Dec. 15. 05

........My house is now as decorated as it is going to get. We have all 3 little trees up.. the silver one in the living room, the green one in the dining room and the cute little one made of Xmas balls in the bathroom. The Christmas towels are up and the toilet is decorated to look like a fireplace ( I know, weird!) but Aundrea likes it. And there is a snowman night light. Aundrea got industrious and made VERY LONG chains out of ribbon. The first one she assures me has 104 links in it. It went from one end of the house to the other. It is now over both windows in the living room and the last one which is only about 10' long is over the dining room window. Roy has the stars for outside out along with the deer but so far that is as far as he has gotten. I think this year after Christmas I may have to look for a larger, like 4' maybe, fiber optic tree. They really are the way to go.... no more hunting for lights and trying for days to find the one stupid bulb that is out. Then the hunt to the store to find a replacement only to find out they discontinued that type as no one bought them...............
.......I was taking Aundrea home from dance tonight when she called her mom and her mom said we are at the store so take her to your house and we will pick her up. Then she found out Eileen was coming to eat liver and onions so she called her mom and asked to stay overnight. She ate liver and onions!! I am not sure she really liked them but she ate them and didn't complain.
......We took our babies in yesterday and Rene' gave us 3 feral kittens. One is really scared. He is going to need a lot of work. And the little girl (Thelma) has a cold and can't breathe out of her nose so will have to take her out to the shelter probably tomorrow to be checked. Actually they all seem to have a virus but she is the worst so far. Adorable little guys too. ONe is yellow and white and one is all soft yellow and the girl is a tortise and looks like the one we used to call barf kitty. We also still have Mama June and she is looking all over for her kittens. They have not decided if we can keep her yet.... we may have too many cats to be allowed to and then she will be put down cause she has a bad case of earmites. Tho they don't seem so bad to me and my vet assured me we can get rid of them with 2 shots, 2 weeks apart. He said the problem is that most vets only give one shot and so they come back. I told Rene' either I adopt her or at least be allowed to pay for the second shot. But I don't trust that vet at all.
........Tomorrow is my Xmas party with the ladies from the doll class and Aundrea's almost last performance before Christmas. And they are both at athe same time. So after the dinner I will got to the show if they are not done...... Sunday they perform at the Christmas festival at the fairgrounds. And her dance pants are not here yet. Well they did get here and were too small so they had to order another pair and of course that will take another month probably. I mean this people are all the way down in LA, for crying out loud!!

PS....

The jazz pants have not yet arrived and we are almost over for the Christmas season. Have no idea what has happened to them but I am getting very ticked. The kids have a really big show on the 16th and it would be nice to have the full costume.
..... They are doing a dance to "These Boots Are Made For Walking" and it is so cute and they are wearing silver dresses with a low belt and knee socks to look like go go boots.

December 8, 2005

.......Well there is no big news, just little stuff. Today I went to Tacoma for a meeting and found out the meeting is tomorrow!! So I went shopping with money I didn't have. What else can a woman do with time on her hands? You certainly didn't think I was going to rush home and start making the stuff to get in the mail for CHRISTMAS, did you?
......Our about to be new cat is making her presence known in the house. Poor old Budders is about terrified and Wellington is not fareing to well either. Baby is ok cause June and she just stare at each other and go the other way. The other day Roy went in the tv room and found our thawing hamburger for dinner in the middle of the floor mostly eaten. So we had something else........... the next day he found my lamb chop bones I had put in a zip loc bag, in there and she was working on opening it. The next day I heard a rusteling sound and wondered what it was. I saw the tip of June's tail go by and thought there wasn't a darn thing on the counter she could get. Well she had a loaf of bread. We really know nothing about this cat but I think she must have been on her own for awhile cause she sure can find food for her kids. And she is still nursing the stinkers. I think she would nurse til they are adults if they were left by her.
......O and speaking of the humane society and the stupid vet there.... I met up with him again and he is so RUDE and AROGANT.... he just shoved his way past me with a scowl on his face and stomped out of the place. Seems to me if you hate your job that much you ought to quit. Especially since he is already retired and just doing this part time.
.........Our dryer is broken and Roy hasn't gotten to find out what it is yet so we have been hanging laundry in the bathroom. The other morning Aundrea came out of the bathroom and said to me.... Grandma you need to come in the bathroom and look at the mess. It is awful. The doors are off and everything...... Well grandpa took the shower doors off to have more room for hanging stuff and had quite a lot hung up and yes it was a mess but well that is it. Last night I put the santa dressing on the toilet and today she said.... I like the way you fixed the bathroom all for Christmas. Santa left his hat there and dirthy prints on the rug.. he must have been walking on the roof. LOL And she was so serious.
.........The kids at dance are doing a secret santa thing. Everyone has drawn a name and is leaving gifts under the tree each time we are there. Mostly little stuff, a note or a candy or an expensive gift. Our gal is always there when we get there so it is hard to stick her gift under the tree and not have her know who left it but I think we are managing... especially since Aundrea and Jessica and Victoria all come in together. Sometimes I wait til she goes to her class and then go drop it. We have puppy that is the gallery mascot and Monday we are leaving a gift for Dexter. he is suppose to be shar pei/labrador but I think there may be some chow or something as neither of the other 2 breeds have as much fur as he has. He looks like a big black bear cub.

Nov. 23...............

........Now I remember what else Roy did......... he broke the door to the bedroom... the one the cats are in. The door stuck and he had to kick it in. Never seen anyone do that before have we, Gina? Then when Mike was here and we were getting ready to go to SEattle, he popped 2 buttons off his coat. He is NOT having a good week.
....... Saturday night we went with Mike to Azteca for dinner. We took Aundrea cause she was staying the night with us. Then Sunday (without Aundrea) we met him on the ferry and went to Seattle. He had heard about a new place on the water front and wanted to try it. It was the Crabpot. They put butcher paper down on the table and dump your food on it and you dive in. We had crab, clams, mussles, shrimp, sausage, potatoes and corn and the best sourdough bread.
.......Dance season has begun and I think there is a performance every weekend almost to Xmas. Aundrea will be a busy little girl. The new costumes are so pretty. and the kids are very good this year so it should be fun. They are really working hard to be ready. Now if Aundrea's jazz pants would just get here. Supposedly they were sent Friday from LA so they should be here for this Saturday...................

Nov. 19, 2005

......... Today was the first day of dance season. The kids danced at South Kitsap High School at a bazaar.... they were GREAT! The new costumes are really cute. Black pants, red sparkly tops with fur around the top and they are just a bit off the shoulder. This time the guys got shirts made out of the same material. It is really neat.
........Mike is in town and we went to dinner at Azteca in Silverdale. Aundrea went with us cause she is spending the night with us. Tomorrow we are going to go to Seattle.... for what I don't really know but it will be fun anyway.
........ Friday I worked at the humane society at a bazaar and left Roy unattened. Well that was wrong. I called him to come bring me the checkbook and had to call his cell phone.... he was at Home Depot. Ok so I used my card instead. I got home and he was standing out on the porch cause the vacuum blew up in the kitchen and the air was full of grung. We got the house aired out and I fixed somesort of dinner. Then he did something equally as catastrophic, that neither of us can remember right now........ then he burned up the dryer. Well actually he just turned it on and it didn't work. So I told him he is not allowed to be home with out a keeper!!
.........Back to dancing....... the rule for Performance Team dancers is that for practice they wear ALL BLACK. The last 2 weeks I have taken Aundrea to her Monday night lesson cause her mom was working a dumb shift... it seem that most of the performance team kids wear the all black but the older kids only about half adhere to the rule. It really gripes me because these kids are the Company dancers and are older than the others and should be setting an example. One of the dancers today showed up not only with out her red top but also with out long pants. This one is a return from last year so it is not like she and her parents don't know what to wear for a show. Everyone has a bag with warm ups, shoes, costumes etc in it and it should always go to every show so you have whatever you need. GRRRRRRR! That is my peeve for the week. That and the kids who don't pay attention during class. I would make them set out if they don't have the required clothes or the proper behaviour. But that is why I don't teach anything. I am old and have used up my patience a long time ago.
..OK so now I am off to bed!!!

