tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-333518792024-03-13T12:54:49.745-07:00I can't believe anyone would want to read thisThe adventures of a gainfully employed, divorced, 50 year old, vegetarian, twin, Jackson Browne loving, two time breast cancer surviviving, step mother, who is probably going to wind up being the crazy lady in the mobile home park who knits matching sweaters and tams for her herd of cats.Tami Wyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17449377117345420203noreply@blogger.comBlogger251125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33351879.post-45476963588773774062014-05-25T19:12:00.002-07:002014-05-25T19:12:17.839-07:00My year of living erroneously part 1<br />
<b><u>Well here is a blog post that I found in my draft folder today. I wrote it 3 years ago.</u></b><br />
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My blog has been sorely neglected for the last 12 months and it isn’t because there hasn’t been anything going on in my life. Much to the contrary. .. it seemed like for a while there it was whammy city. Every time I turned around something major was happening. Some things were good…some things…not so much. I hope I can remember everything that happened so I can share it with you. If not…then this will teach me what the consequences are when I don’t blog about things as they happen. Let’s sally forth, shall we?
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In August of 2010 I was sitting at my desk in the Legal Affairs office of the major institution of higher learning where I had worked for the last 4 years and 9 months when my boss came out of her office looking like she has seen a ghost. Her voice wobbled as she said, “I have some very bad news for you.” My mind immediately thought that something was wrong with someone in my family and I just about had a heart attack on the spot. She just stood there looking at me with tears in her eyes. It seemed like 5 minutes had gone by but in reality it was more like 10 seconds before she told me that the powers that be had decided to restructure our office and I was going to be let go. As my boss blubbered over the news she had just delivered I sat there dumbfounded. W.T.F. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Although I never did like my job in that office I was a very dedicated employee. They had absolutely no reason in the world to justify letting me go….except for the fact that it was determined that my office would surely perish is they didn’t get a paralegal in their midst immediately. A paralegal who also does clerical scut work. A paralegal who also does scut work for less than $20.00 per hour. F.M.L. After learning about the details of my pending departure it was ME consoling MY BOSS and it was me telling her that everything was going to work out just the way it was supposed to and that I’d be fine.
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I don’t know what the hell I was thinking. I am a home owner. I like to eat. I’m fond of my much used medical benefits. Everything wasn’t going to be fine! This country is in one of its worst recessions in history and I was about to have to go out and find a new job.
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They gave me one months’ notice and boy was it made perfectly clear just how nice they thought they were to have done so. I was told about a former co-worker who had since gone to another department who was given about 5 minutes’ notice of her imminent departure on the very day that I was given the news that I was going to be gone in 30 days. So as much as I wanted to tell them to stick their 30 days where the sun didn’t shine I guess it was better than getting no notice at all. I spent the next 4 weeks searching the internet for job leads. I kept my eye on the campus employment website. And there was just nothing out there. I applied for a couple of positions through the edjoin website but I couldn’t even secure an interview. As the days went by I was determined not to let my boss know that I was devastated over the pending loss of my job. I wasn’t even going to ask her for a letter of recommendation. If she wanted to give me one then she could just offer it to me. (Yeah, maturity reigns when I’m mad.) By the end of August I wizened up a bit, swallowed my pride and decided that my resume looked pretty lame with letters of recommendation from to 2005. I braced myself and sauntered in to my boss’s office and asked her if she would write me a letter of recommendation. Well…if I was stunned to hear that I was being let go…imagine how I felt when my boss told me…”It is against company policy for us to write blanket letters of recommendation. Tell me where you’ve applied and I’ll give you a letter that is addressed to them exclusively.” I was so taken aback that I just said, “Oh, ok…I’ll let you know”. But it didn’t take me about 2 seconds to decide that I wouldn’t take a letter of recommendation from that woman if it arrived tattooed on Jackson Browne’s ass! (I called the HR office and asked them if there was indeed a rule about writing letters of recommendation and of course no one knew the answer but if the legal counsel for the entire university said that was a rule then they were going to err on her side.)
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Just before my time in that office was up I saw a posting for a clerical position at the offices of the campus church. The job description was almost exactly the same as the job that I had been doing for the last 4.5 years so I applied for it. The interview went wonderfully and I waited for about a week until they got back to me. The reverend who interviewed me called me and told me that the position that needed to be filled had been empty for quite a while and there had been a temporary office worker at that desk for over a month. Even though they pretty much knew that they were going to give the job to the temp worker they still had to post the position and conduct interviews. They thought their temp was a shoe in….until they interviewed me. The reverend said that she just loved my spark and my sense of humor and she especially loved that I had been doing the same job only in a different office for almost 5 years. I thwarted their plans to just hand the job over to the temp worker. However, after much prayer and deliberation they decided that it just wouldn’t be fair to the temp to not give her the job. Urgh! It would have been so nice to just seamlessly transition from one office to the next without any down time…but no…it was not to be. The reverend went on to tell me that she was so impressed by me that she had given my name to a reverend friend of hers who had a church in Garden Grove that was looking to hire a clerk. I thanked her profusely and even though I didn’t get the job she managed to make me feel pretty good about myself.
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My boss was going to be at a seminar on my last day of work so there would be no awkward goodbyes and that suited me just fine. I was going to walk out of that office with my head held high because I knew that there were better things on the horizon just waiting for me. Instead as the clocked ticked 5:00 on my last day I grabbed my purse and started to tell my co-worker good bye and I blubbered like an inconsolable baby. Although I had known for 4 weeks that I was losing my job it wasn’t until that very moment that I realized that …whoa shit…I don’t have an income anymore.
