Kittykosmic

Snow? Did I ask for snow? Uh, I guess I did...

2009-02-12T10:33:00.000-08:00

We have had 2 weeks of crazy amounts of snow and ice. The first round gave Sky 4 days off from school in one week and kept our car securely blocked in on the street for days covered in a nice sheet of ice that was oh so much fun to scrape off. I had decided to call my work the day it was really coming down and our main office was closed so it was very difficult to finally get a hold of the nurses. They had no clue whether or not the doctor would cancel clinic so I got ready to go in. John had to go to the restaurant so we walked up to the bus hoping it would be running. It came and we got on then my phone rang. It was the one nurse saying they just called a level 3 for the city so clinic was canceled because you are not supposed to be on the roads. Ugh. I decided to stay on the bus to downtown with John and walk to his work so I could pee. Keep in mind walking on this amount of snow with an ice layer was not easy and I was soaked. John walked me back to the bus and I went home. It was a fun adventure. We got a couple sledding sessions in and a bit of snowskating here and there. Almost a week later, we had finally dug a trench out to the street so we could get over the huge snow barrier the plows created and into the car fairly easily. The next day the forecast said maybe 2 inches in the afternoon. By the time I got off work it was about 4 inches with 4 more still coming down. The roads were terrible and John had the car with a flat tire. Luckily a co-worker of mine said she’d drive me home after her doctor was finished. We slid all over but made it and John had gotten the donut tire on the car. We decided it would take us 2 hours to drive to the tire place in the traffic so we stayed put. I’m glad Sky walks to school right now because buses were taking hours to get the kids home and some were getting stuck or in accidents. It was a mess. Sky was off school yet again the next day. John drove me to work because it was so sketchy. Since the snow pile was even taller now, we had to once again dig a trench to the street to get in the car.

Now that it is a week later and we have had some 50 degree days, the snow has melted to reveal about 20 piles of dog poo in my yard and the realization that for 2 weeks we were parked about 2 feet from the curb. Please please, I beg, no more snow!

Onto the Christmas season...

2008-12-03T10:17:00.000-08:00

We had a nice Thanksgiving. The restaurant John works at was serving dinner at the Ronald McDonald house so we signed up to help. Sky did minimal work but was happy to play with the kids there and I’m sure that helped in its own way. It was a lot of fun and I was so amazed at how appreciative the people were. They are going through a difficult time that I cannot even imagine and they are thanking us? I nearly cried. We ate there then went over to Dawn & Jeff’s to eat some more and play Rock Band.

Last night we attended the holiday party for my work. It was pretty cool and at the Reds stadium. Good food, open bar and a small bonus check. No complaints here. I am so amazed at how many perks I get at this job for being just a part time employee. I think I really lucked out because everyone is so nice and it’s a good place to work.

New stuff for free? Can't beat that!

2008-11-03T09:56:00.000-08:00

Halloween came and went without too much excitement and minimal decorating. We took Sky and Jonah around our new neighborhood. Josh joined us for his baby’s first trick-or-treating. The new neighborhood rocks. Everyone is rich and nice, the kids scored with candy and Kali even got some doggy treats for being dressed up (and tons of compliments).

Another thing I am enjoying about the neighborhood is the fact we are walking distance to the library and that makes my MP3 collection grow at an amazingly fast pace. John has been enjoying checking out DVDs to watch at his night job on the portable player we got for camping. Oh, books? Yeah I suppose I get some of those every now and then too.

We sold the Wii. I know, that didn’t take long. It never even left the box since we moved here so I sold it and all the controllers/games we had for enough to get a PS3. I love Craig’s List…I have been selling off most of the stuff we own. Well the PS3 is awesome and it was a must for the new Rock Band. The version for the PS2 is so watered down and there is no capability for downloading any music content. It’s great now and we are loving it.

We only bought a new TV 2 years ago when the other one went out but it was already fucking up and getting annoying. The warranty I bought was in-home so we had the guy out a couple times trying to fix it with no luck then he got the parts and they were the wrong ones. I was irritated at best then the repairman said the magical words “I can make it so you can just get a new one.”. Uh, ok, no arguments here. We had a flat screen but it was still a tube TV and they don’t make those anymore so I knew we’d end up on the winning side of this deal. He called later to give me the go-ahead and I did some LCD TV shopping at the store where we bought the original one. The also don’t make 27”s anymore and the more I eyed the 32” ones, I knew that’s what I wanted. I really don’t know how I pulled this off but the salesman ended up offering me a 32” that was $150 more than what we paid for the other one. No one knew how to find a comparable to a tube TV so the manager got involved and said that flat screen was good enough. Hell yeah. FunkyB came over to help us get the old TV back to the store and hook up the new one and the Bengals were playing. We turned it on and sat in awe as the Bengals made an awesome play and it was so so pretty. We got the HD cable box when we moved in here so the picture looks absolutely amazing. I still can’t get over it…I just sit and stare. I am convinced the new TV is what made the Bengals win their first and only game of the season.

Cars are for losers...

2008-10-15T17:45:00.000-07:00

We are bowling again. Our league started for the season. We did have one Sunday off due to the hurricane and whole “Blackout 2008” chaos with no one but us having power for a week. I don’t bowl all summer then knock out some crazy scores the first week. This always happens so I start with a high average, something I can never back up the following week. So far I have the top women’s scratch game and John and I have the top team scratch game and are in first place but I’m sure that will change as the weeks go on. I am happy to be bowling again. We are a bit more isolated in the new house and I am in need of some socialization.

Speaking of socialization, we have hosted quite a few home poker games so far. We sold our bulky, dark wood dining table and bought a more suitable table at Ikea for the breakfast nook area. It works out well for poker. We managed an 8 person one week and a few smaller ones. I won 2. These silly, unsuspecting boys just don’t know what they’re up against.

To say we needed a car repair like we needed a hole in the head would be an understatement but we are lucky enough to have gotten one anyways. It couldn’t be some small issue either could it? That would be too easy. Apparently the power steering rack was fucked and the pump was leaking power steering fluid all over. Just a little $1200 repair, no biggie. It’s not like we need to eat or pay bills anyways huh? Superficial luxuries these days. The only funny part of this whole mess is that they gave us a rental car for the day. We are cruising home in the 2008 Focus and I get excited over the MP3 capability which our older model doesn’t have. I whip out my MP3 player but then realize a cable I don’t have is needed. I figure there isn’t one in the car but I open the glove compartment to look anyways. I can’t believe my eyes but pull something out and hold it up toward John asking “Um, what is this?”. He looks over and casually and states “Well, that’s a bag of weed.”. I guess they don’t clean out rental cars between clients or possibly an employee had to do a quick stash on their lunch break? Whatever the case, we turned it over to the proper individuals. Unfortunately, the car is still making the funky vibration when turning right or going straight until it warms up so I need to call the shop with my bitch pants on. I’m not too into paying $1200 for an alignment and oil change. I think I could get that done cheaper on a damn Lamborghini for crying out loud. I mean, nothing is too good for the Ford Focus but really?

Just call me "Big Pappa"...

2008-09-19T10:15:00.000-07:00

First off I'd like to give a shout out to the newlywed, FunkyB and add in a "Happy Birthday".

The first photo is of course FunkyB and his best man, John, trying out their gangster pose. I probably didn't get the caption exactly as FunkyB requested but he's on his fancy honeymoon anyways so he won't know. Congatulations go to the happy couple.

The second is me and John. Even with those heels, I am still not taller than John? I don't get it. Yes, the shoes were the most torturous thing I have ever done to my feet but you have to agree that they rocked.

The third is Sky contemplating the idea of marriage. All he was really concerned about was that he'd get cake and get to do the "Thriller" dance that he'd been practicing for days prior. His dancing skills got him a little wedding reception girlfriend that told me to not let Sky know she wanted to be his dancing partner that night. Being the cool mom that I am, I let him know.

Home sweet home...

2008-09-13T10:49:00.000-07:00

Oreo has adapted quickly to life in the new home as you can tell. He loves sitting in the window on the 3rd floor. Don't worry, there is a screen.

We are more relaxed as well after the hellish move. To save money, we did not hire movers this time. We will never make that stupid mistake again! Not having enough help, we ended up having to rush the packing of the truck in order to get it to the new house and unload in time for the truck to be returned. We had 30 minutes to unload it and no help at that point. We desperately called around and found 2 people to help. You can sort of notice the intense hill we are on so the truck could not go up the steep driveway. We had to unload onto the sidewalk then quickly get the truck back. Poor Ted had to fight off numerous leeches trying to take our stuff until we got back then it was hours and hours of carrying stuff up that hill. It was a nightmare. Next time I say we just sell all our stuff and buy new stuff. No more dragging washers, dryers and refrigerators up steep hills.

It is nice to be done.

Bear feet...

2008-08-19T10:36:00.000-07:00

We made it to the zoo last week. I really liked this photo of Polar Bear feet.

Ahhh, peace and quiet...Sky went back to school today and hopefully took his preteen attitude with him. Oh, did I mention how nice and quiet it is here today?

I know...

2008-08-17T09:32:00.000-07:00

Old news: The word is in, “No Check For You!” says the IRS. Oh well, I figured as much but you never know when they would make a mistake. I like how they call it “overpayment of taxes”. Like I would ever OVERPAY my taxes so they could keep it, ha! It is a nice feeling to be out from under their diabolical grip though after all these years. I suppose a party should be in order, maybe some dancing in the streets or at least on a table or…blowing some shit up. Yes, this was written in July and we did have some explosives.

I guess I never blog anymore. We have been so busy and honestly I am just never on my computer anymore for any length of time. My last excuse is I feel no one is really interested in what is going on in our little pathetic lives :P

Vicki & Matt came to town in July. It was great seeing them. One of the days they had organized a party at someone’s house so they could see everyone at the same time. That was a blast. A drum set in the basement meant Sky begging to play. 5 or 6 drummers at the party meant Sky got some instruction although he didn’t seem to need much. I got so many “Does he have his own drum kit?” questions then “Get him one, he’s a natural!” comments that it is now on our short list. A certain little birdy told me he and his fiancée are getting him one for Xmas so we’ll see. I agree he’s insane on them and seems to really know what he’s doing. Until then, he’ll tear it up on expert on Rock Band.

August has been really stressful and if someone would like to just drop us some money from the sky it would be much appreciated. I was hoping on another camping trip this year but it doesn’t look like that’s going to happen. Hanging out with Jeff & Dawn has saved our sanity and we both have been stretching our piercings. I am getting close to those cute rhinos!

FunkyB and his woman are getting married in a few weeks and John has somehow finagled his way into the wedding party…this should be interesting. They had us over to their new house last night for some BBQ action which was a lot of fun.

We are moving. Yep, getting out of the hood finally to a neighborhood where most of the people walking around are probably not carrying guns. I think we started a trend because 2 of our other neighbors are moving now too. I do hate moving but it is nice to do a little purging of crap we don’t need anymore.

Camping kids...

2008-06-20T09:51:00.001-07:00

Trenet and Sky enjoying the creek.

Happy Birthday Sky!

2008-06-10T09:35:00.000-07:00

Will we or won’t we? I am interested in knowing whether or not we will be getting a tax stimulus check. I know how much it will be but I suspect they will apply it to our back taxes. As much as it would be awesome to get the check and get caught up on bills and certain peoples I owe some mulah to, I can’t say I would be upset about having my IRS debt reduced to nearly nothing. Not having that huge bill every month would help a ton so it’s really a toss up. Either way will be good. I just want to know.

My job is going OK. No, I am not thrilled about working but I suppose there are worse jobs. I think my main complaint is those damn fluorescent lights all day that are so bright I might as well be sitting a foot from the freaking sun. After an hour or so, the headache comes on and I get super dizzy then fight off panic attacks the rest of the day. Overall, the job is not bad…there are busy days but there are also “slacker days” and usually I don’t know which one it will be until I get there. Unfortunately the summer is vacation time for some of the doctors so I have had more days off than usual which has been nice to be home but my paycheck will not be a happy one. Those days off mean the patients’ appointments need to be crammed into the few days they are there so some of those days have been extended and no one working there is happy about 14 hour clinics or trying to make follow up appointments in the couple of days they are there during the month. This is just one doctor but he’s the most popular and most of his patients anticipate a 2 hour wait to see him. Yes I will now stop bitching about my job.

Considering I haven’t really been on my computer lately to write, I need to give some brief updates.

We went camping Memorial Day weekend with Keith and Mary Jo. We all had a blast and it was nice to ride the mountain bike trails again. The weather was a bit chilly for half of the weekend but we did a little creek walking and rented a boat to ride around the lake.

FunkyB is back in our lives and has been hanging out a bit. Sky’s computer died so FunkyB replaced it and Sky is happy again.

After the rash of crazy thunderstorms and tornados, it has been insanely hot lately. It hasn’t been over 90 degrees since October of last year so it’s a bit of a shock. With gas prices the way they are, we cannot afford to be driving out to the water park but a small one opened near us and it’s super cheap to get in so we have been going there to swim. An old friend happens to work at one of John’s jobs (small world) so he’s been excited to go to the water park with us.