Five Dollar Friday....

.........Last night was $5 Friday at the Pacific Northwest Ballet in Seattle. Having no idea what it was but that it was cheap and a preview to the newest ballet being performed by the PNB, we (me and Eileen) hopped a ferry and met Michelle, Aundrea, Janet and Luna there. I was expecting to be in a theatre watching it on a stage. NO. it is done in the PNB studios, much like the ones our kids practice in at the DAnce Gallery only larger and with a very small audience. And it was NOT traditional ballet. It was very modern dance and quite odd. The company director was there and between sets would talk to the audience and answer questions.
........Luna and Aundrea had been taken by the mom's to a place in Bellevue called something like Libby Lu's? They had thier hair and nails and makeup done. It was very cute. Both girls had pink in the ends of their hair. It looked very different on Aundrea's blonde than on Luna's almost black hair.
........After the ballet was over they had juice and cookies and gave out posters of the new show. We got one for Erin, Aundrea's ballet teacher. Another girl, Jessica, from Aundrea's class was there with her mom and grandmom too. Jessica will be appearing in a local presentation of Nutcracker so we will go see that one instead of the one in Seattle.
........I called Aundrea to day to see if she liked it and she really did. I asked her if she wanted to go to the next one in January and she said yes, then she asked her mom if she could and mom said yes but grandma will have to take you. So that leads me to think that Michelle didn't have as much fun as we did.
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............Now for other news... there really isn't much. We have a new mama cat with 4 kittens. She is a very sweet girl and the kittens are very young. And very furry and soft. We have them in a cage with shelves on it and Roy gave Mama some soft cat food on a paper plate and put it on the shelf. Mom took a couple of bites and jumped down and pulled the plate down and shared with her kids. Today I left the upper door of the cage open so she can get out and I am not sure she has gone back in. It must be a relief to be away from the babies for awhile.
...........The other day Roy took Eileen to an appt and while she was there he parked down by the park to read his paper until she called him. ( he has his own cell phone now). A little kid was walking along and tossed something down for a squirrel and a crow dove down for it and just as he grabbed it the squirrel grabbed the crow and there was quite a fight. But the squirrel won. He said it was very funny to watch.
............. and that and the fact that we paid out a gazillion $$ to the vet for Cleo after the receptionist said "Cleo doesn't need an exam she can just have her shot!" is about all the news from here.

Oct. 22, 2005

.................Well I haven't written in a while cause I have been busy. We had the humane society gala... always a fun night and I hope they made lots of money... And I went to the CASA Convention in Wenatachee. I went with 3 other Casa's from here and some of our staff. Friday night when we got there they had a reception at the local winery. The snacks were really awful except for the grapes and cheese. And the wine was terribly costly so we left and went to Shari's for dinner. But the rest of it was fun. The meals were all included and everything was very nice. ONe of my classes on Saturday afternoon was cancelled and I tried to get into another class but they were all full so I just went for a walk. Didn't find anything interesting but it was a beautiful sunny day and very warm. We had class after breakfast on Sunday and the one I took was 'and overview of Autism and Asbergers' and that is about what it was, an overview. Didn't learn much that I didn't already know. Only 'new' thing I learned was that the digestive problem Johnny has goes with the autism or asbergers tho they don't know why.
...............A couple of weeks ago I had my left turn signal go out. I forgot to tell Roy then he forgot to fix it.... then he fixed it and it worked for one day and so we were back to square one.... he fixed it again and this time it seems to be ok......... well today the right rear turn signal went out.. so I called Roy and told him, just to cheer him up. I was driving across town and a cop pulled me over. Told me my tail light was out, the whole thing. OK, he gave me a ticket to have it fixed. Then as he was leaving he said "you know they come in threes!" well wasn't he just a cheery sort?!
.......... A couple of weeks ago, our friend Terry was moving in with his fiancee and gave me the new chair she had given him when he had his heart surgery. It is brand new and off white. It is very nice. Well we have these 6 rotten kittens we are fostering. When you foster kittens you know the signs that they are ready to go back. They are now climbing the curtians (literly) and swinging on them, and climbing up the back of hte chairs with little tiny distructive claws. The knock stuff of the end tables as fast as we pick it up. I told Roy the other night the only difference in them and 6 toddlers is we don't have the diapers and bottles and we can put them in the cage. The other night I was eating dinner in the living room and little Boots (yes she has white feet, her brother is Sox for thet same reason), ran up the side of the chair and as fast as I knew she was there she had a big mouthful of my au gratin potatoes. She really liked them!!AND everyone says how can you send them back, I would be so broken hearted. HAHAHA!! Maybe with one but not with 6!!

NEWS ITEMS.....

......The old BS, now known as the Kitsap Sun, KS,,,,, has been just full of news lately, not just ordinary news but odd things... for instance it was maybe 2 weeks ago Satrurday that Lora brought us this gold and white cat.... a really nice cat, she had found in the road and wanted me to take it to the humane society cause she just couldn't do it. So ok, we kept it overnight and took it in the next day. On the following Friday morning we went out to pick up our current litter of babies and I went in and visited Mr Kitty. He was just as loveable and sweet as ever.
........On Monday I took my offering for the auction and fundraiser out and stopped in to see Mr Kitty and he was gone. Now that was odd because he hadn't been there long enough to be neutered yet. Maybe he was in back awaiting surgery.
.......A few more days go by and there appears a story in our KS about pets stolen from the Kitsap Humane Society. A dalmation puppy was taken on one day and a gold and white cat on another. So now we know what happened to Mr Kitty. I just hope who ever took him is VERY nice to him. WHAT IS THE MATTER WITH THESE IDIOT PEOPLE??

........Next news story.....
...........From the everglades via Miami and the KS. It seems that a 5 or so foot python got a hankering for aligator and tried to eat one as long as he was and blew himself up doing so. Talk about your eyes being bigger than your stomach!! Now you all know what i think of snakes so it couldnt' have happened to a better species. It seems from the news story that people have dumped several pythons in the Everglades. Oh gee, guess they think we don't have enough native slime.

Sept 23......

........The concert was a blast. Always is. I was really prepared to dislike the new guy as he was taking the place of my favorite but he is sooo good and sooo sweet... well he is just a baby after all. His daddy is Bill Medley of the Rightous Brothers and Darren sounds an awful lot like him. They say he's 40, but he looks about 25....
......Saturday I got a letter from the Washington State CASA and I have a full scholarship for the state convention and seminar in Oct. I have never gone before because I couldn't afford the convention and the hotel ..... Saaed chewed me out last year for not putting in for a scholorship so this year I did. It seems nearly every year there are some that go unused.
.......Wednesday night was the dinner for the Juvenile Court Volunteers and everyone usually gets a door prize. I got a gift certificate for $50 for dinner at Silver City Brewery. I can do that.
.......Today just as Roy and I were going to leave to go to St Vinnies to take some bedding down.....how on earth we ever got so many blankets is beyound me. We must have taken 10 or 15 down and still have an ample supply.... anyway Lora and Estella showed up with a cat. Lora rescued it from running amoungst the traffic on Petersville Rd.... the people at the garage sale said that it had been around the neighborhood for a few days. So Lora brought her to me and we have her in the kitten cage... Roy will take her to the shelter tomorrow. She is really nice and friendly and a quiet kitty.
........While at ST V's we found a door for the laundry room. The price for a new one was outrageous cause we need a window in it for in there cause when we put in a door and take out the window it will have very little light. (the laundry room we are speaking of here is my sewing room and Mike's old bedroom.) I will share space with the washer and dryer. I wanted to put the door off the other downstairs bedroom so it was easy to get to the garage but Marc pointed out to me that that would entail a set of steps and much construction that putting it in the other room would not. Why did I get these kids who have to point out to me the pitfalls? What really gripes me is that they are usually right.
......well off with me, I have run on long enough and ...... oh yes I forgot the call from Matt at 10:30 the other night... seems the person they gave Pa Rat to had given it to someone else and they had put it out side in the rain in its cage so they went and took it back and gee didn't I want him? NO, not particularily... but I have him. He will likely be a better pet once we clean his stinky mess up. I dont' think they had cleaned him since forever.
.......So now I am off and am gonna go read my book.