Tami Wyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17449377117345420203noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33351879.post-693212850267551152011-12-05T15:08:00.000-08:002011-12-05T15:20:39.756-08:00Sing it, Merle....Lap top computer: broken<br />Zoom lens to camera: broken<br />Front door to house: broken<br />TV remote control: broken<br />TV: broken<br />Bank account: broken<br />Blow Dryer: broken<br />Iron: Broken<br />Feet: Broken<br />Washer and Dryer: never installed<br /><br /><br /><iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/sGDo1Jybs_I" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>Tami Wyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17449377117345420203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33351879.post-46078524197248120332011-10-14T17:23:00.000-07:002012-02-01T08:04:49.164-08:00Our Day at the London EyeOk, so it's been months since I wrote about my 2010 trip to Europe. My computer broke and I've just gotten it back. So let us now continue with my saga of "My year of living erroneously". (keep an eye on the black cloud that was hanging over my head...in case you don't remember...in the few posts previous to this one regarding 2010...I had lost my job and then totaled my car.)<br /><br /><br />When you are vacationing in Europe you don’t let a little bit of arctic freezing cold rain get in the way of a good time. I’m sure I’m not the only one of us who felt like I lived in my long johns and wet tennis shoes. My scarf had pretty much adhered itself to my body. We would bundle up as we were leaving our apartment building because to do so even one minute earlier would result in passing out from the heat. Once we got outside it was a whole different story. Noses would run. Eyes would water. Hair would frizz. Cheeks would turn bright pink. We were a stunning bunch!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipyhFaWT4W2XB9l8Imtcmj96u62ONkSkplZJkKvDx2ar31WbbXIrQSWzTf_OAPhpTlU32cxjqzI_2aJexI1Ow1x124GLDNmZXqpWtIbu7NT9KoskOIjP_iKFhm6BoP2W4bD7Bj/s1600/London+2010+%252842%2529.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5665379613773932930" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 267px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipyhFaWT4W2XB9l8Imtcmj96u62ONkSkplZJkKvDx2ar31WbbXIrQSWzTf_OAPhpTlU32cxjqzI_2aJexI1Ow1x124GLDNmZXqpWtIbu7NT9KoskOIjP_iKFhm6BoP2W4bD7Bj/s400/London+2010+%252842%2529.JPG" border="0" /></a> Our plan for this day was to walk over to the London Eye. Katie and I had wanted to go on it since the minute we got off the plane but couldn’t convince Tori and Rebek to go on it with us. So on this very rainy day Katie and I decided to go on it without them. Neither Katie nor I wanted to admit that we were terrified of heights so we put on our brave faces, got our cameras and our monkeys and stood outside in the rain and waited in line. The London Eye never stops rotating even when it is loading and unloading passengers but he rotation speed is so slow that you can’t even feel it moving. I was very happy to see that there was an air conditioner in each unit, (and thus we wouldn't run out of oxygen) and the glass capsule was large enough to walk around in if you so chose.(two very big deals for the claustrophobic!) It only took a couple of minutes for me to realize that there was nothing to be afraid of. The ride was smooth. There was plenty of oxygen. The view was amazing. I’m hooked!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipyhFaWT4W2XB9l8Imtcmj96u62ONkSkplZJkKvDx2ar31WbbXIrQSWzTf_OAPhpTlU32cxjqzI_2aJexI1Ow1x124GLDNmZXqpWtIbu7NT9KoskOIjP_iKFhm6BoP2W4bD7Bj/s1600/London+2010+%252842%2529.JPG"></a><br /><br />After our ride on the London Eye Tori and Rebek were supposed to meet me and Katie at the rides exit. Some people don’t know how to follow directions and thus Katie and I were forced to walk around and try to find them. I found this guy instead:<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1Wvt3LJZCWs_a2D5LIB3LKOPPSTl0n8n-Mk-G9K4B4nlKpWGF0_FDcLLKy9G9EzwhyrSUicqTHaoKAmTStDULMW47wItXmM-wNb2yozu6hsarMghJX82FUD4prIGgxeOYGtsj/s1600/Bruno+2010.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5703973770679517314" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 262px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1Wvt3LJZCWs_a2D5LIB3LKOPPSTl0n8n-Mk-G9K4B4nlKpWGF0_FDcLLKy9G9EzwhyrSUicqTHaoKAmTStDULMW47wItXmM-wNb2yozu6hsarMghJX82FUD4prIGgxeOYGtsj/s400/Bruno+2010.JPG" border="0" /></a>This is Bruno from "Dancing With The Stars". He is much shorter than I imagined. Sorry this picture is so bad but I got in trouble for taking his picture while he was giving an interview, so this picture was taken with my zoom from about a mile away.<br /><br />It took us almost an hour to meet up with Tori and Rebekah, to this day I don't know where they were when they were supposed to meet us right next to the London Eye. (bone heads.) Katie and I told them what a fantastic time and we just about begged them to give it a try but what I think convinced Tori to go for it was when we told her about the amazing photo ops up there. We managed to convince both of them to go on it and Katie and I were more than happy to go on it again.<br /><br />This is what the pods looked like:<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSBiaca4PfH6jv95CSvzN_ZHxxxYSqtLosLuPZ6A9_5fKCQyG7PGL0D9_nWFgQEcwVUILbM7pomNfNNZdRodhZdTggmLTXmrYHchUyUGXuShL6SNkIaaqzmPFa8nAgMqMUaXvm/s1600/IMG_0408.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5665378743001203026" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 267px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSBiaca4PfH6jv95CSvzN_ZHxxxYSqtLosLuPZ6A9_5fKCQyG7PGL0D9_nWFgQEcwVUILbM7pomNfNNZdRodhZdTggmLTXmrYHchUyUGXuShL6SNkIaaqzmPFa8nAgMqMUaXvm/s400/IMG_0408.JPG" border="0" /></a><br />This was inside the pod:<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi7nvJfuRA8h9YNo-AFuekbIDBfatbYXsUR4lVdZhl3Gtw8jqbTXaIprdThHckxHExQBS9jvBbZgKaYKR7wZm__EXqDanBjYlzoloK8qO4rL0sK2brkfFS_iyq3kEfmsRFRHY4/s1600/SAM_0489.