About Me
- Paige Lomas
- McMinnville, Oregon
- Journey with me during this bit of change. We will see what comes down the road and meanders into our path. I still enjoy LomasLOL because well, we LOL a lot around our home and pretty much anywhere and it worked as a blog title for me when I started blogging. Now a new path.
Thursday, July 15, 2010
One July Evening
We live so close to an elementary school, it is hard to not go over and play on the equipment on such a warm summer evening! We walked over and played for a bit and of course I had to take a few pictures. (You might notice to play equipment from previous pictures...same stuff, different times of the year!)
Hydrangea
After a few years of pruning out backyard, 25-year old hydrangea too late or too early and not allowing it to bloom...this year...taaaaa-dahhhhh! We have beautiful, huge, wonderful, pink-purple-blue giant flowers! I was tempted to just leave them on the plant outside and admire from the window for the next few weeks, but instead I picked a huge bouquet and have them in the house! Gorgeous! Zac of course is refusing to leave them alone...putting his ball in the bouquet ("Ball. Ball. Ball in the fowrs"), walking by and sniffing them ("Putty. Putty fowrs, Mama.") and just over all being amazed at the flowers. I love to see and hear is wonderment.
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Surgery
Today was a big day for us Lomas’. CJ had to have a particular procedure done this morning (no details to follow). The last few days have been filled with some much warranted anxiety and nervousness…for all of us.
My mom came over at 7:30 this morning to watch Zac and we headed off to St. Vincent’s hospital. We needed to be in pre-op at 8:45 and made it right on time. Once we checked in they took us right back to the room. CJ was a champ. He chose to bring his HP 5 to read and keep his mind busy. After weighing, measuring, checking temperature and heartbeats he was ready for the “silly juice”. It was funny to watch him go from composed and steady to silly and some fairly random sentences. All the doctors came in to check in and review the procedure. All were very kind, serious and professional. It was a great experience…if we weren’t there for surgery!
As he was wheeled away, I lost it. I think the last few weeks of knowing this was coming, preparing CJ for the procedure and general anxiety surrounding surgery just gave way to my serious meltdown.
We waited for over an hour and then the doctors came out to let us know all went fantastic. CJ was in recovery and as soon as he woke up we would be able to go back and see him. Well, about half an hour later the nurse had to wake him up! Not only was he fairly sedated, he was just plain tired!
Finally we got to go back and see him! He was so tired and drugged up. At first he was not making too much sense, but in just a short amount of time he was back to his normal self. It was truly amazing to watch him come out of his dazed and confused state. We chatted for about an hour then the nurse unhooked him from everything, we got him dressed and out the door we went.
I am not sure how Carlos stayed awake to drive us both home…but he did it without complaining once. CJ and I were sacked out the whole way home! Once home CJ napped some more and in no time at all he was hungry and ready for a big lunch! It is really amazing how quickly his body is on the mend…both physically and mentally.
My mom came over at 7:30 this morning to watch Zac and we headed off to St. Vincent’s hospital. We needed to be in pre-op at 8:45 and made it right on time. Once we checked in they took us right back to the room. CJ was a champ. He chose to bring his HP 5 to read and keep his mind busy. After weighing, measuring, checking temperature and heartbeats he was ready for the “silly juice”. It was funny to watch him go from composed and steady to silly and some fairly random sentences. All the doctors came in to check in and review the procedure. All were very kind, serious and professional. It was a great experience…if we weren’t there for surgery!
As he was wheeled away, I lost it. I think the last few weeks of knowing this was coming, preparing CJ for the procedure and general anxiety surrounding surgery just gave way to my serious meltdown.
We waited for over an hour and then the doctors came out to let us know all went fantastic. CJ was in recovery and as soon as he woke up we would be able to go back and see him. Well, about half an hour later the nurse had to wake him up! Not only was he fairly sedated, he was just plain tired!
Finally we got to go back and see him! He was so tired and drugged up. At first he was not making too much sense, but in just a short amount of time he was back to his normal self. It was truly amazing to watch him come out of his dazed and confused state. We chatted for about an hour then the nurse unhooked him from everything, we got him dressed and out the door we went.
I am not sure how Carlos stayed awake to drive us both home…but he did it without complaining once. CJ and I were sacked out the whole way home! Once home CJ napped some more and in no time at all he was hungry and ready for a big lunch! It is really amazing how quickly his body is on the mend…both physically and mentally.
CJ in pre-op...feeling great and steady as they get.
Hooked up! Da' finger!
We are family! Ready to go. (please don't notice how tired Carlos and I look)
Attack of the silly juice. St. Vincent's gives all their patients teddy bears. CJ named his "Serky"
CJ post-op...and doing great!
