29th Remodeling mistake you never want to make.....

Don't assume you know the metric system just because you passed 2nd grade math.

After measuring, checking and re-measuring, I still ordered Joe to cut my brand new mantle 54 inches. So now I have a 54 inch mantle that is 10 inches too short. Go figure. Next task....go shopping for a new one. Uugh....

Bob the Hermit (and Charlie the Unicorn) Go on a Cruise. BY DANIELLE

One day Bob found some extra money from his book. So he went to the local library. He got on the Internet. He thought about going on a vacation. He thought, "How he would get there?". Would he fly? Buy a car? Will he take the bus? Would he walk? He just remembered he's always wanted to go on a cruise.

So, he went to www.take-a-cruise-to-almost-anywhere-you-want-almost-any-time-you-want.com. He found one that was next week, and in his price range. It went to Mexico. So he went to his box (his house) to pack his and Charlies things. Bob just had a jacket, socks, pants, a shirt and shoes. Charlie had hoof warmers, shampoo, conditioner and horn polish.

The next week the cruise was at the dock, but he forgot his tickets and passports (even though he didn't have any) and Charlie. He went and got charlie. He saw if tickets were in his pockets and BAM!! They were. (Just Kidding). But there was paper, color crayons, and some lint! (yay, except the lint!) So he made a Passport for Charlie and himself. They looked something like this....


He made some tickets like this....


And the lint looked like this....


So he got in line and they got on the ship. They went to look at the ocean and BAM!! The luggage fell overboard. And Charlie said "Yo Diggity Dog". They went to their room and Bob took a nap. Charlie went to the buffet. When he was done eating he went to check on Bob. He was still sleeping. So Charlie went swimming. When they got to Mexico, Bob was still sleeping. He had slept through the whole trip there!!

When they got off the ship there was some guy there to greet them. He said " Aloha". The guy in front of them said, "Don't you mean 'Ola?" "Oh yeah... 'Ola!"

They went and shopped for their mom, dad, grandma, grandpa, etc. When they were done shopping Bob and Charlie remembered that Bob was a hermit and Charlie doesn't have any family. On the way back home they swam, ate, swam and went scuba diving. When they got home they had over 150 pictures. They had a great time on the cruise. Bob said " That was great!" and Charlie said "Hot Diggity Dog!". THE END.

By Danielle

Texas basketball team has 100 to ZERO win.

Wow. I need to vent on this one. I saw this in the newspaper and it made me sick to my stomach. Just to recap a bit.....
A Texas high school GIRLS basketball team beat a rival team 100 to 0. They were up 59 to 0 at halftime. Supposedly, they were still using the full court press up till they hit 100 points. Now the coach of the winning team wants to forfeit the game because he feels bad about the win. WHAT??? Where was he during the game?? It is written that he was on the sidelines cheering his team on and wanting the girls to keep racking up the points. And now he regrets it?? What?? It's a little too late, Mr. Coach. Here is what he had to say about the matter.

"It is shameful and an embarrassment that this happened," Kyle Queal, the head of the school, said in a statement, adding the forfeit was requested because "a victory without honor is a great loss."

This is ridiculous. These schools are supposedly Christian private schools. The coach of the losing team showed his beautiful colors by adding....

"Somewhere during that game they (the winning team) got caught up in the moment," Peloza said of the Covenant players, fans and coaches. "Our girls just moved on. That's the happy part of the story."

I don't know if I could have been as polite as the coach of the "losing" team. He is taking this as a learning experience, and focusing on the good.
If you ask me, I don't think the winning team should be given the option of forfeiting the game. They did this. They were participants in this terrible show of "sportsman-ship". They knew what the score was. They wouldn't let up. So why should they be able to erase what they have done after the fact?? I think the score should stick with the "winning" team forever, so that maybe they will think about what is right or wrong in the future, and make better choices.

One last thing I must add, Danielle is playing basketball right now, and I think the age of the girls has alot to do with it, but these girls play hard, and are happy with the outcome of the game whether they win or loose. The parents of both teams cheer for each other, not just the team their child is on. It is a pleasure to watch both teams working hard, and having fun along with it. Don't get me wrong now, I do think that in the future if kids are going to continue on with competitive sports they need to WANT to win, and have a will to win, but it sure is nice to see the girls all playing "together" and having a great time. For now.

January Happenings......

Lot's of change has been going on around me!!! First and fore-most, we have a new President!!! And he just happens to be the first African American president elected here in America!! It has been a long time coming, if you ask me!!! I am hoping that this puts a whole new light on race relations in the whole world!!! Am I being too hopeful???? Well, anyway, it was an awesome "change of power", and I am hoping to see many positive changes in the future. RE: Iraq, foreign relations, health care, economy, employment, blah, blah. But I do want to point out that I believe we have a long road ahead, and I personally don't expect any miracles to come of this, because it's just not gonna happen. There. The only miracle maker out there for me is the good Lord above. Anyway......

