Thursday, October 21, 2010

I won't miss them!

  
I won't miss the poop scooping.

I won't miss the dog hair.

I won't miss the whining.
 I won't miss the walnut eating and the gas it gives them. (Linus is sleeping on the vent, notice the fur blowing in the wind)
 I won't miss the craziness when someone knocks at the door.
 I won't miss the begging for apples or whatever vegetable it is they think I am cutting up.
Oh, man, I miss them already!

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Still alive and kicking

Just stressing, running errands, and not packing. I took a 2 hour break from procrastinating and went with Yolanda to Mt. Boucherie Winery to do a photo shoot of some award winning wine for an ad she's doing for the winery. She wouldn't let me take a picture of her rolling an empty wine barrel up a hill. I've seen the ad, and I think we made a pretty good team. I also got a very yummy cinnamon scone from Cobb's Bakery, that might need revisiting soon.
Karla came over and had to put up with Emily harassing me tonight. She's dog sitter #2. And she needed some Halloween tags made. I made her do the nasty cutting. Emily was making her hat for her Halloween costume. It's going to be so cute.
I went all by myself to the airport. I've lived here all my life and never have I driven to the airport by myself. Parking was scary, but I read the signs. I went to customs and was in and out before the time started on my parking pass. First 15 minutes is free. I got my camera and equipment all documented and it's one more thing crossed off my list.
The next big thing to do is the 'medic alert' bracelet. I didn't have time, forgot, to get the real ones, so we will get the generic ones and then get real ones when we get back. I considered a tattoo on my wrist, but then thought better of it.
Our list of things to buy is growing longer and longer!

Saturday, October 16, 2010

CGull Review

 I had Heather snag me one of these beauties. After all my stalling on the Cricut front, I have to say I've jumped in with both feet.

The Cricut is big and heavy. It won't fit in my Mimi tote. This tote is great, it's got wheels and a retracting handle so you can pull it like luggage. Downside, you can't leave it standing on it's 'wheel end', it will fall over, it's not meant for that.
 It's meant to be left like this. Which is a bit of a bummer for storage. I was kind of hoping to store it standing on it's end when not in use.
It has velcro straps to hold the machine in place.  The handle has a snap to hold it together with the other handle. And it has a removable shoulder strap, but I can't imagine using it, it's just too heavy for that.
 And when tightened to one side, you can probably fit 5-7 cartridge in the empty space around the machine. This is good because ...
... the pockets as cute as they are, won't fit a cartridge. I don't think they will fit a tool case either. They are quite possibly cute useless pockets like on the front of my capri pants.
Overall, the tote is very well made, sturdy, great quality. Meant for toting around your Cricut and a few cartridges. 


I've been working on this for a few months. It's as done as it's going to get on my end. I just have to remember to pack it. It's an album.

The little things

It just dawned on me that even though the book says "Don't sweat the small stuff" it's the small stuff that makes up the big stuff. Well, that's nothing new, but it's the small things I caught Kerry saying in between the big things that dawned on me.
Lots of our conversations as of late begin with "On our trip", "In California", "While in Disneyland", "Did you know there's a racetrack east of where were going."
And so when we were discussing fight night next Saturday and Kerry said "I'm not going" and I was like "Whaaa?" and he said "Well, I can't stay up till 11 and then get up at 4:30 to drive." And I was caught up on the fact that in years Kerry has never missed a UFC fight that I didn't catch the "up at 4:30" bit.
Kerry wakes up at that time on a regular basis. He got up at 6 this morning, that's sleeping late for him. He says he's working on his sleep schedule so that he's not up hours before me and Emily in California. Me, I don't even know that there aren't really zombies and vampires roaming the street still at 4:30. I believe it's still dark at that time, I can't remember the last time I was up that early.  I read that midnight isn't the 'witching hour' any more because too many people stay up later than they used to.(don't ask what I read)  So, it's a little thing, but I'm pretty sure I won't be driving first thing Sunday morning. I'll be holding the bat and camera, you never know what's out there at 4:30.

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Thursday's Thoughts

1. I've always wanted to make an advent calendar. Anything is better than those 99 cent ones I buy for Kerry and the kids. So I made 25 boxes with my Cricut, Tags, Bags, Boxes and More cartridge, and Stampin' Up's  Candy Cane Christmas paper, it's really cute!  I'm doing the advent calendar as a class and the first one filled up even before I advertised it. The second one will be after I get back from our trip. 
 2. I made some pom poms a while ago and Amy asked if I would mind making some for the wedding. Thanks to Martha Stewart, they are super easy. I even made a little one and the dogs posed for me with it. Each dog is so different. Sally's indifferent. Linus wants to eat it.

3. We didn't do any planning last night, other than talk to Amy about what we are doing on Halloween. You guessed it, Disneyland! Then on Wednesday we will go to Hearst Castle, and Santa Barbara. I'm still running around picking up things for the trip. I'm going to customs today to register my camera equipment. Kerry's donating blood, and I want to pay some bills before we go, everything is due while we are gone. So much thinking ahead!

