not so fun. We're headed to Vegas soon so needed to be prepared for some warm weather :)

For those who do not already know, I'm not going to Verizon. Through much thought, tribulation, un-easyness and a few important items on K and I's agenda, it just didn't seem reasonable at this time. Everyone at work is overly excited and K and I are very much at ease with the decision.

Also, I have re-opened my blog to the public, since not taking the job (long story) but thank you for all who stuck around and read even in the midst of the chaos and as Ronnie put it "blog nazi" situation ;o)

Tomorrow we'll figure out what our plans are for what we need to pack, how much laundry we need to get done, what we can take with us on an airplane liquid wise, what else we need for LIG (food, accessories, etc.) and be on our way! OH I am excited.

That's it for now!
Randi

Morning Conversation

R: K can you move over and do your make up?
K: OK

A few minutes later:

K: Are you out of your routine?
R: No, I don’t have a routine – I am unschooling
K: Good one.

:)

Friday Fill-In

1. There is absolutely NO way you can get me to not go on vacation!
2. The smell of BBQ's reminds me that summer is almost here!
3. I cannot live without my sweat pants and heating pad.
4. Knitting and Drumming Circle are two things I'd like to try.
5. When life hands you lemons squeeze them real hard and make lemonade.
6. Driving to Disneyland is my favorite childhood memory.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to (and/or not looking forward to) pricing things for our garage sale, tomorrow my plans include our garage sale and hope to make lots of money and get rid of junk and Sunday, I want to go to The Keg in Lynnwood for my Birthday Dinner with special friends Chuck and Lori!

Kiki 17 y.o. - Rest In Peace

We had to put our sweet 17 year old cat to sleep today. We are blessed that it was a very short bout of illness and that it happened while we weren't on vacation. Kiki was a very skittish cat - and most - if not any of you - have seen this cat. She's hid under a bed for most of her life only to come out to sleep on K's head. Her kidneys failed. We put her to sleep, and came home and buried her in her kitty bed......

She will be missed greatly. What a tough day.

Randi

Open Posting Again

I have opened my posting up to not just people registered.

(You're welcome Corrina!) :)

Randi

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to those who have kids, plan on having kids, are grandma's and all of the in between. Thank you for all you've taught me.

Randi

What A Day!

We had such a fun day today with cousins Jenae and Crissie and our 30th Birthday Girls Day Out! :) We started at 8am with ham, egg and optional cheese mcmuffins here at home (lots of protein for growing baby!) and off to a few garage sales we went. We all bought something! I got 2 "noel" candles for $1, a seasons greeting "heavy duty" sign for $5.00 and we also got a microwave for coulee for $10! After all the garage sales, we came home and dropped off our treasures and headed to Bellingham.

Have you ever been to the Bellingham Farmers Market? it is HUGE! (Well, I've never been to any other than that one and the Skagit one....so what do I have to compare?) but it is like a craft fair with spectacular items! (I personally love seeing all the babies with their mama's!) We then headed to The Big Fat Fish Company for lunch - which wasn't too bad. The price was a little spendy, but not too horrible and the food was pretty good.

We needed to stop at Cash N Carry for Jenae to find something, then we went to a local consignment shop and got home at 3:30! *whew*

After that, K and I went to Verizon wireless to see about exchanging the new phone I got for another one.....and got a new red fun phone - and what was supposed to be $20 - ended up being free! (even better) and the speaker phone on this phone is 99% better than the last (and we tend to use speaker phone a lot here!)

It is getting closer and closer to the Life is Good conference and I'm getting excited and nervous. :) I'm sure I'll have a great time, just will be interesting. LOL

Thank you to all my dear family that commented on the ride situation from work. I'll just be driving for now.....when and/or if I can get on an early schedule - then I can bus it. Thank you all......and I just may call ya for lunch ;o)

K's been in bed for a few hours now while I've piddled....... :) tomorrow we'll put a few more things on ebay, watch our ending ebay auctions and clean house - oh joy! We're broke till Thursday!!

