Friday, October 28, 2011

A Quarter of a Century Later

Okay, everyone......altogether now
Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww....... 



Weren't they so cute?!?!?!?!?
(insert chuckles) 

Well they aren't as cute now.....


A quarter of a century later.
Well.....maybe they are cute...but just in a different way. 
But they weren't so cute at age 14.
At least to their mama! 
(They both know what I am talking about!) 

Anyways....it has been 25 years since that first photo was taken. 
Which if you are doing your math.....that makes the little guy
25 Years Old
TODAY!!!!!

Happy Birthday to my boy!!!!!


Wednesday, October 26, 2011

"Living" Proof That Kids DO Listen to Parents....

Well....not all the time. 
But sometimes. 
And this blog post highlights one of those "sometimes" moments. 
 
You see, while my daughter was growing up there was one thing I drilled into her brain. 
Well, actually, there was more than one thing.
You know, there was the usual...don't do drugs, don't talk to strangers, don't sit too close to the TV....etc. etc.  You get the idea. 
But there was one thing of the utmost importance. 
It went something like this.....
"I think 50 would be a good age for me to be a grandma...."
"Mom....I am not waiting until 30 to have kids." 
She maintained that stance for a long time.
And guess what happened. 
I turned 50.  And she just turned 30. 
And no baby.
So, you see, she did listen. 
And like the good daughter she obeyed....hee. 

In fact, she obeyed sooooo well. 
She granted my wish. 
And waited until I was well into 50
to give me this news that in May I would be joining a new club......




Yes!  I am going to be a grandma!
Very exciting! 
Now, my daughter is not the documenter that I am. 
So, there are no pictures of the stick she pee'd on. 
( I know....I'm weird!)
And they left the first ultrasound picture in the car where, of course, it faded.  
But there will be plenty of pictures and memories to document in the future. 
I'm looking so forward to it.

Sunday, October 23, 2011

Snapshot: 10/23/2011

     snap shot: an impression or view of something brief or transitory

I had an English teacher in college who hated when you would use a definition in a research paper.
I, on the other hand, loved definitions and loved using them. 
I thought they were an easy, albeit, lazy way to open a paper. 
So it is with a definition that I start this blog post.

I provided the definition because it is going to be a snapshot of my week.
What is currently going on in my life and what is on my mind..
A snapshot of this moment in time.
So here we go.

(1)   Today is October 23 and the high is going to be 97 degrees. Seriously.
I would like to say it feels like fall but it doesn't. Not even close.
It is hard to believe that there is snow only a state away.
And here....there is not even a hint of fall.
I am really yearning for fall.....I am so over summer.
But I guess I'll have to wait a bit longer.
Or maybe if I crochet a couple of these it will feel more like fall. 

(2)   While on the topic of "90's", I got a 93 on my algebra final.
I was disappointed. I wanted a perfect score dammit.
I figure, if I'm going to teach it I should be able to ace it!

(3)  Keeping with the theme of "9".....
I am surprised at how the meaning of the number "9-9-9" has changed for me. 
Two years ago I was a police officer. 
To a police officer "999" means "officer down". 
The worse think you can hear as a police officer.   
Now...well thanks to Herman Cain it's  the big catch phrase for the pre-primary politcal season!! 
It seems to be all I hear about when I turn on the TV. 
A reminder of how quickly your life (and perspective) can change. 

(4)  The surprise of the week?  Or maybe the month? 
My husband has been watching "Dancing with the Stars".....with interest. 
Oh, and offering up his own critiques. 
And he has a pretty good eye for the proper dancing techniques. 
My husband?  A dance afficionado?  Who knew?????
I guess I can still be surprised. 
Our faves?  Ricki Lake and J.R. Martinez. 
Who are your faves? 

(5)  I'm back to my "short attention span" crochet.
I started not one, but three projects this week.
I have a very short attention span....what can I say.
Here is a peak at those projects.






Yes, I'm in a very "colorful" mood right now. 
Need to change gears to a Christmas color mood. 
Or not.   After all it does still feel like summer.  ;-)   hmmmmm.....