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5665380074026868674" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 267px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi7nvJfuRA8h9YNo-AFuekbIDBfatbYXsUR4lVdZhl3Gtw8jqbTXaIprdThHckxHExQBS9jvBbZgKaYKR7wZm__EXqDanBjYlzoloK8qO4rL0sK2brkfFS_iyq3kEfmsRFRHY4/s400/SAM_0489.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br />This was the view from the pod when were even with Big Ben:<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl805mcAqfRHeXCI3wHH7QQkrKfVWggEUVZpsm_vavek1PK8pxT4MOrpzUaYfPkEWVfnAYia_HAwgaDo_LttTWzcOQ4bamU5TdOonodkXdk41LAumbLKK8XpYNirkt6Hbzdu4X/s1600/London+2010+%25289%2529.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5703979404835019410" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 267px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl805mcAqfRHeXCI3wHH7QQkrKfVWggEUVZpsm_vavek1PK8pxT4MOrpzUaYfPkEWVfnAYia_HAwgaDo_LttTWzcOQ4bamU5TdOonodkXdk41LAumbLKK8XpYNirkt6Hbzdu4X/s400/London+2010+%25289%2529.JPG" border="0" /></a> This was the carnival at the base of the ride. You can see the bridge over the river Thames. ("Tems") This bridge was in one of the Harry Potter movies...but I don't know which one.:(<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9eVdqNSkmduRTI_pn-utwxAUfbRl8NBvIJbRg8ULSCL-OkDaNcKz9rD8z0qlTAKsIhrifrwoGATBywWaAQnBJPNJUnRUyJ99QBValYr_52f4cUskUHCqfkj64GsWDxSmHVbOk/s1600/London+2010+%252814%2529.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5703979397521057458" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 267px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9eVdqNSkmduRTI_pn-utwxAUfbRl8NBvIJbRg8ULSCL-OkDaNcKz9rD8z0qlTAKsIhrifrwoGATBywWaAQnBJPNJUnRUyJ99QBValYr_52f4cUskUHCqfkj64GsWDxSmHVbOk/s400/London+2010+%252814%2529.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcSG9laL4Oi749qaoPiebKhMXk2_qGNWxYWuxuBr82pv6ClamWKUa4fUiIURoNVc_EKqxpC8l9RVxhJkxvR9rfQlwrJkLLC9EEflUpiCbvMnVzrgrsx1s6niISdgJ1KvrJ5zmN/s1600/IMG_0691.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5703979387689128466" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 267px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcSG9laL4Oi749qaoPiebKhMXk2_qGNWxYWuxuBr82pv6ClamWKUa4fUiIURoNVc_EKqxpC8l9RVxhJkxvR9rfQlwrJkLLC9EEflUpiCbvMnVzrgrsx1s6niISdgJ1KvrJ5zmN/s400/IMG_0691.JPG" border="0" /></a> Cousin Katie:<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhyTE61AjS8tAJEIjpEAmhVt1WqF_avIVlnyKmld_MBxFnAuwrAiy27NW_qX9fcGvgkb3Lu0tJZbiwTb8CCjeVjq0OndDWxYwvfWch4-rB9uwvvc6O1PmfKHWO-Sj0x-kNLpxJ/s1600/IMG_0409.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5703979375226960658" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 339px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 219px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhyTE61AjS8tAJEIjpEAmhVt1WqF_avIVlnyKmld_MBxFnAuwrAiy27NW_qX9fcGvgkb3Lu0tJZbiwTb8CCjeVjq0OndDWxYwvfWch4-rB9uwvvc6O1PmfKHWO-Sj0x-kNLpxJ/s400/IMG_0409.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAsqFA49J5Xa5Ue_sRxzFQcpBxcw4TW02RKmGa9X4Z9Rkzby8PDFacWZZsY1nAjueXuu8EAqDqqpeG8CS7_h8mFHTUcGP20SFZviWlo3OWKN1-n0NeMgquLU0B9usbsWHSxfEe/s1600/IMG_0388.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5703979369598447634" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 267px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAsqFA49J5Xa5Ue_sRxzFQcpBxcw4TW02RKmGa9X4Z9Rkzby8PDFacWZZsY1nAjueXuu8EAqDqqpeG8CS7_h8mFHTUcGP20SFZviWlo3OWKN1-n0NeMgquLU0B9usbsWHSxfEe/s400/IMG_0388.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOco6-yC6HkEf4YKPosKB3-dpzt8PU33YNJD_bwf8-pNBspybUxsmVAzH4JY14z1pUGFwRvxX9IIFf3ysrxQpIZlBPDpUmmniPfb0OBgwbSBihcZNCnosbXGVD6dNz4x-h1Xaq/s1600/London+2010+%252821%2529.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5665379611372962402" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 315px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOco6-yC6HkEf4YKPosKB3-dpzt8PU33YNJD_bwf8-pNBspybUxsmVAzH4JY14z1pUGFwRvxX9IIFf3ysrxQpIZlBPDpUmmniPfb0OBgwbSBihcZNCnosbXGVD6dNz4x-h1Xaq/s400/London+2010+%252821%2529.JPG" border="0" /></a> After all was said and done Tori and Bek admitted that the London Eye was awesome and were sorry they hadn't gone on it sooner.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><p>In the winter months there is an ice rink just below the London Eye. Rebek was the only one brave enough to strap on some skates and give it a whirl:<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9OWUxCW6qPDLP1S8fM2fY0cG9wtM2UsyLmGGANPCiHvzcDNCy2fqFZnU59YzcobBeik11-Fal_XJwGsJ90lu5PurAF5kaTH-9qHDX_jQKmNUtPTWOX6vEeFT1D2vG4ErNJ6MQ/s1600/IMG_0726.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5665379605002501122" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 267px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9OWUxCW6qPDLP1S8fM2fY0cG9wtM2UsyLmGGANPCiHvzcDNCy2fqFZnU59YzcobBeik11-Fal_XJwGsJ90lu5PurAF5kaTH-9qHDX_jQKmNUtPTWOX6vEeFT1D2vG4ErNJ6MQ/s400/IMG_0726.JPG" border="0" /></a> We had a wonderful adventure at the London Eye and it was a day I will never forget, but it wasn't because of all the fun we had this day. When we got back to our flat Tori and I found out that our beloved cousin Gary had passed away. She and I adored this man and it was a loss that neither one of us were really prepared for. Gary had been ill off and on for the last few years but, like my father, he would get sick...go to the hospital and get better and come home. Sadly this time he didn't come home. He and my dad were partners in crime so I'm sure there was a terrific reunion when Gary reached the pearly gates. There is no doubt that my dad met him there with a Coors for each of them. Rest in peace you two. (yeah, right!)