Thankful

It's almost scary to say it, because it seems like when life is going okay, and you give thanks to God for it, Satan comes in like a flood and tries to steal your joy, but I'm thankful for all that God has blessed me with, in as much as my family, my daughter and granddaughter, my mother, my sisters, my job, and His mercy.

Old lady moment

So, I'm at the Staples Center to see Kenny Chesney & LeAnn Rimes. I love both so I'm excited. LeAnn has a great voice. I actually think she sounds better than Carrie Underwood. It's a pure and clean voice. Anyway, she's singing her heart out but all I hear is blah blah blah, blah blah blah. I ask Desiree if she can hear the song. She's like, "oh yeah. I like this song". Everyone around me are drunk and whooping and hollering. I yawn. I yawn again. I'm trying to pop my ears. Why can't I understand a word of what this woman is saying?

She sings "How I Can I Live Without You" which I love. That is pretty clear and she sounds great. Then she goes uptempo again and I can't understand her. She puts on a Laker's jersey (24) and sings "I want you to want me" and she's tearing it up. She really does sound great. Okay. Maybe the equipment needs to be fixed. Kenny was entertainer of the year. I know his equipment will be great.

A woman comes up to me and she's drunk off her behind and puts her face about 6" from me and explains that she was on the bottom floor and the sound was no better from there. She starts complaining that the acoustics in the Staples Center are terrible and that if you're there to party it's fine, but if you want to hear a concert, DON'T GO TO THE STAPLES CENTER. She's going on and on and my eyes are crossing because her nose is so close to mine, my eyes are automatically trying to auto focus.

Kenny comes out and he's wearing his cowboy hat and cut off shirt. He starts singing and I don't know what he is signing. HELP ME! I'M STUCK IN A TUNNEL!

I can't understand anything going on, so I start looking at his cut-off shirt and remembering Bobby wearing that type of shirt when he would mow lawns. It started depressing me and making me sad.

Kenny sings a song and puts the microphone out for the fans to sing along. No one does. I don't think anyone knew what he was singing either. I'm not alone. We're here trapped in this concert listening to blah blah blah and no one will admit that no one can understand the lyrics. THE EMPEROR IS NAKED PEOPLE (by the way, the emperor's weenie is sitting next to me, drunk off his butt).

So Desiree and I, after spending $120 on the tickets (Desiree bought those), $30 on gas, $15 for parking, $3.75 for each water, $3.75 for a stale licorice, $8.50 for pasta, we decided to leave. 10 minutes into Kenny's concert. We asked for a refund and were rudely told "no".

I had always wanted to see Kenny Chesney so I was really disappointed. I know that the show could have been great if the Staples Center would have updated their equipment and stopped being so greedy that they let the fans suffer in a stadium that sounds like you have cotton in your ears!

Kenny Chesney Pirates and Poets Tour

I'm going tonight with Desiree. :)

LeAnn Rhimes is there too. I love them both.

Excited.

My Patio

Jorge and Debbie came over to help me with my pation yesterday. I thank God for that. Debbie hasn't spoken to me in about 9 months. I hated now speaking to her.

I called her and asked if she would come over and she said sure. We had a good time. Aniah came over with Ashley and Katie and Aniah got to play together. Katie's best friend is still David. LOL. She worships him.

The patio is only $300 for the materials and I'm paying Jorge $400 to build it, so I'm only having to put in $100 out of pocket since my stimulus check was $600. I wanted the patio in time for Katie's birthday party because I'm afraid it's going to be so hot outside June 14. Also, Katie needs shade for when she wants to go out to play. She can't crawl around on hot cement.

Hopefully the patio is done quickly. I have so much to do. Still finishing painting the computer room. It's just about done but I need a few touch ups.

Painted today

I used Valspar Paint. It was American Traditions, from Lowe's, but they recently changed their name to Valspar. Can I tell you that it only took 1 gallon of paint and it was virtually splatterless. I really, really liked this paint. It spread well and I think it only dripped one time when I got too much on the roller. No splatters. No paint in my hair.

The color is seedling green. I wasn't sure if I liked it at first, but this morning when I came in to the room, I realized it's a soothing color and I do like it.

I still have to finish the trim. I hope I can get it done tonight. Tip** when you paint and don't finish, wrap your brushes in a plastic bag. It keeps them from drying out and you don't have to wash them out. The next day, they are still in great shape to continue painting.

worked in the yard all day today.

it was relaxing.

Vans, David Cook and Thursdays.

I need some new vans. I love the waxy feel of the bottom of the vans. The waffle design. I remember being little and smelling the clean rubber and playing with the octogons waffle design. Comfy.

