American idols 4/11

So, what did you all think about Haley leaving?

Well, I think she had to leave sooner rather than later. She's not a great singer, not in the caliber of Melinda and Jordin. So, her time was limited, I think. I do agree with Simon that she was there for so long because of her looks. Not that he said it in that way, but I think that is what has kept her there for so long. Cause like I said, she's not a great singer. But she's cute. LOL

I wonder how it will all go next week??

The Kids...

While at Al and Diane's house, I got to spend time with the "kids". It started out with Katzilla wanting me to pet him cause I was sitting on his chair.

Then Bender, the Great Dane, walked up to me, and wanted to be petted too. Ok, there goes the left hand.

Then Dinkie wanted to be petted. I'm thinking, um, I have run out of extremities, then realized I can use my foot. LOL

I would have been in REAL trouble if Dozer, the Rottweiler would have walked up right then. Good thing they only have 4 kids that come out when company is over. LOL And yep, they grow their kids big at their house. LOL Philip used to tell me that Oreo and Velcro were fat...Um nope! LOL

Katzilla

Go Go Katzilla! WOOoooWoooWOOoooOOOOoooo

ROFL. I LOVE Katzilla. Katzilla is Phil's nephew's cat. He's HUGE. When he sits on your lap, your legs go to sleep fast! LOL

I got to hang out with Katzilla on Saturday, that was fun. He's the coolest cat. He makes funny noises when you pet him. He lets you know when you should be petting him. I just love him!

Duct Tape Ribbon

So Al wrapped Phil's present with his normal duct tape. But instead of wrapping the entire box in duct tape, to where he can't open it. He decided to make a duct tape bow. OMG, it was so cute! Had to take a picture of it. The middle he fastened it all together with some kind of snap. he wished he would have had my crop-a-dile to put an eyelet in the middle. LOL

he could be one of those duct tape guys! i can just imagine him sitting there cutting each piece to the exact measurments. And then folding each piece so that the proportions were correct. It's totally amazing how he thinks these things up!!

Louisiana burgers

We had Louisiana Burgers for Phil's birthday today. A Louisiana burger is named after their family. The Louisianas. LOL They decided one day to make these GIGANTIC Burgers. They used the uncut sourdough bread rounds from Colombo that are HUGE. Each patty was about 6 pounds of meat. Today we couldn't find those, so we used smaller sourdough rounds. Each burger was about 2 pounds of meat.

These are the raw burgers. made about 5 patties total. Awaiting Phil's expert bbqing!

Phil flipping the burgers with a spatula specially made for turning the burgers.

This spatula was made by Al, quite a few years ago. They made it when they made the first burger, realizing that OMG! What are they going to use to flip the darn thing with??

The finished burgers. The Double Burger, 4 pounds of meat total.

The cheddar cheese burger. And the Pastrami burger which didn't get it's picture taken.

I think it was a bit shy. LOL We put the coke can there to gauge for size.

Very yummy!!

Scrapbook Buddy strikes again...

So, my scrapbook buddy found my Crop-a-dile. LOL Did you know that it can punch through jeans? He took the crop-a-dile and started punching holes in his wife's jeans. Then took an eyelet and put those on there. LOL She rides in horsing competitions, and blings her own clothes. So, he thought the eyelets would look cool on her jeans too.

So, guess who is going to Michael's in the morning to get a crop-a-dile?? ROFL

Vineyards

On the way to Phil's sister's house, we go through the vineyards of Livermore. There are lots of wineries out there. You think Napa has a lot of wineries? Livermore has a ton out there too. And a heck of a lot closer than napa.

Livermore is pretty cool. Phil's nephew lives on a ranch out there too. I love going out there to see the horses, dogs, and various cats and barn cats. It's really neat to be out there on a ranch, but still be close to home.

I actually saw a wild turkey roaming around too. But didn't have my camera out to take a picture of it. I'll have to be quicker next time.

More Flowers

These were flowers that are on a bush in the median of a roadway I was driving on. I was stuck at a light, and saw the flowers. Thought it would make a cool picture. And they are pretty nice. I mean they're pink!! LOL

I pass by these every day, but didn't think to take a photo of them till now. The things you don't pay attention to until you want to take pictures of stuff.

This is how I like my flowers...in a picture! LOL

Phil is so lucky that he doesn't have to bring me roses for Valentine's day...chocolates are way better anyway! LOL And yep Deb, especially from See's!

Bloomin' trees!

The trees are blooming around here too! They are so very pretty. I really haven't spent a lot of time taking pics of flowers, but I thought these were pretty. When the wind blows it looks like it's snowing! not too fond of the petals I have to clean up though, but it looks cool.

A sneeze waiting to happen

A mile from my home, these lovely yellow flowers are blooming. Being that I have a black thumb, which is terrible for a daughter of a gardener. You'd think I would be able to grow things, not kill them. LOL ...but I have no idea what kind of flowers these are. I'm thinking some kind of mustard? Cause there are people there picking them when I pass by.

Anyway, I swear it's a sneeze waiting to happen. This year, allergies have been really bad, really early. Don't go there with the global warming thing. I see these fields every day of my life, so I thought I'd share them with you.

They are really pretty though!

Mythbusters...

Did I ever tell you how much I LOVE Mythbusters?? I mean LOVE it! The geek in me just comes out whenever I watch this show. It reminds me of my days at Avocet working with Jim, Dave, Marty, Paul, Erik, and Tom. LOL Jim could SO be Jaime. And David could be Adam. The logical choice for Paul would be Tory. And Erik would be Grant. LOL

I watch it every morning. And if I can't watch it, I have been known to tape it. And I know, it's been on for a bunch of years, but I've just started watching it.

At least once a day, I look over at phil and say something like, "Did you know that electric eels won't demagnitize your credit card..." Or "the one thing that may stop a guard dog would be a big steak."

Then he will come back saying, "well, you know a good guard dog wouldn't even go for the steak, cause it would be trained not to eat anything other than what is given to him by his trainer."

Yes, we do have conversations like that. And Oh boy! Don't get Phil, Al, and I together talking about Mythbusters. LOL It's really funny.

I think it's mainly a reminder of some really fun memories at Avocet. Like taking David's new bicycle hostage until he sang, "I'm too sexy for my bicycle.."

Or locking David up in the shower, and then his thinking how he's going to McGyver himself out of there using the shower grate...

Or the classic one, Paul coming back from vacation after like 3 weeks of vacation. And marty and I clearing out all our stuff in our cubicles to make him think that we found other jobs, but we were really hiding in the conference room. LOL

OH! And coming to work on my birthday, and Phil and Al decorating my office so bad that I couldn't even walk into my office. And then we had a visit that day from the main office across the bay, felt like the parent trap there! LOL

I got a million of 'em! I really should scrapbook those memories before I forget them!!

My New Scrapbook Buddy

Yesterday we spent the day with Phil's sister and her husband. We went to costco, then we got back and I was showing her how to use her new cricut machine. And while we were cutting different letters and things, her son, Al and his wife, Diane come over for dinner.

Al is very interested in everything mechanical. But sometimes he gets too into things, and well, he's known to have accidents. My cricut machine was in a box everytime he came over, cause, well, I didn't want him to break it. LOL

Anyway, he saw us using the machine, and got the great idea to make a sign for their Paintball team...Team JOLT. So, he starts cutting letters, shadowing them, and even draws and cuts out a lightning bolt for the logo.

And of course, we're fighting over the one bottle of glue and exacto knife.

All the time we're there, he's giving Jackie a hard time about being the only one not scrapbooking with her scrapbooking tools. He and I are the only ones using her tools. She's having me cut letters for her, and glue them. LOL

So, he finishes his sign, and it looks pretty cool. I should have taken a picture cause that would have been a cool layout.

And as we're leaving, he says to me, "Bye Scrapbook Buddy!"

We all started ROFL! OMG, it was classic!!

We get home, and Philip was telling Phil he should have gone to play paintball with him. And I told Philip, "Well, you lost 2 paintball players today, but I gained a scrapbook buddy!"

