Swinging High

With this beautiful weather we have had, the Key's came over for a BBQ. We put the leashes on the dogs, grabbed a hat for Brendan and headed to the park by our house. I don't particularly like the hat, but that is beside the point. I don't think it was Brendan's first time in a swing but he was happy none the less. His laughter is infectious, and you can't help but laugh with him. We had a great afternoon.

Dogfood

Despite my multiple postings about my wonderful puppies, this post is not about Bubba and Charlie.

Last Thursday, March 19th, Kevin and I headed out to Canoga Park way, an hour an half into LA, to see my brother's band, Dogfood. Yes, their band's name is Dogfood.

I haven't seen him play, ever. My brother has been playing the drums since seventh grade, the year I moved to Riverside. I don't think ever went to a school performance; I was in school myself. After school Bud played with a band called When Beauty Dies. I never heard them either, except for the thump, thump of the bass drum from the garage over Christmas break. So when Dogfood came anywhere remotely close to the Inland Empire, he begged me to go. I didn't take much convincing. I love my brother and I was excited to see him. I was worried about the hour and a half drive, and the fact that Dogfood didn't go on until 9:45 on a Thursday night. Being the old woman I am, I took the following Friday off to recover.

As a side note, Tonight's episode of How I Met Your Mother, was all about being to old for certain things such as staying out all night. I found it pretty funny.

Back to Dogfood, we arrived at the Cobalt Cafe, and I must admit, I was quite surprised with what I saw. It wasn't pleasant. For some reason, I had pictured dimly lit bar. I should have been tipped off by the word "Cafe" and the coffee cups on the wall. It may have had something to do with Dogfood not being the type of music I would ever want to hear in a coffee shop. But this "cafe" wasn't serving anything! There was a counter across the room, but no one was serving. I was glad to see the A rating in the window. I guess it is pretty hard to screw up food service when everything is pre-packaged.

The room was pretty dark except for the lights on the stage. The carpet was a bad floral print the belonged in a Motel 6 from 1978. The were old red vinyl booths pushed against the wall. The blackout from the windows were peeling back from the front wall of windows. Dusty old cobwebs clung to the popcorn ceiling giving the illusion of bad Halloween decor. The worst part was we were the only ones there! We payed out $10 cover, walked in, and the only people standing on the floor, were the member of my brothers band, and their "roadie." When it was Bud's turn, the band after them watched with us. The music was so loud, my ears hurt most of the next day. He would never listen to me, but Bud will be deaf by the time he is 30; he doesn't care now. If I were smart, I would invest in hearing aid technology. All of those guys from the other bands are going to need a listening device as well. I am just old.

The music isn't my first choice, I can't understand most of the lyrics, but the are all very talented. Bud has come a long way since the off beat sounds that came from the garage. I don't know if they ever "make it big." But he is having a good time, and the guys in the band were very polite. I'm glad we went.

Vampires

I gave in. I read Twilight. It has been such a hyped up book I took the time this weekend to read it. It was a short and easy read. Cheesy. Yet I couldn’t put it down. And like every other book that I read late and night. I dreamed about it. Then to top it off, I went over to the Cordes house last night to watch the movie. Even cheesier than the book. I laughed through most of it (sorry friends). It’s a good thing I wasn’t at the theater.

I must admit though, of all the vampire books I have read, it was the most entertaining. I’m actually surprised at how much vampire novels I had read. I can’t remember any titles and I am sure most were probably written by R.L. Stine or were part of a Buffy series (the original mind you). Most of which I read in junior high. Of if my mother knew then what she is about to find out . . . What is the draw with vampires? And what is the draw with vampires in children’s literature? Good night, on Amazon.com there are of 3,500 titles of adolescent fiction titles about vampires!

The odd thing about Twilight is that it is a fairly simple read, yet the author uses words that I probably did not learn or even recognize until college.


All that to say, I’m hooked, Ms. Stephenie Meyer. You have drawn me in and I will probably have all of the Twilight series read in the next two weeks. If all else, I am reading again. I forgot how much I liked to read.

Side Note:
As I was scrolling through Amazon looking for some of the titles of my childhood, I came across these vampire novel titles. I couldn't find any of mine from the early nineties, but these titles made me laugh out loud.
· Sucks to Be Me
· Love Bites
· Love Sucks
· Thirsty
· Suck It Up
· How to Marry a Millionaire Vampire
· Frostbite
· Help I’m Falling for the Vampire Next Door

Brunch of Smiles

We got together with Kevin's dad and sister, and respective families, for brunch on Sunday. This means we got to see Dyllan! Dyllan is one of the best behaved two-year olds I have ever met, and we always have a good time. As most toddlers, he loves cell phones. So we take turns calling him on it, chatting, and letting him direct the conversation. He usually likes to look at the pictures on the phone, but on Sunday, we let him take some pictures of his own.



