Welcome To My World

Once Again, Where Does the Time Go?

2012-01-08T23:19:00.001-07:00

I just read my previous post.... posted more than a year ago! In September 2010, and we were expecting another grandchild and hoping for a 01.11.11 date of birth.................

Our little guy will be 1 year old this week on Wednesday.... January 11, 2012! Yep, he came naturally on 01.11.11 and get this, at 11:11am! Our little guy made the local news, then national news, and finally went viral around the world, for all those ones in his little birth date and his daddy being there via Skype during his tour of duty in Iraq. If that wasn't enough excitement... our little guy joined a big sister who was born on 09.09.09!

Of course, this Gramma could not be prouder.

A year later, daddy(my son) is home safely from Iraq, babies are growing like weeds.

It's a Boy!

2010-09-01T20:32:00.005-06:00

Yep! My second grandbaby is a boy! Due date in January 2011, hoping for 01.11.11. I do feel bad that our little BeeCharmer won't be "the baby" for much longer but she will always hold that special something between a Gramma and her first grandbaby.

We took our BeeCharmer to the fair last weekend. She had a BLAST! We were there only for a short time, enough to see the quilts and amateur photographs, and of course, the livestock!

Our BeeCharmer thought the cows were hillarious!

Sunday Drives in Idaho, July 11, 2010

2010-08-08T13:13:00.000-06:00

Normally, on Sundays, our day without our BeeCharmer, we take a drive to the mountains, our day adventures to places we haven't been before. A few Sundays ago, we found ourselves at Blacks Creek Canyon... what an AMAZING site. My photo does not begin to do this scene justice. It was absolutely breath-taking!

This canyon is deep, very deep! You can barely see the dirt road we had ahead of us still, in the upper right third of this shot. At the bottom of the canyon, was a beautiful, turquoise-bluegreen, bubbling river, Blacks Creek. Look at those Ponderosa Pines... those are huge trees, dwarfed by the size of this canyon.

Our drive that day was a long one, starting at east Boise and heading to Lucky Peak. We continued on to Arrowrock Dam, taking the National Forest road along the reservoirs edge to the far end, where the Boise River becomes the reservoir. It was there, at the head of the reservoir, that we crossed the river and headed up over the mountain on Slide Gulch Road. We followed this all the way to Long Gulch Road. Idaho mountains are amazing. They are so much taller than the coastal mountains I grew up around in the Monterey Bay area of California.

After coming up over the mountain from the Boise River, we finally came to junction in where we could go three miles to the left and see the town of Prairie, Idaho. Or, we could turn right on Blacks Creek Canyon Road. We decided to check out Prairie, Idaho, first.

Prairie, Idaho, is a very small town of just three streets. It seems very peaceful there. I often wonder, how people manage to live in such beautiful, out of the way places like Prairie, Idaho.

Back to our junction, we decided to take the Blacks Creek Road, a 42 mile ride back to Boise. This is where we came across that amazing sight, the canyon pictured above.

Our travels took us up to another gorgeous view of Idaho country... where Blacks Creek drops into the Boise River and Arrowrock Reservoir. We had no idea that what a pretty ride we would end up on that morning when we left the house.

This is the shot looking back at Blacks Creek as it merges with the Arrowrock Reservoir. We dropped down from here into the desert and ended up at Interstate 84, near the Rest Stop, just east of Boise. What a beautiful drive this day was!

Won't Be Long

2010-08-01T20:06:00.000-06:00

This weekend my little BeeCharmer was standing in place, doing squats, and almost taking that big, brave step forward. Won't be long, and she'll be all over the place! I bet she's gonna be the best Yorkie herder ever!

Baby?!!

2010-07-14T21:16:00.006-06:00

The kids announced this past weekend, I'm gonna be a Gramma again!!! Yep, the kids are 14 wks along with their 2nd pregnancy. I wish our little BeeCharmer would be the only baby for a bit longer, but she will be the "Big Sister" at just 16 months. I'm excited, and nervous... my son will be in Iraq when this 2nd baby arrives.

Really?

2010-07-14T19:24:00.011-06:00

I can't believe it's been a month since I've posted again!

I took a week and a half off work the end of June and got ready for a family get together and camping trip at McCall, Idaho. It was great to see family from California, New Orleans and Idaho, all in one place for a few days together.

My son, his wife & our little BeeCharmer from Idaho were there. My daughter was in from Southern California. My youngest brother and his wife and three kids from the Central Coast of California were there. My parents from Idaho were there. My nephew and his fiance from New Orleans were there. We had a great visit, a great time, memories that will last a lifetime were made.

Our BeeCharmer enjoyed her first fishing trip, the day before me and MyGuy made it up to McCall.

Oh, yes, she has legs... she just learned how to tuck her feet up under that tray. So cute!

The morning after we arrived, we were up early for an hour's drive to Riggins, Idaho, for the thrilling, whitewater raft trip down the Salmon River, The River of No Return.

That's my brother and his wife and son sitting up front. Me and MyGuy are behind them. An incredible experience!

After rafting we took another hour drive north, to Grangeville, Idaho. My brother's boss owns a 1540 acre ranch there and they had a feast waiting for us all. What a treat! Great people, great food! A good time was had by all. Beautiful country there.

We drove two hours back to camp. It was late and dark, and we were exhausted. What a beautiful day.

The next morning we had a pancake breakfast for the kids and just relaxed. Family started departing, as they had been there for a few days before we arrived. My son and his wife took their beautiful baby and were the first to leave. My brother and his family, and my nephew and his fiance had to leave the next day. My daughter had to leave the following day. So in the end, it was just me and MyGuy and my parents.

Our last full day there, MyGuy and I enjoyed a calm and peaceful canoe cruise up the Upper Payette River at the north end of the Payette Lake. We were out about two hours, and enjoyed every minute of it. We went around one bend and heard a tree crack crackle snap and fall to the forest floor. It was amazing. Then, into an inlet of a large pond off the main river, we came upon a young female moose feeding on the grassland there. Amazing again!

We had an amazing visit and fantastic time with family, full of beautiful campfires and wonderful food. It was a good for the soul kind of trip.

Oh! I forgot to mention a huge wind storm that blew through our campground, our last night we were there. We had been amazed by the timbering of a huge ponderosa pine in the wilds as we canoed around earlier that day. Then, later that night, I was scared to death by the falling of trees, one after another, in a horrific wind storm that hit the Long Valley of Idaho. The sky turned yellow from all the pine pollen as the storm hit. Lightening and thunder soon followed, darkening the sky. We were fortunate to only have a branch of one of these trees fall on the roof of our truck and bounce to the hood, putting a baseball size dent in the roof with a few scratches. There was no damage to our trailer.

Calling All Knitters

2010-06-13T13:38:00.015-06:00

About a week and a half ago, I received an email from my local fancy yarn shop stating they have accepted a challenge to knit 2700 caps... in honor of our Troops.

The email went on to say, as many of us here in the Boise, Idaho area already know, the 116th Brigade from Idaho, Montana and Oregon is shipping out to Iraq in September. There are about 1500 soldiers from Idaho and 1200 from Montana and Oregon involved in this deployment. The Yarn Shoppe in Meridian, Idaho, has accepted this challenge to recruit knitters to help them make 2700 knitted caps to be given to the soldiers as they deploy. These caps will be used to keep the soldiers warm in the winter, and can also be soaked with water to keep their heads cooler in the summer under the military helmets.

You see, my son is in the 116th Idaho Army National Guard, and he has received orders for deployment to Iraq this September. He'll be sent to Fort Shelby, Mississippi, for a two month training before actual deployment to Iraq in November. His trainings have already increased to several two and half week trainings. He's completed two of these shorter trainings already. Sometimes, I can't breathe with the thought of him being deployed...

I took this photo of my son at his Basic Training Graduation, June 2008, at Fort Sill, Oklahoma.

I've completed my first cap (pictured above) and I'm on just my second cap, and plan to make as many as I can to help this crusade in honor of my son and his fellow Brigade brothers. In just one week, the empty basket at the Yarn Shoppe has filled with caps from so many others who have knitted in honor of our Troops. More caps are needed, I'm hoping to spread the word and meet the challenge of completing 2700 caps.

These caps must be made of 100% wool for safety and must be in medium to dark earth tone colors. I know the Yarn Shoppe has order plenty of Cascade 220 yard in these colors.

2 Weeks Later

2010-06-12T18:20:00.009-06:00

I believe I have the BEST grandchild out there, though I know there's at least a few of you that may beg to differ. My little BeeCharmer, as I will refer to her for this blog sake, has just turned 9 months old this past week. Above is a pic from yesterday, my BeeCharmer was letting me know just how much she loved me..

I work fulltime outside the home, four 10-hr days, Monday thru Thursday which allows me to help with babysitting most Thursday nights, Fridays, and weekends. Not all weekend, the days do vary, but I will never say no to helping out the kids with watching this little girl.

Our BeeCharmer arrived on a beautiful, late summer morning, September 9, 2009. Below are pics from the hospital...

I will upload more pics later. Enjoy!

WOW!!!

2010-05-29T23:31:00.005-06:00

OMGosh!! I cannot believe it's been more than a year since I've posted! Wow!!! A whole year!

Well, I am a very proud Gramma of a beautiful 8 month old granddaughter. She is the light of my life! A total Bee Charmer! I have never known a more happier baby. I'll share pics soon!

I've taken up knitting too. It was an old hobby of mine, long forgotten when I divorced the father of my children, all so many years ago (in 1993.) Divorce affects everyone differently, but for me, a huge part of me died when I divorced my one and only love of my life. Seems everything about me died with that horrific life event. I am so glad I've found my way back to knitting, and I will be posting pics of some of my projects.

And, for those of you who remember me... I love taking pics! And Santa brought me a new digital SLR this last Christmas! I'm so excited to get out and do some shooting! It's been so darn cold here, I haven't really had much energy to bundle up and go out. Especially, with a new baby to play with here at the house!

So, I'm going to try to get back to blogging, and hope I don't bore you to death with baby stories, knitting projects, and photos of my day outings.

Surviving Life

2009-05-07T19:27:00.005-06:00

I started this blog when my guy went long haul trucking. I thought this would be a good venue for him to see what I'm up to, what I'm thinking, another source for us to stay connected. An old fashioned twitter of sorts, huh? lol

Well, as the years roll by, we seem to never see each other. Life's struggles are just as bumpy when you're not in the presence of your significant other on a daily basis. And maybe, life is even harder to deal with when you only have 24 to 48 hours to share in person with your man.

I find that I skip over all the real issues - bills, chores, things that just need to be done - and get to the fun in life, leaving the "to do" lists undone when he's home. Then, when he leaves, the list of "to do's" are still there, and I feel overwhelmed that nothing ever gets done unless I do them. And to be honest, some of the things, I just cannot physically do them. I feel bad for even mentioning this, I feel guilty even, knowing he just cannot be home. He has to work.

Then I remember, sure, he's not home every night, but he is home two or three days in a row before leaving again. Not as often, but sometimes he's home four to five days at a time. Many times, he's home during the week while I'm at work. So, in my mind, he's got time to do some of these "to do" things.

Then I think about how he's been gone on the road, and just sitting at home doing nothing, seems perfectly okay. I understand.

But then, I think about how darn tired I am after working 10 hour shifts with an hour and half lunch in the middle... makes for 12 hour days! I don't want to do any work when I get home either. But, come my days off, the dishes and laundry and mopping and cleaning, etc.... all needs to be done!

Don't get me wrong, I love my man, I love having fun with him.

Since I told him the other day, I want a husband, I have been thinking. Thinking long and hard about "us." What is "us?" Who are we? What are we doing? Gosh, I just turned 49 this year, he's in his 50's. I realize now, I want more from our relationship, and it's just not gonna happen.

It's just never easy.

I have a funny story... I get wound up and scared, pretty easily.

The other night, I'm sitting here, watching t.v. alone when I thought I heard someone at the front door. The door is dead bolted locked. Then, I heard a twist of the handle, a jiggle back and forth. Hmm... some one's out there and they seem to want in. I even thought I saw a shadow through the stained glass window next to the door! All of a sudden, I hear the weirdest sound, "zzz-zzzzz-zzz-zzzzzzz!" OMGosh! Some one's actually trying to drill their way into the house! OMG!!! It was about the time I thought my heart was going to LEAP out of my chest when a VHS tape popped out of the VCR!!! :::::::::try to breathe::::::::: (Auto eject!)

One of my dogs had probably stepped on the remote control (we have remotes all over the couch), turning the VCR on and there was a tape in the deck. The tape played, unbeknowned to me, all the way through, and when it reached the end of the tape, it automatically re-wound! (click, click, zzzzz-zzz-zzzzzzz-zzzzzzzzzzz...) OMGosh!!! I could have just died!!! LOL

I really do hate being alone!

It's a GIRL!!!

2009-05-07T00:21:00.002-06:00

20 Weeks

The kids went in for their ultrasound on Monday. The baby is perfect, growing exactly how it's supposed to, and........... it's a GIRL!!!

After work I stopped by to see the kids and they weren't home. They were at Baby's R Us! lol The kids live with her parents now, and her parents were home. The ultrasound photos were laying on the dinner table so I took a peek... perfect little profile shot, arms and legs, and did I mention, two little feet with toes!!!? And, of course, the kids wanted to know the gender, and there it was, our little girl.

Can't tell I'm a bit excited, can you? ;)

Baby Update

2009-03-05T23:44:00.005-07:00

I'm still so very excited! Maybe, I'm just in disbelief. I really cannot believe it's my turn to be a Gramma! All my friends have grandchildren and talk about the joys of grandmother-hood, all the time.

Monday, the kids went in for their first ultrasound. It had been rescheduled from the week before due to some miscommunication between the insurance and doctor's office.

First of all, I want to say, my daughter in law, TheMom, is doing great, she's feeling great. My son, TheDad, is ecstatic! He couldn't wipe the smile off his face if he tried. LOL So cute.

So back to the first ultrasound. Their visit went well. TheMom was telling me, everytime she or TheDad would say anything, the baby would bounce around, arms and legs everywhere. TheMom got to giggling so much, the tech was having a hard time getting a freezed frame shot of the baby. Awww!

The baby measured 12 weeks. Gosh. We have a long way to go. They have a long way to go! The due date is September 14. Perfect! Now, we just pray all continues to go well and no problems arise. In six weeks, they go in for another ultrasound. (I don't remember ultrasounds being so available! lol) The kids want to know the sex of the baby, so at this next ultrasound, they will find out if we're having a boy or a girl.

My son wants a boy. No hesistation or questions about it, a boy is what he wants. TheMom doesn't care, boy or girl, she's just happy to be having a baby.

Photo snagged from Free Photoshare

Then There Were Eight... (Yorkies)

2009-02-27T22:13:00.019-07:00

This is Simon.

Simon was first born, and latched onto Lucy with vigor. I would have never guessed that he would soon have such a struggle to survive. By day three, Simon was lifeless and losing weight. He was having trouble staying latched on, poor little guy. I started bottle feeding Simon, every two hours, immediately. After each feeding, I would put him with Lucy and tried to get him to nurse. I would try this too, before the bottle feedings, thinking he would be hungry enough to stay latched on. Nope. Seemed he had a problem suckling. Bottle feedings became the norm.

In his third week, I noticed a slight doming to his head. I was immediately reminded of Peanut. Simon had a lot of soft tissue on the top of his head. I brought him to the Vet immediately. Sure enough, my suspicions were right on. Simon was developing water on the brain, just like Peanut. I caught it early and Simon was put on prednisone, a steriod, to help reduce the swelling of his brain.

