Weeweechu

*Pedro & His Girl*


One beautiful December evening Pedro and his
girlfriend Rosita were sitting by the side of the ocean.


It was a romantic full moon, when Pedro said,


"Hey, mamacita, let's do Weeweechu."


Oh no, not now, let's look at the moon!" said Rosita.


Oh, c'mon baby, let's you and I do Weeweechu.
I love you and it's the perfect time," Pedro begged.
"But I wanna just hold your hand and watch the moon." replied Rosita.


Please, corazoncito, just once, do Weeweechu with me."


Rosita looked at Pedro and said, "OK, one time, we'll do Weeweechu."


Pedro grabbed his guitar and they both sang.....



"Weeweechu a Merry Christmas,

Weeweechu a Merry Christmas,
Weeweechu a Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year."


MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Writers Strike

The Writers Strike is effecting all of us. Even me! LOL

NAW, seriously.....I'm just super busy with the holidays, family and friends. I will be back in the New Year.

LOVE to all my bloggy friends.

Holiday Wreath

Here is my pretty wreath I made....all by myself:-) The picture doesn't do it justice. BUT you can see that it was snowing that day:-)

Stormy Days

We had a storm over the past weekend. Started off with heavy snow on Saturday. Then it warmed up that evening, turned to rain and rained three days straight. THEN add in major winds. Made for a flooded mess. Here are some pics that B and I took.







Here are some flood pics of our local river. This area I am standing and the tree to left is usually a large beach area.


Driving around town, I came across this fallen tree...being held only by the powerlines. AND I had to drive under it. SCARY!!


Canyon Creek....getting really close to that home on the right.


This tree was being tossed around in the creek

Holiday Meme

Give The Moose a Muffin had this Meme on her blog. Sounded fun...and holidayish! :-)

1. Wrapping paper or gift bag?
Wrapping paper...till I get lazy then they all go into gift bags.

2. Real tree or artificial?
REAL TREE. Living in the Pacific NW....we have an abundance of tree farms.


3. When do you put up your tree?
Normally, Thanksgiving weekend but we are getting a slow start this year. NEXT weekend!!!

4. When do you take down your tree?
Sometime after New Years.

5. Do you like eggnog?
Yes I do. My fave is Eggnog latte's.

6. Favorite gift received as a child?
My Sunshine Family house complete with the ENTIRE family.


7. Do you have a nativity scene?
Nope.


8. Hardest person to buy for?
My brother.

9. Easiest person to buy for?
My kids!


10. Worst Christmas gift you've ever received?
Well it wasn't the worst. But one year David only got me a snow hat for Xmas. He forgot to finish his shopping. LOL


11. Mail or email Christmas cards?
Mail...if I get around to them.


12. Favorite Christmas movie?
A Christmas Story

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas?
As much as I want to start early....I never even think of it till the weekend after Thanksgiving.

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present?
YES! But I received two of the same thing and had permission from the person who gave it to me (my mom)

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas?
All the yummy Christmas cookies!


6. White or colored lights?
Typically I like white lights on my tree and colored on the house.


17. Favorite Christmas song?
Christmas Wrap by the Waitresses

18. Traveling for Christmas or stay home?
Christmas Eve will be at our house. Christmas Day will be at my brothers....a mere 7minutes away.

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeers?
Yes. Can't you?


20. Angel or Star on top of tree?
STAR

21. Open presents Christmas Eve or Morning?
Both! This year we are gonna do kids presents on Christmas Eve...then on Christmas morning, Santa comes. Us adults will open on Christmas day...from our gift exchange.


22. Most annoying thing about this time of year?
People who get so caught up in shopping, shopping, shopping and don't appreciate anything else around them.
23. What I love most about Christmas?
Snow...and the pretty lights.

Happy Birthday Riley

Riley, my Shih Tzu, turned 1 years old on Sunday. He is the only dog I know that has a designer bean bag for his bed!

BLAH

This is a good picture of how I have felt lately. I'm on all new meds for various ailments and took me a while to adjust to them. Finally I feel like I am getting back into the groove of things.

Thanks to all who emailed me, asking how I was:-)

HNT: Soaking my cares away

Family Weekend Away ~ Leavenworth

Our mini family vacation was a blast! We had so much fun. Everyone got along and enjoyed each other. My son, who said he would refuse to talk to us the entire trip; talked our ears off on the way there. He spent the entire 2 hours talking about history! OMG...we couldn't get him to shut up. LOL I think I had a permanent smile the whole way there!

We spent the weekend: exploring Leavenworth, shopping, playing games, a mini birthday celebration for my sister in law, and just goofing around. Had a wild game of charades. (I won...thank you very much). Played several games of cards (I didn't win....).

