P & C

Favorites

2012-01-11T19:30:00.000-08:00

I have a few ornaments that I love. Some are new, some are old.... they are all my favorite.

O' Christmas Tree

2012-01-10T21:33:00.000-08:00

The Birds

2012-01-09T16:37:00.001-08:00

I traveled to Jeans house one day in mid-December to decorate cookies for Christmas. At the end of her street are some sports fields that are part of a school where I saw...

LOUD! SWARMING! BIRDS!

Celebrate

2011-12-11T15:49:00.000-08:00

In celebration of Paul's birthday we hit up a Kings game.

Sadly the Kings lost 2-1. We had a fun evening hanging out together and even running in to the Prices for a few moments before the game began.

Happy Birthday!

2011-12-10T10:44:00.000-08:00

Paul turns

years young today!

Wii 2011

2011-12-09T19:04:00.000-08:00

On Dec. 3rd we hosted the annual Wii Tournament with the Prices and Agadonis.

Chips, salsa, tacos with all the trimmings and mint cookies were enjoyed.

Good stories, jokes and laughs.

Then came game time

-- it was a fierce battle this year ending in a tie --

but after a tie-breaker the Prices were victorious.

We will need to practice our rootbeerbarsliding skills for next year.

Merry Christmas from DBC

2011-12-08T22:22:00.000-08:00

Biola Family Christmas hosted by DBC

2011-12-07T23:54:00.000-08:00

"Buddy the Elf...

2011-12-06T07:35:00.000-08:00

...whats your favorite color?"

"The best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear.... it's just like talking, except longer and louder, and you move your voice up and down."

"We elves try to stick to the four main food groups: candy, candy canes, candy corns and syrup."

Bocceball Champion

2011-12-05T20:42:00.000-08:00

Feed the Beast

2011-12-04T23:00:00.000-08:00

Regismas

2011-12-03T22:03:00.000-08:00

Friday was our Christmas lunch for the office.

We enjoyed some good Italian food.

Rocked a gift card exchange.

(where you can 'steal' a card twice and then it can't exchange hands again)

There is always time for a quick group photo.

The day before today...

2011-12-02T14:00:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I woke 'round 6am to get ready for my day. I knew it was going to be a long one but there was no way around it. Worked from 8am-330p then got in my car and headed to SD. Normally I love visiting San Diego, however not when I have to drive down and back while only spending 3 hours in the city!

Months and months ago I agreed to attend a women's dessert at my church down there (like before I had a job!). I had a sour attitude about having to do this (buyers remorse), and begrudgingly went because it was expected of me.

The event started at 630pm (yes, it took me that long to get there in traffic), when we walked into the sanctuary with 26 tables set up and women about the room chatting and looking at all the wonderful decorations I thought, well I suppose this wont be so bad.

We were escorted to our table by the hostess and introduced ourselves around to those we didn't know. Then the program started and a women who has traveled all over with singing groups named Joi took the stage, and invited the whole room to stand and sing some Christmas carols with her. It sounded beautiful. My heart opened a little more to the idea that this would be a good night. There were drawings for door prizes, some delicious cupcakes from a Cupcakery in Coronado, and fellowship.

It was now time for the speaker of the evening, Pam Farrel, and I knew why I was there... the message. It was for me. Something I needed to hear, something I need to do. But that is a whole other post. I am so very glad I went even with the 5 hours of driving and lack of sleep. I needed to be there and hear what she had to say. I left with a much needed lifting of my spirit.

Miss Slacks-a-lot

2011-12-01T11:15:00.000-08:00

This is the first year that I started NaBlPoMo and didn't finish it.

I didn't even make it through half of November!

I could promise to post every day during December to make up for it, but lets be honest.... the probability of that happening with all that I have coming up in the next few weeks (even the next few days) is a lot to ask, I can say that I'll try. I want to keep our readers up-to-date with what is going on in our lives.

I appreciate that this blog helps to keep us in contact with so many across the country whom we cannot see or communicate with as often as we wish.

THANK YOU for continuing to check in on us and see what has been happening out here in SoCal!

Halloween Registrawr Style

2011-11-13T21:36:00.000-08:00

Alpha always puts on an awesome event for Halloween!

Undertaking...

2011-11-12T14:22:00.000-08:00

Our 10th anniversary trip to New England

It will be coming soon

PhotosPhotosPhotos

Thank You Veterans

2011-11-11T02:30:00.000-08:00

Mountbocce!

2011-11-10T23:34:00.000-08:00

Josh, Bowden and Lucy

took on

The Hutch and me

in round after round of Bocceball.

The end results were less than desirable for the non-mountain folk.

Encampment

2011-11-09T20:57:00.000-08:00

Please read the whole story here.... BUMMER-FREE ZONE

In the afternoon of the Saturday we were in Idyllwild the Mr. and I accompanied Mr. Tate into the woods (on camp property) to check out the potential abandoned camp of a hobo.

Josh pulling the tent out of the shrubbery.

I enjoyed the scenery

...and documented what the boys found.

Click on the link above for all the details of our outing.

People

2011-11-08T19:38:00.000-08:00

A perk of visiting Idyllwild is getting to spend time with these fine folk.

Sarah & Josh along with their Tatertots -- Bowden, Lucy, Jack and Miles

Tradition

2011-11-07T22:47:00.000-08:00

It is an October tradition that me and the Mr. enjoy some time in Idyllwild.

This year in our walk about town with the Tates we came across an adorable raccoon! The little raccoon's were abandoned by their mommy so an Idyllwild local nursed them and tried to release them but they just kept coming back. We were allowed to feed 1 of them peanuts and Cheetos!

Seriously cool to feed a raccoon. Their paws are SO soft.

Look at those teeth!

Mourning

2011-11-06T22:13:00.000-08:00

For the past 3 years I have been mourning
-- family, friends, friends family, a job, having kids naturally--

Today while driving home from San Diego I had a random thought pop in my head. "I need to get a box ready to go to Grandma for her birthday and Thanksgiving." Then the tears started to flow. For a moment I had forgotten she was gone (She passed away on May 24th). I will never be sending another birthday box, holiday box or care package to Minot --ever.

Photos from the Yard

2011-11-05T12:14:00.000-07:00

Selling of the Stuff : Part 1

2011-11-04T23:52:00.000-07:00

We are having a yard sale at the Alhambra house tomorrow from 9am-1pm.

You may wonder why the late start? Well that is because this town has rules about this sort of thing. No putting up signs on poles, no starting before 9am, can't sell stuff more that 2 days in a row and only twice a year.