The meds worked! The swelling and soft tissue slowly disappeared. Simon never got as bad as Peanut had. Today, Simon is perfect! Healthy as the rest of the dogs. He's gonna be a tiny one, and he likes to bite. I call him my Tiny Biter, after Elton John's song, Tiny Dancer. LOL

Breaking News!

2009-02-24T21:51:00.005-07:00

I'm going to be a GRAMMA!!! OMGosh! I can't believe it!

My son and daughter-in-law are having a baby!

My first grandchild!

Photo snagged from free photo site.

2009-01-21T22:11:00.010-07:00

I received this Yorkie graphic message from my guy's niece, wishing me a Happy Birthday today! I was surprised to hear from her! Actually, I have been surprised by a lot of folks today...

At my work, in my department, we do this thing where if it's your birthday month, you are in charge of the potluck/luncheon. I've been at my current job for nearly seven years now and this tradition has become fun. When you're in charge of the monthly lunch celebration, you get to bring what you enjoy most.

Today was different only by the fact I have been at my employment there for quite some time now, and folks have started to request a particular dish I've made before. So last night, I threw together my Pozole (Mexican Stew) and let it simmer over night.

This morning, trying to get everything together, I was running late. When I arrived at work, my receptionist shouts, "Goooood morning!"

I thought it odd, her shouting so early in the morning, but I was carrying a very heavy pot of my stew and was darting for my office where I could set it down, and didn't give her loud welcoming another thought. As I stepped inside the door of my office, I caught a glimpse of another one of my employees! She was jumping down from the top of my desk! LOL The girls were thankful I had been late this morning, and did a great job decorating my little part of the office.

I received phone calls, emails and text messages throughout the day from friends and family. My guy sent me a singing text, wishing me a happy day. Later, I received a personal voicemail on my work line where he sang his birthday wishes to me. ;)

At lunch, the whole facility joined me for a cup or two of soup. Mmm! So good on a freezing cold day! Everyone visited and had a good time. My boss had two helpings! He told me too, they had a card for me, but that the last known person to have the card was not present. He would track it down and assured me he'd get it to me.

As you know, I raise Yorkies, and no matter how special the day is, I have to run home at lunch time to let the dogs out. The surprise was when I got back to work. I found a couple of cards and a present left on my desk! Wow! Decorations, cards, gifts, emails... Wow! They have never treated me so well before!

So the facility card was full of warm wishes for my birthday and a gift card to a local scrapbook store! Cool! The second card was from my personal staff. These girls are just so sweet! They got me a blouse and a gift card to a nice clothing store. Wow! I was almost overwhelmed.

Then, if that wasn't enough, these same girls ran to the Cheesecake Factory and got me a slice of cheesecake, leaving on my desk when I went to my afternoon meeting. Wow. I split the cheesecake with them, it was so rich, just a bite or two was plenty for me.

Another co-worker and close friend, took me to dinner after work. Boy! I had a wonderful birthday this year, and it's not quite over... my guy comes home tomorrow night after a week and a half run from Idaho to California to Utah to Arizona to California to Utah and back to Idaho.

And, it all started last Sunday when my parents took me to dinner because my birthday fell on a Wednesday this year and I work long, long hours. Sunday just made sense, a better time to relax and enjoy each other's company without rushing. My son and his wife joined us. We had a good time.

Anyway, I just had to share that I've had a great day. ;)

They Don't Get Much Cuter Than This...

2008-12-09T21:47:00.002-07:00

Introducing, Simon and Arty (Garfunkel)...

Simon was so small, he reminded me of the Alvin and the Chipmunks! Hence, the name Simon. Isn't he cute?

Arty is full of personality, never a dull moment with him. He's bright eyed and bushy tailed, and loves to play.

Born on October 19th, the boys are just seven weeks old. Simon will be staying with us a bit longer than I usually keep puppies because he is so small. Arty will be ready to go at eight weeks, but I plan on holding him for his forever family until Christmas.

Beautiful Fall Day

2008-11-01T19:32:00.003-06:00

It was colder today than it's been all week but, seasonalably warmer than normal. That didn't matter, I was freezing! It's about 7:30 p.m. and still 61 degrees out. That's pretty darn warm for November 1st. Still, I'm cold to the bone.

I'm watching my Boise State Univ Broncos beat New Mexico State Univ. It's a blitz, top of the 4th quarter and the score is 49 to 0, Broncos. I haven't blogged about my Broncos in a couple of years, but if you follow college football, the BSU Broncos are definitely a team to watch!

I was out in the yard this afternoon, admiring the fall colors of the neighborhood. My furr babies just love when I'm out in the yard with them. I grabbed my camera and snapped away...

Molly & Peanut, then Lucy, and Peanut again...

They're Married!

2008-10-25T17:19:00.006-06:00

October 23, 2008... I get a phone call from my son at 8:40 a.m., he's at the court house and wants me to be there in an hour!

Happy Kaos

2008-10-22T20:41:00.001-06:00

Okay, recently, I've started many new posts and just haven't had the time to complete any of them. What's going on, you wonder?

For a couple of months now, I've been looking into having my carpet and linoleum ripped out and replaced with hardwood floors. Last week, it was a done deal. The new flooring arrived on Wednesday. The work men arrived on Friday.

By Sunday, I have brand new floors throughout! Well, we left the bedrooms in carpet. But it's almost like I have a new home at the same address. Not only did I have the floors replaced, I have painted - still painting - all the same rooms... kitchen, dining, living rooms and both hallways. I'll have to get some updated photos to post!

In the midst of all this construction, ripping out carpet and linoleum, my Lucy went into labor and delivered two pups! One was delivered here at home, the second, at the vets as Lucy's labor had stopped for hours. Both pups seem to be doing well until tonight. I noticed the littler of the two is not gaining any weight. They go in to see the doc tomorrow, and I started bottle feeding the tiny one. I hope he does okay and gets past this. Again, I need to get some pics.

I have planned time off work all week. After the past few weeks there, I'm due for a quiet week away from all the STUFF! Painting the interior of the house was not on the agenda, but I'm glad I'm doing it. It really looks like I've moved into a new house. I told my guy, it looks like a Manhattan apartment in here! All this hardwood and rugs. I know, I need to get pics!

And, the biggest news... my son is getting married! He and his gal are going to the court house tomorrow morning. I'm not exactly sure how that works, if they are just getting their license to wed, or if they will be wed. He said he'd call me to let me know.

This is my happy kaos. New floors, new puppies, new daughter! I know, I know... Pictures!!! I will see what I can do between being mother of the groom, bottle feeding a new pup, and painting the walls.

Stressed

2008-10-13T22:47:00.005-06:00

Stress... Does it ever let up? Seems my life is always full of kaos. Suzy Orman would say, you've got to organize! Without organization, life is kaotic. I don't know, I'm cluttered but not disorganized.

Today, I had a surprise review by my Corp office, a telephone conference review. I think I've just said it, Corp office, the root of my stress. We are a hospital in a company that specializes in skilled nursing facilities (SNF's.) Actually, we are the only acute care facility in all of the company. There's over 200 SNF's, throughout the nation, and our little hospital in Boise, Idaho.

The mentality of the Corp folks appears to be hard to educate on how we do things slightly different from the rest. For example, we bill daily for our outpatient clinic and upon discharge for our inpatients. I believe SNF's still bill at month end.

SNF's patients may stay at their facilities for years, so billing is done monthly. Our inpatients have an average length of stay of 14 days, and billing is done after discharge. Medicare is the primary payer for 90% of my accounts, the rest of the accounts are Medicare HMO's, with a very small percentage of claims being regular insurance or private pay.

So, at the end of the month, when there's a glitch at Medicare, totally out of my control, and our money is not going to make to the bank to cover the claims we've billed before the middle of the month, my boss is asking why other facilities are not have the same problem.

Well, other facilities (in our company) are SNF's and they probably billed right after they do their month end close, so they normally would receive their Medicare money by the middle of the month. And we are billing every time we have a discharge, and try to bill all claims that have discharged by the middle of the month so we would still receive payment by the end of the same month. (Medicare pays in 14 days if a claim is submitted without errors.)

Anyway, I'm probably boring you with all this but I'm really burnt! I am expected to collect at least 103% of last month's revenue. Last month, I collected 108% and this is the thanks I get. It is so hard to collect some of this money, and I work as hard as I can to get as much collected as possible.

I have been in health care billing since 1984. Every time I try to get into something else, I always seem to fall back into this. Boy, the stress is really getting to me though, and I feel it, feel it deep inside, it's time to move on. I really feel the stress is getting the best of me.

It never fails, just when I feel like things are clicking together just right, I get slammed up side the head, figuratively speaking. I am sure most of this is just a communication mishap and once I am able to explain, things will be better. But then again, I was in a bad marriage for nearly 20 years before I finally saw the light.

Then, late tonight, my guy calls. He's had a huge disagreement with his boss and tells them he quits! OMGosh! This is kaos!!! No stability! Both of us cannot be having horrific days at the same time!

If you made it all the way through this post, thanks for listening. I'm just in a bad place at the moment and a good night's sleep will do wonders.

AKC Boise Dog Show

2008-10-12T21:43:00.011-06:00

AKC was in town this weekend and we made a visit bright and early this morning to catch the Yorkshire Terrier judging. We were surprised to find only three Yorkies there for the final day of showing.

It's been a very cold weekend, rain and snow, and down right cold. The sun shined through some this afternoon, but it's been cold. I think maybe some of the folks may have left the AKC show early due to the temps. Either way, we enjoyed our visit to the fairgrounds where the show is held every year.

I had forgotten my camera in the car but had my cell phone camera, here's a picture of one of the Yorkies...

My guy and I decided a couple of our dogs could have done well at this show. Of course, they would have had to have been entered first, but if they had been entered, they probably would have done well..... Bentley and Molly.

Here's a recent picture of Molly with her babies last May...

I don't know, maybe I'm just a little biased, but I think my Molly is just as pretty as the one in the show today!

SNOW!??

2008-10-10T19:40:00.002-06:00

Last I checked, it was only October 10th. We had our first snow showers today. It didn't stick, but if any more storms come through tonight, it just might. OMGosh, I don't remember having snow this early since I've lived here! Normally, the last week in November we start getting snow. To all my friends to the east, here comes winter! My cousin lives in Beverly, Mass, and she gets our weather about three or four days after we do. It's kind of interesting to follow the storms across America.

New Profile Picture

2008-10-09T23:51:00.003-06:00

I always have such a hard time with self portraits. Normally, I'm the one behind the camera so there's not many photos of me. Tonight, I had my hair french braided, looking for a curly look for tomorrow. We'll see how this turns out, lol. I haven't braided hair since my daughter was a young girl.

3 Years Cancer Free

2008-10-08T00:07:00.003-06:00

My mom received a PINK medal, like the Olympic medals, from her doctor the other day for being breast cancer free for three years now. There were days of chemo and radiation therapies, hair loss and wigs, so sick she wasn't sure if the treatments were worth it. I'm glad you're here, Mom!

Changes & Updates Abound

2008-10-07T23:28:00.002-06:00

Wow! AOL really did it now. I started out with an AOL Journal and was one of the many who moved from J-land when the unwanted banner ads appeared. I have grown to really like the Blogger platform and hope to continue to grow here.

With the current exodus from AOL's J-land and everyone moving to somewhere new, I thought I'd give my own blog a facelift too. I really do like the ease of changing things, personalizing my blog, and hope that everyone who lands here finds it as user friendly as I have.

Also, I realized I haven't posted in a long, long time and I have some catch-up posting to do! My summer was filled with medical issues, and a wonderful week away from home with my family. My son came home from Basic Training and AIT, I met a new family member we never knew existed, and I've lost 30 pounds!

It's Been A Long While

2008-08-20T11:08:00.005-06:00

Boy! Where does the time go!?

I am home from work today, for the next few days for some well deserved PTO time! I am sitting here contemplating the work I need to do before my daughter arrives this evening. Yes! My daughter is coming for a visit for several days! I'm so excited to see her!

I have to say, my guy has done the most wonderful favor for me... he's taken all seven, yes I said seven, dogs with him on this run so that I can be dog-less for the week with my family. I cannot thank him enough!!!

June 23, 2008

2008-06-28T22:50:00.006-06:00

Home from my son's Basic Training Graduation at Ft. Sill, Oklahoma. It was so, so good to see him. It was so hard to leave him there.

The first thing I noticed was how white his teeth are. When I mentioned his teeth, he said, "Yeah, I brush them at least three times a day now." Wow, I thought.

The second thing I noticed was his voice has seemed to change. It's deeper than it was when he left home in April. Must be all those cadences during marches on the base.

The last thing took a little longer to realize, that was just how nice he was, how polite he was. He's turned into a perfect gentleman.

His girlfriend came with me, and we had a wonderful visit. We left the house at 6am for our 7am flight. We arrived in Oklahoma City around lunch time, 12:30pm. Fort Sill was an hours' drive southwest of Oklahoma City on I-44.

We stayed through Saturday afternoon, longer than most of the families. Most of the soldiers shipped out to their next stop the morning following graduation. My son was one of six who were not leaving until Sunday a.m.

That gave us a whole'nother day with our soldier! Here's a couple of pics...

Graduation day, June 20, 2008 with girlfriend.

Son and proud mom!

Mother's Day

2008-05-16T22:40:00.007-06:00

I know it's late but I wanted to wish all the mother's out here in Blog/Journal-land...

Happy Mother's Day!

I've been working four ten hours days since last July, and the days of my week now seem to run together. But, I wouldn't trade it back to working five days a week!

Last Friday, the Friday before Mother's Day, I received my first correspondence from my son.

He's been gone since April 9th, gone to Ft. Sill, Oklahoma, for Army National Guard boot camp. When he left, he was carrying a pretty large chip on his shoulders and asked me not to contact him. He didn't care if I was his mom. He didn't want to hear from me by phone, text messaging, or letters.

When his girlfriend received his address, I asked if I could have it. "Of course," she said, and I promptly sent his address to all our family. I also found a card that really reminded me of my son when he was about 10 years old. I decided to send it. Positive thoughts written in my hand filled the blank inside. I signed, "Love You, Mom."

Now, back to the Friday before Mother's Day. I was able to get the mail as soon as it was delivered Friday. As I thumbed through the stack of mail, I found a letter size envelope. No returned address. Postmark from Oklahoma City, OK.

It was from my son! I was so excited! Once inside the house, I opened his letter only to find the card I'd sent him, ripped to shreds. No other note, other than the pieced together words "Return to Sender!" across the front of my original envelope, now shredded in my hands. My heart sunk, I think it even missed a few beats. I was crushed.

Styx sings a song... it goes something like this... "...why must you be an angry young man... your future looks quite bright to me..." Boy! Talk about sting. Oh, that was Styx! lol

The next day, Saturday, I received a beautiful, fragrant bouquet of roses from my daughter. Her card said, "Thanks for being a wonderful Mom." The flowers were beautiful. I thanked her right away, and had a good visit with her over the phone. (She's in Los Angeles.)

That afternoon, I took my parents out for dinner. My dad wouldn't let me pay. Dinner was good and we had a nice visit too. They gave me a hanging planter full of spring flowers for my patio.

Sunday, Mother's Day, I really never gave any more thought to hearing from kids. I had a great visit with my daughter over the phone. I received my son's message, loud and clear. I expected nothing more of my day. My guy was home and he treated me all day long! Thank you, Buddy.

