I'm ok with that

2008-10-08T15:01:00.000-07:00

Wow, it's been a long time!! Sorry about that! The time has really flown by. We had a great trip to WI to see ~t and the fam. While we were there, BFF's daughter got married. It was a beautiful wedding and a great time.

You already know that I started doing Body for Life in January. It's been a really good experience for me and I've lost 35 pounds and gained a lot of strength & tone, not to mention confidence. This really has been the summer when I face my fears and do stuff I've never done.

Monday I continued along that vein by ending a 100 Pushup Challenge that I heard about from my "little friends" (Belle's name for my Bodyforlife-tracker. com buddies). Over 7 weeks I worked 3 days a week on pushups. I started with 30 in a row on my 1st try. Last Friday I did 272 pushups spread out in 9 sets, the last one being 70 consecutive. Here's my "final exam" on Monday - to do 100 Push-ups.

So there ya go!

Back in the USA, Part Dos

2008-06-13T15:11:00.001-07:00

As promised, here's the next installment.

Most of today's blog will be about the 2 houses our construction crew built. You've seen some pix of what they replaced.

I told you yesterday about the rains that hit in the afternoon as we left the 1st neighborhood for lunch at the church. We were drenched -- I thought it felt great! I didn't mention how hot & humid it was. We were fortunate enough to have some electricity where we were. Sometimes we had a fan. But the stickiness was really hard for some of us. Okay, probably all of us :) I was so overwhelmed with everything the first couple days that I didn't even notice how green and beautiful the countryside was. I just kept thinking that it was the rain (it rained every day, I think) and humidity that made it that way. Here are 2 of the roads we saw. Yes, I guess that our Midwest is looking a lot like this. The pix don't do it justice -- you could've white-water rafted. It's also an extra challenge when the roads are just dirt to begin with.

Here's a great photo of the coordinator of the trip. His name is Ramone and he is really cool! He was a Martial Arts champion and also did Ballroom Dance! He was born in the Dominican Republic and moved to Puerto Rico before moving to the US when he was 17. We gave him a REALLY hard time about his white shoes! He had a difficult time keeping them white with all that mud!

This is one of our triage nurses (and Assoc. Pastor's wife) at our last clinic. It was in a little nicer neighborhood and we set up in a satellite church of the one we stayed at. The hardest part for me during each of our clinic days was when we could no longer take numbers because we were leaving in an hour or so and needed to get through those patients who were already there. We would close the doors of the church and the people would just pound on the doors and look in the windows begging to get in, or the kids would ask for more toys when we were out of them. On this day, our construction crew was with us, having finished their houses. Poppy & Cory did crowd control. Bob the Builder helped with the medical team, having been a corpsman in the military and a respiratory therapist. Andy, Cory, and Poppy would much rather have been building another house. I told them that this was way smoother than the first couple days!! PSean & Andy played football (American) and baseball with the kids. Our childcare angels played with the kids in the scorching heat.

Poppy took this picture. He swears that the little boy was smiling right before he took it!

Before the cement was dry in the first house, one of the kids walked through it.

Did I talk about the demolition of the first house yet? Oh wow, that was definitely not as much fun as I thought it would be! The young girls & I went with the construction crew to tear down the old shack, since the medical team went to tour a hospital and to see if we would be able to help some of the people we met down there with very difficult needs. More on that in the next blog, I guess. Anyway, yikes-a-malooney! (that's for you, Carly) When we took the walls apart, which were made of corrugated steel, all kinds of critters came out -- huge cockroaches, spiders as big as taratulas but nowhere near as pretty, that kind of thing. When Poppy took one of the walls off the wooden poles, a huge "volcano" of ants came up out of the ground about 5 inches high. We all started stomping our feet and Amber & I did a tap dance and the Charleston. Those watching really enjoyed that! I went around spraying everyone's legs with bug spray. By everyone's, I mean except mine. Oooh baby, I had lots of bites!

Here's part of the crew working on the second house.

PSean & Andy found out how hard it is to mix cement without that really big truck that usually does it!

This is how a lot of the houses got electricity -- illegally. Dangerously, too, I might add!

This is the outdoor "cucina" that Bob the Builder and Poppy made for Ursula at house 2. The old one is to the left. When they moved it from the old house to its new location, it fell apart, so they made her a new one from scraps. The stove itself is pretty cool. They built a wooden platform, lined it with metal from the shack, and poured concrete into which they set some rocks to support the pan for cooking. The cement held the heat in well. Ursula's neighbors all came to look at it!

This is the crew with Ursula and her daughter Anna. I have to say that at first, the people didn't trust us. The first day at the clinic, when I would write their physical complaints, they would try to read it because they didn't believe that I had written down what they told me.

Later on, I got to meet Ursula myself. She was so excited to meet the wife of one of the construction crew -- she gave me a big kiss & hug! There's a picture of Michele (one of the nurses), Ursula and me in her new house on Thursday's blog. Here she is in front of her new house with Pastor Carlos & Ramone.

The next picture takes a little explanation. The shacks all had a bag hanging by them and we didn't know what was in them -- ignorance is bliss! One day, a lady was carrying one of these bags. She tripped and as Andy reached out to help her, the bag sloshed over and hit him on the side. He noticed really smelly slime running down his side from the bag. Yep, it's where they dispose of their fecal matter! We called them "Andy bags" from then on :)

Sunday, our team was responsible for all the children's Sunday School at 9am. We found out that we would be doing that on Tuesday night, along with doing the Sunday night service. I have to admit that I was upset that we hadn't prepared for that in advance. I figured that we could have worked up something really nice back home (I knew that I would be overwhelmed once we got to the DR). When my Sunday School partner, Mary (an ICU nurse) asked me for ideas, I couldn't for the life of me come up with even a song to sing. I had to say, "I got nothin'." Fortunately, little Natasha, Pastor Carlos & Teresa's daughter was playing with 2 of her friends, and Mary & I asked her about the songs they sang. It was a lot of fun and got me out of my funk. Then Mary was going through some kids' Bible stories that we had brought in Spanish and English and had the genius idea to do the story of Jesus washing the disciples' feet. Brilliant! We started out the Sunday school for the 7 to 11 year olds with some music and puppets "lip-syncing" to a song. It was supposed to be "Joyful Joyful" but ended up being some other hymn --can't remember which one. Then we split up the boys & girls (just a few feet away from each other on the back porch). One group,led by Heather & Nell (nurses) made those cool bracelets or whatever that use beads to tell Jesus' story. I still want to get one of those. With our group, I was able to read the Bible story in Spanish. Mary, the Doc, and I washed the students' feet and prayed for each one. It was really cool! BFF, you know that as soon as she suggested the story, I thought of Chip as Peter and Bill as Jesus! We had a translator (Marbin, who really was one of the team!) to help us. What a great experience, as we explained that we were there to serve the Dominican (& Haitian) people and they were also to serve those around them.

We also ministered in the Sunday pm service. PSean, Nell, & I did some worship songs (in English, but they liked them anyway, I guess). We did Trading My Sorrows, which some of our translators (who, by the way came to Sunday School to help us without being paid!) sang. When it came to "yes Lord" we sang "si Señor." I sang "He's Been Faithful." It's kind of okay that it was in English, because I felt that it was more for our group and for me personally. Two of our members gave their testimony which was translated by Pastor Carlos.

Monday, we had a typical "tourist" day. We took a bus 2 hours or so away and went on a catamaran trip to a private island and had lunch, then took a speedboat back to the main island (Hispaniola), then the bus ride back. It was a lot of fun. I said that we should only show a couple pix of the clinics, the shacks & the work and only show the last day's pix so more people would want to go. Maybe the next blog will be about that day.

The next photo was taken just before we left for the airport on Tuesday am. These people are all such heroes to me, for different reasons. God really put this team together. That sounds really church-y, but if you had witnessed it first hand, you would totally agree with me.

We had 7 wonderful nurses, who in AZ and CA work in the ICU or for hospice, or a school, or in their home. Our Doctor was a Family Practitioner with a successful practice. Our Dentist was recently retired and came with us even though he was not part of our church (we called him Jack the Ripper). Our childcare workers were both students, one 14 years old and one 18 and just out of high school. Our construction crew consisted of a landscaper/business owner, an Associate Pastor, a retired Asst. Chief of Police, a remodeler, and a financial consultant. They are all heroes to me now.

BFF, you asked me if I would do it again and I can't believe it, but YES, I will! It was the hardest thing I've ever done but I really miss our team and those involved in the ministry there.

I hope that I've been able to give you an idea of how things were, but I know that these photos and my writing don't do it justice.

Back in the USA

2008-06-12T17:25:00.000-07:00

I'm really trying to do some justice to our Missions/Medical/Dental/Construction trip to the Dominican Republic. Poppy and I went with a Doctor, a Dentist, 7 nurses, 2 childcare workers, and 4 other construction guys. Processing this trip will take a while, but I know you've been patiently waiting for the pix.

Many of you know how I felt before we went. I don't think I've ever felt more unprepared and unqualified for anything in my life. About 2 weeks before the trip, I had a dream that I was supposed to sing with a major female singing group (along the lines of Destiny's Child) that night, and no one was giving me any music to prepare with. That really sums up how I felt. I wasn't worried so much about the travel or our safety or health, but I didn't know what exactly I'd be doing or how well I'd be doing it. I also didn't speak Spanish. My friends and DR teammates did their best to make me feel better, but nothing was working. Cissy bought me a book about a month before the trip -- Spanish for Dummies (no reflection on me, of course) and that really helped. Speaking of Cissy, she and Rosebud saw us off on Saturday the 31st. What a wonderful surprise that was!! I cried of course. They had been to the library and copied Spanish for First Responders and 1 page was all really bad words!! LOL!!

The trip there went well, all the flights were on time and we all got our luggage! We landed in Santo Domingo at 6 something pm and took the bus to Hato Mayor, about 1 1/2 hours or so away. We had dinner & discussed a few things (don't ask me what, it's all kind of a blur).

Monday morning we had devotionals at 7:30 am. My first missions miracle was that I slept all night!! I was so worried, we were in bunk beds (don't really know how Poppy and the Doc were able to manage that, at 6'5" & 6'7") and I don't do well away from home. The accomodations were luxurious from a Dom Rep standpoint, clean and well taken care of. It was designed as an orphange, however, so everything was small. I didn't have room in the bathroom stalls, and again, Poppy had an impossible time going to the bathroom with the stall door closed. We were fed 3 wonderful meals a day, almost always including fresh pineapple and fried green bananas (tasting kind of like french fries) and friend ripe bananas -- yummy ba-gummy! Poppy's a little tired of rice & beans but I liked them a lot. They even made pancakes for breakfast twice. I think the second time was because I went so crazy about them the first time. The pastor's wife was one of our kitchen angels -- they were all wonderful.

Okay, I know you want to know about what we did --

Tis is the first place we went to. It was on the outskirts of Hato Mayor (big hill).

These are some of the people living in the 1st house that was replaced by our crew. There were 7 children and 3 adults living in a house smaller than our bedroom.

When we arrived at our first site, the new house was already framed up.

We set up a clinic in a small church on the outskirts of town -- I think. The people were lining up to see us before we got there. It was the start of the hardest day I think I've ever had.

This is the corner of the church where our dentist was set up. You can just see his gloved hand over the mouth of his young patient.

My job was to give the people a piece of paper with their name, number, age, and complaint so they could go to a triage nurse and then the doctor or dentist. They were so desperate! They quickly figured out that they needed the paper ("papel") to get help. It was just overwhelming.

Cissy's Spanish book came in very handy -- although I had a translator, I was able to do some communicating. I stepped away from my post when I heard a small boy screaming. He had stepped (barefoot) on a broken glass bottle and the doc was stitching him up. I held his knee so he would stop thrashing it around. After this photo was taken, I turned around to keep him from being able to see his foot. Poor doc had my butt in his face but I don't think he knew it. Ramone (from Minneapolis who coordinates these trips -- a fantastic guy) held one hand & we both said "no mira!! mirame!" -- don't look! look at me!!. He was really brave & did okay. His mom was very stoic.

Here's another angel. She's 18, the PK, just graduated high school and was the mission trip veteran of our group. She and a 14 year old girl played with the kids during the day. What a great ministry that was. I got to play with them too, when I was done taking numbers.

