blah

blah blah blah blah

blah

blah blah

there . . . i have now posted something after many a month.

wee-ha

toodles

triple 9's

so, it's been ages and eons since i've written anything . . . but today was a special day that it required a date stamp on the ol' blog.

life is going well; i just got my associates degree in general studies and i'm going on to get my technical degree in accounting. the bug is getting huge: 2 1/2 now and growing like a weed. she still has an excellent sense of rhythm and loves to dance. she's getting smarter everyday and i consider myself proud and fortunate to be her mom.

my sister, the one living down in arizona, is getting remarried to her male clone in october. he's a cool dude and they're very happy and it's totally awesome that she's finally found someone that makes her smile all the time. :)

that's about it. life is life . . . till next time!

cloudy with a chance of meatballs

i remember this book when i was a kid and now they're making and movie about it. i'm kinda excited to see this story animated. :)

up!

artwork

the bug and i had a little crayon time. here are the results:

yeah! happy square root day!

days like today only happen 9 times a century:

03/03/09 = 3x3=9

the last one was 02/02/04 (2x2=4) and the next one is 04/04/16.

you should all feel enlightened and proud to be alive during this momentous occasion.

goose with an identity disorder

on the 20th of february, the bug turned 2 and so we took her to the zoo. while we were there we took a look at the flamingos, and in the crowd i noticed a me-too-iguana. see if you can spot the one thing that doesn't belong. :)

obituary

An Obituary printed in the London Times - Interesting and sadly rather true:

Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Common Sense, who has been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was, since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape. He will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as:

- Knowing when to come in out of the rain;
- Why the early bird gets the worm;
- Life isn't always fair;
- and maybe it was my fault.

Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don't spend more than you can earn) and reliable strategies (adults, not children, are in charge).
His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well-intentioned but overbearing regulations were set in place. Reports of a 6-year-old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate; teens suspended from school for using mouthwash after lunch; and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student, only worsened his condition

Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the job that they themselves had failed to do in disciplining their unruly children.

It declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent to administer sun lotion or an aspirin to a student; but could not inform parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion.

Common Sense lost the will to live as the churches became businesses; and criminals received better treatment than their victims.

Common Sense took a beating when you couldn't defend yourself from a burglar in your own home and the burglar could sue you for assault.

Common Sense finally gave up the will to live, after a woman failed to realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little in her lap, and was promptly awarded a huge settlement.

Common Sense was preceded in death, by his parents, Truth and Trust, by his wife, Discretion, by his daughter, Responsibility, and by his son, Reason.

He is survived by his 4 stepbrothers;
I Know My Rights
I Want It Now
Someone Else Is To Blame
I'm A Victim

scandinavian jumping bug

last week grandma, grandpa, the bug and i went down to AZ for my niece's baptism. while there we all had a chance to catch up with family and the bug got to meet all sorts of cousins for the first time, as well as getting some serious trampoline exposure (now EVERYTHING is a trampoline).

the couple days before we left for AZ, we were able to catch up with my other sister and her son. it's been a busy and hectic month, but well worth it.

still to come this month is a reception, a scout dinner and the bug's 2nd birthday.

on a completely unrelated note, this really hasn't been my year. while i was cooking up a seafood feast for my sister while she was in town (she lives in indiana), in my haste to get things done i managed to pour boiling oil on myself, leaving 2nd degree burns on my thighs and on the tops of my feet. so, january i sprain my ankle and february i attempt to deep-fat fry my lower limbs. i'm hoping this is just a bad beginning and not a trend for the year. i mean, i've heard of flower of the month clubs and stuff like that, but this is just ridiculous.

on a happy note, i was approved for a federal pell grant, so i'll be going back to school in april and it's gonna be paid for by the government. i've decided to go into an accounting program and eventually get my MBA . . . so what if i'm almost 30. better late than never, right?

well, peace out homies and enjoy the pictures.

those crazy mormons and their shenanigans . . .

super bug!!!

put the bug in a blanket tied like a cape and you have super bug!

