wanna toy

So I read at Beths blog about Sugar Mama closing up shop since she wants to spend more quality time with her family. Nothing wrong with that anyhow all her blog readers get a super deal - read more here. And if you link it you get a free toy (not a PG toy but one for us grown ups!) Lets face it you can never have to many toys. They are fun by yourself or with your "significant" other. I am lucky Grumpy loves playing and new toys just as much as I do. So lets help her sell the stuff I am sending the link to Grumpy so he can pick out what he likes to buy.

so much for being on vacation

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Originally uploaded by dino0477.

Okay so yes I am progrestinating but I do need to finish this post.

This is my mom while shopping yesterday. She wanted me to cook dinner for her friends on Monday so we went shopping and got a lot of stuff. My mom doesn't like to cook and does not makes foods she likes if they take a long time to prepare. So since I figured I'd be cooking anywho I may as well get some stuff done for her that she likes but wouldn't fuss with. Little did I know. After we left the store we went home and after lunch and a well desserved nap on my part I started on this culinary escursion. I wanted to take pictures (my mom took a few and I'll add them once I got them) of the final outcome but was to exhaused to do so. I cook for 5+ hours straight. I didn't finish until 11pm. I made Split Peas soup, Lentil soup, 40 stuffed cabbages, 10 Rindsrouladen (actually since they were filled with ground meat, pickles and a bit of mustard - they where spanish birds), a whole head of red cabbage, curry (white) cabbage and Koenigsberger Klopse . Upon finishing my mother thought it would be good to air ourselves out while taking a little bike tour. Mhh little try 4km at around midnight!!! It was kind of chilly too. So after getting back I went to knock out some homework and fell into bed.

Today I was woken once again early. After breakfast we had to stop by at the club house so I could be "introduced". Then we were off to drop of quilts at the LAMP project. Its actually a cool place where they offer underaged mothers a way to finish school while providing childcare. After that it was off to the maternity ward at a hospital to drop of baby hats my mom and her friends made. After getting home and lunch I played around on the computer while chatting with Jin and Bathroom Hippo until it was time to finish up dinner. I had to still make the Potato Dumplings (I cheated here and bought the once in the box).

The dinner as interesting to say the least. My moms friend and neighbor was invited and he brought one of his girlfriends. She is deaf which makes communication a bit difficult since I do not know sign language and he is still learning. Anyhow so she comes in and is gesturing with a camera and clearly upset. I gathered something about him dressing up???? So after a while he walks in (she takes of picture) dressed as to attend some formal function. Apparently it was meant as to joke to my mother. Well she was mad since she just wore jeans and t-shirt. And when I say mad I mean really P.O.'d Well then he said she already had 2 martinis. Great she's drunk before dinner lovely. So he goes back and throws on a shirt and looses the jacket. We try to start dinner as we try to get her to come over to the table she falls over the makeshift desk my mom had set up for me and nearly cost me my computer. Thank god my mom was right there and caught the laptop before it hit the ground. DAMN DRUNKS! So once she gets some food in her she is getting quieter. Talking is still a challenge while she can read lips I have a hard time to make sense out of her signs, gestures and sounds. (BTW everyone loved the food I made!!!!)
Of course my mother insists on serving wine with dinner which I still think was a bad idea but oh well. After dessert my mom and the lady wanted some pictures so we did that and when my mom asked her to take one of us it took her forever to figure out my moms camera. We tried to tell her all she had to do was to keep pressing the button but we just couldn't get the point across. She finally did it but again was agitated and frustrated (can't blame her). I felt kind of bad knowing that our lack of sign language frustrated her. I finally excused myself and went to my room to start on my paper. They ended up leaving not to much later after my mother promised I'd go over to say good bye tomorrow WTH!???!?!?

So lets review vacation means sleeping in, going out for food, hanging at the pool/spa and relaxing right?