Cleaning..

Why is it that whenever you are cleaning, it always looks worse before it can get better?? I Have piles and piles around sorting stuff off my desk. Craft stuff, earrings, beads, stamps, etc. Boy, did I have a bunch of stuff piled up. Even finding stuff that I was supposed to mail out to my e-friends.

This is just going to be phase one. Got to get to the craft room at some point this century. LOL And going to start cleaning the rugs tomorrow. Just stuff that I haven't even gotten to lately, and I really need to spend some time doing that.

At least the garage is super clean!!

Cricut

OMG! Today I finally took that Cricut machine out of the box. And I could kick myself because I hadn't done it sooner.

OMG! How fun is it to make different letters, words, shapes, and stuff?? I should have been playing with that before.

And just to let you know, the cricut tools that cost $29.99 at Michael's is a rip-off!! You can buy dental tools at the gun show for $1 each and they are the same tip! maybe the handle is different. Ok, they aren't the cool purply or green one. But I can do so much with the $28.99 that I'm going to save by NOT Buying those. I could even buy 2 cutting blades for it and have enough left to buy some paper. I couldn't believe that.

So, I've been having fun playing with it today. I am going to totally do more playing with it tomorrow. And now I want more cartridges. :D WOO HOO!

Warm days in Union City....

It was really warm yesterday. We're pretty much in summer mode. It's a nice break from the cooler temps and the rain too. But I think Jabba wasn't ready for the warm weather. He/she was running along the fence, then PLOP! LOL

I think Jabba's pretty cute. LOL Here is Jabba looking at us while we're trying to take a picture. Not too worried about us trying to get a photo I guess. Or maybe he was too warm to move?? LOL I didn't get a chance to see Jabba today, so I hope that he's doing ok. I guess we should start leaving a bit of water out for him when it's this warm.

I cannot believe...

That I'm going to have to wait until APRIL 23rd for a new episode of HEROES!!! OMG! And of course, they left you hanging... well, poor Suresh is hanging...LOL

There are so many twists and turns. WHO KNEW that Peter Petrelli's mom KNEW who Claire was! And where is Claire's mom?? Did they off her? Here I was thinking that she had some powers, but it was the shape shifter new girl.

I'm glad Ando didn't go back to Japan. He and Hiro are my favorite characters!!

Now I have more questions, and I have to wait a month and a half!

Well, at least for awhile there is the Black Donnellys. I really love that show! Joey Ice Cream is my favorite character, cause he's just too dang funny! It really is a fun show. I know there is some blood in it, but OMG, there are moments in it that really crack me up!! Mainly cause it's a serious situation, and they bring a lot of levity to it.

Makes you wonder what you'd do if your brothers kept getting into trouble like that, and would you go to help them? I would have left my brother in jail too. LOL

Rome was really good this week too, and next week it is going to be even better. They are trying to follow the true storyline a bit. Octavia did marry Marc Antony. Next week Cleopatra comes back. I wonder how many more episodes there are going to be? I Love that show too.

Tomorrow is Idol...YAY! And of course SVU. Wednesday it's Idol again! And we love watching Medium. That would really suck to have to listen to dead people, especially seeing how they died or stuff like that.

More TV updates soon!

Heroes...

I don't know who is watching Heroes, but wasn't tonight's show an awesome show?!? OMG, we're starting to find out more about how they became heroes, what Claire's father does, and it was so cool to see Hiro as a little kid. AND OMG, his DAD has something to do with what is all going on!! OMG! I can't wait for next week's show!!

And I watched the Black Donnelly's after too. I really like that show too. I had my mind set on not liking the show at all. But to my surprise, it was really good. I hope that next week's show will be just as good.

Keeping the small stores in business...

Went to Stamper's Warehouse today. There was an ownership change, and a location changed. So, I went to their grand re-opening. The store looks really nice. I'm glad that they moved, cause it's always great to have a new beginning. The store seems a little smaller than the old store, but it's still filled with a lot of new things. Reminds me of their original store on Alcosta!

I'm just glad that Therese bought it when Phyllis decided to retire, cause what a big shock to the system that would have been to know that all the other local stores like Scrapbook Dreams closed, and have SW close too?? It would be too sad!

So, I've decided that I'm going to frequent the local stores more, cause I don't want them to close! And when Tina's store was closing, all I could think was, "If you had visited the store more often, maybe you'd know it was closing" Or "Maybe that's why she has to close, cause there wasn't that much business." Then I realized, if I kept going to the big chain stores, I wasn't giving the smaller businesses a chance. I know they can't buy in quantity like the bigger stores do, therefore they can't give you the best prices.

BUT they have the best service sometimes. And if you love the store, you need to keep them in business by buying! :) So, that's what I'm going to do.

I mean if I'm on this crusade where I'm not going to use fast track to cross the bridge, cause that will put toll takers out of business. Or if I don't use the self serve checkers in the grocery stores too, cause I don't want to put a checker out of work. I might as well not always go to the big chain stores too. LOL

Like the other day at Albertson's. I went to buy somethings in the morning, and all the regular lanes were closed. NO live checkers. All they had were the self-serve checkers. So, I waited for a couple of minutes, and no one came to help me. So, I put all my stuff back and went to Safeway. Yep, I feel that strongly about it.

When I get on my soapbox, I am determined to follow through!

I know I'm a techie, and I should really love using all this high tech equipment. BUT I just think of how many people this technology is displacing, and I do get upset. I mean I definitely do NOT want to go back to horse and buggy days. But there is a line that must be drawn before we end up like I Robot! LOL

Ok, getting off my soapbox now....

Gift show...

Today my cousin took me with her to the SF gift show. That was so much fun! It is so cool to see some of the new products. We did see a lot of the same old stuff, and a lot of new things too. I just love it! Gift stuff is just so fun! You see stuff for all the people in your lives. And even though she doesn't get it for her store, you want to know where you can get it cause it's just perfect for so and so.

I love seeing how the world of stamping/scrapbooking/paper arts have influenced what is happening in things like paper products/stationery. One company really has gone the way of Somerset magazine. Lots of vintage.

You also see a lot of fun stuff for the kids. Cindyann, have you seen the Cars Pez?? I know that's been out forever, but it's cute seeing Mater on a Pez!!

It was such a fun experience for me. I'm so glad that she asked me to go with her!!

These are some beaded decorations I made for Valentine's day. They came out pretty cool! It is so fun working with the beads and wire. Think I have to make some smaller versions for earrings or something.

Our new addition to our zoo....

Philip put out his gold mining pan to feed the birds in the backyard. So tonight, we found that there is a possum eating the birdseed. I don't know how long it's been eating in our yard, but it's pretty neat to see another animal in our yard.

After it got scared away by my photo shoot, a cat ran up to the bowl thinking it was cat food. Was he surprised when it was birdseed. :)

Here's imposter oreo....

Here's the big imposter Oreo. LOL This is the cat that we all see outside of the house, then we all proceed to call him or chase him to make sure he goes back into the house, only to realize, DUR, it's not Oreo! LOL Once he turns around, and there is no half a mustache, we all just feel so dumb. And usually Oreo is sleeping on my bed. LOL

Finally got a picture of him. Or maybe it's a her? I'm actually thinking that it is a she cat. Maybe we should call her oreoina? Missy Oreo? LOL What do they call the fake oreo cookies? We should call her that! LOL

Salt flats

This is where salt comes from. I don't know exactly how they make it, but they let the salt dry like this for a few years. I am not sure how long they let it go like this before they harvest it. But then they harvest it at one of the local salt plants.

pretty cool.

The bridge is back! LOL No fog today, just a really nice sunny day! Love that it was so beautiful today. We didn't even need a jacket in the city. It was actually warm there!

I know, I know... LIfe and Spoilers!!!

I have been TOTALLY Absent from the internet. These holidays really get in the way of life, sometimes.

Now to the TV update...

