The News from Sooz

Ready for the holiday

2011-12-01T16:10:00.001-08:00

I think I am finally ready to face the holiday season, now that it is officially December. I'm ready to hear the holiday music, decorate, go driving to look at Christmas lights, and *sigh* even hit the stores to shop. This year, I decided not to participate in the whole Black Friday madness. Admittedly, that was first a financial decision (it was not a payday Friday :)) but I have to say I did not miss going out in the madness. After hearing about people fighting over things, getting pepper-sprayed and such, I was glad I skipped it. I did some shopping earlier this week, and the stores were far more pleasant. I'm all for gift-giving, but it's not what this holiday season is really about. Whatever reason you choose to celebrate during this season, it shouldn't be all about the gifts under the tree, but simply about showing the people around you that you care. That includes the people in your community, so remember the people less fortunate around you as well, either with your donations or your time. Take time out from the craziness of the holiday to appreciate the magic of it.

Returning to Blogger

2011-11-15T17:29:00.001-08:00

Here I am again, back at Blogger. Tumblr is OK but I really missed this blog. With the weather threatening to turn nasty for oh, months, :) it's time to think about firing up this blog again. I haven't had the itch to write in a while, but it has returned and who am I to stifle my own creativity? There's lots to discuss...but first, dinner and homework help. A mother's work is never done. If you're new to my blog, it's still fully intact from when I started it a few years back, so please feel free to browse around. See you soon.

Move with me, won't you?

2011-05-04T22:49:00.000-07:00

Long time no talk!

I am going to be closing down this blog and moving to my new blogsite at http://suzyguttormson.tumblr.com/. My new blog will focus more on my fitness business (wait, I didn't tell you that I passed my NSCA-CPT fitness certification exam, did I? Well, I did :).). However, it will be a bit of a hybrid of this blog too, as I can't totally take my personality out of my blog, can I? Take a peek at the new blog and I hope you join me. I am just starting with Tumblr so pardon the mess as I change things as I learn. Hope you all are doing well and I see you over there!

Being thankful

2010-11-24T00:43:00.000-08:00

Since I wrote the last post, hoping to have a wonderful October...well let's just say October had other things in mind. Aside from some financial setbacks, the biggest loss was that of my maternal grandfather on October 9th. He was 92 and had a wonderful life, and we knew he was reunited with my grandmother in Heaven, but nonetheless it was a hard loss for all of us. His photo is below. We love you Grandpa.

It was through the help of God and wonderful friends and family that we made it through October, and have had a considerably better November. Minus my husband getting rear-ended in our SUV. However it was fixable, nobody was hurt, and that is what car insurance is for, yes? In the meantime, while we wait for it to come back from the collision shop, we are in a rental Jeep Cherokee 4 x 4 that is getting us around quite nicely after an early snowstorm that hit. We've had 7 inches of snow in two days, the most we've seen in some time. A few photos of the wonderland:

That's my Hyundai Sonata you see parked in the driveway, where it is staying until the temps go above freezing. We got it after being in a car accident last year that totalled our mini-van, so there is NO WAY I am taking my little sedan out in this stuff. We're supposed to see some relief mid-Thanksgiving Day with a high of 40 degrees F. That will feel absolutely tropical. According to weather.com it is 16 degrees F out right now. Brrrrrr.

I wish all of you a wonderful Thanksgiving. I am thankful for much, but most of all for the love of an amazing husband and my awesome kids. Having that, along with my faith in God, I can get through anything. Bring on the holidays!

Waiting For Laundry

2010-10-01T00:54:00.001-07:00

While I am waiting on a round or two of late night laundry loads, I thought I'd check in.

Fall is upon us and I'm looking forward to it. There should be some good things coming up in October (and beyond), I can't get too specific yet only because I don't want to jinx anything. Stay tuned :). I'll still be at my hospital job, I'm not leaving that anytime soon given the shape of the economy, but I'm looking forward to where my fitness career will take me, wherever that may be.

I'm watching Biggest Loser on demand right now too. I have not been a huge fan of this show, mainly because it's TV messing with people's health and lives, it's drama, I don't agree with some of the exercises that these contestants are being put through, especially given their health and exercise history, and well, Jillian really bugs me. (I do like Bob, what can I say :)). I do like the addition a few seasons back of Ali Sweeney as the host, I've been a fan of hers on DAYS for ages and she seems very genuine.

Oh come on. Now they are making these contestants run a mile (I think it is in Portland) to compete to get on the ranch. Seriously??? One of them just took a nasty fall and is being taken away on a stretcher with an oxygen mask. Pisses me off. That moment is being used for drama of course. I skipped to Episode 2 and I see they brought in a doctor, finally, in Season 10. Still dramatic but at least they are addressing the medical issues. Now they're talking nutrition. I'm still skeptical but I'll probably check in later in the season because I'm just curious like that :).

My "bodyguard" Tiny the cat is by my side, never far when I'm on the computer or sleeping. So cute. He's my boy.

Laundry's about done so it's time to hit the pillow. Ah, the body clock issues of a night-shifter on her nights off, who's a bit of a night person anyway...

All wired up

2010-09-06T04:40:00.000-07:00

Regardless of how you feel about social media sites like Facebook and Twitter, you at least have to acknowledge the impact it has had in the way people and businesses communicate. I use both sites frequently for different reasons.

Facebook ties me in to my friends and family and allows me to share my thoughts and photos with them, and they in turn with me. I've re-connected with old friends, made new ones, and have an easy way to communicate with extended family, all on one site. Most of my former MySpace pals have made the migration over to Facebook as well. (Does anyone use MySpace anymore?) In my life, it doesn't replace phone calls and face-to-face conversation, but it enhances my connection to friends and family. I don't do Farmville or play any of the other games on there, I've never been much of a computer game person. In "liking" businesses on Facebook, sometimes you get clued in on special deals or giveaways, which in this economy, is always helpful.

Twitter serves a few purposes for me. It's a traffic update through WA State DOT's Twitter page, it's a news update from local news Twitter pages, it's a quick way to find out what friends are up to, and in following businesses on Twitter, is, like Facebook, a way to find out about deals or Twitter-only giveaways. I've won passes to the Pacific Science Center and tickets to a Seahawks game that way. It's also a quick way to connect with people, and like Facebook, new friends and business connections can be made.

In this age of dwindling customer service, it's refreshing to see that many businesses are trying to reconnect with their consumers via social media. It's no doubt a way to create a positive buzz about their business, but if the consumer benefits too by being better informed and by some exclusive deals, I see it as a win-win situation.

Now if we could just get rid of Facebook "glitches" and Twitter "whale-fails"...

Blowing the blog dust off

2010-09-04T04:14:00.000-07:00

*whoosh*

There, that's better. Well, hello! It's been quite some time since I've even logged into Blogger. I see things are just as I left them, oh, nine months ago. Oops. I've been busy.

But now that I've graduated from school (yay me), the lil' writing bug in me is still itching to get out. Maybe there's medication for that. But in the meantime, I thought it would be good to get back to blogging. Not only about my new ventures in fitness (which I may break off into a separate blog), but about life in general. I'm just winding down from work now, so there won't be anything groundbreaking in this blog, just thought I would pipe up and tell you to watch this spot because there *will* be more to follow.

Blame it on the genes

2010-01-17T15:16:00.000-08:00

Last night, my family and I spent a few hours hanging out at my parents' home. My dad has been in the hospital with pneumonia, and yesterday he was transferred to a transitional facility, because he still needs to be on an antibiotic drip for another eight days. Otherwise he is on the mend, so thank you for the prayers and well wishes for him that people have posted on Facebook. I talked to him on the phone last night (he had said he really wasn't in much mood for visitors other than Mom), and he was as cranky as ever trying to explain to me how to get into his email on his computer. I think he'll be just fine :). We took Mom out to dinner, and then just hung out watching "Momma Mia", Mom's first time seeing it. Such a fun movie! It has me wanting a girls' night out very very soon.

Mom showed me a lovely binder of material that my grandma's hospice nurse had put together for her. I think towards the end, it was very important to my grandma that some of her thoughts and reflections get down on paper. When she couldn't write anymore, she asked her hospice nurse to do it for her. It was three or four pages of her thoughts about her childhood, marriage, and parenthood. One section in particular made me laugh. It was the "My Hero" section. When asked who her hero was, she said "Nelson Eddy. I talked about him all the time. It drove Dick nuts." (You can go to http://www.maceddy.com/ to find out more if you are asking "Nelson who?") Of course I could relate, simply insert the name "Rick Springfield" instead of Nelson Eddy and *voila*-me. I wouldn't go so far as to classify Rick as my hero, but I DO relate to driving my husband nuts with all things Rick. I'll just blame it on my genes next time I get the infamous eyeroll.

Reflecting on 2009

2010-01-01T20:18:00.000-08:00

She blogs!

I had the best of intentions to blog more during winter break...I know, I know, isn't the road to hell paved with those too? I'll explain in a bit why my winter break went not as I had envisioned.

From a growth point of view, 2009 was a good year for me. I have learned so much in school, and completed my first internship by training three awesome clients during fall quarter. For the first time ever, I had that realization, "Yeah! This is what I want to do with my life!" While I am extremely thankful and blessed to have the jobs I've had, and enjoy all the people I have gotten to know along the way, I knew that those weren't going to be careers for me. The fitness field is definitely going to be a career, and to have that reinforced last quarter was an incredible feeling. Projected completion of school is June of this year if all goes as planned! I'll keep you posted how it goes :). I'll eventually be creating a separate blog for fitness-related topics too.

That being said, I am still working at my local hospital's ER in admitting, and plan to be for the near future. In this economy, and especially when you are supporting a family, it always pays to have something steady coming in. VMC has been very good to me, I love the people I work with, and I have to admit I am looking forward to moving into our new digs in the new hospital tower next month.

2009 had its ups and downs otherwise, like anyone else's year I'm sure, it had its share of personal and financial hiccups along the way. In the end though, I still have the same roof over my head when I started the year, we're all in good health, hubby and I still have our jobs, and we really do have a lot of blessings to count.

Of course, the year brought fun stuff, like a whirlwind summer family vacation tour of central Oregon and northern California, a Brad Paisley concert, my 40th birthday, doing a "Twilight weekend" visit to Forks and LaPush, three Rick Springfield concerts, and one half-marathon in Seattle, convincing my brother to run his first half with me. Time spent with family and friends is THE BEST and I can't wait to do more of that this year.

Unfortunately, 2009 saved the biggest blow for the end of the year. On December 19th, my grandma passed away. I believe I blogged about her earlier this year. She was a great woman and I will miss her so much.

The day before Grandma passed, I called my mom just to talk Christmas-y stuff, and could tell by her voice that something was up. Grandma wasn't doing well, and Mom was headed to the assisted living facility that Grandma and Grandpa reside at. I immediately went down there too. I took one look at Grandma and I just knew this was "it". Earlier in the year, Grandma had been put on hospice care because there was nothing more that could be done for her. The leukemia had just taken its toll. So this time, there were no hospital visits involved, simply comfort care in her room. I spent a couple of hours with Grandma, hoping she could hear me, because she could not respond. The sound of my voice made her turn a head a little, so I think she knew. I spent time just holding Grandpa's hand too. He has short-term memory loss, what I'm guessing is a stage of Alzheimer's, but he knows who everybody is...it's just that when I leave the room and come back, it's like I'm visiting all over again :). With that memory loss, it was frustrating for Grandpa to deal with what was happening with Grandma, as you might imagine. But he hung in there and continues to.

The better part of my winter break was spent helping to plan Grandma's memorial service. Since my mom is an only child, to take some of the burden off of her, my brother, dad and I did what we could to help out. It was lovely service, held on the 29th. I thought I had already prepared myself for her eventual loss, but the finality of it all hit me harder than I thought it would. But we are all doing OK.

SO, bring on a new decade and new adventures. I am so ready! Wishing you all a Happy New Year!

2009-11-07T21:49:00.000-08:00

Hello my Blogger friends, and to those reading on Facebook! It's been far too long since I've blogged and I keep telling myself I'll be better about that...someday. For now I thought I'd share a brief "article" I wrote as an assignment for one of my fitness training classes. (I apologize if the paragraphs run together, not my intent to have it that way, but Blogger is not letting me fix it as I see it on my screen...grrr.) Once I get to winter break, I WILL catch up again with blogging!

-----------------------------------

SIX TIPS FOR STICKING WITH EXERCISE

Starting a new exercise program is a great step toward lifelong fitness and overall good health. Sticking with a program over time, however, can be more challenging than the exercise itself. Below are some tips to keep your motivation up and your feet moving!

Pick an exercise you enjoy. Think about what activities you already have fun doing and about how they can play a role in your program. You’re more likely to stick with a program that you find enjoyable. Do you like to take your dog for his daily walk? Keep track of how far you walk and start adding in more distance over time. Do you like to go with your family on neighborhood bike rides? Hit the road and try different bike trails in your area.

Schedule exercise into your day. Treat your workout schedule like you would a doctor’s appointment or a date night. Look at your daily schedule and find out where exercise will fit in. If you can’t carve out an hour block of time for exercise, try breaking it into chunks of time throughout the day, for example, in two half-hour or three 20-minute blocks. Find ways to sneak exercise in during the rest of your day. Park your car further away from where you need to be. Take the stairs instead of the elevator. Exercise is a personal commitment worth keeping.

Set goals. Start with a long-term goal you have for yourself, for example, being able to complete a 5K race (3.1 miles). Then work backwards to set short-term goals to be met throughout your training that will help you stay motivated (for example, being able to complete a one-mile run).

Reward yourself. When you meet a goal, reward yourself. Stay away from food rewards, but pick something that will make you happy and will keep you motivated to continue your program.
Tell a friend. Sharing your goals with a friend or a family member can not only help you stay on track by being accountable, but you just might motivate them to join you!

Talk to yourself. If you’re tempted to skip an exercise session, remind yourself how good you feel after working out. If you feel discouraged that a goal was missed, tell yourself you are still making time for exercise and you can re-adjust the goal. Encourage yourself as much as you would encourage family or friends trying to reach the same goals.

Birthday girl and YouTube pick of the day

2009-09-09T21:25:00.000-07:00

My "baby" girl turned 10 yesterday!

She was almost a 9/9/99 baby, missing out by 4 hours since she was born at 8:21 pm on 9/8/99. I wasn't about to hold her in and wait!

My YouTube pick of the day is below, a new song from Depeche Mode titled "Corrupt" that is being used to promote the True Blood season finale on Sunday. I'm going to try to make this at least a semi-regular feature, something to get me blogging on a regular basis again!

A month? Really? My bad.

2009-08-31T14:26:00.000-07:00

So much for my ambitions to blog a lot more this summer. It's been a month since I last posted yikes! When we ARE home, I am usually negotiating for computer time between me and the kiddos, so my Blackberry has been my friend for web connections. As you might imagine, blogging from a Blackberry is a little tedious if not incredibly frustrating. That lil' tiny screen...blogging with all thumbs...nope, doesn't work.

I start school again three weeks from today, and, even better, the kids start school in a couple of days *jumps for joy*. (Come on parents I know you are jumping right along with me, admit it!) Even now I hear them arguing in the next room. Sigh. So between the time they start school and the time I do, I will try to catch the blog up a bit. We took a vacation in the first part of August, and have been be-bopping around the area since. In addition, this past Friday, I got one last Rick Springfield fix in before fall :). It was somewhat of a last minute decision, but I'm so glad I went! I'll blog about it more later, but for my Blogger peeps that are Rick fans, below is a little eye-candy, albeit from 25 rows back. (That would be the only hazard of making a last-minute decision to go, but it was still so worth the trip to Oregon!) All the photos are on my Facebook page if you are reading this blog on Facebook.

