HEY EVERYONE!!

Hi there....it has been a LONG time since I last blogged (at least according to Freakin') so here goes...

A few changes have happened in the past few months, one of which is that Anthostein has moved out. He decided he wants to be a chef and is now a student at The International Culinary School at the Art Institute of The Inland Empire (WOW that's a mouthful!). Anyway, he lives at the college housing. He will be there for 3 years and will have a masters degree when he finishes.

Another change is that Princess Shell and her girlfriend Sassafras have moved in. They ran into some financial difficulty and lost their apartment, and so of course we told them to come home. Couldn't have them out on the streets, after all.

My friend Freakin' is no longer single. That's right ladies...you missed out, now stop your crying! Anyway, his girlfriend has been renamed Pufferfish(yeah I changed it again...deal with it Freakin') and she has the most adorable baby girl codenamed Panda.

As of this Monday,RattChuk will be gainfully employed at Valle Vista Hardware. YAY! It's her first job and she's excited. That will pass soon enough....

Ed and I are doing ok. He is still on nights and I'm on days, so we do have THAT going for us...We have managed to take a couple of weekend trips and do try to spend as much time together as possible during the week......

That's about all I can think of for now...so good night....

ZION

As I am typing this little blog, I am sitting in a cabin in Zion, Utah. It is SO beautiful here! A little background on how I came to this place is needed, so here goes.....

My OLDER sister Sue (did I mention she was older than me? ) and 2 of her friends were going to come up here and do some hiking for like a week and then Sue decided that it would be a blast to get as many members of our family here as possible. SO..Myself, Ed, Rattchuk, Freakin, my sister Melissa, her 4 kids, my sister Beckatang, my brother John, my sister Mary and her husband and grand daughter all converged on this wonderous spot.

It has been amazing. Family fun, hiking, good food, good times, beautiful scenery (pics to come later) . But the best part for me was the chance to spend time with the brother and sisters. We don't seem to see each other as much as we would like, so it was pretty awesome!

I think everyone will agree that this was a great time, especially when John emptied his ice chest on Sue, and then spent the rest of the day/evening trying to convince her it was all Beckatanag's idea!

4th of July at the Park

The side of a very cool cake that we got for the 4th.

A watermelon cake...complete with ants for the 4th!

Ed at the park on the 4th.

Rattchuk's "tattoo"

The elusive Princess Shell at the park

Rattchuk

Freakin. He really hates having his picture taken.

Anthostein at the park

Little Bit at the park.

Conversations with Lucius

Ok, so I believe that my 4 year old grandson Lucius is quite possibly one of the funniest people that I have met in a long time. Let me recount a couple of recent conversations with him.....

On the way to the zoo Lu and I were in the back seat and I had been irritating Bug (can't help it..it's fun for me) and she had told me that I was being dumb and then I turn to Lu and say:

Me: Man. She sure is grumpy, isn't she?

Lu: Yup.

Me: I wonder why she's so grumpy , Lu?

At this point, he turns to me and says:
"Look, I'm a pretty nice guy...I have NO idea why SHE'S so grumpy."


#2
After the Zoo, we went to the Gaslamp Quarter for lunch. While we were waiting for the food, the following conversation takes place:

Me: So, Lu, what was your favorite animal at the Zoo?

Lu: Well, Grandma, I like the Zebras. OH, but we didn't go see them, now did we?

Just a bit of background...he never once mentioned wanting to see Zebras or even that he liked zebras all day at the Zoo.

#3

While in the pool with Bug, Lu had asked about playing with various pool toys, only to be told by Bug that they had either been chewed by the dogs, or were dirty and had to be cleaned first. So apparently my darling Grandson sighed and walked away from Bug and said:

"What IS this crap?"

I Love that boy!!!!






Beckatang!

Zoo Time w/The Girls

Bug on the "Sky Buckets"

Nitoe and Lucius in a moment of love.....

Lucius and a friend

On the way to the zoo

Nitoe, Bug and Lucius at the zoo....what a great day we had!

Tundra Summer

Ok, so summer is here on the Tundra and that means HEAT. We have been spending a fair amount of time at Bug's in her pool...but the heat is still pretty oppressive.

Not a whole lot going on here...as you can see by the photos..my flooring is DONE!!! YAY!! Anthostein and Ed did an AMAZING job and it looks FAB-U -LOUS!!! I really really really really loves it!