Then, before lunch, I checked my cell phone as I have an ad in the paper for my puppies... and OMG!!! I received a text from my son. It was a nice text message, so nice I thought maybe his girlfriend sent it for him. I called his cell... it rang, and rang again, and he answered! I think we were both in shock! I had called from another number that he wasn't aware of, and totally expected his girlfriend to answer.

We talked for just a couple of minutes. He was very nice, not sarcastic like he had been before he left. I just wanted to reach through that phone and give him a great big hug!!! We talked about graduation dates and I told him I'd like to be there. He agreed. I told him I loved him, he said he loved me too, and our call was over.

I think this has been my best Mother's Day so far!

Anyone For A Puppy Fix?

2008-04-15T21:23:00.005-06:00

The photos with single pups are Lucy's two females, 7 weeks old tomorrow. The others with two pups are Molly's two males, 5 weeks old yesterday. I've got a houseful of puppies right now, six in all. Lucy had four puppies in February, and Molly had two puppies in March. Fun, fun, fun!

Spring Has Sprung

2008-04-14T17:56:00.003-06:00

It was gorgeous this weekend! Today was overcast but in the mid 70's. I was definitely under the weather! I stayed home from work, something I rarely do unscheduled. There was no way I could function at work with this monster of a cold I've caught. I worked from home the best I could.

The photo above was taken in my backyard yesterday afternoon. Today the tree, a Thunderclould Flowering Cherry tree, has almost completely bloomed. Beautiful.

Hmm... a time for new beginnings.

2008-04-13T13:07:00.002-06:00

I made it all winter without catching a cold, but it's finally found me. I woke up yesterday with that sinus tingling, overall heaviness feeling, and this morning, I've definitely got it. ARGH!!! I know the exact moment I was exposed and didn't have cover. I wish people would cover their faces when they are sick and have to cough or sneeze. I was given this bug, directly from a sneeze. The remenents of which I had no choice but to walk through. There was no avoiding it. GROSS, but true. 24 hours later, I've got it. I hate colds!

A Bit Out Of Focus

2008-04-12T13:01:00.007-06:00

Took this photo too quick, not paying attention to it's focus...

It's the first weekend this year where we'll have temps close to, if not in the 70's! It's gorgeous out! I caught a glimpse of a neighbor boy and his dog this morning, and before I could get another shot, they were gone. That's a 6 foot fence at the bottom of the photo, and they are sitting on the roof of their shed. Cute! Boys and their dogs.

I'm Numb, So Much to Handle

2008-04-09T13:57:00.023-06:00

A week ago today, I took my lunch break at the nursing home where my Gramma was dying. My parents had been with her all morning. They needed a break so I brought some sandwiches for lunch.

I met my dad in the parking lot. He was taking the minister who prayed over my Gramma, back to the church. He would be back soon.

I remember when I was in the hallway, just outside Gramma's room, I could hear my mom. My mom was letting Gramma know she was there, "I'm here mom, I'm right here." Gramma did not want to die alone.

There was a nicely decorated cart of coffee, tea and water, and snacks for us aside the closet. Gramma was at her end. She would not be pulling through this, this time.

My mom was not doing well, she was taking this pretty hard. I would be no different if that was my mom lying there. My mom needed a break and stepped away for a few minutes. I was there, I would be there as long as they needed me.

I stood by Gramma's side, holding her hand and caressing her shoulder. Gramma loved her family, many had gone before her. The room was filled with photos of all her loved ones. Through these photos, we surrounded her, even when we were not there. Gramma was breathing sporadically. Her eyes were winced tight as if she may be in discomfort. The nursing home had given her comfort medications. Though she was not calling out, she still seemed distressed.

As she would catch her breath, I would tell her I was there. Then remembered, Grampa was waiting for her on the other side. I told Gramma it was okay to go, go find Grampa. Find that old fishing pole and go fishing with Grampa. My fondest childhood memories are of them camping and fishing. Then, I remembered her love of the beach! "Gramma, go to the beach, go, it's okay."

With that, Gramma took her last breath. Her eyes relaxed and she was gone.

Grammas are so special, we love them dearly, and mine was no different. I loved her most dearly, and will miss her!

Today, my son left for Ft. Sill, Oklahoma. Finally. He's been to the final physical and returned home due to his respiratory infection, twice already. Yesterday, he passed and received his flight orders for today. He'll be gone for five months, boot camp and then advanced training, before coming home.

My problem is I haven't seen him since Gramma's service on Friday. And he was very distant with me, avoided my like the plague.

He has issues, left unresolved, and specifically the night before Gramma's service, with his girlfriend not being allowed to miss school. (Long story.) He left me a text message at 6am this morning, not to ever call or text him again. To stay out of his life. (Ouch.)

I deserve to be treated with respect too. There's a song my guy sings a couple of lines of... "...why must you be such an angry young man, ...your future looks quite bright to me..." I will miss him and hope he comes to his senses someday. Love you, Buddy.

Discussing this with my guy late last night, only caused me more drama and heartache. One thing lead to another and before long, we were arguing over my son and my family, and my guy's relationship with them. It's been a long bumpy road, and I do not know we'll make it through this.

My guy left without saying "goodbye" last night. He'll be gone for a week. I'm not sure he'll be coming home again, for anything longer than to pack his things.

So, to Gramma, my son, and my guy....I miss you all.

UPDATE: Later 04.09.08:

My guy phoned to say he loves me.

My Son and the Idaho Army National Guard

2008-03-04T22:23:00.008-07:00

So, we've had our going away party, we've had our special, last minute dinner parties and get-togethers... my son joined the Idaho Army National Guard in November, 2007, and had to report last night.

The Guard had a hotel room in my son's name last night. He had to report, first thing this morning, to his final physical exam before getting his flight instructions. We anticipated he would fly out today. Yesterday, I was having a hard time believing he was leaving. Today, I woke up accepting the fact, he was gone for the next five months.

Then, shortly after 9:00 a.m. I receive a call at work. It's my son! They have sent him home and he reports back in three weeks! YEAH!!! Turns out my son has a horrible respiratory infection and they want him to get well before they send him off to boot camp. YES!!!

This means he'll be home for his birthday, March 20th! And, he'll be home for Easter. It means he has time to finish those things on his list that didn't get done. It means he'll be able to see Molly's puppies...she's due any time. It means he'll be able to help me with a garage sale. It means he has time to take down my Christmas lights still strung along the edge of my roof. It means so much to me to have these last few weeks together!

Monday Night Vet Visit

2008-03-04T21:00:00.000-07:00

The puppies seem to be doing good tonight. But, last night, boy... it's heart wrenching to listen to them cry after they've had their little tails docked and dew claws removed.

My guy was brave, he actually stayed in the surgical area where the puppies were handled. I sat in the waiting room with Molly.

I do not know how I can justify this practice of tail docking and dew claw removal. I know it's AKC Standard to dock tails. I wish there was something we could give these little guys for pain.

Molly came along with us so that we could get a head count of the number of baby pups she will have. She's not that big. The x-ray showed two healthy pups, and that they were due any day.

Lucy and Puppies

2008-02-28T23:03:00.002-07:00

The night before last, Lucy was restless and panting. I let her sleep with me, as I normally do when my girls are close to delivering. It was a sleepless night. Seems I was up every couple of hours, for either Lucy or myself. LOL At 5:30a, when my alarm went off for work, I let Lucy out, turned on my pc and sent my boss and co-workers an email. I would not be in to work, Lucy was in labor. I fell back to sleep.

I was awaken by the squishy, licking sounds of Lucy cleaning her first born, in my bed, right by my face! It was 7:30a. I moved Lucy to the bedding area I had made for her, placing the puppy, a female, in the middle of the bed. Lucy is such a good ma' ma dog! She finished cleaning up the puppy and the puppy latched on and nursed. The next puppy, another female, was born at 9:30a. And another puppy, a male, was born at 11:45a.

Last Friday, I had taken Lucy in for an X-ray to see how many puppies she might have, to save me from guessing. The X-ray showed at least four, maybe five puppies. So, after the third pup was born, I knew there was at least one more! We waited and waited. A couple hours turned to three hours. I was worried there was something wrong. I could feel only one puppy still in her belly, and I felt it kick... a good sign!

It was after 2p, I called the Vet and explained the situation. He scheduled me in as a "walk-in" at 6:30p, if Lucy hadn't the pup by then. He said as long as she wasn't pushing, she was probably alright. Lucy was nursing and tending to her new puppies, acting like she was done giving birth. I fell asleep.

I woke up a couple hours later, about 4p. Still only three puppies! So, I called the Vet and said I was on my way. I didn't feel the unborn puppy kicking like I had, a couple of hours earlier. As soon as I could get my shoes on, we left... me, Lucy and three babies.

The minute we arrived at the Vet's office, I was ushered into a private room, given a large bed cushion and comforter, placed on the floor, for Lucy to labor on. The puppies were snug in my insulated, soft-sided, lunch pail, until I was able to get Lucy settled in. Then, the puppies came out to nurse. I was on the floor with them, encouraging Lucy, telling her what a good girl she was, until the Vet came in.

Lucy still hadn't pushed in hours. There was a definite mass still in her stomach. And, I hadn't felt the unborn puppy kick in a long, long time.

The Vet took Lucy back for an ultrasound, to see if the unborn puppy was still viable. I bundled the puppies back up in my lunch pail, and we were off to the ultrasound room. The ultrasound showed a very strong beating heart! We were all surprised! This was good news! Seems, when this much time has passed, normally there's a problem and the unborn pup rarely makes it.

Because we still weren't sure if there was a fifth puppy, they did an X-ray. The X-ray confirmed, there was just one unborn puppy, for a total of four puppies! The plan was to give Lucy a shot of Oxcitocin (sp?), the drug the induces labor, and let her try to deliver this puppy on her own.

With fingers crossed and all the prayers we could come up with, Lucy started pushing about 15 minutes after her shot. We were back in our private room, in the center of the floor on a comforter over a thick cushion. About 20 minutes later, puppy number four was born! Another male! Lucy did such a good job!

The Vet said it was common for people to think they are all done birthing puppies, go to bed, then wake up the next morning to find another puppy added to their litter. I was glad we didn't take any chances and Lucy delivered in good time. So, we have four, very healthy puppies, two girls, two boys!

Weekend, Gone Too Fast

2008-02-24T17:24:00.003-07:00

At first, I didn't know what to do with myself when my schedule changed and I started working four 10's, having Friday, Saturday and Sunday off every week. Now, I don't know where the time goes!

Friday, I took Lucy in for her Vet check. The lady who lost her puppy earlier this month, went with me. We wanted to find out how many puppies Lucy was having so I would know when Lucy's done delivering puppies. Appears to be four, maybe five, puppies! That's quite a lot of puppies for Yorkies. We're hoping for a male for my lady friend.

Saturday, my son's girlfriend threw a going away party for my son. He leaves for Fort Sill, Oklahoma, in a little over a week from now. I helped her pull the whole thing together. We made our own invitations with Military scrapbooking supplies. Then, we made this huge, tri-fold, poster board, full of photos and more Military scrapbooking items. The photos were from the time he was born, to today. My son even help with this. We had a lot of fun together, going through all those old pictures and trying to decide which photos would end up on the board. Lots of fun!

Someone at the party asked me if I was going to be okay after he leaves, it must be hard. I've thought about that ever since she asked me. I am going to miss my son! I think my response was a bit short, and very possibly, unfriendly. I do not mean for my response to be so short. I think I knew if I let my true feelings out, I would have broke down crying. I couldn't do that, not in front of all those people. I need to be strong for my son, support him in his decision to join the service. Let him go.

Everyone enjoyed the poster board, full of photos. We bar-b-qued hamburgers and had homemade chili beans, and lots of good side dishes of fruits and salads. We had a really nice time.

Sunday, my son's girlfriend and I went to the baby shower of my dear friend Jenny. We had a wonderful time.

Babbling with a Full Plate

2008-02-18T20:09:00.012-07:00

Taxes... I'm such a procrastinator! I keep putting it off, getting papers in order, until "next weekend." Next weekend gets here and is gone before I even think about taxes. It's like I mentally block the task of getting my life in order, especially my taxes. I wish they, the tax men, would figure out what they need, just take what they need, and then leave the rest alone. I suppose the current tax ways are good for everyone, I just hate doing mine.

I've got so much on my plate at the moment, but probably no more than anyone else. It's that procrastinator in me, competing for my time.

My son is leaving in just over two weeks for boot camp. His girlfriend and he are attached at the hip and I am feeling like I never get a chance to really talk with him, without her. I know, I know, I'm starting to sound like the jealous mother... Honest, I'm not. I just would like to have a good talk with him, without the girlfriend.

Don't get me wrong, I absolutely adore this gal. She's a real sweety. My son and she are planning to get married late next spring. They are so young and nothing is set in stone, so we'll see. We all know, they should enjoy life and see the world before they get so tied down to each other.

But first, my son needs to go through boot camp and advanced training. He'll be gone for five months, leaving the first week of March and returning the last week of July. His girlfriend and I are planning a "going away" party this coming weekend. It will be just family and maybe a couple of friends. We're having fun going through old photos and putting together a posterboard of photos from when my son was born, to today.

On my doggy front, Lucy and Molly, are both pregnant! Lucy is due any day. This Friday, if she makes it to Friday, we go for another ultrasound to keep the guessing out of it and find out how many puppies she has. I want to know when she's done or when I should start worrying, when she does go into labor. Molly is about three or four weeks behind Lucy. We're going to have a very busy puppy spring this year.

And yes, a male puppy is going to the couple who lost their puppy earlier this month. The morning after Oliver died, everyone still very teary-eyed over his death, I offered another puppy to them, if they wanted.

This last weekend was the first time I've talked with the wife since my offer. Bless her heart, she thought she was ready to see the "going home" photos I had taken of Oliver, the day he went home with them. She had a hard time seeing them. She told me she didn't know how she would ever face me again. They had promised to take care of Oliver, promised to keep him safe, and not 24 hours after taking him home, he was gone.

I assured her I had no hard feelings, that bad things happen to good people sometimes. I was so sorry. We talked about the cost of Lucy's babies and agreed they would pay cost for their new baby, if they wanted one. I let her know, Lucy was ready to deliver next week sometime and asked if she would like to go with me to the Vet's office for her ultrasound this Friday. She had no idea Lucy was pregnant and due so soon. She was tickled pink that I asked her to go with me! She's going to see if she can rearrange her schedule Friday to join me and Lucy.

When I learned Oliver was gone, I couldn't believe it. It just couldn't be true! Disbelief turned to pain over his death, to anger... they should have been more careful! Turns out they were being careful, this was just a horrible, horrible accident. Immediately my anger moved to, they need another puppy. I know just how long this couple has been wanting one of my puppies, how they have been waiting and planning. Waiting for this little guy has been nothing less than being pregnant and having a baby, for them. They loved that little puppy. They picked him out when he was just three weeks old and came by to visit every week until they took him home. They have so much to offer a puppy. I know it's not my fault their puppy died. I know I do not have to GIVE them a puppy. I want to do this for them.

Then there's work. Work with all these women. There is always someone who's offended by another. Always one who has to push the others around. Always one who thinks she doesn't have to follow the rules. I try to let them work out their issues themselves, getting involved when it seems they are not able to do this. And, I thank God, I'm off Fridays and only have to be there four days a week!

If you've made it all the way through this entry, wow! I really appreciate you for listening to me babble on and on about things important to me. Online friends are the greatest!

Good News

2008-02-09T01:04:00.001-07:00

There is good news to be told this week. My Lucy is pregnant! I took her in for an ultrasound Wednesday night. The doc was happy to tell me she was healthy, and it appeared she has healthy puppies. She still has three weeks, or so to go. We are looking forward to new puppies in the house.