Dani has started Hip Hop again. And I am really proud of myself, because as some of you may know, I sometimes have a hard time asserting myself. But NOT THIS TIME!!! As Dani and I were signing up for the class, I realized that we needed to sign up about 2 months earlier to be eligible to be in the recital in June. So as I was reading that in the fine print I nearly passed out. Just the thought of her not being in the recital nearly brought me to tears. So I tromped up to the desk and I asked the receptionist if what I was reading was true. She informed me it was. So that is when I turned on the "schmoozing". Somehow I walked out of there with Danielle signed up, her classes paid for, a confirmation that she could be in the June recital, and her costumes for the recital paid for. And I really don't know how I pulled it of, but that doesn't matter because I did!!! Yeah, Me.

We are making progress on our remodel. I will try to post the pics sometime soon, but it is looking good. No longer are the days that I am embarrassed to open the front door when there is a knock on it, because as far as the eye can see from the door right now, it looks finished. Even if there isn't any furniture. I'll get to that another day.

I applied and took the test to see if I can work for the 2010 Census. I took the test today, and I must say it was a bit intimidating, but I'm crossing my fingers in hopes that I passed. They need employees to start within the next month or so. Remodeling costs money, you know.

Dani is in Basketball!!! She has had a few practices and one game already! She really enjoys it, (ok, everything except the loud cheers coming from somewhere in the stands....) and she actually scored 25% of the final score on last week's game. YEAH!!! She takes after her mom!!! lol ;-)

Half the school year has past. Wow. It truly seems like Danielle just started the 4th grade, in a new school. All is well, and everything is going awesome in the school department. This is the first school we have been to that is "online". I can get on the computer and look at her grades in each class, go over her assignments, etc. It is really cool. It helps me keep a closer eye on her progress. Not that she needs me too!! ;-) She's always been on the honor roll, so we can loosen up the reigns a bit.

Anyway, that is a quick update. Life has been flying by, but it has been good. Take care, Y'all!!!!

Bob the Hermit RETURNS!!! It's about time!!!

I know you all have been waiting for news about Bob the Hermit. It has been awhile, but Danielle finally got comfortable enough at school to start expressing herself by writing. Yeah!!! Here is her latest story.....

HI

One day Bob and Fred were playing at the park. Fred was playing on the swings. Bob was playing on the slide. A few hours later a little boy came to the park. He said, "Hi". Bob and Fred said, "Hi, what's your name?". The little boy said "Hi". So Bob and Fred said " Hi, Hi.". About a half hour later they left.

They went to Bob's house and Played a board game. When they got done they watched a movie. Then they heard the door knock. Bob opened it and he said "Hi, Hi".

Next when the movie was over Bob and Fred went out for lunch. They sat down at a booth. The waiter came to take their order. Then Hi came along and said "Hi", so they ordered, ate, paid, then left.

The next day was Halloween. So they got up early. Fred went to Bob's house and they went to Mallmart. They got decorations. They got fake skeletons, ghosts and even a blow up Frankenstein. Fred was going to hand out candy at Bob's house.

At about 8:00 or so the first trick or treaters came. There were boys dressed up as Superman, Spiderman and the Hulk. Then Hi came to the door and said "Hi". Hi was dressed up as a cowboy. So they gave him some candy and he left. Then two girls came to the door dressed up as Cinderella and Belle. After that two girls and three boys dressed up as an Indian, a cheerleader, a superhero and a guy from Earth Wars. The last trick-or-treater came at about 9:45pm. By that time about 25 trick-or-treaters came to Bob's house. Anyway, the last trick-or-treater was dressed up as a monster. They gave him/her some candy and then him/her ripped off his/her mask and it was Hi. He said "Hi". They said "Hi, Hi", how are you? He said "hi" and he walked away.

The next day Bob got a letter that said that it was from Hi. It said....."Tomorrow I am moving to Saturn. I will never see you again. Sincerely, Hi.

So Bob called Fred and told him to come to his house A.S.A.P. So Fred came over to Bob's house and read the letter. "So he can only say "Hi", but he can write? What's up with that?" Fred said. Bob said, "That's not important right now". We have to go find Hi.

So they went and found Hi. They said bye to Hi. He said "Hi". (which they knew meant bye). So he went off to Saturn in his space ship, and right at that moment when they thought they would never see him again, he stuck his head out of the space shuttle and said, "You can come visit me any time.". And he dropped a piece of paper out of the window that said his address.

So every three weeks they went and visited Hi. (If that is his name).

About a year later a boy named "Yo" moved next door. And the whole story went over again. And they all lived happily ever after. (Just kidding).