Here's Poppy (the one with pants on LOL). He was working on a house across the street (such as it was) from the church.

This is Cory, who lead the trip along with his wife Joyce. They did a great job.

Here's Cory again, on the ladder NOT purchased from Home Depot or Lowe's! Marbin, one of our translators, is to his right. He was fantastic and was really a part of the missions team.

This is the next day. It rained every day, but that day was the worst. We were warned that we might have to walk part of the way, carrying the medical & dental supplies, but somehow the truck made it through.

Just a fun shack picture.
This is the truck we rode in. Yeeha! We thought we were cramped until we saw about 60 people being brought to Tuesday night church services in it!

Okay, to talk a little about our first day -- it reminded me of M*A*S*H. We treated 150 patients in one day and gave out 2 or 3 times that many prescriptions. We were very worn out and very --I can't come up with words. We felt that we were not doing a good job, everything was just so overwhelming. The people were so desperate. They hadn't had a clinic there in at least a year and of course they didn't know if there would ever be one again. We knew we were being taken advantage of in that many of them were just making symptoms up to get free drugs - to hoard or to sell, maybe. We hadn't figured out how to pray with them. I felt that they were so desperate, that if I tried to pray with them, they would not be able to accept it -- they wanted only to see the doctor and they would not accept anything else. I hope I'm being coherent here. We did come up with a much better plan for the next day, where I do the "intake" outside with them so that the church wasn't so crowded. They were prayed for as they waited at the "pharmacy" when they were much more calm and happy. We also did some educating after that 1st day on preventing parasites (very common) and on boiling water before using it.

This was the next place we went to, after 2 days at our 1st location. The construction crew stayed behind to start another house and we went to a village called Guayabal (pronounced gwah-jha-val). The people here had been ministered to quite a bit by the church where we stayed. We still saw about 130 people, I think. I got to play with the kids a little again, and one of them remembered my name when we returned from lunch. Her name is Maria and she's 10 years old. When we returned on Sunday, she was there and I got this picture with her and some other kids.

This, I think, was one of our proudest moments. The church had not let them know we were coming the next day, because we were running out of meds. Ramone went and bought some more so we were okay. However, it was much more remote and we were going to go there in the morning and "drum up some business," as they put it. It meant going shack to shack to tell people that we were there from our church to have a clinic for them. I was majorly freaked out. I had seen enough machetes and I realized that we had the drugs that they wanted. And they were desperate. So, we drove up there (10 miles through really fun -- by fun I mean I thought we were going to die-- roads) and we saw this "shelter" where we were going to have a clinic. It was full of dung. And it's not a building. And there are no chairs. And we have drugs.

Well, since we were coming back for the clinic, we could get chairs. Pastor Carlos & Ramone got on the bullhorn & told them that we were here as servants of Jesus Christ to give them medical and dental care. Within 10 or 15 minutes we were accepting our patients! Someone brought some plastic chairs, one of our translators, Manolo, was sweeping the poop into the 6 foot deep trough that ran through the middle, the milk crates (I think they're for mangoes) were set up for dental equipment and the pharmacy, and I got my clipboard & started taking names. What an incredible team we had. Everyone was just as freaked out as I was, and yet, they got to work and did what they had to do. We saw 70 patients in the morning, went back & had lunch, brought the construction crew with us (they had just poured the cement in one of the new houses), and saw another 50 patients in the afternoon. There were several Haitian refugees and I was able to speak some French and some Haitian Kreyole. We were happy to have the construction crew there, as some of the men from the village were hanging around the drugs.

My next blog will talk more about the construction crew and the last places we went to, but here's a sneak peak at the finished product.

This is house #1. You've already seen the kids in the shack it replaced. Here they are enjoying lunch (rice & beans) the day after they moved in.

This is one of our nurses, and the Doc's wife, posing with me and the very proud recipient of house #2. Her name is Ursula. More about these houses later.

On a very personal note, we just received an email from Ramone that the Pastor's daughter, Natasha, pictured below on the left, is sick. They're concerned that it may be Dengue Fever, something like Malaria. Please pray for her. She is just precious, 10 years old. She drew me a picture while I was there and it was already on my fridge yesterday. The Pastor's wife, Teresa, is 4th from the left.

Okay, I'm really tired and probably getting less & less coherent. I know I'm not typing very well. I will post more tomorrow.

A Big Hole in the Ground

2008-05-04T21:44:00.000-07:00

Well, it's been a really great week. Poppy's sister, the Sister was here. We went on the boat and chilled around the pool (does that make sense?) and visited with Rosebud, Cissy, & Toots. Sis loved being with Soybean & Juju & the rest of us too :) One day, Poppy, Sis, & I went to the West Rim of the Grand Canyon with friends from back home, TR & Charles.

It was Sis's first time to the Grand Canyon, and it was great! The drive there was very nice. Just before we got to the Welcome Center, we drove through a Joshua Tree forest. Then we got to the Big Hole in the Ground. My stomach was in knots for the rest of the day. You can't see it, but the sign says, Caution: Falling Hazard. No, duh.

Here's Sis, enjoying her first trip to the Grand Canyon.

Here are Poppy, Sis, TR & Charles on the Skywalk. They're the 4 people farthest to the left, Poppy in a dark jacket & Sis in yellow, TR in orange, & Charles in white. It extends 70 feet over the Canyon, which is 4000 feet below. You can see through the floor. I chose not to enjoy the sensation of being suspended in such a manner.

Below is the "eagle" of Eagle Point. You can see the wings spreading out from the center of the picture.

This is from where we ate lunch. It was called Guano Point, after the mining that was done for bat guano. EEWWWwwww. I wish I could find an aerial photo of our picnic spot -- you wouldn't believe that I was that close to the edge!

There was a pathway to a neat (if you like that kind of thing) hill where you could get a 360 degree view. We were on a penninsula jutting out into the Canyon, so it was on all sides.

This was taken from our lunch spot. Those are people walking up the path to the top.

Below is the Colorado River, just before Lake Mead.

I was finally able to smile (I'm not showing the other pix of me.) Yeah, that's the edge right behind us.

I'm really glad we went, even though it was hard with my wonderful fear of heights. You combine that with the idiots there who try their hardest to prove that they're not afraid of falling 4000-4800 feet to their death, and it can be just a tad unnerving.

But we all made it home safely.

YAY!!!

The Bluest Skies You've Ever Seen, in Seattle...

2008-04-23T17:13:00.000-07:00

Okay, not in my experience. But that song, from a TV show I used to watch called "Here Come the Brides" was in my head all weekend.

Here's the rest of the song, as I remember it ---

...and the hills, the greenest green, in Seattle.

ike a beautiful child, growing up free and wild.

Full of hopes and full of fears,
Full of laughter, full of tears,

Full of dreams to last the years,

In Seattle,
in Seattle.

Well, we went to visit Maestro last weekend. It was wonderful. I was looking forward to seeing the Space Needle...

and the first Starbucks...

and the fish throwers and Pike Place Market. Sorry, no photos of that. I was very disappointed that not a single fish was thrown in my presence.

However, what I really wanted to see was my son.

So I wasn't disappointed at all!

We had dinner together Friday after he got home from work. Then on Saturday we went sight-seeing. We got in touch with our inner geek (okay, not so inner) at the SciFi Museum & Hall of Fame. We went to the Experience Music Project connected to that. It was cool and I learned how to drum. The only problem with that place was the Jimi Hendrix movie. Wow. Never was a fan. Never will be. Ever, ever, ever, ever, ever. Since it was raining -- what! -- and very limited visibility, the guys didn't go up the Space Needle as planned. I wasn't planning on it, myself.

Then we went to Pike Place Market. It was fun. Maestro & I walked around for an hour (okay, I'm exaggerating) while Poppy found a parking space.

Sunday, Maestro got a haircut for my birthday. No more Sasquatch look. Not that there's anything wrong with that...

The rest of the day we just chilled. Maestro came back with us to our hotel and we swam & sat in the hot tub, then watched Liar, Liar. It was very reminiscent of old times. Then we went back to the apartment.

Oh, I haven't mentioned P.T.! The following pictures are ALL of him, I think :) P.T. is Maestro's Miniature Pinscher and he's a wonderful dog! Well, puppy. He's 8 months old. He took to Poppy very quickly and to me a little more slowly, but he loves us both now.

P.T. also loves his roommate Kitty.

Here's what else the weather had in store:

Yeah, that's snow. The news said that since they've been keeping records, there have only been 4 days in April when it snowed. They added 2 more while we were there. Go figure. We also set a record for the coldest high temperature. It only hit 45 for a high, and the previous record was 47.

Monday we went to lunch with Maestro and then went to a park that was pretty close to the airport. We didn't have to be there till 6:30, but we didn't want to be driving there at rush hour. The sun actually came out that day.

So there ya go. It was a great time.

...So I Can Stand on Mountains...

2008-01-23T12:23:00.000-08:00

...you raise me up, to walk on stormy seas.

Yesterday, a friend of ours guided a hometown friend & me up Cupcake Mountain. It was really cool and really hard. And today I'm really sore! My quads are not anywhere near as sore as I thought they'd be, but my shoulders did not disappoint me and my calves & butt are very sore.

Here are some photos:

From the trailhead, we can't see our goal. At this point, we're aiming for the point just to the right of the mountain, about halfway. We'll be able to see Cupcake when we get around the corner. (It's just under the "T" in the writing.)

Our fearless leader the Scout Master --Some beautiful scenery. Scout Master kept saying, "You ain't seen nothin' yet!"

I stopped often to take pictures. It was also a really good chance to stop the burning in my quads and to stop sucking wind long enough to appreciate how quiet it was up there!

The next photo shows us just around the halfway (or so) point. We can now see Cupcake!

This is looking down on the halfway point. It's at the center left of the photo, just to the left of the rock formation.

I put 3 photos together (thanks Poppy) to give you a pretty good idea of our view.

Almost there!! It was a bit steep -- okay, my quads by this time are saying "you have GOT to be kidding me!" and other things I can't repeat. We're going up through the center of this photo and then through the crevice in the center & up to the top. Just to the left of the "V", where it's highest, is where we'll be!!

Here's an idea of the trail for the end of the climb. You may say, "Trail? I don't see any trail." I said that myself quite often. I was always looking down at the ground (even at the less dificult parts) because I trip & fall a lot, so I couldn't really concentrate on what was ahead. Or above.

I'll also add that I was happy with how I did as far as the whole fear of heights thing. The drive to the trail pretty much numbed me, so I think I was doing better by the time we started climbing.

I'm hoping to get Charles' photo from this place. It was really cool.

We made it!!!! Yahoo!! This is Charles & me at the summit. We stayed up here for awhile & had lunch. Scout Master said that it was his fastest ascent so far!
On the way down, my quads were still upset with me. Going downhill is hard on the quads too, and they had really had enough! I ended up on my butt a few times because the trail was steep and very rocky or gravelly. I felt like I was skiing sometimes! I've always told people that part of my fear of heights is because I'm so uncoordinated that I could slip and fall very easily.

What a great day we had! We were very tired and we knew that we'd be sore today, but it was all worth it. Scout Master was a wonderful guide and took a whole day to bring Charles & me on a great hike. The drive there took quite awhile too, part of it on a dirt, one lane "road." Yippee for the Trail Blazer! We asked Scout Master what would happen if someone were coming around the hill the other way. There wasn't really a good answer to that question. It was a very winding, mountain-y road. I let Scout Master drive that part :)

On a sad note, our friend Scout Master & his wife have sold their house and they'll be moving at the end of February! Not happy about that.

I'll also have to blog about our new "Challenge." Poppy, Juju, Bwin and I are doing the Body for Life 12 week challenge. Don't worry, I make Juju eat enough for Sizzle. She mostly wants to tone up. Yes, she makes we want to hurl. Did I say that out loud? We all took our before pix. Yikes-a-malooney! You won't be seeing that anytime soon. It's a very good eating program, very similar to the WW core program. You eat 5 to 6 small meals a day and do some really good workouts. The fun part is that one day is FREE. No workouts (okay, I'll probably still run with my group) and you eat what you want. Yehah! I'll keep you posted (pun intended) on our progress.

That's it for now!

Just 4 Fun

2008-01-12T10:28:00.001-08:00

Here's a new toy. But be warned -- the first time I tried this I came up with Ben Stiller, Barack Obama, and Dan Ackroyd. I was literally ROTFLOL. BFF, you should do this. The picture I used was of the two of us, and you came up with Christie Brinkley and Madonna!

