Yuki and Eliz make a snowman

Yuki after working hard to make a snowman. He looks cold and tired!

Pictures from T-giving And Liz & Matt's Wedding

Photos: Mom holding Sofi, Christy with Yuki and Eliz.





Elizabeth & Sofi.













Yuki in the dog kennel (his choice, honest!)















Matt and Eliz getting married November 25th.












Matt praying to the Stove God that the turkey will turn out just like Alton Brown said it would.

Rudolph grows up and realizes a thing or two...

Good Gad. I haven't watched Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer for probably 10 years. What a piece of work!

Santa is so self-centered and mean! Telling Rudolph's dad he should be "ashamed" for spawning Rudolph and his defective glowing nose. And then when Rudolph comes home, Santa lays a big guilt trip on him, telling him that "Your dad is out looking for YOU, and without HIM, we can't have Christmas". Nice, Santa. Nice.

The "Island of Mis-fit Toys" - what? Put all your misfits in a group home? Then when another misfit comes along to "show the light" they can be integrated into society? Please. Did they give the misfit toys to handicapped kids? Third World children? Kids on Angel trees? What's up with that? If the toys aren't good enough to be given to regular kids, then how come the elves that made them aren't in prison? Do you think Santa told the elves they should be ashamed for making defective toys?

Poor Herbie doesn't want to be an elf, but a dentist and is not accepted because he doesn't fit into the status quo? But heck, he pulls the Bumble's teeth and he's a hero? And what about the Bumble? He's just being a Bumble. So they "reform him" (basically by emasculating him) and now that they can use him to do their will (re: slave) he's great.

Do you think I've been in therapy too long? It used to be a cute cartoon about being nice to others.

Butch the Wonder Dog

I took Butch with me to stay at Elizabeth's while I was hanging out with her and the baby. Every morning Yuki and I would take a walk and go to this little playground about 2 blocks away. There is a little pond there with a walking path around it. And on the pond are many ducks and a few geese. So, Butch was running around checking out the lay of the land, and sees a duck getting into the pond from the shore. To fully understand how completely amazing the following is, first consider that

1. Butch will be 10 years old on September 18th.
2. Butch HATES water. In all the years I've had Butch, he would avoid water like the plague. The most I've EVER seen him do, is just walk in water along the shore of any body of water, but only until the water was about 1/2 way up his legs.

So, there we are watching all these ducks waddle down to the water's edge and start to swim. And to my amazement, Butch jumped in and started to swim after those ducks! I start to panic because I think "Butch Can't Swim." I figure he'll just have to drown because I can't go in after him and leave Yuki on the shore alone. I keep calling to Butch, and when he was about 1/2 way across the pond, he finally listens and comes back to shore. Whew! Close call!

The next day, I think to myself, "I'll go the OTHER way so that Butch won't be tempted by the evil ducks. Lo and Behold we come upon an area with THREE small retaining ponds. The largest one is probably one and a half times the size of the duck pond. But, I see no ducks, and feel confident that I can let Butch off the lead and that he will avoid the water. Yuki and I are examining the pond when about 20 ducks came out of one pond, over a little hill and into the pond we were looking at. All the ducks were mallards except one large white one. In the water they go, and in the water Butch follows! Butch is hot on the tail of the white duck. The duck is not at all concerned, and stays just out of Butch's reach, and, in fact, swims in wide circles in the pond. Butch swims in wide circles behind the white duck. Occasionally the duck would switch directions unexpectedly, and amazingly enough, Butch stayed in the game. Finally I decided that Butch needed to come out of the water before he became too exhausted to continue on and make it back to shore. I called him. He continued swimming in circles behind the white duck. I called again and again. Even Yuki got into it. He calls Butch "B" because he can't say Butch. Suddenly he points at Butch and yells, "B!! blah blah blah!!." I'm not really sure what the translation is there, but Butch sure was getting chewed out! When Butch finally did decide to come to shore, he had a bit of a rough time making it to the bitter end. He was really sucking wind when he finally got his feet under him.

Today, I woke up and decided Eliz just HAD to see Butch do this swimming miracle. But Butch refused to leave the house. Why? Because it was raining, and he hates to get wet...