I'm Gonna Miss Him...

2008-02-06T22:32:00.000-07:00

We go through life, doing the best we can with our families, our jobs, our hobbies...our life. I do my best with raising Yorkshire Terriers, and think I do a good job. Sometimes, things are out of our control, no one's fault, just plain, dirty bad luck...

This last litter of Yorkies were all spoken for by the time they were seven weeks old. There were three puppies in all, and all three are as cute as could be, with personalities to match. My Yorkie pups are all AKC registered, home raised with loads of love, hand held from the day they were born, making for well socialized Yorkies.

Last weekend was going to their forever families weekend. First went "Zoe," she was the smaller of the two females. Then, later that night, "Gracie," the larger of the two females left with her new family. The male stayed with me until Super Bowl Sunday, going home with his new family just before the game started. They named him "Oliver."

Oliver was my favorite of the three. Maybe because he was picked out a week before Christmas and he had a name, which he knew! I do not think I've seen a happier pup, a more-proud-of-himself pup! He had these short, little legs, and would prance around like he was in charge. I called him, "Oliver Little Mr. Short Pants." My guy called him "Prince Oliver Short Pants." So you get the idea, Oliver was full of himself and just as sweet as they come.

Sunday, Oliver got to know his new family. He chased their cat around the house, napped on his new daddy's shoulders, and just charmed the heck out of his new family. The first night went like a breeze! Oliver slept in his kennel next to their bed and was such a big boy, first night away from our home. Not a peep was heard from him. The next morning he went outside to do his business like a champ.

The wife got ready for work and got a face full of kisses from Oliver as she left for work. The husband works from home at times. Monday the husband was home. He was being so careful with Oliver being down on the floor and around the house, but accidents happen, even sometimes when we're careful.

The husband took a step and landed his foot across Oliver's little body. He rushed Oliver to the ER Vet, but they were not able to revive the little guy. Oliver was gone.

My guy was told immediately, but he spared me the horrible news until after I left work. I hadn't quite made it home when I received the news. Luckily, there was a super market parking lot, right there, when I was told... I had to pull over and take a minute to pull myself together.

Monday, Oliver crossed that Rainbow Bridge, and is running through the fields with our Harley now, waiting to see us again someday. I cannot imagine how bad Oliver's new family must feel right now, they truly loved that little puppy and will miss him forever.

Snow, Snow, and Cold!

2008-01-25T09:47:00.000-07:00

This week has been absolutely, FREEZING! Normally, our snow comes, the sun comes out the next day and the snow is gone. The past few days, it's been so cold even when the sun comes out, the snow is freezing and going no where.

Five Weeks Old

2008-01-13T15:33:00.000-07:00

They just don't get any cuter than this!

Oliver, Zoe & Gracie.

Glad It's January

2008-01-05T13:56:00.000-07:00

The holidays could not have come and gone any quicker than they did for me, this year. I did my best to find my Christmas Spirit, without any luck. I went through the motions, displaying the Christmas cards we had received, picking out gifts for my family, making sure I was able to see everyone. I even through together a cute display of "spirit" on the wall at the entrance to my office at work with small red drawn, cloth, gift bags for all the women, and green holiday gift bags for the men... 18 women, and 4 men... all with their names in glitter. They really were cute, and I received many compliments on them. Wish I had thought to take a picture to show off here! My son was encouraged by his girlfriend's mother to surprise me and put some lights on the house because he had done such a wonderful job with their house! I think the kids told me just the other day, they put up more than 6500 lights on her house. What the girlfriend's mother didn't know is, he's always put lights on our house, and not just a string of lights! He'd do a really nice job, with coordinated lights, strung above icicles. The more the merrier! After the encouragement he received from her, he put up a string of lights, alternating red and white bulbs, along the edge of our home... nothing like the jobs he's done in prior years. I will say, I was still thrilled to have the lights. They looked very nice. My guy bought us a new tree this year. A four foot, artificial, fiber optic tree, small enough to fit in our dining room... We had the giant dog, Tai, my son's six month old Golden Retriever, so we needed to have something small and off the ground. It was beautiful! Just something was missing! Where was my Christmas Spirit? Hoping my "spirit" would show up soon, I took the week before Christmas, December 18 through December 25, as scheduled time off from work, needing to return to work December 26. My first day off I received an urgent email from my boss, I was needed in the office. I got myself together after sleeping in, and spent the whole afternoon there disciplining one employee and meeting with a small group others. It was a stressfull afternoon. By the time I got home, I felt it, that overwhelming heaviness coming over me. I spent that night with miserable aches and pains, fever and chills. That next day, I was too sick to get out of bed. I forced myself to take a shower, thinking the heat and steam would make me feel better. I slept most the day and went to bed early that night. My parents had called the next day. They'd made a chicken and rice dish and wanted to share with me. Thinking this sounded wondered, and I didn't think I was contagious, I told them I'd be there in a bit. We talked about Christmas plans and settled on dinner together with my son and his girlfriend. I went home, tummy full, and went to bed. First thing Friday before Christmas, my mom called and cancelled all Christmas plans she had made with me and my son the day before. She said she wanted to wait for my brother to drive up from California, after the first of the year. Knowing my brother, as I do, I knew he would not make it from California to here, any time soon. He doesn't do snow, and we've had plenty. So, I asked the kids if they could get together with me and my parents for Christmas, BEFORE Christmas, Saturday the 22nd. Monday, my guy would be home; Monday was also Christmas Eve; my son said he would be busy with his girlfriend's family Christmas Eve; and Tuesday - Christmas Day - my son again said he would be busy with his girlfriend's family. So, as I saw it, if I wanted any kind of Christmas with my family, the least stressful day was Sunday, December 23! My guy had talked about going to his mom's to be with his family, Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, or both days. I did not want to go to Twin Falls. I wasn't into driving in the ice and snow the 130 miles to get there. This had nothing to do with his family, I love his mom. The fact that Mother Nature was being cruel this year, that's what was driving me to stay put. There had been so many fatal accidents on a particular stretch of the icy Interstate, I just wanted to stay home, all cozy, safe and warm, watching the puppies and getting ready for work Wednesday, December 26th. I was looking forward to being alone, believe it or not, not an ounce of stress being tugged this way or that, looking forward to just doing nothing. So, back to my story... Friday, early afternoon, my dad calls and invites me to lunch with him and my mom. At lunch, I asked if they would like to get together with just me and the kids, Saturday. They seemed fine with this. Afterall, my mom had cancelled her plans until after New Years, when my brother could make it up. So, plans for Saturday with me and my kids were made. I let the kids know and everything was good.

New Year

2008-01-01T14:24:00.000-07:00

Wishing you all

a happy and safe New Year,

may 2008 be great to you!

2007-12-24T18:58:00.000-07:00

Merry Christmas to All!

What A Day

2007-12-18T23:14:00.000-07:00

I've requested time off during this holiday season. Tuesday this week, through Tuesday next week, returning to work, Wednesday, December 26. I had to request this time, quite some time ago to give proper notice at work with my boss.

My initial plans were, I would drive to California to visit with my brothers for the holiday this year. It's been a long time since I've been home to California. But, I wasn't sure if Sadie was pregnant, if she was, we'd stay home.

Well, now we know, Sadie was pregnant and has had her beautiful puppies. I am not going anywhere now. And that's okay. The puppies are just now opening their little eyes, they're so cute! I need to get new photos to post.

My parents had also changed their minds about going to California. My dad is not too keen on the the idea of driving through the Sierra's with a trailer in tow, through the snow. So, my brothers are on their own in California for Christmas this year. My daughter too, had planned to drive up from Los Angeles to my brothers' town, to meet with all of us. She will be staying in L.A.

Anyway, now I'm off work and staying home. Well, my boss emailed me this a.m. I guess he's had issues with a couple of my staff members. So, I ended up at work all afternoon today anyway. My boss and I met with one of my employees. It's the part of my job that I could do without, letting an employee know they are not meeting standards. This task is just one step above letting an employee go. Just hard things to do. Sometimes, it is necessary though.

So, I met with this employee. She defended herself and blamed others for her poor performance. In the end, she seemed to understand we want her to do her best, try to change the things that are keeping her from getting her work done. If she still felt miserable, we challenged her to find other employment. One of her complaints was with another employee that I personally have had many unnecessary dealings with.

This particular second mentioned employee, comes up smelling like a rose, every single time there's an issue. Anyway, I suggested that before I go home today, I would pull the four employees together (yes, there were two more involved in this issue today) to get their issues aired and hopefully, resolved. This ended up another hour and half long. Tears streamed, feelings were aired, apologies made, hugs given, and a promise to move on from today, leaving the past in the past. I will be gone for the next week, and I'm hoping this will give everyone a chance to cool down. Can I just say, STRESS!

To top things off tonight, I felt like I had a touch of food poisoning. Fever, chills, upset stomach.

Aww, but a couple of good things... One good thing, my guy left a huge Christmas present, all wrapped pretty, on the kitchen table for me before he left on his run to California. He won't be back until late Saturday night. I don't have a clue what he got me for Christmas. I want to peek, but I want to be surprised more than I want to peek.

The other good thing... when I got to work, there was a brand new crock-pot on my desk! See, yesterday I brought my famous breakfast burritos. Another employee broke the lid to my old crock-pot, given to me as a wedding gift in 1978! The lid shattered slivers of glass all over the office. It really was incredible how this lid shattered so. Anyway, this employee felt she needed to replace the crock-pot. I told her just find me a lid. Well, I guess she couldn't find just a lid, and now I have a brand new crock-pot! I thanked the employee. She felt bad, but it was just an accident.

I don't have a Christmas tree up yet. I'm still thinking I will get this done. I've got all my gifts, just need to finish wrapping. My daughter loves her GPS device I gave her at Thanksgiving when she surprised us by driving up here, arriving just in time for Turkey dinner! I did send off a package to her with little odds and ends I've been collecting for her all year. I even put together a stocking filled with fruit and candy and little things.

So, this was day one of my Christmas vacation.

Sunday, Dec 9, 2007

2007-12-12T23:25:00.000-07:00

Sunday, Dec 9, 2007: Pvt JMM came home exhausted, all dressed in his uniform! He survived his first weekend duty at Gowen Field. Gosh! He looks so young, and tired, in this photo!

He's Gonna Grow Up Fast

2007-12-08T13:34:00.000-07:00

This morning at 6:30 a.m., my son reported to his first weekend as Private JMM of the Army National Guard. He will spend all weekend at Gowen Field in Boise.

I do not know much about the service, other than even the National Guard is going to Iraq. Something I am NOT happy about. But, my son has told me some of what he's doing and why he is doing this. And also I've found information online. The more I find out, the better I feel about his decision, and I have to remember - it is HIS decision - whether I like it or not.

The program he enlisted with is a School First program offering 24 months of college before any active duty. He did enlist for eight years. That's a LONG time in something if you find you're not happy! Again, this is his decision. I do hope he has great experiences and finds opportunies that brighten his future, which will make him very happy. So, he enlisted November 26, 2007 - he'll be out in November, 2015. Oh, that sounds so long from now.

I've talked with my son, my parents have talked with him, his girlfriend's parents have talked with him, all trying to give him as much support as we can and help him make this life changing decision. There are some awesome opportunities for him through the Army Nat'l Guard and as soon as I step back from being a mom full of worry, and see those opportunities he has, I think I'm good with his decision.

What I've found good about all this is, I do believe it will be good for him. Maybe he'll find a little appreciation for home and his mom. Angry teenagers seem to turn on those who love them most, he is no different.

Today, he started his once a month weekend with the Guard. In March, he'll go to basic training in Oklahoma, then transfer to Missouri for advance training, graduating in late July. From there, he'll be back home for 24 months and attending Boise State University, starting as a Sophomore.

Pvt JMM phoned late last night to let me know he was staying over at his girlfriend's for the night. He would leave early and get to Gowen Field about 6:15 a.m. I reminded him it was snowing and the roads would most likely be icy in the morning, to be very careful on his drive. He said he'd go slow. I wanted so badly to give him a hug and was sad that I didn't see him before he left. (I'm being such a BOOB! He's only gone until tomorrow afternoon.) I told him, "Good luck, tomorrow!" and that I loved him.

This morning I woke up at 7 a.m. to find an inch of snow on the ground. The house is empty, just me and the dogs. It's my son's girlfriend's, LJ, 17th birthday today. Her family is having a weekend full of parties for her. Pvt JMM is missing those. I had a gift for LJ. She stopped by after school yesterday to see me. She and Pvt JMM left after just a few minutes to start her birthday celebration with her friends.

Puppies

2007-12-03T21:42:00.000-07:00

Our Sadie has her first, and last, litter of puppies today. Sadie was in labor and doing well, she did not seem distressed. But, her labor continued without producing any puppies. I could feel the puppies kicking, so I knew they were alive. I called the Vet, explained how long labor had been so far, and how Sadie was behaving. They thought it best for me to bring Sadie in. After an x-ray and ultrasound showed three puppies, two doing fine and one stressed, we agreed on a c-section to deliver the pups. Her puppies were not that big, but she was not able to deliver them naturally. The puppies were too big for her birth canal. I had them spay Sadie too. I just could not put Sadie through this again. Sadie and puppies are doing great!

Long Thanksgiving Weekend

2007-11-28T23:04:00.000-07:00

My long weekend has come to end. I have been off work since Thanksgiving day, through yesterday... six whole days off work! It was hard to get up for work this morning.

Thanksgiving started off a bit rocky, between my guy and my mom... I'm not sure how I manage sometimes. Family drama...

Thanksgiving dinner was wonderful. My brother and his family, five of them in all, had drove in from California the day before. My parents' neighbor and her family joined us, three of them. My son and his girlfriend were there too. With my parents and I, there was a good group of us.

As we all settled into our seats at the table for dinner, prayers were said and then the doorbell rang! My mom wondered who that could be, as we were all there. Someone guessed it was my 4 year old nephew. Nope, he was right there at the table.

My dad gets up as the doorbell rings and rings... and in came my daughter!!! Oh my gosh! Seeing her, I couldn't hold back the tears of happiness. My daughter and I had tried and tried to find a flight she could afford, to get her home for the holiday, without success. Next year, we thought, we would do better in planning her trip home. And, here she was!!!

She had asked for Wednesday off work, got her car in for a check-up and oil change, and drove from Los Angeles to Reno, spending the night at her boyfriend's family's home in Reno that night. She was up early Thanksgiving day and drove the eight hour drive from Reno to Boise, making it just in time for dinner! Oh, it was so good to see her!

Friday, I spent the day with my guy and his son and his son's girlfriend. This town is out of turkey of any kind, the day after Thanksgiving... we learned the hard way. We finally found a breast of turkey, marinated in lemon garlic. It was actually pretty darn good. As was the rest of our little feast.

It's a girl! Earlier this week, we learned we are going to be grandparents! My guy's son is going to be a daddy in January. They are both very young and struggling with their relationship and the fact that they are going to be parents. We want to be supportive of them both, and hope to be part of this baby's life. Our wishes were made known. The mom has only met us twice now. We enjoyed seeing them, having dinner with them, and visiting.

Saturday, my daughter and I spent the whole day together, alone. She kept saying she wanted to spend the day with her mom! From not wanting to see me at all, a couple of years ago, to this... I was really tickled, and enjoyed every moment.

My guy suggested I give my daughter her Christmas present early, she could really use it... a Garmin GPS. See, when I visited my daughter in Venice, California, earlier this year, she complained about how lost she gets, all the time. It was so frustrating for her, and sometimes even scary, ending up in the wrong place. I thought then, I will get this for her for Christmas.

