Wednesday, December 31, 2008

If it's Wednesday, then I'm wondering.....



Now let me preface today's questions with a factual statement or two.
I'm strange. I'm a dork. I'm OCD in a rather BIG way. I frighten even myself.

That said, I LOVE, nay, HAVE to eat foods by color. Specifically say, Skittles. I HAVE to eat them by color. I have anxiety if someone grabs a handful with all of them mixed together. THAT IS NOT THE RIGHT WAY!!! You might think I am kidding, but I am as serious as a heart attack. In fact, my heart will race just watching that and I think I might, could easily, have a heart attack!
First you eat the yellow ones, then green, then orange, followed by red and finish it up with purple. No.other.order. Ever.
My cute BFF sis-in-law one New Years eve was kind enough to separate all the Skittles by color into individual bowls. While that was a very thoughtful gesture, the satisfaction wasn't the same. There is something soothing about dumping them all out on a paper towel, and then picking them out by color. It is actually very calming and satisfying. In fact, if I am having a hard day at work, it has been known that a co-worker will go to the vending matching, buy me a bag of skittles just so I can sort and eat by color to calm down. Again, I AM NOT KIDDING.
If I have some spread out on said paper towel, and someone comes along and asks if they can have one? Only if they take the color that I am currently working on. If they scoop a variety handful, well I might as well just throw the rest away. The whole process is then ruined. Again, NOT KIDDING!

Why is this? No, it's not for flavor, because I do the same thing with M&M's, Fruit Loops, anything that is multi-color regardless of flavor. WHY!?!? I ask you......

Question two of the day -
Why in hades am I running a 5k at 11:30 tonight to ring in the New Year? WHY??
It's all Chad's fault really. If he wasn't such a gym rat BFF, and I already signed up, and already talked Shark Bait into it, I would totally bail. The one redeeming grace? Denny's Grand Slam afterward. Wish me luck and if you have any answers for my craziness, please, by all means, share!

Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Tickle Me Pink Tuesday - Illustrated version


Things that just tickled me pink today!
Texas Roadhouse two'fers. Seriously. Best.Deal.ever! Splenda Daddy and I go before 6:00pm and get a fantastic meal for under 20 bucks!

Bloggers Breakfast.
Rychelle was in town and invited anyone loco, I mean, local to join her for breakfast. Super fun to meet some of you gals in the blogosphere!

And finally, Furry BFF's. After two days of skirting each other, the magic happened! Hummer and Gary the cat are now official BFF's! I'm sorry, but really is there anything cuter? Not this Tuesday.....thanks for sharing the pic Kim....and you can see as with any true BFF's, it hard to tell where one ends and the other begins! : )

What Tickles you Pick as of late?

Monday, December 29, 2008

Monday - Missionary Update



Another Monday when the whole world comes to a screeching halt while I await "the email". We have figured out what time he gets on and we've been making sure we are on-line as well. We then can have brief "conversations" via email. LOVE IT! He couldn't spend too much time today, but it was great to hear from him. (reminder - original spelling and grammar left in)

Parents,

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WOW WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO BE, 30? 32? THAT IS GOOD DAD, YOU ARE STILL YOUNG!!! I AM SURE THAT YOU GUYS GOT SOME GOOD PLANS TODAY AND HOPE THAT TODAY WILL BE AN AWESOME DAY FOR YA!!

Wow thank you guys so much for all of the picutres that you sent me! There was a lot, but i loved getting all of them. Some of them i couldnt see very good, but some of the others, but perfect. I forgot that i hadnt sent you a picture of my new companion haha its that, we dont have anything pictures together hardly haha if you couldnt imagine. My christmas was awesome! They do it way different here. It is not very big here and is basiclly for the little kids, so its not like our huge celebration and we have tons to do. Haha its kinda wired. But new years day is HUGE here and again, we are going to be with that same family for new years! I am going to buy another memory card today because i could take some of the pictures that i wanted to take yesterday. I was going to send you guys some good ones, but i didnt have any memory. Yesterday we went to a members house to eat lunch. He lives on a farm and was way awesome. got to see and touch farm animales and go down and throw rocks into the river. It was aweosme, but of course i couldnt talk any pictures. I will get that fixed today.
Dad i am cool with puttin a DVD burner in my comp, but honestly i was thinking about getting a whole new comp when i get back, and if tuffy wants, he can have that comp. That is what i was thinking.....so i guess that you will have to ask him haha.