Randi

Friday Fill-In

1. The meeting at work today had an extra secret ingredient; it was very interesting..... (they are not hiring my position!!)
2. Sunbeams through my window.
3. Right now, I need a hootin' hollerin' good time at LIG and a very hot relaxing place afterwards for our vacation!
4. Grandma's is where I went Thursday night for Survivor; it was an awesome show (and Sunday is the finale!!)
5. Why does buying gas hurt so much?
6. All I can think of is the cat meowing in the other room!
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to relaxing and playing online, tomorrow my plans include taking Jenae for her 30th girls day out going to garage sales and to a special lunch and then to the Bellingham Farmers Market and Sunday, I want to relax, go to Verizon Wireless and see about getting me a different phone, maybe find a few things for the instant gratification auction, put together a few ideas for an auction basket, and possibly buy a drum off of ebay for the GREATEST drum circle ever, fill out some paperwork, well, I really don't want to - but need to, fill out Group Health application for insurance and just chill out!!

Freak Out!

Today I kind of had a freak out day. One of those days where you feel as if you could cry at the drop of a pin and or even if a pin didn't drop? I had one of those days I didn't know if what I was doing was a good move for myself and/or for other people. I just was out of sorts!!

New jobs are always tough! You never know what you're getting into and its always hard to leave somewhere you are most comfortable, are thoroughly liked and are good at what you do. (I'm good at what I do anywhere I go, but still is hard to make that transition).

I guess it started out with this morning finding out that the Everett Transit I need to catch on the coming home end (after 6pm) will not connect me in time to catch the County Connector home. Carpooling isn't really an option with me (I'd rather have my own space and not have to chat with the same person day in and day out) I'd possibly do a vanpool - but for now - I'll drive. We figure it'll be about $200 a month. I'm thinking we get a rewards credit card to put it on ;o)

I will be making my blog private - but want to make sure that everyone here gets the chance to send me their email addresses. I've sent an invite to those of you whom I know pretty much read my blog - but there may be a few unschoolers, behind the scenes people who read it - and want to continue. Email me: kauleen_randi@msn.com (kauleen underscore randi) and I'll get you hooked up.

Does anyone know if you make your post private - if someone can google and still find it?

Thanks in advance -
Randi

Blog

I may be making some changes to me blog here soon to keep things that I say on here a bit more private. I've had a few things come up the last few days that make me not feel to great about having my blog in the open. :o( Really makes me quite sad that I can't have the freedom I feel I should have.

Thanks for your patience on this issue and I'll send links to those (if it comes down to it) that I need to have invited only.

If you'd like an invite - please send me your email address in a post.

Randi

Weekend Ramblings

We had another busy weekend! Friday night we took off for Bellingham in hopes of finding some cheap coffee syrups for a special drink we were going to make on Saturday and we're also going to see about a cheesecake. Well, we made the trek to Bellingham only to find the syrups. (They are normally I guess like $8 and we got them for $3 - pretty much the gas up and back!) LOL We ended up then running to our Costco, picking up a cheesecake (Bham costco didn't have any!) and then running to Safeway, the dollar tree, and by the time we got home it was 9pm! WE WERE EXHAUSTED!!

Saturday morning we got up, puttered around, set up for a baby shower (my cousin Jenae and her 3rd and last baby) and the party turned out very well. We played a few games, chatted a bit, and just had fun! Saturday night I wanted to do something "fun" so we found a local theatre putting on a show "The Dream Science Circus!" Well, it was $30 for the 2 of us - but not really worth it. There was some amazing stuff in it (acrobatics, strength, etc.) but...yeah.

Sunday, we got up and piddled around. I put a few things on ebay (username: kauleen_randi) check it out! and then hung out and waited for K's sister and family to come for a visit. We sure enjoy their company when they are here. They all were crashed out in the car (4 precious sleeping children) so we hung out near them outside until they woke. We then colored, played with the cats, and hung out! :) They weren't here all too long - had a very loonng tiring, exhausting weekend. We then fixed some dinner (chicken and broccoli) and then headed to the co-op and to Haggen for some groceries. Upon our return, we got an addition to our family:

GEORGE! :) The neighbors are moving to Australia (where she is originally from) and the laws there for quarantine are very strict, so it was just going to be easier to not have to take him. This makes us have 4 cats! (Kiki, Rosa, Clover and George) George is a very independent cat - and will spend a good portion of the time outside (he prefers it). Right now we're doing some "Getting to know you" type things. He has a great personality.

There is something with only having 2 weeks left at work that makes going to work tomorrow OK! (I'm not looking forward to those few who found out on Friday......and a few that haven't found out yet!) but they can all handle it :) I'm getting more and more excited. There are just a few things I need to figure out:

1) The Everett Transit System and getting me the closest, the latest to work. I'm thinking the Everett Express to the Everett Mall. I then only have a little ways to walk......and it does it like every 15 mins. (and the County Connector here in Skagit County to get me there....would it stress me out to the max to ride the bus on the first day?? I mean.......I'll have to do it SOMEDAY!)

