My favorite karate people

My "favorite people" post was too long so my karate friends get their very own post. How special.

Tara Bidwell and her dad, Mr. Ken Gallacher.

Mrs. Bidwell is nice enough to let me train at

her studio twice a week until I get my black belt.

That's my kid up front. Who's that man in the

background, you ask? Why, it's none other than

Mr. Chuck Norris. That is as close as we got to

him at ITC Convention last summer.

Vic Matera, Joe Gemma, Tara Bidwell, John York & Mr. Olds

Ana Crittenden, Nicole Pisarczyk, Steve Smith, Tim Yates & John Petitt

My dear friend, Joe Gemma, on the right in black

just before the tall guy in white broke his rib.

A more relaxing endeavor, waiting for class at the ITC.

There are two karate people in this picture.

Be careful what you send me - it may end up

on a blog somewhere! Y

people i like - in no particular order

Now that I've done things I like - it's time for people I like. Again, in no particular order. It's just how I manage to upload the photos.


My dearest - husband, Mike





My Oldest - daughter Ana, 13





My youngest - son Sam, 10



Debbie, freshly back from the Dominican Republic, where her hair was braided into corn rows. Before she left, while they were in, the girls taking them out and after.




Debbie with our friend Denise. I was so busy getting
pictures of Debbie's braids, I never got Denise alone!

My favorite blonde family: Di holding Audrey, the beautiful princess Audrey and Matt, looking every bit the pirate next to Grant and Sam in the chair.

Most of my favorite young people:
Brendon, Ana, Sam Grant, Dana, Sera and Ethan.

Savage Chickens

This was funny so I stole it from another blog.

There are many more worth reading here.

A post by Ana

Havin fun with the camera
and being a cutie pie!!

things i like - in no particular order

Did I say in no particular order?
That may not be completely accurate.




Friday, March 2, 2007 - the show starts at 6:00pm



United Fighting Arts Federation
This is my karate organization.




no more frizzy hair





my latest from Brighton



this smells so good and moisturizes
so well


my favorite CD at the moment



Earl Grey Silver Tips.
Very yummy. Very
expensive - but very
yummy.



Only on special occasions.



Stainless steel - so easy to clean


This is good in the afternoon.
No sugar = No Guilt


My black hat - some say I resemble
Karen Carpenter when I wear it but
since she was anorexic and is now
DEAD...I'm not sure it's a compliment.




Kapalua in Maui - I need to go back.



Levi's - An American Classic.



Madeleines - go well with a Starbucks
coffee.


These are very useful.




This makes me laugh.




fun Italian wine glasses




this will be me soon




Tom Hanks - so talented

I hate ice skating!

This post is inspired by items posted on two other blogs I read regularly.


I hate to ice skate and will NEVER do it again as long as I live!

Heroes

I haven't done a post in weeks, and when I finally do, it's in regards to television. What a sad statement on my life! So...Heroes was finally back on TV last night. I threw Sam out of the one TV chair in the office, stole the remote and sent him to bed. It only took me 45 minutes to realize it was a re-run! I am possibly one of the last people who does not own a Tivo or DVR. I have a Monday night activity (karate) that keeps me out past 9:00pm when Heroes starts. If I want to watch it, I have to actually find a video tape and set my VCR. Since I often don't remember to do that, I end up reading the updates online the next day. Anyway, after 45 minutes, I remembered reading about "dead Peter" and said, "Hey! This is a re-run!"

The moral of this story? There isn't one...it's about television, for heaven's sake!

Merry Christmas 2006

The annual Christmas morning photo! We also took pictures
with the pets, but all three would not cooperate at the same
time so they didn't make the final cut.

Sam with his favorite toy: Bionicle!

Ana's still not too old to enjoy getting STUFF!

Christmas Eve

Sam had 3 Advent calendars and made the most of them!

The family tradition from Mike's family is to open one gift
on Christmas Eve. It must be a gift that arrived in the mail.

Survivor

Aunt JoAnn and Ana sporting new hairstyles.
One of many fun challenges from the game Survivor.

Sam and Delaney in their new "clothes". Again,
created by other tribe members in a Survivor challenge.

Jingle Jog

Cousin Delaney (on left) was still in school during
our Christmas vacation so Ana & Sam joined her
at school for her Jingle Jog. It was a 2 mile fun
run (doesn't sound fun to me!) and the kids had
a great time. They were treated to popsicles
after the race. Seems to me hot chocolate would
have been a better choice. It wasn't exactly warm.

This time it's real

Notice the green light.
I should be going!

My last photo of a palm tree with snow was stolen off the internet. These two photos were taken right outside my house. It snowed overnight and actually hung around until morning for everyone to see.

The List

A friend "stole" this from another blog. An interesting list of life events. Of course, it has taken forever for me to post since I have to comment on everything!

