Summer and fall update

So it has been a while since I have been on here and talking about my life here in Reno. Things are going okay right now. We are dealing with a health scare with Lucky so hopefully that will pass as something that is easily treatable and things will work out in the end. I am going to see the doctor next week about getting test for Celiac Disease, basically an allergy to gluten found in wheat. If it comes back positive, it will be both a good and bad thing. Good thing because then I can move forward in the process to get better. I have put on so much weight in the last 6-8 months and no matter what I did I just feel bloated and fat :( It will be a bad thing because I have a love-hate relationship with carbs - a huge source of the yucky gluten. Oh well, if this is what I am dealt with in life, I will do what I need to do to live a healthy life. I will look at is like my lactose intolerance, which I believe is an allergy to the lactose in dairy products. I know what I can have a limited amount of dairy and be okay so I will do the same with the gluten.

Fall is already here in the sense that school has started at the University. We have been really busy this first week and it seems we have made a lot of ground in the revenue that we were looking for. With the economy the way that it is, a lot of students have waited until the last minute to get their extra stuff purchased. I would do the same if I were them too! Why note wait until you have to absolutely buy the extras when you know you are going to charge it on a credit card and gain interest on it! Smart kids (kind of smart; most are still attached to the hip of their parents!).

It is really smokey today with the fires in Yosemite. I guess the National Park Service prescribed a controlled burn but it got out of control. That happens; you just can't judge what will happen or if a gust of wind will pick something up and start another fire. Fire is good for the parks and forests and are necessary to prevent major fires in the future. The earth was created in fire and smoke so this should not be something too new for the rest of the world to understand!

That's it for now from little ol' me. Until next time!

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The Extended Family

Here is a picture of my in-laws. There is me and Brian in the front with Brian's dad Kevin. In the back is Adrian hold little Cecilia and sitting next to Kristin, Brian's oldest sister. There is Bradley. He is currently in Afghanistan and will be back in October 2009. Then there is Therese, Brian's mom. And then there is Kimberly and her fiance` Aaron. What a happy family we are :)

Where did time go?

So now we are in the last stages of the month of May and I am just wondering where did the time go? What happened to the spring? Actually, in Reno there is no spring; it is winter, a week of sun and the straight to summer!

It is nice to finally be able to go to work in the morning and feel the warmth of the sun on me. I don't have to wear a heavy coat or sweater. I can feel the cool evening breeze and shut the A/C off for a bit (now I have the screen door and this is more enjoyable!). Sleeping with the quiet hum of the fan to drift of to dreams is a lot of fun. Not having to snuggle under three blankets at night makes it a lot easier to sleep!

So no summer vacation for us I think; however I might do some camping out at Lassen National Forest. I have to see if Happy and Lucky are game before I make some reservations. It will be nice to camp out and eat smores each night under the stars and snuggle up to my hubby each night :) We'll have to see how that goes.

I have some new pictures that I will have to post this week on here. I have a crazy squirrel I caught chirping out at the garage. We'll see if the pictures turn up great!

Office Backyard April 27 2009

Everything is in bloom now! Here are the pictures from my afternoon stroll among the cherry blossoms!

My pretty Belle

Just thought I would add another cute picture of my baby Belle to the web! Isn't she cute! Even Brian can't stand the cuteness!!

March Madness is on BABY!

So it begins....

A quiet roar comes from the crowd as they watch their team in the NCAA basketball tournament. It is March Madness and it is ON!

I made my brackets on ESPN.com and with 3 games in the history books, I am 3 for 3! I can't wait to see how the rest of the series plays out. It is so much fun to watch College Basketball. There is not as much showmanship as in the NBA. There are no huge contracts or egos. There is only the love of the game and the drive to be number 1. Oh, this is what I live for.... all winter I watch the stats and wait for Selection Sunday and then it begins!

Recap of February 2009

So here is my quick recap of the past month. Woohoo!!!

Finally went to the doctor to see why I have been having problems breathing at night and was told it might be asthma. So I got an inhaler and it works! Since starting the inhaler I haven't had much problems and when I feel short of breathe "Skoosh" and it is all gone!

We went to Mexico on the Carnival Fun Ship, the Carnival Spirit. It was a blast and lots of fun. Pictures to come. We went to Acapulco, Zijuantanejo and Manzanillo. I could do with Acapulco but the other stops were awesome! Lots of fun memories made and great times were had!

Lucky and Happy went back to bad news a work :( Lucky was laid off and Happy had to move her desk, work as a receptionist and take a 5% pay cut! These economic times are getting bad. I am hoping that things will turn around in the next 6 months - year. So Lucky is taking the time to regroup and to take this opportunity to do what she really wants! I am so proud of her and I admire her professionalism and quiet calm through this whole process. I will keep you posted ;)

So now we march on to March (LOL). May this be the month of new beginnings with Lucky and me (my diet anyways!!!)> Paddles

Review of January 2009

So, another year started, another month over. What did I do this month?
I spent New Year's Eve with my parents and sister in Bunkerville. We travelled back to Reno on New Year's Day.