Stuff I forgot last time......

......Aundrea has begun to knit. Her stitches are not too even but for 7 years old she is doing great. She just doesn't have much time. I pick her up after school and she goes directly to dance, 3 days a week and on Wed she is here for a couple of hours and friday for about 20 minutes. Maybe on her way to dance is going to be her best time.
.......Our friend Mike Peterson just became granpa again to a little girl. When she was born he was in the waiting room with his grandson Andrew. I think he is about 3.. anyway after the baby was born, Dad came out and took Andrew in for a quick peek at his new sister. He came running out shouting...... her got out!!
.......I planned this trip to the concert for this weekend so I didn't have to go to Roy's mom's birthday party..... well ok it was the date the band set.... so Roy decided we had to go down to day to take his mom her present. Blaaap. She makes me crazy... I guess she always did and she is just getting very forgetful... and it is probably mostly just I have no desire to have to put up with it after Aunt Ethel and then Ray. Her back steps are horrid and so is the walk. I keep telling Roy we need to put up some hand rails all the way along the walk. She is unsteady but so is Estella with her bad knees or hips or both. And so am I for that matter. None of us are getting any younger.
.....Well I am off of here got to check the CC balances to see if I can get back from Ferndale.....

What happened to August...?

.......Wow, it is September already. Summer came and went so quickly, did I blink? Of course we had dance and summer school and misc other things. The big "Manhatten Dance Project" didn't happen. Tho they are still holding our money..... It is planned for later I think? The dance performance at the fair did go and I hear was wonderful. I got darling pictures back but that was the day to set up for my class reunion so I didn't get to see it. No great loss as I hate the fair. It is just hot, dusty and expensive. How is that for 'sour'? The class reunion was fun tho. This was the first one we actually had at the school and as it was sort of last minute we didn't have a large turnout but what we had was fun and it was also the 1st ever when anyone did any decorations. Usually they just have it at Dick's house, which is very nice and totally generous of he and Pattie to host it, but no one does any decorating. Well I know why now. Our school colors were black and white. Try to do that with out making it look like a funeral. But we did and we had enough food and cake for an army.
.......I just heard from a friend in New Orleans (well Dallas now)... who lost everything. They left in the early morning with 2 daughters and 4 large dogs and 1 cat in 2 vehicles with the computer tower and clothing for 2 or 3 days and have nothing to go back to. Now these people are fairly wealthy and have good insurence, if they ever can get back in to access the damage, but it is still heartbreaking to know they lost all pictures and just everything. She is trying to be very up and brave but I know they are devestated. And another friend who is now in Atlanta is still waiting to know the outcome for her house. I can not even begin to comprehend the devestation.
.........We have a new batch of kittens, 6 of them again. Of course very cute and fun. But poopy little devils. They are having a hard time understanding LITTER BOX! When we took thier mom in last Saturday, we got a cage for them and that is helping. My goodness the stink that 6 itsy littles can make. But they are learning..... At least I hope so.
.........Next weekend Eileen and I are going up to Ferndale to see the Raiders. They havent' been around here for 2 years so this will be a treat. We havent' seen the new guy either. We have tickets, hotel room, rented car and gas card. We may live on crackers and cheese all weekend but hey we have done that before.

stop posting this drivil on my blog......!!

.......I wonder what I have to do to get these idiots to stop posting this rubbish on my site? The same thing has been posted by 2 different names and I am really not interested.

More Kittens.....

.........All of July's babies got adopted and when I was at the shelter on Saturday, Angel was taken home. Last Tuesday I stopped to see why Rene hadn't called me back to tell me when to come get the "singlet" she had for me and she said one of the staff had taken it but she had a mom and 6, if I would go and get them crated while she did the paperwork. So we have the mom we named Janie and her kids.... so far we have Sylvia and Sally..... and 4 more. By the time they go back they will all have names. Maybe Roy will decide to call them road kill cause they insist on pooping all over the tv room as well as keeping both litter boxes full.
.........Our new beds work fine but the dogs can't get up to them so Roy made them a stairway. Nick refused to use it at first but now he just runs right up it and on to the bed. Cleo took to it right away cause her little back won't let her jump up very high. I suspect Nick will later have this problem too as he is also very stocky build.
...........I took Aundrea today to order glasses so she would have an extra pair and the ones she LOVED last month she hated today. She was not happy with anything until I told her she could pick them or I would but she needed an extra pair and that was all the insurence would pay for... so she got the blue ones she loved last month. She did however ask when she got new insurance.
..........She has a big dance convention coming up next week, Manhatten Project from NY.... I think they said it was Barisnekov....I can spell it.... who danced most of his career with them. They are supposed to be the cream de la cream... and for the price they better be! It costs roughly $100 a month for her jazz, ballet and dance team and this 2 day marathon is costing $125!! OUCH. All in the same month as new costume for dance team, first months tution for the new dance year, thank God her warmups still fit. We are all going to start panhandeling down at the ferry during rush hour.................... well maybe not, but it is an idea?

That Which Was Lost Is Found....

.........Aundrea is such a girlie GIRL. She loves glitz and glamor. The more bling bling the better. I have a small jewelry box downstairs...because I brought it down and never took it back upstairs, I knew you were wondering..... every morning before summer school she goes through it and picks out a necklace or ring or some such to wear to school. The first one she wanted was Aunt Ethel's ring. Now I have NO idea of the value of the diamonds in the ring but I do know what Ethel paid for the setting and it is WAYYYYYYYY too much for her to wear. On Friday she took a gold ring with red and white stones in it. Very pretty but I rarely wear it and didn't pay much for it. It might have been an Avon ring.
..........She lost it at school. She was very upset and afraid I would be even more upset. Well I was sorry she lost it but not worth getting all upset over. If it had been that valuable, money wise or sentimental, she would not have had it. We went over to the school to look and didn't find it. This morning when I went to get her for dance I stopped in the office and asked if anyone had turned it in. Lo and Behold they had it. Aundrea was much relieved.
.............."WE" made headboards and foot boards for our beds. I planned them, Roy made them with a few changes and he brought them in to put on. Headboards were way too high. So out they go and get cut off. Much better. So in come the foot boards. Now I want you to know that in the planning of these things I measured very carefully twice. Well apparently I was bad at measuring. The foot boards were way too high and the dogs could not get on the bed and no one could see tv from bed and they looked huge in the room. So out they went to get cut off. Now they are much better. The room is painted and we have 2, yes two, closets in there. And way too much other stuff too but what the heck.
.............July and her babies went back last week. We only have the little siamese, Angel. ANd an angel she is not. This is psycho cat. We let her run loose one night. Just 1 night. She ran over us, over the dogs, over our heads and drove us nuts all night. So now she is confined to the tv room at night. She only fusses bout this, otherwise she never meows or makes much noise. She is very pretty and really likes Roy. She also likes Wellington who plays with her. He is teaching her about being a cat I guess. And how to hunt her catnip mouse.
..........Came home from dance with Aundrea and she said her tummy was hurting. Well had lunch at Wendy's and went direct to dancing again so I figured that was it but once she got home she began having the runs and throwing up so I guess she has a bug. I thought maybe it was the food but I remember that while we were just starting to eat, I put a napkin in the neck of her new leo and patted it down and she said that hurt her tummy. So it must have been a bug.
.........Well I am off to bed.

