Monthly Archives: October 2009

There’s no more denying it. Fall is here.  The trees in the driveway are the brightest red and yellow, you can see your breath outside, and the rain has arrived!

Jeffrey took the 7:15 am down to San Jose this morning, which meant waking up at 5:30 or so, packing Ellie in the car, and hitting the road.  With EG having woken up every hour, we both were just wiped out.  But, life doesn’t stop just because you’re sleep deprived, so on we went with our day.  Neither of EG nor I slept after returning to the house from the airport – we just hung out and played…

The vet was out at 9 am or so to check on Frank.  She was surprised by how dirty his sheath had become even in only a few days – he already had a tone of smegma, but I guess that’s just the way he is.  She put an anti-bacterial ointment WAAAAAAY up there, hoping that will get things to settle down.  He had to be drugged, of course, because he won’t let anyone near his wiener if he’s not!  I always feel bad for them when they’re sedated – they’re these huge animals, but become so helpless!  I was able to lunge Avdou for a bit while I was keeping an eye on Frank.  Scott, the guy who farms the wheat, was able to flatten out a riding area for me that will work until the heavy rain comes, and it makes such a huge difference when I’m working the boys!

I took a bag of Quince from our tree over to Farra – our neighbor just to the east of us.  I hadn’t ever met her, but had spoken via phone to her several times in regard to the horses, as well as a few times when I was searching for Boots and Jax.  She is also a SoCal transplant, but is my mother’s age.  The place was set up as an equestrian center before they bought it with a barn, covered arena,  and multiple pastures.  I believe th

ey have tried to find boarders, but there are so many options out there for full-care, most people choose that over an unmanaged barn.  The aspect of their farm that fascinates me, however, is not so much the horses as their kiwi berries. Yep, and they’re exactly what they sound like.  Kiwis that are the size of berries, and have no annoying skin to peel!  So, in exchange for the quinces, I got about a pint of their yumminess…I have no idea what to do with them – so take a whild guess what I’m going to try? Yep. You got it.  Kiwi Vodka.  Farra had me try an incredible salsa that was spicy, sweet, and sour, but said it’s a secret recipe!  She also gave me some of her minted pear butter that is to DIE for.  I had a good visit, and will try to keep that connection open and friendly!  I could see spending time with her, and asking a lot of questions! She seems to have a good amount of experience and knowledge in many different areas…she also said I might be able to use the covered arena during the winter months!

Ellie Graye and I did make a visit to the pediatrician today just to check that I hadn’t missed any PHYSICAL symptoms for her sleep issues – like an ear infection, or a sore throat or what not…the nurse drew blood to check to see if she’s anemic as that can often be the cause of night terrors and wakings.  It’s hard for me to accept that it could actually simply be a behavioral issue…the thought of that makes me feel like such a failure! It definitely helped talking to Dr. Cannon about it, though.  She totally understood what it feels like to be an “expert” and then not have positive results in your own children – there’s an element of “shame” involved with that (as there must be even when mothers/fathers AREN’T experts – when your child isn’t following the paradigm of what “should” be happening or accepted behavior or developmental stages there’s a huge amount of pressure to explain WHY or fix it).  When the answer isn’t easy to find, it’s easy to internalize that as failure.  The reality is, however, that I’ve been doing the best I can with the situation I have, and the knowledge I have.  I’m working on being compassionate toward myself, and accepting that even if I have all the experience in the world – it’s ok if I didn’t have the results I had hoped for!  So, here’s to a working on a new attitude when I’m faced with Ellie’s restlessness!

I drove to the doctor’s office in my new car….that I absolutely love!!!!! It’s huge, but doesn’t feel as big as I thought it would.  I definitely feel like I should have 10 kids jumping out of it, but the practicality of the car is just awesome.

I was able to sneak out to the garden today for a very short while.  The weather has turned, so Victor decided to harvest all the tomatoes, and let them ripen indoors.  We’ll see how that works out.  I have no idea if it will or not.  I haven’t yet consulted my handy-dandy country living reference book.  Victor also erected both the walls for Jeffrey’s office.  I am constantly amazed by that man.  He is the epitome of the phrase, “don’t work hard: work smart” – the things he manages to do all by himself blow me away!

