My thoughts exactly...

Conversations with a dying man

2009-09-06T09:16:00.000-07:00

This week Manny's health was going downhill...

Yesterday I went to his house after making his favorite meal Corned Beef, cabbage and potatoes...

When I arrived he was in bed... he was sleeping... so I rubbed his arm to wake him up and let him know I was there...

He declared in a raspy voice "I think I am dying" I said softly "I know Honey"
"You do?" "Ya, you have been declining all week" "Do you think I will make it through the night?" "I don't know... Do YOU think you'll make it through the night?"
"I don't know... I don't think so..." "Okay then... what do you want to do?" "I don't wanna go to the hospital" "Ok... you dont have to go to the hospital... I'll stay with you" "Ok... I'm sorry Kid, you won't get paid anymore" I laughed "Manny it was never about the money... I would have done it for free" "I know"
"Do you want some food? I brought your favorite meal" "Ok... just some potatoes"

So I went and got some out of the bowl... It was very hot when I brought it over to him... So I mushed some of the potatoes up and started spoon feeding one to him...
He looks at me... frowns and says... "I'm dying and your feeding me cold potatoes!" I laughed so hard... then teased him "Ok... I'll go heat them up... sheesh... who knew you were gonna get all picky for your last meal..." and he laughed back...
He had a few bites and then started drifting between this world and the next... I sat on the side of his bed, spoon in hand, when he starts talking to someone... looking at them, using hand gestures... I just sat there... Ive seen that happen before and it always fascinates me... It happened with my Mom and Grampa... I find it comforting... It solidifies my belief that there is something on the other side waiting...
Suddenly, he comes back to this world... smiles embarrassed and shrugs his shoulders... as if to say "Oops... you busted me acting crazy"
"It's ok... are you seeing people from the other side Honey?"
"No" he says too quickly and I know he is lying
"Its ok if you do... its common to see those who have already died coming to help you to the other side... Are you sure your not seeing anyone?"
"No" [translation... I am a Marine from WWII and that is too weird to talk about]
"Ok, I gotta go call Sam and tell him I am staying with you..."
"Ok" and he drifts back to the other side...

A few hours go by... I just sit there in a chair, playing with the kitten... watching him, constantly moving... He can't get comfortable... His poor body is full of cancer and he is not on any medication for pain... Its his Marine mentality... He is a tough guy...
Finally by 8pm, he decides he wants to go to the VA Hospital... [Its 80 miles away but I dont care... Its the hospital he wants]
I called Sam to help me get him into the car because Manny can't walk...
Sam comes over and carries him to the car...
On the drive there he says... "You did a great job taking care of me Kid!" "Awww thanks, you better become an angel in heaven and watch over me okay?" "Ok... I'll wave at you once in awhile" I laugh... "Ok" "I'm going to miss you Manny" "I'm gonna miss all of you too" [he means Sam and the kids]
and he drifts off again...
Long story longer...
I stayed with Manny till he was admitted to the VA hospital... "I am going to die here" he states in a whisper by now..."You want to die here Manny?"I need to be sure I understand "Yes" "You dont want to go home?" "No I want to die here" "Ok... I love you and I will be back this weekend if your still here..." He smiles and he is asleep again...
He is still alive... but barely at the VA...
It was THE perfect dying conversation I ever could have had with him... I said what I needed to say, he did the same, it wasn't emotional and sad... it was matter of fact and funny...
It was PERFECT...

Then...

At 3am...

I cried all the way home... because I would really miss 'My Manny Man the Marine'

Moonshine &

2009-05-03T16:41:00.001-07:00

Yesterday my oldest son Kris [27] and two of his friends came up to our house... to ride motorcycles... one of his friends just got a bike...
Anyway... I had already invited Manny for some of my famous baby back ribs... I make THE BEST ribs you have eaten... Seriously... I do... Ask Nurse Pam or Gram Pam they are the BEST!!!

So I was a little worried I might not have enough with Kameron and Kieffer up here also... but I did... Whew...

Wait... that is not the point of my story... The point is 'My Manny Man'...

{For those of you who don't know...Manny is my 83 yr old neighbor who I thought died a couple of months ago because he was in the ICU at the VA Hospital for 2 months and when I found out he didn't die... I have been spoiling him rotten... He said he loved baby back ribs one day and I said "Manny you haven't had good ribs till you've had mine"}

So back to my story...

At 5pm on the dot... here comes Manny with a bottle in his hand... He hands it to me and says "I brought some white wine for dinner" I thanked him and left him with the boys to talk... I was laughing to myself as I walked in the house looking at the bottle...

If this bottle had white wine in it... I was the Pope!!! My first clue was the screw off top... my second clue was the 80 proof title!!! My third clue was the name... OMG... ever heard of "AALBORG AKVAVIT" The Danish National Drink??? Jim? You guys drink this in the Area 51??? Hhhhhhmmmmm??? I was cracking up...

I didn't serve it with dinner... I knew this stuff was more like Russian vodka than white wine... So I waited till afterwards... Hey I didn't want to be rude and NOT serve it yanno...

OH BOY... I think it was 'Danish White Lighting Moonshine'... Whew... one sip was enough! Even Manny takes a sip and says "I feel dizzy' LOL

Kameron took a sip and then said in a Russian accent "Make you strong... like Bull"

Moonshine &

2009-05-03T16:41:00.000-07:00

Vegas story number 1

2009-04-29T10:30:00.000-07:00

Above Lance and Kieffer at the Go Carting place

Kieffer and Kameron

The Go Carts

Kieffer after taking his helmet off

Time for practice at the World Mini Grand Prix Weeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hey Ya'all,
Back from racing in Las Vegas at the World Mini Grand Prix... We left last Saturday to put the truck and trailer in line [so we can get a good place inside the gate]
Usually there are 3,500 racers attending this race...
After dropping the truck and trailer off we went to Sam's Town and checked in...
Sam, Me, Kieffer, Kameron and Kieff's friend Lance... We had 2 days to play in Vegas before the racing started... We took the boys over to a cart racing place... They have these really fast go carts... Kameron and Kieffer had the top times of the week... LOL
Afterwards, we went to New York, New York and Kieffer and I rode the roller coaster... Kameron doesn't like roller coasters... WTH is up with that? This is a kid who flies through the air on a motorcycle, 5th gear tapped... but he won't ride a roller coaster? He says its because he is in control of it... Doesn't like it when he is not the one in control... I still think its weird...
Later we took the boys to the 'Body Exhibit' at the Luxor... They loved it... If it comes to your town go see it... Its real human bodies... An Anatomy Book come to life!

Monday - The gates opened and we were allowed in to set up camp at the races...
Tuesday - Practice started... Kieffer was complaining about his wrist all day... When Kieffer complains about pain, I take it seriously... He has a HIGH pain tolerance! So I took him over the mobile x-ray unit at the track... Its free, but they like donations... I have NO PROBLEM giving them a donation... WAY better than going to an orthopedic yanno!
So they xray Kieffer's wrist and say "Oh its your broken wrist from a couple of years ago acting up" Kieffer and I look at each other? We were thinking... Uhhhh What broken wrist? See what I mean... he has a very high pain tolerance! That kid is going to drive me to drink!!!

Stay tuned... LOL

I'm HOME... Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2009-04-20T18:58:00.000-07:00

I am home from the National races in Las Vegas... Had a blast!!! Are you ready for some stories?

Oh boy... the stuff that happens to me LOL...

However I need some sleep...

Missed you guys!! Bunches!!!

What I wanted to say... but I have been drinking... shhhhhh

2009-03-31T20:11:00.000-07:00

Ok... forgive me for this entry but I am 3 sheets to the wind...

3 Ameretto Disarrono's with O.J.

Not O.J. Simpson... orange juice... I did meet O.J. Simpson once but that is another story...

Whoa time out...

3 sheets to the wind... what does that mean anyway?

Where in H E double hockey sticks did that come from anyway?

Was someone doing laundry drunk and lost a sheet?

I mean...seriously?

Ok... never mind... anyway...

Your probably wondering why I decided to have a few 'toddies' on a Tuesday night right?

Well I had to 'play' real estate agent yesterday... Sometimes in life... you have ta be a grown up and sometimes people drive you crazy... yesterday was one of those days...

I won't go into details... just this... I am the listing agent on a commercial building...

this agent brought in buying clients...

I have never met this agent before but I was a little taken back by his dress attire...

Normally.... Real Estate Agents dress in suits... or nice slacks and button up shirts...

however this is in Southern California... so technically anything goes... ok...

Now... imagine... a white guy in his 50's maybe 60's... balding...

Walks in wearing... white tennis shoes, white socks, white shorts - mid thigh,
white polo shirt... collar up...

Message to me was clear...

"Hi... I wish it was the 80's... I just finished watching 'Risky Business' for the 800,000 time,
I wish I played tennis this morning... but my tan says I did not... hopefully you won't notice that... I think I know more than you in real estate... and every chance I get... I am going to act like that for my clients.... and your name is?"

I wanted to say...

"Hi... my name is... 'I think you look ridiculous'... why don't you go sell that car you are driving [1974 white convertible Mercedes coupe] while I talk to your clients... I mean after all... we are 'ALL' ignoring you anyway... I mean seriously... "Dude... WTF?"

Can you guys tell... This guy bugged the HELL outta me...

We were ALL ignoring him... I guess he decided he needed to EARN his commission because he says at the end of the meeting...

"We need to have a meeting on ...."How you decided on your asking price" with a fake laugh...

like I was out in left field with my price...

I wanted to say so bad...

"Ohhh I just pulled the number outta my ass..."

"Really... it was because the numbers flowed together so well... don't you agree... they just roll off the tongue in a natural way..."

HELLO... ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

Your clients are salivating, wanting to move in next week...

You better shut up before I FIND a tennis racquet and smack you upside the head with it...

Opps... Did I say that?

Sorry it was the laundry...

I am 3 sheets to the wind...

Where the HELL is that other sheet anyway?

How sad... our thoughts and prayers are with the family

2009-03-29T19:07:00.000-07:00

We just found out the families killed in that plane crash in Montana were family members of Glen Helen Raceway... [Our hometown track that we race at] When I go to Glen Helen, I always stop in to see Betty Feldcamp, the mother of Bud Feldcamp... She is 80 something years old and I always enjoy visits with her... [Betty called me last year and wanted me to have Bud do my teeth but I had already had the oral surgery with someone else] Anyway, my point was... That
is how well we know the family...

Our thoughts and prayers are with them... We were driving home from Texas when we heard the story on the radio...

First we heard of the plane crash... an hour later they reported about the families with children
on board... then they reported they crashed into a cemetary... and I said to Sam... "Could this story get any more tragic? How horrible!"

My prayers go out to Bud... I can not imagine losing 2 daughters and 5 grand children...

Below is the AP story in case you have not heard...

The Associated Press is now reporting that the plane owned by Glen Helen Raceway owner Bud Feldkamp that crashed in Montana on Sunday contained three California famlies traveling to the Yellowstone Club for a skiing vacation. Among those killed in the crash were two of Feldcamp's daughters and their families.
The victims included two of Feldcamp's daughters, Amy Jacobson of St. Helena, California, and Vanessa Pullen of Lodi, California, Jacobson's husband, Erin. Their children, Taylor, 4, Ava, 3 and Jude, 1, also died in the crash as did Pullen's husband, Michael, and their children Sydney, 9, and Christopher, 7.
Feldkamp, a pilot, was not flying the plane and instead was driving with one of his sons to meet family members for the ski trip in Bozeman, Montana.
The flight was scheduled to fly from Oroville, California, to Bozeman, but after the single engine turboprop plane was en route, the pilot notified air traffic controller he was diverting to Butte, according to an Associated Press report.
The plane ended up crashing just short of the Bert Mooney Airport in Butte. National Transportation Safety Board members are currently investigating the area of the crash - the Holy Cross Cemetery. So far, no cause of the crash has been given.
Butte Silver-Bow Sheriff John Walsh told the AP that there were a few people at the cemetery at the time of the crash, but no one on the ground was injured.
It was the worst plane crash in America since a commuter plane last month fell on a house in a suburb of Buffalo, New York, killing all 49 passengers and a man in the home.
Phone calls to Glen Helen haven't been returned.
The plane took off from Brown Field Municipal airport in San Diego on Saturday evening and flew to Redlands. It then left Sunday morning for Vacaville. From there it flew to Oroville and on to Butte, according to AP reports.

All my stalkers live in Texas, thats why I hang my hat in CA

2009-03-27T12:32:00.000-07:00

I have been so busy I forgot to tell ya'all about my stalker in Texas!

I don't know why weird stuff like this happens to me but it does...

Last week, we desperately needed our trailer pumped out... The pooper pumped! So my sister in law Tina and I head out on the golf cart to find the pooper pumper guy... Sam said he saw the guy driving around looking for customers... We look and look... NOTHING... this is not good because its coming up the toilet in the trailer... [sorry I know that was graphic but you need to know how desperately we were looking for the guy...] We went to the main gate and asked if he left for the day? Nope he is still in the MX park they tell us... "Ok well DON'T let him leave, until he comes by site 171" Ok they say...
Then we find him... I must have looked so HAPPY to see him! because for some reason the guy hugged me as I approached him... Can you say... EEeeeeewwwww... The pooper pumper guy hugged me!!!!!!!!!!!!
I asked him to come by site 171 when he left this motorhome and he said "I was next on his list... be right there"
An hour later... ? He shows up... but I am leaving on the golf cart to watch a race... so I leave him with Sam...
I guess he asked Sam "Is that your wife?" Sam said "Yes" "Awww too bad, I kinda like her, she is purtee" Sam laughed
I get back and Sam is teasing me... "You got a secret admirer... Kendra... you might want to consider leaving me for him... start a new life... you could be Mrs. Pooper Pumper"
everyone laughs
"Hey... you better knock it off... I just might do that... he is number 1, in the number 2 business" everyone laughs...

Later that day... we see Mr. Pooper Pumper in the food court area...
"Kendra don't look now but here comes your secret admirer" Tina says
I am sitting in the golf cart... he touches my knee.... eeeeeewwwww...
"How long ya gonna be here? I'll be here till Sunday" he says all excited
"Yup me too" I say and think... please don't kidnap me
"Well if ya need another pumping... let me know"
"I don't think we will, but if we do... Ill come find ya" inside my head I'm thinking please don't touch me again...
[Sam said he never wore gloves during the pumping... Ewwwwww]

Hang on... I gotta take another shower just typing this story....

The next day... Tina and I are on the back of the golf cart when she spots him... So she calls out to him and waves...
I coulda killed her...

Not 5 minutes later, he comes into our camping area and makes a beeline for me...

Please dont touch me... Please don't touch me... I am thinking

Everyone stops what they are doing to enjoy the show... with smirks on their faces...

"Hi... what camp is this? because I am looking for site 164... I have to go there next"
"Uhhh.....This is 171"
"Oh ok... thanks and he walks off"

Everyone waits till he is gone... then they bust out laughing... "TINA... don't do that again!!!" I chase after her like I am in high school

I heard so much crap about him... LOL

"Awww Kendra, Even Pooper Pumper Men need love"
"I bet he pumps really good too"
"They don't call them Honey Dippers for nothing!"

"OMG... you guys need to SHUT the HELL UP"
"Oh... I bet he could clean your potty mouth... really well"

All I can say is... At least my stalker... was number 1 in the number 2 business!!!!

I gotta go take another shower...

EEEEeeeeeewwwwwwwwwwwwwwww...........................

My day with Manny yesterday... that man can EAT!!

2009-03-26T16:13:00.000-07:00

Ok so yesterday I took Manny to town with me... He was so happy to have someone else driving... I took him to his bank, we went to my bank and then I asked him to lunch at Sizzler... I told him he would be doing me a favor, because no one in my family likes Sizzler and I crave double Malibu chicken... [Gram Pam and Nurse Pam know this huh!]
So he was all excited... I ordered my Double Malibu Chicken with salad bar and he ordered a salad bar... then he ordered coffee... and then he asked if they had 'Sanka' coffee...
WTH I haven't heard the word Sanka in years... then he changed it to diet Pepsi...

Oh boy... let me tell you... I have never seen anyone eat so much in my life! We were there for 3 hours!!! He had broccoli cheese soup, then ate the french fries off my plate, then he ate 4 plates of spaghetti with meatballs, with chicken wings... then he ate 2 bowls of ice cream... and drank 4 large glasses of Diet Pepsi! WHOA!!!

Two months ago, I would have been chanting 'patience is a virtue' in my head... but yesterday I sat back and enjoyed it all... soaking it in... grateful for the second chance...

A Marine and his son were seated next to us... when they got up to leave Manny says
"Are you a Marine?" the man says "Yes, 13 yrs now" then they start talking Marine tech talk... Manny says "What is your M something or other" the guy says "Recruiting" then Manny says "No your original M something?" the man says "artillery" Manny says "Me too"
The man says "Its all different now... kind of like a video game" "Does your son do the 30 inch walk?" they laugh, I have no idea what they are saying LOL "Where did you go to boot?" blah blah blah... then Manny has to shake his hand... and does that "Go ahead squeeze as hard as you can... not too bad for 83 huh" The man laughs... He clearly enjoyed this conversation... Manny thanks him for serving...

I just sit back and watch... Manny is having a good day... Which I realize is a blessing to see... He tells me its a great day for him "I got to go to town with a beautiful woman, and she bought me lunch! It doesn't get any better than this!!" I laugh..
He calls me 'Kid' a lot...
"You know Kid, life is short... in the blink of an eye its gone... it goes by too fast... enjoy every day!"
"Manny, maybe the other side is pretty good too yanno?"
"Ahhhh... I wanna stay here... I got things to do... the VA says I only have 2 months... I hope they are wrong... what do you think? You think I only got 2 months?"
"Nah... I think you got longer than that... look how good you eat!" he laughs
"I don't wanna go yet... I got things to do..."
"Ya? Like what? What do you want to do?" I am ready to start a 'Bucket List' LOL
the things he wants to do are all home maintenance... [stuff that would take a day to fix]
"Ok so when those things are done... you'll be ready to go then?" I tease and he laughs
He just wants to stay...
He is struggling with his mortality... he is afraid he will get so sick he can't stay in his house...
"For the first time in my life... I FEEL old..." he says reflecting
"Well, I hope the first time I feel old is when I am 83 yrs old, Manny!" he laughs "I know... I keep forgetting I am 83... my mind says I am much younger"
I know the feeling!
In my mind I am much younger and then I pass a mirror and think "OMG I am getting old!!"
"Your not old Kid! You got 40 more years... I wish I had 40 more years!"

He makes me feel young... I like that! He makes me see the flowers on the side of the road... He makes me realize everyday is a gift, no matter the struggle... He makes me enjoy life more...

I am so happy he came back from the dead to teach me about LIFE...

I'm backkkkkk.................

2009-03-25T08:38:00.001-07:00

Home again, Home again, Jiggidy jig LOL

OMG I am so wiped out... its a good tired... it was a great week... Kieffer holeshot one of his moto's and was in first place for all five laps... [with a guy on his ass the whole time] I cried after it was over... Taking first at a National is huge...

HOWEVER... that is NOT my biggest news of all!

You guys are NEVER going to believe this... you better sit down... LOL

I get a call from Kameron last week... "Mom are you sitting down?"

"Uh Oh... what Kameron"

"No its good news" I was thinking.. Candice must be having twins... but no...
"Mom, Manny came over today... he is alive..."
"WHAT?" "Ya the VA sent him to a nursing home for 2 months, he has been trying to get a hold of you but he only had our home number at the other house" [Which I disconnected a month ago]

so much for those weird signs... I'll prefer to think of them as Manny trying to call me... LOL

So yesterday as I was typing this Manny came over... I guess he had a bad reaction to his chemo and it almost killed him... He was in ICU for weeks... [GD VA Hospital for not telling me where he was... Sheesh]
He worked pretty hard to get out of there... [he would stay at his rehabilitation session a couple of hours more than he had to!] Anyway... finally he was released on March 19... and then he came over here...

Then you will never believe what happened... he drove into town to get some food... and some idiot tried to pass another car... he had to drive into the desert to avoid him! He is all bruised up from the accident! The guy just kept driving... his tire was flat.... so he had to jack it up and change his tire afterwards...

Survives the hospital, and then almost gets killed in a car accident! Then has to change his own tire in the desert at 83... Is he a tough old bird or what? I think it rattled him pretty good... because he asked if he could go to town with me next time I go... so I am taking him today...

Manny said he would put our names on the list for the VA emergency contact... and keep a copy of our numbers in his wallet...

It sure is nice to get a second chance with someone you care about...