My guy was right, she loved it! We took it out and drove around Boise, Eagle and Meridian, learning how to use the GPS. I drove, she played. We looked up a Starbucks we had never been to before, and followed the directions, and wha-la! There we were! Sounds silly, but seriously, this is going to be so good for my little girl in big ol' Los Angeles, California!

Early Sunday morning, my brother and his family, and my daughter, all left for California. The weather was cold, but dry, thank goodness. I always worry about icy roads this time of year. My niece, a senior in high school this year, shared the driving with my daughter from Idaho to Reno. They followed my brother. At Reno, my daughter had to turn south for Los Angeles, my brother and his family kept west for the central coast of California.

My guy and I spent the day together. We went to the movies and saw Beowulf in 3D. I really do not care for these types of movies and had a hard time staying awake. The special glasses we needed to wear were dirty, even though they were supposed to be washed. I went to trade them during the running of previews only to be handed a towel to wipe them off with. Hmm... wonder if they ever were washed. I ended up taking the glasses off a couple of different times. Anyway... my guy enjoyed the movie, and I got to snuggle up and keep warm with him for a couple of hours.

Later that night, I received a text message from my son saying he would not be coming home Sunday night. He wouldn't answer my text replies or my phone calls after that. I am starting to get used to this practice of his, and figured he was spending the night at his girlfriend's home, as her parents continue to allow this. I had made plans earlier to meet his girlfriend Monday, after school, for coffee.

Monday, my guy left to finish his run, driving to Pendleton, Oregon, and back. He would be home in time for dinner. I spent the day cleaning house, then met my son's girlfriend for coffee. LJ told me my son had signed papers with the Army National Guard. I couldn't believe it. He promised to see other recruiters before deciding on which branch of the service he was going with. And, I really hoped he would change his mind about signing up at all.

Thanksgiving

2007-11-27T23:49:00.000-07:00

Hoping all of my blogging/journaling friends were able to create cherished memories with family and friends, this Thanksgiving.

The Mom Song

2007-11-18T15:20:00.000-07:00

This is too funny! Especially since I've been having some tough "mom" times lately...
((be sure to hit your ESC button to stop my background music before you start the video))

Lyrics:

“The Mom Song”

Get up now Get up now Get up out of bed
Wash your face
Brush your teeth
Comb your sleepyhead
Here’s your clothes and your shoes
Hear the words I said
Get up now! Get up and make your bed
Are you hot? Are you cold?
Are you wearing that?
Where’s your books and your lunch and your homework at?
Grab your coat and gloves and your scarf and hat
Don’t forget! You gotta feed the cat
Eat your breakfast, the experts tell us it’s the most important meal of all
Take your vitamins so you will grow up one day to be big and tall
Please remember the orthodontist will be seeing you at 3 today
Don’t forget your piano lesson is this afternoon so you must play
Don’t shovel
Chew slowly
But hurry
The bus is here
Be careful
Come back here
Did you wash behind your ears?
Play outside, don’t play rough, will you just play fair?
Be polite, make a friend, don’t forget to share
Work it out, wait your turn, never take a dare
Get along! Don’t make me come down there
Clean your room, fold your clothes, put your stuff away
Make your bed, do it now, do we have all day?
Were you born in a barn? Would you like some hay?
Can you even hear a word I say?
Answer the phone! Get off the phone!
Don’t sit so close, turn it down, no texting at the table
No more computer time tonight!
Your iPod’s my iPod if you don’t listen up
Where are you going and with whom and what time do you think you’re coming home?
Saying thank you, please, excuse me makes you welcome everywhere you roam
You’ll appreciate my wisdom someday when you’re older and you’re grown
Can’t wait till you have a couple little children of your own
You’ll thank me for the counsel I gave you so willingly
But right now I thank you not to roll your eyes at me
Close your mouth when you chew, would appreciate
Take a bite maybe two of the stuff you hate
Use your fork, do not burp or I’ll set you straight
Eat the food I put upon your plate
Get an A, get the door, don’t get smart with me
Get a grip, get in here, I’ll count to three
Get a job, get a life, get a PHD
Get a dose of,
“I don’t care who started it!
You’re grounded until you’re 36″
Get your story straight and tell the truth for once, for heaven’s sake
And if all your friends jumped off a cliff would you jump, too?
If I’ve said it once, I’ve said at least a thousand times before
That you’re too old to act this way
It must be your father’s DNA
Look at me when I am talking
Stand up straighter when you walk
A place for everything and everything must be in place
Stop crying or I’ll give you something real to cry about
Oh!
Brush your teeth, wash your face, put your PJs on
Get in bed, get a help, say a prayer with mom
Don’t forget, I love you
And tomorrow we will do this all again because a mom’s work never ends
You don’t need the reason why
Because, because, because, because
I said so, I said so, I said so, I said so
I’m the mom, the mom, the mom, the mom, the mom!!
Ta da!!!

Thank you for sharing, Shayna!

She Wins the Lottery, Again!

2007-11-16T14:18:00.000-07:00

And, she's one of my Mary Kay Cosmetics customers! Congrats, Anna Pearl, you deserve it!

The following is a copy of the front page of the Idaho Tribune Daily News, copied and pasted here...

Caldwell woman wins lottery for fifth time

Anna Pearl Rowell of Caldwell is one of the luckiest Idaho Lottery winners of all time.

Today, Anna Pearl Rowell claimed her $110,000 winning Wild Card check from the Idaho Lottery and then retired from her service as the office manager for the Canyon County Assessor’s Office. It's her fifth lottery win.

Rowell became the third Wild Card jackpot winner from Idaho in the last four months when she matched all of her numbers and the Wild Card from the draw held on Nov. 3. Those winning numbers were 16, 17, 18, 24, 26 and the Wild Card was the Ace of Spades.

She bought the winning ticket at Jacksons Food Store located at 2406 S. Montana Ave.in Caldwell so that she could enter the “Second Chance to Paradise” promotion to see Boise State play Hawaii over Thanksgiving.

“It’s a pretty great feeling when all your numbers start to match up,” Rowell said today. “I read the numbers in the paper on Sunday morning and couldn’t believe it. I started reading the numbers and looking at my ticket and then said, ‘Oh my god! Oh my god! Oh my god!’ My husband thought the dog had been run over.”

And while this was the third Wild Card jackpot winner out of the last five for Idaho, this was Rowell’s fifth big Lottery win.

• In October 2002, Rowell won a Dodge Ram Quad-cab pick-up truck through the Lottery’s “Bucks and Trucks” second chance scratch game promotion.

• In July 2004, Rowell hit lottery luck again when she won $15,000 playing as a contestant in the Lottery’s 15th Anniversary Game Show.

• Earlier in 2004 she won $1,500 on the 15th Anniversary scratch ticket.

• In 2005 she won a Pac-Man video arcade through another second chance draw.

When asked the secret to her lucky success, Rowell offered, “Well, I tell my husband he’s really lucky to have me.”

Rowell, a longtime employee of Canyon County, had planned to retire today before hitting it big. Her win just happened to be a coincidence.

“This is great because now I’ll be able to pay off my house,” she said.

Growing Pains

2007-11-09T09:29:00.000-07:00

Again, thank you. I really appreciate your comments. For the most part, I try to keep things "light" in this venue, staying away from the things that really pull on my heart. Still, I find comfort in the fact that the pages of this blog can actually talk back through your comments when I feel the need to share. I find it comforting to know you're out there!

Thank you, Psychfun, for mentioning that not everyone goes to college, and of those who don't, many do just fine. I do believe one must want to go to college to do well, and if being there only to satisfy a parent's wishes, they probably are not going to do as well. At best, it would be a major struggle to survive the classes.

My guy mentioned to me the other night while I was in the middle of my own chaos, my son's girlfriend is her parents' responsibility and there's nothing more I can do there. It was a moment of, "Ohhh, you're right..." when I heard that. So, I am seeing things a little different today. I am a bit more settled within.

In the end, in all of life's ups and downs, things do seem to work out. And, when mama's happy, everyone's happy.

Thanks

2007-11-08T18:15:00.000-07:00

Thanks, you guys! Last night I thought I was going to explode with madness! I was so upset... just really upset, filled with every different emotion to be had. Angry at her parents... how could they allow this!!? Mad at my son... he knows I think it's wrong! Just upset with everything.

I have befriended my son's girlfriend, and seriously, she really is a nice girl. She seems to like being around me. My son, though, wants to be away from home, away from me. There are times I will spend with just her. We've gone to summer festivals and shopping together.

I know it's time, my son needs to move out, start his own life, so I can keep my life sane. And, I'm sure as soon as he's able, he will move out. That's not a problem with me. Of course, I'm wishing he would stay at home and go to college, but I also know, he's got to do what he feels is right for him. At this point in his life, I can give advice, advice he can take or leave... I know this.

He's talked about marrying this girl. He's also talked about joining the service. And yes, I've tried to talk with him about both of these ideas. He's 18 and can do what he wants, it's none of my business.

Sometimes I sit here, all alone in this house, and wonder... wonder what the heck I did to have ended up all alone! I never, ever imagined I would be my age and alone in life, ever! I hate being alone, but do not expect my kids to fullfill this void in my life.

I admit, I'm not ready to be alone, but... I am okay with my son moving out. There's just too many differences, too many "...it's none of your business, mom..." I still believe, as long as he lives here, the things I do ask about are my business, whether he likes it or not.

Well... He doesn't pay rent, he's not working. He's known that if he wasn't in school fulltime come September 2007, he would need to pay rent. I don't think he won't pay, he just doesn't have a job right now. He is going to interviews, so hopefully he find something soon. Again, I'd rather he went to college full time and stayed home rent free. It's really not about the money, it's more about education, responsibilities and respect.

Difficult Time

2007-11-07T22:50:00.000-07:00

Difficult. Why does life have to be so difficult? Is it me?

My eighteen year old son still lives at home, and is very involved with his girlfriend and her family. The girlfriend is almost seventeen. And honestly, I am okay with the two of them, their young and in love. She's a nice girl, I like her.

What's got my blood boiling is her parents allow him to stay the night... even on a school night! I am just going crazy over this! It's not just one time, it's all the time!

He's 18, and legally, I am not responsible for him, but... It's just not RIGHT in my book. And, she's just 16, will be 17 in December. Her parents are much more liberal than I must be, and I thought I was pretty liberal.

OMG! I cannot believe how upset I am over this, it's just not right, and there's nothing I can do about it. She's NOT my daughter, and he's 18 and "can do whatever he wants!" Whatever happened to that "...as long as you live under my roof..." saying?

Weekend Drive

2007-09-23T22:26:00.000-06:00

The Perrine Bridge over the Snake River at Twin Falls, Idaho.

Yesterday, I drove to Twin Falls to meet up with my guy and his family. It's a two hour drive from home through the high desert. The Interstate follows the Snake River for most of the 130 mile trip. As I got into town, the sun was starting to set, yet still high above the horizon. I pulled over at the Perrine Bridge outlook to take some photos.

My guy had driven from southern California with a load that delivers in Twin Falls on Monday. I was excited to meet him there Saturday afternoon. We spent the night with his mom, and I left for home Sunday afternoon.

We had a nice visit with my guy's mom and his aunt and uncle. His aunt and uncle are leaving in a couple of weeks for Arizona to spend the winter months in warmer weather, and my guy wanted to see them before they left.

Other things on my mind... Today, September 23rd, is my mom's birthday. She is in southern Arizona, just about at the Mexican border, to help her sister-in-law. My mom's youngest brother is dying from complications of brain cancer. He was taken off life support Friday and brought home to be cared for there. He is not expected to live.

Growing up, I wasn't around this uncle and his immediate family, so I was not close with him. I never really knew him. Still, my thoughts and prayers go out to him. Also, to my parents who have driven the two day trip, from here to there, to be with him and his wife, at the time of his passing. I know my aunt could use the support of family right now... being there for the living, they are who need us most at times like these.

Stirring Up Memories

2007-09-22T13:28:00.000-06:00

I thought something was up with the neighbors last night... In the dark, with just their patio lights, they were mowing their backyard which is up against my backyard - driving my dogs insane!

Today, they have a ton of kids in their yard, and balloons are everywhere. I put the dogs in so they wouldn't be barking through the fence at them, to be neighborly. I've not met these people, their house is actually on another cul-de-sac behind my house.

Their back patio is all decorated up, and I can see their dining room to decorated the same. Seeing this, brought back many memories of all the birthday parties I used to throw for my kids when they were young. Birthdays have always been a special time at my house, for the young and old alike.

Now that my kids are older, they aren't into the big party thing... Oh, there's been other reasons too. Family has drifted apart over the years. My daugher now lives in Los Angeles, far, far away. I used to throw casual dinner parties all the time. Friends and family were always here at my home... well, I guess that would be "there," in California. I haven't had but a few dinners at my house, here in Idaho. I sure enjoyed having those dinners. Hmm... maybe I best be getting those together again.

Where Have I Been...

2007-09-20T22:36:00.000-06:00

create your own visited states map
or check out these Google Hacks.

This little map of visited states was found on Becky's blog. I found this to be interesting... I love traveling, as I believe most people do. I was actually surprised at how much RED was on this map! Still have a few states to see...

Updated: Sept 22, 2007

I was born and raised in California, and my grandparents always lived in Idaho while I grew up. So, I had been to most of the western states, many times with my family on summer camping trips. Oregon, Washington, Nevada, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming and Arizona, have many memories of family trips where my grandparents joined us.

I have been to Texas and New Mexico on my own, for work related travel. Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, and Ohio were all part of a trip I took to see a NASCAR Brickyard 400 race in 1997, before my trucking across America trip.

Most of you know, my guy is a trucker. I have been able to take a couple of long vacations to ride with him across our beautiful country. This is how I saw most of these states, as a drive by. Like in Missouri, I would have loved to have spent an hour or so at the Arch in St Louis. Instead, I took as many photos of the Arch as I could, as we drove by at 55 mph.

Interstate 90 and Interstate 80, neither run through South Dakota, lol, were our main routes, most the time. Almost always in trucking, you never really know where you'll head to next, when you're driving for a company that runs all lower 48 states. So, it was a total adventure for me, to see the sites we could along our way.

My first long truck outing with my guy was in 1999. I was out on the road with him for nearly four weeks during that trip. We drove through 25 states, stopping when we could to see the sites. This was one of my most memorable things I've ever done, I had a blast. Seeing so much of America, seeing how beautiful, and diverse, our country is.

Our dispatcher knew I hadn't been east of the western states so she found loads that took us clear across the country. A couple of highlights of this trip were, NYC for three days... we parked out on Long Island at a park-n-ride, rented a little car, and spent a wonderful time in NYC. Another highlight, was the south... it is so pretty in the south. I was awe struck through Arkansas, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, South Carolina. Gorgeous down there! I was very interested in Pennsylvania, both my mom and grandfather were born there. We took a little, two lane back highway, up through Pennsylvania, seeing Omish communities in the raw. This is a trip I will never forget.

Fun Labor Day Weekend

2007-09-07T14:09:00.000-06:00

I flew into Ontario, California, last Friday morning... a spur of the moment trip to spend some time with my guy. He's been working these awful hours the past several months, and it seems to me, that we haven't seen one another in a very long time. I miss him.

For an extra special treat for me, my daughter met me at the airport in Ontario! We had breakfast together, talking over french toast and coffee for a couple of hours. It was so good to see her. When it was time for her to go - she had a pre-scheduled appointment she could not change - she dropped me off at the truck stop where we met up with my guy. There was a pleasant exchange of "hello's" between the two of them before my daughter had to leave. This was the first time in years the two of them have seen each other.