Now, this guy could be my long-lost twin brother.

%1

And congrats to the Packers, who just won their playoff game against the Seahawks (sorry, Bwin!). Did you think that the number 4 in the title was in honor of Brett Favre?? Yep, you're right! Go Giants!!!!

Congrats also to Maestro. HE GOT A JOB!!!!!! Yeehah! As most of you know, he's testing new games for a major manufacturer. I can't say their name on my blog, in case anyone wants to bribe me for info, but "WE" were very excited to hear about it.

For more fun, check out my BFF's blog on her New Year's visit with us.
And ~t's is always lots of fun-- "Spoiled" is really cute and funny.

We Wish You an "Amazing Holiday"

2007-12-22T11:57:00.000-08:00

Today I am going to get on my soapbox about 2 different things.

AMAZING

I have decided to go on a rampage and do what I can to eliminate the word Amazing from the English language. Yes, I know this will cause a real hardship for many people, especially in Hollywood. It is the only adjective ever used:

"you look amazing"

"it was an amazing experience"

"I have an amazing husband/wife"

"that dinner was amazing"

"it's an amazing movie"

"I read an amazing book"

"we have an amazing connection"

"the Grand Canyon is amazing"

"my kids are amazing"

So, I thought I'd look through a thesaurus (since no one else seems to have gotten this idea) and find some other words that would do nicely

"you look fabulous"

"that dinner was outstanding"

"it's an excellent movie"

"I read a fascinating book"

"we have a wonderful connection"

"the Grand Canyon is breathtaking"

"my kids are extraordinary/talented/funny/smart/sensational"

Here are some more words that could be used:

admirable, astonishing, astounding, awe-inspiring, awesome, brilliant, cool, divine, dynamite, enjoyable, excellent, fantastic, fine, groovy, incredible, magnificent, marvelous, miraculous, outstanding, peachy, phenomenal, remarkable, sensational, something else, staggering, startling, strange, stupendous, super, superb, surprising, terrific, tremendous, unheard-of, wondrous, prodigious, shocking, stunning, surprising, unbelievable, bewildering, impressive, miraculous, spectacular, staggering, startling, striking, stupefying, exciting, hair-raising, heart-stirring, magnificent, moving, overwhelming, spine-tingling, thrilling, bizarre, curious, exceptional, inconceivable, odd, peculiar, strange, unheard-of, unimaginable, unique, unprecendented, unthinkable, weird.

You'll notice that there are some words that are not necessarily a compliment. That's part of why I hate that word -- it's not always used correctly. For instance, if you tell me I look amazing, does that mean weird, odd, peculiar, or awe-inspiring? Why are you amazed? Because I look so hot and that's unusual, or that I look strange?

Now, let's try out our new words. I will show you a picture, and you will come up with an adjective other than amazing:

What a/an ______________ view!

The Grand Canyon is ___________!

Josh Groban has a/an ____________ voice.

I love sunsets. They're so __________.

Next, HOLIDAY.

I am so tired of the whole "holiday" thing. Yes, I realize that not everyone celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ. But Christmas also symbolizes faith, love, and giving. When I wish someone a Merry Christmas, I'm hoping that they feel some of that special joy that Christmas brings. I think people (just a few people, really) are trying to erase not only the religious significance of Christmas, but they also seem to be trying to rewrite history by saying "holiday lights," "holiday tree," "holiday party," and "holiday cards." Can we be just a little more specific? There are holidays at other times too!

Well, I can't come up with anything funny to end the post. But I've already spent way too much time on this post, and I'm going to go make some mouth-watering pies for our Christmas dinner.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to All

2007-12-17T15:03:00.000-08:00

Well, I started this blog by taking a picture of the cookies I had made to send to Maestro in Seattle. You see, most of what I have done today has not turned out well. I'm not really in the mood to send out my Christmas cards because I wanted to include a picture of the kids in it, so I was going to make a nice montage of pix. I was going to start the cookies but we're out of butter. So I went to the car to go the store, but the car is not actually in the garage. It's at the shop, getting fixed after my car accident (yes, Mom & I are fine), and Poppy had the Trail Blazer at softball. No problem, just call Poppy to get it on the way home. Went for a run, where nothing bad happened :) Got tired of addressing envelopes so I started the cookies. Went to the computer to figure out a nice montage. BURNED the cookies. I mean really bad. Got an idea to put a pictures on my blog of the burned cookies and the Christmas tree with burned out lights on top, so I got some pictures of our trip to Snow-land ready and put them on the site, then realized the burned pix were NOWHERE to be found. I had downloaded them to the computer and deleted them (and some other nice pix) from the camera. Only guess what? They're gone. Can't find them. Poppy & I searched & searched and searched for them and so I thought, well, I'll just take new pix. But they're in the garbage now. And really, I just don't have the energy to dig them out & take their picture.

The following pictures are very nice Christmassy ones though. Cookie baking, tree trimming, and gingerbread house making at Dimples' school went very well.

BDE (not sure of the new blog name for her) talked me into taking a walk in the snowstorm . I needed a photo for proof, since those of you who know me would not believe it otherwise. I told her I would only go if I could sing Winter Wonderland (or at least some of it).

The next photos are just for fun. Here's Mowgli being a Knight and a Princess all at once.

Poppy & Shortcake --

You've already seen how curly Shortcake's hair is after a bath if you've seen T~'s blog --

Sizzle's is curly too after a bath--

Bwin & Sizzle on a walk in the park --

Here's Juju, Bwin & Sizzle at a family Christmas party --

Some great pix of Sizzle --I hope you've enjoyed these photos and my rambling.

Love, Neenee

It's a Girl!!!!

2007-11-14T07:23:00.000-08:00

I don't have all the details, but she's healthy & beautiful. ~T woke up in labor (that's harsh) at 1:20am, went to the hospital, and delivered her at 2:45! Another quick one! Her midwife was already there, having just delivered her 3rd baby of the night. As I write this, BDE (uh oh, will she have to change her code name??), Dimples, & Mowgli have arrived, brought by Zeus & Hera (Herc's parents, of course) to see their new sister.

Let me thank Next Door Neighbor Chick, who heeded the call & watched the kids when they went to the hospital. When it's ~t, you can't take your time, you have to just go! :)

Congrats to all!

I'll see you in 3 weeks!

Proud Neenee Strikes Again

2007-11-12T13:50:00.000-08:00

Here's the new family--

Doesn't this look like Dimples' faux-hawk??

Proud Cissy! This is about 1/2 hour after he was born.

I think he's smiling too :)

Mama Juju & Baby having a heart to heart moment.

Juju loves the matching hair!

His going home outfit --

Getting ready to leave the hospital --

Coming home for the first time --

Baby's 1st visit to Neenee & Poppy's. We're watching the Colts & the Chargers. What a game that was!

Well, it was a great weekend! The new family went home about 28 hours after the baby was born. It was lunchtime, so Poppy went to KFC. Gotta love those biscuits. Juju & Bwin & baby had a quiet afternoon to themselves, then came over to our house (also gotta love November here --the weather is not a problem when you're taking a new baby home) for dinner. It got late, so they all stayed overnight. It was kind of like a half-way house between the hospital & their own home. Baby slept well for only his second night.

Yes, they have named the baby! I will have to check with Juju before I reveal anything (I also like the privacy of code names). Here's a code for those former CLS students or faculty who will be reading this.

Take the 1st & 3rd letters of the subject Mrs. Nelson taught.

Add the initials (just 1st & last name) of the math teacher. (The one Juju had)

Add the 1st letter of the subject taught by Mrs. Blount.

Finally, add the first initial of Nani's first name.

There are 2 middle names, one being her dad's name. (No, not Poppy, that would be silly). He was very moved.

Well, I hope you've enjoyed all these photos! Nothing like technology when you're a new grandparent! I hope ~t will have someone posting or emailing for her when she has a new bundle of joy!

You have new Picture Mail!

2007-11-10T10:32:00.001-08:00

Dad and son.

It's a Boy!!

2007-11-10T08:12:00.000-08:00

Yes, I know we all knew that already, but he's here! I don't know his name for sure yet, but here are the other stats:

8lbs, 12 oz, 20 1/2 inches. He looks like Juju as a baby but with lighter, curly hair.

He was born at 6:46am after less than 1/2 hour pushing. Juju & Bwin went to the hospital at 1:30am, she got an epidural as soon as she could, and at 5:45am she was at 9 cm, at 6:05 she was told she could push when the doctor got there. Doctors and nurses were all great. She was the only mom in labor, so that was an answer to prayer.

More to come later, I'm going back to the hospital :)

Just for fun :)

4 Generations:

Love, neenee

Quilt Show, Part Deux

2007-11-06T14:19:00.000-08:00

Here is the second installment of the quilt show pix. I hope you enjoy them.

This is a log cabin quilt in a barn-raising pattern --

The center of this quilt is all hand appliqued. A brilliant quilter (and a very nice lady) designed this herself. It is also hand-quilted.

For those who like the bright primary colors --

This is another done for a fabric company's quilt challenge (not from our guild) --

A couple more very pretty quilts --

This was very bright--- green & purple!

Another green quilt --

This was really beautful in person --

This was done by a lady who just celebrated her 50th wedding anniversary this summer. I did some finishing work for her, so I'm taking a tiny bit of credit for how well it turned out :)

This was last year's Block of the Month done by our guild --

The next one was not in the show. Cissy wanted me to post a picture of Mumble's quilt. I really love it too, and maybe I'll make another just to put in the next show (2009).

And last, but not least, is one of Poppy's favorites, made for Happy's new baby --

Well, I hope you've enjoyed this virtual quilt show!

For my next blog, I hope to have pix of my new grandchildren :) Especially considering how frequently (by frequently I mean seldom) I blog ! If I really get ambitious, maybe I'll be able to get some pictures of our new hobby -- outrigger canoeing. The problem with that is, that you realy can't take any pictures while you're paddling, and you DO get wet while you're out there. Here are some photos from the group's website. The first one is the double-hulled canoe (there's a better word, but I don't know it yet).

This is a practice run on the lake. And there are even clouds!!

I've also joined the local running club, and they're kicking my butt. I don't mind when they're younger than my kids, but when the 69 y/o open heart surgery patient and marathon runner beats you...

Another Quilt Blog

2007-11-05T15:10:00.000-08:00

Well, we've been pretty busy around here! Our bi-annual quilt show was last weekend, so the quilts finally got done! Just in time, too! Reminiscent of my 4-H days, when we would be sewing hems and clipping threads on our sewing exhibits as Mom or Dad would drive us to the fair, I was cutting threads as I got a phone call -- "Are you still bringing your quilts in? They are due today." "Today? I thought it was tomorrow!" Oopsie poopsie! When I got there and saw the other beautiful quilts, I almost turned around and left! What an incredible display! Not that I was unhappy with my turtles, but my word! So many of the quilters use a professional machine quilter now and the results are really stunning (haven't used that word much since my days working at a hoity-toity women's clothing store). I'm really a beginner compared to these ladies (and gentlemen). Anyway, here are a few photos. They do NO justice at all to the display. I was really in awe! I will post some more pix later. You can tell me which one you like the best (besides my turtles, of course!!).

Here are my Baby Honu quilts on display --

This is a quilt that I have the book for. Cissy gave it to me and now I really need to get going on it!

This is made all by hand. They made little "yo-yo's" out of fabric and sewed them together.

This one is all fabric. It was not made by my quilt guild, it's part of a traveling exhibit by a fabric company.

This is a miniature. I'm working on one like this now. It's a block-of-the-month being done by my guild. The blocks are all symbolic of the underground railroad.

This next one is all hand-quilted. On the right is a close-up of her work.

These are from a pattern called French Braid. They learned it at a quilters' retreat last year. The one on top was made by a friend of mine from the guild.

The one below is made from 30's reproduction fabrics and has an appliquéd border.

I like basket blocks.

Isn't this one gorgeous?

I liked this one too --

Let me know which one(s) you like.

Isn't this frivolous, considering the fact that Happy just gave birth Friday (yay!!!!!) and my 2 daughters are due anytime now? (Yes, ~T~, I can hear your favorite English teacher say "frivolous nonsense.")

