A quick year in review

The year started out with Steve and I having the honor of attending the inauguration of President Barack Obama. This was an experience that I will never forget! David turned 15 on the 24th of January and the studying for a permit commenced.
March was a busy month. I became football coach for Alex’s team, Mad Dogs. It was a learning experience for all of us! We won our first (and only) game, but it was fun. I also went to Vegas that month to visit my BFF Stephanie! My sister-in-law Jane also came along and as the trio of trouble we had a great time.
April was chaotic. Our dog Prospero had to get neutered. Honeywell announced 10% pay cuts that affected Steve. I tripped over Prospero and gave myself a concussion. And I turned another year older. (Numbers are not important here……)
David went from helping me coach the Mad Dogs to playing on the team as our QB. In his third game, he made his best tackle ever – and broke his right arm! We spent a few hours in the ER and I spent Mother’s Day tending to HIM. We also lost our cat Loki in May. He snuck out one night and owls found him. Honeywell announced more furloughs, this time affecting me. On a positive note, Steve and I saw Styx, REO Speedwagon and 38 Special with my friend Mike.
June 1st brought us 11 puppies. Fortunately I had taken that week off from work. We lost 4 of the pups, but 7 survived and were so darn cute! A few days after they were born, I flew to Virginia to pick up Hamlet, another pug. Yes – we bought another pug. We didn’t think Prospero could get Ariel pregnant. He made it happen the week before he was neutered. Steve injured himself pretty bad by falling off of a ladder into a cactus. He did this the day before he left for an international trip. He visited Prague, Shanghai, Beijing and Tokyo….among other airport stops, such as Moscow!
Alex spent the summer in Las Vegas with his dad. He did some odd jobs for friends of his dad’s and earned enough money to buy himself a 360. He was very proud of this accomplishment! David’s summer was spent going to the orthopedic at Luke Air Force Base on an almost weekly basis for his arm. His BFF Andrew did come down from Alaska for a couple days, which made David happy.
July marked our anniversary – 2 years. We also added yet another new member to our family. Jasmine, a Siamese Lilac Point, was adopted from the Arizona Humane Society. She is a beautiful and very sweet kitty. And David did get his permit on his 15-1/2 birthday.
School started for us in August. David started the 10th grade, Alex started 8th grade. Me? I dropped University of Phoenix and moved over to Arizona State University. A lot more work, but I love it! I started off with only 2 classes (7 credits) to make sure that I didn’t overdo it. We also got a new car in August. We traded in the Mercury Sable for a 2009 Hyundai Elantra. Oh, and I can’t forget the Green Day concert! Best concert I have ever been to.
In September, Steve and I took separate vacations. He went to Buffalo/Chautauqua for a week to visit with his dad. I flew to Seattle to see my family and Stephanie. She and Chad (and Shelby) took me to the Miley Cyrus concert for their wedding anniversary. Mom, Mike and I went to the Puyallup Fair one day. And I got to see my mom Patty too! Visited my Nana in her new place, which is very nice. It was a very busy week, but I loved it. The day that Steve was to return to Phoenix, and while I was at the Miley concert, David called to tell me he hurt his foot. A friend had to take him to Urgent Care. His foot was sprained and he was on crutches for about a week.
October was a nice quiet month. Steve kidnapped me and took me to Flagstaff for a weekend. We rented a cabin at Fort Tuthill. We did some hiking, went to Sedona and just relaxed. It was wonderful.
Alex turned 14 in November and is constantly reminding me how he will be in high school next year. Right before his birthday, the kid broke his finger at school. He was playing football at lunch. We went to John and Denise’s house for Thanksgiving. Our good friends Blake, Amy and Molly joined us. Steve and Alex went camping in the White Tanks the day after Thanksgiving and did a lot of hiking. I joined them on their final night out there.
Steve just celebrated his birthday on December 8th. (Again, numbers are not important here) We had a quiet evening. I made him a steak dinner and we watched a movie.

Decade in Seven Minutes

Phoenix Sunset

These were taken last week

Neglectful

It's been over a month since I posted anything on this. I guess that is the downfall of using Twitter and Facebook. So, let me think... what is new?