Stories and pictures of Texas to follow next entry... Ok I'll give ya a few right now... LOL

My honey [above] [below] my neice Michelle

or Kieffer's lady luck cousin LOL

The beautiful sunsets in Texas

Damn Texas mud... LOL

2009-03-15T08:01:00.000-07:00

So yesterday we headed over to the track to park the trailer... and we got stuck in the mud... It was bad... a bunch of RV's got stuck! We have 4 wheel drive too... Oh boy... even the tractor started slippin...
but eventually we got the trailer set up...

Good news ... its going to be in the 70's & 80's this week for racing... FINALLY

Day 3 Its raining, its pouring, and we are outta here

2009-03-14T08:19:00.000-07:00

Standing in the tower watching the race

See the river [below]

Can you say... Eeeeeewwwww

The pond starting in the back 40 by our trailer

This is called a Skunk egg... it has Ham, Turkey, Cheese etc...

Check out the tractors on the starting line... the water was a foot deep a few hours before

The whoop section

Day 3 - RACE DAY

Finally its Tuesday... RACE DAY... Whoo Hoo and although Kieffer was racing in 5 classes, he only had 1 race on Tuesday... You have to remember there are over 3,000 racers at this National from all over the US...

So Sam and Kieffer head over to the staging area... [A staging area is where the next 3 races line up waiting to go to the line] Only a racer and his mechanic can go in there... and the mechanic has to have a pass... this eliminates a bunch of people in staging...
Ok... so a father of one of the racers starts talking to me... while I sit in the golf cart with a book...

"This is our first National and I don't think we should be here" He is scared for his son
"Awwww everyone has to get their first National under their belt, then you know what to go home and work on!" I told him
"I know but my son is 10 seconds behind every racer in his class"

[He knows this by practice transponder times]
"You know what tho... nobody comes to their first National and wins... we didn't... it was a shock to us too, I think my son took a 38th out of 40 at our first National" this seems to make him feel better...
"Which one is your son?" he asks me
"He is number 921"

The next race starts and we can't hear very well...
He leans in "9 WHAT?" I lean in closer "Number 9-21, its his BIRTH DATE"
"Oh Wow, OK"
So eventually... Kieffer gets up on the line, the gate drops, with 40 racers going into the first turn...
Kieffer comes out of the pack in 2nd place... Oh boy... my heart is pumping... I get more nervous when he is in front, than working his way up the pack! About the 3rd lap, he starts falling back... I can tell something is wrong...
He hung on for a 6th place... which is GREAT at a National... afterwards we found out he got 'arm pump'
Arm Pump is when your arms cramp up and you can barely hang on to the bike... like riding with a charlie horse going down both arms... it happens... its not fun...
So after we get back to the trailer... Sam says to me...
"Kendra, did you tell some guy it was Kieffer's birthday?"
"What?"
"Ya some Dad, lined up next to us and said Happy Birthday to Kieffer... then said "Hey your Mom said it was your birthday today, what a great way to spend your birthday"
Then it dawns on me...
"No I told him Kieffer's race number is 9-21, his birth DATE, I didn't say "Its his birthday" then I laughed "Sam, what did you say?"
"I didn't say anything... Kieffer and I just looked at each other... I thought maybe you got a free hot dog or something if it was your racers birthday so you said it was... Hell I don't what your up to half the time..."
I laughed... OMG... I got a kick out of that...

That night the rain started... and I mean it poured ALL NIGHT 2 inches of rain... It cleared up for about 5 hours in the morning but it was supposed to start again around 2pm... The track spent the morning TRYING to get the track groomed for racing... Kieffer was race 4... Oh boy... It is NOT good to race in the mud...
First of all, the chance of getting injured goes up exponentially...
Second, you can blow up a bike engine fairly quickly because the radiator gets clogged with mud, plus your graphics on the bike get tore up!!
and last but not least... The racer becomes a mess, you get caked with wet mud in 38 degree weather, and then the trailer becomes a mess as the racer heads to the shower...
Kieffer is NOT a 'mud runner', he HATES the mud...
As Kieffer was in staging... it starts raining... the race before him was the 50 yr old plus race... they took FOREVER to race... When your 50 and racing... you tend to go pretty slow... nobody wants to break a hip!
LOL
Soon the race was over, and they asked if anyone wanted to do the hot lap practice lap before the race... [You have to be crazy to do a hot lap in those conditions, you would come back caked with mud, your tires would be caked with mud, your goggles would be wiped out... its just stupid to do]
So 39 racers decline the hot lap, but 1 guy decided to do it... Oh brother... So the rest of the class has to wait for Mr. Stupid to do his Hot Lap... in the pouring down rain... for 4 minutes... which is a life time while your waiting to go... Finally he comes around probably feeling pretty stupid...
The gate drops and its a mud fest into the first turn.... Kieffer gets a really crappy start, he is in about 30th place... but after about a half of a lap he worked his way up to 10th... I am trying to stay dry under a building, watching... oh it just looks miserable... then I notice the red flag waving at the finish line...

A red flag means the race is over, go back to the starting line... I was like... WTH? They only red flag when half the field goes down or someone is really hurt... I didn't see a big pile up... hhhhmmm this was weird... I realize Kieffer probably needs fresh goggles then, so I race back to the trailer to get them...

Next thing I know, Kieffer is back at the trailer... He said "Go back and get Dad, we decided not to race anymore" as I went back to get Sam we find out that they canceled the racing for the day... It was that bad!!!

So long story longer... The rain kept coming... and they were expecting 2 more inches over the next 2 days... The track already told the 50, 60 and 80cc racers they wouldn't be racing...
The next morning we decided to leave... it just wasn't worth it... Not when you have another National to go to... You need fresh bikes... plus we were afraid we would get stuck in the mud and wouldn't be able to get the trailer out of there...
It was a good thing we decided to pack up and leave... They were crazy... They scheduled Kieffer to race that day in race Number 2, 4, 5, and 9... Right, I don't think so... a racer can barely race back to back in good conditions... never mind trying to do it in muddy 38 degree weather... no way... we love racing... but we are not going to take a chance like that...

Kieffer and I went to watch his moto that morning from the tower...
"Do you wish were out there?" I asked him
he laughed "Uhhh NO"

We left 2 hours later... and drove to the next National at Oak Hill where we got a hotel room for the last 2 days... [While it continued to pour down rain!] We have been watching the website for the National we just left... they canceled all racing yesterday... no kidding... you can't race in that stuff!...

So we are currently in a holding pattern... LOL

Sam's sister Tina, her hubby Ciro, and my nephew C.J. arrived this morning... they drove straight through also... so right now Tina and Ciro are sleeping in their hotel and C.J and Kieffer drove to go see a movie...

C.J races in the 80cc classes, Kieffer races 250cc and 450cc...

We can take the trailer in the gates after 6pm tonight... Sign in starts on Monday, Practice starts on Tuesday, Racing Wednesday through Saturday...

So stay tuned... LOL

OMG Kieffer just called from the movie theatre... He says its the nicest one he has ever been in... They hand you a menu and you order your snacks from the seats... How cool is that!!! He said the menu had
"Ocean's Eleven shrimp cocktail", you could order beer, besides popcorn... and if want something else... you push a button and the waitress comes...

I said "How much was it to get in Kieff?" he said "$5" "NAh... your playing with me..." "Mom I swear... I am going to take a picture"

Everything is bigger and better in Texas...

Ya'all come back now...

Day 2

2009-03-13T12:12:00.000-07:00

Kieffer after practice

Are you ready for some more crazy stories? Ok... here we go... LOL

We arrived after driving straight through... I do not EVER want to be a long haul trucker... EVER... that kicked my butt and Sam's!!!
You know your starting to lose it while driving when you start singing the 'Smokey and the Bandit" song...
"We've got a long way to go, and a short time to get there... We gotta do what they say can't be done..."
Great.... now its stuck in my head again...

We arrived in time for Kieffer to get 3 practices in... Whew... actually they were really nice and allowed him in the 'Pro" practice because we were late... we checked in, got his transponder... [its for scoring him in a race, and giving him lap times]
The weather was PERFECT... warm, a little humid, but very nice!!!
We unloaded the trailer and got set up... out in the back 40... all the RV spaces were taken so we parked in a field, next to a field with longhorns and horses... Hey we are in Texas...
We heard rain was coming in a couple of days so we parked on a high spot...

and then...

Manny sent me another sign...

for those of you who don't believe in signs... you can skip this part then...

No it wasn't another balloon either...

Before I tell you what happened... I have to give you some information on Manny... his family was Greek and his last name was Gregor-opolis, only when his father came to the US he dropped the opolis... Ok... did you follow that?

Ok... good... so there we are sitting in chairs outside of our campsite... out in a field all by ourselves I might add....when a family comes up to us... A Grandma, A Father and a Daughter...

"Hi, we are new to racing and this is our first National... Can you answer a few questions for us?"
"Oh sure..."
"Is there another practice in the morning before racing?"
"Well you get what they call a Hot Lap... meaning you get one lap to look at the track before racing"
So this conversation led to more questions and they stayed talking to us for awhile... it was nice...
When they went to leave I said "By the way what is your name?"
the father says "My name is Manny, this is my Mom, she is visiting from Greece... helping me out"
Sam and I looked at each other.... Whoa...
We explained about our neighbor Manny who was also Greek, we told him about the Gregor-oplois thing...
Then the guy says... ""Oh wow, that is really weird my last name is Opolis!"

Hhhhmmmm? Ooooooo Eeeeeee Ooooooo..... LOL

So all I have to say is Manny is still trying to say Hi from the other side... whatta think about that?

Next entry will be a funny story about racing the next day... stay tuned...

Day 1 - Ya'all come back now hear

2009-03-12T17:39:00.000-07:00

Greetings from deep in the heart of Texas...

OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ya'all ready for some stories.... Go get a cup of something, sit down and hang on...
its gonna be a crazy ride...

Why does the craziest shit happen to me? Where in hell do I begin?

Ahhhh yes... Saturday night...

You buckled in? Cuz here we go...

Saturday night we decided to leave because Kieffer had a practice at the National Monday morning...
Its a 20 hour drive.... so we hurried out the door at 8pm Saturday night... Gram Pam was at the house to watch the doggies... and they were happy... she also gave me some chocolate covered coffee beans from Starbucks... Can you say... WIRED me up!!! I was so happy because I can't drink energy drinks they make me sleepy... but let me tell you those chocolate covered coffee beans... oh boy... I was ready to drive ALL NIGHT!!!!!!!!!!! Weeeeeeeeeee.... LOL

As we started to leave, the mapquest told us to back track to the 10 freeway 30 miles... downhill... then start heading to Texas and go up Chiraco Summit... I told Sam that was stupid... lets just go out by 29 Palms and then by Rice road to the 10 freeway, we will bypass Chiraco Summit... he agreed... it was a little sketchy because its a two lane road, out in the middle of NO WHERE... so if we broke down we would be screwed for long time!!!
Well we made it to the 10 freeway, no problems... Whoo hoo... about 2 hours into the trip... Sam decided he was tired and turned the driving over to me... which he NEVER does... so after about an hour he was happy enough with my driving the truck & trailer, he got in the back seat to go to sleep... [Its a crew cab]
So there I am... driving between Blythe, CA and Phoenix, AZ cruising along... BINGING on coffee beans... listening to my coasttocoast radio show... driving through the miles of nothing-ness at 1am in the morning... about an hour outside of Phoenix... I hear a WHAM... thunkity, thunk, thunkity thunk... yup... a tire blew on the trailer! Slowly... I drive to the next off ramp... to a one horse town called Tonopah... When I say the tire blew... I mean it Blew up! Sam said "Call AAA and see if they can have a tow truck come take the rim off and then we will take it into town in the morning and get another tire mounted... because the trailer is a dually... we don't have a spare..." I said "ok" WELL GUESS WHAT? Don't tell AAA you don't have a spare because they WONT come take a rim off!!! WTH? So Sam says "Well lets try to get some sleep and lets deal with it in the morning"...

Now let me explain the sleeping arrangements with all of you... Kieffer is snuggled into his bunk in the trailer... but Sam and I cant go sleep in our bed because there are 4 race bikes and a golf cart in our area of the trailer! So, I get the front seat of the truck and Sam has the backseat... so there I am... a wired up on coffee beans mess, trying to get some sleep, while two seatbelt things are digging into my back.... I laid there playing my "It could be worse game"

"Ok... this situation totally sucks but it could be worse.... it could have happened on that 29 Palms highway out in the middle of no where... that would be worse! It could have happened on the 10 freeway in the middle of no where... ok that would be worse... semi's flying by all night!!.... it could have made the trailer sway and tip over... that would be worse..."

At 4am, I am still lying awake trying to talk to myself... "Kendra... life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it... I know... but I could be in New Mexico by now... Kendra you need to calm down...everything happens for a reason... I know but THIS SUCKS!!! Kendra... go to sleep... I WISH I COULD... GD COFFEE BEANS!!!"

Finally I fell asleep but woke up when the sun came up... Sam went into the Shell station and got the number of an emergency tire guy...

thank you... thank you... thank you...

He had to wait for the tire store to open to pick up the size tires we needed...Sam had decided to change both tires on that side of the trailer

[Now if Arizona changed their clocks like the rest of the civilized world... we wouldn't have had to wait for an hour right?]

So we headed over to the only other place of business in Tonopah...
"The Family Restaurant" for breakfast... [This place is NOT a family restaurant, its a long forgotten truck stop maybe!]

Ok remember Flo from Mel's diner? "Kiss my grits"... that is who the waitress reminds me of... she has a name tag on... It says... I swear to God,I can't make this shit up!

Her name tag says "Love Bug" so I said "Is that your real name?" "Uh huh, I have a sister named Lady, a brother named Jitter, a brother named Doodle, and I even have a cousin named Stink... I had sadistic parents..." and she wanders off... It took me a minute to get the names... its the blonde in me... "Oh I get it... Doodle Bug, Lady Bug... etc..." Kieffer laughed at how long it took me to get that... We find out she was kidding... Her name is really "Cher"...

WHATEVER...

I guess in a one horse town like that you gotta get your kicks somehow...

As we are eating, I am daydreaming out the window... looking at the trailer... when I realize something... "Uh... Sam... is that a spare tire under the trailer?" he looks and say "Oh my God!" and then I did something Kieffer will never let me forget... I let the "F" word fly out of my mouth...I said "Awwwww FUCK" Kieffer says "MOM! We are in a FAMILY restaurant!"

"Sure it is Kieffer... where are all the families then?"

So long story... a little bit longer... there was a reason I didn't see the spare tire sooner... it was because all the tires on the trailer had sun rot and ALL of them had to be replaced...

By 10am on Sunday morning we were on the road again...

We had less than 24 hours to get to Lake Whitney Texas...

See EVERYTHING does happen for a reason!

Even in a little town called Tonopah with Love Bug waitressing...

Oh brother... shaking my head...

Stay tuned for a bunch more stories...

On the road again, I just can't wait to get on the road again

2009-03-07T16:25:00.000-08:00

Good Saturday morning everyone...
Hope you 'all are having a nice weekend! Mine is a little hectic... Kameron and Kieffer are at Perris Raceway trying to qualify for the Loretta Lynn's... [L.L. is the biggest amateur race of the year... only the top 5 in the region go... but first you have to make top 10 to get to regional's] Did you understand that? Ok good!
And... check this out...
We leave in the morning for the Texas Nationals... yup its been a year already!!! For those of you who were not reading my blog then... It was eventful... Kieffer did great at Lake Whitney... trophied... then we went to Oak Hill and he had trophied in one class... was in his last 'main' race... was in 3rd place... the kid in front of Kieffer hit some mud and came to a stop, Kieffer hit the back of his bike, went over the bars and was then run over by the next bike... he broke his leg pretty badly, we flew him home the next day and then we drove home as fast as we could... because Kieffer had surgery 4 days later...He has a 13 inch rod in his lower leg... After the surgery Kieffer said "My 13 inch rod makes it hard for me to walk" LOL
So anyway... Kieffer is racing today... and then we leave in the morning... Gram Pam is going to meet the boys at Perris raceway and come back with them to watch the dogs while we are gone...
Whoo hoo... she is the only person I have ever left my dogs with that my dogs LOVE... I swear last year when we came back from Texas... my dogs could have cared less if I was home!!
Oh and by the way, GiGi's name has been changed... ever since she had that uterus infection and was fixed... she has gotten so fat! So we now call her "Biggie Gi" LOL

OH good news... the boys just called and Kieffer qualified for the regional's and is bringing home a medal... Whoo Hoo...
So if he takes top 5 at the Glen Helen Regional's in May we will be heading to Tennessee in late July, early August...

Ok I gotta go... Ill miss you all... this year I will be taking my laptop so hopefully I can keep ya up to date on our Motocross racing adventures...

Be good kids while I am gone... LOL

"You've seen the best... forget the rest!!!"

2009-03-04T09:06:00.000-08:00

Whoa, I had a flashback to my childhood this morning! One day I was getting ready for high school and my Father was still sleeping, I forgot to get something signed so I opened his bedroom door to tell him... Only, my father wasn't sleeping... He had gotten up out of bed and was heading towards his robe on the back of the door... NAKED... OMG, I suddenly realized he was naked and quickly shut the door!!!
The thing I remember most about that morning was how my Dad handled it...
[I mean seriously... can you say awkward]
He came out of the door and said "You've seen the best!! Forget the rest!!" and I laughed... I have NEVER forgotten that day... I thought that was the coolest way to handle awkward!!!

So fast forward to this morning... OMG I can not believe I am about to tell you all this but its never a dull moment in my household!!!

I got up this morning and let the dogs out... Kameron and Kieffer are up here helping to get us ready for the Texas Nationals... so like I said I let the dogs out, started coffee, and tried to call the dogs back in but they wouldn't come.... Grrrrr... they were hunting in the wood pile... I thought... whatever... I am going back to bed!!! So I took off my robe and snuggled back into bed with Sam... I was just starting to fall back asleep when suddenly we heard Bolts and Rider fighting... Which sounded like they were killing each other! I FLEW out of bed, opened my door and started looking for a glass of water on the bar to throw at them!!! I looked across the bar and then up to Kieffer's face... He had this look of horror on his face... and that is when I realized... I was topless!!!! I used my arm to cover them, grabbed a bottle of water, and ran outside... By now, Kameron had gotten them apart... it was officially over...
So I walked back in the house, threw on my robe and said "Kieffer, you have seen the best... forget the rest!"
but of course Kieffer couldn't leave it at that...

"Ok, first of all... when I think of the 'best' boobs I have seen in my life... I really don't want the word 'MOM popping into my head, so I have to come up with a different category..."
I laughed
Kieffer thought for minute and said "Ok they are the 'Most Expensive'" and I laughed again
"Ok Kieffer, you've seen the 'Most Expensive... Don't be so Defensive! How is that"...
"Fine now can we stop talking about it... I'm scarred for life"

Need some good vibes

2009-03-03T13:27:00.000-08:00

I need some good vibes sent my way to get this place rented... UGH... It is driving me crazy!!!

I have a couple who wants it but doesnt want to move in until April 1st, so
I said ok, but you have to put down a deposit and I will take it off the rental market...

I havent heard back from them... even tho they say..."It feels like home and we want it!"

So send some good rental vibes my way... PLEASE... Jeez, Lousie...

I have lowered the rent $200 and it still hasnt rented in 3 months...
UGH!!!

"Tuna is 50 cents a can"

2009-03-01T14:46:00.000-08:00

Hope everyone is having a nice weekend... Gram Pam and I are having adventures... LOL

Remember her declaration on 'getting to the bottom of the Manny thing, when she got here'... Well that meant 'I had to call the police'... so I did... and guess what? They won't tell us if he is dead either!!!
I also took her over to his house and she looked in, and all around... We even looked in his mailbox

[a federal offense I might add... but all is fair in Love, War and looking for your dead neighbor right?]

He has not picked up his mail since January 26... on January 30th he was taken by ambulance remember...
So that is the end of the trail on finding Manny for now... Even Gram Pam says she believes Manny is gone too...
So that is it... now we just watch until someone comes to his property... Ill keep ya posted!

on to other things...

Friday night... Gram Pam and I headed to the grocery store... Wow... the things we get into on our adventures...
So there we are minding our own business shopping... when we happen upon a woman... standing by the cans of Tuna... She is VERY proud of her find...

"Ladies, LOOK Tuna is 50 cents a can!!!"

Gram Pam says "Oh Ill buy a few cans" and she starts putting them in our cart... when she is done... I start walking past the woman, and by now she has cornered some man and is telling him about the cheap tuna... and he announces pretty loudly "I don't really eat Tuna" and I said "Oh... too bad for your wife"

[Did you laugh?]
I didn't really say that...

