Sushi Nite

We had homemade sushi for Sunday Nite Dinner!  We are getting better and better at it.

And I made a delicious salad with butter lettuce, Asian pears and home made wasabi dressing.  YUM!

Bunny Hutch

Our new "used" bunny needed a new hutch!  So off we went today to get her one. She seems to like it, but really likes running around the yard! 

More Mud Run Pics

 Here are some more mud run pics.  These give you some ideas of the obstacles.

Couples that play in the mud together, stay together!

Mr Screwtop trying to push me down in the mud!

 Mud Warrior!

Mikey, caught in the net!

Slip and Slide!

Used Pet

We have another used pet.  And does this one look familiar?  It should....it's the bunny that we rescued from the streets about a year ago.  When we rescued her last time, it took us a week to find her owners.  Turned out that she lived down the street.  So she went home to her owners.

This week her family moved to Canada so they were looking for a new home for her.  Since we were so good to her when we rescued her, they asked if we wanted to take her.  I said we would take her if there was no one else who they could find....

So she showed up yesterday afternoon.  Her name is Paul Anka....don't know the whole story....but we call her "Bunny Bunny".

She is a sweet bunny with a bad hairdo and a mustache!  She is also old - about 7.  And my research says that the lifespan is 8 to 12 years.

Daisy is so good - you tell her to "leave it" and she does.  Murray noses her with his giant nose and Ahi wants to chase her!  The bunny is running around the backyard and Murray and Ahi keep running back and forth from door to door to watch her.  The excitement is almost unbearable!

Happy Birthday

I have a big birthday coming up....the BIG 45!  And I want a roomba for my birthday.  You know those remote vacuums that turn themselves on and vacuum the house?  I REALLY want one!

Yipee

I was playing "words with friends" yesterday and played the word:

YIPEE

And was totally disturbed when the game said it was not a word.  I immediately thought...."this is what is wrong with the world....the word yipee is not a word!"   I was thinking....how could it not be a word....if it were a word, we would live in a better world....how do we go about getting it recognized as a word?!?!?!

After I calmed down and looked back at the game, I realized I misspelled it --- YIPPEE is, in fact, a word!

So carry on....the world is A-OK!  I was just short a "P".

YIKES!

Our friends who live in Cabo had this in their yard this morning!  HOLY CRAP!

They killed it with a shovel and no one (except the snake) was harmed!  If I were there, I would have wet my pants!

Cow Bells

I am very excited - I got THREE purple cow bells at our "free is good fair" at work.  The "free is good fair" is just what it sounds like:  people bring in things they no longer want and other people can take it if they are interested.

I brought in a kids rolling suitcase and a bunch of kids books.  There were all kinds of things:  electronics, clothes, kids stuff, appliances, etc.  There was a big crowd of people hauling away all kinds of treasures.

I didn't get to go when it first started because I was in a meeting, so my coworker actually picked me up the cow bells.

Survivor Mud Run - April 2012

 BEFORE

AFTER

FAMILY PHOTO

On Saturday, we did the Survivor Mud Run in Lathrop:  http://www.survivormudrun.com/locations/locations_nor_cal.htm.  We are lucky to have a bunch of crazy friends who can be talked into doing just about anything.  We also have friend who is a professional photographer who took 1600 pics of the event - so you should be seeing more shortly.

The run was super fun, very well organized and super festive.  But it was HOT!  Luckily we had a 9 am start time, so we were finished by about 9:45 am.  There were 4 mud pits, 1 long mud trough, monkey bars, a balance beam, cargo nets and flights of stairs.....all interspersed in 3.5 miles!  It took us around 45 minutes to finish but we were not pushing super hard - it is not as competitive as it is fun!  The winners finished in about 24 minutes!

Soccer Update

Grace's soccer team is playing in two leagues this season and so far have won all their games except one.  And that one they tied!  They are playing a lot of soccer and playing very well.  It is good as it will get them ready for Regionals in June.

We had a rummage sale last weekend to raise money for Regionals and made almost $2000!  It was a long day but worth it for what we made.

