Dobré ráno

That is good morning in Czech!

Steve has made it safely to Prague. But it was not without some adventure. Hehe
On Sunday he decided to trim the palm and remove the seed pods. Well, he fell off of the step ladder, which hit him in the ribs as he fell and then he rolled into a cactus. We were up until about midnight, with little sleep and the alarm went off at 4:00AM. He had to be at the airport by 5:00. I went with him to carry his luggage (possible broken ribs here). Then the ticket agent thinks Steve is missing his Visa which he doesn't need one for the Czech Republic. So we spend 10 minutes waiting for the guy to check. But he can't even find Czech in his computer --- he was spelling it Check! Yikes! We finally got through and I took him up to security before leaving for work.
Steve called me at 3:40 this morning and was in his hotel feeling okay. (I think... he woke me up so I only remember bits of the conversation.) I remember him saying that the hotel wasn't as nice as the one in Germany.

Loss of Icons

Earlier this week we lost Ed McMahon. I know he was on the Johnny Carson show, but I remember him most for Star Search. I loved that show as a kid! And the first winner - Sam Harris! Boy did I have a crush on him. :) I think he also worked with Dick Clark on that show Bloopers and Practical Jokes. Recently he was having negative press regarding his house. He recently had a round of pneumonia and I think he was diagnosed with bone cancer as well. R.I.P. ED!!

Yesterday morning we lost Farrah Fawcett. She was a fighter, that is for sure. I have to admit that I do not remember being a huge Farrah fan when I was a kid. But I do know that I learned to respect her abilities over the years. She was a very talented actress who never seemed to quite get away from being "An Angel". She'd been fighting anal cancer since 2006. I think what saddens me is that Ryan O'Neal finally proposed but she died before they could marry. R.I.P FARRAH!

The shocker was the death of Michael Jackson yesterday. Sudden cardiac arrest. Thriller was the first record (and yes, it was vinyl!) that I ever bought with my own money. I listened to that thing over and over again. I was in love with Michael Jackson! I mean, what little girl could not adore this guy snuggling with a "kitty"? Everyone I knew wanted to be that girl in his Thriller video. Wowsers! I do have something to say to the media out there regarding Michael - YOU all SUCK! I hear you praising him right now, but where were your praises back when he was getting accused of molestation? Sure - he was different. But he was ACQUITTED people! Michael - I hope you have finally found peace. R.I.P.

Random Blogs

Since I am in such a foul mood today, I'm blogging.

Once in a while I hit the "next blog" button at the top of my screen when I am in my blog or reading my BFF Steph's blog. Some of them are good, some I don't read the language. But today I found a few that I thought were kinda cool - or at least interesting. So here they are:

Mark Blackwell's TNT Updates

The Chai Cyclist

Prime Photos - This one has some nice pix - but my brother's are better!

Okay, back to work. Gotta go ship a laptop to Mexico. Weeeee.....

Playful Pugs

FINALLY!

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

GGRRRRR

And now my AC on my car is not working. More money gone that we don't have! Can I cry?????

Whew - what a day!

The day started off with getting up early to take David up to Luke AFB to have his cast removed. But first we stopped at Starbucks to wake us up! Dominic, who works there, asked to sign David's cast. David took that as a good omen. We get to the base and they have moved the orthopedic clinic! After finding it, we had his cast removed. It looked funny!! Then it was off to x-ray to see how the bone is coming along. Here is where things get interesting. The x-ray showed that the break is healing but there is still quite a gap. The Major wanted to put another cast of for another 2 weeks. However, after pushing and moving his arm around, he decided that David seems to be doing okay and a brace will suffice. To yet still add to the excitement, apparently David did also break his ulna styloid. So yes - he actually broke 2 bones! That one is healing okay as well. CRAZY! So we have the brace/splint on and go back in 4 weeks.
After leaving the base, David called his best friend Andrew who just arrived this morning from Alaska. So we swung by the airport to say hello and ended up going to lunch. I just love that kid to death! He's one of my own. And his mom Bonnie is wonderful. I got to meet her hubby for the first time and I like him too!





Finally made it in to work at about 1:00. Had my mid-year review at 3:00 which went very well. I do love my job and team, but gosh I wish I had more $$! LOL

I am exhausted as I was up late last night working on my paper that was due. It wasn't a difficult paper, I just didn't have the time to get it done! (Okay, okay - so some of it was because I was lazy!)

I am feeling really bummed about not going to the reunion on Saturday. It is also Grandma's memorial service. But I won't get into that right now. I'm actually mad that I am not going. Oh well.

I will finish off the email with pix of my darling puppies who are now 3 weeks old! Can you believe it??

