too long

Ok for the last two months I have been kinda busy. I have been to St. Louis twice, had a birthday, my second child celebrated his first birthday, my parents and my sister came to visit, Also my favorite holiday Halloween, happened. so... where to begin.


I went to St. Louis in September for a review class I just got back from. for the big test I have high hopes that all went well, it was hard but I think I did ok. I still worry but there isn't much I can do anymore.

I turned 31 on the 8th of October. Sharon made me couple of cakes. We were trying for sticky toffee pudding. In the end we decided that we need to find a new recipe. It was very good but not one we will make again. I am not having any issues with getting older. I wasn't sure if I would but I feel good, I look not too bad, I have hopes and dreams that have yet to be squashed so, no complaints. That is not the cake by the way.

While I was in St. Louis the second time Oscar turned 1. He won't know the difference so we are going to celebrate this week or next. Still I felt guilty. He is so cute and such a good baby. well maybe Sharon has a different point of view on that one. He is tough and puts up with a lot of beating from his sister. He is lucky to have her though, she really loves him and most of the beatings are unintentional.
My parents were here at the end of September through the first week of October. It was great to have them here, but I didn't get to spend all that much time with them. except that my Dad and I went on a little road trip. we went up to Northern Indiana and took pictures of headstones in tiny little cemeteries in tiny little towns. We got a lot of geneology straighted out and even put some families back together. It was cool to see the places where a lot of my family came from. I also got to see the town where my paternal grandmother was born. I am glad she moved and I grew up in California, but it still was cool. My parents also gave me a cool birthday present while they were here. They took down the shelves in our kitchen pantry and put up new more useful shelving. It went from wire racks to actual shelves that were custom made. Thanks Mom and Dad!

My Sister came out at the end of October and stayed for Halloween. She wasn't feeling all that great when she got here and so I think it wasn't her most favorite vacation, but we had a good time and it was great to see her.

Halloween was, as always, a lot of fun. I single handedly decorated the office I work at with spider webs, skulls, bats , and other good stuff. We also had a Pumpkin decorating contest. There was supposed to be a prize. but the boss never came through on that one. I won with my carving or a simple smiling face with big teeth and long skinny balloons coming out of his head for hair.
It also looked good flying through the air into the dumpster with its multicolored dreadlocks trailing after it.

My hand is starting to hurt, if I took the Phalen's test I would not pass. (props to anyone who knows that one)!

Oh yeah. One more thing. The picture behind the blog title changes with every blog. I love bamboo, and typically look for a picture in google images that is either black or green or something close to keep with the color scheme.