Given these parameters we will do our best to sell off some stuff but it will probably not be a "SD sellathon"

If you have a chance stop on by -- text or email for address.

Office Antics

2011-11-03T23:51:00.000-07:00

If you are on vacation there is a distinct possibility that something may happen to your cube.

He's Here! He's Here!

2011-11-02T17:37:00.000-07:00

October 5th Kj and Spencer welcomed Baby Tokushima weighing in at 8lbs 6oz.

The following weekend I drove down to San Diego to meet the lil guy and find out what they FINALLY picked for a name. He is amazing!

Joel Kaemon Tokushima.

Congratulations Friends!

Photo taken October 9th

Blog-a-thon

2011-11-01T13:31:00.000-07:00

Well, today is the 1st of November which means that it is also the beginning of blog everyday month. I have to be honest that I am not really feeling it right now, so we will see how many days I actually complete a blog. As it is tradition I have to give it the "ol' college try". There is still a lot to catch up on for all of you out there in Bloggerland.

AICTO

2011-10-21T13:52:00.000-07:00

T-minus 5 hours till the Mr. & I trek up to Idyllwild!

Today is our 12 year dating anniv. & our 13th annual trip up the mountain

(although we have gone at other times during the year...).

For those of you who are new here --

Catch up on "The Story of Us" here and why we go to Idyllwild every year.

In just a few hours we will get to be here!

And see our wonderful friends the Tates! And the Tates!

Excitement! Much!

The Pits

2011-09-26T22:22:00.000-07:00

Also in August: an opportunity arose for us to go to the tar pits with Paul's parents church. We had a good time walking around, hanging out with friends, and grabbing a delicious burger for lunch.

O'Baby!

2011-09-26T22:18:00.000-07:00

My dear friend KJ is about to give birth to a little boy.... but back in August we had a baby shower for her. It was a wonderful time of prayer for this soon to be family of 3, fellowship, food, presents and cake.

art in the streets @ moca

2011-09-19T21:20:00.000-07:00

You may not have heard....

2011-09-19T20:59:00.000-07:00

WE MOVED!

In July we packed up and headed North.

Packing up the apartment... exhausting!

1st meal in the new place

G and Roxie are totally best buddies, well maybe not yet, but someday.

Much of the first 2 months looked like this.

once just isnt enough

2011-09-14T22:18:00.000-07:00

The Mr. had to work on the 2nd night of U2, and I really wanted to go! I scoured the internet all afternoon trying to hook up a deal like we did the day before but it just wasn't happening. I decided since I had no other plans that I would just go park at The Block and walk over to the stadium, because after all hearing U2 live is better than not at all. I got to the stadium about 10 min before the band took the stage. I found a bench and sat down, settled in with my soda. As the 1st song starts to play a dude comes up and sits next to me.

::Isn't he sitting a little close, there are dozens of other benches!::

I start returning a few texts from earlier in the day.

Then dude starts talking to me - Am I going inside? Why not? You a big fan?

::What is up with this guy, I have 5 bucks so hope he isn't wasting his time thinking he can scalp me a ticket::

He gets on his phone talking to someone, then tells me to wait where I am and he would be right back.

::Back to what shank me?::

I think I can get you a ticket he tells me. Dude leaves and I enjoy the live music and the stars. It was a lovely June night. Never thinking I would see this guy again he resurfaces and starts walking into the security check to go inside.

::Liar::

Then he waves at me and says wait there, I'm going in, but wait there.

::Weirdo!::

3rd song starts to play. Suddenly security guy comes over and asks me repeatedly if I am alright and why don't I come with him. Looks around, then palms me a TICKET! Says put it away and walks me over to security. He tells me to have a nice evening and enjoy the concert. I walk up to the gate, hand my ticket to the lady to scan. She asks "do you have a wrist band?"

::Crap::

Well, go over to the next gate and they will get me one, have a nice night she says. It is then that I look at my FREE TICKET, I am in GA. Wow! Thanks random guy who some how hooked me up with a ticket to see a band I love. You rock, whoever you are.

The concert was wonderful! I did realize that there is a reason we always get seats though, I'm short. With everyone walking around so much, I worked my way almost to the stage. Twas AWESOME.

Comments from U2 tours "Bono dedicates I Still Haven't Found to Quincy Jones, who's at the show. Other celebrities in attendance include Rick Rubin, Tom Morello, and Cindy Crawford. Before Moment of Surrender, Bono pays tribute to E Street Band saxophonist Clarence Clemons, who died earlier today: 'Think about one man's saxophone. Think about Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. Think of Clarence Clemons. This man just carried music, and music carried him until this day.' He then sings/recites some of Jungleland at the end of the concert."
Set List
Even Better Than The Real Thing, The Fly, Mysterious Ways, Until the End of the World,One, Amazing Grace - Where the Streets Have No Name - All You Need Is Love, I Will Follow, Get On Your Boots - She Loves You, I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For, Stuck In a Moment, Beautiful Day - Space Oddity, Elevation, Pride, Miss Sarajevo, Zooropa, City of Blinding Lights,Vertigo - It's Only Rock and Roll, I'll Go Crazy (remix) - Discotheque - Please, Sunday Bloody Sunday, Scarlet, Walk On - Never Walk
Encore(s): Ultraviolet, With or Without You, Moment of Surrender - Jungleland

We heart U2

2011-09-10T17:40:00.000-07:00

Flashback (way back) to 6.17.11

A last minute thought and some very cheap tickets off the internet landed us at U2 playing Angels Stadium. Our seats were awesomely close to the stage and we had a great view.

Set List

1. Even Better Then The Real Thing

2. I Will Follow

3. Get On Your Boots

4. Magnificent (Bishop Tutu mix)

5. Mysterious Ways

6. Elevation

7. Until The End Of The World

8. Happy Birthday (to band manager Paul McGuinness)

9. All I Want Is You

10. Stay (Faraway, So Close)

11. Beautiful Day (Cmdr. Mark Kelly intro and dedication to U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords)

12. Pride (In The Name Of Love)

13. Miss Sarajevo

14. Zooropa

15. City Of Blinding Lights

16. Vertigo

17. Crazy Tonight Remix

18. Sunday Bloody Sunday

19. Scarlet

20. Walk On

21. One

22. Where The Streets Have No Name

Encore

23. Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me

24. With Or Without You

25. Moment Of Surrender

Interruptus

2011-09-02T18:54:00.000-07:00

I promise I will continue to update everyone on what we did over July and August but for now I am interrupting for some big news. I am most certain everyone has heard but if not.... I AM EMPLOYED AT BIOLA! I love Biola to begin with, but then there are the people (Jeri, Ruth, Amy and now the rest of the gang I am getting to know) and the job which makes it a win-win-win in my book. I started my new position this past Monday, and while there is LOTS to learn everyone has been so wonderful with explaining how they do things and it has been fun being introduced to everyone.

