They're not DEAD!

This is my Chihuahua, Gizmo. He is not dead, only happy.



This is my cat, Guinness. He is not dead, only happy.


This is NOT my cat, Magic. I can never find him when he is asleep. He's usually hiding in a closet or behind furniture somewhere. I know he is not dead because he shows up to eat.

This is how they spend the majority of their day. I wish I could join them.

Rain, Rain, Go Away

Again with the rain? What is the deal here? I'm starting to dread the words "Upper Level Low" since that is what meteorologists say when the rain is coming. See the big L right at the tip of Southern Nevada? Bad, Bad, Bad. As I've often told my children, "If you can't say something nice...talk about the weather."

Ask, and you shall receive...

I complained about using the A/C and look what I got!! A great big, green streak over Las Vegas. It's rained so much in the last couple of days I feel like I'm in Oregon again. Happily, the sun is shining again today and it is currently 70 degrees. This is why I live in Southern Nevada. For everyone in Oregon...I hope you're jealous. Please come for a visit (and stay at a hotel on The Strip, not at my house!)

I'm sick of A/C!!

This weekend the temperature neared 100 degrees on both Saturday and Sunday. It's October in Southern Nevada! My favorite month of the year precisely because it's supposed to be around 80 degrees everyday. I have a real problem with my air conditioner running in October. The alternative, of course, is to be miserable in the heat. Ana and Sam both had soccer games at around 2:00 in the afternoon. Nice and toasty warm! Luckily, there was a nice breeze blowing so it was bearable. The forecast is looking much better for the rest of the week so OFF goes the A/C. I try not to turn the heat on until late December or even January, but since we homeschool and are here all day, we usually have to break down and heat the place. This was Sam last November during school. I broke down (or into my wallet) and turned on the heat. I'll do a post on the first day I have to turn on the heater.

The Devil's Work?

Highly Skilled Air Traffic Controller


My religious training ended too many years ago for me to remember the exact saying but it is something to the effect of "idle hands doing the devil's work." I have decided that YouTube.com is the devil's work. I spend too much idle time watching videos there and what's worse is that so many other people have enough idle time to post videos there. That having been said, this one is my favorite.

I Can't Wait!

After a 9 month break following surgery on my foot, I get to start training in karate again tonight! I can't wait!!







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Happy Anniversary!

Is it possible these two "youngsters" have been married for 20 years? Not quite yet! However, our 20th wedding anniversay is on Wednesday, Sept 13, 2006. To celebrate, we went out to dinner. For reasons I'm not quite clear on, Mike wanted to take the children. We went to Carrabba's Italian Grill. The atmosphere was nice, the food was good and the children were mostly well behaved. Dessert was fantastic. It was a Sogno di Cioccloata or "Chocolate Dream". Here's looking forward to the next 20 years. Happy Anniversary.

My New Favorite Quote

Hope is not a plan.


Anderson Cooper - DISPATCHES FROM THE EDGE








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Perseverance

Little by little, one walks far.

Peruvian Proverb

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First Day of School

Can you guess which child goes to public school and which one is home-schooled? Hint: The snappy dresser hangs out with 1800 other teenagers all day!!

Meth Madness

I stumbled across a blog in the middle of the night a few weeks ago that I find rather interesting. I have no idea who writes it but it's rather like "watching" a reality show. The author is unable to work due to a chronic illness involving substantial daily pain and is often up late at night writing her blog. That is how I found her. I was up in the middle of the night updating my blog. Recently she put up a link on the effects of methamphetamine. Check out the picture gallery. Ana is already anti-drug but these pictures really drove home how fast the devastation occurs with the use of illegal drugs. I guess they are illegal for a reason!

Does she look older?

She's still a lovely girl - even though she is old!!!

My "Baby" is a Teenager!!!

On Sunday, August 27, 2006, my "baby" will turn thirteen years old. (Eeek...how old does that make her mother?) We went to Claim Jumper for lunch and they treated her to a free Mud Pie for dessert. We were all too full to eat any other dessert so we will do a chocolate "I'Declair" later with presents. Happy Birthday, Ana!











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Sam's First Sleepover at Our House

Sam had his first sleepover at our house on Friday night. He and his friend, Grant, moved all the furniture out of the office, set up the airmatresses and moved the playstation into the room. Rumor has it there was SOME sleeping going on, but not much. The playstation got a really good work out. They both had a great time!





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Hero - an update

Someone asked who my heroes are. That was easy for me. My first hero is my husband, Mike, who fits every description on the list. He's always right here cheering me on in whatever I do. My second hero is my karate instructor (you know who you are). Were it not for his guidance there were many times I would have quit karate because it was just too hard to do on a regular basis, especially with my body falling apart like it is. Ultimately, I decided to keep going from green belt because I didn't want to disappoint any of my instructors who have worked so hard keeping me going over the last five years. Now that I'm really close to black belt I keep going for me with the encouragement of all of them.

Hero

Someone we admire.
Someone we look up to.
Someone who gives us hope.
Not a myth or an icon or a legend-
Someone solid, genuine and real.
An ordinary person who does extraordinary things.
A hero picks us up when we are down.
Believes in us before we believe in ourselves.
Inspires us to expand and embrace what’s possible.
Helps us realize that we can be heroes too.


I know who my heroes are - do you?

The Return of the Beard

This is the beard after one week. Looking scruffy and still too prickly to kiss!!! I'll give it a few more days to get soft.












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Las Vegas 51s

On Tuesday, August 15th, Ana and I attended a Las Vegas 51s Minor League Baseball game with our friends Joe, Janis and Rebecca. Joe's brother, Jim, is the Media Relations Director so we were treated like VIPs!! We had dinner in the air-conditioned Club Level and had great seats to watch the game! A big thank you to Jim!!









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Happy 43rd Birthday Mike!

On Monday, August 14th, Mike will turn 43 years old. Due to our busy social schedule (read: karate) we won't be available to celebrate then. We chose Saturday night instead. Yesterday we went to lunch at the Salt Lick Bar B-Q at the new Red Rock Resort and Casino and picked up a slice of Chocolate MotherLode Cake from Claim Jumper. Can't wait for Ana's birthday in 2 weeks so we can do it all again!! Happy Birthday, Mike!

The Consequences of our Words

Before.......................After

This is what happens when I give Mike a hard time about all the gray in his beard and then leave the house for 3 hours. For anyone who doesn't know, the last time I saw Mike without a beard was October, 1984. Quick! Do the math! That's just short of 22 years.