Summer 2010 Highlights!

I thought instead of recapping the last few weeks of not-so-much-fun, I would go back over the summer and post some pics of the Fun, Friends, and More!

We spent lots of time at the ARD pool. I expect this is the last year Mason will pass for "little enough" to play in the water park.

I love this picture! Mason wanted desperately to mow the lawn. Something told me to capture this moment in time as I expect he won't be that enthusiastic ever again...at least about mowing the lawn! Priceless!

Many afternoons were spent selling lemonade in front of the house. There just wasn't an opportunity to get a good shot without posing it. I didn't want to stage it so this is what we get! Oh, and by the way, in this economy, Mason did alright selling lemonade!

If my memory serves me, Mason spent more nights sleeping on the front deck this summer than he did in his own bed. I say it's because his room was such a disaster, good, restful sleep was just not possible. He will tell you something completely different. No matter, that's what summertime is for, warm nights that make sleeping outside so enjoyable!

The girls had pretty feet all summer long! What girls you ask?

Kathy, Diana, and Julianne in this picture!

And here the three ladies are getting ready to go out with our lucky guy, Dave!

Max, Kathy, and Julianne.

We had a lovely cocktail party one Saturday in July while Julianne was visiting from Minnesota. We had such a wonderful visit. I hope I can post pictures next summer of my family visiting hers in Minnesota!

Lots and lots of new Smoshpellow recipes! These are caramel smoshpellows, one dusted in powdered sugar and the other dusted in cinnamon chocolate. Oh yeah, they are to die for! And don't forget Teresa's homemade truffles. Mason said they are the best candy he's ever eaten...now that's say'n something!

Mason got his own set of paints and figures to paint while school was out. This is really a milestone for us because painting miniature figures is Dave's favorite pastime so Mason being interested, too is pretty cool!

Spencer turned one!

We celebrated with cake while we sang Happy Birthday!

Just so y'all know, Spencer ate the vanilla icing but not the chocolate cupcake.

That part was just for show!

Back to school! Mason started the 1st grade!

Ms. Morris is his teacher and he gets to ride the bus! Note: It's very important to Mason to look like a teenager...note the jeans and shoes - key pieces!

With back-to-school came soccer! Yay! Mason is #6 and plays on the Pistol Pete's Pirate's team. He really loves soccer and loves playing goalie! This is gonna be great fun for all of us...can you tell who's really getting in the spirit? Opening day for SoccerFest 2010 and Dave was our official "Pirate!"

Mason got to call the toss! We won the flip!

My little goalie in action! This was his first scrimmage...or real game as he will tell you. Hey, they played another team, I'd say that's real!

And of course, he had to pose for mom!

It's been a great summer. I'm ready to head into fall and then winter. We have big plans for ZipperBack Gloves and you all know we are planning to move from the Aeolia house after the first of the year. We will be staying local for another couple of years, but we all know how fast time flies! I hope you had as much fun this summer as we did! Drop me note and tell me what your highlight was over the last few months. I love hearing back from all of you! Have a great week and thanks for not giving me too much grief for being late! Smiles!

Happiness On Monday

Hello Friends!

I'm getting this written under the wire of the final hour! Is that a legitimate sentence? Laughing! Who cares! Things are better here at Partak Central. The last three-plus weeks have been full of madness and mayhem. Things breaking, unexpected bills needing paid, and so much more. I know these life cycles come and go but are we ever happier then when they are gone? *Something to do*

I'm officially a soccer mom and Mason is really loving this game. It's still early, but he seems to have a natural ability to play goalie. It may be natural, raw talent or more likely it's that he has no fear of the ball. He also thinks it's cool that in this position he can use his hands making the dramatic dives and body-blocks so much more fun! I'll keep you posted and be sure to post pictures next week. *Someone to love*

ZipperBack Gloves is gearing up for Season II and it's my intention that we land the "Big One!" National chain that is. If we can get one big national chain on board, we can take this little company from red to black. Our adult glove is here and it will be for sale to retailers in January (for a fall 2011/2012 launch). It;s all pretty cool, from just the child's line of five sizes in one color to the child's line - snow and fleece, three sizes in a youth line, snow and fleece, three sizes in mittens (for the little-little ones), and two new colors in addition to the black! Welcome red and royal! I hope we have lots and lots of snow that brings lots and lots of good ZipperBack Glove news! *Something to hope for*

Now it's time for bed. One of my goals for this week is to get this new computer completely set up so we can get back to pictures each week. I miss the pictures, don't you?

Here is my Monday Motivator on Happiness: "Three grand essentials to happiness in this life are something to do, someone to love and something to hope for."
Joseph Addison

What Dictates Seasons For You?

Hello Friends!

Can you imagine a weekend on your calendar that has nothing on it? Me either! Well, that was this weekend here at the Partak household. Not to worry, we didn't sit around wondering what ever shall we do? Laughing! Saturday Dave went to work with a group in our neighborhood to clear a fire break along the canyon rim while I went to the farmers market and cleaned the house some. Many asked why I wasn't there helping clear the brush and the fact of the matter is, the moment I got my hands on the brush, I'd have been head-to-toe in poison oak. Nope! Not gonna do it!

