Love is in the Air

Just sharing a little brotherly love with you.

I hope you had a lovely Valentine's Day.

Just Walkin the Dogs

We always get a lot of attention when we are out walking the dogs....I wonder why.

I mean seriously, how darn-tootin cute is this! We had a great walk at the lake the other day with Val had her two sweeties, and our little gaggle of goldens got a lot of double takes!

Almost every shade of Goldens there are!

Kona's Spring Bling

I got myself in gear the other day, and made Kona some new bandannas to wear for his therapy visits. I think with these 3 he now has about 9 different ones...The people we visit always get a kick out of seeing what Kona is wearing. It's a little something fun for us to talk about.

So right now he's got a bandanna for:

1. Valentine's Day


2. St. Patrick's Day


3. Easter


4. Patriotic (Memorial Day & 4th of July & Veteran's Day)


5. Halloween


6. Fall


7. Thanksgiving


8. Blue & White checkers -kind of a generic one.


9. Winter -snow flakes

What else can you think of? I wanted to make him one for New Year's...but couldn't find any material that looked New Yearsy...I'm open for suggestions.

By the way, we've been on two therapy visits so far this week and will do one more tomorrow. All of our visits this week are taking place at the VA Hospital. On Mondays and Fridays we start out visiting the Spinal Cord Injury unit, and then make our way to other places in the hospital where large groups of people are congregated, such as the pharmacy waiting area, emergency waiting room, etc.

Our visit yesterday was to the hospice ward of the VA. Without going into too much detail, let me just say that it was a very heartwarming visit, and I'm glad I went. Kona was the perfect pup, and when I left, my heart was full of gratitude for my healthy family and friends. Remember to be thankful for what you have...

Crush of the Week - Captain Phil Harris

I've been busy lately...too busy to do fun stuff like blog, or comment on other's blogs. It's not just an excuse...I've really been swamped....I meant to get my crush of the week post up yesterday, but the time slipped by, and by early evening I was pooped, and just wanted to sit on the couch with Hubby, watch American Idol (what can I say, I still love that show) and Lost.

I've got a long list of future crushes of the week to blog about, but no one stuck out in my mind yesterday. Then I woke up this morning and saw that one of my crushes, Captain Phil Harris of the Cornelia Marie, from the Discovery Channel's "The Deadliest Catch" had passed away.

I knew he'd suffered a stroke on Jan. 29th, but had heard that he was doing well and continuing to improve daily. Apparently he took a turn for the worse yesterday, and died last night. He was only 53 years old. Of course I didn't know him personally, but his death brought me to tears. He was one of those characters that you just know you would hit if off with if you met him in a bar somewhere....he had two sons that were on the show with him, and although there was always a lot of yelling between the three of the, you could tell that he was a teddy bear at heart, and loved those boys with every ounce of his being.

Captain Phil was a hell of a guy...a hell of a good guy. I, along with millions of others, will miss him terribly. I guess there will be no more ads like this one from last Mother's Day that made me laugh out loud...rest in peace Phil.

A-Z Mondays, the Food Version! "C" is for Chicken!

My very first ever job was here...Pioneer Chicken. Oh, how I love chicken, especially good fried chicken. As a young girl I worked at Pioneer for over two years. You know how when you work at a fast food place and eat the food there all the time and you get totally sick of it? Well, that didn't happen with me. I ate that chicken nearly every day that I worked there for over two years and still loved it. (Who, me? Over weight? Whatever gave you that idea?)

For that matter, to this day I would have to say that chicken is my favorite food. When I think of my last meal (you know, if I was going to the gas chamber or something) I think it would have to be home made fried chicken, white rice with mushroom soup gravy, home made cole slaw, corn, crescent rolls with butter and honey, and iced tea. Oh, I am practically drooling just thinking of it!



I am not a picky chicken snob...I love chicken in every form...just a few of my favorites are:

1. fried chicken (of course!)


2. roasted


3. grilled


4. BBQ'd


5. popcorn


6. lemon


7. teriyaki


8. kung pao


9. crockpot


10. beer can


11. broasted and this list could go on and on...

If you'd like to see what other bloggers are doing for A-Z Mondays, be sure to check out Jen's blog here! Bon appetite!

Yup! I've Gone and Done It Again!