Here is the artistic view of a two year old.

Uncle Kevin

A Self Portrait

Grandma Rose

And the artistic view of Kevin (not much better than Dyllan).

We did get one good picture before the day was over.

Finally Broken In

On May 24, 2003, I made my first large independent purchase. I had just graduated college three weeks before. For two years, my younger sister and I had shared a car and done quite well. It was actually easier than I had anticipated; probably because we both lived and worked on campus and did most of our activities on site. I’ve always been quite independent, and want to do things “All By Myself” (there is a side story to that regarding my wedding that I will share one day). So I marched down to the credit union to see what kind of loan they could offer me. Went to Hyundai to see what kind of loan they could offer me. I test drove the Elantra and was pretty set on it, but went over to Honda to check them out. I test drove the Civic and fell in love, plus got the best rate at the time. I emptied out my savings account that day for the down payment. I got an economical car with four doors and good resale value.

Two towns over, Kevin was driving his brand new car; a Ford Mustang with all the bells and whistles (maybe not all the bells and whistles, but he did have custom rims and a killer sound system). Not the economical choice I had made.

Kevin loved his car, and I mine.

Fast forward 3 years. Kevin is living in Moreno Valley, visiting my apartment in Riverside almost every day, and commuting to Ontario for work. So we switch cars so he can have the better mileage. Especially since I only drove the 3 miles round trip from my apartment to work and back. I hated the mustang. I missed my little Civic without blind spots. I did learn to parallel park the mustang better than the Civic though.

Three more years brings us to today. I still drive the Mustang. Someone ripped the silver pony off the front grille. The paint is chipped and the protective coating on the spoiler is bubbled. Kevin drives the Civic to work for the better gas mileage. We take the Civic wherever we go. It’s dented on the back where I backed into the cop. The sides have shopping cart marks on them. But we own them both, a beautiful feeling of being (somewhat) debt-free.

This weekend the Civic hit a new milestone. One hundred thousand miles! My father said the car was finally broken in. As long as it doesn’t break down, I’m good.

The funny thing is I bought the car for the better resale value, but I think we may drive it until it is done.

Reign Storm

Last Friday night my Mother-In-Law took all of us to a Reign hockey game at the new Citizen Bank Arena in Ontario. Kevin's sister Karen and her family came, we hung out with our niece and nephews and had a great time. The game was pretty good to. Definitely a minor league team, but a good time by all.

Dyllan with Grandpa Rick and Grandma Peggy - wearing my gloves.

Baby Alissa with Dady El

Roemann with his Cousin Andi (not related to me)

Dyllan with Auntie Bekah and Uncle Kevin

Pink Friday

Check out http://www.pinkfriday09.org/ - especially if you are a teacher!

Can't Teach Stupid

Work as interesting today. A co-worker and I were joking about the phrase "Can't Teach Stupid" also known as "Can't Fix Stupid." When my co-worker googled "Can't Teach Stupid", she came across a random blog. Visit Hal Helm's Blog to see what we laughed about the rest of the day.

Out of House and Home

When we buy dog food, it is poured into a tub for easy access and to prevent bugs. This means that we don't keep the bag, and it has been a while since I have read the feeding chart. This week when the boys went in for their little surgery, the doc let us know that Bubba was 38 pounds and Charlie was 34. Too make sure they were getting enough food each day, I checked the food chart on the Iams website. In doing so I found I am underfeeding my poor puppies! At the boys weight and age, they should be eating 5 cups of dry food each a day. We were probably only giving them 3 1/2 - 4 cups a day. No wonder they wake up starving!

Being a mixed breed, we really don't know how big our boys will be. But being a mix of boxer, Pitt Bull, Labrador, and and Great Dane, we assume they will be about 100 pounds. Luckily for us, the chart says they should remain at about 5 cups a day from here on out.

Generations

My dad found a really cool vidoe on you tube and posted it on his blog. Check out the Lost Generation.

Grandpa and Bubba

Grandpa and Bubba at 6 weeks.

Addiction

As you watch shows like Celebrity Rehab and Intervention, you are shown you images of alcoholics who hide empty liquor bottles to try to hide their addiction from those around them.


This weekend as I was moving furniture around upstairs, I found this;

I know the picture is dark, so for those of you who can't tell, this is an empty Cheez-it box in the bottom drawer of my old dresser.

I think my brother may have a problem. My brother stayed in the room over the Christmas break, and I am led to believe this is his box. My brother is only 14, and by no means obese. We had tons of food in the house over Christmas, but for some reason he felt the need to hoard and hide. This is not the first time either. This summer when my sister is was having her baby, my family came down to stay with me. After they left, I found empty root beer cans in the back of my freezer. It's all quite odd to me really.