(If you're reading this blog as a note on Facebook, you can just click on "view original post" below to go to my Blogger site too. Either way works!)

Twilight weekend part deux

2009-07-28T16:12:00.000-07:00

Finally, I'm getting to the second part of our Twilight weekend in Forks and LaPush on the 18th and 19th. It's too hot to do anything else at the moment *whew*. I've got a cool drink and a fan blowing on me so let's wrap this two-parter up.

Last I left you, we had visited Bella's truck at the Forks Chamber of Commerce.

Another photo opportunity awaits you at the Forks welcome sign, found on the right as you first drive into Forks on Hwy 101. There's an area to pull over and a ramp to walk up to assist you in getting that photo. Thanks to tour guide Travis for taking the below photo, and to my friends Lois and Patti...I'm not sure which one of you I swiped this photo from, but thanks :)!

Also in town, the place where Bella's dad Charlie works, otherwise known as the Forks Police Department. (The tour does take you in the lobby, where they have a display case of Twilight items, but trust me, you're not missing anything if you skip that part.)

Headed out to LaPush, you will find the Three Rivers Resort, where we stopped after our beach visit for Edward Sundaes and Jacob Black (blackberry) and Vampire (strawberry) Milkshakes. This is also the home of the "treaty line" sign:

The other side of the sign:

I shared some pictures of LaPush with you in my previous post...they really don't do justice to how beautiful it is. If you find yourself on the Olympic Peninsula this summer, I really recommend the beaches there.

The town of Forks has really embraced Twilight Fever and ran with it. The hotel we stayed at had Twilight-themed rooms (I didn't stay in it but someone else from our crew did):

Eventually I DID find Edward (at a store in Forks):

But later I found him in the corner with Bella:

Forks has declared the weekend of September 12-13, 2009 to be Stephenie Meyer Day. (Technically, shouldn't that be Stephenie Meyer weekend? But I digress.) They had a heavy turnout last year for a little town (see article here) so expect the little town to be packed if you go.

Time to get some chores done around the oven that is my home today. We're supposed to hit 100 degrees tomorrow, and potentially an all time high for Seattle? *whew*

Twilight weekend

2009-07-21T10:44:00.000-07:00

This past weekend, my daughter and I, along with some dear friends, traveled to Forks, WA to see some of the locations talked about in the Twilight book series. It's a round-figure four-hour drive from us, so we started out fairly early and had no problems getting there (well, except for getting a little turned around in Poulsbo during a short stop, thanks to the person at McD's for pointing us back in the right direction :)).

I'm a lifetime Washingtonian, but I don't think I've ever actually been to Forks. It's about what you'd expect for a small logging town, except that they have totally embraced Twilight fever. I'm sure they needed this economy boost, and while I can't imagine it will be permanent, the businesses will be riding this wave for as long as they can.

Before I go on to some of the Twilight tour stops and places you should see if you're a fan, even if you aren't, I have to recommend the beaches of LaPush. There are three different public beaches, simply named First, Second, and Third Beach, and our time was spent on First Beach. These are amazingly beautiful beaches, and probably one of the best-kept secrets of beaches to visit in Washington...until Twilight gave the secret away.

We took the Twilight tour given by the store Dazzled By Twilight. I thought the tour was well worth the $39/pp, because for me, after driving four hours to get there, I knew I wasn't going to want to drive around town another couple of hours to figure out what spots to stop at. Plus if you are a Twi-hard, you'll learn some trivia along the way and hear parts of the soundtrack too. Not to mention they throw in a snack at the Three Rivers Resort on the way to LaPush.

However, if you know where you're going, you can easily do it yourself. The homes along the tour are ones chosen by the Forks Chamber of Commerce to represent some of the homes described in the book. Some places to stop at:

The Cullen House: This is an actual working bed & breakfast called the Miller Tree Inn, so they ask that you not go inside unless you're a guest, however, going up to the door or on the porch for pictures is fine.

Forks High School: Mainly for the sign photos, which was given to the school by Summit Entertainment.

The Swan Home (click the link for home location and some movie location trivia):

Forks Chamber of Commerce: Where Bella's truck, a '53 Chevy, is located. (Trivia note...in the movie, they actually used a '63 Chevy.)

I'm going to have to continue this tomorrow...stay tuned...

Thanks Red Robin

2009-07-14T15:32:00.000-07:00

I wanted to post a quick update to my nut allergy post from yesterday. Today I received a call from the general manager of the Red Robin I visited on Saturday, where I had a minor reaction to their Ensenada Chicken Platter. (I just sent an email through their main website yesterday, so I am impressed over the quick response.) He apologized, and he let me know that they do have a list of menu items that contain some of the most common allergens, including peanuts and tree nuts, and to be sure to ask for it when I come in. He also dropped a $20 gift card in the mail to me. So I must say I have softened a bit on my opinion of Red Robin from yesterday. I still am a bit bent out of shape regarding the corporate website wording, but the GM was very nice over the phone. Yes I can be bought! :) Just thought I'd pass that info along

Not a nutty buddy

2009-07-13T12:49:00.000-07:00

As some of you may or may not know, I've got a peanut allergy. More specifically, it's a nut allergy, since I react to walnuts, almonds, cashews, the whole she-bang. It was first discovered when I was about three, as my mom was hosting a baby shower for one of my aunts. My little hands went up to grab some snack nuts from the table and...I don't remember a thing but I'm sure my mom was petrified. I imagine I put a bit of a damper on the baby shower.

Over the years I've been able to control it pretty well by being careful, reading labels, sticking with foods I know are safe. Having Benadryl on hand usually tempers symptoms without needing extra medical care. (I'll talk more about my more severe reactions shortly.) Some products, and restaurants, you may not suspect would set a nut allergy off include:

Plain Chex Mix-due to the cross contamination factor. Someone's not cleaning the equipment very well at the Chex plant :(. I used to be able to eat this without a problem but no more. Bummer.

Plain M & Ms-again, due to cross contamination. I love the M & M characters and the commercials, but not the candy.

Coldstone Creamery-At the locations I've visited, they don't have separate boards for nut-free mixing. Wiping the boards down just doesn't cut it. However, their ice cream cakes sans nuts still appear to be just fine.

The Cheesecake Factory-I had a minor reaction just a bite or two into a Santa Fe Salad a couple of months ago, which, at the time I visited, was not labeled on the menu as having a Peanut-Cilantro vinaigrette. (Perhaps the glass of wine and Flying Gorilla drink I had beforehand helped me not to panic.) I see according to their website their menu has now labeled that. Ya know, I like to feel like I can change the world somehow, but an allergic reaction is not the method I had in mind. However, I still love this restaurant, but will stick to safer stuff like meatloaf :). I think they label their cheesecakes well, as I've eaten them there with no problem. YUM.

Red Robin-Their "Ensenada Chicken Platter" and its vague "zesty Mexican blend of seasonings" had me searching for my Benadryl in my purse. I am really not a burger lover (unless it's fresh off the BBQ) so the fact that I try to make healthier menu choices, but can end up reacting, is getting extremely frustrating. This reaction just happened on Saturday, again a very minor one because I knew a bite or two in that I shouldn't continue. I just emailed Red Robin to let them know about this, as finding nut allergen information on their website is next to impossible. In fact, in their section on wheat/gluten allergies, there is this advisory:

"AS WE COOK, PREPARE, AND SERVE YOUR MEAL, THE LISTED
MENU OPTION MAY COME IN CONTACT WITH THE ALLERGEN YOU
WANT TO AVOID. FOR EXAMPLE, WE MIGHT COOK THE LISTED
MENU OPTION ON THE SAME BROILER AS A MENU ITEM THAT
CONTAINS THE ALLERGEN YOU WANT TO AVOID. THAT’S JUST THE
WAY OUR KITCHEN IS SET UP. RED ROBIN CANNOT GUARANTEE
THAT ANY MENU ITEM WILL BE PREPARED COMPLETELY FREE OF
THE ALLERGEN IN QUESTION."

That's just the way our kitchen is set up. Really. Well, then, my pocketbook is set up to go spend my dining dollars at a restaurant with better customer service.

I just read that statement a few minutes ago and now I am pissed off. I need a minute grrrrrr.....OK.

I really feel for those with wheat/gluten allergies, and with celiac disease. Their search to find something they can eat is far harder for them than me. My grandpa has celiac disease, so I know simply from observation that it's incredibly frustrating.

The more severe reaction happened at work recently. In May, every year for our team month, they send boxes of their special coffee cake around to the various departments as a thank you to their employees. Now I swear I have eaten this cake many times without an issue, so I didn't do my usual snooping around if this is OK for me to eat. (And those of you that work with me often know I will pass by food I don't know anything about.) But this time, I hit a walnut. The boxes weren't labeled as having them-we checked. I work in an ER, so I was in the right place for a reaction, but this was really not the way I wanted to get a break from work. My airway wasn't blocked, but I was having swallowing trouble, and very red and itchy. This one scared me a little. A shot of Benadryl, a steroid, and four hours of sleep later, I was fine. (WOW does that Benadryl shot work fast. Damn. God bless pharmaceuticals.) Flash forward to a couple of weeks ago. I was in the work cafeteria, and they were selling individual slices of the coffee cake, and I noticed they were labeled as having walnuts. I don't remember that being labeled before. Yes, you're welcome, again. Saving the world one reaction at a time.

So, if you find yourself craving snack peanuts on a plane trip, and find that it's a peanut-free flight, maybe now you have a better idea as to why you're eating pretzels or crackers instead.

Just order a drink and you'll forget about it at least until landing.

As for the question, do I carry an Epi-Pen? The answer is not at the moment, although that is a conversation I will have with my doctor at my next checkup, as I think the tree nut allergy is the most concerning. I do plan on consulting an allergist too, but I have to check my insurance coverage for that first.

For more information on peanut allergies, visit http://www.peanutallergy.com/. For tree nut allergies, more information is at http://foodallergies.about.com/od/nutallergies/p/treenutallergy.htm amongst other places on the web.

P.S. I do know what a paragraph is, I swear, but Blogger insists on running my text all together above. Argh! Sorry if it's not as easy to read that way.

Visit to Northwest Trek

2009-07-09T15:56:00.001-07:00

Yesterday, I took the kids to Northwest Trek, a great wildlife park that's about an hour-ish southeast of us. I haven't been there in years, nor has Matt, and I'm not sure that we ever have taken Kayla.

We started off by riding the tram that takes you on a tour of the area the free-roaming animals (also known as the herbivores :)) reside on.

Bison:

*My* wildlife in the tram with me:

Baby bison!

Moose! We saw four out of the five moose in the park during the tour.

Roosevelt elk:

Bighorn sheep:

One stubborn ol' goat (technically, probably a bighorn sheep) that likes to hang out by the tram road and get attention.

On to the rest of the park...Mr. Skunk is confined (as are the rest of the animals that follow), for good reason. Le Pew!

Strike a pose, Mr. River Otter.

These cougars were massive. Look at those paws. Beautiful cats, but I was really enjoying that barrier between us.

The gray wolf. His pack was playful while we were watching:

Shh don't wake the bear! (Brown bear)

Golden Eagle:

Bald Eagle:

Western Toad:

Finally, the homosapien known as Sooz, whom, after a day at the park, had a hungry teen and pre-teen in the car wanting to try the new Sonic in town.

Hanging out on the Street

2009-06-25T19:03:00.001-07:00

Yesterday, I took the kids to the Experience Music Project/SciFi Museum in Seattle to see the traveling exhibit of Jim Henson's Fantastic World. If you are or were ever a Jim Henson/Sesame Street/Muppet fan, you will love it. I told my husband that there needs to be a bigger, permanent museum dedicated just to Jim Henson's works, and if there indeed were, I would make it some sort of pilgrimage and travel there.

Unfortunately, for copyright reasons, pictures were mostly not allowed (and out of respect for the man's creations, I did manage to restrain myself). There were some original Muppets displayed, behind glass of course...Ernie & Bert, Mahna Mahna and the Snowths, and of course, the one and only Kermit. I just wanted to go up and hug them so it's probably just as well there was glass inbetween :). A bunch of Jim's sketches were displayed, along with movies of some of his early commercial work, and some of his non-Muppet work, such as Time Piece.

However, pics were allowed in the "Mudgarden Experience" puppet area, where touching Muppets was highly encouraged. My daughter is operating the one on the left playing the piano:

Here's a photo of us on the Street with some of our favorite characters:

(I didn't notice until I uploaded the photos to my computer that Gonzo was watching us from above!)

If this comes to your town, it's well worth seeing. And Seattle locals take note: this museum and many others in Seattle have free admission on the first Thursday of every month. I knew I wasn't going to be able to take advantage of that in July or August, so I bit the bullet and paid, but you don't necessarily have to. I think this list is fairly accurate, but I'd double check it before you go.

Father's Day Weekend part 2

2009-06-25T10:21:00.000-07:00

On Father's Day itself, we went down to my parents' house, about an hour south of us, to spend some time at the ol' homestead for the day. On the way down, we stopped at the nursing home my grandparents live in to give Grandpa his Father's Day card and to visit a little. They weren't expecting us, so Grandpa was really happy to see us :). He hasn't seen the kids or Dana in quite a while.

Grandma was sleeping in her chair, which I'm told is what she does most of the day now. I wasn't able to wake her, but finally the staff member that came to take them to lunch in the dining room was able to get her awake and in her walker/chair. At that point I was able to talk to her and she knew I was there. It hurts to see her like that and I wish I could wave some magic wand to make it all better. God knows what's he doing so I have to have faith in Him.

Her health has taken a definite downturn since I saw her last, and since she is already in hospice care and the docs have said there is no more they can do. It's really just a matter of time now. A few years ago, Grandma was diagnosed with chronic myelogenous leukemia and after oral drug treatment, was managing well for quite some time. It did age her (before the diagnosis, I think she she looked at least 20 years younger than her actual age, she's now 89), and the various side effects, along with the normal processes of aging, have taken their toll on her body.

Grandpa looks great (he's 90), is in overall good physical health, but has short-term memory loss. He is of course extremely worried about Grandma. At least they are able to be together at this time, and the facility they are in seems to take very good care of them.

After our visit with them, we went to my parents' house. My brother Jason arrived soon after, and we had a nice time just hanging out with the folks. Jason and I spent some time going through some of the boxes my mom had brought home from my grandparents' home, which is on the market right now. I acquired some of Grandma's clothes, as she and I used to wear pretty much the same size and have similar styles (in sporty comfortable clothes most of the time). She's hip. :) It was fascinating to go through some of her older photo albums, ones from when she was in her teens. I had somewhat of an idea of what was going on in her life then, but seeing it laid out and illustrated for me just brought home that she has had a really full life, and learned about overcoming life's obstacles far sooner than she should have. I may elaborate on those obstacles someday, but not right now. She was also quite the artist, along with her older sister, and they have some amazing pencil drawings of the movie stars of their day (Nelson Eddy and Jeanette McDonald were two of my grandma's favorite actors). At some point I'll have those scanned for posting.

But I will leave you with two other photos. The first is Grandpa when he served in the Navy (I'm guessing that photo was taken in 1945). The second one is Grandma and my mom from about the same time.

Father's Day Weekend part 1

2009-06-22T13:01:00.001-07:00

As soon as my husband got home from work Friday, we headed over to Eastern WA to my sister-in-law's home. For those of you not familiar with Washington State geography, the western and eastern sides are separated by the Cascade mountain range. Here's what it looked like as we escaped our west side:

And here's what it looked like after we drove across Snoqualmie Pass:

Ahhh. Blue skies. That's better :).

