Month: July 2005

So I’ve decided to write about all the activity!! Simple breakdown with some viewing pleasure here and there thrown in.

Friday 7-08-05:
Late at Night – Drive to Bakersfield. Try to wake up Cassidy. Fail. Go to bed.

Saturday 7-9-05:
Day & Evening – My Aunt Carol’s wedding was beautiful. Just beautiful. I have to admit when Jarrett walked her to the arch I got a bit teary eyes. My aunt Carol deserves this. She is so happy and looked stunning and her new husband, Jerry, and his family all are so nice. All of us are happy for her. Her time to be treated like the amazing woman she is has come and I wish the two of them all the happiness in the world. 🙂

Unfortunately my camera ran out of batteries at the very end of the ceremony so I wasn’t able to get pictures of my family pretending like they know how to dance. (kidding, they all dance quite well ;))

Evening – We spent time in the coolness of Ambers house and caught up with her and the girls. Bakersfield is hot. Very hot.

Sunday 07-10-05:
Day – Drove to Oceanside.

Evening – Sushi. Mmmmmmm

After sushi we went to my dads boat to let the kids swim in the glowing harbor. The water would literally glow a bright green anytime anything in the water moved. Watching the kids jump off the dock into the water was great because the water three feet around them glowed bright enough to LIGHT UP the night. Now, granted the Red Tide is nasty and stinks and is very dangerous so we were constantly saying DON’T SWOLLOW THE NASTY GLOWING WATER. But it was still fun to watch. And so far none of the kids have grown an extra head or leg and no superhuman powers have revealed themselves. Perhaps if we’s let them drink the water… Anyway, no pics. Camera was not charged yet. I’m still kicking myself in the ass over that one.

After that the first of many glasses of red wine was consumed.

Monday 07-11-05:
Morning – BEACH!! Cassidy went farther into the water than she’s ever gone before. She was in waves up to her chest. Prior to his she’d go in to her ankles and that’s it. She was EXHAUSTED by the time we got home. She’s come up to where we were sitting panting from the work of fighting the waves. But she had a blast. And I owe a huge thanks to Finn because she was just trying to keep up with him and that has really put a huge dent in her fear of deeper water.

Evening – My step-sister Danielle had us over for a BBQ. It was a lot of fun. The kids had a blast playing and cooking smores. My dad BBQ’d us steaks the size of New York and then we sat around the fire lambasting The President and drinking more red wine. I think this night was the first night the tattoo idea came up. Her house is awsome and has a gigantic back yard. My favorite part being a huge fire pit perfect for gooey marshmellow goodness and sitting around to verbally bitch-slap our brilliant leader.

Tuesday 07-12-05:
Day& Evening – We went sailing on my dad’s boat. It was fun. There wasn’t a lot of wind but it was cool because it was the first time I’ve been on the boat and actually sailed instead of just motoring around. Ben took the helm for a bit and did a fantastic job. After we docked we had burgers and salad on the boat. It was just my dad, Cherie, Ben, Cassidy and myself and we all had a great time.

Wednesday 07-13-05:
Day – I actually spent most of the day sleeping because I had been fighting off a cold since Sunday. I had horrible sinus drainage and my throat was sore and all the activity was not allowing my body to heal. So while everybody went out shopping and to the beach I stayed home to get some rest. It helped, after that I started feeling much better and by the nexd day was pretty much back to normal.

Evening – We had Reid Family Taco’s. And our parents met for the first time!! That was great. We’ve been wanting them go get together for a long time and I’m glad that we were finally able to work it out. Everybody got along well and the dinner was a great success. And we had Taco’s. And they were smoothered in chili sause. And they were good. *drools a little* Oh yeah, my dad and Ben made Sangria… It was niiiiiice.

Thursday 07-14-05:
Morning – Breakfast with Ben’s parents. Yum. Cassidy went to see Fantastic 4 with the rest of the crew while we ate.
Evening – Watched Captian Ron. Cassidy spilled red wine on my dad’s white carpet. 🙁 I think we were able to get most of it out. Thanks goodness.