Been working a lot (even doing OT..I know, right!) and trying to help out here..so not a whole lot of fun..we did manage a quick trip to SD, and I took a trip to the SD Zoo with my favorite lebanese couple and grandson(That will be in a blog on it's own..my grandson is HILARIOUS!)..pictures to come later(saved em to the lap top and I'm too hot and lazy to mess with that now)

Freakin cut his hair and shaved his beard and now looks 12, and Shila the Wonderdog had to get 14 staples and wear a cone for 12 days cuz some rude dog decided to bite her. She's all better now, but she was unhappy for a while...and I learned that if I wrap her pills up in sandwich meat, she'll eat them just fine!

That's all for now...what's up with YOU?









Beckatang!

Pool time!

Bug at rest...


Happy Rattchuk!

Bug attacking me...not sure why...


Anthostein and Lucious

Bug and Anthostein...

FLOOR!!!!!

My floor...isn't it beautiful?

Putting in the last piece!

LAST PIECE!!!

The floor with the wall color....I loves it!

Anthostein working on my flooring...what a good son!

Hey Everybody!!!!!!

So Hello again from the Tundra! I haven't posted in awhile because, like my friend Himbo, I have been too busy! Let's see...first there was Prom, then Pass and Review(it's an ROTC thing) , then ROTC Senior Picnic, then more dress and shoe shopping (YAY), then Senior Awards night, then Graduation, then Grad Nite.....I am worn out. Good thing I took extra days off from work.

Also somewhere in there, I had a birthday, got an iPhone(Thanks Ed!) and a pair of Versace sunglasses (thanks Bug and Nitoe!) , and took our youngest(Rattchuk herself) to sign up for the Air Force Reserves. We also pretty much finished the painting and the fireplace is 95% tiled. What a busy busy girl I've been!

I will be posting pictures shortly......oh yeah...I almost forgot! I will be getting a memorial tattoo for my Mom on calf on Monday. It will be my first....

Graduation Pics

Rattchuk in her Graduation dress.

Little Bit Graduating


Rattchuk Graduating (and dancing)



Having fun before Senior Awards

Rattchuk's Prom part 2

Self portrait......aka "myspace shot"


Rattchuk and her date


Figuring out the corsage


Being silly!

Rattchuk's Prom

So, following are some of the pictures of Rattchuk's Senior Prom.

The Hair



Looking Beautiful
She had a good time, and really that's all that matters. I will be posting more pictures on part two!

Prom Pics Part 1

Anthostein and Little Bit


My favorite picture cuz they are both smiling!



Little Bit and Katie
Katie

Little Bit (notice the jewelery)

Isn't she pretty?

THE DRESS!!!!

Prom Drama

So today was/is Prom. We did finally find the shoes ( I TOLD you I would be victorious) only to have them stolen, yes STOLEN, by some heinous cow at the High School. Bree had worn them to school to get them broken in and so forth, and when she took them off in Theater for her dress rehearsal, some sorry excuse for a human stole her prom shoes. So, it was back to the Shops at Dos Lagos for Ed and I to get the absolute LAST pair in that color and size. (We actually bought the display shoe!)

After that, there were still some last minute drama involving Marge (who is back on the road again!) and weather she would be able to make it there and back ok. Also a couple of last minute items to fix/aquire for her.

And then, when all THAT was done, we still had to (and by we I of course mean ME) coordinate the nail and hair appointments. Now, you would think this would be a simple matter of making 2 appointments for each thing...wrong. See, RattChuk was able to get her nails done on Friday, but Little Bit could not because she had a play thing to do. SO...RattChuk had her nails done on Friday, and Little Bit had to get hers done on Saturday (prom day)

Now I know that does not seem to be such a big deal, but they BOTH also had to get their hair done that morning at a Salon about an hour away. This really put us in a time crunch. See, RattChuk's date decided that he wanted to pick her up at 330 PM. The hair was to be done at 10 and 1115 respectively. Since beauty takes time, this not only caused a time crunch (factoring in drive time) but Little Bit had a 2PM nail appointment in Hemet. So, you see my dilemma.

ANYWAY...we got their hair done, and they both looked truly beautiful, (Amber rocks!) and left the Salon at 1205 pm, putting us back into Hemet at a little before 1 pm. Little Bit needed to go to her Mom's house to get some tanning stuff on her back to even out her tan line (I don't know...) and to check on the last minute alterations of her and Katie's dresses.(As if we needed more stress...right?) We got to the Nail Salon at 145 and Anh (my FAVORITE nail tech EVER!) got us in early. Little Bit got her nails done, and we got home in time for RattChuk to get ready and get picked up by 4. Whew...one down...one to go......

