The Seattle Times..............

Here we are, on our weekend trip to Seattle. This was not your "normal", everyday trip to Seattle. My friend and I decided to take all of our kids.....ok, there was only 3, but anyway, we took all of them to Seattle for the weekend, without the hubby's. So, this was a first for both of us, and we took my mom along for "moral" support. She actually helped out alot, and sat in the back with the screamin' kids. No, they were super good, and we had a great time. I can actually say that I would do it again. I am telling the truth here people. I know, that does sound strange coming from the mouth of the mom who most of the time is so easily irritated by screaming kids, ............but it's true. I am actually typing this as there a are 4 kids outside in my back yard and they are screaming at the top of their lungs. Literally. You wouldn't believe that noises like that could come out of such little bodies. But they do. :-)

Anyway, back to Seattle, we drove over, stopped at an awesome outlet mall, we went to a Mariner game, we went back to the hotel while the kids "swam" ( this was actually more like doing tricks in and out of the water than swimming...), we got up in the morning and went to the Seattle Center and went up on the Space needle (although Danielle chickened out at the last minute, darn it. ), then we went to the Science Fiction Museum, and us adults actually thought that was super cool, they had the actual chair that "scotty" from Star Trek sat in on the Star-Ship Enterprise. Way-Cool, Dude!!!! The kids had no clue what that even was......Anyway, then we went downtown and went to the Aquarium, fed some deep sea creatures, and then we hit a mall on the way out of town and we were off. We pulled into town last night at around 10pm, and Danielle was like........."mom......can the boys stay the night??????" and I was like " I think you have had enough fun for one weekend....". Anyway, she wasn't buying it.

It's been a year..........

And it doesn't feel like it. One year ago today I got the bad news from my dad, who was down in California. His brother, my uncle, had died. Most of you all know he had cancer. We still miss him just as if it happened yesterday. His face and smile still fill my memories, and I still cherish them, and hope they stay this vivid forever.

So, the other day I was looking through my daughters school journals from last school year, and I came across this one in particular. You know, I knew how much the death of a family member effected me, being an adult, but I guess I underestimated how it effected my daughter. I mean, she was definitely effected by it, and I could tell she hated that I was upset, and wanted mommy to be "fine" again. But, I knew she was still small, and I really wasn't sure how she would handle it. I mean, most of the time young kids can be distracted very easily, and if she got a new game or something, her thoughts would then be about that "new exciting toy" she received. So, I watched her progress, and made sure she knew it was OK to be sad, and that if she needed to talk to me about it, I would. And we went on with our normal routines.

So, then I run across this journal entry. She had written it almost a month after he had passed away. It really didn't surprise me that she wrote this, but it hit me like a ton of bricks when I saw it. So, here it is, and I just thought it would be nice if I posted it on this day, to remember my uncle buddy, and how much I miss him. We all do.....

(the words Danielle wrote in the journal are:

May 22, 2006

On april 28, 2006 my uncle buddy died.

I can not get over it.

On May 1, 2006 I wrote about it

in my journal.

I am still kind of sad. )

"That there is some Gooooooood smellin' stuff...."

Last weekend, my mom and I were in our fixer house, and we were getting ready to texture some of the walls. So, I bought some cans of spray paint primer and I thought we could lightly spray it on the walls before we textured them, you know, just to be safe. So, we sprayed away, and the whole room was shortly filled with this white "smoke". This smoke was the primer, of course. Yes, some of it still got on walls. Unbeknownst to us, lots of it got on us, also.

So, we went about our business, and we textured 2 of the walls, and then Joe and Danielle came to the house. Danielle went to greet her grandma and gave her a huge hug and said...."Gosh grandma, you have alot of hairs in your nose." And my mom was like..."Well Danielle, everyone has hairs in their nose." And Danielle then said, " Yeah, but you have ALOT." So, my mom thought this conversation was quite strange, but she just chalked it all up to old age and went along with her business.