4. I have a Stamp-A-Stack this weekend. I just love the classes where one person calls and says "I've got 4-6 friends that want to come too." My work is almost done. I just have to design and prep the cards.  Easy stuff!

5. Emily wants to stay in a Hotel, not a Motel. Oddly enough, most Best Westerns are Motels. And I think all the ones I booked are Motels. Maybe on the way home she will get her wish. Ahhh...14 and never been in a Hotel.

6. I've decided to go on the 'scarier' rides. Like Space Mountain, California Screamin', and a few others. I figure it will be over so fast, and in the end I will enjoy it, I'll probably cry, maybe even get motion sickness (I'm probably not going on the Matterhorn for this reason) but I don't want to regret not going on the rides.

7. Did I mention only 10 sleeps till we leave?

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Thanksgiving Dinner

Excuse the horrible picture. Shaun's new hobby is trying to photo bomb every picture I take and my mom's walls are a shade of yellow so it makes everyone Asian.
This is the SMALLEST ever Thanksgiving dinner in my whole entire 29 yrs. Okay, in my whole 38 yrs., except for 3 yrs. ago when we were in Disneyland and missed dinner all together, we didn't even notice. Since Grandpa moved into a home, all mom's siblings decided to have their own Thanksgiving dinner instead of the 25+ person dinner we normally have. This meant that dad had to baste the turkey when mom went out, he forget she said every 30 min. and basted every 10 min. and decided that instead of using the turkey's own juices, butter was easier. The turkey was moist and delicious. Everything was yummy. It was much quieter, and shortly after dinner Shaun and Jenn had to leave because Shaun had to work on the holiday. This will be the first of many smaller holiday dinners and it's a bid sad. Christmas will be really hard, but we'll make do.

We have moved from counting weeks until our trip to counting days....12 days until we leave. It's hard to  discuss how much fun we will have infront of Shaun. I feel bad. And I'm a bit worried that taking a 14 yr. old girl on a long trip like that will make me want to strangle someone, but I keep thinking of the food, fun and friends we will meet and that helps. Emily agreed, signed a contract, to go on Space Mountain. We found out It's a Small World will be closed while we are there, we missed it last time. I'm sure we will get over it. I have never planned so much in my life. Map out where we are going, decide when we will stop for the night, book the hotel, find stores that we want to shop at, restaurants we want to eat in, and then see if they are open when we will be there. We have this done for the trip down, but not the trip back. Going to Sears and telling the travel agent that we want to go to Disneyland is definitely easier, but this way our money is going towards fun stuff and not a flight, we will see so much more than last time.
And we will be much more tired!

Thursday, October 07, 2010

21

Today is our favourite son's birthday!  Oops, wrong picture!21 years ago today. I'd post pictures of him as a baby but that was so long ago, we used something called film. Those photos are not on the computer, they are in a shoe box or an album collecting dust. I made this costume for him, all by myself without a pattern, we still have it. He's at my mom and dad's house sitting in front of their organ, the photo on the wall is my dad doing the Ironman triathlon.


He's a good sport. He has a great sense of humour. Is up for almost anything.

He's great with his sister. Eats just about everything, except zucchini, liver. Loves pasta. And video games. Has just added to his ever growing game system collection. You name it, he has it. I dust it.

And obviously, he's pretty serious about his job.
That little pumpkin has grown up into a pretty neat guy. Happy Birthday, Shaun!

Wednesday, October 06, 2010

18 sleeps!

There's so much to do. Lists of important things to leave for Shaun and the dogs. Costumes to find. Get the van serviced. Everything is booked. Lists are made, checked off, added to. And then there's Shaun's 21st birthday tomorrow. Must bake red velvet cake, get cream cheese for icing, smoke ribs, bake potatoes. And then we have to find another day to have grandparents for cake, Shaun's having a party for his friends on Saturday and it's Thanksgiving weekend, so there's dinner on Monday. And then it will be 2 weeks until we leave. It's coming up so fast.
We are nervous and excited. After more than a year of back and forth parcels, emails and facebooking with Amy, David and Trevor, we will finally meet them in person. I'm sure it will be fine, they like Subarus, beer, family, friends, food, and Disneyland. Amy's been a great help in all the planning for this big road trip. Thanks, Amy!

