wow. the year is done. and i have not been here.

i have one more week until this year is over.
i have not even been here for a month.
i will be out for the next week and unavailable to blog.
so i will try....try....to come back full time starting in january.
but not the first.
or the second.
maybe the second.
:-)
HAVE A FUN AND SAFE NEW YEAR!

It's a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood.....

It's GORGEOUS out today :-)

Hope your day will be as nice as mine!

Halloween Fright......Late at Night......

Had the crap scared out of me last night.
Robert and I were sound asleep, when we were both woke up by the doorbell.
It was 12:36am.
We both sat up and he said "Was that the doorbell?"
"Yes."
We jumped out of bed. The cats, I think, were already in a panic and were hiding.
I immediately freak out thinking its cops.
Because at our house, we know first hand that doorbells in the middle of the night do not bring good news.
But then I calmed down.
I remembered that it was Halloween night and figured that it was kids playing Ding Dong Ditch.
Robert went to the front door to look out the window.
I went into Katie's old room to look out her window.
I should have seen a flaming bag-o-poo.
But instead......
I saw a cop.
Standing at the front door.
Flashlight in hand.
Not just any old cop, but a huge one.
I freaked and yelled to Robert "IT'S A COP!"
I turned around to head out to the living room when I noticed that the light from a flashlight shone into the room, but I kept going.
Robert opened the door and I stopped in the hall to listen.
Just like I did when they came 12 years ago.
I didn't know what he was going to say.
I wasn't even sure I wanted to hear it.
But there I stood.
Frozen in the hall, frozen in my memories.
He said something like this....
"Sir, I'm sorry to have woken you up, but I saw a young man come from your backyard and I wanted to make sure that you do not have a teen living here, or in one of your neighboring houses."
**exhale**
I was so relieved to hear that was why he was at the door.
But then, of course, I panicked thinking that someone had been trying to break into the house.
The cop was telling Robert that he thinks the guy was car prowling, and asked if the truck was locked, which it was.
The cop went over and checked the truck.
That is when I noticed the second cop, on the sidewalk, all in dark clothes, with a K9.
A big dark German Sheppard.
I went around back to see if there were wet footprints by the kitchen door and the sliding glass door.
Nope.
So that means the guy didn't come up on the deck.
Thank god for that.
Robert talked to the cop a little longer.
Apparently the officer was sitting in his parked car, somewhere either on our road or very near, when he saw a guy dressed in a dark hoodie, dark pants, with a backpack, come out of either our backyard, driveway, or the neighbors yard or driveway.
They were looking for him, and wanted to make sure that he did not in fact belong to our house.
He did not.
So they spent an hour or so in our neighborhood looking for him.
I have no idea if they found him.
I ended up awake for a few hours.
durrr.....
The one kinda funny thing about this....
Robert opened the door and stood there talking to the cop wearing only a pair of tie-dyed jammie bottoms :-)
What a hippie :-)

Today I Will Wear PURPLE......

And this is why.....

What is Spirit Day?

The idea behind Spirit Day, first created by teenager Brittany McMillan earlier this month, is a simple one, not dissimilar to the idea of "Spirit Week" held in many high schools, and can be summed up in three words: Everyone Rally Together.

Spirit Day honors the teenagers who had taken their own lives in recent weeks. But just as importantly, it's also a way to show the hundreds of thousands of LGBT youth who face the same pressures and bullying, that there is a vast community of people who support them.

Purple symbolizes 'spirit' on the rainbow flag,

a symbol for LGBT Pride that was created by Gilbert Baker in 1978.

As one of the event's Facebook pages says: "This event is not a seminar nor is it a rally. There is NO meeting place. All you have to do is wear purple."

Wearing purple on October 20 is a simple way to show the world that you stand by these courageous young people and a simple way to stand UP to the bullies. Remember those lives we've tragically lost, and show your solidarity with those who are still fighting. 'Go Purple' today!

http://glaad.org/spiritday

So today I wear Purple.
Here are a few "purple" pictures that I have taken.
And a special one with a message from me.....

Today I am wearing purple.
Be kind...
Peace

Fall is Here....

It's a beautiful day!

A little cold this morning, but the sun is out.

I had to stop and take a picture of these trees.

So beautiful :-)

SO.......On the first weekend of October, my sister and I took our mom to Leavenworth for her 70th Birthday. We asked her what she would like to do, and that is what she chose. It's a long drive, 5-1/2 hours, but worth it. Leavenworth is such a fun Bavarian themed town. We had a really nice weekend. Stayed at a hotel that has a "special" room. They bought an old church and moved it to their lot and turned it into a private room.

We only had someone try to come in twice! Once when the door was locked and then when we were preparing to leave on Sunday, someone walked up and looked in the door. When they saw us in there, the hurried and left. I can't believe that people were actually trying to open the door when it was closed. There is a sign right there on the door that says that it is a private room and to go to the front desk to inquire about staying there. But no....people still have to try to come in. On the way out of town, we stopped at a really nice orchard and took all kinds of pictures and shopped in their store. I bought some really tasty vegi chips. The drive home was long, but we were making good time. We stopped at the replica of Stonehenge in Goldendale in the gorge and took some pictures. We decided to cross the river at Biggs and go home via I-84 in Oregon instead of the longer drive along SR14 in Washington. Good thing. The truck broke down. We were so lucky that it broke down where it did. We were in Portland and right at the split where you either go south on I-84 or merge onto I-205 north to head back to Washington. I was driving along in the center lane watching for the split to 205 when I felt something in the steering wheel. It felt tight all of a sudden. I tested it a little in the lane, trying to move it slightly, but it wouldn't. I had no steering. I was thinking that I needed an exit and that I had to call Katie, who was driving in her car in front of me. But how was I going to call her and keep my hands on the steering wheel? I was afraid to let go of it. Just then my cell phone rang. I grabbed it without even looking to see who it was and handed it to my sister in the back seat and told her "It's Katie. Tell her I need to take the next exit." It was Katie. She was calling to tell me that I was dragging something. Unfortunately, there was no exit at that portion of the freeway, so I had to just pull over to the side of the road. Which was pretty difficult. I had no steering and brakes. I had to push really hard on the steering wheel to be able to switch lanes, and press down hard on the brakes. I think the cars behind me knew something was wrong because they all slowed down and backed off. Katie and I got out to look at the truck. Water was pouring out and something was hanging down underneath the engine. It was a belt.