Seriously, he wanted to read about 20 minutes after he woke up. He did say that he read the same paragraph about 10 times. It was something to do at least.
Pre and post-op nurses. So kind! His mask is brown because he had root-beer flavored happy gas!
CJ the patient with Serky the Bear...in his operating scrub hat, getting wheeled out to the parking lot to go home! Great job CJ!
CA Family...part II
Life is good in Southern California and it is even better when family is there to comfort you, support you and treat you with their best-most-awesomest kindness ever!
Kathy is my mom's cousin (Kathy's father and my mom's mother were sister and brother), so that makes me Kathy's second cousin? Or is her daughter my second cousin? What about her daughter and my son? My son and her son...third cousins? No matter, we are all just a bunch of cousins. Fun, crazy and good-hearted cousins!
I stayed with Kathy and her husband Paul for the three nights I was in CA (after the conference). Each night started with a cocktail hour with Paul at the helm, bartending and providing some great stories. Kathy was in the kitchen, whipping up the most yummy dinner (healthy too) for us all, while providing walks down memory lane. All the while the news was on...we were catching the latest information. What a great few hours each night! During dinner we would chat about life and our current state of affairs with laughter and humor. For the dessert course? Chocolate of course! Smooth, rich and from Oregon. Yum-yum!
Each morning we would get dressed ready for a walk around the neighborhood. Down hills, up hills, around the bend...noticing homes new and old. The deminishing nursery houses tell the tale of the past and future. The county once boasted "the flower capital of the world", pointsettias everywhere! Now the bare ground (void of all the green houses) is ready for "75 homes here", another "50 homes there" and on the second day we walked along where the greenhouses are still standing, but empty. Ready for demolition and ready for another sub-development to move in. Change is everywhere.
Kathy and Paul's daughter Kari is just a few years older than me. She is fun, funny, smart and oh-so artistic! Her home is amazing! She can take any space and turn it into a place of warmth and coziness. She works hard! Her son Austin is a kick! He is 15 years old and I think he just gave me a glimpse of what is coming to a town near us in the very near future...CJ is 10! The teenage years are just around the corner.
All in all, staying with family is the best. I felt welcome and comfortable every second. We have similar stories and know all the same family members...talking is easy and always enjoyable. I hope that another 10 years don't fly before I can head down there again!
Kathy is my mom's cousin (Kathy's father and my mom's mother were sister and brother), so that makes me Kathy's second cousin? Or is her daughter my second cousin? What about her daughter and my son? My son and her son...third cousins? No matter, we are all just a bunch of cousins. Fun, crazy and good-hearted cousins!
I stayed with Kathy and her husband Paul for the three nights I was in CA (after the conference). Each night started with a cocktail hour with Paul at the helm, bartending and providing some great stories. Kathy was in the kitchen, whipping up the most yummy dinner (healthy too) for us all, while providing walks down memory lane. All the while the news was on...we were catching the latest information. What a great few hours each night! During dinner we would chat about life and our current state of affairs with laughter and humor. For the dessert course? Chocolate of course! Smooth, rich and from Oregon. Yum-yum!
Each morning we would get dressed ready for a walk around the neighborhood. Down hills, up hills, around the bend...noticing homes new and old. The deminishing nursery houses tell the tale of the past and future. The county once boasted "the flower capital of the world", pointsettias everywhere! Now the bare ground (void of all the green houses) is ready for "75 homes here", another "50 homes there" and on the second day we walked along where the greenhouses are still standing, but empty. Ready for demolition and ready for another sub-development to move in. Change is everywhere.
Kathy and Paul's daughter Kari is just a few years older than me. She is fun, funny, smart and oh-so artistic! Her home is amazing! She can take any space and turn it into a place of warmth and coziness. She works hard! Her son Austin is a kick! He is 15 years old and I think he just gave me a glimpse of what is coming to a town near us in the very near future...CJ is 10! The teenage years are just around the corner.
All in all, staying with family is the best. I felt welcome and comfortable every second. We have similar stories and know all the same family members...talking is easy and always enjoyable. I hope that another 10 years don't fly before I can head down there again!
Paul...the master bartender!
Here is the official birdhouse CJ and Carlos made for Kathy...almost 5 years ago!
Kari and Austin...so happy and sweet!
Kathy, Kari and Paige
Paul and his grandson Austin...sporting Austin's hat!
Austin...typical teenager!
Monday, July 12, 2010
CA Family...part I
While attending a conference in Southern CA I had the opportunity to stay a bit longer and visit with some family...some of them I have not seen them for about 10 years! Most importantly my grandma was just moved into a retirement home and I wanted to really see her, chat with her and give her a big hug!