What do you all think of Grey's Anatomy? I'm kind of disappointed that Shonda has moved to having a character die and go to a sort of dream sequence type thing. I thought the show was above scenes like that. It was too weird to have that in there last night. It's way too early in the life of the show to do that. Doesn't that happen usually when the show has nowhere to go?

I could be wrong, and this twist in the show could turn out to be a good thing. But it was kind of creepy to see.

Just when I thought the show was getting it's groove back.

I like Callie and Addison more and more. Liking Izzy less and less.

I just love Men in Trees!! Love where the story is going. LOVE the characters too! I mean you want Marin and Jack to get together, still. But I love how Jack feels he needs to take care of Lynn. Love Annie! She is too cute! And love the new guy! He's hot. :)

Do you like the new idols? I do really like the ones they have picked for 24. None of them annoy me yet. They all sing well. One guy is from Saratoga! I have to check out where everyone else is from.

Heroes is great! LOVE Hiro and Ando. they crack me up. I was hoping the cop wasn't going to be the one to kick the bucket. Amazed to know that the cheerleader's uncle saved her life, and she doesn't know she's related to him.

ROME is kicking butt this season. I thought last season was GREAT, but this season is Better! Love Pullo and Vorenus. Glad they found his kids.

have I left anything out??

Well, that's the TV update. Will update you more on my life later....

Where did the bridge go???

Today it was so foggy, you couldn't see the bridge. This road goes over the bridge, but the bridge is nowhere to be seen! You could really freak out some kid by saying it was gone! LOL

Will post a pic of what it should look like if it's clear tomorrow!

My Boys...

My boys are sleeping. LOL Oreo has decided that he loves Phil, and sleeps with him while I'm on the computer. I thought this was a really funny picture of them both sleeping. They look WAY too comfortable!

Here are the boys

This is a pic of the boys. They went to play paintball on superbowl sunday. They look like they had a great time. LOL

Bottom Row: Phil's BIL Mike, Phil' Nephew Al, Philip.
Top Row: Manuel, Christoph, and Phil.

Christoph used to live with us for awhile. And Manuel is his brother.

Phil is really getting back into paintball. I'm glad, cause it keeps him busy. ;)

Finished!

Finished the rock tonight. YAY! I love the history behind the rock. I never knew that the oldest dam in California used to be in Niles. And was built by General Vallejo's brother at that.

Niles is a few miles from here, it's a really cute town near the hills in Fremont. Charlie Chaplin actually went there to do many of his films. They have a Charlie Chaplin day in June I think. It's pretty cool.

I mean it's pretty neat that the rock was placed there in 1891. It is a pretty cool rock, it's so flat! LOL

Local scrapbook stores...

I'm so sad, one of our Local Scrapbook Stores is closing soon. And to top that off, found out 2 others had already closed, one I used to go to quite often when there was a stamp store next to it. I guess it made me sadder cause I just went through the closing of my cousin's store with her. That was sad enough.

It made me realize that I had better visit my LSS's more than going to Michael's or Joann's. I guess it's like I would say to my cousin when people were so surprised that they were closing. Well, guess they should have visited more, otherwise she wouldn't have been closing. I mean I figure, the one store that already closed, I hadn't been there since October or November. And before that it was a year or two.

The one that is closing, I was starting to go back there because it was more convenient to go to than a few of the others I go to. I think I have to make a trip out to stamper's this weekend just to make sure they don't close!!

A very sad day in the world of scrapbooking!

More Rock Painting...

This is the Rock I've been painting on the last couple of days. First attempt was not good. I thought you could transfer lettering with transfer paper, then paint the letters...WRONG! So, if you are trying to do that...don't. LOL

I then decided to use a dressmaker's pencil to draw the lines on it. Then decided on sketching out the letters too. That was fun. And I used Patio Paint so that it will stay on there without using a sealer. :)

Kind of weird writing on a rock, now that I look at it in 2d, it looks kinda crooked. :( Well, just a few of the letters. Looks straighter in person. LOL

I have another part to finish on the back of it. Hopefully it will be done on thursday! YAY!

Writing on a rock...

You wouldn't think that doing calligraphy on a rock would be so tough....but it is. I have to figure out how to get lines on a rock. fun fun fun. I wrote the girl's name so far. The rest of the poem will wait till tomorrow. I need to bring my white pencil home. It's interesting to do, I will take a picture when I'm done. Who would have thought i'd be writing on a rock? LOL

All stuffed up....

Sorry I've been MIA. I caught yet another cold this week. I'm all stuffed up. Makes me wish I was a Mr. Potato head, and I had an interchangeable nose.

I have watched a lot of TV though. Watching a lot of American Idol. Of course. I think there is a lot of great talent. I wish they would show more of the people who get through, and not so much of the weird people. I do feel sorry for the judges, cause they have to sit through a lot of weird stuff to find a few great people.

Heroes is getting good. Glad that it's started back up again. Can't wait for tomorrow, it's Grey's and Men in Trees. ER is only just ok for me this season.

Rome is back! And I LOVE the new season. Can't wait for this week's episode.

We finally got a DVD player/VCR combo machine. I'm glad cause I can finally watch DVD's in the back room. It was a cheapie player from WalMart, but it works really well. Our last working VCR player finally stopped working. It actually ate my last tape, REALLY! It just won't give it back. Good thing nothing was on that tape. So, I needed something that would let me tape again, so we picked that up this week. $49 wasn't too bad!

Ashley is moving out with her bf. She's an adult now, and it's good that she's moving out. Wish she would find a friend to move out with for awhile, but since they're always together anyway, I guess it's just a normal thing? She's excited, which is good. Hope that she keeps up with school.

Hope you all had a great week!

The best present ever!

One of the gifts I put together was a Sushi making set. And Ngoc and I agree, it's the best gift ever! LOL I know I could have probably gotten everything in a premade sushi set, but this was way more fun! And I got to go to the japanese grocery store to shop! I haven't done that in such a long time.

I just love the little condiment dish with the space for the chopsticks to sit on. Very cool! LOL

I wonder what the dish says on it? We were joking around that it says, "Your food is going to be very delicious." LOL

I also put together a "survival" set for Philip. He was really into the survival gear to have in his car. That one was fun to put together too. I have to think of more themed gifts!!

Jabba's tired...

I spent this morning watching Jabba the squirrel. He was taking the peanuts we'd leave out for him and bury them in the lawn. After two handfuls of nuts, I guess he got tired. So he was laying on the fence like this. LOL

It was so funny seeing him laying like that on the fence. I've never seen a squirrel just sit there like that.

Later on he buried 2 more handfuls of nuts. A crow thought that he'd get some of the nuts buried in the lawn...Not so! The squirrel chased him out of there! I've never, EVER seen a squirrel do that before. LOL

The final day...

I've been MIA the past few days. My cousin has finally closed her Hallmark store. We were all very sad today. It was our final day of cleaning up the space. It was very, very sad. She's had the store for 23 years now, worked there 2 years prior to owning it. So, it's a really big part of her life that she is closing.

It reminded me of "You've Got Mail" where Meg Ryan's character is closing her store.

We've been going there ever since she's owned it. I was in my late teens when she took it over. But to me, it seems like she's always had it.

We've seen so many people come and go during the time she's owned it. And like I told her today, she's raised a lot of girls. LOL But I guess it's time for her to move on to bigger and brighter things.

So, that's where I've been the past few days. We cleaned, moved, cleaned, moved some more. Tomorrow is the day she's handing over the keys. A really sad day for us all!

Surprise Guest....

This morning we had a surprise guest...

A Hawk! It was in the tree in our backyard. you can barely see him in the picture in the left, but he was there. I think he was waiting for one of our big fat squirrels! I was wondering where all the wildlife had gone. Usually our yard is jumping with little animals. LOL

I think the hawk was happy we were fattening up the squirrels for it! I was worried that the squirrel had gotten eaten, but we saw it later in the day...YAY!

Happy New Years!