Yuki Speaks Out

Elizabeth, Matt, Yuki, Sofi and I all go to Eliz's home. The baby will NOT nurse. Elizabeth will NOT be consoled. The baby cries, Elizabeth cries. Day one at home, we are up all night with a crying baby. She just refuses to "latch on". What kind of term is "latch on"? Sounds like something to do with a cabinet if you ask me. Day 2 at home. Same song, different verse. Hysterical baby, hysterical momma. By this time, Yuki has HAD it. He walks up to Elizabeth, who is trying to pump milk so we can give it to Sofi with a syringe. He pats her right on the breast, and then points at Sofi who is crying and says, "Baby? blah blah blah." Then he did it again. I start cracking up. I tell Elizabeth that what he was really saying was "Baby? She is crying. Can you please hurry that up and give her something so she'll shut up?"

Later that night, Yuki is playing out in his little wading pool and I can see him through the window. He has several pool toys, including what looks like an oil funnel, which looks like the end of Elizabeth's pump. I look up just in time to see him stand up with that funnel and place it on his chest. Can't you just hear him saying, "Man. If mom can't get her to shut up, maybe I can. How does this thing work???"

New Baby - and Drama

Here we have a picture of Grandma and new baby Sofi. She's healthy and pretty quiet so far! That could be because she's scared out of her mind. Because Grandma needs to pay more attention to detail.

Matt and Yuki were out playing in the park, and taking a nap at my house. It was just Elizabeth, Sofi and me at the hospital. The problem was, it was HOT in the room. And I don't do well with hot. Hot really stinks. So, I say to Elizabeth, "Man. It's hot in here." She agreed and said that Matt got cold in the night and turned the heat up. (As an aside here, skinny people are always cold. Matt likes the temp to be around 75 degrees. That's just insane.)

So, I say to Elizabeth, "Do you want me to turn the temp down?" "Sure." So I head over to the pretty panel on the wall. I look it over with all the buttons, and can't read the words because it's dark in that part of the room. I try every single light switch and couldn't find one that would come on and illuminate the panel. So I lean in real close, and squint to read the words. I see a square button with a blue outline that says "Cool blue", which I thought was really odd, but, well, blue means cool, right? So I push the button, and wait to see if a temperature readout comes on. Nothing, so I figure it will just cool down on it's own to a pre-set temperature. I walk back to the chair in the room, pick up the paper and start to read. All of a sudden, 5 or 6 nurses burst into the room and say, "Are you ok in here?" I say (confused by the concern in their voices) "Yeah, its just a little hot." One of the nurses turns around and yells into the hallway "It's ok, it was a mistake." I'm still confused. What the heck? Then, it dawns on me. OMG! The button was "CODE BLUE", not "Cool blue". And it doesn't just go off on our floor, it makes the announcement all over the hospital. At this point, I want to sink through the floor. All the nurses leave, and and Elizabeth and I laugh hysterically until we cry. And we sob. One by one, the nurses came in and told us it was o.k., and that it was funny seeing the doctors running down the hall, and really, it was good practice for them. They forgot the crash cart, so it was a good learning experience. Don't worry, don't cry, it's o.k.

I'm pretty sure Elizabeth will never allow me with her again in a doctors office or hospital. But you know, there have been plenty of times when Elizabeth has horrified ME. Karma. It's all about Karma. And in this case, I'd say that was one heck of a payback.

Day Two Without Sarah

Day 2 with no Sarah.

I took Sarah to college (Ball State University) Wednesday. Not much drama. Wasn't too bad. No weeping and gnashing of teeth. Until...Thursday. When I received a heart wrenching e-mail from Sarah...she hates it there, she can't sleep, she doesn't like her room, she wants to come home, she loves me, she misses me... Oh yeah. And, "I want my car!!!"

Today was better. She sounded o.k. when I talked to her. She's made a couple of friends. She'll be fine. Really. Fine. =)

Meanwhile, Butch is wondering where she is. I can hear him thinking now..."The tall human is gone. I didn't like her much and she never did pet me, but...man. I think mom really liked her. Am I next???" Poor guy. He'll be fine. Really. Fine. =)

I haven't had to cook even once since Sarah left. But tomorrow I will have to, because all the left-overs are gone. Unless I want to eat shredded wheat for many many meals. I'll be fine. Really. Fine. =)

And life goes on...

Friday

TGIF

What a week. Sarah graduated last Saturday and now she thinks she owns the world and should be able to do whatever she wants. 76 days until she goes to school (and counting). . .

