Saturday, December 30, 2006

On My Soapbox

Call me old-fashioned. But I think the world would be a lot better off with out the "dolls" they call Bratz. I am sorry, they look like little hookers to me. Let me illustrate my point.



This is my grandniece Eraya. Isn't she sweet in her little cute dress holding a flower. She looks as sweet and innocent as a 5 year old should. Now let's look at the whole picture:



That Baby Bratz doll just ruins the whole thing. Look at it, it's a pedophile's fantasy doll. What message are these dolls giving to our young girls? I heard the Eraya got talking Bratz for Christmas. Apparently they talk to each other, what do you suppose they say to each other?

"Hey, b*tch, this is MY streetcorner!"
"I hope my pimp doesn't beat me tonight!"
"I didn't know he was a cop!"



Need I say more?

Monday, December 25, 2006

Not As Merry Of A Christmas As It Should Be

Everything was going just fine, and then I found out that James Brown died! His CD 20 All Time Greatest Hits was in my CD player for 3 months straight when I got it in the early 90's. I know it was the early 90's because Max was a toddler and he used to say "Get up, Get on Up" from the song "Sex Machine Pt. 1". Then I recorded the beginning of "Get On The Good Foot" as my answering machine greeting, except nobody knew who they were calling, but those who knew me well figured it out.

One good thing about this is that, like me, James Brown fans everywhere are playing his music on Christmas Day, which means that this will be the funkiest Christmas ever. And that is all good.

Thanks, James Brown. You had Soul and you were Super Bad. Heaven will be super funky now! Right On Right On!

Saturday, December 23, 2006

Thoughts On Snow

It snowed this morning. This is the first snow I have really gotten to watch from home, all the other ones were either during the night or while I was at work. So I woke up the kids, opened up all the blinds and put on the snowing music from the Charlie Brown Christmas CD I have. The song is called "Skating" and you can listen to a piece of it if you click the link and scroll down. It's the song that plays while they are catching snowflakes on their tongues and Lucy says she never eats December snowflakes, only January ones. Anyway, it was great watching the snow fall. The boys went outside and had a(nother) snowball fight, Leo made snow angels and Max stamped out his name in the street in front of our house. Here are some pictures:






I realized that snow makes everything pretty, even unsightly things. For instance, that pile of tires in my neighbor's yard? Now they look like a cake with icing. Snow is the answer to a messy yard! So if you have a messy yard and you don't live where it snows, I recommend getting a snow machine and covering everything up with snow, your neighbors will thank you! Now if it only snowed in my kitchen...

Thursday, December 21, 2006

I Feel Better!

Which is a good thing because it's almost Christmas. Leo can tell you the number of hours until the big day, both my kids are really excited this year. All I know is that it's going to be weird not having my family around, this is really the first time in my life that I haven't been with my siblings. We are going to try to do a webcam thing, we'll see. I have gifts to wrap and stockings to stuff and a Christmas Eve dinner to cook. It is no secret that I am not a very good cook, but I am taking a stab at it anyway. Who knows, just like the family in "A Christmas Story", this may be the year we discover Chinese Turkey.



FA RA RA RA RA, RA RA RA RA!

Sunday, December 17, 2006

I Am A Grandpa!

First I was becoming my grandma, now it appears I am becoming my grandpa too.

On Friday my foot started to hurt around the ball at the base of my left big toe. I thought my shoes were too tight or something and figured that I would feel better when I got home and took them off. NO. The pain in my toe got worse and worse to the point that there was a 1:30 am visit to the ER. I explained my symptoms and was told that I HAVE GOUT.

GOUT!!!

First of all, I didn't even know that gout existed anymore, I thought it went the way of scurvy and rickets. But I guess not. And I thought that only old men get gout. No on both counts.

Secondly, I have the Sunday Night Supper Club coming over this weekend! AND it's a week before Christmas, and guess how long gout attacks last? You guessed it, a week.

My body has the crappiest timing ever.

BUT I WILL PREVAIL!!

Wednesday, December 13, 2006

Pictures For My Family



Greetings from Angie, the family Christmas tree angel. She has graced the top of my mom's or my tree I think since before I was born. The old girl is still in pretty good shape, she made the move to Washington no problem!