Thursday July 7

..........We took our kittens out to the shelter to get boosters and we still have to keep them and mom cause they had yet another case of distemper... So now the cat room is being throughly disenfected. While we were waiting a lady came in and had a tiny long hair siamese kitten with her. She said some guys dumped it and another in the parking lot at Albertsons and she could only catch this one. She is sooooo pretty so I told Rene I would take her along with our kids. So we have her but she is in isolation in the laundry room jcause she has an upper respiratory infection. She is much tinier than she looks and eats continually. While we were waiting for her feline lukemia test to get done, Roy brought our kids home and came back and Aundrea and I did some odd jobs for Rene. Aundrea loved that cause she got to see all the animals.
..........Well I had something very profound to put in here but it is now gone.... Hmmm ,, and humming isn't helping. I hate that but I guess it is part of getting older.
..........Fourth of July we went out to Estella's and had a picnic. All the family were there. It was ok but certainly not a blast!! At least there were no out and out fights like we have had.... I guess we are all just too old to play games. I hope. Roy's mom is beginning to go downhill but at 86, almost 87, she still can live in her own home and get around. Still we need to go fix her steps and bulkhead before one of us falls. The steps are just awful, The cement is eroding and they are very narrow. Gene did put up a new handrail on the back steps. So she can at least hang on going to the garage.
..........Little Laura and her baby, Cheyenne were there. CHeyene is getting so funny. She is not a pretty baby but she is sure getting personality. She does raspberries but she screws up her face like she is pooping and then spits!! Too funny. She had Eileen and I howling. THen I told her to tell uncle Roy, NO. Well she left! Her mom says if you tell her no, she puts you out of her life for awhile. What an attitude for 9 months.

Still Monday.....

Just a ocuple of forgotten details.... it is not Manhatten Transfer... it is Manhatten Project, which is a big deal dance company that is comeing to Port Orchard this summer.
.......ANd I did get the doll done for Erin. It was darling if I do say so... and she really likede it.

Monday June 26....

...........Aundrea's glasses finally arrived.. .. the recital is over, school is out, dance is out, the dance camp is over and also the parade...... so now we have 2 weeks and it all starts again!! She did very well in the recital. She had a ball changing costumes and she is such a little ham. I was not thrilled with her Jazz teacher tho... she put jazz I with the ballet I kids and did a TISKET A TASKET and NO STRINGS ON ME from Pinnochio... and had the girls dressed like Dorothy from WIZARD OF OZ. Didn't make sense and Aundrea was way ahead of the ballet I group. For the summer she is moved up to jazz III because of the timeing of the class. I don't want to spend the whole day or week in Port Orchard. So I talked to Erin who teaches the class and she said she would do fine. She will stay Ballet III for the summer but move up in the fall to IV. She is also taking tap and of course performance. They called for tryouts for performance and none of us asked so we took the girls and had them try out again..... Erin said they didn't have to cause they were already on the team. We didn't tell the kids that tho.
.............I committed the sin no grandma is allowed to commit. I forgot it was Tiarra's birthday. I had gotten her presents but we were so busy Saturday that I totally spaced it off. So we caught up with her last night and she was happy. I still have to make her another dress but had lost her measurements so I got them again and will get her done.
............Saturday we drove up to Sequim ( Discovery Bay actually) and attended a presentation by Trend West and got a free trip to San Francisco, air fair included. I love that cause I have a cousin down there and will hope they are available when we decide to go. Last time we went to a Trend West deal they were so vile and rude I swore I would never go again. This time they were very nice. WE did NOT buy in and they were still nice and polite. We came back just in time to pick up Eileen and go to Port Orchard for the Fathoms of Fun parade that the Dance Gallery kids were in. They did great with very little time learning. This was the pay off for the dance camp which I believe benefited the Major Motion Dance Company. It was company dancers that taught the camp. I watched them in the parade and kept thinking.... this cost her mom and dad almost $100 bucks and she got a tee shirt and was in the parade?! But they really loved it. Her friend Luna went too and she was NOT nearly as thrilled with dancing the parade route and then walking back to the starting point. We met them with Luna's mom as they were coming back. Janet looked about done. Luna was not too thrilled and Aundrea was ready to go again. Many of the groups in the parade tossed out candy and stickers and other treasures. The girls got some candies and Luna caught a pen and was thinking she was really cool when one of the guys from that group came over to Aundrea and said she looked really cute in her make up and gave her a huge spiral notebook with a holographic cover. I think Luna was just a tad green.
.............Or momma cat and kittens are ready to go but we got a call fromt the foster cordinator and they had distemper in the holding area the other day so they are not bringing any of the babies in for about 2 weeks. The babies have only had one shot so would still be suseptible (boy is that spelled wrong?) . They are taking over the house now. They run all over and there were all 6 of them curled up on one kitchen chair today. Some were hanging over a tad!!

June 13,

........We have just spent a good part of the afternoon cleaning cages for the silly guinea pigs and the rats... and Thomas the Hampster. What a messy bunch they are. Thomas just freaks when he is out of his cage... as far as he is concerned NO human ever needs to touch him or clean his mess... just feed him. He has red eyes and I think it is a CUJO thing. The 2 baby guinea pigs seem to feel the same way... only they do scream to be fed, alot.
.......Aundrea still does not have her glasses. I called and they said there is only one lab for all the state insurence glasses. Now is that a bunch of bull houie or what? She needs them to read and is falling behind. So she has to go to summer school, which will do her NO good unless the stupid glasses get here. That is my latest peeve against the state. I have many more but that is the one we are dealing with now.
..........Yesterday was Lynn Congdon Woodward's graduation from OC. She has a associate degree in what I can't remember. She had to go back to keep her job for the school district. Now you have to have a degree to be an aide and tend to bratty kids on the playground. Anyway, she is now driving a BIG bus. This is Lynn who is 5'1'' or something. And who has MS. She takes chemo for it once a week and keeps on working and raising her 2 kids. Gary turned out to be MUCH more helpful then any of us ever expected him to be.
.........Friday night after class, Aundrea's teacher, Erin, came out to talk to me. She said that any time Aundrea feels ready she should be auditioning for Pacific Northwest Ballet in Seattle. She also said not to pay for any classes there cause if they want her (and she feels strongly they will) they will pay for the classes. Somehow I don';t think A is ready yet but we will look into the audition schedule and see if she can observe..... Erin said to let them get to see her and know she is out there. Now the problem is , neither me or Michelle are the stage mother type so if that is what it takes the kid is doomed. But we will do the conventions and see how she does. She did really well at the first one and there is another thing comeing up at our studio this summer with Manhatten Transfer?, I think. We had promised her she could just do tap this summer but it seems that performance team will go all summer so she has to keep on doing the ballet, jazz and performance. So I guess her Dad and Mom decided to add tap for her. So far it appears that I will only have to spend 2 days a week at the studio.
..........This Saturday is the recital and I have a doll I want to dress to sort of match the girls' costumes for Ballet, to give to Erin. Of course this is Monday night and I need to have her done by Saturday............ well maybe if I hurry. So this is me hurrying... in between court and porcelin class and dance classes and dress rehearsal the show. I will let you know if Erin ever sees the doll!!

June 3, 2005

.........Wednesday is the day Aundrea gets out of school early so we took her to Costco. She had to go to the bathroom so I took her. We were in adjoining stalls and I could hear music. Very pretty music. So I said to her, "do you hear that music?" She said, "it sounds like your phone". The music was Waltz of the Flowers, I said to her " someday you will dance to that". Next thing I said was THAT IS MY PHONE!! I wondered when Costco began playing music to shop by! Of course then I could not get to my phone. By the time I did it had quit. I looked at the missed call and it was Matt. So I called him back to ask what he wanted and he said " to find out where you were". Well he did want something else too but I have forgotten what that was.
.............Yesterday Himself and I went to pick up our prescriptions and stop at Home Depot. Got the meds, got some groceries then went to HD. Himself went off to pay the bill while I went to the paint dept to see about paint for the bedroom. I am still undecided. So I guess it will be tan and brown..... I got a roller and a couple of brushes and Himself got some corner thingys for the wallboard. We go to check out and have to use the damn self check out. This annoys me because it always takes longer and involves more people than to just go to the regular line. Himself is having a time. The corners don't have prices on them, someone has to be called to find them. Then it is time to pay and for some reason he is takeing a long time. When I ask why I get a look that says I should just go away. Finally we are out of there. Outside he tells me he cannot find his HD card. Must have left it when he paid the bill. Ok, so he goes back to talk to the checker. I got to the car. I wait for what seems like forever. Finally he comes out...... NO card. She doesn't even remember he paid the bill. No, she did not report the card as missing, etc. I am going to call the store when we get home and speak with a manager. As we get home I got to open the door, carrying the HD bag. I glance in it and THERE IT IS!! He apparently had the card and the brushes in his hand when the stupid machine was yelling about "stuff in the bagging area"!
...............Now we are at home and have had dinner and he is feeding Cleo and Nick. He asks me if I put Cleo's insulin in the fridge. No, never saw it. Well we do not have it. It is on my reciept. So I call Albertson's and explain we don't have it but the paperwork for it is here. She says yes it is still here in the refridge. BLAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.
............Well on the upside I did get Aundrea's hand me down dance costume made over for her. It had a top with long sleeves that was leopard print and she didn't like that at all. Has a wonderful longer than usual black chiffon skirt tho. So I simply removed the sleeves. Now she loves it.
.............One more dumb thing..... must be our week. Yesterday I sent Aundrea to school with a couple of cough drops in an envelope for the teacher to hold on to. NOPE! NOT ALLOWED! So do they call me? NO they call Michelle at work. Of course she has no idea. My sin I guess was in asking. I should have just put them in her pocket. So the Teacher said to send some hard candy and she will keep it at her desk for her. Tried that today.... hope it works. I also sent MY phone number so if you see in the news.... Grandma Arrested for Passing Drugs in Grade School..... just come visit me.

