Robo Blog

Goodbye Minkiewicz's.....

The Minkiewicz have moved away,

from the community by the bay.

Off to Oregon they have fleed,

with Noah, boxes and their bed.

New job and a new house,

what could be better,

now they are mortgage debtors.

They say every mans house is his castle,

they soon will learn about homeowners hassles.

Fertilizer, mortgage payment and electric bills,

will soon be their biggest thrills!

They have offered us a place to visit,

they say they have space galore,

but if you stay too long, they’ll boot you out the door.

They will be missed,

they are quite fine,

but most of all, we’ll miss their wine!

HAPPY NEW HOUSE!

We miss you guys!

I never want this to happen again...

Well, it has been one crazy weekend that I am glad is over.  My eldest child Matt, was a passenger in a car on Thursday night (school does not resume here until Wed 1/10) that was involved in an accident...HE IS OK!!!. Luckily ALL passengers in the vehicle were OK!

Here are the details...

Matt and a few buddies were out driving around (cause that's what teenagers do...) and took a curve too fast.  They were in the hills and the roads were a little slippery as it had been raining earlier in the day.  They were in a 13 year old Jeep Cherokee.  Matt was in the back seat on the passenger side.  The car careened over the side of the road and rolled 3-4 times (side over side) landing on a driveway of a house approximately 100 feet below.  One boy was ejected from the car (no seatbelt) and the remaining three stay inside the vehicle. Miraculously all four boys suffered only minor injuries, including the boy that was ejected (he bruised his spine and needed a couple of stitches in his forehead).  Matt retells that he was certain that he was not going to live to see his 17th birthday.  We were summoned to the hospital around 11:30pm (I am shaking as I write this, as it was the scariest phone call a parent could ever receive) that our son was in a rollover auto accident and he was being "transported to the hospital".  Unfortunately, my husband was fighting a nasty flu with a high fever that night and the thought of being worried about him and Matt was too much to handle, so I went alone.  When I arrived at the hospital, Matt was in a room surrounded by medical personnel assessing his injuries.  I caught my breath and approached his side and found him conscious and alert.  He was quite a mess as you could image (and his new jacket had been cut away from his body...which seemed to be his biggest complaint). Their concern was focused on a large contusion on his abdomen (apparently caused by the seat belt).  They did an abdominal ultrasound, followed by a CT scan and a chest and head x-ray.  All were normal and there were no internal injuries. He had a couple of stitches in his right arm, lots of scrapes, numerous bruises and pieces of glass lodged in his head and arms.  The sheriff was there and he said that when he got to the accident site, he was surprised that there were no fatalities.  Apparently the car resembled crumpled paper. Thank god there were no drugs or alcohol associated with the accident, simply an inexperienced kid driving too fast.

The lesson here....laws are put into place for a reason.  Teens are issued a provisional license for a reason...they need time behind the wheel without the distractions of others (especially teens).  California law states "new drivers under the age of 18 are not allowed to have other passengers in the car with them under the age of 21 for the first 12 months of having their drivers license".  Unfortunately, the police don't seem to enforce this law, only the parents (and not well...I am guilty of this too...but NO LONGER). The driver of the car only had his license for 2 months.  ALL the boys knew better and made poor choices.  So, Matt's wings have been clipped!  He now has a 9pm curfew, and in addition, if he is caught driving another person in his car or is a passenger in a car with someone who holds a provisional license he will loose his license for 6 months.  The teens went to the accident site yesterday to pick-up the debris left by the accident, I understand it was quite sobering and the teens barely said a word.  The silver lining in all of this is, ALL the kids are alive and scared out of their minds.  Hopefully they have all learned something from this experience; the outcome could have been much more serious.

I will be SOOOOO HAPPY when school resumes on Wednesday.  If I could, I would bubble wrap my teenagers and lock them in a play room until they are 18!

Happy New Year 2007

Today  is January 1, 2007 and I have not blogged since October...3 months...in the blogging community that is considered a sin!  I do have good excuses however and the main one is I started a new business, joined with a few new non-profit boards and back to school tossed me into a murky pool of non-blogging.  But I am back....

Since this is the time for New Years resolutions, I thought I would put them here, so I had a place to look back to for reminders...you know...keep me honest (or simply remind me that it was January 15th and I already broken 7 of my resolutions).