So Saturday was the day we took care of housekeeping and grocery shopping. Saturday evening, we went out on lake Clementine with friends Robin and Hunter in their boat. We had such a good time. Dave went wake boarding and the kids swam. We had dinner on the lake and watched the sun go down, it was perfectly lovely!

Sunday was all down time. I developed some cookie recipes and for the most part, we just hung out. Now it's back to the work week, school starts on Wednesday and I'm looking forward to the routine...and fall! I love summer, but you all know how I feel about the homespun feelings that come with fall.

I hope you all have wonderful week and are making the most of the last long days of summer! As I sit and pen this, I realize how funny it is that our senses are more dictated by our schedules than we are by the actual sun and calendar. It's only August 16th and here on the west coast we still have months of sunshine and warm days to look forward to. Maybe it's that I love fall that it can't come soon enough, or I also get caught up in back to school = end of summer. No matter, make the most of every day and all will be well!

The Ebb And Flow Of Life!

Thank goodness it is a new week! The last few have been grueling and I'm full of hope that it's getting better from here.Don't get me wrong, there has been plenty of fun in the last few weeks, but you can only have so much fun when everything is falling apart around you, I mean literally falling apart! Since it is a new week, I'm not giving power to all the crap and I'm going to focus on that which gives hope for a turn of the tides.

I bit the bullet yesterday and purchased a new laptop. I bought a Dell and so far there is only one little hiccup. Yep, less than 24 hours and there is something not quite right...but that is par for course. I bought a pedometer yesterday, too and it doesn't work. Tell me again why I bought anything in a major "ebb" cycle? Oh yeah, because I can't work without a computer! Not to worry, I am not letting these two little issues squash my hope for the "flow" cycle that I am intending for today, this week, this month!

Back to the intentional turn-around, I was able to access all of my pictures from Julianne's visit and boy did we have a good time! I promised last week that I would post those as soon as I could and I am going to do it today. I also will be reaching out to many of you about some of my plans to help people figure if loan modification is the right thing for them to do and know you will want to help if you can!

Today, I want to leave you with this...it is not some tragedy that things go wrong, it is merely life. If we didn't have the crap, it would be impossible to appreciate the wonder. We all have so much to be grateful for even if the car needs new tires (air in twice each day), the bed needs repair, the insurance isn't covering the new computer, and we are having to fight to keep the government from attaching Dave's wages for a bill we already paid! Yes, we have the proof, but they say they can't stop the process. Really? Next time I'm finding all is going well, I will know how I know! Big smiles and Happy Monday!

No More Cherries!

WOW! The last two weeks has been one of those wild rides that keeps you on your toes...some would simply say, "Sounds like life to me." My blog background of cherries are gone! Par for course today, I guess I need to find a new one.

The last two weeks have been a combination of amazing and infuriating! The crap first because I prefer to end on an up note. My computer crashed a week ago and I was confident that the computer coverage I have would cover it. Nope. Today I learned that because I was not careless and ran over it with my car, it will not be covered. I now need to figure out how to replace it ($$$). I've also been struggling with some personal issues, many you know about (our mortgage modification versus selling the house), and some you don't. Relationships are usually pretty easy for me, but lately as we all face different (some not so different) challenges, those stresses show up in our relationships. Communications are not clear, the patience that we usually have for each other is less present, and in general, we just don't have the where-with-all to grant beingness like we would under normal or less stressful circumstances.

We've all heard it said that in these tough times, we need love and understanding more than ever. I'm here to shout it from the roof tops! Patience is hard to come by when you feel like you are carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders. Don't we all feel that way now? Many of you do because we talk and I know though it's not all financial, people you know are unemployed, struggling to keep their houses, losing their houses, trying to make ends meet, working to support those we love in their struggles and being frustrated that they may not be doing all we think they can do. Or maybe making choices you wouldn't make and then coming to you for help. It doesn't matter what the circumstances are, we need to find it in our hearts to not judge and simply love. I know I recently hurt someone I love. She hurt me, too. I felt like through her pain she couldn't listen to me long enough to understand what I was trying to communicate. I believe she feels she heard me loud and clear, and completely. I know she didn't. Maybe we will discuss it, I hope so. If we don't, it will be one more casualty of the pressure we are all feeling right now. It makes us a little crazed and it's nearly impossible to be present when you are under any amount of pressure.

The good stuff in the last two weeks is that my friend Julianne was here from Minnesota! We had so much fun! Here's the short list: We went to Viaggio Winery (also the name of her company http://www.viaggiobracelet.com/), we had a gathering in Clements at Julies house, we went to Lake Clementine, out for a night on the town in Nevada City, went to the Studio KYK grand opening (http://www.studiokyk.com/ - the official photog of ZipperBack Gloves and Boreal Ski Resort), and wrapped up her visit to Auburn with a lovely cocktail party on Saturday night in our backyard. On Sunday we flew to Orange County where she took care of some business and we met several wonderful people from twitter. After all, that is where Julianne and I met more than a year ago!

So this MM is a little long, but it's also been two weeks. I can't post pics just yet as it's just one more pressure to make Dave's computer compatible with my Blackberry which is where the pics are. As soon as I get that handled, I'll post pics, lots of them! Happy Monday, be patient, be kind, and don't judge. You may be making all the right decisions and choices now, but you can surely remember the times you have not. Loving, just be loving.