365

So, my dear friend Gina (check out the flickr link to the right on her blog called "365+1 project") talked me into doing a "365" project this year. I was really impressed with how her project turned out in 2008, and can't wait to get started on mine for 2009. Let me know if you're interested and I'll get you all set up in our little group.

Here's her picure from her project on 5/3/08 - cool right?

Merry Christmas from Our Home to Yours

Well, we got our white christmas and were still able to see most of the family, so we'll call it a win-win. Here are a few of my favorite shots.

With Grandma Maxine

Davie Boy, Jeremy, and Leanne

Jeremy and Mom with the candle holder Jeremy picked out - I love it!

Cousin Kris's Birthday Celebration (Jeremy played the Clarinet)

Santa brought and electric Razor Scooter (the snow prevented Jeremy from trying it out :( )

All my kids

Family Shot (in the snow)

Cousins Wyatt, Jeremy, Quinn & ZakCousin Eddy

Bailey's First Boyfriend

She is OBSESSED with the Grinch. She doesn't try to destroy him, like her other "babies" so I think this is true love. Whenever she sees him, she grabs him & either carries him around in her mouth, or just lays down and cuddles him. So Cute.

White Christmas?

weather.com I love you. Nice job on your 12/25/08 forecast.

Can I tell you how much this excites me?

Let it Snow....

Jeremy and Daniel enjoying the snow... Guess who watched National Lampoon's last night?
Sledding/Boarding down the hill (video)

***BREAKING NEWS***

On an afternoon shopping trip to Winco, Christmas came early when we found SOUR BALLS in bulk. I turned my back and the bulk dispenser must have gone haywire, because Joe managed to FILL a plastic bag with 5lbs of them ($1.55/lb!!).

Place your bets folks, how long before they're gone?
__ End of the Night
__ End of the Weekend
__ End of the Week

Did you know...

Jeremy is playing the Clarinet? The good news is you can actually identify the songs lately. If you are lucky enough to see us on Christmas Eve, Jeremy is planning his only little Christmas Concert for the family. For the rest of you - here's a Christmas Preview... (click the arrow to play)

Fun Stuff

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Vegas

Was a blast. It has taken a week, but I think I'm recovered. The weather was beautiful and Joe and I had a great time. We saw Jubilee! and Cirque Du Soleil, "O" which were both fabulous. We spent lots of time wandering and checking out the casinos and attractions - my feet were beat!! We wandered into the Toby Keith bar around noon one day and didn't make it out until sometime that night (my timekeeping skills were shot by then)
Anyhoo - a couple shots for your viewing pleasure.

Playboy Club

Flamingo Girl

Toby Keith Bar (Tim the Bartender)

You know me, I *HAD* to dance on the bar

And drink too much...

Joe having his "Inn and Out" Burger (he was really excited)

Vegas+Buffet=Desert Buffet, right?

The End.

Dinner at the Georgian

Joe and I had the opportunity to get dressed up last night and have dinner at the Georgian at the Fairmont Olympic Hotel, as guests of Joe's Boss and his wife. I was feeling a bit "High-Society" and if you know me, you know I am far from High-Society. It was fun though, and the food was AMAZING!! I had the salmon, but the highlight was the Dungeness Crab Bisque, served over these cute little crab cakes in the bottom of the elegant bowl. Desert was chocolate souffle. YUM!

One of the coolest things about the evening was that when we got there, we realized while waiting in the lobby, that we were surrounded by really large men that made Joe look small. We (Joe) soon figured out that they were the Washington Redskins, in town to beat on the Seahawks today. After dinner, we were checking out the elegant hotel and got told by security that we couldn't check out the ballroom, which we could see was full of football players. We didn't see Shawn Alexander, but we did see Jason Taylor when he walked out. I wished I'd asked him for a dance, but I was still practicing my High-Society.

Viva Las Vegas!!

Joe and I are off to Vegas for Thanksgiving - Jeremy will be archery hunting with my brother. I've never been to Vegas, and am looking forward to it!! So, here's what I need you to do, click on "comments" below (you don't need to sign in anymore - just go anonymous and sign your name so I know who you are!) and give me your Vegas recommendations!! Shows, Buffets, Bars - whataya recommend?

This is too funny.

