Monday, September 28, 2009

Sunday

Last night Gerry came out to have dinner with all of us and then we all went out back for smores. It was fun and I had forgotten how lovely smores can be. A nice reward for being so good about our new diet change.
Today we found the perfect wedding dress for Casey. It absolutely fit like it was made for her. It was exactly what she had described. It called out to her and it was amazing to see it on her. That is one huge step we have taken.
Took Elissa home and visited with Jessica and the kids for a while. They are really making the house look amazing. You can see how much work they have done in this short time just to get it presentable. The red walls are now painted a toupe and it opened the house so much. It makes it look so beautiful. This house was built in 1921 and it has that old Phoenix look to it that is unmistakable. Flat roof, sand colored brick exterior, hard wood floor and huge airy rooms. I will take the camera next time and show it off. I think if they keep it up it will be invited to be a showcase in the historic district.
The children are settled and seem to love having their own spaces. I had hoped to see Ellis today but we spent too much time at the store looking at dresses and uniforms for the kids to wear to school. I was happy to find one pair for Elissa, Milasia and Cody. I still have to find something for Lexi. She is growing like a weed.
Now we are looking at tiera's for Casey's veil and invitations. It is alot of work for one day but Happily we have the minister and the dress these are 2 huge milestones.
Raevyndaun is trying to push up into a sitting position now. She twists her little bum when she is on her knees and will probably be sitting up in a few more days. It sounds like she says hi when you see her for the first time.
Cheryl is on a train to Vienna right now having just left Budapest. She said Hungary is beautiful and she is having a dream of a time. I hope she and Bruce and Jenna have a wonderful trip. What an adventure. Maybe next trip I will pull the little sister card and ask to tag along :) Just Maybe...
Beau has been working on his agility training with me. He is now able to jump over a trash can in the back yard, but only if he is on a leash. He is totally in training mode. I believe I told this before, but it is worth mentioning again because he looks so beautiful when he does it. once I have him trained I will pass along pictures of him in the air.
Well I will try to sleep and try to go into work tomorrow. I have missed so much and I feel so guilty about that. This feeling is just hard to handle all day and looking like I have seen a ghost is not acceptable in an office environment. Surely he can get this fixed soon. Surely he can.
Well Monday is looming and I hope it is a good one for everyone. I hope we can all get up and face the day like a trooper. I am going to try, that's for sure.

Sunday, September 27, 2009

Elissa spent the night again last night. We are heavy into the planning of Casey's wedding. The Arizona Scream Park media guy wrote her back and he gave her an amazing price on the wedding. Sue Springer is going to perform the marriage forthem. She is a person I work with and Casey and Kenn will have to write their ceremony,vows and all.
So many plans going on in my head and this morning I woke up pretty over whelmed. We are going to look for dresses today.
Last night we made smores over the grill after Kenn Bar-b-qued.My big Mahalo news is that I made my first BIG how to page and it was accepted. It is the "How to Earn Experience points in Farmville".
Here is a little widget of that page.
So as you can see I was busy while I am all freaked out at the same time. I can totally get lost in the making of pages. To get paid is even better.
So feel free to go over and click around on the page and see what it is all about.
We are going to look for wedding dresses and so I am off.
thank you to Diane and everyone that sent ideas for the reception. You are all awesome. Keep sending the ideas. We need them!!

Saturday, September 26, 2009

Friday was a rough one. but it is over.

Today was not a fun Friday in many respects but I will not dwell on that. I have spent the afternoon adding rocks to my garden to keep the water from washing away the soil. Shows how much I know about the desert, as little rain as we get, should it even be an issue?
I only know that when I had plants and flowers in the same bed before, they washed away on the first rain. So these rocks might be saving a portulaca's life. Elissa is here spending the night. Lexi was supposed to come but when Kenn arrived to pick her up she had changed her mind. WHEW she usually changes it at about midnight and then I have to make a run to her house. I wasn't up to it today.
I have been working on Mahalo Pages this evening, when the Internet wasn't down. Darn Cox Cable was being rude tonight. ok... poor Cox Cable.. it was the pups they ate through the cord.so Darn Pups...
But on the good side of the pups. I taught Beau to jump over things. He is beautiful when he leaps over the little basket and it is awesome. He will jump over and back and over and back as long as he is on a leash. he equates the leash with being in training. When he is off leash he thinks he is on his own time. Arrow only nips his heels when he does his tricks. When she realizes he gets alot of attention, she will start doing it too.

