A Very Sad Sign of the Times

I personally think they are all classified as 'WTF' now.

Belated Birthday Shout-Out

To my BFF Tanya! Although I did call her yesterday to say happy birthday, but wanted to give a shout-out on the blog, as well!

Tanya, you're a great friend and I'm so glad you're back in AZ where you belong!!! Can't wait to see you! I hope you had a wonderful birthday and many more happy and healthy ones to come! :)

Plans for the Weekend?

We have a poker run tomorrow morning to support Bikers Against Child Abuse. It's a 100-mile run, and we've been looking forward to this one for a while, now. I will post pics on Monday. Saturday night will be a Mary Kay spa night at Shannon's house. That should be fun. I'll probably need a pedi after being on the bike all day in 97 degree weather in boots! :) Anyone have any exciting plans for the weekend?

A Meeting With Jane

Yesterday, I was asked to attend a potentially boring and tedious meeting. First, the meeting started 45 minutes late. Then, it lasted about 1/2 hour longer than originally scheduled. However, Jane was in the meeting, as well, and she made it as fun as a meeting can be. I don't think I've ever laughed in a meeting here! Thanks, Jane!

Why My Hubby Is The Best

I found this note on my tank the other day. (Sorry for the terrible picture quality.) It reads: "You are the most beautiful woman in the world. I love you. Big D"

This is how I found it...

Bonus points for anyone who can tell me what's wrong with this picture! :)

How To Serve Man...The Phoenix Lights Return

Aviation officials: Source of strange red lights unknown by Claudia Koerner and Erin Kozak - Apr. 22, 2008 10:02 AM The Arizona Republic Civilian and military aviation organizations said Tuesday the source of the strange red lights spotted over Phoenix Monday night remained unknown. An official with the North American Aerospace Defense Command, which monitors the skies for security threats, said Tuesday the organization did not know where the lights came from. Ian Gregor, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration said that though air traffic controllers at Sky Harbor Airport witnessed the lights, they do not know the cause. Nothing appeared on radar and Gregor said the FAA will not be investigating. “There's nothing to look into,” Gregor said. Several Valley residents reported seeing strange red lights in the sky on Monday night . Arizona Republic reporter Anne Ryman, who lives in Deer Valley, reported seeing four lights in a square shape that eventually became a triangular shape. The lights were moving to the east and they disappeared one by one. She said the lights were visible for about 13 minutes at about 8 p.m. One north Phoenix resident, who wished to remain anonymous, said he saw four or five red lights lined up in a straight line and spaced apart evenly. The lights slowly moved east and became dimmer as the witness watched. He said the last light remained in the sky the longest. Then three jets came from the west and traveled in the direction of the red lights. An official from Luke Air Force Base stated that they did not have any aircraft in the sky Monday night and that the lights were not part of any Air Force activities. The Deer Valley airport officials said that the lights were not from any aircraft at that airport. Ian Gregor, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration said that air traffic controllers at Sky Harbor Airport also witnessed the lights, but they do not know the cause. The incident is similar to the "Phoenix Lights" seen on March 13, 1997. Thousands of residents reported seeing a mile-wide, v-shaped formation of lights over the Valley. In that case the lights appeared about 7:30 p.m. and lasted until 10:30 p.m. We missed them, dammit! We were at IMAX watching a free screening of Whales & Dolphins in 3D, which was pretty good. Did anyone see them? What do you think?

Weekend Update - UPDATED

UPDATE: Shannon has posted more pics from Saturday night on her blog. Enjoy!

Didn't get a lot done this weekend, but sure had a great time!



Friday night, got a screamin' deal on a pair of sneakers for Vicki. They're Baby Phat (?) and she fell in love with them. The only pair (on clearance) they had in her size was the display pair. So....$29 out the door! Woo-hoo!



Saturday, I took Big D to see the B-17 bomer: Sentimental Journey at Glendale Airport. That was awesome. My father-in-law took a flight on this very plane about 2-3 years ago when it was in Massachusetts. He was a belly-turret gunner in WWII in one of these bad boys, too. He flew 27 missions. Amazing.


Can you imagine sitting in that tiny confined space through a whole mission? And my father-in-law is 6' tall!

Saturday night found me out with the girls at the National Comedy Theater in Mesa. If you like improv, I recommend it. After the show, we ended up at Hurricane Bay, where after a few of my favorite libations (and shots - thanks to Shannon!) I graced the crowd with my alcohol-induced Karaoke version of "I Touch Myself" by the Divinyls. Yes, it was truly a night to remember! I'll have the video on my myspace page soon, I'm sure. But here's a picture for now.

After returning home from Hurricane Bay at 2:30 a.m., I told Big D that I was hungry, so being the wonderful husband that he is, he fired up the motorcycle and took me to Denny's. (Vicki was staying at a friend's house Saturday night.) That's where this next picture is from...this girl was really drunk, had a roll of toilet paper on her arm (like a bracelet) and was waving a piece of t.p. around her table....did I mention she was really drunk?