• Mhh got an early wake up call every day
• cooked for a total of probably 8h (5+ consecutive)
• aside from passing the pool to leave the park have not seen it
• and I sure as hell haven't relaxed

Of course the part where my mother made me talk to my sister whom she called (note my mother called her - even so my sister knew I'd be here) sucked too. I swear she has to be the most deluted, selfish person out there. She wants Grumpy and I to come STAY with her when we go home to Germany in December. Okay this person has never written me a letter/card in the years I have been here. Not even a thank you note for the holiday/birthday cards I sent her. I have never recieved a phonecall from her. I haven't seen her in years (not that I mind). So of course I decline the staying over part. I mean she lives in my hometown and we got my moms place to stay at why would I want to stay at hers?

So she is like "We are sisters we need to meet!"????? I told her we can do coffee in town but we will not stay over.
She goes "But don't you want to meet my boyfriend and his Mom?" I was like I met him and again she can come to the coffee.
Her answer "But we haven't seen eachother in ages we are siblings!" To which I replied Well I was in Germany 3 times within a year last time being last May.
Of course she is like what? I didn't know. Well if you don't stay in touch you wouldn't now would you.
She of course argued that she was in touch with our Mom which I knew she wasn't. I told her that in the almost 8 years I have been here she never wrote a card or letter - her excuse well you know I don't like to write I rather talk on the phone.
To which I replied well you haven't called either!. I finally had enough told her I had to go and I'd get in touch about meeting for coffee. ( I will do my best to forget to do so - after all I only got 2 weeks and there are plenty of people there wanting to see us that do write and call!!!!!!!

I have to say I am glad she wasn't allowed to come here because I would have killed her these past days. I have no intention so spend more than 15min alone with her anywhere.

So I will leave early tomorrow in hopes of going standby to get home early (or at all) since they had flights canceled right and left today. Wish me luck

some people ....

Alright so after my meeting was over this morning I hoped in the shuttle to the airport to get my car. I was still starving since breakfast was horrible. Once I got my rental (a cute dodge caliber) I headed on to Fort Myers. I was trying to decide where to stop when I saw a sign for Olive Garden. Yes I know its not the best but after 3 days of yucky food it sounded good. I do like their Bruschetta ( not as good as ours of course) and I love their Mushroom Ravioli. So I enjoyed my lunch, took my time had some cappuchino while reading my book (not that I was procrastinating getting to my mothers ...). the drive was uneventful and she picked me up from the airport after I dropped of the rental. I always drive her when I am here so she gave me the keys and off we went. It was about 5ish and I had suggested to hit a restaurant since my dinner would be paid for by the company. Well she wanted to go to her friends to play Domino. So we drove to the Island and then she gave me a bicycle to ride (Now mind you I had now time to change, eat or drink) in my flip flops!!! So we get to this "house" and everyone introduces themselves to me. This younger lady (about 40ish I'd say) introduces this kid to me. "THIS IS ... WE ADOPTED HER FROM RUSSIA" now mind you the girl is about 8 or nine. Cute as a button and I was kind of like okay??? I figured maybe she just got here and that's why they introduced her like that. So they teach me to play domino which was kind of fun. The kid was helping me which was cool I liked her but her mother kept telling her to leave and watch TV?!??!?!??!!? WTF why would you bring a kid to an adult game and not let her be there. We didn't mind. It was about 9pmish when I finally asked my mother if she planned on feeding me. There was no drinks or food at this game (1pm was the last time I had drank and ate something) and I just couldn't stand it any longer. I got some disgusting tea from that wired adoption lady and a piece of soso cake. So as we were done that lady kept talking about the kid and the adoption and stuff like that - with the kid right there! Now I just met this person and she keeps talking about the girl like a prized piece of jewelry. I just wanted to slam my hand on the table and ask her if she loved her daughter or just considered her an ornament. I mean you should have heard the way she talked ... and her husband just sat there. Turns out they had her since she was a baby and then she went on telling us that the interpreter said her mother was young and couldn't handle her, and they didn't know who the father was and in this derogatory tone I just wanted to smack her. The kid was there - listened to all of this and apparently not the first time. On the way home my mom asked me my impression and I told her - she agreed with my observation and noted that our host has the suspicion that while the kid is taken care of in the financial view she is not getting the love she deserves. It is obvious that her parents don't play with her she must have asked me ten times if I was going to be here tomorrow and if she could see me. Argggg I am going to have to bite my tounge around that lady big time tomorrow. (I made the pic blurry and B/W on purpose as I do not think they'd like her picture on here but you can still make out that she is a cutie and she was so well behaved.

