Rescue 911, Part 4

Actually I am not sure which part number this should be....I have lost track of how many rescues we have taken part in. But today was a record day, we did 2 separate rescues!

The first occurred on the way to Yosemite at about 11 am and was by far the most severe....we turned a corner on an icy highway to see a car that had just rolled over and gone off the road. We pulled over, got out our emergency kit and ran back to the scene. I took a look at the people involved in the crash while Jim went out to light flares. While standing there a couple more cars almost spun out.

Two people were in the car, that was now laying on its roof, with the windows smashed out. Both had gotten out of the car. It was a Dad and his teenage daughter. The man was bleeding from a cut on his hand and his head. The girl had one cut on the bridge of the nose that was not bleeding, however by the time we left the scene, her whole eye area was swollen and black and blue. I helped that man with supplies to stop the bleeding on his hand and advised them to move off the side of road for fear that another car would slide out into us.

No one could get any cell service to call for help so a passing car drove to the Yosemite entrance gate (about 4 miles away) and sent two rangers back. Once the rangers showed up, we moved on our way. We left with hopes that the two in the car accident would agree to receiving medical care because while we were there they were not interested in an ambulance, but they were in shock and not thinking clearly.

Then at the end of the day, when we were sledding, a young man approached us and asked if we could notify the ranger station on our way out that they were stranded. Apparently the man's young son put the end of a pen in the ignition of the car and broke it off. This left them unable to start the car!

So we went to the gas station in the area and had them call the ranger and advise them of the situation. We went back and told the man (and his young family) that the rangers were on the way. We checked that they had some food, water and enough warm clothing and headed home --hoping we weren't going to happen along someone else in need of assistance.

All in a days adventure!

Sick Girl

"Remarkable.....Compelling....A searing insight into the battle to stay alive." - TED KOPPEL

I started reading the book, "Sick Girl" last nite and less than 24 hours later I am almost done with it....it is that compelling of a read.

The book tells the story of a 24 year old woman who gets cardiomyopathy ( a really sick heart) and undergoes a heart transplant at 25. While on the transplant waiting list (which lasts for 2 months), she gets engaged. One year, to the date, after the transplant she gets married. She later graduates from law school, adopts a son and goes 17 years living with the battle of surviving a heart transplant.

The battle is what the book is all about. Most folks think that when you get a heart transplant, you are magically cured. This book tells a whole different story. What you have is a new type of illness. One that comes with nasty medication, fear of illness and uncomfortable and life threatening medical procedures. All wrapped around the greatest fear of death.

The book is hitting close to home -- as you all know -- my dad had a transplant 10 1/2 years ago and much like the author of the book, has lived a remarkably healthy and long life since. But the message to me is what looks to the outside to be a gift and a really lucky guy is also a guy who struggles everyday with the medication, the fears, the limitations and the waiting for bad news from doctors.

I as a daughter, distance myself from that part of the experience, more and more as the years pass. I take for granted that Dad is cured - but it is really much more complex than that.

This book is a compelling read even if you are not close to a heart transplant survivor. I encourage you to find a quiet spot and read it. It will expand your heart and your mind.

"Sick Girl" by Amy Silverstein

The Crab Vessel

Jim went crabbing today and a buddy took a pic of his boat as he went by.

Dinner for 40

I did a little research and discovered that $50 donated to the food bank feeds 40 people a big xmas dinner, including ham, potatoes, carrots, green beans, rolls and fruit. Gracie and I are feeling pretty good at the thought that 40 people are going to have a yummy dinner on xmas nite because of the money we donated!

So, if you haven't donated yet, now is the time. This is the best part of xmas - giving to those in need.

SMILE!

My nephew, Jackson, with a serious case of bedhead and orange teeth!

Gingerbread houses

Today was a cousin day! We got together this morning and made gingerbread houses. Here are the final products - Drew and Sam worked as a team and Gracie and Jack worked as a team. They turned out great! We had enough candy left over for a whole subdivision of gingerbread houses.

After the gingerbread houses we went to see Alvin and the Chipmunks, which was cute.

Giving back

The other nite I was opening the mail and made a comment that I had not yet given any money to the second harvest food bank for xmas. Gracie heard me and and said she wanted to give some money to the food bank too. She talked about wanting to give meals to hungry people. So she went off to find her money stash and brought me $4! She said that would feed 4 people a good meal!

So I made my donation of $50 and added her $4 for a grand total donations of $54 - which I hope fills 54 bellys with a good meal.

12 Years Old

This is Drew blowing out the candles on his 12 birthday. Handsome, isn't he? He is wearing his new Oregon State sweatshirt. He also received a Vans clothes, rip stick, SIMS game for Wii, a lego harbor and tech decks. He was a happy kid!

Family Giving Tree

We have a tradition with friends to volunteer wrapping xmas presents at the Family Giving Tree. This year there were 30 of us and we went down this weekend for a 2 hour shift. We had a new task this year -- checking the gifts against a recall list. Each gift coming into the warehouse had to be checked to ensure that it had not been recalled. It was not the most glamorous of jobs, but it had to be done. So we spent 1 1/2 hours pounding thru a huge pile of gifts. Once we oked them the children ran them to the appropriate area in the warehouse. In the hundreds and hundreds of gifts we checked, we only found one recall. That's Jim with the Sharks santa hat with the suspect item -- it was a boys jacket from Old Navy. And you would have guessed he found the Golden Ticket! We were all so excited to actually find a recalled item!

I have to say, this event is my favorite part of the holiday season.