If you click on the photo you can see it bigger. :)

Fancy

2011-08-20T13:56:00.000-07:00

While up in SB for APs graduation we happened across a cupcake store and decided to give some of their creations a try.

They were all cut in 3rds and shared. All of them were quite delicious.

Cuz, I'm Graduating!

2011-08-18T16:23:00.000-07:00

My little cousin, Amanda graduated from UCSB this past June. I am so proud of her. She is smart, capable, and kind. My mom and I drove up for the graduation celebration. Of course there were noise makers, clappers, and megaphones (you know so she knew we were there).

Way to go Panda!
You will go far in life as long as you try hard and never give up.
Love you!

Diminishing

2011-08-16T12:08:00.000-07:00

My family is evaporating before my eyes. I feel young to have had so much loss, but nothing is promised in this life. I am deeply saddened that I did not get more time on this earth with my loved ones. Less than 1 year after my Grandpa passed and just over 2 years since my Dad, my Grandma went to be with them in the presence of our Lord. I was able to travel back to Minessota to be with family and celebrate the life of my Grandma.

I will always love her and miss her dearly.

House Guest

2011-08-16T11:51:00.000-07:00

Once upon a time a dear friend named Charlie came to visit, this was during the 2011 year in the 6th month. We talked, laughed, movie watched, played, ate and slept. Not necessarily in that order. Some photographic proof!

Ruby's and the cheap theatre.

Moe stopped by to pat the baby.

Sleepover with The Hangover and making s'mores the ghetto way.

John's Incredible Pizza and games.

Love You!

I am certain that we did much more than what is evidenced here but my brain is currently mush and I cannot remember.

Nice Try!

2011-08-03T17:02:00.000-07:00

Just when I thought I was going to get you all caught up on our lives, things get crazier. We moved about 3 weeks ago and have been cleaning and unpacking like crazy, along with doing all the added things of living in a house such as watering the lawns, walking the puppy, fixing things around the house. Tonight we leave for the East Coast (in just a couple hours actually). We will be gone for 9 days and by the time we get back I will be so much farther behind in the catching you up on what has been going on. Oh well, we will get there, someday. See ya'll on the flip.

30 years of friendship

2011-08-01T01:04:00.000-07:00

Friendship is a wonderful thing and I have been blessed beyond measure with an amazing friend in Erin.

To celebrate our 30th year of being friends I decided to make a small scrapbook chronicling the journey we have taken together which was given on her 31st birthday in June. From pre-school, birthday parties, youth group, marriage, skiing and Vegas trips it has been quite the ride!

Thank you for loving me, lifting me up and always sharing a laugh. I love you and I can't wait to see what the next 30 has in store for us!

[A sample of some pages from the book]

Thats Zabtastic!

2011-07-30T13:20:00.000-07:00

[the month is now May in the year 2011]

My dear friend Beth has some adorable children, who are made even more adorable by the fact that they are learning Irish Dance! Love. It. Through some twist of fate she ended up with 2 extra tickets for their year end performance and my mom and I just happened to be free. The kids did fantastic! Another friend is one of the owners of this dance studio Aurora Ritchie of the
Rose-Ritchie Academy of Irish Dancing.
You can click on the link to see their awesome website.

We loved all of the performances and some of the older kids were amazing!

I only managed to get a couple photos, here they are.

Creepy Flyers

2011-07-30T12:58:00.000-07:00

[In case you are keeping track, we are still back in April playing catch-up]

While down in SD I was cleaning my moms place and noticed what I thought was some kitty barf on the wall next to a table. It looked old and dried up, however I still thought it was odd that it was on the wall. Being the girl I am I found the longest broom we had and touched the area with it from as far away as possible. What happened shocked me, dozens of little flying things (bout half the size of a fly) started falling on the floor from where I was poking around. I continued to get all the "dirt" off the wall. and there was a crater. I didn't know what those little bugs were but if they were damaging the wall like that it was not good news. Once mom got home from work I pointed out the spot and explained the little bugs. She called an exterminator who came over bout a week or so later.

The diagnosis? TERMITES! The FLYING kind.

On the left is the hole found under all that "dirt". The photos on the right are what the Orkin man did, drilled lots of holes in the floors, under the sinks, around the perimeter of the house and large ones in a wall all to make sure those flyie guys were gone and wouldn't come back. We now have a protection against the crawlers and the flyers of the bug variety.

The Theatre

2011-07-30T12:42:00.000-07:00

A good friend of ours, Mr. Ryan Agadoni was gracing the stage with his presence this past Spring (April to be exact) and so we decided to get "dressed up" and head over to Biola to catch a performance of The Odd Couple. We enjoyed the production, muchly. Ryan did a swell job and so did the rest of the cast. I enjoyed the intimate atmosphere of Theatre 21 as I have never been inside before.

Here are the very few photos we have from the night.

Bloggity Blog Blog

2011-07-02T17:21:00.000-07:00

So, only 9 (nine) or so more posts till you will be all caught up with our lives! Things may get kinda crazy this next week with all the packing/cleaning/moving that will be going on but if I dont have a chance to blog just know --- MORE will be coming SOON!

Everyone have a SAFE and wonderful 4th of July!

Faster Horsey!

2011-07-02T17:13:00.001-07:00

Also in April 2011

Leslie, Bradley (+Christie?), Amy, Paul and I all went went out to Santa Anita for an afternoon of horse racing, cheap food and beer. It was Amy's first time at the track, she picked a winning horse every time she DIDN'T bet. Overall we decided we should have bet on purple all day long!

Book Signing

2011-06-30T17:57:00.000-07:00

April 2011

I drove out to The Grove in LA to buy Jill's new book and hopefully have her sign it. I was surprised at how many people were there. She was adamant about making sure every book got signed. She even spoke for about 45 min. answering audience questions. She truly is a sweetheart and took the time to talk with each person as she signed their book. Thanks for a good experience for my first ever book signing.

Our Furry Bundle of Joy

2011-06-22T12:55:00.000-07:00

Gizmo turned 3! It is hard to believe that he has been with us for so long, and at the same time I can't remember what it was like before we had him.