Here is our tree. As soon as the real ones come pre-lit I will go back to real ones.




Rudolph and his buddies are having a Holly Jolly Christmas on top of the china cabinet.



I went to Sears, and the "A Christmas Story" village was 1/3 off, so I had to get it--Merry Christmas to me!



And the eternal conflict between dinosaurs, ninjas, and knights continues to rage at the gingerbread house!

Tuesday, December 12, 2006

Christmas Memories

Inspired by this blog, here are some Christmas-related memories of mine, not all of them warm and fuzzy, and in no particular order.

1)In the late 70's I had a job at the Cinema 70 movie theater and one year I had to work on Christmas day 10am to 6pm. I was totally bummed that I was going to miss all the fun. When I got home that night, my family was still there and they had not opened any gifts, they waited for me. I was blown away by their thoughtfulness then and still am today.

2)When the pictures came back after one Christmas when I was a teen, my grandma noticed that you could see up her dress to her underwear in one shot. There had been several copies made of these pictures and she made everyone who got a picture color in her panties with a black pen to match her dress because she was so embarrassed. I am laughing so hard as I type this.



I had to get the picture out, it's so funny! I am sure my grandma is in heaven having a conniption right now over this.

OK back to the memories.

3)One year I got this game (no doubt from my sister), I forget the name of it but you were given a word and you had to name songs with that word in the title. My brother kept making up these bizarre song titles and every time we would challenge him, he would say "It's a country song!", and because the rest of us didn't know any country songs we believed him and he won. That cheater!

4) Here is a memory from every Chrstmas that my mom was alive--German style spinach and red cabbage to go with the ham. A few years ago we tried to re-create her dinner but it was too much work. I must say though, that my brother's red cabbage and my sister's spinach are outstanding!

5) I hate to put this one in because everyone gasps and feels bad, but my mom passed away on Christmas night in 1996. This could be a bad memory every year but we turned it into a good one by all being together and drinking a toast of egg nog out of her Special Christmas Egg Nog Glasses. Before I moved I distributed the glasses evenly among the family and I hope to coordinate a long distance toast with everyone on Christmas Day.



Merry Christmas!

Sunday, December 10, 2006

Longing For Christmas Past

This is the first Christmas in 4 years that I have been working full time and it sucks! I had gotten used to the leisurely shopping, decorating and socializing because I wasn't working, now I have to cram it all into the weekends, I hate that. It would help if I was feeling better, but I have been keeping this horrible sore throat at bay with massive amounts of Advil for about 11 days now. I did manage to get the Christmas cards written along with the dreaded Christmas letter, consider yourself warned. And I am done with all the shopping except for the boys' stuff.
And with the last minute addition of the entire "A Christmas Story" Christmas village(don't ask) I am done decorating. All that's left is to wrap and send the family gifts to CA and experience the annual Gingerbread House Building Fiasco with my kids. So I would say I'm doing pretty good, but at the expense of things like sleeping and cooking at home. But those things are overrated anyway, right? Hope you all are keeping all the plates spinning too.

Monday, December 04, 2006

An Epic Story

When I think of an epic story I think of a story that spans generations. This is one of those stories. It spans one generation--mine.

The year was 1973. I was in seventh grade at Fremont Junior High School in Seaside, CA. Back then the girls took cooking and sewing, and the boys took woodshop and metalshop. Really.

I had Mrs. Lee for Sewing, and our first project was to make a gym bag. It was basically a cube with a drawstring closing the top. I picked out this peachy orangey pseudo tye dyed material and sewed it up into the most bitchin gym bag ever! I even embroidered my name on it, it was so cool. Oh how proud I was of my awesome creation, I was so jazzed that I bought some blue tye dyed denim material and made another one at home. Those were good days.

Well, days went by, then years went by. My awesome gym bag was left at my mom's when I moved out in 1980, and by the time I moved back in to take care of her 16 years later, both gym bags were gone. It really didn't matter though because I had forgotten all about them anyway.

Flash forward to the present day. About a month ago my best friend Tami and I were having one of our marathon conversations and she said, "Do you remember Mrs. Lee's sewing class? Whatever happened to our gym bags?" I had no idea and neither did she.