At the tank

Here are pics from the Shark Tank game a couple weeks ago. Drew's team won 4 to 5. As always it was a big thrill to watch them play at the tank. Thanks to all our friends and family who came out to cheer him on. We are truly blessed! Drew is the one that has the 7 on his back - he is actually #17.

A turning point

Jim was on the phone to the doctor tonite trying to get antibiotics for his very obvious sinus infection. Drew called me into the family room while Jim was on the phone and asked if you could die from a sinus infection.

He has been very concerned about both his parents dieing recently. He was worried I was going to die while in surgery. He even told me before hand that he was really nervous that I would die.

Tonite, I took the opportunity to sit down and talk about his feelings and about how he seems to really worry about one of his parents dieing lately. He admitted that he does worry. I asked him if it was because one of his classmates father died about a month ago very suddenly. And he had a team mate last year who lost a dad very suddenly. And our neighbor just died. He said it wasn't because of that but he didn't know why he worried.

His next words were, "can you die from a cough", which is Jim's other main sympton.

I am realistic when I respond and say that you could die from a cough or sinus infection if you had other issues, such as a supressed immune system but that a healthy young man like his dad would not.

The whole conversation makes me sad. Sad that his young, innocent life is quickly moving behind him. Each day he moves closer to adulthood is a day with new stresses and real life worries. Soon to be gone is the carefree, naive, wonderment that only exists in childhood.

It is timely that this conversation occurred 3 days before his 12th birthday, a birthday that should be significant for him but is also turning out to be quite significant to his mother. It is the first time that it really hit me that my little boy is really growing up and soon will be a man! WOW! What a "rock your world" type of feeling that is. My baby boy is really growing up.

And, I really like who he is becoming as he grows and matures. I cross my fingers that he keeps on the path that he is on because he is really poised to grow into remarkable man.

Happy 12th Birthday Drew -- I love you!

brrr.....

My kids are nuts. Yesterday I took them to school and they wore shorts and short sleeved shirts.....it was 38 degrees!

Today Drew came to his senses and wore a sweatshirt - maybe because it was 35 degrees. But he was still in shorts!

The other parents must think we are abusive.

Adding insult to injury

So it was not bad enough that I was down and out for 5 days recovering from shoulder surgery. On the 6th day, I came down with a nasty virus that made me feel like I had been run over by a truck. Fever, aches, chills, cold symptoms, etc. So now I have been down and out for over a week.

My shoulder is doing really well. Pain is minimal and I am getting some good range of motion.

Lucy

I think Lucy was happy when she stayed with us last weekend! There was no shortage of loving!

Recovery

Here is what I look like 2 days post-op. Doesn't look too bad! I am staying on the pain meds as prescribed. I don't want to let the pain get away from me. I am starting to move my arm a little bit. I swear that every hour it is getting better. Jim is an awesome nurse. But I wouldn't call him something sweet and kind like "Nurse Kitty" -- I would call him "Nurse Helga"! He shoots out orders! Actually the first nite I got really sick from the anesthesia and he slept on the floor in the family room so he could be close to me! He is a keeper!

update

surgery went well. no tears or repairs needed. just cleaned it out and shaved the bone. taking pain med and sleeping most of the time. jim is a great nurse and taking great care of me. kids are being really helpful too. dog knows something is wrong and stays close by.

On a leave of absence

I will be on a short leave of absence from my blog beginning tomorrow while I recover from surgery. Well wishes and positive thoughts are appreciated while I am recovering!

An odd allergy

Here is a funny story from my girlfriend Angie. It is about her daughter Peyton, who is in kindergarten. Here are the main players:

Peyton - 5 years old
Taylor - her friend, who is also five years old and coming to Peyton's house for a play date
Wilton - Peyton's 10 year old yellow lab

So last week Peyton told her teacher that Taylor was going to come to her house for a playdate but added that there is some concern because Taylor is allergic to Wilton's penis!

Remember, this is a 5 year old telling the story.

The real story is that Taylor is allergic to Wilton - a dog and PEANUTS! Not penis!

win pic

Here is a pic from the win (2nd place) this weekend.

I forgot to report that I got hit in the face with a ball at one of the soccer games this weekend. Right on the nose! OUCH!

Soccer tournament update

Drew's team came in second place in the tournament this weekend. They won all games but the last one. Drew played well - got a goal in each game except the last one - it was a shut out. All the kids were happy and went to celebrate afterwards at a pizza place!

Are all beagles alike?

This is my friend Jenn's dogs - a beagle and a yellow lab. Similar to Chad and Daisy Mae. And it is like a deja vu of Chad in Daisy's bed and Daisy being left to sleep in Chad's bed. Jenn's mom bought them each their new beds. The big striped one is for the lab.....the beagle had different ideas.

Skyhawks!

This is a great team pic from Drew's soccer team. It is from a game a few weeks ago but I liked the way they were going in for a cheer.

He has a soccer tournament this weekend so stay tuned for scores.

Also, for anyone interested, he plays hockey at the "tank" coming up. That is great fun to watch. If you are interested, let me know - it is free!

pre-op appt

I had my pre op appt yesterday and I am all set for shoulder surgery next Tuesday. Wish me luck!

alert!

So when I run really early in the morning, I try to be extra alert because it is DARK and SCARY! So I am on the look out for bad guys, cars rushing to work, coyotes, etc.

This morning, for the first time, I encountered something that actually stopped me in my tracks and made me leap backwards.

I know what you are thinking.... mountain lion, hooded bad guy, vicious pitbull..... NOPE!