I am starving

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Originally uploaded by dino0477.

So I am in Florida for work and the hotel is nice but the food sucks. I am totally starving. I bought a piece of pizza out of despiration. Now I never eat pizza so you got to see how desperate I am. Anyhow the meeting is over tomorrow noonish and I'll go get my rental car and drive down to see my mom in Pine Island for a few days.

Airtran got it right

I know it is usually Bubs that lets us know about news but I thought this was worth sharing.

This Boston couple is complaining that they were asked to leave the plane after they were unable to get their kid under control and in the seat so the plane could take of. The 3 yr old girl decided to rather sit on the floor and throw a tantrum. After the plane was already 15 min late the family was asked to leave. I think that was awesome. The family got their money back and 3 round trip tickets but they are still bitching - and will never fly Airtran again

THANK GOD!!!! LETS HOPE THEY NEVER FLY US AIR (my main airline)!!!!!

Click here for the full article

I fly a lot and I hate the kicking and screaming kids. I understand the flying thing can freak them out and the pressure change can hurt their ears but there are things you can do to prevent that.

• Okay first of you can make some tea (fennel and chamomile to calm the kid - works wonders and its all natural and drug free unlike using benadryl which works too).
• get some new toys, color books what ever the kid is into and do not show them until your in your seat
• stay calm occupy them do not read or sleep and ignore them
  
• and have some hard candy so they swallow continuously while the plane takes off with that easing the pressure on their ears

So how do I know this works - well thats what my mom did and thats what I'll do. I have also observed this in passengers with kids. I have no problems with kids being kids on planes but there are ways to divert their attention but it takes some work from the parents to ensure everyone has a great flight.

Not motivated

I am so not motivated. I have a paper due tonight and haven't even started - which normally would not be a big deal but since I have to wait tables tonight it is. I tried to get my act together this weekend but just couldn't. I want nice weather if its not snowing then lets have sunshine I don't care how warm/cold it is just stop with the grey clouds its depressing. I hate the class I got now - Economics - yuck I barely managed to get through it the first time.

rainy sunday morning

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Originally uploaded by dino0477.

It was a rainy morning so I decided to do homework in bed. Of course Misty and Cleo had to "help" me. Nice and relaxed to bad I have to get up and get dressed eventually.

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Originally uploaded by dino0477.

Final LA post/pictures

Okay so I know I said back to the real world but I just had to find out the names of some of those people I saw. So I googled the event and found wireimages.com with the professional pictures. So I figured I steal some pics from there and the names to show you who I saw. And of course there are my pictures of Rodeo Drive and some nice sunrise and sunset from my hotel room. This is the real invitation. To bad there was no ticket in it :(. Here are two of my colleagues we were watching in the Lobby to see who was coming when a certain Saturday Night Fever star headed right to where we stood. Yep you guessed it. Doesn't he look fabulous now imagine him standing 3 feet away from you.We saw the croc man in the lobby too but not Bindi.

We waited a little longer upstairs but didn't see anyone else. So we headed down the escalator (just like the stars) and went to check on our dinner. It was right there where everyone came the escalator. Dinner didn't seem half as appealing as seeing some more stars so I went out in the hall way and waited to see who came down. I remember seeing a woman (Naomi Watts) in this dress but I would never have known who she was. I did see him and knew he was somebody but had no idea who. He (Liev Schreiber) is one of the reasons I went to look up the photos. I saw these guys (The Wiggles) coming of the escalator and again had no Idea who they were until I saw the caption on Wireimage. He (Dominick Purcell) is the guy from Prison Break. I saw him going down and then he was back up on our level and I could have totally taken his picture but I was to busy trying to remember why he looked familiar. (bad paparazi!)Wonder if he yelled at them to or if this was reserved for moi.
Well there were lots more and if you want to see them all - the press pics anyway go here. Somewho I did not recognize a single female mhhh wonder if that means anything???????

