Fall is seriously here

It's totally fall here today. Started the morning out at 70-something degrees, and now we're at 48, and it's COLD! Winter is on it's way. The only good thing about winter is fires in the fire place, Christmas, and Spring coming on its' heels. I took the puppies out for a fall photo shoot. Mom keeps telling me that the puppies are more trouble than kids. Today, I believe her. They seriously would NOT cooperate. Refused to look at me and even come towards me. I should have taken treats out so I could bribe them, but apparently I'm not that smart. So, Mimi kept running away and Scooby was on the lookout for squirrels and I ended up laying in exactly the spot that Mimi likes to go potty. Fabulous. Looks like I'll be doing some laundry....ASAP!  And, I got about 2 good pictures. At least I got that!

The House, the House, the House is on Fire!

Or at least the kitchen. Chris set it on fire yesterday. He was busily doing some things around the house (cleaning bathrooms, etc.) when he got humgry for lunch and started making Mac & Cheese. Only, he turned on the worng burner, and the one he turned on had a plastic plate with leftover cookies from Chris' b-day party on it. Oops! He went straight from trying to blow it out to fire extinguisher; only he'd never run a fire extinguisher before, so it took him a while. He finally got it out, and even cleaned up the ash (well, most of it anyway).

So, where was I during Chris' escapade? I spent the weekend at an all weekend scrapbooking event at the store where I teach classes. I actually got a ton done. Very out of character for me. But, I was a bit prepared, so that helped a ton! I scrappybooked again today with my friend, Rachel. She's an awesome gal and puts up well with my occassional total memory loss and brain farts (like forgetting to invite her and her hubby to Bob's b-day dinner....duh!). I find I talk a bit too much when we're SBing together, but I still got quite a bit done for the short 4 hours I spent. Yay me! And, I so very much enjoy her company.

Finally!

I've done it. Well, actually, I've done a lot of things, but the main thing I've done in the past 24 hours is I finally went running again. It's been a month or more, and for some reason, I'd decided that I just couldn't do it any more. Who knows why, but I had it in my head I was incapable. Guess I proved myself wrong on that one! I went for 30 minutes. It was tough, but I did it. I've never been as steady a runner as I longed to be. I think I felt like a fraud. Like I'm way to slow to consider myself a runner. Really, I know it doesn't matter, but sometimes within the running community, we slowbies feel like the redheaded step-child - and trust me, I know what that feels like. But, I went today, and that was the first step...actually going. Next time we go to Europe, I want to be able to actually shop for clothes instead of fondling them longingly wishing they'd somehow fit. I know what to do, and I've been talking about it for awhile. "I want to start running again." "I'm going to start running again." But, talking really doesn't do any good, so finally, I got the feet to the pavement.  I think I also felt like a joke because I've gained weight, and who wants to see an overweight gal out there running? But, then again isn't a main point of running to get into and stay in shape? So, off I went. Oh, and to add insult to injury, I got passed by a guy like three times my age. Nice. Oh well. What are ya gonna do?

Other things I've done: after my run, I gave the babie a bath. Oh, how they hate the bathtime. I'm still suffering the backlash, the mommy hatred. Yesterday, I met with the Chair of the Tulsa Republican Party about volunteering and ended up volunteering Chris too. You love me, don't ya baby? I'm getting ready to leave for a weekend-long scrappin' retreat in the store where I teach classes. Should be fun. I don't really want to go, but I am. Maybe I'll actually get some stuff done! I also got to call the vet - again. Lily from next door, and she and Mimi ate the some of the See's candy that came home from Cali. At least the girl has good taste, right? No noticeable side affects, thank goodness. I was afraid Lily was gonna get sick and not be able to come over again!

Here's a pic of my and my Christopher from the Disneyland. Don't you like my "girl" ears? (that's the Penny Arcade behind us)

On a completely different front, today is Veteran's Day and the birthday of the Marines, and I'd like to say thank you to all those who serve our country. You and your families sacrifice so much to make sure the rest of us can go on with our every day lives. I am so proud of the work you do and the humility with which you do it. We can never know just what it is you go through. Thank you.

How Could I Forget?

I forgot to mention.....I forgot my camera at home! Can you believe it? I left my awesome Canon 20D with my outstanding wide angle lens at home on the floor waiting for me to pick it up and carry it off. AAAAARRRRGGGHHH!!! Needless to say, I was a little on the grumpy side when we got out of the car at the aeropuerto and there was no camera to be found. Thank goodness my mom brought her little Casio Exilim with her and she let me use it to my little heart's content. In fact, we quickly filled up the two memory cards she had and had to go buy a card reader so we could download all of the pictures to Chris' laptop before going to Disneyland. We are definitely going to have to get one of those little guys. For as small as they are, they take awesome pictures and sure come in handy!

