Back from racing...

Kieffer brought home a first place trophy from his last months race at the Grand Prix ...

but next month he won't...

 because he went over the bars and crashed and then called it quits...

no worries he is fine...

a little sore...

anyway... another grampa story for you...

We are sitting down at dinner and Grampa asked for a dish...

so I passed it to him and said

 "Be Careful Dad its hot - oh... nevermind you love everything HOT, steaming Hot"

he does too! 

Kameron says "Grandpa loves his coffee, like he loves his woman... steaming hot and $2.95"

Grandpa says "Oh Hell, the price went up again?"

 

Another race a different day...

Good Sunday Morning...

Hope I didnt freak you all out with Kieffer's scab today ;)

Anyway he is racing a 45 minute / 3 mile Grand Prix in Novice at Glen Helen today... an endurance race that seperates the men from the boys... they do it once a month...

I am driving out there again with Grandpa and Kieffer's friend Joe... I am coming later because 6am to 6pm is way too long of a day for Grampa... Sam said he missed me not going yesterday morning with them... I said "That kind of talk will get you everywhere Mr."

Ok... another Grandpa moment for you...

Yesterday, we came home and started watching the Rams and Chargers football game - somehow we got on the subject of Alaska... Grampa LOVES Alaska... [if you recall Grampa took Sams Scout troop hiking up to Mt. Wilson - both sides - first troop to accomplish this - so he is a mountain man at heart]

Grampa says "I LOVE Alaska, many people find that hard to believe"

I said "But there is no woman in Alaska" 

he said "Yes there is!"

I said "There is?"

he said "Sure...... but you might have to pay for them"

OMG!!! I swear he loves shocking us with his comments!

 

Hark! it let me post!

Good Saturday Morning,

Its 6:35am and I just said good-bye to Sam, Kam and Kieffer... they are headed to Glen Helen Raceway in San Bernardino, Ca... [sounds like San Brrr-na-dino]

 

[Geography lesson -San Bernardino County is the largest county in the contiguous United States by area, containing more land than each of nine states. The County is larger in area than the states of Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Delaware combined. ] 

 

Did you know that? See you learn something new everyday! We actually live on the border of S.B. County and Riverside County... When I drive to the High Desert house I cross the line...

 

Oh! I almost forgot... we had rain yesterday for 3 minutes! A thunderstorm came up and then poof was gone!

Send rain please!

 

Well,... I better get in the shower and then wake up Grampa... then we will drive out to Glen Helen and watch Kieffer race in the Nervous Class [Novice] we call it the Nervous Class because you have a bunch of kids with a wide range of skills in that class ... you have the beginners, who are now Novice's... and you have the sandbagging Intermediates that don't want to bump up a class, and the rest inbetween!  Kieffer should be fine he took a 6th last weekend and it was his first time in Novice at the REM track at Glen Helen... pretty good... Kameron is practicing only [broken knuckle wakeboarding 3 weeks ago]

 

I dont think I told you but my camera broke at the Lake but the good news is I just got it back from Canon andits fixed woo hoo...all nice and clean too! I used it so much in the past 3 years, I rubbed off the serial number! So they gave me a new one ;) A new serial number not a new camera... I WISH!

 

I have one Grampa story for you... Yesterday, I was going through a stack of cards with him [a deck of cards for playing poker] Grandpa used to play so many cards in the service he knows all the tricks... anyway we have a box of them... all jumbled up... so we were going through the box to make a full deck... Finally, when we were done I said... "OK... now your playing with a full deck!" and I smiled teasing him...

he smiled back "and lets keep it that way!" Everyone laughed... 

 

Well that's all folks

 

you'all come back now hear!

Don and Sweet Sue's

This morning Sam took me to breakfast at a local place called Don and Sweet Sues... the place has the best food... its always packed... it should be... the owner is the father in the Walton's show...  

I forget his real name... Ralph I think ... anyway he passed away a few years back... but the place is still going strong... 

So after we ate, we had to go to an old job we finished a year ago... why?  because a hose flooded the place while the owners were in Alaska on their yacht...

I wish I had my camera... sometimes I feel so poor after going to those homes...  

 Architectural Digest...So unbelievable! 

Thankfully... the Picasso was fine...

anyway... Sam is stressing because it is something we did...

the owner wanted one of those eye camera things in the bathroom with the faucet... you know those kind where it knows your standing there and turns on the water with no handles...