We made it to my SIL's home and hit the hay immediately after a 3-4 hour drive. The next day after the kids played a bit, we drove out to Billy Clapp Lake for some fishing and hanging out. After my daughter and littlest nephew had gotten the swimming out of their system, we went for a short hike in the hills above the lake. There were some beautiful views.

When we got back from our hike, there was something hanging out on the shore we were playing on earlier.

That'd be a rattlesnake, although because of the zoom lens I was using from waaaay far away, he was not as big as he appears in the pic. He was somewhat of a baby rattler that left everyone alone, he was just hanging out. He did clear the beach though.

After our time at the lake, we drove further north to Grand Coulee Dam since my kids have not yet seen it.

They have a nightly laser show on the dam, but we had a long drive back home, so we had to pass on staying for that. After a short stop in the town my SIL and her family live in to say goodbye to them, we headed for home, pulling in the driveway about 1 AM Sunday morning (yawn).

I need a little more time to write about Sunday's events (and a little more peace and quiet since EVeryone is home today), so stay tuned for part two tomorrow...

Summer starts NOW

2009-06-11T08:15:00.000-07:00

Hi all! My spring quarter of school has wrapped up, and even better, the kids don't get out until the 22nd :), so I have a little time to myself. I'm taking the summer off from school, resuming studious mode fall quarter, though in the summer I'll be trying to put myself, and maybe a friend or two that's willing, through the paces of what I've learned so far. Guinea pigs, anyone? :)

Yesterday I went on a (fairly) local hike to Mt. Si in North Bend with some classmates and thought I'd share a few of the photos.

--------------------------

I need to change my Blogger blog layout, it's been the same for quite some time. Does anyone have any favorite layout websites?

Time to go clean my poor neglected house...can I just blow it up and start over??? Ugh.

I'm looking forward to having some time to catch up with my blog buddies...it's been too long! TTFN...

By request

2009-05-07T14:39:00.000-07:00

Because Amy asked so nicely :), here is my soundcheck photo with Rick from last month:

The "straight-on" shots were blurry, as my camera did not like the lighting (or lack of) in the venue, so this shot above was taken by friend and fellow soundchecker Denise T. Thanks so much, Denise, as well as thanks to all there that took this photo from many angles!

Here's my Snapfish album from Rick's April 10th concert in Coquitlam B.C. Canada:

http://www1.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=344175017/a=4573972_4573972/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish

..from the April 25th Emerald Queen Casino show in Tacoma WA:

http://www1.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=409890017/a=4573972_4573972/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish

....and from soundcheck before the Tacoma show:

http://www1.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=409672017/a=4573972_4573972/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish

Wow...

2009-05-06T21:48:00.000-07:00

Has it really been over three months since I've posted on Blogger? (I'm also testing to see if this still carries over to my Facebook notes section. If so, hellooooooo Facebook'ers :)). I'm in the midst of a hectic week, but lots have happened since I stopped in last, including:

1. I turned 40 (last Friday);
2. Met Rick Springfield (again LOL) and have been to two of his shows in the past month;
3. Went to the Brad Paisley concert in February;
4. We are blessed that Grandma is still with us (though fighting the flu bug right now, and no, not the swine version).
5. Have an additional feline member of the household, named Crystal.

I will elaborate on all that and more as soon as I can...summer is coming and I get a break from the schoolin', so I will have more time to share. I have missed reading your blogs and stories!

Grandma

2009-01-26T20:50:00.000-08:00

I was going to share this pic last Friday, but it totally slipped my mind, so I thought while I was thinking about it, I'd do it. This is me with my 89 year-old maternal grandmother, taken about a week and a half ago. She's currently in a transitional/rehabilitation facility recovering from a hip injury after a fall. I could write pages and pages about her and Grandpa (who is also alive and well and eagerly awaiting her return home).

My brother and I are their only grandchildren, since my mom is an only child. Since we lived not too far away from each other, we spent a lot of vacation time with them. Grandma took me to the library in the summers, taught me how to swim (when I was otherwise scared in other lessons), they both took me and my family fishing in the Puget Sound (and named their boat the "Suzy Q" until my brother arrived and then it changed to "Suzy Too"), and often took us to their favorite vacation place at Ocean Shores. Grandma also introduced me to the wonders of coffee. In the photo I brought her a Starbucks too, you just can't see it in the photo. :)

I could write much more, but I'm running out of time...more soon!

I'm here really...

2009-01-21T15:25:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone! School is going well so far this quarter, but I've got more studies on my plate now than I did fall quarter, thus explains my not-so-active blog. Lots of Anatomy & Physiology terms to know this time around, as well as putting in computer time-of the productive nature :)-in my MS Office class. Thank goodness I have it at home so I can work on assignments from here too. My Intro to Fitness Training class is only one credit, so it's not too demanding on my time, but it's really interesting. My grades are good so far, so keep your fingers crossed for me!

Then of course there's work and family...hubby, kids, and feline friends are doing fine. My son has finals this week, so I'm hoping those go well for him. My daughter is in prime Girl Scout cookie pre-sale time and I think she's reaching the 100 box mark, with a few days left in the pre-sale. Site sales outside the stores start at the end of February in our area, so look for a cookie near you soon!

Have I mentioned that our newest cat, Desi, has allergies? We think we have narrowed it down to a gluten allergy, as well as to chicken. Maybe. And her skin does not react well to flea bites. Ah, gotta love those high-maintenance cats. She is the sweetest thing though, so it makes the extra effort that much more worth it.

Last but not least by any means...Rick Springfield is coming back to WA!!! He'll be at the Emerald Queen Casino in Tacoma on April 24th. That's a week before my 40th birthday *woohoo*. I got presale tix this week through the fan club, and we have center aisle seats seven rows back. I've done better there but they're still good seats! My best friend from high school is coming with me as she usually does to all of Rick's local shows, but this time we may also rent a hotel room at EQC to celebrate our 40th birthdays together, so that we don't have to be concerned about driving home. As awesome as it is to see Rick, it's just as fun to have a chance to see local fans again (as well as meet some for the first time, and see some that are traveling a distance too). I do plan on doing the soundcheck pass for the Emerald Queen show as soon as they show on Rick's merch site. With the April 10th show in Canada to look forward to as well, April is going to be a FUN month.

I hope the New Year is treating all of you well. I have a special picture to share that I think I will save for Candid Carrie's Foto Friday...stay tuned!

New Year thoughts

2008-12-31T15:34:00.000-08:00

I hope all of you have a wonderful New Year, and the best of celebrations tonight, in whatever way you choose to get your party on. Me, I'll be working, but it's holiday pay, so don't feel too sorry for me :).

Thanks so much for stopping by my blog this year, and I do plan on keeping it active as much as I can in 2009. I really wasn't sure what I was going to do with Blogger when I made a commitment in January to try it, but it's been a great place to be creative, to vent, to share, and to get to know some of you out there better, and for that last one alone I am very grateful!

Resolutions? No, I really don't have those this time around. I make little daily resolutions in my head and hope I can meet those, but a year's worth is too much to ask for right now LOL. One day at a time, baby.

However, I do have some things I am looking forward to in 2009:

1. Brad Paisley concert on February 28th-yeeehaaaw!
2. Rick Springfield concert on April 10 in Coquitlam BC and a Rick road trip with my friends...even though I haven't gotten the day off of work yet, don't have a passport or enhanced drivers license to get over the border with yet, and not even sure what my spring schedule of classes are yet. There's my first order of business-getting all that figured out.
3. Hopefully, a summer off of school!

How about you? Any resolutions? Things you're looking forward to?

I leave you in 2008 with some old school Rankin-Bass video, and Father Time's song from "Rudolph's Shiny New Year". See you next year ;).

Technorati question for my blog pals

2008-12-29T14:10:00.001-08:00

I have a question for my fellow bloggers out there. Technorati has not updated my "ping" status in 8 days, even though I have manually gone over to their website and ping'ed myself. Therefore, my blogs since then aren't showing up over on my Facebook account, which is really the only thing Techno-crappi affects for my bloggy needs. Does anyone use any other pinging service? Because according to all the posts I see over on Technorati's website, a lot of Blogger users are having the same issue, and Technorati has not addressed the questions at all.

Thanks for any help you can give!

Putting tennies to pavement for a cause

2008-12-28T15:30:00.000-08:00

This year, more than 200,000 women and men will be diagnosed with breast cancer, and more than 40,000 will lose their life to the disease. I am joining many other dedicated women and men on September 11-13, 2009 by walking in the Seattle Breast Cancer 3-Day to raise funds and awareness to help the breast cancer movement. We will walk 60 miles during three days with proceeds benefiting Susan G. Komen for the Cure (www.komen.org) and the National Philanthropic Trust (www.nptrust.org).

I walked in the 2006 Seattle 3 Day, and here's a few pictures from that weekend:

Base camp:

A pit stop along the way:

And the end!

It was a life-changing experience because of the people I met, and the dedication I saw from walkers, crew members, and the many people on the sidelines cheering us on.

In order to participate in 2009, each walker must train for the event and commit to raising a minimum of $2,300. To help prepare for the Breast Cancer 3-Day, each walker is supported by coaches and online tools that assist in all aspects of training and fundraising, while clinics, meetings, and training walks provide ongoing support.

I'm walking because not only did I lose two aunts to breast cancer, I also have dear friends who are breast cancer survivors. I'm walking for them as well as for ALL who will benefit from further advances in breast cancer research and treatment.

Your donation is also tax deductible to the extent allowed by law.

If you'd like to donate, just click on the widget below and it will take you right to my personal donation page. (This widget is also now to your left in my sidebar.) If you'd prefer not to donate online, there is a link on my personal page to print out a donation form to send in. I'll keep you up to date on my progress here and my fundraising efforts! Thanks so much and Happy New Year!

Slowing down to enjoy the view

2008-12-21T19:43:00.000-08:00

Our area has been dealing with snow for about a week now, and although it can be a pain, and sometimes dangerous, to get around in, when you don't really have to be anywhere, it's nice just to stop and enjoy it. We got about 6 inches over Saturday night, and we got quite a bit more today (The above pics are from today...the top one is my daughter playing at the park across the street, and the bottom is one of the bushes outside our front door.)

I made my walk up this morning to get my daily cup o' java a few blocks away, and noticed how still it was outside. Not only of course were there few cars attempting to drive , but everything was more peaceful as a whole. The kids are getting their exercise sledding a couple of times a day across the street at the neighborhood park, so tuckered-out children at the end of the day is an added bonus . I could do without the below-freezing temps and ice, however.

With most of us inside due to the weather, I've also been able to catch up, at least via phone, with local friends that I don't usually get to talk to much due to our varied schedules. That's been nice too.

We haven't seen this long of a period of continuing snow in a while. So as much as I have been enjoying it (and appreciating my husband's ability to safely navigate our 4WD vehicle when we absolutely must get around), I can't say I'll be sad to see above-freezing temps and rain as part of the usual Seattle forecast again.

I hope everyone dealing with this nasty weather throughout the country stays warm and safe. Grab a cup of your favorite beverage and give yourself a chance to relax!

Weather weirdness

2008-12-19T23:29:00.000-08:00

Howdy from our little winter wonderland!

We're enjoying the snow in our area (but the ice could take a hike). Thanks to hubby's knowledge of winter driving and a handy 4WD vehicle, he's getting us around just fine. (I know better than to even try.) Just when we were getting used to the snow, Mother Nature may slap us with another round of weather wackiness. It's predicted the area I live in will also have wind gusts around 70-90 miles an hour Saturday-Sunday. Eek! So tonight we are trying to get everything done that requires power now, so that in case we lose it, we will still have things like clean undies and sparkly clean dishes. We did the last round (hopefully) of Christmas shopping tonight too.

Here's a few more winter photos from the homefront. Hopefully I'll be able to check in again before Christmas comes around. Six more days!

Our cat Tiny goes out to check what the white stuff is all about...

...then decides cold paws aren't worth it.

The north side of our house:

Neighborhood roads that rarely see a sandtruck:

Snow!

2008-12-14T15:06:00.000-08:00

We got our first dusting of snow for the season last night, so I thought I'd share a few photos:

Mr. Bear on our front step weathers another winter:

My daughter after sledding at the park across the street this morning:

And a little of what it looked like coming down last night:

Friday Foto Fun...all abooooard

2008-12-12T08:32:00.000-08:00

Today I thought I'd share a photo of my hubby's annual Christmas light handiwork:

He's created some sort of train on the north side of our house every Christmas since we moved in 12 years ago. Our son loves trains (and back when we first moved in, he was young enough to be into Thomas the Tank engine and all off his friends) so that was pretty much his inspiration. Therefore, we've come to be known as "the train house" in the neighborhood at Christmastime. The Grinch as conductor has only come along in the last couple of years :).

This year, with the movie Polar Express as the inspiration, my daughter has insisted on getting dressed up like a conductor and handing out candy canes to those that stop and look. Here's her in practice (since Thursday nights are not exactly prime "let's go for a drive and look at lights" nights):

Here's a closer look at the hat:

Now go over to Candid Carrie's site and see who else is playing along on Photo Phriday!

No more school, no more books...

2008-12-11T14:32:00.000-08:00

...until January anyway :). Ahh, it's so nice not to have schoolwork on my mind. I got a 4.0 in my Nutrition class *woohoo*, and gave my final presentation in my Functional Training class earlier today. I'll know the grades on that tomorrow most likely, but I think I did well. Next quarter, I've got twice as many credits and classes, so I am sure I will be somewhat absent from blogging again.

But in the meantime CHRISTMAS IS COMING!!!!!! Am I ready? Nooooooooooooo! We did a bit of sales-tax-free shopping in the Portland, OR area last Saturday, but we are far from being done. Decorating is starting to come along now, I should have the tree finished up tonight. Cards (or more specifically, the annual holiday letter) are going out later than I like. I am usually that annoying person that likes to have everything mailed out right after Turkey Day heh heh. Not so this year.

My husband has the train-in-lights up on the side of our house (I'll take a pic of it tonight and post it tomorrow for Candid Carrie's Foto Fiesta). It's been a now-annual tradition since we have had the house I think, and this is our 12th Christmas in it. We're known as "the train house" over the holidays...the train is on the street side so it's visible to passers-by. Do you have houses like that in your neighborhood too? We have a favorite house a few neighborhoods away that has the Grinch on their chimney and a few other things (Max the dog too I think). And of course it's a disappointment when the people that decorate awesome move away and the next owner does NOthing boooo.

Gotta get cracking on that holiday letter, but I thought I'd let you know I'm back in Bloggerland for the holidays!

Light at the end of the tunnel :)

2008-11-30T13:37:00.000-08:00

Hello! Yes, I am still floating about in cyberspace. I really miss blogging and reading them too, but life has just been crazy. Not in a horrible way, just in a Calgon-take-me-away kind of way. I have one final exam that goes online this coming weekend, and in my other class, a final project due by the 11th. After that, I plan on returning here to catch you all up and post some pictures over the holiday season, and in turn get caught up with what is happening with my blog buddies out there. We had a nice Thanksgiving holiday here, and I hope all of you did too. On to Christmas!

For the love of Muppets

2008-11-07T08:54:00.000-08:00

I came across these newer Muppet vids earlier in the week thanks to a friend, and I just had to share them here. The Swedish Chef/Beaker/Animal combo in the second one particularly cracks me up :). If you also read my MySpace blog, I've posted them there too. Enjoy...

The election

2008-11-05T14:45:00.000-08:00

After pondering for the better part of the day as to how or if to blog about yesterday's election, I decided to just go for it. 'Tis my blog, after all.

