Saturday, May 31, 2008

Mmmmmm....Sushi!

Today we went to our favorite sushi restaurant, Wasabi's, for lunch. Sam likes sushi, but has only had it a few times, so we took him with us.
Here he is enjoying part of a Wendy roll, which has shrimp, avocado, onion wrapped in Nori (seaweed) and rice, with sweet soy sauce and sesame seeds. Yummy!

This is my favorite roll, a macho roll. It has tempura shrimp, red onion, cream cheese, jalapeno pepper, wrapped in nori and rice, topped with the same sweet soy sauce, sesame seeds, green onion and red hot sauce...I could seriously eat these all day long!
Yum...I am completely full and ready for my sushi coma (aka: Nap time)!
The local Harley-Davidson just built a brand new building and today was their Grand Opening. After sushi, Sam and I dropped Adam off and went down to check out the activities. We missed the Moto Cross events, but Sam and his friend Jesse, who was down there with his dad, were very happy to watch the Harley Babes do their numerous dance routines. They both got the girls' autographs and a photo with them.

Now the three of us are just hanging out around the house. Later tonight, Adam is going to take Sam to a new movie, The Strangers. I'm not going because it's a scary movie and I don't do scary!

Tomorrow we are going to take Jack to the Sparks Marina, an off-leash dog park where he can play in the water and with other dogs. Afterwards, we're going to the rescue that we got Jack from to meet a dog that they brought in from the same high-kill shelter they saved Jack from. Her name is Tarot and she is the same age and breed as Jack, except she still has her tail and her ears stick straight up. We're thinking about adopting her so Jack has a friend. Adam met her last week and fell in love with her, so me and Jack will meet her tomorrow and we'll make our decision then.

This is Jack's picture from when he was in the rescue shelter.
And here is Tarot's picture. Strange how similar they are, isn't it? If we do decide to adopt her, I'm pretty sure we are going to name her Jill, so we'll have Jack and Jill.

I'll post an update tomorrow. In the meantime, I hope everyone is having a great Saturday!

Friday, May 30, 2008

Jack's first trip to the Vet

My silly, silly dog had his first trip to the Vet's office today. Last night after Josh, Katrina, and Stella left, we went to feed Jack his dinner. Now, normally, he "hoovers" his food down within a matter of seconds. Last night, not so much. He didn't run over to his dish when we put it down, and he definitely did not hoover it. He looked at it and walked a way. That is when we noticed his tummy looked extremely bloated, and his eyes dull and lethargic. He also had really bad gas, and a lot of it! Note: our boy doesn't usually have gas, so this was worrisome to us.

This morning, he was frisky and playful like he always is in the morning. He jumped up on the bed to say good morning and even ate all of his breakfast. However, he didn't eat very fast at all, which worried me more. I went outside and found a few fresh poo piles, and it let's just say, they definitely weren't solid. I immediately called the vet and made an appointment.

When we got there, he was playful and happy. All the nurses and even the vet fell in love with him, of course. The vet, Dr. Hewlett, felt Jack's belly and acknowledged it was definitely bloated. Plus, he kept passing stinky gas that everyone could smell! The next course of action was to take x-rays of his tummy to see what was going on.

Not sure what you're looking at? Neither was I! Let me highlight a few things for you.

The circled area above is what Jack's stomach should look like on a regular day. Nice and small, right?

The circled area in this picture is the size of his stomach right now. 3 times what it should be! The black areas is his colon, which is full of gas! There was a 30 minute time period yesterday when I left the house. He got into the trash, and I was thinking that's what was wrong, until I saw the x-ray. After seeing the x-ray, I was wondering if he has been eating my plants and dirt in the back yard because he's been digging. However, I'm starting to think I know what happened. During the time I was gone, Jack got into his dog food as well, and I think he has been sneaking into when we're not looking and eating a lot of food.

So, what's our course of action? Antibiotics, some liquid something or other to calm his stomach, fasting for tonight, and extremely mild meals for a few days. Dr. Hewlett says she's pretty sure he will be okay because he's already starting to digest whatever it is he's been eating.

All this fun for the low price of $200!!! Oh boy!

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Close ups

I took some scenery shots today during my lunch breaks. I had some fun taking them and trying to take some different shots. I then used photoshop element to play around with the colors. I've been told my images are really large when you click to enlarge them, but I'm not sure how to reduce their size. Anyone working with Photoshop have any tips?

Enjoy!Align CenterI was trying to catch the mountains behind the pine cone.

There was a small break in the rain, which helped. I heard that when the background is blurry, it's called "Bokey" (pronounced Bow-kay). Thanks Pioneer Woman!

Amazing how a tree stump which wasn't more than a foot in diameter can have so many rings!

Does anyone know if this is a weed or a wild flower?