May 21, 2005

.........Well it seems the committee to plan the class reunion for this year didn't agree to anything and decided to not have one. Sooooo Lorna decided we needed one and guess who got dragged along? Ours will be much more casual and laid back then the other would have been. We are having it at the old school.. a barbecue and then a dance/social. Our building will be torn down this fall, most likely, so we thought since we were the first to use it, we should also be the last to use it.
........ Aundrea has to get glasses... seems she hasn't been able to see well for awhile. Last time she read for me she was sounding out a word and was wayyyy off. Guess now we know why. Yesterday a note came home from the teacher saying she thinks she needs summer school (Aundrea, not the teacher) cause she is lagging in reading. She thinks it is due to her missing so much school. Well yes I guess that too but lets see.... she can't see what she is reading... might that have a bearing on it? Anyway her glasses are backordered for 3 weeks. Now there is a big help........ School will be nearly out by the time she gets them.
....... She has been home all week again, bronchitis and pnemonia.... didn't even whimper when the dr told her no dance this week. With a little luck she can go to performance Tuesday and after that there is no dance til after Memorial day.
........Roy has the bedroom totally torn up.... has the walls for the closets up. Now we just need to sort out all the junk. Lots to send to Goodwill or some where. Then clean out the hall closet. NOT a task I am looking forward to. Today I sorted bunches of stuff in the laundry room. I really need some boxes to send some stuff back that I ordered, and send blankets off to the Russian orphans.
.....Oh well, off to bed cause tomorrow I go to PetsMart to try to place some animals. Maybe we will have some kittens there. Ours are getting so big and cute. Mom eats like a pig. She goes through a big bowl of dry, a small can and at least 2 dishes of water a day. Oh and she sneaks off and eats what ever the other cats may leave in their dishes!!
.......

April 30....

...... this has been a long couple of days. Friday morning, Aundrea got up and went to check on the mama cat, July. She came out and said that July had a baby. Yes she sure did and do you think realistically that there was anyway that that child was going to school before all the babies were born? Not a chance. So by 10am, July was mom to 6. She is such a tiny little cat I have no idea where she put them all. And she is a very good mommy. Last night we moved her into a box with fresh blankets and she didn't object at all. She had the babes on the bottom shelf of the tv cabinet ..... so now her box is there cause almost immediately 2 of the little critters escaped from the shelf to the floor. Now all are safe and warm. We know we have 2 grey and 4 that will be white or off white like the daddy. Mom is a grey stripe.
........... This morning was the Hollywood Vibe dance convention and the 3 littlest girls from the performance team went. We had to be in Tacoma by 8:15am... that meant leaving here by 7 am. We stopped at McDonalds and got a breakfast sandwhich and some coffee for me. Last night just before we went to ballet, I checked Aundrea's bag to see what we needed for today and discovered her ballet shoes were not there. And her parents were out of town. So I had to buy her a new pair..... guess what she didn't need today? Why can't they send out the darn schedules before the convention so you know what to bring? They did lyrical, tap and jazz. Aundrea had never had on a pair of tap shoes and had a pair she borrowed from the studio. But she still did great. They all got a ribbon for Execellence and some of the girls got scholarships for conventions, Non of our girls did but it was thier first time and they were the youngest there. ANd they did a really good job.
....... We got done at 11:30am and A was starving so we went to McDonalds again... and after she ate she promptly fell asleep. When we got home we both went to bed. She is asleep now again and I will have to wake her if her parents ever get here. Next convention her mom can take her. It cost me a fortune and her convention fees were paid. I paid $18 for ballet shoes, $10 for a pass to watch, breakfast and lunch, and a $25 shirt she HAD to have. Yep next time it is on her mom.

Our Trip to the Ocean

.........We left about 10AM Saturday morning and drove down I-5, that is not my favorite way but it was different. We had just turned on to the peninsula to Long Beach when I reached behind me into my backpack and got the manilla envelope with all the direction and phone #s. Well it instead contained some court papers.........OOPS. Ok, so now how do we find the condo.... well there are only 2 possibilities that face the ocean. But the #s are wrong. We were told #103 but the parking spots don't reflect that at all. Hmmmm. So Roy goes to look. Nope. Ok so we go to find a phone cause Roy has the last 4 of the landlords # cause it is the combo to the lockbox. Finding a phone in LB is not easy.... finally found one in front of the police station.... we call the number and get the machine. POOOOOOOO So I call home to have Eileen find the envelope and read me the directions. She not at my house so I call her house... she will go out to my house and find it. Call her back in 30 min. So we go back to the condo and look some more. This time I get out and look and there is the lockbox. We are in. The numbers still don't make sense but hey..... So I call Joanie who said she was trying to get to the phone the first time I called. I tell her we are in and ok. Try to call Eileen but the phone in the condo won't let me make a collect call and the phone cards are guess where?? So back to the police station to call E and tell her we found it. But I do get the 2 addresses for the repos we want to look at.
....... the weather is rainy cold and windy. We venture down to the beach but it is miserable and even the seagulls aren't interested. We discover the condo has no heat except in the bedroom. Roy got the fireplace going but it is propane and the smell quickly gives me a headache. So we turn the heat in the bedroom on and hope. And there is no TV. It is all PPV.... you can turn on the game channel and listen to the music or play golf. Boy am I thrilled. We went to the store and got some milk and cereal and donuts for breakfast. Everything is about 2x what it is anywhere else. We went to our favorite Chinese place we discovered when we were there with Joyce and Mike. It was great as always. We went back to the condo and Roy went to bed and I read my book. The most exotic thing we saw was a little brown bunny snooping about in front of the condo.
...........Sunday it was MUCH nicer weather. I ate one of the donuts and they were quite possibly the worst. So I broke them up and we went and fed the seagulls. They loved them. Then we watched 2 cars get towed out of the water. It is an incoming tide and the dodos have water under the rear tires. As the first one is pulled out we see the next one and he is past the sign that says don't go there. He has front wheel drive and has made quite a hole in front. The truck that is helping them is making no progress. So the jeep who hauled the first dodo out goes to the rescue. Personally I think they should have left him. Some people just won't obey the rules. He was at least polite and thanked the guy for his help. As we are walking on the beach, Roy says to me..... what is that on your vest? Well I don't have to tell you do I? I was graced by the seagulls. Now how they hit the front of me jacket and missed the hat I was wearing, is open to question.
.......Next we go to Fish Alley Coffee House and have a mocha and then pick up the ceramics she was selling for us. She is the neice of one of the Doll Barn ladies where we do dolls etc. Next we set out to find the repos. The first one was being shown.... it was a PURPLE mobile home. Neighbors were REAL close on the sides but it had some back yard. It was $35,ooo. Next one was up the peninsula in Ocean Park and is $17,000, It is a trailer and is falling apart. But has a nice piece of land. I will check with a realtor down there about it. On the way back to town we found a bead shop. Well I spent about $25 on beads and they fit in my purse. I did get a craft package for Becca and one for Aundrea. Then we went to Subway for lunch. It is quite late, like 3:30 or after. Then we went to the shell museum and kite store. Nothing much there. So we drove to Illwaco and the lighthouse. After that we drove across the bridge to Astoria, Oregon. It has hills that make the ones in Seattle look like rank amatures. And the bridge is I can't tell you how long but way long.....We came back and tried to find someplace that stayed open after 8 for dinner. I though for a while we would wind up at McDonalds. But we found Doogles. A nice seafood place. Then we went to the store again and I found some carrot muffins. We went back to the police station to check in with Eileen. While I was standing there 3 teenagers came up behind me and were just handing around. I was a littel concerned but the police man is at the desk just in the door. Well Roy got out of the can and one of them said....there is aman in that car..... Now what they planned to do I have NO idea but in front of the police station is a pretty stupid place to do it. Went down to the boardwalk and then to the condo. We played Scrabble and Roy beat me 2x. We went to bed. But the weather was good all day so we actually got out and looked things over.
.........Sunday I had coffee and tried one of the carrot muffins. YUCK! No I did not feed the seagulls. We just dumped them. Then we stripped the beds and washed the linens and cleaned the condo and while the stuff was drying we went to Dennis co. Nothing at all interesting tho I did find Robin a fishing shirt. Then we went back to the condo and finished the laundry and watched a mama duck and her kids out the window in the pond on the dunes. Finally we headed home. We went up 101 and got lost in Aberdeen. Good grief we have made that drive a hundred times. So we stopped at the info center and the gal there straightened us out. We stopped at WalMart in Shelton and I found the non dairy drink that one of the Ratty Robe gals told me about. Also got birthday for John and picked up a couple of other things. I had $86 in my purse and when the checker rang us up it was $82. Now how did she know how much money I had!! We got home about 6 and the dogs were really happy to see us and the guinea pigs made alot of noise. You would think no one had fed them while we were gone. And the mama cat still hasn't had the kittens. Imeasured her tummy around and now mind you this is a maybe 6# cat normally..... she measured 19 1/2 inches. Poor girl..... had to remove her twice from sleeping on top of Thomas the Hampster's cage so he has been exiled to the laundry room for now.
........Have to add that while we were at Dennis Co. Roy came up to me and asked what he had on his back. Well I guess we are now official members of the SACRED ORDER OF THE SEAGULL.

