I Finally Got To See The Trans-Siberian Orchestra!

Walter saw a commercial for the Trans-Siberian Orchestra and called me at work to say, hey they're in town, you have always wanted to go, I think we should do it! And being on a two paycheck a month budget and having recieved an "extra check" in October and therefore already having our Christmas money in hand I went to Ticket Master and made us the owners of two tickets to Trans-Siberian Orchestra!

I wasn't sure what to expect other than what I had heard on the three CD's I own and I was really excited to finally go and see them. The first half of the 3 hour show was their Christmas show that was on the CD I have (above). Walter found it to be too Halmark (his words) and wished that there was more rock'n roll and less narration and slow singing. The second half of the show were songs that were some of their most popular and they were really awesome and didn't let us down when they promised the crowd they were going to start blowing stuff up. It was an amazing light show the whole time and the music really was incredible. We had full view of the stage and could feel the heat of the flaming jets. It was very cool! Afterwards we went to dinner at the Racha Thai and Noodle House ( it was just ok) and then went back to Erin and Evan's house where we hung out drinking tropical shots and rum and coke. It was a lot of fun and huge thanks to Erin and especially Evan for watching Padon for us for most of the day.

The pictures below I had to get off the web. I did bring my camera but they made Walter take it back to the car because camera's weren't allowed. Thank goodness we got a good parking spot not too far from the Key Arena.

Amazing!

Ha! Ha! - Stinks to be you!

Padon's a walking machine now and about two weeks ago I heard some grunting and frustrated sounds coming from the other room. I went in and found this. Too funny! He quickly gave up and hasn't tried since.

Art Projects

I have been trying to introduce Padon to markers and paper (he eats the crayons) and while he is still too young or disinterested I still like to bring it out and try again. And even better I found a warm snuggly part in my heart in recycling an old dress shirt of mine as a smock for him. Which fastened with a binder clip in the back he loved to wear and chased me up and down the hall way.

I drew on the shirt marking it as Padon's Smock and Padon very dilegently tried to put the markers back in the box. Too bad the box was upside down and open. He put a lot of effort into it. So much so the box couldn't be saved in the end.

Halloween 2008!

So this year with the United Way Campaign at PACCAR I had no time to create some fabulous and awe inspiring costumes for Halloween. But we were invited to a Halloween party with a TV theme so we went as The Apprentice contestants. Padon was Troy Underbaus, Walter was Daniel Upurbaum, and I was Diane Powers. All three of us wore our pants suits and Padon was so adorable. Check out his tiny buns in those pants! We didn't get any pictures of the three of us together but Walter and I looked pretty nice as well. Although one little girl (12 years old at the most?) referenced my tuxedo which I found funny because it wasn't by any means a tuxedo but it was funny to see it from her perspective.

New Jammies!

Padon's got new jammies!!!! I went to Costco to see what deals they had on onsies and found they had a pile of fantastic, soft, and fun PJ's and outfits and I cleaned up. I walked away with four new outfits for $6.97 each and 4 new pairs of Feet Pajamas, also for $6.97 each. They are so cute and, even better, the ones I wanted from the Carter Outlet store near my house where they wanted $12 a piece! Woohoo!!!
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Oh, Roadie Girl! Your Time Has Come...

For 16 months Roadie has been in Padon's face, knocked him over, gotten dog hair on his toys, and made him cry. Well the table has turned. Now she is committed to repeatedly retrieving her much loved chew toy from his hands, struggled with how he eats in her face, and has been repeatedly slapped on the back. She hasn't realized yet what a best friend she has or could have in Padon. She is still very unnerved that we give him food and drinks and not her (nevermind the just filled dog bowl and treat sitting in it), play with him and not her (nevermind the dog chew that just was hurled down the hall), and that I hug on Padon first when I come in the door (Padon doesn't stamp all over my stalking'd feet and nice high heel shoes and slacks).

What Happens If You Don't Use the Lap Belt

He purposely slouches and unless he has a lap belt on he will slide as far down as he can go. He takes after his Mom I guess. Well I don't purposely slouch although I definitely have a subliminal slouching problem. I will start out sitting up straight (trying to make a point to my spine and body that I really do want to sit up straight) and then realize minutes later I'm slouching. At least I don't get stuck under my table...

Well Almost There...

The Many Faces of Padon

Awesome Birthday At My Parent's House!

My Mom had asked me what I wanted for dinner on my birthday and I mentioned Thai food and she didn't let me down. She ordered a smorgasbord of delicious Thai entrees a few of which I got to take home with me...Oooooo heaven!

And on top of that Sarah brought an icecream cake! I LOVE icecream cake! There wasn't really even any cake in this icecream cake but vanilla icecream on top, fudge and crunchy cookie bits in the middle and chocolate on the bottom.

Padon and Greg really interacted with each other and wouldn't stop sucking out of each other's sippy cups. Padon wasn't quite sure what to make of the pacifier since he hasn't used one in a long time but he made an effort.

Both babies were taken with the ginormous balloon bouquet that my Mom had gotten me but in the end Padon was scared of it and I think Greg felt he should take it home.