This week was really really really long, i am not sure why, but it was really long haha. this week should go by pretty fast, there is not a lot going on, new years day, and nothing else. I am going to send you dad, a package home for your BDAY! You should get it in a bout a week or so i think..... I hope that you like it!

If i could ask of a favor....there are some kids here that just got the mel. preisthood but dont have the thing to hold the oil cause you can only by it in Santiago, and its expensie.....So what i was wondering is if you could send me three of those things? If you cant that is okay, dont worry about it. if you get the chance also, a triple would be sweet.....haha sorry for asking is just that the HMA that we just baptized doesnt have one.. :( Anyway if you cant, dont worry about it. If you could, i think that they write on the book for freeee, the name right? If you could put the name: Barbara Virginia Riquelme Puga.

techincally, i do have 1 year and one week in the mission, but i wont get back until the 30th, or i mean, i will serve more than two years haha! i guess that it is a good think that in the misison that you cant get extensions, or i dont think that you would be too happy with that haha.

All things are going good in the hood. I am sure that you guys are going to be on, so go ahead and respond if you would like!!! I love you guys and miss you!!!

Elder Catmull

I heart that boy! Really. Awesome kid. Now to carry on until the next Monday.....

Happy Birthday Splenda Daddy!

It's my favorite man's BD today and here's a shout out to him!
Not saying how old he is, that would be cruel, but let's just say this about when I met him:
His permed mullet and porn star mustache set my heart a twittering!
VanHalen was "our" band.
State street was a river in the summer and he spend the winter pushing stuck cars with is big bad-A Jimmy.
He tolerated my gelly shoes, polka dot sweater and BIG brillo pad (perm and sun-in) hair.
His skin tight rock star jeans could beat a wrangler butt any day.
Wine coolers were the "in" drink of the party scene. (not that we would have known)
And he sat through Flashdance with me multiple times.

True love! Now 24 years later, he STILL gets me all twitter-pated and more importantly is my VERY best friend ever!

Happy Birthday D!

Sunday, December 28, 2008

Spiritual Sunday - Faith, Hope, and Charity


Wow! Great Sunday!
Chloee took a reeeeaallly long nap before church so she was actually good during Sacrament meeting. We made the whole meeting without having to leave the chapel. New record! Was officially released as a Gospel Doctrine teacher. They didn't announce my new calling because they still haven't been able to get the other person to release her. So.....you'll all just have to wait until next week for that piece of excitement.
Sunday School was the last lesson the Book of Mormon. Most of the discussion was on Faith, Hope and Charity. A woman in the back posed the question. Why is it always listed in that order in the scriptures? (See Moroni 7:40-44; 1 Corinthians 13:13; D&C 4:5)
Well, that got me to thinking, I know, I know, scary in and of itself, but hey, cut me some slack.
Why ARE they listed in that order? Then I had a major epiphany for me. Faith is generally a thought, Hope is generally a feeling, and Charity is an action.
We have the thoughts, the feelings and then we need to do the acts. It generally goes right in that order. Thought, feeling, action.
You can think and feel all the righteousness you want, but without the acts (charity) you are nothing. I definitely came away with something I had never thought of before and something that will stick with me forever. I guess my challenge is to not just think the good thoughts, have the good feelings that I should do something, but ACTUALLY act on it. Here's to hoping I can vastly improve in this area.

After church went to Splenda Daddy's mom's house for dinner. Tomorrow is his birthday and she likes to have the kids over for a special dinner for their day. So nice to NOT have to think about what to do for dinner, nor clean up.
Back home, bathe the chunch, read to her and then she's in her blessed bed for the night.

Still contemplating the faith, hope, charity epiphany......I'm sure you all have long since figured that one out. I'm a little slow, and it's going to take a little bit to sink in. In words it sounds simple, in real life - now that's the challenge

Ellie update !!