Baby Gizmo 2008

Teenage Gizmo 2009

2yr old Gizmo

2011 - 3yr old Gizmo

Time Warp

2011-06-20T00:00:00.001-07:00

March 29, 2011

E and I went skiing up at Mountain High, SO MUCH FUN!

Here are some shots of E skiing

Skiing with Me

(just kidding, well sort of)

For real this time.

Always gotta take some self-portraits!

I demand a repeat next year.... of course open to anyone else who wants to come along as well!

Boxy

2011-06-19T10:58:00.000-07:00

--Gmo loves boxes --

It does not matter what size, shape or style. When he sees a box he has an urge that he just needs to get in it.

Shoe boxes

Cutlery boxes

Packing boxes

Milk boxes (from Price Club), Blender boxes, Mailing boxes

Boxes for soda -- Which worked much better when he was a teenage kitten (top photo) than a grown monster cat (bottom photo)

He currently has a Baileys box he enjoys sitting in while staring out the front screen door to watch all the neighborhood kids, cats and dogs. And did I mention MOVING BOXES?

And now back to more Askew programming

2011-06-18T13:48:00.000-07:00

Sorry we have been off the grid with our blog...

The last day of Askew invasion had us hanging out at the Discovery Science Center and the out for Mexican food.

HollyWeird Day

2011-04-19T18:37:00.000-07:00

And on the 3rd day of Askew Invasion we hit up Hollywood. Walked around, saw the Hollywood sign, looked at some stars on the ground, visited El Capitain, did the wax museum and ate some grub.

Balboa Beach

2011-04-18T17:02:00.000-07:00

On day 2 of Askew everyone headed to the beach for some swimming, kite flying, footballing, soccer kicking wave riding fun! After conquering the beach we all piled into the vans/cars and picked up MORE people and headed to dinner at Chick-Fil-A. It was great to see almost all of the Sousa's and share a meal with them!

Celebration!

2011-04-16T23:37:00.000-07:00

March 21, 2011 @ John's Incredible Pizza

What a great night it was.

Loved getting to celebrate Abby & Drew's birthdays with the whole gang.

FOOD, GAMES, FUN, LAUGHTER, FRIENDS, GOOD TIMES

PETA: A Response

2011-04-06T21:50:00.003-07:00

Please click over to Reproductively Challenged to see what the top dogs in PETA are saying in response to all of our emails to them about the: win a vasectomy contest.

OUTRAGE!!!!

2011-04-05T19:46:00.000-07:00

Please click over to my infertility blog to see why I am outraged about PETAs new campaign!

CLICK HERE

E turns Three

2011-03-25T23:47:00.000-07:00

Earlier this month I headed over to the Henning house to celebrate

E's birthday!

A delightful kick back event with food, friends and of course... cake.

Happy Birthday E!

Wine & Cupcakes

2011-03-24T21:42:00.000-07:00

Back in February we went to a wine bar in celebration of Ruel's birthday.

It was a fun location with drinks, food, a band and great desserts!

Yum-o

The Hutchins Siblings having some drinks and conversating

Happy Birthday Ruel

And the Oscar goes to.....

2011-02-27T03:33:00.000-08:00

This year unlike last we managed to see all of the films nominated for Best Picture. We have each ranked our favorites. Our top choice is not necessarily who we think will win but who we would choose to win.

Paul's Picks

The Social Network

True Grit

Kings Speech

127 Hours

Inception

Black Swan

The Fighter

Toy Story 3

The Kids Are All Right

Winters Bone

Cyndi's Picks

The Social Network

Kings Speech

127 Hours

Inception

Toy Story 3

True Grit

The Fighter

Black Swan

Winters Bone

The Kids Are All Right

Who we think will be crowned at the Oscars

Best Picture - Kings Speech

Actor - Colin Firth

Supporting Actor - Christian Bale

Actress - Natalie Portman

Supporting Actress - Hailee Steinfeld

Day in LA and the OC

2011-02-22T20:03:00.000-08:00

A week ago Monday I enjoyed a day out with Morgan. First stop was a taping of the Dr. Phil show up in LA. We had some time to waste so we goofed around on the roof of the parking structure taking photos.

After the taping it was back to the apartment to hang out (take a nap). Then over to The Block for dinner and a movie. We enjoyed both our selections at Dave & Busters. I had the Chicken Parm Sandwich, a new choice for me and it was delicious with some sweet potato on the side. I did take half home for lunch the following day. Of course our movie of choice had to be an Adam Sandler flick. Sadly it was then time to take Morgan back to her place as she had to work the following day.

My Valentine

2011-02-20T00:51:00.000-08:00

A First

2011-02-17T15:20:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I made my first smoothie at home using my very own blender!

7oz. OJ, strawberries, apple, banana and pineapple

Epic Sale of 2011

2011-02-17T14:54:00.000-08:00

Please read about our most recent Yard Sale in February HERE!

211-210

2011-02-16T14:28:00.000-08:00

Last Friday we met up with Ric & Jeri at Camelot for a mini golf throw-down!

The competition was fierce.

Round 1: P-53, C-44, R-52, J-56

Round 2: P-56, C-57, R-45, J-58

Really it was just a couple of holes that had a certain shot not been missed it would have been a totally different ball game. AND C, R and J all had INSANE, INCREDIBLE, AWESOME shots where we all stood there and thought "did that just happen"!

Nearing the end of our evening we came across a little bunny that R decided he needed to chase, the bunny didn't run away really... just circled the tree with R. Quite amusing from my vantage point.

There shall be a re-match!

Slackers

2011-02-01T20:04:00.000-08:00

I am bummed that we haven't posted anything since 2011 began, I will try to give the "Readers Digest" version of what we have been up to the first month of the new year.

Sickness -

Paul got sick before 2010 ended and it has lasted weeks and weeks! He even had antibiotics but it didn't get rid of it. I was able to defend against it for about 2 1/2 weeks before I came down with ick. We are feeling much better although there is a lingering cough.

Family -

My mom continues to mend from her fall and has been cleared to go back to work in a week. She still has to do physical therapy to help the healing process along but so far looks like no surgery!

My grandma took a downward turn and got an infection in her leg, normally the Drs would do surgery to remove the hardware she has but they said she wouldn't survive the surgery. They put her on antibiotics and hoped for the best, she will probably have to be on antibiotics for the rest of her life.