Someone got out the Brio Trains and it was fun to watch everyone get down and play with them and to show Jason, Katherine, and Walter all the fun pieces we used to play with .
I love that the family gets together about every month. I really can't wait until Padon recognizes everyone. I talk about them all the time; I will love it when he is excited about going to their house, who ever it is.

My Birthday Was The Best!

I took my birthday off from work and all I wanted to do was go to the Pacific Science Center with Walter and Padon. Unbeknownst to me Walter had never been and it turned out to be an absolutely fantastic and incredibly fun day!

3/4th of the stuff there was the same stuff that was there when I was little. It was so much fun running around going to Walter, "Oh you have to try this!", and "wait until you see this!", and "I bet you can't do this!" Padon was amazed at all the stuff around him to touch (he found every single electrical socket) and it was so much fun to be able to put him down and let him go and explore. We started out in the bug village which I had never been able to spend a long time in so it was really facinating to read all the stuff and really look at the bugs.

There hadn't been a butterfly exhibit when I was little so I was very eager to go in and see what it was like. It was really neat but trying not to step on the butterflies on the ground drinking moisture from the sidewalk while keeping Padon from picking flowers and eatting butterflies I lost a little of the awe but still walked away thinking it was amazing.

As we made our way out of the bug exhibit they had this great box with mirrors in it so you could see yourself as a bug when you stuck your head in the hole. It didn't work out so well for Padon and I when Walter took our picture but Walter came out great!

I was so excited to go the the PCS mostly because I was dying to take Padon to the Just for Tots section of the center and immediately he was in his element. I loved they new exactly what to provide to make him light up and be really intrigued.

All three of us played in the water,

and the bubble pool wand was more than Padon could imagine. He wouldn't let it go and it went all over the place with him.

We played in all the rooms as much as we could before we had to run out and refill the parking meter again (we were there for 6 gloreous hours). It was raining but it didn't stop us from playing with the water feature outside. The stone ball below weighs 5 tons but with a tiny bit of water and umph Walter was able to get it spinning. It was so cool.

I lifted Padon up so he could shoot the water at the targets and he was so stoked about pumping it up and down.

We were a little soggy in the end but had so much fun. We got back inside the center in time for them to tell us that it was closing and we had to leave. It was a bummer but Walter had had a really good time too and we looked forward to coming back again. Padon passed out cold right away having missed all his naps and we went to the Spaghetti Factory for dinner. Padon slept through the whole thing letting Walter and I have a lesuirely dinner without pulling all the stuff on the table off and to one side of the table, repeatedly picking up silverware and catching flying food. It really was one of the best birthday's I have ever had. We had such a good time.

We're Walking!

Padon started walking at 16 months and I have loved every moment of it!
Padon started walking pretty confidently at the end of September at Banner War and would stand for long moments unassisted. But now at the end of October he is tearing up and down the hall way and getting upset that he is blocked from the computer and sometimes the kitchen. I have loved going shopping with him, watching his face as he walks among the items, and seeing where he would like to go and what catches his interests. It is just too fantastic!

Oh, Man Where to Start?!

Oh, Man where to start?! It has been so long since I posted and I was being so good about it.

I got asked in August to be the Coordinator for PACCAR Financial's United Way Campaign and it pretty much absorbed my life for the month of October. The Campaign week was the week of October 20th and while it was a whorlwind of activity and extrememly long hours designing two websites; one for PFC and one for PLC, flyers and logos, shoping for supplies, and organizing the schedule, it was successful and I think we raised almost $30,000. Rock On!
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We had all kinds of activites and prizes planned including a Breakfast Java stand where my partner Elena brought in some delicious european coffee,

and a Welcome Party letting people know why PACCAR works with United Way, passing off to the invited speaker, announcing the weeks events, and ushering people to the treats.

With the Theme Office Olympics I designed, delegated, and assembled a mini putt-putt golf course made out of office supplies in our Pavilion that people thought was cool but hard;

We had chair rowing races where if you shuffled your feet you got a 5 second penalty;

and even though I was in a skirt there was so little participation that I played too, hoping to rally the troops. It was a lot of fun!

We had a rubber band archery competition that started with flinging pens across a conference room with rubber bands but when the ink in the pen flew out of the pen all over the table, wall, and screen because of the centrifical force we just stuck to snapping rubber bands. Note the broken Freightliner (booooooo, big truck competitor).

For the Office Olympic games we gave out gold, silver, and bronze (well black) binder clip awards to the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners as well as certificates. I won honorable mention as well as 3rd place in the chair rowing race.

We ended the campaign with a crazy and stylish shoe competition and trying to get people in the spirit I wore both my barbie highheel shoe and one of Walter's sweet leather boots.

Ambre wore my last Christmas dream slippers; a pair of sock monkey slippers that I tried to convince Walter I needed last year with the sock monkey print flannel pajamas. I didn't get them and Ambre won first place. Seems I'm not the only one who thought they were super cool!

Elena and I hosted a Thank You! Reception in the end and everyone thought it was a great campaign. Hopefully it will make PACCAR people oooo and awe years to come as they look at my PDR. And hopefully it will inspire someone to give me a raise. Ummmmmm a raise.....