I did not vote for Barack Obama. My vote for McCain was based on who I thought was more qualified to step into the presidential role. It was also based on issues that are important to me, like a baby's right to live from the moment of conception. Am I a staunch Republican? Not always. I voted for a couple of Democrats in this election because I thought they were more qualified for their position. Do I like President Bush? No. Did I like Sarah Palin? No. I was in indecision mode for some time because of her. America needs a change, no doubt, but I did not believe Obama was it. Obviously, the majority of you did. That's how voting goes in America. You win some, you lose some.

For those that think my no to Obama had anything to do with race, well, then, you don't know me very well. I don't believe my friends that will read this will think that anyway, but those that may stumble across this blog in a search engine may immediately come to that assumption. It's a false assumption so please don't go there.

In observing this campaign, it concerns me that some seem to have abandoned a sense of healthy skepticism of Obama as politician. Politics is a game too, and Obama plays it, and for four years will continue to play it, along with the rest of them on Capitol Hill. He may be charismatic, and eloquent in speech, and have the plan for this country that you agree with, but his policies and actions deserve to be held up to the proverbial microscope just as much as anyone else.

The presidential race was a lot closer than I thought it was going to be. This brings me to another concern. I think some were afraid to say they were for McCain publicly. I can only speak for my area, but living in a "blue" state as I do, and on the Western, more liberal side of the state at that, my husband and I chose not to put McCain signs on our lawn because we did not want to invite vandalism. Sad but true. We get occasional jerks throwing crap in and driving on our lawn without doing anything at all, vandalizing our Christmas decorations, etc, and we just didn't feel like dealing with it further. It's happened in other areas locally. It doesn't help when you have a paper like The Stranger posting an online article entitled "Hell Houses", which highlighted homes in the well-to-do Eastside area that had Republican signs posted. Addresses were included. They have since been removed, thanks in part due to the outcry of some such as radio talk show host Dori Monson. The Stranger blames death threats, and perhaps that's true. Whackos are on both sides of the political fence. But did The Stranger not think about the potential for death threats and vandalism on the houses they gave addresses for? Oh, but that's free speech, they say? No, that's crossing a line.

*WHEW* I've got that out of my system and I'm done talking politics. If you have comments from either side of the political fence, I welcome them. However, any comments that have foul language or are derogatory toward me personally will be removed. I'm not moderating them any further than that.

We now return to the fluffier, lighter Sooz.

Back again?

2008-11-03T15:39:00.000-08:00

OK, well, I didn't say I was ENTIRELY stopping blogging, now did I?? :) I've found myself with a blessed lull in schoolwork over the last few days, so I'm enjoying it while it lasts.

Both midterms ended up great, I got A's on both *woohoo*. I've also been battling a nasty bug which turned out to be bronchitis, thus my energy level is just now starting to reach normal again.

I thought I'd share a few photos from our Halloween party on the 25th (more photos are up at both my MySpace and Facebook accounts if you are friends with me at either place):

The infamous Kitty Litter Cake (this recipe is easy to find if you Google it and yes really does taste good :)):

This Graveyard dessert was all gone at the end and was very yummy:

My daughter as a kitty cat:

My son as Dash from The Incredibles (that's actually my Mrs. Incredible costume from last year):

My husband as Mr. Incredible:

And, last but not least, myself as a geisha:

It was a fun night and we had a great time with the friends and family that stopped in.

Til' my next break...see ya...

Vote!

2008-11-03T15:22:00.000-08:00

I'm back with a very special almost-election-day blog:

Don't forget the big day tomorrow, November 4th, Election Day...if you're registered to vote and you haven't already cast your ballot by absentee (like me) or done early voting, please go to your polling place tomorrow to cast your vote. I don't care who you vote for, just make sure you've had your say. The media may make it sound like certain elections are in the bag, but local races and initiatives need your vote as well. Starbucks is giving a little reward if you go into one of their stores tomorrow and state that you voted, or have an "I Voted" sticker from your polling place. See their ad below:

Most of all, I will be ecstatic to see the election advertisements GO AWAY. Thank goodness, because on both sides, especially with our local governor's race, they've all been just incredibly stupid. Like an ad is going to give me the unbiased facts about a candidate. Please.

Tough decision

2008-10-27T06:46:00.000-07:00

Over the weekend, I did quite a bit of thinking about my priorities, especially when it comes to my time management. I've been doing OK, but in juggling the demands of home, work, and school, I've determined that something needs to go. And unfortunately, that something is Blogger. I won't be deleting my page entirely, so that I can still easily read other's blogs when I have a few minutes to cruise around and leave comments for my favorites out there. I won't be participating in Secret in the Sauce and Blog Around the World at this time, for as cool as those sites and people are, it takes time I should be spending elsewhere.

If you know me from elsewhere in cyberspace, my MySpace and Facebook sites will stay open, and I'll stay with the RS4 Yahoogroup. I use Facebook in small doses and am enjoying having a place to reconnect with friends from back in the day. MySpace is a place I'm willing to cut back on my commenting time on but still remain, and the same goes for RS4. I'm not disappearing entirely from cyber-land just yet :). Thanks so much if you've been reading along with me this year, I appreciate the support! If you are on MySpace or Facebook, feel free to comment and I will comment on your page with how to find me there.

I'm a shape-shifter!

2008-10-22T12:55:00.000-07:00

We tried a short variation of this personality test at a work meeting today, and I thought it was interesting (and accurate enough) to pass on here. It only takes a minute or two, so click this link to try it: http://www.psychometricshapes.co.uk/questionnaire.php

If you think your results don't quite fit, look on the left-hand side of the screen and see if you are more a combination of "shapes". I was a circle in our meeting today, but the online test said I was a box. So after reading the description, I think the "circle/box" combination fits me better, so if you want a look inside my mind (scary!), here you go: http://www.psychometricshapes.co.uk/circle_box.php

Just thought I'd share that tidbit of trivia for today :) .

Before You Leap

2008-10-21T16:11:00.000-07:00

When I'm not book learnin', I am reading this right now:

It is such a sweet book! To read some Amazon.com reviews click here. There won't be things that you probably don't already know in this book, but sometimes it's good to be reminded that you have the legs to take a leap of faith when you need to.

(Bonus! Via the link above I see that Muppet Show Season 3 is out now on DVD, geez how did I miss that news? That's #1 with a bullet on my Christmas list. There's a cute Kermit and Fozzie Q & A video special to Amazon here.)

Not Movin' Monday

2008-10-20T09:11:00.000-07:00

Ugh. I'm moving slow today. I canceled a morning dentist appointment to get cavities filled because I am in the *coughing a lung up* portion of this cold. It's moving pretty quickly and I actually feel much better than the end of last week, but still moving at slug speed. I worked Saturday and last night, so that swiped most of my spunk.

Over the weekend, I decided to sign up for the Seattle 2009 3-Day Walk for Breast Cancer. I did it in 2006 and I just felt the pull to do it again. Walking 60 miles in 3 days...it's a unique experience and a LOT of fun along the way. I am required to raise $2,300 (benefiting Susan B. Komen For The Cure) before I am qualified to walk, but the walk isn't until next September, so I am giving myself LOTS of fundraising time this time around. When all brain cells are firing a little better, you'll be hearing a lot more about this, trust me :), and I'll be sharing some photos from the walk I did in '06.

I did get out this weekend to snap some pictures of autumn in the Northwest.

This is one of a row of trees in our neighborhood park:

This was taken just outside the State Capitol buildings in Olympia WA, looking down on Capitol Lake and South Puget Sound:

And a glimpse of the State Capitol itself:

I have a midterm coming up at the end of the week, worth 100 pointeroos, so I'll be hitting the books more often than not this week. Right now, however, I'm tired from a night of work and my new pillows are calling me. Ta ta for now...

Friday Foto Finish Fiesta

2008-10-17T07:36:00.000-07:00

I took this photo at the Great Lakes Aquarium in Duluth MN during our vacation there in August. I *think* this is a painted turtle. I had to use the zoom feature to not freak him out, but he was definitely making sure I kept my distance :). It was an interesting aquarium and if you are ever in Duluth, you should check it out!

Want to play along on this Fiesta Friday? Go to Candid Carrie's blog to find out more! Sorry to keep this blog so short, but I've got a cold that is kicking my butt this morning, and the sleepies caused by my cold meds are finally hitting me, so I'm a little loopy. Wheeeeee....

Tasty Tootin' Thursday

2008-10-16T13:38:00.000-07:00

Today's healthy entry on Tasty Thursday brings us back to beans, beans the musical fruit, the more you eat, the more you...

And they're not a fruit, of course. But they'll get ya movin'! :)

These are pretty tasty:

They are fairly high in protein and fiber, but you do have to pay attention to your sodium intake and calories here. A 1/2 cup serving of these are only 100 calories, not bad at all if you put it on a whole-wheat tortilla with some salsa or pico de gallo, yum! Fat-free plain yogurt also works great as a substitute for sour cream. I've found the slight difference in yogurt taste doesn't matter much when you mix it all in with a taco.

This week's guilty pleasure:

Macaroni and cheese! I am feeling a wee bit under the weather today, so this comfort food sounds sooo good right now. Not the Kraft Mac and Cheese either, but something homemade, hot, and super cheesy. I don't know how to make it fat-free and I'm not sure I want to. If anyone does and the taste is about the same, I'd love the recipe!

Text this!

2008-10-15T13:29:00.000-07:00

I love my new Blackberry, especially because the keyboard (and TMobile's word suggestion option) makes it a lot easier for me to use the text feature. But I'm finding that my old gripe about people taking cell phone calls while you're having a conversation with them now can be applied to texting too. I've seen it mostly with the young pups out there, college-age and under where texting is more habitual. Perhaps older dogs like me are either just figuring it all out or have enough sense to know when to stop. I've seen two kids having a conversation with each other, then BOTH texting others too. What happened to, to quote a Rick Springfield tune that's running through my head now, "the great lost art of conversation"? These little tips go out to those that just can't put down the celly. Those of you reading most likely don't need these rules because you are all highly brilliant for stopping here in the first place ;). Regardless, I thought I'd put the following rules out into the cosmos for consideration.

OK, kids of all ages, listen up:

1. When walking into a place of business, put your phone on vibrate or quiet setting if you absolutely need to have it on. Nobody there wants to hear Britney's new tune right now. Just do it.
2. If you are talking with a friend and you get a text message or phone call, excuse yourself to check who it is, and if it's not urgent, IGNORE it (that's what voice mail is for) and go on to talk with the friend that has taken time out of his/her day to be with you.
3. When in a place of business and you approach a worker to have a conversation with them, do not walk up to them in mid-conversation or text with someone. Finish first. I noticed recently that my bank put up a sign that asks that you finish your conversation before you approach a teller. The fact that they even have to remind people of that in the first place irritates me, but since I work in a public setting too, I completely understand why. Don't answer the phone in mid-conversation with this business either. YOU came to THEM, so state what you need and check your messages later. The people waiting in line behind you, shooting laser beams out of their eyes at you, will be satisfied.
4. For God's sake, when you're in church, turn it OFF. Unless you've gotten a text from Him lately, and if so, can I have his number?

Those are some of my gripes about cell phone usage, let me know in comments if you have more.

Handy schmandy

2008-10-13T13:46:00.000-07:00

I just walked in the door from making a grocery store/Starbucks run, and my son pointed out that the front outdoor faucet was leaking. Which is not tragic in terms of home repair, it's just a slow drip and probably just needs a washer or something. If I knew how to do it, I'd fix it myself. Although I love my husband dearly, I did not marry him for his handyman skills. We know better around here now than to let him repair anything on his own! (I'd tell stories but he probably wouldn't be very happy that I did!) He usually needs a handier friend or at the very least, advice over the phone, to begin to know what to do. I think it's funny because his dad can fix just about anything. That handyman mojo did NOT get passed down LOL. Unfortunately, FIL lives too far away to help out now.

I can always hire someone to fix stuff, but my husband has many more qualities that are priceless and irreplacable. He's a loving, caring husband and father, and is even getting better about doing housework *insert angels singing hallejulah here*. It's just one of those quirks that you accept about a person when you love them, like the numerous ones of mine he has to tolerate :).

Halloween party ideas

2008-10-10T18:08:00.000-07:00

The kids had a day off from school today, so I spaced out posting for Foto Fiesta Friday today oops! I'm starting to hunt around online for some Halloween party ideas, since we're having one on the 25th. I'm looking for party games and food ideas mainly, since we have an idea how we want to decorate. If anyone has any ideas that worked for them, or sites that would be good to visit for ideas, feel free to post them in comments!

Tasty Thursday

2008-10-09T02:42:00.000-07:00

Before I get moving with the theme for today, I just wanted to welcome anyone that may have stumbled across my blog from the Gmail link yesterday. Little did I know that when I linked to the Gmail blog yesterday, IT has a link list beneath it of all the people that have linked to the article. I was looking at my stats and wondered holy cow, wha' happened?? I hope you have time to stick around and take a self-guided tour of my virtual home away from home (when I'm not on Facebook...or MySpace...).

Tasty Thursdays will be the day that I review some food items that are generally good for you and taste good too, and some that are just terrible for you but probably taste good anyway :). Let's get rolling, because I can hear your tummies rumbling from here.

This week is a special fast-food edition of Tasty Thursday. It's based off of my nutrition assignment for the week, which was to review a fast-food nutrition menu and figure out which item has the most percentage of fat, and which has the least. Scary numbers, my friends. I picked McDonald's as my restaurant of choice. Which main menu item had the biggest percentage of fat? (This is figured by dividing the item's calories from fat/total calories.) It's not what you might think. From my calculations, it's this:

That's the Big Breakfast Platter (with large biscuit). I actually have not had this in a really long time. Weighing in at 800 calories, 470 of those are from fat (or 59%), and it's got 1,680 mg of sodium. This breakfast should come with a defibrillator on the side. It's extremely high in, well, everything. Sodium, fat, carbs...it's just one big no-no.

Some of the chicken nuggets/chicken tender items were really close behind it in high fat percentage, so don't be fooled into thinking you are eating healthier there just because you're not eating beef. The same thing applies to the packaged salads (not the side one, but the main-dish salads). Even before you put dressing on, there's plenty of fat in there too.

So, Sooz, you ask, what is a time-crunched person to do when you've just gotta run through the drive-thru before you dash to the dentist/soccer game/dance recital/Girl Scouts/business meeting? Well, for starters, try this:

That's the Premium Grilled Chicken Classic Sandwich. It checks in at 420 calories, with 90 calories (or 21%) of its calories from fat. It's still super-high in sodium at 1,190 mg though, as is most everything on McD's menu.

At www.mcdonalds.com, you can download a comprehensive nutrition list, better than the one you can get over the counter.

If you want to wean yourself off of McDonald's, or any fast food really for a while, rent the DVD Super Size Me. I've linked to its location at Amazon so you can read a little more about it.

I could take or leave McDonald's, so what fast food item is really bad for me but I love it anyway? Hands down, it would be these:

Jack in the Box's seasoned curly fries. Throw in ANY of their sauces really, and YEAH that's heart-attack heaven. There's a reason I didn't go into Jack in the Box and ask for their nutrition fact sheet :).

Gmail is looking out for ya

2008-10-08T15:59:00.000-07:00

Had a little too much to drink and think it's a great time to send an email to your boss? Your evil nemesis? Ex-lover? Your momma? If you use Gmail, they have found a way to save your bacon...at least on weekends and late nights. Check out this link:

Mail Goggles

The best-laid plans

2008-10-05T15:33:00.000-07:00

Well, I would like to say my daughter and I made it to the City of Hope walk this morning...buuut having gotten off of work at 3:30 am, home by 4 am, and really wanting to be out the door by 7 am...and oh did I mention I work tonight too...my body said NO, YOU WILL SLEEP. I decided to listen to it today since I feel a cold coming on. No no no we canNOT have that. Too much to do! The beauty of walks like this is they already have my donation whether or not I step one foot on pavement, but I am bummed because my daughter wanted to do it too and they are a lot of fun. Next time I'll be better prepared and arrange to have the night before off! Argh.