Moonlight Becomes Us

2007-09-29T17:05:00.000-07:00

Well, here we are, it's been a long time since my last post. At least this time I have a new sunset picture.

These next photos are from a "moonlight boating cruise." Poppy & I took the boat out with Cissy & Loverboy just before sunset and met some other boaters. we went to a beach and watched the sunset and then gabbed & had a picnic. I hiked up the hills around us & got these photos of the city. Unfortunately, since I'm not the photographer of the family, I didn't get any shots could give any indication of how beautiful the night was. The ride back to the launch was incredible -- the lake was like glass.

Maestro made it to Seattle safe & sound, and he's not homeless. He is jobless. He stayed in a hotel for a few days while looking for an apartment, then went up to Bwin's Mom's house for a week before moving into the new place. When I asked him if he had any kitchen utensils, he said that he has a plastic fork. That's okay, he can eat mac & cheese with it. Oops, but no pan to make it in. No problem, how about Easy Mac? Oops, no microwave. Oh, there's an oven, so he'll be able to make frozen pizza & corn dogs. Problem solved. I don't have any photos of him in Seattle, so I'll post this one in his honor. He has had a couple of classes and he loved them. They've met or exceeded all of his expectations. Yay!!

Juju's friend came for a visit. They've been friends since college. It was great to see her.

I have lots more to post, but I will get this published before Blogger boots me for lack of posting.

Pretty soon I'll be blogging about our new grandbabies!!

Quilts, Showers & Wieners

2007-09-21T11:53:00.000-07:00

Get your head out of the gutter! Now you can keep reading...

I co-hosted a coffee on Monday morning for my quilt guild. I am really enjoying being a part of this group. They are so fun and willing to share their talent with you. When Susie & I decided to host a coffee (held once a month in someone's home) in September, we figured on an apple theme. I found a cute apple wallhanging pattern on a web site and it took a lot of 3" squares of different red fabrics, so everyone who came to the coffee brought some red fabric & we cut them into squares during the coffee. Everyone left with enough squares to make the wallhanging and they really seemed to enjoy themselves. I've started on mine, so I'll post a pic when it's done.

On Tuesday, Juju's former coworkers gave her a surprise baby shower. You can tell from the photos that she was actually surprised, since there is NO MAKEUP on her face. I got her to my house and she was "kidnapped" by one of the teachers and brought to the shower. It's ridiculous how much stuff she has.

I love this t-shirt. It says, "No autographs, please!"

Wednesday, I finally finished the quilt tops for the grandbabies. There's still a lot to do, but I was so happy to get this far! T~, do you see which one Tuck is????

The next photo shows how crazy you can get when the unborn child sucks out your brain cells. Juju left home with this "pair" of shoes on.

Yeah, not even close. She was wondering why she was limping, and looked down to see why.

One more funny picture: This is in Disneyland ---

Well, I'm going to my local quilt shop for their annual Quilt Pink for a Cure day. People bought fabric & a pattern for a quilt block, and the finished blocks will be made into quilts which will be sold on ebay for breast cancer research. Some of us will be sewing our blocks at the store and most others bought theirs, sewed them at home & brought them to the store in advance.

Random Acts of Craziness

2007-09-14T18:47:00.000-07:00

Wow, has it really been that long? Well, I've been a bit busy... I know other people find the time to do fantastic blogs among all the other things they do...

Here's a sneak peek of what I've been working on the last few days. This is EO's Baby's quilt in progress. t really does NO justice to the fabrics, but I wanted to get it on the blog. I've also been working on Juju's son's quilt.

Before that, I was in Anaheim at a Women of Faith convention. It was great. The timing was either really good or really bad, b/c Babs & I left the same day Maestro left for K-Town and then on to Seattle. It was very emotional for all of us to say "see ya later." It turned out to be a great weekend and I made a new friend, too. Here's a picture at Disneyland's California Adventure. Nathan and Babs have a tradition of taking a picture in front of the "California" letter that goes with their name. There are a couple of snaps of the Lego store at Downtown Disney that Herc would like :)

A couple of days before Maestro left, we had a 40th birthday party for Babs. We decided to combine the "over the hill" blackness with a fabulous, glamorous vibe, and came up with a goth idea. We all (Poppy, me, Cissy, Rosebud, Juju, Bwin, and Nathan) met early at my house and put on black makeup & nail polish. Juju did Babs' with the notion that they were going out (Babs didn't see what Juju was doing till the end). Juju got Babs to our house under false pretenses and we had a great time eating & playing Apples to Apples. Then Babs wanted to show off her glam goth look so we went to a local bar for Karaoke. Some of you may need to pick yourselves up off the floor now. That's okay, I'll give you some time.

Okay, here are some photos.

This is Bwin singing Baby Got Back. There had been a girl doing her best to impress Bwin with her dancing, so Juju had to show her what's what.

The weekend before was really busy and fun too, with a party at Cissy's. We finished that day with a final visit to Hot Laps.

We returned from Cheeseland the Wednesday before that. What a great trip that was! Thanks to EO for her blogs so we can stay in touch & still "see" them.

Okay, back to the sewing room.

Love, Neenee

What Time is It?

2007-08-18T16:21:00.000-07:00

Here it is, the most awaited event since High School Musical 2! My next blog!!

Yes, T~ and I watched HSM2 together (well most of it, parenthood gets in the way sometimes). BDE was at a HSM2 sleepover -- or, in most of the girls' cases, a very late party after which the parents get a phone call for a pickup. We all thought it was a very good movie with fun dance numbers and terrific clothes -- except for the pink tulle seeming to come out of Sharpay's butt in her big dance number outfit.

Okay, on to how our week was. We had a great time (of course). Last Sunday we went to the beach. It's a man-made pond with sand around it and is only a couple blocks from their house. BDE was in beach mode right away ---

Poppy threw the kids around & played motorboat with Baby.

Crumpet's family was there also, to add to the fun. Here's her son jumping off the pier with Dimples.

In case you're worried that we don't get in our pool time, here we are relaxing on one of the nicer days we've had --

Speaking of the weather, maybe it's best if we don't discuss it. Suffice it to say that it's been a mixture of warm & sticky or cool & rainy. About an hour ago, at 6:00pm, it was 56 degrees and raining. August. We have had some really beautiful days, though. 3. I counted. One of them was Friday, so we went to the zoo. What a great day!! It happened to be the weekend they do Zoo à la Carte. Lots of restaurants in the area have booths there and it's good stuff! The kids were so well behaved (even when it was time to go), the weather was perfect, we had fun, AND there was chocolate covered raspberry swirl cheesecake! BDE & I danced to the music from Radio Disney -- including, of course one of the songs from HSM2. Here are some shots from the zoo day.

One of the special events this summer is a place where you can pet the sharks (leopard & nurse) and stingrays.

Well, I'd blog more, but guess what is going to be on in about 2 minutes? Yep, HSM2 again!!!

Here I am, back to edit. I forgot to mention what has taken up a lot of my time this week! Wow! It's T~'s baby's new quilt! It's going to be twins with Juju's baby's quilt. T~, BDE and I went to the local quilt shop to pick out fabrics. It's going to be really cute. But not in a cutesy wootsy way. I have 2 of the turtles done and will be quickly caught up to Juju's. The first turtle's name is Tuck. What's gonna work??? Teamwork!

Okay, back to the movie.

I Know Cheese! I'm a Clownfish!

2007-08-09T19:39:00.000-07:00

Sorry, there's no sunset picture tonight! I missed capturing last night's beautiful sunset.

And sorry about the title. I've been using that all day. "I know pretty! I'm a clownfish" etc. I just have to use Finding Nemo quotes as often as I can.

LOL Babs, that's Maestro who loves you for your looks. I love you for your voice, silly. And yes, I'll have to hear your rendition of The Prayer! I was in a little state yesterday when I realized that my Joshie was in Milwaukee the other day!!!! Yikes! Yes, I've seen him this tour, but I could've brought T~! Yes, someday I'll have to post on my little obsession with JG. But now, I just don't really have the time.

Things continue to be busy here in an Extraordinary Ordinary way. It was a really good "food" day. Lunch was at Culver's (sorry to those of you who don't know this chain) and dinner was a fabulous Chicken with a sauce of pesto, sun-dried tomatoes, and pine nuts served over penne pasta. Btw, how did my daughters get to be such great cooks?? Skips a generation, I guess. Baby had a fever today, over 102. He didn't really have any other symptoms, so we'll see how he is tomorrow. BDE had her last Rubber Ball game tonight. Her team won!!! Because of TEAMWORK! It was actually their first win (and their last game). I don't have any photos, but she hit a double and scored a run and it was videotaped. The part that wasn't videotaped was when Dimples tried to jump over the little "creek" while looking for toads and didn't quite make it! It was so funny! I did get a photo of how he looked right afterwards.

It occurred to me after the last post that there were no pictures of Baby! Whaaaattttt!!!???? So I put in a few extra of him tonight.

Here's a photo of Poppy & Baby playing with dinosaurs.

Yesterday he took a nap on Poppy's lap.

One day T~ had a photo shoot and was a bit disappointed with the results. BDE & I gave her a foot rub which turned into a full afternoon of toenails, hair, makeup, and clothes. BDE loves shows like "What Not to Wear" and "How Do I Look?" and spent a long time picking out 4 complete outfits (jewelry included). T~ didn't like her makeup too much but we had fun anyway. Poppy said that we should go out to eat since T~ & BDE wore matching outfits and looked so great. Unfortunately, he suggested someplace with a playland. The last photo in this group is of Baby jumping up and high-fiving Poppy before landing and rolling on the ground.

The next day, the baby from the photo shoot came over here and cooperated by sleeping on Rosebud's new baby afghan. The shot turned out beautifully and I've seen some of the pix from the day before. Genius, I tell you!

We are having a great time (did I say that already?). Baby still asks me where Poppy is when I come upstairs every morning. He is getting the hang of it, though, and he really does know the answer to that question before he asks it. Last time I visited here, Dimples would ask every 5 minutes or so, "will you play cars with me?" This time it's, "will you play war with me?" You know, the card game. And it's more like every 1-2 minutes. Today he beat me twice in War and twice in Go Fish. Honestly. Without me letting him. Yes, I do look away when he's careless with showing his cards. I could look and cheat but I don't. But that's the extent of the niceness. BDE has beaten me in Rummy an unbelievable amount of times. I'm glad we don't play for money.

In the Merry Olde Land of Cheese

2007-08-04T19:06:00.000-07:00

Well, here we are in Cheeseland! We spent a couple days in Vegas before flying here. The weather has been pretty typical Wisconsin weather. In other words, if you don't like it, wait a few minutes, it'll change. I ran this morning and it was only in the 70s. I haven't seen temperatures like that since March, I think. However, it was pretty humid. Some of our highlights so far:

Dimples and BDE had ball games at the same time on Thursday night. Dimples' T-ball team was on the opposite side of the park from BDE's rubberball game. T~ did her best to see each one at bat but it got ridiculous after awhile. At least they both always had someone watching them.

Here are a few shots of Dimples playing t-ball. They start out being pitched to and then go with the tee.

He's on his way to 1st --

Rounding 1st base --

Rounding 3rd and on his way home after hitting a grand slam!

(He was the last batter of the inning and they get to all run home when the last batter hits.)

I love this part of the game --

It was the last game of the season and here's Dimples with his trophy!

BDE had a great time playing too! She got a hit (Mommy saw her, but I missed it). I did manage to get a couple pics of her at bat and in the outfield.

I'm not sure, but I think their favorite part of the evening was catching frogs in the park afterwards.

Dimples is on the left with the black visor and BDE has a black tshirt on.

BDE going to extremes to catch a frog---

Friday was a very busy day. The 2 older kids had vacation bible school and since it was the last day, they did a program and sang couple songs. Yes, these songs are ALWAYS in my head now. One is Great Adventure by Steven Curtis Chapman. Good thing I like that song! The photos all turned out with satanic-looking red eyes and I thought that was inappropriate so I only have one shot of Dimples.

After that, Poppy and I went to the dentist to get our teeth cleaned. Except Poppy came home empty handed (no toothbrush for him!) because of a scheduling mishap. They said the next appointment was September 7th and he said, yeah, only too bad for me, cause I'm only here till the 29th of August. Wow, was he mad. He also needs a crown (which is why we had the insurance and kept our dentist here) and they don't know if they'll be able to work that out before we go back.

