The Return of Chadman

Chad is back for a short stay. His family brought a stuffed squirrel for all the dogs to play with. But Chad wanted none of that. He layed on Daisy Mae's pillow squeeking it. Then when he tired of that, he put his head on it so no one could play with it.

More power

Should a guy who just fainted be managing a giant saw like this?

ohm or yum?

I went to yoga today at lunch and at the end of class, I had an incredible craving for Indian food. Coincidence?

Knit One Pearl Twice

Grace has learned to knit and has made various items such as drink coasters and bracelets. Tonite she made a sweater for Ahi....its quite stylish!

Deck update....

Here are pics from mid day yesterday. Jim texted at about 5:30 pm and said they had screwed in the last screw! But we still don't have railings! So it's not time to party on it yet!

Home again

Gracie and I came home a day early from the cabin so she could play in a soccer game (they tied 1 to 1). And while coming home from the game, I got this pic in a text and it was titled: "so sad....we miss you". They don't LOOK like they miss us!

Update on Deck

Finished: back deck, stairs and slider side!!!

Still to do: framing and laying down deck of front door side, doing all the railings and cleaning up the mess!

We have done a pretty good job of staying on top of the mess but we have a lot of wood and junk to still haul out of here. Jim's truck is about full of wood to go back to SJ with us. And I have taken 8 bags of garbage and recyclables to the dumpster. Plus Drew, Gracie and Mari took a truck full of yard waste to the waste yard yesterday.

Deck update

Today we finished 3/4 of the back deck and the stairs!

And he's down and out.....

Yesterday morning we had a very interesting experience with Drew.

I was working at the kitchen counter at the cabin and he was sitting on the couch.

He got up from the couch, walked into the kitchen and started talking to me. Then he said, "wait" and started stumbling! He stumbled into the refridgerator and then fell, head first, into the closed dishwasher! A 6 foot tall kid has a looooong way to fall and it was VERY loud when he hit the ground.

I was right there and saw the whole thing.

I ran around and he was crumpled on the floor rubbing the top of his head.

He said he did not remember hitting the fridge but did remember hitting the dishwasher. He had a huge knot on the top of his head.

After the incident, we did a self diagnosis and believe it was caused by low blood pressure and dehydration. But he is going to take a trip to the doctors office next week!

Doggie Hockey or Big Time Wrestling?

This is how it went down....

Pepper, my parent's dog, is here with us at the cabin.

He is not very good with doggie social clues. He growls and barks, incessantly, at my dogs.

Daisy Mae is the best dog ever....she won't make eye contact and will get up and leave the room if Pepper is there. She knows she is not suppose to attack her cousin, so she does not engage.

Ahi tried a couple times to play with Pepper, but Pepper didn't get that it was playing and would get aggressive. So she stopped and did the Daisy strategy of "ignore".

The other afternoon, she was laying on the couch minding her own business and Pepper kept going up to her and growling and barking. She kept looking at him and looking at him... (I am sure she was thinking..."shut up you idiot!")

And then finally, she had enough! And in true hockey spirit, she threw off her gloves and said "ok, you wanna go?!?!" And then she leaped off the couch and attacked him!

He ran screaming like a girl!!! She chased him down and stood over him puffing out her chest and standing tall, as if to say, "don't mess with me or my sister, you white fluff ball!"

I think I heard Daisy giggling from the bedroom! She was glad her sister had the role of Jody Shelly, ENFORCER!

A website for Chiweenies

Check out this website - it cracks me up!

http://www.chiweenie.net/

Mud Buddies Training

This is my first week of training for Muddy Buddies. True to my type A fashion, I put together an excel spread sheet with all the training for the next 10 weeks. The problem is...I already have an injury! The bottom of my right foot is killing me. I have really struggled with plantars faciatis in the last couple years. If I don't run, its fine, but the minute I start back up, it starts to act up. I have only done 6 miles of running, 3.5 miles of hiking and 4 miles of walking this week. Doesn't seem like much but its enough inflame my darn foot! I swear....after this race, NO MORE running for me!

I have given my partner the chance to trade me in for a younger, healthier partner but she is sticking with me!