I WANTED to say that... but I just couldn't bring myself to do it...

I whispered it to Pam and she laughed...

Oh the stuff that happens around the two of us... I swear

A funny story about Gram

2009-02-27T09:01:00.000-08:00

A few months ago, while Gram Pam was here we invited Manny over for brunch one weekend... He came over shaking a tambourine, and carrying a champagne bottle... He had a BIG crush on Gram Pam... We had champagne with sliced peaches in the glasses that day with brunch... Manny had been a bartender at the Racquet Club in Palm Springs for many years... back in the day...
[Which was a Wednesday by the way LOL]

Manny was a Marine too... and whenever he came over he arm wrestled the boys... Manny always won...
[even at 83... I think he had some grip trick going...]

So anyway...

I told the balloon story to Gram Pam...

she said "I dont care... I am getting to the bottom of the Manny thing when I get there"

[she is coming today for the weekend]

I said "You don't believe that balloon was Manny?"

she said "No..."

Then I said "But Pam the balloon had a tambourine on it, with a champagne bottle attached..."

She was in shock for a second thinking I was serious...

"Really?"

"YES...AND... it tried to arm wrestle me" now she realized I was joking...

She laughed...

Jeepers... the things he would have had to do to send her a sign... YIKES!!!

No wonder he sent ME the balloon!

This is looking out my window

2009-02-26T13:32:00.000-08:00

So... where did that balloon come from? You tell me? The balloon came dancing up to the pine tree on the left hand side... Then floated straight up and poof it was gone?

Signs... I believe in signs...

2009-02-26T12:22:00.000-08:00

Ok... this is really weird and you guys are gonna think I am crazy but this what happened...

The other day while I was searching for Manny, I kept telling Sam
"I know Manny is gone, I know it my heart" and Sam would say "Yea, I think so too Honey"

So yesterday morning I was checking my email before we headed down the hill to the office to pay bills and move more stuff up here...

Where my computer sits... is a window with a really pretty view of the desert and local mountains... no houses...
As I was daydreaming out the window... suddenly...... I noticed this HUGE mylar heart shaped balloon... floating towards my window...

I yelled "Sam look at this HUGE Heart balloon... OMG... its from Manny... I know it..." it came dancing towards my window... about 15 ft. from the house and then just floated straight up and poof it was gone...

Now you guys can think I am weird for thinking that... but if you knew where I lived and knew how far other people live from me... you would trip out about that balloon too! If I lived in the city with houses everywhere I wouldn't have thought that much about a balloon floating towards my window...

I told my boys... Kameron [21] and Kieffer [17] the story yesterday and they were tripping out... First I told Kameron [who is the biggest sceptic about EVERYTHING]
and he said "OMG, Kieffer come here... you have to hear this story..." and then EVEN Kieffer said "Oooo that IS weird Mom!"

I just KNOW in my heart... he did that... the second I saw the balloon I knew where it came from... I believe it was Manny's way of letting me know he is gone and saying he loved us...

See... I believe in signs like that... I KNOW last year when Grandpa died and we were boxing up the house and having a garage sale that those old WWII planes that flew over his house in circles [like 8 times] and said US NAVY on the side was Grandpa...
I KNOW it... and during Candice's wedding rehearsal when those Nun's walked by the beach in full habit... that was Grandpa too... he was letting us know he was there... C'mon how often do you see Nun's in full habit outfits anymore? [like the flying Nun, for non-Catholics LOL]

Ok... so as you can see I BELIEVE in signs... so I now know Manny is gone... I know it in my heart... and he told me with a heart...

and that is all I have to say about that...

Manny my neighbor update

2009-02-24T20:35:00.000-08:00

Ok... Manny update...

I spent 3 hours on the phone today hunting him down from the January 30th ambulance ride...

Oh boy what a day...

Remember they said he was at a certain hospital with the initials AC...

well after phone calls to all the local hospitals with the AC initials,

I called our local hospital back... and then they said "I'm sorry that meant he went to an acute care hospital in the area" "Ok which hospitals would be acute care" so they told me, then they told me he might be in a nursing home... and gave me the local nursing homes to call...

By now he was no longer my neighbor... he was my Uncle... What do they know right? Except I felt like a crappy niece, not knowing when my Uncle was born...

"Gosh... I dont know, I just know he is 83... Do you know your Uncle's birthdays?" and they would laugh.,., "No I guess I dont" they would say...

But... he was no where to be found...

So I called up the local hospital again... They were so nice... I swear... Country Living is the only way to go... Nice... helpful... even gave me his birthday...

So I tried calling more Nursing homes...

I was hopeful thinking he was in one of them...

I found out... the ambulance was called because he didn't know where he was, he was disorientated...
Thank God... I thought to myself... he didn't fall... he wasn't sick sick... yanno...
he is probably in a Nursing home and they can't send him home because he is confused...

Poor Manny... I was ready to jet out the door when I found him in a Nursing home...

I called and called...

Nothing...

He had simply disappeared after leaving our local hospital...

So I called them back again...

"I don't mean to keep bothering you but how is it possible he is no where to be found? I have called EVERY WHERE? How can you NOT know where the ambulance took him after you discharged him? I don't understand?"

So they gave me the number to a patient advocate lady... Who was so wonderful...

She said "Let me do some research on where he was taken... Your right... it should be in the file... give me your number and I will call you back"

FINALLY Right?

She calls me back...

"He was taken to Loma Linda VA Hospital... and that is where the trail ends..."

All the VA will say is "He is NOT a patient in the Hospital and he is NOT in a VA Nursing Home... and that is ALL I can tell you... I am NOT allowed to say if he has passed away!"

So I said "Ok, however if he WAS in theVA Hospital or in a VA Nursing Home after being brought there... you would tell me where I could visit him?"

"Yes I would"

"Ok"

"However telling you anything other than that is against the law, and I could lose my job"

"How about coughing... could ya cough if I should just stop looking for him?"

"No, I would lose my job"

So... I believe Manny is dead... don't you?

and I also want to say...

I don't understand who is taking advantage of VETS in a VA Hospital to where you can't find out if your beloved neighbor is dead...

I hope they go to HeLL...

and if by some miracle... Manny shows up at my gate sometime soon...

I'm gonna kill him...

and that is all I have to say about that

What would you do?

2009-02-24T11:59:00.000-08:00

I have some more baby news... Damn Chrissie...
Remember we went to that wedding in Coronado last summer? Well, that couple is having a baby October 7th also...
That is Gram Pam's, brother's, daughter... Did you follow that? or Sam's cousin Ronnie will be a Grampa at the same time!!

Anyway... Chrissie quit with the baby dust already!!!!

I also have some other news I don't know how to handle... I don't know what to do... maybe you guys can give me some advice...

Ok... remember my 83 yr old neighbor Manny? [Never been married, no kids, has been our neighbor up here for almost 20 yrs] The one who LOVES to talk... "Patience is a virtue" Remember him? Well anyway... he was recently diagnosed with cancer and was going to the VA hospital for Chemo... The shuttle picks him up from home and takes him...
So anyway, Sam and I have been noticing he hasn't been around in about a month now... and we got worried... so we went by the house and knocked on the door... no answer... his car is there tho... so I came home and called the VA hospital... [nope he is not admitted at the moment] so Sam and I went back over there looking through the windows... Nope he is not there... So I call the VA hospital back and was told they could not tell me if he passed away... WTH? Jeepers...
Damn it I told him to put us down as an emergency contact... UGH!!! I then called all the area hospitals... nope not admitted?
So I called Gram Pam... [Manny has a crush on Gram Pam] so Gram Pam called her friend who is a Sheriff... and she said... call the police and have them do a welfare check on the house, then file a missing person report on him, then they will tell me if he passed away or not...
Hence my problem, I feel its wrong for me to do that... I think he must have passed away at the VA hospital... I don't want to waste police time doing that... I want them out there catching criminals, not finding out if my neighbor died... yanno?
If he did pass away... Ill find out sooner or later... right?

I don't know what to do on this situation.... What would you do?

Ok... since I wrote all that... I found out some more news... I called my horse neighbor... she is closer to his house than I am... She said about a month ago, an ambulance came and picked Manny up...

So I called our local hospital and let me tell you they were WAY nicer than the damn VA city hospital was... Sheesh... They told me he was admitted into emergency on Jan 30, then discharged to another hospital...

So I tried calling that hospital but the name she gave me must have been wrong because I have called 2 more hospitals close to the name she gave me... and they have no record of him? Hhhhhmmmm???? WTH???

I googled an obituary on him but nothing comes up... Maybe he slipped and fell and is in an orthopedic unit somewhere...

Ok now what should I do? What would you do?

Guess who is gonna be a Glamma

2009-02-23T13:16:00.000-08:00

Yup... me FINALLY Sheesh!!! I kinda had a feeling when Candice was here for her birthday... She wasn't feeling so good...

She called us last night and confirmed my suspicions... They have already gone for an ultra sound and she is due October 5th... Woo Hoo...

Its all Chrissie's fault... She was so busy throwing baby dust at Candice... She got it all over her daughter too!!! She is gonna be a Grandma again on October 24th... Way to go Chrissie...!!!

Chrissie also did this Chinese Birth Chart thing... and it says Candice is having a boy... We shall see... LOL

Sam was really happy for them and said "No pressure Candice but it better be a boy... LOL" Her hubby said the same thing...

I want a boy too but I know a little girl will melt all these men's hearts anyway...

Whoo Hoo....

Can you believe it... We are gonna be Grandparents... Yippee...

Happy 26th Birthday Candice

2009-02-18T09:23:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday to my daughter Candice... She is 26 today! Kris will be 27 in 2 weeks... OMG Okay how in the Hell am I old enough to have kids that old? If I do have kids that old where are my grand kids... LOL

I have to head to town to go shopping because all the kids are coming up for dinner... Kris drove here from Seal Beach last night...

This morning I said "So, what should we have for dinner for Candice's birthday?" and Kris says "why don't you just give her a bowl of ketchup"
I thought that was so funny... Candice puts ketchup on everything... I don't know where she gets it from either... LOL Although she does put ketchup on more things than I do... If its not Heinz ketchup, its not good!LOL
That is how I always know if its a good place to eat... If they have Heinz...

Well, I gotta go...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CANDICE... You old married woman...

Vegas... The last stories...

2009-02-17T11:05:00.000-08:00

Ok... I have a few stories to tell you about my last entry, so if you haven't read that story... go read it and come back... I will wait...

Hurry up... I am waiting... LOL

Ok... here we go...

Story #1
Every morning I would get dressed and go get us Starbucks... While I am waiting in line I would ask people where they were from... One day it was Phoenix, and another day it was Ohio...
"Oh I have a friend who lives in Ohio... Springfield"
"East Springfield?"
"I have no idea, we read each others blog's... So was it cold when you left?"
"Actually, it was warmer in Ohio than it is here..."
"Oh you were having that warm spell we had 2 weeks ago when it was 80 degrees"
and then my coffee was ready and I left... It was the morning we were going to the Grand Canyon [or so we thought]
So I tell Sam about my encounter with the woman from Ohio and he says
"You are such a Chatty Cathy"
"I am not a Chatty Cathy"
"Yes, you are..."
"No... I am a Mary Sunshine spreading Joy to all who cross my path"
"Oh... your spreading something all right... I don't know if its Joy"
Which of course made me laugh...
So later in the day, after we had stayed with that couple from New York on the trail I said "Boy... You sure were a Chatty Charlie on the trail with that couple..." and that is when I was told "A boy scout never leaves someone hurt on the trail" so I said "Ohhh... you were NOT a Chatty Charlie... you were Eddie the Eagle Scout then huh?" and he said "There you go... spreading that so called Joy around again..." which made me laugh...

Story #2
Now remember I told you the couple was on their 40th Anniversary... and guess where they were staying... Hhhhmmmm? [BTW we are about an hour outside of Vegas on this trail in the Valley of Fire]
They were staying in THE LUXOR... Can you believe that? We asked them how their room was? "Oh it's really nice... we are right above the Sphinx... looking over the Strip" [Guess you have to be on your 40th anniversary for a nice room at the Luxor] The next morning the lady called us to Thank us again and give us an update on her hubby... She told me they were flying back home at 11pm that night and Luxor was so nice... They get to stay in their room until then free of charge...
So... I guess you have to be on your 40th Anniversary and get hurt... LOL

Story #3
That morning we had gotten up intending to go to the Grand Canyon... about an hour into the drive we stopped to get a map and found out from the cashier... The north rim of the grand canyon is closed this time of year...
So we decided to take a scenic route by Lake Mead back to Las Vegas... We happened upon a museum... it was about the "Lost City"... so we toured the museum... it was about an Indian tribe from that region... anyway the cashier at the museum told us to go hiking at the Valley of Fire which was about 8 miles away... so as you know... we did...
I feel like we were meant to be in that canyon with that couple... to help them out... the Lord works in mysterious ways...

Story #4
After we left the Valley of Fire we drove to this boat launch nearby and the water was not there... Lake Mead was so low at this end of the lake... there was NO WATER... Wow...
After we returned to New York New York we got dressed up for our special dinner at Galleghers [think Ruth's Chris] We even had our photo taken there...

and I believe that is the end of Chatty Cathy and Eddie the Eagle Scout stories... LOL

The view from our room at New York, New York,

At night it was really cool but I couldnt get a good pic

The begining of the trail the man got hurt on... Look at the clouds coming in...

Leaving the Valley of Fire

This is the boat launch you can not use by the Valley of Fire... Lake Mead is so low

There should be water here... but there is not...

Scenery on the way back to Vegas

Sam and I at dinner the last night...

and that is all I have to say about that... LOL

My sexy Eagle Scout...

2009-02-16T18:39:00.000-08:00

Hieroglyphics on the wall in the "Valley of Fire" where we were hiking...

A Mummy looking rock...

Inside of a cave looking out...

The conservation corps cabin's that were built when the "Valley of Fire" became a State park...

Right after taking the above picture... a man on the trail in front of me... slipped and fell... saying "I broke my leg" so Sam and I stayed on the trail with him and his wife while someone went to go get help... They were on their 40th anniversary from Niagara Falls, New York... As we waited for help they told us... they were leaving the next day... they would fly into New Jersey and then take another plane into Buffalo, NY... [No they were not on that plane but seeing that crash later that night on T.V. made me think of the couple!!!] We visited with them for quite awhile... we were a half mile in the canyon on the trail! When they brought the basket... they needed help carrying him out... [The man weighed 295lbs] Sam helped carry him out... They had to stop a few times and rest...

One of the Ranger's stun gun belt kept getting in the way and he asked the man to hold on to it...

So he did... which brought out all kinds of jokes...

Look at those sexy legs on Sam... in the Maroon shirt...

Later I told my husband I was happy we stayed with the couple and he said... "I learned in Boy Scouts, you never leave someone hurt on the trail"

Awwww my hero.... LOL

More on this place in my next episode of Sam and Kendra's Excellent Adventure to Las Vegas...

A few pictures before my story about this place

2009-02-16T09:15:00.000-08:00

Tuesday - Our check out day of the Luxor had finally arrived... Before Sam and I checked out we headed to the breakfast buffet... As we stood in line at 10am... We couldn't help but notice this couple ahead of us... A man who was about 5'3 was all over his new Asian bride, who was taller than he was... I mean Sam and are pretty lovey dovey, we hold hands, blah blah, blah but he was rubbing her back, kissing her neck, holding her hand like he could not believe how lucky he was to have her... It was not endearing, it was weird...
So when it was his time to pay, he gave the cashier a State Department card from Saudi Arabia... she rang up the ticket and he complained she charged him sales tax which I guess he does not have to pay in the United States... So she has to cancel the sale, call a manager over to ring it up without sales tax etc... etc...
Finally, we pay for our meal and eat at the buffet... The only complaint I have about the breakfast buffet is the orange juice is not orange juice... it was Tang... which is fine if you want Tang... I wanted Orange juice but whatever...
As we are sitting there finishing up, Sam saw our receipt sitting on the table...
"Hey you know what? They charged us for 3 meals not 2" "Really? let me see"
Sure enough... they did and we didn't noticed because we were so engrossed in the State Department guy... So I go tell the cashier, who has to call a manager over to fix it... but the Manager is in the bathroom... [for quite a while, I might add] 20 minutes later... they handled it...

[Let me get my soapbox out... huff puff... Ooooo its heavy]

I have been going to Las Vegas since I was 9 years old... I have stayed at most hotels on the strip with my parents... Now back in the day... They would have given us line passes for our next buffet trip for the inconvenience... They would have given us a VERY nice room, with a VERY nice view when you mentioned it is your 25th Anniversary... The Hotel and Casino would do EVERYTHING to make your trip very pleasant... uh so you would come back and stay with them... But today? The employees could care less if you come back, they do their job and go home... I blame the Hotel and Casino for their attitudes... If they gave them the power to give stuff out and told them "The customer is always King, make them happy" they would do it...
Anyway, I am done bitching about the Luxor...

We checked out and headed over to The New York, New York Hotel... but before we did I called American Express Concierge number and told them what happened at the Luxor... How bad the first room was and how we would like to avoid that hour and a half thing again at the N.Y. hotel... They called ahead and talked to a Manager and presto when we checked in... they upgraded our room, gave us a great view on the 21st floor!
Like the Am/X concierge guy said "If the room is not nice, you call us right back and we will get it fixed... Its not everyday you celebrate your 25th!!!"
Huh uh... EXACTLY what I was thinking!!!
After checking in... We went down to the casino area... it was really cool... They had all these shops and places to eat... I guess from New York... It looked like little streets and said Greenwich Village on the signs... Now I have never been to Greenwich Village in New York but the one in the hotel is very nice! Sam and I saw a very nice steak place called Gallaghers... So we planned on eating there on our last night in Vegas... I guess there is one in Manhattan and its famous... been there since 1927... Ellen have you eaten there? How about you Jeanne or Mary? Anybody been there or driven by it?
Just curious...
More on Gallaghers later...

The next day Sam and I wanted to go to the Grand Canyon... so we decided to call it a night somewhat early... After playing the slots for awhile, I had to use the restroom... so Sam waited for me at this Irish Bar... When I came walking back, he was leaning on a stool and there were about 7 guys near him, they were in their 20's and obviously on the prowl for chicks... So I walked up to Sam and said
"Hi... what is your name?" Sam looked at me and said
"Names are not important" I laughed and said
"I like how you think!" then Sam said
"Oh ya? I am going to my room, wanna go?"
"Sure" and we walked away leaving those guys tripping...

Sam and I are weird I know...

Stay tuned because my next story has to do with Sam being an Eagle Scout...
Never leave a hurt person on the trail...

coasttocoastam.com

2009-02-15T13:00:00.001-08:00

If you go to coasttocoastam.com to look for the station near you... look under affliates on the left hand side of the front page...

This is about the blog entry below this one...

Best lil Whorehouse in the West...

2009-02-15T11:30:00.000-08:00

Hey where is everybody? Hmmmm? I guess I haven't written in my blog in a while so I have no readers...

Anyway... back to my trip to Vegas last week... When I was talking to Gram Pam yesterday I remembered something else about the Luxor hotel room they gave us... The good room in the 'west tower' had a lovely view of the parking lot, drained pool with construction going on, and loud construction being done on the floor above us... Nice huh... Grrrr... We stayed there Sunday to Tuesday so I would guess giving us a nicer room with a nicer view would not have been a problem... I don't know... I will NEVER stay at the Luxor again that is for sure!!!

Back to Monday and the Hoover Dam and Lake Mead... Lake Mead is a man made Lake because of the Hoover Dam being built... Sam and I have always wanted to take the kids on a houseboat vacation on Mead... Sam and I took one on Lake Mojave 20 years ago... Lake Mojave is the man made lake on the other side of the Hoover Dam... and after Lake Mojave down the river is Lake Havasu... where we go in the summer... Did you follow that? Well if ya didn't it doesn't matter anyway because the point of my story is the drought over the last few years in this area of the country!!! Lake Mead is SO low!!! You'll see how low later on in my entries, when Sam and I tried to head to the Grand Canyon but I am getting ahead on my self again...

In this photo of Lake Mead by the Dam we were shocked at how low the water was!!!

This photo really shows how low the Lake is... The white on the walls shows where the water has been!!!