The end.

I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I did. Great Job Dani!!! Keep up the good work!!

It's a New Year......

....and all I have been seeing on TV is crap about how to get healthy, eat right, exercise more, loose weight, get out of debt.....etc, etc. I don't know about you guys, but I am getting really tired of listening to random people speculating about why I might have a problem with all of the above....

Yesterday I was watching Oprah. The guy from the "best life" was on the show. Now, I think alot of what he says makes alot of sense. I should probably listen to what he is saying more of the time!! But, one thing that didn't make sense to me was that he said that being hungry really isn't about the food. What??? I don't know about all of you guys, but when I am hungry, it is ALL about the food. My stomach wants food. NOW. I really don't think you can read between the lines on this one, people. I know a hunger pain when I feel one, and I am not going buy into the idea that I am hungry, therefore I must have a miserable life. Nope, not me. I just want a flippin' turkey dinner with all the fixin's and my life will be perfect. :-)

Another thing I heard from Dr. Oz was this. He said that a normal healthy person should not feel tired until they have been up for 12 hours straight and they have worked FULL day. Hmmmm. There is something REALLY wrong with me then, because I seem to get really tired just after breakfast. Can anyone else relate?? I know I can't be the only one out there who gets worn out while watching the morning news.

Oh, and here's a good one about spending money. It's not about the "stuff". Supposedly if you go out and buy a bunch of stuff, you are trying to hide all the underlying issues your life has. Hmmm. The only issue I seem to have at that point in time is that I want a new scarf. And that is quickly solved by just buying it. See, I don't need counseling, I just need a good day at the mall!!! Followed by the food court, of course.

Happy New Year everyone!!!!

Polar Bear Plunge 2009

Dani did it again!!! This year she had a companion. Her good friend Nate decided to get cold with her!!! It was snowing, it was cold, and I don't know how they did it. Here are some pics.....

Here is Danielle in the middle in the Hawaiian print suit.

Here is Nate in the middle with the red swimming shorts.

Here is Dani after she did it waiting for warm clothes.

I still love snow.....just not being buried by it.

I feel bad for Joe. I feel bad for my mom. I actually feel bad for anyone that has had to shovel the amount of snow that we have been getting this winter. It's just the first of January, and we already have record snow. I don't think it's gonna stop. I try to help Joe out whenever I can. When he gets home from work, the driveway is shoveled, or snow-blowed. But he had to get up on our roof, and I couldn't help him, because it is just too darned high, and it scared the heck out of me. So he had to go at it alone. :-(

The Coeurdalene house had 3 feet of snow on it's roof. That is the limit, and we knew it needed to be shoveled. The cda house isn't nearly as tall as our Hauser house, so I went along to help. Joe put me up on the back of the house's roof, while he worked on the front. This really isn't all it's cracked up to be. This is TOUGH work. I don't know how much I would have to get paid to actually do this for a JOB. It is literally back breaking. about 10 minutes into it I think I pulled a muscle in my right arm. I still can barely lift it. Thank goodness for muscle rub. Mmmmm, smells good!!! :-)

Anyway, after we finished up the main house, we looked at the garage and were astonished that it had not caved in. I mean, it is a 100 year old garage with a cheesy lean-to on the side. So I started working on the bottom part that was curled over the eve of the roof. This was on the lean-to. Joe warned me that the snow could fall off the eve of the lean-to, so I stood back and worked my shovel from afar. Neither of us thought the WHOLE roof covered with snow would even have a slight chance of sliding off. We were wrong. All I know is that Joe was on the main part of the garage roof, shoveling, and I was working on the lean-to. The next thing I know, I hear snow falling. And the snow falling is REALLY loud. And it is falling on ME. It happened so fast. After the snow fell on me, I was covered up to my stomach. Thank god it didn't cover my chest. I felt something metal hit my head, and then Joe was right beside me. The snow had carried him and the shovel down right on top of me. All I could say was, "it's not on my chest, it's not on my chest...". But it was getting heavier by the second, and I just wanted my body freed from this crushing snow. Joe quickly started digging my out with his hands, and I was directing him as to which parts to uncover first, etc. I couldn't move ANY of my covered body. Now I know what it would be like to be covered by an avalanche. But I don't know to the full extent. Thank God.

Joe uncovered my stomach, then my one leg, then my other leg, then pulled me out. I think 4 feet of snow was on top of me. I laid there in disbelief of what had just happened. It wasn't until it was all over that my head started to hurt and I started to realize the severity of the situation. Lately we have been hearing on the news of people getting buried by snow falling from their roofs, and actually passing away. It's a scary thought. But someone was looking out for me yesterday, and I can tell you one thing for sure, I am going to church this Sunday.