Well, the plumbing to do that was $1,700... the owner said "No, cant you just hook it up another way?"  Sam said "sure"  well over the course of a year the clamp moved, and moved and moved just the slightest bit with every use and BAM a flood while they are away... 

Sam is worried... our insurance said they wont cover it... I think they would they just say that at first anyway...  I think the owners will work with us on it... they said they only want our crew to fix it... they are happy with us... they should be.... remember we replaced a piece of 20 ft glass doors at our expense because of a chip in the glass ...$15,000 we had to eat! 

Anyway the owners come home on Saturday to their beautiful home - in a BIG mess...

Where is customer service like that when I need it?

Nextel really ticked me off last week...

My phone just shuts off for no reason... constantly... and we pay for insurance... so I call up the insurance...

Long story short - "Sorry, your not covered for that..."

"Wait let me get this straight... so I am not covered for defects with your phone however if I dropped the phone or threw it against a wall I would be covered... is that correct?"

"Yes, that is correct"

So I call Nextel and get "Sorrybut we are not affiliated with the insurance company and can't help you with your claim, you have to talk to them"

"You know what, get me a supervisor"

12 minutes later

"This is Susie supervisor how can I help you"

"Susie, My company has been a loyal Nextel customer for 7 years... we currently have 9 phone numbers with you... and being in a customer service business myself.. I find it very hard to believe you will not bend over backwards to make me a satisfied customer... that you will sacrifice an account of 7 years because you are not affiliated with the insurance company? All I want is a new phone, I pay the insurance and quite frankly I am ready to close my account with Nextel at the end of this conversation if I am not a satisfied customer when I hang up..."

Lets just say... I was MORE than a satisfied customer when I hung up...

but man why does it have to get to that? 

Where is customer service anymore?

I remember "The customer is King" slogans...

What happened?

Owwwweeeee.....

 

First I just wanna say.... I'm gonna get my kids... when they least expect it... they better expect it...I brought them into this world and I can take them out...

Oooo.... I am hurting! We go to the Gym yesterday... they start telling Eric [my trainer] "She said yesterday she loves doing legs ...its easy...easier than doing upper body"

Eric says "Oh really..."

I had to do [3] 3 minute 75 vertical feet hikes... plus all the machines...

I swear to you in the middle of the night when I went to roll over it felt like someone took a baseball bat to my legs and it woke me up!

Also...I have never in my life realized how LOW a toilet is! 

I should have known it was going to be rough when he said...

"Now make sure you go home and eat something or your going to be sick"

Actually I felt GREAT yesterday... today... if I could move fast enough I'd beat my kids... j/k

Oh ya and  I forgot to mention Grandpa will be here at 5pm

Payback time...

"Hey Boys time for you to clean the house up because Mom can't move"

 

My day...

7:30am up and making coffee, let dogs out, let back in, feed dogs,take big garbage cans out to the curb because someone forgot uh hum...

8am kiss Sam goodbye because he was heading to Newport Beach House [1 hour 45 minutes away] to meet landscape guy and painters

8:15am jump in shower to go to gym - [sounds stupid but that trainer gets pretty close if ya know what I mean]

8:40am wake up Kameron Kieffer and Kieffer's friend Lance... for Gym

9am - 10am Gym

10:15am drive through Jack in the Box for bowl of fruit and orange juice- Wish we had a Jamba Juice nearby- you have one?

10:30am eat with kids at home

11:00am jump back in shower, get dressed, get dogs hooked up with leashes

12:00pm drive back to High Desert House [40 minutes away] to meet the alarm company between 2 and 4pm..

2pm - finished reading Prey by Micheal Crighton - turned on Harry Potter movie [1st one]

3pm-Alarm guy calls he's 45 minutes away... Grrrrrr ugh

3:30pm he shows up and puts in ear splitting sirens in the house and garage [atleast the neighbors will know bad guys are trying to break in I guess]  Gigi and Rider were NOT happy with testing them!

5pm - drive back home

6pm - get home open the door and smell the BEST food... OMG my husband is a Great Cook...

Mostacholli Noodles, Sausage, broccoli, califlower, carrots, red peppers, yellow pepper... OMG!!!!! it was so good... but it always is when he cooks [which is almost everyday... am I the luckiest girl in the world or what!]

6:30pm we sit down for dinner - Kam Kieffer Sam Me and Lance...

7pm - I clean up kitchen... he cooks I clean up...

7:30pm we all start watching Unique Whips... is that place on Long Island Ellen?