memories.....

........I spent most of Saturday cleaning out the back of my bedroom closet. I found tons of stuff I forgot ever having and I found the box of stuff I brought home when I "quit" the foodline. I also found a huge box of stuff belonging to Eson. Waaaay back from high school. I have NO idea why I had it but I took quite alot of it and put it in a shoebox and am sending it to him. In my ramblings I came upon a note book that had some notes about an incident that happened to son #3. And also notes about a car we sold that came back to haunt us sort of.

MATT AND THE COPS

.......While I was one of the directors of the foodline, Robin was working at Sisco Foods in Seattle. She used to get us some great deals on odd lots of items. She would write the co. a check and take them home to where ever she was then.... maybe Tacoma.... and I would send Matt to meet her and give her a check from the business acct and pick up the food. That is what happened on that particular night.

........When he returned, he and whoever was with him that night went to unload at the Foodline. Pa and I were at home and as usual Pa had the scanner on. We heard the police being called to the address of our building. The exterminator upstairs had heard people running (I doubt that) up and down the stairs and when he looked outside he didn't recognize the car so he thought the foodline was being burgled. I am at home visualizing all of this as we listen. So I call the foodline and beller into the answering machine for Matt or an officer to please pick up the phone....... no one does. I call the dispatcher and explain the situation and they are very polite. But they do nothing. Of course I realize later that any fool can call and tell them anything. I figure Matt is so angry...... And I think the whole thing is extremely funny. Matt must have been in a good mood cause after being frisked by the lady cop and showing id and explaining and the exterminator comes down and finds out it is MY son...... well everyone found it quite amusing.

........When I got to work the next morning, the exterminator was VERY appoligetic. But he was only doing what he should have done. We did give him home phone #s for both me and the other director so in case of a future indident he could call us to verify and we thanked him for being concerned for our safety.

THE CAR WITH NO REVERSE

........We owned a car that Matt was using that had no reverse. Matt found someone who wanted to buy it from us so we sold it. Now this couple who we will call Mr & Mrs Stupid, come out to pick up said vehicle and drive off in it. A couple of hours later Matt get a phone call from Mr Stupid. Could Matt come and bring him some gas? Where are you? In Seabeck. Seabeck is about 20 miles, give or take a little from where we live and in the opposite direction from down town where the Stupids live. Did I mention they have 2 or 3 small tots with them? And it is now 10 or 11 pm? So Matt goes and takes them the gas to get them home and asks Dufus Stupid why they went to Seabeck knowing the tank was very low. Dufus said he turned right out of the drive way instead of left and had to go waaaaay out there to find a place to turn around!!! DUH!!!

.........But wait there is more to the story of the Stupids and the car. After a few months time we get a bill from a collection agency for $200 some odd dollars. I called to see what the heck it is for and the lady tells me that it is unpaid parking tickets. Excuse me but I don't get parking tickets. What car is it on? The car we sold to the STUPIDS! They had very tight parking near thier apartment so they just parked the car anywhere and went back when ever. And if they got a ticket, oh well. Ok folks, this has all just caught up with you cause I am not paying your parking tickets and oh, yea, you need to pay a fine now cause you didn't change the title. I sent her a letter via Matt and Sam and she wrote me a very sweet "gag", letter back. All about how with her difficult pregnancy etc it all got lost in the shuffel but she knew she was responsible since the care was in her posession........ you bet baby !.... I don't know if she ever paid them or not but I do know that with her letter I was able to get them put in HER name..... Mrs Dufus Stupid.... and out of mine.

Monday... 4-4-05

well only a couple of things to report.... the nano pet has died and so I am no longer allowed to babysit it. I would n't really have charge extra but on the other hand I have proven to be untrustworthy with technology.
.........I have caught what ever Roy had last week. Sore throat , tho that is mostly gone along with my voice. So a couple of more days and I should be back amoung the living. And today I went to get the dance ensemble and it is not done. I told him if the kid has togo to convention with out it I will be REALLY unhappy. He asked when that was and I said not until the end of the month but your track record so far sucks. He assures me it will be done. And I believe him too!
......I worked at PetsMart yesterday and we had a dog there named Zoe. Cute blonde dog about labrador size. Her people gave her up cause they are moving. so we are about ready to close and this couple comes in and the gal says... that looks like Zoe. I said it was Zoe, how did they know her. The dog has now seen the man and is all wiggly and happy. Seems Zoe lived in the yard behind them and he has been giving her treats over the fence everyday and they fed her extra all winter cause the people weren't takeing care of her. They had told the people if they ever wanted to get rid of her they wanted her. So she was a dopted on the spot. Got a new collar, id tag etc. They knew the people were moving cause they saw the uhaul and were going to stop on thier way home and see what they were going to do with Zoe. I love happy endings.

the fun just never stops......!!

This is day 1 of spring break..... that means we get to sleep in for a week. There is no dance this week, soooo.... I really want to take Aundrea to the Victorian Tea Room for lunch.
I took Aundrea's warmups for dance over to be silk screened about a month ago. Last week they called me to clarify how I wanted her name on them. So finally yesterday we went to pick them up. They did her name correctly but somehow they forgot to screen the big logo on the back of the jacket! The guy says 'oh did you want it on the back?' what a dodo... that was the main reason to take them in. The name on the jacket and the bag were just extra's. They are not required. So he assures me that on Monday we will have the whole thing. And this is the place that has done all the outfits for the performance team and dance company forever. Dum De Dum Dum!
I had NEW experiences this week. Boy did I want them......... I GOT to drive the truck. Now I can drive almost anything with in reason. But Aundrea was soooooo impressed that I drove the truck to pick her up at school. I remember Nathan being (at this same age) sooo impressed that I could drive his dad's "jeep". Too funny!!
My other NEW experience was babysitting a nano pet. Aundrea for got to take hers home with her so she called and gave me instructions on how to care for it. So yesterday she forgot to get it when we went to dance and Michelle said they would come get it today. Uh uh, I dropped A at the bowling alley and came home and got the little bugger and took him to her. I am sooooo electronically challenged it would surely die in 2 days in my hands.
Our usual routine after dance is to take A to Micky Dee's after dance to eat before I drop her at athe bowling alley. But this week I told her we were going to 'cheap chinese', which is what we call the $1 chinese place on Callow. The one waitress there just thinks A is soooo pretty and looks just like "grandma". And last time we were in they asked about her so we took her last night. Of course she only eats 1/4 of what they give her b ut her mom enjoys the leftovers. And A loves the attention they give her.
Well off to read email and then to visit the kittens. I promised Matt I would come look finally.