Veterans Day

Yesterday the Scouts had the honor of being part of the Auburn Veterans Day parade. We got lucky and the weather held up; it was even sunny as we walked the parade route. I have to say it was an amazing experience for all of us. Truly awe inspiring to see all of these heroes in one place. And to see all of the citizens coming together to clap and cheer for them was wonderful. The scouts arms were tired at the end of the day from all their saluting, both Veterans and Flags. I'm grateful that Jeremy and I got to be part of this.

Happy Halloween

Yeah, I know I'm late, so you'll just have to get over that. The wireless on my laptop broke, so it's off at HP getting fixed so it's back to the desktop for me. (Remember those days?)
Here's some shots to sum up our Halloween adventures this year.
So, Thursday night (10/30) rolls around and Jeremy asks, "are we going to carve pumpkins?" One quick call to Joe and the man brought us home pumpkins for carving. Since Martha stole our clipboard idea, I stole her pumpkin idea from my friend MaryBeth, who stole if from Martha. Fairs fair, right? Anyways, MB's was super cute with rats hanging in and out of it, but since it was the night before Halloween, I had to settle for what I could find at Wal-Mart. Spiders and snakes and lizards are just as cute, right? And Jeremy, whoa Momma, he went for the super advanced carving template this year and it turned out AMAZING!! Me? I just got Joe to drill me a bunch of holes, because let's face it ladies, most men will never turn down a chance to bust out their power tools and impress their wife, right? So, I give you our pumpkins of 2008. For Jeremy first Halloween costume of the day, he insisted on dressing up as Adam, his favorite Physical Therapist who stretches Jeremy 3X a week, after we saw the bald cap at the store. Adam was dressed as Mr. Clean. So, here you go folks, Mini Adam stretching Mr. Clean... BTW, Adam is single ladies, so if you want to date him, drop me a line. (He's really nice and great with 10-year olds) And then it was time to Trick-or-Treat, because I don't know about you, but we are all about free candy. So off the boy's went to scare up some of that. Jeremy was an Army Guy, and Joe was his standard, "Watch me scare the dogs for the entire month of October Guy"

Me? I stayed home and handed out candy which is very exhausting work.

The End.

What I do

I know some of you believe I'm a "Temp" and no matter how hard I try to explain what I do, many still insist I'm a temp, looking for a real job. I promise you, I have a real job. I work for Robert Half International, as a Salaried Professional (click here for more info on that),
So what does that mean? It means I have a full time job, and they send me out on various assignments, all the while, RHI pays me. I have vacation pay (15 days/year), excellent medical, dental, vision (I say excellent as in, after all of Jeremy's medical issues, I am thrilled with the coverage). See, it is a REAL job. I have had the opportunity to work for Cargo 360 assisting with their merger and relocation to the east coast. I worked there until we got married. After the honeymoon, I worked for Restaurants Unlimited in Fremont as their Payroll Manager until they could find a full time replacement. I had a great time, the people were wonderful and I got to dine at many of their fabulous restaurants. The commute killed me. The RUI engagement ended at the end of September and since then I have been on "bench" (still being paid, with the opportunity to pursue educational advancement) I got Excel 2007 certified and began my studies to prepare to be a Certified Payroll Professional. I got news yesterday that I start tomorrow with Flow. I'm pretty excited to check out their OCC bike. I will be auditing their payroll system, from what I understand. I'll keep you posted.

So, that's it in a nut shell.

Jeremy is doing well. He continues to do Physical Therapy and Tae Kwon Do and has started swim lessons again, which he enjoys. We see improvement all the time. We are also backing off the Prednisone, so the appetite is going down. I notice his face is not as round either. He is doing well at the new school and is even playing the clarinet. He got to go hunting with Uncle (my brother Davie, who is simply known as "Uncle") last weekend. Uncle shot a dear that was on the run, but I understand Jeremy got to help "dress" it by holding a leg. I can only imagine what that looks like, but I understand there are pictures that I haven't seen yet. I'll post them when I do for your enjoyment.

Aunt Gail,

You were a kind, funny, smart and beautiful woman. You had a way of always making me feel special, even when I was a weird kid that no one understood. You did. You ate my jellybean birthday cake without complaint. That meant alot to me. I am grateful that you got to see me get married. I am grateful you got to meet your grandchildren. I am grateful you are my Aunt. I love you, and I will miss you.

I Love You Dicks....

Do you want to know the quickest way to get a girl to break her diet? When a co-worker announces, "guess what my dad is bringing us for lunch?" Seriously, I'm powerless. But I swear, I only had a few (dozen) fries.

