Monday, June 30, 2008

And they're off!!!

Ana's braces came off today. Before

The appliances

After, looking radiant!

Saturday, June 28, 2008

Justice for Jason

I talked about this story earlier in my blog. This really surprises me. The so-called parents have actually been charged with murder and several other charges.

Here are the high points of the article. To read the whole thing, click here.

Little Jason Rimer was alone outside in the big sport utility vehicle. But no one seemed to notice.

He was a 4-year-old who still wore diapers, couldn't dress himself and had trouble walking because of a genetic disease that crippled his body and his mind.

"When I looked, I didn't find him either. So I don't know why it slipped my mind," Colleen Rimer told police. "Then I just went and took dinner to my husband."

That night, Colleen Rimer woke up about 1 a.m. to go to the bathroom and "didn't have the right kind of feeling. You know what I mean?" she told police. She lay down and went back to sleep.

During questioning by detectives, Colleen Rimer denied that she or anyone else intentionally hurt Jason. The detectives suggested that was the case, pointing to evidence that she drove a different vehicle to pick up her oldest son from church and suggesting she intentionally asked one of her developmentally disabled sons to get Jason from the SUV in hopes he would fail.

Friday, June 27, 2008

100 things

I think I'm about 5 years late with this meme, but here it is.


1. I'm a 2nd degree black belt in Chun Kuk Do.
2. I'm a mom to two children.
3. Sometimes it makes me sad that I didn't give birth to my children.
4. I sing in my car and I don't care if people think I'm crazy.
5. I doubt my ability to get a 3rd degree black belt.
6. I seriously doubt my ability to get a 4th degree black belt.
7. I don't regret not going to college.
8. I regret not taking a boat ride in Brugges, Belgium.
9. I played soccer in Europe as a teenager.
10. I live in Las Vegas and find gambling boring.
11. My high school guidance counselor said I should be a pediatrician, but I don't like other people's children.
12. I read Reader's Digest from cover to cover every month.
13. I can use chopsticks.
14. I don't particularly like rice.
15. I've worn glasses (or contacts) since I was seven-years-old.
16. I'm a good speller but I have trouble with unfortunately and always put the 'e' in the wrong spot.
17. The only time in my life I thought I might actually die was when an elevator I was in dropped three floors.
18. I got off the dropping elevator while the other 13 passengers stayed on and rode to the 11th floor.
19. I didn't know I could run up 8 flights of stairs in flip flops as fast as an elevator can travel.
20. I was on jury duty. They sent me home when I told the judge, "I wouldn't want me as a juror."
21. I once served as a juror in an aggravated murder trial.
22. I had no problem finding the defendant guilty and sentencing him to life without parole.
23. I saw the movie Gremlins on my first date with the man who is now my husband.
24. My dog is named Gizmo after the cute little guy in Gremlins.
25. My grandparents died when I was 3, 13, and 23.
26. I hate Dr. Pepper.
27. I took piano lessons in high school. I was good, but too lazy to practice.
28. I'm afraid of falling, but not heights.
29. I don't have any tattoos and plan to never have tattoos.
30. My only piercings are one in each ear.
31. I don't wear earrings because my ears always turn red and burn when I do.
32. I've been to Maui three times.
33. I bought my first house in 1990 for $43,900.
34. I sold it in 1996 for $83,400.
35. I don't like chocolate cake.
36. I love brownies.
37. Cleaning toilets (my own) doesn't bother me at all.
38. I hate to mop.
39. I used to be a sympathetic puker.
40. I never can solve a Sudoku puzzle, but once in a while, I still try.
41. I don't like to swim.
42. I've lived in the desert for 10 years and only seen one scorpion.
43. Thankfully, it was dead.
44. It was on my kitchen floor.
45. I've been in three car wrecks, including one fatality.
46. I don't like toasted sandwiches.
47. I used to be able to knit, but now I can't cast on.
48. I no longer want a Coach purse since I see so many women at Wal*Mart carrying them.
49. I have a cell phone but I usually don't answer it.
50. I've never watched a NASCAR race.
51. I've broken three bones.
52. I think parents who let their children on MySpace are putting them in harm's way.
53. I teach karate on a volunteer basis.
54. I don't try to learn the names of the students until they have a yellow belt.
55. I hate cold weather.
56. When the temperature finally reaches 100 degrees, I'm glad.
57. I would rather have peace than be right.
58. I hate it when people use 'then' when they mean 'than'.
59. Same for their, there and they're and could of instead of could have.
60. Funerals are a waste of money.
61. The only "rock" concert I've attended was Huey Lewis and The News.
62. The first week I lived in Nevada, the temperature was 124 degrees.
63. Six months later, pipes froze because the temperature dropped to 17 degrees.
64. I went to New York City once, to a business class, and stayed less than 24 hours.
65. I'd like to go to New York City and stay for more than 24 hours.
66. I've wanted a cabin in Vermont since I was 9 years old.
67. I no longer want a cabin in Vermont.
68. I was a cheerleader in the 6th grade.
69. My first car was a 1966 Volkswagen Bug purchased by my oldest brother and handed down through all the siblings.
70. I always liked that the car and I were the same age.
71. I totalled it in a rollover accident when I was a senior in high school.
72. The Amazing Race is my favorite TV show.
73. I imagine I could do all the tasks, but I really have too many physical limitations.
74. I sometimes feel vibrations in my limbs and think it might be my cell phone, even though it's in the other room.
75. I'm perplexed as to why I feel vibrations in my limbs.
76. I can drive a stick shift.
77. A friend once said to me, "I think God sent you these children." and I believe her.
78. I've recently discovered I like spending money on frivolous things for myself.
79. After a recent trip to Maui, I bought my first bottle of perfume. Fleur du Matin by Miller Harris. It cost more than $100.
80. If my husband knew about #79, he'd have a fit.
81. My husband never reads my blog.
82. When I die, I hope my children will say two things. "Thanks for all you did for others." and "Madre would have hated this funeral-type stuff. Let's get to the food part!"
83. My teenage daughter calls me 'Madre'.
84. Neither of us speak Spanish. We both speak some French.
85. My job is secret shopper.
86. I've come to expect a high level of customer service.
87. I'm annoyed when I don't get it.
88. My parents have been married for almost 54 years.
89. My husbands' parents have been married for almost 50 years.
90. I've been married for more than half my life: 22 years in September.
91. I prefer crunchy peanut butter, but the rest of the household likes creamy, so that's what we eat.
92. I rescued a girl kitten from a shelter and took her to my vet because she was sneezing. Turns out it was a boy, so I changed his name from Minuet to Magic on the spot.
93. All of my pets have been rescued.
94. I like Taco Bell.
95. Before I had children, I wanted four girls so I could name them Anastasia, Evangeline, Isabella and Olivia. All the names start with vowels, have four syllables and can be shortened to three letters each; Ana, eve, Isa and Liv.
96. After I had one daughter, I didn't want anymore.
97. I always thought I'd drive a minivan so everyone could have a window seat.
98. I drove a minivan because the car seat wouldn't fit in my other car.
99. I hate being in the ocean.
100. I like very dry Martinis.