So I wasn't dragging anything, the belt had fallen off and was hanging there. (Robert thinks the cars behind me could see the water pouring out and that's why they backed off) I called Robert and he started researching where the closest Dodge dealer was. We decided to take it to the one in Gresham. I didn't want everyone else staying on the side of the freeway with me. It's so unsafe. I will risk my own life being there, but not everyone elses. So Katie loaded everything that she could into her car, and took mom, Terri and Missy with her. Robert headed out to come get me. I called AAA and asked for a tow, and then sat there and waited. And tried not to panic because of the cars and semi's whizzing past me. I had things going through my head like "Where is the best place to be in the truck in case someone rear ends me going 60 mph?" I decided to stay in the drivers seat with my seat belt on, but moved the seat back away from the steering wheel and the air bag. I didn't want the whole force of the airbag to hit me square in the face! I was sitting there, waiting for my tow, going over my conversation with AAA in my mind, when I suddenly realized that I told them I was sitting on the freeway EAST bound on I-84, when I was actually WEST bound! Oooooopsies..... I called them back and told them about my mistake. She said that they would call a different truck to come assist me since the other one was headed the wrong way. My bad. Robert showed up about then and we loaded all that we could into the Miata. Only had to leave the cooler and 2 bags of board games in the truck. The tow truck arrived and he told told us that it looked like the water pump went out and that caused the belt to fall off.

Now this truck in only 4 years old, and this is the second water pump to go out! WTS? Something is definitely wrong with the pumps they are using. Fortunately it was covered under the warranty, and the truck was repaired at no cost. We only had it in the shop for 2 days. Good thing, because we were going camping that next weekend. There are so many things that could have been really horrible with this breakdown.

1. It could have happened in some podunk Eastern Washington town with no cell coverage.

2. It could have happened hours away from home.

3. It could have happened on the hills in Eastern Washington between Ellensburg and Yakima. HUGE HILLS!!!!! That was the only time I got choked up over this. Saying something to Robert about "What if this had happened on the hills? I wouldn't have been able to stop or steer the truck from going over the side of the cliff."

4. It could have happened on SR14 if we had not made the decision to go I-84. SR-14 has a section of very narrow lanes near cliffs overlooking the Columbia River Gorge.

5. It could have happened the next weekend when we were pulling the trailer.

I know you should never play the "What If...." game. But I did. I don't know if that is my way of preparing myself for the "What If's..." the next time something like this happens or what. But I will go through all the other scenarios of what could have happened and what I would have done in those cases.

Lets just hope that it won't come to that :-)

well....ok...i can handle this....

the miata got hit.
again.
this is the third time.
do people not look around when they are driving?
what is up with that.
its like once they got their drivers license, all common sense went out the window.
here is a tip for driving....
DRIVE DEFENSIVELY!
you should always pay attention to your surroundings.
last friday i decided to go get a burger for lunch. i have not been eating crap like that for a while, and it sounded good. and i was hungry. and there was nothing in the house. how convenient :-)
burgerville is close, so i went there. for those of you not from our area, burgerville is nationally ranked for their burgers because they use local, fresh products. they are kinda spendy for fast food. growing up we called their burgers *shit burgers*. not because they were shit, but because they used a special sauce that made the burgers kinda sloppy. but oh so yummy! these are just the regular ol little burgers, not their newer big ones like the tillamook cheeseburger. i skip those. way too big. they do have a yummy turkey/bacon sandwich on a wheat roll that is really good too. anyway.....i pulled into the drive thru and it was backed up. there were about 5 cars still to place their orders. i was sitting there for only about 2 minutes or so, when i see the big bronco in front of me start backing up. backing up fast! all i could see were his tail lights! i honked but too late. he smacked into me. who the hell backs up in a drive thru? if you pull into the drive thru you are committed to go through! we got out of our vehicles, saw that his big steel bumper put a dent in the front of the car, so we pulled over into the lot. i got his info, shook his hand and told him that it was alright and we would get everything taken care of. he half jokingly said "its not alright. i just insured this truck this morning now i gotta pay to fix that." well dumbass....guess you shouldn't have backed up in the drive thru! i called his insurance and now i just need to get the quote.
we have been hit so many times.
in different cars that we have owned.
the first time was the ford escort. robert was at work and someone didn't set their break. their unoccupied vehicle rolled and crashed into our car.
#2 - ford probe. i was in the car and there was a long line of cars sitting at the light. i was going to turn left. i was driving slowly in the turn lane past the stopped cars when a guy decided to pull out the the line of stopped cars. he crashed into the back right side of the my car. idiot.
#3 - nissan pathfinder. this one was a 50/50 fault. me again. i was on my way home and got to an intersection that has a no stop right hand turn, into your own lane. then you would need to merge over. an old lady was in a station wagon in front of me. we were taking the turn slow. i turned my head to look to the left to see if anyone was coming so that i could merge left, when bam. i hit her. she had made her turn and then stopped instead of continuing in her lane. we were both covered by the same insurance company, so we were found 50/50 at fault. her for stopping when she didn't need to, me for following to close and not paying attention to her. ooopsie.
#4 - nissan pathfinder again. it was roberts 30th birthday. we were headed to portland to pick up food for his party. traffic was stopped on the freeway, so we had to stop. all of a sudden robert goes "HOLD ON!" . BAM! we got hit. i think it was a woman. don't remember. she was not paying attention to the traffic. she must have started to break because the damage was just a dent in the bumper. we didn't even get it fixed. we bought new tires. needed those more.
#5 - miata - this was the first time the miata was hit. robert and someone from work, ken or someone, were sitting at a stoplight when they were rearended. big booboo. kid was insured on his parents policy. car was fixed up nice.
#6 - miata again. i was in the downtown parking garage because i went to a movie with mom. when we came out, some had turned into the parking spot next to me, hit the car, put a huge dent in the rear side panel, and took off. jerks. since they left the scene we had to pay our deductible as if we had been hit by an uninsured motorist. not fair. but we got it fixed.
#7 - dodge ram truck. this was a scary one. robert was leaving his office in portland. i think it was dark and raining, or at least it was dark. some woman tried to beat the traffic in the intersection and turned in front of robert who was going through. she was going super fast. her car was totaled and the truck was damaged quite a bit on the front left side. if he had been in the miata instead of the truck that night, he may not have walked away from that crash. where she hit the truck, that would have been the driverside door of the miata. she would have gone right into him. that one scared me.
#8 - back to friday and the miata.
eight times we have been hit. 7 were somewhat minor. one bad. but in all of them, no one was hurt other than a stiff back from a couple of them.
guess you can say that we are lucky in that sense!