Home Again

We're home again. I'm glad to be home. Long Beach was tough but fun. I'm glad we went. The funeral was.....I don't know how to describe it. The whole first day and a half seemed so surreal. Here I was with people I am related to that I haven't ever met or see very rarely. We went to the viewing. It seems so unnatural to me to be standing in a room with a dead person.  I know it's what a lot of people need, closure and all that, but it just gives me the heebie jeebies. There was, of course, an air of sadness around everything. For me, the sadness was more that my grandmother is gone, and I don't know her story. Also, I have all this family I don't know. I hate it. I mean, not just far off family, but also my cousins that I really don't know and I just hate it. I hope to change that.

We worked hard to make the trip fun too. We went to a couple of scrapbook stores, bought Sees candy, shopped at Nordstrom (of course), ate at In & Out Burger (um hello? YUM!!!), checked out the Queen Mary (but didn't pay the $25 per person to actually get on it), saw where we used to live, and attended the Disneyland. Really, it was a lot of fun. Disney was AWESOME! I've been there a bunch of times before, but this time was super fun. Chris hadn't been since he was 5 and didn't really remember it. He'd never been on a true roller coaster, so we started out with the Matterhorn. Love the abominable snowman! Chris had to take a few deep breaths as we started out, but in the end he loved it.

We tried Space Mountain, but it had a 45 min. wait. That seemed like a lot to me. So, we got a fastpass. That is the best system ever! We got an appointment to come back between 1:10 and 2:10 and only had to wait 10 min. They'd just finished redoing it, and it's definitely better than ever. We HAD to do the Big Thunder Mountain. Always my fave ride, and really still is. Chris agreed. Pretty darn good ride. He was really happy none of them go upside down. For some reason, that really isn't necessary at the Disney!

We couldn't go to Disney without Pirates of the Carribean! Love it. They have changed it a bit. No stars on the ceiling and barely any fireflies around, but still loved it. We also went on the Jungle Cruise. Easily, hands down the cheesiest ride ever, but love it! We've always gone on it and loved it. Thankfully, the boat driver's cheesy jokes have improved immensly over the years. We also rode the teacups...twice. I don't know that I'd actually been on the teacups before. But, we went once and Bob took pics of us and then I decided it would be cool to take pice while we were on the teacups, so we went on it again. I got an awesome pic of Chris.

We spent just enough time in the California Adventure for me to coax Chris onto the Tower of Terror. Turns out he'd never been on a freefall ride before. Huh. Who knew. WOW! It was an awesome ride. It even had me screaming and closing my eyes. I'd go on it again in a heartbeat. Chris, on the other hand, not so much. As we were getting off, I asked him if he'd do it again. He very quickly answered NO! I don't know why, but the whole thing struck me as funny. Maybe it was just the way he said it, but I was giggling at him for a while! Guess I'll be going that one alone from here on out!

Mom HAD to have a couple of frozen bananas. It really isn't a trip to Disney without frozen bananas. We had churros. Oh my yum. I don't understand why, but you can't find churros here. We used to have them with school lunches in Cali, and they're nowhere here. Oh well, that made the ones we had all the better. 

As we were leaving, Chris mentioned that the Disney folks do a fabulous job at getting you to part with your money. We bought a TON of stuff. Bob had a caricature done of me and Chris that is super cool. On top of that, we bought Christmas ornaments, princess stuff for Chris' neice, a hat for me and a santa hat for Chris, those cute little things that go on your radio antennae, postcards, a coffee mug, a wine bottle stopper, a mickey head bottle opener, and of course, ears with our names on them.  And then there was the food. Oh my, the food was expensive. We spent $16 on hotdogs at the California Adventure. In Disneyland, we spent over $20 for 3 slices of pizza and some bread.  Churros were $2.75 each, and I bought a cookie (that was the best oatmeal cookie on earth) for almost $3. No wonder you can get financing for your Disney vacation. You think I'm kidding? Check out www.disneyland.com and you'll find it.

I can easily say, I can't wait to go again. Next time, I think we'll go to DisneyWorld. Chris has never been there (I've been 3 times). Maybe for the WDW marathon in Jan. 2007?

The very last thing we did was go to Ikea. I LOVE IKEA!!!! We made it through the Ikea in 40 mins. And, that was with eating breakfast. It was the cheapest meal we had the whole trip. Under $7 for all three of us. Good thing, considering all the $$ we spent on food at the Disneyland! Actually, our very last stop on the way to the airport was the In & Out Burger. Oh my, are they good.