So then, my mom and I got into my car to run to the hardware store to get more texture stuff, and when I was driving down the road, I checked myself in the mirror to see if I was "presentable" enough to go in a hardware store, and I just about crashed. My nose was filled with white primer. It was coating the hairs in my nose. I looked at my mom and her nose was the exact same as mine. So, I pulled into the parking lot of the store and laughed my butt off for about 5 minutes, and when I finally came too, my mom said " That's why Danielle kept talking about nose hair....", and so we laughed till our stomachs ached.

God I am glad we didn't walk into that store like that. They would have probably just chalked it up to the local "druggie" problem that we have in this area. I am sure they would have thought we snorted about 5 lines of coke each...........

What a difference a day makes!!!

I stayed away from our fixer house today. Mostly because Joe is in Salt Lake and danielle had an appointment at the torture chamber ( I mean dentist) and I had to take her and then nurse her dizzy little self back to health. ( this included a little "therapy" at the local mall...) I am super proud of her, let me tell ya. She did the best she has ever done at the dentist. We got in, and out with no major melt-down issues. Well, I may have had one but she didn't!!!! (kidding.....) By Gosh, SHE is handling it better than ME.

Anyway, I feel refreshed. I feel like I can go back to the house tomorrow and see it in a new light. (Just as long as the "smell" is not there upon entering..........)

I think I will go look at carpet and flooring samples tomorrow. Shopping is a GREAT distraction!!!! Oh, and it's fun too.

Note to realtor.........

Next time I call you and ask if you will show me a listing that we are considering buying to fix up and sell, tell us you are busy..........

Note to self............

Next time the opportunity comes up and you are thinking about purchasing another fixer house, please take into consideration that your decision making skills may be hampered due to long term exposure to paint fumes...........

Question for the day........

Do cats pee while going up stairs????

Just wondering, because it sure smelled like it yesterday as I was painting each and every raunchy one........

Did I mention that I can not stand cats?????

I am just making sure you all know that I am very serious about this issue. This is why it is sort of a strange thing that we purchased this fixer house. Why, you ask??? Well, the owners of this house were cat breeders. Yes, they had cats coming out of the woodwork. And I am very serious about this, people. Fortunately, they rented their U-haul, pulled it up to the back door, and loaded about 30 crates full of cats into the back. (all this info provided to me from the nosy neighbor next door....) Oh, and by the way, he also filled me in about something else................the house smells like cats. Duhhhhhhhhhh. We already figured that out. Actually, when I walked up to the front porch for the first time to view this lovely home, I smelled it before I even went INTO the house. Yep, it was that potent. So, upon entering this "cat home", we really didn't get much of a surprise.

But you know, I researched this problem before we bought this house and I saw that there were a ton of different products you could buy to remove this god awful stench from any area. So, I called around, searched the internet, talked to some people that had a similar problem, and we decided to go on with the purchase.

So, I purchased a couple of gallons of this stuff they call "nature's miracle". Oh, yeah, it's a miracle all right, its a miracle I paid so much for that crap. It was like 30.00 dollars a gallon and after applying multiple gallons..........guess what???? Yep, we can still smell kitties. Natures miracle my ass.....

So, then we got an air purifier. Commercial purifier. You know, the kind that insurance companies use to get the smoke smell out of a burnt house.......This had to work, right. Well, I think it did help a bit. Actually, everything we have done has improved this stench, but none as of yet have removed it.

Here's a funny little tid-bit......The furnace would not start up during the home inspection. It was a fairly new furnace and so it should have still been in working order, so the owner had a repair man come out and look at it, and sure enough, it was clogged up by something. Hmmmmmm, what could it be...........................yep, CAT HAIR. Fricken balls of cat fur. Nice...
So, they un-clogged it and the furnace fired up like it was brand spankin' new.

Oh, and Joe has been vacuuming cat hair from the vents, from the corners, from the seams in the wood floors, everywhere you can think of. Gross, huh.