happenings since the last time....

lets see.....

last i was here was aug 18.

since then lets see what has happened.....

nothing on the 19th.

the 20th was my 27th anniversary! we celebrated w/friends and fake journey.

since the real journey is in the studio, we went with beth & les, tim & sandy and katie & mara to see a journey tribute band. what a fiasco. the doors opened at 7pm. we got there about that time, and almost all of the tables were taken. mostly by one person holding the entire table for 12 for other people. we were getting a little pissed. have your whole party there, or most of them. not one stinking person. we finally found a table with only 4 people at it that was NOT being held for more! so we sat with them. the music didn't even start until something like 9. maybe later. i don't remember now. but mara and katie both had to leave before the journey tribute band came on. and that was the only reason we went. they finally came on at 10:30 and played until midnight. they were ok. it was just nice to hear the songs.

on the 21st, robert and i went to see american idol. i have to admit it, but they were not good. at all. boring song selections. boring performances. we only went because it was free. i sat there the entire show waiting for crystal bowersox and lee dewyze. crystal was the only one who was good. lee.....sucked. i was so disappointed. maybe his voice was off because of the long tour. but he was not good. at all. so sad.

on the 22nd we went to a classic car show that was being held down here on officers row. really fun! some of the cars were very cool. there was a car here worth $600,000 and one that was worth $2,000,000! it was a hemi cuda. not my favorite car. it was orange and kind of like a muscle type car. i think it was a 1970. it was a very rare car though, so that is why it was worth so much. my favorites are the british cars....the mg's and the austin healey's. love love love those!

my favorite austin healey

had a massage on the 26th. have to skip next month though....ummmm..that would be THIS month :-) we need to make the catering deposit for katie's wedding this month, so no massage.

went camping in the cascades on the 27th, 28th and 29th with scott and jody. fun times! got a few laughs in at robert's expense, which is usually how it goes. this time it involved fire, melted marshmallow, a napkin and both hands. i think you get the picture :-)

kite surfing in stevenson, wa

and now we are at this past weekend. spent saturday making cards while robert was out doing yard work with our rent-a-son colton. they got so much done, including removing many blackberry vines and an approx 10 year old fir tree growing between the fence and some bushes. it was crazy huge. you don't realize how big something is until you get in there and take a good look. it was big. on sunday, katie and tim brought over salmon and we cooked that on a cedar plank. i'm not a big fan of salmon, but it was good.

rent-a-son colton

that's a big tree

grilled salmon on a cedar plank

and here we are at today.

consider yourself caught up :-)

someone left their heart in San Francisco.......

Robert, Bryan and I took Celina down to San Francisco this past weekend. She will be there for 8 months to a year going to Grad School. Smarty pants. We drove her down along with the few belongings she took with her. Poor Bryan kept getting disappointed the more she pulled stuff out of boxes...."You took Lord of the Rings?" "You took Harry Potter?" He was more concerned about the movies then her living away from him! He was just kidding with her. He would say something and she would get upset and say "You said I could take it!" It was funny. We unloaded all of her stuff from the truck Friday and she and Bryan put together the futon bed that night. Then we walked around her neighborhood trying to find a place to eat. Saturday we went back to her apartment and they put together her dresser and bookcase. After that we decided to go down to the pier for lunch. They figured out where to wait for a cable car, and we walked a couple blocks and waited. And waited. And waited. Finally one came. And it was full. He said there was another one right behind him. So we waited. And waited. And waited. And then it came. And it was full. So we decided to take the bus. We crossed the street to wait for the bus. Now while we were waiting for the cable car, 3 or 4 buses had come by. Now we were waiting for a bus. And a cable car came. But it was full. Still no bus. Lots of taxi's though. Robert wanted to take a cab. I hate cabs. We decided to walk down. I suggested that we just follow the cable car tracks. So we did. There were a lot of hills. Not very many were up hill though, so it was not a bad walk. We got down to the pier, had chowder and sour dough bread for lunch, then walked down to the Boudin bread store and then back over to Ghirardelli for chocolate. The plan was to take the cable car back up to Celina's neighborhood. But it was going to be a 2 hour wait. Robert and Bryan got in line and Celina and I sat in the park. After several minutes, I thought that we should have bought the tickets to ride the cable car already, so I asked Celina to say something to the boys. They both decided they didn't want to wait 2 hours, so Bryan called a cab. Bleck. But it was actually a great idea. The cab showed up within minutes, took all four of us back to Celina's super fast and it was only $6.00. The cable car was $5.00 per person. I insisted on buying Celina groceries before we left. I was not going to leave without her having food and cleaning supplies. Good thing we did it when we were all there because she would have had to walk a couple blocks up hill with all that stuff by herself. We left early evening so that Bryan and Celina could spend some time together. Then Sunday morning we went back to get the empty suitcases and large cardboard that we told her we would take back for her...and Bryan. Robert stayed with the truck to load stuff in back that Bryan and I brought down. Then I went up to hug her and say goodbye and quickly left before I started to cry. I sent Robert up to say goodbye and he came back down a few minutes later and said "Thanks for sending me up there when she is bawling her eyes out." Which is what I was trying to avoid myself, but didn't even think he would have to see. I felt so bad leaving her there, but I know it is the best thing for her to do to finish school. It will all be good. Hopefully for Bryan and Celina it will go fast. They already have plans for when she is going to Seattle and for when Bryan is going back down there.
And they always have text messaging.

come on stephenie meyer....make this happen!

