2008

Well, here we go... the last post of 2008. Can you believe it? What a year! I'm trying to think back - trying to remember everything that happened (without reading my previous blogs!! LOL)
January - I started 2008 in Mazatlan with Momma Patty. It was our first New Year without my Dad. January had David turn 14. We took him to his first NHL game. Well, it was mine too, but his very first hockey game. Alex also went to live with his dad in January. Can't forget about the Hannah concert!!
February - Mom hurt her back in February and I flew up to Seattle for a few days to help take care of her. This was also the month when my friend and former coworker passed away. Lacy - you are a wonderful soul.
March - This was a mellow month. My new friend Nory had to go back to Puerto Rico and I still miss her a lot.
April - I turned the big 3-5! Arynn came and spent a week with us for her Spring Break. David was playing football for a crappy coach. My mom and cousin came out for my bday. Oh, and I got stung by my first bee! Sadly, our cat Foogie passed away in April. He was 16 years old.
May - This marked the 1 year anniversary of my daddy's passing. I went to Mazatlan and Steve also flew down and stayed for a couple of days. Alex also came home for Mother's day weekend. It was so good to see him.
June - My mom and Mike came down to spend a week here for her 60th birthday. They bought Feliz, an American Eskimo. I also flew out to Virginia to pick up our new baby, Prospero. We also went to the family reunion in LA the end of June. That was a great experience and I can't wait until next year.
July - Monsoons! I also had a weekend in Vegas. Took the boys to get Alex's stuff and I spent a couple days on base. Saw my friend Jamie and met his wife. Love new friends!! I also went broke getting David ready for high school in July. Steve and I celebrated our 1st and 2nd 1 year anniversary! Additionally, had to get the puppies their vaccinations. July was a no money month.
August - This didn't start out well. Driving David to his first day of HS, we were in a car accident. :( Totally sucked. David had an otherwise great start to HS and joined the Freshman football team. We had more massive monsoons that did some damage in the Valley. My brother-in-law was in a bad motorcycle accident. And Steve's friend and former boss John DeVault passed away. I was glad when August ended.
September - My daddy would have been 69 on the 1st. Nana celebrated 84. My car's transmission went out costing us $2000. Called the cops on my kids for being stupid and they were grounded for a looooong time. Another month I was happy to see end. Although, Steve and I celebrated our 3rd 1 year anniversary.
October - Went to Frankfurt, Germany! It was awesome!!! Steve then went on to India and Malaysia after Germany. My friend Laura came to visit for a weekend. David had his first Homecoming!
November - We took back the White House! Obama is our next president!! Alex turned 13!!!13!!!! I now have 2 teens in the house. Nana came for Thanksgiving.
December - Steve turned the big 4-8! Flew to Chautauqua and got to meet my sister-in-law FINALLY! Met her hubby and all but one of her kids. I met Nick, Aaron, Leslie and Angel. Only BJ wasn't there. Spent Christmas with John and Denise. Steve was back in Chautauqua and the boys were in Vegas!
Anyway - I wish you all a very happy New Year! I am very ready to start 2009!

Merry Christmas

I hope everyone has a wonderful and safe holiday.

Slow day

I have done my work, cleaned up some empty cubes, have no schoolwork to do since class ended yesterday, and there is maybe 15 people here. I'm feeling blah. If I didn't have to clock in and out now I would probably head home. I mean really.... ah well. I will be in here at work tomorrow too. Oh yah! LOL
Steve leaves tomorrow evening. He'll be gone for about a week. The boys made it safely to Vegas. About 6 hours before they arrived, their stepmom had a baby girl. I will be going to John and Denise's for Christmas dinner. Then I'll enjoy doing nothing for a few days.
So while I was in NY, Steve volunteered me to do the websites for Leslie and her band and Aaron. Plus I am still working on Jane's too. I am excited!! :) I just need to get me a laptop that I can use strictly for the web sites. Oh, and I will do Steve's as well. YAY!
On a side note, I think Aaron should come out with some type of comedy album. That guy is hilarious! He takes after his Uncle Steve and Grampa Doug. The three of them could put on one heck of a show!!
Okay, going to go look for something to do! Only another hour and I can go home!

pix from chautauqua

here we go!