It was a shoelace! But in the dark of morning, it looked like a snake and I was about to step right on it! My ever alert brain notified my body of potential imminent danger and I put on my brakes and leaped away. But the part of my brain that makes me react in an instant was ridiculed by the part of my brain that is logical... once I focused and realized it was a big bad shoelace!

At least I know I am ready for ANYTHING!

What a morning

Whoa!

This morning I was out front watering the flowers and I heard the great danes (there are 4 of them) across the street barking a weird bark. Only one of them is a barker but she usually only does a warning bark at a squirrel or some one walking by. But this was not her and the barks sounded weird - sort of like a fighting bark and an old dog bark and a worried bark.

So I run across the street and look over the fence. I can see two of the of the dogs and they are running around looking worried. The fighting barks sound like they are coming out of the house or the garage. I am yelling the dogs names to try to get them to stop the barking but no response.

So I run back home and call the owner, Butch, at work and tell him what is going on. Then I take my cell phone with me across the street so he can hear the barking. I was thinking that he would be able to tell if it was bad or not.

When I get back to his house, his next door neighbor, Stacy is hanging over her side of the fence and reporting that two of the dogs are "chewing on each other". I go running into her back yard and tell her to get the hose out and squirt them from her side of the fence. Then I start throwing stuff at the dogs (a bbq brush!). One had another one by the ear and was just pulling on it and then he had the other one on its back.

While Stacy squirts them, I run to another neighbors house to get a key to Butch's house. My plan is to go into the house and let one of the males into the house to separate them. Maybe....depending on how they were acting. Or I was going to send the neighbor with the key in! That neighbor was not home so I went running back.

At this point they had stopped "chewing on each other" and Butch was on his way home. I listened for the fighting until he got home. He said when he got home they were going at it again and he had to go out and kick them to break them up!

He immediately took the older dog to the vet. He was dripping with blood and had some major gashes and a chewed up ear.

He came home from the vet and cleaned up (there was a lot of blood) and then took the other one to the vet - he had puncture wounds.

This is my neighbor whose wife just died. I feel so bad for him.

The problem is that these are two males who have not been neutered and every once in a while, their pea sized dog brain thinks they are wild animals who have to compete for the love of the girlie dogs. They momentarily forget that they are pampered house dogs.

Butch has been looking for a home for the younger male so that he wouldn't have this problem but has not yet found one. When Judi was alive, she was with the dogs all day and kept them separated. But it is harder now with Butch having to go to work and no one being home.

After my dog rescue, I had to run back home and get on a conference call.....all in a days work!

Jolly Green Giant(s)

That time has finally arrived.... Drew is officially as tall as me! He is 5 feet 4 1/2 inches and is 3 weeks shy of being 12 years old. My little baby boy! I can remember when he was born and he weighed 6 pounds , 9 ounces and was 21 1/2 inches long!

In the last 12 months, he has grown 2 inches and Gracie has grown 2 and 1/2 inches. No wonder they eat so much!

It is clear that they have their Dad's body types. No squatty bodies for them!

Grandpa Pete

My 94 year old Grandpa is in the hospital with pneumonia and an infection in his finger.

Apparently the two issues are not related.

He had cut his finger working in the garden months ago and it had been treated repeatedly but just would not heal. So it had become really infected. They cultured it in the hospital and have switched antibiotics. But they have him in isolation because of the the fear of it being an antibiotic resistant staph infection.

He also had a cold and a cough and was really lethargic so that is what got him to the hospital. Grandma Pat called my Aunt Maureen and they took him to the ER. He was diagnosed with "just a touch of pneumonia". They have him on oxygen, iv fluids and iv antibiotics and he seems to be doing better each day. I just talked to him and he sounds strong. And his wife, Grandma Pat, seems to have everything under control.

Hopefully he will be released tomorrow and will be well enough to take a bus trip to the Indian Casinos really soon!

At the cabin

We had a great weekend at the cabin. We did some fishing, hiking, taking walks, playing games and resting. I taught Gracie how to play Scrabble. She is in this picture playing with Grandma Kathy and Tina. The rest of us at the table were playing spoons, the ridiculous game with no strategy or skill -- just plain old violence!

We kicked off the xmas season by going to see the Christmas parade in a local small town!

Thanksgiving Fort

If If am ever stuck out in the woods without shelter, I will have Drew build me something to live in and I will be safe from inclement weather and wildlife. Check out the fort he and Gracie built up at the cabin this weekend. The dog loved it as she ran around fetching sticks and chewing them up!

Thanksgiving in California

I wish I had pics so you could see what we were doing today in California the day after Thanksgiving....We were out in the boat fishing and Gracie was in a bikini! It was a warm sunny day. Not warm enough for a bathing suit for me but Gracie thought it was and kept wanting to jump in to swim.

Of course Daisy Mae did some swimming and came home, curled up and snored! A great dog life.

Speaking of Daisy Mae, I am considering a side business -- renting out my dog to hunters who want a dog to fetch their ducks. In the last month, I have had multiple requests for her to go out with them. The thing is, she would happily fetch ducks if I was there but without me there, she would be a nervous wreck! And there is NO WAY I am going duck hunting. So I guess I need a different side business.

Crab for Thanksgiving

Jim and Drew went out crabbing yesterday so that we would have fresh crab for Thanksgiving. This is a pic of them cleaning the crabs. And that is Betty eating fresh crab gills! NASTY! Raw crab gills - she LOVES them.