i was reading an interview on eonline with jackson rathbone (jasper in twilight) and he was saying that he wants to do a twighlight origins type movie showing how jasper came to be a vampire and what he did until he hooked up with the cullens. i would love for stephenie meyer to write books about all of the cullens and their lives up until they became a cullen. i know she touched on all of their stories in the original books, but i want an entire book devoted to each of the characters telling their stories before they became a vampire and what happened afterwards. i'm just not ready to give this story line up yet. i love the movies, even though i think most of the acting is horribly cheesy. but i really really love the books. i need to read them all over again.
would you want to read the backgrounds of all of the cullens?

august randomness......

have not blogged in a week.
guess you will just have to forgive me :-)
the cool weather we have been having lately is perfect.
trying to get some friends to join us for a night of journey tribute music on our 27th anniversary on the 20th.
wanna go???
i'm hungry.
kinda want chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting.
someone at work was talking about her drive through the rockies last week.
makes me want to go.
i have been sitting here for several minutes trying to figure out what to say next.
i got a weird message on facebook from some beef cake saying he wanted to meet/talk to me because he was looking for a husband.
wts?
do i look like a guy?
now i really want some of that cake.
not beef cake.
the choco cake w/pb frosting.
that one.
not the weirdo who thinks i would make a great husband.
i wouldn't.
i gots the wrong parts.
someone just gave me a peach.
it smells yummy.
will eat it for lunch.
i'm still hungry.
are you bored yet?

good thing i'm walking tonight.....

when i came back from lunch this afternoon

this was waiting for me on my desk.....

hmmmmm....wonder what could be inside.....

O.M.G!!!!!!!!

a chocolate cup with mousse and berries!

YUMMMMMMM.......

one of the agents, kalani, asked me on her way out to lunch if she could bring me back anything. I told her no thank you, and she said "I will bring you back some dessert!" and promptly went out the door! she is the sweetest ever :-) this is not the first time she has brought us back goodies. she has given us cookies and gift certificates before.

good thing i'm walking tonight......

keeping my art to myself.....

we have decided to not enter the fair this year.
i was so ticked at them last year for using a judge who was not even familiar with the different card making techniques, that i have decided to take a break this year.
as for photos, neither of us have taken a picture of anything that we feel was unique enough to enter.
so we will go friday and look at the photos my sister and niece entered.
and i will go look at the cards and say to myself "i make better cards than THAT!"
which is totally catty, but i will do anyway :-)
friday nights free show will be medieval jousting!
i'm so excited to see that!
knights from the round table riding horses and knocking each other off into the dirt.....
my kind of entertainment!
will have robert take pictures :-)

dreaming of weddings......

oiy....
it has started.
i dreamed about katie's wedding last night.
i actually think this is the second time i have dreamed about the wedding.
last night the dream was about her dress.
and the reception.
i'm pretty sure i dreamed about the dress because at lunch yesterday, katie brought her printouts of the dresses she wants to look at.
a lot of dresses!
i told her it was like when robert and i were looking at trailers.
after a while they all start to look the same, and you can't remember which one you liked.
so in my dream we were at the wedding and katie went to put her dress on.
she came out in this gold dress with burgundy colored beads on it.
on one shoulder were fabric flowers that came down the shoulder and then across to the front of the dress.
but the best part was there was burgundy colored material draped from the other shoulder and it wrapped around the full length of the dress all the way to the bottom.
and the very bottom of the dress ballooned out.
at one point she opened the burgundy material and had it draped over her shoulder like a cape.
it was uggglyyy.
i have been trying really hard not to influence katie on her dress choice.
it's her wedding, her dress.
oh i will give her my opinion you can be sure of that....
but the final choice is hers.
i just hope it doesn't look like that one!
back to the dream....
one of the agents here at work was in the dream, and she looked at me and said "what was she thinking?" to which i answered "i have no idea".
then i started panicking about the number of people there for the reception.
i was only counting 30 people.
we are paying for a minimum 125.
and i didn't recognize most of the people.
i was looking around for my friend jenny, and she was not there.
i was thinking i should start calling people and asking if they were still coming, but felt like i shouldn't do that.
it seemed like if i did that it would be like begging.
i don't remember any more.
i wonder how many more of these dreams i can look forward to in the next year?

it was a jeremiah johnson weekend.....

Went camping this weekend with some of the same people from the February beach campout.

This time though, we went to Eastern Washington and camped below Mt Adams.

Robert took this photo from behind the campsites at the back of the park. So if you have one of the back spaces, this is your view from your trailer. Is that gorgeous or what?! I can't even begin to describe how close you are to that mountain. It really feels like you are camping at the foot of it. It's huge!

We couldn't see the mountain from our space because of all of the trees, but all we had to do was walk a couple spaces down and there it was. There is a really good trail that you can take down to Trout Lake. Or what is left of Trout Lake. They are letting it stay natural, so the sediment from the mountain and the grasses are closing it in. There is still a stream and some lake, but I think it was quite a bit bigger many years ago.

We took the trail all the way towards town, and then followed the road in. There was a cute country store there and the Community Hall was having a Saturday Market. I never did make it over. Cheryl and Jill did though. They said there were some quilts, but other than that, it was kinda small.

Then we went back to the campsite and had Art & Crafts Day thanks to Charlie and Cheryl!

That kept us busy for a couple of hours :-)

Some of us made dream catchers, and others made feathers and beads to hang from....well whatever they decided to hang them from! Robert, Kevin, and Charlie all had them hanging from their glasses. Then Robert moved his to his hat. Jill hung hers from her hair. Jody made one to hang from Scott's walking stick, and Scott made a little one for Travel Bear. Bet you want to know who Travel Bear is! Scott and Jody have a Build-A-Bear that they made. He wears hiking boots, a fishing hat, and has a backpack. They have filled the hat with pins from all the places they have gone with the trailer. Now he has a feather w/beads from Mt Adams :-)

After Arts & Crafts were over, Scott & Jody made Ponderosa Poppers. Yummmmm! Scott first made these for us last year when we camped in Idaho at the Ponderosa State Park. Jalapeno peppers filled with Mediterranean feta cheese with shrimp wrapped in bacon then grilled on the bbq. So freaking good! Poor Robert and Jody both ended up with one that had a seed still in there and fried their mouths. Glad it wasn't me :-)

And then since we were FAMISHED because of the LACK of FOOD (inside joke. we do nothing but eat on these trips) Charlie & Cheryl made Buffalo Roast w/potatoes and carrots, corn-on-the-cob, rolls and salad.

