A quick sneak

I'm so glad I made time to fit this cute family in for a photoshoot this weekend. The weather co-operated!  L didn't want his picture taken at first, but after awhile he kind of warmed up to the idea, it didn't really help that the sucker was peppermint but he was a good sport about it. K was having none of it but I think we did okay despite the fact he didn't want to look at me. You may remember him from his newborn shoot.
Thanks little Minck family!

7days

It's been a week since we got home.

I've noticed a few things.

1. There's no dog hair in Disneyland. I knew we had lots with the addition of Linus, but holy dust bunnies, Batman! I can't understand why that dog isn't bald with all the hair he drops.

2. My scheduling assistant didn't do a very good job. She scheduled back to back classes this weekend, usually if I have one Saturday, I don't have one Sunday. But there's been a huge demand for homemade Christmas card classes this year.

3. Going away for 2 weeks to a sunny location doesn't change the calendar. Time still moves, Christmas still comes at the same time, only faster because you spent 2 weeks with your head up Disney's sunny butt to notice. And now you are panicking to adjust to the fact Christmas is 4 paydays away.

4. This is from Amy. It's me on California Screamin' where I was convinced I broke my neck. My mom asked why everyone else looked happy and like they were having fun, I said because I think I'm dying. I think Andrea beside me spent most of the ride watching me and laughing at me. Glad to be amusement for someone. Andrea's a hoot! 

5. So not only did I schedule two classes, I am going to do a family shoot for Baby K's family tomorrow, weather permitting.  I'm off in a few minutes to support Heather, Mom, Kathy, Amanda and fellow crafters at the Lutheran Church craft sale. We have a UFC night tonight, a birthday party, and I'm sure some things I'm forgetting. What am I getting at?

I need a vacation!

a movie screening

We went to see my cousin's movie last night. It's about our family, being Japanese, and how everyone in my mom's generation married non-Japanese, inter-racial. I think he said it will eventually be on PBS, the Knowledge Network and something else, don't quote me on that.  The screening was the longer 80 minute version, both that and the shorter 48 minute version are on the disk we were given.
It was hard to see grandpa in the movie, mom brought him to the screening, and he's deteriorating so fast. I'm very thankful for the video some of my relatives took and for all the pictures they took. Jeff used these in his movie and it was so neat to see grandma again.  And it reminded me of why I take so many pictures (it's not just because I'm Japanese) and why I scrapbook. It also made me want a video camera.
Even though we declined to be interviewed for the movie, we were still in it. In one part, Emily is drawing our family, I took the still shots of her doing it and both of us got paid and our names are in the credits. Which is totally neat to see. Afterwards, Emily got approached by Ken, he owns the local Japanese specialty store. He wants her to come to the sister city event he plans and for her to draw at a table for a few hours. She's so shy, but I hope she does it.  Jeff gave family members a copy of the movie, and he gave Emily her own copy and she didn't want it, said she could share our copy. But we made her take it. After the movie she was very happy she had her own copy. She was also very embarrassed because so many people came up and told her how great her artwork was.
We took Kerry's mom. Part way through the movie she says "I feel so bad", she was referring to the way  the Japanese Canadians were treated during and after the war. I told her she didn't do it and shouldn't feel bad.  She knew 3 families that lost every thing during the internment.  She's going to tell her friends to go tonight to the screening, and she thanked us so much for taking her.
Overall, I was pleasantly surprised by the movie. I learned a bit, laughed at a lot, we're a strange family, and remembered a lot more.

On the way

We planned on stopping in at LA Ink to check it out and Dad watches the show so we thought it would be neat to get some pictures. Sadly the website said they opened an hour earlier than they actually do so we just took pictures out back and of the front.

It's a good thing it was closed, we'd probably have gotten new tattoos.
The fact the shop wasn't open, made us realized California works on a different time schedule than we are used to. The next 2 stores we went to weren't open on Tuesdays, the Harley stores weren't open on Mondays, most places opened after 10. When you are up at 6 this makes for a long day of disappointments. Add to that the sad state of their Michaels, Joann's and scrapbooking stores and one of us was getting a bit grumpy!

Warning...