We have a new member of the household I'd like to introduce you to. Presenting *drumroll please*...Desdemona!

I call her Desi :).

Yesterday, my husband and I took the kids out to lunch, and I happen to casually mention to hubby that I was having what I call 'kitty pangs'. Some people have 'baby pangs', me, I have 'kitty pangs'. We recently made our cats Dora and Tiny outdoor as well as indoor, and Dora in particular seems to be taking to the great outdoors. She went from being plump, fluffy and lazy to being really muscular and energetic again. Tiny, on the other hand, just likes to get some fresh air and then come right back in. Therefore, Tiny's inside a lot of the time by himself. With me being gone more often during the day for school, I think he's getting a little bored. On a whim after lunch, we decided to go down to our local shelter and just see what we could see.

We met with three cats at the shelter that caught our interest. The first was an orange tabby that was sweet at first, then went a little psycho on us, hissing and swiping at us. Next up was a nice-enough black cat that just seemed a little too skiddish to fit in our house. Then, one of the employees told us of another black cat that she had taken care of that morning that was really affectionate. We asked to see her...that was Desdemona (she came with the name and we decided to leave it). She is one of the sweetest cats you'd ever want to meet. She was brought in to the shelter as a stray in August, and in reading her medical history, it sounds like she was very thin when she was brought in. You wouldn't know it looking at her now, so they must have done a good job putting weight on her. Why she hasn't been adopted by now is beyond me, but my best guess would be they had her in a cage in the top row, and we didn't even see her. We just love her.

Yesterday we kept her downstairs in our rec room, separate from the other cats. Today she pretty much has free roam, but we are keeping a close eye on Dora and Tiny. Tiny is, as I blog, currently in stare-down mode with her. Not growling anymore, just glaring and shooting laser-beams with his eyes if he could. He'll adjust once he figures out she'd actually make a great playmate. And as long as Dora knows, and Desi understands, that Dora is still the queen bee around here, I think Dora will come around too. Dora's been outside a lot and is preferring to avoid confrontation at this point.

I must go back to chores and cat management-duty calls.

Catching up in the blogosphere...and a new feature

2008-10-03T14:02:00.000-07:00

Homework's done, chores are....NOT done...oh well ;)...but it's still time to blog!

Fall has definitely arrived. Mother Nature teased us with some unusually high temps earlier in the week, but now we're back to the usual rain, colder temps, and general sogginess that we'll be looking at until late spring. Buh-bye Mr. Sun.

I had to share another picture, call this Study Buddy Part Deux:

This time Dora was the one that decided to crash on my messenger bag. What is it about that bag? I sure didn't intend on it to be fur-lined. But she looked so cute, I just couldn't move her.

I may start a new recurring blog on here, talking about my favorite good-for-you foods, and my favorite just-absolutely-bad-for-you food. Because as healthy as a lot of us try to eat these days, I think just about everyone has a culinary weakness, right? Mine are crackers, chips..yum yum yum. I think by talking about it, maybe we can all come up with some healthier options for each other over time. Here is today's installment!

The Good For You:

Kashi Go-Lean

After some discussion on the message board of my online nutrition class about how good this product was, I had to buy it and taste for myself. And hey, Suzy likes it! I definitely do need milk with it, otherwise it's too dry for me. Per 1 cup serving, it's got 140 calories, 13 grams of protein, 10 grams of dietary fiber, and only 1 gram of fat. All the better if you toss your favorite fruit on top.

Today's very-bad-for-you-but-I-like-it-anyway choice (I really need to think of a better term for that, suggestions welcome!):

Flamin' Hot Crunchy Cheetos!

If you like your food a little spicier, and are a Cheetos fan anyway, you will LOVE these. Instead of orangey fingers, you'll have more of a deep red hue. Let's not depress ourselves by looking at the nutrition label right now, shall we? Let's just sum it up to say it's high in fat, of course highly processed, and leave it at that, 'K? Eat sparingly and with a glass of water or milk to quench the fire :).

This Sunday, my daughter and I are walking in Seattle's Walk for Hope. We joined last-minute (like yesterday!), so we don't have time to raise funds this year, but next year we'll be better prepared. I hadn't heard of it until a local radio-station mentioned it last week (and I will admit that their advertisement caught our ear because it mentioned they are giving away Rick Springfield autographed items at the event :)), but we decided to join in. I'll take my camera and share photos next week. Have a great weekend!

Friday Foto Finish Fiesta!

2008-10-02T21:58:00.000-07:00

My husband took this pic with my cell phone camera, so I apologize about the quality...but I still really like this pic of myself and my daughter last Saturday at a friend's birthday/graduation/business opening party. We were having a great time, especially since we hadn't seen these friends in a while. We all had a fun time catching up, eating, (and OK, so maybe I had just a *little* bit of wine :)). Later, we boogied on down courtesy of a DJ they'd hired for the night. Fun times!

Be sure to check out Candid Carrie's blog on Friday for links more bloggers posting their pics too! (I posted this a little early, but hey, it's Friday somewhere, right?) Now that I've got my schoolwork done for the week, I'll catch up on more blogging tomorrow. Right now, I've got to finish watching the hours of special features on my new Ironman DVD. It is AWEsome!

What kind of fool (blogger) am I...

2008-09-29T14:33:00.000-07:00

Sorry, I had that Rick song in my head...

Thanks to Amy for today's post idea :).

Your Blogging Type is Kind and Harmonious

You're an approachable blogger who tends to have many online friends.

People new to your blogging circle know they can count on you for support.

You tend to mediate fighting and drama. You set a cooperative tone.

You have a great eye for design - and your blog tends to be the best looking on the block!

What's Your Blogging Personality?

I don't know about the best looking blog on the block, but I think it fits OK...now you try!

Just push "play"

2008-09-26T15:55:00.000-07:00

Today was a bit of a revolving-door day in the household. In the morning, I had to wait for the gas fireplace-repair person so that I could have heat cranking out again from those bad boys. It's fall in Washington now, so the nights are chilly, and our fireplaces were acting cranky and didn't want to kick on. Turns out just they needed their yearly cleaning, so now we are toasty once more.

I also arranged for our new washer to be delivered today, since I was going to be home for the Gas Dude anyway. (Our old washer started had started leaking AGAIN, so we decided it was time to give up the ghost on it.) This morning, I got a call from the store where we got the washer. It turns out that we had been given the original receipt (meaning the store's copy), and apparently their manager was not in yet to pull a new one from their computer for delivery reference. So they had the nerve to ask if I would drive my receipt down to them. First of all, I was still waiting for the Gas Dude at this point. Second, why should *I* have to do anything? I told them that I could fax it to them from home, but if I had to drive it down, I would be asking for my money back. Funny how my fax worked just fine for them. I still don't understand what really happened on their end, other than somebody dropped the paperwork ball. Whatever. I am strangely happy to be able to wash clothes from home again.

Check out what the start button looks like:

Is this a stereo or a washing machine?? The installer was running a rinse mode to test, so I asked him which button starts it, and he pointed to the above button and said "Just push Play". Play? I don't think the words "laundry" and "play" match up well together, do you?

And it was REALLY great to wake up this morning to know that one of the banks that we use was seized by the government overnight and is now owned by another. It's the largest bank failure in United States history. Aw man, and I just got new checks from them yesterday too. The writing was on the wall and they had it coming. No worries, our money is fine and we can go about using above said checks, debit cards, and such. I hope they keep our local branch intact because their staff is SO nice.

The first week of school went really well and I'm looking forward to the program. Yay me! :) Have a great weekend!

Friday Foto Finish Fiesta

2008-09-26T11:57:00.000-07:00

I'm playing a little late in the day, having dealt with Gas Fireplace Repair Dude and STILL waiting on a Delivery Dude to come bring my new washer *woohoo*, but I wanted to be sure and get in on Candid Carrie's Friday Foto Finish Fiesta! Today's entry:

This was taken at my daughter's birthday party at Chuck E Cheese a couple of weekends ago. That's my daughter in the photo, but I like it because it looks like ol' Chuck E is trying to sneak up on her. Sneeeeeky mouse. My daughter turned 9, so this is probably the last year we could get away with a CEC party, so we finally caved and had one there per her suggestion. Everybody had a blast. Thank goodness our local CEC is actually tolerable, it's not overly crowded/noisy/crazy, though there's one about 30 miles south that you could not PAY me to have a party at, it is so packed with peeps.

Happy Friday!

Peanut-free snacking

2008-09-24T13:25:00.000-07:00

I just found a great website today for those people, like me, with a nut allergy, who still like to have the occasional snack food without having to be concerned about if it either HAS nuts or has been processed on the same equipment. It's also a great site for those with some other common food allergies too. I like that they have nut-free trail mix and granola bars in particular. Snack away!

http://www.peanutfreeplanet.com/

Study buddy

2008-09-23T08:39:00.000-07:00

School started for me this week, with my online nutrition class already in full gear, and soon I'm leaving for my first day of on-campus class (just one this quarter). If you don't hear from me as often, that's the culprit. I had to share a picture of my study buddy from yesterday:

Tiny is lying on my brand-new messenger bag...but before the pic was taken, he WAS trying to lie down on the book I was reading AND on my notes. I finally settled on letting him lie on the bag, if he felt he must be in my business :).

Friday Foto Finish Fiesta

2008-09-19T08:58:00.000-07:00

I'm trying my hand at my first Friday Foto Finish Fiesta, sponsored by Candid Carrie. Go check her blog out today and see all the bloggers that are playing along!

Today's entry:

This was taken last Saturday at the Puyallup Fair. That's my daughter knawing on a de-lish ear of hot buttered corn. There is NOTHING like fair food to top off a great day!

The fair's about to come to a close, so around here, that signals one thing...the coming of fall. As I type, it's a foggy day in the neighborhood. Yesterday, I had to break out the long-sleeve shirts again. *Sigh* bye-bye tan lines.

Blah blah blah

2008-09-18T21:17:00.000-07:00

There's lots of little things brewing in my bloggy head today.

Our cat Dora is scheduled to be microchipped tomorrow afternoon, and after that, we'll let her be an explorer again if that's what she wishes. Her collar with license is back on her...yeah, we'll see how long she keeps that on, but all we can do is try. I saw an interesting flyer in our local grocery store tonight. On the bulletin board at the entrance, where people can post things for sale, etc, someone had posted a "lost cat" flyer, with no picture, but it pretty much described Dora and listed her missing as of the day she came back to us. Hmmm. I wondered why she came back in such good shape, so it's possible she adopted a second family. She is practically howling to get out tonight, so I feel like such a bad kitty momma, but it's for her own good until she can be better "tagged". I might go out and get her a little personal ID tag to go with the license so it's clear (if she still hasn't ditched the collar) where her home base is.

I went to the curriculum night at my daughter's elementary school tonight, and found out some interesting things. And of course I can only speak for our own school district. Did you know that cursive is no longer required to be taught? She is teaching it (my daughter is in third grade), but she says the time can't be devoted to it as it used to be. Why? Because so much is done via computer now, the art of cursive is going by the wayside. Spelling is also not as emphasized as it used to be. Why? Because computers have spell-check. Don't get me wrong, I love her teacher, and she does the best that she can to get all of the above subjects in in the time frame that she has. She's got a curriculum given to her to follow that is out of her hands to some extent. In my opinion, our state is so focused on the children passing the Washington Assessment of Student Learning (better known as just the WASL), and in third grade they are tested in reading and math, that the rest of the curriculum is watered down. Again, I don't blame the teachers at all. They are doing the absolute best they can to still be creative, considering the pressure there is for the schools to do well on the WASL. You can find out more about the opposition to the WASL here.

Oh, yeah, and one of the banks we bank at? It's failing miserably, at junk stock level, and nobody wants to buy it. No surprises there. They did it to themselves with poor lending practices. You've probably heard about it in the news, but I don't want to name them as to be caught by a blog search for them. I don't want traffic that bad :). It sounds like the government may step in somewhat, so we'll have to wait and see what transpires. I'm not worried about our money, but I do plan on slowly moving our automatic payments over to our credit union account.

I've got a couple more topics I'll have to save for tomorrow, as I'm being hollered at by my spouse to send some attention his way. *SIGH* I suppose I should oblige ;). Nitey nite.

Blog awards

2008-09-17T14:25:00.000-07:00

Thank you Amy at WriteOneTwo for the following blog award!

Now it's my turn to pass it on to some of my favorite bloggers out there (that haven't already been recently awarded it :)). To translate the gift from Portuguese to English, the award means:"This blog invests and believes, the proximity"[meaning, that blogging makes us 'close' -being close through proxy].

Ripping the envelope...suspense builds...the award goes to:

Kristi at Living Life in TX
Sabrina at Life's a Beach
You Are Kidding Me (sorry that I don't know your first name!)
Dianne at Not A Natural Blonde

The prodigal cat has come home

2008-09-13T01:50:00.000-07:00

Dora's back!

We came home from a high school football game tonight to find Dora in our front yard, looking none the worse for wear, just slightly skinnier. Hmm, perhaps she may have shacked up with the neighborhood stud-muffin cat (think Thomas O'Malley from The Aristocats, except all black and more muscular).

Once inside, Dora went straight for the food and water dishes, and after lots of loving from us, is now snoozing in the living room. She's grounded for a couple of days. I'll get her collar back on her before she's let out again, but I'm making an appointment come Monday for her fuzzy little butt to be microchipped. If she's going to live up to her name (the kids named her after Dora the Explorer), it'll be necessary.

After Dora came home, my daughter told me that she had a dream last night that Dora came home through the front yard and in the front door. Now how's that for visualization?

Our other cat Tiny is very happy to have his friend back at home. Here's the two of them a couple of months ago (Tiny is on the left, Dora on the right):

One more thing on the plate soon

2008-09-12T13:43:00.000-07:00

I'll be starting my college courses on the 22nd at a local community college, in my quest to become a personal fitness trainer. It's a two-year program, but because I'm working around work, family life, and most importantly, a budget, I'll be chipping away at it part-time. Some of my previous credits from my first round of college will transfer, so that will help a little. (I graduated in 1991 with a degree in Public Relations...wow, look what I'm doing with it *sound of crickets chirping*.) For fall quarter, I'm taking a five-credit Nutrition course online, then a two-credit course in Functional Training that's on-campus. That's plenty to start with.

I'm nervous, but not a petrified nervous. I'll be visiting the campus next week to get supplies and such, and I'm hoping to touch base with my advisor too.

Wish me luck!

Is it the weekend yet?

2008-09-11T21:39:00.000-07:00

This has been one of the crummier weeks that I've had in a while, unfortunately. And it's more that a few little things went wrong, plus one big thing, and it just sort of added up. Ugh.

The main stressor this week was (and is) my MIL in the hospital. She is doing better, thanks so much for your thoughts and prayers. In addition to her recovery, my husband and his sister are trying to relocate their parents to a place closer to medical care, as right now they are about an hour away from the medical services they need, and so that they are close to rail/bus routes if needed too. My husband has been in Portland since Monday night and it's awfully quiet around here without him.

Our cat Dora has gone missing and we're all feeling a bit mopey (including our other cat Tiny). She went outside late Monday night and no one's seen her since. I checked the local shelter today and she wasn't there, so the next strategy is putting up lost cat posters around the neighborhood tomorrow. She was a bad kitty and ditched her collar with her license tags on them, and I hadn't gotten around to replacing them yet. Of course, after she went missing, my neighbor happened to find the collar in his yard. I was a big sap and cried after I came in the house with it. We rescued Dora from behind a restuarant while we were vacationing in Idaho a few years ago...we like to think of it more as she found us. We were thinking about adopting a cat after vacation, so it was like she knew exactly what we were looking for when she walked up to our van. Here's a couple of pictures of her on her ride home with us from Idaho:

We miss her :(.

