Stranger Amongst Us?

This is really freaking me out

I have never (or until today) seen my husband without his mustache. I seriously think he would have left this morning without me seeing him if he could have. I am so freaked out by it. He has shaved a few years off his look if you ask me. He would not cooperate for a picture this morning. I'll have to keep trying. Who knows how long this might last - considering my reaction this morning. He's probably already started growing it back - just to shut me up. I've asked many times over the years for him to shave it off so that I could see him without to no avail. I think I mentioned last week that the goatee needed to go as it had so much gray in it that it was making him look older than he is. But oh my goodness - this is not what I expected! It will take some getting use too! I think I love it?!.....

Humboldt Fire

I'm not sure what I was doing yesterday to have not noticed the huge looming black smoke cloud. I was getting ready to take Karlee to reading at 4 PM and looked out the window for the first time and saw what looked to be the south end of Chico burning. It was a bit strange driving to the California Park area with that huge gathering of smoke right there. As I got closer I could tell it was actually on the other side of Hwy 32 and the wind was definitely blowing southeast. The smoke was certainly deceiving - from my house it looked so much closer. We dropped Karlee off and went to the Galley over off Park Avenue. From that viewpoint you could tell the fire was burning in the canyon going towards the Skyway. After stopping by the Plant Barn to check up on things with my sister (who wasn't there) we decided to go up the Skyway to turn onto Bruce Road and see the fire from there. They had actually closed the Skyway at Bruce Road at that point. So we drove along Bruce and you could see the helicopters dropping the water. You could tell that the Doe Mill area appeared to be out of danger. We came out at Hwy 32 to head back to California Park to pick Karlee up. Kyle and I noticed that the helicopters were dipping into Sierra Lake . We had about 15 minutes until it was time to pick up Karlee so Kyle and I decided to head over and see if we could catch the helicopters coming in for the water. When we got there is was mildly crowded. Kyle and I crossed the street, and this was the moment I regretted. As I was stepping up onto the bridge I misjudged the height and fell flat on my face. Not a good moment for me..... So I now have a skinned knee and bruised wrist. And of course my ego was hurt a little. Good thing I have such a sweet boy! He of course ran back over to help me up and kept asking if I was okay. Fortunately we were quickly distracted by the helicopters coming in. At one point there were 4 helicopters hovering and taking turns getting the water and heading back to the fire. It was pretty awesome to see up close like that. I soon realized the crowd that had gathered was now triple the size. Some had even brought lounge chairs.....? We ended up bringing Karlee back to hopefully get a glimpse as well. But that wasn't the case - after waiting about 10 minutes we realized they had obviously moved on to another water source. On the 11 PM news reports they stated that no structures we involved but the fire had quickly grown to 6000 acres. I hope they get a handle soon. The winds don't seem to be as gusty as yesterday but they are still blowing and that is never good for fire. I'll be looking for updates here.

Electra

Electra Townie

Electra Cruiser Daisy



This is what I have-only dark blue and about 15 years old

Okay I have a new obsession! I really want a Townie.... What a cool bike! I think even my mom could ride this bike. She hasn't ridden a bike in many years - but I know this could be the bike for her...... Anyway back to my obsession! We went to Baskin Robbins one afternoon and this large group - what looked like two families came riding up on these bikes. Oh my gosh. Talk about cool. They each had there own theme and colors. But what struck me as cool was the ergonomic ease of the bike. The handle bars and foot peddles were so perfect for the rider. So of course I came home and researched them. And the Townie is all about flat foot technology. Which I know isn't new but they seem to have increased in popularity. Or maybe it's the marketing of other products that has gotten the bikes popular, like this commercial. Here is an article on the bike craze from the New York Observer. And yes I have a perfectly good bike - but it's a mountain bike and not designed for commuting. The handle bars make you bend over to far. You can't touch the ground when you stop. And if that weren't enough - the seat is far to small for my derriere!.....I know I can get a bigger seat. But that is simply not the point! Of course the price of gasoline has gotten me thinking about bikes these days. We got rid of our SUV when it started costing me $ 60.00 each time at the pump. And now my sedan is taking $60.00 worth at each fill up. I'm seriously considering riding our bikes to school next year. And Kevin is talking about getting the Honda 90 going again...... Personally I think he should be walking - and have felt that way for 9 years. He is so close to work. I'd be doing it if it were me...... So will we be making that 10 mile round trip commute in the future? It would be double for me. We'll see! It certainly wouldn't hurt!

We have a visitor.....

If you haven't met Sophie yet - here she is.....

This is my sister's dog. We are dog sitting this weekend. It think the same thing can be said about dogs as is said about children - God made them so cute - so you don't hurt them. Is she not so adorable. She slept from 10 PM to 7 AM this morning - that was great! You know there is a but right? But she's pooped 3 times on my carpet and it hasn't even been 24 hours yet! And she's been outside a dozen times - for long stretches of time! So when my sister gets home I'll be recommending this book to her. I haven't had a puppy in the house for so many years! Although Sophie is already 8 months old - she is still very much a puppy. Kevin and I had a Yorkie for just over a year (unfortunately he was hit by car). He was great. But he too had pooping issues. I'm not sure if that is common for the breed or not. But I had the hardest time getting him to poop outside. Good thing we just LOVE Sophie. We'll get through this weekend - no problem! Thankfully I have the carpet cleaning guy already scheduled for Monday at 9 AM! That was just a coincidence.......

Fast Food Nation

We watched this movie the other night. It was something I had recorded on the DVR. I've been doing that lately - I look ahead on the guide and record movie's we haven't seen before. I really wish I had just read the book. It looks far more interesting than the movie. The movie was just bizarre. It had so many story lines going I couldn't keep it straight (actually I could, I just didn't want to) - nor could I figure out what they all had to do with each other. And it had all these big name people in the movie with these tiny little parts. Weird I tell you. Kevin and I talked about it after and decided they were trying to say - you can't change things? Why........

And if that weren't enough there was lots of unnecessary cussing - which always makes me shake my head. Not that I'm opposed to cussing - I do plenty on my own. But in this case a 1/3 of the movie was in Spanish and you had to read the subtitles - which had foul words too. So not only were you hearing it you were reading it as well..... And now I'm curious how different the book is from the movie. I guess I'll have to hit the library!

But back to the DVR - now if that isn't a little slice of heaven than I'm done for! I just love it. I don't watch all that much TV anymore - but the TV I do watch is all done on my time schedule. And with no commercials! I had for a while been recording Law & Order: Criminal Intent because I had stopped watching TV for a bit and missed so many episodes. And now I'm all caught up and it's set to only record new episodes now. It only takes about 1/2 hour to watch a full hour show. How nice is that. Plus I can pause it when I need to. I'll have to find another show that I want to catch up on....... So I guess it's back to reality - today is the first day of summer vacation!

Edited to add another link (Thanks Dad!)

Our Salutatorian!

Durham Intermediate

Class of 2008

Definition: In the United States and Canada, the title of salutatorian is given to the second-highest graduate of the entire graduating class of an educational institution. This honor is traditionally based on grades and overall GPA, but consideration is also often given to other factors such as extracurricular activities. Or further clarification from my sister - she got a 3.96 or higher grade point average in 6th, 7th & 8th grade.....

And we are so proud of her! Congratulations Meghan!