Ok... on to Tuesday... Sam and I headed to Pahrump Nevada because we are
HUGE fans of Art Bell and CoasttoCoastam.com radio... Art Bell started the show about 20 years ago... We have been listening since 1995... "From the Kingdom of Nye... Things that go Pahrump in the night" his show starts at 10pm and ends at 2am... we listen to it as we go to sleep at night... Coasttocoastam.com talks about all the subjects no other radio stations talk about... My favorite is near death experiences... people who have died and come back to talk about it...

I know that sounds weird but it is a really great radio show... Phil the Thrill listens as does Nurse

Pam... I turned her on to it... Lisa Jo if you could listen while at work... you would LOVE it...

Just go to Coasttocoastam.com for a station near you...

OK so anyway... Sam and I drove by Art Bells house in Pahrump Nevada and we took pictures [he broadcast ed for years from his house] but I am not going post them because I wouldn't want someone posting a picture of my house without my permission yanno... if you want to see it... email me and I will send ya a pic...

So Sam and I are driving around Pahrump and what do we see... The Chicken Ranch... I thought it must be a real chicken ranch... Sam laughed at me... "Kendra, its a whorehouse" "No way..."

"Yes... it is" "Oh! Then we HAVE to drive by and take pictures" so we did...

So here ya go...

More stories to come... so ya'all come back now hear!!!

"What happens in Vegas...

2009-02-14T11:31:00.000-08:00

Hey Everyone,
Missed me? LOL
I have just returned from Las Vegas. We went for our 25th Anniversary!
Whoo Hoo!!!!

I have a BUNCH of stories to tell you so come back everyday this weekend if you have time! I guess you could say "What happens in Vegas, Stays in Vegas" does not apply here! LOL

So lets begin with last Saturday, the day before we left... Originally I asked Gram Pam to come baby sit my doggies but Sam had a bunch of work for the boys... so we had Kameron watch them instead...

As I was packing, I received a frantic call from Gram Pam... Her son Allen [27] races off road cars... Remember my photo in it at Thanksgiving?
"Kendra, Allen broke his back and is being air lifted to a Phoenix hospital. He is awake and talking but we don't know much more than that... He was racing and they crashed, totaling the race car" She was pretty upset... and understandably so... but I tried to calm her down... If there is one thing I learned from all of Kieffer's injuries... You can not go to that place of losing it... You just can't... It doesn't help the situation and only freaks you out more... She calmed down and kept calling me through out the day with updates... I will cut to the end of this story and let you know... Allen is going to be okay... He fractured his L-2 vertebrae and is at home with a back brace, walking, doing really well... No surgery... Thank God!

The Luxor Hotel - To the left of the pyramid is the 'west tower' -

Sunday February 8th,
Our Anniversary!!! We took off for Las Vegas and drove the 4 hours to get there... We had reservations at The Luxor [pyramid looking hotel] for Sun, Mon and Tues... then we would be checking into New York, New York for the rest of the week...
We stopped in Baker [Home of the worlds biggest thermometer] and had lunch at Bob's Big Boy... Yummy....
We arrived at The Luxor around 4pm and were quite surprised to see 2 long lines at check in... I mean Hello? it was a Sunday... not a Friday right? We finally get checked in and start walking to find our room... ummm did I say walking? I should have said hiking up and down the hallways! When we FINALLY found our room... OMG!!! it was disgusting!!! We were shocked! This was the Luxor!!! A corner of the ceiling was falling down, there were HUGE gouge marks in the little table between the two chairs, a yeagermeister sticker on the window! WTH???? Sam was ready to check out! I called the front desk and complained! They said "No problem, come on back to registration, you don't have to stand in line and we will give you another room" which they did in the "west tower"... This room compared to the other one was like night and day! All of this took about an hour and a half... ugh... we were happy with the new room but jeez... WTH? After getting settled into our new room, we left to explore the rest of the Luxor. We found an exhibit called "The Bodies" they had in the hotel. Sam wanted to see it... so we put it on our list of things to do before leaving on Tuesday... It's real bodies of people who have donated their bodies after death for this exhibition... There are bodies on display with muscles, bones, veins, etc.. each body showed something different... it was fascinating! I highly recommend it if it comes to your town... You leave the exhibit realizing how miraculous a human body truly is!! Uh Oh I am getting ahead of myself because we went to see "The Bodies" on Tuesday before checking out...
Our first night in Vegas we gambled at the slot machines, had some cocktails at a really cool bar in the Luxor and then went to a buffet to eat at 10pm... Wow... late for us to be eating dinner... the buffet at the Luxor was nothing to write home about... I'd give it a C- to a D... Seriously... it wasn't very good... so far the Luxor was not impressing us and we are not that hard to make happy...

The New York New York Hotel - We stayed in the Empire State Building part... More on that later...

Monday after waking up around 10am... Ooooo how cool is that! LOL We drove to the Hoover Dam...
It was a rainy and cool day... plus it was a Monday but the Hoover Dam had plenty of tourist visiting... We decided to take the tour...

The Dam tour... lol

It was so interesting... I highly recommend it... We watched a 30 minutes movie of the building of the Dam during the Great Depression. It was finished 2 years ahead of time, with most workers making about $4 a day!

One half of the Dam is in Nevada and the other half is in Arizona...
[Nevada is also an hour behind the Arizona side... So its 10 am in Nevada and then 11am in Arizona] There are two huge clocks displaying the difference on the round cylinder water intake towers...

They are currently building this huge bridge over the Colorado river, because the road on the dam is so highly traveled its becoming a problem to simply allow everyone to drive on the dam... In this area, its the only way to get to Arizona... etc... etc...

We are on the Arizona side here

The new bridge being built over the river

You all come back now hear...

Happy Hearts Day too!!!!

Superbowl Sunday and other stuff!

2009-02-01T09:12:00.000-08:00

I'm feeling Super Bowl Sunday... La La La I'm feeling kinda Sunday... I LOVE THAT COMMERCIAL and song!!! I also LOVE that baby commercial where he buys stocks online... spits up, hires a clown, and talks on his Blackberry... OMG I LOVE that baby!!! Do you know what I am talking about?
I am looking forward to the commercials during the Superbowl too... The boys are coming up to watch it with us... Candice and Mike have other plans I believe...

I have been pretty busy lately... being a grown up... ewwwwww.... playing Real Estate agent... meeting with my Broker... blah blah blah... only a year and a half to go... then I can apply for my Broker's lic. yikes... talk about being REALLY grown up!!!
In California, you have to hang your real estate agent lic. under a Broker for 2 years and then they have to sign a form and you can apply... until then my Broker get 3% of my commission... oh well ya gotta pay your dues... Right? Right!

As I type this a show called "Meet Mister Mom" is on...
[the Dad's take care of the house and kids for a week while Mom is at a Spa] and they struggle with it all...
I can't help but think Sam wouldn't make it on the show because he always did a better job than I did when I had to go away... [with my Mom when she had cancer] I would come home and the house was cleaner than when I left and everything was handled... Oooo it use to make me upset... in a good way! He made it seem so easy... Grrrrrr...

What else?

Oh yes... yesterday was a big day in our house!
Kieffer was racing at Starwest MX park and I was tired of staying home while he was racing...

[watching the dogs because we had never left them here alone before... I was afraid they might dig under the fence and get out... Weim's are known for their separation anxiety!]

So yesterday morning at 5:30am we drove off... leaving them outside, in the dark! They had a big cozy bed to lay in, plenty of water and food but I was nervous!
We had a great day at the MX track... the weather was PERFECT!!! A little chilly in the morning and then warming up to 80 during the day! Sam's sister Tina, her hubby Ciro and my nephew CJ were there too... CJ is 14 and races in the 85cc class, Kieffer races in the 250cc and 450cc classes. Kieffer's girlfriend Sarah and her Dad Bill came too... They use to live next door to us for years...
Sarah is literally "the girl next door" LOL
Gram Pam lives about 20 minutes from the MX park, so she drove out to watch also... [Thanks Honey!]
Sam made his famous Egg McMoto sandwiches for breakfast... Yummy!!
It was such a nice day... the only thing I would have changed is Kieffer's and CJ's race line up... Kieffer was race 8 and 20, CJ was race 10 and 22 [the last race of the day] It is so nice when you get race 4 and 7 or something... then you get out of there earlier!!!
We were at the races until 6:30pm! Both Kieffer and CJ brought home trophies! Whoo Hoo...
Afterwards we went to Denny's for dinner... Sam, Kieffer, me, Sarah, Bill and Kieff's friend Omar...
We finally arrived back home at 8pm last night... and my doggies survived! They were so happy to see us!!! This opens up a whole new world for Sam and I... we can go shopping together and not worry about them... Yee Haw!!!

What else?

Hmmm?

Oh... I had lunch with Candice the other day and she told me a funny story...
She just moved into a house and was waiting for the cable guy to come hook up their cable...
The doorbell rings and she answers the door and the guy says
"Hi... are your parents home?"
"Why do you need my parents?"
"I am here to hook up the cable and someone over 18 has to be here to sign for it"
"Oh...Well I am 25 and married!"
"Oh Wow, I thought you were in high school!"

I wish that would happen to me LOL

Well... I gotta get my baby back ribs going for dinner... I hope the Cardinals win today... just because they have NEVER won before...
[Sorry Emma]
Sam is rooting for the Steelers but if Arizona wins he doesn't mind...
[Hopefully whoever wins, it will be a close game! Nothing is worse than a blow out early on!]

Be back on after the Superbowl to talk commercials...

Which one was your favorite?

Im back......

2009-01-24T09:37:00.000-08:00

Hello Everyone,

I am alive... Sam crashed our laptop up here... [dropped a bottle of Tabasco on it... no it didn't spill out... it just made a dent... right where the hard drive is] so Dell sent a new hard drive and he installed it and Hello, I'm back in business...
I said "Honey, I am so glad you did that and I didn't" then he said "So am I because I KNOW what happened, no one ever seems to know how something gets broken around here!" he is right about that... he'll say "What happened to this or that?" and I say "I have no idea... I just live here" but I only say that if I really have no idea what happened...

So anyway... what else has been going on... Well the newlyweds [my daughter Candice and son in law Mike, Bob, Bill, Ken LOL] are moving back to the desert! Who hoo... They found a house and are moving in this weekend...

Kameron had a birthday this week and turned 21... He came up for a steak dinner, birthday cake, etc... Yikes... how is it possible my kids are so old? When did that happen? Sheesh!!

Kieffer raced last weekend and brought home another trophy...

and that is about it...

missed ya...

The weekend

2009-01-13T04:58:00.000-08:00

Nurse Pam and me on Saturday night

Kieffer's 2nd place

Gram Pam and Nurse Pam and champagne in the hot tub

Kieffer 17 my youngest and his girlffriend Sarah

Sam and Nurse Pam checking out her new Tom Tom GPS

Stories to folloow soon

Saturday morning stuff

2009-01-10T07:48:00.000-08:00

Good Saturday morning...
Its 6:30am and Sam and Kieffer left to practice at Glen Helen Raceway...
They will be racing there on Sunday too... I usually go but Nurse Pam and Gram Pam are coming up today for a 'girls weekend' LOL... Nice...

Are you ready for another year of racing? We are... we just signed another contract with Dunlop tires for the 2009 season... We LOVE Dunlop tires! We are looking forward to another year of sponsorship with them! They are the best motocross tires made... [How was that for sponsor promotion LOL]
We are also signed with Oneal, SPY, Panolin oil, Gaerne Boots, One Industries, West Coast Motorsports, FMF, Twin Air, and a few others I can't think of at the moment... [Bad Motomom!]
We will be heading back to Texas in March for Nationals... [This time I hope there will be no broken leg, or arm, or anything else!] Its hard to believe Kieffer broke his leg in Texas only 10 months ago... doesn't it seem longer than that? It does to me anyway...
I know some people think I am crazy to allow my boys to race motocross... but those people don't understand what its like to be with my boys every weekend working as a team... Dad's the mechanic, I handle gear, sign ups, and sandwiches, and the boys have to work out everyday, go to practice a couple of times a week, eat right, and get enough sleep! It doesn't leave much room for anything else... which is good... I took them out of motocross for 2 years... they played high school football... oh boy... wanna talk about worrying! Girls, Girls and more Girls... parties on the weekend... then Kieffer broke his leg in football... as he was laying on the field waiting for the ambulance to arrive... [because his lower leg was literally snapped in 2] Kieffer said "Dad if I am going to break bones... I am doing it on the motocross track... I am going back to racing" and we did...
When Kieffer did break his leg in football I remember the coaches saying "Wow you both handled that so well, we could have had a couple of hysterical parents on our hands!" I will never forget him saying that... I remember thinking... "Hhmmm... hysterical... didn't know that was an option..."
Anyway... I have been through it all with my kids... its how I became an M.D. LOL Even Nurse Pam learns a few things from me... Huh Nurse Pam! I am going to pass on some of my knowledge to you today...
Biggest sign of a broken bone that is not obviously broken...
Swelling? Nope
Bruising? Nope
Going to sleep... Yes... If your child falls,hurts his arm or leg and then crawls up on the couch and falls asleep... Its probably broken!
Also... if you have to go to Urgent Care for an X-ray... wait until an hour and a half before they close... Its AMAZING how quickly you'll get out of there!

Ok... enough of that... what else...

Yesterday my father has been gone 28 years... Wow... 28 years... can you believe that! 48 years old... way too young to go... I was 15 years old...
I guess you could say he was the one who started me on my M.D. path!
He had a heart attack, then he got blood clots in his leg but he didn't want to go back to the hospital... he waited till his lower leg was numb and gangrene had set in to his big toe and heel... [he lost his big toe and part of his heel because of it] They had to cut his leg open from his groin to his heel and take the blood clots out... his lower leg never healed right and he had a huge open wound about 7 inches on his calf [both sides of it] He had a nurse come twice a day to pour hydrogen peroxide and betadine into it...
When we would go on vacation or somewhere... guess who had to dress his wounds... yup me... it didn't bother me tho... what bothered me more... was walking up the street from high school everyday... wondering if I would find him dead... that was always on my mind...
I wasn't home when he did pass away... Thank God!
I miss him terribly... he could always make me laugh! He taught me to drive when I was 13... gave me the keys to the Mercedes and sent me to the store... "Now... if you get pulled over... just say you took the car... I'll yell at you when I pick you up from the police station!" "Ok, Dad" I never did get pulled over!

Oh boy... hope I didn't bum you guys out with my long winded story today? I am not bummed, I am excited and can't wait for my Pam's to get here!!! Woo Hoo...

I wish Ellen could come too... I think she is going to call us tonight... I hope you feel better Honey! [She was in a bad accident a few days ago]

and that is all for today folks... you'all come back now hear!

Green Acres is the place to be...

2009-01-08T11:06:00.001-08:00

I love living up here in the country, way better than living in the city... I have the best neighbors too... Thank God!!! On New Years Eve Day my horse neighbors called "We saw Sam drive by with something heavy, do you need help unloading it?" "Yes, we do... thanks" Sam brought up his shop compressor, its about 5 feet tall and very heavy! Next thing ya know, they drove up in the big tractor to help!
When we were all snowed in and Kameron came up in the truck. They came by and asked if he could drag this sleigh thing they use for hay and clear the roads for everyone... Kameron said "Sure" and spent the next hour clearing roads, and driveways with it.

Everyone just seems to help each other out more up here... I have another neighbor up here named Manny... he lives on the other side of the horse neighbors... we have known Manny for 17 years... since we started building this place! He is now 85 and has colon cancer... but he is a character! Still drives, lives alone and tells me funny stories about Palm Springs in its 'hey day'... he was a bartender at the Palm Springs Racquet Club... this was back in the day when Palm Springs closed up everything in the summer! It was a seasonal town! Snow birds only LOL...
I have heard these stories for 17 years... I could retell all of them I have heard them so many times... I have the hardest time just sitting there listening to them again but I do it! He lives alone and loves to talk! Boy does he love to talk! When he came for Thanksgiving I had a few people come up to me and say "That man can talk and his stories go on forever!"
When he is telling me the stories I have heard a million times... In my mind, I just keep thinking "Patience is a virtue, Patience is a virtue" plus I hope when I am 85 someone will listen to my stories over and over while I go to a special place and time in my mind and talk...

Ok... so fast forward to yesterday...

Yesterday Sam went down the hill to our other house to get another load of stuff from our shop... [we are selling the business building down there] he left at 6am and I was still sleeping...
about 10 am I get a call from my horse neighbor "Kendra, can you do me a big favor?" "Sure Jamie what do you need?" "Can you go over to my house and tell my son, his ride forgot to go get him and he needs to head to town now! I think he is welding in the garage and can't hear the phone!"
So I get on my Uggs and go out to the gate... where I find the fence locked and Sam has the keys! I had to climb over our chain link fence [not easy in Uggs I might add!] and walk over there...
Sure enough he was welding... I walk home... and jump back over the fence...
Sam said he would have paid to see that! The whole time I am thinking what if I fall and break a hip or something I dont even have my cell with me! What a dumb ass I am...
A couple hours after my adventure over the fence I hear a car horn beeping and I go outside... It was Manny... letting me know he was heading to the VA hospital today for more tests... I told him I was sorry the gate was locked and I couldn't invite him in... he said "Oh that is ok" and then he talked my ear off through the fence for an hour...
"Patience is a virtue, Patience is a virtue"

I swear we go days and nobody comes by and we don't go out the gate...Sam leaves and what a day I have!!

The compressor that had to be moved

Our neighbors with the tractor helping us move it!

Sam's shop up here

Sam's life motto... "Woman and children live in the house, Real men live in the garage"

Sam's fans sunning outside the shop... Bolt's, Gigi, and Rider this morning

"My little piglet"

2009-01-04T10:27:00.000-08:00

"I'm feeling kinda Sunday..." [Only football fans will get that]

Wow... was that a great game last night or what? GO CHARGERS!!!
Then we watched Supercross and Whoa that was just as crazy! I won't bore you with details as you won't have any idea what I am talking about LOL

I will say this... Seeing Stewart on a Yamaha is GREAT!!!! Seeing Reed on a Suzuki is weird... and that is all I have to say about that!

So on to other things...

It is a special day in our house... Bolts is 1 year old today!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BOLTS!

Over the last year I have given her a bunch of nicknames...
Bolts cuz she's NUTS,
Betty Bolts,
Helga from the German woman's wrestling team,
and recently I call her my little Piglet.

When she gets really tired parts of her turn bright pink! Her nose, eyes, tummy, and inside her ears... and she has these little feet... and she makes little grunting noises, so she became 'my piglet' then one day Kameron said "Mom she isn't your piglet... she is your pig-pit"
Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would fall in love with a pit bull... but my grand-dog-ter has stolen my heart and the hearts of my friends... Nurse Pam always asks if she can sleep with Bolts when she comes... she is such a cuddle bug... even Nurse Pam said "I never thought I'd see the day I would be asking to sleep with a pit bull!"
During the day she is not a cuddle bug she is an on the go puppy, chewing me out of house and home! As I type this she has found a white plastic hanger and is chewing it up! Earlier it was a leather work glove she found in the garage! She has a pile of chew toys in her corner but noooo she has to find other stuff to chew on... UGH... but I love that stupid dog anyway...
About 6pm, she gets tired and if she sees me sitting on the couch... she crawls up and snuggles up under my arm... like "I'm tired Grandma, hold me" she is the only dog I know who lets me hold her like a baby [tummy up] she gives me a couple of kisses, grunts like a piggy and falls fast asleep...

"She is my little Pig-Pit"

Happy 1 year Birthday Bolts... cuz she's Nuts!

Look at her little piglet feet

Sleeping with Kameron

Sleeping on the couch with Sam

With Rider and Gigi

New Years Eve pics

2009-01-02T14:47:00.000-08:00

Kieffer and his friends 2 days before Christmas

Kieffer and Sarah his girlfriend

Collin helping Sam New Years Eve Day

Kameron giving Bolts a bath New Years Eve Day

Kameron and Sam being goofy

New Years Eve dinner Prime Rib and it was so yummy huh Gram Pam

Potatoes and rolls too

Hanging out by the camp fire on New Years Eve

Gram Pam's hubby Chuck left, Sam, Bethany Collin's g/f

Collin and then me

Me being silly

Sam and Collin goofing off New Years Eve

Monday ramblings...

2008-12-29T13:21:00.000-08:00

Hey Everybody,

It's Monday... and no more Monday Night Football... oh dear... what will I do?
I love football, love football season, and its almost over... Waaaaaa... sniff, sniff, at least I can look forward to the college bowl games on Thursday and then NFL playoff weekend... GO CHARGERS!!!!