Happy Holiday

This weekend is the biggest holiday of the year....and I don't mean Easter!

It's opening weekend of salmon season and we have not had a salmon season in 3 years! Let's just say that for Jim, this weekend is as important as the birth of his children!

The kids and I have been giggling at his antics all week. He is completely obsessed and can think of nothing else except for fish! Earlier in the week, I found him up at 2:30 am checking weather sites on the computer!

I just hope he fills up the freezer because I hate buying fish!

Schezuan Tofu - Yum!

On Sunday nite, I made a delicious Schezuan Tofu dinner! There was some left over so I packaged myself up a bowl and put it in the fridge for lunch on Tuesday (today) when I work from home. All morning I have been looking forward to eating it. I even went out for a quick 2 mile run at lunchtime and thought about how yummy it was going to be when I got back....

Darn it!!!!

Someone ate it yesterday when I was at work!

I am pretty sure it was Drew because he said he had chinese for breakfast yesterday...but I assumed he ate the Schezuan CHICKEN not TOFU! Apparetnly, he is not choosey because he ate them both!

DARN IT!

So....here I am eating a hummus sandwich on 100 calorie bread.

Hot Muddy Mamas

Here is our shirt for Mud Buddies! Cindy and I are "Team Hot Muddy Mamas". Her mom made us these shirts!

More deck pics

Forgot to add that the pic of the pipe shows wear Jim shot a nail thru the plumbing going to the kitchen sink! Oops!

All Hands on Deck

Jim and Doug worked on the deck this weekend and got a lot done. Check out the pics! I love our new stairs.

Closed skull head injury

It was a very dangerous morning while getting out of bed. I got out of bed and bent down to pick something up just as Daisy was jumping up on the bed to greet Jim. We bonked heads so hard that my glasses went flying and I instantly had a bump on my head. Hours later I am still woozy and have a huge egg on my forehead!

New picnic table

Tina and Mari spent part of the work weekend redoing our picnic table. We removed the old boards and added newly stained redwood planks. We had to go into town to get the hardware as the hardware that was on it was rusted and painted green. We were all really happy with how it turned out! Even Grandpa Roy was impressed!

Grandpa Pete

My Grandpa Peter just recently turned 95. Can you believe how great he looks?

From # 14 to # 8

Drew is on a new soccer team that was made by the merging of two teams. With the merging of two teams came the problem of some kids having the same jersey number. Drew has been #14 in all his sports. But there is another kid on the other team with that number, so they asked for one of the kids to change. Drew said he didn't mind, so he chose # 8.

So now you will hear.... "Goal made by #8, Drewski Pickurnoseski"

New set up

We moved the furniture at the cabin. We can only leave it like this for the summer because its too close to the fireplace.

Everyone on Deck

This is a work weekend to do the deck at the cabin. Jim started last weekend with some demo and pouring of piers. Today we did more demo and started framing the back part of the deck. If you go out the sliding glass door, there is no more deck, so Mari made the sign in the pic....STOP - You big dummy! More pics will come.

Blue

When I look up to see the sun
All I see is the blue spring sky
With fluffy clouds
Where the blue birds fly

Smell the blueberry muffins
All hot and fresh
I like mine with butter
Aren’t they just the best

Sometimes people just feel blue
That means they are very sad
Nothing will make them happy
And that makes me mad

I hear the blue waves
Washing and sloshing around
With seals, otters and seagulls
At the beach is where they can be found

The feel of blue is so cold
Imagine the powdery snow
Sled down the hill
And just let yourself go

by Drew

Happy St Patty's Day

After the first day of a world brewing convention in the states, the CEO's of various brewing organisations retire to the bar.

Bruce, the CEO of Fosters, shouts to the barman: "In 'Straiyla, we make the best beer in the world, so pour me a Fosters mate.

Bob, CEO of Budweiser calls out next: "In the States we brew the finest beer known to mankind and i make the king of them all. Gimme a Bud".

Hans steps up next: "In Germany we invented das beer. Give me ein Becks, der real King of beers."

Paddy, CEO of Guinness steps forward: "Barman give me a diet coke with ice and lemon please."

The others stare at him in stunned silence, amazement written over their faces.