A cousin of mine announced she is having a baby, the first in our part of the family in 20+ years

Family bday dinner for Christie

Friends -

Had dinner out with KJ, Tif and Erin

Hung with BZ a few times

Multiple friends have gotten pregnant

Celebrated Morgans 31st bday with dinner and a movie

Fundraising -

Picked up cans at 2 Monster Jam events

Gathered many, many items for the upcoming Yard Sale (thanks so so much family and friends!)

Outtings -

Saw the Cold War Kids at Jimmy Kimmel

Competed in Trivia Night at Stadium Tavern with the Prices

We went to Dave & Busters just to hang out and play some games together

Certainly we saw a few movies

..................................................................................................................................................................

I am sure there was much more that we did but this is all I can think of right now. Hopefully we will get back to blogging regularly. Hope the new year is treating all of you wonderfully.

Cookies-a-plenty

2010-12-23T21:39:00.000-08:00

For the 2nd year in a row - Gingerbread men, missing an arm or leg, some even lost their head.

New this year - Peppermint candy canes

Sugar balls - basically a sugar cookie with a powdered sugar glaze and "sprinkles"

Also new - Rum Balls, but with imitation Rum instead of the real stuff.

Oldie but a goodie - Sinckerdoodles

Traditional cookies added to the mix - Peanut butter, Choc. Chip and Funfetti with green food coloring

2nd Annual Wii Tournament

2010-12-19T21:19:00.000-08:00

Tournament of the Wii

(hopefully becoming bi- or tri-annual)

It is always fun to have people over to our place. Saturday evening the Price's and Agadoni's came over to enjoy some awesome tacos/burritos along with chips and salsa for dinner.

Allowing time for digestion (didn't want anyone to get a cramp) we sat and swapped stories for awhile. Finally it was time. The Price's had to relinquish the trophy that they had been hiding away for a year and it was finally up for grabs again.

The tournament was some fierce competition this year. But The Hutchins were victorious! The trophy is displayed proudly atop their entertainment center.

While there was not time to play with fondant this year we merely made a 12 story high Christmas Tree out of cookies. Desert was enjoyed by all.

O Christmas Tree

2010-12-16T21:10:00.000-08:00

Rain! Rain and Rain!

We braved the rain to go get our beautiful Christmas tree. It almost didn't happen as it began pouring. Paul and I figured we would just get in and out as quick as possible, open up no more than a few trees and just pick one! We walked two feet inside the Home Depot lot and found ourselves ankle deep in puddles. Hummmm, well there was no going back now, we were already soaked.

Quickly as possible we found ourselves a tree to take home, and made a stop at Albertsons for some groceries. Paul hauled the tree inside while I went to find the stand (we were planning on just having the tree lot do it for us but they didn't have any stands).

Gizmo being part of the family decided he needed to check out the tree so he found himself alone, locked in our room. There was a Christmas miracle when Paul was able to get the tree into its stand and it wasn't leaning or anything. Finally Gizmo was allowed to come out and fully inspect his first full sized Christmas tree.

Musically Talented

2010-12-15T20:46:00.000-08:00

In mid-December we enjoyed an evening at Starbucks listening to 4 Stories. It was great to see "old" friends again and to enjoy some traditional Christmas songs along with their original works.

Cookie Time @ The Hennings

2010-12-14T01:54:00.000-08:00

The girls decorating (very serious business), telling stories, eating and having a good time.

The children played.

The men watched fooseball

My cookies.

Tree Lighting @ Biola

2010-12-11T01:45:00.000-08:00

Performances, Carols, The Christmas Story, "Snow", Hot Cider, Friends, Good Times!

For My Love

2010-12-10T01:15:00.000-08:00

Eastside: Everglades and South Beach

2010-12-09T12:46:00.000-08:00

Eastside: Suprise

2010-12-04T15:44:00.000-08:00

When we got back to our cabin each night there was a gift on our beds.

(I cant get the photos to rotate and upload properly)

Burrr, it's cold out here!

2010-12-03T23:42:00.000-08:00

Just this past Tuesday we attended what will probably be the last
Movie On The Fox!

For those of you in the dark the Fox Fullerton puts on a movie every month and asks for donations to go towards restoring the historic theatre. Well the Fox will begin restoration this coming year which is both good and bad news. Good that it will be restored, bad because I will miss sitting out in the parking lot with friends under a blanket and sipping coffee while watching a flick.

Those putting on the show sell raffle tickets before the show. Many of us purchased a few raffle tickets each. We came out winners! Disney memorabilia for Emily and us, a blue-ray player for Jeri.

Bookworm

2010-12-02T23:09:00.000-08:00

Apparently most people haven't read more than 6 of the 100 books on this list. Most of the ones I have read was required reading for High School. I'm thinking maybe I will just start selecting books from here to read for the new year...

I have read the books in BOLD.

1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling
5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
6 The Bible
7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell
9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott
12 Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
13 Catch 22 by Joseph Heller
14 Complete Works of Shakespeare
15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulk
18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
19 The Time Traveler’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
20 Middlemarch - George Eliot
21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald
24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
25 The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoevsky
28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis
34 Emma - Jane Austen
35 Persuasion - Jane Austen
36 The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe - CS Lewis
37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
38 Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
40 Winnie the Pooh - A.A. Milne
41 Animal Farm - George Orwell
42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44 A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving
45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins Love this one:The Father of the Modern Detective!!!!!!
46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery
47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
48 The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood
49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding
50 Atonement - Ian McEwan
51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel
52 Dune - Frank Herbert
53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt
64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
65 Count of Monte Cristo- Alexandre Dumas
66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac
67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
68 Bridget Jones’s Diary - Helen Fielding
69 Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie
70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville
71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
72 Dracula - Bram Stoker
73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
75 Ulysses - James Joyce
76 The Inferno – Dante
77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
78 Germinal - Emile Zola
79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
80 Possession - AS Byatt
81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker
84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
87 Charlotte’s Web - E.B. White
88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton
91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery
93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
94 Watership Down - Richard Adams
95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare
99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl
100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo

2 days before December

2010-12-01T13:50:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite times of year, getting all the Christmas letters and photo cards! Some people got an extra early start because we received our first two of the season on Nov. 29th. Looking forward to opening my mailbox everyday this month because there is bound to be a friend inside.

Deuce

2010-11-30T23:24:00.000-08:00

In July I completed my first 5k (jogging the whole thing). While on the ship we had the opportunity to compete in the first 5k in the middle of the ocean. I was excited to compete and do another. I jogged the entire thing in 80% humidity and some heat, take that Deck 7!

The most interesting man in the world....