Sunday, we took a ride on the motorcycle to go to Shannon's house to pick up my car, since she dropped me off at home Saturday night. It was a perfect day for a ride; 85 degrees, sunny and breezy. Perfect! On the way back home from Shannon's house, as I was driving past the Glendale Airport, the B17 was coming in for a landing and flew right over my car...about 60-70 feet up! That was cool!

The Much Anticipated Preggy Pics From Okinawa

My son Rex is a photographer in the Navy. That being said, you would think it'd be easy to get some pictures of his beautiful pregnant wife for the blog, right? Not so much! I had to beg him to get his ass in gear and get me these pics! Once I saw them, all I could think was, "He is truly an artist." I wish I had half as much talent as this kid does! And I wish I looked this good when I was pregnant too!

The pictures were taken on Sunday, 4/13, and Deja is due on 6/21.

Thanks for the pics, Rexxy! You and Deja look great!

Eric Is Coming Home!

After a long year in Korea, our son Eric is coming back home to AZ! Wooo-hoooo!!!! I just got his itinerary via email today. Eric is in the USAF, and was stationed in Korea with his wife, Toshia. One of them was at Osan AFB, and one was at Kunsan AFB. They're about 4.5 hours apart. Apparently, the USAF sends you to your home of record, so Eric is coming here and Toshia is going to TX. That's great. They'll both get to visit family and friends, and then they are off to Lakenheath AFB in England! How happy am I that I get to see him before he goes to England for 3+ years? YAY!

So Easy A Caveman Can Do It!

So I'm posting this picture because my BFF V loves it so much! She especially loves the eyebrow thing he does.

It's Big D after he shook his head and arranged his beard for a silly picture for our friends in TX. I love my caveman! :)

P.S. Mom: No, he doesn't always look like this, and yes, he still cleans up real nice!

May is ALS Awareness Month

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), often referred to as "Lou Gehrig's disease," is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord. Motor neurons reach from the brain to the spinal cord and from the spinal cord to the muscles throughout the body. The progressive degeneration of the motor neurons in ALS eventually lead to their death. When the motor neurons die, the ability of the brain to initiate and control muscle movement is lost. With voluntary muscle action progressively affected, patients in the later stages of the disease may become totally paralyzed.

The ALS Association is the only national not-for-profit health organization dedicated solely to lead the fight against ALS. The Association covers all the bases - research, patient and community services, public education, and advocacy - in providing help and hope to those facing the disease.

MISSION: To lead the fight to cure and treat ALS through global, cutting-edge research, and to empower people with Lou Gehrig’s Disease and their families to live fuller lives by providing them with compassionate care and support.

VISION: In the quest to create a world without ALS, our vision is to care for and support all people living with Lou Gehrig’s Disease as we leave no stone unturned in our relentless search for a cure.

Order your ALS Awareness Postage Stamps here.

Weekend Update

Has anyone ever noticed that the weekends are way too short, or is it just me? Saturday, we had some MAJOR plumbing issues at the homestead. All day, me and Big D tried to fix it ourselves. Finally, when I was getting tired of running from the front door to the master bath, I noticed that I was developing a blister on my palm from excessive plunger use. (Yes, it was really that bad!) That's when I decided that it was time to call the plumber. Roto Rooter came out and unclogged our main drain in less than an hour. 1 day wasted. Saturday night, I did laundry. The first load: all my towels that were on the bathroom floors. Sunday, I drank some beer (Miller Lite, not Mich Ultra Lime Cactus), and in between doing loads of laundry I laid out in the sun. It was a beautiful day, I think it reached 94 here in the Valley. The pool was still too cold for me, but I got my feet in it. Hopefully next weekend there will be no disasters, plumbing or otherwise, as we are planning to visit some friends that we haven't seen in about a year on Sunday. I hope everyone had a nice weekend! Or at least nicer than I did! :)

Michelob Ultra Lime Cactus Beer

If you read the comments on my What A Trip post the other day, you noticed that Queen B was surprised that it didn't contain one word about Michelob Ultra Lime Cactus Beer. I didn't mention it because while we were there...it was good beer because it's all we had at the hotel during non-happy-hour hours. But to be perfectly honest, we were totally kidding ourselves. This was not beer, this was lime-flavored water. And I'm not quite sure where the cactus comes into play...I didn't taste a hint of prickly pear, so I'm not sure what that's all about. Anyway, the story about the Lime Cactus beer goes like this.

Cyndi flew in from Cali and when she got her bag off the baggage carousel, she noticed that the wheels had been completely ripped off her bag. So she dragged her bag into the hotel and it was too early to check in, but they offered to hold her luggage there for her. Then they had to drag it behind the front desk. This is when it was suggested that Cyndi go to the WalMart across the street to find some replacement luggage.

After finding a new bag with wheels on it, Cyndi walked by a display for Michelob Ultra Lime Cactus Beer. Apparently, she had the foresight to see that we would be needing some libations for the non-happy-hour hours spent at the hotel. She is clearly a visionary! So she thought it would be great to try this new beer.