It didn't snow while there:-( BUT, on way home we got a big blast of it on the pass. It was slippery! We came upon an accident where one car had went over the side of road! SCARY Of course by the time we hit the snow; my camera batteries were dead. I was bummed about that.

Overall, it was a GREAT family vacation. I think a much needed getaway for myself, David and kids.

Here's the kids....being goofy in car ride over.


B and D playing in the pool. Did I mention its an OUTSIDE pool and it was about 40 degree's....at 10:00 at night! BRRRRRR


Getting warm and hamming it up in hottub.


This was the view from our backdeck of condo.


PRIORITIES! David checking his Fantasy Football stats..


D on the ride into town.


WELCOME TO LEAVENWORTH


David and my grampa...waiting on the WARM side of the street for us shoppers.



Public transportation.


Cute little Bavarian village nestled in the mountains.


The towns MayPole. They put this up about 9 years ago as a permanent fixture. AND WE WERE THERE. K and D remembered the celebration: parade, dancing in the streets ect. B was too little. But it was kinda cool to see it again.


My brother and family, taking a horse drawn carriage ride. My brother looks a bit bored. LOL


Nephew and B rolling down the hill in the city park.


Running back up....


America's Next Top Models...in the famous Hat Store


Helium fun! We laughed and laughed and laughed over this. I guess we are easily amused.


Davids turn!


America's Next Top Models part 2


Cleaning up to go home. DARN

Feeling back in the groove...

Today I was able to sleep in...till 9. It was bliss. I havent' been sleeping well, and then getting up early every day this week to argue with wake up my son; has taken its toll on me. So this morning was nice. He got up without me waking him and his sister drove him to school.

As far as D goes things are a *little* better. He is getting up each morning, although its hard for him. I understand that its hard to get up (I mean I was a teen once!) But to yell at me, like he did last week and then tell me he wasn't going to school ect. THAT IS not going to fly. One of his teachers called me with some concerns. I was able to tell her my concerns. We are setting up a conference with all his teachers, us and him to figure out some solutions. I feel that is step in right direction.

We are going away this weekend as a family. Including my mom, grampa, brother and his family. Staying in some condo's in Leavenworth (a cute Bavarian village, nestled in the mountains). Of course D doesn't want to go. But he has no choice...its a family 'vacation'. He informed me "fine, I'll go but I am not talking to anyone'. LOL That cracks me up. I'm sure the weekend will start with him being grumpy. But hopefully he'll mellow out.

I am excited for this weekend. I love this village. AND, they say it might snow!!! Nothing gets me in the holiday spirit more than Leavenworth......and SNOW.

I found out some news on the city situation. They approved the plan that would put the road right thru our home. So yes, they will be buying our home. BUT, the dipshits took so long to decide that they missed some deadline to apply for funding. So now they have to wait till NEXT August. And then who knows how long it will be after that. I was actually at this meeting and got to speak. I told them that me and my family felt like we were in limbo. Now that its a reality...we want to move. BUT, we can't till they buy the house. So we are sitting here in a house that we've been advised NOT to make improvements to. Meanwhile I found the perfect home for us...and we will probably have to kiss it goodbye since we need the money from this one first. And we can't really put this house on the market...cuz who will by a home that is gonna be torn down in a year. They were semi understanding but still frustrates me. I've talked to a few people (my broker, loan guy) and they feel I need to write a letter and send it to the mayor and every council person. I need to make them know what they are doing to us. IT is really stresssfull and I want out of this house now. Yes, I love my home; but it no longer feels like my home. I'm ready to move on. So they need to come up with some alternative to buying our property! Crossing fingers.....

I'm feeling better. It's only been 2 days on all these meds. So probably not the meds; but maybe the hope that they will work. Although I am having this inner struggle with having to put so many chemicals in my body. Before when I was on one prescription; I was fine...but now I am taking up to 6 diffrent meds each day. It kinda wigs me out. I'm taking the wait and see approach..... but I'm not comfortable with all of it. Yet, I know for my health I need to do SOMETHING.

So I must finish packing and cleaning. I hate coming home to a messy home!!!
Hope everyone has a fabulous weekend. I'll be sure to take lots of pictures.

HNT: From Head to Toe

I felt I was in need of some pampering. So I went and got my hair done...totally changed my hair color. I went back to my natural (for a while). Then I went and had a much needed pedicure.

I'm feeling a teeny bit better now!

That's it...just give me a cane and some Depends.

I finally had my doctors appointment today. When she asked me if I had any concerns; I told her "where do I begin". OMGosh, I felt like such a hyperchondriac. I went on and on and on. When I brought up my weight, she said 'lets tackle these other issues' then deal with that. As suspected I am severly anemic and my thyroid is severely out of whack. What I didn't suspect was my cholesteral was HIGH, I have seasonal allergies and am depressed. (Okay I had a sneaky suspicion on the depression).

