Mt. Shasta

See... She still won't look at the camera.

I don't blame her for not looking this time;

considering Grammie (mom) just splashed pond water in her face.

Lucky for Grammie she's too young

to be bothered and disgusted by that.

In fact, she rather enjoyed it.

But when you mother four kids...

I suppose you learn some stuff.

Spring Love

Yay! I can come out of hibernation and

cut down on my anti-depressants

because Spring has come to save me.

Hallelujah.

I'm going on three days of bad sleep

and a back full of knots

My brain is a dumping ground for thoughts of all different levels

of unnecessary

and my daughter is two head shakes away from the attitude of a

pre-menstrual tweenie.

So don't count on me making any sense at all

this post.

See.

True to my word. My explanation of

not making sense doesn't even

make sense.

I am just relieved winter is OVeR.

Ugh that was a tough one.

I must go from Agoraphobic to social butterfly in

the blink of an eye.

Because Vegas only has 42 days of good weather

and I have to make the most of it.

First step of a non-agoraphobic life is to leave the house.

Check.

Extra credit if you go out of town.

Plus two.

We went to Santa Barbara.

Oh, Santa Barbara.

Dear, sweet Santa Barbara.

You're so good to me.

We met up with family on Saturday.

Casey for a round of golf

G and me for a day of shopping and yard playing.

I'm a unperceptive, inexperienced mom

so I got to learn the very awesome lesson on:

Why you should put sunblock on your kid.

Because sunburned children are miserable children!

A sunburn coupled with teething was not Ginger's cup of tea.

Man, was she just impossible at times.

But then she'd do something so freaking cute

we'd be all drooley and lovey over her

and only have the imprint of her teeth on our finger to prove

difficult moments ever existed.

See that existential glow about her?

Kind of freaks you out, huh?

Don't worry, I'll give you the recipe:

1 cup of sunshine

+

1 cup of photoshop

It's also a recipe for

dramatic pause.

deception.

Parental Confession;

Sometimes I'm afraid of my one year old.

The girl never looks at me when I have a camera in my hand.

You'll notice all the pictures I have of her are

those in which she is looking off somewhere else.

It's like she's knows.

You know.

That secret they all share but feign ignorance.

The "I know what my mom wants

so I'm going to give her anything but..."

treatment.

They start to get their powers so young

nowadays.

Back on subject. That picture was an example of Ginger

as a soldier in the war against mom.

She didnt want me to get the

"My daughter is a heavenly creature who goes about the world

spreading rainbows and unicorn flakes where ever

she roams. May you be lucky to be blessed with the presence

of her someday." look.

So when being forced into looking directly at her mother

who is holding a camera

she growls and takes an abundance of oxygen in through her nose

repeatedly

as a warning to me and all you in blogland...

She will be no ones bragging pawn.

Man.

I need sleep.

Okay Saturday afternoon. Santa Barbara.

Casey has returned from golf.

With a face like this;

dang, he looks good.

What is that he's wearing?

An hour later my uncle asks me,

Did your husband tell you about his game this morning?

He played outstanding.

I look to Casey.

Best game of my life he says, ever so casually.

I go back and look at my camera.

That's exactly what he's wearing.

The face and demeanor of a man who just got finished playing

the best game of golf in his life.

I'd love to bottle up that special type of adrenaline

he has free flowing in his veins

and sell it on the street corner.

I could probably sell it from my couch too

but street corner just sounds more

gangster.

You know. Anyway I can make myself more gangster.

Oh my gosh!

What secret did he just tell G?!

A real sample from my brain:

What secret did he just tell G?

I wonder if it was about me?

Not everything is about you.

I know.

but maybe he's telling her how much he loves me.

that'd be random.

he's probably telling her he loves her.

Awwww that's sweet.

Okay, I dont mind if it has nothing to do with me.

You should call your therapist.

Seriously.

That night we went to dinner and walked around.

Casey tried to tame Ginger so I could shop

but she wasn't buying any of this

mama's on a vacation crap so we just made it to one store.

We ran into this guy on the street.

Don't you love him?

I love his wrinkles.

Wrinkles are so beautiful to me.

And yet,

Im still saving for botox.

The easter bunny got the memo we were in SB and

stopped by our hotel.

I heard he stayed up late trying to get that bright

yellow bow just right.

And then he was ashamed of himself for taking to much

time out of his life worrying about a bow.

That's what I heard anyway.

Turned out he was right.

