Liz... the trusty mule

Cyn and I took Liz and Lou Lou out riding on Saturday afternoon right after the air show. What a fun time!

A Real Good Grandpa

This is hands down the sweetest picture of the day... let there be no doubt about it, these boys have mountains of love for their grandpa and he for them.

Paws

Paws, originally uploaded by nosnewsasil.

Sometimes I squeeze them just to irritate him...

Watchin out for me

Watchin out for me, originally uploaded by nosnewsasil.

Babysitting

I babysat the boys tonight. Shocking, I know. Usually when the word 'babysit' is mentioned I run the other way. I agreed to this one mainly because I knew it would be 2 1/2 hours MAX and I can handle pretty much anything for that amount of time. After supper we all jumped into my rig (including Monti) and drove to my house. It wasn't until we got ready to go back to grandma's house that I realized Trey didn't have any shoes OR socks on, Jacob had ONLY socks on and Dawson was wearing rollarblades. I'd make a terrible mother. Completely unobservant. Also during our singing prayer I started to laugh. I just couldn't help it! We sounded so bad! I think they think I'm a mess... AND THEY'RE RIGHT! Here is a picture that says what words couldn't say.

Valentines Day: A SUCCESS!

Nobody does Valentines Day quite like the people at work. Actually nobody can even compete with our department on most holidays! The cultural difference between Minnesota and here are huge! Every event is an excuse for a celebration in the form of FOOD. (OOOO! It's Thursday! Let's have a party!) The reason I work out is to balance out all the eating I do at work. Anyway, the day of LOVE was delightful... filled with chocolate, flowers and fabulous food. Can't complain about that! I've always loved Valentines Day even though 99% of the time I've had no one significant in my life. For some reason it doesn't get to me and I sail through the day with a smile on my face as if I've recieved a dozen roses and a box of Godiva chocolate from the most wonderful man on earth. I did come home to a fluffy teddy bear and some more sugar which was exactly what I needed. Thank you Sweetness!!

COLD!

It's time for me to stop complaining about 40 degrees being too cold and admit that I am a wimp. Recently I came across an article about Minnesota being the "Icebox Of The Nation". Instantly I was brought back to the reality of what cold really is and I've gotta say that I don't miss it in the least.

GO GREEN!

During a trip to the mail box I spotted this palm's amazing color and contrast and absolutely had to shoot it. Figured I better get at least one good shot before I take my defective camera back. I've been struggling with the manual settings on my Nikon D40x because it will not allow me to have a normal shutter speed or f-stop set. Most of my pictures have to be set as such a low SS & f-stop that it's hard to control the motion blur. DISAPPOINTING! Hopefully the lazy people at Circuit City can find some inspiration to get a job done efficiently so that I have a replacement in my hands soon.

Randy Pausch

I came across the last speech of a college professor on youtube that blew me away. I sat at my computer for an hour and fifteen minutes completely captivated. It wasn't so much that I felt a connection because of common experience or that the subject was so sophisticated but rather because he spoke with passion and urgency and he spoke of SIMPLE things. So, if you find yourself with nothing to do for an hour and a half check out Randy Pausch. You'll be glad you did.

Eggs Are Incredible and Edible

My breakfast almost always includes an egg whether it be egg whites scrambled and rolled up in a wheat tortilla, or an egg over easy on a piece of 12 grain bread, a killer omelet, or the latest and greatest method of poached eggs running over 12 grain toast. Eggs I can do... it's the rest of the cooking world that leaves me confused.

Anyway, a few weeks back G'pa Ord and dad were at my condo while I was poaching my egg the poor man's way by dumping the egg into nearly boiling water and watching it's ghostlike shape gel. G'pa said it was "the grossest thing" he had seen in a while and couldn't believe I was going to "eat that thing." The experience obviously had a profound effect on him because he went home and declared that he and g'ma needed to find me an egg poacher as soon as possible to stop the disgusting method I had going on. Last weekend they went to Las Vegas and came home with a present for me. After meeting last night G'pa handed me a Crate and Barrel bag with the fanciest egg poacher I've ever seen. Sadly, it didn't come with an instruction manual and since I am a simple girl, the sight of it sends me into a panic! Today's google search will start with 'how to use an egg poacher'. Boiling water I can do... using a poacher may be beyond my ability.

I am convinced that I am spoiled by the best people in the world. How did I get so lucky to have the family I have?

WanTawn: I'm sorry if this post offends you... after re-reading it I realized that I did mention EGGS in nearly every sentence. OH! Did I mention that I put BANANAS in my protein shake last night??? :) Much love.

Somebody's Got The Blues

Monti was a bit depressed today... poor guy.