Gosh, I feel so old now. I have a million prescriptions. I had to make some notes so I can keep track of what to take and when and how many.

I'm not really into pumping my body with all these meds. BUT, if I can start feeling better then it will be worth it. And I plan on doing some research on each and maybe some alternatives to them to help with the "conditions" that I have.

I'm just hoping that I get back to feeling somewhat healthier than I do now.

Do they still have bootcamps for teens?

I'm just having a crappy morning.

I had my 2 year old nephew all week. I enjoyed it SO MUCH. Yet today was looking forward to sleeping in, since he was now at home; hogging his parents bed. But NO, I had to get up early to ATTEMPT to get my 15yo son out of bed and off to school. It was a battle. And to be honest...he is still in bed. I am at my witts end with this one. SERIOUSLY There is no reasoning with him. He says he hates school and is gonna flunk out anyway so why go? I'm so tired of arguing with him. I've decided to call the school and set up a meeting with his counselor, us and him.

The thing is....is basically he's a good kid. Just NO MOTIVATION at all. Which is hard for me since he is complete opposite of his older sister who I had to FORCE to stay home from school when she was sick. UGH

There are times I think, FINE....if he wants to be a loser and fail school....let him. But of course there is the other part of me that thinks its my job to do everything thing I can to help him and try to motivate him to move forward.

Tonight I think we will be sitting down as a family and setting new rules and such.

Sometimes being a parent sucks!

On a lighter note: I was reading blogs this morning and all of a sudden I hear this huge FART. OMG...my son has this remote control fart machine. Well the noisebox was sitting next to the computer. I'm thinking "WTF" and then I see the remote part in my dogs mouth. LMAO Not only did it give me a laugh...but scared the shit out of me.

M.I.A.

Life is hectic for me. Between not feeling well (drs appt next week), working, having my 2yo nephew for the week, and teen drama; I haven't had much time to blog. Heck, I haven't even had time to read YOUR blogs!
I'll be back after the weekend. Hopefully with lots of interesting things to say:-)

My new favorite quote:

More Graphics at pYzam.com

HNT: Pet Edition

Something a bit diffrent:-) Mostly since I am still sick.

Answering my own question....

On Thursday I asked if someone could consider themselves bisexual even though they have never had a sexual experience with someone of same sex.

I thought I would explain. LOL

Recently was watching this cheesy reality show, on MTV, called A Shot at Love with Tila Tequila. This one is a bit diffrent as she has both men AND women competing to be with her. She is bisexual. In the first episode, she met the men first. Then met the women. Then brought them together and announced she was bisexual and both sexes would be competing with each other.

While watching it, its been interesting hearing the womens views and experiences. It just got me thinking.

So that was why I was asking. Of course there is a part of me that is a bit attracted to women. But I don't know of its just a natural curiosity? Given the oppurtunity I don't even know if I would be with a woman. But by having a natural curiosity I don't think that would classify me as bisexual? One word they use on the show, a lot, is bi-curious. I think that might be a more accurate label for some???

Interesting, huh?

HNT & Question of the Day?

Can a person call themselves bisexual even if they have never had a sexual experience with someone of the same sex???

I'm just wondering........


Here I am, at my favorite resturant, waving to all my blogger friends:-)

Kitchen Obsession

Every since the city announced they want to buy our house, to tear down and build a road; I continue to look at available homes in my area. If it were up to me....we would stay put. I love my house! I admit that there are things about the layout that I am not crazy about and the bedrooms are a bit lacking. But I am happy here.

Mostly I love my kitchen! And I have yet to find ANYTHING that comes close to it. It is warm and cozy....and big. And I have a TV in it. And a lazyboy. I spend most of my day in the kitchen.

This is my kitchen as you walk in the back door. Back door? Yep, this is the door that EVERYONE uses...except strangers or first time guests. In this picture if you look across the kitchen/dining area...you can see the front door. It's a nice shiny front door...since no one uses it. And the large china cabinet? In the middle is a section that opens up to reveal my kitchen TV:-) Orange hallway leads to bedrooms and other end of house where our family room is. That kitchen table is over 10 years old. Scarred with D's name, he carved with his fork. And many nail polish smudges from the girls.

As you walk into my kitchen and look to the right...there is the KITCHEN part. Large pantry next to the fridge and a nice window over the sink that looks out over our back deck into the back yard.

Standing at beginning of orange hallway, looking into dining room; you can see my old fireplace/wood stove. This is the one that is so temperamental. Most winter days it gets so blazing hot that I could cook in my swimsuit. LOL And to the right of fireplace is my beloved 'area'. The lazyboy. I spend HOURS sitting in that chair; watching TV while reading, making menu's or just spacing out.