This would have never happened otherwise but thanks to Grandpa, Sky has acquired a Nintendo Wii for his birthday. It’s not my top choice of a new console but I can’t deny it’s fun as heck. He’s only got the games it comes with and Mario & Sonic Olympics but the latter is pretty cool.

Since Dawn is a professional piercer, we have gotten a few done. The holes in my ears were still open after all these years so I have stretched them to a 10. She claims it was her diabolical plan to get us addicted. I will quit when I can fit those cute little rhinos she has at her shop into them! We have been hanging out at their house a lot too. Dawn and I went to see Sex & The City but both of us were dissatisfied with the ending and then gave a long lecture to her teenage stepdaughter and her friend that were with us about how not to let men treat you. It was kind of funny.

Oreo?

2008-04-18T10:27:00.000-07:00

A correction is to be made. I actually ended up with an ‘A’ in my law class. Maybe my classmates were right...wink wink. I feel better now.

The weather has been great lately and has encouraged a little action in the hood. The one day a skanky neighbor girl was running up and down the street arguing with 2 guys naked. I missed most of it since it was one of my late days at work so she had a small dress on by the time I witnessed it. 2 days later John and I had walked over to the tennis courts so he could skate and I could let the dog run a little. 5 minutes into it we heard a series of pops and screaming. For a few seconds I figured it was fireworks since July isn’t too far away. Ok, I’m stupid but Mary Jo, who was in the park with a neighbor boy at his baseball practice, actually looked up in the sky to see them. Well, of course there were more pops then I saw a hoard of screaming children running toward the playground and I figured it out. John immediately hit the ground. I guess that comes from his boyhood in L.A. but I just stood there like an idiot. We started running toward the houses not knowing where this fool(s) was shooting a gun. The basketball court was full and within 20 seconds was empty and once I heard some of the guys yelling about what type of gun it was, we took off too. We took refuge between 2 houses and met up with Mary Jo. We watched a car drive down our cul de sac street and drive back up then get stopped by 5 cop cars at the top. Everyone got out and was searched but then let go. The ghetto bird was then circling us for awhile and cops were driving all over the park and streets for about an hour. I never heard anything else about it so I have no clue if they caught them or if anyone got shot. And we complained about our neighborhood being too quiet. Ha!

I don’t think I mentioned this but right after Tommy died, Ian went downhill quickly and passed away too. It was a little too much to deal with in a month especially with Sky’s surgery and all. It’s not like it’s a shock to lose cats that are almost 20 yrs old but it’s still hard. Maestro seemed so lost and lonely so we got another cat, Oreo. He’s basically a baby, 11 months old, and a rescue. He’s a little high strung and jumpy but super sweet and a talker. Maestro just loves him and I think it has really smoothed the transition. They play constantly and sleep together. The dog is a wimp about cats so she’s scared of him. Sometimes she’ll play with them both but if Oreo jumps on the couch and she’s lying there, she immediately gets up and moves onto the floor.

Taxes somehow got paid this year. I am relieved that at this point I no longer owe taxes with the exception of the back taxes we are still paying off but are nearing the end of…it’s been a long hard road. I currently get taxes taken out of my checks. I know that will end once I start selling Real Estate but for now I feel good about it.

Getting caught up...

2008-04-10T10:31:00.001-07:00

Sky is doing much better now. The swelling is down considerably. It was kind of crazy for a little while. He was so swelled up, he looked like he was wearing a fat suit. Instead of graphing his jawbone from a cadaver or his hip, they used some sort of chemical that promotes the bone growth and the doctor said the bone should be solid within 3 months like it never happened. He has to eat soft food for 6 weeks or he could fracture his jaw. They took a lot of it out so it’s just a small sliver of jaw there now. He got morphine in the hospital but didn’t take any pain meds since then. That leaves us with 2 bottles of codeine elixir. Hmmm…? No, surprisingly we haven’t touched it. He’s a tough kid. After hiding his face under a hoodie for a few days, he was showing his face to the world. He swelled so bad a few days after the surgery to the point his eye was swelled shut so the doctor had him come in for Xrays to see if he had fractured it but all was fine. Thankfully it’s all over now, his post-op checkups have been good and all we have left to remember these good times is a $25,000 hospital bill! Jeesh, it was only one night at the Children’s Hilton for crying out loud. Sky seems proud he could rack up that high of a bill while I have a heart attack. Get in line behind the numerous other doctor bills we have a stack of from the process of finding out what this was to begin with. Onto better news…

I am done with my Real Estate classes. I passed the law class with a ‘B’. I am disappointed I didn’t do better but it’s been a rough couple of months and the instructor was really nice and cool but I didn’t feel he went over the material very well and I slacked a bit in my reading. Our instructor took the over 21-ers out to a bar after the final and paid for the first round. Someone else bought food so it was pretty fun. I had to catch a ride with my teacher which brought on jokes from my fellow classmates about me trying to “get an ‘A’”. I have never ridden in a BMW (I have financially impaired friends) and have never hung out with a lawyer so it was an interesting evening. John met us down there and had a good time. I am excited it’s over but I still have a long road ahead of me studying for the state license exam and paying for it.

We have been showered with wonderful weather the past few days which included this past weekend. It was very relaxing and we even busted out the Cornhole boards on Sunday just for Inga! We also went over to Dawn & Jeff’s to play some Rock Band on Saturday.

Dawn's house...

2008-04-06T10:23:00.000-07:00

Jeff, Lillith (his daughter), Summer and Evan playing Rock Band and Dawn and Summer making coffee. Dawn looks irritated which I can't figure out because I have yet to see her without a smile on her face. Maybe this is what happens when I let John control the camera.

Timeline of surgery photos...

2008-04-01T10:09:00.000-07:00

The first is Sky with his initials on his cheek so they operate on the correct side. The 2nd is after they gave him the "happy juice"...I asked for some but they said no. That was right before the "sleepy air" when he had a long conversation with the anesthesiologist about the history of Indians in Ohio that he doesn't remember. The 3rd is in the recovery room and makes me cry whenever I look at it. The 4th is his worst day of swelling. Don't ask about the funky hat or pajamas, it was out of my control. He was actually smiling but his face wasn't cooperating.

He survived!

2008-03-22T22:07:00.000-07:00

Sky survived the surgery and the Dr. said it went well. It was slightly nightmarish but I documented it with photos. We are exhausted after spending 30 hours at the hospital so I will give details later. Sky isn't doing as well as I expected.

Thank you to the few people who came by to see him...he needed it! Thank you Dawn for bringing us food and coffee!

Blizzard '08

2008-03-17T22:22:00.001-07:00

Poor Sky...

2008-03-06T10:02:00.000-08:00

I have a small update on Skylar’s tumor. After being to 3 doctors that could not tell us anything, we are dealing with an oral surgeon now that is the top man at Children’s Hospital for facial deformities and whatnot. He got a biopsy on Tuesday. I figured he needed his mom for this so I had John work for me at the Chinese factory. I kind of regret that decision. They sedated him with Ketamine. I have to say he was very brave for the IV…he really showed me up J. It was done quickly then they tried to get him an Xray. After positioning him in the wheelchair, he starts puking blood. I nearly went down and had to step away. He looked so dazed and kept fumbling his fingers into his mouth to remove the gauze. It was really gross and the whole thing was freaking me out. I have never seen him so out of it. I really wish they had just let him lie in a room for a half hour or so until he gained more consciousness but no. They rushed him out and he puked again in front of the elevators then again while trying to get him in the car. He was white as a ghost and just lied in the backseat on the ride home. I realized I could not carry him up the stairs so I desperately ran from neighbors’ house to house trying to get help but no one was answering. Thankfully he was able to stumble up the stairs with my help then into his room where he puked all over the floor then into a bucket then crashed in bed. Ugh, it was rough.

I had to go pick up John from work and run a couple errands and Sky was awake by then and feeling better. He said he would stay there with his cell phone if he needed us. We get back and he’s not in the livingroom playing video games where I left him. He wasn’t in his room. John checked in the computer room, no kid. He was not in the house! John started going off about him wandering the neighborhood in a “K-hole” maybe begging for change or something. Ok, we had to laugh about it a little, we have that sense of humor. I started freaking out and called his phone. He answers and says he’s at his friend’s house down the street and “can he come over?”. NO! I told him to get his ass home and since he was feeling that good, he could get dressed for Kung Fu now. Mean mom I am. Of course he didn’t work out but he led the class. Kids!

The pathology won’t be back for several days then we will schedule the surgery. What we know now is that it is most likely benign but has destroyed a good portion of his jawbone so possible reconstruction of his jaw will need to be done.

I have some good news finally. While we were in the waiting room, I got a call from a job I interviewed for and they offered it to me! Yay! Obviously I don’t head the numerous signs to turn off cell phones. A 5^th job might be just what we need to get back on track financially. Funny how 3 jobs can’t replace what I made before. I will be a receptionist at a hand surgery clinic on a part time basis but what I would make there in a day is what I make at the Chinese factory in a whole week of work. If it becomes too much, I will drop the lesser job.

Snow...finally!

2008-02-21T20:55:00.000-08:00

We finally got a decent snow. It was still only about 2" but it was sleddable before the freezing rain/sleet hit. Actually that just made it a faster and more dangerous run, always good. It came at a most inconvenient time. I had had John work for me so I wouldn't be so tired for class so he just picked up Sky early from school so the poor kid didn't get stuck on a 2 hour bus ride home again. I watched the news with the scrolling closings and waited and waited and waited until...Yes! My school was closing at 4pm so I wouldn't have class. Whoohoo! Then Kung Fu came in closed then the dance theatre so Sky was free and clear for the night too. You know what that meant? Yep, time to get in some sledding before it got dark. Boy, after the rough week we had last week, we needed a relaxed evening.

They have already closed Sky's school for tomorrow since it will be sleeting all night although he does not know because he's asleep. Both John and I work tomorrow so I guess I will have to take Sky into my work and hope I won't get bitched at for it. He can sit and play his video games at the crew table during the lunch rush if there is one...might be slow. Slow means no money so hopefully people will brave the ice and cold and I hope the college is in session.

We lost a kitty, Tommy died. It sucked and I miss him. The City of Cincinnati tried to send me to jail. We got threatened with eviction. Skylar has some sort of a tumor in his lower jawbone. It is about the size of a superball from looking at the Xray. It needs to be removed surgically and possible reconstruction of his jaw. We don't know if it's malignant or benign yet or really what the fuck it is. Everyone seems baffled and we are currently awaiting CT results to know what happens next. Yeah, we're freaking out. So, there is an awesome week in a nutshell. I think I was about 1 more piece of bad news and I was committing myself. I had gotten myself off of Valium but now I'm back on full force. Good news is I lost 6 lbs in one week from stress and not eating.

...but, I'm sure everything will get better eventually and at least this week has been a little bit less stressful. I am enjoying the snow, the lunar eclipse rocked and Sky is invited to Dawn's son's birthday party this weekend at Perfect North Slopes and she left a couple adult spots for us! Yay, Dawn rocks too!

Is there a doctor, I mean, a piercer in the house?

2008-01-30T20:35:00.000-08:00

Shortly before picking Sky up at his weekend class at the college, John was letting the dog out of the side door, pushed the glass and his hand went right through it. Oops. We half-ass cleaned up the gushing wounds so he could work that night at the restaurant but wondered if stitches were actually needed. Dawn picked me and Sky up to go to her house for dinner and hanging out and I told her what had happened. She got all excited and said “Oh, Jeff can do stitches and he likes it!”. Problem solved. John met us over there after work and Jeff hooked him up with some medical care which involved a bit of super glue. It has healed up nicely.

I got an “A” in my Finance & Appraisal class. It’s been a long time since I have gotten an “A” in a class so I am pretty proud of myself. Let me bask in the glory for a little bit. I needed a confidence booster. When the instructor had 3 of us alone in the room during the final, he said “Well, now that I have my best 3 students here…”. I said “I’m one of your best students? Sweet!”. Onto Real Estate Law now then I’m done.

Did someone say "get a crappy job"?

2008-01-21T17:03:00.000-08:00

It’s funny how when you’re going through some rough times, friends seem to disappear. Being that I felt worthless, obviously I really was. Well, to make people happy, I sold my soul to the devil and took the job I said I would never in a millions years do and for next-to-nothing pay. It’s better than nothing though and I’m getting used to it. My slave pay-free training was pretty bad. I counted how many times I got yelled at for things I was just learning…7 times. With tears welling up in my eyes, I toughed it out then went home and completely broke down. After being told I was too old at an interview for a different job (isn’t that against the law?), I had no choice and had to go back. The next day I only got yelled at 5 times so that equals praise in her book. After all, her “dog is smarter than me” since she only has to “beat it twice and it learns”. Let me know when the dog learns the entire Chinese menu and I will concede. My 3^rd day I didn’t get yelled at really at all so that must mean I am doing a good job. I am making a little bit of money now too so that is good. I stress the phrase little bit. Overall, it’s not that bad if you ignore the fact that I am busting my ass for hours to make what I made in a laid back hour in my pajamas at my old job. Ugh. Gotta do what ya gotta do!

