tastybit’s Neighborhood

My ex- husband lives in TN for now and our divorce case was heard in Clarksville for jurisdiction reasons. Now, many laws are fairly the same when to divorce but each state has it's own court system who can really make it up however they feel - good for them. I however live in California. California has their own rules as to the expectations found on a final divorce decree. To no one surprise these two states  court system didn't match - big gasp I know-

 I had asked for a legal name change back to my maiden name be requested on the decree I told ,"oh sure we'll get that in there"

When my lawyers couldn't remember what was said by the judge in court my lawyers went to my ex husband and asked him what was said - Only upon my stern request was the court reporters documents evaluated as to what was said in court. This was in regards to another issue we were dealing with- not the name change but still.

The level of ineptitude that I was witness to to the state of Tennessee was beyond comprehension.

Thinking I could get the amendment to the final decree for my name change I put my ticket ( to fly and pick up my kids) in my maiden name. Since this was just too much work for the Clarksville laywers to handle it of course didn't get done.  So what next?

 I called South West Airlines and told them of my ticket being in the wrong name and why (evil southern lawyers) to which once I ansered a series of questions that only I would know the sanswer to the dear person on the other end of the line said, "ok Miss, we have now switched the name oon your ticket to match your drivers licence and you can now rest asure you can pick up yopur kids whit out a problem. Thank you South West Airlines you were my hero this week!

OK, when you have forgotten the pass codes on your bog site it's been too long.

I am stopping to take a blog moment today because it is my sisters birthday and she is a geek. So in tribute to my "geeky" sister I am blogging about her. First she will probably faint that 1: I remembered and 2: I'm blogging about it. Hey I'm the older sis here- deal with it chicky!

So My sister, where do I start: I was there when she bonked her front tooth in two pieces, I was there when she drank her first mud milk shake- okay I fed it to her, and hopefully I have been there when she really needed and ear. My sister has taught me a lot about how I look at people and one could be a truer- that's not a word is it? person of character than she. she is who she is  and for the most part I think she's pretty happy with how she turned out so far. She tolerates me when I speak to her about her health conditions, I tolerate her when she cooks in my kitchen. My sister is a great friend and a terrific auntie to my children.  Thanks sis, and Happy Birthday
Love,
Sonja

Same old stuff moms, dads: try to make sure  only small amounts of blood are lost  and treated with magic kisses. Everyone must have an equal amount of the back seat at all times even if they are not using it (they might be getting ready to). Today was just like any of those other days......except their was a wedding involved. -que theatrical drums here-

Now I have  three children these days of who I shall call, Wonder Boy, Violet Incredible, and the Twittering Toddler. I must put  up a disclaimer right away to assure you I did not birth all of these children but do care for each and every one of them as though I had. I will explain something a bit to you before I get into the ramblings I came here for: you see, These children, my S.O , and I make up the all new average family. Some are his, some are mine, sometimes we forget who's are who's and then a "stray" finds it's way in.

Both of us are great parents in our own right don't get me wrong so if Oprah brought S.O on her show as the next true picture of parenting I would not be offended, hell I'd be in the front row cheering him on! If I weren't cleaning up Wonder Boy who just spilled fruit dip all over his designer pants, while holding twittering toddler who is crying because Daddy is not there but across the room instead.

This my fine furry friends is why communication gets shot to hell when there are children involved. how do you explain to S.O what just happened because the S.O wasn't there and can't understand why you are so aggravated by the notion of someone wanting to take your picture"right now" and why aren't you smiling? ( p.s.while you were cleaning pants and dancing Twittering Toddler on your hip you broke a nail).
Violet the Incredible managed to make an outstanding appearance as "big" flower girl at the ceremony and went straight off to a slumber party:what a life! no chicken polka or long lines at the buffet- just straight for the good times and the opportunity to gloat on how fabulous she did for her first time. wish I would have gone.
Instead had to drive back to drug store for nail glue and a hand gun--just kidding this is California they have PMS pills to help with things like that now days.
"but where have you been?"
Now, had S.O actually heard about my wardrobe malfunction when I told him it may have not been a big deal, It would have not been a big deal had I grabbed all of my stuff from the house on my way to the reception and had the nail glue in my car BUT such was not the case -never is..
Meanwhile S.O is being asked, "follow me if you want to live"into the opera house and told children are not allowed where he is going. boo.- why the frik not? is this not a family wedding? I had no idea that S.O was going to be headed off down a corridor at the sme moment he enter the reception hall and that there was no available person to man the kidlets for the two minuets it would take to have the wedding-riffic entrance of the wedding party.

So I get the nail glue minus the hand gun. Hand guns apparently are not given to stressed out mothers for at least a 10 day waiting period- momentary boo.

upon return to the festivities things are back to the ways things were. status quo-even steven.

My question is to you all out there
sure we have gaggets, widegts and gizmos that can send info to and from others but is that really communication? Is that the communication I wanted right then? I needed emotional support-still do for that matter. I needed to know that my efferts were not going unnoticed as the only mother with children at the reception which were required to be there and therefor the only children there at all. They behaved, they were wonderful, and beautiful every single one of them. I couldn't have asked for better children tonight.

I am sad however that tonight despite my efforts I did not get a dance with my SO and instead left fighting because of it. I knew it was time to leave: hell it was after 9:30 pm and the Twittering Toddler was on the verge between tired and tyranical, WonderBoy was convinced he too was missing out on something somewhere so sunk into a deep emo angst-like saddness that only emo can do so well. Grandma and Grandpa were anxious to get home and ready for bed so that they could get up at 4:30 to eat breakfast and read the paper.
 