Green is for "been there, done that"
Red is for "cold day in hell" - and I’m really busy that day!
Blue is for "I’d give that a try"

01. Bought everyone in the bar a drink
02. Swam with wild dolphins
03. Climbed a mountain
04. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive
05. Been inside the Great Pyramid (does the Luxor Las Vegas count?)
06. Held a tarantula
07. Taken a candlelit bath with someone (not on purpose, but the kids wouldn’t stay out)
08. Said "I love you" and meant it
09. Hugged a tree
10. Bungee jumped
11. Visited Paris
12. Watched a lightning storm at sea (makes the ship rock - YUCK!)
13. Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise
14. Seen the Northern Lights (I vaguely remember that as a kid)
15. Gone to a huge sports game
16. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa (is there an elevator?)
17. Grown and eaten your own vegetables
18. Touched an iceberg (before they melt. Watch "An Inconvenient Truth")
19. Slept under the stars (Think "poor kids, camper" - we didn’t all fit inside)
20. Changed a baby’s diaper
21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon (France would be a good place to do this)
22. Watched a meteor shower
23. Gotten drunk on champagne
24. Given more than you can afford to charity
25. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
26. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
27. Had a food fight (food was a precious commodity - we didn’t waste it by throwing)
28. Bet on a winning horse
29. Asked out a stranger
30. Had a snowball fight (grew up in Montana)
31. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can
32. Held a lamb (not after seeing the farmer reach in after it!! GROSS!!!)
33. Seen a total eclipse
34. Ridden a roller coaster
35. Hit a home run (played baseball one summer - batting average: .000)
36. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking
37. Adopted an accent for an entire day
38. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment
39. Had two hard drives for your computer (what’s a hard drive? Driving seems easy to me)
40. Visited all 50 states
41. Taken care of someone who was drunk.
42. Had amazing friends (still do!)
43. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country
44. Watched wild whales (didn’t set out to, but there they were!)
45. Stolen a sign (that’s illegal!)
46. Backpacked in Europe (okay, suitcases, but still low budget)
47. Taken a road-trip (many times)
48. Gone rock climbing
49. Midnight walk on the beach
50. Gone sky diving (a tandem jump would be fun - maybe when I’m 50)
51. Visited Ireland
52. Been heartbroken longer than you were actually in love
53. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger’s table and had a meal with them
54. Visited Japan
55. Milked a cow
56. Alphabetized your CDs
57. Pretended to be a superhero (I have a son)
58. Sung karaoke (not in public)
59. Lounged around in bed all day (too boring)
60. Played touch football
61. Gone scuba diving (I hate being underwater)
62. Kissed in the rain (Hello!!! Lived in Oregon for more than 20 years)
63. Played in the mud (see comment at #62)
64. Played in the rain (see comment at #62)
65. Gone to a drive-in theater
66. Visited the Great Wall of China
67. Started a business (bad idea)
68. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken (married to my love for 20 years)
69. Toured ancient sites
70. Taken a martial arts class (black belt test is March 2, 2007)
71. Played D&D for more than 6 hours straight
72. Gotten married
73. Been in a movie
74. Crashed a party (not on purpose - ended up with a German tourist group in France)
75. Gotten divorced
76. Gone without food for 5 days
77. Made cookies from scratch (did that today)
78. Won first prize in a costume contest
79. Ridden a gondola in Venice (not even at the Venetian Las Vegas)
80. Gotten a tattoo (gotta get that one past hubby first)
81. Rafted the Snake River (not the Snake, but others)
82. Been on television news programs as an "expert"
83. Got flowers for no reason
84. Performed on stage
85. Been to Las Vegas (did this today, too. It’s only 3 miles away just across Eastern Ave)
86. Recorded music
87. Eaten shark
88. Kissed on the first date (yeah, but the date lasted 3 days AND I married him)
89. Gone to Thailand (missed my best opportunity when my brother lived there)
90. Bought a house (three of them)
91. Been in a combat zone
92. Buried one/both of your parents (they’re still alive and resist my efforts :) )
93. Been on a cruise ship (three of these, as well)
94. Spoken more than one language fluently (Ig-pay atlin-lay?)
95. Performed in Rocky Horror
96. Raised children (Raising)
97. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour
99. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country (maybe France after the balloon)
100. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over
101. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge (Driven both ways several times. Walk? Uhh, no!)
102. Sang loudly in the car, and didn’t stop when you knew someone was looking (daily)
103. Had plastic surgery
104. Survived an accident that you shouldn’t have survived (let’s hear it for seatbelts)
105. Wrote articles for a large publication
106. Lost over 100 pounds
107. Held someone while they were having a flashback (I don’t get this one)
108. Piloted an airplane
109. Touched a stingray
110. Broken someone’s heart (every teenager has)
111. Helped an animal give birth (see # 32 above. Eww, Eww, Ewe (this was on purpose)
112. Won money on a T.V. game show
113. Broken a bone (more than once! OUCH!)
114. Gone on an African photo safari
115. Had a facial part pierced other than your ears
116. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol
117. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild
118. Ridden a horse
119. Had major surgery (does cutting my foot open and breaking bones count?)
120. Had a snake as a pet
121. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon (the top is nice)
122. Slept for more than 30 hours over the course of 48 hours
123. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. states
124. Visited all 7 continents (this used to be a goal but I don’t like the cold-no Antarctica)
125. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days (this would involve camping)
126. Eaten kangaroo meat
127. Eaten sushi
128. Had your picture in the newspaper
129. Changed someone’s mind about something you care deeply about
130. Gone back to school
131. Para-sailed (but not in Mexico)
132. Touched a cockroach (I pay someone to KILL them)
133. Eaten fried green tomatoes
134. Read The Iliad - and the Odyssey
135. Selected one "important" author whom you missed in school, and read
136. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
137. Skipped all your school reunions
138. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language
139. Been elected to public office
140. Written your own computer language
141. Thought to yourself that you’re living your dream (everyday!)
142. Had to put someone you love into hospice care
143. Built your own PC from parts (that’s what husbands are for)
144. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn’t know you
145. Had a booth at a street fair
146. Dyed your hair
147. Been a DJ
148. Shaved your head (no, but I would. It’s just hair and it grows back.)
149. Caused a car accident (been in a few, not my fault, mostly)
150. Saved someone’s life (yes, my beloved, who was choking. REALLY SCARY!)