Monday, December 29, 2008
Happy New Year
So what are you doing for the New Year's celebrations? Personally, I tried my hand at a little arson last night. That is to say, I almost burned down our house...or at least our kitchen. This is what happened: we purchased these lean beef shishkabobs (sp?) at the market and I was sure that the way to cook them would be to broil them. My mom turned me on to broiling as a great way to do meat and make it tender, and since I have never yet succeeded in making beef tender EVER I thought surely broiling would do it. As an added touch I added quite a lot of olive oil in the pan for the meat to sort of "marinate" in as it cooked. Suffice it to say this was not a good idea. The boiling oil was splashing upward & hitting the red hot oven heating coils & you can probably guess what happened....we had a full fledged fire going on in that pan in the oven. I mean, you opened up the oven & flames were leaping out. I vaguely remember yelling, "Jeffery Doss, get the fire extinguisher!!"....then my wonderful husband came & saved the day. He took that flaming pan out of the oven & the fire went out. All was well until the smoke detector went off, making us all deaf. But he handled that too! What a hero of a husband I have. Thanks, honey. I joke about this, but I was really seriously scared for about 30 seconds. I told Jeff, "God, thanks honey for helping me....I was picturing us standing out in the street watching the house burning down & the firemen spraying hoses." And over by the sink, my wonderful husband & hero starts laughing & says, "Yes, and listening to Miu (the cat) inside meowing & roasting to a crisp! ha ha ha!" Hmmmm. What's that saying about a lot can be told of a man by what exictes his laughter? Disturbing.
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Merry Christmas!
Hello, all. Merry Christmas! I've been pretty busy for the past few days, baking, etc. Never a dull moment! We're not going to have anyone over this year, just us to cook for, but it seems to be quite a lot of work nonetheless. What have we been making? Last night we did a cookie baking marathon, doing chocolate chip, oatmeal, and Christmas cookies. The Christmas cookies we got as a present from Frank & Kara last year....the mix only, of course. They came with these neato little decorating boxes full of sugar sprinkles, all different colors and shapes...just the sort of thing that is meat and drink to a 3 year old. Well, we started to bake & opened the bag, and it seems that in the year that the thing sat on our shelf it had gone sort of rancid or something...didn't smell good. Did that stop us? Oh no. We rolled, sprinkled & baked every last one of those things. Noah keeps eating them when I'm not looking & says they taste really good. Hmmm. What a good mother I am. We (Noah & I) also baked an apple cake for tomorrow. (12/26 update: this cake turned out SPECTACULARLY bad. I am throwing it away today.)
Speaking of Noah: he's been full of funnies this morning. In the spirit of sharing at Christmas, here they are:
(We were in the bathroom, talking about this and that. Noah had made this little paper wreath at church last Sunday and we put it up prominently in the living room, and since we know he likes attention, Jeff has several times said to him, "Who made that beautiful wreath? Who?" and he always says, "Me"!)
So Noah says: "Daddy needs to stop asking me who made that wreath. He keeps asking and asking and I telled him so many times." (I laughed so hard...he must think Jeff is an idiot who can't remember a thing.)
I gave Noah a little pukka shell neclace and he uses it as a cowboy rope for some reason. He was prancing around the living room pretending to be a cowboy & I asked him, "Cowboy Noah, will you rope in those diapers all over the living room and put them up for me?" He sort of struck a pose and then said in this weird accent: "AT YOUR SERVANT!" And picked them all up.
After doing the above, he wanted to tell me a story. This is it in it's entirety:
"Once upon a time there was a girl named Julie. And her had a wife. And her had her Christmas stuff out. And her wife went into the woods, and there were monsters and tigers and lions and cheetahs there. And then a cowboy came to save her….me! And then I got her and then once I got her and next her wife and they went home. That’s the end of my story.
Once upon a time, the naughties in the forest came to their house & knocked out the door (sound effects)…and they opened the door & they runned away. And then they went and get a fork to sword them. And then then they said “Hmm, this is the wrong one”. And they went & got spoons and they didn’t know what to do about their spoons & forks to sword the naughties. And guess who came? Cowboy Noah. And he fight those naughties away. "
Merry Christmas all. May God bless and keep you from the naughties, or if not, may you have a Cowboy Noah to fight for you. Or failing that, a good fork or spoon.
P.S: A prize to the person who can come up with the best title for the above story. My submission is: "Brokeback Mountain II: Cowboy Noah, the lesbians, and the silverware."