8pm - Here I am with you...

That was my day... kinda boring huh!

 

we are back home

I am tired... and I didn't even do any concrete ;)  UGH!  Good thing we happened to be up there because the new pipes on the sprinkler system went off at 6am this morning and we had another mini flood! I guess the joint somehow wasn't glued and the PVC pipe came out of the joint... water everywhere... Could have been worse... again we got lucky... I am still trying to convince Sam the glass is half full tho!  He says things like "Can I get a break please"

Anyway... things were lovely up there inside the house... the house door has been open for a week right... around the corner from us the people have about 17 horses... [horse shoe maker]

So, can you imagine about 500 flies in the house! I am not kidding when I say I felt like an Ethiopian Child doing an adoption video...

I could NOT get rid of all of them either.... ICK...

We had to sleep under the covers! It was so bad I was saying "Can I get a break, please" then we woke up to the mini flood!

Kameron and Kieffer took their 50cc bikes up there to ride and like a dummy Kieffer decided to ride with out a shirt [about 101 degrees - 10 degrees cooler than here]

anyway... the bike stalled he went down and he is a big scab, down his side...

they never listen - dress for the crash - not for the ride!

[Did I tell you he raced in the Novice class last Saturday and took a 6th place? Pretty good!]

Kameron isn't racing right now because he broke his knuckle in Lake Havasu wakeboarding - no cast - Dr. said he wants him moving his hand and using it...

OMG I just saw the fire on the news in LA by the Griffith Observatory...  I am telling you LA and Southern California is a BIG FIRE waiting to happen - EVERYWHERE is so brown, with dying trees...  It is SO dry here you have no idea!

We havent had rain in so long I cant tell you... probably a year!

Send rain here!!!

One last thing...

Phil you and your family are in my thoughts and prayers... Big Hugs Honey

 

Grrrr.... not again

I just got home from working out and we are heading up to the High Desert House because we are pouring concrete in the morning...

Well get this... I get home and find out someone pried our side door up there open and tried to break in... the good news is they didnt take anything...

they must have busted the door open... saw the alarm lights go off... the phone must have rang and they ran...

Kris and another guy who works for us went up early to finish the rebar for the concrete and found the door kicked in...

We got a call from the alarm company about 6 days ago about the door but because the motion hadn't gone off we didnt dispatch the police... they didnt enter into the house... because when Kris walked in he set off the motion alarm and we got another call...

Whew... damn... are we lucky or what!

Sam is in a negative mood... its just another thing he has to deal with when we go up there... boarding up the broken door...

I say - ya it sucks - but it would really suck if everything was gone!

So we should be happy not bummed - right?  the glass is half full!

Well I gotta go for now - talk to ya in 2 days - I am going to go make 2 doggies very happy - all I have to say is -

"Do you wanna go see the birdies and the bunnies?" and they know exactly what I mean...

They are SO very happy up there being Weimariners... makes me feel guilty for having them couped up here... [since I can't walk them in my hood anymore... btw - never heard a peep over that dog Rider rag dolled that attacked us in the street months ago]

Ok... bye...

I feel guilty but not enough to pick up the phone...

Kieffer is home schooling this year...  we have done it before when he was on 6 weeks IV antibiotics and when he broke his femur...

Personally, I like it better... I know what he is accomplishing and learning... plus he doesn't have the distraction of girls and other stuff.. and I dont have to get up early... I dont have to make up excused excuses for MX races... etc...

Plus all of his credits are transferable incase he wants to go back for Senior year... [its his Junior Year]

Anyway... if you recall... I sold all the ads and made the football program every year... ran the Team Meal... and did the photography... for the football team...

Well... since Kieffer broke his leg almost a year ago August 28... he is not going back to football... he is not going back to high school this year [Coach knows this...]

So obviously, I am not doing the other stuff I always did...

Anyway... I guess they are doing ok... nobody has called me... I still have the accounting box and all the forms but I do not want to call them... because I know Ill get sucked into doing something...

So... I guess Ill just feel a little bit guilty for not calling ;)

or maybe not

 

My rambling mind...

I have no idea what I am going to tell ya right now...  but just try to keep up ok...

I woke up to the news Merv Griffin died today... Wow... he was a pretty big part of this valley... he has a hotel on Hwy 111

 [thats Highway One Eleven for you tourists its the main street that runs along the mountains in the coachella valley...]