And then it was just more little things. The garage door has a bolt missing, I spilled gasoline all over my favorite jeans while pumping gas...I swear my life is a country song gone bad this week :).

BUT...on the brighter side of the week, my daughter turned 9 on Monday. We're having her party on Sunday at Chuck E Cheese (oh my oh my LOL), but on her actual birthday I took she and my son to the Puyallup Fair after school. Here's a couple of photos from there:

Excellent election commentary from Craig Ferguson

2008-09-11T07:36:00.000-07:00

Last night, (or, technically, earlier this morning), Craig Ferguson on CBS's The Late Late Show had an excellent monologue about the presidential election. It's a non-partisan rant if that is of concern to you before you click. FInally someone is talking some sense from the TV box.

His monologue:

After the monologue, he had more to say about the voting process (and according to the CBS YouTube site, Craig is a new American citizen and this will be the first election he is voting in):

Prayers and good thoughts needed

2008-09-09T01:06:00.000-07:00

Hi my friends,

I have a prayer request for you today, hope you don't mind.

My mother-in-law is in the intensive care unit at a Portland (Oregon) area hospital, with the diagnosis of pulmonary edema. Without going into great detail as to her status, what I can say is that she's not doing well and needs your prayers. The next 24 hours will (hopefully) give more insight as to what can be done. My husband is down there with his dad now (it's about a three-hour drive south of us), and my husband's sister is also on the way there.

So the kids and I are holding down the fort at home, hoping for good news. I'll check in here again soon.

Sooz in the Midwest: The Final Chapter

2008-09-05T21:11:00.000-07:00

The last day of our trip to the Midwest (and it's only taken me almost a month to recap it) found us leaving Desmoines the morning of the 10th, headed back toward the great state of Minnesota. On the way back to Minneapolis to catch our evening flight, we made a couple of pit stops.

The first was to my father-in-law's hometown of Blooming Prairie, MN.

We wanted to see if we could find where my FIL used to live, and where my husband remembered spending time with his grandparents. Thanks to my FIL's directions via cell phone, we are pretty sure we found it.

We eventually made our way back into Minneapolis, and spent about three hours at the Mall of America, which conveniently, is right across the street from the airport :). Trust me, three hours isn't enough to put a dent in covering it, so once we found the Nickelodeon Universe amusement area within the mall, we just bought the kids wristband passes and let them get as dizzy as they wanted.

This is them (in front) on the first go-round on one of the coasters:

Don't they just look thrilled?

To which I said something to the effect of, "Aw, you can do better than that....go back again and scream!" What do you know, they actually listened.

A friend that I have known for some time via the Rick Springfield email lists also met us at the Mall since she doesn't live too far from there. If you're reading Jill, it was SO nice to finally meet you, and I promise that I will be back to MN again to spend more time visiting! Jill gave us a good tip on a restaurant in the mall, we said our goodbyes to her since she had to leave and went to chow down. Before long it was time to go to the airport to turn in our sweet Cadillac rental *sniff* and head for home.

My daughter in stylin' duds, waiting for the flight home:

It'll be a while before we can have an adventure like this again, but it was so much fun having them together as a family.

Who I'm voting for in November

2008-09-05T17:50:00.000-07:00

Back to school

2008-09-05T08:47:00.000-07:00

The kids went back to school on Tuesday (do I hear a HOO-ray LOL). My son started his freshman year of high school, and my daughter is in third grade. They are definitely having two different experiences right now, as could be expected.

My son likes all his classes, except for band. I warned him last spring when he signed up for his high school electives that a lot more activity will be expected at the HS band level, so to be prepared for that if he wanted to continue to play. Sure enough, the syllabus came home yesterday with the expectation that he will be at all home football and basketball games for pep band/marching band, plus the usual concerts. Given the vibe of the syllabus, the teacher is a hardnose on tardies and being unprepared, which is perfectly reasonable. Add that to the fact that the school is huge, all teachers are strict on tardies, and he's just learning the ropes, well, that sent my son into a bit of a freakout mode Wednesday night and we had a tearful, but I hope helpful, conversation. I need to touch base with the special education coordinator anyway, just to introduce myself and start over again in learning the ropes of another school system, so I'll have a conversation with her about his concerns. I told him that he needs to see band through this year, because that's the commitment he made, but he can drop it like a hot potato as a sophomore and choose another elective. Other than being stressed about getting to class on time, he likes his other classes just fine so far. Crossing my fingers that we get through this transition period OK. Thursday seemed to go better for him, so there's hope! :)

My daughter, on the other hand, is an elementary school pro being in 3rd grade now, and told me yesterday "I love going to school!" LOL. I met her teacher at a school BBQ last week, and she immediately hit me up for volunteering...wow she doesn't waste any time! I told her with my work schedule, plus the fact that I'll be back in college soon, doing things to help from home would be the best option for me. Here's a shot of my daughter on the first day (my son, being nervous and well, a typical teenager to boot, was not as cooperative for a photo and I didn't want to push the issue).

The plan for me before I start school on the 22nd is HOUSEWORK! The house needs a thorough scrubbing, and has papers, papers everywhere that really should either be recycled or shredded. I need to go find myself a heavy-duty shredder and get to work!

Day Four: AfFAIR of the Heart at the Iowa State Fair

2008-08-30T11:44:00.001-07:00

Day Four of our trip to the Midwest found us saying goodbye to my husband's aunt and uncle in Iowa City, and meeting up with his cousin Lori and her boyfriend to drive two hours west to the Iowa State Fair in DesMoines. As we walked in from the parking lot, I got a view of the grandstands we'd be sitting in later for the Rick Springfield show. They hold about 9,000 people, and their floor seating holds about another 1,000. Huge! (All photos in this blog are taken by yours truly.)

Thanks to Lori's boyfriend as tour guide (who coincidentally happened to be named Rick), who had been to the fair many times before, we made our way around the fairgrounds without a problem. If we didn't cover all 400+ acres of the fair, we came pretty close. The kids did a few rides, but we tried to avoid hanging out too much on the midway, since they can do those at pretty much any fair around here. We wanted to see the more unique aspects of the fair.

And, by the way, it was Drake University Day at the fair. (Rick Springfield=Dr. Noah Drake on General Hospital..get it...)

My daughter was interested in the butterfly exhibit:

We saw the famous Butter Cow:

And this year, Olympian Shawn Johnson, from DesMoines, was represented too:

There was the biggest bull *yikes*:

Biggest piggie:

And the eggs on a stick in the agricultural building (or, as we like to call them, eggs on a steeeeeeeeeeeeeeek):

After dinner and catching a magic show, it was time to head to the grandstand to see Scandal and RICK SPRINGFIELD WOOOOOOOOOOOOO . My husband and son had bought tickets last minute, though Lori and Rick had bought tickets previously as had my daughter and I. My daughter and I were sitting pretty much center, and about six rows back in the grandstands. (I'd say there were about 15 rows of floor seating in front of the grandstands, but that's just a guess.) The other four of our peeps were in the section to the right of us, about three rows closer in. This is much further away than I'm used to being at a Rick Springfield show :), but for my daughter's first Rick concert, I really wanted her to be able to see, and since she had an aisle seat too, she had a great line of sight. She had picked out a great hat earlier in the day to, and I quote HER, "get Rick's attention." (*Sniff* I've taught her well.)

The front part of the hat that isn't visible in this photo had blue and red fiber-optic lights, and I'm sure if he'd been close enough, that would have at least caught his eye. Not to mention she's just so damn cute.

Patty Smyth and Scandal were first up, and were AWEsome. I had heard some mixed reviews from previous shows of theirs, but I thought they rocked. Patty ventured out in the crowd and even made it to our section:

I think they played about 45 minutes or so...could have been an hour...and then Rick's video montage/introduction came on the big screens:

He started with jacket on:

Then that layer came off:

In the crowd for Don't Talk To Strangers:

Then he changed into another shirt on-stage :):

"I've done everything for YOU":

In the crowd again, getting closer: (But alas he could only make it to the divider to the grandstands before he had to turn back.)

One more while he was in the crowd, just because I like the pic:

Cowboy Rick:

Here's one from the encore (which was "I'll Miss That Someday" *yes* and "Love Is Alright Tonite"):

The total set list has been posted somewhere, but darned if I can find it right now. He did cover Eric Clapton's "Crossroads", which is the first time I've heard Rick perform it. He also did his bathtub version of "Gloria" (G-L-O-R-I-A), which I was a bit surprised at given the age mix, but he did tell the young ones and the guys to "put your hand down". Of course I smacked Kayla's hand down while waving mine in the air :). For those of you that don't know what the bathtub version is, here it is at another venue:

(Disclaimer: Per Rick's management, taking videos of his shows are not allowed. I don't, because as a friend of mine would remind me, I follow the rules too damn much. However, if someone else has already put it on YouTube and it hasn't come down yet, I say what the hell, I need it to illustrate.)

He played two songs off of his new CD Venus in Overdrive. "What's Victoria's Secret" led off the show, and "I'll Miss That Someday" was part of the encore. Here's a video of WVS from that night that someone posted, they were sitting more right to the stage than we were (and listen for him to forget a few words *oops*):

It was a great night, and after some post-concert fireworks...

...we dragged our weary selves to our hotel room in downtown DesMoines to crash.

Coming soon (I hope): Sooz in the Midwest: The Final Chapter.

Day Four: AfFAIR of the Heart at the Iowa State Fair

2008-08-30T11:44:00.000-07:00

And, by the way, it was Drake University Day at the fair. (Rick Springfield=Dr. Noah Drake on General Hospital..get it...)

My daughter was interested in the butterfly exhibit:

We saw the famous Butter Cow:

And this year, Olympian Shawn Johnson, from DesMoines, was represented too:

There was the biggest bull *yikes*:

Biggest piggie:

And the eggs on a stick in the agricultural building (or, as we like to call them, eggs on a steeeeeeeeeeeeeeek):

I think they played about 45 minutes or so...could have been an hour...and then Rick's video montage/introduction came on the big screens:

He started with jacket on:

Then that layer came off:

In the crowd for Don't Talk To Strangers:

Then he changed into another shirt on-stage :):

"I've done everything for YOU":

In the crowd again, getting closer: (But alas he could only make it to the divider to the grandstands before he had to turn back.)

One more while he was in the crowd, just because I like the pic:

Cowboy Rick:

Here's one from the encore (which was "I'll Miss That Someday" *yes* and "Love Is Alright Tonite"):

It was a great night, and after some post-concert fireworks...

...we dragged our weary selves to our hotel room in downtown DesMoines to crash.

Coming soon (I hope): Sooz in the Midwest: The Final Chapter.

Haven't dropped off the face of the earth, really...

2008-08-29T13:24:00.000-07:00

Sorry about leaving my adventures on vacation hanging, but I just haven't had much time or motivation for blogging this week. Once the kids go back to school on Tuesday I should be able to finish up the saga :). I'm far behind on reading them too but I will try to catch up at least with that over the weekend!

P.S. to my friends who are reading the "Twilight" book series...I just finished the first book and I love it. The first 200 pages was a bit tough to get through, but I pushed on and was happy I did. I'm going out to get the next book later on! I'm looking forward to the movie coming out in November (apparently they pushed the movie release date forward from the previous December release date).

Day 3: Iowa City

2008-08-21T00:01:00.000-07:00

On the morning of Day Three of our trip, it felt so good to wake up in an actual home, even if it wasn't ours! My husband's aunt and uncle were wonderful hosts and they have a beautiful home in Iowa City. Our kids each got their own room to sleep in, which does WONders for a peaceful sleep during travel. Ahhhhh.

After breakfast and a walk around their neighborhood with their absolutely adorable bulldog Samantha, we hopped in our cars and they took us to the Devonian Fossil Gorge
in nearby Coralville. The erosion from the floods of 1993 exposed Devonian-age fossils. We did find a few, pictures of which I promise I will eventually post :). We also walked along the Cedar River briefly, and came across a couple of guys doing bow-and-arrow fishing for carp (yep, it's legal, I just checked :)). That's not something we have come across very often here in Washington State for whatever reason, and my husband is an avid fisherman. So they talked fishin' for a bit and then we moved on back to the relatives' to get swimming gear for the neighborhood pool/waterpark. We met up with one of my husband's cousins there as well and had a great time. On the way back to the house, they took us by the University of Iowa, home of the Iowa Hawkeyes. Their Kinnick Stadium is abso-freakin-lutely HUGE. They also drove us by some areas that were still showing signs of damage from the recent June floods.

Later that evening, my husband's aunt and uncle hosted a party to celebrate the birthday of one of my husband's cousins, and we caught up with some we hadn't seen since our wedding, and some that I was meeting for the first time. It was a really fun night spent playing croquet (now THAT I hadn't played since I was a kid), chasing butterflies (that'd be my daughter), eating a LOT, and the kids even caught a firefly, since they nor I had seen them before. I promise that they let it go after we oogled over it.

We plopped into bed exhausted but happy. We had a long but fun day ahead of us the next day!

Coming soon Part 4: AfFAIR of the Heart at the Iowa State Fair.

Day 2: Corn Corn and more Corn

2008-08-19T10:46:00.000-07:00

We awoke in Duluth on the morning of the 7th and knew we had a loooong day ahead if we were to get to my husband's aunt and uncle's house in Iowa City that night. So after one more quick trip to the hotel's waterpark, a yummy continental breakfast, and a quick check of the computer at the business center :), we were on the way.

While still in Minnesota, we had to stop off at the Cabela's store in Owatonna, MN off of I-35. We have one here in Washington, and since my husband is a fishing junkie, it is his favorite store and we had to stop. The fact that the Russell Stover store was just across the parking lot didn't hurt either :). While there, we walked over to Caribou Coffee nearby to meet my online friend Sue for the first time! She and I have been on some of the same "Rick lists" for years and is also a MySpace friend. It was so great to finally meet her!

Being a coffee addict, I have to digress from my tale for a minute to talk about Caribou Coffee. Starbucks is in the Midwest too, but of course not as prevalent as here in the Seattle area. (I have three Starbucks within easy walking distance of me, and TEN just in my town alone. And I've been to every single one LOL.) Caribou got me through-hey that rhymes-but I was always happy to see the green beacon of joy (a.k.a. the Starbucks logo) while driving along. When I was in the Caribou in Duluth, I wanted to buy their little stuffed moose that holds a gift card, just 'cause it was cute. All that they had left were the display ones on their counter, but those still had price tags on them. When I asked if I could buy one of those, they told me no, and they didn't have any more in stock. Wait, I am offering to pay you for your product, and you don't want my money? Huh. And they liked to hide their straws too because you had to ask behind the counter for one. Is there a lot of straw theft in Duluth?

But back to the road trip. After spending some time chatting with Sue, we had to hit the road again if we were going to make it to Iowa City that night. Once we crossed the Iowa border, the common road view was cornfield. Lots and lots of cornfields. Iowa also has some of the nicest rest stops I've ever seen (aka Iowa's "welcome centers"). I'm guessing this might be the case because if nature calls while traveling the highways there, it's either the welcome centers or the cornfields until you reach a well-populated town. I cut back on my coffee-drinking at this point :).

Unfortunately we went through Cedar Rapids at night, so we really didn't get a good view of that city. I would have liked to have at least driven through, but we forged on to Iowa City and made it to the relatives' home at about 10 pm. Including our stops, we had been on the road for twelve hours, so we were beat.

Coming soon: Part 3, exploring Iowa City.

Pre-trip and Day One: Get the worst overwith first!