</p>Tami Wyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17449377117345420203noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33351879.post-21920729084828993202011-10-10T17:24:00.000-07:002011-10-11T13:14:28.026-07:00The Tate Modern<div>On one of the few days that we got up before sundown we took off on a walk down the banks of the Thames. We weren’t really on the banks because that is where the bums hang out, we were actually up on the street that runs along side of the river, (much safer.) We saw this phone booth and I begged the girls to pose and they were more than happy to oblige…that is until they all got in there and discovered that those quaint red phone booths make for a dandy toilet for homeless people. The urine index in there was enough to gag a maggot but the girls were troopers and I got the shot!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaV5Q9B1FOuIQUZ2xTMhB784tvsEXSQAJatfqbB2KiSzwZWRSZV20G19X3dHYK05HPGgC5U4yTp5y4TpZE5LN-sX_PFVHXJlrsNwXPbjKccAX52JwaQn2lxMm-Gf7UR6LRWCTM/s1600/IMG_0348.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 209px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5662026066089251490" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaV5Q9B1FOuIQUZ2xTMhB784tvsEXSQAJatfqbB2KiSzwZWRSZV20G19X3dHYK05HPGgC5U4yTp5y4TpZE5LN-sX_PFVHXJlrsNwXPbjKccAX52JwaQn2lxMm-Gf7UR6LRWCTM/s400/IMG_0348.JPG" /></a><br /><br />After taking the phone booth picture we walked through a park and took a full series of pics of Bek gleefully throwing leaves up in the air. Tori and I both got some great shots but I’m sorry to say that at this late date we can only find two of the pictures from the whole series. Look at how nice they turned out:.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOKsHQQT-8Gqkt_7QtHcmLQEk_NJwmNqjmOYKfJK9y7MqrmkC-VhrapDYkD-lmbUR15taKAtf2IdF2WpqQkDrNfVkcX_0hOOjujqKVU_AxDWCea8sjbrXp-povjsw6Q6P3cAGN/s1600/IMG_4133%255B1%255D.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 267px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5662026847238773122" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOKsHQQT-8Gqkt_7QtHcmLQEk_NJwmNqjmOYKfJK9y7MqrmkC-VhrapDYkD-lmbUR15taKAtf2IdF2WpqQkDrNfVkcX_0hOOjujqKVU_AxDWCea8sjbrXp-povjsw6Q6P3cAGN/s400/IMG_4133%255B1%255D.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUq786iXZrAMQmoxEGUq_xqLRuused7HtpM7LrZe8LMepuAgP1U3vxR2gHSl5qhz2ybldU5Amt0sjRIFexV0h4e_YWiq0BrBa-KyvPtewhvkC20Z6tp_DgcUdbZI0tSjxq2TyT/s1600/Bek+in+london.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 267px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5662329797547957890" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUq786iXZrAMQmoxEGUq_xqLRuused7HtpM7LrZe8LMepuAgP1U3vxR2gHSl5qhz2ybldU5Amt0sjRIFexV0h4e_YWiq0BrBa-KyvPtewhvkC20Z6tp_DgcUdbZI0tSjxq2TyT/s400/Bek+in+london.jpg" /></a><br /><br />Now imagine the last picture in the series where Bek got murky water in her mouth and she was coughing and sputtering! I know this sounds so mean but the murky water situation made me laugh so hard that I had tears running down my face.<br /><br />There are two Tate Modern Museums in London and we visited both of them. I am the type of museum patron who walks very slowly and try’s to absorb everything I see through every pore of my body. I love museums but even I could have run though both these places at full speed. I really can’t distinguish what we saw at either museum so I might be interchanging what we saw at either particular location, but you’ll never know the difference because if you are smart you won’t waste your time by going to the Modern Museums.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZafeMRZyaaVfUrc3VTnwu-a8qYUwr3emmvPO51OIxzrvt_nWav9gwot40ziOgnvEQRvcftoS4hUudbJGChw60Wz0VzfXBMjFvYvd-NRZXGBCXKLFkMbiwn1bxkCidxasldJz0/s1600/IMG_0367.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 267px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5662324705768526802" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZafeMRZyaaVfUrc3VTnwu-a8qYUwr3emmvPO51OIxzrvt_nWav9gwot40ziOgnvEQRvcftoS4hUudbJGChw60Wz0VzfXBMjFvYvd-NRZXGBCXKLFkMbiwn1bxkCidxasldJz0/s400/IMG_0367.JPG" /></a> Bek and I were sooo excited to get to see the Andy Warhol exhibit. I had made a special effort to pack an old coveted tee shirt, that was once the uniform of my youth, that bore a silk screen of Warhol’s Marilyn Monroe so that I could give it to Bek while in the presence of all things Warhol. It was from way back when I was skinny so it was a small enough size that I could roll it up and put it in my camera bag. Once we got to the museum I all but herded our group to the Warhol salon. Boy was I disappointed to find that there was not one of his famous celebrity silk screens, nor even mention of his Campbell’s Soup can. No, instead we found ourselves in a room that was covered in Pepto Bismal pink and yellow cow print and aWarholian-esque picture of a pistol. WTH? I still managed to give Bek the tee shirt and I think she was touched by my gesture. I’ve seen pictures of her wearing the shirt so apparently she likes it.<br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBaDQVZCzThyphenhyphenKlfqDxWYSPWXL70dCf-wF0kFAZm1w5kjeU2PkPc6abRsgBWIbtoGWeeixzGxFWM4L9curtuhipddE_qM4_SJXTp0xfkPf_UXD8iOUQRJuPGIiWtwEL82nxNjET/s1600/76954_454022359614_710819614_5641230_3116832_nTate+modern.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 267px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5662329792830533266" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBaDQVZCzThyphenhyphenKlfqDxWYSPWXL70dCf-wF0kFAZm1w5kjeU2PkPc6abRsgBWIbtoGWeeixzGxFWM4L9curtuhipddE_qM4_SJXTp0xfkPf_UXD8iOUQRJuPGIiWtwEL82nxNjET/s400/76954_454022359614_710819614_5641230_3116832_nTate+modern.jpg" /></a><br />Negative pictures on tin. Ok.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCmq-ahTBusu9SEgqVkBTnHY3X-V0hBb3dTaqucDP49fin2Vc7vTBSSdrV_u2HKTDXvuP0ELJx5nMljp5hyphenhyphenk5RXMeWw_8pbuXD-GzmyM8yDgfw_ct5jFKAlN2OvpT_ZvhOxWKW/s1600/IMG_0505.