David went to his Homecoming - with a good friend of his. Here he is! Ain't he cute?

He currently has a girlfriend, who is very sweet. They have been good friends for a while now and she lives pretty much across the street from us.

Alex is doing good. He's maintaining straight A's in school. He just went on a trip for school. It was 2 nights up in Payson. They refer to it as a Humanities camp. He seemed to have a good time, but was disappointed that the weather warmed up. The team who went the week before they did had snow! And since I posted a pic of David, here is one of Alex sleeping with Sharky.


Steve is also doing well. Keeping busy with work. That man works way too hard!

I only have 2 pups left to sell. It has been really hard letting them go. In fact, the people who took Sharky really pissed me off. But I can't think about that. I have 2 males left and they are so sweet. They are pretty much house broken now. I made the pen smaller and they stopped pooping and peeing in it! YAY!

School is going well. For Winter Quarter, I am taking "Witchcraft & Heresy in Europe." Spring Quarter will be "English 102" and "Introduction to Islam." I'm looking forward to all of them. English 102 is required but I will have to write an essay, which for the most part, I like to do! Islam should be interesting as I don't know too much about that religion. I thought about taking a Buddhism course or Hinduism course. Both of those are beautiful religions.

Well, I best be back to work.

October

Can you believe it is October already? Boys are on Fall Break next week.
Does anyone really read this anymore? Everyone either follows me on Twitter or is on Facebook. I don't even really use my MySpace anymore. Too many fans on there. And really - they aren't MY fans. I think it is the whole six degrees of separation thing. People want the connection to celebrities.
Aaron did good on Dancing last night. Not one of his better performances, but he'll come back. And that was a difficult dance too! He did about 100000% better than I would ever do. His dance last week was kick ass!! The whole Muppet thing worked!
Okay, back to work now.

Seattle

Seattle was full of fun and busy! Here are a few pix of my trip!! The order is backwards, but oh well.


Nana with Sam & Eva
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Dawn, me & Vidal
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Me & Sam
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Papa and Dawn
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Crazy!!
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Nana
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Miley Concert
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Miley Concert
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Miley Concert
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Steph, Chad & Shelby (who is hiding) at the Miley Concert
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Harley
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Steph playing on the laptop while I was doing homework
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Shelby Montana :D
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Me and Mom at Bahama Breeze... YUM
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Me with some Washington State Troopers
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In the SWAT van!
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Mom found her cotton candy at the Puyallup Fair

09/09/09

First off - Happy Anniversary Honey! It is our 3rd 2nd anniversary today!
Secondly - Happy Birthday Dad! I hope you have a great day with Linda and the puppies!

On Thursday, my darling son Alex decided to tempt death. Well, sorta. He was at school, saw a Diamondback and decided to poke it.....twice! Fortunately he was not bit. The thing didn't even rattle until the teacher approached it. Does that mean my son is a Slitheran? hehehe Seriously though, he better not do it again!

I had a wonderfully lazy weekend. Oh, got my first lab grade back for my one course. 99/100! YAY! I was pretty excited.

Now, since today is 09/09/09, I thought I would post some interesting facts on the number 9.

Nine, as the highest single-digit number (in base ten), symbolizes completeness in the Bahá'í Faith. In addition, the word Bahá' in the Abjad notation has a value of 9 and a 9-pointed star is used to symbolize the religion.

The number 9 is revered in Hinduism and considered a complete, perfected and divine number because it represents the end of a cycle in the decimal system.

Important Buddhist rituals usually involve nine monks.

Nine is a significant number in Norse Mythology. Odin hung himself on an ash tree for nine days to learn the runes.

Nine is strongly associated with the Chinese dragon, a symbol of magic and power. There are nine forms of the dragon, it is described in terms of nine attributes, and it has nine children.

A polygon with nine sides is called a nonagon or enneagon. A group of nine of anything is called an ennead.

In base 10 a number is evenly divisible by nine if and only if its digital root is 9. That is, if you multiply nine by any natural number, and repeatedly add the digits of the answer until it is just one digit, you will end up with nine.