So here are some nice sunrise pictures from my hotel room.


Check it out ROdeo Drive. It looks beautiful and the stores look very chic. I doubt I'll ever go shopping here for real so.


I thought this was totally cool. This is the Prada store and they have a display in the ground it kind of made me dizzy but still cool.


I went to the mall near my hotel in Beverly Hills and couldn't pass up this shot. I am kind of upset that all my other photos with my cell didn't turn out - I mean my John Travolta one didn't but this does? I am almost convinced that they did something to the lights in the hotel since none of my pictures turned out not the cell phone ones or the one with my actuall camera!!!!!!!

I saw him, her ...

Okay so this was fun I spend the better part of the night star gazing. While still in the lobby I saw J o h n T r a v o l t a he went down the elscalator next to me. He looked good totally trim and young. Then I saw the guy from P r i s o n B r e a k (D o m i n i c P u r c e l l, some girl from 6 f e e t u n d e r, another guy that is in a lot of suspense thrillers, S t a n f o r d from S e x i n t h e c i t y ... and



R u s s e l C r o w (grey Jacket). He actually talked to me he came down the escaltor and was fuzzing with his cloths when I took a picture and he said "Don't do that again!" Sadly the fotos I took of him John and the others didn't turn out. The one I got in trouble for was the better one so thats the only one I am posting. Anyhow it was fun to see all the dressed up people. now its back to the real world and homework.

R E D C A R P E T update

okay so I went downstairs to check things out and stumbled onto the sound check of the V E R O N I C A S. They were playing the song 4 e v e r you can listen to it on their website. I love their sound the radio station I listen to online from my hometown in Germany plays them a lot. They got a great fresh rock/punk sound. I did take a little video just for you all.

(if it doesn't load to go my youtube (dino0477) profile it will play from there
I did not go to close to the door because I was afraid they'd make me leave and maybe take my phone.
I went back down after the meeting but they had already finished I did manage to take some shots of the empty carpet. I am not sure how close I'll get tonight. The said everyone will enter through the lobby and then go down so I will go and see ...

I am in total star fever

Yes I am that shallow but you dont understand. I would never go star hunting but I dont have to check this out...

This is the level where I have my meetings and that is where the stars are going to be tonight!!!
They have the Australian Week here in LA and a big Black Tie dinner in MY hotel. They have already set up a tent outside to prevent paparzzis and the ecalator is blocked of from the bottom level which is where I assume that they arrive (I'll investigate it in just a minute and report back). The website says Russel Crow will be here and others. I haven't been able to find out a time but I am hoping it will be around when my meeting is over so I have reason to be on that level and wont get escorted out.

There is no "I" in team

Okay so I guess asking for an uneventful trip was a bit to much. We landed in Charlotte, NC 15 minutes early I went and got my Caribbean Passion Smoothie from Jamba Juice (love that place that why I fly through Charlotte and not Philly) and strolled over the C concourse to catch my plane when I glanced at the monitors there is was FLIGHT CANCELED WTF. So I went to the nearest counter to see whats up and sure enough my flight was canceled. The next one was in 3 hours - 3 friggen hours while I have yet to go to sleep and I am sooo tired. So I find my new gate (at least I was still in first class!!!) But there is no power outlet so I go across plug myself in and try to get online - NOTHING. WTF I couldn't get on. So I could have gone up the main part but I was to tired. So I popped in Bridget Jones Diary #2 and waited for the flight. Once on the plane things got a little better well it was first class after all. Of course by the time I get to LA there was no car for me since I was hours late. I finally got into my room which I had switched to a double since Rosa was coming. I have an awesome view from the 17th floor all the way to the ocean. I went to check my school work just to notice that the team was super behind so after a quick nap I went to work on it. I stopped to go down for dinner which was okay I met some of the coordinators I have known for years and then took some food up for Rosa. She came around 9 and brought me present s in the form of a cable car filled with Ghirardelli squares (yummy!!!) Well I am off to be d it s past midnight and my meeting starts at 8am.