Super Tessa!

bug in the snow

not many people liked the grand dumping of snow that we got, including the pug, but i loved every second and so did the bug. :)

enjoy the pictures!

tessa in the snow

i broke my 28-year streak . . .

so, i've spent my entire life without sprains, stitches or broken bones. i've jumped out of airplanes, rollerbladed for miles, snowboarded down mogul-ridden slopes, hiked up and down mountains, and how do i sprain my ankle? after all these years and adventures? by stepping down from an inflatable slide at jump planet.

an inflatable slide . . .

heavens . . .

my m&m family

a ways back i found this site where you could customize an m&m to look like you, so i did my whole family. :)

become an m&m

santa, christmas, and miscellaneous weirdness

i know, i know . . . i'm a little late for the holidays and for most everything else, but, here's some pictures from that long ago year of 2008.

a neat thing this last Christmas is that the bug didn't freak out when she met Santa like she did last time.

enjoy!

Christmas

laser cats! 3D!

backyard carnival

goodness . . . i'm realllllly late on posting this, but better late than never, right? so, on august 23, 2008, my neighbor had a little end of summer carnival for her grandkids and my little bug was invited. it was loads of fun.

enjoy the pictures!

Backyard Carnival

seattle pugoween 2008

i did something a little different this time. instead of making an album, i made a video. hope you enjoy!

speculations on where we're going

i got this little tidbit of info from my sister. it's worth reading:

"About the time our original thirteen states adopted their new constitution in 1787, Alexander Tyler, a Scottish history professor at the University of Edinburgh, had this to say about the fall of the Athenian Republic some 2,000 years earlier:

"A democracy is always temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as a permanent form of government. A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always vote for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally collapse due to loose fiscal policy, which is always followed by a dictatorship."

"The average age of the world's greatest civilizations from the beginning of history, has been about 200 years. During those 200 years, those nations always progressed through the following sequence:

1. From bondage to spiritual faith;
2. From spiritual faith to great courage;
3. From courage to liberty;
4. From liberty to abundance;
5. From abundance to complacency;
6. From complacency to apathy;
7. From apathy to dependence;
8. From dependence back into bondage"

Professor Joseph Olson of Hamline University School of Law, St. Paul, Minnesota, points out some interesting facts concerning the 2000 Presidential election:

Population of counties won by - Gore: 127 million; Bush: 143 million
Square miles of land won by - Gore: 580,000; Bush: 2,427,000
States won by - Gore: 19; Bush: 29
Murder rate per 100,000 residents in counties won by - Gore: 13.2; Bush: 2.1

Professor Olson adds: "In aggregate, the map of the territory Bush won was mostly the land owned by the taxpaying citizens of this great country. Gore's territory mostly encompassed those citizens living in government-owned tenements and living off various forms of government welfare..."

Olson believes the United States is now somewhere between the "complacency and apathy" phase of Professor Tyler's definition of democracy, with some forty percent of the nation's population already having reached the "governmental dependency" phase.

If Congress grants amnesty and citizenship to twenty million criminal invaders called illegals and they vote, then goodbye to the USA in fewer than five years."

so, that's that.

bug in pumpkin patch

my bug is such a ham . . . we had lots of fun at the pumpkin patch, getting dirty and saying hello to all the pumpkins and gourds. And, just so you know, while looking through the album, i didn't pose her in any of them; the weirdness is all her.

pumpkin patch

melts in your mouth, not in your digestive tract . . .

i don't spend most of my life wondering about the nature of things that are manufactured that we consume, but this makes me wonder and also makes me glad that i don't eat them.

so, last night, as a treat, i gave my bug a couple m&m's. she usually chews them up pretty well before swallowing, but evidently one of them just got swallowed last night. well, i just changed her diaper and there was an entire intact m&m, full color, with it's cute little "m" looking up at me. how is that possible?

again, i'm just glad that i don't eat them . . .

trip to the zoo

awhile back, me and the fam and some friends that we consider family went to the zoo and had a jolly good time.

enjoy the photos. :)

the zoo

waaayyy kewl movies

so, i have my moments every so often when i go into siskel and ebert mode. this is one of those times, so, here goes another list of waaaayyyy neat-o movies that i've seen recently.