Kirkland House Fire

This house is right around the corner from where my mom lives. I was shocked when I read this article!
http://www.kirotv.com/news/19760072/detail.html

Need a nap

I am still running a fever, feeling achy, headache, tummy pains... but I am at work today. What a trooper! LOL
All 7 puppies now have their little eyes open. They are so darn cute!
Steve is going to the Czech Republic on the 29th. I had his tickets bought and he was going to be gone for a week. Well, customers yelled and screamed so now it looks like he'll be gone for 3 weeks! :( He'll go to Prague, then Tokyo, then Shangai, then Beijing, and then back home to Phoenix! Sigh....
I am so tired and I still have to drive home. Blah! Head hurts.... whine, whine, whine!

My turn

So I am pretty sure it is my turn with the flu. I have been running a fever, achy, tired, sharp tummy pains, congested... :( sux! Since our short work weeks start this week I am going to take my 4 hours of unpaid time today.
To top it off, we need to get Ariel into the vet. Her one teet is hard and it isn't supposed to be.
Good news is though that all 7 have opened their eyes now. Well, the 7th one was just this morning and his one eye isn't completely opened yet. So adorable.
Back to work so I can get some more sleep later!

New Pictures

My eyes need a break. I am working on an expense report for someone who was over in Prague.
Here are some updated pictures of all the puppies - including Hamlet and one of Prospero.

So, so tired

My class is now down to 4 students. Should be interesting. Luckily the instructor counts the DQs as participation. So I answered 2 of the 3 DQs today, thereby knocking out one of my participation days! YAY!
Talked with my boss this morning and I guess Honeywell is changing their tuition reimbursement program. Now you have a max of $5250 a year where before there was no cap. Well, this sux because I passed that after my 3rd class. University of Phoenix is really expensive and those costs just went up to. Currently it is $1545 for 3 credit hours and then $75 for materials. (Why - I don't know... the materials are all electronic!!) As of July 1 the cost will be $1590 for 3 credit hours and $85 for materials. Cost goes up, reimbursement goes down. Thank you George W. Bush and Dick Cheney. I am not sure if I am going to have to postpone my classes after this one or not. The change in reimbursement is supposed to take effect on August 1 and my next class runs from July 14 to August 17. I know damn well we can't afford to pay it out of pocket. Financial Aid take me away!!! Deb is looking into it for me with HR. She's the best!
Alex made it safely to Las Vegas yesterday. Although I miss him already. He'll be back the end of July. All the puppies will be big by the time he comes back! Some of them may even be gone! :( That will make him sad.
I really should get back to work. I'm just fighting a headache and feel achey (or is it achy). Neither looks right!! I know it is lack of sleep and stress, but ugh! About 45 more minutes and then I can head home.

Pugs Everywhere!

So, it has been a while since I last updated. I'll do my best to capture everything that has happened since May 27.
First off - today is my Mom's bday! Happy Birthday!!!! She's 49 again today.
David's arm is doing better. He had a shorter cast put on a week ago. On June 23 he goes in to have the cast removed, have more x-rays and hopefully have a splint put on. He is currently studying the Arizona Driver's Guide in hopes of getting his permit.
Alex is doing well. He was my life-line with the puppies, which I will get to in a minute. His Dad came and got him today and he will spend about a month in Vegas. He had straight A's in his 4th quarter at school! I was very proud of him.
Ariel had her puppies on June 1. She started whining at about 4 in the morning and popped the first one out at 5:00am. When she hit number 6 at about 8:30 I thought she was done. Then I went to check on her and there was number 7! I had to take David to the doc that day for his cast and was out at the car at 9:30 when I heard Alex scream "MOM!" I went back inside and there was number 8. Alex delivered 3 more before I got home. Her last one popped out at 1:00pm.

We have since lost 4 of the puppies. Three of them were extremely premature, but we tried to keep them around. We lost them on Wednesday, June 3. The 4th one died on Saturday...actually early Sunday morning about 1:00am. I was up and holding her when she died. They all brought a lot of tears. We will bury them in the backyard with Foogie. The other 7 seem to be doing well.


To add to our pug chaos - remember back in March when I scheduled to have Prospero fixed? Well, I had contacted the breeder because of the health guarantee that they have and this was a genetic issue. So, we purchased another pug at a reduced rate and I scheduled my trip in April to go get the newbie. I scheduled to fly out on June 5. Ariel being pregnant was a total shock as we were told Prospero couldn't breed. So even though they were going at it like drunk monkeys, we thought nothing would come of it....especially 11 puppies! So, Hamlet is our newest member of the family and he is really adorable. He is 3 months old and his birthday is March 7. Here are a couple of pix of him.



Oh - and if you are still reading - I got an A in my last class. The one I didn't like.... what was it called? Um... Principles of Investigation...yah, that's it. My class Security of Information Systems and Technology ended up being pushed out as I was the only student. That class now starts August 18. The class I just started today is Physical Security. There are only 5 of us in the class.