Friday 07-15-05:
All Day – Fishing!!! We had a good time. Well, Cassidy and Brenna got sea sick for about 1.5 hours but Dramamine and taking them into a jetty and out of the bigger rolling swells seemed to fix that. After that little bump the fun continued. Ben and I both caught one fish each but they had to be throw back. Mine was not a good eating fish and aparently Ben’s was poisonis… so I guess technically it wasn’t a good eating fish either. The kids caught the most and were having all the luck. Jordan even caught an EEL! It was cool looking but it got away and I don’t think we’d have kept it anyway.

Night – Tattoo’s. Danielle, Jennifer and I went and got our tattoo’s. I was originally planning on doing stars on my ankle but after talking to two of the artists it became clear that what I wanted was not going to be possible and look good. So Danielle suggested I get the lotus they were getting and I’m really glad I did. Danielle’s is on her right forearm, Jen’s is on her lower back and mine is on my ankle. It’s still a little scabed but as soon as it heals some and I can shave that spot again I’ll snap some pictures for ya. 🙂

Saturday & Sunday:
Disneyland. I’ve been posting for awhile so I’ll have to finish this up later and really, it deserves it’s own post because it was SO much fun. But you can see all the pictures of Disneyland on Saturday and California Adventure on Sunday. And once I’m done with Harry Potter I’ll go into details. 🙂

I want to say a HUGE thank you go my dad and Cherie for this vacation. It was absolutely the BEST vacation I’ve had in YEARS. All three of us had just a fantastic time. Thank you for letting the three if us stay with you ON TOP of the five people you already had there. And for all the fantastic food, and Disneyland and… just everything. It’s something we will remember and cherish for years to come. I love you both and thanks again. 🙂

And now, back to Harry Potter!!!

So… we got to bed about 2:30 this morning. I made it to work by 6:00AM. I didn’t actually wake up till about 9:00AM at which point I realized that I’m more productive when I’m asleep at work than when I’m awake! heh

Getting Cassidy back to sleep was tough. She slept the entire 6 hour drive so when we got home she was wide awake. I, on the other hand, was NOT. Since the plan was to take her back to her dads her bed was not made up at all. Her being HERE instead of THERE is a story I won’t get into here. Feel free to ask me off-site.

The trip itself was just fantastic. It seems like we went pretty much non-stop the entire 9 days and I loved ALL of it. Fishing, sailing, eating my dad’s fabulous cooking, spending time with my step-sisters (we all got the same tattoo but in different sizes on different parts of our body, pics when I get home!!), watching the kids just go NON-STOP and having a blast, and DINSEYLAND.

It amazed me how magical Disneyland still is even though I’m 26. A lot of it had to do with how much fun it is to watch Cassidy on all the rides and taking in the environment around her… you get to live that innocent wonder all over again. She was the perfect age too. Able to get on every ride but still young enough to think the pirates were REALLY shooting at you, and that the ghost REALLY was there in the seat with you, and that the tower REALLY was TERRIFYING, and OMG the look on her face on Space Mountain (pics of that once I’m home too)!!

Anyway, I’m still at work and trying to kill time till 2:30. That three hours I was asleep this morning I did so much that I managed to bank 19.32 hours worth of project time so far today. So I basically can do nothing till 9:30AM Wednesday morning and still be at 100% production rate!! Not that I’d do that though.

Seriously!

*looks around*

We’re home. Plus one ankle tattoo + one six year old who wanted to come home with us + TWO DAYS of Disney Land and California Adventure + Six hours of driving X work at 6:00AM = *shudders*

Details and 142+ pictures tomorrow.

*falls alseep*

Monday morning:

2:50A.M.
*wakes up*
*listens as helicopter flies over house rather low*
Me: What the hell? Does the asshole realize people are SLEEPING DOWN HERE!
*falls back asleep*

2:55A.M.
*wakes up*
*listens as helicopter flies over house AGAIN. Still low*
*hear Ben stir*
Me: What the hell is with the helicopter?
Ben: *grunt*
*TRY to fall back asleep*
Ben: *snore*

3:00A.M.
*listen to helicopter come back and start to hover*
Me: What the FUCK is going on?
Ben: What’s it doing?
Me: I DON’T KNOW!!
*gets up to look out bedroom window*
Me: It’s shining it’s light around. It’s looking for something.
Ben: Where is it?
Me: Out there. *points out window*
Ben: *grunt*