CJ7



if you have ever seen kung fu hustle, then you've heard of stephen chow. he also directs this little gem that is directed to a younger audience. it's about a very poor little boy who's given a gift by his equally poor father and the adventure that ensues. it's a funny, adorable story with loads of kung fu elements splashed throughout. for me, i feel it's a keeper, but for the rest of the world, i just think you should watch it. it's awesome.



Hancock



this movie was just awesome and totally unexpected. it had a very neat twist and a very unconventional way of telling the tale of a super hero. this movie definitely breaks all sorts of molds and i found it friggin awesome . . . didn't i already say that? well, it's double awesome.

Son of Rambow



this movie is so, just, wow. it's about this little boy who's brought up ultra-religious and through some smooth talking done by the school bully, this little boy is introduced to rambo, violence, television, going against authority, and, above all, finding his imagination and running with it. moral of the story? let your kids watch rambo before it's too late! not really, but, let your kids be kids for pity's sake.

now, go watch this movie.

you will not be sorry.

rambo would.



Wall-E



for some stupid reason, this movie got a lot of flack because of the fact that it dealt with a society of people who relied too much on technology and became really obese. it's a cartoon people. it's for the kids. and it's an awesome story.

this little short circuit lookin' dude is left alone to clean up earth and he goes a little loopy, but then he finds love, hitchhikes to this society of fat people, saves the day and wins the girl and everyone learns a lesson.

what's not to love? why does everyone have to get their panties in a bunch every time something little rubs 'em the wrong way?

silly, small-minded people make me itch . . .

all in all, it's a great movie. the short that comes before it is pixar's best yet, in my opinion (my dad almost wet his pants).



so, that's all i have for the moment, but i'm sure that there'll be more later on.

magic dragon

good times, good food, and, above all, good friends.

magic dragon

men in skirts . . . totally awesome

i've actually been wanting to go to these games forever and i finally had the opportunity last weekend. i went with my bug and my buddy chris. we met up with a couple of his friends while we were there.

we missed most of the athletics, but made the tail-end of some events (yeah men in kilts!). the important thing we made it there for was the bag pipe band competition. it was AWESOME. i even had a chance to register with my clan (the Campbells of Argyle) and get a few souvenirs.

it was heaps of fun. i've linked an album of this pictures i took at the bottom, so check 'em out if you gots the time.

yeah kilts!

highland games

the unexpected reunion

all the details of this lovely happenstance are on the picture site.

enjoy!

unexpected reunion

audi: 1 me: -$854.57

so, my car is mended and home again . . . we (my pappy and i) had determined that the voltage regulator in the alternator had gone kapute, and there for the alternator would be in need of replacing.

i thusly take my car to the mechanic, they take out the alternator and can't find anything wrong with it, just that it's not charging the battery; solution? new alternator.

also, an interesting note on the alternator: there are two main manufacturers of audi alternators: bosch and veleo . . . and what's the alternator found in my car? a bosch/veleo. weird, huh? this stumps the mechanic. as well as the fact that the amprage of the alternator was much higher than it should have been and that the alternator, though marked as a 2001, wasn't put in allroads until 2003. it just had to be my car that had the weird funky phantom part that made no sense what so ever. and keep in mind also that this is the original alternator, not an after-market or modification. crazy german car makers . . .

at this point my car is very much dismantled, so he replaces the serpentine belt as well.

the important thing is, my car is intact and running and i am just that much more in the hole financially . . .

oy

greenlake

these are some pictures that i took BEFORE my audi went ka-plooey

Greenlake

a sad day for my audi . . .

so, there i was yesterday, driving back from a lovely walk around the lake with my charming little bug, and i come to a stop in a left-hand turn lane about a mile from my house and the audi, my dutiful little allroad, dies. ka-plooey.

it just so happens that i'm the first in line, mind you, so when the light turns green, i can't go anywhere, and my hazard lights aren't cooperating with me, and i'm trying to wave the people around from behind me, but all they do is honk at me.

meanwhile, in the backseat, my little bug is having a grand ol' time with our new little adventure . . . she's such a trooper.

any-who, so after many honkings, nasty looks and the turn signal going through it's cycle about 7 times, and calling just about everyone i can for help (no one was home or was in a position to help) a lovely couple comes to my rescue.