After going back home, Poppy and I met up with T~ and BDE, who were at a birthday party, to go to Happy's baby shower! It was great to see everyone. BFF's grands were there and they are SO CUTE! And I know cute grandkids! Poppy got to visit for a little while with Chief after they arrived home from a Cubbies game. Here's a photo of Happy with the quilt I made. After I left, I realized that this is the only photo I have of it. Oops. I often forget to photograph my quilts before they leave me.

BDE had a great time with BDile's daughter. What a cutie!

Here's BDE with Ra-chigga.

And BFF and me---

The sunset photo at the top was taken from here. Here's another one I took at the same time. I wanted some pretty Wisconsin sunsets too!

Tomorrow should be fun too. Their friends' church is having a pig roast and the kids are singing their VBS songs. However, it may rain, spoiling the "pig"nic.

We're having a great time here and we miss our AZ (or is it cra-z) friends & fam. We're looking forward to hearing more stories from the China trip, too.

Love, Neenee & Poppy

See You (mon)Soon!

2007-07-29T07:31:00.000-07:00

Some random shots for you today. First of all, IT RAINED! No, really. The funny thing is, it'll say it's going to monsoon for about a week. The clouds dance around us all day,

and the storm comes at us from a couple different directions, but they get here and stop. Especially if Maestro is working. It will NOT rain. The go-kart track will remain open. But last night at 8:20 PST, it hit us. Rosebud & Juju were here for dinner and we were waiting for Bwin to come home from work. Unfortunately, he had to drive about an hour to get here, and the storm was in his path. He's from the Seattle area, and knows what rain is like, but the winds were up to 60 mph and you do have to be very careful not to drive through a flooded area, like a wash. Btw, a wash is kind of like a dry riverbed that takes the water from a storm -- since it doesn't soak into the ground here -- from the high ground to the low. In our case, that's the lake. If you get caught in one of those, you are in serious trouble. Actually, 2 men died the other day near his work b/c they thought their pickup truck could drive through a wash. While we were watching the storm come our way, the power went out and we found a couple of candles to light. It was really nice and quiet! But then came the bad news. Our mesquite tree was down!!!! Poppy and I were really sad!

It may be able to be saved, since the roots are still intact. This was my first official "monsoon" and wow, it was pretty cool. (Bwin made it home safely, of course. He was very smart and avoided the washes.) The lightning was spectacular as we watched it approach over the mountains.

The next photo is for Webster. She requested a current photo of Juju's belly. She's getting a little tired of strangers asking her how much longer she has. When she tells them 3 1/2 months, there's a gasp and a (trying to be polite) "oh my!"

And last, but not least, some more photos from our visit with the kids. Here's Dimples enjoying a ride through the air.

Another pool pic. The kids loved having races across the "beach" area of the pool. Okay, it was Baby's idea and they almost always let him win. They would do this so many times, with Baby saying, "mark, set, GO!" each time.

I got a "kick" out of this stop sign in Oatman --

Here's another cute photo of my 3 kids --

And a very sad Ma3stro and BDE on the morning they left.

Good news! The tree is back up. We'll see if it takes hold. Poppy & Bwin and the Trailblazer put it back into place. Good job!

My next post should be from Cheeseland! I'll miss my friends but I'll be in "heaven" spending time with the kids. Time to finish the post, it's pool time

Hey, I've Seen a Boat!

2007-07-19T21:20:00.000-07:00

Well, this week has been pretty busy and I thought I'd share some of it with you.

Monday we had some friends over for dinner before they left for China. Of course, it's not a missions trip since that's illegal. Tuesday I sang with my friend Babs for the Christian Business Women's Club. It was really cool. She has an incredible voice and we had a great time even practicing. It brought back good memories with BFF. Wednesday, I got up early to go for a run, since on Monday when I woke up at 8am (yes, late, I know) it was already 100 degrees. Then I went to a quilt class by the local quilt guild. A teacher showed us how to do a "tumbling blocks" quilt. Here's a photo of the work-in-progress. The rows are on my ironing board, waiting to be sewn together.

By the time I got home, Pool Time had already started, with Poppy, Ma3stro, Cissy, Guatemama, & Rosebud in attendance.

That brings me to today, Thursday. I donated blood and got the coolest blood donor t-shirt ever.

Then, we went out on the boat with Nathan, Babs, and the kids (I'll call them C1, C2, and C3). First, we went to a waterski cove for some tubing. I love the close-up of the boys, C1 & C2, as Poppy circled around.

The burro must have enjoyed the show!

Then we went to a little cove near the golf course where Cissy's hubby (Happy Anniversary, btw), Poppy, and Ma3stro have been hitting balls into the water near the 12th green. Poppy wanted to snorkel & recover some of their balls (pardon my language). C2 really enjoyed that because there were a lot of fish and he is a MAJOR biologist-to-be. Finally, we went to Copper Canyon for some more snorkeling and some cliff jumping. C1 & C3 (their 8yo daughter) showed off their intrepid nature, along with Poppy and Nathan, who wowed us with a swan dive from the 20 foot-ish level. C3 really looks great in this photo -- she looks like she's doing ballet.

Here's Poppy going from the same level. He's thinking, "What should I do with my hands?" Or maybe, "Will I really be paying for this later"? Here's C1, 13yo, going from the 2nd highest level, I'm guessing 30 feet high or so.

After he jumped, he noticed that the others who jumped from the same spot looked scared to death, and he wondered what his face looked like. I told him he could look at the close-up of my shot --

And last, but not least, Nathan's swan dive from 20-something feet. Last fall, he did this from the top. My best guess is that it's at least 45 feet. Yes, he's INSANE. He said his skull felt like it was swollen.

That's all for now. I know I've shocked you by posting twice in one week. I'll probably go back to my lazy posting next week.

Let Me Entertain You

2007-07-15T22:17:00.000-07:00

First, let me start with a funny story. Poppy, Maestro & I went to Chico's for lunch after church today (sorry, EO) and I had a cheese quesadilla and the bean dip -- yes, 2 appetizers. Then, just before we were done, Poppy brought me another Diet Coke, which I spilled all over the place! Later that day, after Worship Team practice, we had dinner with friends Nathan and Babs -- thanks for dinner, btw --- at Pizza Hut. As I stood up to greet them, yep, another Diet something all over the place. I explained to the waiter that this was my second mishap of the day, so he brought the refill in a child's covered cup!! That's the funny part, in case you thought you missed it. To add to the merriment, Poppy also dropped a slice of Pepperoni Pizza on the floor (and on his shirt and shorts).

Now, let me entertain you with some spare photos of the kids' visit and a photo of our new Great Nephew.

The kids loved a trip to the gokart track (the look on Dimples' face is concentration) --

These are pix from BDE's favorite fireworks ever!

This was for our impromptu it's a boy party for Juju & bwin.

More random cute shots ---

Here's our first photo of Guatemama and Mumble. He loved the pool. Isn't he adorable? He also loved the quilt I made for him. It was designed by a woman from Guatemala.

Well, that's it for now. We'll be with EO & fam in a couple weeks!

We're Havin' a Heat Wave

2007-07-07T20:10:00.001-07:00

Okay, I know that the rest of the country is now sharing the heat --- and they've added that great humidity -- but I thought I'd share some AZ jokes that I looked up when things were warmer here than a mere 115.

It's so hot in Arizona that...

· the birds have to use potholders to pull worms out of the ground.
· the potatoes cook underground, and all you have to do to have lunch is to pull one out and add butter, salt and pepper.
· farmers are feeding their chickens crushed ice to keep them from laying hard-boiled eggs.
· the cows are giving evaporated milk.
· the trees are whistling for the dogs.
· you can say 113 degrees without fainting.
· you eat hot chilies to cool your mouth off.
· you can make instant sun tea.
· you learn that a seat belt makes a pretty good branding iron.
· the temperature drops below 95, you feel a bit chilly.
· you can attend any function wearing shorts and a tank top.
· you discover that in July, it takes only 2 fingers to drive your car.
· you discover that you can get a sunburn through your car window.
· you notice the best parking place is determined by shade instead of distance.
· hot water now comes out of both taps.
· you actually burn your hand opening the car door.
· no one would dream of putting vinyl upholstery in a car or not having air conditioning.
· your biggest bicycle wreck fear is, "What if I get knocked out and end up lying on the pavement and cook to death?"
· you realize that asphalt has a liquid state.
· a sad Arizonan once prayed, "I wish it would rain - not so much for me, ‘cause I've seen it -- but for my 7-year-old."

On to more important topics, today was the day the kids left. We didn't enjoy that one bit. On the way to the airport, we were talking about the trip and who would be on the plane -- Daddy, Mommy, Dimples, BDE, and Baby. He said, "Poppy on airplane!" Yeah, that was rough. He insisted for the last 45 minutes or so of the ride that Poppy would be joining them. BDE and I didn't enjoy our farewell either, even though we both know that we'll see each other in a few short weeks. Dimples tried to ignore the whole goodbye thing. We had SUCH a GREAT time!!! The kids did really well. BDE learned the back float and backstroke, Dimples swam for the first time without a life jacket or floatie of any kind, and Baby loved dunking himself underwater and "swimming" with Mommy or Daddy holding him. We also had a great time on the boat, and it was fun to see the kids relax a bit more as they became more seasoned boaters. To sum it up, it was really great for us all to be together. I hope we can have more visits like this in the future, and Poppy & I really appreciate that they all took the trouble (and expense) to come down & visit with Neenee & Poppy. I'm sure EO will do some great blogging on the trip, so I'll let her provide the photos.

And I'll add my thanks to EO & fam's for the wonderful reception provided by Herc's parents and La (a note to follow So) upon their arrival home. Wowie wow wow, as Junie B would say.

Oh, and I know that they WILL be coming back because a few things did get forgotten here (note to self --- for future reference, clean up a bit before they pack) -- BDE's pink Hanes, Dimples' Fire Engine book, & the Santas we made.

Extreme Makeover, Ma3stro Edition

2007-06-30T15:08:00.000-07:00

Well, I couldn't be completely outdone by my daughter, so when Maestro decided that when HE had to put his hair up to brush his teeth, I thought I'd document his haircut too.

Sometimes, I'd get creative and try my version of the Legolas look ---

Babs gave his hair a try but I don't really think it's a good look for him ---

But Maestro got tired of looking for my headbands to keep the hair out of his eyes, so he went to his friend Nathan's house for a haircut. Here he is after the first cut ---

Maestro after the haircut. He likes it very much and we all think he looks great.

Adventures in Babysitting

2007-06-28T22:48:00.000-07:00

Wow, has it been that long since I've blogged??!!! Sorry, faithful viewers. Been kinda busy. There's a lot I could blog about, and I confess that I figure EO should be the one to post, being the superior writer and photographer, but here are a few shots she would not have. While she & Herc were celebrating their 10th anniversary in Sedona (beautifully posted here) Poppy and I were babysitting. I originally planned to keep taking photos with timestamps and post each hour so Herc could see that the kids were safe. However, as a "new" parent of 3 small children, I didn't really have time for that...

We had a nice pre-lunch-and-nap pool time each day. Here's our pool train. That was a lot of fun. I can't believe how well the kids are doing in the pool. I'll admit there was concern about the kids' safety but they have been great. Dimples actually swam for the first time without his life jacket, BDE can swim across the length of the pool, and Baby has been much more careful than I expected. They follow our rules without complaining, like no peeing in the pool and no diving head first. Okay, I can't vouch for Baby and rule #1.

BDE & Baby played a little dress-up.

Maestro entertained the kids too ---

Poppy and the boys had fun with sidewalk chalk. They imitated the petroglyphs we saw from the boat. Then we saw how much chalk was on their bums and they needed to get in the pool to wash it off.

Poppy took BDE & Dimples to see Shrek 3 while Maestro & I hung out with Baby. Our friends Nathan and Barbara invited us over for dinner and the kids had a great time in the menagerie -- 2 dogs, 1 chicken, 3 birds, and 1 fish. N & B and their kids really made it a fun night for the kids and us.

Well, there you go! It went really well.

We plan on going on the boat again tomorrow, and then a fun weekend with Cissy home and the Fourth of July program at church.

PS Congratulations Juju & Bwin ---- It's a --wait, can I share this online yet????

