I'm Back!!

Hi All!! It's been a very long time since I blogged. After my last blog, I just needed a break. That was the hardest few weeks of my entire life as well as my family's and I was emotionally spent. Of course we know now it all turned out fantastic and our little Graci is almost a YEAR old!!! She's a scrappy little thing! Nothing will ever get in her way, if she sees it and she wants it, she'll get it! I love you Bean!!!



A few weeks ago I checked out a couple of antique stores in my neighborhood and found 2 fantastic items! The first is an antique glass top small table that I'm able to display some of my favorite possessions. Bibles that were owned by my Grandparents as well as my Dad. A bible with a metal engraved cover that was my Great Grandfathers and was part of my Great Aunt Borgie's personal items. It's all in Norwegian. A bible with a metal cover that my Grandpa Bendickson carried while he was in the War. He carried it in his left front pocket, over his heart as a shield. Aunt Borgie's 'War Ration' stamps, a doily and a spoon from Norway. I'm sure I will find other trinkets to put in there, but for now, it's perfect!




My second find was an old 8 pane window. Yep, a window! I bought it, took it home, sanded and stained it and it now hangs on my wall and is framing 8 of my photos I've taken of flowers. It's awesome!!

My friend Jeff told me that I amaze him with my mad crafting skills! But really, I come by my artsy, crafty self naturally. My Grandma Bendickson was a painter. She painted some of the most beautiful paintings and I am lucky enough to own two. She gave me my first one when I turned 21. It is a painting of a Cockatiel that I admired in her home for as long as I could remember. In addition to my artist Grandma, my parents were always creating something when I was growing up. If they weren't Macrameing a wall hanging or curtains, remodeling our rooms they were painting the rooms in our house some crazy color or pattern. Ok, maybe it was Mom who painted the crazy patterns but she always roped Dad into helping! I remember Mom recovering several pieces of furniture as well. Including the chairs to my dinning room table that I use to this day. I believe the table, chairs and buffet (my sister has that) were given to my parents for a wedding present 45 years ago. And finally, photography. I love to take pictures! Some are really good and my sister says I should try to sell them. I'm looking into that now, but I give this artsy gene credit to my Uncle Steve (Mom's brother). From the time I was a little girl, I can remember admiring my Uncle Steve's photos that he'd taken. They were so beautiful. Anytime I take a beautiful picture, I say a little thank you to Uncle Steve!! ;-) I leave you with one of my favorite flower pictures I took last fall.

Cracked but not broken..

In 6 days from today, my sweet little 4 month old niece will go into surgery to fix her cracked, not broken heart. She was born with a hole in her heart. Today we know she actually has 3 holes, 1 big and 2 smaller ones. Our family, both immediate and extended, and our friends have so much love for this little girl. It's amazing to me the pure joy one little face can bring someone. My sister and I both each had one child before little Bean came along, Levi(21)and Denika. Bean is the name I chose for Graci Nicole before she was born. I needed a nickname for her since I've called her sister Peanut since the day she was born 12 1/2 years ago. Denika (AKA Peanut) recently told me that I could call her Peanut forever, she would never get tired of it. I hope Bean allows the same for her. We'll see.... I know that I asked that everyone but my Grandma to stop calling me Neecie when I was about Denika's age. Grandma was always allowed. :-)

Everyone who knows me, knows that I am more of a spiritual person, not a religious one. I used to tell a co-worker that I was on dial up and she was on direct connect when it came to God. We always got a good laugh out of that one! Then when my cousin Brenda wrote on my sisters Facebook that she'd light a candle for Graci.. I thought what a great idea. What if anyone who wanted to would light a candle and say a little something to help Graci and the doctors and our family get through what will probably be the toughest 4-6 hours we will ever have to live through.. How awesome would that be? Since Graci will be in surgery beginning 7/16/09 @ 0630, and that's pretty early for most, so my thought is how about the night before the surgery. At a time that most people are home.. 8pm.

So, if you're home on Wednesday July 15th @ 8pm and would like to light a candle for Graci and our family, please do so. I am leaving for California on Tuesday and packed in my suitcase is a special candle that I will be lighting.

Thanks for all your love and support..

Love, Denise

In a blink of an eye, your world can change forever..

I learned last night from a good friend that her 6(now 7)year old daughter was injured by a riding lawn mower that her husband was driving. Her leg is severely damaged and she will have a long road ahead of her to be able to regain any use of it. I cannot imaging the pain both her and her dad are going through. It makes my heart ache. So if you're reading this, please take these words from her dad with you..

