Winter in So. CA

This post is for all my friends back east. I was cleaning up the yard today and cut a few flowers to bring indoors. Spring is just around the corner!!!

Sandy Owen

I sat next to this guy at work for almost 2 years. I wasn't aware that he was famous until some people came up to us at lunch one day and asked for his autograph! He hasn't composed much in recent years... until now. Sandy was on TV last month and this month. His interview is being replayed on Tuesday, January 13, KLCS (for us it's channel 38) at 11pm. The show is called "Between the Lines."

Cheryl and I watched it earlier this month. He was AMAZING!!! Sandy is promoting his new album and a new piano playing technique. Did I mention it is AMAZING? Cheryl and I were fascinated by his playing.

Ran and Cat, if your kids are serious about getting into piano, you need to record this show for them. Jim heard us talking about it and we'll be recording it for him tomorrow night.

Run, Run, Run...

Run, run as fast as you can.
You can't catch me!
I'm the musubi man! LOL!

This morning, I did my first long run in over two weeks... 10 miles at Dana Point Harbor. I'm already sore, but it's a muscle sore... not that pesky iliopsoas. Three more weeks until the race. I don't know if it's possible to train for a half-marathon in three weeks, but I'm going to do my best (without getting hurt again).

Custom Made Keds

I saw this and had to share... I love it!!!

If you have an exceptionally hard-to-buy for family member, try these on for size. Custom sneakers! Upload your photos or digital designs to http://www.zazzle.com/kedsstudio, for a gift that couldn’t be more personal.

Happy Birthday - Round 2!

January 6th is Cheryl's actual birthday day. So, she gets into Disneyland for free! How could we resist?!!!

It was just us girls today... Jim had to work, and Chris went to school. It's been years since I've been to Disneyland. There were new rides that I've never been on and old rides which have been updated. I was anxious to check them all out.

The first thing we did was take a picture of where we parked. We have a bad track record locating our car in a parking structure.

This is me... can you see that button I'm wearing? It says, "Happy Birthday, Cheryl." Cheryl was too cool to wear it. I decided to wear it and see if we got any freebies because it was Cheryl's birthday. We didn't... what was I thinking? This is Disneyland! Nothing is free! But, a lot of people wished me a happy birthday, LOL!

It was actually kind of crowded... 45 minute wait for the major attractions. There were a lot of college students there (who are still on Christmas break), Australians (who are on summer break), and moms with preschoolers. We had a bit of excitement when Splash Mountain broke down while we were riding it. We had to climb out of our log and follow the attendant, through the singing animals, to the secret door, down the scaffolding and out into the back lot. It actually was fun! I ran through the backlot during the half-marathon, but this was Cheryl's first time through there. They had lots of Christmas decorations back there that were waiting to be put away, along with Winnie the Pooh, who was taking a honey break.

Look at this... isn't he sweet to remember to wish his sister a Happy Birthday?

Well, we must buy Chris and Jim something for letting us come to Disneyland without them. The best place for a sweet treat is the candy shop on Main Street!

Happy Birthday, Cheryl!

New Europe Layout

Here's my layout created for the Sketch Challenge at Scrapbook Deals 4U.

It gave me FITS!
See the square journal box on the left that's tilted?
It looks better that way, but it goes totally against my grain, LOL!

The reason why I like sketch challenges so much is because they stretch my creativity. I had solid paper circles on my page, but I thought they looked too heavy. So, I printed out some pretty circles on transparency film and used those instead.

Patterned Paper and puffy stickers from the SEI Dill collection (sent to me by my friend Mary). Journaling tags from Fancy Pants.

Meet Levi Mole

This little guy is an extra credit project for Chris's Chemistry class. Why a stuffed mole you ask? A mol, 6.02x10exp23, is a unit of measurement in Chemistry... also called Avogadro's number. I remember it had something to do with counting molecules, but that's all (it's been a long time since I've taken Chemistry). I asked Chris and he said, "Yeah, it has to do with counting molecules."

The teacher posted a pattern online, and the kids had to make the entire mole themselves. There is even a sheet for the parents to sign to confirm that fact. It's a good thing that Chris can sew, and that we have a sewing machine. The teacher said that she would not accept any moles that were glued or stapled. They must be sewn!