What is sad is that we now have 4 jobs in the family and still can’t pay the bills and if I eat one more expired food in this house I’ll scream! Ah, memories of buying groceries…good times.

We went over to Dawn & Jeff’s weekend before last. That was fun. Dawn ordered tons of Chinese food and the kids got to play. We spent hours exchanging crazy stories from the past that Jeff’s teenager daughter probably didn’t need to hear. Dawn kept saying “earmuffs” to her but she wouldn’t do it so she’s got plenty of ammo to blackmail us with in the future. I didn’t realize we had so many of the same friends/acquaintances from back in the day. John joined us after he got off work at the Chinese factory with an empty stomach and ended up consuming too many of Jeff’s beers. After some aggressive Kung-Fu sparring with Lilith, I finally ushered him out before he got any sloppier and possibly peed on one of their neighbors’ houses or something.

Pretty funny stuff...

2008-01-18T20:50:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas!

2007-12-25T10:16:00.000-08:00

Crying and copping a feel...

2007-12-23T20:51:00.000-08:00

Things were looking good for a minute. An interview that went so good they called me back for a second with the president and that went great too and it turned out my neighbor worked there. Figured I was in. Even with my 97% on an Excel test I took (no, I have never used the program before), they went with someone with more experience working with numbers. It was a job working entirely with Excel…hello, 97%? Ugh. A good phone interview for another position that a moron could do blindfolded turned into them going with someone with more cash handling experience. OMG! Nearly 10 years at the same company running a website as a one-woman team doesn’t get you anywhere in this world. I actually think I’d do better if I had been a job-hopper. I’m also glad my recruiter decided to tell me the bad news on the Friday before Xmas so I could spend the rest of the weekend and holiday crying my eyes out and feeling like a loser again.

Better news is that I got an “A” on my appraisal and an “A” on the final. Onto Finance now with lots of reading and homework…boo!

Other December goings-on include Sky & I being invited to go with Dawn and her kids to the Zoo’s Festival of Lights for free. That was cool. The next night she met us downtown to do some ice skating. Her husband and son play hockey and her step-daughter used to figure skate so they could manage a bit better than me but I do alright. I don’t fall and I can skate backwards so that’s not too bad right? We had a blast until some guys holding hands came flying from behind us and plowed Dawn and Lilith over. Poor Lilith banged up her knee pretty good and Dawn landed with her hand firmly on one of the guys’ *ahem* “package”. It was rather comical how she was the one apologizing to him when it should have been the other way around.

I'm naked!

2007-11-30T23:34:00.000-08:00

That’s right, my braces are off early! I went in and pleaded my case of having a job interview the next day and with a new job, I might not be able to come in to get them off and Dr.I had a heart and asked if I had the time to get them off right then. “Do I ever!” was my response. I think my teeth look weird without them now but they are nice and straight and it sure is nice to eat without worrying what combination of foods is stuck between my brackets and spending too much time in public bathrooms cleaning them. Dr.I also gave me a bleaching kit for free. He must have noticed my coffee stains. Some whitening and self scraping have removed them for the most part. The retainer is a bit of a pain in the ass and I still lisp with then in but it’s not that bad and I can put the bleach right in them.

I sweated it out, wondering if they would notice I wasn’t paid in full and tell me no but no one said anything except tons of praise, excitement and some high fives. I quickly exited with the retainer before they could figure it out.

So, did I get the job? Haha, good joke. I am confident I would have rocked the interview but they have a policy that they cannot hire me with a real estate license. It’s a conflict of interest since they are a law firm that deals with foreclosures. Aaaaargh! Unbelievable. It was my recruiter’s fault for not informing me until the last minute. So, back to the drawing board. Tick tock, tick tock…

I'm not so stupid...well maybe I am...

2007-11-20T23:10:00.000-08:00

My grades came back and I got a “B”, my usual mediocrity.

Vicki & Matt were back in town for a family wedding. Vicki made time to do my hair since I can’t afford to go see my usual stylist and I really needed my color done while job hunting. Trust me it looked bad before she got her hands on it. Melissa came over too and cut Sky’s hair. My dining room was turned into salon frenzy since Vicki was doing Melissa’s hair too. I appreciate it so much and my hair looks fabulous…too bad she lives so far away. I am not sure if my usual stylist can reproduce the color pattern she used but I need a job anyways before I can see him again.

So that brings up the word of the day: Job! J-O-B. Ugh, I am tired of sending out resumes with no response. I did get an interview, but after attending it, I realized I didn’t want the job anyways…hours that did not work well with one car in a 3 job family and crappy pay. It doesn’t matter since I didn’t get it anyways. I’m now working with a different recruiter that seems to think I am going for the wrong type of jobs. It’s getting very frustrating and depressing and Valium has become my best friend just so I can sleep. It turns out I have a kid who actually wants some stuff for Christmas and right now luxuries like groceries and gas are impossible to come up with. Oh yeah, he still believes in Santa and said “Don’t worry Mom, Santa has money.”. Uh…sure he does.

I talked Dr.I into setting a date for my debanding, December 13^th! I was so excited I could barely sit still. Getting my braces off is a dream. I have put in my time in them, over 2 years, and I’m really happy with how my teeth look now. Unfortunately, they want me to be paid in full by then and I don’t see how in hell that will happen with the retainer fee involved. Well, it could happen if I had a fucking job by now!

This is why drunk people should not use cameras...

2007-11-13T21:24:00.000-08:00

Usual happenings at Walmart...

2007-11-02T10:05:00.000-07:00

You know when you’re browsing through the discounted Halloween items at Walmart and this little, old, creepy guy starts talking to you about real life serial killers he finds fascinating? No? Ok, maybe it’s just lucky me then. He did fail to mention that David Parker Ray guy and I definitely had more information on all the ones he mentioned. Maybe he thought I was the freaky one.

Happy Halloween!

2007-10-31T08:23:00.000-07:00

We will be going over to Tracey's so Sky can trick-or-treat with Tristan. I have already made a deal with Sky to snag some of his Twizzlers and Gummy Savers. We shook on it so that means....well, absolutely nothing. I can't wait to get my braces off so I can down some Milk Duds and bite into a carmel apple.

School's out for...

2007-10-30T22:07:00.000-07:00

Well, for 2 weeks at least. My brain will enjoy not being crammed with real estate knowledge for a bit. I ended up with a higher “B” on my midterm since we got to take a different test. I thought I did better than that but I’ll take it. We had 2 finals tonight due to the finance & appraisal instructor we had for 2 weeks. I got a 101 or “A+” on the finance/appraisal test. We got an extra credit question on capitalization rates and figuring out a commercial property’s value using the income approach and he graded them right there. Aced it! Cheers and applause please. Come on, I’m old and stupid and suck at math so that is quite an accomplishment. The other test I wasn’t as confident about and won’t know my grade until next week but every time the instructor mentioned math on the test, he looked at me. I suppose even if I bombed it with a “C”, I should still pass the class with a decent grade overall. I got the attendance grade and turned in my interviews so I have that going for me too. Next I get to take a whole term of finance and appraisal.

Friday was our anniversary so we wanted to get out and do something. We also wanted to finally get into the spirit of the upcoming holiday and dress up but we are broker than broke. Luckily we found a party being thrown by an ex co-worker of Mau. Even though we didn’t know anyone there, it was fun. There were good decorations, party favors and a keg. Yep, we basically went to a college kegger. It keeps us feeling young at least. We met some cool people and our costumes were good.

I’m still looking for a job and not too happy about not finding one yet. I am hoping that soon one of the hundreds of positions I have applied for will come through and pay at least half of what I was making before but I’m not being that picky. My bills might be but you gotta do what you gotta do.

This is how smart the kids on my street are...

2007-10-22T09:58:00.000-07:00

I wake up Saturday morning in a grumpy mood. Yeah yeah, I know that is pretty much every day. I’m just not a morning person and never mind that this is approximately Noon. That is irrelevant. I hear Mau brewing up the coffee then the whole house goes silent. The power is out on the whole street. I stumble out of bed to look out the front window on a beautiful, sunny 70-ish degree day and I hear kids screaming and yelling. One of Sky’s friends, who just got a puppy this past week, had been swinging around the dog’s choke chain and flung it onto the power lines, connecting two of them together. Eyewitnesses say there were tons of sparks and it completely fried/melted the dog chain to the wires. Mau marched outside and gave the kid a small pummeling for denying us of our morning coffee. Don’t worry, Mau pummels all these kids on a nearly daily basis with fairly good reason and the mother of the kid gave permission.

Happy Birthday Mau!

2007-10-14T13:32:00.000-07:00

Didnt' realize your license expired this year, did ya? Don't you just love those pop-up expenses when you're dead broke? Enjoy the cupcakes!

FunkyB came through when I couldn't. He decided to get us tickets to King's Island's new Halloween Haunt. We brought Nick (the neighbor boy) and FunkyB brought his sister, Jill, and Natalie ended up meeting us out there after she got off work. The price included all day admission so we went early and rode some rides then you could do the haunted stuff after 7pm until 1am. Since Cedar Point bought them this year, the haunted thing was much better than Paramount's which had gone downhill since it started. Much more crowded but the decorations were way better than past years. There were tons of haunted attractions which I thought would even out the people but all the lines were horrible. I liked the CarnEvil one we went through and was surprised when Sky liked it. He spent the entire line saying how he didn't want to go through it and made me keep my arm around his neck. Once we got in there, however, Sky was laughing his head off and I found myself literally dragging Nick on my back. He had his head buried in my back the whole time and a death grip on my hoodie so it was choking me. I laughed everytime someone jumped out at us but Nick screamed like a little girl so of course the person would go after him. I kept telling him to just laugh and they'd leave him alone but he wasn't hearing it. After that, he refused to go through any more so Mau would tell every monster we met walking around that "He wants to talk to you." and would point at Nick then Nick would scream and run away. Keep in mind he's 17. It was rather comical until Nick was visibly pissed at Mau so he stopped. We did the haunted path without Nick because the line was only 20 minutes long and the outdoor ones are always cool but everything else was a 2-3 hour wait. Forget that. We even waited over 2 hours for the Beast "Unleashed" but it was must and even though I was coming down with something and felt like I was going to die in the endless line, it was worth it. I held my still-healing boob in one hand to reduce the bouncing/pain and held my other hand up the whole time. Laugh if you must. We all had a good time and I really thank FunkyB for making it happen and buying pizza!

I'm not a test taker...

2007-10-12T21:18:00.000-07:00

The Bengals suck so far this year so we’ll move on.

In the world of orthodontics, I am pink…sigh, again. There are only so many dark colors to choose from and I have used them all many times now and I just want them off. I kept my powerchain on the top and they put a partial one back on the bottom. Just 6 weeks of not having it on the bottom and those teeth were on the move. I am going to have to be very diligent about wearing my retainer…I would rather not go through this again or spend another few thousand. Once is definitely worth it but definitely enough. I am very happy about the difference in my teeth. It’s like night and day and I have had a few comments from people about how much I smile now and how I never used to. On that note, after Dr. I was done shaping some teeth, he said “We’ll do this then we’ll get you wrapped up.”. I hope that means I get them off next month. I ran it by the assistant and he said it looks like I will be done then. Oh, keep your fingers crossed for me!

After studying so hard every day, thinking I had absorbed the information fully and feeling pretty confident, I fell apart during my midterm. I was in some pain due to the surgery and my orthodontic adjustment earlier that day, the instructor decided we could skip our break and take the test during that dreaded 4^th hour of class and he threw in some questions from a chapter we hadn’t covered yet. I was a mess and it was really hard. The guy next to me had figured to this point that he didn’t need to buy the required textbook for the class. During the test he was rubbing his forehead really hard in that stressed out way, making the noise that goes along with that (that forced breathing thing) and frantically punching numbers into his calculator, rubbing his forehead again then punching more numbers then nearly slamming his head onto the desk. Guess what he had in his hand the next week? Yep, the textbook. The instructor said everyone did poorly but gave us a break on the questions we hadn’t covered yet which left me with an 82%. I was satisfied with that but he also gave us an option of taking a new, shorter test that day and taking the higher of the 2 scores. I figured it was a win-win so I took this second test and it was much easier and I felt confident in my answers. I don’t know when we get the scores since we have a different instructor for the next 2 weeks for finance and appraisal. Lucky us, we get 2 final exams, one from each instructor. Whoopie!

It's over...

2007-10-01T09:09:00.000-07:00

This goofy picture is from Oktoberfest. As you can tell from my camera in my hand, I did take photos down there. They will be up somewhere and sometime soon.

