Spam & Mullets: The Return of the BAM???

I miss everyone!

51º and partly cloudy in Woodland Hills at 6am...cloudy and 73º today.

Haven't done one of THOSE in awhile!

My newly FUBAR'ed schedule has me off today, working tomorrow, then off Sunday. What that DOES mean is that toes and I will be going to the UCLA-USC game at Our Lady with some of my Broon friends.

Today, other than the dog going to get groomed (I might just go get my haircut, too. Keep it all in the family) and toes and I continuing our search for a good breakfast dive in the West Valley, not much happening today.

JamesMiranda:

Hey, how's everyone doing? Hope everyone is alright.

Oi, James! Estou fazendo bastante bom. Penso que sou por cima do meu frio e não espirrei ou tossi durante um dia agora. Estamos indo a Merced amanhã para que o Drake possa ver a universidade de California lá. Penso que será a sua escolha. Eu gosto dele porque não haverá muitas coisas a distrai-lo.

A escola está estando bem para você? Espero assim. Adquirimo-nos as nossas entradas e confirmações da World Cup. Estamos indo ficar com os meus primos lá. Eles vivem na Pretoria, portanto deveríamos fazer um pouco de condução. Estive na South Africa quando tive sete anos, mas não me lembro muito sobre a viagem. Espero que não faça frio então. Os meus primos dizem que poderia ser mais frio do que California, mas não demasiado mal.

Estamos indo ao jantar esta noite. Paula está pagando.

ItTakesFaith:

Where is everyone? Even Chris (especially) has been AWOL... It's downright lonely "'round these parts...!"
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Game threads will begin before long, and life will once again be in balance...!
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Check in once in a while, my fellow Dodger peeps!

I think Chris will be back soon. I think he is still mad about something and his dad is making him miserable everyday. I think it is about Chris's youngest brother, but I can only guess. He is not talking and I have not seen him this stressed for a long time.

Still waiting to go to dinner. Paula cannot find her purse. She may be the smartest person I know, but she can forget her head if it was not screwed on.

Morning, everyone. Crappy Monday. Cloudy, looks like it is going to rain and Chris had to fly to Seattle, yesterday. His dad is in trouble again. I do not know what it is about, but Chris is not happy about it. All Chris said is that he had to take the red eye to Seattle and fix another of his dad's f-ups. At least Chris will be back today. He called me a few minutes ago to say that his flight will land in Oakland at 2.

We did have fun on Saturday. All of us went to Merced and Drake kept on whining that he would be the only person there with his entire family. Paula offered to hold his hand and wipe his nose for him. That was pretty funny. The whole way down there, Drake pouted in the backseat. It is a beautiful campus and I love that place is not crowded or anything. If we have any vote on the thing, I think all of us would pick Merced. Davis is just too crowded and his girlfriend is going to be there, UOP is too close to the bad parts of Stockton and I do not like the idea of Drake being in New York City by himself.

Not much else is happening. Gave LPG and Punk a bath, they both stunk and did a couple hours on the Wii fit. I was goofing around with Chris's computer. Do you know that he has some Bugs Bunny cartoons on his desktop? The ones with Daffy Duck that are pretty funny. He also has some kind of picture and video album he is working on. I wish he had a different desktop, though. He has some cartoon girl on the front in a short skirt (you can see her undies) with red eyes and vampire teeth. All it says is Seras Victoria. He needs a new desktop. Maybe a picture of me. I will see if I can find one to change it to.

thebrazilian:

Hi, Linda. I hope the job search is going good. I think I am finally over the flu or cold or whatever it was that I had. Chris and I went to the gym today, so it was not a totally wasted day. My shoulder is still achy where they put the port in, but it is better than it was. My iron is still low, around 8.8, but what am I going to do? Paula thinks it will be something I will have to deal with forever. I never realized how little is known about the body after it loses the colon. My doctors gave me a bunch of books and stuff, but most of it is like guessing.

Waiting to go to dinner. Paula just got home and she is treating, tonight. I do not think we will get into Red Lobster, so it looks like we might end up the Mecca for fish tacos and cheese enchiladas. That is okay. Going to Merced tomorrow morning to look at UC Merced. That looks like the place where Drake will go to college. I could not be happier. It is a small school and Merced is not a big city. I will worry less with him there than I would if he went to UOP, Davis or St. John's. I wish he would have chose Seattle. He could live with his cousins at their place and be able to visit his friends. But, he said he did not miss the rain and he liked that Yosemite is so close.

Yay, Paula and Katja are dressed, so we can go to dinner. I am really hungry. See you later.

Hi Mary

Glad to hear you're feeling better. Colds can make you feel nasty even if you're in the best of health otherwise. The one I had made me feel so crummy for over a week. I'm glad that is past.

I went to a job fair in Pasadena last week but it was full of new grads and people looking for the free giveaways. None of the hospitals had any mother-baby jobs available, and the recruiter for one of the hospitals I had an application pending at, gave me a big song and dance about the position. I think I can safely write that one off.