Now, did I mention that Anthostein had to work today? Well...he did. He went to work with Ed as they both work on the same base and didnt even get home until 430-445..anyway I digress...SO, because the dresses were still being altered, and Little Bit informed me that she and Anthostein still had to pick up Katie and her date, all this after he got home and got ready and that they had to take Katies dress to her and she had to get ready, I suggested that Katie come over here and get dressed, as Little Bit's mom was bringing BOTH dresses here. Well, of course that meant that I had to go pick up Katie. Which I did. The girls were doing make up and Katies hair when the guys got home. (Ed and the boy that is) So when Anthostein got home, he went straight into the shower and took all of his stuff into the bathroom to get ready. He was to wear his Class A uniform, which Ed got dry cleaned for him on base.

We got the girls in my room/bathroom getting ready, the dresses arriving, and Anthostein getting dressed in the bathroom. Now, Anthostein was not allowed to see the dress until it was on her and she was completely ready (her rules, not mine) When Anthostein put the pants on for his uniform, he realized they were not his. Yep. the dry cleaner had given us a pair that were 2 sizes too small. I have never seen my son so close to abject despair in all my life. I told him "I can fix this" and proceeded to have him get dressed and we went Suit Jacket shopping.

We found one, and on the way back to the house, I picked up Katie's date and brought him here. Ed and Anthostein happen to be about he same size, so Anthostein wore the suit jacket, Ed's slacks, Ed's shirt (PERFECT color match for Little Bit's dress btw..) and Ed's dress shoes. He did wear his own tie...and underwear....

And then after pictures (which I will post) they were finally off to prom.....

I just hope they have an AMAZING night.....I'm tired.....

Renovation Update!!!

Following are updated pictures of the work we did today in my dining room area. I really like the color. It's called "worn path" and I think it looks wonderful! The ceiling is done in a off white. The trim will be a darker color. There is an end in sight! Yay!!!!!!!!



Looking into the dining room from the living room: Dining room wall:

The wall and ceiling together. We will be putting crown molding in a darker color.

More pics when that goes up!:

(Beckatang!)

From my sister

The following was taken from my family web site. It was a posting from my sister. She is the Director of the Animal Shelter. (No counties mentioned) Here is the post:

I have the story behind the worlds dumbest person. Are you ready?A women comes to the front counter with a 2 week old kitten and tells staff she has been biten by this cat, they ask how and proceed to do an offical bite report. She tells them how she is a new mother, little baby in stroller. She was in her back yard, heard this kitten crying and went over to it, it looked like it was hungry, since she is breast feeding her own child she thought " I can feed this one too". Ok, so maybe no one has ever told her kittens have teeth when humans don't, not sure. I did have a few guys volunteering to do the skin break verification, but with a story like that, none needed. I have heard many many stories that have instilled in me the fact that humanes are STUPID, but this is the winner.

Enjoy!

Weekend Happenings

Ok. So, We went Prom dress shopping this past weekend. By we I mean, Me, Ed, Anthostein, Little Bit, Rattchuk and Freakin. Yes, all of us went. I was glad that I was able to persuade Freakin to go. We all stayed at one of our Hotels in the area and good times was had by all.

We found the perfect dress, the necklace and earrings. All that is left is the shoes. Still having a bit of trouble finding them. But never fear...I will be victorious!

While at the Ontario Mills Mall, we had dinner at The Rainforest Cafe. I have to say that the waitress was espically wonderous. She kept up with all 6 of us and didn't even bat an eye when Little Bit spilled a drink into the appetizer plate.(BTW...that was the second time that day she knocked over liquid in the direction of Ed...hmmmm....suspicious...) Just brought us napkins and a new platter and a new drink. This made us all happy and renewed our faith in waitresses cuz that morning on the way to Ontario, we had the opposite type of waitress. She even had the nerve to argue with me. Stupid cow.

On Sunday evening we went over to Bug and Nitoe's for dinner. Bug prepared a birthday feast extravaganza for me. She made some of the best ribs I have had in a while, mashed potatoes and corn on the cob. They also got me a Birthday cake that was pretty and decorated on the outside and fudgy goodness on the inside. After dinner, we played Uno and were reminded just how competeitive we all are. Wow! Good times.

Anyway...the search for the shoes begins....

Construction Update

Ok, so this weekend we got back on track with the luxurification process at the house. Thanks to help from Freakin, Rattchuk,Anthostein and Ed, we got a LOT done. I now have a living room that is all drywalled, mudded , taped, sanded and primer painted. AMAZING diffrerence....

After all of our hard work...one of the windows in the living room and the wall.....

Another finished corner.....

My two guys hard at work...Ed and Freakin...

Freakin sanding his little fingers off!!!

Ed amongst the dust

All in all...a very productive and busy weekend. But now all that is left to do is a second primer coat, then the color, then the flooring and the fireplce. There is an end in sight!!!! Whoo Hoooo!!!