Now, Ellie went to her new home a week ago, and I got an update a few days later, but have been waiting to post until I got some pictures. They speak better words than I could ever!

She was the only girl of the bunch and in her new Mom's words:
"Hi Melissa,

Just thought you might like to hear how Ellie is doing...

First of all, I forgot how energetic puppies can be! Ellie is definitely a hyper one. Jesse thinks she's ADD - she can't concentrate on one toy for more than 20 seconds. Here's the latest:

1. She's a little scared at night still. The first night, we had to get up about five times cuz she was wimpering. Poor thing. Last night we only got up once though! She's getting better!
2. I showed her how to get up the stairs in the front of the house, feet first then bum. Sure enough, the next time she went outside, she got right up those stairs, with a little encouragement from mom. So now, if we take her outside when she doesn't want to, she just runs right back up the stairs into the house! Little snot! Now if she could learn how to go DOWN them.....
3. She loves running back and forth throughout the house, she's such a speed demon. Good way to wear her out before bed time.
4. She's fascinated by her tail. She jumps around in circles trying to catch it and sometimes wonders "what is that thing touching my back!?"
5. She's making friends with the puppy in the mirror. Yesterday while I was at work, Jesse caught her watching herself, then slowly inching up to the mirror sniffing. Then, she lunged at herself and hit the mirror, yelped and ran away. Oh I wish I could have seen it! This morning I caught her waving to herself. So cute! I need to get it on video.

I was thinking this morning of how lucky we are to have gotten Ellie from someone like you - someone who really cares about the puppies and who they go to. Others just say "gimme the money!" It's really comforting to know that our little Ellie was so well taken care of before we got her.

Thanks again for everything. Please keep in touch, and I'll do the same. Ellie and Hummer have their office play date on tuesday so Kim and I will let you know how it goes!

Have a very Merry Christmas and enjoy your call with your son!"



Thanks for the compliment Natalie, but really I am the lucky one to have found 3 PERFECT homes! Seriously, if I knew I could guarantee that again, I would go for it. Note to anyone thinking of breeding....DO NOT think you are going to make a ton of money. You don't. You'll be lucky if you break even.
And if you are thinking that, then you definitely SHOULD NOT be breeding. Period.

Puppy boy - now Max update

This just warms the cold cockles of my black heart!

I think the kids were a tich excited for a new puppy!
They have decided to call him Max - lah lah LOVE the name! It really does fit him perfectly! Looks like each of the kids got in on the action!

In the words of his new Mom:
Hi Melissa -
Just wanted to update you on our little Max. Yes, that is what we decided to name him.
He is adjusting very well to his new home. He did awesome on Christmas Eve. Didn't cry at all until about 7:00am, and that was only because he had to go out to potty. Our kids were totally surprised and very excited as you can imagine.
He has already been to both grandparent's house and has met the whole family. Everyone loves him.
He has only had two accidents on the carpet and now is even going over by the door when he needs to go out. We are learning how playful he is and also learning when he wants his own quiet time in the kennel.






A whole family of kids wanting a puppy for Christmas and Santa delivers it? I believe! I believe!!

Hummer/Biscuit update!

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How freaking cute is he?
His new family hasn't decided if he is going to stay with the name Hummer or go with Biscuit as Maddy wants. Either way, SO CUTE!

He is settling right into his new home (of course), and cute as ever!

In the words of his new Mom:
Hummer is doing so great! He woke up at 4:00 this morning, but I'd been awake since 3:00 anyway, and seeing as it was his first night away from home, I spoiled him and just let him out of his crate for an early start to the day. He was SO wild! I swear to you I played fetch and tug-o-war with him for 45 minutes straight before he grew tired of that game. I finally wore him out at about 6:30 and let him come lay down on my bed. He did a couple of those Chewbacca yawns, and they're adorable! And despite a fit of wild barking at about 5:30, he did not wake Maddy up. We finally dragged her out of bed at 8:30 and brought her downstairs to see him. She just wanted to open presents, a little bit of a let down (okay, a huge let down) for Khoi and I who thought she'd just go nuts over him. But she did warm up to him once the toys had all been unwrapped, and she keeps telling him that she loves him.