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 267px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5662029077682316786" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCmq-ahTBusu9SEgqVkBTnHY3X-V0hBb3dTaqucDP49fin2Vc7vTBSSdrV_u2HKTDXvuP0ELJx5nMljp5hyphenhyphenk5RXMeWw_8pbuXD-GzmyM8yDgfw_ct5jFKAlN2OvpT_ZvhOxWKW/s400/IMG_0505.JPG" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkdgseIJSLdSSVVFs-LGjboOZ4usvMTBavSOLfmFg5akJupFInjs-ImBmDZTjPlwvp1A20q5zb-FIT3QjonfWfdDEQf9gLQ_7l440I901ziS5G3mzb4mhyphenhyphensq6HRp-niOtjNLlj/s1600/IMG_0503.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 267px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5662029074175772642" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkdgseIJSLdSSVVFs-LGjboOZ4usvMTBavSOLfmFg5akJupFInjs-ImBmDZTjPlwvp1A20q5zb-FIT3QjonfWfdDEQf9gLQ_7l440I901ziS5G3mzb4mhyphenhyphensq6HRp-niOtjNLlj/s400/IMG_0503.JPG" /></a><br />Amongst the works of art that were proudly displayed in the Tate were a pencil written script of “Top Gun”:</p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs4IPVpr23LcBnCwT7RwfHJpzbMsBgzDd6fwZDU8L40FHpez7Bef7D7PGAU60dXoWHI5QEeWXQvwRUpkvlghD8HPLPpptpB5Q8zfvZNbTsVOeHYnL6X589c3XsHotC5pPx8121/s1600/IMG_0365.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 267px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5662321620209341026" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs4IPVpr23LcBnCwT7RwfHJpzbMsBgzDd6fwZDU8L40FHpez7Bef7D7PGAU60dXoWHI5QEeWXQvwRUpkvlghD8HPLPpptpB5Q8zfvZNbTsVOeHYnL6X589c3XsHotC5pPx8121/s400/IMG_0365.JPG" /></a> We also saw an entire room with nothing more than what appeared to be several years worth of dryer lint. I am not kidding. We also got to watch a short film of a naked women who was standing on a big rock next to a river. She was covered in blood and someone was throwing feathers on her. Yeah. Artistic. We got to see what we presumed was the original “ugly stick” and the best part of the day was when Tori dared to put her finger on an authentic WWII chrome fighter plane. We almost got kicked out over that faux paux. (how do you spell that? Spellcheck didn't have any suggestions.)<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div align="left">The only true piece of art we saw was the sculpture called “The Kiss", by Rodan. I loved it and even to this day I still enjoy looking at the pictures.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD5V6_weiMl5e9GiXiDoPBm4HqOWdLUGgvvzEB7Qj9GSWtio_TIml6KRqFVkxMEkrr9Kt8eC8u5xOs68jfz5E6DBXWUMMYo6sXKVAnRNOAqLsCqSwvCBnJr6siPCS-Y9apn0_O/s1600/IMG_0496.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 260px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5662028193078396258" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD5V6_weiMl5e9GiXiDoPBm4HqOWdLUGgvvzEB7Qj9GSWtio_TIml6KRqFVkxMEkrr9Kt8eC8u5xOs68jfz5E6DBXWUMMYo6sXKVAnRNOAqLsCqSwvCBnJr6siPCS-Y9apn0_O/s400/IMG_0496.JPG" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyP2oBlejE8gfAvKhDydaPibyFxHtUPGU4zM4d1mDM1yYrzohdTsmxeyH0X9_QfvTuISh-AiTkJbVIWXm7wjHbjmcPONKUYTHwuhDTCWVAUB19S67vZJrJT1mAJrzAXKHY2T_u/s1600/London+2010+%252833%2529.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 267px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5662027365930218690" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyP2oBlejE8gfAvKhDydaPibyFxHtUPGU4zM4d1mDM1yYrzohdTsmxeyH0X9_QfvTuISh-AiTkJbVIWXm7wjHbjmcPONKUYTHwuhDTCWVAUB19S67vZJrJT1mAJrzAXKHY2T_u/s400/London+2010+%252833%2529.JPG" /></a><br />The museums in London have full bars and so of course we thought if we had a couple of cocktails then maybe we would have a greater appreciation of the works of art. Between the 4 of us it cost over 50.00 BPS. Bek ordered a smoothie. Word to the wise…in London a “smoothie” is a cup of room temperature watered down yogurt with a little bit of honey mixed in. Upon her first sip of this concoction you could just see it in her face…she didn’t want to swallow what was in her mouth and she was not going to take another sip. Tori told her that for what they paid for that smoothie Rebek had better know that she was going to drink every last bit of it. Bek told Tori if Tori took a sip of it and still thought it was consumable then she would try to drink it. Tori took one sip and lo and behold…the drink was trashed.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim95McYSXwyV-EQqLFtxBrU5PgCcOfeKnM-nlCr8nuTmJVbm0RiYuJLFRYJHI0zzcVlQuHcprITpz-qpGpFaZsi-o9L8jYat_EZB2l3wTsMSI98MhyVNkkR3pTLeqp_eTfWuc1/s1600/self+portrait+in+the+tate+modern.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 286px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5662027369648647314" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim95McYSXwyV-EQqLFtxBrU5PgCcOfeKnM-nlCr8nuTmJVbm0RiYuJLFRYJHI0zzcVlQuHcprITpz-qpGpFaZsi-o9L8jYat_EZB2l3wTsMSI98MhyVNkkR3pTLeqp_eTfWuc1/s400/self+portrait+in+the+tate+modern.jpg" /></a><span style="font-size:78%;"> </span><em><span style="font-size:78%;">This was Bek innocently trying to take a portrait of herself. We thought it would be better with accompaniment</span>. <span style="font-size:78%;">Seriously, what picture isn't improved by bunny ears?</span></em></div></div></div>Tami Wyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17449377117345420203noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33351879.post-80038872159239203242011-10-07T09:02:00.000-07:002011-10-07T12:58:52.001-07:00The Dolphin HouseOur apartment at the Dolphin House consisted of two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a nice size living room and a kitchen that was so small that only two people could fit in there at a time. (No <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_0" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">exaggeration</span>.) An odd contrast to the kitchen we had last year which was big enough to hold a square dance.