Ginger couldn't care less about the bow.

For starters,

she's one.

Plus she's teething. Plus she has a sunburn.

She could give a crap about the bow.

How do I know?

Because she left this:

Out hotel gave us an upgrade because

I informed them

we were celebrating our anniversary.

(Our anniversary of celebrating Easter together....

Ha!

I win!

Damn the Man!)

Dont worry if that makes zero sense.

It's probably because youre not that person.

The person who really feels like you get extra Awesome Life Points

for pulling tricks on Ramada employees in order to get free stuff.

Thats right. I said Ramada.

I'm this hyped up about a Ramada upgrade

(which is basically an "anything but parking lot" view upgrade).

Imagine if we were staying at the 4 seasons...

You probably take less than an hour to blog too.

Aren't you terrific?

Okay.

Really needing sleep.

All in all, I was superbly happy with our hotel because it was

less than 200 a night and had a courtyard like this right outside our door.

Lush.

That's the word I'd use.

The pond was filled with fish

sprinkled with ducks and had lots of these little

guys hanging around...

It was so lovely.

I was able to get a few pictures of G in her easter dress.

It looks like someone hit the PAUSE button on the remote.

How peaceful is this picture?

Do you want to see pictures of her going through her Easter baskets?

(She got a bonus basket from Grammy and Popi!)

Good. Because I took pictures

two days later

when she was feeling better.

(I'm taking advantage of her one year old self)

Awww kisses for the bunny.

Open mouth smooches! Her special reserved!

She let me make her a flower for five minutes.

Eating her Easter candy.

Wait.

I didn't open her candy.

don't worry. She's just snacking on some rocks.

Happy Spring everyone!

Why Journals are Awesome.

I used to hate keeping a journal.

Seriously, how embarrassing are the ones you

wrote when you were thirteen?

My mom said she used to refer to herself as Fred

in her journal.

That cracked me up.

Especially because she had no logical explanation why.

Anyway... I cam across my journal from my first year of marriage.

I know, Right?

Oh the first year... It's such a ride.

This story made me laugh SO hard.

It was an entry I wrote 6 months into married life.

I have confessed to all of you my awful lack of time management skills.

Awful.

I always have to say it twice, it' s so bad.

So at the time I was working from home and really struggling to

not procrastinate so my work day didn't seem never-ending.

I wanted to do nothing but work for 8 hours.

Then close my computer at five p.m. and focus on way more

important things.

Like t.v.

behold, the entry:

Casey took the cable plug so I couldn't watch t.v. today

and focus on work.

I didn't know he did it, until he came home

and told me.

I was so mad and my feelings were hurt.

I felt like I was twelve again

and my dad was telling me,

No tv until homework's done.

I hated that Casey did this.

He promised he wouldn't do it again.

He better not.

Because I'll never settle for a marriage

where the husband pulls dictator moves like that crap.

AHAHAHAHAHA.

This is so freaking funny to me.

I have no memory of this happening at all.

But I can picture it perfectly...

Me complaining hours on end to Casey

about how I wish I could stay focused on work.

and Casey thinking like men think(generally)...

She's telling me all this so I can fix it.

And his solution is to take the cable plug to work!

So I can't let Oprah distract me.

And I can totally see him preparing to say to me,

You're very welcome sweetie.

Oh, it's awesome.

Because I know he had good intentions.

And to read my feelings regarding "dictator crap".

He better not.

ahahahahaha.

My Favorite EVER

This is one of my most favorite family photos ever.

This is my Grandma Sheila.

My mom's mom.

I remember seeing this picture when I was very young

and it made me swoon.

And now I am going to tell you a story of my grandparents

who had a brief marriage but a lasting love and fondness for each other.

I hope I do this justice. It's perfection.

My Gpa was such a handsome young man,

Dashing.

That seems to be the most fitting word.

I wish I had a picture of him as an 18 year old...

He looked like Elvis.

He came from a family of seven.

Although his parents were very traditional and strict

He was still somewhat of a rebel...

My Grandma Sheila was an only child.

Her parents were very wealthy mostly because my great-grandmother

(Nana) was an incredible business woman.

She was also incredibly controlling.

Grandma Sheila and Gpa started dating when they were teenagers.

I want to say this happened when Grandma was a senior in high school

and my Gpa had already graduated one or two years prior.

I'm not sure and I'm too lazy to fact check.

Nana hated my grandpa right from the start.