Basically got back into the daily grind at work for the spring semester and just worked.

Got excited and ready for the cruise for next month to Mexico!

Jessie spent a weekend in Las Vegas (Bunkerville really) to spend a day at the LV office for The Glenn Group.

I made a bet on the Super Bowl (Cardinals vs Steelers) and lost by 3 in the spread. Oh well. Always next year!

Got a nice new yellow safety jacket from work for the games.

Brian bought me the first season of Rome from HBO as a Christmas gift. I bought the 2nd season of The Tudors from Showtime as my gift to me!

Watched Barack Obama officially become president on the 20th! What an amazing moment of history.

Pretty much, that is it. If anything else comes to mind I will make an edit :)

Office back yard 1/28/09

Just another beautiful day in paradise (work) and this the view outside the back of my office. I can't wait until spring comes and I can take this picture again with everything green! The squirrels weren't around for their pictures today. They must have gone on vacation.

I think they're married??? At least that is what Milton said!

"And as I said during my inauguration speech, if countries like Iran are willing to unclench their fist, they will find an extended hand from us."
- President Obama in news interview with Muslim Television.

I think we have sometimes forgotten that when we close our fist, we have many fingers pointing back at us and it is only us that we have to blame for closing our minds, hearts and hands to those that may now be willing to speak peace. Read the first part of his interview at

http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2009/01/27/politics/politicalhotsheet/entry4754691.shtml

and see what an educated and diplomatic president the US had elected! Peace in the Middle East may be possible!

A nice quote from ESPN

"Squeezing in another 14 games and a handful of practices was like shoehorning Charles Barkley into a thong. "
- Dana O'Neil, ESPN.com

Talking about the scheduling issues between Saint Joe's and the University of Pennsylvania as Penn allows Saint Joe's use their stadium for games. Saint Joe's home center is closed for a year long renovations and they needed a new 'home' court and Penn opened their home for them. Just thought that the quote put into perspective the scheduling conflicts.

The Sundial

So I decided to go for a quick walk on Friday (1/23/09) around where I work to take some pictures of my enviroment. If you have access to my Flickr account you can go and see the rest of the pictures. Friday was a cold day with the oncoming cold front approaching. You can't see the Sierra Nevada mountains to the west. I decided to take a few pictures of the sun dial, located at the Planetarium as it was interesting to think about it. This piece of equipment is used to tell time, based on the shadow position cast by the sun. It actually comes an hour fast/slow based on the day light savings. Anyways, this piece of equipment loses it use when the sun isn't out. It just made me think about how many other things or jobs are out there right now that are effect because its major component is not available. With everything that is happening with the economy, it makes me think how fortunate I have a job and benefits and that people need me around. Otherwise, I too can be a sun dial alone in the world on a cloudy day.

Winter Walk 2009.

Aaaahhhh, so the other day Happy, Lucky and myself went on a quick walk around the neighborhood and I decided to take a few pictures along the way. We are fortunate enough to live near the Sierra Nevada Mountains and we get to see this every day (well that is when it is the winter we get to see the snow covered mountains every day! With a walk through the neighborhood, we saw the mountains covered in a thin haze due to the sand on the roads. It made for a night picture!



This is a picture of Peavine Mountain, to the south-west of our home. When it snows again, I will try to go out and take some more pictures. It was a beautiful January day and it was nice walk around the park to get some fresh air and just chat.

Until next time...

While I am at it, what was 2008?

Really, while I am logged into Blogspot, why not do a quick recap of my 2008? It might take me a while to recall everything but isn't that what a blog is about?

January - Me and the gang when to one of the amazing wonders of the world: Disneyworld in Orlando! We had a great time for over a week of just hanging out, riding all of the roller coasters (with me laughing like a deranged nut), eating and shopping. Unfortunately the trip back had issues with the airport that myself and Significant Other (SigOt) were stuck in the Salt Lake City airport. That is when we heard of the kidnapping (and later murder) of Brianna.

February- Just another lonely Valentine's. My SigOt is not the romantic type so there was no quiet dinner together or card. He did get me a rose though, which did take some thought and planning on his part.

March - It was Lucky's birthday and we had a great time. We did lunch as a group at the Stonehouse cafe and then the movies! We went and saw "The other Boleyn Girl" which is based on a novel by Phillipa Gregory. I really wanted to watch it because a) I am really into Tudor history (you know, King Henry the VIII and his 6 wives) and b) I read the book twice. However, the movie sucked! Nothing like the book.