By the time we got to Denver for our 3 hour layover, I just wanted to be at home with the puppies. But the puppies had to stay at the kennel one more day. We got home after they closed. Yesterday was the best ever. We went and picked them up at 7 am. We were definitely more excited than they were. And, we now know why they suggested we have them give the babbies a bath. But, at $23 a piece, we said thanks, but no thanks. If I was sitting still yesterday, Mimi was on top of me. They are so sweet.

I'll try to get some pictures up soon, but they're all on Chris' laptop with him at the office. Grrrrrr.

I've had an Elvis sighting!

Oh, wait, no....that's just a Mimi! Mimi and Scooby got to wear costumes while they helped hand out the candy at Bob's house. Let me tell you, they hated every minute of it. Every stinking minute of it. Scooby was a bumble bee and Mimi was a unicorn (although her costume was missing the corn...uni or otherwise). Their costumes consisted of a jacket and helmet (think aviator cap with slits for dog ears), and the jacket was doable, but apparently the helmet was just too much. More than any self respecting dog should have to endure. I got dirty looks until well after the costumes had come off. But oh, they were so darn cute, it was totally, 100% worth it. And Mimi totally looked like Elvis when she was in just her jacket. Too stinkin' funny!

So, yesterday was Christopher's birthday. He's a ripe old 28 now. I the time between his b-day and mine because it means I'm only 1 year older than he is. Bob and I threw him a surprise  party, and it was a rousing success. He said he had a clue a couple of weeks ago, but by the time we got to Bob's house, he was totally clueless again. The look on his face was priceless. He was rendered speechless (which these days is less and less common). It was just a fabulous party. A  bunch of our friends came and we were both shocked that most of them brought presents. We quickly noticed a pattern to the presents....alcohol and chocolate. I guess everyone knows his love of the chocolate and recently flourishing beer snobbery (and love of a good glass of wine). In fact, the always awesome Rachel brought cold beer. German beer at that. Oh my, it was good. And, his friend Eric saved the day with the perfect present of Star Wars Episode III. Chris told me flat out starting the day before his birthday that it was what he wanted, but I got him Tiger Woods 2006 for the Xbox instead. Good move Eric & Alyssa!

All of a sudden the leaves have turned here. I don't know where it came from, but I didn't see it, and then BAM, day before yesterday, all of the trees were just gorgeous. Too bad I haven't gotten any really good pictures this year. We're having seriously high winds right now, and all of the leaves are blowing away. I guess there's always next year! I did get this good one at the condo next door to ours! I'm not a super big fan of fall. It means the short days of December and January are just around the corner. But, by the same token, I love fall. The colors are MY colors and I LOVE Thanksgiving. Love the food, love the shopping the morning after, love it all. Then, there's Christmas. We were at Target today and they already have out ALL of their Christmas stuff. Oh, how I love Christmas. I love the whole season. The amazing church services, the wrapping and giving of presents, the trimming of the tree, the apple cider, the love of family. Oh, I LOVE it! 

On a completely different note, we are currently puppyless, and it is totally killing us. We are flying out in the morning (well, in a couple of hours really) for LA (actually Long Beach). My grandmother died and the funeral is on Sat. It should be interesting. I haven't spoken to my father since I didn't invite him to the wedding. Could be very interesting. Plus, Chris has never met him. We had to take the puppies to the kennel today since we're flying out so early, and it was seriously painful. Chris was really worried about leaving them where we did (new place, long story), but they turned out to be super nice, maybe even better than the place we usually go. When were at home in the yard, we noticed one little puppy toy by itself outside. It looked so sad and lonely there by itself. But, the puppies have doggy daycare two of the days. Eight hours of playing outside with other dogs. They may not want to come home. I don't want to know what the bill is going to be. It was really rough on me taking the dogs in because they've been a supreme comfort to me the past week. I wasn't close to my grandmother; hardly knew her. But, it's always sad when someone dies, and then there's the trauma of not knowing what's going to happen with my father - what he's going to say, if anything. They've done lots of the cuddling. They are our babies.

After dropping the babies off, we stopped at Target to pick up an extra large bottle of the Excedrine Migraine (I think I may need it this weekend) and we noticed everything on sale 4 for $1 in the Dollar spot. WooHoo!!! Everything in the Dollar Spot was $.25!!! And, they had these cutie little stuffed animals (see pic of the lonely little toy). So, we stocked up.

Oh, I forgot to mention.....in an effort to brighten up our Californian un-adventure, we're going to Disney. It's Bob's b-day present to Chris. Tickets to Disneyland. He hasn't been since he was 5 and Bob and I haven't been for about four years....since we went after my grandfather's funeral. Are you noticing a trend here?