Me & Doug


Aaron & me


Pretty trees


Lake Chautauqua


Leslie, me, Mike, & Jane


Nick, me, & Aaron


Honey & me

It's cold!

Beautiful but cold! When we went to bed last night, Friday night, it was 16 degrees! And that was at like 11:00pm!
Anyway, it's been fun - with the exception of our delay in Newark. We were supposed to leave Newark at like 4:00pm - we didn't leave until 7:30 or maybe a bit later. Not a very nice city! Well, at least not at the airport.
So I got to finally meet Jane last night! Met her hubby (Greg), Leslie, and Mike (Leslie's hubby) this morning. And Nick and Aaron arrived this evening. What a great family! I'll post pictures when I get back to Phoenix.
We leave tomorrow - our flight leaves about 3:00pm. Wish we had more time, but that is the way it goes.

22 more days - are you ready?

Well, me neither! Oh well.
Nana made it home safely from her trip her to Phoenix. It was quiet as Steve and I still had to work a majority of her visit and the boys had school. We did take her to the zoo lights (forgot my camera though!) and also to the arboretum out in Superior, AZ. Here are some pictures from her visit, the arboretum, and when Duffy, his mom, and his sister were visiting.

A pretty rose



Can you see the rodent in the rock?



Alex & Nana at arboretum



Alex & Nana



Andrew, Alex, David, Nana



Not sure why Angel is getting the glare!



Group hug - all love Mommy Bonnie

Duffy just moved up to Alaska to be with him mom for a bit. Glad David got to spend some time up in Eagar with him and Duffy's dad and family. Then he spent some time with Bonnie over Thanksgiving day weekend as she was here in town visiting. It was great to finally meet her!!

Steve and I are getting ready for our trip to Buffalo next week. Only a weekend but it will be fun. Looking forward to seeing Dad & Linda again and meeting Jane and Greg for the first time. :D YAY! Hopefully it will snow a little bit so I can play, but not too much!!! Don't need to get stuck there! LOL I'm working on Jane's present right now. I hope she likes it. I'll do something for Dad & Linda and send to them for Christmas. I am going to make everyone's presents this year!

Enjoy your day!

Rain, rain go away

It is raining today!!!!! And it is cold!!!!!!

Nana made it safely on Monday night! I wish I wasn't working so I could spend some time with her... :(

The concert was cancelled Friday night. Nick got sick and was in the hospital in LA. He is doing better though!

Guess that is about it for now!

A better day....

So far so good! YAY! It is Wednesday! Free lunch at work today. Woo hoo!!

I haven't posted pictures in a while. So here are a couple for your viewing pleasure! LOL


Ariel watching TV



Prospero plopped on top of me and fell asleep

What do you think of my new hair color?

Some days.....

.... I just want to scream! And today is one of them! It's like there is some sort of conspiracy to try and piss me off today! GRRRRRR!

Going home tonight and going straight to bed. Yep, yep, yep!

What a week!!

So much has happened since my last post!