She wants to call him Biscuit, but we'll talk her out of it. We really love him, he's just so adorable and fun. We've taken about 100 pictures of him already, but our camera can't keep up with him and only about 10 of them actually look like a dog rather than a blur

Congrats Kim, Khoi and....

of course Maddy!

Saturday, December 27, 2008

Why I now LOVE facebook....

Okay, so once I found blogging, Facebook was soooo yesterday, however, I created an account for Elder Luke and maintain it for him. He's gotten the word out to his friends in Chile, so I friend accept them. There have been tons of messages posted to him that I can pass on, and someone just tagged him in a photo. It's two that we hadn't seen before. He's not posing like his normal ones. Lah, Lah, LOVE it!!
Facebook - you and I are friends again....
And to Elder Catmull's friends in Chile - Gracias!! Muchos Gracias!!

Ciao!

Biggest Loser - round 6 via Shark Bait


Hey all my virtual and real life friends - all two of you!
If you're interested in losing some weight and making some money, have I got the contest for you!
Tiburon over at SharkBait (coolest shark I know) is conducting round 6 of the biggest loser. Click here to hit her blog and get the details!

I won't be participating, since there is NO WAY I can win, and I only do contests if there is a chance I could win, but I would love to say that one of my besties did! Go on, you know you want to, and you just need the incentive.
If you get signed up, let me know so that I can continue to offer my encouragement!

xoxox
M

Friday, December 26, 2008

Marley & Me - I mean - Kasey & Me

Many of you may have read the book by John Grogran called Marley & Me.


I read it about 3 or 4 years ago, soon after my son Tuffy got his dog Kasey as a Christmas surprise from Santa. The dude was totally writing about Kasey, or as we affectionately call him, FREAKSHOW! The dog is seriously.... I want to say worst dog ever! He is a golden retriever who, when we shave him looks just like a yellow lab, and he is certifiably nuts.

We have had to bail him out of doggy jail not once but twice.
He's broken our wood fence too many times to count.

I've had more than my share of phone calls from neighbors or even complete strangers telling me they found our dog, would we like to come get him?
He went to elementary school. Yes, walked right in the front door with the kiddies.
Went to Junior High. Twice. Yes, walked right in the side door to the choir room.
Has humped the downstairs pillows so many times, we had to throw them away. It just grossed everyone out. (and yes he is neutered and has been since he was big enough to have testes.)
Because of said problem above, was humiliated right out of doggy obedience school. Couldn't show our faces back there again.
Greets EVERYONE at the door with a special technique we like to call the "jump and hug".

Loves my Jordan so much that when she was a puppy, he mothered her to the point that we had to take her away at times. Now just loves to "make-out" with her until her head is one mass of slobbery, wet, lovin. A tich gross.

Knocks down the grandbaby on a regular basis. He doesn't even have to touch her, just walking by is enough to throw her off balance.

Once ate an entire pan of brownies fresh out of the oven.
Once ate an entire "quad" of scripture. That's a Bible, Book of Mormon, D & C, and Pearl of Great Price all in one. Must clarify, not completely consumed, but enough to give new meaning to the words, "feasting on the scriptures".
For that matter, has eaten all sorts of things that were not made for human nor canine consumption.
Has ruined our living rooms blinds and the bedroom blinds.
Has scratched the paint off the outside door.
Has ruined both my living room chairs, the love seat and is now scratching the paint off the windowsill. MUST.SEE.OUT.

Cries and hides when thunder/lightning storms come. Or for that matter, any strange high pitched chirp, ring or buzz. Favorite hiding place? The bathtub. You might go in there one day and hear heavy breathing behind the curtain. No worries, just crybaby.
Has to be loaded on Benadryl to take long car rides.
The groomer tells me that doing him is like "shaving a sheet in the wind." Poor lady cringes when I show up, dragged by him, flailing into the groomery.
Sleeps on the vent in my bedroom thus blocking the heat in the winter and the cool air in the summer.
I have on more than one occasion said he needs to live on a farm somewhere and chase cows and chickens all day.

So of course, when I saw the movie come out based on Grogan's book. I informed Splenda Daddy, (who now wants it stated for the record that he shall no longer be known as Splenda Daddy. After this Christmas, he is the real deal. My real Sugar Daddy...but I digress), that we were going to see the movie.