My surgery is over and I survived. Aside from the usual IV-bawling, it wasn't that bad. The nurses were super nice and I didn't wake up with my boobs hanging out this time. I got tons of pain meds that I really didn't need and I was able to bowl on Sunday, even bowl my highest game ever, a 191! Natalie said I should have surgery more often before bowling. My surgeon said the tumor came back as benign. She figured but no one could say 100% without it being biopsied so now I know for sure and that is a huge relief.

Going under the knife...

2007-09-26T09:57:00.000-07:00

School is going well. I really like it, though I would prefer to leave class after 3 hours, that 4^th hour is a killer. I liked the interviews I had to do. The agent one was easy because I used my hair stylist who is also a successful agent. It was very difficult locating the elusive mortgage loan officer but I found a very informative one, unlike some of my classmates who had bad experiences. This little 15 minute interview turned into a 2 hour mentoring session. He was such a wealth of knowledge and crammed so much into my brain, as well as networking with me for future business dealings and trying to sell me on a house he’s rehabbed.

To help celebrate the upcoming Breast Cancer Awareness Month, tomorrow I am having surgery, an open excisional biopsy to remove that breast tumor. I’m not thrilled but it’s painful so I want it out. Mau is thinking about shackling me to something so I won’t try to play DDR…I’m really bad about abstaining from exercise following surgeries. He reminds me of my DDR playing an hour after my toe surgery, with the funky shoe and all. The Novocain hadn’t worn off yet so why not, right? I was on a treadmill the day after my ear surgery. Yeah, maybe the shackles are a good idea.

Alles Gute zum Geburtstag FunkyB und Edr0, die Wolfjungen!

2007-09-20T20:51:00.000-07:00

Who-dey? Roo-day? No, boo-dey!

2007-09-20T09:15:00.000-07:00

The Bengals made me happy last Monday then severely disappointed me on Sunday. Boo-Dey!

School is getting harder. Well, sort of. So far, I am doing pretty good on the practice tests in each chapter. I am fine when the instructor goes over the material in class but he’s a bit chatty and gets off subject a lot so we got behind and now I actually have to read and retain it :P At least I’m not the one who falls asleep in class. That would be the 19 year old guy sitting next to me doing really annoying things to keep himself awake, that keeps me awake watching him and trying not to laugh. Class got cancelled this week because the instructor will be out of town with no substitute…I told Sky and I got a high five and a “whoohoo” from him. Instead, I have to do these interviews with people in the industry.

Our bowling league started this week. I bowled too good so now I will start with a high average and apparently Mau has forgotten how to bowl at all. I am starting to rethink having Sky as my teammate instead. FunkyB and his new/old woman and of course Mary Jo and Keith are bowling too so this league should be fun.

That's not good...

2007-09-10T10:03:00.000-07:00

Camping did the trick. It rained. It rained hard and all night but we lucked out because it only rained after we were in our tents and the sun came out in the morning so we were able to drag the tents out of the woods to dry them out before packing up.

I am not sure what the highlight of the camping weekend was. I don’t know if it was the invigorating mountain bike trail ride, the dangerous night bike ride to look for the “headless horseman” Mau claims he saw near the horse loop (we didn’t find him), the fabulous site we got this time (it was very cool and secluded), the swarm of bees we battled with one casualty (poor Sky), or Mau getting extremely drunk and wandering off causing us to form a late night search party where we found him passed out on the playground slide. Yes, it is probably that one. He claims to have been star gazing. It was overcast. We led a staggering Mau back to the campsite where he was very confused as to which tent was his, tried to enter a couple then yelled a few obscenities as we directed him to the correct one. The kids loved it and I’m sure the story is being told at Sky’s school today, hopefully not to any teachers.

I love my car so much and spending money on more car repairs just makes me giddy! I have noticed it was acting funky for awhile now but everyone told me I was just being paranoid. It wasn’t slipping or lurching into gear so I knew it wasn’t the transmission or timing belt but it was tugging while going uphill. It really acted up being loaded down with camping gear and bikes so we took it in thinking it might be the spark plugs. Yep. The one was totally shot. Not that we know anything about changing spark plugs but I would think that would be a fairly cheap repair. Sure if you’re not us I suppose. We needed the spark plugs, wires and they did a tune-up for a cool $200. I think that puts us at about $1000 we have sunk into the car in the past 2 months.

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes....

2007-09-07T08:24:00.000-07:00

The weather finally gave us a little break from the over 90 degree temperatures for 2 days. It was short lived but nice. Still no rain but we are going camping this weekend and it usually rains when we camp so it might be coming. Kari said we would have no rain until September…she said this in May and she’s been correct. She might want to extend it until October though.

Some people know about our current situation but for those that do not, Mau left the Chinese world and is working his 2^nd job downtown now at a higher end restaurant. He loves it. The website I worked on got shut down finally so I got the boot. I knew it was coming sometime, I was just hoping it could wait until I was done with school. I like to think that somehow this will be a blessing in disguise…I have to try to remain positive or I will go down a bad road.

I am very nervous but I do like school. I am taking Real Estate classes and will hopefully be selling houses soon with a braces-free smile. I am surprised by how many young people are in class but I am happy to not be the oldest. I guess I can’t make fun of Sky for having homework now :P

Sky likes school so far. He’s excited to have a male teacher but this year, they switch classes so that’s only for one subject. His plan is to audition for the performing arts school for 7^th grade so he is taking band this year. While the dance classes are still free for boys for the next year, he is taking 2, Jazz and Tap. He will need to stick some Ballet in there for the audition though. He is taking this year off bowling so he can take 2 Saturday classes. I don’t know what he will get yet but he chose musical theatre and an engineering class…an odd combo I know but he’s an odd kid. He is still in Kung Fu until we can’t afford it anymore and he will join Chess Club when it starts. Whew, I think that is all for now. I am going to get his dance performance onto YouTube soon and will let you know when it is viewable.

Bad and good things...

2007-08-27T10:09:00.000-07:00

In the world of orthodontics, I am now green powerchain on top and regular ligs on the bottom. I got too used to no rubber bands and now I have 2…a canine to canine up and down and a back bottom molar to upper canine which have together produced all kinds of pain. I keep bugging Dr.I about the debanding date but he’s not budging yet. Claims he’s still doing some tweaking. Enough tweaking, I want them off! When making my next appointment, the girl said something about it being a longer visit next time so that might mean something, maybe retainer talk? I can always hope!

Lila the rat has died. Her tumors had gotten out of control so we finally had her put to sleep. It sucked but I have to feel that she’s better off now. We buried her next to her sister, Sibella, who died of unknown causes. Too many animal deaths, no more rats for now.

Sky went back to school to start his exciting new year as a fifth grader for a whole 2 days before the schools closed due to the excessive heat and no air conditioning in most classrooms. I have never known the schools to close when it’s hot but it usually isn’t quite this hot here. While on the subject of weather, where the hell is the rain? We have had nearly none this whole summer and have been in a drought.

Mau’s friend, Larry, visited from Florida last weekend. He brought his 2 nephews for Sky to play with. He works for a television station and hooked us up with 4 free tickets to King’s Island. That was really awesome of him and we put them to good use Saturday with FunkyB. Surprisingly it was not terribly crowded or oppressively hot so we rode just about everything. We haven’t been there in 2 years so Sky was finally tall enough for the 54” and up rides so we took advantage by riding Face Off and Flight of Fear. Sky protested through the queue line but wanted to go again once the ride was over. Italian Job Stunt Track was closed all day which was disappointing but, after riding The Beast, we heard some people saying the line was open. We booked it over there and got in line. I know it’s kind of short and seems kind of stupid but that ride is so much fun! FunkyB stated he had never seen me so “giddy” on a ride before. I was cracking up the whole time, it was great! The first and last time we rode it was at Fearfest so it was dark and we rode it in the dark again so that was a huge plus. You go through this tunnel that is supposed to be the subway tunnel in the movie and it’s pitch dark. That was a great day and I’m so glad we got to go for free.

Everybody into the pool!

2007-08-24T09:06:00.000-07:00

When it's this hot everyone, including felines, make use of the pool. The tabby is my cat, Tommy, and the white is the neighbor's cat, Snow. I wonder if this is the reason the pool keeps deflating?

The mystery has been solved!

2007-08-21T21:30:00.000-07:00

Mary Jo and I were observing these crazy flying "bee" things and it dawned on me. I asked her "Have you ever heard of a "cicada killer"?". She had not. Someone mentioned the phrase to me once when we lived in Clifton during the cicada outbreak that year. I had since forgotten about it. I had already done some research on bees and wasps and found nothing but this time I searched "cicada killer" and guess what I found? Pictures of what is definitely in my yard. They are...The Eastern Cicada Killer Wasp! Hehe

Oh what did I do before I had access to the internet? I have enjoyed learning about them, they really are quite interesting, but I will try to make some changes in the yard to deter them from setting up shop next year.

...and, uh, wtf is this?

2007-08-19T21:37:00.000-07:00

I know it's some sort of insect related to the bee but it's like a bee on steroids! I watched this crazy flying thing pick up a cicada and fly back to what I now think is it's home under our front steps. Cicadas are quite large so this was an odd sight and I was unable to get a photo due to it landing in a bush. I just wonder what they are because they are getting to be a nuisance when I want to relax on the porch.

Feelin' hot hot hot!

2007-08-15T21:29:00.000-07:00

This is what happens when you send your kid to "Jesus Fest". At least the sunburn proves he had many hours of fun in some sort of a pool right?

Midnight snack

2007-08-11T23:39:00.000-07:00

Keeping this guy out of my bird feeders and squirrel snackers is a constant battle of mine. We now keep a loaded Super Soaker on hand. I do love the raccoons but they are a tad greedy and I really can't forgive them for the many times we have had to pick up the remains of our trash cans contents off the driveway.

Can I call you Dad?

2007-08-09T21:15:00.000-07:00

Luckily our insurance is covering the lightning fiasco but not sure how much they are shelling out yet. We are still awaiting the check so Sky must endure his green TV for now but we have been able to get Mau back on the information highway thanks to FunkyB’s magical ways and he got a little sumthin’ sumthin’ for me too, which I absolutely love!

FunkyB’s dad was in town so we met up with them tonight to grab a bite to eat and watch the Bengals’ first pre-season game at Buffalo Wild Wings. His dad picked up the entire bill, which included a significant amount of beer. One question: can we replace Mau’s mom with FunkyB’s dad? Well, I had to try.

The Bengals lost by one point. I am still scratching my head over the missed field goal attempt. It was in Detroit in a freakin’ dome for crying out loud. No wind, no excessive heat, no rain, best kicker in NFL? I don’t get it! Oh well, at least it didn’t count.

It's been over 90 degrees for 11 days now. Seems to me that Inga went back to Portland 11 days ago...sounds rather fishy to me. That's it, it's Inga's fault. Her and her Oregonian-needing-a-coat-at-a-summer-soccer-game self! He he. It's been 86 at midnight here, resulting in me sitting in a kiddie pool in the dark. Thankfully we have those waterpark passes because we have used them a lot this week.

West-coasters reunited!

2007-08-01T21:06:00.000-07:00

Inga’s visit was awesome. I don’t know if it was for her being that Ohio isn’t very exciting and we didn’t do anything exciting but we really enjoyed the time she was here. I could barely remember what it was like to hang out with her since it’s been so long (we won’t date ourselves by saying HOW long!) but then it all came back and it just didn’t seem like we had even changed much. Inga also brought with her some cooler Portland weather with some rain and of course, the day she leaves, now it’s hot as hell.

Thanks Inga for getting us addicted to the Trailer Park Boys series. I have already ordered some seasons so we can find out what happens next!

We introduced her to Skyline Chili and cornhole…you have to have the real Ohio experience after all. Unfortunately she also got introduced to gospel rap, a sea of Cincinnati Reds fans and a wacky neighbor inviting her to see his band play out there next week that she will most likely NOT be attending. “Stupid ball return!”

Cars suck and ours decided to let us know its brakes need to be done right now instead of the 1000 miles the mechanic said we had left. You know how we wanted more car repairs.

Congrats Kali!

2007-07-26T09:56:00.000-07:00

Kali has graduated from her doggie class and as you can tell from the photo, she’s very proud of herself. I would recommend the classes to anyone. She learned a lot and is much better about not jumping up on people…well, unless you are the meter reading woman and you comment about the “good dog” bumper sticker on our car then that “good dog” jumps on you. Ugh! I blame the entry point. Someone coming in through the garage really threw Kali off and that was a high energy time in her pre-walk morning. Enough excuses, she fucked up.

The floor is done! That is not a project we will engage in anytime in the near future but it looks nice now.

You know how I love car repairs so life dealt us a couple. The car was vibrating at higher speeds really bad and there was some sort of rotational noise that was driving me up the wall. Smart Mau took it to a dealer and got a nice, insanely expensive estimate. I called a normal mechanic and got the expenses cut in more than half. There was an axel bearing in need of replacement…ya that right fallangy thingie, whatever. Apparently it causes pull so it was probably a must and the vibration subsided slightly. We also replaced the rear tires which were not nearly as cheap as the tires on our previous cars but one had a broken belt…yep, that was the main vibration because now it’s gone! Ah, so nice to be in the car again that drained us of any extra money we thought for a moment we had. We still need 2 more tires, an alignment and new rotors. That will have to wait a bit.