Casey got a phone call from her dad and he said An (angie) and els ( Ellis) and Ca ( Casey) she was so thrilled because that was the first time he had said more than Mama in over a year. She felt sad at the same time as happy. It is always a sad thing to know how he is now. She loves him of course and it is just sad.

So Ellis' shift started at 4:30 and he had to have his homework online and turned in by 11:31 pm so he sent it over here and I filled in his answers for him. How sad is it that I never learned enough math to understand what I was putting in. Maybe I should go back to school as well. How embarrassing would it be if I had to do remedial math lol.

Cheryl is in Europe. This made me want to get my passport even more. So now I am not going to procrastinate any longer. I am going to have a passport. I figure setting goals one step at a time is the only way I will get anything done. Casey and I had a long talk about that today. How if you don't do things one at a time you will end up over whelmed,and that is the last thing I need right now. So we are trying to get more organized and get our house, life and head more into the Fung Shue mode.

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

all good news :)

Casey is plannning her wedding. I am so excited for her because she is so thrilled. It will be a little untraditional as you would expect. She and Kenn are a pretty unconventional family.
Gerry is going to be involved in the wedding and I am so touched to know she asked him and he accepted to at her wedding. For them to get along means alot to me. So last night was pretty happy and emotional at the same time.
I earned over $200.00 with my Mahalo page creating and I am so excited. I can go as far as I want with them and make as much as I want. So this is becoming a dream come true for me.

Today Raevyndaun came to my work and she was perfectly awesome. She was happy and interested in everyone and everything. She is going to want to work in an office. I can tell already. She looked beautiful and smelled so good. Nothing smells better than a baby. She was creeping all over the table in the cafeteria. She was determined to get Gerry's hands. Her 2 teeth need something to be used on them at all times.

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

I went to sleep sleepy and I woke up sleepy. How strange a feeling that was. I have not felt sleepy in months. Not sure if this is a good or a bad thing. Just a different thing. Well that passed fast enough. I am wide awake now. I got a beautiful yet very sad letter from Julie, expressing her pain.

Julie is grieving for her cat Aspen. She woke up to find he had passed during the night. She and Timber and Sydney are all feeling out of sorts and sad for this little friend they loved so much. He was given an egyptian style burial and I am sure he was appreciative of that. I really liked Aspen alot!

Milasia has taught herself to read and now there is no stopping her. She loves homework and writing and reading, She is way too smart for having just started Kindergarten one month ago.

The outdoor space is coming together and calling me to be outside with Casey and Kenn. Picking up some rock to fill in the space in the garden where the rain falls off the roof. Yes on occasion we do have rain. Now to decide what type of tree I want. I do not want a massive tree only a small type tree. Like an oraange or a fig. the orange can get sun damage and the Fig brings birds. I think I would rather have trees with birds than trees with sunburns. Another step is finding the outdoor fireplace for winter.

If I had a boat like Luis has, then I would be always outside. but since I do not I will add water features and a fireplace to my oasis. Think about it the water feature the plants and the little Cessna's flying overhead and a nice crackling fire and marshmallows for the kids. Ahhhh this is a good place to be right now.

Monday, September 21, 2009

Work Work work work

Monday is not too bad today. Decent workload and since I had such a busy hectic physical weekend, it is a bit boring.
Lucky for me I have my pictures of my garden to keep me company. Casey woke up all enthused about how it looks and made a few Mahalo pages to celebrate.  Thanks Casey for all the hard work you did. 

Gerry is going to call the HOA today and see if we have permission to paint our trim. You have to get permission orr they fine you. How strange is that.  Ding you for making the house look nicer. Weird. I hope so it needs a freshening up, a little sprucing up as it were. I want to go with a color that will accent the beige stucco and not make it look too uniform. So I am thinking about a nice Sage green.  If I have to go with a blue shade then I am nnot sure what to do. Blue is a bit 80's & 90's isn't it?  So I am going to start checking out houses.  If you see me outside your house, fear not I am just checking out your paint colors.