You are now privileged to hear my "official" review:

Owen Wilson and Jennifer Aniston are cast superbly as John and Jen Grogan. As a side note, I do in fact want, nay WILL, have Aniston's body. HELLO!!!
The several dogs playing the part of Marley are fantastic.
It stayed fairly true to the book and Alan Arkin, as John's boss in Florida, did an outstanding job.
Kathleen Turner's cameo as the dog obedience instructor was hilarious.
And finally, the editing, directing and cinematography were all very well done.
Oscar worthy? No way, not in that realm.
Enjoyable little film especially if you are a dog lover? Absolutely.
If you are not a lover of dogs, you won't get it. Plain and simple. You won't get it. Don't bother.

Now mind you, I read the book, I knew how it was going to end. But poor Splenda Daddy, I mean, Sugar Daddy, didn't. He had an idea of what was coming, but no matter how prepared we were, we both still bawled like little babies. Cathartic bawling.

Decided that Kasey can stay. And, now that he is getting out of his puppyhood, he is really a good dog.
Nothing like a boy and his best friend who just happens to be 100+lbs of bat-crap crazy, gentle giantness.

Funny Bone Friday - Things I may have heard, or said, or just thought in my head


"Why don't you tell them about the dead body you found?"
"I didn't know whether to sh** or go blind."
Don't give me the stink eye Mister Camo-pants, riding your four-wheeler with a plow attached, we are still bigger than you!
"She's gonna take that deal home and together with her girlfriend/boyfriend get their driveway shoveled"
"Asian and snowplow might possibly be the worst combination there is!"

Thursday, December 25, 2008

A very Sissy Christmas

Okay, not gonna lie, Christmas and grandchild - THE BEST!
Ever since the puppies came, she would NOT leave the crate alone! She loved dumping all available items in it, crawling in and then hanging out in her "hut". We were constantly pulling her away from the crate.
So early this morning, I cleaned, sterilized and moved the large crate to her bedroom. With some princess blankets and a princess pillow, the former dog crate is now a Princess "hut".

She's not quite old enough to really get into opening presents, but she did seem to like her haul. What's funny, she was just as interested in the shoes at the front door as she was anything else.

I think though, once her powerwheels gets charged and she gets her helmet for her scooter, the shoes will be soooo yesterday.....
Her latest cute thing? Sniffing...... go figure

Christmas Day - 2008

Merry Christmas!
Just a tich strange to just have the three of us, but Tuffy was THRILLED with his most awesome ever new drum set!

My favorite gift? My new CAMERA!! YES! No more grainy, blurry, red-eyed pictures!
From this time forth, all pictures posted will be from my new BFF - Cannon. (wish I got a picture of him).
Our morning tradition is to have all the Ferran's over for breakfast. Christmas breakfast is Green Egg's and Ham. Yeah, you heard me right, Green Eggs and Ham.

We all sit around the kitchen in our pj's or other comfy clothes of choice and enjoy our colorful breakfast. It's fun to hear what everyone got and listen to the kids tell us how excited they are for their gifts.


After breakfast, it's time for a nap and then dinner with the Catmull's. Now, traditionally, I host said dinner, however this year Grandma Joy wanted to host because it is likely the last year in the family home. Cool, I'm off the hook. However, with the HUMONGOUS snowstorm we got today, she was snowed in at Jan's so we all went there instead.
Me and the girls

All in all, a nice day spent with family and time to enjoy each other and the holiday.

Final Christmas Eve thought.....

The parties are over, the puppies are gone
Had fun and games, even I won!
One last visit before Santa comes,
Our BESTIES, the Bland's
and then we were done!

l-r Whitney, Eric, April, Devin, Meg, Griff, Debbie and Scott

Merry Christmas!

Who's more depressed? The two-legged mom or the four-legged mom?


Poor Jordan..... Ever since her babies left, she has glued herself to my side. Other than to relieve herself outside, she has been my magnet. Not enough to just be around, she literally, has been in my lap for most of the time. Wish there was some sort of doggie treat to assuage her little, tender heart....