Inga will be arriving today so we are in the process of a whirlwind cleaning adventure. It is so exciting! Oregon to Ohio? Probably more exciting for us! The weather is not cooperating for our tonight’s evening or tomorrow’s plans so far. I wonder if this visit will take us back to when we were 15 hanging out listening to the Ramones? Money, children and automobiles might make it a little different huh?

I have a disturbing animal story that ended up with me getting into a fight with 2 redneck guys in the park by myself at night but it is long, drawn out and I would rather not go into it right now. There is a small happy ending thanks to Kari. We really do make a good animal advocates team!

I thought the fireworks were over?

2007-07-17T10:10:00.001-07:00

Since Sky was at a sleepover Saturday night, we went to see Sicko with FunkyB & Doug. Some creative accounting is how we managed to “afford” it. I think it was his best film yet. It wasn’t full of the usual antics that got him so loved/hated over the years. I sure want to move to France now but being I am not an EU national, it would be next to impossible to get work permits :P Sky also opposes this idea because he says “I know German Mom, not French!”.

Sunday FunkyB took Sky to see the newest Harry Potter film while we tried to finish the floor. This has become a tradition between them so he takes Sky to see all of the movies in that series now. A huge thanks to “Uncle FunkyB” for paying for everything. Sky really enjoyed it and I overheard him playing outside yelling spells at invisible enemies. Come on, he’s 10 after all!

We haven’t had a thunderstorm in a long time that caused problems but one rolled through rather quickly on Sunday. Sorry Inga, I know you wanted to experience one. I was researching some stuff on the internet and it got really dark. The lightning got closer and closer until it was over the top of us. The first big strike knocked off my computer, the second huge boom/flash I could feel through the cell phone I was on so I quickly hung up. I realized the dog was outside and it was pouring so I tried to get her to brave it and come out of the shelter she’d found under the stairs. She finally ran in right as another gigantic flash came that made me scream and slam the door shut. Everyone knows I am not scared of thunder and lightning so you should know it was HUGE. That one knocked out our cable, fried Skylar’s TV and set off my battery operated alarm clock which was not set to go off (had to remove the batteries to get it to stop). Apparently it hit the next door neighbors’ wires. They lost a computer and the neighbors on the other side lost 2 TVs.

Luckily my APC just needed to have the breaker tripped then my computer worked again (I was really worried about that of course) but it fried our cable modem so we had to swap it out and had no internet until the following day. We currently have no network because it fried our Linksys router and Mau’s computer took a hit so it is disabled. I am awaiting a call from our insurance company to see if we have a claim and can be reimbursed for what we will need to replace. You can be sure that the next time there’s lightning in the area, I will be unplugging all electronics!

Ryan & Skylar

2007-07-09T00:07:00.000-07:00

Skylar with his cousin, Ryan, when his Aunt Michelle brought down the Nintendo DS their Grandma bought him. Thanks Grandma because we sure as hell couldn't afford one and now I can confirm Sky's odd hair didn't come from MY side of the family.

Warning: Shoots flaming balls

2007-07-08T20:36:00.000-07:00

We spent 4^th of July at Steve & Shawntee’s. They got a new place with a pool but the pool wasn’t ready nor was the weather cooperating that day. We saw quite a few people we hadn’t seen in a long time so that was very cool and we set off a ton of fireworks.

We finished painting the upstairs room and Mau started the flooring. We have realized something. We are not professionals. I can definitely do a decent paint job but putting down a floor? That is another story, especially when you don’t own the proper tools. It would be a super easy job if there weren’t small annoyances like vents in the floor or if the tiles didn’t have to fit all the way up to the wall. In other words, cutting the tiles is an issue with the tool we borrowed and so far it looks good, much better than the floor underneath, but no pro job that’s for sure! We have about half of it down and Mau will finish it up next week…hopefully after finding someone with a table saw and depending if the store gets the rest of the wood in. It was a lot of work (thanks Inga! j/k) and really hot so we took Sunday off and went to the lake to get wet in the 95 degree heat. It was the relaxation we were looking for.

Someday I hope to be paid. I have spent more time on the phone to people in NYC it's unreal and I still do not know for sure.

Butterfly

2007-07-01T22:45:00.000-07:00

A funeral song?

2007-06-30T21:03:00.000-07:00

Little Sibella the rat died. I don’t know why. She started labored breathing then was dead within 2 hours. Mau had just left for work when I noticed. I called Sky down to check out the situation. He confirmed she was “hard as a rock”. I cannot touch dead things so I sort of played poor Sky into it by using statements like “we gotta stick together” and “You’re a boy so…”. He reluctantly got the kitchen gloves, reached in the cage and pulled her out. We put her into a box, wrote on it and put it in the freezer. Sky tried to get her tail to wrap around her body but of course that wasn’t happening so I explained all I could about rigor mortis and that we could wiki it later. He wanted to do the burial right then but I said we’d wait for dad, even though burying things in your yard seems more fitting under the cover of darkness. I wanted to keep it on the down low from the neighbor kids but as Mau was digging the hole, I looked behind me and every boy on our street was standing immediately behind me watching. Sky then comes out of the house with Sibella humming “Here Comes the Bride”. I let him know that was a wedding song so he changes it to the “Imperial Death March”. We weren’t exactly going into battle but it seemed fitting enough.

The arrival of Portlander Inga is approaching so we are trying to get the “entertainment room” in order, where she will be sleeping. The floor is hideous and the walls were left to us in disgusting shape with more holes in them than I thought possible so we spent today patching holes and painting it Chinese Coral. I am always so amazed by how a color can change the whole atmosphere of a room. It looks so good! Unfortunately this makes the floor look even worse. I am not sure how you get paint splatters all over the entire floor but somebody along the lines sure did. I can understand not using drop cloths but this is unreal. There is no way you can be that messy with paint, unless of course you were frolicking with it and since I don’t know all the previous owners, this is a possibility. We didn’t use anything since we are putting down a new floor and we only had one mishap and were able to clean it up for the most part. We picked up some of the flooring but there wasn't enough. I guess everyone else has the same idea as we do.

To congratulate ourselves on a job well done, we drove out toIndiana with the dog to pick up some explosives. Credit cards are for emergencies right? The rapidly approaching 4^th of July was enough of an emergency for me. Jeesh, we gotta blow stuff up for crying out loud.

I think I like my new surgeon. No, she didn’t hand out the drugs but she gave me good news. She said the tumor had gotten smaller and didn’t have a shadow in the ultrasound so she feels no biopsy or removal is necessary unless I want it. At this moment I really don’t want to mess with it if she thinks it’s benign. She wants to keep an eye on it and she said if she felt it warranted a closer look, she would force me to get a biopsy. I would rather deal with one medical issue at a time and that would be these headaches that will not go away.

He exists!

2007-06-25T22:29:00.000-07:00

We went over to Russell’s on Saturday night and we caught a glimpse of the mysterious boyfriend this time. Well, more than a glimpse…he was talking and walking, he was alive! Seriously though, we hung out and watched a very funny movie. We left Kali at home since they were dog sitting and we weren’t sure how Kali would react. The dog was great though, really cute and would curl up against your legs. Sky was having a blast with him.

Sky competed in a Kung Fu tournament on Sunday up in Vandalia. Dave Chappelle’s wife and kids were there but he wasn’t this time. Sky got 2^nd in weapons and 4^th in fighting. He won his first fight. It was kind of crazy, he was really pumped and bouncing all over making the other kid laugh. Hey, whatever works right? His 2^nd and 3^rd fights, he was coming in too quickly and they figured out his pattern. The judging was a bit screwy but it always is at these little karate tournaments.

I found out why my invoices at work were not making it to accounts payable. My “boss” and a bunch of other people in that department got fired. Uh ok. Thanks for telling me. I got them to a different person but from what he says, my job might be getting the axe too. They are possibly doing away with the site altogether…yes, again. I felt like I was having a meeting with the Bobs.

"May cause dependency"...

2007-06-20T20:36:00.000-07:00

I think my new doctor is my new favorite doctor. I have a lot of doctors now but Dr.W has won me over by prescribing me some awesome drugs for my persistent headaches. My headache is still lingering in the background of my floaty, tingly, spaced out world but it’s certainly not bothering me as much! He also prescribed me a ton of allergy stuff since he thinks it might be sinus issues. He found fluid in my bad ear and ordered a catscan of my sinuses and ear to see if possibly my shunt is blocked and he surprised me by making me get a thyroid test…ugh a blood draw. I survived it with little tears shed and I just can’t be mad at wonderful Dr.W as long as he keeps the good drugs flowing. Don’t worry Dr.S, I still love you too even though I am certain he roughed me up during that ear surgery. Some of you remember those bruises.

A good time is taking these headache pills and listening to those Bud Light radio commercials on their website. Yes I am bored.

Argh, this headache!

2007-06-17T21:27:00.000-07:00

We spent last weekend camping. We had never camped there before and I accidentally booked the wrong site but it worked out. It was a really nice place and we found the best mountain bike trails, better than our usual campground’s trails. We had a blast riding them until Sky popped his tire then we got lost onto another trail. It was still fun but we had to walk some of it due to the tire issue. We finally found our way out of the trail to the parking lot to find that was not the same lot we parked the car in. Oops! Some other cyclists told us how to get back using the road instead of venturing back into the trails and possibly getting lost again with the flat tire.

We had another skunk encounter the first night. Mr. Skunk was checking out the garbage bag we had forgotten to take up to the dumpster then started ripping it up. I told Mau I had read on the internet to stomp your feet to scare the skunk away so he walked up closer and started stomping. The skunk ran off into the woods and we relaxed. I then remember that maybe it said the skunk stomps HIS feet when he’s threatened to warn it’s foe before it sprays. Oops. It worked, we didn’t get sprayed and thankfully the dog was in the tent waiting for us or the outcome might have been different. As we went to sleep that night, I smelled it coming from the woods though. I almost thought I was going to have to sleep in the car because it smelled so strong but I turned on the fan and it seemed to go away.

We spent time at the lake too where Mau played Doctor for a little girl who sliced her toe side to side on a rock in the water. His involvement included running to the car to grab his skateboarding first aid kit. My advice was to wear shoes in natural bodies of water…duh!

Just to prove to myself that I am old, I have some medical issues lately that are nearly slowing me down. I found some lumps so I went to my Dr and she sent me to get an ultrasound. The radiologist wanted a mammogram so I got to endure the fun that accompanies that test. He said it showed nothing but could see the lumps on the ultrasound. He said it looked benign but said he wanted to check it out further meaning either a biopsy or surgically removing it. It is painful so I am meeting with a surgeon next week and set a date to slice it out…too bad I can’t afford to get a new improved set while they’re in there.

My second issue is a headache that won’t go away. It’s about killing me and has been a nuisance for 2 weeks now. I keep thinking it will just go away but everyday it’s back. It’s behind my one eye and hanging around that temple and into my ear and neck. Mostly it’s my eye that hurts so bad I could scream. Ibuprofen is doing absolutely nothing, which I find odd. Normal headaches usually respond to that. I was in so much pain Friday night I took a Vicodin and it did nothing for it. Ugh, what is going on? I am super dizzy when it’s around which is anytime I am awake. It did go away when I was riding the mountain bike trails yesterday but came back once we got back to the house. Sometimes it subsides slightly if I am exercising or eating. I am calling a doctor tomorrow to see if I can get in sometime soon. I’m falling apart! :P

Happy Birthday Skylar!

2007-06-12T12:29:00.000-07:00

The big 1-0, the double digits.

Really ociffer, I haven't had anything to drink...

2007-06-07T20:59:00.000-07:00

This is what happens when we get invited over to Russell's house. We also dazzled him with our child playing some "happy hardcore" mix of some clubby sounding song on his computer repeatedly (and I mean repeatedly) and our dog totally shredding a toy while we were obviously not paying attention (refer to photo exhibit A above).

It was really great seeing Russell again since it's been years and years and probably years. We still don't believe his boyfriend was "sleeping" in the next room...just admit it Russell, there is no boyfriend! Ha, j/k.

Whoohoo!

2007-06-04T21:14:00.000-07:00

The boys playing in the creek at Hueston Woods and jumping over the waterfall.

Sky's dance recital was really cool. The competition team was really impressive and did most of the numbers, the recreational dancers were cute, Sky looked awesome and danced like 'no one was watching' and they have a wheelchair team with "shadow dancers" that brought tears to many eyes in the theatre. It was more than I could have ever expected and very professional. Photos and video were prohibited otherwise I would have them up. We bought the DVD of the production (of course) so we will have that when it arrives and I may scan his posed photo.

Leaves of 3 let them be, berries of white danger in sight...