Last Wednesday a dog belonging to one of our neighbors got hit by a car. It was very sad. The daughter who is about Alex's age saw it happen. I guess it had gotten hit twice. Poor thing. It didn't look good.
Thursday morning I woke up and was a bit sore. I worked from Sky Harbor on Thursday. As the day progressed my back got worse and worse. I think it was the different chair and ergonomic configuration. Plus I was stuck at the desk for longer periods of time.
Friday I woke up and couldn't move! And had a headache and felt pukey. I called in sick and then called to get in to see my doctor. He said my back was very, very tight. He gave me Vicodin and Robaxin. Me no likey the Robaxin. It made me sick, sick, sick!!!!!!
Also on Friday Margie and Mike came and picked up David to take him to Eagar for the weekend. I drove up there on Sunday to pick him up. What a beautiful area!! Long drive though! Especially when you are not feeling well!! ;(
Steve and I are going to NY the weekend of December 12. Nick and Jane will be there. I finally get to meet my sister-in-law!!!! I am so excited!! Plus this way I can also spend some time with Doug and Linda since I won't be back there for Christmas.
The Backstreet Boys concert is this Friday. Looking forward to that too! I know Nick has tickets aside for us but I am not sure where we are sitting. Should be a lot of fun! Been wanting to see BSB for years!! Long before I even knew my hubby! LOL
Okay, the "boys" are watching the Buffalo game and giving me a headache. Gonna go look for that Vicodin. hehehe

Two for Tuesday

Feeling up and down today. Don't know why really. I think some of it may be because my Grandma was taken to a home today. I know it is for the best. My Aunt Christine has been taking care of her. She herself is in her 70s. Just made me miss my Dad too I think. There are only three of the six left - Aunt Christine, Uncle Hurshel and Aunt Betty. Uncle Hurshel isn't doing well. He didn't look good when I saw him at the family reunion. Sometimes it is hard to realize that everyone has to pass eventually. I think back and it's like "Wow... when did it all happen?" Dad, Grampa Charlie, Grandad, Uncle Ned, Aunt Mary, Uncle Dicky, Jamie, Aunt Nancy, Gerianne, Heather, Aunt Mildred..... some lived a good life, some were taken too early....
Anyway - had lunch today with BIL John. That was cool! It was great to see him. He's looking really good. Chatted about all kinds of stuff. The Backstreet Boys are in town next week. We will go to the concert. Trying to get some time with Nick too so he and Steve can do some catching up.
This is my last week of this class - Organizational Behavior and Management. I have really enjoyed it. My next class - The Administrative Process - starts on the 18th. When that one is done I am off for break, starting my next class on January 6.

WE DID IT!!!

OH MY GOD!! WE DID IT!! WE TOOK BACK OUR COUNTRY!! I AM SO EXCITED!! WAY TO GO PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA!!!!

VOTE

Today is the day!! If you haven't already voted - GO VOTE!!!!!!

November already?

November - almost through 2008 already. What a year it has been. Actually, the last few years have been definitely life changing. Good and bad. Tuesday we elect our next president of the United States. I hope so much that it is not McCain. Let's put it this way, I would vote for BUSH again before McCain. The man is horrible!
Anyway, I have been pretty lazy today. Well, sorta. I did my school stuff and Steve's expense report. Then I was lazy! :) Been playing on MySpace and Facebook and chatting with Stephanie!
So, I may be totally crazy, but I am seriously considering going to Law School after I am done with my Bachelor degree. We'll see how I feel the end of next year. I know that Law School will take a lot more time and I'm not sure I would have the time to put into it. But it doesn't hurt to look into it, right? ASU has a good program, so I have been investigating.
Okay, back to playing around! hehehe

Only a few more days!

Tuesday is election day!! Has everyone who votes early sent in their ballots? I sent mine in last week and Steve got his in earlier this week since he was out of the country. I have my fingers crossed that this election we will take back the White House!


I have to admit that I kinda miss being involved in the election this year. I had so much fun in the 2004 election! I was really into it - I was out protesting, knocking on doors, making phone calls... even was a delegate for John Kerry. I declined going all the way to the convention though. I wish I would have had the time and money to go. Maybe the next election I will! And David will be old enough to vote for the 2012 president! Can you believe it???

Also - HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!! I am dressed like a pirate today at work. No one else dresed up so I am all alone. :( Oh well... like I care! LOL I dare to be different!!

Woo hoo! Go Pride!

So, in case the title doesn't give it away - the Freshman Pride won their last game. It was against Basha and the score was 42 to 20. It was an excellent game by both teams! The season is over and I have to admit I am kinda sad! They ended with a 6 - 3 record - not too shabby!! :D The Freshman Football Banquet is on Wednesday, November 12.