Here it is starting to cook.

I love buffalo! It's really quite tasty! Robert didn't get a picture of that nights dessert. Jill had made super yummy cherry cake. Friday night though, Scott & Jody made pineapple upside down cake over the grill in a dutch oven. So gooood :-)
We ended Saturday night with Movie Night at the campfire. It was a special showing of.......

JEREMIAH JOHNSON!

When we last camped with this group, we had an hours long conversation about the movie Jeremiah Johnson. Turns out that Kevin & Jill and Robert & I were the ones to have never seen this movie. Scott & Jody and Charlie & Cheryl watch it ever year. Several times a year! And I think Jerry & Debra (who couldn't make this trip) had also seen the movie. By the time we went on this trip, Kevin & Jill watched the movie. So now it was just down to Robert & I being the JJ virgins. So we all sat in our chairs around the campfire, drinks in hand, and watched Robert Redford shoot elk and deer and skin bears and trap beavers and fight wolves and indians and talk to guys buried up to their necks with their horse buried beneath them. It was funny just because Charlie, Scott and Jody knew every word....EVERY WORD....of this movie!

All in all.....it was another success campout :-)

and so it has begun......

dresses.
wedding dresses.
katie and i have sipped from the kool-aid filled champagne flutes.
she tried on some dresses last week.
and i loved every minute of it.
looking through the garment bags filled with satin, lace, taffeta and organza.
the many oooooooo's, ahhhhhhhh's, hrmmmmm's and ack-what-were-they-thinking's.
it was all spur of the moment.
katie showed up at the house right after i had gotten home from seeing an early movie.
i had found out that the local wedding venue also had a dress shop, and they carried her favorite designer.
i asked her if she wanted to swing by and scout out the prices.
of course she had just come from work and was not "dressed" properly, in her opinion.
so we stopped by kohls and spent a little money.
and then she went out to the truck in the parking lot and prompted changed her top right there.
whipped that shirt right off.
kids.
we headed on over to the dress shop with the idea that we were just going to take a look at the maggie sottero dresses and see what the prices were like.
when we arrived we were asked if there was anything we could be helped with and i said we were there to look at the maggie sottero dresses.
a very nice lady asked us if we knew which style and i remembered the name of one, the megan. she pointed us in the direction of the sizes for katie to look at, and she said she would see if they had that dress.
next thing we know she is unzipping a bag and pulling the dress out asking us if she could start a room.
katie looked at me all wide-eyed....TRY ON??? I GET TO TRY ON????
**yes katie you did look like that**
we were all excited and looked around for a few others to try on.
we found 2 that were on katie's list of dresses that she had seen on the website and wanted to try on.
and then we picked out a couple other ones.
she tried on the megan first, then the ellen and the karina royale.
the first time she came out...it just kinda takes your breath away.
i thought she looked amazing in all of them.
i think she tried on a total of five dresses.
but the one that day that really stood out was the karina royale.
all lace, champagne colored, gorgeous.
we both spent the weekend looking online at dresses.
i sent her an email with dresses for her to look at.
she told me that she had printed up 30 dresses that she liked!
she said she needed to weed through those.
i said to wait until she saw them in person.
you just never know!
soon, soon we will go again.
and i can't wait :-)

another week has come....and gone....

and here i am, still not blogging.
my friend at work asked me this morning why i have not been blogging.
just not feeling it i guess.
i have things to say, but honestly, i keep forgetting to come here.
how sad is that?
i think because i got out of the habit of coming every day, that i forget now.
so i will make myself notes.
because that is what we do when we are old and forgetful.
we make notes.
and leave them all over the place.
i have notes on 4 different calendars.
notes on top of the calendars.
on specific days in the calendars.
i have notes on my desk.
on papers on my desk.
just looking around on my desk right now....
i have 7 notes.
i even have a note on top of a note because apparently i needed a note to remind me that i wrote a note.
i leave myself notes on the counter at home.
i will write myself a note at work, and take it home and put it on the counter.
i have a sticky note app on my computer at home.
so on my computer desk top, there are a dozen or so sticky notes that pop up when i log onto the computer.
the family teases me about those.
whatever.
i'm old.
i need to remind myself to remind myself or i forget.
because i'm old.
so i will leave myself a note that i need to blog.
now i have 8 notes on my desk......

"My cat slapped me around a little bit."

It's already the 7th.
Where did June go?
I was so busy getting ready for our camping trip that I let the entire month get away from me.
That and I'm kinda tired of writing to myself.
I know I have friends who come here.
They have pointed out to me that I did not blog last month.
They never comment, so I don't know that they have been here.
But now they are letting me know that they are coming to see what I have been up too, and I have not blogged.
So here I am~
With nothing to say.
I could tell you about my cat giving me a black eye.
Last Friday I made a monumental error in judgement.
I decided it would be a good idea to take my kitty outside.
Outside where all the scary noises are.
He had been freaked out all week over the fireworks.
(next year he gets drugs)
So in a moment of brilliance, I thought I would carry him outside for a few minutes and walk around the yard.
I had him in my arms and we walked to the back of the yard where the bird feeders are.
He likes to smell the feeders, because, you know, they smell like birdies.
I leaned in and for some unknown reason, I touched the battery operated squirrel flipper offer feeder and it made a jerk and a noise.
Stupid me.
Stupid.
Did I say that I was stupid for doing it?
That cat couldn't get out of my arms quick enough.
He twisted around, crawled over my head via my face, and ran as fast as he could with his tail all puffed up.
It hurt like hell.
At this point I was doubled over with my hand pressed to the left side of my face, trying to see where the cat had gone, which to my complete surprise and relief, was straight to the back door.
He was clawing and pushing at the door to get in, and thankfully Robert was standing in the kitchen talking to Katie on the phone.
I was just about in the house when Robert caught sight of me.
"I have to go. Your mother is gushing blood."
And then he hung up on Katie.
I have no idea what she was thinking at this point.
Even though I had not taken my hand away from my face, the blood was dripping down some.
Kodiak had put a nasty scratch on my right arm, a scratch above my eyebrow, and poked several holes into my cheek, nose and one nasty one next to my eye.
The forehead scratch was the one that bled the most.
But the deep claw poke next to my eye did the most damage.
It has been 5 days and it still hurts.
It's barely even noticeable now, but it gave me a black eye.
My eye and cheek swelled up pretty good Friday night, and when I got up Saturday morning I had a black eye.
I still have the red bruise under my eye, but the rest of the area under there is a lovely shade of greenish yellow.
Funny thing, the only people at work to even say anything were Carol yesterday and Karen today. No one else has asked me what happened.
WTS?
If one of them had come to the office with a black eye, I would have been all over that!
"What the heck did you do?"
I would have to know.
I think it's worse to not ask.
Makes me feel like people think I was beat up or something so they don't want to bring it up.
IT WAS MY CAT PEOPLE!
So funny.