Filhinha escaped into the yard yesterday a few times, but she never left the enclosed back yard. So that was a comfort.   Not sure if you have seen the mahalo blag I do, but you are welcome to go visit it and see the websites I have been making and since I am actually being paid some for them it is a total bonus. Here is the link to the blog http://mahalovic.blogspot.com/  and if you want to visit the pages, please let me know how you like them.  I would love your feedback. I am going to make it the best day I can. To help that along here is a picture from my albums.

Sunday, September 20, 2009


Planting and wanted to update.   I just got back with 2 red tip photinia shrubs and 2 massive plantings of Portulaca and 1 container of my much missed Liriope Silver Dragon ( looks like monkey grass). While I was at Ellis' I got 2 cuttings from some cactus and now I am researching how to best plant them and have them survuve and thrive.
So once I cool down I am going to go finish planting them and then I will hopefully get a nice picture.  I am so ready to move outside for the next 2 seasons. I have more on my wish list but for only an $11.00 investment I am well on my way.

Went to Ellis' house and wow the changes he has made already.  He has gotten the Living room and Dining room painted a very nice sandy taupe. This painting job made those wall open right up.  I am not sure what color drapes she wants to get  but maybe she can find some nice colorful ones that will really pop in that room. His room is a nice blue and it looks so wonderful.  The entire house needed painting and they have done an excellent job on it.
Cody spent the night. I think he only comes over to play World of Warcraft. He is obsessed with making new characters more than actually playing.

Work is creeping up on me.. I am hoping for a great and calm week. If it can't be calm let it be entertaining.


Sunday


Diane is loving her retirement and wrote and funny that Kat and Diane both asked how much medicine I was talking.. LOL  Good thing I am not sensitive about it. 

I am still waiting on a picture of Angie while she is expecting.  Today we are moving some furniture around the house and I am feeling confident this will make the Living room feel larger.  
Actually found a solar skylight (DIY kit) for $169.00 instead of the $300.00 they said on Television. It is amazing that an 8 or 12 inch tube would let in such light. I will take a picture of my living room before I install it and after so I have it documented.  I am still very excited about the prospect.  
After watching the Wind Turbine DIY video and reading the instructions, Elllis thinks he will be able to help me with the wiring so that we can at least run the laptop while outside. Also run the pond pump.  The pond will be different from the 6x14x10 pond I dug in 1996. This pond will be totally above ground with rock surrounding. One step at a time.  
Solar tube 1st. 
Well back to the back yard to  help Casey. She has been working back there so hard and it is really satrting to take form.  We will be planting salad greens so that we can garnish our salads with them. Casey makes one mean chef salad.  They are simply  yummy :) 

Saturday, September 19, 2009

Arrrghhhh me hearties!

A blasted good day to ye.  Well shiver me Timbers I woke to a red dawn which means we must take warning.  Avast batten the Hatches and pull her aft.

Whew  that was harder than it looked..  argh me parrot be wantin to speak with ya. "squawk"  "squawk" "avast me maties" 



There she spoke now I can finish  wishing you all a happy "Speak Like a Pirates Day" so that we never lose this tradition.

Friday, September 18, 2009

3D ultrasound day!!


Today we get to see Sarah Katherine even though she isn't even born. Today is 3D ultrasound day. So as soon as Angie gets back she will post the pictures so that we can see that cute little face.
Now how would I know it is cute? Have you seen her other to handsome ( grandmama's can't call big boys beautiful even though in my head I do) Sons? Eyes faces and noses all beautiful. I can't wait to see.

I have been talking about Kenn and to those that do not know him this is Casey's soon to be husband. Might be a Halloween wedding :) but dont' tell her I said anything in case it is a secret :).  He has been so amazing to help me with so many projects and he gave me my Tattoo.  He is going to help me go Green!! They are living with me for  a bit while they get a little ahead. I love it because I love being around them and having a baby at the house is awesome.
Casey helps me so much and that has been so important to me lately. I have been a bit lonely and so having a little happy family makes the days and nights so much brighter for me.

Thankfully we are at the weekend. I am so ready. My ability to stay focused has been amazing today and so I am all caught up with my work and then some.  So Come on Weekend!!
Today I brought my I-pod with me to work and so I have been less restless listening to music.  So it does calm the savage beast.