That afternoon, we drove over to the California Speedway, in Fontana, a few miles from the truck stop, to watch the Nextel and Busch Cup time trials. It was amazingly HOT! Too hot! With a major thunder storm just over the mountains to the north of us, the air was thick on top of 110 degree heat. It was incredible, it was miserable!

We parked a mile or two from the track, in the RV Parking lot. My photos do not do the parking lot scene justice. It was pretty cool to come upon the sea of flags sporting the number of the RV'er's favorite driver's car. Most every RV had a flag flying. We road the shuttle to the speedway.

Once inside the speedway, it became apparent just how big the facility was. I think the track is 2.5 miles long, with 14% grades in a couple of the turns. The back stretch is straight, the front stretch is arched.

Here's a few photos of our day...

We stayed in the heat and watched all the Busch race time trials. Denny Hamlin took the pole for first place in the next day's Busch race. I didn't know drivers could race in both races, Busch and Nextel.

After being in the heat and walking around the speedway forever, we decided to get a hotel room to cool off. We called around and found the Airport Marriott running a special, and got a room. Ahhh!!! A shower and wonderful room! Quiet, clean, plush, full service deli, full service restaurant, and full service bar & grill, and of course, full size pool in the center courtyard. We spent a refreshing night, ordered a pizza from the hotel deli that was absolutely the best pizza we've had in a long time! So, if you find yourself in the Ontario, CA, area and needing a room, I'd refer you to this hotel.

The next morning we headed for Idaho. We had thought to stay another day and see the Busch race, but it was miserable hot and there was no way we would be able to stay out in that heat. We drove up the eastern side of California, going through the miles of desert and the Eastern Sierras. As we drove along, I found these trees very interesting, I think they're Yucca trees. At first I was sure they were Joshua trees, but once I was home and looking at the photos, I'm thinking they're Yuccas.

We were in and out of thunder storms most of the day. The desert can be so pretty. Most of the time, I prefer a forest over a desert, but do find the beauty in both. We were able to listen to the Busch race, live on SIRIUS radio. It was pretty cool to know we were just there, saw the track, and heard the cars roar during their time trials. Seems the Busch race was pretty intense, those boys really got some race drivin' in.

We spent our next night in Hawthorne, Nevada. We woke up early and were on our way again. We listened to the Nextel Cup race, and again, what a race. Those drivers were fighting 130 to 140 degree temps in their race cars. It was over 105 on the track. Reporters tried to interview Dale Jr, he was so hot he couldn't even stop to talk with them. I think they need to do early spring races at Fontana, not in the middle of summer like this... it's just too hot! We topped the Treasure Valley before sunset. It's always good to be home.

I had a nice visit with my daughter... precious time with her I normally do not have. And, I had a wonderful time with my guy for a couple of days while driving back to Idaho from Southern California.

Butterfly Sunday

2007-08-26T23:10:00.000-06:00

Butterfly exhibit at the Boise Zoo.

Idaho's On Fire

2007-08-19T22:45:00.000-06:00

McCall, Idaho... a quaint, mountain lake town, one of my favorites places on earth.

It has been the hottest summer on record, here the Boise area. We haven't had rain in since early this spring. The thunder storms that do roll through here are dry with dry lightening, starting most of our fires. I think there are 18 major fires in Idaho right now, the State's on fire!

This weekend, I drove the 100 miles to McCall, through beautiful Idaho country to visit with my parents. They try to spend at least a month in McCall each summer. Here's photos of just three fires surrounding Payette Lake...

There are many more fires raging through Idaho's back country, and some fires burning very close to populated areas.

More Practice Needed

2007-08-18T00:30:00.000-06:00

My attempt at photographing "bees" on wild flowers.

What a Tease

2007-08-06T15:18:00.000-06:00

This little guy teased our dogs for a good hour, running up and down the tree, back and forth across the fence line in the back of our yard! Yorkies being "ratters" had a field day trying to catch this sly squirrel. Of course, the squirrel drove the dogs nuts, teasing them like that! He finally ran off into the neighbor's yard where the dogs couldn't see him.

Ready for New Home

2007-07-25T22:42:00.001-06:00

He's just six and half weeks old, no bigger than half this lady's foot, and he's hopped right in her purse... ready to go to his new family. He will stay with us another couple of weeks, to learn and play with all his Yorkie family here. I'm gonna miss this one!

***Please scroll down to see my California trip... May 23rd! I finally got it posted, and I don't want you to miss it.

Surprise, Surprise

2007-07-22T17:15:00.000-06:00

Okay, so I have a houseful of Yorkies, one is a little 5 week old. They don't get any cuter than this...

Or, do they...?

My son knocks on my bedroom door at midnight, last Friday night. I opened my door to find all snuggled in his arms...

I was madder than a hornet! We have a houseful of Yorkies and he brings home a 6 week old, Golden Retriever! A beautiful Golden Retriever, but it's a Golden Retriever! I told my son he had until Sunday to move out!

Don't get me wrong, I love dogs, and Goldens are one of my favorite breeds. We used to have two Goldens when my daughter was a baby. It's just I worry about these little dogs with a big dog in the house. And no, he's not big yet, but he will be in time.

By the next morning, I had changed my tune a bit. No, I'm still not happy, but what's another dog? Okay. But, my son needs to take this dog with him EVERYWHERE! And, take care of him. My son and his girlfriend named the newest member of our house, Tai.

It's been a week. I have become the grandmother to one, Tai. God, help me.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Okay, humor me... Please scroll down to see my Venice trip entries. I have tried so many times to get these posted, and I've finally finished them. I'd love for you to see them. See May 23, 2007 entries.

ISS & Atlantis

2007-06-20T23:51:00.000-06:00

I've always been facinated by the stars and space, and tonight I got to see the ISS and the shuttle Atlantis. They flew in from the Northwest, straight over my head and into the tree line to the Southeast about 10:25 tonight. The ISS was first with the shuttle chasing right behind it. Pretty cool! I saw the ISS a few years ago, so this was the second time I have got to see it with my own eyes.

Just One Survives

2007-06-10T16:25:00.000-06:00

Most of you know, I breed and raise Yorkies. I'm still pretty new at this, I have been doing this for a couple of years now. Some of you may even remember my first litter, back in March 2005. That was Lucy's first litter. She had four puppies, all female, without any problems. It's been more than two years and Lucy was ready to have her second litter.

Lucy went into labor later than I thought normal. I had come home for lunch and found she was in pre-labor stages. I stayed with her, and then slept with one eye open all night that night. The next morning, still no puppies. Lucy seemed to be doing okay, but I worried and called my vet. I explained Lucy's condition and they said to give her another 45 minutes, and if still no pups at that point, I'd need to bring her in.

That next 45 minutes seemed to drag on. Lucy pushed and pushed. I called the vet again and we were on our way to vet's office. Lucy was taken straight to the back immediately. Five minutes later the doc was out to talk with me. He explained he found two puppies and no heart rates via ultrasound. It was imperative that he do an emergency c-section if he was going to have a chance at saving the puppies. I agreed, and left. They would call me with any news.

My phone began to ring as I walked into the house. It was the vet's office. They had delivered two puppies, they've got one revived and were working on the other. Lucy was doing well. I headed back down to the vet's office.

After a couple of hours, Lucy and one puppy were able to come home. I was thankful that Lucy was okay, I felt horrible she had gone through this. I have heard the horror stories of Yorkie breeding from my Yorkie Breeder circle of friends. I was the only one that hadn't lost a whole litter, I had never had any trouble what-so-ever.

Lucy and baby boy were doing fine and I was able to bring them home. I spent the weekend helping the little guy feed every hour or so. I think the drugs from mama's c-section were making him a bit drowsy and so he needed help.

Absolute Wonderful Time

2007-05-23T23:10:00.002-06:00

My visit to Southern California to see my daughter, was absolutely wonderful. My daughter and I had some much needed "us time." We had a great time together! For me, it was comforting, healing and relaxing.

From the time I arrived on a Thursday at noon, until the time I left, early Monday afternoon, we were on the go! My daughter is now living in Santa Monica, CA, and took me on a little tour of her new town. I had told my her I didn't care what we did together as long as I got to go to the beach while I was there.

I have tried to write this entry so many times, and I just can't get the words the way I want them. So, I will just add a few slideshows to share my experience in Southern California.

*** Please see the previous few entries of slideshows (5 of them) just below... scroll through the individual entries; **The Bungalow, **Venice Beach, **Santa Monica, **Beverly Hills, Hollywood, Malibu, and Venice, and finally **Touring Venice.

Enjoy!

The Bungalow...

2007-05-23T13:03:00.000-06:00

...my daughter was a bit skeptical about staying in the Bungalow. She felt it would be better at the hotel around the corner from her apartment in Santa Monica. I just didn't want to be in a room with people walking the halls at all hours and elevator noise. I wanted room to relax! Once she saw the Bungalow, she wanted to live there! It was really nice; cute, cozy and quiet.

Day 1 ~ Venice Beach

2007-05-23T13:02:00.000-06:00

...after settling in at the Bungalow, we decided to hit the beach! The Venice Pier was just a couple of blocks away. We must have spent an hour out there on the pier in the salt air and wind. It was refreshing! Later, my daughter's boyfriend met up with us for dinner out.

Day 2 ~ Santa Monica

2007-05-23T13:00:00.000-06:00

...ahh! I got to sleep in! No alarms, no dogs... just quiet! I enjoyed a quiet morning of coffee and internet while listening to my favorite morning show on t.v. My daughter called as she made her way over the Bungalow, we had plans of getting our toenails done! Old Santa Monica is so quaint. We found just what we were looking for in a pedicure and then hit the Santa Monica Pier. We spent all day in Santa Monica, what a goregous day.

Day 3 ~ Beverly Hills, Hollywood, Malibu, Venice

2007-05-23T12:55:00.000-06:00

...my guy arrived in the Los Angeles basin that Friday night. He rented a car and drove 50 miles to find me in Venice. We spent all day Saturday together, having dinner at a great Italian diner on Venice Beach, before he had to leave again. I'm so glad he was able to spend some time with me while I was there.

Having a Great Time

2007-05-19T18:07:00.000-06:00

I am having a wonderful time, here in Venice, California! I'm so glad I rented my little guest house instead of a hotel room. I honestly didn't know these existed, I guess I never really thought about it. And being here, I do not think I'll rent a hotel room again for a long stay anywhere, without checking if there's a vacation rental first. This is just perfect for me.

More photos, later... Venice, Santa Monica, Malibu!

Happy Mother's Day!

2007-05-13T12:58:00.001-06:00

Getting Excited

2007-05-12T22:14:00.000-06:00

Okay, I'm getting really excited! In just five days, I leave on a jet plane to visit with my daughter in southern California!

I rented this cute little guest house in Venice, California, just a mile from the beach.

It should be nice and quiet there, away from elevators and hotel neighbors coming in at all hours of the night. This place comes completely furnished and ready for a long weekend with all the amenities of home... cable tv, wifi, kitchen, etc. And, the price was cheaper than hotels in the area. I'm so excited!

Something New

2007-05-08T19:31:00.000-06:00

I finally did it, I got a laptop! I had my reservations, I had limited funds, and I had a dream to be online when I travel. It's a "baby laptop" as my guy calls it, because it's small. It's just my size!

I've played with both my guy's and my son's laptops, and I always felt way out of control with them. Sitting on the couch, trying to maneuver their laptops was difficult. This new laptop fits comfortably in my lap. I love it! But, at this point, I do not see me giving up my desktop. My guy thinks if I give the laptop time, I'll find myself on it more and more.

Fur babies update, Bentley had his first hair cut last week. He's 6 months old now (wow, I didn't realize he's 6 months old until I counted just now,) and what a character! I need to get some new photos of him to share with you all. Bentley loves to fetch and play tug of war.

Work. Boy, can I say an office full of women can be so fun! Not! Some days, the women working for me can be so damned catty. What is it about women stabbing other women in the back? It's unbelievable the "balls" some of these girls have.

Today, one of my billers came in and started verbally attacking my gal who places all the office supplies. We were out of wite-out and all the billers were trying to get their patient statements out in the mail. Seems some of their accounts are not accurately built in the system causing their statements to print out incorrectly. Hence, the reason for wite-out.

Anyway, I had to tell the one gal, "ENOUGH!" when she would not take, "Sorry, I had trouble ordering new wite-out, it'll be here tomorrow," from my order gal. Seems, another biller may have been an instigator in the whole situtation. Later, I got a "Thank you for stopping the "nasties" from the irrate biller" from my order gal. I cannot believe how petty these girls can be.

So Many Things

2007-04-16T00:08:00.000-06:00

Sometimes, I come here to clear the cobwebs of my mine. Sometimes, I just stay away because I know some of those cobwebs are so very sticky. With that being said, I'll give this a try.

First on my mind, puppies! The puppies are all off to their new homes and doing well. I love raising Yorkies. I always worry that I may not find good homes for my puppies. In the end, I always feel I've done a great job finding the perfect homes for my puppies.

Here's "Charlie" with his new family. His family is so excited to have him! In an email I received a week after Charlie went to his new home, his new Mom says, "We are in love! Charlie is so well behaved."

Yorkies, there's just something about them. They constantly play and please, they're such little characters. They say, once a Yorkie owner, always a Yorkie owner.

6 Weeks Old

2007-03-25T11:46:00.000-06:00

Okay, I hope I'm not boring you all with my puppy pictures... They're just so cute, I have to share! One is sold, the other is still available for adoption.

Twice In One Week

2007-03-16T20:10:00.000-06:00

Boy! I'm back, again!

Life has just been cruising this week. The baby puppies are getting big, if you call a one pound puppy, BIG! lol

Work has been sucking the life out of me lately. The company, region wide, is doing terrible. Expenses are high, incoming revenue is low. Not good. I received an email, first thing this morning, from my boss who had forwarded an email he received from his boss. His boss said, "...yesterday was the worse day of his working career..." The company is struggling, and there's plenty that is out of our facility's control.

Censes is low. Patients are not coming like they were before. Everyone facility is holding onto what patients they do have, not transferring their

Sir Bentley

2007-03-13T08:28:00.000-06:00

Isn't he getting cute and fuzzy?!!

4 mos. old, 2.5 lbs.

An Hour Lost

2007-03-12T01:36:00.000-06:00

I just don't think I'm gonna make it... I had a hard enough time getting to work by 9 a.m. before the time change! And now, they've gone and moved the hour up so I need to be at work an hour earlier. Knowing this torchureous fact, you'd think I'd be in bed, sound asleep by now... but here I am, 1:50 a.m.! ARGH! I'm gonna need I.V.Coffee tomorrow!!!

Has It Been THAT Long?

2007-03-07T23:37:00.000-07:00

Where does the time go? Seems like yesterday I was here, blogging away. So, what's up with me lately?...

Since the first of January, I've been working a lot at work. A lot! We have converted billing systems at work and I've trained 5 others how to use the new product. I've been using the new product for nearly five years myself, but my Outpatient staff has been working in a totally different system until now. They have caught on pretty well, but change can be hard for some people, and it takes time for them to feel confident moving around and doing their day-to-day jobs in the new system. The new system has also created more work that must be done by the end of each month, and I didn't get more people to do the job. I actually had to let one person go, and because census was low, I had to cut back everyone else's hours on top of this conversion and training. CRAZY! Anyway, we have all been working really hard to get everything done that must be done in a month.