Which doesn't say much.

She hated everyone.

So anyway Nana and her current husband left town for the weekend.

So naturally, Grandma Sheila had a party.

My grandpa said he was going through my Nana's closet.

(Something I would very much like to do)

And he pulled out her silk robe that was lined with ostrich feathers

and put it on.

Okay so there's my 18 or 19 year old Gpa waltzing around in his girlfriends mother's silk

robe complete with feathers...

When all of a sudden...

you guessed it...

My Nana has returned to the house because she forgot something.

He tells it like this...

and oh this image never fails to make my smile;

He heard Nana's shrill yell.

Their friends started dispersing in all different directions.

He grabbed my grandma's hand and they

jumped on his motorcycle

him still wearing Nana's silk robe and they rode off.

I can see them on that motorcycle, laughing wildly,

ostrich feathers trailing in the air, and my

grandmothers long hair blowing gorgeously.

That story is my happy place.

Casey is in the eye of the beholder...

My eye.

Casey is my pupil.

Ray... A drop of Golden sun

Is it embarrassing to admit I cried

very hard

during this video?

It's just that sweet.

And the timing of finding it was impeccable.

Can you just imagine a world

wherein upon feeling blue and "woe is me"

All of a sudden you hear a sound...

the sound

of music.

And a group of happy strangers walk through

your door and spontaneously start dancing.

Even throwing in such classic moves

as the Mac-arena.

Yes Please.

Sign me up for that.

Because all of a sudden I'm feeling a little lighter.

And yes.

You read correctly.

This post does contain a sentence that reads...

Wherein upon...

Ginger turned One!

13 days ago.

Oh there's so much I want to tell you.

So I'll call this part one.

I was not prepared for what I would feel

on Gingers Birthday.

I just kind of thought... Wow One.

We made it a year.

The end.

'The end' of birthday emotion I mean to say.

But no.

No.

First of all, I got a 50/50 approach to "first" birthdays

from the peanut gallery.

I mean that in a kind and loving way- friends and family.

Half thought it was monumental.

Half said, Oh they wont remember a thing so dont give it too much thought.

Well, the side of me that loves the drama

started conjuring up ideas of a grandiose celebration.

And the lazy, procrastinating side of me embraced the latter.

So, torn, I was.

I cut out some balloons out of felt and fabrics

and hung them outside her room

so when she woke up... she'd at least see pretty color on

the walls and think to herself...

What fabulous blobs of color on the wall!

This is an awesome day already!

She was entranced by them throughout the day...

so I'd say it was an accomplishment.

She was getting over an ear and throat infection

so we couldnt go out.

I get the idea that no one recalls their first birthday.

But I also understand that even one year olds appreciate

happiness.

So if I could indulge her in every way possible for the day and

try to get her to set a record for smiles and giggles...

then I'd count her birthday as a success.

So basically we tore apart a couple newspapers.

Watched Sesame Street and Yo Gabba Gabba while

eating a chocolate doughnut.

Played catch about 18 times.

took every tissue out of the tissue box and

All the books off the book shelf.

Read 10 of those books 10 thousand times.

AND

I bounced her on the bed over and over

and over again.

Until I couldn't breathe.

And I received a billion smiles.

It. was. awesome.

Ginger Estelle Treese

March 3, 2009

About 1 hour old.

March 3, 2010

1 year old.

And here are two pictures from the most

exciting place in this dollface's little world.

Our bed.

Dont worry...

I'm not going to insert the obvious and easy joke

about it being Caseys most exciting place either.

Because, how tacky would that be?

This one would be the most precious picture ever.

But I am pretty positive Moses got jealous and

purposely got his butthole in there so we couldn't

hang it on the wall.

If you knew him, you'd whole-heartedly agree with me.

More lovely details,

I'm dying to chronicle...

So hopefully this blogging motivation lingers a while.

Hello again

I really love a unique vintage scarf.

I never really wear them.

But they are just so beautiful to me

I always find myself buying them.

Apparently Casey is training Ginger to adapt

my obsession...

I woke up and came out in the loft to find her with a makeup

sponge and my scarf on.

And that is why I love those two.

Because Casey always remembers the importance of accessorizing

our child.

And because Ginger taking very well scarves and applying fake makeup.

Some people like to brag about husbands doing laundry

or babies doing silly stuff like walking.

Weird.

Tuesday

I've had a rough day
couple days
few weeks.



That's why I need stuff like this in my life...