So, today, we started painting the floors and about 3-4 feet up the walls with Kilz. This stuff is supposed to trap in the odor and make a barrier. Cross your fingers guys, this HAS to work. Otherwise, our only other option is to have the place fumigated. Sounds like fun........guys in big orange suits with respirators, looking like they are headed to a meth house clean-up. Nice.....I'm sure anyone that see's that will be the first ones standing in line to buy the place when it goes on the market..............

Open Up and Say AAAAaaahhhhhh

Hooray!!! Another trip to the dentist. ( I am sure you know that the "hooray" is a total joke...)

Yesterday, we made the trip to Danielle's dentist. We make it there like clock-work, every six months. I am sure you know from previous posts, that Danielle HATES the dentist. If there was anything I could do to keep her from going, you better believe I would. Anything. But, unfortunately, she needs to go. Actually it would probably be best to go sooner than every six months, but then she would REALLY be burnt out.

So, I don't know about all of you guys, but I had awesome teeth as a child. I did not have a single cavity till I was like, in junior high. My mom didn't let us eat much candy, we didn't drink pop, so we went in for our yearly cleanings, and taa-daaa, they were always short and sweet. No problem-o. This is not the case for Danielle, unfortunately. And no, we don't let her drink pop often at all. Special occasions only. Because we know better. Pop and sugared juices and sugar fruit snacks=more cavities. So, they are all a no, no.

The poor little thing has a million teeth crammed into a very small mouth. No room in between teeth for crap. And she also has what dentists call "soft" teeth. So, they are VERY susceptible to cavities, as we have seen. So, my little girl, who is deathly afraid of dentists, has had more work on her teeth at age 8, than I have had in my entire life. Joe included. She has fillings, crowns, teeth pulled, teeth sealed, teeth brushed with fluoride, teeth saturated in fluoride, you name it, we have done it. I actually think I should take a course in dental hygiene, because I sit her down after "we" brush her teeth as a group effort, and then I take a flossing pick to her teeth and scrape and floss every individual teeth. We then use our sonicare tooth brush twice. She hates this routine. but I truly hate to think what situation she would be in if we didn't do this.

So, after her cleaning, I got to go back and talk about the "plan" with the dentist. They wanted to pull multiple teeth, crown another "baby" tooth and fill 2 more(one a baby tooth.). Yippee!!!!! How exciting. We get to come back here 2 more times. We can't wait!!!!

So, today I got my sleepy little girl out of bed and put her in the car and we were off to the torture chamber. They gave her a little pill to calm her nerves........and next time I am gonna ask for one of these pills for myself, as I could use some calming of MY nerves after sitting in a chair for an hour waiting to comfort my daughter that has just been through hell..........not good.

So, they numbed her, they filled a tooth, and then for the "good" part, they pulled 4 teeth. yep, 4. Oh, and not to mention, these were all baby teeth that I paid good money to get filled and crowned a while back. So they just pulled thousands of dollars of hard earned money out of her mouth. good grief. And we still have to go back next week. Yeah..........I can't wait.

Danielle's connection with Dancing With the Stars........

Hey everyone. Just a cool note that I keep forgetting to post.......

Julianne Hough, partner to Apollo in Dancing with the stars, has a CDA connection. And more than that, Danielle is currently enrolled and has been enrolled in a Dance Studio in CDA that is called Dance Wise, and the owner/instructor is Julianne's big sister. Cool huh. Sharee (julianne's sister ) has been out in LA visiting her and giving her moral support and I bet even advice on those hot dance moves..........So, I just thought I'd post that fact. It's a small world after all. Oh, and she did sooooooo awesome last night, 10- 10- 10!!!!!!! Perfect.

~is this what's ahead for my little danielle???????

:-)

Curfew for cats?????

First of all, no offense to my cat loving friends...............