Tomorrow is Talk like a Pirate day. I will be gathering up phrases and terms so that I do this World wide Holiday justice. Just warning you there should be a bounty of Pirate speak if I blog tomorrow.
I am off to research :)  If you have a blog invite me I would love to read it.

Thursday, September 17, 2009

little news from my ankle

Last night I got my first Tattoo. I love it. It is beautiful. It is a vine that wraps around my ankle with 3 heart charms dangling from it with Ellis', Angie's and Casesy's Birthstones.  The procedure was .... ummmm  different and a bit painful but not so painful that I forgot about wanting a tattoo toe ring.  All the Jewelry none of the allergies :)

At work no one has had anything but positive things to say about Kenn's talent.  He has talent and now everyone can see that!

I have pictures on facebook of the tattoo. As it goes all the way around my ankle it is impossible to show it all in it's entirety on one picture.  So let me know what you think. I will send pictures up here when I am home.

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Back to work today


I found an attic Fan I am going to get. It is $199.00 on Ebay and one mail order place has it for 179.00(  the link http://cgi.ebay.com/Master-Flow-GAF-Solar-Powered-Gable-Attic-Fan-BNIB_W0QQitemZ110434370827QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item19b666c50b&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14)  so you can see it and maybe you know if it is any good. I would appreciate any help so that I do it right.
It will be my first step into a greener home.   It is great having Kenn around becasue he is willing to help me out with my green installations. I know Ellis will be coming over to help me too. It is good to have willing people to help me when I get ideas.

Angie is going to send a picture of her expecting this baby. I can't wait. I love her so much and think she is so so pretty.  I am all stoked. 
I have been still working on Mahalo and Ray sent me a note with a clapping audience.  Now that is encouragement!!   In case no one understood Cheryl had added me about my diet which is why I put it in the blog.  I am still very happy with the health part of it and that I am enjoying cooking and dreaming up recipes is a very nice past time for me. 

Reyes is going to town on the Mahalo site too.  She loves it and somehow thinks I am responsible for her addiction. Just look at her coach page when she has added to it.

The Zoo walk has started getting some donations and that is just awesome.  I know I have to wait till payday which is Friday. We have more people joining the actual walk every day.  Debra the Temp that worked with us for almost a year was our first donor and I appreciate her so much for that. Reyes and Darrell and Isabella
Eva Montelongo and her husband Johnny are going to sign up today. Kenn's cousin Dee and her family are walking.  Ellis' 5 kids are going to be walking. Casey and Raevyndaun will be there. We are walking for Autism so how can it not be an awesome thing!!!!!

Monday, September 14, 2009

My new food choices

It is simple. It is all the fruit and vegetables you want and all the fruit each meal.  Chicken fish and lean grilled beef.
 Spagetti is only made with whole wheat pasta and is not a regular thing.
Fresh Apples and celery and carrots. Raisins and nuts for protein and Iron.
Salads for dinner 
Casey makes an amazing Chef salad has been filling with cubed ham Sunflower seeds cheese boiled eggs.  It is very filling and delicious.

a nice broccoli salad made with grated broccoli grated carrots and cauliflower and Celery.  It needs no dressing  in my opinion but Casey uses low fat ranch.
With the salad we had a baked skinless boneless chicken marinated in low cal Italian dressing.
Each meal has taken less than an hour of actual preparation time which makes Casey happy.

We had Cabbage and corned beef 2 nights last week and it was delicious.To make the corned beef and  cabbage we filled with  densely cubed potatoes ,wedged cabbage, half inch carrots celery (or celery seed) at the very end of cooking let it boil about 90 minutes until the cabbage has separated and become tender add 2 cans of corned beef (from Brazil) and serve. No breads are needed as the potatoes provide the density you would want in there.

A tablespoon of low fat peanut butter a day for protein and just because it is so good.
breakfast bowl of eggs and crumbled bacon with fruit on the side.
Mixed fruit plate makes a wonderful breakfast.
Cottage cheese and 2 tablespoons of low fat peanut butter with a can of V-8 makes a great breakfast 

Well here are the basics, I hope you like it and think it is easy enough to try out. 

Solar Attic fan

I found a solar attic vent and a fan on eBay. I am not going to jump in and grab it just yet. I am doing some research so that I know what I am doing.