2007-06-01T10:13:00.000-07:00

We went camping up at Hueston Woods for Memorial Day weekend with Keith & Mary Jo. They brought Jonah for Sky to play with and FunkyB joined us as well. We took Mary Jo and FunkyB through the bike trails which were dry so they were less dangerous and easier. FunkyB might not agree they were easy. Keith rented a boat and took the kids out on the lake for awhile on Sunday, they had a blast.

One night we had a little visitor to our site…no, not a skunk this time thankfully. This time it was a little toad. Mary Jo and I trapped him in a cooler so the kids could see him when they got back from the movie. We put him into the woods but he kept coming back. We joked he was probably trying to get to his home on the other side and was pissed because we kept putting him in the wrong direction.

Sunday evening was kind of a bummer because it rained on us so we had to cancel a few plans and huddle under the shelter over the picnic table. Mau & I ventured on a hike with the dog but the trail was narrow and there was poison ivy everywhere that Kali was walking through. I know she can’t get it but she carries it on her fur then we touch her. I’m not sure why I am so freaked out by it because I know we walked right through it in shorts and we didn’t get it so we must be the 30% it doesn’t affect. Even so, I carefully removed all of it from our yard when we got home.

In the world of orthodontics, I am now lilac full powerchains with no rubber bands…yay! My teeth look pretty perfect to me but I think Dr.I is doing some fine tuning now. He said I am still ahead of schedule and says I will most likely be done this year.

There's my vicious doggie!

2007-05-22T21:13:00.000-07:00

Keeping with the “Spring cleaning” theme, we spent Sunday getting the yard in order. G-man took out a tree that had fallen onto the neighbor’s fence during the ice storm but left the remains of it. It’s all too big for us to cut up considering we don’t own a chainsaw nor does Mau know how to use one…well, safely that is. Mau incorporated the help of the neighborhood kids to drag bunches of it into the woods (shhhh!) so it looks a little better and the backyard can be mowed again for the most part. Another neighbor cut down a tree in his front yard that spilled needles into our driveway on a daily basis so I had Sky sweep the driveway while he bitched about it the whole time, even with me helping. I love my kid. Since we are entering the camping season, we tackled the basement as well and the garage so it’s easier to get the camping gear together. I’m ready to go now!

Saturday FunkyB came by with his roommate and his boyfriend. We played a little DDR but those boys didn’t know how to play…ugh.

Kali is in doggie school for a few weeks. This will not correct her growing hatred of any dog that tries to challenge her…to Kali this means “Oh it’s ON!” and she’s nearly unstoppable. Her trainer seems to think she has no Pit in her but it is pretty clear while she’s going for some dog’s throat. She’s quite a little badass when it comes to other dogs but she’s the sweetest thing in the world towards people. She is just learning commands in her class. She already knew some things I have taught her so she’s in intermediate and is ahead of schedule and doing well. She has already gotten better about not jumping on people and I have put her back on the Halti so she doesn’t pull me on walks.

Sky is nearing his last full week of school. He only goes 2 days next week then he’s out for summer. I am already counting down the days to having a bored 10 yr old addicted gamer with a bad attitude and too much time on his hands here all freakin’ day with me. Since bowling, Super Saturday and dance are over for the season (with the exception of his dance recital next weekend), he’s only got Kung Fu. He will be practicing everyday and doing chores. I will be the mean mom by making him do homeschool work too. He’s got to have some sort of schedule or it just gets out of control.

Just get rid of it!

2007-05-14T22:37:00.000-07:00

Our junk was getting out of control so with my need to “spring clean” and a neighbor offering a spot at her church’s yard sale, we decided to spread our crap out on a table for people to leaf through, sit around talking to people and see what happened. We actually sold quite a bit of stuff like Sky’s old clothes, my old clothes, 2 kid’s bikes, a baby crib and an old cell phone among other things. It wasn’t too bad. I was super tired since I’m not used to getting up at the butt crack of dawn but we just sat around doing a whole lot of nothing and made a little money.

Keith & Mary Jo went camping. We were invited but the campground had no running water and no showerhouse so that would be a “thank you but no thank you”. The weather would have been perfect for it. Since they were gone, we didn’t play any karaoke. Instead FunkyB came by and we watched a movie called Death of a President, a fictitious documentary taking place next year about the assassination of Bush. We were skeptical but it turned out to be pretty good.

Mother’s Day brought us to the track for a little betting and to cash in my ticket from the Derby. I caught a couple winners and one of my bets was a late scratch so I ended up about even and the weather was perfect so it was a good day.

...And they're off!

2007-05-10T09:45:00.000-07:00

We spent a small part of Saturday at the track. We mainly wanted to bet the Derby and run into Edr0 (who was driving out there to do the same) but when in Rome…due to our late arrival and super long lines, I made some uninformed bets on the RD races and lost on all of them. I also let Sky pick a couple long shots by color only. We left after the RD races were done so we could make it home in time to watch the Derby run. We nearly didn’t make it so I called ahead to Keith so he could give me the play by play but we made it with a few minutes to spare and scrambled up his stairs in the pouring rain where he had it on the TV for us. My horse won! I rarely win on a “ to win” bet but I had Street Sense to win and another horse to place and show and the other horse came in nowhere near showing so I am glad I didn’t place the exacta I was thinking of. No huge winnings, think it paid 5-1 or something but I’ll take it and the excitement of having a win in the Derby. We will have to go back to cash in the ticket and you know how I hate going anywhere that you can gamble.

We finished 6^th in our bowling league, not the last place we were hoping for or deserved. Some teams dropped out part of the way through the season so we got to split their money that was in the pot so we all ended up with quite a bit more than last year, trophies and I got a cash prize for women’s high scratch game. We also got to eat then bowl for free. Everyone was wagering on games with their prize money so Mau won a little from one of the college guys. It was fun and I always miss bowling when it’s over but we like to do more outdoor stuff in the summer so we don’t join summer leagues.

A long overdue DDR dance-off happened last night when Sue & Ryan came by with their dancing shoes and grumpy baby. The trainees have exceeded the teacher. I haven’t DDRed with them since they were learning from me but now they have turned into quite the uber players. Ryan was particularly impressive with his ease of passing multiple 9s. I get in a rut of sorts and just play songs I’m comfortable with for awhile until I play with someone better than me then I go back through all the songs and push myself until I pass songs I thought we were out of my range. The super grumpy baby cut the dancing a little short and my metal pad was being uncooperative but it was fun.

Jeremiah was a bullfrog?

2007-05-03T09:05:00.000-07:00

So Mary Jo keeps saying about this little guy due to his name. This is little Sherry's new baby at almost a week old. He was a big one...nearly a 10 pounder. All mothers are cringing but he was a C-section thankfully for her. I will get a "mother/baby" shot if he ever wakes up during the day!

We got another visit from Mau’s mom, brother and his girlfriend this weekend. They are moving to Florida, which is why she is making appearances I guess. After not doing anything for us for years, she brought Sky some clothes and took us out to dinner at Jalapeno’s. Sky really needed the summer clothes and we hadn’t been to Jalapeno’s in a very long time so I really appreciated both. She brought her dog so Kali had a blast playing with her again, although Beanie enjoyed playing with Maestro more…maybe because he’s more her size. Kali acts very maternal toward Beanie, bathing her and trying to protect her from the mean kitties.

FunkyB was over during the last visit so we had him come over this time too under the cover of we were going out to dinner. Once here, we told him we were waiting for Mau’s mom. Hehe. We told him if we have to suffer Mau’s family, he has to too :P

Happy Beltane!

2007-05-01T10:18:00.000-07:00

My backyard wildlife...

2007-04-26T01:05:00.000-07:00

We have a family of squirrels in our gutter this year. Maestro spends his entire day watching for them to emerge from their home. I caught the mom bringing this baby out for food. This photo was captured when the kids got too close and the mom took off, leaving the baby. I shot a ton of photos quickly then ordered the kids to scram so the mom could come back and get the little guy/girl. So cute though!

His new look for photos...psycho.

2007-04-25T21:00:00.000-07:00

Sky’s bowling league is over for the season. They had their end-of-year party and awards ceremony. Sky’s team came nowhere near 1^st but he got a trophy for 3^rd place boys scratch game with a 173. Nice. Can you believe these kids are bowling that and better? I think the 1^st place was in the 200’s, granted a couple of them are in high school but the majority are 7-12 yrs.

We are trying to secure our bottom place finish in our league by losing 3 points to Keith and Mary Jo this week. We like to bowl against them though because it’s fun and we just joke around the whole time. Next week is position week then we’re done for the season. I think another team dropped out so maybe I will get 1^st place women’s scratch game with my 180 since that girl had it with a 184.

Skylar has 2 photo sessions this coming weekend. He has one with his dance class on Saturday in their costumes for the upcoming end-of-year showcase (by the way, he looks awesome in it!) then he has a Kung Fu seminar with Grandmaster Huang, Chien Liang (his Shi Fu’s Shi Fu from Baltimore) where he will be learning Liu He Quan (Six Harmony Fist Boxing…it’s a form). He has his second photo session on Sunday with the Grandmaster while displaying all his trophies and medals…ugh, that is going to be quite a transport to haul all of those up there and get Sky to do something with his hair, he is quite anti-hair products.

Vicki & Matt were in town this past weekend. We met them and Vicki’s family at the Chinese Factory where Mau works for dinner. We had a great time and it was awesome seeing them again! Vicki is trying to get my hair back in shape from box color so she brought me some really good conditioner. She is a stylist now at a nice salon in Austin. Together with my stylist, Chris, they are working together to get my hair back to normal after I thought it was a good idea to try to save money by doing stuff myself. I will not make that mistake again and yes, I should know better. Actually Vicki’s sister is also a stylist and their mom works for Redken so I really have a good “hair support group”.

It's 11:59pm, do you know where your taxes are?

2007-04-17T23:59:00.000-07:00

Mine are in the mail. With one stamp, that's all they get. The drop-off guy last year told me they'd get there with no postage on tax day so why waste numerous stamps? We broke tradition by doing an evening drop instead of the 11^th hour one we usually do. There is no reason to get them in early when you owe. I’d like to keep my money mine as long as possible. I still have not been paid from my job and won’t be until May at the earliest. Nice. Talk about being appreciated at your job…try ignored. I won’t bitch about it because there’s no point. The taxes are paid. Let us all breathe a sigh of relief. If we thought we were broke before, we haven’t seen anything yet. Hopefully I will get paid someday and be able to pay Sky back his allowance I stole.

Thursday I got a call from Mary Jo while we were at Kung Fu class saying our street was blocked off due to an accident. We couldn’t get through so we parked by the tennis courts and walked to the house. The power was out because the car took out a power pole so we couldn’t get in the house…garage door opener is electric and I had the house on lockdown mode from the “daytime burglar” who, thankfully, is on a hiatus (I called it a sabbatical). Ugh. It was cold that day and we were hungry because it was past dinnertime. We finally got inside and were able to cook dinner by candlelight since we have a gas stove. It wasn’t too bad…we got out the camping radio and played board games but I had 3 shows DVRed and of course they didn’t record and the power didn’t come back until after 11pm so I missed them. I’m a bit miffed about missing ER, the others I can do without. I tried to watch it on NBC but they don’t have ER episodes on there, the buttheads. At least the power came back before it got below 60 degrees in the house…gas furnace but electric ignition.

In the world of orthodontics, I am dark blue with full powerchains again. 6 weeks without it on the top along with the rubber band and I had a huge gap up there on the side. The gap has already closed in 24 hours, whew. I took a step down in the bottom wire and got this horrific canine to canine rubber band (the Mountain Gorilla again, ugh it’s small). I had 2 of those toward the start of my treatment and I hated them. I could eat with the other configuration but not this one, I have to take it out or it hurts to chew. I am still ahead of schedule but I don’t know by how much yet. I am in for 10 more months so I am hoping 8 will do the trick *crossing fingers*. It is nice to be able to bite down and have all my molars touch. This is the first time in my life. I still do not chew on the one side, I haven’t for years now and once I got the braces on, it’s always too sore back there with all the moving of molars to get them straight. I was talking to Mau about the “one-sided chewing”, which he also did due to tooth issues, and he said he forgot how to use both sides. It will probably be the same case for me. I think I can now but I just don’t think about even trying since it’s such a habit not to.

"Mmmm, Midnight snack!"

2007-04-16T21:19:00.000-07:00

Says Kali. Mau's mom (and other family members) stopped by with her new dog, Beanie. I really thought Kali would want to eat it but she actually played with her and they got along really well. Funnier was watching Beanie try to play with the cats. I don't think they realized it was a dog because there was no hissing or fluffing up of the fur, they'd just bat at her with their eyes all big and black and their lips puffed up. It was cute.

Dogs on the go...