The next day cousins from my mom's side dropped me off at my grandma's and then took us both to a yummy Mexican restaurant. Just the two of us! Boy did we talk! We ate some great food and talked about the old times (over and over) and a little bit of some new stuff...but most importantly I enjoyed hearing my grandma's philosophy on life. She went on and on (and on and on) about how she has lived a perfectly happy life, she believes the happier you are the better life you are going to lead and that being happy is the key to a long and happy life. I heard it many times, in many different ways...she told me what she was feeling right then and there, from the heart. That lunch with my grandma will stay in my heart for a very long time. My aunt picked us up and we all chatted for a bit then we went back to my aunt's for some more chatting and catching up.
Saturday was the BBQ at my other aunt's house with all the cousins and grandma! I felt like such a guest of honor...they all made me feel so welcome, they were all so loving and we had (again) some fabulous food, drinks and laughs! What a blast. We all had to talk a mile-a-minute, laugh loud, tell bad jokes and remember some old times. It was fun, fabulous and exciting to be around everyone. It had been too long since our last visit!
After the BBQ oldest cousins (Zach, Dustin and I) went out for some drinks and more laughs! What a funny and crazy few hours with those two! Did I mention that they are so cute? So funny? So personable? (Must run in the family!)
Ashley! (the college graduate)
Thursday afternoon my cousin Ashley picked me up at the hotel in San Diego and drove north to Leucadia/Encinitas for some quick stops. We had to stop at Las Olas for some fish tacos and drinks...she just graduated from college and it was fun to catch up with her...she did do some of the talking, not much though, I felt the need to talk about a million miles an hour! We made a quick stop to see Grandma at her new retirement home apartment. She was happy to see me, I did give her quite the surprise, but after we both settled down a bit, well we did what we do best...talked each other's ears off! It was so great to see her, hear her and give her hugs. Later, we stopped by to see cousin Shea (while she was cutting hair), cousin Codi (at the skate, surf, ski shop) and picked up a hat for CJ and then finally to Encinitas Surf Shop for the obligatory purchase...zip-up hoody! Ashley was a great driver and we made it just in time for happy hour at my other cousin's house (more on them later). The next day cousins from my mom's side dropped me off at my grandma's and then took us both to a yummy Mexican restaurant. Just the two of us! Boy did we talk! We ate some great food and talked about the old times (over and over) and a little bit of some new stuff...but most importantly I enjoyed hearing my grandma's philosophy on life. She went on and on (and on and on) about how she has lived a perfectly happy life, she believes the happier you are the better life you are going to lead and that being happy is the key to a long and happy life. I heard it many times, in many different ways...she told me what she was feeling right then and there, from the heart. That lunch with my grandma will stay in my heart for a very long time. My aunt picked us up and we all chatted for a bit then we went back to my aunt's for some more chatting and catching up.
Saturday was the BBQ at my other aunt's house with all the cousins and grandma! I felt like such a guest of honor...they all made me feel so welcome, they were all so loving and we had (again) some fabulous food, drinks and laughs! What a blast. We all had to talk a mile-a-minute, laugh loud, tell bad jokes and remember some old times. It was fun, fabulous and exciting to be around everyone. It had been too long since our last visit!
After the BBQ oldest cousins (Zach, Dustin and I) went out for some drinks and more laughs! What a funny and crazy few hours with those two! Did I mention that they are so cute? So funny? So personable? (Must run in the family!)
Uncle Gary and Aunt Jeanne...laughing it up!
Garrett...the baby cousin. There are four great-grandkids, but Garrett is the youngest grandson!
Codi, Paige, Ashely, Shea, Garrett, Dustin and Zach
(Troy, Katie, Bobby, Britney, Bryce and Bree not pictured)
Aunt Jeanne, Paige and Aunt Mary...looking so Hollywood in our shades!
Ha! I think Craig is a bit jealous!
Uncle Craig and Aunt Mary...Zach, Shea and Codi
Uncle Gary and Aunt Jeanne...Dustin, Ashely and Garrett
Uncle Craig and Zach
It must be noted that Zach is "big Zach" because my Zac is the baby and the youngest great-grandchild. Yes, they have the same first and middle name...hey, it is a great name! He just needs to learn to spel it correctly!
Saturday, July 3, 2010
Tangleboxing 2010
We went to Tanglebox again this year. Every year (this the 4th) I am surprised at how much fun we have roaming around the county searching for clues at the parks. There is usually water at the parks we visit and some dirt too. My boys love it! This year I noticed how much Zac is involved..well, running and playing and trying to keep up with the big boys is being involved. He sure had a great time!
Photoshoot
Here are some updated photos of my boys. It has been a long time since I had the time to take some pictures of them and they did a great job smiling and being cute for the camera.
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