Halloween is tomorrow! I am dressing up again this year. We will have a little all-day snack/potluck thing here at work. Usually Fridays are Football Fridays, so I threw in a little of Halloween too. Might as well do both, and those that aren't comfortable coming to work in a costume can still dress in their team's jersey or colors! Aileen and Gary are gonna come hang with us tomorrow night. That will be cool! I haven't seen them in a long time. Aileen was April and Gary was January!

Welcome to Sunday

Honey is home! YAY! He's doing good. Still jet-lagged, but getting better each day. I think I am sick. My tongue and throat hurt. :( Yesterday I slept until noon!! We also went and saw Steven play his football game yesterday. They won! YAY! It was the other team's Homecoming though. Felt kinda bad. Then Bob, Jackie, and Steven came over for a bit of dinner before they drove back to Tucson.
Today will be work and school work. Woo hoo! LOL
Off to watch a movie with honey before the work begins.
Byeeeeeeee!

Woo hoo!!!

Almost there!

Steve comes home today!!

Something to make me smile cuz yesterday really wasn't a good day! It wasn't a horrible day, just made me cranky. But I'll start with the good stuff!!
My honey called me about 20 minutes ago and was just getting off of the plane in San Fran! YAY!! He gets into Phoenix at 12:30. I will take him home and then will come back to work. I would have liked to work from home this afternoon but I just have way too much to do that I need to be in the office.
Before I go into my little rampage, I want to thank Jackie for taking my call at 9:00 last night to hear me whine!
So, I got into work a bit later than I wanted to yesterday, but that is okay. I have been very slammed, but again, that is okay. After I got out of staff meeting, I had some angry calls from hubby because he couldn't get a hold of me. In his defense, he was in China, had no sleep, and no idea what day or time it was for me. But it still made me sad. Then I had to walk to the badge shop. Usually I take the shuttle, especially with my knee. But with the cuts, they are down to 1 shuttle and we didn't have time to wait. So we walked there and back. Within about 30 minutes my back and knee both went crazy! I was in soooo much pain! Anyway, I leave work at 3:00 to go to physical therapy. That helped me feel better! Then it was off to go home, get Alex, and go to David's football game against Corona Del Sol.
This is where I start to get REALLY angry!
Aside from David not being able to play (GGGRRRRRRRRR) it was a nasty game. The good news is that Mountain Pointe won and they played an awesome game! The bad news is that the Corona team has got to be the nastiest, rudest, most disrespectful team I have seen. Not only in the Freshman games I have been too, but also including when the boys played in NYS. They resorted to punching and kicking our team. When we had one guy go down on a play, the Corona players WALKED right over him. Then they didn't even take a knee! When our second player went down, they again did not take a knee. Even when one of their OWN went down, only part of the team on the field took a knee. Of course, the PRIDE took a knee on all three. There was one play that they (Corona) were penalized on - pass interference. The guy ran right up and just shoved our player down.. didn't even try to get the ball, just wanted to push him down. On the last play of the game when the whistle blew, instead of going for the ball, they started kicking and punching our line! Since there was only a few seconds left, the refs let the clock run and told our line that it would be taken care of. But the PRIDE won the game with a score of 30 - 14. When I got home I sent an angry email to the staff members in charge of athletics.
Oh and that is another thing! Kinda ironic too if you ask me. But I was at PT and this guy was talking about how his son was part of the Corona varsity football team and was given steroids from others on the team. He graduated a few years ago. Nice - ain't it?
Okay, that is all for now. I'm chatting with my officiating friend. I want his opinion on last night.

Homecoming

Can you believe that I have a baby old enough to go to Homecoming???? Last night was the game. Unfortunately, Mountain Pointe lost. :( Tonight is the dance. David is going with a couple of guy friends. I remember my first Homecoming dance... sigh!