2008-08-17T08:31:00.000-07:00

I have a few minutes before everyone wakes up to start blogging about our trip. Today's travel lesson...get the worst part of your trip overwith FIRST, then everything else will seem peachy.

On Monday the 4th, the day before we planned to fly to Minneapolis, I pulled up our flight itinerary to forward to the friend who was going to shuttle us to and from the airport. To my absolute horror, I realized that the itinerary was wrong. It had us flying out the night of the 3rd, NOT the night of the 5th.

WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA?????

I hadn't proofread the itinerary at ALL after I had dealt with the travel agent. Totally my fault. A panicked call to the travel agent, lots of tears, and hundreds of dollars in change fees later, we had the Tuesday red-eye flight that we originally thought we were going to take. Whew.

We flew into the Minneapolis airport at around 5 am Wednesday the 6th. We sleepily trudged to the rental car place to pick up our wheels for the trip. The guy at the counter offered us a great deal to upgrade to a 2009 Cadillac sedan, so we agreed and WOW was it a sweet ride. It was totally keyless. You carry a "fob", though bigger than the ones you see that are just for car alarms and locks. The ignition is a button, and the car will only start if the "fob" is in the car too. It also automatically unlocks when the person with the fob pulls on a locked car door. It also had XM Satellite Radio which kept us entertained via comedy channel 151 Laugh USA. Love that station! Now I need XM here :).

Our destination on Day One after picking up said sweet ride...Duluth, MN, about a two-hour drive northeast. Just to see one of the great lakes (Lake Superior) and Minnesota. We stopped in at the Great Lakes Aquarium, which gave us a great idea of what creatures of the water inhabit the lakes. Of course, I also tracked down what appeared to be the only Starbucks in town, I could be wrong, but I'm used to seeing one every other block :).

Two days before we left home, my husband found this cool waterpark/hotel online in Duluth that was actually cheaper than the hotel we had already booked. So we changed reservations to the Edgewater Resort and Waterpark in Duluth...more about it is here. After the aquarium visit,lunch, and hotel check-in, my hubby napped for about four hours while the kids and I hung out at the waterpark (photos to follow, I haven't quite got them all up on a link to share yet). Then we decided to see if Daddy was still alive, woke the poor guy up, and went to go get some grub. In the evening, the hotel had a fire out back with marshmallows to roast, plus mini-golf and a playground. Unfortunately, we got back so late from dinner that they had shut the fire and the mini-golf down, but it was still a beautiful night to gaze out at Lake Superior.

Up next...Day Two: Corn Corn and more Corn.

I'm baaaaack

2008-08-12T12:44:00.000-07:00

Hi all,

We got back in late Sunday night from our trip to Minnesota and Iowa. We had an incredible time and I'll have lots of trip pics and more blogging as soon I catch up with things on the homefront more. For now I thought I'd at least leave the Rick Springfield fans with a little eye candy :). Here's a link to some of my better photos from the Scandal/Rick Springfield show at the Iowa State Fair on August 9:

http://picasaweb.google.com/sooz4rick/RickSpringfieldScandal892008

Just a quickie...

2008-08-05T10:49:00.000-07:00

...to let you know that my family and I are hopping a plane tonight to Minneapolis, and we'll be spending a few days in MN and Iowa visiting my husband's relatives. We'll be doing the tourist thing along the way too. Saturday night, my daughter and I get to see Rick Springfield in concert at the Iowa State Fair *woohoo*. It's my daughter's first Rick show and she is soooo excited. Our seats are nowhere near close-well, at least not what I'm used to LOL-but we'll be fine. That fair venue can seat 10,000 people yikes! The outdoor light (or lack thereof) and our distance may work against us, but I'll do my best to get some pics.

Over the weekend I had a chance to give my new camera a workout watching the Navy's Blue Angels perform here in Seattle. I likey my new cam!! :)

OK back to packing....see ya!

Thank You for the Music/Mamma Mia

2008-08-01T23:50:00.000-07:00

My daughter and I just got back from seeing "Mamma Mia!". What a fun movie! I laughed, I cried, and I really really wanted to dance on my chair. I definitely want to see it again. The end credit scene is probably the best credit extra I've seen in a long time. When the rest of the credits run, there's a beautiful song called "Thank You For the Music", sung by Amanda Seyfried, that plays over them. I picked up the soundtrack at Target afterward, and was a bit disappointed at first that this song wasn't on it. I got home and imported the CD onto iTunes, and lo and behold, it's a secret track at the end *woohoo*. I found it as audio on YouTube to share. Amanda has an amazing voice and there's a sweetness to this version that I think is missing in ABBA's original. Enjoy!

So...what do I think?

2008-07-31T14:32:00.000-07:00

If you've stumbled across my blog looking for an objective review of "Venus in Overdrive"...bwahahahaha no, I am very biased! Rick rocks! Consider yourself warned.

Rick Springfield's new CD, "Venus in Overdrive", hit stores on Tuesday. Of course I HAD to trek down to Best Buy to pick up a couple of copies that day in addition to the three I had pre-ordered, but didn't have in my hot little hands yet. I'm going to try to squeeze in a full review of the CD before I switch to full vacation mode (as of tomorrow, I'm on vacation from work for 11 days *woohoo*), but I'll have to do a slightly shorter version for now.

This whole CD is outstanding from beginning to end. Props must also be given to Rick's writing partner and co-producer on this CD (and also his bass player), Matt Bissonnette. For me, it's one of the rare CDs that I don't hit the "skip" button on.

The first track, and first single, "What's Victoria's Secret" will pull you in with its "Jessie's Girl" vibe. (Yeah, THAT's the sound that hooked us 25+ years ago.) The CD continues with the creatively-worded "I'll Miss That Someday" and just keeps rocking from there. "One Passenger" stands out as one of my favorites, it being a conversation with (fill in your higher power here). The CD takes a softer turn with track 10, "She", and ends with "Saint Sahara", a song about a wonderful girl who was taken from this world far too soon, but I'm sure is dancing with the angels to these new tunes.

Best Buy has two exclusive bonus tracks on their CD, a studio cover of "My Generation" by The Who, and an acoustic version of "Jessie's Girl". Rick's been doing the cover of "My Generation" at shows for a couple of years now, and it's a LOT of fun to hear live. Hearing the studio version brings back some great memories. Love the acoustic JG as well.

The CD has some bonus material to discover when you pop it into your computer. In addition, the CD booklet includes hundreds of fan-submitted photos. A few months back, Rick's website asked fans to submit photos, and WOW did they get quite the response. Yep, my thumbnail-size face is in there somewhere, and it's a thrill. That must have taken a LOT of work to squeeze as many of us as possible in there. Rick and his team are so good to his fans. If we had to pick one musician to follow, we certainly picked a keeper.

Well, so much for that *short* review, huh? I have GOT to get back to pre-vacation prepping now (the laundry pile is calling my name-ugh). In our travels next week to see family, my 8 year-old daughter and I will also be attending Rick's DesMoines, IA show on August 9th, so down the road I will have a review of that (and as best photos as I can get being further back this time. Show us some love in the grandstand section too Ricky.)

I'll also try to catch up on some blog reading/commenting too!

Comments from the peanut-free gallery

2008-07-28T15:19:00.000-07:00

I've got a few thoughts spinning around in my little ol' head, so I'm just going to let them spill out at random today.

I have new toys! Over the weekend, my husband and I got new cell phones (Blackberry Pearls) and a new digital camera (a Nikon Coolpix P80). We initially went to Best Buy just to see about getting phones. We had $80 in their Reward Zone certificates to use or lose by August 2, and we wanted phones that were Bluetooth-enabled, since our state recently passed a law that limits cell phone use behind the wheel to hands-free only. Funny how we walked passed the digital camera section and the Nikon hopped right in our arms :). I've had my eye on it for a bit, and was going to wait until closer to Christmas to drop hints about it. However, it was on sale, and we had the rewards certificates too, so my husband grabbed it for me, because I was going to talk myself out of it. What a guy! The camera's got 10 megapixels and 18x optical zoom. The Navy's Blue Angels are coming to town later in the week, so I will give the cam its first workout taking pictures of the planes in action. It'll take me forever to figure out all it can do.

The same goes for the Blackberry. I can call, text, and take pics with it, but beyond that, I'm clueless. A couple of my co-workers that have one have enlightened me a little, but I'll have to make some time and sit down with a tutorial. I feel a bit like a cyborg with the Bluetooth thing in my ear, so you won't see me outside of the car with it looking like I'm talking to myself. Not only that, it doesn't really fit in my ear well, because I am some sort of freak of nature with the tiniest "ear-hole" on the planet. I have the same problem with iPod earbuds. Argh!

Rick Springfield and his crew rocked Good Morning America today! He'll be on Regis and Kelly tomorrow, AND his new CD hits stores tomorrow as well. Best Buy, Target, Walmart, Amazon.com...wherever you shop, pick one up! If you want to preview the tracks in their entirety before you buy (although there will be bonus material with the actual CD), just click here. You'll have to let the tracks play through, but trust me, that's not a bad thing!

I just found out that my parents got a new computer, they're hooked up to the Web, and Dad even has his own email address. If you're reading, Mom or Dad, welcome!

Four more nights of work before vacation...I'm halfway through my eight-night stretch...I can make it...zzzzzzz....

Not P-Nutty

2008-07-25T15:40:00.000-07:00

For two future home games, the Seattle Mariners have set up sections that will be designated "peanut-free" for those with peanut allergies. I happen to be one of the estimated 1.5 million people with a peanut allergy, so I'm happy to see places that serve them be a little more conscious. Here's the Seattle PI's coverage regarding the special seating:

http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/thebigblog/archives/144190.asp?source=rss

Some of the comments on the article above are a little snide, so obviously they don't know anyone with this allergy. Let me shed a little light on what it's like. My reactions are by no means the most severe, as I don't have to carry an Epi-Pen around. Benadryl by pill (or if it's severe enough, an antihistamine shot from the doctor) will do the trick. Now that the food manufacturers post that little warning on their products that it "has been processed on the same equipment" as food they make with peanuts, I swear they are less careful about making sure there's no cross-contamination. I can taste the difference.

I should add that I've reacted to walnuts, almonds, and cashews too.

I can tell when nuts are being eaten around me, as the dust from it makes my throat itchy. I also can't be touched by someone who's just eaten nuts, or where they touch me will turn red. And if I react that way, imagine how those who have a more severe allergy feel!

You can find out more about this allergy at www.peanutallergy.com. Gotta go before I lose this blog, as Blogger says they are doing maintenance in about 6 minutes...

Photos from the air show

2008-07-21T12:01:00.000-07:00

Here's the link to a slideshow of some of my better photos from the McChord AFB Air Show this weekend:

http://s40.photobucket.com/albums/e214/soozg1/McChord%20Air%20Show%202008/?action=view&current=d93ecb31.pbw

We had a great time!

Mush Brain

2008-07-18T20:07:00.001-07:00

My brain is just a big pile of mush under these curly locks. This past week I've worked a lot of night shifts, had to get up for my daughter's 8 AM swim lessons this week (and next week too), fought off a tummy bug, and then have just juggled everyday stuff. I'm beat.

To boot, we got a naughty note from our homeowner's association stating that we needed to clean up the weeds in our yard by next Thursday. Thank God for teenagers. ("You want computer time? Better get out there and do some weeding for me first!") Heh. Our association is reasonable, thankfully, compared to some in the area (I love the movie "Over the Hedge" because in addition to being really cute, it pokes fun at the over-the-top homeowner's associations.) I know they are there to try to keep property values up, but it's times like this that I really miss living in the sticks. If I want dandelions 3 feet high, dammit, I can HAVE them there! :)

We have a fun weekend ahead. With the local air force base having an air show tomorrow, my son will be in airplane/jet heaven. I'll take the cameras with me and try to get some good shots to share. Toodles!

Family kicked off Southwest Airlines

2008-07-17T09:54:00.000-07:00

Recently, a family was kicked off of a Southwest Airlines flight because the children, four kids total, were being "disruptive and unruly", according to Southwest. They were headed from Detroit to Seattle but were booted off at their stop in Phoenix. One of the children is autistic, and another has cerebral palsy. Here's a news article with video here:

http://www.kpho.com/news/16813576/detail.html

You can also hear one of our local talk show hosts interview the mother by following this link:

http://www.mynorthwest.com/index.php?nid=76&sid=71990

It may surprise you, but I side mostly with the airlines here. They have a duty to protect all of their passengers, as well as their crew. Just because someone has a disability, that doesn't make them immune from the same expectations of common courtesy and rule obedience that is expected from all. I do think that after they booted them off the plane, Southwest should have had more of a heart in giving the family alternatives for getting to Seattle.

Kids CAN behave on airplanes. I doubt the children were prepared by the parent for what behavior was expected from them on the flight. I also get the feeling she just expected passengers to go with the flow and deal with her children's behavior. A crying baby is a blow to the ears but not much of a safety threat sitting in one spot...kids running around the cabin of an airplane is another matter. Where is the personal responsibility????

Go get Sauced!

2008-07-14T16:42:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Amy at Escape to Thought, I found a site called The Secret Is In the Sauce, a site for bloggers to find and support one another through comments to their blog, but you also have the chance to win some cool prizes along the way! There's lots to see and explore there. Read the SITS get started post, grab their button like the one you see on the left-hand side here, and enjoy. They are giving away three $50 Target gift cards this week, see their blog to find out how you can enter!

New video clip on Amazon

2008-07-14T11:51:00.000-07:00

Amazon has a new video clip posted on the page where you can pre-order Rick Springfield's new CD Venus in Overdrive. In it, Rick discusses a bit about each song. You can link directly to the video at the link below.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/mpd/permalink/mHSOFS51NKOS9

If you like what you hear, you can pre-order by clicking on the photo of Rick to your left on my blog and follow the links to Amazon, or click on the link here.

Now how can you not buy a CD from that face? (Aw, now, stop it Sooz, it's all about the music, the MUsic, remember, keep it together...)

I need bean juice!!!!

2008-07-10T16:59:00.001-07:00

A friend who knows of my love of (translation: addiction to) coffee emailed me this YouTube link today. I laughed so hard I thought I'd share it here:

This is actually an E-card from Hallmark, and the characters are named Hoops and Yoyo. You can see more of their cartoons/cards at www.hoopsandyoyo.com.

Rick Springfield on Hero Awards

2008-07-08T16:26:00.001-07:00

From Rick's home page at www.rickspringfield.com, here's a clip of his performance of "What's Victoria's Secret" on The Hero Awards, shown on July 4th on MyNetworkTV.

Here's a fan-taped clip of the performance (thanks Knowadrake!), which visually may not be as sharp, but I prefer his live vocals in this one...more like a concert experience for me, plus there's audience reaction left in this clip, and it's always fun to see people jazzed over Rick :).

His new CD Venus in Overdrive hits stores July 29, but you can pre-order it now at Amazon here.

Thank you, thankyouverymuch

2008-07-08T04:23:00.000-07:00

My thanks to both Amy and Lynn for nominating me for this blog award!

Now I get to pass it onto 5 people that I think are worthy. Here are the rules:

If you already have the award just accept and that's all you have to do.

1. You have to pick 5 blogs that you consider deserving of this award for their creativity, design, interesting material, and also contribute to the blogging community, no matter what language.

2. Each award has to have the name of the author and a link to his/her blog to be visited by everyone.

3. Each award winner has to show the award and put the name and link to the blog that presented her/him with the award.

4. The award winner and one who has given the prize have to show the link "Arte y Pico" blog so everyone will know the origin of this award.

5. Show these rules.

Here goes. My first two I am re-gifting to because their blogs are my favorites too:

1. Escape to Thought
I first got to know of Amy's blogging ability through MySpace, and then later she started her Blogger page. She's such a talented writer, so funny, and I enjoy reading about the thoughts in her head :). She's also a Rick Springfield fan...a theme you'll see in more than one award here!