Thanksgiving Table

Gracie helped me set the Thanksgiving table. We are having Jim's folks, my folks and a friend of Anna's. We are in charge of pies, potatoes, appetizers and drinks. I have some yummy appetizers planned:

• asiago cheese dip (warm) served with french bread
• avocado and yogurt dip with cumin served with pita chips, carrots and jicama
• mushrooms stuffed with panko bread crumbs and a garlic paste made from two heads of garlic and whipping cream

Jim is doing pumpkin pie and apple/cranberry pie! I am waiting all day for the apple cranberry pie!

I really wanted to do a local run this morning called the "Turkey Trot". It is a 5k run and all the money goes to local charities. I wanted our whole family to do it. But we could not get it together to register, Jim had no running shoes and Drew wanted to sleep in today....so Daisy and I went on our own 5k Turkey Trot thru the neighborhood. I thought it was appropriate that I heard the wild turkeys gobbling in the hills!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Twas the night of Thanksgiving, and I just couldn't sleep
so I tried counting backwards, I tried counting sheep.

The leftovers beckoned--the dark meat and white
but I fought the temptation with all of my might.

Tossing and turning with great anticipation,
the thought of a snack became a huge infatuation.

So, I raced to the kitchen, flung open the door
and gazed at the fridge, filled with goodies galore'.

I gobbled up turkey and buttered potatoes,
then pickles and carrots, and beans and tomatoes.

I felt myself swelling so plump and so round,
'till all of a sudden, I rose off the ground.

I crashed through the ceiling, and floated into the sky
with a mouthful of pudding and a handful of pie.

But I managed to yell as I soared past the trees.
Happy eating to all--pass the cranberries, please.

May your stuffing be tasty, may your turkey be plump
May your potatoes 'n gravy have nary a lump.

May your yams be delicious, may our pies take the prize
May your Thanksgiving dinner stay off of your thighs.

Taco Salad Dressing

This is a new recipe we just tried for taco salad dressing and it was really yummy!

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
2 cloves garlic, minced
¼ teaspoon ground cumin
Salt and pepper to taste

Is it snowing???

My brother's family spent the weekend at the cabin with some friends. Sam thought it was snowing this morning.....but it turned out to be toilet paper coming out of the septic tank!!!! Time to call the turdinator - we have a septic emergency!!!!

Chubby

The dog seems to be losing weight on the new routine of no snackies! However, she is also starving all the time! Jim broke down and gave her part of his left over lunch today! BUSTED! You can see where the weakest link is!

Spring Break

We have decided to go to Washington DC for spring break. We will stay with Jim's Aunt and Uncle and do the whole Washington DC tourist routine. We are all really excited about it.

We decided to fly out one day early and stay a night in Baltimore MD to check out the harbor.

Should be fun!

Soccer Update

Gracie's last game of the season was yesterday and they won! She is going to play basketball for the winter season so it will be another year before she plays anymore soccer.

Drew's team had their end of the season tournament and won the whole thing! They had two shut outs out of 4 games! They really played great and better than that, they totally bonded as a team.

Drew's coach has decided to coach competitive soccer, so Drew and many of the other boys will stay with him. We are thrilled because this coach and his two assistant coaches are outstanding! They are three young men who coach because they had some bad experiences with bad coaches growing up and they want to prevent that from happening to other kids. They are in their mid 20's and work fulltime in high tech. The coach's mom teaches elementary school at a local school - she is known for her positive attitude in the classroom and she passed that on to her son. They are amazing role models for the boys and are so enthusiastic. The boys are truly thriving under their leadership! We could not be happier.

Book Review

I just finished the book A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini. It is a story about two women living in Afghanastan in the last 30 years. And I use the word "living" loosely. It is certainly no where close to the term we mean when we say "living". These women struggled every day of their lives. They struggled with things we know nothing about: domestic violence, suppression of women and girls and lack of the basics (food, running water, medical care).

It is a quick read and well worth the time investment.

It seems timely that I read it right before Thanksgiving so that I can give extra thought to how much I am thankful for....

Busy Week

My fans are getting restless and calling me to tell me I am not blogging! I KNOW I am not blogging....I am too busy this week to do anything fun!

My two buddies from my former employer started working with me at my new employer this week! So I have been busy trying to bring them up to speed while also trying to keep up with work.

And in addition, in the "I can't believe they pay me for this" chapter, I have more content to add....

This was the week of our global legal retreat for 216 legal employees from around the world. It was suppose to be held at a hotel on the coast starting on Thursday morning at 9 am. On Wednesday at noon the hotel called us and told us that the hotel had an ecoli outbreak (also known as 80 of the guests had vomiting and the runs!). We put the brakes on the retreat and frantically tried to find another location. On Weds at 4 pm we found a local hotel that could accomodate a crowd that big and by 9 am the next morning we were all there eating breakfast.

Then later in the day, we had buses pick us up and take us to a local park for an Olympic Team Building event, which was a hoot! We had about 10 people on each team and competed in 6 different events:

• jigsaw puzzle building
• matching flags of 30 countries to the correct country
• amoeba race
• building a pipe and moving water thru it to fill up a bucket
• chaos - a volleyball game with three teams and three balls at the same time
• a race moving people across a field while not touch grass and using 2 foam mats and a log to stand on

Our team did either very well or very poorly in each event. We won two medals: one for the amoeba race and one for the field race. However, we never could complete the puzzle - we had two pieces left and couldn't figure out where they went!!!! Bunch of morons with advanced degrees!

Later that nite we did line dancing! There must have been 75 people out on the dance floor being taught different line dances by an older cowgirl with a bad outfit and bad hair!

It was all great fun and again I had to ask myself....they pay me to work here?