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Manly Men

These two man crashed heads while going for a ball in the semi-final game of UEFA Euro 2008.

This one (Rolfes of Germany) had blood spurting from the cuts above and below his eye. They got out a needle and stitched him up on the spot! At the half, about a minute later, he was subbed out of the game.



This one (Akman of Turkey) split the back of his head open on Rolfes' face
and was bleeding all over the place. So they pulled out a sterile STAPLER and stapled his head! and he played the rest of the game.



The ESPN announcer had this to say:
He stayed in the game because he's a SOCCER PLAYER!

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Home Movies

My dad converted some of our old home movies on to a VHS tape years ago. Tonight, Ana pulled it out and put it in the VCR.



She had this to say about her grandfather, my father:



Who is that? Why don't they make men like that anymore? He looks good! Except his pants are pulled up too high.



I should tell you he lived in the Philippines and had his shirt off.



My mother was very beautiful then, and still is.



The best part? Ana says I look like her!!

The Beach

We spent Monday at the Beach at Mandalay Bay on the Las Vegas Strip.
in a cabana
They've got a huge wave pool (with a sandy beach).and a Lazy River,
and even some cute statuary.
It was a "shop", which means everything was free!
And my friend got paid his hourly wage.
Good work, if you can get it.

Meanwhile,

Sam had his first day at K*Bot Camp.
The World Championships (yes, there IS such a thing) are held
in July in Las Vegas.

Saturday, June 21, 2008

Sam's Last Day of School

Sam's last day of school was June 11th.
They had a 'water day' at his small school.
There were plenty of water balloons and other wet things,

but Sam stayed dry.
He'll be attending a different school next year.
That'a a mouthful, isn't it?
It's a NASA Explorer School.

Thursday, June 19, 2008

A Directive

Conversating


is not a word. Please stop using it!


Thank you.

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

The Last Maui Post

Enough, already!




But even the restrooms are friendly.

Monday, June 16, 2008

The beach trail

There was a nice trail built along the shore, so we walked over to the Four Seasons and back.






I was unsure what the "possibility of crime" might be, but it seemed pretty safe to me.

Sunday, June 15, 2008

Happy Father's Day

My father
The father of my childrenThe father of my husband
And one last one, because I just happen to have
a picture of him with his daughter.

Saturday, June 14, 2008

Food

Ko
@ Kea Lani


No food pictures from Spago,
but here's some silverware.
You've seen the pig,
and the $14 drink.
Mike had the $9 hot dog
while I ate the $21 sandwich.


The chips were spectacular.

Friday, June 13, 2008

Hawaii from the air

Yes, Hawaii, not just Maui. Our return flight took us through Honolulu, so some pictures are from there.


Lots of water

Lots of clouds
Another jet was flying THIS CLOSE to us,but we passed it.The first glimpses of the Maui coastline. Molokini Crater

Barges off Oahu
A really pretty reef

Thursday, June 12, 2008

Fairmont Kea Lani

in pictures...

early morning
Mike liked that the buildings were shaped like breasts.
It's not that I'm my husband's personal photographer, it's that I bought a small camera to fit in my purse and I take pictures of EVERYTHING!!