*goes to living room to look out sliding glass door*
*gets camera*
*contemplates using long exposure and Night Shot mode to capture helicopter*
*realizes I’m far too asleep to get the do all that… shoot I’m having problems turning the thing ON*
*takes picture*
*closes front window and check locks on doors*
*gets back in bed*

Ben: What’s going on?
Me: I don’t know. It’s looking for something. I checked the locks and closed the window in the front because I don’t want some lunatic trying to get away from the police IN THE HOUSE.
Ben: Did you close the sliding glass door?
Me: No. *shit* I’ll go close it.
Ben: Sorry.
Me: No, it’s okay.
*goes back out on balcony and sees the helicopter has now found whatever it is it’s looking for because it’s hovering in one spot with the light fixed on one location*
*close door anyway*

3:05AM
*lay in bed listening to helicopter hover outside our bedroom window*
*contemplate getting up to close bedroom windows but realize the room will get really warm really fast that way*
Ben: *snore*
Me: How in God’s name is he asleep with a helicopter hovering OUTSIDE OUR BEDROOM WINDOW?!?

3:15AM
Ben: *snore*
Me: Oh God if you make it stop I swear I might actually think you exist. Shoot, I’ll become a born again Christian and preach your word door to door. Seriously.
Me: …
Me: Rocket launcher. That’s what would stop it. The heat seeking rocket launcher from the original Unreal Tournament. One shot. Big boom. Back to sleep.
Me: …
Me: Or the BFG!! The BFG from Quake 3. No need to chance any of the fuckers living through the blast. BFG would ensure the assholes would never keep me awake again.
Me: …
Me: Of course, it is over a residential area and the BFG would take out a few houses too because it’s flying so low. I guess the best bet would be a rocket launcher. The Counter Strike rocket launcher would be good too. But the UT rocket launcher is just so easy to use. Keep AIM for 5 seconds and the thing is guaranteed not to miss plus it’s got a smaller blast radius than the CS launcher… Yeah, that’s it, UT rocket launcher.

3:27AM
*helicopter starts to fly away*
Ben: *stirs*
Me: I figured out the best way to get rid of it was the rocket launcher from the original Unreal Tournament.
Ben: *grunts*
Me: I thought about the BGF but the shockwave would have done too much damage to the homes below it.
Ben: Counter Strike’s rocket launcher would have been good too.
Me: Yeah I thought of that too but eventually ruled it out. The UT launcher is the way to go.
Ben: Okay.
…..
Ben: You are going to blog that, right?
Me: Probably.
*cuddles*
*falls asleep*

I’ve been trying to get into my blog application to post since Monday but for some reason it would let me see the dashboard but not the post.php. Sucked!! Anyway, I seem to have it fixed now so YAY!

We’ve been going pretty much non-stop since Saturday. The wedding was FANTASTIC. Beautiful and hot and so fun to see all the family and hot and great food and… hot. But such is Bakersfield in the summer.

Sunday we drove from B-town to Oceanside and my dad actually let us stop TWO WHOLE TIMES for bathroom breaks. Two times, people. That’s like asking for snow at the wedding in Bakersfield in the dead of summer. When we got here we had sushi then took a quick trip to the marina to my dads boat so the kids could glow in the Red Tide. It was really cool. Basically anything that makes the water move also makes the water glow. So as they’d swim around he boat the water around them lit up. I wish I’d had the camera but you are just going to have to take my word on the fact that the collness factor was through the roof!!

Monday we took a trip down to the beach. Cassidy got farther into the water than I’ve ever seen her go. She was having a blast getting totally creamed by wave after wave after wave. I tried to boogie board but never actually caught a wave in,.. but had a blast getting creamed by wave after wave after wave. heh

Yesterday I took the day to relax. I’ve been fighting off a cold since Sunday and was not giving my body a chance to rest at all. Last night Ben’s parents came over to eat here at my dads. It was quite nice. And not just because we got to have The Reid Family Taco’s!!! Getting our parents together is something that we’ve both wanted to do for quite some time now because they are so similar. The world didn’t even implode on itself. So I’d say it was a successful event.

Today we got up late, like normal and went to meet Ben’s parents for lunch before they had to catch a flight home. We are back at the house now and the rest of the brood is out seeing The Fantastic 4 so I thought I’d take a minute to update you all on what’s going on.