But, yes, it's true, the city of Walla Walla, Washington is putting a curfew on cats at night. Any cats that are out after curfew........................go to the "pound".

I actually think this is an awesome idea. Whoever knows me, knows I absolutely can not stand cats. Never liked them. Not even when I was little. My nightmares contain cats. I despise cats.

So, back to the curfew....................what an ingenious idea. This cat problem is getting bigger and bigger here in post falls, and I am assuming in many other cities around the country.

Joe and I have actually had a huge problem with cats roaming in our neighborhood. Ever since we moved here we have tried to deter cats from coming on to our property. We have sprayed the bushes with deterrent, put a gel in the soil they were "frequenting". To no avail, of course. These cats have used my garden beds as their litter box for years. I am sure this is just handy as ever to the cats owner, as they do not have to clean out the litter box at their home, the cat just comes over here to use "mine". Nice.

We have figured out who owns the cats and then gone and confronted the owners. Their favorite response is........"You can't keep cats inside or on a leash, it is natural for cats to wander all over.....". So???? I really could care less. I had a toddler that wanted to play in her sand box. There is no possible way she could have, as the cats had adopted it as.............well, you know.

My front yard garden beds were full of this crap, also. It is so disgusting.

I called the "animal control" for the city of post falls. They currently and never have had any regulations regarding cats. Now if it is a dog, it is another story. I truly don't think either one should wander around town off a leash. What's the difference between cats and dogs, I ask???

Then, I asked them if we could shoot the cats with a B-B gun. (not to harm them, just to scare them.......)Nope. Against the law. Even if they are on my property???? That is crap.

So, the animal control suggested "trapping" these cats in cat traps. But, they were currently out of their lendable traps. Seems like others are having this problem also. And when you trap these cats, you need to bring them to the local shelter in order to stay within the guidelines of trapping these animals. Oh, and then they informed me that you can not just drop them off, you need to pay a fee to drop them off. Well, Joe was not hearing it. He liked the trapping idea, but not the forking over of our money.

So, we purchased a trap. Put tuna into it, and what do you know, it became the most popular place in the neighborhood for these visitors. We were trapping them left and right. Everyone was running around wondering where their precious feline was. We of course, acted like we did not know what they were talking about............(No, we did NOT harm these cats, if that's what you are wondering. We stayed within our legal range.....and these cats are currently back at thier homes, using their own litter boxes...........)

So, one morning, after we had the trap out front of our house in the morning, we had our neighbor, not a cat owner and the pastor of a local church, knock on our door and let us know that we currently had a cat in our "trap" and it was "screaming" in there and obviously wanted "out." "Thank you, " I replied. "I will let my husband know...." I acted like I was not involved in this act at all. But I still feel really stupid about it. So, we stopped trapping and we continue to have this problem, 8 years later. It is ridiculous people, just plain ridiculous.

Anybody have any solutions to share??????????? We would love to hear them!!!

Unfortunately.................

My computer is NOT broken.........

This is kind of the story of my life lately......

Well, probably not really, but I HAVE seen Joe look at me a couple of times lately like........."when are you gonna turn that thing off and do something productive???"

I thought this WAS productive.............

Yo, What Up............?

I took this picture while we were skiing last weekend, and I had danielle "pose" for the camera. Danielle, her dad, and Ron B. always joke around and get a kick out of acting like they are from the "hood", so I just had to take advantage of the opportunity. .....

Hymn #365

I was forwarded this email today,

and thought it was cute.

I know some of you don't open your forwards,

and sometimes I'm guilty of that too,

but I was glad I opened this one..............

A minister was completing a Temperance sermon.

With great emphasis he said,

"If I Had all the beer in the world, I'd take it and pour it into the river."

With even greater emphasis he said,

" And if I had All the wine in the world, I'd take it and pour it into the river."

And then finally, shaking his fist in the air, he Said,

"And if I had all the whiskey in the world, I'd take it and pour it into the river."
Sermon complete, he sat down.