Speaking of Noah: he's been full of funnies this morning. In the spirit of sharing at Christmas, here they are:
(We were in the bathroom, talking about this and that. Noah had made this little paper wreath at church last Sunday and we put it up prominently in the living room, and since we know he likes attention, Jeff has several times said to him, "Who made that beautiful wreath? Who?" and he always says, "Me"!)
So Noah says: "Daddy needs to stop asking me who made that wreath. He keeps asking and asking and I telled him so many times." (I laughed so hard...he must think Jeff is an idiot who can't remember a thing.)
I gave Noah a little pukka shell neclace and he uses it as a cowboy rope for some reason. He was prancing around the living room pretending to be a cowboy & I asked him, "Cowboy Noah, will you rope in those diapers all over the living room and put them up for me?" He sort of struck a pose and then said in this weird accent: "AT YOUR SERVANT!" And picked them all up.
After doing the above, he wanted to tell me a story. This is it in it's entirety:
"Once upon a time there was a girl named Julie. And her had a wife. And her had her Christmas stuff out. And her wife went into the woods, and there were monsters and tigers and lions and cheetahs there. And then a cowboy came to save her….me! And then I got her and then once I got her and next her wife and they went home. That’s the end of my story.
Once upon a time, the naughties in the forest came to their house & knocked out the door (sound effects)…and they opened the door & they runned away. And then they went and get a fork to sword them. And then then they said “Hmm, this is the wrong one”. And they went & got spoons and they didn’t know what to do about their spoons & forks to sword the naughties. And guess who came? Cowboy Noah. And he fight those naughties away. "
Merry Christmas all. May God bless and keep you from the naughties, or if not, may you have a Cowboy Noah to fight for you. Or failing that, a good fork or spoon.
P.S: A prize to the person who can come up with the best title for the above story. My submission is: "Brokeback Mountain II: Cowboy Noah, the lesbians, and the silverware."
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Happy Birthday, Rebecca Rudow!
There, how do you like it? I was trying it on again for you, so you can see what you think about maybe possibly changing it back from Niki. Anyway, Happy Birthday, even though it's late. E-cards don't really seem to cut it, so I'm sorry that's all I sent, but I did want you to know you're very special to me & I love you! You're a very talented, intelligent, fun & well-spoken person, full of love for life, and very courageous. I wish I had half your music talent!
I know you've been through many things in your 27 years, things that many other people don't go through in a lifetime....and you should be very proud of yourself that you've survived & thrived (?? Throve??). Anyway..I feel that we're very similar in many ways, and I've always been able to relate to you & felt like when we're together, we get along well. I have many good memories of Dad's place, and of your recent visit.
Ok, well, I guess anyone that knows you knows the things that I've written above anyway, so I don't want to belabor the obvious, but I did want to write a little tribute to you, now on the eve of your departure into the great unknown that also happens to coincide with your birthday. Keep going, don't quit, continue to be courageous, and great things will happen for you. Think about what YOU want and don't settle for anything less. I know God wants to see you happy too, and you deserve it.
I love you haney, Happy Birthday.
I know you've been through many things in your 27 years, things that many other people don't go through in a lifetime....and you should be very proud of yourself that you've survived & thrived (?? Throve??). Anyway..I feel that we're very similar in many ways, and I've always been able to relate to you & felt like when we're together, we get along well. I have many good memories of Dad's place, and of your recent visit.
Ok, well, I guess anyone that knows you knows the things that I've written above anyway, so I don't want to belabor the obvious, but I did want to write a little tribute to you, now on the eve of your departure into the great unknown that also happens to coincide with your birthday. Keep going, don't quit, continue to be courageous, and great things will happen for you. Think about what YOU want and don't settle for anything less. I know God wants to see you happy too, and you deserve it.
I love you haney, Happy Birthday.
Monday, December 15, 2008
Christmas Time!
This work entitled: "Moo Cow in Perspective" or, "I, said the Bovine in Shadow". (I was trying to get artsy fartsy. Didn't quite turn out.)
Christmas is for children. 
Our bookcase "village".
I love our manger scene. It's just beautiful & so lifelike.
Another creative photography attempt. Notice my reflection in the baubble.
A little blurry, but I'm so proud of our outside lights.
Front door wreath.
The village, pic sensibly taken by Jeff with lights on.
Our Christmas.
Dillon "helping"
Caught in the act.
This is why we had to put a gate around the tree.
Noah & Daddy putting the angel on the tree....
Oh no! Disaster strikes!
Ahh, that's better.
Dilly's first "colored light" experience. Notice the wrestler choke hold by Noah.Thursday, December 11, 2008
R.I.P, D.
It is with great sadness that I announce the death of my beloved friend & boon companion, Diet. He was with me for at least six months, constantly at my side, and, although exacting & a real pain in the ass sometimes, at least made me feel really good when I followed his advice. With his help, I was going places. I had plans for a whole new life, not to mention wardrobe.