I've been trying to keep busy, so I made a couple of blankets for a charity called "Binky Patrol" (I thought a binky was a baby pacifier, not a blanket) for the Disney "Give a Day, Get a Day." I then donated my day to the Boys and Girls' Clubs of So Cal. BB and I have annual passes at Disneyland, so we didn't need the pass. I also joined my church "band" and started going to a Bible study, something I haven't done since college. It helps keep me centered, which I really need right now. I have access to the Fitness Center at the apartment, which I don't use, but really should. Being such a couch potato has caused me to gain a few pounds, something I really didn't want to do! My bionic knee has gotten stiff as well, and I really need to work it out.

I don't know where Merced is. I'm finally beginning to learn the town and cities around here. I figure I'll work my way up the state. Most college campuses are really pretty. LaSalle University, where I got my bachelor's degree, is in one of the worst parts of Philadelphia, but the campus is still really beautiful. I think they do that to make the students feel like they have their own special part of the world. I think you'll be glad Drake doesn't go to the same school as his girlfriend. I went to the same city as my high school sweetie, halfway across the country, and it was hell after we broke up, partway through our sophomore year.

I have a quilt my mom's nurse made for her when she was little. She was only allowed to used it when she was sick. It's a beautiful Grandmother's Fan quilt, and it's in pretty good condition. I've been crocheting a baby blanket I thought I'd make it for a friend who is pregnant. I had a 50-50 chance of picking the right colour, and I was wrong. It's blue and she's having a girl. Ah, well. I have the same yarn I used in pink as well, so I'll start on that one.

I love living in California, even without a job. I am getting to know the Valley well enough to know most of the streets around us, so I can explore a little bit. I took the Malibu Canyon to go to Bible study this morning, and it is a most beautiful drive. The church was burned down during the fires 2 years ago, but if the temporary structure is any indication, the original church must have been gorgeous.

PhillieBlue:

I have a quilt my mom's nurse made for her when she was little. She was only allowed to used it when she was sick. It's a beautiful Grandmother's Fan quilt, and it's in pretty good condition. I've been crocheting a baby blanket I thought I'd make it for a friend who is pregnant. I had a 50-50 chance of picking the right colour, and I was wrong. It's blue and she's having a girl. Ah, well. I have the same yarn I used in pink as well, so I'll start on that one.

I love living in California, even without a job. I am getting to know the Valley well enough to know most of the streets around us, so I can explore a little bit. I took the Malibu Canyon to go to Bible study this morning, and it is a most beautiful drive. The church was burned down during the fires 2 years ago, but if the temporary structure is any indication, the original church must have been gorgeous.

Hi Linda. I tried to crochet, but I am not very good at it. I can knit, but I lose patience with it. I did stitch together a quilt when Drake was a baby and he still has it. Paula and I are going to start on making a patchwork quilt for her bed. I guess she needs one. She only has four blankets, flannel sheets and anything she can find so that she can sleep. She says she gets cold at night and needs all the help she can get. Her puppy is like her, always cold. He has to wear a sweater and booties all of the time. I think that dogs are just like there masters. My dog, Punkie, is like me, he likes coffee, bleu cheese dressing and oatmeal.

I used to love being back in California, but I want to see the world too. Chris has taken me to lots of places and I really want to live in Vermont or on the Virgin Islands. Chris promised me that we will visit the Virgin Islands, again, this fall. He is still hoping to go to Japan next summer. I hope it works out this time, every other time we were ready to go to Japan, we have had to change plans.

Time for some hot tea and a peanut butter sandwich. I am happy we can use the fireplace this week, it was really cold today. Oh wow, I just had a killer yawn, must be about my bed time. I have to get Chris to tuck me in. He is reading the Abe Lincoln Vampire hunter book. How silly is that? My husband, the big nine year old.

JamesMiranda:

Que legal! Próximo ano eu vou ficar no Japao tambem! E um pais muito bom e a gente sou timidos mas todo bem.

Fiz uma presentacao pra minha aula de Portugues sobre Futevolei e nao sei se voce ouviu esta cancao "Pais tropical" (Moro, num pais tropical, abencuado por Deus, e bonito por natureza)? Quando escutou esta cancao quero ir pra no Brasil.

Todo bem com os seus filhos? A familia? Vi que Drake quer ir pra UCD, as universidades do California sao boas mas sao um pouco caras, ne? Agora estou ficando no UCR (University of California - Riverside) e eu gosto de meu educacao.

Estamos falando muito sobre ir ao Japan, no próximo verão. As crianças estão indo estar okey sem nós em volta e Chris sempre adiava o seu sonho de ir ao Japan durante anos. Ele está trabalhando no curso de língua e penso que ele deve saber bastante para que não pareçamos a turistas totais.

Usei para amar a música brasileira, mas tudo que tenho notícias dos meus primos é techno e eu realmente não gosto de techno. Minha tia quer que nós visitemos neste ano, mas estamos indo à World Cup e Portugal em vez disso. Ela não foi feliz.

O pato está pensando muito em UC Merced, mas ele também gosta de Davis. Podemos permitir enviar-lhe a uma escola mais cara, mas ele não gostou da maior parte deles ele visitou. Vamos jogar golfe hoje, portanto falarei com você depois.

