its in the mail

so the mail came yesterday and what do you know, there was a long awaited check!!! i can pay all of our bills now (thank god) and am still waiting on the resturant person to make good on her bounced check, but mabye that will happen soon too. we are very fortunate to be so busy with some good jobs, i hope this continues through the year. the boys are with their dad in overguaard playing in the snow and building legos. i have to take the week off from all of my training per chiroprators orders. i have been trying to cut back on the really twisty exercises but i am not healing, i knocked it out of place again and it has been really painful. i thought if i worked through the pain it would just go away, but that is not happening. so, i am off this week from kids and exercise. i would like to get the house finished being cleaned out. last night i didn't make it very far on that though as i laid down to read a bit and fell asleep. it was by the fire though so that was nice. mom sent me a book called gargoyle that i am going to try to finish this week since i have new found time. it seems interesting so far...................

holiday pics

dad in his "christmas shirt and hat". he was very christmasy in his outfit.

the bag i made for mom. i needlepointed this over the last couple of years (yes, i am slow at finishing things) and finally made it into a bag for her. will send it off this week.

the bag. it is all leather (yes, real leather) with upholstery fabric lining. the needlepoint peice is set on leather and is a pocket.

mike and i (notice my way cool fingerless mittens that jovi made me). i wear them all the time.

two excited boys. owen was with his dad so he was not here. jule is very proud of the tie he borrowed from mike to look handsome. he has on his oldest pair of jeans with holes in them and his converse tennis shoes too, but he was looking good buddy.

no lights

with only two days until christmas left, i have determined that there will be no tree this year as we have yet to get it out of the box (fresh ones are fire hazards here in the desert), no lights up as we have not gotten them out either or had the time to put them up regardless, and am still two jackets short of finishing the christmas gifts. we have the girls sent off as of yesterday, but i am running a bit behind on the others. work keeps getting in the way of elfdom. promises of checks in the mail are turning out to be lies so the headache of filing with the courts is lingering over our heads. i am not really feeling the holiday season this year. mike and i will drive jule and ian to williams christmas day. owen is already there and thrilled to be without his brothers for the week. the drive should be pretty as there is much snow that has fallen. i will post pics of the girls bags after they receive them. they are spectacular. everyone here wants one now. including me.

an update

ian hasn't been around for many pictures lately. he is on his own program but doing well and happy. he loves cooking and does so every chance he gets. owen alexander is the most loving and most obstinate child mixed all into one. he loves to stir up his brothers and me then pretend that we are all crazy and he has done nothing. jule douglas just wants to be big like his brothers. he just turned eight last month and told me last night that is really is closer to 9 now. we have been working hard at work. luckily we have been busy.

pumpkin carving

the boys did their pumpkins without any help this year. they drew their own faces, cleaned them out and carved them all by themselves. they are getting so big. jule make faces on both sides of his. the boys are doing really well, they are growing up really fast. jule can now do backflips on the trampoline and sings songs to me that he writes in his special notebook, owen is amazingly creative and very social and ian has his first girlfriend (who is an eight grader and he is in seventh).

im back baby!

after several years of trying to figure it out, i finally have. i am back to prehystorectomy size again, i am eating whatever i want (within reason) and feel great. its all about bioidential horomones and exercise. were on a roll.

girls...............................

ian called me to pick him up from school yesterday at an odd time, which i didn't really put much thought into, but when i got to the school, he was on the phone very excited. he informed me that he called me 30 minutes late because he was talking to girls. four of them to be exact. they came up to him and wanted to talk. he was beside himself he was soooo happy. so, apparently one is in his cooking class he goes to on mondays after school and told the other ones that ian makes good doughnuts so they asked him to make some for them. he came home and did his chores so he could oblige this request. he made wonderful doughnuts which he fried himself (under my supervision) and we put them in really cute decorative bags for him to give to the girls. i put them up on the counter before we left for martial arts, but ian got excited and moved them into his room without telling me so that way he wouldn't forget them....... (highly unlikely). when we arrived home they were missing and ian found them all eated with the empty bags in the backyard. yep, the dogs were being themselves again. he was sooooooooo upset. he will make more doughnuts sunday to give to them monday and is bringing them cookies and banana bread that we made earlier to show them he tried........ in other news....................before we left jule said that he promised katlyin brownies with rainbow chips on them for her birthday (which is today) and if we didn't make them last night he would have to wait "a whole nuther year" to make them for her. they have been friends since kindergarden and made it around the class dating circle a few times now...... mike pickedup some brownie mix and hersheys kissables (rainbow chips) for us and when we returned jule made kaitlyn beautiful brownies. when i tucked him in last night he had a goofy smile on his face and asked me if i thought he would have good luck tomorrow...................... he is soooo funny.... and by the way, i did ask owen if he needed to make a girl anything and he let me know that all of the girls in his class already like him because they all chase him and one follows him home most of the time (which he thinks is weird) so he doesnt have to make them anything and all of the boys want to be his friend which he thinks is cooler. i love my short people. also, jule sang me the entire song "the wall" by jonny cash yesterday afternoon by memory... i was very impressed.