"This horrible accident has changed many rules in our home and I hope it has opened the eyes, ears, and mind of everyone that has heard about it. All it takes is a knock at the door, a phone ringing, a dog barking, another child yelling, or a quick look at a calendar to realize that tomorrow is forever changed and yesterday will never be the same."

Well said Tony..

Mothers Day Weekend Recap....

My Mothers Day weekend was AWESOME despite it's rocky start Friday night.

Around 2045 on Friday night, Chris noticed DaiZee Mae acting very strangely. Her heart was racing, she was twitching and she wasn't able to walk very well. We rushed her to the ER. By the time we got there she was wild eyed and drooling in addition to the twitching. They immediately gave her an IV with meds to try to stop the seizing (we called it twitching). The Vet came in to talk to us and told us she had been poisoned by something, it was definitely a toxin in her system. They wanted to keep her for 48 hours, give her IV meds, pump her stomach, do blood tests and finally give her charcoal for her stomach to bind what ever was left and she'd void it later. All that for the bargain price of $1300! Once I picked myself up off the floor, I asked for plan B. The Vet left and came back with another "estimate". This time is was $475 - $675. She whittled it down to a 12-24 hour stay, cut out the blood tests and the pumping of her stomach. And I asked for Plan C.. This time she came back with we could treat her as an Outpatient.. She gave her mass fluids, subcutaneously, gave her some charcoal and some meds for us to take home to stop the seizures. Once I received the bill of $192.88, I noticed at the top that they had written off $170.00 for charity care. I guess my tears got to them.. And I thank them so much! Little DaiZee is doing just fine! She made it through the night and only had to take 1/4 of a pill for seizures and by Sunday was back to normal. We really don't know what she ate. We do not have any pesticides or fertilizer at our house because we have pets. The Vet said it could have been a rodent that had been poisoned by someone in the neighborhood and DaiZee could have chewed on it. We are very happy she is OK!
On Saturday EARLY I drove to Seattle. I had drill this weekend with my Sea Cadets and we were at the Maritime Festival down on the waterfront.



The tug boat races were very cool! The day was beautiful! When I got home, I was in bed and asleep by 2000! I slept until 0700 Mothers Day morning..
On Mothers Day, Chris and I went to Ft. Steilacoom for the 160th Anniversary. We watched a Civil War reenactment and toured some of the old houses on the fort.



Then it was off to lunch with my BOY!
I met Levi at Los Cabos in Covington. We enjoyed a Margarita together! He's been 21 since last October and this is the first drink we've had together! He gave me an Orchid and bought my lunch. We had a really great visit! I love having an adult child! Even if it makes me OLD! I did remind him that I was his age when I had him..




My weekend was good...

"You're right, I'm not sorry."

I wrote this letter today.. Thought I'd share..

Mocha Stop
430 E 25th St.
Ste 36
Tacoma, WA.
98241

22 Apr 2009

Re: Poor Customer Service

Dear Sir or Ma’am,

On 21 Apr 09, I bought a Mocha at your place of business at about 0640. I paid $4.20 for the coffee plus I put a tip in the tip jar. I received my coffee, said thank you and reached for a few napkins. I wrapped them around my coffee and turned to walk away. After a few steps I heard, “WOW. That’s a lot of napkins.” I turned to see who the cashier (curly brown hair) was talking to and it was me. Shocked I looked at the napkins in my hand and counted 4. I looked at her and said, “Yes, 4” and I walked out the door to the train.

Today I decided to give her the benefit of the doubt and try to make a joke about the number of napkins I took yesterday. When I arrived I ordered my coffee and the same cashier told me it was $4.20. While I was paying I said smiling, “I promise not to take as many napkins as I did yesterday.” She looked up and said, “Thank you, we like to conserve around here.” I told her it was 4 napkins, still smiling, “You’re going to call me out over 4 napkins?” I was completely shocked by her snide comments. She said, “We’re a family owned business and we like to conserve. I’m sorry you don’t agree.” I said, “It was rude.” She replied, “I’m sorry if you don’t agree, you don’t think we should conserve?” I said, “It was 4 napkins.” and I said, “You’re not sorry.” She replied, “You’re right, I’m not sorry.” I explained she has just lost a customer and I would let my friends know as well. The Barista who was making my coffee (she has always been very polite) asked that this not escalate and I told her I would buy coffee from her anytime, but not this other girl, she’s rude. The Barista tried to defend her saying she was actually really nice. Maybe she is, but she didn’t show it today. I have no problem with you regulating the number of napkins each customer gets, they do cost money, albeit, not much. Maybe you should keep them behind the counter and the Barista can give each customer one.