Hope everyone is enjoying their new years! We added 2 more people to our celebration! The german kid and his brother are here tonight. We're the party house tonight. ROFL. Who would have thought that the kids would want to hang out with us. I'm glad though, cause they're not out with the crazies!!

Tomorrow I go to see my folks and eat the fun foods. Woo hoo! I'm hungry just thinking about it.

Have a great new year!

Chocolate Sushi...

Ashley went to the Chocolate sushi factory, and brought us back some chocolate sushi. It's really pretty good. And it looks pretty real! The dish is made of chocolate, the "wasabi" is green tea flavored chocolate. The "ginger" really tastes like chocolate ginger. And the "fish roe" is apricot flavored gummy. The chocolate is really very good.

I think maybe Cindyann would eat this sushi! LOL mine is tamago sushi (egg) and the crispy rice they use looks like rice too! LOL

Our New Year's Eve...

While shopping in Wal Mart tonight, Ashley found Marine Corps Fleece. So, she decided (after Phil had described a blanket Debi G. made for me) to make a blanket. Not the way her bf wanted to spend New Year's Eve, but since she's not 21 yet, and can't go to the bars, they decided to spend NYE home with us.

So, we have been cracking up about her making a blanket for NYE. SO of course we all had to tie a bit of the blanket so we could say that we spent NYE making a blanket for Ashley. ROFL.

So here is Phil, Harry, and Ashley tying up the ends of the blanket. LOL

Jabba the squirrel

We have a new addition to our backyard menagerie. Jabba du squirrel. This is one of two really LARGE squirrels that have been visiting us. And of course, Phil has decided that he needs to feed it. Since the outside cats have passed on, and the raccoons haven't been around lately, it's funny that we're getting adopted by another animal. LOL

After it grabs the nuts from the stump, it either eats them or decides on burying them in our lawn. LOL I figure that if they weren't roasted peanuts, we'd have a lot of peanut plants in our lawn. I just went to get some birdfood with corn in it, I'm guessing we'll have corn plants out there too!!

Oh, and I just found out you're not supposed to feed squirrels salted nuts...oops! LOL We bought some unsalted ones today. :D

Will post more pics when I get better ones!!

Almost a New Year

Can you believe a new year is almost upon us? I swear, they seem to come sooner and sooner. I remember when we were younger, and they seemed to take FOREVER! Now I would like there to be more time between the years. LOL Can't we go 370 days? 36 hours?? LOL

I went out with the girls yesterday, and we had a blast! Wish we could get together more often. I really do miss seeing them. I wish Deb, Kay, and Shari lived closer so we could go out and cause trouble together. Wouldn't that be a blast??

Today was a good day. Put the tree in the box. Didn't think it would fit. LOL Cleaned up some of the boxes, put away some Christmas boxes. I can't wait for next week when we can take all the decorations for Christmas down. :) But next is Valentine's. And I'm already tired of val cards. LOL We put out 7 boxes today, and we need more room. Saw a really fun one for my dad. LOL

oh! And I got to chat with Kay last night, that was fun! I miss chatting with her every day.

Happy New Year!

Dancing with the Stars Tour

Tonight, Debi and I went to see Dancing with the Stars! My cousin was going to go, but then she couldn't, so she gave the tickets to me as a gift. I know she would have loved it, but I'm glad that we got to go!!

I took my camera, they actually allowed cameras! So I took a few pictures. This was the finale of the show. It was really fun! They did a lot of the dances from the show. They did some group dances, which were awesome!

We got to see Drew and Cheryl dance their Thriller dance and their Freestyle country dance. That was way cool!! And Joey danced his Singing in the rain dance.

If you are a big fan of the show, you have GOT to see the tour!

De-Christmasizing....

Well, we're de-christmasing the store. I am SO glad I only decorated the store, not home. This is going to take forever. LOL Not even touching the tree till tomorrow.

Think I'm missing boxes too. LOL Where the heck do they go??

I think the snowflakes will stay up, cause it's still winter.

What is everyone doing tonight? I'm going to be at the Dancing with the Stars tour! YAY! I didn't think I'd get to go, but my cousin couldn't go, so I have her tickets...YAY! can't wait!

And tomorrow I get to see Debi and Joanne!! I haven't seen them since last month. Gotta do that more often.

The wind is really blowing outside. Fences were down. Saw a container almost blown off a truck on the bridge today. Got here early cause I knew something would happen. It looked like my hood was going to blow off my truck today. Gotta check into that tonight.

Batten down those hatches, bay areans!!

Happy Tuesday!

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas. Now is downtime. We're gonna start gearing up for Valentines too, believe it or not. that and inventory...ick!

Been reading Pride and Prejudice this week. Halfway through. Love the movie, love the book. Now I'll have to read Emma and Sense and Sensibility too.

Got to chat with Deb last night...YAY! I missed chatting with the girls. And hopefully will get to see everyone else later on.

Tomorrow night is Dancing with the Stars!! YAY! Can't wait! It should be a ton of fun.

Hope you all have a great evening!

Merry Christmas!

Hope that you and yours had a very Merry Christmas today! I had the best present EVER! I got to sleep in till 10!!! WOOO HOOO!! LOL

Last night we exchanged gifts with the kids. Ashley didn't stay the night, so we decided to do that last night. It was nice to do that the evening before, and then get to sleep in!!

Phil and I exchanged gifts this morning. He got me a George Forman Grill. LOL And a blanket that is like a sleeping bag, but the top folds over and snaps closed so that you have arm holes. I had one as a kid, and I wanted one to use while I'm on the computer! He got a screwdriver set and some jeans. LOL Woooo, exciting gifts, huh?? LOL

We went to my parent's house today. Cheryl was there, and it was funny having to relive her and Eydie's argument again. I don't think I've ever heard so often from Eydie. She has to call to tell on Cheryl. Sheesh. I'm just glad they're not mad at me!! ROFL

We got home early from my parents house, and I thought I'd get to chat with the girls, maybe. But of course I fell asleep in the recliner. Still kinda sleepy here, but I'll see if anyone comes on.

Well, back to the old grind tomorrow! Hope that you all had a blessed day with your families and friends!!

It's Christmas Eve!!

and WOOOO HOOOOO!!!!!

OMG, I am going to enjoy sleeping tonight. Brought all my gifts here so that I can wrap them. We've had 2 people in so far. Everything around us is closed. Can you believe it? I can't believe the jewelry store is closed today. Wouldn't you think that today would be one of their biggest days??

So, it's quiet on the street. I hope people come in today.

Got to get the rest of my shopping done for my family here today.

Went to the Hallmark store this morning and found the last Star Wars Ornament I needed. Am thinking about getting up early to see if they are going to have anything left tomorrow.

Hopefully I can see my chatty friends on Tuesday night! I SO miss them.

love you guys!!

Ok, major geekdom again...

So the other day, I spilled Coke in my keyboard. NO, I wasn't doing an experiment to see if I could screw up the keyboard. LOL And No, I wasn't trying to repeat my experience of pouring a whole cup of tea in it. I was a bonehead and it just dropped on the keyboard.

I thought, OMG I totalled another keyboard. Crap!

But it worked, just had really sticky keys.

SO, when I turned it over I noticed that I could take it apart. Couldn't hurt!

Have you ever seen the inside of a keyboard?? They must have re-engineered it for people like me. Everything is encased in plastic. The electronics is on a big plastic sheet. On top is a clear rubbery-like sheet with bumps for every key. That's how the contact is made. It's all very cool.

I remember years ago spilling a whole mug of tea in my keyboard (and a big mug it was), and then my boss at the time told me to pour water in it to clean it out. Shorted that sucker right out.

But this one hadn't, so I was wondering if they improved the technology through the years or what. Lucky thing for me that I tilted it right away, cause if the soda had gotten where those lights are (you know, the ones that tell you that your caps are on), then I would have been messed up.

So, I wiped it down, and it works fine. No sticky keys.

So, if you ever do that, just make sure you tilt it towards you to empty out the liquid really quickly. Then just let it dry out. And hope that it hasn't gotten into the elecronics stuff in the corner!