Marty Monkey

This is Gracie's new stuffed monkey appropriately named "Marty". This morning before she left for school, I got a full briefing on what I needed to do to care for her monkey while she was gone. And I was specifically told that if she came home and he was in the same place she left him in the morning, that I would be in BIG trouble.

So to ensure I did not get in trouble, again today, (read vet post below) I took pics of Marty's antics during the day.

Doing the Right Thing

I try so hard to do the right thing all the time. Whether it is with my kids, my job, strangers, etc. It is just the compass that I use to live my life...

I even try to do it with my dog! Remember how I made her dog food during the dog food recall? And remember how I get up at the crack of dawn just about everyday to take her out running? Well......I am not doing a good enough job with my dog and I am mortified!

I took her to the vet this morning to get a check up and get shots. What I got was a 5 minute lecture about how fat my dog is!!!! She weighs 80 pound and the vet wants her at about 75. She obviously gets enough exercise with all the running, walking and swimming she does. The problem is that she is taking in too many calories. I can even name the calories:

• 2 batches of banana muffins she ate off the counter, in one week
• a sandwich she ate off the counter
• leftovers from dinner
• leftovers from breakfast
• dog biscuits while playing hide and seek

So......we are turning over a new leaf! No more snackies for the dog! She is going to get weight reduction dog food.

And next time, Jim is taking her to the vet!

Surgery Date

Just in case you have not heard, I am going under the knife on Dec 4! It will be arthroscopic surgery on my shoulder to try to eliminate the pain I have been feeling for FIVE years! They are going to shave the bottom of the bone and remove the bursa. They will also look for tears and clean up the calsification. Healing will take 3 months but then I should be as good as new. The weird thing is that I have been living with this so long that I don't know what "new" will feel like.

In the meantime, I have been doing physical therapy in an effort to be as prepared as possible for the rehab. Doing the physical therapy leaves me in constant pain. I am hoping the pain will be less and less after the surgery.

Wish me luck!

It has been a long time....

since I have had an early morning, gym fashion disaster....but I guess it is time.

This morning I went to the gym, did the whole workout thing ( 6 miles on the precor :-)). And when I went to get ready for the day, I had one catastrophe after another:

• I am wearing black cords that are too tight and feel like they are strangling me!
• I have a black tshirt on that looks too big and like I got into a fight with a giant deodorant while putting it on.
• I went to put on my denim jacket to hide the tight pants and the deodorant covered/ too big shirt and found that the dog must have been using my jacket as a pillow for the last week - I now had yellow dog hair all over my black clothes!
• After blow drying my hair, it looked like straw in the Sahara Desert.

So, if you see me today, it would not be a good day to comment on my appearance.....I am feeling a little out of sorts!

Morning Run

This morning while we were out, we saw FOUR coyotes! They were in a field against the foothills about a 1/4 mile from the house. It is an area I had been avoiding before the time changed because it was so dark. But since the time changed, I went back to that route today. Now I know I was avoiding it for good cause.

They were about 60 feet from me and showed no fear. It looked like they were eating something. Freaky!

New Furniture, Part 2

I have continued to gather furniture for the family room. Latest in my quest was the coffee table and console table. Drew and I put the coffee table together this morning and quickly found that we had to rearrange the room if we were going to be able to use the coffee table. So this is the result. That trunk under the window is going back. It is not well made and doesn't fit into the room the way we have it set up now.

I am still waiting for an ottoman for the red chair and a drapery rod for the window.

Halloween Chicken

How funny is this! Makes me realize that there are crazier people than me out there!

Science Camp

Drew was a "chatty cathy" telling us about science camp last nite.

He really had a great time. His favorite part was the nite hike. He said the food was pretty good: they had tacos, pizza, chicken, spaghetti and corn dogs - total kid food.

He barely felt the earthquake - he said he was inside the dining room in a chair and it just rolled a little bit.

He came home really tired as they were busy from 6:50 am to 9:30 pm everyday.

I think it was a great grown experience for him - he actually said he missed all of us!

Science Camp Update

Drew has had the best science camps of all time:

Monday - Thunder & Lightening
Tuesday - Earthquake
Wednesday - A classmate broke her arm (which has never happened in the history of science camp at this school)
Thursday - ??? we haven't heard of any drama yet

He comes home today at noon, so I am sure we will get a complete run down! Stay tuned!

They pay me for this?

Today they had a parade for employee's kids at work. Each kid got their own canvas goodie bag and a free lunch ticket. There were balloons, a jump house and entertainment! Really a nice event!

Happy Halloween

Here is the project that Jim and Gracie worked on tonite!

New furniture

Here are some pics of the new furniture taken 35 minutes after the big earthquake! You can see that the top pic above the red chair is a little bit askew - it was NOT like that before the quake!

Holy Shaking Batman!

We had an earthquake at 8:04 tonite and it was BIG! It was a 5.6 (so far) but felt bigger!

Gracie and I were in the entry way so we were out the door in about 1/2 a second. Jim was in the office and came out after the shaking stopped. Gracie was attached to me crying. The dog was attached to the other side of me whining and shaking.

We had some books and a statue fall off a shelf.

Scary!

Science Camp update

Jim just called and he is working in the next town over from the town that the science camp is in and is thundering and lightning! Which is quite unusual for our area. We get that kind of weather once or twice a year at the most! VERY exciting development for science camp!

New furniture

I went on a spending spree over the weekend and bought new family room furniture:

• a couch
• 2 leather chairs
• a red chair
• a coffee table
• a console table
• an end table
• an ottoman
• a trunk

It is a whole new look and I really like it. But that was not what I thought over the weekend. I had buyer's remorse at first, which led to more buying to make sure I liked the look and that there were enough seats!