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<br /><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEtOG8G_90n9bEh9skzKn3S1HG1aocGhvqj3dsERc7gd6k586OuAyC52DggQ50bK70kNGVtmUud58SYyZgIo3AaIVhvVSQFS-gM2NLw814PwWBAMjxTG4TnzD8TQlJTMdNgrwQ/s1600/London+2010+%252832%2529.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 267px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5660836634625438162" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEtOG8G_90n9bEh9skzKn3S1HG1aocGhvqj3dsERc7gd6k586OuAyC52DggQ50bK70kNGVtmUud58SYyZgIo3AaIVhvVSQFS-gM2NLw814PwWBAMjxTG4TnzD8TQlJTMdNgrwQ/s400/London+2010+%252832%2529.JPG" /></a>
<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT1z84n8uf8wyB2bbhz1lhfQxP0z3PFxktBHzhO95l9nzw_rZSAfdnW4bOfj7hvHFjvaw8XJeDvn9YJ6EDAmpBu4cToMn6dn0RZv4d1t7e3AAqSrHq-CWf5YztCcF-l7oerCIJ/s1600/London+2010+%252831%2529.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 267px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5660836315997086754" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT1z84n8uf8wyB2bbhz1lhfQxP0z3PFxktBHzhO95l9nzw_rZSAfdnW4bOfj7hvHFjvaw8XJeDvn9YJ6EDAmpBu4cToMn6dn0RZv4d1t7e3AAqSrHq-CWf5YztCcF-l7oerCIJ/s400/London+2010+%252831%2529.JPG" /></a><em><span style="font-size:85%;"> These pics were taken within the first 24 hours of our arrival. I know this because after the first day you pretty much needed a shovel to make your way through the living room. We are not a tidy bunch.
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<br />We threw our luggage in to our respective rooms, turned on all of the radiators, you can see the radiators behind the sheer curtains in the pic above, and took off on a walk-about. It would be nice to come back to a toasty warm apartment. We bundled up in our new rain coats that we all got just for the London weather, and headed out in to the early evening rain. After walking about 3 blocks from the apartment I discovered that my cool new coat was not water proof and I was rain soaked to the skin. (<span id="SPELLING_ERROR_1" class="blsp-spelling-error">Yay</span>! I get to spend my entire autumn vacation in rainy London with a coat that absorbs water!)
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<br /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 267px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5660836641221262978" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfl6LuAYNiObZRjYkrKK6ae42MccqpTcuwXr7-WX-UQ3DqxkG0B0L33Z-itPj2fxLE0K70Eebsdkn3RBkFwSK_p3QZxRsLga1GxSJBG4aQvvOv1z_b7-VUqp6CiEY83GUHBK7c/s400/rainy+weather.jpg" /></A(I <div><em><span style="font-size:78%;">(I am SO pretty.) </span></em></div>
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<br />We raced back to the apartment and were all shocked to not be greeted with the delightful hug of warmth from the radiators. All four of us thought we were smarter than the other and we all tried our hand at making the radiators work. Tori got bored with this and decided to turn on the television. Imagine if you will…the <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_2" class="blsp-spelling-error">tv</span> <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_3" class="blsp-spelling-error">didn</span>’t work, either. We called the front desk and reported our broken radiators and television. It took a couple of hours but they sent up the first security guard they could spare...because clearly a security guard is the most capable person to send to fix electronics and plumbing. Oddly enough after frittering around with the radiator and the television the security guard told us that the <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_4" class="blsp-spelling-error">tv</span> and the radiators were … are you ready?…. “broken”. Obviously he was an expert in his field. (I don’t quite remember exactly but it was a couple of days before both items were actually repaired.) </div>
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<br />There is an 8 hour time difference between London and California and it’s really hard to adjust to the change. We were all a little jet lagged but thought that we were handling things pretty well. One morning I decided to get up when I heard the others stirring, as opposed to sleeping in as I had done every day thus missing out on a lot of daylight, so even though I was still really tired I dragged myself out of bed. Katie was up and cooking Top <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_5" class="blsp-spelling-error">Ramen</span>. (Breakfast of champions!!) I convinced her to share it with me and we enjoyed our ever so nutritious breakfast while Tori and <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_6" class="blsp-spelling-error">Bek</span> slowly made their way to start the new day with us. Tori did as Tori does and turned on the television which thankfully was in working order. There was even less of a choice of what to watch than usual and it was at that point we found out that it was 2:00 AM!! We were all amused at our early start to our day and since there was nothing to watch on TV we watched “Harry Potter” on Katie’s laptop. Since <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_7" class="blsp-spelling-error">Rebek</span> missed out on eating Top <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_8" class="blsp-spelling-error">Ramen</span> she decided to cook some Uncle <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_9" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">Ben's</span> rice. The directions said, “Boil a large amount of water”, and to that <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_10" class="blsp-spelling-error">Bek</span> said, “SHOULD I FILL THE BATH TUB???” I don’t know if it was because we were all up and out of bed at such an ungodly hour or what but we all thought that that was just about the funniest thing we’d ever heard.
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<br /><div align="left">I'm sad to report that we all fell asleep while watching "Harry Potter" and once again wasted half of the day by sleeping through it. </div>
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<br /><div align="left">Stay tuned for the next posting where we actually make it out of the house during daylight hours!