Sadly, it was not to be. Tragedy struck over Thanksgiving, ending his young life before it was hardly begun. Reports differ as to the actual cause of death, but it seems that he may have been crushed by...I weep as I write....thousands of pounds of turkey and cranberry sauce. Candied yams may have also been involved and are under investigation.
We have kept him on life support now for the past 3 weeks, waiting in agony to see if he will pull out of it & return to us, but we are past hope. He is dead & cannot be revived. I will be pulling the plug this weekend, supported by my friends, Starbucks and Pastries. Dessert has promised to follow shortly afterward.
Services will be held at the Church of Our Lady of Obesity. No flowers, please.
Sadly, it was not to be. Tragedy struck over Thanksgiving, ending his young life before it was hardly begun. Reports differ as to the actual cause of death, but it seems that he may have been crushed by...I weep as I write....thousands of pounds of turkey and cranberry sauce. Candied yams may have also been involved and are under investigation.
We have kept him on life support now for the past 3 weeks, waiting in agony to see if he will pull out of it & return to us, but we are past hope. He is dead & cannot be revived. I will be pulling the plug this weekend, supported by my friends, Starbucks and Pastries. Dessert has promised to follow shortly afterward.
Services will be held at the Church of Our Lady of Obesity. No flowers, please.
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Copperlasion Station
The following conversation, which, in the words of the immortal Dave Barry, I SWEAR I am not making up, occurred the other evening. Noah had his helicopter and was "flying" it around in the air, saying in a montone voice to himself:
Copperlasion. Copperlasion. Copperlasion. Copperlasion.
Me: What’s a copperlasion?
Noah: It’s like a mergency.
Like a flu, or a challenge, or a flower bed.
Pause....
Which one?
Me, struggling not to laugh: Probably the flu.
Another thoughtful pause, and then the flying resumes:
Copperlasion: the flu. Copperlasion: the flu. Copperlasion: the flu.
In other news:
Dillon is going to be a plumber when he grows up. In fact, he thinks he's one now. The kid has an unnatural fascination with toilets, and specifically, splashing in toilet bowl water. We have to literally lock all the doors to the bathrooms of the house so he can't open the door & start his water play. But it's not only the water: he also likes to "inspect" the different toilet fixtures, try to turn the knobs, flush the toilet, etc. He's just all-round fascinated. I can't tell you how many times I've realised all of a sudden that it's suspiciously quiet and have made a beeline for the toilet to find him guiltily jerking up from a toilet bowl, sleeves and hands & face all wet, with a big joyous smile on his face. Or maybe he just enjoys watching Mom become a screaming, jabbering idiot, yelling, "GROSSIE! GROSSIE! No no Dilly!" over & over.
(Grossie alert: do not read on if you want to keep your supper down):
A true story: one day I had been taking a shower, so I had him in his walker in our large bathroom to keep him out of trouble where I could see him. Jeff & I were looking at something for, I swear, only like 30 seconds, and we look over to Dillon & see the following: the toilet bowl is open & hadn't been flushed after the last...shall we say....number 1. Dillon, who had opened it, is sitting beside it contentedly, sort of splashing his hands around on the tray of his walker, which, as we look closer, contains a USED PEE TISSUE, considerably disintigrated, and he is SUCKING ON SOMETHING which turns out to be another portion of this tissue. I just about had a stroke. Had to monitor his vital signs for a couple hours.
Can anyone say EWWWW?
And on that note, have a wonderful Tuesday.
Copperlasion. Copperlasion. Copperlasion. Copperlasion.
Me: What’s a copperlasion?
Noah: It’s like a mergency.
Like a flu, or a challenge, or a flower bed.
Pause....
Which one?
Me, struggling not to laugh: Probably the flu.
Another thoughtful pause, and then the flying resumes:
Copperlasion: the flu. Copperlasion: the flu. Copperlasion: the flu.
In other news:
Dillon is going to be a plumber when he grows up. In fact, he thinks he's one now. The kid has an unnatural fascination with toilets, and specifically, splashing in toilet bowl water. We have to literally lock all the doors to the bathrooms of the house so he can't open the door & start his water play. But it's not only the water: he also likes to "inspect" the different toilet fixtures, try to turn the knobs, flush the toilet, etc. He's just all-round fascinated. I can't tell you how many times I've realised all of a sudden that it's suspiciously quiet and have made a beeline for the toilet to find him guiltily jerking up from a toilet bowl, sleeves and hands & face all wet, with a big joyous smile on his face. Or maybe he just enjoys watching Mom become a screaming, jabbering idiot, yelling, "GROSSIE! GROSSIE! No no Dilly!" over & over.