While we’re on the topic of Victor – their family is really absolutely incredible.  He and Lorena have given so much, not only to Jeffrey and I, but to my entire family (brothers and mother alike).  Watching them with Ellie Graye emphasizes how incredibly blessed we are; my heart is sincerely filled with gratitude for having such amazing people to watch over, guard, and love our daughter. They really do love her like she’s their own…Ellie loves to go with Victor to give the horses their evening dinner…

Before I get to posting anything else, I have to say that my daughter is just absolutely beautiful…I know I’m biased, but look at her!

Mondays are usually a bit hard – adjusting to Jeffrey being gone, and getting back into the swing of the week…but today was awesome!  Jeffrey was in town still, and despite a really, really, really rough night with Ellie Graye, I woke with that feeling of closeness to and appreciation for him that is what makes marriage so beautiful and rewarding.  He is so incredibly supportive of me even when I’m exhausted and not-so-nice.  It truly makes me want to be a better mother, a better wife, a better friend…that sounds so cliche, but it really is true.  Having him love me while I’m melting down from exhaustion gives me strength to keep on going! But enough of the mushy stuff…

A letter from the CHP that arrived last week has certainly caused a bit of a change here in the Papen household!  You see, through a series of moves between California and Oregon, our cars have been swapped back and forth.  Currently, I am driving the Prius (that is registered in California), and in California, my husband drives the Mercedes (that is registered in Oregon).  Apparently, California is so damn broke, they’re investigating anything and everything to impose any kind of fine they might be able to get away with…including nailing residents with out-of-state license plates.  The letter basically stated that they think we’re California residents, trying to  avoid the expensive California Registration fees, and that we face heavy fines if we don’t fix the issue.

After discussing all our options, it makes the most sense to swap the cars again so that the one that is registered in Oregon (the Mercedes) stays in Oregon, and the one registered in California there…right?  Here comes the problem: having a convertible, 2-door Mercedes on a working farm in Oregon with a 14 month old, and more than 2 people to drive around isn’t exactly practical. Which is why originally we started looking seriously into a new car…

So yesterday after posting about the Yukon/Suburban dilemma, I got an email from my dad telling me to talk to my Grandpa Tom about GM Employee Discounts.  You see, my grandfather was once the Vice President of Hughes Aircraft Satellite division which was bought by GM in the early ’90s (or was it ’89?), which means he gets an employee discount that, quite frankly, kicks ass!

Before finding out the details about the “hook up,” however, Jeffrey and I had gone down to the dealership (a different one than we did yesterday), and looked at every single damn suburban on the lot.  We went in with a list of things we wanted, and while we found one that would work, neither of us were “psyched” about it.  Jeffrey asked his usual million questions – and gleaned as much information as he could (I love watching him work: he’s a great negotiator).  But, since I’m not the kind of person to impulse buy on large items (a very strong Carvey trait), we ended up walking away…but as we were doing so, a suburban in the back corner caught my eye…it had all the things I wanted – problem was, it also had more than what we wanted, and neither of us wanted to pay for the extra features we wouldn’t use.  Once home,  I checked my email, to find that Grandpa Tom had already acquired a GM Employee Authorization number for me.  Out of morbid curiosity, we called the dealership for the pricing.  We both were shocked to find out that the discount was so deep that it was UNDER invoice by a long shot That — coupled with 0% APR for 72 months — made our decision a no-brainer.  Oh – and another huge money saver?  No sales tax in Oregon: simply buying it here and not in California saves 10%.  Registration? Only $300 for four years!  Aaah, I love Oregon!  Suffice it to say, back to the dealership we went, and are now the proud owners of a HUGE ASS SUBURBAN.

Oddly enough, it makes me feel like I’m back in my nannying days — driving a pimped out black SUV with tinted windows!  Ok, so Madonna’s was a Lincoln Navigator (which I once dented BIG time, but that’s another story for another time), but we always seemed to have a Black Suburban pick us up whenever we flew anywhere! Hmmmmm……maybe I should start a car service for celebrities here in PDX….

So that was my Monday: I got a total steal on a new car that fits all my needs and is still totally cool and hip (Thank you, Grandpa Tom)!!!  On top of that, my husband was able to stay another night.  That, my friends, is a good day!