Poppy Has Knee Surgery

2007-06-09T00:07:00.000-07:00

This morning, (okay, yesterday morning by the clock) Poppy went in for arthroscopic knee surgery. His knee has been giving him a lot of trouble, especially the last 6 weeks or so. He found out he has gout (yikes) and arthritis, of course -- gotta love all that basketball -- but instead of doing an MRI and then going in for surgery, they decided to skip 1 step & go straight for the knife.

I don't want to stay up much longer to go into detail, but the day went pretty well. Everyone at the hospital treated us both very nicely. Cissy, Rosebud & I came to the conclusion that if there are only so many nice people to go around, the hospital is where they should be.

We arrived at 10:15 for pre-op. I took advantage of this occasion to try out our new camera. Here's the view from his room.

Poppy thought it was funny how they made sure that the correct knee would be worked on. Of course, they could've figured that it was the SHAVED knee.

Here he is in his lovely gown.

The surgery went well. They removed the damaged cartilage, so that should help a lot. However, the gout & arthritis will still be giving him problems, so this wasn't a cure-all. He was very worried that he would be really nauseated after the surgery, but here he is in recovery, chowing down. After the nurse went twice to get him a muffin, the next time she brought him 2. Smart lady.

We got home and here he is, maxin' & relaxin' on morphine & vicadin. When he woke up, the pain wasn't too bad, so they gave him half a dose of morphine. We told Cissy that they poured the other half dose down the drain and she couldn't believe it! Oh, such a waste!

We had our normal after-dinner sunset-watching time. I took a few shots to experiment with the new camera. We're really happy with it. I'm not a photographer, like SOME people I know, but it was a lot of fun and I think they turned out pretty well. I did't photoshop these at all, except to make the file size smaller. I was just able to get some good zoom for the hummingbird and I think the Texas Bird of Paradise came out beautifully.

Well, time for bed. Poppy will probably be in more pain tomorrow, but we'll see. Here's hopin'

I Bought New Reading Glasses at the Dollar Store

2007-05-31T20:59:00.000-07:00

I thought I'd update on my post that I copied from EO's blog. It was someone's must-read list. I won't copy it here. I printed a list of all the books I wanted to read and put it in my wallet. Each time I went to the library, I'd get a few of those on the list.

My first was The Hobbit, then I went through the Lord of the Rings Trilogy. Lots of fun! It was kind of like being in a book club (I think) because I'd talk it over with Maestro everyday and discuss how each book differed from the movies. I thought Peter Jackson & Fran Walsh did a great job adapting the books to the screenplay. Most of the differences just had to do with condensing the story so it could be contained in only 3 movies. I really missed Middle Earth and its inhabitants when I finished Return of the King.

Then, I went ahead in time (or behind, actually, since these were written well before Lord of the Rings et al) to 1800's England for Pride & Prejudice and Emma. It was quite a change in style and subject matter, like seeing 3 guy movies in a row and then going to see a couple of chick flicks. I gotta say I preferred the guy movies. Not that I didn't enjoy Jane Austen's books. They were really interesting and I liked getting a glimpse of what life was like for some in that era.

After that, I read a "trashy" novel that Guatemama & Cissy recommended. Good stuff. I won't do a review on it here, though. Maybe another time.

The Bourne Identity was next. Excellent writing and a great story. The funny thing is, though, that I couldn't get over how completely different it was from the movie. Don't get me wrong, I loved them both. I just couldn't believe they made that movie & named it after the book of the same name. There are some similarities. The main character is named Jason Bourne (or is he?) and he was an assassin (or was he?) who lost his memory. He was trained by a special group named Treadstone 71 (was 71 in the movie?) but not for the same purpose as in the movie, unless I'm not remembering correctly. Ludlum is a terrific writer and I loved how he respected the reader's intelligence. Most of the book is set in Paris (another plus) and when there are phrases in French (or sometimes German) he doesn't bother to translate for you.

Now I've just started The Stand, by Stephen King. It wasn't on my list of books I wanted to read, but EO thought I'd like it, so I'm giving it a shot. It's over 1000 pages, so I may be finished by the time they get here (!) and then again, I may not.

As for other news -- we went out on the boat today and had an expensive -- oh, I mean fun -- time. Cissy has blogged about it so I won't be redundant. What she kindly left out was that when I got out of the boat to get us off the rocks when we were beaching to meet the airboat people, I had our camera and my cell phone.. oh, and the keys to the Trailblazer... in my shorts pocket. The keys and my cell phone are fine. The camera is dead. Or maybe in a coma. And the prop & skag (I learned what this was last year, having ruined a couple of them already) on the boat have to be fixed. So there ya go.

I hope that we'll get a new camera soon so that I'll be able to post pix again. In the meantime, I guess I'll just have to blog on old stuff or non-photo topics.

Visit, revisited

2007-05-17T17:03:00.000-07:00

I'm glad you like my photos of Sedona (actually, those are from 3 different photogs). I'm nowhere near the photographer my daughter is, in fact, I'm the worst one in the family, I think. But, boy, you can't really go wrong when you're in the most beautiful place in the USA (some magazine voted it that).

Here's some more about the trip.

We had a great time out on the boat. We went twice, once upriver, and once downriver.

As we headed up, we saw a bunch of wild burros. Poppy told them that once we saw some wild boar, and about 2 minutes later, we saw them! (One is to the left, behind some plants.)

Soon after, we showed them the Native American Petroglyphs:

We went up through a beautiful gorge and then stopped the boat & had a picnic lunch. Here are a few photos of the river -- one of them was taken from a plane ride I took about a year ago.

The next time on the river, we went down, first to a popular spot with the Spring Breakers (don't worry, we didn't earn or give out any beads). It's a really beautiful cove when it's not filled with drunken 19 year olds.

Then, we went to a restaurant for lunch, just past Parker Dam (pardon my language).

After lunch, we stopped in another cove to relax. We saw some desert bighorn sheep up on a bluff. After watching us for awhile, they decided we were safe, and they came down to the water for a drink. There were other boats in the cove and they were louder, but the sheep seemed to like us :)

It was a lot of fun. We stayed there for quite awhile, watching the sheep.

Well, that kind of sums up our visit with the Two Sisters. We hope that they can come down again next spring. I'm going to stop writing and get this published!

Visit from Sis-in-Law

2007-05-16T19:59:00.000-07:00

Well, I really needed to get around to blogging about our wonderful visit from Poppy's sister (I'll call her Sister J - she really is a Sister) and her roomie, Sister P, also a Sister. I was seeing how many times I could write the word "sister" in one sentence. We had such a great time with them here. They both love to travel and we were thrilled to have them stay with us for a week and a half. We are hoping that they will be able to make this an annual, if not semiannual, event. Here are some pix of our visit. I have to write a disclaimer; there's some strong language that you're not used to hearing, or reading, from me.

On the way home from picking them up at the airport in Vegas, we stopped by a famous landmark -- now that's a Hoover Dam good picture!

We visited Oatman, a little ghost town named after a girl who was captured by Native Americans. I still can't believe it, but it's where Clark Gable and Carole Lombard spent their wedding night. Really, why???? So close to Las Vegas???? I've seen the room and it's not pretty. Anyway, now the reason for going is to feed the wild burros who come down from the mountains each day. Here's a picture of a really nice A$$ --

Then we went to Sedona. Poppy stayed home, b/c his knee was KILLING him. Maestro came along with us. The weather was warming up at home, but it was cold -- okay, cool -- in Sedona. It was cloudy & would rain a bit now & then. It was quite a revelation to Sister P, who was definitely expecting different weather in Arizona. Fortunately for our sightseeing efforts, the only time it rained really hard was when we were inside eating, at a very nice Mexican restaurant, Oaxaca. We started out at Oak Creek Canyon --

for a very scenic view, and some shopping for some Navajo-made jewelry. It started sleeting, and we had a view of the road we would be driving down --

Maestro did a great job driving -- he actually drove the speed limit of 15mph! I didn't cry this time going down. Our next stop was at Slide Rock State Park --

Then we went to the Chapel of the Holy Cross.

The photo on the right is the view from the back door. In the next photo, the rock formations on the left side are called the Two Sisters. And Maestro is standing between -- yep-- Two Sisters.

You can see the menacing clouds behind them. There had been some great lightning, but we didn't get that on film. I mean, uh, memory disk. And boy, was it windy!

We headed to Red Rock Crossing to get some shots of Cathedral Rock.

Maestro climbed a tree --

We started our drive back home, but had to stop & take these pix --

Then, just to make things really interesting, we got to drive through a snowstorm in Flagstaff. Yikes-a-malooney!

Of course, we got home safely, after stopping in Ash Fork and eating at the Road Kill Cafe on the longest stretch of the original Route 66.

I'll blog some more on the trip later, but I want to get this published before, well, the next time they visit us!

Kingman, Barstow, San Bernadino...

2007-05-12T19:36:00.000-07:00

Well, today I got my kicks on Route 66. Or at least a finishing kick. Kind of. I ran a 10k race in Kingman this morning.

I really did not think it would go well, since I was up until almost 3am with stomach upset and then we had to get up at 5am so we could leave at 6. Yikes! Cissy went with Poppy & me and she woke up at 2:30am. Gee whiz! So, we all went up to the Heart of Route 66 for a fun morning. We arrived at the starting line about 25 minutes before the race. I took as much time as possible in the lovely port-a-potty (nicely name the "head" quarters) -- hoping that this race was going to go better than expected if I could, you know, ... I was really hoping for more port-a-potties along the route or I would probably be in trouble. The 5kers and 10kers lined up at the start and it was time to go (run, not back to the little blue buildings).

I'm the one in pink shorts, under the "n" in LINE.

I was feeling a lot better than I thought I would -- yay! The course was in a street that was open to traffic but separated by cones. It went at first through a "small -town" downtown type area. Then we turned toward the Hualapai Mountains and the scenery was pretty nice. The weather was warm & sunny and wasn't really a factor for most of us. After going solidly UPHILL for 3 miles, it occurred to me that the turnaround was just ahead and it would be DOWNHILL from there on! Made that last bit before the turnaround much happier for me. The last half went pretty well - no, duh, really, ALL downhill. So I didn't need a finishing kick, I just coasted in. This is a shot Cissy took just before the finish line --

I finished in 1:04:07, nice & slow, but 3 minutes faster than the 10k I did a couple of weeks ago. Wow, it's a lot easier if you DON'T donate blood 2 days before a race. The fun thing is, it was enough for 1st place in my age division - 46-55, except there weren't any older than 55 so it was just 46 & up. See what happens when you just keep running -- you can be slow but there aren't too many others out there!

An early Happy Mother's Day to any mommies (or mommies-to-be) reading this! I hope that it finds you all feeling loved and appreciated. I will be lucky enough to be with my Mom tomorrow!

Love You Forever

2007-05-11T15:54:00.000-07:00

This is not my official Happy Mother's Day post, but I wanted to tell you about my morning at JuJu's school. She had a Mother's Day breakfast. They each made a picture frame out of puzzle pieces and put a photo of themselves and their mom in it. It said, "I love you to pieces". Cute, huh? She and the kids made muffins yesterday and someone (juju?) brought fruit, yogurt, donuts, and juice. This morning, Cissy and I (surrogate moms for anyone whose mom couldn't make it) showed up at 8:00. The other moms were in the hallway waiting to be invited in. Juju peeked her head out the door and let us know she was already a BASKET CASE emotionally. So then, we all went in. The door had decorations hanging down with a sign to welcome the moms. She and a few kids blew bubbles as the moms walked in to music on the CD player -- "You'll Always be Beautiful in My Eyes." The moms were already starting to cry.

Cissy and I were directed to sit in for a little girl whose mom is in prison. She lives with her grandparents and 4 yr old brother (who's diabetic). The kids all served their moms breakfast. The menu was written on the blackboard. It was so cute!

After they were done serving, the kids lined up for a song -- You are My Sunshine, complete with motions & choreography --the next pic is them saying, "You'll never know DEAR, how much I love you."and their memory verse, Ps 23, also with motions. (He makes me to lie in green pastures)Lots of tears. Just to make things more poignant, then JuJu introduced the book "Love You Forever" written by Robert Munsch. (If you haven't read this, you MUST!)She struggled through telling when she first heard the book at a Mother-Daughter banquet at church. The storyteller sang the words,

I love you forever,
I like you for always,
As long as I'm living,
My baby you'll be.