Here goes (remember, they are not in specific order):

1.   Spend more quality couple time with Steve doing things we enjoy...not just running errands together!

2.   Continue my healthy lifestyle. This includes eating healthy and exercising.

3.   Do 45 minutes of cardiovascular exercise daily.

4.   Complete Tahoe house!

5.   Be a better Mom

6.   Do not loose control of the laundry or laundry room

7.   DE-CLUTTER Organize the house and keep it that way! (this included the garage)

8.   Increase my Etcetera business 20%

9.   Play more golf

10. Help Matt with college stuff!!!

11. Help Sarah stay organized.

12. No more SWEARING!!!

13. Blog more regularly

14. Write with pen and paper more (notes, b'day cards, thank yous)

Well, there it is...in black and white.  Have you done this?  If not DO IT today and refer back to it regularly.  Would'nt it be great to refer back to your list from last year and be able to say that you accomplished most or all of your resolutions?  Well I for one, intend to keep mine!  Well, I am off to watch TV and eat chocolate truffles...oh shit...I have already broken 3 of my resolutions...this is not a good start!

Happy New Year!

Why October is a great month!

October is a great month for many reasons, but the main one is MY birthday is in October and everyone knows...I LOVE celebrating my birthday!  Big or small, it's all about ME!!! There are many other reasons that October is a great month and they are as follows (and of course not in any specific order)....

1. My sister Megan was born in October. Her birthday is two days after mine, so I always have someone to celebrate with!

2.  School has been back in session for 1 1/2 months, so everyone schedule is finally a routine (if that is possible with teenagers)

3.  The leaves on the trees are beginning to change...and I love the colors!

4.  The days are getting shorter and the nights are cooler

5.  The daily temperature is around 68-72 degrees and typically sunny; making it perfect CALIFORNIA weather

6.  Halloween has always been one of my favorite holidays.  As the kids have gotten older, it is becoming less important to them, but I still love seeing the little goblin's come to the door begging for candy.

7.  Our godson's birthday is in October...this will be his monumental 1st birthday!!!

8.  Typically I wrap up my Christmas shopping in October...unfortunately I will not be doing that this year...I have started however!

9.  Fall fever typically hits and I go through a massive "clean-up and get-rid-of" session.  This also typically involves moving the furniture around (which is a "run for the hills" day for Steve and Matt...strong men alway help this part of fall fever)

10.  I unpack my fall/winter clothes!  This is truly fun, because it looks like you have an entirely new wardrobe because you haven't seen/worn these pieces since April!!!

Construction Update #8

Well...foundation is moving "UP"...which is good...the stem walls are in and framing begins this week! Yahoo...I cannot wait!!! Here are some new photos:

Construction Update #7

We have foundation footings!  These will hold up the walls of the foundation of the cabin.  The complete foundation should be done within the next couple of weeks and then the framing begins (and more $$$...yuck!).  We are going to visit the project now every month, so it will be fun to watch the progress.  The hope is to have the cabin weather proof by snow fall...pray for a dry winter...just this year!

   

Back to School Dance

Last night was the back to school dance at the high school.  Matt and his friends made a "late appearance" (only the cool kids do this) and Sarah and her friends made a "grand appearance" (as only freshmen would do!).  The girls made matching t-shirts...pretty cute and apparently they ALL had a great time!  Steve and I enjoyed a quiet, romantic, NO kid evening! Everyone had a GR8 Friday night!

Back 2 School ~ 2006

Today is the first day of school! I don't know who is more excited, me or the kids?

Sarah starts her freshman year and Matt begins his junior year.  Here are our annual first day of school photos with Steve...it has been a fun tradition, especially watching the two kids get taller...you can see that Matt now towers over his Dad!

Crazy Baby Sister

My baby sister Rifka flew up to Nor Cal this morning just so she could accompany my other sister Megan back down to LA on a road trip.  That's a great sister!!! 

During our brief visit, Sarah got ahold of my camera and snapped a few pics...Rif is a beauty and loads of fun!  

School Starts in 70 hours...

...but whose counting!  Matt will be a junior and Sarah will be a freshman!!!!!  Scary!!!  I have been reminiscing about their earlier academic careers and decided to go back and look at their school photos. I found myself a bit melancholy about how quickly the years have passed.

These photos are from 1998. Sarah, kindergarten and Matt 3rd grade. They were such spuds...now they are almost young adults.  To my friends with small babies and toddlers; enjoy these precious moments, as they go by way too fast! 

Here's to another back to school season!