Therapy Thursday

I only need a little therapy today. I am missing Steve... sigh... He made it to Kuala Lumpur safely. He was so excited when I talked to him. His hotel is right next to the Patronus Towers and he can see them out of his room! Man I wish I was with him!! He is now 15 hours ahead of me though... One more week and he's home!
David won his football game yesterday! They beat Pinnacle High School 20 - 7. They actually played good football yesterday! Alex had me cracking up during the game. He became obsessed with the scoreboard because usually there is a little football next to the score of the team who has possession. Well, at one point both balls were lit up and he sat there and stared at it. Then all of a sudden he gasps "They're gone!!" He was just starting at it saying "When will they come back?" It was sooo funny! Then they both came back on and then the one went out so it was correct again and he goes "They winked!" LMAO It was too funny!
Went to the doctor yesterday. He wants me to do more physical therapy. It was working really well, but I hate the time it takes out of my day! The dentist was okay. I hate the dentist... in general, not this one specifically. I have to have a crown done in my one tooth in the very top back of my mouth. ugh! What I thought was a filling that fell out was actually my tooth that broke. :( WAH!
Other than that, all is good. The Backstreet Boys are coming to town next month. Tickets go on sale next week. Steve and I are going to double date with Jackie and Bob! Steve told me to call Jane too to see about getting backstage. So, I shall give her a call later. Feels kinda weird to ask her though...not sure about that. But I know Steve would like to see Nick again.
Okay - I gotta go hunt down my coworker who was supposed to go to lunch with me. He told me 5 minutes about 40 minutes ago and I am hungry!

Feeling human

I think I am mostly over the jet lag. I actually got some sleep last night. I am missing my hubby though. :( He leaves Mumbai in the morning - 11:45 am his time, which is 11:15 pm tonight my time. Then he is off to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. He is going all the way around the world!!!! Kuala Lumpur will be 15 hours ahead of me... ugh!
I go to the doctor today for a follow-up on my accident. My knee is still bugging the heck out of me. We'll see if he wants me to do more PT. I have mixed emotions on that. It was helping, but it takes so much time out of my days and week!!
I started my next class yesterday - Organizational Behavior and Management. It is the same instructor that I had for my Criminology class. She was good!
I am still playing catch-up at work. Not only did I have a week's worth of stuff to do but the SAP admin was laid off while I was gone! :( She was a contractor but she was really good! I wish she or Terrie would come back. Hopefully if the economy gets better, they can hire Mary back!! Since I know Terrie is loving MN.
Laura comes down this weekend. And my friend Jackie is coming up from Tuscon I think. David has Homecoming this weekend too! AHHHHH! LOL
Okay, back to work!

A few pix of Germany

I'll only post a few, but will post them in order. The only day I didn't take pictures was on my last day, Saturday.


Sunday, October 5
View from hotel room


Cool bathtub



Monday, October 6
Walking around hotel






Tuesday, October 7
Lazy Day





Wednesday, October 8
Tour of Frankfurt







Thursday, October 9
Our day on the Rhine











Friday, October 10
Roman Square and the Mein (I think that is how it is spelled)

I'm baaaaack

Howdy! I'm back! I am so very tired!! I will write more later! But it was a great trip. And Steve made it to Mumbai!

hehehehe

Wow - this German wine is something else.... mmmmmmm hmmmmmm!

So I went down for a late lunch and decided to order Weiner Schnitzel. Guess what?! It ain't a hotdog! Couldn't figure out why they would charge 18 Euro for a hotdog until it arrived. I pulled out my German dictionary after it arrived and found out that Weiner Schnitzel means breaded veal! LOL Boy was it goooood! The waitress in the lounge was very nice and has been helping me with my German the last couple of days. Very cool!! Steve found me while I was eating and I showed him what I wanted to do tomorrow. Then I decided that I would do that with him Thursday. So tomorrow I am doing a 2 hour city tour of Frankfurt. On Thursday we are doing an all day trip down the Rhine! How cool is that?? Friday we will rent a car and go cruising around... and I want to do some shopping! I don't get paid until Friday though! UGH!
Okay, off to relax some more. I will go down to the pool a bit later!! :) YAY ME!!