back from vacation

we were gone last week on vacation.
went to port townsend, victoria, friday harbor, hurricane ridge in the olympic national park and to the lavender farms in sequim.
we saw many eagles and orcas in the puget sound.
had a wonderful time with our friends.
and we had quite the reputation around the campground at fort worden!
not because of ME that is for sure :-)
we had spotty internet coverage, so i didn't even bother trying to blog.
i would have been completely frustrated if i had even tried.
i will try to get a couple pictures in here from the trip.
they will be hubby's though.
i took my camera, but i ended up taking zero pictures.
i really want a new camera.
nothing is wrong with mine.
i just want a new one.
but it will have to wait.
need to pay for katie's wedding dress first :-)
priorities people.....

Go Away......

I have been getting weird ass comments on here.
So from now on I will approve all comments first before posting.
So there....

F OFF!

OK....done venting.

I have been preoccupied with other things and have not been to the blog in days.
If you have stopped by, sorry I wasted your time.

I spend several hours a night just getting caught up on FB, but that really is no reason to not take a few minutes and come here to let you know whats what.

So here is whats what....

We started planning Katie & Tim's Wedding!
Can I get a WOO HOO?!
WOO HOO!!!!

Last week Katie, my mom and I went to a venue to check it out.
I love it.
I'm pretty dang sure Katie does too.
I think she is going to check out another one too though, just because she had already had her eye on it before I found this one.
But I'm pretty sure we are going to book it.
It's a beautifully decorated Bed & Breakfast.
I wish the grounds were larger, but the house makes up for that.
We will get the place from 3-10pm for the wedding.
Then we get all 8 rooms for the rest of the night for a post wedding party, relaxation, deep sigh of relief.
And more food :-)
Having the wedding at this venue includes the wedding planner to take care of EVERYTHING, parking attendants, catering, catering staff, some flowers, booze (that was the clincher) a room for the night for the bride & groom, a butlers pantry full of food for the after party, full table settings with centerpieces and chair covers, a harpist or pianist for the ceremony, champagne toast for all guests, snacks and champagne for the wedding party before the ceremony....and many other things that I can't think of!
It's just fabulous!
I will be talking about this for the next year!
LOL!
Because this EVENT is going to take that long to plan....and pay for!

I'm in LOOOOOOVE!!!!

You need to check out this site.
I'm so in love :-)
wantwantwantwantwantwant......


snow leopard

YAY! I finally got a hyper link to work!

SATC2

Don't bother going to see Sex and The City 2.
Didn't care for it.
It had a few moments, but very few.
And honestly, I found it to be offensive.
The girls went to Abu Dhabi.
And now that I have seen that place, it's not somewhere I have a desire to go.
Ever.
But, to get back to the movie, I thought they made the girls look like sloppy Americans.
I don't like it when Americans go to a foreign country and feel like they have the right to do and say whatever they want.
Because they are Americans and have the freedom to do such.
Well not in other countries you don't.
I believe that when you go to another country, you respect their customs, their way of life.
And to think that just because you would act that way at home, you don't go somewhere else, where they find that behavior to be offensive, and act like that.
It's not OK.
We may live in a country where we treat women as equals and with respect, but that doesn't mean that you can go to another country and basically spit in the face of their customs.
If you don't like their customs, then don't go there.
There is a big world out there, with plenty of beautiful places to travel too.
If you can't go to a country and show respect to their way of life, whether you agree with it or not, then you should not go there.
I know this was just a movie, but I think it speaks volumes as to how some, if not most, Americans act when they travel abroad.
Show some respect people.
end of rant.....

EEEEEEK!!!!!!!

this scares the crap out of me.

i can not even image what this looks like in person.

they don't even know what all fell into the hole.

as far as i have been able to find out, they can't even see the bottom of it!

so freaky.

my life is boring.....

im just so bored lately.
i think thats why i have not been here daily.
its not that i dont have things to do, i do, i just dont care about doing them right now.
and that my friends is me having a shitty attitude.
i need time off.
its been great being back to working mon-tue-wed.
but i think i need a vacation.
like for a month.
but that will never happen.
crap...
i shouldn't put it like that.
i'll end up breaking my leg or something.

so hubby went and had acupuncture for his back.
he was very impressed by the whole thing.
he spent more time with the acupuncturist talking over every aspect of his life before the guy even put one needle in.
he had needles in his ears, hands, feet and ankles....for back pain!
crazy huh?
but it worked.
that night the pain in the middle of his back was gone.
all he had left was some tightness in his neck and shoulder, and a little pain still in his elbow.
and a headache....but he was told that he could get one as a side effect.
it has been since friday, and he still only has the tightness and his elbow is bugging him, but other than that he feels so much better.
he goes again in a week.
its really amazing how well it worked for him.
after 6 months of pain he was ready to try anything.
he had several massages, a few chiropractor appts, many doctor visits for muscle relaxers and pain pills, and finally ended up with a home electric pulse/shock machine.
and none of it was curing it.
it helped to ease symptoms....but they were not going away.
it finally took, as he puts it, a 4,000 year old treatment!
obviously it works or it would not have been around this long~

weeeee.....i get to go AGAIN!

Last Thursday I went to the dentist to get my crown put on.
I get to go again tomorrow.
SQUEEEEEEEEE!!!!!
I'm so excited!
**insert MAJOR sarcasm**
His assisstant ruined it.
She was shaving off some of the sides to get it to fit, and she took too much off one side.
I don't think he was very happy with her.
So I get to go back tomorrow and do it all over again.
Blargh.....