My Molly had a new litter of puppies! They were born in the evening of Feb 6th, a male and a female, just perfect! The puppies are now four weeks old, and cute as can be. And, no, I will not be keeping anying of these. The little female is already sold to Molly's mother's family. The little male is still available, but I do not believe I'll have any trouble finding him a great home.

My daughter came home from Los Angeles for a quick visit the last weekend in February. She brought home a beau for us to all meet. She's pretty serious about this young man, he may be "the one," she says. He was very polite, attentive to my daughter, did dishes, made beds... past my mama-test! He's very nice, and treats my daughter like a queen. I had a nice visit with them.

But, what's been taking most of my time lately is, I've started knitting up a storm. The daughter of one of the gals I work with, had twin girls the same weekend my daughter came to visit. How exciting! Twin girls! I had been working on these little beanie hats for them. The mom was thrilled with the beanies and sent me these photos... aren't they just adorable!? Oh, and the twins are cute too!

All the while, I've still been researching old family records and scanning documents and photos for the family newsletter. Busy, busy, busy!

Looking Back

2007-01-26T22:47:00.000-07:00

All week, I've been going through all the boxes, crates, and suitcases, full of photos and heritage documents Gramma has collected and saved all her life. Scanning and editing the photos I hope to have published in the family newsletter. I've visited with Gramma a couple different times this week, asking questions about the photos. She has so much. There's old newspaper announcements and articles about family members; education and job accomplishments, birth and marriage announcements.

I love sitting on Gramma's bed with her, talking with her about the days when she was a child and young adult. Even though her body has failed her, her mind and memory are sharp as a tack.

Here's one of the photos I liked, Gramma was 12 years old with some of her brothers and sisters. She's the one sitting tallest in the photo, June 1933.

Tonight, I wonder what I will tell my grandchildren of my life. At the moment, my life seems so uneventful, too busy living it.

Birthday

2007-01-20T18:57:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow, January 21st, is my birthday. I've taken a long weekend off work, and won't be returning to work until Tuesday. Nothing's planned, just staying home, staying warm.

Wednesday, my son made me a cake with icing. It was pretty good, chocolate with chocolate icing. It was early, but it was very good.

Thursday, my first day home, my son and I spent the day with my parents. We had an early dinner out. My mom, my dad and I, all had the same meal... the Chef's Salmon at The Macaroni Grill. This was my birthday dinner with them, and it was delicious! I'm not sure if the waitress overheard us talking about my birthday... she must have, because she brought out a very rich, very chocolate piece of cake with a candle, once we were all done with our meals. The cake was big enough to split in four pieces. Oh! It was rich!

After dinner we were back at my parents' home. My mother's cousin, C, issued the first of a monthly family newsletter starting with my grandmother's parents this month. C wants to highlight my grandmother's life in the next issue as my grandmother is the eldest surviving child.

So, I brought with me to my parents', six boxes of photos and genealogy records of my grandmother's, to sort through. We were looking for photos of my grandmother's childhood, marriage, adulthood, and senior years.

My grandmother was born in Gloucester, Massachusetts, in 1921, the fifth child of Spanish decent. Both her parents were born in Spain and made their migration to America during WWI. Her father was a fisherman and was gone a lot of the time while she was growing up. Gramma used to laugh when she told me that every time her father came home, her mother had another baby. There were 14 children in all, including two separate sets of twins.

When my mother was in grade school, my grandparents moved out West. Gramma was the only of her siblings to move West though she kept in close contact with her siblings. Now, Gramma is the eldest living child, and my mom's cousin C is trying to round us all up.

It was fun going through the old photographs and documents. I found that my grandfather's name was different on his birth certificate than what I had thought, different from what I had been searching genealogy files for so many years. Lots of information in the books my grandmother has put together.

I will have to figure out how to get the photos onto my computer so I can send copies to C for her newsletter. Before I do that, I will bring the photos I've chosen to my Gramma so that she can fill in the stories that go with the photos.

I think this will be a fun project for me, my mom, and my grandmother. There's a whole bunch of family out there to get to know!

And the Answer is...

2007-01-09T23:48:00.000-07:00

I found this survey in Monica's journal...

1. When you looked at yourself in the mirror today, what was the first thing you thought? Oh my, those bags under my eyes are terrible, I need some sleep!

2. How much cash do you have on you? $2.00 and some change

3. What’s a word that rhymes with DOOR? Floor

4. Favorite planet? Saturn, I like the rings.

5. Who is the 4th person on your missed call list on your cell phone? One of my employees calling in sick yesterday.

6. What is your favorite ring tone on your phone? Sweet Child O'Mine by Guns & Roses

7. What shirt are you wearing? I'm not, I've got my jammies on already.

8. Do you label yourself? I think I do.

9. Name the brand of the shoes you’re currently wearing? It's late, I'm in my jammies and I've still got my socks on. lol

10. Bright or Dark Room? Dark, it's almost midnight.

11. What do you think about the person who took this survey before you? I think she's a great photographer, a great mom and grandma.

12. What does your watch look like? Ahh...my watch just stopped a couple days ago, needs a new battery, but it's silver with diamonds surrounding the face.

13. What were you doing at midnight last night? Funny you should ask, I was up!!! I had tried to go to bed a couple of hours earlier but, my smoke alarm's battery was dying and started beeping, very loudly, every couple of minutes! It's the one in my living room, the room with vaulted ceilings and I could not reach that high! I moved my son's drums out of the way (he had cleaned his room, leaving everything in the livingroom!) Then, moved my guy's fan (and industrial size fan that should be in the garage!) Then, moved the telescope that's been in the corner, untouched for years. Then, went out to the freezing garage to find the ladder. I brought the ladder in through the laundry room, stumbling through 3 foot high piles of dirty clothes, I kid you not, my son's clothes (remember, he cleaned his room!) Finally to the livingroom. Set up the ladder, climb the ladder in my jammies and realize, I'm too damn short! I wanted to call the fire department, they could fix it for me! I decided to try and wake my son, for the third time! He lays there, wishing I'd go away! The sound of the screeching alarm wasn't bothering him! Grumble, grumble, I've got to work in the a.m., he can sleep in in the a.m., grumble, grumble, why can't he help me! Next, I hear the what I thought might be footsteps, could he have gotten up? I go back out to the living room, and he's at the top of the ladder, swapping batteries, and looks down to me, grumble, grumble... "...go back to bed! You owe me a battery!" Silence. No more beeps. I could finally sleep! Thank you! (Hence, the bags under my eyes!)

14. What did your last text message you received on your cell say? from my son after I left him a voice message once he didn't come home as expected, "let's just say I've run into a friend, be home soon"

15. Where is your nearest 7-11? Not sure, we don't have many in Idaho

16. What’s a word that you say a lot? Good job!

17. Who told you he/she loved you last? My daughter.

18. Last furry thing you touched? Bentley, Molly, Lucy, Sadie, Rodney and Peanut... my Yorkies. lol

19. How many drugs have you done in the last three days? my daily prescriptions, three.

20. How many rolls of film do you need developed? Ya know, I have several rolls of films from I don't remember when, that need to be developed. Not sure they're even good any longer, it's been like 10 years, sitting in my dresser drawer!

21. Favorite age you have been so far? My 40's

22. Your worst enemy? I think this is a pretty common answer, myself.

23. What is your current desktop picture? A photo I took in the Sawtooth Mt Range of trailing sheep (click here)

24. What was the last thing you said to someone? Goodnight. (to my son)

25. If you had to choose between a million bucks or to be able to fly what would it be? The million bucks! I could use the million for a lot of things that could make my heart and soul fly.

26. Do you like someone? I do!

27. The last song you listened to? Rhiannon by Fleetwood Mac

28. What time of day were you born? 5:07 pm

29. What’s your favorite number? 7

30. Where did you live in 1997? I had just moved here to Idaho, from the Monterey Bay area of California

31. Are you jealous of anyone? No

32. Is anyone jealous of you? Not that I'm aware of.

33. Where were you when 9/11 happened? I was just waking to the Today Show, lying in bed (my t.v. is my alarm) hearing Katie Couric saying it must be a horrible accident. Then the second plane hit.

34. What do you do when vending machines steal your money? Try to shake my purchase free, however I can.

35. Do you consider yourself kind? Yes, I do.

36. If you had to get a tattoo, where would it be? I won't ever get a tattoo, but if I had to, it would be above the outside of my ankle.

37. If you could be fluent in any other language, what would it be? Spanish. I think I could use Spanish more than any other language, plus I took practically 6 years of it in grammer and high school. I was able to help a hotel clerk with another customer over the phone who was at the airport. The clerk was trying to figure out where to send the shuttle driver to pickup the customer. She needed to know if the customer was arriving from an international flight or domestic. The customer was from Peru, arriving from an international flight.

38. Would you move for the person you loved? I would, anything for love.

39. Are you touchy feely? Funny, I would say I was very touchy feely, but... since my surgery 3 years ago, I've been pretty numb to touching anything. lol

40. What’s your life motto? Be bold, be courageous. In the end, the only things in life you will regret are the things you didn't do.

41. Name three things that you have on you at all times? My cell phone, keys, and lenses (can't see without them.)

42. What’s your favorite town/city? McCall, Idaho... I first visited this little mountain town when I was just 16 years old. I told myself then, someday I will live there. Boise is as close to that dream as I've gotten, 100 miles south of McCall.

43. What was the last thing you paid for with cash? I don't remember, I use my bank card for most purchases, no matter the price, because I get cash back.

44. When was the last time you wrote a letter to someone on paper and mailed it? Just before Christmas, I hand-wrote letters for my Gramma, to her family back east. My Gramma can no longer hold a pen to write with, her hands are brittle and full of arthritis.

45. Can you change the oil on a car? Probably not anymore. I did take a college automotive class when I was 18 years old.

46. Your first love: what is the last thing you heard about him/her? Oh, it wasn't good. Temper, temper. My exhusband, the father of my kids, angry at a mechanic who fixed my daughter's car. He'll never change.

47. How far back do you know about your ancestry? 1600's on my grandfather's side, my mother's father.

48. The last time you dressed fancy, what did you wear and why did you dress fancy? I wore black slacks with a glittery black sweater for Christmas dinner on our Cruise last year, 2005.

49. Does anything hurt on your body right now? My lower back. I think I need a new bed.

50. Have you been burned by love? Yes, hasn't everyone?

Sir Bentley

2007-01-04T23:53:00.000-07:00

Bentley is 9 weeks old today, and doing great! We haven't had any further episodes and he's eating and drinking on his own. Next week we go back to the vet for a check-up and second round of vaccines. Bentley romps around with the big dogs (they're only 4 to 12 lbs...not really big.) Bentley thinks he's as big as the rest of them, but he weighs only a pound. I think our Sadie has met her match! These dogs play and play and play!

Boise State Wins Fiesta Bowl

2007-01-03T00:09:00.000-07:00

43 Boise State - 42 Oklahoma

Oh my gosh! If you didn't see this game, you missed out on what most are saying was the best college ball game ever! Oh my gosh!

FOX television is replaying the whole broadcast of the game on Saturday, and again on Sunday. Maybe you'll be able to catch the excitement. Check your weekend FOX listings.

David slays Goliath!... See the OT clips here.

FOX announcer, live... click here to listen.

If the game wasn't enough, Ian Johnson who made the final TD, proposes to his girlfriend. She says, "Yes!"

And, I just had to order the DVD of the whole broadcast of the game!

Incredible! The whole town is on a Bronco high! BSU doesn't start back to school for another couple of weeks. The city mayor has already given the team a golden key. A huge celebration is in the works for later this month. Wow! Bronco Fans love their team, Boise loves their team, and thousands love the underdog who fought to the end and blew the bigger team away!

All photos snagged from internet, most from AP.

Fiesta Bowl

2007-01-01T17:23:00.000-07:00

Bronco Nation converges in Arizona for BSU's biggest game ever!

Photo snagged from the Idaho Statesman

He's Not Very Big

2006-12-24T11:49:00.000-07:00

Bentley

6 wks old

Bentley with Lucy

Bentley fits nicely in my guy's hand.

We've had Bentley for a week now. He's so little. So little, he doesn't have the reserves to keep himself going when he hasn't eaten. We had quite the scare Wednesday night. I came home to find Bentley lifeless in his kennel. He was non-responsive to physical or verbal interactions. I phoned the ER Vet and we were on our way! On the way, the poor little guy had a seizure. He was whisked away the minute we arrived at the vet. Turns out his blood sugar had dropped to 19, normal is 100 to 130. They wanted to keep him overnight to watch him. They had fed him human baby food and Karo syrup. When I left him at 9:30pm, he was sitting up and looking around. I called at 12:30am to see how he was doing and they had just re-checked his blood sugar. It was up to 120! I was on my way to pick him back up.

That was Wednesday night. Bentley is doing great now. I've weaned him off the human baby food, onto some high quality puppy food, feeding him every three hours during the day. He's running around with the big dogs, barking, biting and playing like a normal puppy.

Friday I took Bentley to our regular vet for a follow-up to his ER visit. My vet said he was just too cute and frisky to be sick. She really felt he's going to be alright, no major underlying issues to cause his episode other than being so little with no reserves. I feel she's right and hope we don't have any further issues. Bentley goes back in two weeks for his second round of vaccines.

Bentley

2006-12-15T00:07:00.000-07:00

He's only six weeks old and he came home with us tonight to meet his new family. The girls were so excited, they all checked him out and they all seem to love this little guy. Below is Lucy with Bentley. Then Sadie trying to figure out how to join Bentley. She'd like to help him eat his food. And last, all the girls, Molly, Sadie and Lucy, checking him and his kennel out.

Front Page of USA Today

2006-12-09T12:37:00.000-07:00

My BSU boys are making the big time, showing up on the front page of USA Today in this weekend's edition! They're going to the Fiesta Bowl in Phoenix, Arizona, New Years day! Go BRONCOS!!!

I Must Be Crazy!

2006-12-04T20:04:00.000-07:00

Meet Bentley!

He's the one on the right.

In this second photo, Bentley's on the left with another pup from a different litter who's just two weeks old. Bentley is four and half weeks old, and the same size as the baby!

Our Day in Vancouver, BC

2006-12-02T00:17:00.000-07:00

It was still snowing in Vancouver the next morning when we got up. We had planned to spend the night again after a day in Vancouver. With all the snow, we decided to check-out of the hotel and see what we could of Vancouver before heading down the road.

We found another IHOP not far from our hotel. Yes, we like IHOP's. It was there that we learned the snow was not usual. One of the servers told us this was only the second time in 12 years that it had snowed like this.

After breakfast we headed back downtown. As we were driving down one of the main thoroughfares we found a very quaint and rich looking neighborhood. The canopy of trees filled with snow made the area even more charming.

Downtown Vancouver was like any other big city. Big. It bustled with shoppers walking in the weather with their packages and umbrellas. Due to the weather, my photos aren't exactly what I had expected, but they do show the feeling of the day. Cold, damp, rainy and snowy. Above is an attempt to photograph the Vancouver Lookout from inside the car as we headed down to Water Street.

We parked the car and strolled along the cobbles of Water Street. The snow turned to rain for just a while. Our destination was the old Steam Clock in Gastown. We didn't realize it at the time, but we had parked just about 30 yards from the old clock, but headed in the opposite direction when we got out of the car. The shot below is just about across from where we had dinner, looking back up towards where we parked. Our car was up on the right, right behind the big white vehicle parked in the distance.

We had dinner at The Old Spaghetti Factory on Water Street. It was so good to get in out of the cold. The food was wonderful. They're building an Old Spaghetti Factory in Boise, we'll definitely be dining there in the future.