Eventually Bruce asks: "Are you not going to have a Guinness Pat?"

To which Paddy replies "Well, if you pussies aren't drinking, then neither am I".

Goalie Girl

Here is a recent pic of Gracie in her new goalie gear.

Petroglyph

Here are the final products from our petroglyph trip!

Girlie time

Gracie and I spent the day together on Saturday doing girlie stuff....well....girlie stuff up until we went to hockey!

First we did a little shopping. I needed to get some stuff at Target. I have put a bunch of bird feeders outside the front window and had to get some new seed to refill. I need to get a pic of all the birds...they love it!

Then we went to Petroglygh and painted some pottery. Gracie did a pretty little pot with a cover. She painted it purple and pink with polka dots (to go along with our girlie theme for the day!). I painted Ahi her own customized water and food dishes. Pics will come soon.

Next, we moved on to the Falafel Drive-in, which was featured in Diners, Drive-ins and Dives. We got a couple falafel pita's, some hummus and a banana milkshake and sat in the car listening to the Sharks game while we scarfed.

To end the day, we went to the rink and Gracie fended off some goals from the boys black team! It was a great game! It was neck and neck the whole game but in the last minute, the girls were down, 2 to 3. The girls turned up the fire and made goal with less than a minute left to tie the game! The black team is in 2nd place behind them, so this maintained their first place position!!!

All in all - a fabulous day!

Mimi the Great!

My little niece is going to grow up and be a fashion designer or a costume designer. She is super interested in clothes and shoes. My brother sent me this pic of her yesterday. The purse is extra stylin'! A little bling to go with the orange tights....with socks!

Daisy and Jim went to the cabin this weekend to start working on the deck - we are re-doing the whole thing. While there, Jim decided to squeeze in a fishing tournament at Lake McClure. He and a bunch of guys fished all day. When it turned out that someone had a fish they were not suppose to have, they threw it back in the water....only to have Daisy fetch it....about 8 times in a row. Jim's buddies thought it was hilarious. To Jim, it was normal lab behavior! To Daisy, she was jut doing her job.

Food Committee

I some how got myself roped in as the chairperson of the food committee for my work offsite retreat! I sent out an email today to 155 people who are attending and asked that they disclose any food requirements based on any special needs. The responses I have been receiving are hilarious, including this one:

I only take my drinks on the rocks with a twist of lemon.

I will eat any fish but Nemo or Dory.

I only eat foods that have at least two non-consecutive vowels in their names.

If a food is green, and it isn’t cheese, then it may not meet my needs.

I will always eat an entire plate full of Lisa cookies. Sometimes two plates full.

Official Time

I spent the last 24 hours talking to myself about whether I liked doing the 5k race. And I determined that I liked the social part of it, I liked the picnic, I liked the whole reason for the event.... But I really didn't like the run part of it. It was too chaotic and frantic. I couldn't get into a groove and be in a zen like running state. So I came to the conclusion that I probably won't ever do another 5k.

But then....I got the official results and saw my time of 31.53 which equates to a 10.16 minute mile. And suddenly I was ready to sign up for another one next weekend! I want to see if I can beat my own time!!!!

I am sick...I have no business doing 5k's. I have hip, knee and foot pain.

Time to go talk myself out of looking for the next 5k!

Unicycle

Someone at work is selling a unicycle. And as soon as I saw it, I thought....."we need a unicylce!" What is wrong with me??? It is the only piece of gear we don't already own so I think I need it? But, imagine the fun it would bring....

I deleted the email after talking to Tina about it!

Irish Wake

Last nite we had an old fashioned Irish Wake...for Tina and Marty's cat, Sal!

Sal was 18 years old and died on Thursday after getting hit by a car. Since he was 18 years old and was not going to survive the surgery needed to repair his leg, so they did the humane thing and helped him move on to kitty heaven.

So being the good friends that we all are, we all showed up to have tacos, drinks and cookies & ice cream. It was a great party!

RIP Sal!

RUN!