David Cook won AI last night. WHOO HOO. I liked both this time, so it really didn't matter which one won.

I have to go to work now. Don't want to. Today is my Thursday where I have to sit and wait until 6:00. I dread it. I guess I'll take my photo albums to work again and organize while I wait.

Maybe I'll work on some things for Katie's birthday party.

GRRRRR

can these darn kids get any cuter?

*as always, clicky to enlarge*

Being a grandmother is so completely different from being a mother. At least for me. I was a young mom. A teenager really. I didn't have patience and was still self-absorbed.

When David was born, really, I felt differently. Like a grandmother. I know he's not my grandson, but I love him like he is. I remember him being so tiny in the hospital and being so proud of him for being such a fighter. I remember already loving him, when all he was, was a tiny skeletal birdie that fell out of a tree. That's what he looked like, anyway.

Now he's 3 and he's been so much fun.

Now I am a grandmother and everyday is a joy just to see their tiny faces. I wish I had the patience and the ability to see how fast times goes by when Heather was little. I had fun with her too, don't get me wrong, but things aren't as rushed anymore. Small things don't really matter. It's like you don't want to miss a thing.

I guess becoming a grandmother, you've seen your kids grow up, and you realize it comes so fast, that you just want to hold on and savor everything. Watch for smiles, listen to giggles. It's all precious. I love these pictures of Katie on the carousel and with her face all wet and I love the picture of David running with a feather. I remember being small and how much excitement finding a feather brought me. For a moment, seeing kids share that same excitement, it makes you feel like a kid again. Kids know how to bring out the best in you and I guess that's why we love them.

Seal Beach. Summer is here!

**Click on the pictures to enlarge**

Mary and I took David to the beach today. It was so nice! What a change from yesterday! The weather was perfect. The water was warm. The sand made you want to crawl in it and sleep. David had a blast! He went in the water for a couple of hours. Played in the sand (ate some) and layed in the warm sunshine. He loved it and I loved seeing him smile and play. He has a beautful smile and the prettiest brown eyes. :) When you click on the pictures, you can see how pretty they really are.


David slept all the way home. He was so hungry and dehydrated when he got home. I had such a nice day today with him. I feel so relaxed now.

Heat

sucks.

WHAT AN ADVENTURE!

We took Katie to California Adventure today. Note to self: NEVER, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, GO TO A THEME PARK IN THE SUMMER.

To start out with, someone--and I'm not mentioning any names, allowed me to drive all the way to Sylmar before letting me know that she forgot her ticket at the house and we had to back track, 50 miles back, causing me to drive 150 miles for nothing--so we left at 7:15 a.m. and arrived at 11:00 a.m. Disneyland is about 90 miles away. hmmmmm.

It was soooooooooooooo hot. I was actually miserable immediately upon arriving. All I wanted to do was walk to the nearest tree. We got Katie a hat to wear but she hardly wore it. She looked like a little boy in it. It made me laugh. I needed one so bad. I didn't have sunglasses and all that glaring gave me a headache.

I did get some cute pictures of Katie though. I think poor Katie was too hot too. She drank her water bottle almost constantly. Mary bought her a cherry icee. She loved it. Katie has been making the funniest faces lately. I got a couple cute pictures of her fishy face and her funny smile she's being doing lately. Heather calls it her moon eye smile. She uses her whole face to smile and it cracks me up.

Katie got to go on a few rides--the carousel, some hot air balloon thingys, and a train. A Bugs Life had a spot where you could get wet. We let Katie get wet for a bit. I think she liked it after she was cooled down, but she didn't like the initial cold water on her face. She cried for a minute, but then she slept for a long time, so I don't think she really minded. We had to wet her throughout the day.

For those who don't know, California Adventure theme park features all kinds of California Landmarks, including the large dinosaur off the 10 freeway, Santa Barbara vineyards, Hollywood El Capitan and Walk of Fame, and Monterey Fisherman's Wharf. The concept is really cute, but better suited for adults.

I wished all day we had brought David. He would have had a blast getting wet and stuff.

Afterwards we went to Coco's for dinner and that was nice. My head hurt all the way home. Dinner was really good though.

Swimming

Today was finally hot enough to put Katie in the pool that I got from a yard sale for $20. Good deal, since it's about $200 brand new. Anyway, she liked the water but it was still a bit too cold for her. She started out liking it, but then it once the water soaked through and she felt the cold, she wasn't too excited about it anymore. She sat in there for a few minutes before she tried to crawl out. Afterwards, we played on the grass together and she crawled over my chest. I took the last two pictures of her while she was sitting on my chest. She's so silly. I just noticed that in the picture right below, you can actually see an ant in her ear if you click to enlarge it. Gross. LOL The picture right above was taken as she was trying to get my camera from my hands. Little fart.

favorite pictures from the zoo.