I know this one is a weed. I just thought it was really interesting.

I took this one when I got home. Sam and his friend did this with a stamp during class. I love the look on his face. It looks like he just woke up and is surprised that his face is blue. See my other blog for another one of him and his silly face paint.

Sunday, May 25, 2008

Indiana Jones and the Kindom of the Crystal Skulls

Adam and I took Sam to see the new Indiana Jones movie. It was pretty good. I wouldn't say it's the best movie I've ever seen, but it was better than a lot of others I've seen. Sam and I were entertained. Adam is always very critical of movies and a lot harder to please.

After the movie, we went home, picked up Jack and went to the dog park. The boy had been pretty restless and not sleeping well the last few nights, so hopefully this will help wear him out. We had a good time, and Jack played with a few of his friends, Tassie - an Australian Shepherd/Border Collie mix - and a little bit with Dozer - a HUGE Great Dane. What's cool about Tassie is she's fast like Jack. Don't get me wrong, Jack still smokes her, but she keeps up with him better than any other dog so far.This is Dozer making a few other friends. As you can see...he's a big dog! His father holds the record for world's biggest Great Dane, I believe he weighs in at over 200 lbs! Dozer is a solid 180. Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures of Tassie. I'll make sure to next time.

Here's some pictures of our guy....

Look Mom, I got the ball!

You're going to throw it again, right? Right? I'm ready!!! Throw it!
Air dog! That's right, he's up in the air and is about to flip over!

I'm gonna get there before you, pal!

Hope everyone else is having a wonderful Memorial Day weekend!

Friday, May 23, 2008

New Photo Blog

I've run across several other blogs that post a picture a day and I really like the idea. I've decided to create another blog that I will try to update daily with just ONE picture. I will continue updating this blog with my regular "Life as I know it" type updates. Click here to go to the new photo blog, Life As I know It - The Daily. You can also find it under my favorite links. Leave me a comment on the image I posted tonight!

Tick tock....

Can't we just speed up the clock? I hate Friday afternoons before a 3-day weekend.....too slow!

Thursday, May 22, 2008

Holy Smokes! A New Post!

I know...I've been away for awhile! There's been a lot of stuff going on in my life so there should be lots of updates...but we all know that, even though this is a blog and I should be able to talk about a lot of stuff going on my life, I can't really talk about EVERYTHING that's been going on lately. There are some life altering events that are in the works and I will be able to update everyone as soon as it's done, but until then...mum's the word! And no, I'm NOT pregnant!

For a quick update on what I can talk about....

My cousin Jason (who is practically like my brother!) asked his girlfriend of 7 years to marry him! I'm so happy for them! We knew it was coming soon, just weren't sure when. They are 95% sure that the wedding will be on Saturday, August 23, the anniversary of when they started dating. Where is the question. There has been talk of doing it in Idaho, where they live, as well as talk of doing it in our area, Northern Nevada, because most of their friends are in Northern California (a very short trip away). Wherever they decide to do it, it is going to just be beautiful, since both areas are amazing. Also, Jason and I made a deal when Adam and I got married. The deal was, Jason would officiate our wedding if I would do his. Are either of us ministers...nope. What you do is you go to county office and get "deputized" so you can perform civil service weddings for 24 hours. Adam and I originally got the idea from his brother, Casey, when he asked Adam to officiate his wedding. I thought that was such an honor to be the one to bring two people together in matrimony, that it only seemed right to have my closest friend, Jason, do that for us. And on August 23, I'll be returning the favor!

Last weekend my mom, aunt and I went to the Bay Area to show our jewelry at a Peddler's Fair. I will be posting pictures from that at a later time. How did we do? Actually, not too bad for the conditions! It was hotter than concrete during an Arizona summer, which meant not many people were out during the afternoon, but we did some pretty good business in the morning when it was only 85 degrees. We'll be doing the same show again on August 2nd, so if anyone reading this is going to be in Martinez, CA that weekend, come on down and say hello! Our company name is Decorating Us...Jewelry for the Body, Mind and Home. Other Jewelry news...My new stuff did very well at the show, which means I need to make more new stuff! We've got the show in August, we've applied to Candy Dance (a huge show in this area) in September, and there are a few other things we have lined up. I really do need to be more prolific and productive!

Josh, Katrina, Stella, and our new friend Ed came over for dinner last night. Adam made homemade pizza for us and we topped it off with good conversation and root beer floats! The dogs played and played and played, as usual. They also had fun digging up my planter boxes, which was not fun for me because I've actually done a good job on them this season!!! Luckily, I never follow the rules when I plant seeds and I was going to have to thin the plants out anyway. The dogs took care of that for me! At least my nasturtiums, tomatoes, jalapeno peppers, and strawberry plants were all safe! The casualties were my string beans, and I think the Delfiniums, which, as I mentioned, needed to be thinned out. Now I know the next time Stella comes over that I need to put my plants up...I should've known anyway, she digs at home.