Only 2 days left!

Love being able to count it down with everyone. :)

I was going to blog yesterday when I got home, got some e-mails done, then I zonked out. I couldn't believe I was so tired. Meant to bake more, but I just wasn't into it last night.

Only 2 more days. I am going to put a sign on my bedroom door that says, "If you want to give me a great gift, please let me sleep in today". ROFL. I don't want to wake up at 6:30 in the morning this year. NOPE!

Gotta bake tonight for Phil's family. I think I'll do caramel corn.

We had a lot of people in last night. The one thing I love is that people will stop by to wish us a merry christmas. That is too cool. I love our peeps.

Well, more later, now gotta go!

It was a good day...

We had a good day today. We were busy all day, not super busy, but constant. That was nice.

Got some cleaning done when I got home, and wrapped Ashley's gift. She's coming Saturday, so wanted to get that done.

Just figured out what else to put with Ashley's bf's gift. Making him a sushi basket. He wants to learn how to make sushi. So I have the mat, the vinegar, seaweed, wasabi, and sesame seeds. Gonna get a sushi plate and the little shoyu bowl. Oh! Got to find shoyu too (Soy sauce). Gotta have that kikkoman dispenser thing that all restaurants have. LOL

My mom and dad dropped by today, and they dropped by some beard papas! I just love those things! :)

Nothing else going on here, took a break from baking and from gift getting. Just wanted to veg a bit today.

Only a couple of days left!! YAHOOOOOOoooooo!

Christmas time is here...

Only4 more days, and it's all over! I really am tired this year. Not sure why.

I did make some new cookies for our event tomorrow. Peanut brittle cookies and butterscotch cookies. I like them, but since it was my first time making them, I know I can do better. I think I'll go with the standard rice krispy cookies tomorrow. :) I want to try the malt ball recipe tomorrow too. That one looks yummy.

I got to go shopping today. Found gifts for Phil. Gotta get one more, but not sure if I can get up early enough to go. He wants a coffee maker but I'm not sure if I can swing that. We'll see.

And I didn't have to go in till later today, that was nice.

Phil took the portable heater out of the back room to warm up the kitchen today, and OMG, Velcro was not liking that! She kept running in and out of the back room. Would go to pet her, and she'd run down the hallway. When I wouldn't follow, she'd run back. She did this for about a half an hour, till I realized, she wanted me to move the heater back to the back. So, I did, and she's back there sleeping. That was really funny! Guess she wanted to sleep, but not in the cold. LOL

My sisters got into an argument today. OMG, they are so much alike, but different. They have strong personalities, but different values. My little sis is really direct and to the point. She doesn't beat around the bush. All I can think of is that line in Galaxy Quest, "This is not time for pleasantries..." that would be her. To the point and see ya! LOL

My older sister lives in her own world. Life revolves around her, and when life isn't going quite right, she gets really REALLY stressed, and snaps.

There in lies the problem. When direct an to the point, calls sis when she's stressed, stressed sis snaps. DTTP sis gets mad, and yells at Snappy sis, and then they have drama. LOL And one or the other will call sis in the middle to vent. Glad it was DTTP sis, cause we can laugh about it. Stressed sis will cry and have lots of drama.

And all this before Christmas. LOL

I thought it was supposed to be the most wonderful time of the year! I'd better listen to more of my Christmas CD's to get into the mood. LOL Well, 4 more days and it's OVER!!!!! I'm REALLY looking forward to seeing the Dancing with the Stars show!! That and seeing my two friends, Debi and Joanne!!!

Only 5 more days!

Wooo Hooo! I'm excited cause there are only 5 more days till Christmas. I've got one of 4 boxes packed to go. Just need packing peanuts. :) 2 cards done. I was going to stamp on them, but at this point, I think they look ok to go. Wanted to do more, but I hope everyone likes them anyway.

Not stressing at this point. I'm going to get what I can done, and the others will go out as they get done.

We have one more big event before Christmas. We've been doing ok so far...knock on wood. But talking to other retailers in the area, they are just as slow as we are. That isn't great, but at least we're not alone.

I'm going to go to Phil's family's Christmas this year. Mainly because his sister and I are getting along better now. Makes life a lot easier. I don't think i've been to a Christmas there in about 7 years now. So, I'll have to do some major baking in a few days.

We went to the mall tonight, and we got some more shopping done. Have to go to Wal Mart yet again tomorrow at some point. I think we've been there 4 times this week. LOL

Hope everyone is having a great week so far. I got to chat with Shari tonight...YAY! And I miss Deb and Kay. I hope we can chat at some point before Christmas! I love you guys!

Baby, it's cold outside....

Ok, I know for those of you that are not in California, this probably isn't cold. But man, I'm freezing! LOL On the bottom left is the temperature outside...BRRRRR. And you can barely see, but there is a snowflake on the bottom of the clock that flashes to let us know that it's butt cold outside! LOL Like we didn't realize that it was that cold already...DUR. LOL

This morning it was 18 degrees! Yep, 18 degrees. So, I woke up to frost on my car. So, there went going to drop some stuff off to Jackie's work. LOL Everytime I kept scraping the ice off, more would appear. I really would suck at living in snow.

Hey! Maybe we'll have a white Christmas! :D

What a day...

Well, this morning was not a good morning. I was planning on getting a ton of Christmas stuff done today, cause all I had to do was call in to check how the store was doing all day. Phil and i were going in to replace the ballasts on the fluorescent lights at one, so we were going to do some of our shopping, and I was going to work on cards while I was in there....

NOT!

Ngoc called in sick. So, I had to go in all day. I was pretty pissy cause I've had no time off this week. I was using the day to finish up stuff. But of course, I leave everything till the last minute, so of course it gets messed up on me. My fault.

I mean she's covered for me the one day I was sick this month. And I was SO frustrated. The one store I want to go to is only open the same hours we are, so today was the one day I could go there. Gonna have to figure out another way to do what I was going to do now. sigh.

And then the ballasts weren't the right ones. The ones we needed were thicker than the ones that were bought. So Phil couldn't do that today either. And that was frustrating. Not that he couldn't do it, but just that now he has to go get the correct parts. And I wasn't going to have Phil put up something that wasn't the same shape or size. Electrical stuff is really tricky, and I don't want it overloading and causing a fire. That's all we need.

I'm just really tired. And burnt out. I know every year I'm going to work long hours at Christmas. I get that. And normally I don't mind at all. But I think on top of wanting to get stuff done so that my friends know how much I care about them, and all the stuff we have to do to promote the store, then sell stuff in the store, I'm really getting to not be in the Christmas mode this year. I thought I was doing good too. Thought I'd get stuff out early, work on all kinds of stuff. I'm definitely going to have to do New Year's stuff.

Sorry for the vent. And I know that there are worst things in the world. this is really little stuff, and I need to get over the little stuff. Good thing that Phil's here, he has been a big help in getting some stuff done for me. :)

Imposter Oreo...

There is an Oreo imposter running around the outside of the house. LOL

Oreo is my tuxedo cat, and he's an inside kitty. We figure that he's so not smart, he'd get eaten or run over by a car if we let him outside. LOL I love him to death, but he's just a dork sometimes.

Anyway, tonight Phil was on the phone talking to his nephew, and he looks outside and sees Oreo. So he gets off the phone and starts chasing this cat around the yard. The cat turns around, and he realizes...That's not Oreo. ROFL! He goes inside, and Oreo is sleeping on the bed in the back bedroom. ROFL!

Can you imagine, Phil running around after this poor kitty! The kitty was probably thinking...What the heck is this guy running after me for, calling me a cookie?? LOL

I would have LOVED to have been here to see that!

10 more days till christmas....

And I just finished writing my greeting cards. I still think I want to make some cards within the next couple of days. We'll see.

Our showerhead broke today, so we went to Wal Mart tonight to get a new one. Found Taylor's CD for $7.94!! What a deal! I have listened to the first 4 songs so far, and I love it! Just his style. I'm glad cause I wasn't too thrilled with the song they picked for him at the final show.