clawing..................

i can't seem to rid myself of the overwheming sense of frustration i have developed as of late. i have my schedule full daily to keep my mind from wandering into places it shouldn't, but i am not exercising out the worry the way i used to be able to. i am literally clawing up the ladder, fighting anyone and anything trying to bring my world down. i am fighting the economy just like every other business owner in this country. lake havasu had the highest rate of unemployment in october and november 08 in the entire country and we still have not recovered. i am staring at empty boat manufacturers across the street from me every day. they are operating on skeleton crews just to sell existing boats - new production ended last year......... i want to know why bank of america would rather forclose on me than renegociate my 2300$ a month morgage payment part of which is at an 11% interest rate. people are getting between 2-4% and i am willing to pay my 6.75% i have, just drop the 11% one and roll it into one loan........ this is common sense, or so i beleive it to be........ i am very fortunate that i do have business coming in the door everyday. my competitors are struggling just to get their phones to ring and i don't want to be in their shoes, or even the same brand for that matter. i keep telling myself that if we can keep our heads above water - even mostly- we can keep from drowning problem is that i am not in the water, i have been pushed off a damn cliff and i am clawing back to the top but my fingernails have worn thin and i am not sure how much longer i can hold on........ watch out though, i am one tough bitch!

out and about

the boys are trying to be super cool here. i think this was supposed to be hang loose but is closer to some star wars sign. jule took the picture of me with my head cut off. mike stayed home to watch football and ian elected to stay at the neighbors so jule owen and i had the afternoon to ourselves.

this is what happens when people let me do what i want

we built this last week and the customer was overjoyed. he has called us back to tell us how much he really likes it. i like it when they say just do what looks good and let us run with it. so much better than just some blah design..... in other news, ian is grounded from tv and computer until he pulls up his english grade so he calls me this weekend to ask if he is still grounded. obviouly stillyes, so he tells me that i did this last year too and it didn't work so why would i try it again this year. i informed him that i would be happy to do this as long as it takes to accomplish the goal this year (we did last year too) and that i expect more from him. he let me know that he is only average and it is my problem that i expect more. the conversation ended there after i asked to talk to his dad. he changed the subject and for the record, is still grounded from computer and tv.

jule douglas

so jule has his fund raiser paperwork sitting on the counter when i get home and i ask him what this is. he replies "something, i need to sell 125 items". so i say okay, what are you selling. "i don't know but there is a catalog and i need to sell 125 items." so he goes next door and no one is home yet (this is 3 pm), and comes back then i tell him he can go anywhere in the neighbor hood as long as he is home before we leave for class. he goes to my parents where he says no one is home but someone is sewing. he rang the door bell and knocked then just walked in and saw that the door was closed where the noise was coming from so figured that he should leave. (i called my mom no one was there so i don't know what he heard). funny boy. so then, he goes to the neighbors across the street. he gets one to look at his catalog, then comes home to get his order sheet. i asked "what are you doing" ? he says "getting the order form because i didn't bring it". i asked why not since he needed it for ordering to which he replied" i don't know, i have never done this before, but i thought about it in 1st grade (last year). " i almost died laughing. so there goes jule douglas in his 'my grandma got me this tee shirt in tennessee' shirt with the hearts on it, his flip flops which are a size too big for him and his olive shorts across the street with his order form (he left the neighbor in the carport with the order form). he then came back with the completed form but no check so i had to send him back a third time. he is on the program now. my funny boy. he informed me that he only needs to sell 81 items now and wants to know what i am getting. he is trying to earn an electric guitar. he showed me the picture.

look how cute ette and aaron are.

the race car seat that nearly made me cry.

the cutest couple ever

these dune buggy seats were hours and hours, but the customer was thrilled.

another view of the race car seat, he loved it.

to the lake we go

we went to laughlin and back yesterday in marios boat. the best part was the gorge of course though.

petroglyphs behind the jumping rock

under the bridge at topok. is is so cool up here.

jazmin jumping off the cliff. it was freaking cold.

okay, rachel. here is a pic for you. i am now a size 7/8 and bordering a 6. exercise is worth it. not a great pic, but you get the idea. big change from last year.

jule and owen love to practice their moves on eachother. the trampoline is a softer landing place.

robin i am here.

so you want a new blog. i will post pics soon. my camera is either dead or i bought a bum battery. that is soon to be discovered, but in the meantime all is well or at least appears to be. we are working like crazy but the boys are gone to erics for 3 weeks so i am taking full advantage of the extra time to not cook and whatnot. i have been working out in all of my free time and the results are worth it. i am happy with myself again (finally), and am working on being more explosive now. i am having a hard time eating enough calories to sustain this much excersize though so i have to get on that so i don't look like a gross person and loose too much weight. no one wants their veins to pop out. our sensie from the arevelo academy will be in cambodia for the next 2 weeks so today is my last private lesson for a bit. the fighters will be leading my regular class so that will be fun. they always push us really hard which is great. i have to get my work boards reorganized in the next couple of days because i have to showboat for referralls thurday and it is time to get some new pics up anyway. so all in all, i am a crazy person staying busy, but its always been like that anyway. so, i guess all is normal.