On 09/09 in history:

California became the 31st state (1850)

9 Elvis Presley first appears on the Ed Sullivan Show. (1956)

Birthdays

Harland Sanders, "Colonel Sanders", founded Kentucky Fried Chicken (1890)

Otis Redding, singer, "Sittin on the Dock of the Bay" (1941)

Michael Keaton, actor (1951)

Adam Sandler, actor, comedian (1966)
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Today is Teddy Bear Day. A Teddy Bear is a special friend to children all over the world. He's cuddly. He makes you feel secure in an otherwise insecure world. He's lovable. Your Teddy Bear is both a companion and a comforter. And, he's not afraid of the dark. He'll keep you safe.

Spend the day and night with your teddy bear . Cuddle up to him. Talk to him. And, do all of your favorite things together.

Parents and adults: No child should grow up without a teddy bear. If you know of any kid without one, use this day to buy a teddy bear for them.

As we become adults, some find it difficult to give up our teddy bears. We feel there is no reason to give him up. Some adults have their teddy bears around all their lives. Its perfectly normal....and okay.

Have a happy Teddy Bear Day!



References

http://www.holidayinsights.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/9_(number)

David's School Made The News

Valley high school student arrested for gun on campus

PHOENIX -- Police say a Mountain Pointe High School student is in juvenile custody after he reportedly brought a handgun to class in a backpack and told friends he was going to use it in an after-school fight.

The name of the 17-year-old student is being withheld because he's not an adult.

Police say the teenager faces one felony and two misdemeanor charges, including underage weapons possession, bringing a firearm onto school grounds and misconduct involving a weapon.

The incident happened Wednesday at the Ahwatukee school.

Other students reported to school administrators that the student told them he had a .45 caliber handgun in his backpack.

School security removed the student from class, took the backpack away and found the gun.

ASU

I have submitted my first Lab assignment for one of my classes! YAY! Plus I submitted a pic I took up in the White Tanks and got extra credit! Woo hoo!!!

R.I.P. Ted

And that's all I have to say about that....

GREEN DAY!!!

OMG! That was the best concert I have ever, ever been to! They put on a great show! It was even better than their American Idiot tour. We drove to one of the Park and Rides about 5:00pm on Saturday, hopped on the light rail and then had dinner at the Hard Rock. A few drinks later (I was feeling gooooood) we walked over to US Airways center for the show. Franz Ferdinand opened and were excellent. However, Green Day... WOW! That is all I can say! It was non-stop for almost 3 hours! Jumping, arm waving... I felt like I had hit the gym hard when I woke up Sunday morning. :) So cool! Highly recommend going to see them! And I so love Billie Joe!

Driving Test

Created by Auto Insurance.org

What a week!

I started Sunday okay - we went to see Harry Potter, which was excellent. But by Sunday evening, I was feeling a little off. I figured it was due to popcorn and soda. Blah! I woke up Monday morning with a migraine... a bad one. I was so sick! Tuesday I got up and still have the migraine. I went to physical therapy anyway but then came home and slept. I felt better so went to work on Wednesday. Yesterday it tried to come back, but I took another Imitrex while at work and it went away again. I'm still having other issues, but at least the headache is gone!
Today has been a slooooowwwwww day. Tonight at 6:00pm there is someone coming over to look at a puppy. YAY! I have been trying to detach myself from them, but it isn't working. They are so darn cute. I told the guy $150. I'd prefer the $200, but the cost of those little cuties is going up because they are eating more! I go through a lot of puppy chow!!!!
I had Alex's "Meet the Teachers" night last night. I am proud of him. He is taking Algebra this year. If he passes the mid-term and final exams, he gets high school credit. If he passes both exams with an 80% or better, he will go into Honors Geometry next year. If he only passes one with an 80% or both are below that, (but still passing), he'll go into regular Geometry. I have David's thing on Monday.
I start ASU on Monday. Woo hoo! Both classes look great. They will be more work than UoP, but interesting. That is the key!!
I'll close out with pictures of puppies.... as usual. Sorry, I posted more than I expected. Can't help it. Hiram, Sharkey and Smokey Bear all need homes.