Sunday.....

for some reason beyond my understanding, we have adopted another guinea pig. He is very pretty but will not come out of his house. I chased him around the cage for awhile today and finally caught him. Maybe he will settle down after he is used to us. Name? I have no idea... "they" called him Cuddles.
I was digging around in the mess called a sewing room.... now being transfered to a laundry room etc, and found the stuff I forgot to give the girls for Valentines day so they will get it for Easter. How did it get to be Easter already? It was just Christmas.......I remember when I was in school (yes I can remember that far), and it seemed an eternity til school was out and then til Xmas.... now it seems like each month is a day.
Aundrea is out of school early all this week so I guess I better find her a project to do or she will drive us crazy. Maybe I have something she can paint cause when she sees my bunnies she will want to do one.
I bought Sharon's kiln last week, now it will still take awhile to get it set up and we still have to run 220 out in the garage for it. And it seems we have a dozen projects going all at once. Roy is painting the stairway.... in the house... then I am hoping to paint the bedroom just before we leave for the ocean. Then we can close off the bedroom and open the windows... maybe it won't rain. The doggie kids will just have to sleep downstairs for a couple of days. They both had baths today and tomorrow get flea stuff. I would do it tonight but then Nick would come to bed with me with wet flea stuff on and stink up the place. Will do it in the morning and he can go lay on my bed with out me.
OK off with me to finish my book.

The "Project" is on the way........

After school today, Aundrea and I went to the post office and mailed the "project" to Gina. Aundrea picked out a pretty flowered envelope and a matching address label. She wanted to write the label herself but I vetoed it cause she still writes very large. She put a couple of other little suprises in there too.
Her 2 front top teeth have been loose. So on the way home from school on Monday she lost one..... and the tooth fairy gave her $3 for it. Then Tuesday night she lost the other one and got another $3. Man her tooth fairy must have gold wings. And she looks so funny with them both out. But I wont' tell her that, the kids at school do and we told her to wait til they lose theirs and she can tell them how funny they look.
I have decided I am not going back to PetsMart on Saturday's anymore. It is just not worth it. All I do is stand there..... Melissa has Jamie and Mark to do adoptions and walk the dogs and I guess I am there to pick my nose. So I will find something else to do. Last week I got out a chair cause I can't stand for 4 or 5 hours and as soon as I was out of it, Melissa came and put it away. Mark came and got out a chair and it stayed. So I'm done. I have other things I can do...
I am on a campaign to redo the house again or actually yet. Our bedroom REALLY needs to be done and I hate the 70s yellow (harvest gold?) in the kitchen. So we will have new counter tops and hopefully anew window. Not athat the one we have doesn't work but now that Mrs. Winters isn't there to tell me how ugly my detergent bottle looks in the window I might do something different. And I have bought a kiln and so need the room in the garage fixed for it. We have everything we need except some sheetrock and maybe an outlet. This weekend we need to find our way out to Sharon's to get the kiln. She lives way out in the outback past Purdy and what ever is over the little bridge there...... I have been there once and it took Florence and I about 2hrs and a couple of phone calls to find her. And I have no memory of how the heck we got there.
Joyce and Mike will not be going to the ocean with us. Marie will have her surgery on the 6th of April so Joyce will still be in Florida helping her out. DARN. Well I am glad that she is finally having the surgery and will get this over with at long last. And we will still go to the ocean, I am dying to get away for a couple of days. I fully plan on sleeping, reading and sitting in the sand, even if it rains.

Saturday and I am soooo tired..

Today was the first day without Bill at Petsmart. It was sooo hard. We had our own routine and I walked in today and the new person had cages all over the place and extra volunteers that had no idea what to do and it was a riot. Because she had everything blocked we could not get to the table to sit..... so I stood for 5 very long hours on cement floors. And after all of that I sort of feel I was told I wasn't needed anymore. Maybe I am wrong. I hope so cause I like what I do but we sure don't need that many people. We did do 4 adoptions, 2 cats, one dog and a puppie. So that was good. But what is not good and maybe is coloring my feelings alot, is I hurt everywhere. I had no lunch and wanted to make a couple of stops on the way home but we got out an hour late and my feet hurt all the way up to my neck. I could hardly move to walk. So I went to Albertsons and got some chicken and french bread and said to heck with it.

Yesterday I did get the income tax in. And it was rejected. The birth date that Roy had last year is not longer acceptable. I have no clue except it is the age old thing where he has 2 birthdates.... what the birthcertificate says and what his mother says. Now I figure she was there! So I had to change it and this time it has been accepted. So we are buying Michelle's old car. I am not sure if this is a good thing or not. I think it is I just don't want it to sit here in dead car heaven and not run. Roy assures me he and son #3 will get it going. That does not make me feel secure.

Tomorrow I want to go to Morning Sun (the sweatshirt store) and to Trader Joe's... in Fife and Federal Way. We will see if I can get himself moving in that direction. Would also like to get him to stop at the casino but that is pretty well out of the question. Too many people and noise, etc.

Now I am going to take a pill and go curl up and watch tv. How I feel in the morning may determine if I even try to get anyone going toward Tacoma and points east or north or what ever direction it is.

Feb. 17, 2005

Tomorrow is the memorial service for Estella's husband Jasper. So Estella, Lora and I decided we would have some food at the house for who ever. So, Grandma McKinsey got out her great big wooden spoon and stirred the pot!! This woman is going to get to go IN the pot as the main course. I decided what I was going to bring and sent and email to Gene & Merle's wives and told them what it was. So of course Gene has not spoken to Kaye. He goes to him mom and says what is this about something at Estella's? No one thought to tell Grandma anything.... so Gene says he will bring meatballs. She calls me. I said you don't need tobring anything, just show up. Well she could bring some cole slaw but not that crap from Safeway it was too sweet. SWEET? All I could taste was vinegar. Well it had no flavor when she got it so she and Little Laura fixed it. I told Gene on the phone that Mom is not allowed to bring anything. If I feel I want vinegar I will bring a bottle of it. ANd I am doing the deviled eggs too. The last time she made them they were pure vinegar. I don't think she can taste anything any more. And she never eats eggs!! And yes I DO need more antidepressents. If only for her safety.
So I have eggs cooking, I will make a cake and take the meat and cheese and some crackers and if they want something else they can go get it. I am only going to be there long enough to feed Aundrea and then take her to Ballet anyway. She got moved up to III so her new night is Friday at 5:30. To make it to Port Orchard in time with the traffic we should leave directly after school and maybe have time to do McDonalds out there before dance.
Well the eggs are done so I guess now I get to begin cooking. ANd take something for my headache. I have decided tomorrow I will take a valuim and ignore everyone. I would take 2 or 3 but I do have to drive.

the day after...... (44th anniversary)

It has been another "fun" week. Aundrea has been out of school and dance for a week with what the dr called the Kitsap Virus. However I hear it is hitting everywhere. She should be able to go back to everything on Monday. I hope so, I adore that little girl but they are suppose to be away part of the day. Sort of like husbands.
Stella's husband died last night. We knew it was coming but he sure put up a good fight. He died at home which just gives me the shudders... I told himself that if he thinks he is going to die at home to think again. Unless it is totally an accident he will NOT be home.

We went to Costco tonight for "fine dining". That means a cheap dinner. We treated Matt and Chelsea. Her dad died the day before yesterday. (they were not particularly close, I dont think?) Now we are all wondering who will be #3. Anyway we picked up a couple of things... got out for under $40.... and took our stuff to the car. There was this couple wandering around, pushing thier cart and hunting for a car. Finally he went one way and she the other. THERE IT WAS!! I hollared at Himself to come over here, I found it. Then we could come home. Pretty bad when the lot is half empty and you still can't find the darn car.
Aundrea has been having a "project" while she was out of school. She is knitting on a loom and making a hat. The hat is for her auntie who "sends me beautiful stuff". Like a hat and a poncho. Shhhh. Don't tell Gina, she needs to be surprised!