alive and well.

we are working our butts off but we are alive and well. owen and jule are with me for the summer because their dad doesn't have help to watch them this year. ian is having a blast fishing and hiking daily and is also learning to shoot a few guns. owen and jule just completed kung fu camp and will attend tournament camp at the martial arts academy in a couple of weeks. they will go to a tournament in vegas the weekend after the camp. should be interesting. we have been working 7 days a week and will leave today (i am hopeing soon than later) to see jovi in ventura. i am really excited because it has been 5 years since i have seen her and have never met zion or liel. in other news, i have lost all of my excess weight now and am trying to become a bad ass mother. i am enjoying my core training class more that i thought i would and am thinking of starting some of the fighting classes as well. we will see if the times work out for my schedule. mike is going to wyoming at the end of the month to see his grandmother and mom and jazmin will be out this summer to visit.

the south has risen

i was totally impressed with the effort put into this monstrosity. it reminds me of mississippi.

boating trip

sunday we went to the lake and mario took his boat out. we all went on a short ride to copper canyon and the kids all got out to swim ( and mario). it was fun and marios boat is finally running great. we went home early (about 5ish) and i was taking a nap by 5:30. rare, but i was so tired from the week. the boys go to erics for the weekend then jule and owen come back monday. ian gets to stay for the whole summer. the other two will get to go if diane makes it full time while still on vacation. jule bug is climbing the ladder, ian has on the red vest and owen is sitting with the blue vest.

mothers day

in stead of doing something, i opted to stay home and clean for mothers day. the boys swam all day and i changed out ians bed (twice, yes, we broke 2) . i cleaned and cleaned then cooked for a few days and it was nice, but now i need to do it again as is to be expected with a crew the size i have.

the top to a cool rhino job i did.

custom seat covers to match the top. this job was really nice looking

my very cool zebra toenails. i love summer nails!

we are alive.

jule bug doing a flip into the pool. he totally rocks

o dogs being the crazy boy he is.

i-nez trying to do a little grilling. he is trying to get into cooking more and wants to work for his aunt rachel really badly. it is what he is planning when he grows up.

jule dougas as dirty as he can get, shoeless from forgetting them at martial arts and just a total and complete mess. i love these boys more than anything.

some more pics

here are a few more pics from the 41 ford we were doing. it went home yeserday finally. yeah. the customer was very happy and is fabricating his finish work himself. it was a fun little project (okay, not so little project). we are busy and i am tired. i quit drinking monday and am hoping to be skinny again soon. my core training/fighting class is fun and kicks my ass so that is good too.

in and about the life of becka main

so as you all know, i am perfect. okay, really, i can try. i was so sick yesterday i wanted to die. i woke up throwing up and with diarreah, and had to go to referrals (be there by 6:30 am) and take ian to school since he left his backback at the shop. so, i did. i was sick all day and had to sew the top for the konkiki boat (a commercial boat under the bridge for tourists) so it could be lauched again and could not go home sick. i finally got done about quarter to 5 and went home, got in bed and did not move until 7:15 this morning. i am paying for it today, but i was not functioning at full force yesterday. i did, however, sew an entire jeep interior today which just left because i was supposed to do it yesterday too. i have so much to do, so many jobs. i am not complaining, by any means, i just get so behind when i get sick. i have to figure that out. i have started core training classes at the boys martial arts studio and am getting addicted to it. we are learnign some fighting which i didn't think i would like, but am loving. so, hard body, here i come. sorry for the lack of blogs of late, just crazy busy and unable to keep up with life! love you all,

some new pics for you

so i went for a pedicure and they talked me into nails (which they have been trying to for a couple of years now and i tell them no). well, they won. and, i am so happy they did because i love them and have had them for a week now, and it has been a great trial week (lots of injuries) and they are wonderful. i now have girl hands. yeah for me.

mary ann brought mike an easter basket because she is sooooooo cool. we love her. mike aaprciates easter baskets more than kids do.

jule was in a school play they sang songs about being friends. jule LOVES to perform. it was fun to watch.

ian and owen at jules school play. they are about like the picture. crazy boys.

fullerton

harrison looking cool in his glasses.........

me in my new glasses (totally harrison inspired)
my shoes to prove i was there...........it was a theme throughout the trip...

amber in her new place. it is the first time she moved without me helping her in years. it was really strange to go in and see it all put together alredy! good job amber.

the hotties of fullerton. amber and sarah were the hit of the club. EVERYONE was hitting on them. i was just the too tall friend as usual. i even wore flats damnit, but i didn't dress up too much, didn't bring much with me.