Sunday Dinner

We had a yummy dinner tonite:  mushroom ravioli, asparagus with browned butter/balsamic sauce, salmon with mustard dill sauce and artichokes.  And I had tofu with my dinner.  YUM!

Spectacles

I got some new "old lady" glasses today. They are my first pair of gradual glasses, which means they can be used for reading and distance. They are super cute but a total trip to get used to....I feel like I am in a fishbowl while wearing them and that causes my eyes to get super fatigued.

Salmon April 2012

It is an amazing salmon season!  Jim went out today and caught 18 pound salmon!  The freezer is filling up! 

Beady Little Eyes

Today I was working at the kitchen counter and I turn around to see that I am being watched by "Frick" and "Frack", partners in crime! GOOFBALLS!

Blind

Thought you would all get a chuckle of a pic of the blind that 3 Day Blinds sent us. It is 19 inches too short!

Like a Tree

Took Grace to the doctor yesterday and her new official height is 5 foot 7 1/2 inches at age 12 years and 7 months old. And that puts her over the 97 percentile for height. Which, of course, means she is taller than more than 97 percent of the girls her age.

Tall like a tree!

Window Covering

One of our window blinds had a broken string so I sent it back to 3 Day Blinds for re-stringing. I have done that once before and it is a very cost effective fix - about $45 for a 5 foot blind. And since this was one of 6 matching blinds, it was a better option than replacing all the blinds.

At least that is what I thought until I received the re-strung blind back in the mail and it was NOT our blind! It is about 1.5 feet too short - they sent us the wrong blind!

Now what?????

Handbag - part 2

That last handbag that I posted was NOT acceptable. I got it in the mail and the quality was not what I would expect from an expensive named brand foo foo handbag. So I sent it back to Neiman Marcus and designed my own new handbag.

Here it is. What do you think? Cute, huh?

It will take 3 to 4 weeks to get it because they have to make it.

Hook Me Up

I got a text with this pic yesterday from Drew saying: "Grandpa hooked me up!"

Grandpa Tom brought Drew some clubs so they could golf together. Now we have to buy some golf shoes! But in the meantime, he is swinging the club in the family room and the backyard.

Salmon Season 2012

Jim and Drew went out today and caught 6 nice fish! They are happy because they had a successful day. I am happy because my freezer will be filled with fish!

The last handfull of years have been sparse for salmon but this year has started off with a bang!

Beast on a Bike

Drew went to a buddies house yesterday and rode dirt bikes all day. He LOVED it!

Book Reviews

I am reading two books at once right now and they could NOT be more different.

The first one is called: Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James

This is the book description from Amazon: "When literature student Anastasia Steele goes to interview young entrepreneur Christian Grey, she encounters a man who is beautiful, brilliant, and intimidating. The unworldly, innocent Ana is startled to realize she wants this man and, despite his enigmatic reserve, finds she is desperate to get close to him. Unable to resist Ana’s quiet beauty, wit, and independent spirit, Grey admits he wants her, too—but on his own terms.

Shocked yet thrilled by Grey’s singular erotic tastes, Ana hesitates. For all the trappings of success—his multinational businesses, his vast wealth, his loving family—Grey is a man tormented by demons and consumed by the need to control. When the couple embarks on a daring, passionately physical affair, Ana discovers Christian Grey’s secrets and explores her own dark desires.

Erotic, amusing, and deeply moving, the Fifty Shades Trilogy is a tale that will obsess you, possess you, and stay with you forever."

I wanted to read this book because it was the hot talk in the "mom circles". Mom's across the US are talking about this in book clubs and on the sidelines of the soccer fields, so I had to see what it was about. I had heard it described as "mommy porn" because it was a little racy.

A "little racy" is an understatement - it is disturbing drivel! The main characters are involved in a totally warped relationship. I decided this morning that I am giving up on the book and not reading anymore. I have a friend who is reading it too and she is equally disturbed by the relationship and absurdity of the book. She did something that I think was very wise --- she skipped and read the last chapter!

The second book I am reading is: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot.