I am disappointed because I prefer to support the “Mom and Pop” types of businesses but I refuse to be treated like she treated me. Again I say.. this is over 4 napkins! She would rather lose a customer over 4 napkins! My coffee costs $4.20. How much did those 4 napkins cost?

EDUCATE THIS!

A very good friend of mine posted a blog and I want you all to read it..

Shari's Bloggity

Thanks!

"Thanks for the Cool Stuff BITCHES!"

To get to the 3rd floor here in my office building, you must swipe your ID Badge in the appropriate spot in the elevator and if you pass the test, you are able to push the button to get to this floor. If your badge does not grant you access, you can do any number of things to gain access. For example, you can get on the elevator when someone else is coming up.. You can ask the lobby front desk person to “swipe you up”. You can obtain a “Visitors” badge or you can simply call Shari @ 49247 and she’ll come save you! I’ve used the last option on several occasions! My point here is that yes, technically, our floor is a “secure” floor, but security is pretty non existent if you ask me..

This leads me to the reason I am blogging today. I was in our break room this morning and noticed this sign…




My first, second and third reaction to this sign was hysterical laughter! …….. “our own “SECURED” floor.” REALLY? Secured? AHAHAHAHHAHA! Oh, sorry.. I just broke out in laughter again.. My favorite line is, “We assume we can use this space and feel that our belongings are safe, but now we’re victims of thief!” I’m thinking maybe in addition to the posters Campbell’s Soup bowl, the thief also stole their grammar checker! “we’re now victims of thief”… Of a thief.. or thieves maybe. Don’t get me wrong, I do not condone anyone taking someone else’s dinnerware, but it is a public room that several hundred staff and visitors use. You shouldn’t leave your precious items in there if you want to keep them forever and ever. The odds are not in your favor!

I could go to Goodwill and purchase a few of the items listed and randomly place them on my co-workers desks.. Now that would be FUNNY! And lastly, the note at the bottom encourages anyone who was a victim to add their missing items to the list. A co-worker said, “I should add my youth.. I’m sure I left it next to the soup bowl.” BAHA!

…. Mad props go out to Jeff! He inspired the title of this blog! YAY!

Nipples Rule!

I love this!
You must check it out!

Oh and I got a new puppy! Her name is DaiZee Mae and she's the cutest!


AND! The coolest of all... I'm on Google Maps, Street View! WOOT!

Go to Google, then click on Maps
Type in 401 Boren, Seattle
On the right click Street View
then scroll the pic as if you were turning your head to the right and VIOLA! That's me! Leaving work sometime last summer! I'm totally famous! And yes, for 5 easy payments of $29.99, you can get a autographed 8x10 glossy picture of me! Don't be late, CALL NOW!

Post Holiday Stuff

When the snow began to fall here almost 2 weeks ago, I thought it was so awesome! SNOW!! Snow days RULE!! Ok, so one or two snow days rule, not 7! It ruined my plans for my birthday. Chris and I had bought tickets on the Snow Train to Leavenworth that was due to head out on December 20th. It was cancelled due to blizzard conditions in the mountains. So after 6 days stuck at home with Chris, Rollie, PugZee, DaiZee, Charlie and LuLu.. I needed to get out!!!!!!!! I braved the freezing cold and the foot of snow and headed off to work. It took me 4 hours to get there and 3 hours to get home. It was all worth it though! If I had stayed home one more day, someone was going to lose and eye! The next day it snowed again! So I worked from home, it wasn't worth getting out there again. The snow had gotten the best of me!

Christmas 2008.. My mom and dad rode the Amtrak train from Eugene, OR. on Christmas Eve, even though they were 3 hours late arriving in Tacoma, I was still very happy they were here. Levi drove down from Covington on Christmas morning, he got here just in time for breakfast. Crockpot hash brown casserole. Chris got up at 0400 to put the stuff in the crockpot and by 1000, it was ready! It was sooooooo yummy! We opened presents and visited for most of the afternoon and I then made Lasagna for dinner. Levi stayed until a little after 8pm and it was a good day!

Mom and dad left yesterday on the 6:15pm train home. I just talked to mom and the train was about 45 mins. late getting into Eugene, but it was a good ride. Today we have to take Rollie to the Greyhound bus station for his ride back to Yakima then Chris and I are going to the Pub at the Pike Place Market for a beer. It's going to be a good day..

I hope all who read this had a wonderful, family filled holiday! That's what it is all about!

4 more days until 2009!!

THIS JUST IN!