The song leader stood very cautiously and announced
With a smile, nearly laughing, "For our closing song,
Let us sing Hymn #365, "Shall We Gather at the River."

Gotta love this one..................

The New Laptop..........

~"Please turn it down, Daddy is trying to finish your homework."

Isn't that just the cutest cartoon??? I found it online and just cracked up....

We just went out and bought danielle a new laptop. Before you say...." Oh my gosh, they are spoiling that little girl rotten...", know that I am using it during the day. Oh, and during the night, also. I mean, my computer downstairs is like, ancient. If you want to use it you need to allow at least 30 minutes for it to warm up. Then you can start trying to dial up to an internet connection. And sometimes it does it, and sometimes it doesn't. And as I was trying to delete crap that was bogging it down one day, I deleted Microsoft Word and the modem and some other crap that I was not supposed to delete, so it is like worthless. Can't even type a measly letter on the thing. So, this new computer has a login for me, and danielle. I am the administrator ( How important....) , so I get to put all the blocks on it and all that good stuff. But she gets to use that laptop instead of daddy's work laptop. He was getting tired of the "strawberry shortcake reunion" game bogging down his "just for work" computer. He couldn't figure out why the "Bratz"website kept popping up fashion shows in the middle of important emails. (Doesn't he have any sense for fashion..................like, come-on..........)

So, every once in awhile I wonder....."What makes a child spoiled???" I mean, I had absolutely NONE of this crap as a child. Ok, maybe for my brothers 10th birthday we got an "atari", but he would barely let me play it. (thus, the reasons for my counseling appointments.......kidding.) So, I mean, my mom wouldn't even let us drink pop. Did they even HAVE pop?? Oh yeah, my grandma used to give me sips of her diet pop on occasion. Let me tell ya, that old diet pop tasted like water but I sure thought I was special when I got to drink it....

So, whatever you all are thinking, just get over it. We have a well-rounded, well-adjusted child. Really. She only throws fits when we wont give her more candy at midnight. Jokes.

Update on our fixer house......

We closed on the property yesterday!!!! Wow, I don't think we have closed on a property we've purchased that fast before. But, the sooner the better is what we thought, and the sellers were not arguing. So, we will be getting the keys soon and then the fun will begin. Let's stop and pray that this will not turn out to be a new episode of the "Money Pit".

New plumbing, new floors, cat-smell-be-gone ( we hope ), new paint, yard work, more paint, lights, and on and on. This will hopefully turn into a great experience for us. It is either gonna go good, or bad. Probably not in the middle. The lady at the title company asked if we were going to live in this residence and I answered......."WE are not planning on living there, but I guess depending on how this remodel effects our relationship, everything is a possibility....maybe we will feud big time while we are doing this and one of us will think this previously cat-infested house looks pretty good....."

Just kidding Joe...............love ya. Let the arguments begin...................( "No, you're not working fast enough, put those fricken tools down and let me do it. Who told you that you knew how to install carpet on stairs...........it looks like sh__. Since when did YOUR opinion mean crap???" ) Oh, I can't wait. We talk so sweet to each other when we are stressed out..........

My Professional Opinion.................(NOT!!!!)

Just to give all of you my two cents, because I know you are chomping at the bit to hear it.........:-)
This DNA crap is killing me. Good grief. I think Larry B is probably a decent person. And yes, he is the father. The evidence is in.
But could I please tell you that I didn't want that to be the outcome............
I know, I am pathetic. I don't even know these people. Thank god. But I am taking it so damned personal. Joe is totally not on my side. I think since Howard has been with dani-lynn since day one, it is just way sad that she is gonna be taken away from him. I hope for the baby's sake they ease into this transition, because Howard is the only dad she has known.
Yes, I know that Larry has every right and should take the baby. He's the daddy. But I can't help but feel way sad for Howard. Not because I know him, not because he is a good or bad person, because I really have no clue. But because he looked so damned broken-hearted already. Now, he has one more heart-breaking issue to deal with. Sad, just plain sad.
Oh, and to add one more tidd-bit..................I don't like that Vergie lady. I hope Larry keeps that baby far away from that wack-job. (Again, just my opinion.........)