Well the blues hit and I never made it to Ellis' house. I think part of my problem is an aversion to leaving the house. The nightmares continue and it makes it hard for me to relax when I am running for my life all night.



This is probably the most problems I have ever had about sleeping. I have an awesome doctor that is helping me address the sleep and the nightmares. But no matter how much medicine I take I can not sleep more than a few hours. I am not napping in the day I am simply struggling all night. It is 1 am now and I cringe at the thoughts of closing my eyes and sleeping as William said perchance to dream.. but I think his was a positive perchance. Mine is a negative. LOL
So here I sit all sleeping pilled up and unable to close my eyes for any length of time.

'So Gerry frets that I might be out of work again tomorrow. I know it is hard to understand but I do not think he would be calm if he was in danger all night every night and unable to forget any detail all day long. It is not a fun place at all.
But I want to think about my skylight and my solar plans. I want to make my home more green and more environmentally friendly.
So Ellis forgive me for not coming by. I promise Iwill work on leaving the house and coming to see what you have done. I am so proud of you and I hope you never doubt this.
Fears are rediculous. I have to get past them.
Ellis would be able to help me with this solar adventure.  He is amazing at electronics and wiring and such.  Heck he has a crate of wire he carrys to every house he lives in. 
While I am on the wish list. I want to finish my back yard complete with outdoor fireplace so I can enjoy the desert Winter. I mean it is what keeps me here.

Visit Mahalo if you have time. I love to see hits on my pages,   and let me know if you like any of the work I am doing. I would love to hear.

Sunday, September 13, 2009

Sunday a day of Rest

Sunday is awesome. Woke up to have a wonderful Fruit plate for breakfast. A beautiful plate of Cantaloupe, Watermelon and Pineapple, no better way to start a day.

Going over to Mahalo to find I have 24 pages now and am up to $100.00 for something I love to do. Can it get better than that? Raevyndaun is in an excellent mood and I am in control of the remote.

So I am watching about the Dust bowl and to find out that the plains of the Midwest were green and lush when all I had ever seen before was the barren dusty plains.
Seems by 1918 the grasslands were replaced with Wheat crops.

The rest of the day will be spent at Ellis' house seeing how they have improved the house they are renting. Ellis is excited and I know they have painted at least 3 rooms now.
Last night I was researching Solar options for my house. I think I will purchase a solar attic fan and see if pulling out the hot air of the attic will all me to run the Central Air a little less. Since our Power bill is over $600.00 I really need to do something.
Kenn has offered to help me and Ellis said he will help me as well to make any changes I want on my house. I really want a Wind Turret as we have good winds here(although it is a hot wind) so we would be able to power ourselves. Another project I am looking at is a Skylight into my living room and one in the Den. Then I could put darker curtains on the West facing wall which would cool down the Den.

I am on my fresh food fresh veggie and fresh fruit diet and I am down 5 pounds. I am proud of the weight loss of course but I am more excited about how well I feel with less carbs to make me sleepy. By the time I am over all this internal Drama I may come out a better person.

Saturday, September 12, 2009

shared Mahalo and Gerry

Last night was the big poker night at Paul's (from work)house. A 4000 sq ft. house. Multi colored pool and game room that holds a pool table and then game tables. Kenn and Gerry loved it.
Maybe they will become inspired to give me some of the aminities they saw there. Any inspiration they find is fine with me.
They found some cards and beer and whiskey shots to keep them company and even the DD of the evening drank when they first got there. That's ok with me since he didn't drive home until 5 hours later. Well that's the official story any way. Kenn and Gerry finally were able to chat and it seems they get along really well. Kenn is one of the few people that got to see what I enjoy and like about Gerry. If he would relax and mingle, I believe people would see the real Gerry. I am looking at this as a turning point for us all.

Other excitement was at 1:00 am I see Reyes is on Mahalo. How awesome is that? When I woke up this morning I see she had hit Yellow belt. CONGRATS REYES!!

Casey found a beautiful stroller for Tyler to use on the Zoo Walk in October. I did not want to chase a 2 year old all over the Desert Zoo.