Also, Clay has a 4 song Christmas CD out only at Wal Mart, so we got that too. :)

We're picking up at the store, so hopefully it will be a good season for her.

I still have to go to the post office. Think I'll mail my friend's box tomorrow. Feel like such a butt that I haven't been there yet. Most of the other stuff hasn't been packed yet, so I'll get more stuff out on Monday.

gotta get a lot of shopping done this weekend....fun fun fun!

Christmas is 12 days away...

OMG, here I am plugging along at life and I realize, Christmas is in less than 2 weeks! YIKES! I'm just buying stuff here and there, and OMG, it's almost here!

So, a lot of stuff is going to get mailed in two phases. I finally got my friend's birthday and Christmas gifts in a box. Gotta get up early to go to the mailbox. I have to pack everyone else's stuff tomorrow. I thought I was going to make some special cards for Christmas to go in the boxes, but since my other computer died, I'll have to do that next christmas. LOL I still may make cards though. :)

I have to get Phil to make some goodies. Hopefully he can do that this week. I got to get into cookie making mode this weekend. :)

I hope it will all get done this week!!

I love this bracelet!I made this for a gift, but I'm not sure that I'm going to give it away now. LOL I found the charms at a great bead store in Santa Cruz. They have the best supply of charms that I've seen so far.

Anyway, I love the fantasy/sci-fi theme of it. I'm a big collector of dragons, and I love that little dragon charm. And the stars and moons just had to go on it too. LOL Good thing I have an extra supply of those charms. Well, except for the celtic knot one, and the big crescent moon. LOL

I hope she will like it. It doesn't have as many danglies as Debi's bracelet did, but I think it still looks cool.

Oh what fun...

Last night I got an e-mail about my ebay account. I haven't been on ebay in months, and haven't bought anything in like 2 years from them. Someone jacked my account and started selling bootleg copies of TV shows. Greeeeaaat.

So, I spent tonight trying to fix it. Wasn't that hard, but what a pain!

So, if you have an ebay account, keep changing your passwords periodically. Cause someone could actually try to sell stuff through your account, and you wouldn't even know it.

Sushi Boat

Last night Ashley invited us to go to dinner with her friends at the Sushi Boat restaurant here in town. It was a lot of fun, she brought over 5 of her friends.

The sushi boat restaurant is one of those with the sushi bar in the middle with all those boats floating around with sushi on them. They charge you by how many plates, and the type of plate that you took off the boat. Pretty cool concept, but really dangerous. You could have a ton of plates stacked up and not know you just spent $50 for dinner for yourself! LOL

Phil and I always order dinner, and then maybe pick up one or two different plates of stuff. OMG, Ashley and her BF had a stack of plates. They ended up spending $120! OMG! LOL It was interesting watching the types of food they put on the plates. Some types of sushi i'd never seen before.

It was really fun though! Think we'll take them to Hokkaido next. Then they can eat all the food they want. And we'd spend $120 for 6 people! LOL

You know you're getting old....

When describing Billy Idol by his singing "White Wedding" is not registering to the kids. But saying that he was the guy at the end of "The Wedding Singer" works.

Ngoc had no clue who Billy Idol was until I asked if she had seen the Wedding Singer. OMG. Did I feel old! LOL

Mini Christmas shopping trip....

I went on a little shopping excursion today. Went to target to get the Christmas CD that I didn't get last week, and of course, it's gone. Went to see if they had anymore pink ball ornaments, of course those are gone too. 0-2. Why did I think they'd be around now? And OMG, Christmas is like how many days away?? LOL

Then went to Cost plus. Found an ornament for Philip. They had a statue of liberty ornament. He collects the glass USA ones. Cool huh? And found tiny ball ornaments I'll make into earrings at some point in time. Found something for a stamp friend, she's gonna crack up. And a sushi mat for Ashley's BF. He wants to learn how to make Sushi. So I think I'll get him the supplies to make sushi. Saw a set at Cost Plus, but OMG, gonna get him the real dealio stuff at Takahashi's. Well, if I can get there on Sunday before going to the store.

Then had to go to Beard Papa's to see what flavors of Cream Puffs they had today. They had not only Vanilla, but chocolate and strawberry! So I got the chocolate ones, and one strawberry for Phil. The chocolate cream ones taste like hot chocolate (but not hot, does that make sense?)

Gonna go to our target tonight to see if they still have the CD. :)

Think maybe I can talk Phil into going??

Chris Daughtry's CD

OMG, if you are a fan of Chris from American Idol, you HAVE to get his new CD Daughtry. OMG. I'm a big Idol fan. And I have a few of the artists CD's. And I have to say, this CD is one of my favorites so far.

You'll see when the first song starts playing, "It's not Over" OMG! I just knew this CD was going to be awesome!

My favorite song so far is: Over You. Just love it! I keep singing it over and over.

I really wasn't sure, cause in the past, the other CD's from idols were only OK. Well exceptions were Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood, and Clay. Liked Josh Gracin's CD too. But I wasn't too impressed with Justin Guarini's, Bo Bice's, or Latoya London's. And I loved them on the show. I think I wasn't too impressed with their song choices.

Anyway, if you love Chris, get his CD!

why am I still on the internet?

I should be stamping, thinking of what to stamp, making cards. But what am I doing? I'm on the net. Sheesh. Brought my paper in. I think I'm sitting here hoping that it will jump out of the bag and make cards out of itself. LOL

The bag isn't moving.

Guess I should get busy! ;)

20 more days till christmas...

And will I get cards made? Got the paper today. LOL I felt bad buying yet more paper. Had to wait till Phil fell asleep to bring it in. LOL Well, feel bad cause I could be using my money for other things, but bought paper instead. Still have a ton of gifts to buy too.

I'm also going to make some munchies to go with some of the gifts I'm sending out. How did December come so quickly?? LOL

I am ahead of last year on the gift stuff. YAY! But again, people are getting stuff from the store. :)

Hope they won't mind. LOL

The illness curse...

Sorry I've been absent from the net. We had a big event at the store that really was a lot of fun. Then of course on Saturday night my cousin was commenting on how great it's been that I have been so healthy so far this season.

Spoke way too soon.

Sunday morning at 3 am I was sick as a dog! Up every half hour. YUCK. I still think that stomach sick is the worst type of virus to get.

So I slept all day yesterday. Maybe up for about 20 - 30 minutes at a time. I got to see the beginning or end of most of the Law and Order Criminal Intent marathon shows on USA. I was bummed that they would replay it, and I would still miss the end of a show I wanted to see how it ended up. LOL Love watching Chris Noth!! He's a hottie.

So, I'm better today. I can sit and stand for longer. Thanks for Ngoc for covering for me yesterday!! OMG, she's a trooper!!

And for my chatting buddies, hope to see you tonight after Heroes!!

Gourmet Krispy Treats...

Phil's making some of his gourmet krispy treats for our event this weekend. It's cool that he will do that for us, cause he is just so good at it! LOL

On the menu for this weekend so far is:

Chocolate Malted Krispy Treats
Coffee flavored Krispy treats
and a new one:
Toffee Flavored Krispy treats with Heath bar pieces in it. :)

And tomorrow night I think he's making cranberry krispy treats too.

I made some Peanut butter cookies tonight and some brownies
Yesterday made a batch of cornflake cookies.
Tomorrow I may do chocolate chip.

Did a ton of dips and a salsa.

So, hopefully people will show up. I hope so! LOL

Snowflake card

This is the second sample I did. I loved the different circle designs, so I used them as snowflakes. She said we could use stamps that we had at home, so I used a snowflake stamp to give it more of a christmas feel.

I have been into the snowflakes as of late, decorated the store in snowflakes, made this last card in snowflakes. They are just so pretty!

Now I can work on Christmas cards and ATC's. The pressure is off! WOOO HOOO!

Wednesday update

Well, I have one more sample to do, and I'm blocked. Thought I had a good idea, but I didn't like it. Then I lost one of the stamps. It's a clear stamp, and I dropped it, it bounced, and I have no idea where to. Will have to look more tonight between cookies and cards.