----- Original Message -----
From:
To:
Sent: Wednesday, December 10, 2008 2:14 PM
Subject: UW Alert Seattle


Dear Denise,

Seattle and UW Police searching for suspected bankrobber near UWMC/health
sciences. Asian male, orange hat, dark jacket, white pants. Call 911 if
spotted.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ok so tell me, who wears an orange hat, dark jacket and white pants to ROB A BANK?! Really, white pants? It's after labor day..

Chris’ Rainbow Connection

Last night I heard Chris yell from the computer room, “Ohhh, I think this guy is hitting on me!” So I went to see what he was talking about.


His Myspace default picture is this:



He received a message from some guy he didn’t know that included a few facts about what he liked to do, etc. The last line was, “So, how’s life on a milk carton?” Chris replied, “I don’t know, Missing?” LOL


So he asked me,”Do you think he’s hitting on me?” I asked if he’s visited his page yet to see? Of course, he hadn’t thought of that. He clicked on the guys page and the first thing I see is a BIG HEART with a RAINBOW on it! Yup.. he’s gay!


Of course I had to laugh hysterically and remind Chris that his orientation on Myspace said he was single and a swinger! It was pretty funny! Chris updated his page to say he was married and straight. When the other guy noticed this, he emailed Chris again and said he was sorry, he didn’t mean to offend him and Chris could delete him if he wanted to. Chris replied, “No, I don’t need to delete you I have other gay friends, everybody wants me.”

This is PRICELESS!

Don't 'Cha Wish Your Boyfriend Could Sew Like Mine!

Yep, my BF.. Sews! He's is making my Halloween Costume! WOOT! I bought him a starter sewing machine and we'll see how this costume turns out! If he's good, I just may enter him as a contestant on Project Runway! I will post pics of the final outfit on Halloween! So check back then!

Here are the pics of him sewing..


This is the fabric we chose for the top..

"All the Plumbers in the House Pull Your Pants Up!"

A friend posted this on his Facebook but I had to post it here! It is the

FUNNIEST thing I have seen this week! (yes there is a short commercial first, but it's worth the wait!

Corn Mazes and Pumpkins!

Fall is such a beautiful time of year! The pretty colors, the crispness in the air and Pumpkin Patches and Corn Mazes!

Chris and I went Maris Farms in Bonney Lake on Sunday. The farm is pretty big, has a beautiful view of Mt. Rainier and a HUGE corn maze! Last year, it was in the shape of the Washington State quarter, complete with the salmon! See:


This year it is a banner that said, “Land of the free Home of the brave” and it has an eagle on it. See:

We were lost for about an hour in there.. but it was fun. We then headed out to pick our pumpkins! We got two really big ones for only 10 bucks!

On our way home we stopped to get a bale of hay to complete our decorations at home. Here are a few pictures! ENJOY!

21 years ago today… My son was born!

On February 14, 1987 I found out that I was pregnant. I had just turned 21 the previous December and I was unmarried. Yes, my friends, I was an unwed mother…. GASP!! My sons father was a ranch hand and appeared to be interested in having a family so we stayed together through the pregnancy. The day my son was born, I was so very happy! I was scared outta my wits but he was so beautiful! And I knew my family would be there for us no matter what.

If you’re old enough, you may remember little Jessica McClure.. She was the toddler who fell into the well in her backyard. Well she was saved just a few minutes after my son was born, October 16, 1987. I know this because the doctors and nurses and all the other people in the delivery room were watching it on TV while I was in labor, suffering! LOL!

Levi was a beautiful, blonde haired, blue eyed boy! I wanted a boy so very bad.. Girls are just nothing but trouble!  We lived in Junction City, OR and my parents moved to Seattle when Levi was 2 weeks old. I will never forget that day. I think I cried the hardest that I have ever cried in my life when my mom and dad pulled out of the driveway and left. I felt so alone. I wasn’t alone, I had my friends and of course Levi, but I still felt alone. I was determined to be a good mom! I went back to work when Levi was 30 days old. I worked weekends at the local Dari Mart (JC’s equivalent to 7-11). After a few months, it was obvious that Levi’s father and I would not work out so I made the decision to move to the Seattle area to be near my mom and dad. On April 1, 1988 we packed up the U-Haul and drove away. I remember riding in the U-Haul with my dad and I remember tears streaming down my face as we left the city limits. I knew, from that moment on, it was just Levi and me. I would need to do the very best that I can to provide a good life for him, teach him the best way I knew how.. The way my mom and dad taught me.

