Tales from behind the tail...

I am only telling this you because you are my friend/mom/aunt, but I am about this close to driving Dorothy into the deep woods and leaving her there forever. For three long days she has been letting of the most horrific, putrid stink bombs I have ever had the unfortunate displeasure to smell. She sleeps behind our bed in a cubby/corner and all night my nostrils are burning! It can not be good for our health to breathe in the toxic fumes! It was so bad we had to turn the fan on her to blow the mushroom cloud away from ourselves. It is constant. I know she ate a stick of butter, but I am not sure what else. Why didn't I take her to the vet you ask? Good question I just thought of it myself. We'll see...

stolen

Dance like the photo is not being tagged,
Love like you've never been unfriended,
Blog like nobody's reading.

books & beards

Students are back in full force which I LOVE because they keep me busy and remind me how rewarding it is helping others achieve their goals (since I don't have any goals of my own other than to be in PJ's by 5:00 p.m.). Plus, I totally work on a college campus, how cool is that. My workplace has it's own sports teams, theaters, cafes, and even maroon & gold sweatshirts which I can wear in lieu of a business suit, which is great as sweatshirts go better with orthopedic footwear than pencil skirts and lace blouses.

McBootie is hitting the books too, this month they are studying a unit called Family Tree, Pets & Me including the letters A, T & M. Really? I am so not telling her my PIN!! Word is she acts as the Vice Principal at Tammy's daycare, reiterating any corrections handed down by Tammy to the other, less verbal kids. If Tammy says " No, no Lana, no pushing" Nori will chime in with "No Lana! We don't push! That's too naughty!!" Oh boy. This morning I found her playing with my camera so I looked at the photos to find some portraits of her best friend. I asked, "Did you take a picture of Blankie?" and she replied, "Yep, he's really cute!!". Potty training is going awesome, in part due to my new celebratory song every time she pees. To the tune of She Bangs by Ricky Martin, I sing, "She tinked! She tinked! Oh baby, yeah, she tinked! She tinked!, I go crazy..." all while doing a patty-cake style hand clap to show my enthusiasm while Nori echos "I tinked, I tinked, oh baby....". I have not bought real diapers in months, only nighttime diapers. Go Team Tink!

Breaking news: Jake's facial hair can control the stock market and possibly the universe. Last winter he grew a beard and his "growth model" (you know, those stocks he follows or whatever the heck it is he does) did great! But the instant he shaved his beard, they tanked. All of this coworkers convinced him it was HIS BEARD that influenced this shift, thus prompting him to re-grow a "rally beard" which has immediately caused a resurgence in the model and overall world economy. Personally, I am not a fan said rally beard, however he claims he needs to keep it to basically save the country from another Great Depression. Does anyone else find this alarming?

Proposal

Check out the amazing way my brother's BFF Chad proposed to his girlfriend Vy!

Happy Birthday Andy!

33 years virtuoso ( he's "Oh so special"!)

chaos!

Can you believe Mr. Andy Ho is 33 today? Happy birthday to a very wonderful guy and a loyal friend! Last night we celebrated Andy's birthday and had a pre-birthday celebration for Angie who turns 3-0 on September 11th. The kids were WILD, especially when a puppy stopped by right as we sat down to eat. I think it would be fair to say that we lost all control!

the weary parents try to relax

a rare moment of calm

Kenna is moving in on Nori's man

must have been fun, look at the aftermath

cabin fever

A cozy fall-like weekend at the cabin! Sweatshirts, books, Dumbo, chocolate molten lava cakes, Play-Doh (always Play-Doh), beer can chicken and pork chops on the grill, coffee shop, pontoon rides, dogs, sticks, rocks, hiking, napping, blueberry muffins, wind, storms, sun, chopping down 50 foot tree, napkins between every plate and plastic bags on everything...ahh, wonderful time!

Captain of the S.S. Jalopy

storms a brewin'

family nap?

she insisted on the "pretty donut"

better weather, still cool

Gramsie & Nori gots lot of quality time , starting at 5:00 a.m.

Nori & Pito Harley, BFFL

buds

shrimp sauce

If Taco John's was my Winona food home, then Samurai (now Benihana's) was my Twin Cities food home. Back in action with Casey & Dad! Yes, Casey got two orders of fried rice!