I've made the commitment to walk again this year in the Susan G. Komen 3 Day, 60 Mile Breast Cancer Walk! This year's San Diego walk will take place from November 19th thru the 21st. I know, I know, call me crazy, but I'm already excited! I walked in both 2006 and 2008, and I'm ready for the challenge again! Training doesn't officially start until June, but I'm ready to hit the pavement now!

A little history of my past walks...
In 2006 I walked by myself. I was part of a team called "Walk with me" but I only ever met one other member of the team, and other than her, my training partner was Hubby. It was a tough, emotional couple of days for me...
I had so many blisters that I felt like I was walking on bubble wrap! It was NASTY! Thank God for loving friends that took awesome care of me, and my tootsies!
Having a great crew made the difference in me walking and giving up.
Of course I would never have been able to do it without Hubby's help, devotion and love!
My incredible family was there with me all the way!
And of course it's always cool to have some totally hot guys waiting for me at the finish line!
By the end of the 60 miles I was exhausted and exhilarated, and thinking of doing it again!
The day after the walk, I had to go and get a cast on my right foot. I'd gone against my doctor's recommendation and walked the 60 miles. I had a nasty bone spur on my right heel that was cutting into my Achilles tendon. Not fun....but I'd made the commitment to walk, and walk I did!

I took 2007 off from walking because I wound up having surgery on my foot in March. It took a while to heal, but the result was worth the wait. Walking without pain is so much better!

In 2008 it was time to walk again, but after having learned how tough it was to walk on my own, I decided to create my own team, and hence, "60 Miles for Our Melons" was born. I recruited Bear, and my dear friend Shirley to walk with me. Our many, many early morning walks, and training sessions were a great bonding experience, and made the journey so much more enjoyable.

Day 1, we were ready! (Ok, sleepy, but ready!) "No whining, whining causes blisters..." I LOVE that! It was great to get to the top of the biggest hill of the first day... and finding a special friend waiting for us!

the support of our "melon patch" crew made all of the difference!and when you see beautiful young women battling for their lives, it makes 60 miles seem like a cake walk.

Yes, the 3 Day walk in 2008 was a fantastic experience, and all the more reason why I am so excited to take on the challenge again.

I took 2009 off again, in anticipation of surgery on my other foot...luckily, that never had to happen, but by the time I learned I was "good to go" it was too late for me to start training, etc. I decided to wait...and low and behold, here I am!

The 2010 walk will be another life changing event. You just can't go through something like this and not come out changed for the better. I am so looking forward to this next chapter in my 3 Day experience!

You may have noticed that I've put a link to my fund raising page on my side bar. If you feel so inclined, please feel free to make a donation and help me reach my personal fundraising goal of $2500. I know times are tough, but every dollar will help. Thanks for your consideration.

February 4th's past

I occurred to me today that the last 2 February 4th's have been somewhat significant for me...February 4th, 2008 this is what I was doing....

I visited a place called "Absolute Tattoo" with G-Ma and Bear

We'd all decided to get matching pink ribbon tattoos....G-Ma went first. At 70 years old, she was trooper and gave the boys in the shop a good giggle.
Here is my outline...
And the fun starts!
It was a great bonding experience...
Here comes the color.
And the finished product!
Bear got into the act too.

It was pretty cool for 3 generations of women to get matching pink ribbon tattoos on the same day. I don't think those boys will ever forget us!

February 4th, 2009, was spent partly in the hospital with G-Ma...she fell in her garage and broke part of her shoulder. Not a fun day for her.... Can you tell she was thrilled to have me there with my camera? Not so much...

The other thing I did last Feb. 4th was have my first appointment with my weight management doctor, which actually was taking place as G-Ma fell and got hurt... Well, I had another doctor's appointment today, just with my regular doc. for my annual exam. As of today, I've lost exactly 52 lbs. in 52 weeks. Not shabby....a pound a week is all I ask. At this rate, by next January 6th, I should be at my goal of having lost 100lbs. Hmmm, I don't think I'll hold my breath on that, but I'll keep working on it. Actually, I think I'd be happy with another 30 lbs. or so...that's not asking too much, right? We'll see...until then, I will remind myself of when I looked like this... that's me on the right, and that's not even when I weighed my heaviest....yikes!

Well, I'm happy to say that the road ahead looks brighter, and lighter for me.

And in the words (or in this case, word) of my friend Chris from New Zealand....ONWARD!