HAPPY BIRTHDAY...

Yesterday was Flash's 15th Birthday. Man, tough to believe I've had my boy for 14 years now...

You're the best horse a mom could have...

Back in the swing and things I forgot, Part II...

I realize I forgot a few things in the last post. Namely, on Saturday night we went bowling. And I mean everyone went bowling. I think we had about 50 people there. It was crazy. And I wish I had pictures. But alas, I don't. What can I say? I suck.

Also, on Sunday night it was the rehearsal dinner. Painless for Rebel and myself as we were not involved in the wedding. A long day of practice for those in the wedding (you'll understand why in a moment).

So. Moving on...

It's Monday. The day of BooBoo and Graham's wedding. Oh happy day. But before the wedding (which was at 5pm) we met up with the Parental's and some of the Aunts and Uncles and did a drive about. We stopped at a lookout. And then we all tried to find parking to hike down to Emerald Bay. The other 2 cars were unsuccessful. Rebel and I, however, managed to park the bug in a very tiny spot. Take that, succas... and then we hiked down into Emerald Bay. The hike down was easy and only a couple of miles. Plus it was straight down a steep hill. The hike back up took 4 hours and was somewhere in the neighborhood of 42 miles... I'm sure of it.

At the lookout...

Flip Flop and I look a lot alike...

Looking down on Emerald Bay

There is a castle there. Some famous silent film actor built it...

Kayaking to the island...

Hiking up to the little castle (called the Tea House) at the top...

The Tea House...

Check out those views!!

The beach at Emerald Bay...

On the 42 mile hike back up, I used the guise of photo taking to take many breaks...

All in all, Emerald Bay was stunning. I really enjoyed seeing all the sights. We then went on down the road a bit and hiked around Eagle Falls. It was very pretty, as well.

 The falls...

The little stream that feeds the falls...

Trying to get both Rebel and the falls in the pic.

Not so successful...

We spent so much time hiking around Emerald Bay and Eagle Falls that we barely had enough time (well, for me anyway) to get ready. Then it was off to the wedding.

The wedding was a crazy affair and I want to do it justice. So I'll post about it tomorrow.

Back in the swing...

It's taken me a little while, but I do believe that I'm back in the swing of "real life" again.

Vacation was awesome. Rebel and I had a great time with the whole family. And when I say "whole family" I mean it. He met them all (4 brothers, 3 sisters-in-law, 1 girlfriend, 1 sister, 1 brother-in-law, the parentals, 2 sets of aunts and uncles plus an extra aunt). I felt like I should have made a flip-book for him with names and faces so he had a shot in hell of keeping them all straight. The only person missing was granny.

But Rebel did great. He seemed to take all the intense questioning (think Spanish Inquisition) like a pro. And he still thought that hanging out with me was a good idea by the end. Success!! If that didn't chase him off (well, that and my crazy hormones this past weekend) then I think we're good to go. Which is great. Because we have some big plans on the horizon. No, no. I'm not getting married. No one panic. But they are grand plans. I'll fill you in sometime in the near future.

OK... back to vacation. And it's awesomeness.

The main reason behind going to Tahoe was that BooBoo and Graham were getting married at Heavenly. But we made it into a full week of family vacation fun. On Friday night I left work and headed to K Falls to pick up Rebel (where he's currently residing).

We traveled from there to a little town called Alturas, CA. Trust me. You're not missing much. We rolled in around 9:30pm and were on the road to Tahoe around 8am the next morning. Man, is that drive long and hot. And boring. Very, very boring. Not much to see out there, that's for sure. But before we got to Tahoe, we decided to make a pit stop in Reno and do some shopping. Well, Rebel wanted to do some shopping. I really did not want to do any shopping. But I found some nice shirts and a cute skirt. And it didn't come out of my bank account. Win/win.

After that it was off to South Lake Tahoe and our low-budget accommodations at Super 8. It actually wasn't that bad, I suppose. The place was clean. It was right in the heart of the action. But the downsides were the AC was spotty, our view was interesting (mostly consisted of the roof of the adjacent building), and the bed was really hard. My hips weren't super happy after a few days.

Saturday night was just spent meeting up with folks and seeing how everyone else's digs looked (most were way better).

On Sunday morning Rebel and I attempted to find breakfast. I say "attempted" because it was around 11am and most of the good places had a really big line. Instead we ended up at McDonald's. Meh, can't win them all I suppose. Then we headed to the beach and bought tickets on the Sternwheeler Tahoe Queen. It is a cruise that heads west across the lake, circles into Emerald Bay and then docks back at the beach again. The cruise took about 3 hours. It was great... and a cool way to see the lake.