That's pretty much it for now. I'll try to be better about updating...but I'm not going to promise anything! Send me a comment and tell me what's new with you!

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Deep Thoughts

My freshman year in college, my roommates and I got a kick out of Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey. They used to be on Saturday Night Live (Actually, they may still be on SNL, I just don't watch it any more), and are pretty funny!

I came across a web site (Click Here) today that had some of the Deep Thoughts, and here are a few that had me laughing.

"If you saw two guys named Hambone and Flippy, which one would you think liked dolphins the most? I'd say Flippy, wouldn't you? You'd be wrong though. It's Hambone."

"When you die, if you go somewhere where they ask you a bunch of questions about your life and what you learned and all, I think a good way to get out of it is just to say, 'No speaka English.'"

"If you work on a lobster boat, sneaking up behind someone and pinching him is probably a joke that gets old real fast."

"The first thing was, I learned to forgive myself. Then, I told myself, 'Go ahead and do whatever you want, it's okay by me.'"

"Here's a good tip for when you go to the beach: A sand dollar may look like a nice cracker that someone left, but trust me, they don't taste like it."

"As we were driving, we saw a sign that said 'Watch For Rocks.' Marta said it should read 'Watch For PRETTY Rocks.' I told her she should write in her suggestion to the highway department, but she started saying it was a joke---just to get out of writing a simple letter! And I thought I was lazy!"

"Maybe in order to understand mankind, we have to look at the word itself. Mankind. Basically, it's made up of two separate words---'mank' and 'ind'. What do these words mean? It's a mystery, and that's why so is mankind."

"If you were a pirate, you know what would be the one thing that would really make you mad? Treasure chests with no handles. How the hell are you supposed to carry it?!"

"Frank knew that no man had ever crossed the desert on foot and lived to tell about it. So, he decided to get back in his car and keep driving."

"I'm not afraid of insects taking over the world, and you know why? It would take about a billion ants just to AIM a gun at me, let alone fire it. And you know what I'm doing while they're aiming it at me? I just sort of slip off to the side, and then suddenly run up and kick the gun out of their hands."

"It makes me mad when I go to all the trouble of having Marta cook up about a hundred drumsticks, then the guy at the Marineland says, 'You can't throw chicken to the dolphins. They eat fish.' Sure they eat fish, if that's all you give them. Man, wise up."

Ahhhhh....happy randomness! Have a great Tuesday!

Friday, May 9, 2008

In the market

Some exciting news that I forgot to post earlier this week...Adam and I met with a loan officer from our Credit Union last week and were approved for a home loan!!! We have been looking at homes on-line for quite some time now, but never thought we'd be able to take the next step of hiring a Realtor and actually scheduling appointments to see the houses. We're definitely excited!

So, when do we move onto the next step? Well, not really sure yet. This weekend is pretty full, and next weekend I'm in the Bay Area for a Peddler's Faire to sell jewelry, so it will most likely be a few weeks before we start REALLY looking. The good thing is, we're not really on a time limit, so we're okay with taking our time. Plus, we really want to stay in the housing development we are currently renting in, and don't mind waiting for the right house to open up.

Here are a couple of houses we're interested in, just from what we've seen on-line, in our area and another one close by:

http://www.dicksonrealty.com/listing/show/515021

http://www.dicksonrealty.com/listing/show/479512

http://www.dicksonrealty.com/listing/show/521041


http://www.dicksonrealty.com/listing/show/493532
http://www.dicksonrealty.com/listing/show/503581

http://www.dicksonrealty.com/listing/show/513491

http://www.dicksonrealty.com/listing/show/512581

http://www.dicksonrealty.com/listing/show/453842


http://www.dicksonrealty.com/listing/show/464262

http://www.dicksonrealty.com/listing/show/236661

http://www.dicksonrealty.com/listing/show/476732
This one is super high end of our loan amount, and we would have to do some serious negotiating for it to be low enough to where we'd be comfortable....but boy is it pretty!

I'll make sure to keep an update on when we decide to move onto the next step and when things go from medium to spicy!

Wednesday, May 7, 2008

Exhaustion....

....has set in. The stress from yesterday has made its effects known today. Not only have I had a raging migraine for majority of the day, but I'm so tired that I think after I post this, I'm going to go to bed!

Today hasn't been all bad. Sam is spending the night tonight. After I picked him up from track practice, we took Jack to the dog park. It was Sam's first time seeing Jack run and run and run. He had fun chucking the ball...so much fun that the ball got stuck in one of the trees! Luckily, there was a forgotten tennis ball by the tree we lost the ball in, so we kept on playing. We had a nice surprise of running into Katrina and Stella at the park. Poor Stella just wanted to play with Jack, but as usual, he had eyes only for the ball!