2007-04-11T20:54:00.000-07:00

This is Larry, an English Pointer. We did a transport last weekend for Larry and another pointer named Earl coming from Georgia I believe. This one went smoother than the last...no one got bit. These were super sweet dogs and we only had a minor issue when they first got in the car because Larry was dead set on curling up in the spot Earl had chosen so Earl grumbled a little then Larry (who was to be altered at his destination) decided he would try humping Earl in the backseat, I guess thinking that would make Earl move? Earl wasn't having that at all! I intervined and got them calmed down and comfortable then they slept the rest of the way to Dayton where they were turned over to the next person. They made it to Michigan safely and are happily romping with other pointers and one might already have found a forever home. I would have taken Larry in a heartbeat...just look at that face, who could resist?

The new family...

2007-04-05T21:01:00.000-07:00

This is Ryan, Sue and baby Ezra. Awww, don't they look cute? Ezra was born in mid January but it was too cold to get any pictures. Luckily I caught them before Ryan was going to work and got this lovely shot.

Spring has sprung...

2007-04-03T20:56:00.000-07:00

One of my tulips. I love my camera! I have been able to get out and take a lot of photos due to the wonderful weather. I was getting ready to do some planting but the 80 degree weather is taking a nosedive tomorrow down to the 40s...grumble grumble. We got some decent thunderstorms today but nothing to spend too much time talking about.

I finally went in to see Dr.S. I have not seen him in years but I was getting low on my trusty Valium so it was a must, plus I wanted to get an updated hearing test and ask some questions. Apparently my hearing is pretty decent...maybe I just tune things out when I want to? Dr.S thinks I am in pretty good shape due to the shunt and that it will not progress much more if at all. That is great news. He says I will always feel off-balance, dizzy and have a hard time driving but at least I won't be going deaf or getting worse, that is a relief.

Tuffy's revenge...

2007-04-01T20:59:00.000-07:00

We volunterred for a dog rescue transport on Saturday. We were to be meeting the previous driver here then pass the dog off to the next driver up near Columbus. We were very excited to be helping this cute dog get out of a shelter and into a loving foster home. Here is Tuffy...then it went something like this (refer to photo on top). The other driver and I were talking and Mau walked up but did the smart thing, paused to tie his shoe, showing the dog he was calm. Tuffy wasn't having it. He lunged and bit Mau with no warning growl or bark. Unfortunately that was the deal-breaker. The other driver thought it best for her to take our leg of the trip for safety reasons. Mau is not angry, he understands the stress the dog has been under and we think he was protecting the women and was possibly abused by a man. The happy ending is that Tuffy made it to his temporary home safely and is relaxed now. We will try again next time.

Hey kid, do an ollie!

2007-03-26T22:13:00.000-07:00

Mau at Ollies in Ky. doing a something or other on the miniramp.

Ahhhh, how nice...

2007-03-26T22:06:00.000-07:00

This weekend was very relaxing. With all the stress of the huge amount of taxes we owe and the added bonus of not getting paid for almost 2 months yet having twice as much work, it’s really getting to me. I needed some time to do nothing and not think about financial shit.

All in all, I really didn’t do a damn thing besides take Sky to his bowling league and his chess class on Saturday. Seriously, I think I sat and watched Keith change the brake pads on his daughter’s car for a good hour on Sunday. FunkyB and his new roommate came by both Friday and Saturday nights. FunkyB got a new car because his died up in Columbus so he wanted to show off the new wheels. All the neighbors were out due to the awesome 80 degree weather and there was a project for a neighbor that turned into a bigger project when the front door she bought didn’t fit into the frame. It took all day and a few different groups of people working on it but they got it done. Mary Jo suggested the first BBQ of the season and everyone was down for that. FunkyB and Doug showed up just in time for the food then stayed for games. We stole Sky’s GameCube and played Mario Party…it’s been a long time and a difficult task finding 4 controllers that work thanks to Sky’s violent gaming style.

Sky was sick most of the weekend so we ended up leaving him home with Mary Jo while we bowled our league games since Mary Jo and Keith were making up their games today because they didn’t want to bowl the asshole team they were facing. The team we were facing was absent too so we don’t know if we won or not.

Oh, I did get some yard work done…I didn’t stare at the wall the whole weekend. I was too lazy to even get my camera and take photos of Sue & Ryan’s new baby…I’ll get one soon though and he’s a cutie.

We're next!

2007-03-19T20:32:00.000-07:00

Our street is experiencing a rash of home robberies. 4 in 2 weeks and Mary Jo and Keith got hit last night when we were at bowling league. The person (we think it was just one based on certain facts) came in through a bedroom window and snagged their laptops and not much else. Well they also got keys to their car and someone else’s house. In all cases, they take keys, coins and small electronics like cameras and laptops. A neighbor saw a guy coming out from behind their house with a garbage bag about the same time. In another case, someone was home and scared the person/people off and the mailman saw a dude running down our street that doesn’t live here. The other was the “Joes” on a day I think we were at the skatepark. All these are in daylight pretty much. We are next in line. They could have already tried for all we know. Kali does bark at strange noises and our house isn’t exactly easy to get into but we’ve added a “Beware of Dog” sign and some of the other neighbors are adding security features such as cameras and such. It just so happens though that there’s a new neighbor on the other street that started waving at us as we drive by lately. Now you would think “oh just a friendly guy” but Keith invited him over last week for a meeting type thing and Mary Jo investigated him on the internet and he’s got a rap sheet a mile long for robbery and mentioned being somewhere for awhile where he memorized the Old Testament…would that be, say, prison? There’s a lot of Bible studying in there and he mentioned that they won’t be living here long. Not to point fingers but all seem to be pointing to him. Everyone’s pretty freaked out and I am now sleeping with a weapon and backing up my hard drive.

In the world of orthodontics I am now purple with only a powerchain on the bottom (to close those pesky gaps) and regular ligs on top. I got stepped up in the elastic department to Sea Lion which is a smaller, thicker one to get my stubborn midline into line. I noticed my front teeth aren’t the same length but Dr.I said since they are even on the gumline, he will just shape them when all is said and done.

Profile

2007-03-16T15:39:00.000-07:00

Tommy showing off his handsome profile

We scored the newest Anonymous skate DVD and Sky scored a free pair of skate shoes. Guess it pays to schmooze sometimes. Mau is excited because the new Delhi park is almost done. We heard through the grapevine (the same grapevine that is handing us free stuff) that it is due for completion in 2 weeks and some demos will surround that date. This is good news because it's so close to us. Most other parks are a drive to another state, not like that's that far but will be nice to have something 5 minutes away.

You asked for videos?

2007-03-05T20:09:00.000-08:00

Well even if you didn't, here it is! Sky dropping in on the miniramp at Ollie's in KY, filmed and edited by Mau with Sky's choice of music. He has done it before 2 years ago but was assisted slightly, this time is all him.

In more Sky news, he bowled in the Pepsi district tournament on Sunday. He bowled pretty good but we won't know if he made it to the state level for about 2 weeks.

Saturday night we broke all the parental rules and took Sky to a bar. Ok, it was an all ages premiere of a local skate video but it was at a bar. There were some other kids Sky's age so they hung out and had fun dancing to the DJ, well it was mostly Sky dancing. He even got some drunk woman into it and showed off his jazz moves he's been learning...it was kind of crazy to see him actually freestyle dancing. Unfortunately, due to drunk idiots organizing this affair, it took them 2 hours to finally show it and by that time all the young kids had had enough and Sky had his tournament the next morning so we had to leave. It was fun though...Sky picked up some older women, we did a little drinking and I ran into my poker buddy, Jack.

New photos!

2007-02-25T11:48:00.000-08:00

I have uploaded the most recent sledding and ice storm photos. You can check them out here. The weather is back to normal for the most part and we got the stupid car fixed. It was a must because I was sick of smelling exhaust fumes every time we drove it. It turned out to be some piece that attaches the exhaust to the manifold (something like that, I'm no mechanic but I saw the piece and know where it goes). The car is quiet again and not stinky anymore.

"Happy Chinese New Year!"

2007-02-19T22:40:00.000-08:00

Says all these people. This is Mau and some of his co-workers. I was out earlier taking ice photos and forgot to bring the normal lens with me...oopsie. Anyways, we got invited to the party and could not turn down the invitation which included good food, tons of beer and oddly enough, Mexican music (the kitchen staff had their way with the stereo). It was a lot of fun and Sky was delighted to find 2 other kids to play Gameboy with. He was not delighted with the noodles which was not the American Lo Mein he was used to. Good times and I think I drank too much...yeah, that's what I'll blame the bad photography on. :P

Mr. Maestro

2007-02-14T10:30:00.000-08:00

Looking ferocious.

That's Dr. Skylar to you!

2007-02-14T10:26:00.000-08:00

This was Sky's last day of Jr.Vet class, receiving his honors. That was the coolest class and he's sad it's over. So if anyone needs veterinary advice, just let him know. He didn't get his first choice of Chinese for next term so he'll be taking Winning Chess instead.

Sick birthday...

2007-02-14T10:15:00.000-08:00

I could have guessed I would be sick for my birthday. Not totally sick but congested and feeling kinda achy/sore throat. It wasn’t a washout. We went out to dinner then Juan came by to hang out and down some yummy strawberry cake. The plan was to hit this poker game and take their money but I just wasn’t feeling it. Juan was pressing a casino trip…It was hard to turn down because I haven’t been out there in forever, especially since they added the poker rooms but the funds just aren’t there with taxes looming overhead.

The supposed snow we were supposed to get turned out to be a huge ice storm. I watched the remainder of our snow turn into slush then freeze solid. We have lucked out so far by not losing power, a lot of people have, but we are keeping a watch on the neighbors’ tree limb resting on our wires so we are not free and clear quite yet. Mau was going to move the car back so the tree wouldn’t fall on it but he found the car frozen shut so he couldn’t get to work…he was bummed as you can imagine. This has resulted in 2 consecutive snow days for the kids. 3 in one week? “It’s a miracle!” Sky says since it got him out of his social studies test.

REAL snow finally!

2007-02-11T13:29:00.000-08:00

We got hit by a real snowstorm finally. Here is Sky looking stylish on the snowskate. The snow hit in the middle of the day and Cincinnati Public did not dismiss early, as they all the other schools did. We remembered last year and the busses being really late so we went to pick up Sky...it only took us 3 hours total to make a 20 minute drive. It was a nightmare since the roads were not clear and we were passing numerous accidents, abandoned cars in the middle of the road and roads that were parking lots but we made it. I mean, come on, we had to get our sledding on for pete's sake. We did and I will get photos up soon, I just got them cropped and all that. We got about 6" and the news reported Cincinnati Public buses were not even at the schools until 6pm for pickup so we are glad we made the trek. From all the bad press they got that night, they cancelled for the next day and all that live here know they NEVER cancel.

Just in time they say we are to be hit tomorrow afternoon by another 6-10". Our run is getting a little "used and abused" so we could use a fresh coat for more fun.

Let it snow...

2007-01-31T21:36:00.000-08:00

I finally got the snow pics online so click here to check them out!

Edr0 had a flat tire but I had assumed he'd gotten it changed by now but Mau said he saw him walking to work this morning. The story is that Edr0 had a slight issue while performing the change...while wiggling the tire to get it off, the car slipped off the jack. I don't know what happened beyond that. I suspect our car's belly got eaten by the salt because it was fine then Mau dropped me off at the hospital and it suddenly started making a terrible noise while accelerating. I figure it's an exhuast issue but who the fuck knows. Since I sent an amazing amount to the good 'ol IRS then I didn't get paid ($%^^%&) then the bank decided to change it's rules on "floating debits" like how you pay for something then make a deposit the next day? Yeah, that's a no-go now and I found out the hard way (*&#$%!!!). Needless to say, car repairs are not in the budget.

Done!

2007-01-28T22:31:00.000-08:00

I am officially done with my dental work. No, not my orthodontics…I wish. I still have a year although Dr.I says I am ahead of schedule but I don’t know by how much. My evil cavity filling is done though. I can’t believe they got me in there twice for needles going into my gums but they did thanks to a good friend of mine affectionately known as Valium. It didn’t take long at all. I only got through one Madonna song and ¼ of another. These were teeny tiny cavities but I still thought Dr.C was speedy and painless. I swear I did not cry at all :P and I have witnesses to that fact. They talked Mau into coming in for some of his endless work next…they’re good at that.

Mary Jo was sick 2 weeks ago for league so Keith asked Sky to sub for her. He was very excited to be able to bowl with the adults and helped Keith’s team win 2 of them. 2 teams didn’t show last week so we bowled the college guys but not against them. I bowled an impressive 170 then fell apart and bowled like crap the other 2. We won 3 finally somehow. This week I bowled great but we lost 2 of them because someone else can’t bowl his average…just kidding, kinda.

Saturday was filled with a lot of guests in the house…so many we didn’t have the proper seating. We used to get a lot of pop-ins in Clifton but not so much over here in the P.H. We ran into Ted in Clifton after Sky’s Vet class so he caught a ride over to hang out. FunkyB arrived a bit later bearing gifts of a handheld, triangle shaped, edible, Italian variety then Mary Jo & Keith came by for games. Mary Jo is hooked on the newest Karaoke Revolution version, the American Idol one. It is pretty fun.