Hmmm, looks like we're back. Happy Hump Day everybody.

thebrazilian:

Hi, everyone! What a wonderful day today was! I got to go golfing, I got a killer lunch, Katja and I did the grocery thing which took way too long. We should never go grocery shopping without Chris. He does not mess around and we ended up talking so much we had to go back to fill our list. Chris and Drake picked up a couple of Papa John's pizzas for dinner. I was hoping they would barbecue, but they were messing around with their RC cars. Chris and his toys. He bought a new one on Tuesday and had it assembled by Wednesday night. So they are racing them around the drive way. I am glad we have a big drive way or they might get hit by a passing car.

I did really good today on the course. I shot a 73 and that was with two bogies. Chris did pretty good, he shot a 80 and he almost got a hole in one. It was one the second hole and he hit it pretty good. It almost rolled into the hole. He has never had a hole in one and it would be nice if he got one. I have three, now. Lunch was great, we went to a place called Schooner's for a sandwich and garlic fries. These are the best garlic fries ever. You could see chunks of garlic on the fries along with cheese and red onions. Talk about good. My sandwich, a french dip, was okay, but Chris's was killer. He ordered a Monte Christo and he let me have a quarter. It is my new favorite sandwich. You dip it in grape jam and it is full of ham, bacon and cheese on this thick bread. I tried to steal the rest of it from Chris but he was not sharing anymore.

We are just waiting for Paula to show up to eat dinner. She should be home in a few minutes. The only other thing going on here is that Drake got a huge envelope from St. John's. They offered him two academic scholarship things. One for $11,000 and another for $13,000 a year. I still do not know about him going to New York and everything, but he is really interested because of there pre-med school. He has not heard from Davis yet and he still has to take his AP tests this month. Chris thinks he is missing baseball, also. He got rid of his sling, but he cannot raise his arm yet. He says it feels really tight back there and it is still kind of sore. He tried to swing a bat, but he said it did not feel right. The doctor told him he would not be able to do much until around July or August. By then he should be really fun to be around. Paula just walked in and she looks like she had a frazzled day. Her hair is all messed up, she has a huge stain on her skirt and a big hole in stockings. She also says that she had something bad happen to her bra. Chris shot ice tea out of his nose when she said that. He tried to ask her if she put it on backwards or something. He got a shoe tossed at him for that. It was really funny. Gotta go, I do not want to miss any dinner.

Was there actual cash in the huge envelope from St. John's? Heck, I'd go there if they sent me that.

I use a Rachel Ray recipe for Monte Cristos. It calls for jalapeño jelly in the inside of the bread and a touch of hot sauce in the egg mixture, and they make the sandwich amazing! I serve it with homemade black bean soup. Yummy.

Tell Drake he has to do whatever the physical therapist says, no matter how hard it is. He'll be glad. I worked really hard with the first knee replacement, and did great, but not so much with the second one. I'm paying for it now with not as much flexibility in that leg.

Bad week for my LA Sports heroes: First 3 Dog, now Merlin Olson has passed.

Where is everyone???

PhillieBlue:

Where is everyone???

Hi, Linda! We have been running around the last two days. We took a motorcycle ride to Monterey on Saturday and wandered all over town. Today, the kids were being obnoxious, so Chris and I took another motorcycle. This time I rode mine and we went to Santa Cruz. We just rode down there, had lunch and then rode back. We got back around three and the kids were still being brats, so we went to Melo's for pizza. I do not know what was with the kids but they were buttheads all weekend.

We were going to go golfing on Friday, but it was rainy all day. We just made a fire, sat around in sweatpants and the only time we did anything was when we went to Panda Express for some non meat stuff. We kind of ignored the kids on Friday. They should be able to take care of themselves.

I do not know what we are doing tomorrow. We really liked being slugs and just being couch potatos. Chris said something about getting the hot tub drained and cleaned. That should kill a couple hours. I got to get my iron at two and I will try to talk Chris into doing some window shopping at the mall. I have some birthdays coming up and one birthday child is requesting Victoria's Secret. I do not know why? What little money she is spending is spent there. Chris says she is buying the stuff hoping that she can bump into a rich guy wandering the mall and give him a fashion show.

I goofed. I said there was nothing on tv, so Chris is putting on some Japanese cartoon. Something called Rin. Great, women with balloon chests and wearing not much. Maybe if I pout hard enough we can watch something I like. Good, he yanked it out and stuck his tongue out at me. It is so much fun to be married to a five year old. He asked which chick flick I want to watch. It is on. He just hit me with a throw pillow. I will be back after I beat him up.

Well, we got absolutely clobbered by that big Nor'easter over the weekend here in Greenwich, CT. So clobbered in fact, that half the damned town is without power and the power company's estimated time of power restoration to my home (which is on THE main street in town) is Wednesday night. So no lights, no TV, no internet, no nothing. Good thing I have candles. Needless to say, all the local hotels are either booked or without power themselves.

Lovely, simply lovely. Like living in the dark ages.