Here is Rosa eating the dessert I brought along with her dinner.

why am I the only one here?

So I am on my way to LA right now. I haven't had a trip since all that stuff with the liquids happend and believed my coworker that I should be at the airport earlier because things take longer now. I printed my boarding pass yesterday - got a nice surprise I fly first class from North Carolina to LA!!!! Anyhow my flight this morning is due to leave Virginia at 5:40am generally I'd leave the house at 5am but with all that stuff I decided to play it save and leave around 4am. I never did get to bed since I had homework, laundary, packing ... well you get the idea. I didn't get out of the restaurant until 10 either which didn't help. So anyhow I get here there is ONE person ahead of me in the security lane? I pull out my laptop, take my shoes off, pull out my zip lock baggy with my 3oz cosmetics and walk through security. I am downstairs about 4:40ish and there is noone here. No people no attendants. I so could have stayed home longer AGGGGGGG. Well lets home the rest of my trip is as uneventfull.

homework with Cleo

I am trying to finish my paper on assisted suicide which was actually due last night but Cleo is trying to help me tonight. She is sitting on the desk, actually on my papers that I need to use for the papers. She is pretty persistent and tries to lay on as much paper as possible while watching me type making sure I spell everything correct.

Stupid news of 2006

I just got this via email from my scottish friend. I had to post it.

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THESE ARE NOT THE DARWINS BUT CLOSE. FROM WALT IN SAN DIEGO.