Here comes the big confession. Many of you know I didn't eat meat AT ALL for 10+years. I was fine with it. It made me happy in fact. Do you want to guess what I succumb to eating about once a year during those 10 meatless years? I swear they should call them Crack Deluxe.

I'm just going to pretend that I was rewarding myself for Jeremy and me for not having any cavities this morning, even though due to lack of insurance, we haven't been to the dentist in almost a year and a half. Yeah Us!

Mountain Biking

We went with the Scouts today to SeaTac to learn some mountain biking and take a trail ride. The class was sponsored by the BBTC, and they were great. We learned some skills then headed out onto the trails, and finished the day with some jumps. Jeremy did great! This is the first big athletic challenge he's had since all of this started that he was able to do without any problems; other than having to borrow a bike because he has outgrown his in last 4 months! I only fell over backwards once, pretty good right? I need to go ice my backside, I guarantee I will be very sore tomorrow.

Lummi Island

A little late on this one, we had a fabulous weekend (last weekend) at Lummi. We LOVE it here. Boating (thanks for getting me my fresh Dungeness Brother!), beach walks and just catching up with old friends. Joining us were my brother Davie and his family (Erin, Leanne and Davie Boy), Aristy and her family (Brian, Meed and Marina Ray) as well as our Parents. Growing up, Mel and Louise, Sharon and Corday, and my parents were all friends, and we spent lots of time in the summer at Lummi with them and their kids - each couple has an older boy and a younger girl (we're all pretty close in age). Only 3 of the six "kids" were able to make it, but we're shooting for a better turnout next summer. Barney (Aristy's brother) and his wife Shan just had a baby girl, Russell (Mel and Louise's son) just moved to California with his wife and son and Jolene (his sister) is at WSU (Boo, hiss) So, if any of you are reading this, your attendance will be expected next summer!

It's great to see our kids enjoying Lummi as much as we did as kids. Here's the best news, Mel and Louise have built another home up on the road and are now renting out this gem, right on the beach. Check it out Here, or in the link above (or under "my fabulous friends" to the left. I personally promise your family will love it! Tell Louise I sent you and maybe Mel will throw in a scooter ride like my lucky Dad below!!

Dear Martha,

Dear Martha,
I think you're creative, quite crafty to be sure, but when I saw your altered clip boards in your Sept. 2008 magazine, I said to myself, "That Martha, She's a Scraplifter!!" You see, my pals and I have been making altered clipboards for awhile now, so I'm glad to see you finally caught on. Wallpaper, now that's a new idea. We're mostly paper and ribbon girls, but I'm sure you will see us giving this a whirl soon. You're welcome Martha. Feel free to publish us anytime. When can we expect our residuals?

Lots of Love,
The MLL

IZ

When Joe and I were on our Honeymoon in Hawaii, we kept hearing this song and we fell in love with it. My Aunt Sue sent me this video, take a listen, I promise you will love it as much as we do. Unfortunately, Iz passed away in 1997, but we will always have his beautiful music.

Click here - Somewhere Over the Rainbow

I also came accoss this one, that I also really like - What a Wonderful World

You can read more about him here

First Day of School

• New Backpack
• New House
• New Door to pose in front of
• New Before and After Care (Tae Kwon Do)
• New School
• New Teacher
• New Friends

Mom: Can we pretend we're holding hands, even though I won't make you really hold my hand?
Jeremy: Sure.
Do you want to take a guess at who was more nervous??

I'm happy to report it went great. He likes his teacher and met a couple kids. He even agreed to go back tomorrow :)

Happy Anniversary Sheila and Howard!

Yesterday we were invited to celebrate Sheila and Howard's 20th Wedding Anniversary. I met Sheila in our PEPS group when our boys were just a few weeks old, and we've been Scrapbooking together ever since. Her son Chase is 4 days older than Jeremy. Anyways, onto the real story - We went Marymoor Park in Redmond for the party and these two do it up right. Hilarious games, a clown, bouncy toys, caterer, beer garden, and my personal favorite..... Dessert Buffet!! (two of my favorite words combined!!) Note to self - celebrate every wedding anniversary with Dessert, but at "20" go for the buffet!! I will not tell you how many desserts I ate. (It just so happens I rejoined Weight Watchers on Saturday with my friend Melinda, sorry Mel, I was a very BAD girl. I promise to be better tomorrow.