this kind, gracious gentlemen hops out of his car (instead of honking at me) and asks whats wrong and could he help, gets someone to help him push my car somewhere safe when the light turns green, and ends up having a tow rope in his truck, tows my car all the way home and him and his wife help push my car into my parking spot.

it was amazing. a very sad day for my audi, but a wonderful day for renewing my faith in humanity. it's just good to know that there are still wonderful compassionate people out there that are willing to take time out of their schedules to help someone stranded.

thank heavens for good samaritans.

flowers

i took some flower pictures that i thought turned out well, so here they are. :)

pretty pretty flowers

cutest picture ever

i love my bug to little tiny bits . . . it got pretty warm today and we played in the wading pool. it was the first time for her. even my little pug joined in the fun (even though i didn't get a chance to get a picture of him in the pool). i'm biased, i understand, but this picture still warms my heart and makes me happy all over.

i don't normally do this, but please bear with me a moment . . .

okay, me and anything political are like oil and water. i avoid politics and everything about them like the plague. nobody likes my opinion, so i keep it to myself, but, every once and awhile something crosses my path that strikes a cord to my own personal ethics that i feel needs to be shared with whoever is willing to listen.

i received an email that contained an unprinted letter to the editor about immigration and how over indulged many of us, not only those who have crossed over from other countries, but also those who have been here all our lives, have become.

here it is, read it if you will . . . it just meant something to me.


From: 'David LaBonte'

My wife, Rosemary, wrote a wonderful letter to the editor of the OC Register which, of course, was not printed. So, I decided to 'print' it myself by sending it out on the Internet. Pass it along if you feel so inclined Written in response to a series of letters to the editor in the Orange County Register:

Dear Editor:

So many letter writers have based their arguments on how this land is made up of immigrants. Ernie Lujan for one, suggests we should tear down the Statue of Liberty because the people now in question aren't being treated the same as those who passed through Ellis Island and other ports of entry.

Maybe we should turn to our history books and point out to people like Mr. Lujan why today's American is not willing to accept this new kind of immigrant any longer. Back in 1900 when there was a rush from all areas of Europe to come to the United States, people had to get off a ship and stand in a long line in New York and be documented . Some would even get down on their hands and knees and kiss the ground. They made a pledge to uphold the laws and support their new country in good and bad times. They made learning English a primary rule in their new American households and some even changed their names to blend in with their new home.

They had waved good bye to their birth place to give their children a new life and did everything in their power to help their children assimilate into one culture. Nothing was handed to them. No free lunches, no welfare, no labor laws to protect them. All they had were the skills and craftsmanship they had brought with them to trade for a future of prosperity.

Most of their children came of age when World War II broke out. My father fought along side men whose parents had come straight over from Germany, Italy, France and Japan. None of these 1st generation Americans ever gave any thought about what country their parents had come from. They were Americans fighting Hitler, Mussolini and the Emperor of Japan. They were defending the United States of America as one people.

When we liberated France, no one in those villages were looking for the French-American or the German American or the Irish American. The people of France saw only Americans. And we carried one flag that represented one country. Not one of those immigrant sons would have thought about picking up another country's flag and waving it to represent who they were. It would have been a disgrace to their parents who had sacrificed so much to be here. These immigrants truly knew what it meant to be an American. They stirred the melting pot into one red, white and blue bowl.

And here we are in 2008 with a new kind of immigrant who wants the same rights and privileges, only they want to achieve it by playing with a different set of rules, one that includes the entitlement card and a guarantee of being faithful to their mother country. I'm sorry, that's not what being an American is all about. I believe that the immigrants who landed on Ellis Island in the early 1900's deserve better than that for all the toil , hard work and sacrifice in raising future generations to create a land that has become a beacon for those legally searching for a better life. I think they would be appalled that they are being used as an example by those waving foreign country flags.

And for that suggestion about taking down the Statue of Liberty, it happens to mean a lot to the citizens who are voting on the immigration bill. I wouldn't start talking about dismantling the UNITED STATES just yet.

(Signed) Rosemary LaBonte

choir reunion - june 28, 2008

i posted the "then" pictures, so here are the "now" ones:

choir reunion

enjoy! (as much as you possibly can . . . )

slide show pictures

these are pictures that i scanned in and made a slide show with for my choir reunion on june 28th.

choir

enjoy!