(Grossie alert: do not read on if you want to keep your supper down):
A true story: one day I had been taking a shower, so I had him in his walker in our large bathroom to keep him out of trouble where I could see him. Jeff & I were looking at something for, I swear, only like 30 seconds, and we look over to Dillon & see the following: the toilet bowl is open & hadn't been flushed after the last...shall we say....number 1. Dillon, who had opened it, is sitting beside it contentedly, sort of splashing his hands around on the tray of his walker, which, as we look closer, contains a USED PEE TISSUE, considerably disintigrated, and he is SUCKING ON SOMETHING which turns out to be another portion of this tissue. I just about had a stroke. Had to monitor his vital signs for a couple hours.
Can anyone say EWWWW?
And on that note, have a wonderful Tuesday.
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Pics
Noah was afraid of the birds (below) and so sat on the door of our car
Our "showtelle" (Noah thinks that hotel is a showtell....?? Show-and-tell, perhaps?) in Phoenix
The jacuzzi outside our room in the hotel in PhoenixHappy Turkey Day
So we're back! We had a whirlwind vacation (term used loosely), and we're back in old El Paso. East, West, home is best, as they say. Thanks to Paula for putting us up in CA, as usual! We had a very good, if not restful, time, and below are some highlights:
Jennie & Tyler's wedding! They got married the Saturday before Snakesgiving, with a great little ceremony & nice reception at a local OC place. It was a very nice event, great also for seeing family & friends that we otherwise wouldn't have. Tyler is a great guy & is a welcome addition to our/their family. We got to see a lot of him, as Jennie & he are living there in Paula's house. Good times!
Jeff & I got to do karaoke with a couple friends & relatives, which was SUPER fun. It reminded me of when Jeff & I used to be footloose & fancy free back in the Triassic Period when dinosaurs roamed the earth. Everyone was drinking & singing & showing off, really. You sing better when you're trying your best to show yourself off, you know. Also having some booze in you helps. Very fun. Then we did it again, the last day we were in CA, with the whole family, dragging Paula & Jennie & Tyler & kids along. We enjoyed it & hopefully didn't pierce their eardrums with the high note of "My Way".
Thanksgiving was nice...we 'did' the usual family thing at Paula's, and then I persuaded Jeff to drive us all the way up to see my family that evening, which he did, and we had a good time there too. Got to see the Uncle & Aunt, of course, and also Grandma Mary, all of whom seemed delighted to see us & the kids. Gotta take advantage of these opportunities to see everyone, as we live so far away now.
What else? Let's see: Jeff awoke at the ungodly hour of 3:30!!! AM with his Mom to go shopping for the exceptional deals they have on Black Friday (the day-after-thanksgiving-super-sale-day, for the uninitiated)....can you believe it? I thought he was crazy, but they seemed to have enjoyed themselves. Got some new bedding that is featured prominently in the next paragraph as "Huge impediment to leaving California with all our stuff in the car".
Huge impediment to leaving California with all our stuff in the car: we had too much stuff. We couldn't fit it all. It was literally a scientific, mathematical impossibility, like travelling faster than the speed of light, or me fitting into a size 6 jean. You get the idea. Why? We were trying to fit 4 king sized comforters (don't ask) & a few bedding sets to go along with them (decorative pillows, sheet sets, Euro pillows, etc), about 7 bags (including suitcases, duffles, etc), 10+ fully wrapped presents for Christmas, 2 ...um...King sized adults, 2 children with oversized carseats, 2 huge bags of toys for the trip (ha! couldn't reach anything to get any toys out of 'em the entire time!), a DVD player, a "snack" bag, a stroller (NOT UMBRELLA), and a standard "TOTO" porcelain toilet in our 5 seater Toyota Avalon sedan. THIS IS ALL TRUE EXCEPT FOR THE TOILET. And I'm surprised we hadn't thrown that in just for good measure. Oh yes, and a fan. For white noise at night. And diapers. Many diapers. So guess what we ended up doing? We sat there, friends and neighbors, and vacuum packed everything we owned that could have air sucked out of it. All our clothes, the bedding, everything. I was SO afraid that when we stopped in Phoenix overnight we would come back to the parking lot to find our car had blown up like a balloon in the middle of the night. If everything had reinflated, we would've been in BAD trouble. Thank God it didn't. When we reached terra firma of El Paso, I literally danced a jig of happiness that we arrived home with our stuff intact, and us intact too. Well, almost intact...pieces of my scalp with hair attached are strewn along the 10 due to the never-ending whine fest that was Noah & Dillon. Road trips with young children are SUCH a joy. But that's a whole other story.