The Tahoe Queen docking...

Fellow travelers...

Big wheels...

Enjoying the cruise...

And not a bad photo either...

Looking across the lake to the North...

Looking back at the beach...

A little tug that pulled up along side for a moment...

Coming into Emerald Bay...

The island in the Bay...

With a little castle on top...

Heading back out onto the main lake...

Tomorrow I'll post about the wedding and the waterskiing...

No, I'm not dead...

I just need a vacation from my vacation. I'm getting my thoughts (and photos) organized and then I will update you all on the awesome vacation that was had by Rebel and myself.

Stay tuned...

So close...

Vacation in T minus 2 days. Can't wait...

Downgrade...

I got a text message the other day that completely caught me off guard.

The general gist was: if you don't have happy things to say then I really don't want to hear from you. The text was more extensive than that, but the core was that. I said that basically she was asking to be downgraded from a friend to an acquaintance. Her response? Different is not less... I hope it brings us closer.

I've been sitting on that letting it marinade for the last 2 days and my opinion hasn't changed. True, different is not less in some instances. However, in this instance it is. If I'm not picking up the phone to share the hardships and trials I'm having in my life, then you certainly are not on the list of people I call when things are going great. That's just the way it is...

You either hear both or you hear nothing. After all, life is about balance. You don't get to benefit from one side of the relationship without being available for the other side.

I'm hoping she'll decide on a different stance. If not, there's not much I can do. For now, I'm just pretty sad about it.

The dangers of "Dateline" and hormones...

BooBoo's wedding is in a week.

*a week? really? where the hell did my summer go?*

*summer? what summer? has there even been a summer? oh wait, different blog...*

And apparently it's going to be kind of a fancy shindig. I was told emphatically by Flip Flop that jeans and a hoody just weren't going to do it *bummer* and that business casual wasn't quite the vibe my sis was going for either.

*oh crap*

So, I had to go shopping this weekend. And not just shopping (which I hate) but dress shopping.

*gag*

I don't do dresses, people. In fact, I don't even own a dress. I own horses instead. And in my mind it's always been an either/or kind of deal. You either own horses or wear dresses. You don't do both. Never. I'm sure all my horsaii peeps will back me on this. Other than a long skirt here and there, you don't see us dressed to the 9's. You see us dressed in muck boots. It's just the way it is...

So, I'm sure you can understand my apprehension about shopping for something that is basically foreign to me. In fact, I was having nightmares about it. Which wasn't helped by the fact that I fell asleep watching Dateline on the eve of my shopping trip.

Keith Morrison reporting:

It's not something you see very often... a massacre in a Macy's in the quaint suburb of Portland, Oregon. But last Saturday that's exactly what happened.

*in his most dramatic voice*

There is a saying that no good deed goes unpunished and this horrible tragedy is just another reminder of that. She says it was the hormones. She says she was pushed past her limits of endurance. She says she's sorry. But is she? Really?

Our story begins when SweetPea is talked into dress shopping for her sister's wedding by her mother, Flip Flop. Key and Pammy are also along for the purpose of consulting... for, you see, the center of our story has no fashion sense at all. None. And even though SweetPea protested the idea of even buying a dress she was assured that it would be nothing at all to find one. Painless, even. If only she had known then what we all know now... that a dressing room is not big enough for bad self-esteem, raging hormones and 4 grown women.

And that's where the police found SweetPea weeping hysterically... in the dressing room of the local Macy's where she had strangled the other three with the belt of the 142nd dress she had been forced to try on.

*aaaaaaaaaand scene*

So, the good news is that no one actually died while I was dress shopping. Yes, there were some touch and go moments but I was able to fight the urge off to actually kill someone... even though the hormones were telling me to ahead and do it. No one would care, really.

As a side note: the IUD worked awesomely when it came to keeping the cramps under control. Yay, me!! However, the downside was the paranoia was a little more extreme. But I survived with no one dead (including myself) and with all of my relationships intact. That, my friends, is a success.

So the only real saving grace for this horrible trip was that I wasn't spending my money. Flip Flop paid for the entire outfit (thank you, mom). If I had been forced to actually spend my own money it might have ended with me behind bars. However, I did get a kick-ass dress and I tried on some very sexy shoes (couldn't actually buy any of them because I can't actually, you know, walk in stiletto heels). I did get a pretty nice pair though...

Not bad, huh?

Eventually I'll get pictures of the whole outfit together. Hopefully it looks as good as I think it will.

That's if I can find some Spanks that take me from a size 14 down to a size 8. 

 Those do exist right?