Now from front door looking back, you can see the back door that everyone uses. And to the right is the garden window. We received that garden window from a friend who removed it during a home remodel. David installed it, we picked out pretty tile and redid the entire thing. It is filled with plants (some alive...some dead), birdhouses, and lots of rocks from various travels.

When I recently complained that I would miss this kitchen, it was homey and warm; my sister in law told me its because I made it that way. I'm sure she is right. But it has so much character that I am unsure I will ever replace. Or maybe its just all the good times I have had here? Just the other night, I sat in my recliner with the lights off and just candles lit. I sat there for a few hours; thinking there was no better place in the world. Will I be able to do this in a new kitchen? Will it feel 'right'? Or will I be stuck in a cold kitchen with no character or warmth to it?

That is my fear. We will move and I will HATE my kitchen.....

Carne Adovada

I've spent a few weeks looking for a good Carne Adovada recipe. So many recipes have you marinate the meat overnight. I needed one that could be done in one day. So I finally found this one in Sunset Magazine. (and I don't see why you couldn't marinate overnight using this recipe??).

OH it was soo good. And for anyone dealing with the winter crud....this is as good as chicken soup. Just the right spiciness to clear up the sinus without too much heat to not be enjoyable!

Carne Adovada (Red Chile and Pork Stew)
Pure ground dried red chiles are the star of this simple stew. Prep and Cook Time: about 2 3/4 hours. Notes: Serve with warm corn or flour tortillas if you like.

3 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
2 medium onions, chopped (about 3 cups)
6 large garlic cloves, minced
3 tablespoons flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3 1/2 pounds boned pork shoulder (butt), fat trimmed and meat cut into 1 1/2-in. cubes
1 cup ground dried red New Mexico chiles
4 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
1 bay leaf

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Heat 2 tbsp. oil in a large, heavy-bottomed, ovenproof pot over medium-high heat. Add onions and garlic and cook, stirring, until onions are golden, about 6 minutes. Remove from heat and transfer onions and garlic to a bowl with a slotted spoon.
2. In a large bowl, stir together flour, salt, cumin, and pepper. Add pork and toss to coat. Return pot to medium-high heat, add remaining 1 tbsp. oil, and, working in batches, lightly brown meat on all sides, 5 to 7 minutes per batch. Transfer meat to a separate bowl as you go.

3. Return onions and garlic to pot. Sprinkle with ground chiles and cook, stirring, 2 minutes (mixture will be thick). Add broth, stirring to loosen browned bits from bottom of pot. Whirl sauce in a blender until smooth. Return sauce to pot and add bay leaf and reserved pork.

4. Cover pot, put in oven, and cook 1 hour. Set lid slightly ajar and cook until pork is fork-tender, about 1 hour more. Remove bay leaf before serving.
Sunset, SEPTEMBER 2007

Cold and Flu Season

So the germs are flying in my house. Started with D, moved on to K...now me! K seems to have recovered but D is still hacking along with me.

Stuffy, congested, achey and all around bitchy. That's me!

As soon as I can breath properly (through my nose and not my mouth!) I'll be back to posting.

In the meantime I'm gonna take a tour of other HNT's and then go back to bed.

Sunset

Last week I posted a pic of our Sunday weather. Oddly enough, this past Sunday was exactly the same....just a bit more rainy and windy.

I thought I would share a picture that B took last Summer, from our back porch.

HNT: Margaritaville Time

Not the most flattering. But this is what happens when you mix good times with margarita's. :-)

Bumps and Bruises..and much more

Three active kids and I have been to the ER with two of them....numerous times. Between the two, I've dealt with dislocated kneecaps, torn ligaments, sprained ankles, many broken fingers, a broken wrist, a broken nose (and surgery to correct it), MRI's, Xrays, stitches, rides in ambulances. Our bathroom closet looks like a cabinet you would find in a hospital; full of various braces, slings, wraps, neck braces, gauze, splints ect.



This was taken last month. The day after D, dislocated his kneecap for the SECOND TIME. The first time, was last year, during football practice. I got to ride to hospital in the ambulance with him. NOT FUN.

Flash forward a full year. He decided to not play football this year. So he is playing basketball at the park and I get a phone call from his buddy. He did it AGAIN. So guess what? ANOTHER trip ER in an ambulance with him. This time around, he felt better...sooner. But he is wearing the brace longer...although off crutches.

The doctor is suggesting surgery. D is freaking out...but he is also tired of this happening. So we will see.

You'd think I would be a pro at this by now. But each time something like this happens and I FREAK out...on the inside. Seriously, I remain calm and cool to the kids and everyone else. But it takes me a while to recover from these incidents. I'm not sure how many more I can take?

I think I am putting B in a bubble so I don't have to do this with her too.