Photo SNAGGED from Gastown BC website.

While inside the restaurant, I was admiring some of the old "things" they had. The windows behind our table caught my eye. The stained glass was beautiful. My photo does not do them justice. There was an old cable car in the center of the restaurant.

After dinner, we headed back up the street. We still hadn't found the Steam Clock. We had to laugh. We had planned to get to the car and drive a few more blocks to see the Steam Clock, but as we got to our car, the motor home that was initially parked in front of us had left, and there is was! The old Steam Clock was just across the crosswalk, right in front of us! Good thing we were paying attention!

We enjoyed our time on Water Street. It was quaint, romantic and seasonable.

It was getting late, we still had tickets to the Canada Place IMAX, and we wanted to tour the city a bit more. We car toured through downtown. Some of the streets were crowded with film crews. Lights and cameras were everywhere within a couple of blocks. I wonder what they were filming.

One of the sights I wanted to see was the Christ Church Cathedral. The cathedral was built in 1894-1895 and used to be the tallest building around. It's amazing to see such a gothic building amongst the newer skyscrapers surrounding this historical site. We didn't have time to get out and tour the cathedral, so I took this "drive-by" shot.

Photo SNAGGED from websites, obviously not taken in a snow storm. lol

We made it back down to the waterfront to Canada Place. Our intentions were to see an IMAX movie there. When we came through the visitor center at the border, we prepaid for tickets. We had no idea what was playing and thought, whatever it was, it would be good. Turns out the only show playing at the time we arrived, we had already seen. So, we decided to return our tickets and we were on our way, back to Seattle. Yes, they refunded our tickets.

We definitely did not have enough time in Vancouver and have every intention of returning for a longer stay, sometime soon. We'd love to see Stanley Park, go to the top of the Harbour Centre Lookout Tower, visit Chinatown, stroll through the Granville Public Market, walk across the Capilano Suspension Bridge, ride the gondola to the top of Grouse Mountain, do the interactive science museum at Science World - a 47 m tall steel geodesic dome built for Expo '86. There's so much to do, and so little time!

It was dark and snowing. The snow really hadn't stopped coming down since we checked in at Richmond, the day before. Our little rental car plowed through the elements without any trouble. At about 15 km's from the border, traffic came to a complete stop. Snow was deep, ice had capped the surface of the roads. Cars were sliding backwards on the freeway when headed uphill towards the customs check points, three lanes wide. It took us almost two hours to get to the customs gate from where the traffic stopped. Once at customs, it took just a minute to check our papers and ask where we were coming from, and we were back in the US of A.

We didn't have reservations for a room that night. And I am so glad we didn't stay another night in Vancouver as we initially planned. It got pretty scary out there on the highways for this California beach gal. What is normally a bit more than a two hour drive from Vancouver to Seattle, turned out to be more than six hours. My guy did an excellent job maneuvering through snow drifts and stranded traffic. He had only to pat me once on the leg to reassure me we'd be okay as I clawed the arm rests of our little rental car. We saw many slide offs but no major accidents. Traffic was bad, weather was worse.

The weather turned to rain just outside of Seattle. About 30 ml's from Sea-Tac, we found a hotel and snacks for the night, and headed to bed. PBS was broadcasting a Pink Floyd concert which we enjoyed until we fell asleep.

Monday morning we returned our little car and were shuttled to the airport. Our flight home was at noon, we'd be home by 2:30pm. We grabbed some breakfast and boarded our plane. Flying over I-82 across Oregon, we could see the roads below were clear. But, I'm so glad we flew. We had a great time. We were rested and able to enjoy each other, the show and the weather. We definitely got what we needed.

What an Experience

2006-12-01T17:51:00.000-07:00

Unusual, heavy snow fall couldn't keep us away!

Photos Courtesy of Vancouver Sun/Stuart Davis

The Rolling Stones

BC Place Stadium

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

November 25, 2006

Can I just say, WHAT A SHOW! And, we made it there, and back, safely! Click here for the Vancouver Sun's review of the show.

We heard the weather was going to be less than desirable for driving from Boise to Vancouver, British Columbia. I got nervous, I do not do icy roads. At least not intentionally. My guy had driven enough with his run from home to California through Utah back to home. So, we made arrangements to fly into Seattle and then drive a rented car to Vancouver, BC.

We arrived in Seattle about 9pm Friday, rented a car, and made our way to our hotel in Kent, WA. The next morning, the sun was peeking out behind a few clouds. Barnes & Noble was just up the road, Starbucks was just inside. After grabbing a book on travel in Vancouver and a couple of mochas, we were Vancouver bound.

The roads were clear through Seattle. The drive to Vancouver would be about 150 miles from our hotel. We stopped in Blaine, WA, for breakfast at IHOP. A man in uniform waited for us to be seated. My paranoid mind began to wonder what we had done, why was this man waiting for us? Turns out he was a fireman collecting donations for families in need.

Just as we were finishing up with our meal at IHOP, my team, BSU (Boise State University), showed up on their muted t.v. up in the corner, across from us! Now, BSU has won every game this season and the game that day was against Nevada at Reno. It was hard to break away from watching this last game of the season, but The Stones were waiting! Later we found out, BSU won 38 to 7! They're going to a bowl game, New Years Day! BSU Photo Courtesy of the Idaho Statesman

We had to get up the road! Doors opened at 5pm at BC Place.

The sky started to get darker, but no snow, no ice. Our drive was good all the way up.

My guy had brought his GPS system and we could finally see the Canadian border! We were getting close. Still a good 40 minutes out from our hotel in Vancouver.

And then, the border was before us. Our excitement was rising. We went through customs and then stopped at the Canadian Visitors Center. Of course, there were brochures on all the attractions to see in the area. We changed out a few US dollars for Canadian money, picked up a city map that had points of interest noted. And we were off again.

Our room at the Ramada Limited in Richmond, BC, was perfect! We had a balcony overlooking a downtown street. I couldn't believe the price, our room was three times nicer than the night before in Kent, WA, and was about the same price.

We rested for a few minutes before getting ready for The Rolling Stones! It seemed as soon as we checked into the hotel, it started to snow. By the time we left for the concert, it was really coming down!

We left in what we thought was plenty of time to make the venue by the time the doors opened at 5pm. The show started at 6:45pm. We like to get to venues early and watch the setup and people before shows start. Well, I forgot our binoculars at the room, so about two miles out, we had to turn back around to get them. Our seats were in the second level, near the top. Binoculars are needed there.

It took us more than 2 hours to get to BC Place Stadium. Snow had practically shut down the streets. We were at a crawl. With the GPS, we were able to see other routes that might be quicker, only to find out all roads were gridlocked. At first we wondered if it was the concert causing the problem. We found out later the snow was the culprit. Vancouver does not get snow normally. This was only the second time in 12 years it's snowed, one local explained to me.

We made it to the venue, found perfect parking not far from the BC Place entrance. It was cold, it was snowing like crazy. The lines moved right along. Our tickets were scanned and we were in! Bonnie Raitt sang one last song as we found our seats and then there was a 40 minute break before The Stones made their appearance. And, the rest is history! What a show!

Updated 01.07.2007

Found the actual play list of songs for our show:

Date: Nov 25, 2006

Location:Vancouver - CANADA - BC Place
Set List
JJ Flash

It's Only Rock And Roll

Oh No Not You Again

She Was Hot

Shine A Light

Streets Of Love

Midnight Rambler

Tumblin' Dice

You Got The Silver

Slipping Away

Connection

Miss You

Get Off My Cloud

Start Me Up

Honky Tonk Woman

Sympathy

Paint It Black

Brown Sugar

Can't Always Get What You Want

Satisfaction

Last Minute Travel Plans

2006-11-24T10:07:00.000-07:00

We had planned to drive to Vancouver, British Columbia, leaving tonight, but... they are predicting SNOW, and lots of it! So I've scrambled to find flights, extra nights at hotels, and car rentals because nothing is going to stop us from seeing the Rolling Stones tomorrow night.

It's costing a lot more to fly, but two days in Vancouver, British Columbia, with no snow driving worries will be fun! Looks like we might have snow here on Monday when we get back.

Start Me Up!

2006-11-16T23:44:00.000-07:00

Oh my gosh! The legendary Rolling Stones were just up the road from my home Tuesday night! They were here for what people are saying was an AWESOME show. Those that are Stones fans and who went to this concert are said to not be able to wipe the smiles off their faces.

Now, I do not own any albums or cd's of the Stones, though I do have a dvd of their last concert, 40 Licks... but, I would have done just about anything to see these guys live!

Tickets sold out in 45 minutes when they were first released this summer.

All day Tuesday, I tried to win tickets on the radio while at work. I even recruited friends who worked across town to listen to radio stations offering contests to win two tickets. One gal at my work lives just down the street from where the Stones were set to play. She offered to stop by the Idaho Center on her way home and register me for two free tickets from the radio station booth, setup in front of the venue.

And sad to admit, I even called the radio station during a non-contest song and spoke with the DJ. I told him that I had actually bought tickets to two previous Stones concerts over the years, and for whatever reason, either they cancelled the show or I had to cancel, so I had never been able to see them. The DJ asked my name and then told me he had to work a break and for me to call him back. Well, I thought that he was joking, and never called him back.

I stayed at work, being very productive, until nearly 7:30pm so that I wouldn't be home alone, feeling sorry for myself for not being able to go to the show. They announced the winners of the drawing for front row seat tickets. I listened with all my fingers and toes crossed, in hopes of winning. After my name wasn't drawn, I finally went home.

Well... the Stones are going to be making up some of their previously cancelled shows. One show just happens to be in Vancouver, British Columbia, at the BC Place Stadium. And, MY GUY bought two tickets for their Saturday, November 25th show there! Oh my gosh! I cannot believe it! We're going to see the STONES after all! I'm so excited, I can barely stand it! Road trip! Happy, happy, happy!

First Snow

2006-11-12T20:23:00.000-07:00

We received our first snow in the mountains around the Treasure Valley earlier this week. I'm hoping our winter will be mild, down here in the valley. I do not mind snow as long as it's up in the mountains. We'll see.

From the photo snap of The Weather Channel's US Satellite, looks like we're in for a storm tonight here in the Boise area, through tomorrow. The winds are already picking up, no rain yet. That yellow/orange blob is heading straight for us!

We've had a quiet weekend. Yesterday, we watched our Boise State boys beat the San Jose State boys at San Jose on our local t.v. channel. It was a great game, tied for 20 at the end of the fourth quarter, and in the last 4 seconds, BSU kicks a field goal for the win! 23 -20 BSU! What a game!

What a Week

2006-11-05T11:00:00.000-07:00

I came down with what I thought was food poisoning, very early Monday morning and have missed half the week at work. This being our month end close at work, was not the best week to be out ill. I dragged into work somewhere around 11 a.m. Wednesday, and by Friday, was feeling better, missing our close deadline by only 20 minutes, but it was done. I'll only have the reports to run when I get back tomorrow.

Turns out, our valley has an outbreak of the Norwalk virus. I'm still sticking to my food poisoning story, but there is a possibility that I picked up this virus. I did visit with Gramma last Saturday for almost an hour. Either way, I was violently ill Monday and Tuesday. I'll spare you the details, just know, I was the sickest I've been in a long, long time.

Friday night, my guy got in from his run and took me to dinner. The first real food I'd had all week. I decided to just eat what I wanted and not worry too much about my tummy. We ended up splitting a plate of baby back ribs and salad. We each had a loaded baked potato. The whole meal tasted so good!

It was at dinner that I told my guy about my daughter's Christmas plans. He didn't say much. I knew he was worried, as was I, about how this might all turn out. Of course, we both are hoping for the best, and like I said earlier, there's plenty of time to work out our own internal issues so that we can make the best of the holidays. We would love nothing more than to have a good visit with family at the holidays this year.

Well, it's a gray sky and drizzley day here today. Starting to look a lot like winter. Lots of trees have lost all their leaves, some trees are still holding tight to theirs. A good wind storm, and all leaves will be gone. We've got showers, off and on, and about 52 degrees. Earlier this week, we only got up to the mid 30's. Time to get some laundry and housework done, maybe start a nice warm crock of something for dinner. Gotta go... NASCAR is starting!

More Surprises

2006-11-02T22:40:00.000-07:00

Last night, I called my daughter after I got off work. She'd been on my mind. It had been a few days since I heard from her and I wanted to see how she was doing. I knew she started a new job last week, working at a record label in Los Angeles. I was excited to hear how that was going. And Friday, she visited her doctor to remove more stitches. So, I was wondering about her.

The first thing she tells me is she's made flight arrangements for Christmas! I wasn't quite sure what she meant. Last conversation she and I had about Christmas, she was going to my brother's home in California.

So, I asked her where she was going.

Boise!

Oh, you're coming home for Christmas.

Yeah! I'll send you my flight itinerary.

Okay.

You're gonna be there, aren't you?

Yes, I plan to be home for Christmas.

Our conversation went on about her Halloween events, photos she took of herself dressed in costume, how her job was going, etc... But, I really was surprised that she was coming home for Christmas, and worried about how I really felt about this. I should be ecstatic with excitement. I'm not. At least, I'm not yet.

Last year, my guy and I went on a cruise to Mexico for Christmas. Just the two of us. We had a wonderful time.

The year before, my guy and I had both taken the whole week of Christmas off work to be with our kids and families. My family fell apart, had a huge fight with us. There wasn't any Christmas with my kids or parents that year.

This year, I will be home for Christmas. I have not asked for any time off work. Though, Christmas falls on a Monday this year. My office is closed that Monday and Tuesday. So I will have a nice, long, four-day-weekend for Christmas.

My parents had initially made plans to spend the holidays in California with my brother this year. So, I wasn't worried about the holiday tug of war between families and all those uncomfortable feelings. But, with my mom's recent knee replacement surgery and follow-up appointments with her breast cancer docs, my parents have decided to stay put for the winter. I'm sure this is the reason my daughter has had a change in her plans. That's okay, no problem.

I'd like to think I'm able to move on. I'd like to believe my family can move on. It's like no one seems to understand... for family sake, forgive and move on!

It was 4 a.m. We were up, wrapping gifts, waiting for my guy to arrive home from his Seattle run. My guy said something that upset my daughter when he walked in the door. She had flown in from Seattle earlier that night. Everyone went to bed.

While at a restaurant for dinner the next day, my kids attacked me verbally in a very disrespectful manner. My daughter was angry but I wasn't exactly sure why, and she was dragging my son in along with her. I tried to defuse the situation there, at the time. It went from bad to worse.

When we got home, I followed my two kids into their room and asked them what the heck was going on! My guy stayed in the livingroom until he heard my kids screaming at me. He only came to my defense to ask what was going on and to let the two of them know it was not alright to speak to their mom the way they were speaking to me.

The next thing I knew, my son is climbing out his bedroom window, calling my father to come get them. My daughter was gathering all her belongings and storming out the front door. That was the last time I saw either of them until we all met with a mediator at the church a couple of days later.

Our family Christmas celebration was cancelled by my father after that meeting. I saw my son for an hour Christmas day before he flew to his dad's for his week with his dad.

So, I didn't want to be here last Christmas. I didn't want to be involved in the drama. I just couldn't handle it. And this year, my parents were going to be gone, my daughter was going to go to my brothers with them. I was just going to work and have a little something here at the house for us. I didn't plan on having to deal with family emotions.

At least it's just the beginning of November, so there's plenty of time to warm up to the idea of my family all being here for Christmas. Forgive and move on... I do keep looking at December 22nd or 23rd cruise departures! Just kidding.