David in the bird's nest.

Katie was laughing so loud, she was drawing a crowd. LOL

David in the "spider web"

David and Katie.

This is the scenery you get while riding the tiny train. It was overcast this day, but beautiful.

I love this picture. David was trying to help her learn to slide down. He's a sweet boy.

Mother's Day 2008

I love her.

Today was Mother's Day. Heather's first Mother's Day and my 20th.

I had to work this morning, which sucked. I had such a bad headache all day. I woke up and took Excederin but it stayed with me all day. I took the boys to Santa Fe Springs and then just sat around waiting for them to get out. I took my film in to Target to put on CDs. Some of the pictures were really cute.

Mary and her kids went to the beach. I didn't get to go, but I'm sure they had a nice time. Afterwards they went to Vince's Pizza. I was going to go with them but I still had such a bad headache so I just stayed home. Heather and I are watching the Survivor season finale tonight. I can't eat anything.

Yesterday we went to the zoo, so I just feel like we celebrated Mother's Day there. I had such a nice time there. I'd like to go again soon.

I felt guilty about not going to Vince's and not spending the whole day with Heather for Mother's Day, but honestly, I know that she knows I love her and I know that she loves me. We see each other every day. I got my own mother TiVo, which I hope she actually gets installed.

Katie and Heather got me a really cute frame from the engrave shop and pictures from Kiddie Kandids. She was wearing a cute "grandma" shirt. Katie got me a card with a sticker to wear that says "world's luckiest grandma" and one for her that said, "world's luckiest grandkid" (see pictures above). I had too much of a headache to take pictures with mine (sorry Heather). Honestly, I feel like the luckiest grandmother in the world. I love that little girl so much. The card Heather picked out for me was perfect.

All in all, it was a nice weekend. I would have liked to have been able to stay home today and go eat or something but my stomach hurt and my head hurt. I think I need sleep. I'm so glad that I have a slow week at work coming up. My Monday got cancelled and with exception to Wednesday, I don't have to drive this week at all.

David and I got Heather pictures of David and Katie, with Katie wearing the same outfit that she wore in 1987 when she took pictures with her dad. I framed it in a cute frame. I think she liked it--I hope she did. I thought they came out really cute.

Santa Barbara Zoo

Click on the pictures to enlarge them.

Me and David on the train and Katie & Lynn on the train.

The bird drove us home.

Heather & Katie w/the elephants and the giraffes (No, I'm not the elephant).

David met a friend in the sandbox.

Desiree got Heather this outfit. She was sitting in a bird's nest.

The giraffe's tongue was 16" long.

David hatched.

David loved this hill.

Katie loved the hill too. We could have stayed here all day.

They were exhausted on the way home.

We took Katie and David to the Santa Barbara Zoo today. It's beautiful there. The drive up was so pretty. Orange orchards, strawberries fields forever, and then PCH. The ocean was gorgeous.

The zoo is small but they have all the main animals, lions, gorillas, giraffe's, and a bug area that is called "EWWWWW". Inside are some EWWWW cockroaches and tarantula's and all kinds of other hairy legged creatures.

They had a play area that David and Katie LOVED. It was a simple playground, but so nice. Shady and pretty. It was a big hill with artificial grass that was plastic and perfect for sliding. David went up and down that hill a thousand times--head first, feet first, on his back, rolling down, and then I carried Katie up the hill and pulled her down. SHE LOVED IT. As soon as I carried her back up to the top she got so excited because she knew what was coming and got to giggling and laughing. She was so cute. David watched the other kids and at one point, ran to the top of the hill and screamed out, "I'M KING OF THE UNIVERSE!!!". He cracks me up.

Lunch was grrrrrrrrrrrr...It took us 20 minutes just to order. The food was pretty expensive for what it was. I bought David a cheeseburger for $8. He ate the top bun and that's it. It took us 30 minutes for our food to be cooked. It was strange. I'm not sure why it took so long.

Anyway, it was a really nice day. Great weather, beautiful views. We took a small train around the zoo. You can see the beach from the zoo and the zoo itself is surrounded by a large trench of water and a lake. From the giraffe's, you can actually see Santa Barbara beach.

Katie's grandma Lynn came with us. I hope she had a good time. On the way home we stopped to get strawberries from the fruit stands in Filmore. The strawberries were huge. Not just big, but HUGE and so good!

It was a long drive home. David & Katie knocked out. We let the bird drive home.