2) Health Insurance. One stinky thing about being domestic partners, is one can't be covered under the others insurance (yet) in some circumstances. Our company does not include DP yet.........so, we're hunting me insurance. (TAC who I'll be employed through has insurance......but it isn't the *best* and for a bit more I can continue with who I have now..........just not with the same coverage).

3) Dental - need to call the dentist and find out how much it is for cleaning teeth if paying cash, etc. (to see if I need to add this on to)

There are a few more things, but those are just a few.........

I've been asked to talk about the Business of Being Born Party ;o) and the comments made and/or what people thought.

The attendees ranged from 21 y/o newly married, 29 y/0 married 5 years, one mom who had a home birth, one mom who had a birthing center birth, and an older mom who I believe had a home birth also. The reason for hosting the Business of Being Born Party is that I wanted other young people to be aware that there are more options out there than anyone in the medical field might tell you. (This movie changed Kauleen's mind for us having a hospital birth vs home birth). The younger ladies were very appreciative for me having shared it with them - we had discussion on the placenta and what to do with it, we discussed stillbirth (a recent scenario had been brought up), and just talked.

I personally think this movie is done well to reach out to more of the medical minded people and get them on the track of more a natural approach. (For those who are already headed that way, the movie may have been not necessary?) *shrug* I love hearing everyone's story.

The best part of the whole night for me, was meeting new friends who think the same way I do (extended breastfeeding, co-sleeping, etc.) and being able to meet new people with the same ideas. (I CANNOT WAIT FOR LIG!)

I'm tired out now - this was a long post. Hope everyone has a terrific week!!

Oregon and/or California

I am looking for some ideas of MUST SEE / MUST STAY places.

We're thinking Oregon Coast and/or Redwoods?

Anyone been to a spectacular place in either of these places? :)

Randi

Alaska Airlines $50 Companion Fare

Anyone interested in buying a companion fare ticket for Alaska Airlines from us? We're hoping to get at least $200 for it.

Post a message or email me if your interested and I can send specifics.

Randi

Friday Fill-In

1. Two of my favorite ingredients in a drink are lots of cream and sugar in my coffee!

2. Love often amazes me.

3. You can keep doing that forever, the dog is old and its hard to teach an old dog to do new tricks ;)

4. Secret ingredients, mix it all together and voila! You have another secret to be told at a different date :)

5. If I had a yard with a garden, I would love to grow all the vegetables I'm growing? (and/or thinking about growing - since nothing has been planted other than onions!)

6. my body is best au naturel.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to going to Bellingham to a cheap grocery store Cash and Carry and having a good time hanging out with Kauleen, tomorrow my plans include a baby shower for my cousin Jenae with lots of fun times and love given to her and Sunday, I want to hang out with Kauleen's sister and nieces and nephew and chill out!!

Previous Meme Post from Frank's Blog

So, I showed Kauleen my blog post and she wanted me to do her name.....

6 out of the 8 posts came up as *my blog* ROFL

Randi

Fun meme from Frank-o's blog :)

1- Type in "[your name] needs" in Google search: Randi needs our prayers

2- Type in "[your name] looks like" in Google search: Error, Error. They didn't find anything for "Randi" only for "Randy" - Randy looks like one lucky guy? huh? Last I checked, I was 100% female and lovin' it!

3- Type in "[your name] says" in Google search: To that, Randi says, ‘Find me a dry spot,’ because, as he points out, it's almost impossible not to strike water if you drill deep enough. (yikes!)

4- Type in "[your name] has" in Google search: An offer of $1000000 to anyone that can demonstrate paranormal abilities under laboratory conditions. (http://www.randi.org)

5- Type in "[your name] wants" in Google search: Think Randy Wants Me. Parody song lyrics for the song Indiana Wants Me by R. Dean Taylor.

6- Type in "[your name] gives" in Google search: Randi gives one hell of a speech a year ago today. Yeah, it's worth watching again. I like it :) and here's some other interesting stuff I ...http://politickybitch.blogspot.com/2008/03/randi-gives-one-hell-of-speech-today.html

7- Type in "[your name] takes" in Google search: For those interested, Randi has posted the original Quackometer ... you can take THEM to court for a put-up-or-shut-up kind of ruling. ...

8- Type in "[your name] loves" in Google search: Randi loves her boobs and, by association and admiration, I have come to love them too. - Nice huh? LOL