STUPID CONTEST Subject: Candidates For 2006 As Ron White often says : " You can't fix stupid." These people prove it is a terminal condition. As always, competition this year has been keen. The candidates this year are.... Eighth Place In Detroit , a 41-year-old man got stuck and drowned in two feet of water after squeezing head first through an 18-inch-wide sewer grate to retrieve his car keys. Seventh Place A 49-year-old San Francisco stockbroker, who "totally zoned when he ran," accidentally jogged off a 100-foot high cliff on his daily run. Sixth Place Buxton , NC: A man died on a beach when an 8-foot-deep hole he had dug into the sand caved in as he sat inside it.. Beach-goers said Daniel Jones, 21, dug the hole for fun, or protection from the wind, and had been sitting in a beach chair at the bottom Thursday afternoon when it collapsed, burying him beneath 5 feet of sand. People on the beach, on the outer banks, used their hands and shovels, trying to claw their way to Jones, a resident of Woodbridge , VA , but could not reach him. It took rescue workers using heavy equipment almost an hour to free him while about 200 people looked on. Jones was pronounced dead at a hospital. Fifth Place SantiagoAlvarado, 24, was killed in Lompoc , CA , as he fell face-first through the ceiling of a bicycle shop he was burglarizing. Death was caused when the long flashlight he had placed in his mouth (to keep his hands free) rammed into the base of his skull as he hit the floor. Fourth Place Sylvester Briddell, Jr., 26, was killed in Selbyville , Del, as he won a bet with friends who said he would not put a revolver loaded with four bullets into his mouth and pull the trigger. Third Place The following mind-boggling attempt at a crime spree in Washington , DCappeared to be the robber's first (and last), due to his lack of a previous record of violence, and his terminally stupid choices: 1. His target was H&J Leather &Firearms; A gun shop specializing in handguns. 2. The shop was full of customers - firearms customers. 3. To enter the shop, the robber had to step around a marked police patrol car parked at the front door. 4. A uniformed officer was standing at the counter, having coffee before work. Upon seeing the officer, the would-be robber announced a hold-up, and fired a few wild shots from a target pistol. The officer and a clerk promptly returned fire, the police officer with a 9mm GLOCK 17, the clerk with a 50 DESERT EAGLE, assisted by several customers who also drew their guns, several of whom also drew and fired. The robber was pronounced dead at the scene by Paramedics. Crime scene investigators located 47 expended cartridge cases in the shop. The subsequent autopsy revealed 23 gunshot wounds. Ballistics identified rounds from 7 different weapons. No one else was hurt in the exchange of fire. HONORABLE MENTION Paul Stiller, 47, was hospitalized in Andovertownship, NJ, and his wife Bonnie was also injured, when a quarter- stick of dynamite blew up in their car. While driving around at 2 AM, the bored couple lit the dynamite and tried to toss it out the window to see what would happen, but apparently failed to notice the window was closed. RUNNER UP: TACOMA , WA . Kerry Bingham had been drinking with several friends when one of them said they knew a person who had bungee-jumped from the Tacoma Narrows Bridge in the middle of traffic. The conversation grew more heated and at least 10 men trooped along the walkway of the bridge at 4:30 AM. Upon arrival at the midpoint of the bridge they discovered that no one had brought a bungee rope. Bingham, who had continued drinking, volunteered and pointed out that a coil of lineman's cable lay nearby. One end of the cable was secured around Bingham's leg and the other end was tied to the bridge. His fall lasted 40 feet before the cable tightened and tore his foot off at the ankle. He miraculously survived his fall into the icy salt water and was rescued by two nearby fishermen. "All I can say" said Bingham, is that God was watching out for me on that night. There's just no other explanation for it." Bingham 's foot was never located. AND THE WINNER... Overzealous zookeeper Friedrich Riesfeldt (Paderborn , Germany) fed his constipated elephant Stefan 22 doses of animal laxative and more than a bushel of berries, figs and prunes before the plugged- up pachyderm finally let it fly, and suffocated the keeper under 200 pounds of poop! Investigators say ill-fated Friedrich, 46, was attempting to give the ailing elephant an olive oil enema when the relieved beast unloaded on him. "The sheer force of the elephant's unexpected defecation knocked Mr. Riesfeldt to the ground where he struck his head on a rock and lay unconscious as the elephant continued to evacuate his bowels on top of him" said flabbergasted Paderborn police detective Erik Dern. With no one there to help him, he lay under all that dung for at least an hour before a watchman came along, and during that time he suffocated. It seems to be just one of those freak accidents that proves..."Shit happens." __________________________________________________________________________ and to think I never open FW emails now I know why.

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Originally uploaded by dino0477.

I got a present

Memories to keep from 2006

January: I was naturalized. I am now officially an American citizen. I also got to see my old friend Paul while at a meeting in Dallas. It had been a few years that we had seen each other. I had dinner with him and his girlfriend and we had a few hours of catching up. It was very nice.
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February: V-day was nice we went to my favorite restaurant the day before (we both had to work v-day of course) otherwise nothing special just work. Got to go on a business trip to San Francisco which is one of my favorite cities.
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March: mhh nothing much the AP's and I continued to write cards to recruits. The local press heard of it and came out to do an interview with all of us.
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April: I went to see Maureen graduate from Marine boot camp in South Carolina. It was something else. (the oldest of the kids whose au pair I was a long time ago)The nice part was her whole family was there so I got to see everyone. It was great. We are all so proud of her. She was 17 and a Marine so grown up. I took her back with me to Virginia since her boyfriend was at the music school near me. She would go there to after she went home for her high school graduation. She was the first person ever to walk in Dress Blues for her ceremony. I wish I could have seen that but I am sooo glad I got to at PI.

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May: Oh there is too much, my 1st anniversary with Grumpy which got cut kind of short because I left for my 10 year highschool reunion in Germany that day. Due to that I missed his college graduation :(.
The 2 weeks at home were wonderful but my favorite would have to be the Saturday before I left. I had gotten in touch with a few friends including Uwe and old childhood friend, who I had not seen in 8 years.
I met my best friend Dani and her man at 3pm and we went into one of the many Ice cream parlors / cafés that you have everywhere. There we met another childhood friend of ours and celebrated her first pregnancy (it is a baby girl) and birthday.