Today was our big race day! We were all pumped up and ready to go. Even though my partner (Gracie) didn't do any training, she SMOKED me! Here are all of our approx times:

Runners:
Chris (AKA: Mr Cindy) - 25 min
Gracie and Bug - under 30 min
Cindy - 30
Mari - 30
Chris (me) - 32

Walkers:
Deb and Tina - ??? But here is a pic of them RUNNING across the finish line!

Everyone was pleased with how they did and we were happy we did it for such a good cause - post partum depression. It was an interesting experience, running with all those people at the same time - they had about 750 runners. I didn't get a good pace for myself until the last 1/2 mile. The rest of the time I was dodging and passing people. I couldn't totally space out and get in the zone like I normally do. It felt a little frantic.









After a good race, you need a good picnic! We had salami, cheese, crackers, fruit, bugles, flamin' hot cheetos, pb and j, cookies and garlic garlic dip and veggies!





This was our support staff. All the guys rode over to cheer us on and join the picnic!

My new role

Grace: Mom, want me to show you how I do my spelling test?

Me: No, remember last time? You told me you should have hired a monkey.

Grace: It's ok. This time, all you have to do is stand there and look pretty.

Oh good....my job is getting easier.

Turd?

Me: Can you believe that you have a brother that is almost in high school?

Grace: When does he go to high school?

Me: In about 6 months. Can you believe it?

Grace: I don't really care - he's just a big turd to me.

Sibling love....

Run Mom Run

Tonite as I put my last bite of tuna casserole in my mouth (mine didn't have any tuna in it), Drew says to me, "I want to go for a run, mom go with me." What? I just stuffed my face and he wants to run? So what is a good mom to do??? I told him to wait 20 minutes and then I would go!

I haven't run with Drew for about 3 years. Back then, he would run a block and get a stitch in his side and want to stop. Back then, he was about my height. Back then, I could whip his butt in distance.

Now.....he runs twice as fast as me (literally) and probably can run four times as far as me!

But it was really fun to run with him. We did two miles and I totally upped my pace in an effort to close the gap between us. We both did it effortlessly, which is a great feat for both of us. But more than that it was a great memory for a mom and son. The son is growing and the mom is working as hard as she can to keep up!

And neither of us barfed up our dinner.

Partridge Family

Imagine my delight when I learned this morning that the Partridge Family is reuniting!

I have been singing "I think I love you....what am I so afraid of...." ever since!

Soccer Update

Drew's school team plays its 4th game tomorrow.

So far we have 2 wins and 1 loss.

The one loss was against a team that would have crushed them last year! We were thrilled that we held our own with a score of 1 to 0.

Little Russian Dog

Everytime the dogs are wrapped up with a blanket over their heads, we say they look like a little old Russian woman. Here is Ahi doing her best Russian woman imitation!

Lego Girls

Gracie and her friend, Bug, made the coolest lego boats! They brought them to me and each explained all the details on their respective research vessels. The details were amazing, including mechanisms to attract the jelly fish they were studying and an infirmary for a guy who got stung by too many jelly fish!

It makes me feel good that these are the types of girls that hold the future in their hands. They are really, really great kids!

Kentucky Window Repair

In honor of my Uncle Dave, we did a Kentucky window repair this morning. My Dad came to take Gracie to ed therapy this morning and rolled down his window on the way. Unfortunately, the window would not go back up!

So while he took Gracie to ed therapy in my truck, Jim and I did this very fancy window repair....just as it was starting to rain.

Oh, will my Kentucky relatives be proud!

300

My brother bowled a 300 last nite! It is his 14th or 15th of his life but its been a long time since he had one. Congrats to Brian!

Daisy Meets Pepper

Pepper came to dinner on Weds nite (with my folks). It was the second time he has met Ahi but the first time he met Daisy. Let's just say that Daisy is LESS tolerant than Ahi and Ahi didn't like him very much!

Daisy got that "are you serious?" look on her face and kept her distance. For awhile, she laid at the top of the stairs and looked over all the activity while looking very disgusted and put out. Then after awhile she came down and just stayed away from Pepper. But during dinner, she was laying below me and Pepper walked up to her!!! Lots of growling and snarling coming from Daisy! She wasn't very serious about it because she never even stood up. The problem is that Pepper doesn't take the clue and back off.