The mole can be made out of any fabric. I had some floral cotton fabric left over from my quilting days, but Chris vetoed them very quickly. He settled on an old pair of jean shorts. It came out pretty cute... very manly, LOL!

He did all the cutting, sewing, and decorating himself. I was the design consultant. The fly-zipper necklace and the mole number on the label were my ideas. Chris came up with putting the label on the back, the red levi tag, and the pocket-rivet eyes. Everything else was part of the pattern.

The teacher keeps all the moles. I guess that she must have hundreds made from kids over the years. When I asked Chris, he said, "Yeah, she has a lot."

--- Edited 10/22/11 ---
By popular demand (oh, okay, so one person asked me) lol! Here is where you can find the mole pattern. There are two types of patterns: the teddy bear style that Chris made, and the football style. Good Luck!

By popular demand (oh, okay, so one person asked me) lol! Here is where you can find the mole pattern. There are two types of patterns: the teddy bear style that Chris made, and the football style. Good Luck!

http://www.statweb.org/ACT2/mole_patterns.htm

Happy Birthday Cheryl!

My big girl turns 19yrs!

... and we had an ice skating party! All the kids skated. This is the first time my nieces and nephews have been on the ice. Jim and I skated to give them a helping hand. They all caught on very fast!



When we stopped for the zamboni break, my brother took a finger count. He's convinced that thousands of fingers are lost each year to ice skating accidents. Wait, Randy! Does that red glove look like it's missing a finger? LOL!

Here is a picture of the skaters and their dedicated support crew.

One more photo! I didn't think we'd ever see a photo of my little niece and nephew with Kayle. They have finally made friends, and they are all coming to spend the night here in a couple of weeks.

Rose Parade

It's been over 20 years since we were last at the Rose Parade. I woke the kids up at 3:30am (since they didn't go to bed until after midnight, they didn't get too much sleep.) They dressed in their warm clothes; and we left the house a little after 4am for Pasadena. We parked on Orange Grove Blvd and walked through the float staging area.

We walked right up to all the floats. They were amazing and smelled great! Some of the floats were giving away extra flowers. I received 3 sprays of orchids from the Baliwood float.

Here's us waiting for the parade to begin. The kids walked around a bit while Jim and I held our "spot." It was a long 2 hour wait, but it was a great "spot" LOL!

Let the Parade begin! We kept watching for the B2 fly-over. We were wondering why it didn't show up. We thought maybe this year's budget only allowed for a skytyper... We heard later on TV that the B2 was held up because of ice. It showed up exactly at 9:06am. I didn't have my camera turned on then (my battery was getting low) so I didn't get a picture.

Here are some favorite floats:
Of course the Mission Viejo float, with the pool on top. Those kids must have been freezing!!!

... and the Huntington Beach float... This was amazingly tall!!!

I love the colors in this photo. All the floats were very colorful, I just happened to catch the light right on this one.

This one was fun! It smelled like buttered popcorn, and Godzilla was snorting popcorn out of his nose.

We all agree this one was a favorite. It's the Jack in the Box float. It didn't have any fancy hydrolics. They played live music and there was dancing, and lots of energy! Great Fun!!!

We had a fun time...
I think we'll be ready to go back again in another 20 years...
Happy New Year Everyone!!!

Happy 2009!

Saying good-bye to a great 2008 year!

I guess it's time to change the blog look again...

Iliopsoas tendonitis

My trainer in training, Cheryl, told me that what I thought was a hip flexor strain is iliopsoas tendonitis. I looked it up on the web and here is the definition:

Iliopsoas tendonitis is predominately caused by repetitive hip flexion or overuse of the hip area, resulting in inflammation. Athletes at risk include runners, jumpers and participants of sports that require a lot of kicking. Also at risk are those who participate in strength training and weight lifting exercises that require a lot of bending and squatting.

Pain and tenderness are common symptoms; however the onset of pain associated with iliopsoas tendonitis is gradual and tends to build up over an extended period of time.

Yep, that sounds like it. It says that a week of RICE will fix it up. I'm hoping that's true. After three days, it still hurts. I'm hoping it'll be better after New Year's. I have a half-marathon to train for...