Then at Thanksgiving I was at my sister's house in one of her bedrooms and I looked over and there was...not my gym bag. But close! I had also forgotten that around the same time of my sewing class, my sister was into her crafty phase. She quilted, upholstered furniture, etc. Well, my sister, God bless her, had made a pillow out of the leftover gym bag material, and there it was at her house! I freaked out in front of everybody and basically stole the pillow and put it in my suitcase and took it home with me, where it now sits in my bedroom and comforts me with happy seventh grade gym bag memories.

Isn't that a great epic story? Here is the pillow, it's beautiful, I am so happy!



And we lived happily ever after--The End

Saturday, December 02, 2006

Have Yourself A Tacky Little Christmas

Let me explain.

In October of last year we went to Disneyland. They had already decorated New Orleans Square up for the holidays. It looked like this:



I was awestruck and vowed to try something like that at home. So I bought shiny beaded garland and shiny ornaments and strung them between my kitchen and family room. It turned out great! Sorry no picture. Then we moved, and I had nowhere to hang those things anymore. Then it hit me. Wouldn't those shiny plasticky ormanents look fabulous on a fake white tree? Decide for yourself.



Dolly approves!
Here is a pic with no flash for the full lit effect.



My favorite angle to look at this tree is with the window next to it, you can see the snow outside, it looks great!



Now I understand what all those Christmas songs mean, like "Winter Wonderland" and "Let It Snow" and "White Christmas". I finally get it!

Note to my family: I will be posting more pictures of the house once I get the tree up. Love to you all!

Thursday, November 30, 2006

My Throat Hurts

Let's start with yesterday. I started coming down with a cold and by last night I had chills and bodyaches. So I took some Advil PM. I usually don't take that stuff on a work night because I'm afraid I will oversleep, but I took it fairly early and felt ok about it. So at 10 pm I basically passed out in my bed. I know that I was dead to the world, because when I woke up this morning I saw this:



I immediately knew who the tissue terrorist was. Dolly! She has a thing for boxes and paper, so I wasn't surprised that this happened. What amazed me is that it happened 3 feet from where I was and I never heard a thing!
That Advil PM really works.

So anyway, when I got up and looked outside, there was new snow:




Driving to work wasn't very bad today, but it will be worse tomorrow when it will be icy.

Here is what my cats Blossom and Grace think about the snow:




That's as far outside as they cared to go. I hear that some cats love the snow, not mine I guess.

Tonight I'm sleeping without my friend Mr. Advil PM. I'd better get to it.

Tuesday, November 28, 2006

You CAN Go Home Again...

And boy did I ever! I spent 51 hours in Monterey and visited with more than 51 people I think. I just went from place to place and person to person, ending up at my church on Sunday morning. It was a great fun time. Thanks to Shannon and Sharlene for letting me crash at your houses. It was a perfect visit. Not only did I visit Monterey but I also had a good amount of time with my sister and her family in San Jose. And even though I went everywhere and saw everybody, it was still very relaxing. I even had time to go knit by the ocean for a while on Sunday morning:



This was the only picture I took the whole weekend. I was sitting in my borrowed car (thanks, Dave!) with the window down in short sleeves. Just lovely.

And when we got back to Spokane, it was winter. I mean WINTER.



That is tomorrow's forecast, and here it is for the week:



I SAY BRING IT!!

Wednesday, November 22, 2006

Poor Rachael Ray!



She seems so successful with her TV shows and her cookbooks and her kitchenware. So when I saw this in a magazine, I thought for sure there would be fabulous turkey, stuffing and pumpkin pie recipes. So imagine my shock when I opened up the pantry doors and found this:



Rachael Ray is eating CRACKERS for Thanksgiving! Oh, how the mighty have fallen. How did it come to this, Rachael? Did your accountant run off to South America with all your money? Does your husband have a gambling problem? Do YOU have one? I'm just sick over this, will someone please invite her over so she will not be reduced to eating crackers instead of cranberry sauce?

Thank you and Happy Thanksgiving.

Tuesday, November 21, 2006

I Am The Mother Of An 18 Year Old!

How the hell did that happen?? I am still only 23 in my mind! Oh well, time flies. Just watch.