It’s now 21 years later and my boy is a man. And a good-looking one I might add! Thanks to my family who were there for us every step of the way, he grew up tall and strong and is such a great human! He has the “family” sense of humor! Which is good because we LOVE TO LAUGH! He recently landed a fantastic job which has the potential of travel all over the world, once he gets through training in Tulsa, OK. He’s not a fan of OK! But can’t wait to travel to Spain!

I know I could not have raised such an awesome kid without my family. And for that, I thank you all.. Mom and Dad.. the unconditional love and of course the gazillions of dollars you’ve spent on him/us, making sure he/we had all the things PLUS some that a growing child needs. The vacations to Disneyland.. oh wait.. you didn’t take me! RUDE! Really, thanks to you Levi knows how to travel. Which is good since his job will take him to all kinds of unknown places! And thanks for believing in me, we raised a good boy!!!

Just Another Bloggity, Blog!

This is very interesting article I just read on CNN and I thought I'd share..

Oh and this is a great T-shirt!

MEAN PEOPLE SUCK!

Recently I had an encounter with an extremely MEAN person. It wasn't pleasant at all and the wheels are in motion now to have it explained to him how rude, insensitive and just plain MEAN he was! I found this article and thought that I would share...
Why are People Mean?

Hiking and the Scandihoovian…

First let me preface the story with the fact that last Tuesday morning around 0400 I tripped on a flip flop walking from the bathroom back to bed and broke my little toe on my left foot…OUCH!

Sunday I decided it would be fun to go to Clark Creek Park in Puyallup to explore the trails. This park is HUGE! It's densely forested and has a multitude of trails to walk and bike on. The weather was drizzly but not cold. Which was nice because by the time the walk/hike/mudding was over, I had my coat around my waist and I was loving the rain falling on my face.

Around 1400, Chris, PugZee and I headed off to find the park and check it out. The first part of the hike was fine, it was a nice wide paved trail. It wound around through an open area with a playground and off leash dog park. Then it turned up into the forest. We walked along taking in the cool air and all the sounds of the forest. We came to a Y and Chris asked me, “Which way?” If we went right, it appeared to go straight up and if we went left, if appeared it would be a bit more flat. So I chose to go left.

As we walked along, the trail began to get smaller and muddier at times. There were quite a few hills and the trail was slippery, but being under the canopy of trees, it was quite tranquil. It was rainy, but you really couldn’t tell since the trees acted as a great cover for us. We came to another Y and Chris could hear a “waterfall” to the left so we decided to follow the sound of the water. This trail was not as used as the other ones we were on and it soon came to a big mud hole! There was a small tree down over the mud and Chris was able to walk across it, PugZee decided to go straight through the mud and was covered by the time he got to the other side! I on the other hand, really didn’t want to try to cross the fallen tree because my sense of balance is not so good and I envisioned me looking like PugZee when it was all done!

Chris went ahead with the dog to scout out whether or not I should even try to get across. All of a sudden, I heard him laughing and calling PugZee. I couldn’t see them so I had no idea what was going on. When he came back, PugZee was soaked! He had found a pond and didn’t realize that there was water on the other side of a concrete barrier and PugZee just jumped in! This was a good thing though, since it cleaned all the mud off of him. Chris also found several smaller branches and placed them across the mud and helped me inch my way across.

Next up, we found the “waterfall”. It was a culvert. The pond PugZee had jumped into was feeding the creek through the culvert. We were able to get across the slippery rocks on up to the gravel road on the other side. We were walking along and I heard a splashing sound coming from the creek below. I couldn’t figure out what it was so I found a trail and investigated it. When I reached the creek, I saw about 15 salmon! They were swimming up stream to spawn! They were big too! After watching for a while and taking a few pictures, we began walking the gravel road again. This led us to the Fish Hatchery. We were pretty sure we weren’t supposed to be there so we found another trail that led us back to the original trail we were on and we actually found our way out. This was a 2 ½ hour hike, not too bad on a broken toe!

What I have learned from this is that I need a good pair of hiking boots and we should take water, and maybe something to nibble on while we are out there. Hiking on an empty stomach is not a good idea. Here are some pictures from our hike…. Enjoy!

Foxy Fantasy Females! WOOT!

Short story.. I was invited to join an all female fantasy football league and since I know ZIP about football, I thought it would be fun! So far, so good.. Its been exciting and frustrating all at the same time. I am learning, VERY SLOWLY, about the game and I realized that it's not all about the TIGHT ENDS! LOL! Anyway, here is a clip from Inside NFL on Showtime. These are my team mates! Might I say that they fit the name FOXY! Thanks Jenn for making this happen!