After the park, Sam and I went to Qdoba's and picked up some burritos for dinner. So tasty!!! We've been catching up on South Park for the last hour now. It's been a pretty good night, but what will make it even better is laying down in bed and shutting my eyes.

And with that...I'm out! ;-)

Migraine Hell

Yesterday was a tough day at work. People pulling scheduled ads after the deadline. Other clients not paying their bills and me threatening to pull their ads myself. Highly stressful. So I guess I should have seen the MONSTER Migraine that came my way today! The left side of my head feels like it is going to explode, I have to squint (if not completely close) my left eye to keep out as much light as possible, and my neck and back are twisted so tight I just want to cry.

Why oh why won't the massive amounts of Ibuprofen and Excedrine kick in already? Somebody just put me out of my misery!!!!

Monday, May 5, 2008

As promised....part 2

See the previous post for Part 1.

After our walk, we went home and got cleaned up to go over to mom and dad's house for Sam's official 13th birthday dinner. Since he is the birthday boy, he chose to have Nachos for dinner. But not just any Nachos....That's right...that is a giant can of Condensed Nacho Cheese!

To prepare this amazing cuisine, you put it in the crock pot, add some water to thin out the cheese, and heat. It's Sam's favorite! The nachos also included beef, tomatoes, jalapenos, olives, sour cream, guacamole and salsa. They were actually very tasty.

When present time came, Sam opened Mom and Dad's present first.

It was a portable guitar amp so Sam can take his electric guitar to his friend's house.

He opened Adam and my presents next. We got him an iPod Nano and a protective case for it. He was super stoked!For dessert, we had homemade ice cream cake.
Dad is excited for Sam's birthday too!
This is Goldie, one of mom and dad's dogs...He's a big love bug!
Jack just wanted to come inside....too bad for him!
Dad and Sam figuring out how to get songs onto his new iPod.
Today at lunch I took some scenic pictures of the mountains from the town I work in....I love living in Northern Nevada!
My first panoramic image taken...You know what's cool? My camera will "stitch" the images I take together...That's what the blackish lines are.
And this is someone's front yard...Notice anything kinda random? Yeah, that's a full-sized metal cow!
This is Jack's favorite car toy. He loves this squeaky little ducky! He plays with it each time he goes for a car ride in the truck.
Anyway....that's the weekend! Lot's of pics. I'm sure I'll be able to update this more regularly this week. I'm not on deadline for work, which helps.

Hope everyone had a great week last week, a relaxing weekend, and a happy Monday today!

As promised....part 1

As promised! Here we go....

As I mentioned earlier, this week has just been insanely busy. Any particular reason? No, not really. It just seemed like a whorl-wind hit my life. Speaking of whorl-wind....check out these pictures!!! I was driving home Tuesday night, and this is what I drove through....

The wind was so bad, a dusty field blew across the highway, literally!
This was the view from our driveway when I got home!
Friday, Josh and Katrina came over for dinner and brought Stella. We enjoyed a dinner of chicken enchilada soup while the dogs played. I have to admit, it was quite tasty! Then Adam and Josh went to see Iron Man. Katrina had some stuff to get done around their house before they left for Manteca on Saturday. Mom and I met up and saw Made of Honor with Patrick Dempsey. I actually really enjoyed it. I was thinking it was going to be like My Best Friend's Wedding, which I hated, but it was different. The reason I dislike My Best Friend's Wedding is because Julia Roberts' character doesn't want the man until he tells her he's getting married, then she tries to steal him away. In Made of Honor, Patrick Dempsey's character realized he loved the girl BEFORE he found out she was engaged...plus I generally think it's more romantic for a man to chase after a woman, and somewhat skanky for a woman to chase after a taken man. Hypocritical, probably. Oh well!

Saturday, Adam and I hung out at home. I got some gardening done. I had bought some tomato and strawberry plants, and I've been stockpiling flower and herb seeds for a few months now. It was nice to finally clean out all the old planters and fill them full of hopeful new life. We also filled up the kiddie pool for Jack. Of course, I forgot to take pictures...maybe this next weekend! Saturday night I went over to my mom and dad's house for some jewelry making with my mom. We have a show coming up in less than two weeks and I wanted to make some new pieces. I haven't taken pictures of them yet, but I will soon.

Sunday, Adam and I wanted to take Jack to the dog park so we could run him. Unfortunately, there was a dog agility event going on, and only dogs participating in the event could enter the park. We decided to take Jack for a mini hike in the hills behind our housing development. Here are the pics from the walk.Tired Puppy....Time to go home!
I'm going to start a new link for Sammy's birthday celebration.

 
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