Randomness follows.....

I was happy with the outcome of Dancing with the Stars. I loved Nicole and Derek's dancing. Geeze....some people are throwing absolute fits over it. They are claiming she was a pro dancer already. Please....just because someone can dance Hip Hop doesn't mean they know how to dance a waltz, jive, paso, tango quick step or any of the other dances. Those people have no clue how difficult those are. They all have different requirements. Body position, foot placement, heel first, ball of foot first, not to mention the hip action! It's all different. That is why there are pros who specialize in only one dance. They have been saying this for years. Pop-Stars who sing and dance on stage are "street" dancers, not ballroom dancers. They worked their butts off and deserved to win. I didn't hear this many people complain with Drew Latchey won. He dances on stage too! What about Donny Osmond? How long has he been singing and dancing on stage? A long freaking time! I think a lot of it is women jealous of Nicole. She is a beautiful woman who can move. I loved watching her. So congrats from me!

Idol.....

Honestly....I didn't think either of them performed that great last night. And I love both of them. Lee sounded like he forgot some words at one point and so did Crystal during Black Velvet. Which I thought she screamed most of. Bad song choice. That song needs to be all sexy low and smokey and smooth sounding. Not screamed. So I was not that thrilled with the show. Either can win.

GLEE.....

OK....I admit it. I am a GLEEk. I didn't watch this show at all the first half or so last season, but was recording it for hubby. He loves his Journey, and any show that starts off with Journey is worth watching in his book. So he liked the show, thought it was funny and asked me to set a series recording. I started watching it when he would have it on....and I started to like it. Then they had on Kristin Chenoweth. Then I started to love it. Now I watch each episode twice. The night it airs, and then the recorded show when hubby watches.
Love it.
Love it.
Love it.
I have embraced my inner GLEEk.
:-D

of spiders and banana bread.....

yesterday i stopped to get my mocha and i bought some banana bread. i ate some of it in the morning and then later in the afternoon i started to snack on the rest of it. i ate a couple bites, then broke off another piece and i looked at it and something was in it. i took a closer look and i could see spider legs. there was a big spider cooked in the bread. the body was mushed and cooked and the legs were sticking up all around it. it was so gross. i spit out what was in my mouth and threw it away. i was sick to my stomach the rest of the afternoon. it was so nasty. i should have taken a picture when i first saw it. i tried to later, but once the air hit the legs they shriveled up. ok...i'm queasy just talking about it!
so this morning i stopped by to get a mocha and girl at the coffee stand asked if i wanted anything to eat. i said "well i dont want any banana bread thats for sure!" her and the other gal were all "why? what happened?" i told them and they freaked out. omg we're so sorry. omg thats so gross. she told me she was giving me my drink for free. i told her no, it wasn't their fault and it really wasn't the bakers either. things like that happen. she insisted on giving me the drink for free. she brought it to me and said "i made you a large one. i'm so sorry. you're being so nice about this." we were laughing it off, but i think they felt really bad about it.
not their fault, but i will never eat banana bread unless i cook it again!

hold on to your butts.......

we are suppose to have a little storm tonight.

they are calling for highish winds and rain.

kinda typical spring weather here.

here it is....

i will take that waaaaay over this......

i can not even imagine what people in the midwest have to go through every spring and summer when it comes to these monsters.

i would love to go on a tornado chase, but i want the tornado to be out in the middle of no where.

running across a field of corn or something.

the tornado...not me....i would not be running anywhere....i would be cowering in a car probably peeing my pants.....

but i would still go and do it.

i have wanted to see one ever since i was a kid.

wonder if it has anything to do with my favorite childhood movie....

the wizard of oz....

hmmmmm.......

hahahaha! look at that....i didnt come here alllll weekend!

and i totally enjoyed it!

i thought about it a couple times...

but then i just did not care.

i had nothing to say

i was busy doing the things i wanted to do

and i had a great time doing them!

well except when i was folding the laundry.

that was not so fun...

i did see 3 movies this weekend though.

thursday was iron man 2.....blargh...

friday was letters to juliet.....loved it....

and sunday was robin hood.....ok...not fantastic....but ok none the less.

we saw the last movie at cinetopia in the living room theater.

that theater is for 21 and over only.

we had beer and wine and some spinach artichoke dip w/chips!

yummo!

they also have a wine tasting room where you purchase a card or something and they have a huge wall of wine bottles and you put the card in a slot above whatever wine you want to taste, and it pours out a sample of the wine into your glass.

looks fantastic!

i want to go back to at least do that before a movie sometime.

maybe get a little tipsy before a comedy!

might make the movie funnier :-)

enjoying some me time

went to see iron man with mom yesterday.
boring.
didn't like it at all.
stupid ending.
today we are going to go see letters to juliet.
katie is coming today too.
i think we will like this one a lot better.
gotta love a chick flick :-)

more thoughts on Yesterday....

I had a little chat with the agent who had an experience Monday night.
She was telling me that she was upstairs in her office and no one else was in the building.
She heard pots and pans banging together like someone was in the kitchen cooking.
So she came downstairs and could hear this coming from Linda's office.
She went in there and it stopped.
She went back upstairs and it started again.
So she went back down to Linda's office and it again stopped.
She decided to leave.
At some point during all of this or before, she saw a shadow of a figure standing in her office. She could see it move and then it disappeared.
She gathered up her stuff and went out to her car. She knew the doors were locked, so she unlocked it so she could get back in to get the rest of her stuff. When she got back, the door was locked. She went in, grabbed her stuff, and left.
I asked her if when she went into Linda's office if she noticed the chair in the middle of the room.
She said it was NOT in the middle of the room when she was in there. She would have noticed that. There is no way someone would not have noticed that because it was right in the middle of the room totally out of place.
I may have already mentioned this yesterday, but another agent showed up about an hour later, and she was next to Linda's office making copies, and she too said the chair was not in the middle of the room.
While we were talking about this, the office manager came down and told us that she has had many experiences with our ghost.
She told us one time, years ago, she was in the building really late doing the books, and she felt a very cold air around her and then someone took their hand and pulled it across the back of her shoulders. She said it was a very gentle, comforting touch.
I know there are a lot of other people who have had things happen here.
It's all very strange......
And exciting!

hmmmmm.....our ghost seems to be active...or do we have a "new" one???