When I first met Sam and we started watching football together... Whenever a player would stick out his arm towards another player and make them go down I would call it a 'strong arm' it is actually called a 'stiff arm'... for months Sam didn't tell me it was a 'stiff arm'... One day someone told me "Kendra, its a stiff arm, a strong arm is a robbery"
I asked Sam why he didn't tell me that... he said he thought it was cute... so to this day... I call it a 'strong arm' and he always smiles...
I mean jeez you gotta have a pretty strong arm to do that right?

You know.... I am a very lucky woman after 25 years, I love him more today than I ever have... He knows everything about me, and loves me anyway... Like how I repeat myself constantly... with so many kids and their friends sometimes I don't know who I told what story to... when I tell one of my kids the same thing they always say "MOM, you already told me that!" but when I tell Sam the same thing he says "Judge Whoppner" which is a line from the movie Rainman "Gotta watch Judge Whoppner at 4 O'clock" Dustin Hoffman repeats that throughout the movie... that is Sam's way of saying "you already told me that" and it makes me laugh every time... Then he says lovingly "Your my little wee-tard"

Yesterday Sam and I went in the hot tub... the sun was shining, the snow is all gone... it felt good... well... when I go in the sun... my freckles come out...

I remember on our second date Sam and I went for a bike ride at the beach and later that day we were kissing... suddenly he looked at me and said "OMG you have freckles" I was horrified, I hated my freckles... but he thought they were cute...
So fast forward to yesterday he said "Hey freckle face" I groaned "Ohhh you KNOW I HATE my freckles!" he kissed all over my face and said "but you KNOW I love them!" I melted like butter...

25 years later and he can still melt me like butter...

Recently, Kameron's girlfriend had to write a paper on marriage for a college class she was attending... She had to interview someone who had been married for 20 years or more...
One of the questions was... What advice do you have for newlyweds...
I said two things...

Number 1 - Marriage is like a roller coaster ride, lots of high highs and lots of low, lows. The trick is to stay on the ride because if you get off all you will find is a different roller coaster ride with different high, highs and different low, lows. There is NO perfect merry go round marriage.

and my favorite...

Number 2 - When the grass starts looking greener on the other side of the fence... Honey, its time to start watering yours!

Happy Birthday Honey...

2008-12-24T08:24:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas Eve!
This is a quick note because I have to head to town and pick up my hubby's birthday cake... I guess we were meant to be together because my birthday is the day before Halloween and his is the day before Christmas LOL
The kids are coming up today to spend the night... We have a big storm rolling in too! Yikes... I can't figure out if its going to rain or snow tonight? The snow is almost gone from last weeks big storm... there is enough in patches to throw snow balls but that is about it...
Kieffer came up yesterday with 4 friends to play in the snow... they stopped here on the way to Big Bear [a skiing / snowboarding town 40 minutes away] and then stopped back by on the way home... I made them some cookies before they left...
Well I have to go to town... I hope everyone has a safe and wonderful holiday!

The kids

2008-12-21T08:56:00.001-08:00

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Is there still snow in the yard DaD?

2008-12-19T12:25:00.000-08:00

We are STILL snowed in... well sort of... Sam made it to the local market this morning but then got the car stuck in the snow down the street from the house when he came back!
Our neighbors were digging a car out of the snow too... so we talked to each other... [she is the one with the horses] She said the night of the storm, the horses started acting funny and they came out to see a mountain lion... we heard the mountain lion... Gigi was going crazy inside the house... I thought it was a coyote with a weird screech to its voice... anyway Sam said he'd get the shotgun loaded, just in case it somehow got in the yard... So I guess I am living in the wild wild west over here...

Sam called Kameron to bring up the 4 wheel drive truck and pick up chains on his way... Kameron said "Is there still snow in the yard Dad"

"Kameron the Excursion is stuck in the snow down the street! YES there is still snow in the yard!!!!"

I keep sending pictures and I guess the kids think we're joking that we are snowed in?

Snowed in pics....

2008-12-18T12:38:00.000-08:00

Well Sam and I are snowed in for a few days... this much snow hasn't happened since 1979! We measured and we have 14 to 16 inches on the ground! We see snow as far the eye can see! The news keeps talking about Las Vegas getting 4 inches... oh brother...
We lost electricity for 9 hours yesterday too... I never realized how much I LOVE electricity till it came back on LOL
When it went out... Sam started putting batteries in the radio... I said laughing "Well, I guess we have to talk to each other now... so what are your thoughts, dreams, wishes" and he said "I wish you'd stop talking to me right now" I thought that was funny...

You all can have your snow back...
Im over it!

Pics from the weekend

2008-12-16T08:31:00.000-08:00

Bolts in the snow yesterday morning!

BTW Its going to snow again on Wed!

Kameron and Bolts sleeping the night the kids came

Sam my hunk o hunk of burning love LOL or my hubby

Kieffer, Candice and sarah Kieff''s g/f

We played 2 board games too

Me and Bolts

Kieffer and Sarah putting the lights on the tree

Snow pictures in So. California

2008-12-15T16:39:00.000-08:00

It snowed for 5 straight hours! It was the coolest thing! You don't even know how excited and happy I was all day! I mean it really snowed HARD!
Three hours into the snow storm our satellite T. V. and Wi Fi went out... so Sam and I decided to make cocktails, strip off our clothes and get in the hot tub! That was fun... sitting in a steaming hot tub, watching it snow... Maybe you guys get to do it all the time but I NEVER get a snow day LOL

Afterwards we came in and took a nap... it had pretty much stopped snowing by then... and we still had no TV or Wi Fi... when we woke up Sam called Direct TV and asked if there was a problem with our signal... The man said we had to get the snow off the satellite dish... Now how would we know you had to do that? Jeepers do you have to that every time it snows?

Snow outside my window by the Christmas Tree

The snow by Sam's workshop

What happens to palm trees when it snows LOL

My car

OMG Its snowing... its really snowing

2008-12-15T07:35:00.000-08:00

This is so cool... big fat billowy white flakes falling every which way outside... I LOVE IT... It doesn't seem to be sticking to the ground much tho! In some spots... I took a couple of pics...
Ill upload later I just got so excited I had to share... I hope it snows all day! I hope it doesnt turn into rain...
I woke up at 7:15 to let the dogs out and ran inside "Honey! Its SNOWING" He woke up and threw some clothes on... then he said "Go get your camera!"

Anyway, its 40 minutes later and still snowing... Whoo Hoo

SNOW? Who is sending me snow?

2008-12-14T20:23:00.000-08:00

Ok which one of you sent me snow for Monday? Hhhhhmmmm?

Well thanks cuz I think its cool! For a couple of days and then you can have the cold weather and snow back...

My weather report for tonight...

Partly cloudy skies early then becoming cloudy with a mix of light rain and snow late. Low near 35F. Winds SW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of precip 50%.

More on my weekend with the kids and the dog whisperer Monday... but we had a great time...

Dog Whisperer and kids coming... Whoo Hoo

2008-12-13T09:04:00.000-08:00

Good Saturday morning,
I am sitting here waiting for that aggressive dog trainer to come and tell me what
I am doing wrong... This should be interesting... I just want normal dogs... is that too much to ask? I think not... so come back later and find out what I learned if ya want!

Today all my kids are coming up for dinner and putting up the tree... Kris is here helping Sam do some stuff already... Candice and Mike will be coming up after they attend Holly's 1st birthday party! Kameron will be up after he gets Sam's 57 Bel Air from the shop and hauls it up here on the trailer... and Kieffer will come after Sarah gets done with her volunteer work...

Its so nice to have all your kids home... you don't have to worry about them being out in the world yanno!

Well I better go... my own personal dog whisperer will be coming in 15 minutes

Stay tuned LOL

Bolts doesn't like my surfing Santa

2008-12-11T17:44:00.000-08:00

We brought a bunch of Christmas decorations up here from the other house today... When I got Surfing Santa out Bolts didn't like him... We laughed so much... I turned him on and she went crazy barking at him! He gyrates to a Beach Boys Christmas song... its funny to watch...

Anyway, I guess no one was grossed out by my last entry?

Thursday stuff and old pics of Kieffer... Warning LOL

2008-12-11T10:58:00.000-08:00

Thursday happenings...
We came home yesterday because we had to sign the property tax checks and get them in the mail... Ewww I hate being a grown up yanno? We had to go to the office and sign checks too... afterwards we came here to the house and Sam flipped out on the boys... His garage was a disaster... My hubby is anal about his garage workshop... It was pretty bad too... It was obvious the boys have been working on their bikes, motorcycles and stuff and putting nothing back where it goes... He was not a happy camper... I told him to make them clean it up... but as usual both boys were not at home at the same time... So Kieffer got the worst of it because he was here... Kameron got it too but by then the storm had lost its ummmph... if you know what I mean!

Anyway... I don't think they will let Dad find such a mess again!

The aggressive dog trainer is coming on Saturday morning to tell me what I am doing wrong... but so far the dogs have been behaving... We took Gigi's stitches out of her ear the other night while Kieffer was at the house... Sam said "Hhhhmmm I wonder why her ear still has some ooze coming out of it, its been a long time"
[It was only where the stitch was... trust me it was nothing... remember I am an M.D.... LOL]
Kieffer started laughing... "Its been 2 weeks Dad, that is Nothing, I had ooze coming out of my arm for 4 years!"
We had to laugh at that too!
For those of you new readers who don't understand what we are talking about... Kieffer broke his arm [where the upper arm connects to the shoulder] it snapped completely and almost came out the back of his arm...
They reconnected it with pins but for 4 years a small area oozed... we did everything... nuclear medicine to find the infection... 6 weeks IV antibiotics [which I gave him through a port in his arm everyday for 2 hours] he did 40 sessions in a hyperbaric oxygen chamber too... it just went on and on... they said he had a bone infection... they said he might just have to learn to live with it...
Anyway a year ago, they opened his arm back up and found out he had bone fragments in a pocket of tissue that just kept it festered and angry... they took the bone fragments out and he has been fine ever since...

I hope I didn't gross you out... If I did I am sorry...

If I have to go through it... you have to go through it with me... that is what friends are for right? RIGHT!

Anyway, I gotta go get in the shower... then pack up the Christmas decorations to take to the Hi D house... all the kids are coming up Saturday night for dinner... whoo hoo...

Christmas will be at the Hi D house this year for the first time...

Warning: photos below are graphic...

Kieffer's moto

Kieffer in the hospital after his broken leg from football plus they tried cleaning up his arm again...

Below is Kieffer's broken leg from football... snapped the tibia and fibia...

His arm after his last surgery a year ago

If you dont leave a comment after that... you must be an MD. Mom like me LOL

Tuesday morning Grits and Elvis Hhhhmnmm!

2008-12-09T11:09:00.000-08:00

Good morning,

I just fed Sam and Kieffer grits with sausage for breakfast... How I became the expert grit maker in the family, I do not know... My Mom was from South Carolina but I don't remember her eating grits... boiled peanuts by the bushel, or shucking oysters from a boat yes... grits no... I use to make them for Grampa all the time when he would visit but now I make them 4 days a week for Sam... Weird... I don't even LIKE grits... Although Gram Pam said I would love Cracker Barrel yellow grits but I have never been there...

So anyway, we are sitting here having breakfast and I say to Kieffer
"So Dad and are thinking of going to Vegas with you kids for our 25th and getting married again... at the 'little white chapel' with an Elvis impersonator. What do you think?"
Kieffer groans "Ewwwww no"
Sam said "What do you mean, it would be fun"
"Oh I get the whole Vegas thing... just not the Elvis impersonator"
I said "Oh... so who do you think would be better?"
[I was thinking he would say Frank Sinatra impersonator or Marilyn Monroe impersonator]
Kieffer says "Oh I don't know... how about a stripper... Vegas - stripper that goes together]

OH BROTHER!!!

Note to self: Don't let Kieffer plan my 25th anniversary

Bah Humbug hangover on Sunday LOL

2008-12-08T11:59:00.000-08:00

Ok... so Sam and I are here at the Hi D with our pack of 3 dogs... which are getting along great however I did try to get a hold of the aggressive dog trainer because I am not stupid enough to think it won't happen again! We are hoping he will call and come by Monday...
I talked to my daughter the other day for over an hour "Mom! Is Dad upset with me? no one told me the bar HAD to be moved by Friday"
"No he is not upset with you, he just doesn't understand why you wanted that huge thing" she sighs "because Grampa made it and I didn't want to see it get thrown away!" [She is right... it came damn close to getting thrown away] Only because we have a bigger, nicer bar of Grampa's in storage... When he was the pilot for the U.S. Ambassador to India for 4 years he had 'man servants' and they made him this really cool Teak Bar...
[what was up with Grampa and bars for crying out loud?]
Ok... I am one to talk... I have a wicked hangover today... Let's just say Captain Morgan kicked my ass last night... I am not hanging out with pirates anymore! I am sticking with my Amaretto and Orange Juice from now on! What the hell was I thinking? I wasn't thinking, I just wanted a couple of cocktails with my hubby by the fire last night... Ok it was more like 4 cocktails but who's counting! I was out of Orange Juice and someone brought Captain Morgan up here for Thanksgiving...
I guess I was just going through my Christmas Bah Humbug mood...
I don't know if its because I don't have any small kids at home to make Christmas magical or what but for the past few years I have dreaded Christmas... I am so tired of the 'Christmas is about presents thing'... I was telling my daughter this the other day... She was saying funds are kind of tight this year for them... and I told her "Candice I wish all you kids would go out in the world and do something for others... like feeding the homeless or donating blankets to a shelter or helping a senior citizen... then come on Christmas for dinner and tell me the stories... I would LOVE that kind of present for Christmas! I really would... its better than some present you give me that I can't remember the next year yanno?"

Every year Sam and I have this same conversation... Sam says "Honey what do you want for Christmas" and I always say "Oh... Ummm I don't know, I don't NEED anything... let me think about it" and he says "Ok"
This year I changed things up on him though... We were laying in bed the other night watching T.V. and he says "Honey, what do you want for Christmas this year?" and I said "Oh... ummm... I have a list" he cracked up "Oh, you have a list this year huh?" "Ya..." "Oh really, what is the first thing on that list?" "I want you to wash my hair and blow dry it one night" he laughed then groaned "Awww, can't I just buy you something" "Nope... wanna know the next item on the list?"
"No not really but what is it?" "A nice foot massage" Sam groaned "Well you got me there... I thought you were going to make me pay mega bucks for your list for Christmas" I smiled "Oh Honey... I would NEVER do that for Christmas... that comes in Feb for our 25th anniversary..."

Its a small world after all

2008-12-06T10:21:00.000-08:00

Hello from sunny California... Today will be in the 80's... perfect Christmas weather LOL I don't care I am still gonna wear my UGGS and jeans... LOL

Yesterday Sam and I drove the Excursion with a trailer to Los Angeles to pick up the remaining items at Grampa's house. Escrow closes this week. We just happened to run into the new owner. She was really nice and so perfect to buy Dad's house! Sam's sister Tina came over to see us and talked about how wonderful Thanksgiving was again! She said "I know you and Gram Pam worked really hard to make everything seem so effortless and easy Thank you!" that was nice to hear!
We also took Bolts with us to Grampa's... I was NOT leaving all 3 dogs in the house to get into it... They have been being really good however I am beginning to see the problem is with Gigi not Bolts... the trainer said even tho I had both Bolts and Gigi fixed last month, the hormones are still in their bodies for at least 3 months... I am thinking the girls are being hormonal... Hell I don't know... I do know I just can't leave Bolts in exile... Kameron is gone riding this weekend and then he goes to school 4 days a week... He is gone most of the day! I just can't leave Bolts here to chew up the house yanno? So she is going back to the Hi D with us in a couple of hours...
Say a prayer for my dogs please!
Ok so where was I in my story about Grampa's house? Hhhhhhmmm Oh ya...
Kris came over to Grampa's house to help Sam load up the trailer... 3 motorcycles, a small trailer, a LARGE bar with bar stools my daughter wanted but never picked up...
[Hi Candice... your father was not happy with you yesterday... that bar is 7 feet long and heavy... it will be at the Hi D house when you want to pick it up... outside...]

I asked "Do you want to go to Candice's and drop it off Sam?"
Kris started laughing "Ya right, where is she going to put it?"
Sam said "Can I throw it towards her apartment at 55 miles per hour?"
We all laughed...

Anyway, we have it all loaded up and ready to take to the Hi D house...

While we were driving we were listening to the OJ verdict on the radio... I am pretty sure I have told you guys the story about meeting OJ in 1990?
Long story short... My friend and I had been shopping in Palm Springs all day and she wanted to go have a drink at a place called Cecil's on Sunrise... Well I had never been there and didn't know if we were dressed up enough... A Rolls Royce pulls up and 2 guys in sports coats get out... we thought uh oh we are NOT dressed up enough [we were in Bermuda shorts] suddenly this guy comes up to us "Ladies, Ladies, where are you going?" "We are not dressed up enough!" "You look fine!" "Hey I know you... your OJ Simpson" "Yes, I am"
So we started walking up to the door... there was a cover charge to get in and he paid ours... I could tell his friends were not happy with the way he was acting but I didn't know why till months later... My friend and I were both married so we didnt want to hang out with him getting picked up yanno? So we blew him off and went our own way... Later my friend said "Im going to go get his autograph" I said "Ok" She came back PISSED... I guess he was already trying to pick up on some other blonde at the bar and he got ALL shitty with my friend [I guess because we blew him off] My friend said "I just wanted an autograph but forget it" then OJ said "I'm sorry, here I'll sign an autograph"
Fast forward 3 months and we hear the infamous 911 call Nicole made about OJ on New Years Day... My friend called me and said "OMG he was married!" Now I understand why his friends didnt seem happy with his behavior... Anyway... all I remember was his HUGE HEAD... the man has the biggest head I have ever seen! Plus I always thought he would be taller! He is only about 5'11...

How about this for a small world... Christopher Dardin the attorney in the OJ murder trial lived across the street from Grampa... [he moved a couple years after the trial] but how strange we would hear OJ's sentence while driving to Grampa's years later...

Hhhhmmm Karma finally caught up to the man...

And that is all I have to say about that...

My horrific week before Thanksgiving

2008-12-04T21:39:00.000-08:00

Rider

Oooowweeee

This was 15 minutes before the fight! Bolts sleeping on Gigi

OK so now that I have shown you how GREAT Thanksgiving was... I must tell you about my doggie problem...
As you know we have 3 dogs...

Rider [8 yr old Weim] , Gigi [4 yr old Weim] and the infamous Bolts [11 months old] and no she was not named after the new Disney movie, she was named after the Charger's football team... but if Disney wants to make her into an action hero who am I to object... LOL

Anyway... long story shorter... the week before Thanksgiving... Bolts and Gigi got into a horrific fight and Bolts caused Gigi to get 8 stitches in her ear! Right after it happened I drove Bolts down the hill to my son Kameron... she was placed in exile...

[Its his dog anyway, I knew I was gonna end up with her when he brought her home... but that is besides the point]
Never in my wildest dreams would I have EVER thought those two would get into it... Bolts adores Gigi... Rider and Bolts getting into it... yes... but Gigi and Bolts NEVER!

Ask Nurse Pam, she ADORES Bolts!!

Well, after taking her for surgery, my vet gave me the name of an aggressive dog trainer... He will be coming to the house next week to observe and comment on what 'we' are doing wrong...

[WHERE is the Dog Whisperer when you need him? He seems to get owners and dogs fixed in minutes]

The trainer basically said "Bolts is challenging Gigi for pack leader because she is hitting puberty"

[GD teenagers] This wouldn't be a problem, except as you all know... Bolts is a Pitbull... Bolts LOVES people, hates other dogs... but so do my Weim's... so WTH?

Am I putting off a Michael Vick vibe in my house... WTH?

I don't know what is going on... but it better stop...

My vet bills lately are no laughing matter! Sheesh...

We love Bolts [she is my grand-dog-der] We miss her up at the house but we have to DO something...

BTW Jeanne: I saw a dog show with 4 Weims and one of them was snuzzling LOL Like my Gigi and your Vizla... he he

For those of you who don't know what snuzzling is...

My Gigi [4 yr old blue weim] will take a pillow and suck on the corner of it while kneading it with her paws... It looks like she is nursing or something... she never chews the corner, it just gets wet! Jeanne's Vizla does it too... Weim's and Visla's are in the same dog family... bird hunting dogs

More Thanksgiving pics

2008-12-04T20:32:00.000-08:00

My sister in law Tina and her dog boccie [or baby chubacca I'm not sure]

Below is Kameron

To the left is Collin and below is Gram Pam's oldest grandson Corey

Sam's sister Tina's family

Below is Kieffer and his favorite cousin Michelle... they have been best friends since they were in diapers

Below is Collin and his girlfriend

To the left is Jelly Bean [Aka JuJu Bee aka Shaniqua *see story below for explanation LOL]

And these are the Newlyweds again... and yes I was bugging them for a Grandchild... Here was the response "Sure Mom, here is the deal... you buy us a house and we will get right on the grandchild thing"

Ya dream on Candice...