2 weeks of no internet and no blogging makes for lots of blogging now. You've been warned. I started with 2600 photos, I took pictures of every single thing. I've whittled that amount down do about 1500. I will not blog all of those pictures but I will put them in a smugmug gallery maybe later this week.

Where to start?  Let's start 3 years ago. We took our first family vacation and went for 1 week to Disneyland. We were bitten by the bug. We loved every minute of it, except the walking back to our hotel at the end of the day. When we got back, I somehow stumbled on to Amy's Disney blog. She loved Disneyland, and she scrapbooked. David has a Subaru, Kerry wants one. We began emailing and chatting on-line. One thing led to another and we decided we were going back to Disneyland and we were going to meet Amy, David and Trevor. They invited us to their wedding. We were going to fly, but then in my great wisdom, I said "why don't we just drive all the way there?" Kerry's always wanted to drive the Oregon coast so that's what we planned on doing.

Oh, but wait! We watch a disgusting amount of the Food Network's Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, why not make a list of the ones on the way and hit them.  So the plans were made, the maps printed out, the tickets purchased, half the hotels booked (we decided to play it loose on the way home), and we headed out on Sunday, Oct. 24th, bright and early. Really, it was dark, pitch black and early.

 There was no line-up at the border, we did get a bit of a hassle about taking Emily out of school for 2 weeks. We drove to Portland. It's beautiful there. We ate at the first of 3 triple D recommendations. Podnah's, as in 'partner's'. We had brisket, it was good, but mine is better. T-shirts were purchased and some very full Williamses hit the road again.
We took the I-5 down, this is the fastest, most boringest road in the history of roads I have been on. 13 naps a day because I was dying of boredom. We took turns driving, I drove for about 1 hour when we entered California, I needed a nap about 45 min. after I started driving. Kerry drove for 99,999 km.

 We stayed in Eugene, and then again in Bakersfield.
We stopped in Sacramento at the Squeeze Inn for their famous 'cheese skirt burgers'.

I had a beef taco. This place was worth the drive! Deliciously clogged arteries!

No t-shirts were purchased, they only had Kerry's size in pink. 

We made it to our hotel in Anaheim, strategically chosen for it's close proximity to Disneyland. Definitely worth the extra cost. Amy, David, and Trevor met us there. It was so awesome to meet them in  person. We don't make a habit of meeting strangers from the internet, but we felt like we'd known them for years. Oh, did I mention Mickey's Halloween party was a costume party?  Kerry went as Waldo, from Where's Waldo and was a huge hit with other party goers. Emily and I made her Pikachu costume. Amy was Dorothy and David was the tin man, and Trevor was a SWAT guy. I was a witch.

Not only did we find Waldo but we saw Baby Elvis too!

The park had the best decorations, as always!

 The park is decorated especially for Halloween and for the party. Dry ice made it eery and trick or treating at the park was a special 'treat'.

 The parade was neat to see, but the best part...

The special Halloween fireworks!  I think that's Amy taping them with her phone.

That sums up our first few days of our trip.  Things to come...Universal Studios, Seaworld, brave people on scary rides, a wedding, a drive on the beach, and much more.

HOME!!!

We had the best time ever on our trip. I will blog with pictures for a long time to come. As much fun as we had, it's nice to be home.
I have 2600 photos to sort through. I took pictures of everything.
Highlights...
-meeting Amy, David and Trevor in real life after almost 3 yrs. of on-line chatting and going to Amy and David's wedding.
-eating at a few Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.
-going on rides I was too scared to go on last time.

Lows...
-driving in LA.
-finding out Guy Fierri doesn't have standards as high as ours.
-going on rides I was too scared to go on last time and realizing I had every right to be too scared.


Here we are, un-edited, leaving the park on the last day.

I must get back to unpacking. Apparently we nickelled and dimed ourselves into spending over $1500 on who knows what. And we didn't think it was that bad until the border crossing lady asked what the most expensive item we bought was and Kerry said his DC hoodie at about $70. The lady asked if we bought a tv, a computer or any electronics and we hadn't. She looked at us like we were crazy. But she let us through without any hassle after she declared we'd spent too much on alcohol.

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!

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!

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'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?

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!

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!

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!

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.