See, wasn't that fast? Happy 18 Max!
And yes, that is Drew Carey.

Saturday, November 18, 2006

These Are A Few Of My Favorite Things

When I was growing up my mom used to have a waffle iron that the plates flipped over to a flat griddle so it could make either waffles or grilled sandwiches. It was cool and I always wished I could have one. I have been looking at waffle irons and none of the ones I saw had flip overable plates. Until last Sunday. Ladies and Gentlwmen, I present the George Foreman G5 Next Grilleration Grill with 5 Removable Plates!

In the six days we have owned it, we have made hamburgers, waffles, chicken breasts (frozen to done in 15 minutes!), and steak. Tomorrow there will be more waffles and possibly omlettes. We love it! The only thing is that I get the Star Trek reference mixed up with The Terminator so I keep calling it the Grillinator instead of the Next Grilleration. Maybe I should just start calling it the G5.

SOME OTHER THINGS I HAVE TO SAY--

1) I think that is it a crying shame that they don't show Bugs Bunny cartoons on Saturday mornings anymore. So I decided that since I have several DVD's full of them that I would just run them myself on Saturday mornings. I am changing the world one house at a time!

2) If you live in Spokane and like Christmas, you should go to Mel's Nursery on Division up north by Mr. Wendle's at the Y. Faythe and I went today, they have a huge area of really cool decorated christmas trees, it's like Beautiful Happy Christmas Tree Land in there. Amazing. And if you live in Monterey, you should go to Brinton's at the mouth of Carmel Valley. Same thing as Mel's.

3) Plans are firming up for my Thanksgiving weekend visit to Monterey to include an evening at the Golden State Theatre for The Sound of Music Sing-Along!! Woohoo!! I can't wait, I have been singing How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria for a week.

How DO you catch a cloud and pin it down?


Wednesday, November 15, 2006

Can't Get Enough Of That Funky Stuff

OH YEAH!!

I have the CD playing on my computer as I type this. I have heard these songs a million times and I never get tired of them. My kids have heard them a million times too. I hope when they get older they will love this stuff as much as I do. And even if they don't it's ok because these songs are permanently burned into their minds, so that in 50 years if they hear one of these funky 70's songs they will think of their crazy old mom and how we used to disco dance in the living room on Saturday nights when they were kids.

Tuesday, November 14, 2006

Third Time Had Better Be A Charm Or Else

1) Well I had to rip out my slipper and start over AGAIN last night. Same story, wasn't paying attention and blew it. Tried to fix it and made it worse. I'm pretty pissed at myself, I'd like to think I could make a slipper, I know the stitches. It's just like in school, those careless mistakes will get me every time. I think the lesson here is not to watch Heroes while knitting. Or Arrested Development.

2) I'm writing in the morning before work which is something I never do, but I am noticing that not being dead tired at the end of the day helps this go better.

3) I watch the KHQ morning show from 6:30 to 7 am. I really like it. I especially like the snips of music they play before and after the commercials. Today it was "Long Cool Woman". You know, she was a Long Cool Woman in a black dress, something something something. Just one something was a bad something, but that Long Cool Woman had it alllllllll. They play everything from Elvis to AC/DC, I love that.

Time to go to work.

Sunday, November 12, 2006

THIS IS MAX.

This is very cool please read it and click my invite. Thanks.

**********************************************
LOST is a student project. The aim of LOST is to show how 3.5 million people connect to one another, and break the record for the game with the most players ever!

To play LOST you have to find an invitation. An invitation is an internet address that looks like this: www.lost.eu/example, but instead of the word 'example' there are some random numbers or letters. There are invitations on the internet, and in the real world. They could be anywhere - on web pages, inside book covers, written in chalk on a pavement or across a beach in the sand.

Once you join the game, you will be given a username and password, so that you can log in to your profile. Your profile will show a timer, counting down from seven days to zero. If the timer reaches zero, you will lose the game. You can reset your timer by inviting someone to the game yourself.

For every person you invite to the game, you gain one point. For every person they invite, you gain ½ point. The person with the most number of points wins the prize when the game ends. Prizes will also be given to the nine runners up. This will happen when the game reaches 3.5 million players.