Retail Therapy

It's been one of those weeks...I've been a little down. Maybe it's empty nest. Maybe it's because I'm not looking forward to "The Party" I'm throwing for graduation, and all the associated hoopla surrounding it. Who knows.

So, last night I decided I needed a hammock. I went to Bed Bath & Beyond. Didn't like the hammock material, so went to Lowes. While in Lowes, I suddenly had to go to the bathroom, so I went clear to the back of the store to the bathrooms, which is far away from the hammocks. On the way OUT of the bathroom, I saw the area rugs, which reminded me that the rug in my room won't stay put, so I put a "rug gripper" in my cart. Walking toward the hammocks, I see the plumbing isle, which reminds me I wanted to look for this aerator thing for my kitchen sink. Don't find it there, sales person tells me to check in a different isle. While walking down that isle I don't find the thing I want, but see some "Spot Shot" for carpet stains and pick that up. Back down the isle, into the main isle back toward Hammocks. I see the stand mixers, and my cart turns all by itself down that isle. I see the beautiful Kitchen Aid Stand Mixers. I think about how my Lowe's card has a special - 12 months same as cash - and after debating (not on whether I should get it, but on which COLOR to get) I decide on the pretty red and put it in my cart. Back toward the hammocks. I see light bulbs. I remember two light bulbs are out upstairs and I have no replacements. Look at ALL the light bulbs, then decide on compact florescent. Then debate on wattage. Finally decide and put a pkg in my cart. This is now very close to the hammocks. I'm in the hammock isle! I stand there for probably 20 minutes debating on whether I want rope or cloth. Eventually I decide cloth, put it on my cart and get a kid to help me with a stand.

I pay for the whole thing on my Lowe's card (12 months same as cash!), work feverishly to fit it all in my car, go home, set up the hammock, and lay in it for an hour looking at the sky. It's a beautiful thing. Maybe today, I'll use the mixer.

Long Time No Blog

Holy cow, it's been a long time since I've blogged. It's not that I've had nothing to say. I ALWAYS have something to say.

Today is Saturday, and I've been watching cooking shows all morning. I think I'll make spaghetti as a result. But not the kind I saw on a cooking show this morning. I'll make the kind that comes out of the jar that you pour over the noodles. That's just called lazy.

Sarah has 1 month of school left. I'm telling you, I cannot WAIT until the girl graduates. She's got senioritis so bad it hurts ME to watch. She honestly should take a year off after high school and work. I think she's pretty sick of school, and maybe she needs a dose of reality from the work world. But, her Dad won't have that, so off she'll go to Ball State this fall.

It's been a wild couple of weeks. I had to go out on 3 serious losses last week - Louisville, Columbus & Champaign. Then this week I was off to Pittsburgh for a deposition. THAT was fun. Unfortunately, coming back from all that leaves the office a huge mess and lots of work to do in a short period of time. I'll have to go in today or tomorrow to finish catching up.

Back to the world of food TV and spaghetti....

Testing

testing blogger button

Yuki Feb 2005

Here's a picture of Yuki taken last week. He has a cold, which he so graciously passed along to me, just in time for me to go out of town on a mediation and a settlement conference. My nose ran the entire time. I got back on Thursday night, and only made it through 1/2 day at work yesterday because I couldn't talk unless I had a Kleenix shoved up my nose to keep the flood at bay. Even though he gave me a cold, I'll keep him anyway. He's a cutie.

If you don't like crafts, skip this entry. These are things we learned at last night's Close to My Heart party. 

I don't know how...

I am sorry - I don't know how to put several pictures on one post. So, the Christmas photos are individual posts.

Thank GOODNESS it's a new year! I'm ready for it!

CJ

 

 

Grandma and Yuki playing with the cement truck. See the Christmas tree mom made me on the kitty litter bucket? Now THAT'S CLASS. 

Matt and Elizabeth play with one of Yuki's toys while Butch (back of the couch) is just trying to stay out of the way. 

"Yeah? Watch me!"  

This turned out to be Yuki's very favorite toy. Even I thought it was pretty cool. 

But I want to HELP, Grandma! 

Isn't he cute??? This is on Yuki's 1st birthday. I love his hair. 

Butch knows how to keep toasty when it's cold out side. Just lay on someone!!! (In this case, Matt)