In closing, I'm thankful for:
My husband, and my children. My boys, my loves. I've been so blessed and so happy. Every day with you is a gift.
My larger family, my parents & siblings, my in-laws & out-laws (cheapshot), who have all been so good to me. I've been so lucky there too. I love & miss you all.
My health.
Our house.
Jeff's job in this bad economy that allows me to care for our boys at home.
My friends, most of whom I haven't seen in awhile. Miss you!
Wine, karaoke, and good times. Happy times.
Increasing peace as I get older.
That's all now. See pics above. Comment, or I will track you down & sit on you.
Jennie & Tyler's wedding! They got married the Saturday before Snakesgiving, with a great little ceremony & nice reception at a local OC place. It was a very nice event, great also for seeing family & friends that we otherwise wouldn't have. Tyler is a great guy & is a welcome addition to our/their family. We got to see a lot of him, as Jennie & he are living there in Paula's house. Good times!
Jeff & I got to do karaoke with a couple friends & relatives, which was SUPER fun. It reminded me of when Jeff & I used to be footloose & fancy free back in the Triassic Period when dinosaurs roamed the earth. Everyone was drinking & singing & showing off, really. You sing better when you're trying your best to show yourself off, you know. Also having some booze in you helps. Very fun. Then we did it again, the last day we were in CA, with the whole family, dragging Paula & Jennie & Tyler & kids along. We enjoyed it & hopefully didn't pierce their eardrums with the high note of "My Way".
Thanksgiving was nice...we 'did' the usual family thing at Paula's, and then I persuaded Jeff to drive us all the way up to see my family that evening, which he did, and we had a good time there too. Got to see the Uncle & Aunt, of course, and also Grandma Mary, all of whom seemed delighted to see us & the kids. Gotta take advantage of these opportunities to see everyone, as we live so far away now.
What else? Let's see: Jeff awoke at the ungodly hour of 3:30!!! AM with his Mom to go shopping for the exceptional deals they have on Black Friday (the day-after-thanksgiving-super-sale-day, for the uninitiated)....can you believe it? I thought he was crazy, but they seemed to have enjoyed themselves. Got some new bedding that is featured prominently in the next paragraph as "Huge impediment to leaving California with all our stuff in the car".
Huge impediment to leaving California with all our stuff in the car: we had too much stuff. We couldn't fit it all. It was literally a scientific, mathematical impossibility, like travelling faster than the speed of light, or me fitting into a size 6 jean. You get the idea. Why? We were trying to fit 4 king sized comforters (don't ask) & a few bedding sets to go along with them (decorative pillows, sheet sets, Euro pillows, etc), about 7 bags (including suitcases, duffles, etc), 10+ fully wrapped presents for Christmas, 2 ...um...King sized adults, 2 children with oversized carseats, 2 huge bags of toys for the trip (ha! couldn't reach anything to get any toys out of 'em the entire time!), a DVD player, a "snack" bag, a stroller (NOT UMBRELLA), and a standard "TOTO" porcelain toilet in our 5 seater Toyota Avalon sedan. THIS IS ALL TRUE EXCEPT FOR THE TOILET. And I'm surprised we hadn't thrown that in just for good measure. Oh yes, and a fan. For white noise at night. And diapers. Many diapers. So guess what we ended up doing? We sat there, friends and neighbors, and vacuum packed everything we owned that could have air sucked out of it. All our clothes, the bedding, everything. I was SO afraid that when we stopped in Phoenix overnight we would come back to the parking lot to find our car had blown up like a balloon in the middle of the night. If everything had reinflated, we would've been in BAD trouble. Thank God it didn't. When we reached terra firma of El Paso, I literally danced a jig of happiness that we arrived home with our stuff intact, and us intact too. Well, almost intact...pieces of my scalp with hair attached are strewn along the 10 due to the never-ending whine fest that was Noah & Dillon. Road trips with young children are SUCH a joy. But that's a whole other story.
In closing, I'm thankful for:
My husband, and my children. My boys, my loves. I've been so blessed and so happy. Every day with you is a gift.
My larger family, my parents & siblings, my in-laws & out-laws (cheapshot), who have all been so good to me. I've been so lucky there too. I love & miss you all.
My health.
Our house.
Jeff's job in this bad economy that allows me to care for our boys at home.
My friends, most of whom I haven't seen in awhile. Miss you!
Wine, karaoke, and good times. Happy times.
Increasing peace as I get older.
That's all now. See pics above. Comment, or I will track you down & sit on you.
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