The good news is Ahi decided that she wanted to play with Pepper so they chased each other around a bit.

Overall, I think it will all work out - its just a process.

Hot Muddy Mamas

For the upcoming muddy buddies race, we needed a theme and a costume. So I have been spending my free time trying to come up with ideas and tapping my creative friends for slogans.

This is what we have worked out so far:

Our shirts are going to say...

On the back:

Hot Muddy Mamas

Happier than Pigs in Mud

And there will pictures of pig(s) running:



We are going to decorate our helmets with various pig paraphernalia. Our bike is going to have a stuffed pig on the handle bars and a pig tail on the back.

We won't win the race....but we will look good!

Soccer Season Starts!

Drew had his first game for his school yesterday and they won: two to zero!

It was really a nice way to start since last year they got pummeled all season long.

Our team looks much better than last year so we have high hopes that they will at least win some of the games this season. No delusions of a undefeated season. Just a few wins would be nice!

Drew is playing goalie and he only had two shots on goal during the game. And they were easy rollers. No real threat.

Stay tuned. There is another game today and I expect it will be a tougher team then yesterday.

Pepper meets Ahi

Last nite we decided it was time for Pepper and Ahi to meet each other. Since we are the designated Pepper dogsitters, he needs to get a long with our dogs.

So we headed up to my folks house with Ahi. (Daisy was not invited because we decided to introduce the small dogs first). We met outside and took the dogs on a walk together. That way the got to smell each other and be around each other without it being indoors and in Pepper's domain.

Ahi was a perfectly behaved dog. She greeted Pepper and then ignored him.

Pepper was an overzealous, panting, frantic mess!

We walked a little and then went to my folks house.

Pepper didn't get much better at home. He wanted to smell Ahi, which was ok...to a point. But when she would snap and growl at him - essentially telling him to "back off" - he would not get the hint.

So it took some time for the humans to lay out some boundaries for Pepper. After about 3 hours, he calmed down and gave Ahi her space and all was well.

But we still have some work to do.

And then....we need to add that big dog. And that big dog tends to want to protect Ahi from dogs that bother her. So Pepper better learn to mind his manners by then!

Proof that Men Have Better Friends Then Women

Friendship among Women:
A woman didn't come home one night. The next morning she told her husband that she had slept over at a friend's house. The man called his wife's 10 best friends. None of them knew anything about it.

Friendship among Men:
A man didn't come home one night. The next morning he told his wife that he had slept over at a friend's house. The woman called her husband's 10 best friends. Eight confirmed that he had slept over, and two said he was still there.

Quote of the Week

"Don't compare your life to others.
You have no idea what their journey is about."

This supports our family motto of "only compare yourself to yourself"!

Vinyasa Yoga

I can not believe it took me this long to blog about this because it was quite the experience. Last Saturday my sis in law took me to a Power Vinyasa Yoga class. She suggested it because I tend to bad mouth yoga because it never feels like a workout to me.

So I am all excited, go out an buy a new yoga mat and head off with her.

The class was 1 hour and 15 minutes and was held in a heated room....heated to about 87 degrees! So there you are doing the typical yoga routine in what feels like the middle of a desert! Think about 15 people in a hot room, in various stages of appropriate dress, sweating like pigs and standing on one leg! Not pretty!

Not pretty -- That brings me to the "appropriate dress" angle. I normally do yoga at the gym at work, which requires appropriate dress. And likely, if the work gym didn't require it, you would see it anyway, because who wants to have their "junk" hanging out in front of co-workers.

I digress....back to the "appropriate dress"...apparently in this heated yoga environment, the men think it is ok not to wear their shirts! (Remember the notes above about "sweating like a pig" and "not pretty"...just take a moment to think about that).

There was one man, in particular, that had a "top of his head mullet" and was wearing what looked like tighty whitey boxer briefs. Talk about "junk" hanging out. Let's just say I thanked Buddha that he was not in my line of site!

Overall, it was an interesting experience but I think my problem is I am too type A for yoga. But I am going to keep doing it because it is a funny addition to my work out routine. There are always great stories of grunting women, farting men and inappropriate attire.


Ohhhhmmmmmmmm........