My favorite part is a red chair for me to use for reading. It is in the corner of the room and there is a cute little glass table next to it for me to put my tea cup on! Now I need to have Jim install a cone of silence so no one can bother me!

I will post pics once I can find the camera!

Soccer Scores

For those who care, here are the weekend soccer scores:

Gracie's Team
Won - 3 to zero - Gracie scored once then played goalie for the second half. She never touched the ball as the goalie!

Drew's Team
Tied - 1 to 1 - Drew scored the goal for his team. They played on a high school field which is bigger than they are used to. And the ref thought they were U14's (under 14) insted of U12's (under 12) so he had them play 35 minute halfs! They were beat!

Today is the Day

Drew left for science camp today.

He did his laundry and packed his bag yesterday like we had planned. Jim sat down with him last night for about 5 minutes going thru the list of things he would need and Drew confirmed he had it all. This morning he packed his lunch and off he went to school! So responsible!

We hung around the school for about 25 minutes waiting for the bus. Once the bus got there, they realized they had 81 seats for 84 students! Nice planning! Anyway, I got tired of waiting so I went home....

Within minutes, Gracie announced, "I miss Drew"! Whaaaat?!?!?! I thought she hated him!

I don't expect to have any news until he returns on Friday at noon.

Science Camp Part 2

One of the things we talked with Drew about regarding science camp is the whole "inappropriate touching" thing. My thought being that this is a situation where he will be with unknown adults without us around. Gracie was also involved in thr conversation.

We positioned it as sometimes people who like to be close to kids for inappropriate reasons get themselves jobs like camp counselors. We assured him that all the staff has gone thru background investigations so it was likely they were safe but added it never hurt to make sure they both new what to do if someone was acting inappropriately towards them.

We talked for a bit and then went on to discussing what they could do if approached. We talked about trusted adults that they could go to for any reason. I asked who were trusted adults in their lives and Drew's first response was.... Auntie Diana! Then came the rest of the adults important in his life....Uncle B, Tina, Marty, Auntie Deb, grandparents, etc.

I was tickled that he chose Auntie D first. It really sent a message to me. He sees her as someone he can trust, who will help him at all cost, who cares about him, who would protect him.... What more could we want from Auntie D! We really hit the jackpot when she joined the family!

I hope she is up for the big job of protector for her nephew who is bigger than she is!

Science Camp

I was out running this morning and realized that I have the perfect blog content....Drew is going away to Science Camp next week with his 6th grade class. He will be gone for 5 days and 4 nights.

I always thought I would be worried sick about sending him to science camp with people I don't know, but after the parents meeting last nite, I realized two things:

1. We have done a tremendous job of teaching Drew usable, worldly skills (pat myself on the back) which make him self sufficient and responsible
2. Other parents have not done such a good job with that...

Here is what I mean....

The parents and teachers talked about needing to pack the kids bags with this and that. Parents were talking about sending more than the recommended amount of clothing....just in case. They were talking about all the medications that they will send with their kids....cold medicine, advil, cortisone, cough medicine, etc.

At our house....Drew will pack his own bag. He will use the list that they give him indicating what to bring and modify based on his own preference (ie - they say to bring 5 pairs of pants and 1 pair of shorts....Drew doesn't even own 5 pairs of pants....until Sunday he owned none! So he will bring 5 pairs of shorts and 1 pair of pants.) He is not bringing a coat because he doesn't even wear one in the snow! He said he doesn't need any medications because if he gets a headache he will just tough it out. And if he gets really sick they will have to call us anyway. And if he gets really hurt the paramedics are only 5 minutes away.....which is about 3 hours faster than if he were hurt out at Cherry Lake!

Here are some of the parents crazy questions:

1. Are there bugs there?
2. If they have to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night, how will they know where to go?
3. What kind of animals are there? (Jim gave me an elbow when I said mountain lions....but there are!!!! I just thought these parents needed the truth....its not all Bambi and Thumper out there in the woods.)
4. One woman says..."my husband is having a really hard time with this, I don't think he will be able to sleep thru the nite...do you have any suggestions?" My answer: get the guy some anti anxiety medication and therapy so he will be ready when the kid goes off to college.
5. How dark are the cabins?

These people need to get out more.

Stay Tuned.....I am sure there will be more good stories to come.

Nerd Man

My friends often give us a hard time because we own at least 8 head lamps! But I always try to explain that we use them all the time. Here is Jim using his to bbq last nite!

My pets

This pic was taken tonite. Jim was bbqing and the dog went out with him. Then Jim came back in and she got stuck outside like a common dog...next to an uncommon chicken. They were both begging to come in.

Soccer Pics and Update

I had promised soccer pics from Gracie's tournament last weekend and here they are. This is what a winning team looks like. All the girls had blue hair and blue football type streaks under their eyes! They looked fierce!

This weekend, they lost their first game. Two to one. Gracie did not score. But her friend, Kayla, above in the pic with Gracie holding their medals, scored. It was really muddy and Gracie was covered in mud!

Drew's team won 3 to zero. Drew scored one goal and then proceeded to get really sick the rest of the weekend. He has been on the couch all day today sleeping on and off. Poor baby!

Chick Party

I had a Creative Memories (scrapbooking) Party last nite for my girlfriends who are into that type of thing (and even a few who not into it but like to get together to eat and drink). And we had a ball! The nite reinforced my belief that I have great friends. They are just a bunch of down to earth, friendly, kind, funny gals who I love being around.