Yep, our store event is Friday and Saturday, so I'll be baking tonight and tomorrow. Got to finish that last card tonight while the cookies are baking too. Talk about waiting till the last minute! ROFL.

So, if I'm absent for a couple of days, you know why.

Sample card....

I am making samples for a LSS, and I'm not too sure if I like this one. It's in a style that I'm just starting to get into. I swear, it feels like the stamping world moved so far ahead of me. So, I created this tonight with a set by autumn leaves. I think I'll submit it anyway, but I'm still thinking that something is missing.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hope that everyone has a Happy Thanksgiving!

What are you all thankful for?

I'm thankful for my family, my friends, my kitties, and for the internet. For without the internet, I would not have made such good friends in my stamping buddies. Well, and my scrapping buddies as well. :) You all know who you are! LOL

Comic books

I just finished reading the Serenity Comic book. It was ok. I wish it were longer. Guess I'm used to the Manga books that are way long. LOL

For those of you who don't know me well, I LOVE comics, cartoons, animation, and anime.

When I was in grade school, I read lots of comic books. Loved the superheros. Batman and Robin, Superman, Supergirl, the Fantastic Four, and Spiderman were particular favorites. I also loved reading the funny ones like Archie, Disney, and Casper the ghost. I can just kick myself for not saving them. Can you imagine what they would be worth right now??

I would read them over and over again. And would love to watch them on the TV as well. I still love superheros today. I think Phil thinks it's funny how much I love going to see the movies like X-men, Spiderman, Batman, and the Fantastic Four. He only goes with me once in awhile to see them. He's not into those types of movies as much as I am.

But I loved the idea of people becoming heroes, helping others. The TV shows used to always have hero figures too. Not like now, where they glamorize the bad guys. We always knew that the police would be here to protect and to serve. Loved guys like starsky and hutch who could figure out a crime in an hour or two. Bad guys were always punished for their crimes.

Guess that's why I loved the comic books so much too....

Lazy Sunday

Today was a lazy day. Well, it didn't start out that way. We went to pick up my truck. It had been in the shop because I didn't pass the Smog Check. The timing was off and couldn't be adjusted. Well, we found out that there were parts that were actually broken, so the parts taking up the slack, just weren't doing their job... the nerve of them! LOL

Then we went to get it smogged. Luckily the place we called was having a grand opening sale, so I got $20 off my smog! YAY!

Phil and I went to breakfast, then picked up my truck, and it passed!!

Then I went to Borders. I love Borders. I could spend HOURS there, but found what I was looking for, the Serenity Comic Book.

I went home, and I really was going to work on some projects, and then went to sleep. Took a great nap, and got nothing else done the rest of the day. LOL

Guess I should enjoy it, cause there won't be many of those days between now and Christmas.

That's Cawazy!

OMG did you all see the people waiting in line for the playstation? That's just crazy! I am glad the kids are all over that, cause there's no way I'd wait in line to pay $600 for one of those. I'd rather put that money into a computer or something.

One of my friends waited in line for 24.5 hours! You know what I could do with 24.5 hours and $600?? That would be one fun shopping trip at stamper's warehouse, let me tell you!

But I guess everyone has their own thing. LOL

Go Emmitt!

Last night Emmitt and Cheryl won the Dancing with the Stars! OMG, I was so happy! I voted for him on all my different e-mail addys. Couldn't get through the phone at all. And I figured he had a ton of votes, cause I can usually get through once or twice when it's Idol call in time.

I think Cheryl must be a great teacher, cause she plays to her stars' strengths. I just loved it when Emmitt would dance, cause it just made me giggle. :) I thought Mario's freestyle was all over the place. Too many different elements that didn't flow together. But, that was just me. LOL

What is even funnier, is that Phil is just SO into the Dancing with the Stars. He actually wanted me to vote for him this year. He NEVER cares about voting. Not during any of the seasons of idols. Not during last year's DWTS. And he's so into figuring out how the point system works, why Emmitt should win over Mario, and OMG he even knows when they misstep! It's kind of scary actually. He's WAY more into it than I am.

Green Dangle Earrings

This is what I have been working on today. Green dangle earrings. Gold tone metal. I usually make my dangles in pinks and clear. But I decided on green cause they're for a friend of mine. Her favorite color is green.

Not sure if she'll like them. But I hope she will.

Uncle's old trunk

This is a trunk we found at my aunt's house. It belonged to my uncle. On the side it had the date of 1946. Can you imagine what this old trunk has seen? Where it's been? We think this may have been his trunk from when he and my aunt were in the internment camps during wartime.

It's so amazing to think of what kind of history was there in their home. They went through so much in their lives. It's so sad that it's too late to ask them about everything that happened with them.

Christmas is just around the corner...

Can you believe it is almost Christmas already? Thanksgiving is like Next week too! Where the heck has the year gone?

This week we'll be decorating the store. Lights, trees, everything. I think I'll wait for the tree part till Ngoc is here cause that is not one of my favorite things to do. LOL

I think the boys at home are sad that we don't decorate for Christmas. After being at the store all the time, and decorating there, I just don't feel like it when I get home. Maybe I'll have to take out the christmas stuff this year.

Is everyone ready for Christmas??

favorite Characters

Ok, now that i've bored you with my favorite scenes, I'll bore you even more with favorite characters...

Han Solo was always my favorite character. Who couldn't love Harrison Ford?? OMG, he was such a hottie!!

R2-D2 My favorite droid. Just love his spunkiness! He's smart, adventurous, and very loyal. His actions just crack me up!

Chewbacca Let the wookie win! He's scary, intimidating, but such a softie!

Boba Fett. Ok, the bad guy here, but just love him! He outsmarts Han, has very cool armor. Just think he's really cool.

General Grevious. OMG, I thought it was too dang cool when he opens up his cape, grabs 4 lightsabers and starts fighting with them ALL! He's a horrible mean guy, but the way they created him is so very cool! Part live parts, part mechanics. And it cracks me up when he starts crawling away from Obi Wan.

And LOVE Obiwan Kenobi! The Ewan McGregor version cause he's a hottie. And then Love Sir Alec Guinness. Ewan did such a great job catching Sir Alec's mannerisms too. :)

Sebulba is the particularly dangerous Dug that Anakin races against in the pod race. Sebulba has a dragon's head (Well to me). His character is really interesting. I love how they created his walk, and just his whole personality.

And Wedge is another favorite. He's in all 3 of the older episodes. He survives the battle at Yavin with Luke. He's in Empire, and also ROTJ. Always loved his character although he wasn't a main character. Just love that he's always there, and is a great pilot. And did you know that in real life he is the Uncle of Ewan McGregor???

Favorite scenes...

Now that I've been watching the Star Wars Marathon this weekend... Phil says it's going to warp my brains...NOT!

What are your favorite scenes in Star wars?

Episode 1: I love the Pod Race. It is such a fun sequence. Love the different characters, and just the excitement of it all! Is he going to win? Well, you knew he had to win, but it was exciting to see!! LOL

Episode 2: I have a ton of favorites in this film. LOVE the chase scene through Coruscant. Love the Arena fight. But I mostly love the connections that they were making of scenes in this movie to all the other ones. They really began to tie things together in this film. My favorite line in the movie is when Obi Wan tells Anakin, "YOu're going to be the death of me" Cause he really is in the 4th episode! LOL

Episode 3: This was a darker movie, of course. But my favorite scene was in the beginning where they are trying to "save" emperor palpatine. I love the dogfight scenes. And just love the elevator shaft scene. Love this movie cause of how it ties everything together to the earlier movies (eps 4-6). Didn't like Padme being so wimpy. But I guess she couldn't live after this episode, cause Anakin would be able to feel her presence.