2010-11-29T15:58:00.000-08:00

While in Compton for jury duty as soon as we were given a morning break I walked across the street to grab some coffee. On my way back I noticed a flier posted on the street light.

Eastside: Atlantis

2010-11-28T23:34:00.000-08:00

When we awoke this morning we found ourselves in beautiful Nassau/Paradise Island.

Our day started with a harbor tour.

Once the boat docked we grabbed a taxi which took us over to Atlantis, an awesome resort with everything you could ever imagine. I found us a wheelchair for the day and off we strolled through the amazing shops (think Vegas) and into the casino where my mom won $133 within minutes. I walked away with a bonus $20 and we called it quits while we were ahead. Then it was off to the underground aquarium.

The coolest thing at the resort! It is a water slide that ends in a shark tank! So AWESOME!

There is a Michael Jackson suite (top right photo the center connector) which costs $25,000 a night and you have to stay a minimum of a week, insane! Cheapest room at the resort runs over $300 a night. The resort is full of beaches, pools, water slides, shops and a casino. You can swim with dolphins, snorkel, explore the aquarium. For more info on Atlantis click here. We had a great day wandering around enjoying the island.

Boxed

2010-11-27T23:14:00.000-08:00

On the way back home the Agadoni's bestowed box upon box to us. All I can say is THANKS, but it doesn't seem big enough.

The Mister and I are so grateful to everyone hooking us up with their unwanted items. Please keep them coming. You are all awesome. We have raised almost $5000 so far!

Santaized

2010-11-26T22:57:00.000-08:00

Black Friday was quite a bit different this year. While I was glad we were able to be inside Walmart for a few hours as it was very chilly last night but I am so not a fan of how it went down. After we enjoyed a delicious Thanksgiving meal with family it was time to head down to SD. There was some traffic coming down that was unexpected.

First up we headed for Old Navy, trying to get a video game. We were unsuccessful but lucky for us they handed out the cards at midnight so we were able to jet over to Walmart once we knew that Old Navy was not going to hook us up. The parking lot was jammed up as they were open all day on Thanksgiving and began some sales at midnight. We were slightly freaked out once in the store looking around at giant and mini lines everywhere.

Finally we found where the line we needed was and were told that the tickets had already been passed out and there were none left. I was bummed but thought I would ask someone else in line and an employee before we stepped out of line. Upon approaching a manager type employee at the front of our mini line and was told in a hushed tone to get back in line and she would be with us in a minute. SWEET! Lucky for us the instructions were for everyone who received a ticket to stay in line, if you left the line for ANY reason you forfeited the item. Bummer for those who stepped out of line but we were able to score a ticket. The store only had 40 in stock, which I think is crazy for a door buster on Black Friday.

So at just after midnight I was handed my ticket for the item and told to stay in line until 2am at that time we would be issued wristbands. Paul went around to try and find the smaller items (DVDs and video games for people on our list) while I hung out in the dog/cat food aisle for a couple hours. After the wristbands were given out we were allowed to roam about the store gathering other items, napping or snagging a bite to eat.

Everyone was warned that they needed to be back in line by 5am or the item would be given to another individual. I did a few laps around the store and hooked up the caffeine before walking back by the area we were lined up in. People were already back in line at 3am! I couldn't believe it we had till 5am. The problem was that there was a blue vs. pink issue and I surely wasn't going to end up with pink after coming that far. I scooped up some magazines and dog beds to cushion my bum then parked myself back in line. 5am rolled around and score got exactly what we were waiting for (glad to be able to help friends out)!

During this time Paul headed down to Target (the other end of the mall) and had to brave the cold cold night (poor Bubba). He was able to score a few more items on our lists and come 530am we were on our way back to Old Navy to pick up some jeans for my mom. Doing all that we could do at that hour it was time to grab some ZZZZZs.

Alarm went off at noon. Grubbed and headed back out with my mom in tow to the mall. Got some more amazing deals and called it a night at 8pm. Now snuggling on the couch relaxing watching the tele.

Thanksgiving 2010

2010-11-25T04:18:00.000-08:00

I find myself being very nostalgic this morning. On my drive home last night I was thinking about my family Thanksgivings and really missing them. Some may call me crazy but I miss having 2 meals in 2 different counties on the same day. Growing up Thanksgiving was always at our house. Robin, Ron, AP, JB and sometimes Jonathan would all come down. Occasionally I also brought along a "stray" friend if they couldn't go home.

I always got up early to help with fixing dinner: turkey, bacon steamed green beans, yams with marshmallows on top, mashed potatoes (with no lumps for JB), stuffing, and pies (pumpkin, pecan and apple). Once the family arrived there would be TD parade and football on the TV, a few rounds of pool in the garage and good conversation. We would also celebrate my Aunts birthday with song and presents as it always falls between a few days before or after TD. After Paul and I tied the knot we hung out in SD and had Thanksgiving with my side of the family and then we would drive up to Alhambra and have Thanksgiving with Paul's side of the family. When Robin got sick and could no longer eat the family meals stopped, I miss them. Hopefully AP and JB will come down again one day to share in our Thanksgiving dinners of old.

One of the best Thanksgivings of my life was in 2005 when Paul and I were flown out to North Carolina to surprise my dad and grandparents. That weekend was amazing, most of it was spent putting together puzzles with my grandparents.

Last year and this (yet) I haven't really felt the spirit of the holidays. So much heartache beat me down that I just couldn't amp myself up to celebrate. I am trying to be thankful for the memories and good times from Thanksgivings past. Robin, Ron, Dad and Grandpa -- you are missed.

It's Coming!

2010-11-24T18:58:00.000-08:00

Black Friday is almost upon us. I must say I am a bit sad as our tradition of bundling up, snuggling under blankets with coffee while doing puzzles or watching movies and sometimes just talking will not happen this year. You see stores have decided to open way earlier this year. I didn't realize how much this would upset me. I love the tradition me and the mister have created for ourselves. Occasionally we have had a friend come along with us for the excitement. I am hoping things go back to normal next year. We will begin our plotting and figure out our strategy the moment those Christmas lists go up on the fridge on Thursday. There are already a few stops we are excited for. This is the big time for us, the one day of the year we go shopping!

Mom : The Update

2010-11-23T20:42:00.000-08:00

A long two weeks after her initial fall my mom finally got her MRI done. They took a look at her shoulder and said she has a torn rotator cuff. She will need to contact an orthopedic surgeon on Friday to make an appointment and find out if this really needs surgery or if PT and time can heal it. She has been released from the nursing facility (thank goodness) and is home. She has a prescription for Norco which is helping her manage the pain.