After our team dinner on Sunday night, Cyndi offers me said Lime Cactus beer, and naturally I accept. I mean, really, who am I to turn down a perfectly good libation? So we crack open a couple of these bottles and tip back. Well, they were really different tasting, but not bad. Considering that's all we had, I wasn't complaining at all! In fact, out of everyone that had one, I don't think I heard one complaint! None of the rest of us had thought to buy beer for the hotel room! Cyndi was our hero!

Cyndi, you are a true visionary, and I thank you for the Lime Cactus beer! Salud!!

Junk Mail? Not Anymore!

I just thought this was a riot...Tired of getting junk mail? Read here. I think I'm going to start doing this!

What A Trip!

My trip to Plano, TX was a very successful trip. That is, until I got back to Phoenix with NO luggage! Good ol' American Airlines could screw up a one-car funeral! At least I made the last flight out of Dallas...but my poor luggage did not.

So as I blog today, I am wearing no make-up, my hair is in a ponytail, and I am dressed like a bag lady. (They're loving me at work!)

Saturday - Sunday was great. Got to spend time with Mary and Amy out on Grapevine Lake, went out with some of their friends on Saturday night and recovered on Sunday.

Here's a picture of me on their boat.

I checked into the hotel on Sunday without incident. Went to the kick-off dinner at the Spaghetti Warehouse Sunday night, which was really good.

Monday I had lunch with the Queen, and then we had our picture taken with Mr. Perot. That night, a bunch of us went to this crazy little restaurant called Obzeet. The food was almost Mexi-European, and the beer was cold.

Here is the picture of all of us with Mr. Perot.

Here I am with Royalty.

Here's our funny-face pic (as taken by Cyndi).

And here's one of all the ladies present from our group at Obzeet.

Tuesday night, we went to Gilley's in Dallas, and that was a blast. Here's a picture that accurately showcases my bull-riding abilities:

And one of Bev (our favorite Brit) on the bus headed back to the hotel.

Bev had a few of our associates believing that the bus driver was going to take us through the drive-thru at Whataburger (yes they were that gullible-or was it drunk?) So when we finally got back to the hotel, one of them said, really loudly, "Hey...this isn't Whataburger!" LOL!

Yesterday morning, this was the headline I found outside my hotel room door. NOT GOOD.

But the rest of the day was good...took the Ross Perot Memorabilia Tour which was very interesting. I could have walked those halls for days just looking at everything. It would have taken several days to see it all!

Then it was off to the airport. There were 62 people on standby for my flight. The other 3 flights to Phoenix on American had been cancelled yesterday afternoon.

Last night, when I got home, there was a package waiting for me from Paula. I must say I was certainly surprised. Paula, thank you so much for the gift! This will definitely be used and displayed in my home!

We're Grandparents! ♥ Update With Pics

I'd like to officially welcome my grandson into the world, blogger-style!

Welcome Jayden!

Jayden was born on 4/4 at 1:01 p.m. (EDT) via c-section.

He weighed in at 6 lbs, 14 oz, and was 19 3/4 inches long!

Momma and baby are doing just fine! Pics will be posted as soon as I have them!

I'm Gonna Be A Grandma!!!!

Sammy just called to confirm with me that her water did, in fact, break!!!!!!!!!! Woo-hooo!!!! I know it's gonna be a while, but I couldn't get to my blog fast enough to post this update! I'll update you all as soon as I know anything! Baby Jayden is coming!!!!

Update

Hi, everyone. I haven't blogged in a few days...still getting over the shock of losing Kitty. A lot of people thought that was an April Fool's joke, but sadly, it wasn't. Thanks to everyone for your kind words. We won't be getting another cat for quite a while; it just wouldn't feel right. But I'm sure we'll get another one eventually. I've been very busy at work, and haven't had a whole lot of time for a life, therefore, not a lot to blog about. I will be traveling this weekend, and returning on 4/9. I'll make every effort to blog while traveling, but I can't make any promises. I hope everyone has a great weekend and I hope my daughter Samantha and the Champ have their little ones really soon!!!

In Memoriam

Precious Kitty Nelson 2004 - 2008 Yesterday, we lost our cat to a speeding car on our street. Kitty was an important member of our family. She was the official lap-sitter, and she took that very seriously. She loved to be in the garage with D, or anywhere with Vicki. When I got out of my car after returning from work, she would run up to me and escort me to the front door and into the kitchen to be fed. Our little doggy Rascal was her best bud for the last 4 years, and it seemed that he was actually upset yesterday. D put kitty in a box in the backyard until Vicki got home, and Rascal laid down next to the box and stayed there. When the pool guy came, Rascal stood up by the box and watched him, as if to say, "Don't come over here." Telling Vicki when she got home from school was no treat, either. 10-year-old girls do not take these things well. We'll miss you, Kitty...and we love you.