The cute couple on their Wedding Day, and still looking Fabulous, 20 years and 2 kids later!! Congratulations - Love you guys!! And here's something else pretty amazing about Sheila - she has 9 siblings - NINE!! I believe there are 2 sets of twins in there, Sheila herself being a twin. See Mom in the middle? She's smiling because none of them live at home anymore. All but one of her siblings was at the party, I understand he was on vacation in Brazil. I think it's pretty amazing to have such a big family and that they all still live in the Seattle area, where they grew up. But not amazing enough for me to want 10 children.

Breaking News!

As some of you may have heard, Starbucks was set to discontinue selling breakfast sandwiches in October. Here's the scoop:

Howard Schultz made the announcement in his Wednesday conference call with analysts.
"The scent of the warm sandwiches interferes with the aroma of the stores," he said. (WHATEVER)
Stores will still offer warmed pastries. (I don't want warmed pastries, thankyouverymuch)
The warm sandwiches "are going to be out by year's end." (Sad)
Serving sandwiches got in the way of employees' "ability to make the perfect shot of espresso." In other words, spending time on sandwiches took away from the focus on coffee. (Something else that I don't really care about - I mean really - I go to Starbucks now for the sandwiches and a drip coffee, so they don't even have to use the espresso machine on my account)
The sandwiches will be replaced with "a breakfast menu that delivers what our customers are asking for." (Hello, did you hear me? I'm asking for Breakfast Sandwiches)
"We're going to be in the lunch business; we're going to modify it." (Again, something I don't care about)

Well, I am here to tell you that I have first hand information from a former VP/FancyPants at Starbucks that I had lunch with on Friday (she left Starbucks just weeks ago) that they have re-considered this (I would imagine due to public outcry and death threats on Howard) and...

"Starbucks is now NOT going to discontinue selling breakfast Sandwiches"

You heard it hear first. I myself celebrated this morning with a Low-Fat Turkey Bacon. (my personal favorite) I would recommend you do the same.

Thanks Howard!!

Update on Jeremy

The exciting news of the day is that Jeremy no longer needs to walk on his toes - he can actually stand flat footed! Jeremy had his every other month check-up with the fabulous Dr.'s at Children's Rheumatology as well as check up with the Children's Physical Therapist yesterday.

I really wanted to talk to them about when we will be backing him off the Prednisone, as he has been on a pretty high dose for 3 months. We were told that since we started doing the Methotrexate injections once a week about a month ago that we would be able to back off the Prednisone soon. Good thing because we can hardly afford to feed him anymore. :) We no longer order off the children's menu, which was fine, often too much food in fact, 3 months ago. We used to order chicken nuggets and fries wherever we went, and I kid you not, he ordered a steak and mashed potatoes last night. He has gained almost 25lbs in the last 3 months!

So, anyways, the Physical Therapist thought he was progressing nicely. She sent him home with more exercises to do at home, as well as some to do in the hot-tub. He is still very tight in his legs and feet. The Rheumatologist also thinks he is progressing nicely, but is still concerned with how tight he still is. She did think it was time to back off the Prednisone though, so we will be tapering down in the next two months. We will also be continuing with Adam, the Physical Therapist Jeremy sees 3 times a week in Covington.

So, that's about it on the medical front. He is making slow progress, but it is progress, and I have to remind myself that they told us from the get to that this would be around a year long recovery process. I'm just not a very patient person (I know, shocking).

Jeremy starts his new school in a couple weeks, Jenkins Creek. He is really nervous, but I have great hopes that he will be fine and even hopefully meet some new kids that live close by. He is VERY worried that he will not see his buddies anymore, but I have assured him that this will not happen.

As we head into fall, he is trying do decide if he wants to do Tae Kwon Do at the place where he will be going to for before and after care this fall (it is right across the street from his new school) or start swimming again. We'll see. He has decided to hang up his cleats and not play baseball this fall, which pain's me as his baseball loving mom, but I have to tell myself it's not about me. We will also be starting back with Scouts - I keep telling myself we graduate in 6 short months (yeah!) as this is when the boys will graduate Cub Scout Webelos and cross over into Boy Scouts.
We hope you had a great summer and I'll continue to update this blog on our activities as well as how Jeremy is progressing.

Waterpark

It's been so HOT we decided to take Jeremy and his friend Daniel to the Henry Moses Aquatic Center, which is a swimming pool/waterpark in Renton. There are water slides, a wave pool, a lazy river, a couple pools and a water fort. We had a great time and were able to cool off for once

this weekend!