Candice would say "Ya dream on about those grand kids then..."

Thanksgiving pics #3

2008-12-04T16:25:00.000-08:00

The volleyball teams Saturday afternoon... Only in Southern California!

This is breakfast with half of us!

Isiah [Sam's sister's hubby's daughter's son]

Spagetti sauce

Spagetti!

Kieffer working in the tractor Thanksgiving weekend

My son Kris, My SIL Mike, and Sam

The flag flying over the house so everyone could find us

Feeding the horses carrots [My SIL Lisa and her husband's daughter's son] Could you follow that?

Kieffer and Isiah feeding horses down the road

Thanksgiving Weekend pics 2

2008-12-04T15:29:00.000-08:00

Me getting a ride in Gram Pam's son's buggy!!

Sam and I being weirdo's

Sam and his sisters Lisa and Tina

Gram Pam and her kids Allen and Christy

Gram Pam and her honey Chuck plus 'little man'

Gram Pam's sister and her hubby plus Emma Jean I took a bunch of Christmas card photo's for them

The gang's all here... Oh uh actually we are missing 6 people LOL

Kameron

The morning dog walkers

Gram Pam's daughter Christy and her hubby Troy

The morning after Thanksgiving my SIL Tina and her hubby Ciro made breakfast... Bocce supervised from a stool LOL

Thanksgiving night some of the cousins in the hot tub

The newlyweds Mike and my daughter Candice

Some of the pies, cakes and cookies Thanksgiving evening

More photos coming so check back often...

Hey you said you wanted photos

A few pics of Thanksgiving

2008-12-04T14:50:00.000-08:00

UGH I am SO not use to this photo thing here yet... so hang in there with me...

Sam carving the turkey
Gram Pam's daughter Christy

Poppa Woo from World War II [he is 85 yrs young]

The table for Thanksgiving

The trailers in the yard

Below is Cali one of the dogs

Gram Pam's grandson Blake

A huge tub of ambrosia

Gram Pam's youngest grandson

OH MY GOD... He is THE cutest 19 month old you have ever seen!!!

A huge tub of stuffing

Poppa Woo from World War II and other stuff

2008-12-03T11:11:00.000-08:00

I really wish I could post the weekend photos... Darn it! Soon...

We had so much fun... I think the volleyball games were the best part of the weekend!
Poppa Woo from World War II was a kick too! Last year he made a drawing of Grampa's WWII ship he was on... The USS Essex... then he sent it to Grampa... that was so nice of him! It is here, hanging on the wall now that Grampa is gone.
Just so you know how Poppa Woo fits in the family... Try following this...
Poppa Woo is Gram Pam's daughters husband's grandfather... Did you follow that? He is in his 80's and going strong... [must be the shot of Bailey's in his coffee in the morning LOL] or its the sit up's and stretches he does before his coffee!
Anyway, one night we were drinking [Ok we were drinking every night but that is not the point of my story] and somehow the subject of sex came up [big shocker huh!] I think the point of the sex stuff was the hubby's bitching how they NEVER get any sex and someone asked Poppa Woo if its still possible to have sex in your 80's! So Poppa Woo says
"Oh.... sure it is... as long as you have those little blue pills" we all laughed so loud!!!
I just love Poppa Woo, he is so mellow and you can talk to him about anything!
Wait till you see a picture of him, your gonna love him too! He told me as long as he is standing he will be back next year!

I am so happy EVERYONE had a great time! Collin brought his girlfriend and she said "Oh. My. God. your family is so chill, there is NO WAY my family would be this much fun if they all got together!" that was kind of nice to hear!
This was a very special Thanksgiving! Sam's sister's have not been up here since 1995! The kids were so little back then! I played old family video's of back in the day... [which was a Wednesday by the way... that was a joke I hope you got it! Every time someone says "Back in the day" Kieffer always says "Which was a Wednesday!" Anyway, the video was hilarious and oh so embarrassing for the kids... Oh well... it was worth it... we all laughed so hard... I HAVE to learn how to post videos on my blog.... LOL
We also had quite a few dogs here! We had Gram Pam's Chihuahua 'little man', her son's husky wolf mix 'Cali' [she has one blue eye and one brown eye], Gram Pam's daughters dog 'Jelly Bean' or as Sam liked to call her
"Ju Ju Bee' I can't tell you what breed she is but to me she acts like an old Jamaican woman who has smoked to much pot, lives for eating food and moves really slowly... I called her Shaniqua... LOL Don't worry I have a photo of her! Gram Pam's sister Mary Ann brought their Dalmatian Emma Jean... She was so happy to be here and loved running around... Mary Ann called me today and said Emma slept for 2 days after they got home LOL
Sam's sister also brought their dog named Bocce...
Everyday after breakfast we would take the dogs for a walk and go feed carrots to the horse's down the road...
My dog aggressive dogs were at the kennel... There is NO WAY they would have been ok with other dogs being here... The funny thing was when I went to pick up my dogs from the boarder taking care of them [A registered AKC breeding kennel] Guess where my whiner-riners were? Still in their kennel area? Uhhhh no... they got to stay in the house LOL She said they were not happy unless they were with a human! Uhhh ya, that would be my whiner-riners LOL

A few pics from the weekend I got from my daughter

2008-12-01T13:48:00.000-08:00

Candice and Michelle [cousin]

A Group shot

My SIL Lisa, ME and Candice

Thanksgiving weekend

2008-11-30T16:37:00.001-08:00

Hi Everyone!
Guess who has wi fi... Whoo Hoo Yippee... Hang on while I do the Wi Fi dance... Yes! It is so nice! So... you can expect to hear more from me now!

I don't know where to begin on getting ya caught up! I guess you know by now I had 50 people up here... ALL WEEKEND!!!

We had a BLAST... I wish I could upload the photos but I can't till I go back to the other house...

We had 4 turkey's, 2 hams, 20 lbs of mashed potatoes, a huge tub of ambrosia, 3 tubs of stuffing, a big bag of brown sugar carrots, 2 huge dishes of green bean casserole, a half of a crock pot of gravy, 7 pies, 1 cake, 3 platters of cookies, 2 plates of brownies, a tub of vanilla ice cream and a partridge in a pear tree!

That was only on Thanksgiving Day... Thanksgiving morning we made 3 dozen eggs, 5 lbs of bacon, and 3 loaves of toast... LOL

The week before Thanksgiving I made a 'nesco' cooker full of beef stroganoff [using about 12 lbs of beef and 2 huge tubs of sour cream]
I also made a 'nesco' cooker full of spaghetti sauce then Gram Pam and I used freezer bags and froze it all.

On Wednesday night... all we had to do was heat up the stroganoff and boil noodles... We just kept the cooker on low. As everyone started arriving, they came in and ate.

The night after Thanksgiving we heated up the spaghetti sauce [or gravy right Ellen?] made 7 packages of noodles with 9 loaves of garlic bread, 3 pans of salad...

So I guess what I am saying is... we made a TON of food everyday this weekend but it was easy!

Every morning a different 'couple' made breakfast for everyone! Thursday morning Gram Pam and Chuck, Friday morning my SIL Tina and her hubby Ciro, and Saturday morning Sam and I did it...

Lunches were made in shifts... usually in 2 to 3 groups... some people would be out on trail rides etc... so as the bunches would come in the house... sandwiches would be made!

I cannot believe the weather... right now as I type this... it is BEAUTIFUL! 74 degrees, sunny, no wind... UGH!!! I swear... why couldn't it have been like this for Thanksgiving? On Wednesday, it started raining here... actually pouring all night! Thursday it was so cold and windy we had to move all the couches and furniture out of the house and put the tables up in the family room...
Friday was nice enough to eat outside... All 5 cafeteria tables were set up! It was much easier!

Saturday was so nice we all played volleyball... [3 games] Most of the guys had shorts and no shirts on! Only in California! LOL Wait till you see the pics!!

On Friday, we turned on the National news station and found out 2 people had been shot and killed in my local Toys R Us... Did anyone else hear about that? How sad is that!

Anyway... I just wanted to share my Thanksgiving with all of you... I'll share more with pics soon...

So.... ya'all come back now ya hear!

Hi D Hoedown this weekend

2008-11-24T15:32:00.000-08:00

Hey Everyone,
Miss ya all bunches... Been crazy busy getting ready for 42 people for Thanksgiving at the Hi D house! Not just for Thursday either! For the WHOLE weekend!!! Nurse Pam is coming up too!!! I will take tons of pics doncha worry ;) Band will be playing on Friday night!!! It will be tons of fun...

We are getting Wi Fi up at the Hi D on Tuesday so I will be on much more after that... Dial up is just too frustrating!

Anyway, gotta run as usual! We only came down to get the trailer
[for people to sleep in this weekend]

Gigi is fine from her surgery... however... she has 8 stitches in her ear at the moment... long story... no time...

I SURE DO MISS YOU GUYS.... Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!!!

Just when you think you know... you don't know!

2008-11-10T17:19:00.000-08:00

Hey Everybody,
Once again I find myself home for 24 hours and then back to the Hi D house... this time without my hunk o hunk o burning love... how will I ever sleep tonight without spooning? Oh... I forgot... I have my Gigi and she is a cuddle bug! Whew!!!
Let's see... where to begin? Ahhh yes my Gigi and her uterus infection... So, last week I took her in for her 3 penicillin shots and prayed like crazy the vet would fix her on Thursday... I was worried sick... she was still bleeding all over the place... ugh... it was horrible!
[I had to throw away 4 blankets to give you some idea!]

Some good news came on Wednesday evening tho... Nurse Pam was coming up for a visit! Whoo Hoo!!! I needed her to keep my mind off of my poor Gigi!
So Thursday morning at 7am I dropped Gigi off at the vet to get fixed and they said come pick her up about 4pm...
Thank God, Nurse Pam was coming up and I kept busy cleaning up the Hi D house all morning...
She arrived about 12 and we had a great visit, but my eye kept wandering to the clock... waiting for 4pm to get Gigi... finally the time arrived and Nurse Pam and I went to go get her...
As we were at the front desk paying the bill... One of the vet techs asked if we wanted to see a photo of how bad Gigi's uterus was...
Well of course we did!
Jeez... Nurse Pam is an R.N. and I am an M.D

[inside joke to Nurse Pam LOL She kept getting amazed at how much medical stuff I know...]

Anyway, so the vet tech brings up the photo of Gigi on the table during surgery with her uterus clamped off... Now let me ask all of you something because we were confused...
How many of you know what a dog uterus looks like? Wouldn't you think it looks the same as a human uterus? I mean you'd think similar right? WRONG...
What we were looking at in this photo looked like a large intestine... so we both asked at the same time... "Ok... what part is the uterus?" and she said "Your looking at it" we left there very confused...
Jeepers...
just when you think you know anatomy...
you find out... you don't!

So here ya go... a dog uterus with pyrometra [or uterus infection]

Now that you are grossed out... I just want to say...

If I have to go through it... You have to go through it with me!
I am very grateful for Nurse Pam's visit... she kept me from worrying so much! I am also looking forward to her coming back for her birthday visit!!!

Soooo does it look like a uterus to you?

Gram Pam pics

2008-11-05T09:56:00.000-08:00

This is Gram Pam after her successful surgery whoo hoo! Brandy the cool nurse too!
This picture was taken before surgery at the Hi D house... She was taking a nap with Bolts who had just had surgery to get fixed...

Nurse Pam is coming up Thursday... Whoo Hoo... Can you say fun... Don't worry Ill take pics LOL

I have to go take Gigi in for her 3rd shot... so keep her in your thoughts and prayers for a 'fixin' in the morning... I can't take the 'Bitch in Heat with Uterus infection anymore'...

Be good kids while Mother Kendra is gone LOL

My poor GiGi

2008-11-04T14:50:00.000-08:00

Hey Everybody,
I sure do hate having dial up at the Hi Desert house! I never go on the computer up there... too frustrating! So here I am at home for 24 hours... Sam and I came home to vote with Kameron [his first time]
I am not going to go into who I voted for because my Mother told me to never talk politics or religion with friends... so that is all I have to say about that!
Now onto my poor Gigi... She needs your prayers right now... Where do I begin? Hhhhmmm... lets see...
I'll begin with a warning... this story is kind of graphic so it may not be suitable for all ages or the male gender... LOL
Ok... 3 weeks ago Gigi started spotting... At first I thought, Oh great Bolts just got out of heat and now Gigi is starting UGH!!! However the spotting got worse and worse and the smell alone made me realize something was horribly wrong... So I took her into the vet and he said she had a uterus infection... He gave her a shot and 7 days worth of take home antibiotics! The next day when I took Bolts and Rider in for their rattlesnake boosters, I told the vet... Gigi's spotting had stopped and she seemed much better... I also made an appointment to get Bolts fixed that week because I was DONE with Bitches in Heat!!! So Bolts got fixed 10 days ago... yippee...
1 down, one to go!
Well, last week on Tuesday, I gave Gigi her last oral antibiotic...
Wed and Thursday I was with Gram Pam and her surgery remember? Well Friday, Gigi's bleeding was SO BAD [2 hand size stains on her blanket] I called the vet and made another appointment for Monday [yesterday] I begged him to just fix her... but he said he needed to see her Monday and maybe fix her on Tuesday... he said she may just need to be "flushed out"... So my running joke to Gram Pam this weekend was "I am thinking of flushing her myself but I just can't decide... fresh rain or meadow flowers douche... what do you think Pam?" and she laughed...
[I know... I have a sick sense of humor]
Anyway... She bleed all over the place all weekend... It was all I could do to keep up with it... [BTW Hydrogen Peroxide gets blood out of almost anything... trust me I know]
Ok... so Monday comes and I take her in... she bled all over my seat in my car, all over the vet waiting area and then all over the exam room...
The vet said he really wanted to take some blood and find out what is going on... So I said ok... he said after he took some blood then maybe she should spend the night and be on IV antibiotics before getting fixed on Tuesday... but I said "She is a Weim and has separation anxiety" he said "I know its common in the breed... ok then... why dont you go do some shopping and come back in about 45 minutes... we will know more then"
So I ran to the grocery and came back... I could hear my Gigi in the back barking her head off... in dog lingo she was saying "GET ME OUT OF HERE"
of course to others it sounded like "Woof, Woof, Bark, Bark, Woof"
So... long story longer... I was scared to death she had uterine cancer... I just knew he was going to tell me that... but I was wrong... whew...
She has a very serious infection!
Her white blood counts on the paper said [0.8 to 13 was high...] she was a 30!
So the vet said he really didn't want to fix her with that raging infection, we had to get it under control but keeping her there on an IV drip was going to be difficult because even tho she has a raging infection she is VERY active and has separation anxiety! So we made a game plan of a shot of penicillin, every day for 3 days with a take home antibiotic... So today, we took her for her 2nd of 3 shots... One more Wed... and then she will have another blood test... if her blood test comes back with better results on the infection, then he will fix her on Thursday...
So I need some help here... send some prayers for my Gigi... I need her to get fixed... I can't take it anymore...

Calgon take me AWAY...

Miss you guys...

Gram PAM's Surgery...

2008-10-31T10:46:00.001-07:00

Ahhh how nice... you were good kids while I was gone! No notices on the door LOL...
Thank you for all the calls and happy birthday wishes that was really nice :)
I have to say though it was funny every time I got a call for a "Happy Birthday" I was thinking "Oh wow, I keep forgetting its my birthday!" but its understandable it was a crazy day! So let me tell you all about Pam's surgery... Oh boy... what a LONG day...
I went to Pam's on Wednesday night to keep her mind off the surgery... We went to the salon and had our nails done, pedicure,etc... We had the best time! The salon was wonderful! Great customer service!!! It was really nice! Then Pam had to be on a clear liquid diet all night... So we kept her mind off of it by coloring her hair at my "Shalon" that is a family joke of ours...
Sam remodeled this salon on Rodeo Drive once named "Juan Juan Salon" which you would think sounds like its spelled right? No the owner said its
"Shh-juan, Shh-juan, Salon" so from then on out... when I am coloring someone's hair I say "Welcome to Shh-Juan, Shhh-Juan, Shhh- alon" and I also say "I use Preference by Loreal... because your worth it Pam!"
Anyway... I colored her hair and then blow dried it... which she loved...

Yesterday morning we woke up and got ready to head to San Diego for the surgery... Pam was cranky hungry and thirsty... I can't blame her... she hadn't eaten since noon the day before! We left at 8am for the hour and half drive, her check in was for 9:30 and her surgery was scheduled to begin at 11:50...
Well, long story short... the surgery before hers went really long! They FINALLY wheeled her in for surgery at 2:30pm ... UGH... Poor thing she was SO damn thirsty and hungry...
It took 4 hours... the Dr. said her uterus was FULL of cancer but it was contained, it didn't spread... Yippee, Whoo Hoo, Hooray!!! Best birthday present I could have had!!! Plus they didn't cut her open and they did it all by laser... so she can possibly go home today!!! Can you believe it?
They even gave her a private room because of all her family members there waiting... [10 of us... and no one even gave us a hard time... not once all day]
That was nice... plus one of the nurses who was with her in pre op, came later to "join the party" in her room LOL Her name was Brandy and she was SO nice!!! I even have a photo of her with Pam!!! Great hospital...
Well, kids... I gotta go again... I am heading back to the high desert! First, I am shopping with Sam at Bed Bath and Beyond... and the grocery store... I have been cooking up THE yummiest meals at the hi desert house because I LOVE my NEW kitchen... love it love it love it...

Be good kids while I am gone...

Coming home and Gram Pam...

2008-10-29T12:16:00.000-07:00

Ok I am home for a few minutes... as usual for me huh? I don't even know why I am calling this place home as we have been at the Hi D house for the last 2 weeks! Yesterday, after we drove back here... Sam and I were getting all stressed at the boys... "Why is there dirt and palm tree stuff in the pool?" "Why is the pool green? You guys can't take two seconds out of your day to put chlorine in the pool?" "Who has been in our room?" "Who has been using my computer?" UGH... I hate coming back home...
Sam was all stressed, which was making me uptight... so I said "Take me back home, I don't like this place" Sam laughed but it was short lived... he got all stressed about something stupid and started yelling at me [which is rare as you guys know] I just looked at him and said... "Your kidding me right? I KNOW you are not yelling at me about this" then he made some stupid remark and kept yelling so I got up and left the room... I tried to go downstairs but I couldn't get the hall door open! The door handle has been sticking... So I yelled at him to get 'THIS STUPID DOOR OPEN FOR ME'
So there we are trapped in the hallway, trying to get the door open and he grabs me and apologizes... "Honey, I am so sorry I didn't mean to yell at you"
I told him "I accept your apology, however it is going to cost you a double Malibu chicken dinner at Sizzler!"
he groaned Sam HATES Sizzler... "Ok... fine... lets go"
[Hey a girls gotta get her double Malibu chicken when she is craving it right?]
So we take off for Sizzler... we arrive and wait at the cash register for almost 7 minutes! There is no one there! WTH? No waitresses running around? No manager, no nobody... except 3 tables sitting there eating... We finally leave... I mean WTH? I was CRAVING my double Malibu but not that bad! So we headed over to Don and Sweet Sue's, THE BEST place to eat in my town... [Huh Nurse Pam? I took her to breakfast over there] We had never eaten dinner there but we knew it would be good! Sam called the boys to join us but Kieffer was at Sarah's volleyball game and Kameron was getting the oil changed in the Focus... Kameron did come over afterwards and joined us... I had a chicken stir fry that was SO GOOD and piled on the plate... I couldn't eat it all, so Kameron finished it for me... He loved it too...

Anyway, that was yesterday evening and right now I am waiting for Kameron to get home from his college class so I can take the focus to Gram Pam's...
Her surgery is in the morning... FINALLY... Thank God she is getting that cancer out of her body... Whoo Hoo... Yippee...

When she called me with the date of surgery she said "Kendra I have a date for my surgery, your never going to believe when it is! Your birthday October 30th! I'm sorry Honey" I told her... "Pam I couldn't think of a better birthday present than to get that cancer out of your body! Plus I Thank God he canceled the last surgery because you were able to be at Candice's wedding!"

Pam started crying...

Say some prayers for our Gram Pam, I gotta go to her house now...
LOVE and miss all of you mostest...

Be good kids while I'm gone... no more 30 day J-land notices okay!