(6)  Although I did try to get into the mood of the season with some fall baking. 
I found the best recipe for ginger snaps HERE
Whipped up a batch of these babies.....

















And wanted to eat every single one of them!!! 
Therefore, for the good of my waistline and cholestol count.....
pawned them off gave them to the first person I knew of that has kids. 
I did save a few for myself though.....;-)   
If you like ginger snaps, I highly recommend this recipe. 

(7)  Lastly, on a sad note, my thoughts right now are with my friend, Lori.  Her brother passed away last week and his memorial service is today.   He was only 45 years old......way too young.    
So, right at this moment, my thoughts and prayers are with her and her family. 

Peace friends. 
I hope everyone is having a wonderful and inspired Sunday.

Monday, October 17, 2011

30 Years of Fabulous!

Today marks a very momentous occasion in my life.
It's one of those milestones that makes a person stop to take pause. 
Why?  Because it's always been really hard to wrap my mind around it.
What is it you ask???
Today is the day that I become the mother of a thirty year old. 
Oh, I know, it is probably far more momentous for her than it is for me.
But please, just let me have my moment
My moment to wonder where the heck time went. 
I remember when I brought her home from the hospital. 
One of my friends was holding her and cooing....
"Before your mom realizes it, you're going to be in school." 
In school??? 
No!  I blinked and she was thirty. 

Okay, I've had my moment.  I'm over it now. 
Now the focus is on her. 
I could tell you all about her entry into this world. 
But I did that already....last year
I seriously don't think she wants to hear that story again. 
I could tell you she is so very happy at this moment. 
But I would be lying. 
For as I am typing this entry, she is at Foxborough. 
At the Pats/Cowboys game. 
Brady just threw an interception. 
She, is not at all happy right at this moment. 
(Note: Yes, this is one of those postdated blog entrys!)
Hopefully the Pats bounce back and win. 
But if they don't.....I have the perfect remedy to put a smile on her face. (hee)
A little walk down memory lane.
Oh!  She's going to love this! 
I mean, really.....how could I let this occasion pass without digging up old photos. 
So,  without further ado.....
Here she is.....
Amanda. 
Through the years. 
My Panda Bear. 
My Tweety Bird.
The first person I truly fell in love with.
Here's to Thirty years of FABULOUS!!!!!! 
Enjoy!


Three Days Old


Three months old

Six months old

Those big ole eyes :-)

Me and my sweet baby girl. 
(I wish I still had that blanket!)

Amanda and Grandpa.


A true poser...

And scene stealer!

With her cousins (They'll probably love me for this one too!)

Again.....those eyes!
1st Grade

Fifth Grade


At Disneyland with little brother.  This was just the beginning of her love affair with the mouse.


She was a soccer girl. 
And a cheerleader, too.


When she graduated, Ryne stole the cap......

And five years later, she returned the favor.
A senior beauty.


And a theme park cutie.

Partying in Aruba at 24.

And sharing my birthday dessert on my 44th birthday. 
Chilling with dad. 

Giving love to our Miss Maya.


A pensive girl.

My favorite picture!


And the most current picture of her....
(Taken right off her Facebook page yesterday....I hope she doesn't get mad!)
Amanda and Laura at the Pats game. 
By the time I finished this they had won so I'm sure she IS happy! 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY GIRL!!!!!



Saturday, October 15, 2011

The "Bumps" and "Lumps" of Life

There has been a bit of "controversy" around these parts in the past week. 
The controversy has been over a t-shirt.  
Not just any t-shirt.....but this t-shirt. 



This is the t-shirt worn this week by the cheerleaders of Gilbert High School in Gilbert, AZ.
As part of their campaign to raise money for breast cancer awareness. 
The saying, "Feel for Lumps. Save your Bumps" was deemed as inappropriate by the principal. 
I don't know....maybe there is something I am missing here.....
But it certainly doesn't sound as objectionable as "I Love Boobies."
And that is displayed all over the place lately....
On T-shirts.  On bracelets.  On hats. 
Heck, I even saw it on a billboard. 