The top prize is £500, but the game should be played for fun. The prize is funded by advertising.
**********************************************

CLICK TO START PLAYING THE BIGGEST GAME IN THE WORLD!

www.LOST.eu/3d03

-MAX

Saturday, November 11, 2006

Blurbs

1) I had wanted to post a picture of the slipper that I have been working on that I was so proud of, but I forgot where I was on the pattern and screwed it up big time and had to unravel the whole thing and start over. AARRRRRGGGHH!! I wonder if my grandma ever threw her knitting needles across the room because if she did then the transformation is complete.

2) We went to another hockey game tonight with my friends Faythe, Jennifer and Remi. It was Faythe's first time to a hockey game, I think she had a good time. She had her camera with her and even though we found out later that they don't allow cameras, she got some pictures and I'm guessing she will blog about it.

3)Ever since we got a DVR for the tv (which is similar to a tivo) I am a slave to the TV. I have a backlog of Oprah's, and thanks to the return of Laura to General Hospital, I'm recording those now too. My newspaper goes unread, as does my Country Living magazines. I blame it on my job. It interferes with my off time.

that's all I got.

Monday, November 06, 2006

I Am Becoming My Grandma!

So I am taking a knitting class and so far I have learned how to knit and purl and I have learned 2 types of increase stitches and 2 types of decrease stitches. Next time is the last class and my instructor is going to get me started on a pair of slippers. The pattern that I will be working is almost identical to the slippers that my grandma used to make for all of us. My grandma was a very prolific needleworker. My whole family each had a granny square bedspread, also slippers, hats, baby blankets, washcloths, you name it. I even had the traumatic experience of having to wear the purple crocheted bell bottoms and vest she made for me to school in the 5th grade. She also was a bit of an artist, and handmade us all birthday and christmas cards for years. She had a dry sense of humor and enjoyed life. She was a little old German lady and I used to send her cards in the mail that I had bought from the German delicatessen. The cards were in German and I didn't know what they said but if they were pretty I would send them to her. One day she called me up and said thank you for the lovely card, but I'm not having a baby. We laughed about that one for a while. Another time when she was about 85 or so I asked her why she didn't get a boyfriend and she said that men her age require too much care, and that she didn't want to have to take her boyfriend's thing out of his pants with a pair of sugar tongs just so he could go pee. I bought her some sugar tongs, but she never did get a boyfriend.



My grandma, Erna Rupp, and me on my 21st birthday. She died when she was 92 and I was 25.

ANYWAY...

I started this post because of the slippers I will be making that are like the ones my grandma made, but I ended up rambling about how fun she was, and I realize that I would love to end up like her in other ways besides slippers. But slippers are a good start I think.

Friday, November 03, 2006

A Product Whose Time Has Come

Leo and I were in Wal-Mart tonight, the big one out at the Y, and we were in the grocery section when I found it. I don't know how long it has been around, but this was the first time I had seen it. You could probably call it a seasonal item, but I would buy it all year long. It is Peppermint Whipped Cream. I bought it and came home and immediately made hot chocolate and squirted a bunch on top. OH MAN!! I was worried that the peppermint flavor would be weak, but it isn't, it's perfect! It leaves a cool sensation in your mouth, and your burps taste minty. I heartily endorse Peppermint Whipped Cream by Land O Lakes, yeah!!

I am in a Christmas-y mood already. I bought a John Deere ornament for the tree and multi-colored icicle lights for the outside of the house. I can't wait to put them up! Let me rephrase--I can't wait for Steve to put them up!

Thursday, November 02, 2006

OK Back to Nothing

1) On Halloween we got 8 kids total at the door. The last group of three were Leo's friends and we just poured the candy bowl into their bags. Next year I'm buying like 15 or 20 full size bars and that's it. I will finally be living my dream of being the House with the Full Size Candy Bars!

2) It sort of snowed a little bit today. I'm a little freaked out about driving in the winter but today was okay.

3) I learned 4 new stitches at knitting class tonight, I can now increase and decrease--YAY! Next week I'm going to start knitting slippers!