There was one tense spot in the evening:

Susan showed up asked me to see my worm farm because she had strict orders from her family to check to see if I had a "viable worm farm". Oh boy! I was worried! And I mean it! She is the master of worm farms and hers makes mine look like a deserted ghost town. So with some trepidation, I brought her out to the yard and opened the lid.... I passed the test! Although mine is not as active as their "toiling heap of worms", it is still a respectable worm farm.

Nobel Prize Winner

So, I keep talking about how this is the perfect place to work for me (excluding the tattoos). Today was another example. They have an influential speaker series in which they invite smart, inspirational, visionary folks to come and talk to any employees who are intereted. Today they had the 2006 winner of the Nobel Peace prize!

How often do you get to see a Nobel winner speak in person to a small group? It was a big thrill!

The speaker was Dr Muhammad Yunus, a man who started a bank in Bangladesh for poor people, which changed the whole way banking worked. When you think of it, banks only loan money to people with money or collateral. The people who really need money are the people with no money or collateral. Those are the people who need a boost which will allow them to start a business and make enough money to live. That is the fundamental approach of Dr Yunus. And the loans he gives are micro loans. In fact, the first loan he gave was to 42 women and equaled $27 dollars, less than a dollar a person! And that was enough money in Bangladesh for these women to start businesses (such as chickens for egg prodcution) that support their families.

Truly an inspirational guy and a humbling experience. Check out his website and expand your horizons:

http://www.muhammadyunus.org/

Yep...I am in the right place

First it was the purple cow in the lobby, nows its Oktoberfest! Yesterday we came to work and found Oktoberfest mugs on our desks. Tomorrow from 3 to 3:30 is beer and "german inspired snacks" followed by an all hands meeting.

Life is good.

Tattoo update

I know there are a few of you who read my blog just to hear about the tattoos I see at work. I have been saving them up. Here are some of the most recent:

* Three tattoos on one woman's ankles - big colorful tattoos that did not relate to each other in theme
* A parrot on one middle aged woman's shoulder blade
* A tattoo saying "Raider's Angel" on a woman's back, along with a barbed wire tattoo around her arm and various other tattoos on her back and ankles

I will keep searching.....

12 Sharp - Book Review

Just finished 12 Sharp by Janet Evanovich. It is the 12th in a series about a female bounty hunter who gets herself in one pickle after another. In comparison, I think Junie B Jones is the younger version of the main character, Stepahie Plum.

The whole series is really funny and a great brainless entertainment read. If you are looking for something to bring on the next vacation or plane ride, start with book number one - One for the Money and it will keep you laughing out loud.

If you need another review, my Uncle Dave also reads them and he laughs out loud. And his demographic is different from mine: He is a Kentucky Hillbilly!!! (Hi Uncle Dave!!)

We are the Champions....

Gracie's team won the soccer tournament this weekend! They played four games. The scores were:

1 to zero
3 to zero
1 - 1
1 to zero

And....Gracie made all the goals except for one of them! I kept her motivated by promising ice cream if they played in the championship games! Yep - it was shameless bribery but the wins were good for her confidence!

I will post pics when I get my other computer de-virused!

Home Sweet Home

For those of you following, Jim is home from his hunting boon doggle! He was gone 15 days and managed to "catch" a deer and an antelope. If you want to see pics, you will have to ask him because I am opposed to posting hunting pics on my blog!

We are falling right back into the family routine again.....

Rumor

Word on the street is that the big guy is on his way home from Wyomming!

It's a good thing because we all miss him terribly! It seems like we all reached our limit onWeds and at different times during the day, we all declared, "I miss Daddy!"

Kit and Kaboodle

I was working from home earlier in the week and Gracie was sitting at her desk next to mine while I was talking on the phone. During the 10 minute conversation I used the phrase "the whole kit and kaboodle" one time. As soon as I hung up, she wanted to know what that meant. I told her and gave her some examples of it being used.

For the next 30 minutes, until she went off to school, she was chattering to herself and must have used the phrase 15 times!

It is interesting what peaks their interest!

New Shoes!

I would like to report that I got two new pairs of shoes at lunch time today! The sad news is my camera is in Wyoming so I can not take pics and post them! You will just have to believe me when I say they are cute!

The rare beagle lab

OMG! I can not believe it. I am sitting in my home office working and I hear this slow, mournful howl…. I sneak out to look out the back door and see Daisy there…..snout in the air….howling!!! LIKE A BEAGLE!!!

My Labrador is slowing turning into a beagle!!!!

Sunday Family Day

Yesterday we spent the day in Santa Cruz with Tina and Marty. We took our bikes, parked at Natural Bridges and rode to the wharf for lunch. After lunch we walked over the the boardwalk for some treats and then rode back. We tried to do a little tide pooling but couldn't get to where we needed to go. We did get to see the monarch butterflies at Natural Bridges. It is just the begining of their migration so there were not a lot but enough to be cool!

It is over...

Judi died at 2 pm today.

Update from Jim

So Jim, his Dad and Paul have been hunting for a week now and the only thing they have come close to killing is a field mouse that has moved into the camper with them! It sounds like a bad scene from Caddyshack as this mouse tortures them all nite chewing on things and then they wake up in the morning chasing it around with a shoe!

Of course, I much prefer that the mouse keeps them distracted so that they don't have time to kill deer!

An update on my neighbor

Disclaimer: Don't read this if you don't want to be sad.

They have moved my neighbor, Judi, into a nursing home to die. She is on oxygen and morphine but has no other support. She can't open her eyes but if her husband holds them open it seems like she can see him. It is likely a matter of days at this point. Please pray that it is fast and as painless as possible.