Ok, Winter is here NOW!

2007-01-21T20:31:00.000-08:00

I can safely say Winter has arrived. It's been cold for a few days now and we finally got snow, very rare to not have any this far into the season but we got enough to break out the snowskate and sleds.

Mr. Maestro

2007-01-15T21:11:00.000-08:00

He keeps a vigilant watch for birds since he has become a strictly indoor cat.

In the world of orthodontics...

2007-01-15T20:47:00.001-08:00

I am pink with wall to wall powerchains and a fun rubber band to boot…sigh, again. I didn’t mind the last rubber band but I didn’t realize how much I enjoyed NOT having to deal with them until now. I have the same configuration as last time. This is bringing my midlines into shape and my bottom gaps are closing as I type due to the powerchain. Boy, they move fast and I can feel every shift. This has been the most painful adjustment I have had in awhile.

Is there a Vet in the house?

2007-01-06T16:59:00.000-08:00

Saturdays are busy again with Sky starting a new quarter of his class. He got his first choice, the junior vet course, and was very excited to begin examinations and slicing and dicing. They built a dog skeleton, listened to a live dog’s heart (very patient St.Bernard) and learned a lot of medical terminology. I got sucked in while sitting in on his class and really had to resist the temptation to thrust my hand in the air when questions were asked like “Pick me! Pick me please! I know the answer!”.

Ironically, we took Kali over to the tennis courts later today to run a little. I barely got her leash off and she took off after the stick I threw. Not even a minute passed and she was clawing at her mouth. Sky ran over and said “OMG, she’s got blood coming out of her mouth!”. As everyone who knows me personally can vouch for, I am useless in a crisis. I immediately turn into a deer stuck in the headlights; possibly with my mouth wide open in amazement…I might as well not even be there. So, Mau runs over there but finds nothing he does helps…she’s very strong and getting her to let you look in her mouth is nearly impossible and the inevitable happens, Mau gets bitten twice. Tension builds as she continues clawing at her mouth and the blood keeps flowing. I snap into reality and frantically fumble through my cell phone phonebook for the vet’s number so I can find an emergency number. Skylar’s voice cuts through the chaos “It was only my first day of vet class, I DIDN’T LEARN THIS YET!!!”. Ok, I will let you know that we got Kali home where Mau sprayed the hose into her mouth and dislodged the mystery whatever-the-fuck-it-was from wherever-the-fuck-it-was and she was totally fine so you can laugh at Sky’s exclamation.

Happy New Year!

2006-12-31T15:22:00.000-08:00

Christmas was good. I am pleased with the Waterpik I received, that will help keep my braces squeaky clean. Vicki & I exchanged purses but the one she got for me is way cooler. Skylar got a foosball table from Grandpa so everyone is enjoying that. Anytime I have a disagreement with Mau I now say "We can settle this over a game of foosball." since I usually win.

The Bengals have more than disappointed me this season and I have more than disappointed myself with our terrible performance in our bowling league this year. We flat out suck but the season is only half over so maybe, just maybe, we can pull ourselves back up. Skylar's poor team finally won some games thanks to one of his 3 teammates finally showing up and me suggesting they take the kid out who hasn't been there in over a month and replace him with a vacant blind so they can have a chance.

I have sunk into The Sims 2 again and Mau has been lost to the World of Warcraft and hasn't really been seen since.

Merry Xmas!

2006-12-25T13:00:00.000-08:00

2006-12-23T23:39:00.000-08:00

At the Square...

Is Winter here yet?

2006-12-23T23:25:00.000-08:00

Maestro is making keeping presents under the tree nearly impossible. He simply cannot wait until Xmas and has opened quite a few. I have had to tape up a lot of Skylar’s due to Maestro tearing through them at top speed. He lies on his side and rips them open with his back feet too. He has also pulled down his stocking, which in turn, pulled down most of the decorations on the mantle. Skylar suggested putting all the presents on the cat tree since Maestro won’t touch it (great investment!).

We went ice skating again, downtown this time on the new rink. What a difference from the conditions at The Beach. The ice was much nicer and more slippery, at least it seemed so. The rental skates were much better too…they were really nice and Mau got hockey skates so he liked that. Sky is a pro on ice skates, doing all kinds of fancy turns and really getting into it. Mau just wants to go fast so he plows anyone in his path pretty much. I got a lot braver this time (less crowded) so I spent most of my time away from the rail. I didn’t realize how similar it is to roller skating. I thought I’d have trouble balancing and such but it felt the same to me and in no time I was doing turns and going backwards and didn’t fall. This is the closest we can get to a winter activity since we have had no snow at all so no sledding or snowskating yet.

Getting in the spirit, even though it's 60 degrees...

2006-12-18T10:19:00.000-08:00

I know, I keep pushing the limits of a balance disorder but I can’t help it. We took advantage of our season passes for The Beach and went to their HolidayFest. Skylar wanted to ice skate and I said I would join him but Mau said “No way!” and would take pictures from the sidelines. As we waited in the long line, I was having second thoughts since my graceful tumble while roller skating recently and Mau said he would go with Sky. Mau just paid for all of us so I was committed, I was going to try at least. I have hit the ice before when I was about 11 and then when I first moved here at 19 but would it come back to me? I was having second thoughts the whole walk up the ramp to the rink and made Mau carry my purse containing my camera…I would rather crack my head open than break my new camera, it was that expensive. He knows how to fall better than me obviously.

I was surprised by how easy it was. I did clutch the rail for the first round but then I got daring and was skating backwards and practicing my triple lutz…ok, kidding on the lutz. Skylar had no problem adapting and was whizzing around always swaying forward and backward with his arms flailing but not falling much. Mau just wanted to go fast and it was pretty crowded so he used Sky’s approach so people would move out of his way, good thinking on his part. I didn’t fall at all but listened to my personal rule of not holding anyone’s hands this time and I wore a hat for cushioning just in case.

I did get photos but decided to use the program that came with my camera to upload them (why must I fix things that aren’t broken?), problems arose and they did not get transferred and got erased from the card. Ugh! I learned my lesson.

Dental work + me = nervous breakdown

2006-12-11T21:46:00.000-08:00

I went in for my semi-annual dental cleaning. It was the easiest I have ever had. I’m sure this is due to my new routine where I spend more time than humanly possible caring for my teeth since being braced. Unfortunately I didn’t make it out without being cornered by the finance lady and setting up one of my fillings appointment. Even thinking about it brings tears to my eyes so she stuck me in 5 days later, which was today. The dentist gave me Valium (all mine is expired until I see Dr.S again) just to get me in the door and I did it early AM so I wouldn’t have all day to talk myself out of it. I was proud of myself for not breaking down in there, especially when the needle came my way. I got 3 filled on one side. They are all small surface cavities so they didn’t take much time. I was barely through 3 Streets songs on my MP3 player and he was done. I must add I did this with NO NITROUS…this is a first for me but of course I have never had to pay for it myself (I was 17 last cavity) and with the Meniere’s Disease, I thought I should go without. I still have 2 on the other side but I have to wait for my insurance to renew for the new year…trust me it was not cheap at all even with it, we have shitty insurance. This “no pain” talk was bullshit though…the whole side of my mouth hurts. I think they just tell you what you want to hear.

In the world of orthodontics, I am red and back with a partial powerchain on the top. Nothing else exciting except that Dr.I said I am ahead of schedule. I hope that means only a year left or less.

Skylar performed in his dance school’s Holiday Follies. It was really cool. He looked great and got applause from the crowd for his solo part…he was pretty jazzed over that. That kid doesn’t believe in stage fright, he eats up being on stage.

He bowled awesome this week despite his team not showing up *ahem* again. 138, 127, and a 118. Not bad at all. In fact, better than Mau bowled this week. We’ve been getting our asses kicked lately and are falling quickly down the list. I bowled decent this week but my partner is not holding up his end…I think he’s having issues with his ball. Laugh if you must, actually please laugh and laugh hard.

Did she hit her head or is she that stupid?

2006-11-27T20:58:00.000-08:00

Skylar got invited to a birthday party at a skating rink. Mau & I both yell “Hell ya! We’re so there!”. I lived on roller skates for many of my pre-teen years and did quite a bit of skating in my early 20’s too. It’s been a few years now, I no longer have my own skates and I now have a chronic balance disorder but I couldn’t pass it up.

I jumped on the skates on the carpet and thought “Oh crap, I don’t remember this being so hard.”. I felt like an idiot. Mau had already done a round and said “No no, you’ll get it after once around.”. He was right. It came back like riding a bike. I was whizzing around, doing spins and skating backwards. I was tearing up the floor like the Roller Queen I was in the past.

I decided to help poor little Trenee learn how to skate. I broke my personal skating rule: Never hold anyone’s hand that cannot skate. Disaster struck. I was keeping her afloat by pulling her back up repeatedly until her legs went all wonky and her skate went right in front of mine. I gracefully let my skate hit hers and spun around, going down flat on my back with my head hitting the floor full force. I was stunned. I laid there for a minute thinking “Did that just happen?” while my head vibrated like when you see those metal tongs...you know. I didn’t pass out and, after some little girl threw herself on top of my head because she thought it was funny, I got up and collected myself. It hurt terribly and my legs were shaky but I went back out so I wouldn’t psyche myself out next time with fear.

I have a huge lump on the back of my head and my whole body is sore today. I got whiplash so riding in the car was torture but I managed league bowling and DDR…it wasn’t easy but you know me, nothing stops me. I bowled like shit and we got crushed so maybe I should have stayed home.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2006-11-23T20:32:00.000-08:00

Eat turkey or whatever you are into, your favorite something. We made our best turkey to date and the other usuals, including my world famous sweet potato casserole...Sky finally tried it and realized it tastes like candy, not some horrible *gasp* vegetable.

I will not be braving the crowds for early morning shopping deals. Mornings and crowds don't sit well with me but I will get my butt up at 5am and see if I can get a couple cheapo things online. I imagine this will not be the easy task I dream it to be but we will see if I am successful. Then I will go back to bed.

I'm still here...

2006-11-13T22:00:00.000-08:00

Skylar is very pleased to announce that he qualified for the Pepsi Tournament this year at league level. He will compete in the district qualifier next…I think last time it was in January at a bowling center with synthetic lanes (he bowls on wood lanes usually). He has been bowling really well lately and got some awards too. Mau & I are doing alright in our league. We hover in the middle in rank and I keep my name up on the women’s high scores with scratch series and games.

Skylar is enjoying his enrichment class. It’s the medieval class he wanted. They are designing shields and they play some sort of role playing game each class. I believe they will be building a castle before the term ends. Next quarter he has chosen a veterinary medicine class where they will be doing exams, performing surgery, and studying Xrays. It sounds pretty cool. He wishes he was old enough for the graffiti class they offer but he will have to wait on that one.

I made an appearance at the old bingo hall. A note to Seana: Sister Mary Ann, Lucy and Big Pappa say “Hi” and all are doing well. I waited on 1 number for the $1000 for 3 numbers but on the 54^th it went. What do you think the next number out was if it had broken down? Yep, my good ol G59. Poo. Brings back frustrating memories huh? The smoking ban passed (I voted correctly but it didn’t help) so I wonder how that will impact the bingo halls.

Happy Samhain!

2006-10-31T20:50:00.000-08:00

Do something eerie or scary or go haunt someone!

He does lots of tricks!

2006-10-21T21:39:00.000-07:00

We put Sky in dance classes. He’s doing a jazz class this year. I thought he might be intimidated being a beginner and the only boy in the class but he stepped in there and took control. He was the only one who could do the splits (comes from his extensive Kung Fu training) and he learned all the moves for the day in seconds. They are putting together a presentation for Xmas and he was the only one who looked like he knew what he was doing. My baby’s a natural dancer…well, duh! He had a lot of fun and looked very comfortable.

Skylar is finally on a real team in his bowling league. He was a one person team going against a 4 person team (although he actually won all 4 points, yeah he kicks ass) but the coordinator put him on a new team. He is holding this new team together too. He got a high handicap series last week, bowling all games over 100 with a 73 average. Today he pulled a 164 out of his ass. Unbelievable. He came off a spare with 4 strikes in a row (another personal best for him since his turkey). To show how bad his teammates are, Skylar’s insanely awesome score only gave them the win by 4 pins…that’s pretty bad. He’s getting more consistant lately, finally realizing after years of us yelling at him to “use the arrows” that maybe he should use the arrows. We bowled for fun Friday and he bowled a 136, which beat his daddy’s pathetic 118 *giggle*. I know the Pepsi tournament qualifier is coming up and this run of good scores will pull his average up and make it harder for him to qualify. We'll see though.

While on the topic of bowling, I have to mention my (drum roll please) 176 score from last week. It is my highest score ever, my first turkey at this bowling center and I’m pretty proud. Plus FunkyB told me when I bowled it, “You better blog this!”.