April - Not much remembered here....

May - The SigOt and I went to Hawaii for a week. It was a blast, although if I had my choice and some money I would definitely do the first class thing. It was a long time on a plane and a bit scary since I never have flown over the ocean. I had to make sure I paid extra special attention to the whole 'your seat cushion may be used as a flotation device in case of an emergency landing on water' . But we had a great time just hanging out. We stayed in Waikiki and we both felt it was like going to Las Vegas but on an island. Next time we would love to do North Shore or a different island to enjoy the laid-back lifestyle of the islands.

June - Our first anniversary! Didn't do much as it was in the middle of the week but we made it!!!

July - Not much...

August - Not much. Just got back into the grove of working at the University and the return of over time at the football games. Lucky and Happy (this was Happy's first year with working the events) and I got to work the games together and had a blast! Oh, Lucky sometime during the season got stung by a bee! It might have occurred in September but we will leave it at that. So Lucky was working and then there was something on her arm and she swatted it. Well, needless to say that the bee had stung her and when she hit it, the stinger stayed in the arm. Happy tried to assist and ended up squashing the bee with her show. We eventually had Ron help to get the stinger out and she went to the office to get some weird spray put on the sting. Yep, we learned what to do in case of a sting and that she isn't allergic to the bees. Now Ron calls her Ms. Bee!

September - Other than it being Happy's and my birthday, I don't remember much as to what happened. No trips, nada. Oh, but by September we had booked our cruise and Happy and I made sure to get our passports, which I got by the end of the month.

October - Happy and Lucky went to a crazy Halloween party while I sat at home (my choice of course) in the dark to avoid the lurking trick-or-treaters. I didn't feel like spending money on the candy so I didn't buy any! So Happy and Lucky went to the party. Lucky was a pirate and Happy was the reincarnation of her boss! I think the theme was to represent holidays but from the pictures that I saw, some people had some weird interpretations. Lucky was representing Pirates day (duh) and Happy was Boss' day. There was another pirate (trampy pirates were allowed) and some other odd interpretations.

November - Thanksgiving with the in-laws. My SigOt brother came home from training to have the holiday with us. He was shipped out to Afghanistan at the end of the weekend to begin his one year tour there with the Medi-vac unit. Our thoughts and prayers for a safe and speedy return are with him.

December - Spend the holiday's with my parents. Had a great week off and just chilled. It was nice to have a quiet end to the year. Now I am just waiting for February for the cruise!

Sleepy bear....

So today I am really sleepy and can't wait until my pretty little head hits the pillow. Unfortunately I have to wait until my 'social hours' are over at a friend's house tonight. Basically I have over-scheduled myself lately and my lack of sleep is leaving me delirious and woozy. I can't wait to go home and take a hot shower and go to sleep in my snuggly flannel sheets! I am going to sleep late and do nothing until I have to go to work at 4pm. Aaaaaahhhhh. Yep, that is the stuff of life. Sleep and being lazy!

Ode to Costco!!

What can anyone say about Costco other than great things? Where else can you get your prescriptions filled while you wait for tires to be mounted to your car and your Christmas cards are printing at the one-hour photo counter? Or, where else can you spend $200 in less than 30 minutes and only have 5 boxes of stuff in your cart?

Really, I love Costco but sometimes I just don't have the space to store the wholesale price items I need. For example, I would love to stock up on chicken and other fresh meats but I don't have a freezer to store it all (yet). And I would like to buy a large supply of paper products but I can store toilet paper or paper towels anywhere. I would be out my ears in paper! (Sounds like my work actually).

But it is nice to go there and get great deals on stuff when you do have the space and the time to get it all stored away. Their cakes are AWESOME and are a lot of fun to have at a large party. Costco is the place to get your necessary office break room supply items. Their pizza is a great deal when trying to feed a large crowd, as long as you can get a phone call into their deli to order them!

Costco - definitely an American idea that has helped me to live and survive in the crappy economy. Let us all praise the Costco!!!

Happy New Year 2009!

Yeah! Today is the first day of my new blog - the Point of View of Happy, Lucky and Paddles or POV of HLP. My name is Paddles and I belong to a great group of friends, fronted by Happy and Lucky. Basically we saw how great Hoops and Yoyo and Piddles from Hallmark got a long that we thought that we would take our ideas and post them to the world! Watch out, here we come!!!

Anyways, this is my new blog to celebrate my life and my friendships as a collective. I hope to use this as a venue to blog about my life as a whole and am going to work to post pictures and such at least once a week. That is asking a lot from me as I am a very busy person! But, alas, it must be done!.

So kick back, take a breath and enjoy my POV on life as Paddles!