I just wanted to enjoy the party. I wanted to dance and mingle but didn't. I wanted to be free and enjoy and yet somehow I knew I wasn't going to get to do that.Would it have been so wrong to want to have had a small family moment tonight? I really felt like I was doing it again on my own and I HATE that feeling. I don't know what it takes get over that. Perhaps I will find it while writing but not tonight. hungry and tired, out.

spent the day on the bee scene, first stopping by nickel and nickel to meet with the bamboo beekeeper daniel townsend. he had a little sitch there at the winery where one of his colonies split and swarmed into a bush. luckily he was able to recapture them and had them housed nicely in a wine box by the time i arrived.

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the man behind the can is dan.

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see the flying bee just below the tree?

from there i headed north - way north - to hopland and spent an hour scoping the solar living institute. these new  sustainable living institutes are new to me. between the regenerative and solar institute i am totally floored. these folks have got it going on! i mean im all good, the planet should be able to sustain itself through my lifetime. it's my four year old son im concerned about.... places like solar and regen are doing far more than their part. YOU SHOULD TOO! check these guys out:
http://regenerativedesign.org
&
http://www.solarliving.org
they both offer fabulous classes on all things green. like the class i'll be teaching this sunday at solar:
http://www.solarliving.org/store/product.asp?pid=1763&catID=13,0

hopland was a little further north on 101 then i had originally thought but what a beautiful drive. my point people at the institute are jamie and pete who are super on task at helping me get my bee dilly-o on. looking forward to a great class- thanks serge for the hook-up.

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super sweet to meet jamie and pete



on my way back up and over the hill i decided it might be a good time to check in on the mean hive at forni-brown vegetables in calistoga.  the reason i call them the mean hive is that every time i took a class out to check them  someone got stung. i even went out there once alone to inspect them and got hella stung for days. anyhow the bad news on the mean hive is that it has collapsed. i am sad because as mean as those bees were i believe they had some good survivor DNA because when i first started looking after them 2 years ago they had not been into in at least 5 years. what a mess! the problem was that the colony was so far out of the way i couldn't keep up on managing it, none of the students wanted to be 100 yards from them, and the prior owner was not able to do much either. i will try and re-populate with stronger stock.

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aint no jive the hive aint alive

all this went down b4 3p when i had a 3D class to teach at napa college. shortly after i settled in with the students after being off for easter break my cell starts blowin' up in the 963. i try my best to not answer my cell-io when im teaching so i declined all the incoming. i must have gotten 1/2 a dozen jingy jingies from the 963. it wasnt until i got home and checked my e-mail did i realize what was shakin'
check it out:
e-mails from larry and shannon 
aka: LV and SK

Rob,
I just got a call from my church that there's a swarm in a rose bush.  It's only been there an hour.  Please call me at 287-0#!3.
Thanks
Larry Vermeulen

from shannon:
We are going to try to rescue this swarm. Wish us luck!
Shannon Kelly
Executive Chef

2 hours later:
We totally nailed that hive.  LV had a good plan and we hardly lost any.  I am installing them into Megan's new hive in the morning.  Any advice?  Good luck with the woodpile hive I have plans I can't get out of.  Remember I have the Expo hive if you need it. Peace and honey. SK
Shannon Kelly
Executive Chef

from me:
perfect!
could you tell where those bees split from?
LV said there is an old oak they may have came from.
fingers crossed - we need that DNA.

btw my beekeeper tool box came today.
no instructions though.
what is the thing that goes on top?
and what goes in the side with the metal bracket?

i also got one of  those italian hive tools - much smaller than the picture.

good luck tomorrow.
best if you have some drawn comb to put in her hive.
they tend to stay a little better if there is somewhere for her to start laying. - there were some frames with comb we pulled from the college ave bees last week. kelley took them, go get some if possible. i had swarms split on me b4 cause they didnt dig the scene... if you know what i mean.
if all she has is foundation i might think about locking them in with a feeder for a few days.
dont forget to pull the monitoring tray to give em' some air though -

in class all day tomorrow but call me if you need any help.
you're awesome!
rob

from shannon:
No Idea where they came from.  No visible curly wing or k-wing.  There is a heritage oak tree on the church property, but who knows?
 Can I install these bees then open it later and add drawn comb?  I could look in my hive but we are in a fragile spot with my queen an all. I think I will lock them in with the top feeder I bought until I can get drawn comb, sound OK? I'll call Kelly first thing.  Plan "B" is the feeder.  Thanks for the advice.
The thing on top is to hold a frame rack. $20.00 extra and the slot on the side is to hold one of those frame grippers. 
Peace and honey, SK
Shannon Kelly
Executive Chef
Knickerbockers' Catering

before the removal

I once saw a door marked GOD, I entered and found myself in a room full of mirrors.

I was sent an article today about the Lakota Tribe and their withdraw from US treaties. Apparently the US was not upholding their end of the treaties and the Lakota people said they had had enough. This was not an overnight decision either. There has been a group of leaders working this for over 30 years. They are reclaiming their land and becoming their own country. I can only have the highest regard for the Lakota people and want to give them my support in any possible. As a descendant of refugees struggling to be independent from English rule I do not see how anyone could have any other point of view. the wonder that comes to mind is what will happen next? Will other tribes withdraw as well? The Lokata Tribe has offered to open it's borders to any US citizen provided they renounce their citizenship. Will they reach capacity? I am eager to hear more news as things progress 

Never let anyone change your position on something you believe very deeply...Unless of course they make more sense.

"He would never do anything of consequence unless he could do it perfectly, so consequently he never did anything of consequence".....Is this to be my epitaph ?