Eastside: Workout!

2010-11-22T23:36:00.000-08:00

Everyone on the cruise was allotted 1 workout session with Jill. It was definitely the highlight of my trip. I managed to find my way into a couple more. I was able to snatch a spot in the front row during 2 workouts, Jill said that if you couldn't do something due to injury or ability then to just keep moving. During the workout she busted into an advanced Yoga move I decided it was time to dance for the DJ. I busted out The Carlton. Jillian saw me and gave me a nod/laugh "Ha! Nice" along with a thumbs up.

Most of you know that I am an avid BL watcher and have tried to get on the show a few times so being able to be worked out by Jill was awesome. By the end I of course was not sure if I would ever walk up-right again. Each workout was supposed to be 60 min. however one of the nights she didn't have anywhere else to be directly after the workout so she was not limited to that time and as some goofballs complained about one of the exercises well, lets just say the TV Jill came out. It was over 90min straight with no break!

At the end of the workouts she had everyone lay back, palms up, eyes closed. Then she just talked to us, inspirational jargon mostly. It was quite moving though. To just be in that moment, the weather perfect, just having completed an intense workout, hearing exactly the things you needed to. Difficult to describe but quite amazing!

Eastside : Island Time

2010-11-21T17:16:00.000-08:00

Leaving the boat and heading to Island Paradise

Our first stop in the Bahamas was Great Stirrup Cay, a small private island.

View of the ship from the shore

Relaxin after workin and before playin

My view from the hammock

There was a giant slide, beach volleyball, parasailing, wave runners and other activities, unlimited BBQ and drinks along with some great musical entertainment.

It was a first for me to ride these out in the open water. The views were quite amazing.

Some more firsts : holding a starfish, conch and sea cucumber

Missy Higgins

Kickin it with the homie

A crazy storm blew in during the mid-afternoon so we decided to head back to the ship.

View of the Great Stirrup Cay from the boat

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times...

2010-11-20T12:38:00.001-08:00

We'll expand on this more later, but we'll be attending both a wedding and a funeral this afternoon. Prayers for all families involved would be appreciated....

Eastside : Wellness

2010-11-19T22:54:00.000-08:00

This amazing cruise I got to take in celebration of my 30th year of life was a Wellness Cruise. Which means a lot of the "regular" cruise things were changed up a bit. To begin with Jill's entourage was on board. The ship still had food available 24 hours a day but the choices were for the most part healthier and all of the nutritional info was on the menu so that you could make informed decisions as to what you were eating when.

Dr. Van Herle - Did health screenings and seminars on a variety of topics

Paige Padgett - Jill's personal hair/make-up artist, she did seminars on beauty products and makeovers.

A slew of trainers (Steve Lee, Heidi Rhoades, Marco Borges, Jeanette Jenkins, Basheerah Ahmad) who did all kinds of group workouts (yoga, spin, synergy, boot camps, kickboxing, water) and seminars.

Three families that were on Jill's new show "Losing It" did a Q & A

Jo Ann McKarus (aka Jill's mom) - A therapist gave seminars on mental wellness.

Deck wars which included basketball tournaments, push-up contests, dance contest, belly flop contest, men's wet t-shirt contest, cannonball contest, a sweat station (prove you worked out and earn points for your team), and laps for tokens (earn a token for each lap you complete on deck 7).

Devin Alexander was on board to give cooking demonstrations.

Of course in addition to all of this awesomeness Jill also had two comedians aboard, DJs ( Frankie Needles and Jenna Brown), some musical talent (Michael Tolcher, Missy Higgins and Yacht Rock Revue).

Blog-cation over?

2010-11-18T22:32:00.000-08:00

If anyone has been paying attention, you may have noticed that it's been quite a while since I've posted on here. I know it's been at least a year. Could be two. I'm sure the Mrs knows exactly how long because the topic has been brought up on occasion. At the moment I'm too lazy to look it up....and I'm ok with that. I think part of the reason it's been so long is that once I got out of the habit it didn't seem like a good time to post again unless I had something really cool to post. A Zab style post that would get lots of comments. I will tell you right now this is not that post. It does have a funny story coming up, but really the reason I am posting is that Cyndi didn't do it earlier and is driving home from Sandy Eggo so I didn't want the NaBloPoMo posting streak to end.

The funny story? Ah yes. So Wednesdays at work mean team meetings. It's the only day of the week that everyone in every department works. So most of us do our team meetings in our various offices when the kids go back to school for the afternoon.

This week while we were going over our business, both speaker phones in our office came on. Apparently someone in our health office accidentally pushed the button marked "Conference" on their phone. I always wondered what that button did. Now I know. It makes your phone into an intercom so you can broadcast to every single phone on campus. The best part was that just after the button was pushed, one of their staff began questioning whether or not penises could fall asleep like legs or arms do. A lengthy debate continued for every administrator, office, and yes, classroom to hear until finally someone tracked down where they were meeting and pulled the plug on the phone. Luckily for one person, they did not broadcast the name of whoever was complaining of such a thing. That would not have ended well.

So there you go. Is my blog-cation really over? Time will tell.

Eastside : On the Sea

2010-11-17T14:42:00.000-08:00

Every night there was a different theme on the cruise, I am not into going over the top for these sorts of things but I did want to participate.

80's night

Team Color night

Halloween

Eastside Day 6

2010-11-16T14:31:00.000-08:00

October 21st

All Aboard!

View of Miami from the ship.

Quick get together for a group shot.

Jill & me

Eastside Day 5

2010-11-15T21:42:00.000-08:00

October 20th

Epcot!

We hit every ride in the entire park.

My favorite ever (when I was 7 and now) is Figment!

Goofing off in the different countries.

There were tons of cool bands playing in the different lands of the park.

Last stop of the night Nemo! What is super cool about this is they have an aquarium after you get off the ride with all the different fish that are depicted in the movie.

After a full day of fun we left & began our LONG drive down to Miami.

Eastside Day 4

2010-11-14T19:01:00.000-08:00

October 19th

Enjoyed another delightful FREE breakfast and then headed out to find some fun for the day. Slots were calling my moms name so we hit up
Hard Rock Hotel and Casino.

Then did a little shopping at a nearby mall.
We took a scenic route up through Floral City.

The day flew by and it was quickly time to head back to Brooksville for dinner.

Tonight was the Texas Roadhouse Grill ( I think it may be related to The Roadhouse Grill out in CA).