This is the book description from Amazon: "Her name was Henrietta Lacks, but scientists know her as HeLa. She was a poor Southern tobacco farmer who worked the same land as her slave ancestors, yet her cells—taken without her knowledge—became one of the most important tools in medicine. The first “immortal” human cells grown in culture, they are still alive today, though she has been dead for more than sixty years. If you could pile all HeLa cells ever grown onto a scale, they’d weigh more than 50 million metric tons—as much as a hundred Empire State Buildings. HeLa cells were vital for developing the polio vaccine; uncovered secrets of cancer, viruses, and the atom bomb’s effects; helped lead to important advances like in vitro fertilization, cloning, and gene mapping; and have been bought and sold by the billions.

Yet Henrietta Lacks remains virtually unknown, buried in an unmarked grave.

Now Rebecca Skloot takes us on an extraordinary journey, from the “colored” ward of Johns Hopkins Hospital in the 1950s to stark white laboratories with freezers full of HeLa cells; from Henrietta’s small, dying hometown of Clover, Virginia—a land of wooden slave quarters, faith healings, and voodoo—to East Baltimore today, where her children and grandchildren live and struggle with the legacy of her cells."

This book is totally worth the investment of time! It is fascinating to learn about this woman, the time frame in which she lived and the advancements in science that are directly credited to her cells.

Based on my book choices of late, I am starting to think of myself as quite an intellectual!

Show More

Show Less

Changes at Work

Last week was a rough week. We had lay offs at work and a coworker that I have worked very closely with for 12 years was affected. We have worked as a high performing team and developed some super cool stuff.

I was surprised that it affected me so much as it did as I am pretty level headed and logical in my approach to things. But we have spent a lot of time together over the last 12 years, which included:

* The birth of her second child who is now 9
* The death of loved ones
* The death of beloved pets
* Serious illnesses
* Accomplishments of our kids
* Movement from one company to another

As Jim so wisely put it, "you guys put a lot of miles in together."

I wish could say something really wise about the situation but right now I am still too upset at the change to think there is anything good about it.

Daisy Babushka

This weekend I put a scarf on Daisy's head and she just went about her day with it on. One of the kids finally took it off of her declaring that it looked ridiculous!

Easter 2012

The kids and I went mountain biking on Easter while Jim fished for opening salmon weekend.

Ry's bday

Ry's bday was a huge success! We went with 120 wings and we had some left over.

Chicken Wings

This week's TNDC is Oryann's bday edition. Oryann, also known as Ry, is one of Gracie's best friends and LOVES TNDC....who doesn't? So they have been planning the menu for her birthday TNDC for weeks. We plan to have spaghetti, meatballs, bread and salad.

But the girls want to have chicken wings too because they love them. Yesterday in the car, the were having a conversation about how many chicken wings we need and this is how it went down:

Ry: I have been thinking about how many chicken wings we need.

Grace: I love chicken wings.

Ry: I love them too.

Ry: Drew......Mikey......they eat A LOT (those are the big brothers)!

Grace: They come in buckets of 25 and 50 at Wingstop.

Ry: I think we need 150.

Me: There will only be 18 of us and I don't eat them.

Ry: But Drew will eat yours.

Grace: Yea, at least 100.

Me: We are having spaghetti and meatballs too.

Ry: Yea, I think we need 150.

So then I told Ry's mom about this conversation and she filled me in on her follow up conversation with Ry:

Ry: Mom, when are you going to get the food because we need like 150 wings. Chris says there is 18 people coming. And Drew needs loompa but not just his own some for everyone else, so like 40. (Note - loompa is actually lumpia, which are egg rolls but Drew can never remember what they are called and renamed them loompa.)

Ry's mom: Really..150 wings and 40 loompas? Wow, that’s a lot.

Ry: Yea but we all eat a lot and this food is GOOD. (note the emphasis on GOOD and the implication that the other food is NOT as good and therefore not as much is consumed)

Ry's mom: Gross. Ok. Whatever you say its your bday (in her head she was saying there is not a chance in hell I am getting 150 wings and 40 loompa!)

I LOVE these girls! Most pre-teen girls are thinking about boys, music, clothes, the mall.... Ours are thinking about chicken wings....and lots of them!

Tea time

Here is my new electric teapot. It reminds me of when we stayed in the barn in England. They had one - but it was circa 1970!