Hi Again!

Not much new to report. Yesterday was lazy. We walked around outside the hotel. Steve had to do his social thing for the conference last night, so I dressed up and went to dinner by myself. :) I had more yummy food and the best wines. I was a little tipsy when I got back to the room and spent about 90 Euros just on me! hehe
I haven't done anything yet today. I didn't sleep well last night (probably all the wine). I just got up not too long ago. I had breakfast delivered this morning after Steve left - about 7am. I'll go out this afternoon. Will maybe take a city tour. :)
I have tried posting pix but this connection is so slow that it won't work. I will keep trying though!

Hello from Germany

I got in yesterday, Sunday, at about 9:30 am. We were early! I waited around for Steve before I finally asked someone about their flight. Come to find out that in Frankfurt international flights come into two different terminals. And we arrived in different terminals. I hopped the shuttle and finally found Steve. (He had me paged too... ) We got to the hotel and it is sooo beautiful. Today has been pretty much lazy. Had breakfast delivered (Nutella on toast.. YUM!). Steve will be going down to register for his conference here in a bit. it is 1 in the afternoon. Dinner last night was so totally yummers. And the wine....ooooh yah! I will venture out somewhere tomorrow. Don't know where yet.
Not sure if my updates will be daily. The connection is pretty slow here in the room and I have to use Steve's computer because they charge a lot for internet access. 120 Euro for a week! BTW - my $240 dollars turned into 150,22 Euro. The spa will have to wait until Friday. :) hehe
My next post I will have some pictures hopefully. Again, using Steve's puter so not sure how much I can download onto his.. LOL If I don't post pix I will do so when I return! (if I return..... )

In the morning

I head out to Germany! Amy is taking us to the airport! I am so excited! I will try to post every day that I am there, but no promises! i don't get in until Sunday morning Germany time. YAY! Woo hoo!! Party!!!!! Vacation!!!!! Ahhhhhhh...... :)

A pinch and a punch.....

....for the first of the month, and no returns! Yah, David got me this morning. Then I got Alex. hehe

I'm feeling a bit better today but still a tad overwhelmed. I feel like I have too much to do and not enough time to do it. Things with Steve seem to be better today too.

Tonight is David's football game against Desert Vista High School. This is their biggest rival. He's excited. Go PRIDE!

Mom comes tomorrow! YAY! Then we leave on Saturday morning. I am so excited!! Germany! Wow! Couldn't get a hold of Nussi. Will try Tanja again before I go. I had a dream about her last night. :)

I give up

I do, I just give up.

To top off the "excitement" of last week, my car lost the transmission while I was driving it on Saturday. So Tempe PD showed up, I had to have it towed, and it's going to cost almost $2100. Have no idea really how I am going to pay for it, although Steve said he could. And that is another thing. We got into a huge fight on Sunday that hasn't resolved yet. And I am totally heartbroken about it! So yesterday I only worked about 6 hours because in the morning I had to go get a rental car, at $40 a day before all the other charges! Then I had physical therapy at 430, which I had rescheduled from Friday because I think I had a touch of food poisoning. Then this morning I go into my bank account and that is all screwed up! Two different checks posted twice to my account. Plus I had about $300 on hold that made no sense to me. Well, come to find out the rental car company put a hold on my account and just forgot to tell me! Then I called Midas to see if they had a date for when my car might be done and they said "oh, did you approve the work?" I said "yah! yesterday!!" "oops!" yah, ooops my ass! So now they will have my car until Thursday afternoon at the earliest, which means another $90 for the damn rental car. Which pretty much means I will have NO spending money for Germany now.

On a brighter note, here are a few pix!

Misty and Odo snuggling


Alex and Ariel snuggling


David in his away jersey, no pads obviously


Prospero saying "Excuse me?"


Steve and Ariel


Okay, back to work...