The time we had to spend in Brooksville went by so fast and it was time to say "see ya later" to Wayne. After saying goodbye and filling up the gas tank we made the trek over to Orlando to find a place to rest our heads.

Eastside Day 3

2010-11-13T22:44:00.000-08:00

October 18th

After a delicious FREE breakfast at the hotel my mom and I got ourselves ready to go exploring. We took a drive down to Tampa, we winded our way along the coastline. I stopped a few times along the way to snap some photos at a park and of the coastline.

We headed back to downtown Tampa to walk around and hit up the aquarium.

Before we knew it the time to head back to Brooksville was upon us. Once Wayne got off work we picked him up and went to see a movie, Wall Street. Wayne even bought us our movie treats, such a treat! Of course it was past all of our bedtimes so we dropped Wayne off and headed back to the hotel for the evening.

Eastside Day 1 & 2

2010-11-12T19:36:00.000-08:00

October 16th

There was much furious packing all morning. Around 10am Erin came to take us to the airport. We spent ALL day on the plane. My mother and I arrived in Tampa around 11pm and grabbed a taxi over to our hotel.

No real food had been consumed in many hours so we decided to find a place to eat. Since we were only going to be in Tampa one night and got in so late it would have been silly to pay for an extra day on a rental car which meant we needed to find somewhere we could walk to. Lucky for us there was a Waffle House just down the road! Breakfast for dinner was delicious. Very soon after that it was time for bed.

October 17th

First thing we caught a shuttle ride back to the airport and picked up our rental car. Then picked up some coffee and headed for Wayne's house in Brooksville. Wayne had not gotten my mom's postcard so he was quite confused, shocked and surprised when he saw us. The three of us caught up for a little while and then made plans to have dinner together. My mom and I went to find a hotel in Brooksville for a couple days. The hotel was very nice, free breakfast and internet! After resting for an hour we headed back to Wayne's and headed over to Outback Steakhouse.

We dropped Wayne back off at home for the evening and then hung out at our hotel for the rest of the night.

Boo!

2010-11-11T22:06:00.000-08:00

This Halloween was very low key for us. We had a relaxing morning watching football, carving pumpkins and baking seeds. It was Gizmo's first pumpkin carving experience, we think he enjoyed it.

Paul created Grandpa and I carved Animal.

Yummy!

In the evening we headed up to Alhambra,
we were treated to some delicious pizza.

Back in Black (and Purple)

2010-11-10T16:57:00.000-08:00

The Prices and us have been talking about going to Frozen Fury for a few years now but never got it together to actually go. Well it finally happened, with the aide of a free hotel room at The Orleans and Jeric treating us to the hockey game. We had a great time!

Kings poker tournament.

Enjoying some bowling, ignore the misters sad face it's because I won.

Players walking in before game time

Roar!

Hockey Time!

Enjoying the strip after the game.

Speechless

2010-11-09T00:48:00.000-08:00

Tim Drake on Tweeting about Abortions --
"Just when you think you’ve seen it all, the Culture of Death rears another of its many ugly heads.

Those who brought us the “I Had an Abortion” T-shirts and other abortion-wear, are now proudly tweeting about their actions on Twitter.

Salonr reported on the online campaign, which started last Wednesday. Women, using the hashtag #ihadanabortion, began boasting that they, too, had ended the life of their unborn children. Organizers say that the reason for the campaign is to “promote empowerment and take the ‘stigma’ out of abortion.”

It’s not the first time a woman has taken to the Internet to share what she’s done to her unborn child.

Last February, Angie Jackson, took to Twitter to live-tweet her abortion after taking the abortion-inducing drug RU-486.

“It’s not that bad, it’s not that scary,” wrote Jackson. “It’s basically like a miscarriage.”

Salon writer Tracy Clark-Flory compared Jackson’s efforts to that of watching a medical procedure online for having a tooth extracted.

Flory described the #IHADANABORTION campaign as a “part of a long tradition of feminist consciousness-raising.”

“I’m not sorry. I’ve never been sorry. I will never be sorry,” wrote one tweeter.

“Yep, #IHADANABORTION..more than one, now that I am ready I am now 7 months pregnant w/ my 2nd child…my body, my decision!” wrote another.

Has life become so trivialized that women can so callously talk with pride of killing their unborn son or daughter? What’s next? Online videos of women’s babies being aborted?

Lori Ziganto, writing over at the NewsRealBlog, offers a great perspective on the campaign.

Not only does such a campaign trivialize life, but it also ignores the very real experiences of so many other women, and men, who have been traumatized by their decision to have an abortion, women routinely seen on the television show “Faces of Abortion.” Women like Carla, (in the video) who are not only sorry for the decision they made, but also unable to forget what they’ve done, and the thousands of women who’ve gone through post-abortion retreats through Rachel’s Vineyard.

The #IHADANABORTION campaign is a sad commentary on where we’ve come as a nation."

The One about the Mother and the Hospital

2010-11-08T10:54:00.000-08:00

Very early on Friday morning the 5th my mother woke and needed to get up for something. It was 3am and no one is quite sure what happened next only that she fell and hurt herself. She was able to call the neighbors for help but they were having trouble understanding her. They came down to the house and decided she needed an ambulance to take her to the hospital.

She was admitted around 5am. As my phone sometimes delays calls, messages and texts I didn't get the call around 4am from the neighbors until 8am. She was getting xrays on her chest, ankle and shoulder as well as having blood work done. The x-rays came back okay but she couldn't bear any weight on her feet and couldn't move her right arm without excruciating pain. The blood work came back with a high white cell count (usually caused by infection or inflammation). So they kept her there and repeated the test many, many hours later. Her white cell count was still high which meant that they couldn't transfer her to a nursing facility. My mother also had a very fast and irregular heart rate. The docs have been monitoring it quite closely and adjusted her meds so that it should help keep it down.

Finally on Sunday evening about 6pm she was cleared to go to a nursing facility and they were able to find a bed for her at one near the house. She was given a wheel chair transport while I got in my car and met them over there. It took a couple hours to get her settled into the new facility as the aides needed to go over why she was there, all of her meds etc. About 830p she was comfortable, loaded up on pain meds and I turned on her tele so that at 9 she could watch Desperate Housewives and I took off for the night.

Today she should be seen by a Dr., Physical and Occupational Therapist and I should have a better idea as to how long she will have to be in the nursing home.

Please pray that she has quick healing, and is back to being her old independent self. It is hard to see her in a facility like this. I cannot bear the thoughts that pop into my head as the two closest remaining relatives I have are both in nursing homes right now.