Testing one two three

2008-10-14T16:09:00.000-07:00

I hate this changing journals thing.... I dont wanna learn a new place...

Hold on while I throw a tantrum!!!

Okay, I feel better now...

Thanks Nurse Pam for teaching me how to place my old stuff in a new place...

and that is all I have to say about that... Going back to the high des house

What did I say? "Be good kids while I am gone" tsk tsk

2008-10-13T14:07:00.000-07:00

OK what the Hell? I tell you guys to be good while I am gone and I come home to a 30 day notice on my J-land door... What the hell is going on around here? Must have been one HELL of a party, for a 30 day notice! Someone needs to fess up before I open a can of 'whoop ass'...

Now everyone is moving out of the J-land house in all different directions... I haven't had a chance to move my stuff yet because we have been chillin' at the hi d house... We are home for 2 days and then we are going back up there!

I am so grateful we didn't race in Sacramento last week... have you seen the fires in Los Angeles? Yikes... we drove right past there when we came home!

OMG... I forgot to tell you a story about when we were up there for the National!

First night we are there Jeff and Kieffer enter the Guitar Hero Contest and take 1st and 2nd place!!! I knew they were good but I didnt think they were THAT good!

On Wednesday night was a Texas Hold Em Poker Tournament... All the Dad's were buzzing about it! It cost $40 to enter and only 50 could play...

So Jeff and Kieffer enter the tournament and I thought there was no way they would do well against all those Dad's...

About 2 hours later, the boys come back and Kieffer says "I made it to the main table!"

Long story short, Kieffer took a 3rd in the tournament and made $250... Shhhh, he was supposed to be 18 years old to play... Oh well... so I hear Jeff and Kieffer talking about it...

Jeff says "You were SO Lucky, I can't believe the cards you got!"

Kieffer says "What do you mean luck? That was pure poker skill!"

Jeff says laughing "Ya right, even a blind pig finds an acorn every once in a while!"

I cracked up... "Jeff, where did you get that saying?"

"My Grampa says that when we play poker with him and win!"

Some pics of our week of racing at Hangtown

2008-10-06T08:24:00.000-07:00

Folsom California is really nice if your not in prison :)

2008-09-28T18:25:00.000-07:00

Hey kids,

We are up here in Folsom, Ca... you know the Johnny Cash song place by the prison...

We drove up yesterday and we are currently waiting for practice to start on Tuesday...

All is well... more later

Hugs me

Hangtown National Race

2008-09-26T15:04:00.000-07:00

Ok, I am taking a break from loading the trailer for this race... Shhhh don't tell Sam LOL... he is in the garage doing fork seals...

I wanted to take a minute and tell ya all about this race... Its at a track called Hangtown in Dodge City near Sacramento... There will be thousands of race families there... We leave in the morning and practice starts on Sunday... Actual Race schedule begins on Tuesday and ends on Sunday... Kieffer has 3 chances in each race to bring home a trophy or class championship... He is racing in 5 classes which equals 15 races [are you following me?]

250 stock novice

250 mod novice

450 stock novice

450 mod novice

450 college boy [17-24 years]

We are taking a pro racer Jeff "too tall" Loop. He is 6'8 and makes Kieffer look short at 6'3. He is such a good kid and will really make Kieffer do better... Kieffer has been training with him and hauling ass! Kieffer really wants a top 3 at this race and has been working his ass off in training...

The other day we couldnt get ahold of him on his cell phone, the car was here but no Kieffer and we were taking off to the Hi D house... We were getting pissed! As we drove away from the house, there was Kieffer on his mountain bike with a backpack...

"Oh... where ya been... working out at the gym?"

"Nah, I rode over to the office, picked up the dog doo and rode back"

[Its 7 miles to the office and 7 miles back! Plus he picked up dog doo without being asked... We weren't pissed after that...]

I hope he top 5's that would be sweet and I really want Jeff to do well also... this will be his first race without his Dad coming... Jeff is 20 and his Dad is an ex- pro too... they were in Texas racing too remember? It was really sad because Jeff's Dad got super drunk and told Jeff he wasnt going to do well and then got physical with Jeff... Jeff finally had enough of his Dad pushing him around and punched him... So his Dad walked around the rest of the week with sunglasses and a black eye! [he fell he said later] Anyway... I think Jeff will do better with his Dad not being there telling him he's a loser for not doing well...

Jeff asked Kieffer "Is your Dad going to yell at me if I dont do well"

Kieffer said "No, he'll just point out what your doing right and say "You'll do better in the next race Jeff"

Jeff said "Really? Wow..."

I think Jeff's Dad messes with his bike too much also... His bike is ALWAYS breaking... So much so... when he was riding in the BIG SHOW with the BIG Pro's his bike broke in practice [as usual] but he had qualified for the main race... and would you believe a flagger let him use his stock bike and Jeff holeshot the moto and then took a 14th... which is AMAZING on a bone stock bike...

Kind of like racing NASCAR with a car off the lot and taking a 14th place... yanno!

Amazing!

Brake Story from the wedding...

2008-09-26T09:56:00.000-07:00

Ok super quick entry because we leave in the morning for racing... Never a dull moment in the Silva household LOL...

Brake Story from the wedding...

Ok, so as you know I am aware of my brakes getting loud during my trip...

But hey I use to drive a 1991 chevy suburban and the brakes were ALWAYS making noises, so I was aware of it but not too concerned...

We had to make 2 trips down to downtown Los Angeles to the flower mart to buy flowers, and drive all over town trying to find mints for the wedding favors, plus I had to take all the bridesmaids to get their hair done at the hairdresser at 6am the day of the wedding... then I had to leave the hairdresser and drive to Pam H;'s house to pick up wedding bouquets... and that is when I knew there was HUGE problem... the brakes were no longer squeaking, they were grinding metal on metal... Oh shit... but what could I do...

My daughter was getting married that day right? So I just kept a good distance between me and cars...

Candice was married on the beach but to get down there... it was this huge down hill into the parking lot! I swear I thought I was going to lose my brakes going down there and wipe out all the chairs for the ceremony!

I made it down there safely... whew... then Sam and I drove to the reception... oh boy they were getting WAY worse on the way but again what could we do? Sam said "We'll make it home and Ill get them fixed"

After the reception I had to make 2 trips to the hotel... lugging guests and gifts... after the last trip from the reception to the hotel... I felt this noise, it sounded like "CUUNK" and the Excursion lurched... Thank GOD I was just pulling into the parking space at the hotel... Then the brake light came on! When the idiot light comes on you know you have problems! I was just grateful I made it to the hotel... I told Sam "The light just came on for the brakes" and he said "Ok, Ill check it out in the morning" and we went to the wedding after party at the hotel...

The next morning, as Sam and I walk to the Excursion to start unloading all the wedding presents into Candice and Mike's car we noticed a HUGE brake fluid puddle by my tire...

So we had to call AAA and have the car towed to a dealership... then Sam dropped me off at Pam H's house and he headed home with Kameron and Amber...

The car was fixed the next day [Monday] and Gram Pam and I FINALLY headed home at 8pm Monday night...

It cost over $800...

I know someone was looking out for us that week... what if that happened in downtown LA? OMG!!! I was SO lucky the car waited till the wedding and reception was over to finally breakdown...

Grampa must have been there... helping us that day... Thanks Dad...

Candice's vows

2008-09-26T08:40:00.000-07:00

First a comment from Candice:

I know you and Dad were freaking out... lol I do talk to my brothers, I always know whats going on. ;)..... But I knew what I wanted. Why would I have a religious stranger marry me?? But just like when I was planning this everyone freaked that the girls werent going to be wearing matching dresses and the guys werent in suits... and how Aunt Tina was freaked out when I had FAITH in Kristina doing the Bridal Shower, everything came together.... I wanted a ceremony that wasnt stuffy and showed Michael and I's personality and love for one another... and I feel that it was just that. It was beautiful, intimate without being rigid and formal. Which is exactly what I wanted!! I looked at the wedding as a celebration of Michael and I's new life together verses conforming to a ceremony just for the sake of an outdated tradition. Kameron did an AMAZING JOB!!!!! And it was soo meaningful because of it. And you are GREAT for standing back and letting me have the wedding of my dreams even if during the process you wanted to question my judgement, you didnt. For that I am so grateful, because it was exactly what I wanted and not what I thought everyone else wanted for me. It was everything and more!!!! I wouldnt have changed any of it, because it was personal, meaningful, and everyone had fun!!!

Love you

Now her vows...

Greeting:
We are gathered here this day, not to witness a beginning of what will be, but to celebrate and affirm what already is.
Micheal and Candice want to welcome you to this celebration of their love for one another. They believe we, their family and friends, have touched each of their lives in a special way. Each one of you has played a part in who they are as individuals and who they will become as a married couple. Your presence this morning is a gift of support and caring, and they appreciate your sharing this very special moment. Today we celebrate with Michael and Candice, the wonderous and joyful relationship they have created.

The beach today serves as a beautiful metaphor for marriage. Just as the conditions on the sea range from a blissful calm to a raging storm, so our relationships change through time. The shore absorbs the pounding of the surf as our love endures the pressures of change and growth. It is a strength that binds yet ennobles our human experience.

BLESSING OF THE PARENTS
Weddings such as this one have been public occasions where family and friends gather to express the joy and approval they feel for the new couple. Let me therefore ask the parents:
Do you, _Sam & Kendra Silva, Brenda Kenan, Jeff & Gayle Kenan, who have raised and nurtured these two, give your blessings to them as they e nter into this new relationship, and do you aspire in the days and years ahead to give them your deepest love, understanding, and support during both good times and bad? If so, please say, “We do.

Charge:
Do you, Michael, knowing this woman's love for you and returning it, realizing her strengths and learning from them, recognizing her weaknesses and helping her to overcome them, take Candice to be your wife?

Micheal: I do.

Do you, Candice, knowing this man's love for you and returning it, realizing his strengths and learning from them, recognizing his weaknesses and helping him to overcome them, take Michael to be your husband?

Candice: I do.

Vows:
Please face each other and join hands as we reflect for a moment on the partnership you are entering into.

Michael, repeat after me.

Today, Candice, I join my life to yours
as your friend who respects you
and your lover who is true to you.
Let me be your trusted companion
through laughter and tears.
I promise to endure your love for Pink and country music.And to love you as your husband and best friend, and respect you as an individual, with all I have to give, and all that I feel inside, in the only way I know how, completely and forever.

Candice, repeat after me.

Today, Michael, I join my life to yours
as your friend who respects you
and your lover who is true to you.
Let me be your trusted companion
through laughter and tears. I promise to comfort you when the lakers and 49ers lose, celebrate with you when they win.
,to love you as your wife and best friend, and respect you as an individual, with all I have to give, and all that I feel inside, in the only way I know how, completely and forever.

Explanation of the Rings:

Made from metals drawn from deep within the earth, may these rings remind you that your love, also, must be drawn from deep within you. Forged in heat and with great effort, may these rings remind you that your marriage is also crafted daily and tempered in the forge of daily giving and forgiving. Bright like the sun, may these rings remind you that your love is meant to illumine your lives. Round like arms that embrace, may these rings remind you that human love is a gift to this world.
_____, please repeat after me as you place the ring on _____‘s finger.

_____ I give you this ring
as a symbol of my love.
As it encircles your finger,
may it remind you always
that you are surrounded by my love.

Sand Ceremony:
Michael & Candice, you have just sealed your relationship by the giving and receiving of rings, and this is a relationship pledge between two people who agree that they will commit themselves to one another throughout their lives. Today, this relationship i s symbolized through the pouring of these two individual containers of sand. One, representing you, Michael, and all that you were, all that you are, and all that you will ever be, and the other representing you, Candice, and all that you were and all that you are, and all that you will ever be.

As these two containers of sand are poured into the third container, the individual containers of sand will no longer exist. Just as these grains of sand can never be separated, so will your marriage be.

Micheal and Candice have requested that Kendra read the "Beach Chairs" as they pour individual containers into one.

Closing:
Family and friends, this is a moment of celebration. Let it also be a moment of dedication. The world does a good job of reminding us how fragile we are. Individuals are fragile, relationships are fragile too. Every marriage needs the love, nurturing and support of a network of friends and family. On this wedding day I ask you not only be friends of Michael & Candice, but the friends of Michael & Candice together.

Pronouncement:
Michael & Candice, having witnessed your vows of marriage with all who are assembled here with you, I announce with great joy that you are, from this day forward, husband and wife. You may kiss the bride.

(Have the Groom and Bride turn and face the guests.)
It is now my pleasure to present to you for the first time,
Mr. and M rs. Kenan.

"Oh look how cute..."

2008-09-25T13:52:00.000-07:00

Love those pictures. Is it wrong to say the Mother & Father of the bride looked as good as the bride & groom? You did. ~Mary
ps great hair Kendra

Mary its so funny you said that because as Sam and I were walking from our car into the reception...

[the lobster festival was going on in Ports of Call, San Pedro]

So there we are walking, holding hands and a couple passed us and said "Oh look, How cute they just got married!"

We over heard it and laughed

Kameron doing the wedding...

2008-09-25T13:30:00.000-07:00

Okay I have to ask "Are we sure it's legal since Kam did it?" That threw me for a loop.

I love ya Chrissie... I knew someone was going to ask that question...

Yes, it was VERY LEGAL... Kameron had to go file papers at our courthouse and Candice and Mike had to also... Kameron was given the right to be a Deputy Chief Commissioner of Civil Ceremonies for a 24 hour period!

I am going to be honest with you... When Candice came to me and said she wanted that... I freaked...

Ellen that was the IM when I needed to talk... but Jeanne called me back and calmed me down...

Candice is probably reading this and had no idea I freaked... guess she knows now!

"Its going to look like a joke!" I thought but then after I read her vows... They were beautiful! I will ask her to send me a copy... anyway Kameron did an awesome job! It sounds so weird but it was PERFECT! Plus it had meaning for Candice, she is very very close to her brother...

At the wedding rehearsal I joked "If anyone asks, Kameron's in seminary school!" LOL before the actual ceremony I thought "OMG, this is going to be a train wreck, and I have a front row seat!"

After the ceremony, I was bursting with pride... It was very moving and beautiful... even my SIL a devout Catholic loved it... plus it wasn't some strange preacher man we hardly knew yanno?

I still say Grampa sent the Nuns to give it some religion tho... LOL

More pics of the wedding...

2008-09-25T08:42:00.000-07:00

Girlfriends Weddings and Time Warps...

2008-09-24T20:05:00.000-07:00

Ok where do I begin... I have SO many stories from the wedding, you don't even know... I should have been writing everyday but I was too tired because Candice's wedding planner [Kristina, who did a GREAT job with the bridal shower] got jury duty for the last 2 weeks... Can you say stress? We couldn't call her for advice... it was just crazy... it all came together in the end and that is what truly matters! That and the fact my daughter was NOT a Bridezilla... whew...

So lets start from the beginning... Wednesday of last week... Gram Pam and I drove to my high school friend Pam's house [she will now be known as Pam H. okay?] Pam H. was the PERFECT hostess. She had cookies and a key made for us to come and go as we pleased during our stay in her totally cute house! Pam and I have been friends FOREVER! We were pregnant at the same time and had the kids 6 weeks apart... she had a son named Tim and I had Candice!

Anyway, my daughter came over and we drove to San Pedro to pick up her wedding dress at the alteration place... The lady did a great job on the dress... after we came back to Pam H's, Nurse Pam came over! I wanted her to meet Candice and my other Pam's so she would have a good time at the wedding... Oh boy... did we have a good time on Pam H's patio that night...

About 12am, after Nurse Pam and Candice left... I said "Let's go to Denny's Im starving!" I had quit drinking long before they did! I had no idea how tipsy Pam H was until we get into Denny's and she says to the waiter

"Oh wow, you have a lot of menu's on your item" we all cracked up! We talked and laughed into the wee hours of the morning... There is something so cool about close girlfriends... no matter how long you haven't seen each other, it doesn't matter, it seems like it was just yesterday! Do you understand what I mean? Gram Pam and I were there for 6 days and I missed them after I came home! That... is what friendship is all about... not getting on each others nerves after 6 days!

Jeanne... when you come out at Christmas, we are coming out on a road trip to see you...

So onto Thursday, Candice and Mike were busy getting their marriage lic. at the courthouse so Gram Pam and I headed off to get my dirty Excursion washed! It had brake dust all over the back wheels... my brakes started squeaking the day I left but Sam said "We can't do anything about it now, so we will get the brakes done after the wedding" so I didn't worry about it too much but I was conscious of brakes problems... [remember this part because the brakes are a story all on its own later]

After we had the car washed, we were in the neighborhood I grew up in... So I said "Lets go drive down the street I grew up on" As we did, I realized the house looked the same as when I grew up... I had lost touch with my step-dad years ago and found it hard to believe he still lived in the house [A single man in a 2 story home with 4 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, sauna, guest house and 5 car garage] but I rang the doorbell anyway and sure enough he did! So I took Gram Pam in with me to visit... He was VERY nice and welcoming, we had a nice visit... but the weirdest thing was... the kitchen had not changed since the day I lived there! EVERYTHING was the same! The floor, the appliances, the bar stools. I was suddenly in a time warp of the 70's... even Gram Pam was tripping! I guess my step dad was just finishing up his last round of chemo and radiation from cancer, so he couldn't come to the wedding... but we left exchanging phone numbers and agreed to stay in touch... whew that was so weird... imagine going back to your childhood home and everything was still the same! The furniture... everything... except the shag wall to wall carpeting was gone... Sitting in the same stool you ate cereal in before school... ya... are you getting the picture? The even weirder thing was, nothing was old and worn out, it was just the SAME? I guess he hasn't had anyone there to wear it out... Even my step dad looked the SAME... I swear to God... he looked the same as the day I left home...

TIME WARP... so much for the saying "You can never go home again"

I wished I had my camera you dont even know... Im glad Gram Pam talked me into ringing the doorbell...

More stories to come but I have to get ready for a Motocross National, I leave in 2 days for Sacramento...

I'm home kids.... only for minute... so here are some pics for ya

2008-09-23T09:05:00.000-07:00

I have to go the Hi D house but I wanted to show a few pics before I went... Dont think your getting off this easy... I will have photos for days... but I gotta go!

The wedding was PERFECT, the weather was PERFECT, and the reception was a BLAST... more later...

Tags: wedding pics

EMMA had her baby!!!!

2008-09-17T12:00:00.000-07:00

Connor Christpher was born Sunday Sept 14th at 9-44 pm weighing in at 7lbs 10oz.... all are doing well !!

CONGRATS EMMA finally he arrived!!! Whoo Hoo yee haw...

Now I will always remember Candice's wedding anniversary by Conners age!!!

Super quick and I gotta go...

2008-09-17T10:59:00.000-07:00

Shit its 10:30am already... I had hoped to be on the road to LA by now... but we had a little problem in the middle of the night! UGH

We came home from the Hi D house about 10pm last night [very late for Sam and I as we are usually in bed by then] but anyway we headed to bed by 11pm and fell fast asleep...

At 3am our alarm company calls "Your alarm is going off at the Hi D house, its a garage motion and an open door" SHIT... so we had to drive up there... visions of stolen motorcycles and broken doors filled our minds...

Remember that happened 2 times a few months ago! Well we got up there at 4am and everything was fine! No open doors, nothing? We need to have the alarm serviced or something because it was just freaking out or something? Whatever... we were relieved... right? So we lock up again, set the alarm and drive home... we got back home at 5am this morning and crawled back in bed...

Hence, the reason I woke up late...

Ok so... now I gotta go get packed and drive to Gram Pam's house pick her up, then we are driving to my high school friend Pam's house and guess who's coming over to have dinner with all of us tonight... Yup Nurse Pam... It will be like a law firm Pam, Pam, Pam and Kendra...

Nurse Pam is coming to the wedding too! So you all will get 2 versions! LOL... Anyway Friday Sam and the boys are coming down and we will head to a hotel and Friday is the rehearsal dinner and Saturday at 11am is the wedding...

Say a prayer for good weather, no fog, and a great wedding with no problems!

Talk to you if I can from Pam's computer, or Gram Pams laptop! Or check in with Nurse Pam she may have an update...

Love ya guys, be good kids while I am gone...

I'm back from the Hi D,

2008-09-16T22:43:00.000-07:00

Now it's time to stress out for the wedding! 4 more days....

I have to go to bed now... more in the morning...

Kieffer and Sarah...

2008-09-14T11:37:00.000-07:00

I know you'all have been wanting to see a photo of Kieffer and his girlfriend Sarah...

Well they were looking at boxes of photos trying to find some old baby pictures of themselves... After all Sarah's family lived next door to us for years...