2. Lynn's Life
Lynn is also a friend who I initially got to know through MySpace and her blogs there, and then discovered she had a Blogger account. I love her take on everyday life, and while you are there visiting her personal blog, go check out the link to her photography page, as she is an amazing photographer as well. Lynn is also a fan of Rick's!

3. Life's a Beach
I've been a fan of Sabrina's writing for some time and she's a personal friend as well. She's also a talented singer/songwriter/guitarist and poet. She's passionate in her beliefs and has links on her page to some of the issues that are of importance to her, as well as links to her YouTube page where you can see her perform some of her works. Oh, and as you'll see, she is an RS fan as well. I told you there'd be a theme :).

4. Autism Blessings & Challenges
I believe I found Kristi's blog through the autism blogroll that I posted beginning in April (and which I continue to have on the right-hand side). I really "clicked" with her writing style. Sometimes being the parent of a special-needs child can feel isolating, like nobody else understands what you're going through. Blogs like Kristi's have helped me to see that there are plenty of parents that understand!
(P.S. Kristi is not a Rick Springfield fan-that I know of-but if I talk about his new CD enough on here maybe she will take the hint and check it out ;))

5. The Stimming Spot
This is another site I found through the autism blogroll...Lisa is so witty and I especially love her Friskey Friday pics. Go check it out!

Happy 4th!

2008-07-03T13:33:00.000-07:00

Here's my favorite video to post when I'm feeling particularly patriotic...the song playing is Neil Diamond's "America", also one of my all-time favorite artists and songs. Enjoy.

What's Victoria's Secret? I'll take a guess...:)

2008-07-01T12:40:00.000-07:00

The following is a bulletin that came out today from Rick Springfield's MySpace page...

"Download "What's Victoria's Secret", the first single from Rick Springfield's new CD, "Venus In Overdrive" Get it NOW on iTunes or Amazon! Use the link on our MySpace page or at www.rickspringfield.com."

You can also hear another single off of the CD, "Venus in Overdrive", on his MySpace page by clicking here. If you like what you hear (and you should!), go pre-order his upcoming CD at Amazon here. It's due out July 29!

Thankful

2008-06-26T01:54:00.000-07:00

I"m feeling very thankful for my wonderful husband and children tonight, and I thought I'd expand a bit as to why.

Earlier, my kids and I walked up to the local strip mall of stores nearby to do some shopping. We ended with a stop at Starbucks (for me and my son), and, two doors down, Baskin-Robbins (for my daughter). We sat in chairs outside of Baskin-Robbins and watched the bustling world go by.

Not long after we'd sat down, a woman that I had seen sitting at the tables outside of Starbucks approached me, and asked if she could use my cell phone to make a call (that happened to be visible in my hands). Not being terribly worried about my no-bells-and-whistles cell phone walking off with her, I offered to dial the number for her and handed her the phone. She sat down next to my daughter, so of course I could hear her side of the conversation. She was calling a local pastor to ask for assistance finding shelter, since due to domestic violence, she and her children could not go home. When she got off of the phone, I asked if she'd called some of the local organizations for victims of domestic violence. She said she had and they'd told her their shelters are full now. We talked for a minute and as you can imagine, her life is so shaken up. She thanked me and got up to go back to her daughter at the Starbucks table. I offered her the cash that I had (which wasn't much) and wished her well.

I'm not saying that to toot my horn at all. I gave her a few bucks and let her use my cell phone. I felt otherwise helpless, but it was something I could do. It was small beans compared to what she and her children really need.

My first reaction is sadness that our domestic violence shelters are full. So many people having to go through this...it breaks my heart. Next comes anger. Why aren't there more resources available? I don't have answers, but it is a topic I definitely want to look further into.

Speaking of cell phones, the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence collects deactivated cellular and wireless phones to give to victims of domestic violence who may need them for emergencies. To find out how you can donate your old cell phone, click here.

Gas prices screw West Coast people yet another way

2008-06-23T11:36:00.000-07:00

Wondering why your favorite band hasn't come to town lately? You might have the high cost of travel to thank for that, as the article below elaborates on. With West Coast towns being more spread out, as this article mentions, it's more cost-effective for some bands to concentrate on more East Coast touring, where the cities are closer in proximity to each other.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25316068/

A bit of a cold hard truth for us Northwestern US music lovers. I'm sure we'll still see many established acts here, just perhaps not with as many bells and whistles as before. And perhaps not as often...which stinks, but that's the cost of doing business.

Tim Russert

2008-06-14T13:20:00.000-07:00

What a shock yesterday to find out that Tim Russert, NBC News' Washington bureau chief, and host of "Meet the Press", suddenly passed away on Friday after collapsing at work. While I'm not a fervent follower of politics, whenever I was searching through channels, if Tim Russert was on, I would stop and watch. When you truly love what you do, and care for the people around you, it shows, and it certainly came across on the TV screen with Tim. It's so touching to watch the coverage on MSNBC.com, because they are obviously in mourning over the loss of a respected colleague and a dear friend.

MSNBC has video coverage and tributes to Tim at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/, links are in the upper right-hand corner.

Some things to take from this...tell the people you love and appreciate how you feel, because you never know when you may get the chance again. If your father is still here on this earth, call him or go see him tomorrow, and let him know how much you love him. Tim cared for his father so much, and even wrote a book called "Big Russ and Me" about his father. Tim in turn passed the love on to his son Luke, and had just recently come back from Italy, celebrating his son's college graduation. His wife and son were still in Italy when Tim passed.

God bless you Tim, and may you rest in peace. My thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends.

Weather weirdness

2008-06-10T07:55:00.000-07:00

The Midwest has horrible flooding. The East Coast has sweltering temperatures. So in perspective, here in the Pacific Northwest, our current below-normal mild and soggy weather isn't that bad.

However, it's still weird. Observe these pics from www.mynorthwest.com of Snoqualmie Pass, in the Cascade Mountains here in Washington State. I have spent recreation time at and/or traveled over this pass fairly frequently over the years, and I never recall there being snow up there in June. Check this out:

http://www.mynorthwest.com/?nid=129&sid=63027&pid=0

Red Red Wine

2008-06-05T07:34:00.000-07:00

A new study indicates that it's possible red wine may slow the aging process...woohoo! :)

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/04/health/research/04aging.html?_r=1&bl&ex=1212724800&en=1ea29d67805b8c74&ei=5087&oref=slogin

Thanks Google

2008-06-03T16:52:00.001-07:00

A friend of mine let me know that yesterday's blog regarding Rick's upcoming CD had made "Google Alerts", so according to my statistics counter, there's been more traffic here, even internationally. Cool beans!

If you're stumbling across my blog for the first time, welcome! Of course I talk about Rick-related stuff (sure would like to have a local show to talk about *cough*), and about the triumphs and challenges of my son, who is on the high-functioning end of the autistic spectrum, but otherwise, it's about whatever is on my mind. I've been very quiet in May, but I plan on being a bit more talkative in June. Come back when you can and even if you have nothing to say other than "hi", feel free to leave a comment. I will be changing the decor here a bit...I know, I said that last month, but really, I mean it this time. :)

Upcoming Rick Springfield CD release

2008-06-02T04:14:00.000-07:00

I thought I'd pass on the press release hitting the media regarding Rick's new CD, to be released July 29. You can pre-order it on Amazon now by clicking here!

(I obtained this copy of the press release from an administrator post on the message board at www.rickspringfield.com.)

----------------------------------------------------

SINGER'S FIRST FULL-LENGTH STUDIO ALBUM OF ORIGINAL MATERIAL SINCE 2003

RICK SPRINGFIELD'S 'VENUS IN OVERDRIVE' AVAILABLE TUESDAY, JULY 29

Grammy® winning singer/songwriter Rick Springfield will release a new studio album on Tuesday, July 29. VENUS IN OVERDRIVE is the artist's debut album on New Door Records/UMe and first full-length new studio work of original material since 2003's critically acclaimed, SHOCK/DENIAL/ANGER/ACCEPTANCE.

VENUS IN OVERDRIVE was recorded in a record 32 days by Springfield and Matt Bissonette, Springfield's long time bass player. According to Rick, "It is an album about love in all its forms, and since Venus is the goddess of love, it's called VENUS IN OVERDRIVE. There is a lot of personal stuff in these songs but we have tried to craft them so they still have a universal voice. We are older, yet still teenagers, we have lost people we love and still love the people who are on our journey with us, we are angry at some of the crap in the world yet love our human failings."

More upbeat and fun, than 2003's dark SHOCK/DENIAL/ANGER/ACCEPTANCE, Rick notes, "I think we should have called this CD 'Son of Working Class Dog.' It has the same kind of songs (from a slightly older perspective) and was as exciting to record ... ... writing and recording these songs has been the most fun I've had in the studio since the early '80s." WORKING CLASS DOG produced two of Rick's biggest hits, "Jessie's Girl" and "I've Done Everything For You."

According to Rick, the title track, "Venus in Overdrive" is basically about his wife Barbara. "She is the most loving person I have ever known and she has accepted me with all my darkness and bumps and warts and all."

The first single from VENUS IN OVERDRIVE is "What's Victoria's Secret?" Rick says the title of the song "is one of those titles that was waiting to be written and we just got there first. Matt came up with it and we wrote the song while we were doing 5 nights of shows in Milwaukee. I had some recording gear brought into my hotel room and we wrote it there at the haunted Pfister hotel, room 804. It's basically about the sexualization of women and how we as males, want that, but also resist it and mainly need to connect to women as human beings. It's a dichotomy that most men feel I think."

Two songs on the record, "Saint Sahara" and "Oblivious," pay tribute to Sahara Aldridge, a young girl who frequently attended Rick's shows and whom the entire band came to love and who recently passed away. Rick explains that "Saint Sahara" "is about who Sahara was and how hard it was to have her leave. It's also a celebration and recognition of the people she affected in this world. Her mom said (before she died) that if I were to write a song about her daughter, could I make it a celebration and not something maudlin, so it's basically a song celebrating her great sprit. 'Oblivious,' is the soul side of the song, 'Saint Sahara,' what we all felt and how we dealt with it. It is sometimes so good to be numb to pain but life can't go on if you stay numb all the time. The song itself is about the denial of the finality of death, but it's still a love song."

As part of the promotional plan for the new album, Rick will be returning to "General Hospital" in July as Dr. Noah Drake and his alter ego rocker Eli Love. The storyline will reunite him with the characters of Robin, Patrick and Anna as well as allow him to perform the single, "What's Victoria's Secret?"

Rick Springfield has withstood the test of time far better than most critics would ever have imagined, performing over 100 concerts each year around the world. He has written and performed some of the best-crafted power pop of the past 30 years. Earlier this year, by popular demand from Oprah's audience, Rick made his first appearance on the "Oprah Winfrey Show". He has sold over 19 million records and has had 17 Top 40 hits. He has released 17 albums over his career including WORKING CLASS DOG (7 US, platinum), SUCCESS HASN'T SPOILED ME YET (2 US, platinum), LIVING IN OZ (12 US, Platinum), and HARD TO HOLD (16 US, Platinum). Rick has also won an American Music Award.

RIP Harvey

2008-05-30T14:08:00.000-07:00

Actor Harvey Korman, best known from The Carol Burnett Show, died yesterday at the age of 81. He's brought me a lot of laughter over the years, so I am sad to see him go.

I've copied an article posted yesterday on USA Today about his career and passing, and at the end I'll attach a YouTube video of he and Tim Conway, one of the many skits in which Tim cracked Harvey up. God bless you Harvey!

The below article with photograph can be found here: http://www.usatoday.com/life/people/2008-05-29-korman-obit_N.htm?loc=interstitialskip

'Carol Burnett Show' veteran Harvey Korman dies at 81

By Jim Cheng, USA TODAY

Harvey Korman was proud of his training at Chicago's Goodman Theatre, where he performed Shakespeare, Shaw and Ibsen.

But the versatile actor and comedian will forever be known for raising being "second banana" into an art of the highest order, especially during his 10 years on The Carol Burnett Show.

Korman died Thursday in Los Angeles of complications from the rupture of an abdominal aortic aneurysm four months ago, his family said. He was 81.

Korman, a native of Chicago, was a character actor from the beginning, playing the butler in a seventh-grade production of Heidi. In high school he was active in drama club, and after graduating, he enlisted in the Navy during World War II. After the war, Korman returned to Chicago, where his high school drama teacher recommended him for further study at Goodman.

He gained his first extended TV exposure as a regular for four seasons on The Danny Kaye Show in the early '60s. His also did voice-over work on Tom and Jerry and as the Great Gazoo on The Flintstones.

But he came into his own in 1967, when he joined Burnett's CBS variety show. He won four Emmys and a Golden Globe for his work and became famous for trying, and usually failing, to keep a straight face when confronted with the antics of his frequent sketch partner Tim Conway.

"You learn to work fast," Korman once said, describing the art of sketch comedy. "Yet, it has to have two elements: It has to have truth to it, and it has to be funny."

Burnett and Korman spoofed classic movies such as Gone With the Wind and soap operas such as As the World Turns, which they dubbed As the Stomach Turns. They also teamed up as Ed and Eunice, a bickering married couple who were at odds with the wife's mother (Vicki Lawrence).

Although he never found the same success on TV once he left Burnett in 1977, Korman worked steadily in a number of TV series. He hosted The Harvey Korman Show in 1978 and was a regular on The Tim Conway Show in 1980-81. In the mid-'80s, he reprised his Burnett Ed role in the NBC comedy Mama's Family.

Korman was a favorite of Mel Brooks and worked with the director in four films, including his memorable turn as the leering Hedley Lemarr in 1974's Blazing Saddles.

His other film credits include 1979's Americathon and 1982's The Trail of the Pink Panther.

"It takes a certain type of person to be a television star," he said in an interview in 2005. "I didn't have whatever that is. I come across as kind of snobbish and maybe a little too bright.

"Give me something bizarre to play or put me in a dress and I'm fine."

Where ya been?

2008-05-27T04:09:00.000-07:00

Boy, I am doing TERrible at keeping up the blog this month. I hope everyone reading had a safe and happy Memorial Day weekend. We took off for Central/Eastern Washington, and spent some time in Yakima and Ellensburg, with a Saturday night stay at a must for entertaining kids, a hotel/motel with a pool. We did some fishing, some biking, and too much eating *burp*. I'm not on the right computer at the moment to share pictures, but I'll put a few up later today. Toodles for now...

May-the month of ME

2008-05-15T07:25:00.000-07:00

I like to joke around the house that the month of May is all about me. It starts off with my birthday, where we dance around the maypole while we celebrate my birth...well no, not really, but that IS an idea for my 40th birthday next year ;).

A week and a half later comes Mother's Day, when I always enjoy seeing what the kids end up creating. This year it was a homemade candle-holder and candle, along with a nice omelet breakfast (the breakfast part was courtesy of my husband).

The day before, my husband and I had a nice day to ourselves to explore around Seattle, thanks to my brother and his fiancee, who came up for the weekend to entertain the kids for us while we got some couple time. We ate at Buca di Beppo for dinner, which I'd never been to before....the portions are HUGE and the food is awesome. We will definitely be back there again, with the kids next time.

We also met my parents at a restaurant Mother's Day evening for dinner, and it's always nice to spend time with them. With our busy schedules, we don't do that as often as I'd like to.

The month of me has come to an early close since the last couple of days have been less than stellar. But I'm hoping the 70-80 degree temps we are supposed to have over the next couple of days will inject some life back into this month.

I'll leave you with some signs of spring that we discovered this weekend...baby geese (awww).