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<br />Tami Wyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17449377117345420203noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33351879.post-73377706447559789272011-09-30T17:52:00.000-07:002011-09-30T18:45:45.305-07:00Airplane ride..<div align="center">So what do ya do when you are stuck on a plane, in a tiny little seat for 12 hours? Of course! You take pictures of your monkey in compromising positions…<br /><br /></div><br /><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw5tXgXRE_anOIUmBOY1xhlekYJFXpd64TXEt_2kHcDH6kj0ISOiQDweGgDx9CD5xKknfJxiwaQ_Jp8xM4QKwgLLzUGP1wOh7_uoEJS_RJqS_3V_clNm3wxAHnjLY6Lzy-Ixvs/s1600/Skeeter+%2526+absolute.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 267px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5658323427642574370" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw5tXgXRE_anOIUmBOY1xhlekYJFXpd64TXEt_2kHcDH6kj0ISOiQDweGgDx9CD5xKknfJxiwaQ_Jp8xM4QKwgLLzUGP1wOh7_uoEJS_RJqS_3V_clNm3wxAHnjLY6Lzy-Ixvs/s400/Skeeter+%2526+absolute.JPG" /></a>First the little simian drinks all of the vodka...<br /><br />Then the cheeky little dude swipes my headphones! You just can NOT trust a monkey on an overseas flight!<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUjrI4jKBYhcWmpB83Nx772e-kPG1EdYR6BWxB1CBOKOuWtyl_Y9YSrqnLAF9gzIQxF-apDc4NmUTmH3vae3y5-s7fxZ7FPNTCB_F_A7xPcN5Rej3uAlB8HLojsvq_oZjqXveo/s1600/Skeeter+%2526+headphones.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 267px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5658323584335363618" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUjrI4jKBYhcWmpB83Nx772e-kPG1EdYR6BWxB1CBOKOuWtyl_Y9YSrqnLAF9gzIQxF-apDc4NmUTmH3vae3y5-s7fxZ7FPNTCB_F_A7xPcN5Rej3uAlB8HLojsvq_oZjqXveo/s400/Skeeter+%2526+headphones.JPG" /></a><br /><br />For the better part of 3 hours we played word games. We ate. We drank. We watched movies. We watched TV shows. We made fun of our neighbors. We took pictures. <br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF4XRjvhy-VODXeHuU_0PMhPlGKf2nv-bcBdfocdYfjtq1fTMMHwzKvVTxkr4AVeblUPkzeMzZtqbmI3ZPhtmo_UzXuzR5PCJPeXoVzpn_5sS7MCuUv3jVVqghGoOm8AlhhHyn/s1600/T%2526B+plane.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5658323734810004370" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF4XRjvhy-VODXeHuU_0PMhPlGKf2nv-bcBdfocdYfjtq1fTMMHwzKvVTxkr4AVeblUPkzeMzZtqbmI3ZPhtmo_UzXuzR5PCJPeXoVzpn_5sS7MCuUv3jVVqghGoOm8AlhhHyn/s400/T%2526B+plane.JPG" /></a> (I like to take that zit on my chin with me on all of my trips.)<br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_SgGq8inVbcL9ZuLKqQPlYkWg74C2DvcVeYtfoI3R3RPhyphenhypheng5lz0L06eMq1DRuXaQBDCmsgNFRZuexN0B6CW0BWg5CXbi1KOdK7ucaJXFLLY21_CZLR0SeCNVssspOcKWCLILk/s1600/K%2526B+plane.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 267px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5658327131457230402" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_SgGq8inVbcL9ZuLKqQPlYkWg74C2DvcVeYtfoI3R3RPhyphenhypheng5lz0L06eMq1DRuXaQBDCmsgNFRZuexN0B6CW0BWg5CXbi1KOdK7ucaJXFLLY21_CZLR0SeCNVssspOcKWCLILk/s400/K%2526B+plane.JPG" /></a><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJCah3d1QV7Ijfum8OdEcQJ6na2uZFzeabrjW9Lm8_PiQswF6JU8N0MgywB8nl77jjScgeq51d9EmmRGkNoo6fcickkKDfClLl1qM07NjfUmDPu9R_Rxs_L59RWNPqV8XBFwkU/s1600/K%2526B+plane.JPG"></a>Then we tried to sleep. We all put on our movie star sleep masks and closed our eyes while sitting straight up. I dozed off for a while and when I woke up I discovered that we were draped all over each other like a basket full of sleeping kittens. I wanted to move but I feared that if I were to even try to get up I would decimate this delicate human Jenga game. So I sat there letting my legs go numb trying to be nice and accommodate the rest of the gang. Then Bek woke up and flung everyone off of her and the rest of us all but flew out of our seats. <br /><br />After sitting for over 12 hours we were very happy to get off of that plane. I couldn’t wait for Katie to see the London style taxi cabs so we all but ran through Heathrow Airport. Just before we got to the door we saw an ice cream machine. Bek stopped to see if the machine had Nobbily Bobbily ice creams and Tori noticed that when Bek got close to the machine animated head gear appeared on the front of the machine and sync-ed up to our heads. I am embarrassed to admit that we spent the next hour playing in front of the ice cream machine.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH-1w05Ie-FVHMhMPgo89u9fJAkoO2Pi3o4AuRo1_jcsCA-4iSMr-wFzQtMAtxjnq47FIS_3-Mpnbw6qb25Drgyq2OMrM1E8plufVtEtGdjH-hk8vmV4FZQFUjUCRw6Aj0VMgj/s1600/ice+cream+machine+at+heathrow.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 267px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5658323160121893874" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH-1w05Ie-FVHMhMPgo89u9fJAkoO2Pi3o4AuRo1_jcsCA-4iSMr-wFzQtMAtxjnq47FIS_3-Mpnbw6qb25Drgyq2OMrM1E8plufVtEtGdjH-hk8vmV4FZQFUjUCRw6Aj0VMgj/s400/ice+cream+machine+at+heathrow.jpg" /></a> NICE PINK FRO, KATIE!!!!!<br /><br />The weather outside was a slightly rainy, a bit chilly...a perfect autumn afternoon in London. We had to wait for a taxi that was big enough to fit all four of us and all of our luggage. In mere moments the charm of the chilly afternoon had worn off and it felt very good to get into a warm cab. Sadly we wound up riding in a van because the regulation taxis were not big enough to accommodate 4 of us and all of our luggage. </p><br /><p>As usual the ride to downtown London was just like Mr. Toad's Wild Ride at Disneyland. I will never get used to riding on the wrong side of the road. Every twist and turn in the road is exactly the opposite of what we are accustomed to so I would bob and weave one way and the car would go the other way. How I didn't crack my head on the side window is beyond me.</p><br /><p>This year we were staying at The Dolphin House which was right on the Thames.(I'm sad to report that there was nothing "dolphin-y" about the place.) The woman who checked us in was a typical polite Londoner but I couldn't help but feel like we were the first party she'd ever assisted. It took us over an hour to get checked in! I was anxious to get our luggage up to our room and then set out to show Katie the sites of London.