Monday, October 04, 2010

Pacific Forest Rally - Merritt

We decided that this year, we would stay the whole day at the rally and take as much of it in as we could. 14 hours later, we had the dust from 1 million years ago covering every inch of us and our stuff(camera), we sat on every single hard surface you can imagine, we walked on rocks that dinosaurs walked on, and I made fool of myself, but we had a great time.  What a difference in weather. Last year, it was rainy, and cold. This year, we had to change into shorts and t-shirts and figured it was a good 20 degrees warmer than last year. Until the sun went down and smarty shorts and I froze our toes off.
 No play-by-play, but this is Antoine Lestage and they won. They did not end up in the ditch because they can control their cars, like magic, and instead kind of drifted thru the corner.
 Antoine's co-driver is this guy's sister. Came in second, I think.
 There's a car to the left, you can make out the roof, that's the dust I ate for lunch.
 This is Kerry. He was covered in dust afterwards.
 Neat! We drove back to town and the rally cars were all around us on the highway.
 Stopped here for lunch.
 Wished for 2 seconds that I was this guy, but then saw this guy struggling to carry his 400mm f/whatever for the  1/2 mile we had to walk and thought "Ha Ha, I'm not you!" Also thought that later on  when he picked the 'best' spot, only to see him later covering his baby up every single minute because of the dust blowing his way!
Found a pack mule for my camera bag, Mr. 400 needs one too.
On our way to the last heat at Helmar Lake, on our almost 1 km. walk into the forest, I was daydreaming about how much I loved my Keen shoes, and how I should buy another pair just like them, when I saw a SNAKE. It was green and yellow and had it's upper body raised off the ground. It was 2 feet long and right in front of me. I grabbed Kerry's arm and screamed and yelled "SNAKE SNAKE SNAKE". Which wouldn't have been so bad if it was just the 2 of us but about 30 feet behind us was another couple. It took about 5 minutes before my heart rate was normal and we could laugh about it. 

 Totally blurry shot of 'pretty bird'. He kept swooping down around us. People near us held out cheezies (the environmentally sound bird food) and he would fly down and take them from their hands. It was a bit hard to see from behind my hands, gotta protect my eyes.
 Lestage came down the hill and around the corner too fast, but the crowded loved it as he drifted in the gravel, it was a good show, but then everyone else slowed down in the corner.
We were about 20 feet from the cars. We got hit by a rock and both Kerry and I looked at each other and said "COOL!" The poor kid infront of us got hit so hard he had an instabruise, but he didn't move and he was so funny to watch. He was pretty sure the cars were coming straight for him and he'd jump every time. We got a chuckle.
See that group of guys behind the dust, they started at about 9 am. and the one in the yellow shirt sang and yelled and cheered all day, 12 hours later, he was drunk and still going. Rumour has it, they have been at 7 yrs. worth of rallies, coming from maybe the coast, but originally from Paraguay. Which would explain the cheering in German, and the funky Polka Reggae music they had playing.  All day we heard "You say Yoka!  I say Hama!" And then he'd say YOKA, and HAMA and we'd all laugh at him. The Yokahama tire guys liked to egg him on. By the end of the night, some were hoping a hunter might accidentally mistake him for a deer.
Next year, we've made plans to head to Helmar lake sooner so we don't have to make the 1 km. walk and we will take some kind of padded seating with us. We were not made to sit on rocks and sticks for that long.

Friday, October 01, 2010

Whoooo loves their Cricut?

I do!
I do!
 All paper and brads are Stampin' Up. Owls and Toadstool are from Paisley, Letters from Alphalicious, Frame from Accent Essentials, punches from Stampin' Up.

More Lists

Our (my) list of what to look for and buy in the states is getting longer and longer. Good thing we have the van.
Now that I have a Cricut, I want a bunch of things for it.
1. 12x24 mats
2. more blades
3. 12x12 mats
4. cartridges on sale
5. 12x24 paper
6. zucchini fries
7. Dole pineapple whip float
8. Wetzel's Pretzels

Other things we have to look for include clothing. Emily said "My wardrobe is lacking!"  I told her to hold out for our trip. She'll end up with clothing that every one else doesn't have. So we went from JEANS and CAPRIS to A WHOLE NEW WARDROBE.  And a WINTER  JACKET.

I'm not sure what is on Kerry's list besides salt water taffy and David's sunflower seeds, and In and Out burgers.

We are starting our "Taking on our trip" box. So far we have Coffee Crisps, which we have to remember to keep out of the heat, pom poms for wedding decorating, Sun Rype fruit snacks, and passports. This is besides the obvious things, like cameras, batteries, credit cards. We can now add Emily's new toy to the box. I opted for Fujifilm's rough and rugged little camera because of the shock resistant feature and the waterproof and cold proof features. I went with green so that the 'men' in the family would feel comfortable using it.



Are we missing anything? We only have 23 days to pack!!!

I have been doing the odd 'around the house' project. I'm slowly adding to the Ikea photo shelves Marina got me hooked on. I used the cricut to cut the fleur de lis out and then I mod podged and painted the frame. And then I put my favourite fleur de lis tattoos hunka hunk in the frame. I hung it up in the entrance way and Kerry saw it as soon as he got home. He had some words to say. I didn't take it down until his mom came over and wanted to know what that was. So now it's in the living room. So far no one has noticed.
I also printed a picture from Write.Click.Scrapbook. that I had lost and then found again. I used Moab Rag paper to print it and then I tore it and stuck it on the mat. It's hard to see the texture but it's very leathery.