Now I know that school administrators have got to be careful. 
But the kids are just trying to raise money for a very good cause. 
Then again, I may be considered less than objective.....
It wasn't so long ago that  my daughter was a Gilbert High cheerleader...

Friday, October 14, 2011

"Occupied"

This is the word of the week. 
And it seems to be the word on everyone's lips. 
Of course we have "Occupy Wall Street." 
And locally, there is "Occupy Phoenix." 
On the local news radio station,
one of the anchors said she was going to get an "Occupy Sesame Street" t-shirt made up. 
Me?? 
Well, I've just been flat out occupied. 
Mostly with studying. 
Had to take a final today so my head is filled
with visions of logarithims, systems, and permutations. 
I even had nightmares about math....which is weird because I really like math. 
I've also been occupied with a big scrapbook project which is not going to be done as soon as I wanted. 
Seems I've had creative brain freeze.  Ugh!!!!  Not a good time for that! 

Well, anyways, before I was so "occupied". 
I did complete a crochet project. 
It is one that took a loooooooooong time to complete.
But it is done!  And here is the ta-da!




Here are the deets......
Starting with the yarn and colors....
The yarn I used was Michaels Loops and Threads. 
I really like this yarn. 
It is somewhere between Red Heart and I Love This Yarn! in the way it feels. 
And it is pretty easy to work with. 
Plus, they had the colors I was looking for. 

Now, let me be honest.....I would have never thought of putting these colors together. 
I did have some help. 
The help came from a web site called Color Combos Galore
Color Combos Galore is actually a scrapbooking challenge site where they give you four colors to work with each week and you create a page using those colors.  
I also found this really helpful with color combos for crochet....colors I would never think of.  
So, that is where I got the color inspiration from.  
It's a very good site if you're looking for color combo help. 

The block pattern came from this site.


I really had fun making the blocks and they came together pretty fast. 
But then....came the border. 
I don't know what it is but borders totally bore me. 
And then the project slows down.....
I tried to do something a little different with this one.
When I went to California in April, I made off with a blanket my aunt crocheted many years ago. 
I really liked the border which was several rounds of hdc and then several rounds of a granny stitch.
So I decided to try it with this blanket. 
And here are the results.



Hmmmm.....Don't know if I'm loving it......
I'm one of those people who likes straight lines and angles. 
And this didn't turn out like that at all. 
It does not lie flat at all!!! 
(Do I sound like I'm high maintenance?!?!?!? hee-hee)
Well, hopefully this will grow on me......
Until then, I'm off to work on my 300 other projects ;-}

Here's wishing everyone a fabulous weekend!


Friday, October 7, 2011

Happy Birthday to my Favorite Guy!

See this guy.....



Pretty darn hunky, huh? 
Careful though ladies.....he's all mine. 
And today is his birthday. 
I'm not going to say which one it is...
but I will say he is a little bit younger than me. 
A-hem....yep, I'm a craddle robber. 
I think that after 27 years, our age difference doesn't really matter.

According to his horoscope today:
"You have an instant rapport with people this month.  You'll quickly bond with a group that hangs on your every word and gesture."
Um....yeah.....I'm sure he's looking forward to hanging with THOSE people. 
But for now he'll just have to settle for me ;-)





Thursday, October 6, 2011

Words to Live by: "Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish."

I think by now everyone from every corner of the world knows that Steve Jobs died yesterday. 
And there have been many tributes all over the internet. 
As I was perusing Facebook last night I saw the same quote from Mr. Jobs. 
It was from a  commencement speech he gave at Stanford University. 
I had never heard the quote before but it really reasonated with me. 
So, of course, I had to google the speech so I could read the whole thing. 
The speech in it's entirety is equally amazing. 
It may have been addressed to a group of twenty-something newly minted college graduates,
but it's content applies to everyone regardless of where we are in life. 
As a 50 year old embarking on a new career, I especially found the words inspiring. 

I've attached a copy of the entire text of the speech. 
Just cuz it's a good piece to go back and read regularly. 
Someday, in the near future, I will blog about my favorite line from the speech. 
But, for now, I will just leave you with the link. 


They are truly words to live by.......

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Just When We Thought It Was Safe to Sleep With Both Eyes Closed......