Well they found one... Here ya go... Kieffer and Sarah as little toddlers and then 'all growed up'

Who knew... LOL

Tags: Kiefferand Sarah

Never a dull moment in the Silva household...

2008-09-13T18:04:00.000-07:00

3 weeks ago Kameron got this hard nodule on his ass [for lack of a better term] It kept growing and growing... I thought he got bit by a black widow or something... Today I took him to Urgent Care because it was the size of half a grapefruit!

The Dr. and Nurse asked me

"Are you sure you want to be in here for this?"

"Oh ya I'm sure"

[Hey Dr. Kendra is always up for learning new procedures! Have to keep up in the medical field yanno... Duh!]

They had to numb it and take a scalpel and cut it open... OMG the white oozing stuff that came out and out and out... then they packed it and he has to return Sunday for another packing... Lovely!!

Sheesh!

He had the Dr. and nurse's laughing so much... At the end he looked at it and said

"Oh Wow... look how good my butt looks in this light" they were cracking up...

So anyway, it wasn't a widow bite, it was a staph infection called MRSA...

I hate STAPH infections... I got extremely sick with one in 2000... I had sores all over my body from it... It was horrible!

Anyway, Kameron said it was ok to show you guys "His sexy ass with a Band-Aid, after all your family right?" so here ya go... LOL

What is MRSA?

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is a bacterium that causes infections in different parts of the body. It's tougher to treat than most strains of staphylococcus aureus -- or staph -- because it's resistant to some commonly used antibiotics.

What causes it?

Garden-variety staph are common bacteria that can live on our bodies. Plenty of healthy people carry staph without being infected by it. In fact, 25-30% of us have staph bacteria in our noses.

But staph can be a problem if it manages to get into the body, often through a cut. Once there, it can cause an infection. Staph is one of the most common causes of skin infections in the U.S. Usually, these are minor and don't need special treatment. Less often, staph can cause serious problems like infected wounds or pneumonia.

the average age of a person with CA-MRSA was only 23.

Tags: Kameron's ass bandage

A couple of pics... Blake and the Hi D kitchen

2008-09-13T11:06:00.000-07:00

First some pics of the Hi D kitchen... The new fridge arrived with no dents this time whoo hoo... however Carlos has to come back up and trim the kitchen cabinets where the stove goes because it doesn't fit! Its always something when your remodeling!

Inside my new fridge

The freezer on the bottom

Now some pics of Gram Pam's grandson Blake... we went to his baseball practice while I was down there...

My daughters thank you note from her shower

2008-09-13T09:46:00.000-07:00

How sweet is this...

Mom and Dad,

Thank you for the bed set. Its my favorite! Thank you for everything you do. You are always there and I appriciate it all! More than you can ever know. I am so lucky to have loving parents that are always a great example of how I want my marriage to be.

Thank you,

Love Candice

A week till the wedding...

2008-09-13T08:36:00.000-07:00

A week?

How can that be?

Summer just started?

I haven't been to the Lake yet this year!

How can it be almost September 20?

Who put the summer on fast forward?

Somebody better fess up and hit rewind!

Sheesh WTH?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Anyway, I am heading to Candice's on Wednesday to help with the last minute stuff... Sam and the boys will come on Friday afternoon, because the wedding rehearsal and dinner are at 6pm...

I found THE best 'Mother of the Bride' dress and matching tie for Sam! I swear when Gram Pam and I go shopping we walk in, handle it and walk out... It was the 2nd dress I tried on and Pam, her daughter Christy and I LOVED it...

We quickly found accessories and shoes! It was like we had the 'Easy' button with us that day!

OMG I forgot to tell you guys! As I was driving to Gram Pam's the other day, I was talking to Mary on the phone... We were talking about politics and generally solving the worlds problems... When I am one exit to Gram Pam's and I see a cop in the fast lane - I was in the slow lane getting ready for the exit... he saw me talking on the phone and gave me ticket...

Mary... I have to say that conversation almost made it worth it! I can't tell you how nice it is to discuss politics with someone, disagree with their view but still be able to discuss it in a civilized manner! Leave the conversation, wanting more... because she said things that made me go hhhhmmm interesting, I never looked at it that way... and vice versa...

Refreshing! Very Refreshing!

Anyway, I need to get the boys clothes ready for the dry cleaners for the wedding...

I guess we are going to Perris Raceway to race Sunday... because the weekend after Candice's wedding we are driving to Sacramento for a race...

Calgon take me away!!!

Sam's song pick for the Father / Daughter dance at her wedding in 8 days...

2008-09-12T18:05:00.000-07:00

Pam Surgery update

2008-09-11T10:46:00.000-07:00

I am at Pam's and I just wrote this long entry explaining why they postponed her surgery... [Her heart and kidneys from high blood pressure]

Anyway, so I cheered her up saying now she can come to Candice's wedding and it was just a blessing... She is happy about that but very upset it has been postponed!

She has cancer and wants it out of her body yanno...

Well, I gotta go so that we can go shopping for an outfit for me for my daughters wedding...

Just wanted to let all of you know...

Pam and GiGi and Rider

2008-09-10T10:49:00.000-07:00

Gram Pam LOVES Rider... when she watched them and we went to Texas for 3 weeks... For the first time in my life, my dogs could have cared less I was home! They even slept with Pam the night we came home! I couldnt believe it... They weren't upset with us, just happy with Pam...

I think its funny that both Pam and Sam never noticed Rider's cauliflower ears...

Sam said to me this morning "So, Rider has cauliflower ears? where?"

"Honey just look at his ears and then look at GiGi's see the difference?"

"Oh... ya... wow... never noticed that! What causes it?"

"That year long ear infection problem with him!"

We use to take Rider to the lake and he LOVED to dive for fish in the water... Well, he got a double ear infection from HELL that took over a year to get rid... you know off and on... ugh it was nasty... and he would shake his head from it so hard... anyway the cartilage gets damaged and they get hard lumps in their ears that do not go away... its not something you would not notice unless I showed you and then showed you GiGi's ears...

You also wouldn't notice he is almost bald, hardly has any hair... unless I pointed it out... See the freckles and sun spots on his skin in the photo?

Heading to Pam's today...

2008-09-10T10:14:00.000-07:00

Hey Guys,

I am heading to Pam's for the BIG surgery... Keep her in your thoughts and prayers...

She is in a good laughing mood this morning! I was teasing her

"Hey atleast you'll lose about 6lbs right off the bat! I am going to call it your weight loss surgery then!"

She cracked up "Hey maybe I can get them to do lipo while Im under" she said

"Well then lets just take a wet/dry vac with us and make sure they do!"

and she laughed...

like I said "I love her, she GETS my jokes!"

I told her not to worry if something goes wrong... Ill send her out in style...

"Pam what color titty tassles do you want for the funeral?"

"Oh... electric flashing ones" she said laughing...

"Hmmm what color G-string will go with flashing titty tassles?"

Hhhhmmm?

Be good while Im gone kids...

The Vet today... Oh boy... sigh

2008-09-09T20:31:00.000-07:00

Why do I have 'dog aggressive' dogs?
Why O Why can't I have the normal dogs in the vets office? The ones sitting next to their owners, having nice conversations with other dog owners... hhhhmmm? Am I asking too much? I think not...

All I can say is Thank God, Sam and Kameron were with me... SERIOUSLY!!! I didn't even pretend we could go in the vets through the waiting room! They brought us in through the side door...

Sam had GiGi, I had Rider and Kameron had his pit bull, who for some reason decided if she couldn't attack some strange dog at the vets... Then she would get pissed at her roommate dogs... She wanted to kill Gi Gi and Rider for some reason... WTH? I dont know... maybe its because she is in heat and all the smells set her off... who knows... but they gave her the shot and got her out of the office... Kameron was not happy with her acting like that... Oh well, she is Helga she does what she wants...

So Kameron took her for a walk... The vet and the assistant were kind of shocked "They live together?" "Yup, they do..."

Anyway, they got their shots for rattlesnakes...

The vet LOVED GiGi "Oh Wow, is she a blue? [meaning her color] That is rare... I haven't seen many of these... her coat is beautiful... they tend to have skin issues..."

I said "You mean like him?" Rider's body is a mess... he barely has any hair... he has freckles, and spots and scars all over him! He even has cauliflower ears from a year of hellish ear infections that we could not get rid of! Not that you all would notice his imperfections but compared to GiGi's coat... Rider is a mess :)

Rider's moto "A dog should not show up in heaven with a well preserved body, but should slide in sideways all beat up yelling That was a great RIDE!" LOL

Anyway, he kept going on and on about how pretty Gi Gi is, and how rare the color was!

Then he said "Did you ever see the Weim's on Sesame Street?" How funny that is exactly where I saw them and wanted one...

So anyway we go back in 3 weeks to get the booster shot then we are scheduling Bolts & GiGi to get fixed...

Like I said Bolts is currently in heat... and I hate to admit this but... Bolts is a lesbian...

For some reason [probably because GiGi is the dominant female in the house] yup just as you can picture... GiGi is humping Bolts all over the house... I thought Rider would be doing that but no... Helga is a lesbian with a black lover...

Why? Why can't I have normal dogs? Why?

Today should be interesting...

2008-09-09T11:23:00.000-07:00

Sam and I are taking the 'old' boat up to the high desert house and dropping it off [with the 3 dogs] because at 2:30pm the 3 dogs are going to the vet for their 1st round of the rattlesnake vaccine... [there are 2 rounds]

Now taking 3 dogs to the vet should be interesting because they are what the vet would say 'are dog aggressive' dogs... translation... they would like to kill any other dogs that may be hanging around the vet office...

When I took Bolts to the vet last week after she was stung by a scorpion... She wanted to get a Chihuahua in the office [I think she thought it was a rodent but what do I know] I am just sitting there with a white pit bull acting like a pit bull... you know like it wanted to kill something... You have no idea how bad I wished she was another breed at that moment...

So the vet assistant said "Oh is she dog aggressive?"

I said "Uh ya she is dog aggressive" and they put us in a room...

The vet was totally nice... "I love pit bull's and boy is she a healthy one" he kept saying how healthy she is...

I wanted to say "Ya she is Helga from the German Woman's Wrestling Team" but then I would have to explain that joke so I kept it to myself.

He gave her a shot of cortisone and said see ya next week for the rattlesnake vaccine... he gave Bolts a treat after giving her a shot and she was so good. I told her to sit and shake a paw and she did it... {Kameron makes her work for her treats... she can sit, shake a paw, roll over, high five, and leap into a standing person's arms} Ya just try controlling her while the office cat walks around taunting her... Oh boy... looking forward to today!

When I was in the vet's office... a dog came in that had been bit by a rattlesnake the night before... 103 temp, tiny little thing... I hope it survived... I saw that as a sign my dogs need the vaccine...

The rattlesnake season is almost over but after finding that snake in my bathroom... I am NOT taking any chances...

Why can't I have normal dogs, dogs that are mellow at the vet... who are nice to other dogs? No, my dogs look like they have been staying at Michael Vicks house when another dog comes near...

Oh well... can't have everything I guess... Where is the Dog Whisperer when I need him? Someone send him to my house so he can retrain me!

Last night we are sitting around the table watching Monday Night Football, when suddenly Bolts LEAPS into my lap... So I put her down... 3 times she did it? Finally she gave up and went under the table and somehow crawled up in a chair with no one in it and just sat there... wasn't mooching or anything just wanted to sit with the adults at the table? Sam said "Well if you can get GiGI and Rider in the other 2 chairs Ill try to find some playing cards and a cigar... then we'll take a picture" I laughed

Like I said today should be interesting...

The stuff that happens to me...

2008-09-08T21:13:00.000-07:00

I am in the grocery store this evening picking up a 12 pack of 7 up, some cheese for cheeseburgers, and ketchup... It is after all Monday Night Football right...

I pay for the stuff and go to grab the 7 up 12 pack by the perforated middle part, when the cardboard rips, the 12 pack goes sailing up in the air, hits the ground and about 6 of the 7 ups, bust open and start spraying me and the front of the grocery store... I stood there with my mouth open...

thinking "OMG, this isn't happening"

I was on the phone with Nurse Pam when it happened...

"Uh... Pam, let me call you back"

After apologizing profusely...

I grabbed another 12 pack and got out of there as quickly as I could...

It was the biggest sticky mess... all over the ice machine, ATM machine and all over me...

I swear...

My middle name should be Grace...

Gram Pam's surgery... coming up

2008-09-08T10:25:00.000-07:00

I am going to Gram Pam's Wednesday and spending the night... then we are heading to the hospital for surgery at 7am Thursday...

I told her not to worry because when she wakes up I will be standing over her pushing her morphine button and saying "Hey Sexy Woman without a uterus" LOL

meanwhile... let her know she is in your thoughts and prayers at ktchu9@aol.com

Thanks Guys...

More from my week at the high desert

2008-09-07T08:31:00.000-07:00

Good Sunday Morning,

We were supposed to race today... Don't exactly know why we are not, I just live here LOL

Works for me, so I don't ask... It was 113 yesterday and I was NOT looking forward to racing in the heat again... [Like I have to race but whatever]

Anyway, here are some more pictures of the remodel... Ellen, I put in some finished granite pics of the kitchen just for you!

Critters and snakes and dents and scorpion stings oh my...

2008-09-06T09:32:00.000-07:00

Whew what a crazy week... you don't even know the half of it! The snake was just a highlight... Where do I even begin?

Sunday- We headed up to the Hi D and I have to say...
I believe my critter problem recently has to do with the guy who owns the place next to us... Recently he had his 3 acres leveled to sand by a tractor so I think the critters migrated to our house! Because I have to tell you, we have owned the house for more than 17 years and I have NEVER had a snake or a scorpion in the house ever before! Maybe a cricket or two but that is IT! We have a guy come once a month and spray too... FOR years... I mean check out my pictures too! The house is pretty clean... WTH?

The reason I am telling you guys this is because Bolts got stung by a Scorpion yesterday! Ill tell ya that story later... but sheesh... WTH?

[She is fine, took her to the vet... more on that later]

Anyway... I also had my stove and refrigerator delivered and the fridge had a HUGE dent in it... Ill show you those pictures next... We had to send it back and order another one! Someone obviously dented it at the warehouse with a fork lift and then boxed it back up... because the box was perfect... [Whirlpool just bought Jenn Air and I am NOT impressed with it at all...] Why can't you buy things that last and are made well anymore? WTH? Probably because its made in China or something... IDK...

Sam even had to get upset with Home Depot this week! We sent Kieffer down to buy something and the guy at the PRO desk said it had to be special ordered... Sam and I go to Home Depot later and guess what is right there on the shelf... siding we needed... they have a guy in training at the Pro desk [Pro Desk is for general contractors to buy and order stuff]

Sam told the manager "I just had to pay 2 guys to come down here and gas for something that is right here, and your Pro staff said it had to be special ordered" "I'm sorry he is in training"

"Well that is fine but a trainee should have a Professional backing him up then, My wife and I sat at the Pro desk waiting to be helped for over 35 minutes? We decided to go shopping and he STILL isn't at the Pro Desk?"

Anyway, they were all apologetic... whatever...

it made us nuts to say the least...

More pics and stories to come but I have to go right now... Hope you enjoy...

Remodeling ain't for sissies! Huh Chrissie :)

and I am lucky... I married the General Contractor

Here ya go...

2008-09-05T18:51:00.000-07:00

I have a bunch of stuff to tell you about from the last few days but I know you want to see

pictures of my little friend...

Was I lying? No I dont think so... it was 6 feet long...

Checking it out with the book... Its the second photo

See I told you it was a big 'fucking' snake!!!

Sam tried to see if he could get it to bite the laundry basket but it never did

And that is all I have to say about that!!! Ewwwww...

Somedays, life can get crazy when your pants are around your ankles...

2008-09-04T16:44:00.000-07:00

Today was one of those days... Ya'all are NEVER gonna believe what happened to me today!! Seriously I am still in shock!

We have been working really hard here at the Hi D house... Granite counters were finished today... So after Dave our granite guy left... I was ready for a nap... Sam was ready too... Heck the 3 dogs were ready also...

So we all laid down and about 20 minutes into our nap... I had to go pee... So I got up and went into the bathroom, pulled down my shorts and was getting ready to pee when all of a sudden I noticed a 6 foot snake about a foot and a half in front of me... laying stretched out along the baseboard.... All I could see was the body and tail, not the head. The rest of the snake was behind the bathroom door that was in the open position... I quickly looked for a rattle at the tail and didn't see one... I wanted to scream but I thought the dogs would come running and I didn't know if it was poisonous! So I pulled up my shorts... and got out of the bathroom stealth like... I grabbed the bathroom door and shut it... I didn't want the dogs to try and kill it... I walked into the bedroom and said

"SAM! There is a big FUCKING snake in the bathroom!!!"

"Are you kidding?"

"Look at me... Do I LOOK like I am kidding you?"

So Sam opens the bathroom door slowly and peeks in, then shuts the door. "Uh.... YA that IS a big snake... Where is our desert book?"

[We have this book called 'The Audubon Society Guide to the Desert' It has pictures and information about snakes, lizards, scorpions, plants etc... So we look up the snake and its coloring and finally come to the conclusion its a Gofer snake and harmless... it eats rats, lizards and other critters that live in the desert...
It doesn't have a rattle but when it gets angry it hisses REALLY loudly... We can confirm that it DOES in fact hiss as loudly as a rattle!

So Sam and I put the dogs in our bedroom and shut the door... then Sam went in the bathroom with a broom and a clothes hamper... He got the snake in the hamper and we took it out on the front porch and double checked its coloring with the book... Yup it was a BIG gofer snake... I DO NOT like snakes but if it eats rats then its ok in my book... So we took it outside our fence and walked it into the desert and let it go...

I know your thinking "How in HELL did it get in your bathroom?"... We believe it got into the attic and then because Sam sealed up all the holes from our water heater cabinet going into the house, it had no choice but to come down from a hole in the bathroom ceiling we have right now from construction... Sam has sealed up the hole now...

I don't know how I did it but I hurt my back somehow getting off the toilet and out of the bathroom! When I move just the right way I get a shooting pain down my back... I must have tensed up and twisted just the right way and pulled a muscle or something... I didnt notice it right away...I started feeling it when we were walking out to the desert with the snake in the hamper...

OMG I still can't believe that happened... and why did it have to happen while I had my shorts around my ankles getting ready to pee...

Things that make you go hhmmmm!

Don't worry I have pictures but you have to wait till I get home before you see them I am still at the HiD house...

A couple of funnies from up here...

2008-09-01T18:07:00.000-07:00

Sunday afternoon Sam, Kameron, Kieffer, Omar [Kieffer's friend] and I came up here to the Hi D house...

Sam and the boys have been working hard... laying more outdoor tile, mixing and pouring concrete for the waterfall feature outside etc...

At the end of the day, we made THE BEST Cheeseburgers... OMG they were so good!!! After dinner was all cleaned up, Sam and I went for a walk with the dogs... We just walk around our yard a couple of times, but its a good little walk... Anyway, Bolts and GiGi were chasing each other and getting crazy... They chase each other and then GiGi will tackle Bolts and they roll around... So there we are... Sam and I walking... when out of the corner of my eye I see the dogs coming at a full run... I thought "Oh Shit" and sure enough they hit Sam in the back of his knees, took out his legs, and Sam went up in the air and fell on his ass... The look on his face was priceless! I started laughing "OMG are you okay" and he said "Yes, I didn't think they would be able to do THAT!" I started laughing SO HARD "OMG... I think I am going to pee my pants!" So Sam pulled me down on my butt too!!!! I didn't care... I was laughing so hard...

Oh Wow that was funny... Thank God he didn't get hurt...

Another funny came later last night... I was talking to the boys and somehow we got on the subject of nicknames...

Kameron's nickname is Bammer... It started off a long time ago when he was a toddler... He was such a 'Bam Bam' from the cartoon The Flintstones and somehow Bam Bam turned into Bammer... we are the only ones who call him Bammer... not friends anyway...

So then I asked Kieffer's friend Omar if he had any nicknames... and he said "No, not really"... then my boys started messing with me..."We call him 'Momar'" I said "Why?" "Momar Khadaffi' I laughed... Later, I asked Omar what his middle name was... Omar said he didn't have one... Then Kameron says "Yes, you do Omar... your Mom told me what it was... Its

'the tent maker'... We all cracked up... where do they come up with this stuff?

I have another story to tell you guys but it will have to wait... I have to make dinner :)

Before I go I have to say...

Jeanne, your a silly goose... Kam's trash can is light weight... hence the word aluminum trash can [bathroom size]... funny girl!!