Last nite I chatted with her husband as he was on his way to take Nash, one of Judi's Great Danes, to the nursing home to see her! For those of you who don't know, Judi has raised and shown Great Danes for at least 20 years. We have always lived across the street from at least 4 Great Danes!

When they had moved Judi to the nursing home the day before, her husband had two of the dogs there when she arrived in the ambulance: Nash, her old guy and Tyra, her new young pup! I hope that the visits from her dogs are bringing her comfort.

Soccer

Two Wins

Drew's Team: 8 to 0
Gracie's Team: 4 to 0

Drew scored twice. Once from the center line! Honestly, he was in the middle of the field - gave it a huge boot - and as it headed for the goal, I thought "wow, wouldn't that be weird if it went in".....and it did! Then he got another strange goal where he kicked from the side right up near the goal - it looked like it was heading straight accross the goal but it had some weird spin on it, took a left turn and went in. He spent the second half of the game in goal, where he only touched the ball once....but he looked good!

Gracie didn't score this week. She took a big crash at the beginning of the game and was timid the rest of the day. She collided with someone and ended up falling on top of the ball on her back and got kicked in the neck! She game out of the game crying but shook it off after a few minutes.

Next week is Gracie's Jamboree (a tournament) and I fully expect that they will win the tournament because they are undefeated. But you never know! I will keep you posted!

Drew the Bodyguard

Tonite Drew and Gracie are going to a carnival at the school of their best friends Kayla and Maddie.

Two days ago I talked to Kayla on the phone and told her how much both the kids were looking forward to going. She told me she was really glad that Drew was coming with her because there were 4 boys in her class who liked her and would be trying to following her around and get her to go on rides with them. "But", she said, "with Drew there, I can tell them I am here with someone else....and anyway it takes all four of them to make one Drew!"

I cracked up and asked her if she was going to tell Drew about is role as bodyguard and protector. She said that she was, but "only when he was in the car and there was no turning back"!

So that night I told Drew about the story. And I thought I would spit out my dinner at his response....

I told him the whole story about what she said and ended with her statement that "it would take four of those boys to equal one Drew"......at which point he lifted up his arms like a body builder and flexed his muscles!!!

Cracked me up!

Anyway - he loved the story and is pleased to play the protector role for his best friend!

Daisy Mae has a new name.....

For the last year or so, Daisy Mae has become a naughty dog. We think she learned it from her Beagle friend....but that is another story.

Anyway, in the last week, she has taken TWO batches of home made banana muffins off the counter and eaten them! Yesterday I think she ate nine banana muffins in one sitting! And then she wanted dinner later!

That's when she earned her new nickname.....

I told her...."If you eat nine banana muffins, then you don't get any dinner......BANANA BUTT!"

We haven't called her anything but "Banana Butt" since! There's been lots of references too: I can't get by the dog because of her big banana butt, you'd move slow too if you had that big of a banana butt, etc!

Marty with hair??

Some random guy at Japanese the other nite, decided Marty needed to try on his hat for a pic. Here is the result. It was this freaky visor with a fake highlighted hair do on the top!

Flames!

Yesterday, Gracie and I got matching pink baseball caps with hot pink flames down each side! It is exactly how I want to paint the pontoon mama (my pontoon boat) -- but I would never spend the money on something so stupid! The ball caps will have to suffice!

a little illness

I went to use Jim's computer this morning to order some concert tickets for Tina and discovered that it has a virus! It is the first virus we have ever had. Which I guess is good news but the timing could be a little better....I am swamped with everything else that is going on and now I have to spend time disinfecting Jim's computer - while he is out wandering around Wyoming!. I am a little bit bitter.... URGH!

Honorary Italians

This weekend we were officially named "Honorary Italians", which allowed us all to work for free making chicken Parmesan sandwiches at the Italian Festival. Tina organized all the volunteer troops and the supplies, in order for us to make and sell about 1000 sandwiches. The sandwiches were bbq chicken on garlic ciabbatta bread, with homemade marinara sauce and mozzarella and Parmesan on top. All of it was made at the festival on a rented bbq!

The kids and I worked from 3:30 to 9 pm on Saturday and from 11am to 1 pm today. Drew actually worked more because he went with Tina and Marty today at 8 am. It was a lot of fun and it is nice to know that we could all work in food service if we needed to!

I hope someone will send me some pics that I can post.

PS - in honor of the event, I wore my "Guess What Chicken Butt" shirt!

Soccer Update

This Weekend's Soccer Scores:

Drew's team lost 1 to 3. Drew did not score but got one assist. A beautiful pass to team mate, Mikey, who shot it in. Their team played two players down for the first half and then one player down for the second half. So overall, they did pretty well.

Gracie's team won 5 to 1. Gracie scored 4 goals and got an assist on the 5th goal. And the 5th goal was made by Mikey's (the kid above from Drew's team) sister! Gracie was ON FIRE!

Tradition

As everyone knows, it is our family tradition to have your birthday dinner at the local sushi place. The highlight is when they turn down the lights, turn on the disco ball and music, turn on the fog machine and have the birthday person do saki/sprite bombs. Here is Gracie doing her birthday sprite bomb tonite! And here she is with a bunch of gals who love her very much - Tina, her mama and Missy!

Gracie turns 8!

Today is Gracie's 8th birthday! These are pics from her birthday party last weekend. The girls did an art project, made their own pizza and then we went ice skating. It was really a great party. All the girls were delightful - no cross words, they all worked together, etc.