A couple of nights ago I was taking a little stroll
down the hallway in our house when I spied an intruder into our
little slice of desert paradise. 
The intruder looked just like this.....(here's a warning, it is going to be creepy!). 












I was surprised and freaked out at the same time.  
I was surprised because it had been well over a year since I'd seen one inside the house. 
You see, the first six years we lived in this house, I had seen only one. 
And then after year six, we had a little monsoon related mishap in our front yard. 


Yep, that's an uprooted tree. 
And that is my son's car. 
He was in Qatar at the time. 
Side Note:  His reaction when I posted this on Facebook was priceless. 
I can say this because I knew when I posted this there was no damage to the car. 
Just call me a really mean mom (insert devious laugh...). 

Anyways, my son's car may have been saved
but our house beared the brunt of this mishap.
Meaning we got an immediate scorpion invasion. 
No bueno. 

So we immediately went into attack mode. 
With the help of the guy from the Weed and Bug Mart
we were able to get the problem under control. 
And we were told that having a cat was a plus
because they are natural predators. 

So when I saw the little bugger on Sunday night
I did my little "there's a scorpion in the house dance",
squealed like the girly-girl I am,
and cursed the cat for not doing his job. 
All at the same time. 
That got my husband's attention. 
(Note:  Sure glad I have one of those.)
He immediately paused Sunday Night Football 
and came to my rescue.  
I am happy to report that the last thing
the creepy little critter saw was the word "Keen", 
as in the bottom of my husband's Keen shoe.  

I would have taken a picture of the actual dead body
but I'm not in the business of totally scaring off blog readers
and I really didn't want it in my house any longer than necessary......
dead or alive.  

After the deed was done I had a long talk with the cat
about his duties as the family feline.  
I think he understood me perfectly ;-)
But just in case he didn't....
I'm going to be sleeping with one eye open.  


 

Monday, October 3, 2011

Forgive Me Father......

I committed a sin yesterday.
A cardinal sin.
At least according to one Laura Ingraham. 
I wore flip flops to church. 
Yep I'm damned...
But allow me to explain ;-) 

It all started with a decision I made roughly three weeks ago. 
Yes.....a decision I made WAY back then led to this particular sin. 
I made the decision to take a P90X break. 
For those of you who don't know what P90X is.....
Here is a little introduction.



Yeah....Note the word "extreme". 
When I tell people I'm doing this I get many different responses that try to define my mental health. 
"Are you NUTS??????"
"You're crazy.  That is way too hard." 
You get the drift. 
I also get people who are intrigued by it but are leery about doing it. 
I think they are afraid to plop down $140 and then have the DVDs sit and gather dust in their wall unit. 
Trust me, there have been times I've thought about making it simply a display decoration and nothing more. 
The truth is that it becomes easier once you get used to it. 
Now I'm not going to lie.....the first week or so is hell. 
When I started the program I literally thought I was going to die that first week. 
I even went to see my doctor because I was certain that I was dying.....
"No, you're going to live, " he said, "Would you like some pain meds?" 

This brings me back to what led to my sin. 
I decided to take a week long break from P90X. 
And then one week extended to two weeks. 
And then I decided to start back. 
Ok, may I say this now in a way that you might feel my pain. 
Taking two weeks off.....
NOT A GOOD IDEA!!!!! 
By Saturday morning, I could barely get out of bed. 
By Sunday morning, I was certain I would die. 
Which made it imperative that I make it to church. 
Need to make sure I was a-okay with God just in case. 
So there I was....moving verrrrrrry slowly as I got ready for church. 
I went to my closet and wearily eyed my strappy high heeled sandals and winced. 
I then looked slightly to the right and saw relief. 
Ah, yes, flip flops!!! 
I slipped my feet into those babies and off I went.
Yes, I committed a sin.....well maybe to Laura Ingraham. 
But I have a feeling that the good Lord didn't mind. 
I mean I did make it to church.....even if it was for selfish reasons.....
Now Tony Horton.....he might be another thing. 
If he ever happens to stumble upon this blog post....
I might have some 'splaining to do about the two week break.......