So she got through the book as the kleenex box traveled around the room. It seemed that we were the only ones who had known the book before, but I could be wrong. Those moms will NEVER forget this morning, I assured JuJu. Then she thanked me for the help I've been able to giver her these last few weeks (she exaggerated and said 3 months -- wonder where she gets that from??). We also had a Mother's Day word search puzzle and a crossword puzzle to do with the kids and "our" little girl loved that.

Cissy and I stayed to help with some stuff for tonight's Young Author's Night, where everything they've written this year (or I suppose just a representative sample) will be on display. Then, there was a fire drill. Actually, it was a messed up fire alarm, not scheduled. So we went out with all the kids. They behaved SO well. It was hot outside and they had to line up on the pavement but they weren't suffering too badly. JuJu played "Follow the Leader" while still standing in line to keep her class occupied. I gave them stories about how all of OUR fire drills were cold, and we couldn't even grab our coats!!! Before too long, we went in. Then I was too cold :)

Happy Birthday Teeners!

2007-05-09T07:49:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday to t~!

Here's one of the first pix ever taken of her --

She's quite an amazing (and, yes, I hate the overuse of that word, but it works here) and talented woman and has always been that way. Here she is playing the piano during a recital (please ignore the socks, please...please...) and showing her medal at the Midwest regional spelling bee in Indianapolis.

She was a cheerleader --

World traveler -- Homecoming Queen --

Married the man of her dreams --

Graduated with a Bachelor's Degree in Nursing --

Had a bunch of cute kids (yes, I know she's not done yet :) )

Became a Girl Scout Leader --

And a photographer (sorry, I don't have a pictures of that)

We're very proud of you, t~, and always have been. I hope you have always felt how much we love you. Have a great birthday and enjoy lots more! Remember, you can't complain that you're old to your parents , 'cause that would make us really old!

Love, mom & dad

Happy Anniversary Part Deux

2007-05-03T22:55:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm sorry that I've left you all hanging... We've been kind of busy around here and it takes more effort for me to do these things than it seems to for others. Oh well. (Update -- I've been working all day on this!!!!) (Further update --it's now almost midnight of the 4th.)

So, I last left you with snaps of our early years and our 3 beautiful babies. Here are some fun snaps of our growing family.

He coached Ma3stro in tball--

and JuJu's HS bball team --

I remember clearly that he worked 13 Christmas days in a row! He'd take his dinner break at his Mom's house, or whoever was having dinner that day. There were times that he'd come home in uniform to open presents with the kids on Christmas morning.

We took some fun vacations. Of course, when the kids were little and Hubby was working 2 jobs, we drove short distances to borrowed vacation trailers. We had a lot of fun at Jellystone Park campground, where he played Yogi Bear (yes, the costume fit).

Noah's Ark and Circus World Museum were great --"hey, watch me, look here!" One year, the girls & I got to go to France, and Hubby & Ma3stro went to...drum roll please...Cleveland!!

Then, we went to Disney World.

After that, t~ was in college, then got married & started having babies, so the rest of the vacations were without her. She was having fun of her own, apparently :)

He's a great dad, and was pretty good at keeping his family safe. He came a little close to the edge, however, when we went to the Grand Canyon. Yes, JuJu really IS that close. He denies this happened, but here's the proof.

Here's Ma3stro & Hubby on Camelback Mt. in Phoenix.

JuJu & Ma3stro's first snorkeling trip, in Key Largo.

He had a hard time "giving away" his girls --

and loves being with the grandkids --

and the poor guy can't keep his hands off of me --

And I'm okay with that!

Happy Anniversary!

2007-04-18T22:24:00.000-07:00

Happy Anniversary to us! It's 32 years today (not yet in our time zone, but close enough)! [By the time this is posted, it's the next morning] We're going to Vegas tomorrow to celebrate (also to drop off our friend from K-town and to pick up dh's sis). yay!! And no questions --what happens in Vegas...

So, I should have a nice tribute here to the man of my life. I'll do my best. I'm sure anyone who reads this knows him anyway, so you all know how lucky I am.

He's a retired cop.

We started dating when he got out of the marines in 1973. We even got our pictures taken at one of those cheesy photo kiosks --

We got married in 1975,

...and had 3 kids

Okay, I'm running out of time. I could say, "They lived happily ever after" but we're not done yet!

I'll post again when we get back---I promise!

Love, Neenee

My Fun Supermarket Trip

2007-04-13T22:41:00.000-07:00

Well, I found out how to pick up guys. (Don't worry, I have no intention of doing so.) Go grocery shopping with no makeup on, have really bad hair so you have to wear your running hat, put on a stained t-shirt and shorts, then buy a LOT of steak. Yep, that's the trick. I have never been treated so nicely by the guys in the store (keep in mind that this is still Spring Break and there are lots of college-age girls with bikini tops and low-riding shorts running around in the stores). LOL Artichokes were on sale for $1 each (yippee) and the produce guy was doing his best to find the best ones for me. Then the butcher shop guy gave me a bunch of Steakhouse-flavored seasoning rub for free. The kicker was when the guy in back of me in line saw the steaks and asked if he could come home with me. So there you go.

We've had a nice week. A friend is visiting from K-Town to find a condo here for snowbird & income purposes. He was very happy to spend time in the warmth & sunshine. Oh yeah, and to be here with us :) I've been spending some time at school with Juju correcting papers so she doesn't have to bring them home & throw up on them (as she explained to her students). I'm also working on my reading list. I read "The Hobbit" and now I'm reading "The Fellowship of the Ring." Yay!! Good stuff. Right now the guys are watching -- blast from the past -- American Gladiator! I hear that BDE is discovering the joys of her Mom's old favorite game shows too. Very cute. Say it with me, "pick it, pick it, pick it!"

Thanks again to EO, BFF, Guatemama, and Supermom for keeping me informed and entertained with your wonderful blogs. I will try to blog more often.

Have a great day.

I'd Like to Thank the Academy...

2007-03-26T18:15:00.000-07:00

It occurred to me while I was out running that my next blog should be about how much I have to be thankful for. Then I kind of got depressed so it got put on hold :)
Is it just me, or does everyone compose a speech that they should give at the Oscars (or the Golden Globes, which I usually prefer to watch)? I mean, really, the chances of my being nominated for anything having to do with show biz are really tiny. Or even nonexistent. Nevertheless, I think everyone should have a list, at least in their head, of people and things that they are thankful for. I'll do my best to finish before the orchestra starts playing to get me off the stage.

I'd like to thank my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

I'd like to thank my Mom & Dad *tears*. They always made me think I could do anything
I ever wanted to -- so what if I didn't take piano, dance, or voice lessons. I could dream, and I did. I was going to be the next Carol Burnett, or star in the remake of "White Christmas."

I'd like to thank my husband, who was the only guy I knew during my jr hi & hi school years who thought I was hot -- at least hot enough to ask out on a date. He's been a great husband for almost 32 years and our relationship is better than ever.

I'd like to thank my kids, who have grown up to be strong, sensitive, funny, smart, beautiful, talented people who are really fun to hang around with and who spend lots of time with me. I've been able to live vicariously through them and finally be the Homecoming or Prom Queen, win scholarships & contests, win the big game, take piano lessons, be an artist, etc etc.

I'd like to thank my friends -- old & new. We've sung together, watched movies, taken Homecoming & "prom" pictures of our kids together, played lots of pinochle, talked into the wee hours, ...(music starts playing)

(Dream sequence over)
Okay, I hope this post isn't as cheesy as it seems to me now, and I know it doesn't come close to expressing how I feel, but it's been sitting here in cyberland waiting to be published for about 2 weeks now.

Easter was fun and yet very untraditional. We had ham & cheesy potatoes and instead of games we hung around the pool. The Passion Play went great last week. The choir sounded great for how small we are and things went pretty well technically too.

Then of course I'll update on the Josh Groban Concert. Oh Momma! That boy can sing.

But for now, I'll finally post this and get to dinner.

Your Average Kid

2007-03-22T18:34:00.000-07:00

In honor of my Grandson "Baby", whose 2nd birthday is today (well it still is on the west coast) I thought I'd blog about children. This is from a book I got from DBIL. It's Uncle John's Bathroom Reader Extraordinary Book of Facts and Bizarre Information. Now, I've found a few errors in it --that could be another post -- but this page was cute and I thought it would make a nice post.

A child laughs about 400 times a day. Adults laugh about 15 times.

More children are accidentally poisoned by toxic houseplants than by household chemicals.

The average American child uses 730 crayons by the age of 10.

The price of a sleepover in the Bronx Zoo's Congo Gorilla Forest exhibit for 15 kids: $4500.

The average American child takes his/her first trip to the mall at 2 months old.

A 4 year old child asks about 437 questions a day.

The average kid eats 15 pounds of cereal a year.

The average child will eat 1,500 peanut butter sandwiches by high school graduation.

On average, kids ages 2 to 5 put their hands in their mouths 10 times an hour.

65% of kids have had at least 1 imaginary friend by age 7.

Kids' favorite superheroes: Spider-Man, Superman, and Captain Underpants.

21% of U.S. children say that if they were president, they'd "eat ice cream for every meal."

Okay, that's it for now. I hope my daughters feel better soon! Enough of that morning sickness stuff!

Anybody Want a Peanut?

2007-03-21T08:49:00.000-07:00

Yay, another stolen blog. I got this one from jcsingsforhim and modified it a bit. It's the AFI's top 100 movies of all time. I've put the ones I've seen in bold and those I'd like to see in italics. I added my favorites at the end. You may notice I prefer children's movies or older ones. I have this thing about happy endings. They don't have to be devoid of conflict or bad guys (Wicked Witch of the West, Mr. Potter, the Civil War, Darth Vader, e.g.) but I like them to turn out nicely.

1. CITIZEN KANE (1941) rosebud is a ... oh sorry I won't wreck it
2. CASABLANCA (1942) this could be the start of a beautiful friendship
3. THE GODFATHER (1972) yay, Herc
4. GONE WITH THE WIND (1939)
5. LAWRENCE OF ARABIA (1962)
6. THE WIZARD OF OZ (1939) sorry, Herc
7. THE GRADUATE (1967)
8. ON THE WATERFRONT (1954)
9. SCHINDLER'S LIST (1993)
10. SINGIN' IN THE RAIN (1952) "Whaddaya think I am, dumb or somthin'"
11. IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE (1946) "Must you keep playing that song over & over"
12. SUNSET BOULEVARD (1950)
13. THE BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI (1957) I can't whistle so this movie makes me mad
14. SOME LIKE IT HOT (1959) hilarious
15. STAR WARS (1977) and all the others
16. ALL ABOUT EVE (1950)
17. THE AFRICAN QUEEN (1951)
18. PSYCHO (1960)
19. CHINATOWN (1974)
20. ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST (1975)
21. THE GRAPES OF WRATH (1940) read the book
22. 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY (1968) hated it
23. THE MALTESE FALCON (1941)
24. RAGING BULL (1980)
25. E.T. THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL (1982) T~ was 5 yo and we both cried
26. DR. STRANGELOVE (1964)
27. BONNIE AND CLYDE (1967)
28. APOCALYPSE NOW (1979)
29. MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON (1939)
30. THE TREASURE OF THE SIERRA MADRE (1948)
31. ANNIE HALL (1977)
32. THE GODFATHER PART II (1974)
33. HIGH NOON (1952)
34. TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD (1962)
35. IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT (1934)
36. MIDNIGHT COWBOY (1969)
37. THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES (1946)
38. DOUBLE INDEMNITY (1944)
39. DOCTOR ZHIVAGO (1965)
40. NORTH BY NORTHWEST (1959) saw part of it
41. WEST SIDE STORY (1961) "cut the frabbajabba, which one o' da shahks did it?"
42. REAR WINDOW (1954)
43. KING KONG (1933)
44. THE BIRTH OF A NATION (1915)
45. A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE (1951)
46. A CLOCKWORK ORANGE (1971) still traumatized
47. TAXI DRIVER (1976)
48. JAWS (1975)
49. SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS (1937)
50. BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID (1969) top 10 fave
51. THE PHILADELPHIA STORY (1940)
52. FROM HERE TO ETERNITY (1953)
53. AMADEUS (1984)
54. ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT (1930)
55. THE SOUND OF MUSIC (1965) "ti, a drink with jam & bread"
56. M*A*S*H (1970) was on a date with future hubby
57. THE THIRD MAN (1949)
58. FANTASIA (1940)
59. REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE (1955)
60. RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK (1981) dah duh-duh daaah, da duh-daaahhhh
61. VERTIGO (1958)
62. TOOTSIE (1982)
63. STAGECOACH (1939)
64. CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND (1977) still looking up expecting to see UFOs
65. THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS (1991) not a fave
66. NETWORK (1976)
67. THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE (1962)
68. AN AMERICAN IN PARIS (1951) I *heart* Gene Kelly
69. SHANE (1953)
70. THE FRENCH CONNECTION (1971)
71. FORREST GUMP (1994) "run, Forrest, run"
72. BEN-HUR (1959) don't know if I've seen the whole 10 hours
73. WUTHERING HEIGHTS (1939)
74. THE GOLD RUSH (1925)
75. DANCES WITH WOLVES (1990) "and I hit her"
76. CITY LIGHTS (1931)
77. AMERICAN GRAFFITI (1973)
78. ROCKY (1976) still mad that I didn't run up the stairs of the Philly Art Museum when I had the chance...
79. THE DEER HUNTER (1978)
80. THE WILD BUNCH (1969)
81. MODERN TIMES (1936)
82. GIANT (1956)
83. PLATOON (1986)
84. FARGO (1996)
85. DUCK SOUP (1933) genius
86. MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY (1935)
87. FRANKENSTEIN (1931)
88. EASY RIDER (1969)
89. PATTON (1970)
90. THE JAZZ SINGER (1927)
91. MY FAIR LADY (1964)
92. A PLACE IN THE SUN (1951)
93. THE APARTMENT (1960)
94. GOODFELLAS (1990)
95. PULP FICTION (1994)
96. THE SEARCHERS (1956)
97. BRINGING UP BABY (1938)
98. UNFORGIVEN (1992)
99. GUESS WHO'S COMING TO DINNER (1967)
100. YANKEE DOODLE DANDY (1942) a definite fave