Yesterday I linked the Black eyed Peas and their Flash Mob,and I am still in love by the way.
Angie wrote me and said that they have an actual Flash Mob group where you are sent a meeting place and time and clothing instructions. I am diligently searching online for that here in Phoenix. Would I dance? You never know.

Meagan added me as a friend. I was so touched. She is just beautiful and I really was glad to know she remembered me. She and Casey were such close friends when they were little.

Laura has been located. I need to talk to her I haven't had a chance yet to really chat with her.
It is Saturday and I am up early and am aiming for a productive day.

Friday, September 11, 2009

Chicago was amazing

I saw Reyes had posted a video on her facebook so I clicked it and what I saw was amazing. to see Chicago dancing in the streets in such an amazing manner. I was speechless. Funny I kept saying the same thing Oprah did. lol It was awesome and amazing.

I am going to try to link it here. it is worth watching.

http://www.oprah.com/article/oprahshow/20090908-tows-flash-mob-dance

Thursday, September 10, 2009

Walkathon preparation

Reyes and I have started organizing the Zoo Walk for Autism. We have set a goal of 1000.00 and we sent out the invitations. I am going to get a stroller for Tyler and he is going to go on his first zoo walk. Lexi went with us last time and it was not as bad so I decided I would take more this time. Once we finish with our big 1 mile walk we can then tour the zoo at our leisure.

This is the chance for Bella and Raevyndaun to meet and have a day getting to know one another. I am sure the baby chatter will be awesome and non stop.
I believe Milasia will love it as much as Lexi did. I might take Lexi just to make sure Tyler is happy. Cody is never a handful he is always so relaxed and happy. I am sure he will know all about the animals and Milasia will read all the animals names.
I can't wait!!
Looks like Hillery will be joining us with her boys. So many people are responding with names of their autistic family members. It is amazing how many people are touched with this multi dimentional condition.
High functioning, Aspergers, Autistic, Turrets. So many different levels of Autism.
I guess you can see I am totally stoked for the walk. I will be grabbing a T-shirt for Martha :) Just a huge thanks in advance to anyone that participates in any way.

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Happy birthday Angie

So hard to believe you are 29 today. Seems impossible that you were not an infant just weeks ago. Your childhood passed so fast and I hope that when you think about all the fun times we had you smile.
I hope you remember the silly times that we sang songs and like when we sang Gummy bears so loudly and badly that the cat would come running.

I hope you remember the walks to the school and the parade we made on our way to do our laps. I hope you remember the bedtime readings we did so that you would love reading and adventures all your life.
I hope you remember the pond and the quiet times spent there. The library we called your room. With all your alphabetized books standing in a row.
I hope you remember being loved. So very loved. I hope you rememeber how I would let you sit in my lap until we almost couldn't both fit in the chair. I hope you remember the bad times with a forgiving heart and know that I loved you even when I was not good for you.
I hope you know how many times I think of you everyday and know how much I love you how special you are to me and how Proud I am of you.
This birthday I give you the gift of memories, both good and bad and the love that went into each one and the tears that fell from love after I fussed or threatened you. No matter what happened I hope you always know how much you mean to me.
Angie I am proud to call you my daughter and proud that you are the awesome mother that you are. I am proud of everything you have done and I look forward to being proud of the rest of the accomplishments you have in your life.

Angie, Happy birthday Rorge. I love you!
Mama

Friday, September 4, 2009

Ellis is moving

Ellis has found a house he can not only afford but he will be rewarded with rental credits for work her does on the house.
The house is in the Historic district called encanto and it is huge. Plenty of room for everyone. That in it's self is hard to believe.
The place is already looking so much better with just a few rooms painted and the floors polished.
The person that lived there before had no pride in the house. Repairs and tender loving care are really needed.
I will take my camera and post some pictures so you can see how it is going.
Ellis and all the children are back in school. January he will start either the CNA or EMT class and this will get him a 2 yeear contract with a local hospital which will get him familiar with workign with patients and dealing with the same staff he will eventually work with after he gets his Radiology degree.

I am working on my Mahalo pages and I think it is going well. I have 10 pages now and I really enjoy doing them.
click any of the widgets I put in here and come visit them. Feel free to click around on the ads and read the pages. I would love your feedback.
Did I mention Hurray it is Friday and a 3 day weekend? :) YAY!!!