Episode 4: Just love this whole movie, mainly for sentimental reasons. The opening scene is my favorite, cause I remember the WOW factor it had at the time. Love seeing Han Solo for the first time in the Cantina...sigh. And loved the end of the movie too. :)

Episode 5: This movie at the time, was very dark, not my most favorite of the series. Boba Fett was introduced for the first time, he's one of my favorite characters. The Asteroid field scenes were a favorite of mine, and loved it when they got to cloud city.

Episode 6: Love the speedbike scene where Luke and Leia are chasing the stormtrooper through the forest on Endor's moon. And love the fight sequence at the end with the ewoks. I loved this movie a lot just because of how it ended. Everything is well in the universe.

I have a bad feeling about this...

Ok, so I think the negative ions have overtaken my body or something. I swear, almost everything electrical in my life has taken a big dump. Latest casualty, my truck.

This morning, I get ready to leave for the store, early, mind you. And I get in my truck, turn it on, and the radio is going, light is on, but when you turn the key to start it, nothing. The dreaded Clicking noise.

Of course the boys had already left to go to breakfast. So I get in touch with Ngoc to open the store. Call Tina. And finally get in touch with Phil to tell him what is going on.

Turns out the battery in my truck as died. So, he figures we should jump start it, and it will charge when I get to the store....NOT.

Philip also tells me today that he thinks it's not the fan in the computer. That it's the power supply. Sigh. Electrical.

Of course the VCR's dumped a few weeks ago. And before that I swear, Every TV in the house decided to die at once.

Wonder what the heck is going on. I tell you, negative ions or something. LOL

Laugh it up, Fuzzball!

OMG so today on cinemax, they are playing ALL the episodes of Star Wars all in a row! OMG! Episodes 1 to 6!!! Can you believe it? I could sit there all day long if I didn't have to go to the store. And it's pretty much all weekend long too!

Ok, everyone who knows me, knows how BIG of a Star Wars fan I am. I can remember back in when Star Wars first came out in the movie theatre. I couldn't imagine what the big buzz was about. I mean it was a sci fi movie for God's sake! And back then, the special effects were pretty hokey on any movie.

SO, in we all go to the theatre, and sit down, watch the opening sequence with the words all scrolling on the screen. I'm thinking...O-Kay.....

Then the blockade runner comes on the screen with the Destroyer chasing it, and I'm hooked! I'm thinking: OMG! Where are the strings! How totally awesome is that???

And of course I fell in love with the movie right then and there. Didn't help that Han Solo was such a hottie too!!

So, I've seen every movie in the theatre multiple times. Own multiple copies of the movies on tape and DVD. And we won't even go there with the memorabilia. LOL

And yes, my sister calls me whenever her or her friends have a question on why this is happening, or what is that. Cause of course I've read the books too. LOL

The sad part of it all, I was so sad last night when I thought I can't sit there this weekend to watch any of it! I can't watch all the movies in a row cause there are other things I'm scheduled to do this weekend.

So, I'm thinking...Maybe I'll tape it!!! OK, think about it....Tape it? You've got them all on DVD and tape already. WHY tape it???? DUH.

Ok, I had a really DUH moment there.

ROFL!!

Velcro's new sleep spot

Velcro has a new sleep spot. She loves sleeping on the couch above Phil's head. LOL For some reason she loves sleeping above our heads. And she loves the new couch too.

It's my two grey hair peeps!

Oreo enjoying the night...

Oreo really REALLY enjoys it when we have a fire. He would like us to have a fire even if it was 78 degrees inside. He can hear us getting the wood ready from the back of the house. Then you see him run into the room to get close to the fire. I swear if he could find a way to get into the fire without getting burned, he would. LOL

And he'll sit there till he gets really REALLY hot on one side, so then I have to go and turn him over so he bakes evenly.

Stamp on Over

So, tonight I went to Stamp on Over, which is a stamp store within one of those craft boutiques. And I was totally amazed at the amount of stamps they had in the store. And they also had a bunch of accessories and other things. I really wasn't expecting them to have as much in there as they do.

Met my friend, Pat, there. And it was good catching up for a few minutes. We're on a design team for the store, so we went to pick up the stamps for the new samples we have to make. I was going to stop, but I really want to follow through with this. I am going to make time to do this, and be creative. (And I'm saying this while typing on the computer!) ROFL

It was fun talking to Pat, and I was glad I went to have an idea of what they carry in the store so that I know what I can and can't use. ALthough, Lisa was there, and she said we can use whatever we want, as long as we specify where we got it from, or if you can't get the stamp anymore, let them know so that no one searches for it. :)

I'll be stamping this weekend, I hope!

49ers moving??

OMG, could it be true? If they moved to Santa Clara, not so bad, but I hope they don't move to LA. What will my cousin do? she goes to every single home game. It's unreal, the thought that they could be gone. Our family have been 49er faithfuls since the old days before Joe Montana. What is Phil going to do? We can't be Raiders fans. YIKES! The thought!

They are going to have a news conference tomorrow. They are ending all talks with SF, and they are focusing on Santa Clara. PHEW! Breaking news.

At least they are going to stay in the area...I hope. They're staying in SF till 2008.

I hope they stay.

OMG, and now they are saying the A's are leaving Oakland! OMG! I hope they will go to Fremont! That would be cool. But if they move to sacto, no more games for us. :(

wow, lots of breaking news stories here!

Fun day in Santa Cruz

I had a wonderful day in Santa Cruz today! I was with my friends Debi and Joanne. We went to the Ivy Cottage first, they had a holiday open house thingy, and Debi's friend Monica has a display of stuff there, so we went to see what she had made. It was a really cool set up. I think it was a house or something, and they took all the doors out of the rooms so that you can walk through each room. And I think each room was by a different artist. There were some really great items there, I would tell you all what I bought, but I found a friend's Christmas gift there. And I know she reads my blog, so I'll say something after christmas. LOL

We then went to the Pacific Garden Mall. I love going out there. Lots of great boutiques. Gives me some ideas on what to do at our store. There is a store called Red Poppy that I LOVE! Can't afford too much in there, but it is set up really nicely. Big furniture pieces with lots of nick nacky stuff.

We had lunch at the Palomar inn. I LOVE lunch there. Very Delish. Had Sopas this time.

And then we just walked around. It was fun to see all the new things, things that we have at shadzz, and things we wouldn't carry. Pretty much a lot of the same stuff. Lots of really pricey clothes. And we also went to the bead store. What is great about that bead store is that they have a lot of inexpensive pewter charms. I use those in some of the bracelets I make, so it was fun to go there.

I just love hanging out with the girls, we have a great time and enjoy each other's company. No stress!

Great...

So, while chatting with my friend Deb tonight, my computer just shuts itself off. Right in the middle of a conversation. Turned it back on, it worked for like 2 minutes, then down it went again. Thought it was a dust problem, but now it looks like a CPU fan problem. Biggest clue, the strange smell emitting from the computer. Hopefully the computer will be ok. I downloaded most of my stuff from it just a few mins before it happened. I hope I didn't lose all my music there, but we'll see.

Got my old computer hooked up right now, so I hope that it will work for a bit.

Great...

Is anyone else tired of political ads?

I am getting so tired of all these political ads. Especially the ones where the candidates blast their running mates. I mean come on, what really makes you all think you're not going to raise taxes. You all ALWAYS say you're not going to raise taxes, yet we get more taxes.

And really, do you think you can really do all those things you've promised us to do? And what about the people who used to be in office who try to endorse different propositions and such. I mean, come on, you didn't get it done when you were in office. Why are you dissing anyone when you didn't get anything done yourself?

I miss regular commercials. But on the bright side, the election is Tuesday, so the ads should stop by then. :)

And Remember:

Women fought for the right to vote!

Finished with the danglies bracelet

I finished the bracelet for Debi. And it came out really cool! I love it! Lots of fun danglies. :) I really do hope that she likes it. I just love all the dangly beadies.

Polar Bear Jewelry

One of my friends is a big polar bear fan. I was at the bead show and found these really cool polar bear beads, so I made her a bracelet and earrings. They look like little gummy bears! LOL

Just something simple, but fun.