I'll add my faves not listed:

The Princess Bride
A Knight's Tale
A River Runs Through It
Phantom of the Opera
White Christmas
Finding Nemo
Cars

Toy Story
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
Sandlot
Ocean's 11 (new version)
Lord of the Rings Trilogy
The Brave Little Toaster
What About Bob?
Groundhog Day

Top Gun

Rain Man

Mary Poppins

A League of Their Own

Independence Day

The Sting

Young Frankenstein (last movie I saw b4 giving birth to t~ )
A Few Good Men

Mrs. Doubtfire

Well, I hope you've enjoyed this mindless drivel among the more important & exciting news that T~, JuJu & Guatemama have been sharing.

Weekend update

2007-03-18T19:18:00.000-07:00

Well, it's been a week since I've posted. I love keeping up with everyone else's but haven't really had the time to do anything on my own. I had a GREAT time in the land of the extraordinaryordinary (check out t~'s blog for the recap --www.extraordinaryordinary.blogspot.com) and I'm glad I was able to help Rosebud & Cissy pack up & drive out here.

The sunset pic is just b/c our pix are either sunsets or grandkids, and t~ does a way better job than I do of posting the gk's pix. So, here's one Poppy took just before I came home last week.

Speaking of Grandkids, some of you already know that our family is about to be blessed with not one, but two new babies. JuJu told us that she is expecting her 1st bundle of joy and the next day t~ found out that she is expecting baby #4!!!! Wowie kazowie!!!!!!! Congrats to both families. We already know that t~ & Herc are great parents and we're sure that JuJu & Bwin will be too. You'll have to check out t~'s blog for the news -- I'm sure she'll cover it much better than I.

This next pic is for BDE & Dimples. I told them that my idea of fun is to go for a run in the warm sun & then jump in the pool, still in my running clothes. I do remember to take off my phone & Ipod first! At least, I have so far :)

Well, it has been great to be back home! We've been busy, of course, helping unpack at Cissy & dh's house. It has gone unbelievably well! They can actually get both cars in the garage! Their house is beautiful and the plans are underway for the pool & casita. I loved being back at Life Group & seeing R & J -- Congrats on another grandkid on the way! Then of course I had to catch up on "24." Friday, we had our friends Nathan, Babs, & their kids over for a fun pool party. It was great to see them again -- we always laugh a lot when we're together.

Then came Sunday and I was back at church. Everyone was happy to see me back. (or at least had the courtesy to act like it!) Maestro played cello to accompany Nathan and S~'s singing and it was beautiful. Rosebud and Cissy loved watching him play drums--he does enjoy himself!

So, I think that's it for now. Someday I'll post something inspiring & brilliant, but not yet --sorry...

Oh, btw, t~, JuJu & Bwin are staying here for the weekend b/c their condo is getting tiled. She made oatmeal this morning and...

I don't care who ya are, that's funny, right there...

You have new Picture Mail!

2007-03-12T13:55:00.001-07:00

Cissy and dh at home!

You have new Picture Mail!

2007-03-12T13:52:00.001-07:00

Got our kicks on rte 66. Hi dimples!

You have new Picture Mail!

2007-03-12T08:01:00.001-07:00

Hi honey i'm home! Well, kind of.

You have new Picture Mail!

2007-03-11T12:26:00.001-07:00

Woken by wrong # who asked me 'who the f*** is this?' @ 5am. I will hunt him down and kill him like the dirty dog he is.d

You have new Picture Mail!

2007-03-11T11:46:00.001-07:00

How i got out of my ticket.

You have new Picture Mail!

2007-03-11T11:40:00.001-07:00

We love texas!

You have new Picture Mail!

2007-03-10T18:31:00.001-08:00

In tulsa. I'm 'ok' with that!

You have new Picture Mail!

2007-03-10T11:16:00.001-08:00

Getting there! Cissy driving. Nice lunch, brooks n dunn playing. Nani stopped crying.

You have new Picture Mail!

2007-03-10T10:06:00.001-08:00

Road trip! We're just east of st louis.

I'd Better Get Some More Reading Glasses from the Dollar Store!

2007-03-08T13:06:00.000-08:00

Yes, another blog copied from tf who copied it from supermom. I knew I would need help getting started with this blogging thing so hey, I'm ok with that!

This must be somebody's list of the the 100 books everyone should read. It was fun going through this b/c I do love to read and I don't do it as much as I should. I'm in another year of reading the Bible through (yeehah, made it through Deuteronomy----smooth sailing for awhile now) and will have to start reading some of these too. Well, 1 at a time.

The ones I’ve read are in bold.
The ones I want to read (or have started and abandoned) are in italics.
I've left alone the ones that I'm not interested in.

1. The Da Vinci Code (Dan Brown)
2. Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen)
3. To Kill A Mockingbird (Harper Lee)
4. Gone With The Wind (Margaret Mitchell) *read the sequel but that doesn't count
5. The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (J.R.R. Tolkien)
6. The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring (J.R.R. Tolkien)
7. The Lord of the Rings: Two Towers (J.R.R. Tolkien)
8. Anne of Green Gables (L.M. Montgomery) *along with all the others in the series!
9. Outlander (Diana Gabaldon)
10. A Fine Balance (Rohinton Mistry)
11. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (J.K. Rowling)
12. Angels and Demons (Dan Brown)
13. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (J.K. Rowling)
14. A Prayer for Owen Meany (John Irving)
15. Memoirs of a Geisha (Arthur Golden)
16. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (J.K. Rowling)
17. Fall on Your Knees (Ann-Marie MacDonald)
18. The Stand (Stephen King)
19. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (J.K. Rowling)
20. Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte)
21. The Hobbit (J.R.R. Tolkien)
22. The Catcher in the Rye (J.D. Salinger)
23. Little Women (Louisa May Alcott)
24. The Lovely Bones (Alice Sebold)
25. Life of Pi (Yann Martel)
26. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Douglas Adams)
27. Wuthering Heights (Emily Bronte)
28. The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe (C. S. Lewis)
29. East of Eden (John Steinbeck)
30. Tuesdays with Morrie (Mitch Albom)
31. Dune (Frank Herbert)
32. The Notebook (Nicholas Sparks)
33. Atlas Shrugged (Ayn Rand)
34. 1984 (George Orwell)
35. The Mists of Avalon (Marion Zimmer Bradley)
36. The Pillars of the Earth (Ken Follett)
37. The Power of One (Bryce Courtenay)
38. I Know This Much is True (Wally Lamb)
39. The Red Tent (Anita Diamant)
40. The Alchemist (Paulo Coelho)
41. The Clan of the Cave Bear (Jean M. Auel)
42. The Kite Runner (Khaled Hosseini)
43. Confessions of a Shopaholic (Sophie Kinsella)
44. The Five People You Meet In Heaven (Mitch Albom) *fabulous
45. Bible * yep, the whole enchilada
46. Anna Karenina (Leo Tolstoy)
47. The Count of Monte Cristo (Alexandre Dumas) *en français
48. Angela’s Ashes (Frank McCourt)
49. The Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck)
50. She’s Come Undone (Wally Lamb)
51. The Poisonwood Bible (Barbara Kingsolver)
52. A Tale of Two Cities (Charles Dickens)
53. Ender’s Game (Orson Scott Card)
54. Great Expectations (Charles Dickens) *some great memories of Jr Hi English class
55. The Great Gatsby (Scott Fitzgerald)
56. The Stone Angel (Margaret Laurence)
57. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (J.K. Rowling)
58. The Thorn Birds (Colleen McCullough)
59. The Handmaid’s Tale (Margaret Atwood)
60. The Time Traveller’s Wife (Audrew Niffenegger)
61. Crime and Punishment (Fyodor Dostoyevsky) *I expect to hear mice say this and giggle
62. The Fountainhead (Ayn Rand)
63. War and Peace (Tolstoy) *even retired, I'm too busy to read this one!
64. Interview With The Vampire (Anne Rice) *couldn't even watch Brad & Tom in this!
65. Fifth Business (Robertson Davies)
66. One Hundred Years Of Solitude (Gabriel Garcia Marquez)
67. The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants (Ann Brashares)
68. Catch-22 (Joseph Heller)
69. Les Miserables (Victor Hugo)
70. The Little Prince (Antoine de Saint-Exupery) *en français
71. Bridget Jones’ Diary (Helen Fielding)
72. Love in the Time of Cholera (Gabriel Garcia Marquez)
73. Shogun (James Clavell)
74. The English Patient (Michael Ondaatje)
75. The Secret Garden (Frances Hodgson Burnett)
76. The Summer Tree (Guy Gavriel Kay)
77. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Betty Smith)
78. The World According To Garp (John Irving)
79. The Diviners (Margaret Laurence)
80. Charlotte’s Web (E.B. White)
81. Not Wanted On The Voyage (Timothy Findley)
82. Of Mice And Men (John Steinbeck)
83. Rebecca (Daphne DuMaurier)
84. Wizard’s First Rule (Terry Goodkind)
85. Emma (Jane Austen)
86. Watership Down (Richard Adams)
87. Brave New World (Aldous Huxley)
88. The Stone Diaries (Carol Shields)
89. Blindness (Jose Saramago)
90. Kane and Abel (Jeffrey Archer)
91. In the Skin of a Lion (Michael Ondaatje)
92. Lord of the Flies (William Golding)
93. The Good Earth (Pearl S. Buck)
94. The Secret Life of Bees (Sue Monk Kidd) *really good
95. The Bourne Identity (Robert Ludlum) *saw the movie but would still like to read it
96. The Outsiders (S.E. Hinton)
97. White Oleander (Janet Fitch)
98. A Woman of Substance (Barbara Taylor Bradford)
99. The Celestine Prophecy (James Redfield)
100. Ulysses (James Joyce)

Feel free to add your own faves. I'm pretty embarrassed that so many of these were not read. That's why I felt the need to appear more intelligent by adding that I read some of them in French.

Happy Reading!
I hope to be posting from the road--promised Dimples & BDE some pix of Route 66!

This is cool and fun.

2007-03-08T08:14:00.000-08:00

Welcome to my first attempt at blogging. I'm pathetic so I just have to copy my cool daughter. Oh that's right--she copied it from her friend and she's not pathetic. And her friend copied it from someone else and she's not pathetic either. Well, have fun.

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