One time about 25 years ago I am in Vons [grocery store] at about 10pm at night... When I hear this voice... I turn around and who is standing in line but Zsa Zsa Gabor and Merv Griffin...the limo was waiting outside...

Another time about 20 years ago my friend was a Page at the Merv Griffin Show in Hollywood and said come by and see the show... so I did... I remember Tom Jones was the guest... I have no idea what the man sang because the bulge in his tight pants was freaking me out the whole time...

I remember growing up watching Merv Griffin, Dinah Shore and Mike Douglas... I also remember the day Oprah started her show and the day MTV started...

I also think the Wheel of Fortune show is prejudice against tall people... My friend tried out so many times I got sick of going with her... She passed all the tests with flying colors... she was also 5'11... Now that show has been on 20 years probably... How many guests do you see towering over the teeny tiny host?

Anyway... Nick left almost a week ago... back to Florida... he told his Mom...

"Do I look like Ive lost weight Mom?" [a good thing in his eyes]

I said  "OMG! Kim I swear I fed him"

She said "Oh I know you did... [she laughs] he says there is no junk food in your house"

"There is no junk food in my house...? really?  he said that?"

Wow that kind of threw me for a loop... I guess you are not gonna find cookies, candy, or ice cream... but I bet I could hunt down a bag of chips, some sugary cereal and a Dr. Pepper... thats junk food to me... 

If Kim wants to believe we sit around eating sprouts and granola... who am I to bust her bubble...

What exactly IS Junk Food anyway...

 

 

 

Just Mary's Entry

I was reading Mary's entry a few minutes ago and I realized I forgot to tell you some stuff...

Last week during X-Games we were in Carson Ca... well Grampa [I call him Dad even tho he is Sam's Dad] lives in Carson about 5 minutes from X-Games... I would never forgive myself if I didn't go by to say hello and take him to dinner...

Ok stop the story... side trip...

[the reason I would never forgive myself if I didnt go and he passed away is this...  Oh hell I wasnt going to go into this... but...  ugh...  Lisa Jo... I do not know how you do this everyday...pouring your heart out... the good and the bad...

Anyway... the reason is because when I was 14 years old I was suppose to go see my father in Pasadena, while I was at the Rose Parade... [January 1st ] I was having so much fun with my friends I blew it off and didnt go... he died January 9th... My Mother said he died of a broken heart... [heart attack]

Ya... nice... that took me years to get over...

 

now back to my story about Grampa...

It has been a few years since I have been to Grandpa's house because I usually have Candice go get him and bring him down

[remember she was in L.A. in college for 4 years]

so I am driving around looking for familiar streets, and I notice we are in the old part of Gardena... not gang bang Compton but not so nice part of town - which can happen when you get lost in LA... so I say

"Uh...Houston we have a problem... I think we are the only white people in this area"

So Kris says "Uh Ya... we are sticking out like a needle in a haystack"

Kieffer says laughing... "What did you just say Kris?  I dont think we are sticking out like a needle in a haystack...We are sticking out like a red thumb maybe""

I am thinking in my mind... whoa.. why didnt I catch that... if Kieffer hadn't been in the car I never would have caught that.. Maybe I AM a dumb blonde... or  I am getting old...

then I hear...

"or maybe like a whore in church but not a needle in a haystack"

"Kieffer...!"

now they are laughing and it won't stop...

We finally make it to Grampa's house and I say "Now you guys behave!"

we walk up to the door and I knock "Dad its Kendra are you home" I know he is home with his caretaker from Brazil, who Dad loves because she sounds like his Mother from Portugal"

Next thing we hear are locks unlocking... it sounds like he lives in New York and there must be 15 locks on the back of the door!... about a minute goes by...

We all look at each other like "What the Hell?"

 the boys are trying not to laugh, hands over their mouths...

Finally the door opens and Grandpa is a very happy man... almost as happy as the giggling boys I now have!

I turn to shut the front door and see two locks on the back... poor Dad must have been unlocking one and locking the other...

God I love my FIL...

He gets ready and we take him out to dinner...

We are at dinner and our meals come... Kieffer had some cheeseburger and took the tomatoes off..

Grandpa sees this

"Kieffer, your not going to eat those?"

"No Grampa"

"I always get tomatoes on my sandwiches, I love them!"

"I always get tomatoes on mine too... then... I take them off"

[the boys start giggling again]

Grampa laughs with them too... he is a happy man...

He is coming to stay for 5 days this Friday so get ready for the next adventure of Grandpa