Thursday Feb 3

Well it has been a while so I will catch up. Let's start with Nick's nail cutting adventure. He had a toenail that was broken and was catching on the carpet and bed and everything. So I told Himself to hold Nick down and I would just clip the end of that one toenail. We were planning on takeing him to the vet to had them all clipped but this one needed doing now. So he is being held down and is very relaxed and I took the clipper and placed it over the tip of the nail and started to squeeze.... HE JUMPED!!! I took off the WHOLE nail. Then the fun began because he began to bleed. I got the flour and stuffed it in his nail and it stopped, OK this is good. Well he being the world champion licker, licked the flour out and he bled all over the white rug.... the floor.... Aundrea was running around trying to clean up the blood while I was trying to stuff more flour and Himself is still trying to hold the dog in one spot. I got a huge bandaid and a cotton ball and some masking tape. BLUE. I wrapped that puppy's foot all the way up to his hip. It didn't dare bleed. Then many hours later, after a couple of trips outside and ready for bed I took the bandaid off and it was fine. But I sure did take off the whole nail. Then we took vinegar and water to the rug and all the blood came out. WheewwwwwH. cause it is Eileen's rug.
Tuesday night was the first night back to Performance Team in over a month. Aundrea was refusing to go. She was going to quit cause Becca did. She was not going to dance, no how no way. I called Michelle, she and Marc both talked to her. No way. So I said ok lets just go and you can watch. So she did. Then after I said are you going to go next week. Yes. Are you going to just watch. No I am going to dance. She had it in her head that the others had all been practicing and knew their parts and she did not. No one has begun the routine for the show yet. What a silly kid.
The big excitement for the week was the lock down at Aundrea;s school. When Grandpa went to pick her up from school yesterday they were just announcing that the doors would be unlocked now. She was very excited to come home and tell about it. In the paper today is said there was some goofy drugged up guy that police were chasing on the road behind the school so the building was locked down until the police gave the school the ok. They caught him and took him to the hospital. Scarey world we live in these days. But her school is very good about knowing who picks up what kid and where they go. If the crossing lady in front of the school does not see me standing at the top of the stairs to the parking lot she will not let Aundrea cross. She has to wait there until they see one of us.
Ok, off to bed with me cause it is late. No school tomorrow so we all get to sleep in!!! YIPPEE!!

Birthday Party.....

Grandma M, decided to have a suprise birthday party for Estella. The first we heard about it was when E sent us an email and asked if we were coming and would we bring Little Laura and the kid out. I did NOT want to go cause being locked up anywhere with some of the family does not thrill me at all. But we got the kid and her kid and headed out. Turns out only Gene, Kaye, Joe and Grandma came besides us. What luck!! It was nice and quiet once the game got over. We actually got to visit for awhile. Jasper is not feeling at all well but he managed to come out and sit for a bit and visit. Then he went back to bed. His time is very very limited. Dr has told Stella, less than 6 mos.
We had lunch/dinner and had cake and ice cream. Kaye, Grandma and I were sitting talking and having ice cream. I saw a small chunk of ice cream go flying past. We all saw it. But could we find it? Not a chance. It was not on the floor, Kaye crawled under the table and looked under the china cabinet, Laura looked int the waste basket, we looked at all the near by walls. Nope, not a thing. Oh well. Next thing we know, Grandma says.....My blouse is wet. Oh dam- the ice cream landed in my pocket!! She will never live that one down. Trying to take her dessert home in her pocket.
Aundrea spent last night with us. Her mom and dad went out for awhile and she played the computer for awhile. Nick sure loves her. He wants to sleep with her and does for awhile but then he had to come to me. He must keep check on all of us. When she left today I gave her her money for poop patrol. When Cleo has an accident or an on purpose.... Aundrea cleans it up for a buck. Her idea not mine. It is worth the dollar to me. So she has money for the bowling alley or for a treat at skating. Tomorrow we have dance so that means she will get her chicken strips at Burger King. That is our dinner on Monday on the way to dance. At least she eats something that way.

Jan 15, 2005

Went to work at PetsMart today and we had a great morning. By 1:30 we had one cat and 2 dogs left. So Bill went up to the shelter to bring more cats down. He called back and said it was getting icy and the big boss was closing everything down cause she wanted everyone home before dark. Well it may have been icy there but is sure wasn't where we were. But we closed down anyway. I brought home a stuffed lovey that the little puppy was playing with. She really liked it but she was eating the squeeker and the stuffing. So I took it away from her and we gave her something sturdier. I will restuff this guy and take it back next week for some other more gentle dog to love. Our Nick does the same with his, if there is a hard eye or nose he chews if off and then destuffs them. I am always mending loveys.
After I came home I knitted a hat. It says it is a chemo hat but it is really cute and I think I will like wearing it when it is so cold and nasty. I will try a baby one i have a pattern for tomorrow.
I have made some blankets for the Russian orphans and i have piece of fabric athat is just nasty to sew anything to, so I will try to make some little stuffed bears with it. Every kid needs a bear or rabbit.
It is really cold and we are getting a crummy mix of snow and rain.... just very cold. We open the door and the cats look at us like.... you expect us to go where? Welley was out and when I opened the door tolook for him he came in like a shot.
Well that is all the news from the homestead for now.

Stuff...

First let me say that the word "dinner" in Sylvester's Big Adventure should have read "breakfast".
I finally got Matt to come up and fix my digital camera. The problem? I had the program set for the wrong camera. I just do not do technology well. So I now can take pics and upload them.
On Monday I spent all day trying to pay bills. Online for some. Through my bank's website for others. I could not get on to the website to DishTV. I tried several times over 2 days. So I had the bank pay it. It was due on the 4th and the best the bank could do was the 5th. So big deal, last month it was not paid til the 10th with no problem. This month it was a big Problem. We got up Wed. morning to NO tv. I called Dish. I got Abdul's sister in India somewhere. She said "your bill is not paid". I said yes it is. "no, I can not find it". Look in the bank. Well she kept fadeing in and out..... perhaps the sattilite was turning? Finally I said I want it on now. I have no idea what she said I only heard a couple of sylabiles... sylabyls... (I can't spell or type, have you noticed?) I hung up. We had no tv all day or night. I sent a message to the company stating I would really like to be able to talk to someone who is not half a world away and who can say something other than 'check by phone'. I hate it. ANd if you ask to speak to a supervisor they are all supervisors and apparently work for God because you can speak to no one higher up!!
It occurs to me that we have several hundred out of work people in our own country who could be taught to say 'check by phone' and 'I am the supervisor' and we might even be able to understand them. Why do we have to put up with this crap? Because we are stupid and want the services?
Not having tv was not a huge problem. We got kind of tired of the silence so I got my radio out.... that was good except it kept sliding off the station.. I am thinking I may invest in a radio-cd player for the house. I have a radio in the kitchen but it is not near a plug in and the turntable attached to it doesn't work anymore. It is a plant holder to hold the space the garbage can used to sit in and I was tired of the first thing you saw coming into the house was the garbage. Now there is a large green plant. Fake but green nevertheless.
Enough of this pointless drivil, I am going to go work on A's new pants and jacket. Oh and I made Himself a NIGHTCAP!! Seems his little bald head get cold at night and he gets a headache. It is soooo cute. Te hee te hee!! Well what ever works.
Maybe I will make on for Eson for his birthday this week??

Sylvester's BIG Adventure.

One morning this week, Sylvester did not appear for his dinner. Nor did he appear for his supper. This was unusual because Sylvester doesn't miss meals if he can help it.
The next morning, Himself took the dog kids for a walk and Nick sat down and backed out of his harness. (this is not unusual and is the reason he also wears a choke chain). He ran to the garage door and barked and would not leave it. Himself opened the door and out came one upset Sylvester.
He ran across the back yard with Nick in pursuit and got to the area under the swing set and let out a loud YOWL! And pooped.
Since then Sylvested seems to be staying away from the garage.