Jesse Hraban

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Well it has been 6 trips to Home Depot for bricks and misc other items over two plus weeks, but the wall is FINALLY finished. Now we just need dirt, soil, sand, plants, sod, etc and we will be completely done, but I get ahead of myself

Landscaping

We have been putting time in on weekday evenings and weekends. We are both exhausted.

We were really blessed that Jeff and Ruthie Kolb came to help us last weekend with the manual labor (thanks again guys – you were a huge help). We even relaxed after with pizza and margaritas – the best part of the whole day . . .

More pictures of the progress

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I am 23.66864% – Geek

total geek
+ Geekish Tendencies……………………..>09%
++ Geek……………………………………….>15%
+++ Total Geek……………………………..>25%
++++ Major Geek…………………………..>35%
+++++ Super Geek…………………………>45%
++++++ Extreme Geek…………………..>55%
+++++++ Geek God……………………….>65%
++++++++ Dysfunctional Geek………..>75%

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From Anabel’s blog

I am a excalibur!

Excalibur Traits and Tendencies
Excalibur couples may battle just as much as other couples (and participate in more than their fair share of public huffs), but they look so good together, it outweighs any other deficiencies they may share. It isn’t that they’re classically good-looking, or similarly sized (though certainly both those pairings are permissible). It’s more that the aesthetic chord they strike satisfies in profound ways. Like gorgeously plated food or song filled with unusual harmonies, the wan and freckled hand-in-hand with the tragically tan, the pigeon-toed with the duck-walkers, these Excalibur couples achieve such perfection in their pairing that reminds the world that anything is possible.

Comfort Zone
Excalibur is in the Wind pose family. Other Wind poses you might enjoy include Softserve Swirl and The Ventriloquist.

Health Note
An unexpected rash or orthopedic adjustment can sometimes lead an Excalibur couple to fall out of balance. Physical adjustments may need to be made, or an entirely new pose could even be in order.

Find your own pose!

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I just posted on Chanler’s blog about his use of the “more” sign. It is great to see him communicating, but at the same time I am wondering what I have done. Chanler nursed today 15 to 17 times (each time signing more to me then pulling on the collar of my shirt) between 8am and 6pm. I am feeling a little worn out right now. I am used to him nursing more when we say home, but today takes the cake. I even started thinking . . . why did we teach him this? I know he will learn more as he grows, but today was an utterly ruff day (pun intended)for me (aka clover the cow)

I don’t want to sound like I hate breastfeeding. I love it and am committed to it, but some days/stages are harder than others.

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So we didn’t go away for a weekend of rest and relaxation (see previous post) – instead we put in 3 days of hard labor on our backyard.
Here is the before picture
Landscaping
As you can see not much going beauty going on . . .

We first removed the deck (well removed in the sense of cutting up the wood and putting it in a pile under the window); then we dug up the deck footing (15 LARGE concreate boulders about 100lb each) during which we broke our shovel – oh darn; That was it for DAY 1

Landscaping

Day 2 started with a trip to home depot to get a shovel; then we dug out the sloped dirt in the back; followed by pondering the actual desgin plan and possible materials (we had an idea of what we wanted, but it has changed since work began – only slightly). We took a trip to Lowes to comparison shop (while there we found the over stair light that I want, but that is a side note) and rested in the afternoon.

Day 3 – another trip to Home Depot for almost 2 hours. We ended up with 3 carts loads including garden bricks, 180lbs of sand and various tools to begin constructing a retaining wall (to stop the sloping dirt in the back). Back home to dig install part of the eventual watering system (which had to go in before the wall went over it); dig a trench for the footing of the wall AND laying the first course of brick (the hardest course to set level etc.)
Landscaping

Scott and I are sore and tired after all our work, but it is starting to pay off

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Well we were supposed to head out to Bodega Bay for a three day weekend tomorrow, but I just had to cancel because Chanler has a nasty (read vomiting and diarrhea) cold of some sort. So I didn’t really want to take a sick baby on vacation > what a mess that would have been! (luckily for me they were nice enough not to charge me a cancellation fee.) So I am bummed!

Welcome Baby Hanes

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Well after months of checking for updates on their website Wendy and Jason Hanes have finally met their little girl – Ainsley Allen Hanes! She was born Saturday 4/15/06 at 8:01am (and that is all I know) Mom and baby are doing great!

Congratulations guys – She is beautiful!

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It is great to have family visit, but it is really tiring. Scott’s Grandma stayed with us from Friday to Tuesday, so I have been entertaining for 4 1/2 days. I guess I am a bit anal because when people are visiting I like to have my house be tidy and clean – keeping that way for 4+ days is hard. I also cooked lots so that we didn’t go out to dinner much (Grandma has a bad habit of being stuborn about paying when we go out). It was really great to see Chanler interact with his Great Grandmother – I wish she didn’t live so far away. I know he won’t remember her the next time he sees her and that makes me sad

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Ok not really, but I was feeling melodramatic

Well it was my 29th (the first one I might add) birthday today. What a strange day. We had breakfast with friends (whom I have told my birth date before), but no one remembered to say happy birthday. Now mind you I am not real big on the restaurant singing thing or anyone making a huge deal, but it was still weird.

When we got home Scott offered me a present now or later, so of course I said now (why delay gratification). I should note I have been pining for a stand mixer for months now so I had my hopes up. Scott came down stairs with a wrapped box (unusual if you know Scott). It seemed very light so I was trying not to be disappointed. Well I opened it and it was a little tykes mixer – Scott wanted to make sure he got the right color so he brought me a “model” so I would know what my real gift was. He is so cute. Happy day – I got a black kitchen aid stand mixer with bowl-lift So now I am ready to bake/mix.

I have previously decided to make my favorite childhood dinner for my birthday (because I like it and to keep Grandma Blomquist from taking us out – another blog entirely) – pork chops and dumpling. I announced dinner was ready and everyone disappeared (except Scott who had Chanler sleeping on him) It was so bizarre. Grandma B when up stairs and my mom went to her car for something. I was left sitting alone at the table with steaming food. Not much of a celebratory dinner when everyone vamooses. Oh well – they showed up eventually and we did have a nice time.

I did manage to feel very akward and say the wrong thing about presents when my mom and grandma were there – Grandma didn’t realize it was my birthday and felt bad that she had forgotten. My mom got me an amazing gift (a weekend getaway to the Bodega Bay Lodge and Spa) but I didn’t want to let grandma know how big it really was because she would just feel more guilty. So I hope I didn’t hurt my mom’s feelings – I really am looking forward to an amazing weekend.

So it was a strange day, a good day, but not a really great day.

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It is supposed to rain for another two weeks (gripe). This after one of the wetest Marches in a long time I think it rained over 25 days in March. I am feeling cooped up and I know Chanler would love to get outside too.