4) I figured out why I number things in my posts, it's because of my mom. She used to talk in numbers--"Now Karla, while I'm gone, Number One, do the dishes. Number Two, there are mini pizzas in the freezer. Number Three, don't let anyone in the house while I'm gone." I never did Number Three. Number One either for that matter.

5) Thanks to everyone who commented about my brother, I really appreciate all your thoughts and prayers.

Tuesday, October 31, 2006

What a Difference a Week Makes

I try to keep this blog lighthearted but this post will be anything but. Read only if you want to be sad.

I went to California to attend my nephew's wedding. We got there Friday and had a very nice time visiting my sister and her family. I was looking forward to Saturday at the rehearsal dinner when I would see my brother and my niece and her family. On Saturday morning my brother went to the hospital coughing up blood. We were all worried but continued with the rehearsal dinner which was at an Italian restaurant with 50 people attending. On Sunday, since it was going to be an evening wedding, my sister and I drove down to Monterey to see my brother in the hospital, where we were informed that he has esophageal cancer. Then we went back to San Jose and got ready and went to the wedding and reception which lasted till very late. Then my kids and I got up early in the morning to leave, and it was at the airport that I learned that the doctors give him a year to live.

It is very hard to be at a happy occasion and get devastating news and have to continue to smile and be happy, but I did. I cried at the wedding and everyone thought they were happy tears but they weren't. The full horror of the situation didn't hit me until last night at bedtime when I finally fell apart to the point where I couldn't go to work today.

I feel bad that I am so far away but I am doing everything over the phone that I can and we are taking it one day at a time. We're going back down at Thanksgiving, that will be good. And I am grateful that I happened to be down there when this all hit the fan. So that's it for now.

I do not intend to change to tone of my blog because of this. I probably will not write much more about this. But just because I write about trivial crap doesn't mean that I'm not going through it over here. I just wanted to let everyone know.

Wednesday, October 25, 2006

Goin' To California With An Achin' In My Heart

Not really, but one should never miss an opportunity to quote a Led Zeppelin song if they can. But I am going to California this weekend for my
nephew Jason's wedding. It will be good to see my family again. I'm sorry I won't be able to make it down to Monterey this time, but I have high hopes for a Thanksgiving weekend visit. I am looking forward to seeing my sister's house since she has totally redecorated it. Also I want a cheeseburger from In-N-Out, I miss that almost as much as I miss my family. I know that sounds bad, but if I miss my brother I can just call him, I can't just call a cheeseburger.
I know these next few days will fly by and before you know it we will be back here. I wonder how I'll feel about that. I wonder if I will get down there and not want to come back. Should be interesting.
Have a good weekend everyone.

Tuesday, October 24, 2006

Operation Boyfriend

I'm not sure how to begin writing this one. It has to do with my thoughts and feelings on, of all things, boyfriends. So here goes.
I think I would like to have a boyfriend for several reasons. One is that I would like to go out to dinner or to a movie without my kids for a change. I am tired of seeing preteen movies or the Jackass movie. I would like to go to adult places with an adult.
Another good reason to have a boyfriend is that they are better at feigning interest about whatever it is I have to say than my kids are.
Also, boyfriends are good to have around part time. I have children to raise and a full time job and cannot spend a bunch of time every day tending to a relationship.
I realize that a lot of men my age would rather persue girls who are half my age and half my size and that lowers my chances of having a boyfriend to practically nil. So I guess it's a good thing that I don't need a boyfriend, I just want one.
So, if you want to go to the movies and dinner once in a while, and if you have a life of your own (I said Life not Wife) and if you want to laugh alot, then you can apply to be my boyfriend! I promise to pretend to be interested about your day. Here is my spam email address: spokarla@yahoo.com Tell your friends!

Sunday, October 22, 2006

Fall Pictures Inside and Out

Here are some pictures I took yesterday.


I just liked the way the Dum Dums looked in the bowl.


Blossom is posing with my eyeball candles. I have had these for years, I just put tealights in them so the eyeballs don't melt any more. They look cool when they're lit.

These next pictures are from my neighborhood. The streets are a mess with leaves, but it is a very beautiful mess.







There are tons of squirrels in my neighborhood. And they act just like the squirrels in the Geico commercial, sitting in the street until the last minute and then running. This one was all business though.




Happy Fall Everybody!