Skiing In April............

Who would have thought that we would be skiing in April??? How nice is that?? I guess that is one of the perks of living in beautiful northern Idaho.

We were in McCall, Idaho over a month ago and they were saying the snow was soft there then. Wow, lookout still had awesome snow this weekend. There were some soft spots, especially at the bottom, but the warm weather was to die for. I absolutely love spring skiing. No coats, no gloves, no cold feet, no hats..........does it get any better than that??? I don't think so.

This was the last weekend for lookout and the other local ski hills, but we are definately wanting more after our great weekend trip. So, we are looking forward to next year already. Season passes are bought and paid for, all we need is to pick out new ski's for Danielle. Can't wait!!!!!

Why do we celebrate Easter?

That is the question that my daughter asked me yesterday. You know, I think she was talking about the Easter that has to do with the "Easter bunny". That is the only thing some kids really think about when they think about Easter. So I told her that I was not really sure where the "Easter bunny" thing came from, but that the only thing I did know, was that this holiday we call Easter, really doesn't have anything to do with the "Easter Bunny", but it has everything to do with Jesus and Christianity. So, I explained to her that the holiday is celebrated by us because it is the day that Jesus rose to heaven, so that some day we also would rise up to heaven, and have everlasting life. She remembered us talking about this before, and it all started coming back to her.

"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (John 3:16).

This is actually one of the most meaningful holiday's for Christians. I actually feel kind of bad that it has turned into the egg coloring, egg hunting, chocolate bunny eating, festival that it has. But on the other hand, I think it is also good that it has a special meaning for the little ones, because some of them may not really understand the true meaning behind this holiday, because of their youth, or for whatever reason. So, it is our job to teach our children about Jesus, and I believe that this actually helps bring them closer to loving this holiday for what it truly is. A celebration of life......everlasting life. On this day more than ever we need to be thankful for the sacrifices Jesus made for us, and know that we will one day Join him in heaven.

So, on this Friday before Easter, Good Friday, the day that Jesus was crucified and died on the cross, I am taking time to remember what the "true" meaning of this holiday is. I am trying to share my belief's and my knowledge ( though it may seem quite sparse sometimes ) with my daughter, for that is what I was taught to do.

Have a very happy Easter everyone. Find tons of eggs, eat tons of chocolate, have visits with family, and also take time to remember the "true" meaning of Easter.

Cute cartoon of the day.....................

Where did my ear-rings go????

Am I losing my mind???? Ok, yes. But why is it happening at the young, fresh, ripe age of just 31???? ( I mean 32.) Why???

The story is this. I am going about my business this morning, you know, applying make-up, fixing my un-fixable hair, and then I notice that 2 out of the 4 earrings on my left ear are like, gone. Not there. All the others are accounted for, including the ones on my right ear. So, after I literally feel a lump in my throat and about pass-out from the fear of the unthinkable....(losing one of the earrings that I just received as a gift from my loving husband)...I decide to tear apart the house and search. I took my already made bed apart. I got on my hands and knees and felt the carpet. I put my head on the carpet to "scan" the carpet with my eyes. Nothing. Yikes, it was getting scary. I began to wonder how long they were actually missing. Could it have been more than a day??? Who knew..

So, after suffering a mild panic attack, I looked over to my night stand and there they sat. On top of it with their backs on just sitting there looking pretty. So, what's so weird about that, you say??? Well, I have absolutely NO recollection of that happening. I do not remember setting them there. I do not remember taking them off. I never take my earrings out. (except for the occasional cleaning..) Crap, what kinds of other stuff do I do in my sleep?? It's not looking good people. Not looking good...............