Smokey Bear (he needs a home)



Stella



Hiram(black), Sharkey(pink), Sanders(light blue), Smokey(dark blue)



David and Sanders



Alex and Hiram (who needs a home)



Hamlet



Hiram(black), Sharkey(pink), Sanders(light blue), Smokey(dark blue)



Hiram, Sharkey, Sanders, Smokey, and Stella



Playing with Mommy (Stella is giving me a bath)



With Mommy



Ariel lounging (And yes, she does this herself)



Prospero and Hamlet snuggling

Grocery Shopping

David went with me to the store the other day. I like the fact that despite being a teenager, he still can be goofy. Here is a picture taken from my phone to prove my point. This isn't the first time he has done this. Once he did it at Target too. I love his face in this picture. He was totally posing and loved the idea that the picture would get out!

A little humor

Some good ones in here....

http://awkwardfamilyphotos.com/

New Car

We got a new car! It is a 2009 Hyundai Elantra. Love it! I'll post pictures soon!

Seems like a long time....

So much has happened since the 30th! Wow! Okay, so let's see....

I have registered for 2 classes at ASU and start on August 24. The classes I am registered for are:
Dimensions of Liberal Studies

Landform Processes

Two of the puppies are now at new homes. I knew Penelope was going to a new home on Saturday, but the other one was a surprise. I had scheduled too much on Friday. David's therapy was at 3:30 and Penelope's vet visit for shots was at 4:45. So I dropped David off, scheduled his appointments for next week, went home, got Arynn and Penelope and headed back to the PT clinic. Brought the puppy in because it was too dang hot. Well, the one tech totally fell in love with her! She called her boyfriend/hubby who gave the okay. She gave me cash, said she'd do the shots and that she got off of work at 7:00. She arrived about 7:30 and he was gone! :( I cried and cried and cried!

Also on Friday night I took Arynn to Urgent Care. She had kicked the piano and her pinky toe was very bruised and a little swollen. Luckily though, it was not broken! YAY!

David is doing well with his driving. Also on Friday, I let him drive for the first time at night! Told ya it was busy!

I really should get some work done. And I want to get my paper that is due today started! I am soooo bad! I am just so tired of doing these papers. I don't learn anything!!

Yipppeeeee!!

Alex came home on Monday. I am so happy to have him home!! He looks good and has been having a blast with the puppies. He left when they were a week old! Big difference! He also loved Jasmine, which was his little surprise. Here is a picture of her. She is a Siamese mix and is very sweet.
On Tuesday, Steve and I went to the Diamondbacks game. They played the Phillies. The D'Backs lost. :( But it was a lot of fun!
Wednesday my Blackberry came! YAY! So excited! My new blackberry email is nmspaulding@tmo.blackberry.net. It is sooooooo cool! I love it!
Penelope goes to her new home on Saturday. WAHHH!! But it is a good home and she has a playmate there. I will take Hiram up to Seattle in September. And Leslie will come get Stella in September. We are still keeping Sanders. Still have 2 males and a female left. The one gal who was going to get the one male - well, I haven't heard from her. And the last time I talked to her it was looking like she couldn't take him.
The boys start school in a couple of weeks. Oh boy! I can't believe it is that time of year already! Adam and Arynn go home on the 5th. :( Gonna miss having them around too.

Who let the pugs out?

So my babies are growing up. I can't believe that they are 7 weeks old! They will be going to homes probably around August 1. Leslie will get hers in September. I am going to be so sad to see them all go! They are so cute and adorable. Here are some updated pictures. The one in the yellow collar is Leslie's. The one in the pink collar belongs to another person who I think will give her a great home. But the females looked so similar, that I had to tell them apart by the collars!

Stella & Mommy



Penelope (in pink) & brother



A little boy



Loving Mommy



Snuggling puppies



A football puppy



Trying to kiss Daddy & Mommy



He's the darkest of the puppies



Little girl sleeping with Adam



Little boy kissing Arynn



Sanders playing "evil jammy monster" with Mom!