There will be a TON of pictures when I get home!! I think I’ll finish the Eurocopter post and get it up so you all can laugh uncontrollably at my crazyness. 🙂

Have a good rest of the week, all!!

I’m out of town with The Benjamin and The Princess visiting The Dad and The Rest of The Reid Clan. Probably won’t post till after next Sunday when we get back.

Will miss you all! Have a fantastic week and weekends!!!

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8492258/

Send positive vibes to victims and their loved ones. So sad.

And so fucking unnecessary.

My roots were in dire need of some color. I was grocery shopping for dinner tonight and I could not figure out what I wanted so I was kinda circling the store hoping I’d come across something that caught my eye and I did. The hair care isle.

I picked up a box L’oreal Colour Experte in Toasted Coconut. I really thought that this would lighten my hair up some more. I’ve been trying to go progressively lighter since the great red disaster a year ago. So… my roots are looking 100% better. But my hair is the exact same damn color. 😐

Next time I’m going to try a going like two (or three) shades lighter instead of just one. I really want it back to a ‘blonder’ state again but it’s such a slow process going lighter. Going red was easy! One time and BAM! There it was!! It’s taken a YEAR to get to where it is now. I’m growing impatient.

(Click to enlarge)

My poor tummy has been in overactive mode lately. It’s been upset almost non-stop. I sat down yesterday and realized that Ben and I have been eating REALLY bad. Like, not trying to eat healthy at all since about the time Cassidy left. heh The thing is, my tummy was starting to show symptoms of this before that. I’d say for about the last three to four months it’s just gotten progressively worse.

Anytime I eat, within about 30 minutes my stomach starts to cramp up. It’s not a nausea thing. It’s more like a food poisoning feeling. Like my body is rejecting what I’ve eaten and is having to REALLY try to process the food. In the last week or so I’ve noticed it’s much worse if I eat a lot of protein. Meat or dairy in general don’t react well in me but it’s to the point now that I’m sick pretty much every night. 🙁

Yesterday Ben got us some subs from Quizno’s. That even upset my stomach. 🙁 Then last night for dinner I had a green salad with a very small grilled chicken breast and I managed to make it through without much pain. Starting today I’m going to try and completely cut out dairy and only have some meat at dinner. I’m thinking I’ll just grill up some chicken and veggies… grilled zucchini… Mmmmmmm. *drools*

Anyway, I KNOW that cutting out all diary is going to help but I’m scared about the fact that I might not be handling meat well. I love meat. I love a big, juicy, rare, dripping red, just cooked enough to be warm steak… Plus protein is GOOD for you and if I’m not getting it from meat then I need to find a way to get it into my body without upsetting it. It might come down to shakes. 🙁 But I’m prepared to do whatever it takes to get rid of this daily nusance. It might just be as simple as keeping my meat intake limited to chicken and fish since they are both easier on the digestive system.

EDIT – I’ve decided to try and either grill or bake a whole chicken tonight. I’ve found a recipe that sounds good and pretty easy to do. If you have any suggestiong though, please let me know!! 🙂

Man, I cleaned pretty much aaalllllllll day. The house was a mess and I just can’t STAND leaving to go on vacation knowing that it’s a mess. We leave Friday evening so I wanted to get all the laundry done and do a deep cleaning on the place before we had to start packing and whatnot. I hate it when ALL the clothes are clean because then we run out of hangers. No matter how many I buy it never seems we have enough. And I don’t get how we can have like 30 socks with no matches!!! Explain that!

Enough of that. We had the the most random and weird thing happen last night. At 3AM I woke up to the sound of a helicopter hovering what seemed like RIGHT OUTSIDE OUR BEDROOM WINDOW. I mean that’s a slight exaggeration, but still. It was 3AM! And LOUD! And we live in an area of virtually NO crime.

I tried to get a picture of it but the combination of blond, crazy and 3AM made it not come out. Anyway, there was a point here somewhere… tomorrow I’ll take the time to write out the internal/vocal dialogue I had with myself and Ben regarding the whole thing… at 3AM. It was rather amusing and ended with me coming to the conclusion that the best way to take the thing down would have been the heat sinking rocket launcher from the original old school Unreal Tournament.