A little while later another one of my friends and her husband joined us. After 3 hours of amazing looking Ice cream cocktails we said goodbye to the soon to be mommy and walked down the street to my favorite Chinese restaurant. [The Chinese food in Germany tastes different than it does here - so does all the other chain food].

There Uwe joined us. We had a great time. Around 9pm we said good bye to my best friend and her boyfriend as they left to go watch the German version of Dancing with Stars. The rest of us sat and chatted for a bit longer before walking down the street a bit further to a bar. There we stayed until we said good bye after midnight. Uwe and I chatted a bit longer outside my moms house until I finally go home a bit after 1 am. It was great. I got to see everyone and have a great time.

Thinking back about that night makes me homesick I do miss my friends from home a lot.

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June: Well it was Grumpy's b-day but he had to go into work. I was obsessed with the Soccer world cup since it looked like Germany had a chance. I switched my blog from myspace to the blogger. My mom came to visit so we could do her green card paper work. Since we were near Virginia Beach we went down the prominade and then hoped over the the Little Creek base where the school of music is to visit Maureen and Austin. My mom had not seen Maureen for 9 years.
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July: I got to go jet skiing as part of an Au pair meeting. This was awesome I love jet skiing. Its like riding a motorcycle on water. I also got to go to Chicago for a meeting where I saw my former host family and my friend Evelyn who was an AP with me. She and her boyfriend had flown in from Switzerland for a wedding of the niece of our host mom. Also

*drum roll*

I got to meet our very own Miss Jin and Brioche in person (well and Mister Jin and ....). Jin made lunch for Erin (she is the youngest of the kids whose AP I was) and I, then we got to sample all her goodies. OMG talk about a kid in candy land. I can't wait to go back and try the things I couldn't fit.





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August: Mhh nothing major - I got to go to Seattle for the first time. While I was waiting to go up on the Space needle I get a call form one of my girls saying she got kicked out by her host parents. WTF. So when I got home I had to house my first AP. After I found her a new family, Grumpy and I took the puppies to the beach Mac hates the sound of the waves and will not go in the water. We don't know what it is with her and the ocean. Sassy was in the water , swimming and having a good time. We took a nap on the greens later but I couldn't read my book because people kept coming up to us to ask if they could pet the doggies. What can I say to cute for their own good.

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September: Well there was Ernesto the nice little tropical storm that cost us power for a few days and caused quiet some damage. We got lucky while it snapped of a tree limb the size of most trees, the limb missed the house by inches.

There was also my first Sweetbox from Jin. It was a early b-day present so we could take it with us to our trip. MHHHHHH so good.
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October: Happy Birthday to me!!! I got my wish and Grumpy, the pups and I went to a cabin in the West Virginia mountains. It was sooo pretty. I loved it. The cabin was so isolated in one of the valleys no one would ever find it. We saw the local sights and took a drive to the Maryland side where we got to see the beautiful colors of the leaves. It was soo relaxing and the pups loved it because they got to come with us everywhere we went.

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November: The house turned into Hotel Katy as I housed one AP for 2 weeks in the beginning of the month (I will see her when I go to LA next week) and then after Thanksgiving I got another AP that needed a place to stay until we found her a new family. Thanksgiving was nice and I since I was off the day after I went and did my Locks of Love donation. I think Grumpy is still getting used to the short hair. I am mean I never tell him when I do it, just show up with short hair.
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December: Ohhh so many things. Mhh I got a Cherry box, a Jin box and I saw the Transiberian Orchestra live. And most importantly Grumpy and I got to go out for New Years ever for the first time in 6 years. We had a ball. We went to the bar where we met and just hung out. Mhhh what a way to finish this year.
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When I started the post I didn't think the year was all that, but now looking at it it almost makes my life sound interesting doesn't it? Wonder what this year will hold I mean I am supposed to graduate from college with that a new job, Grumpy and I are planning on going to Germany for Christmas and New Years (I haven't been home for the holidays in 10 years!) .... Lots of potential