We seem to be having some weirdness going on here at the office again.
Here is the latest.
When I leave at night, I always check the side doors to make sure they are locked.
One of these doors is to the office of our agent Linda who we lost a couple weeks ago to breast cancer. We all miss her so much. So when I go to her office to check the door it makes me sad, but I look around at her empty desk, check the door, and leave with a sadness in my heart. Cue the sad music.....I kinda laid it on a little thick there, but it's true. We are very sad.
Anyway....the door was locked, I checked the other doors, and left. There were a couple people still upstairs when I left, but no one downstairs. This morning when I came in, I went to turn on the copy machine next to Linda's office, and one of her straight back chairs was positioned in the middle of her office a few feet in front of the door that I had checked the night before. Obviously it was not there last night or I would not have been able to check the door! I was telling the broker a few minutes ago about this and she got all excited and told me that just before lunch one of the agents came to her office and told her that the house was haunted. They kinda laughed at her and said "Well yes. It has been for a long time." Apparantly no one told her when she started here a couple years ago that the office was haunted. She told the broker that she was here late last night and she saw someone standing in her office. Then she heard dishes being moved around downstairs, so she came down and heard it in ..... Linda's office. She went to that office to see if anyone was in there, and there was no one. She went back upstairs and again heard the sound of dishes downstairs in Linda's office. I just found out that that office used to be a kitchen when the house was originally built over 100 years ago. So that happened and then I come in this morning and the chair has been moved. We got a good laugh at the fact that nothing would have made Linda happier than to play a trick on us with Mary, our resident ghost. Sounds like we may have 2 ghosts now!
Welcome Back Linda!

♡HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY♡

♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡

LOVE YOU MOMMY
♡

not the kind of crown i deserve.....

went to the dentist yesterday.
i made the mistake of telling them 6 months ago at a cleaning that i was having a little pain every once in a while on one side when i bit down.
my dentist did those bite tests where you have to bite down on that hard plastic medieval torture devise to see if you have a cracked tooth.
i passed with not only flying colors but with a few swear words flying about too.
ok...it wasn't that bad, i have a high tolerance for pain.
he said that i had a cracked tooth that needed to be crowned.
that was 6 months ago.
they called around december to say that the crown was pre-approved and to call and make an appointment.
i didn't.
i was more willing to take the occasional stab of pain then to go and have a crown put on.
been there...done that....twice.
so i let it go.
then i worked full time for several months.
and before i knew it, it was time for my 6 month cleaning.
ugh...i knew they were going to bring up the crown.
and they did.
"Let's make that appointment for your crown. You don't want it to get to where the tooth breaks."
ack....
so i made the appointment.
and it was yesterday.
well the first half was yesterday.
all 3 hours of it.
my jaw is still sore.
he had to remove the old filling and put in a new one, shape the tooth and the surrounding ones to accommodate the new crown.
then put on the temporary one.
i have to go back the 20th for the brand new sparkly gold crown!
oh joy!
i wanted a porcelain one like the smaller one that i have, but he said that he did not recommend them for the back tooth.
too many chances of it chipping back there since you do most of your biting and chewing with those teeth.
so now i will have a bright shiny gold one.
like flava flav!
i'm so excited!
last night i decided that i should make something "soft" for dinner.
so i bought stuff to make beef fajitas.
made my fajita, sat down and took a big bite...
holey mother of god.....
i forgot about being careful because i had basically had a root canal earlier....
hurt like a mofo...
oh man that was painful.
not so much biting down on the temp crown....no, it was my jaw.
hurt from being basically held wide open for 3 hours, having been pushed on and pulled on...and the shots....oiy...
i do have to give props to my dentist though in regards to his technique for giving shots.
you do not feel them. seriously.
he knows how to give a pain free shot.
the only time i feel anything is when he has to go deeper with the needle, but by that time you are already getting a little numb, so its just a slight cramping feeling.
not bad at all.
he really is the best dentist.
i just really really did not want another crown.....
well...at least not the mouth kind :-)

new color

its not as short as it looks in the pic. but it is super dark again :-)

an area of conflict

These were brought into the office yesterday

by an agent's client.

I have really enjoyed having them

on my desk.

They smell wonderful!

I love lilacs!

:-)

These were brought into the office today.

I am NOT enjoying having these

on my desk.

:-(

THEY SAY IT'S YOUR BIRTHDAY!

sorry, i should have done this earlier in the morning...but....

HAPPY BIG 5-0 BIRTHDAY SIS!

luv ya :-)

my brain is tired.....

i did not sleep last night.
at all.
i was up all night.
i tried to go to bed at 10ish and got back up an hour or so later.
got on the computer for a while.
curled up in the chair.
and ended up laying on the couch watching the wind storm.
aly was up all night too.
she would sit on the ottoman.
then find something to play with.
then eat.
then sit in front of the slider.
i think she was watching the wind storm too.
i finally got a half hour of sleep between about 6:20am and 6:50am.
i have a dark circle around my left eye that looks like a really old bruise.
i'm pathetic......

A project for Donna

This weekend I worked on two sign in books for my online buddy Donna. She is planning a very large Band Alumni Reunion and was having trouble finding registry books that were not wedding themed. She lives in a small town, and was not sure what she wanted, or where to look on line. SO she asked if I knew where she could look, or if I would be willing to make her something. I told her I would make something. She doesn't need them until June, but I told her I would get them done in April so that she could have them. I actually wanted to get them to her in case she didn't like them and needed time to find something else :-) Yep...I freak out over stuff I make. I may like it, but that doesn't mean someone else is going too! I have sent her pictures, and she has approved. Hopefully when she gets them in her hand she will still feel the same!
Here are a couple pics.....

one of our bunnies :-)

this is one of the bunnies that has been hanging out in our yard. isn't it cute?!
the other night there were 4 of them running around. there is a larger gray one that kinda chases the others. it seems playful but you never know.
it may be something more.....like in a couple months i may have 20 bunnies running around the yard ;-)