</p><br /><p>Stay tuned for the next chapter... :)</p><br /><p>P.S. I have no idea why Tori isn't in any of these pictures.</p>Tami Wyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17449377117345420203noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33351879.post-32662569305128145272011-09-23T12:38:00.000-07:002011-09-30T17:52:28.006-07:00Europe Trip 2010This trip across the pond was going to be different from any of my previous trips because this time my niece Katie was going with us. Katie is actually Tori’s husband’s brother’s daughter, but I have always referred to her as my niece. (Hi Katie!)<br /><br />Before our trip was even set in stone Katie was perusing travel websites, (SOO unlike her Aunties!), trying to make sure that she was as prepared as possible for such a big trip. Most of the sites suggest the usual things such as electrical plug converters, the best places to exchange your money, special sightseeing attractions and the like but there was one site that had an odd suggestion that turned in to a very funny competition between the 4 of us. They suggested that travelers bring along condoms and use them as coin purses! (They were completely serious. Can you imagine buying a souvenir and whipping out a condom full of change!) They went on to say that condoms had a million and one practical uses for travelers but they didn’t go in to detail…so we made up our own lists. In the weeks before we left on our trip we must have texted each other 50 times apiece. And I could tell that this was something that was heavy on all of our minds because some of the texts would arrive at 3:00 in the morning. So…other than the obvious use for a condom…some of the uses that we came up with were: wind sock, emergency shoe lace, scrunchie, windshield wiper cozy, toothbrush holder, shoe liners to keep your feet dry in the event of wet weather~(Katie actually tested that one out!), balloon animals, stuffed animal shower caps, room décor, water balloon, pencil holder, soap carrier, luggage tag, finger gloves, ear rings, and on and on... (sorry if I offended any of my readers...I thought long and hard about including this part of the story and I just decided to go for it because at the time we thought it was so funny.(<br /><br />To make this trip extra fun Katie and I decided that it would be fun if we all got each other gift bags to be opened when we got on the plane. The night before the trip we were all at Tori’s house packing and repacking and doing whatever we could to make our luggage lighter. (Our last trip to London resulted in a $70.00 charge because Bek’s suitcase was too heavy. Oddly, the charge was only given on the way to London…and not on the way back. Go figure.) We wound up exchanging our gift bags in the middle of the suitcase mess. Katie got everyone a decorated canvas bag and inside was lots of candy, a stuffed monkey, (I named my monkey Skeeter!), glitter pens, and condoms of various sizes and colors! Tori also got us canvas bags and inside was an airplane neck pillow, satin sleep mask and a cotton gauze scarf and a fleece blanket. She got me a custom made journal that had a picture of the 3 of us on it and it said, “Two Pendell’s and A Wyatt”. Bek got everyone cute pajama bottoms. This gift exchange was awesome and we will do it again the next time we travel.<br /><br />On the way to the airport we all got our “dork packs” prepared. (For those of you who haven’t been reading my blog since our first trip to Europe..a “dork pack” is a document holder that hangs on a string around your neck. This handy dandy item looks sooooo dorky but it saves you from having to look for your passport, drivers license, plane ticket, etc.)They seriously make the trek through the airport much easier and I highly recommend them. It wasn’t until we got inside the airport that I realized that a cat had peed on my dork pack. (Welcome to my life.) So I threw my beloved pink dork pack away and bought a new one that cost me about 3 times what the pink one cost. There is no such thing as bargain shopping at LAX. <br /><br />It is tradition between Tori and I to have a drink before we get on the plane. It calms us down yet makes us giddy and we love it when we are giddy. The problem with our plan to find a drink was that Bek wasn't 21 so she couldn't go in to a bar with us. Katie and Bek just went and sat by our departure gate and Tori and I ran around like chickens with our heads cut off trying to find a bar with an open seat. We wound up at a bar inside of the Chili's restaurant. We ordered 2 dirty martinis...and it was a good thing we had alcohol in our system when we were handed our bill...$30.00!!!! Whatcha gonna do? (We learned a lesson for sure!)<br /><br />This was our first trip to Europe sitting in Coach. Let me tell you…there’s nothing like riding in coach to remind you just how spectacular it is to be in Business class. We were in the very back of the plane but we got to get on first because I was still hobbling around from car accident related boo boos. We were lucky enough to get 4 seats in one row. We didn’t purchase our tickets at the same time and we were afraid that we would be sitting in different sections of the plane. The plane wasn’t even fully loaded when Rebekah says very loudly….”WHO DO I HAVE TO GIVE A LAP DANCE SO I CAN GET A SEAT IN BUSINESS?” <br /><br />Thankfully there were no takers to the offer and before we knew it we were up in the air...<br /><br />(Stay tuned for the next installment with pictures!)Tami Wyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17449377117345420203noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33351879.post-90087112197339304282011-09-14T18:24:00.000-07:002011-09-14T18:26:03.787-07:00The last of the Mitsubishi accident storyImmediately after they towed my car away Tori took me straight to a 7-11 and bought me a diet Coke. I don’t know if it was because I had just watched my life pass before my eyes or what but this simple act of sisterly kindness just about moved me to tears. Everyone who knows me well knows that a Diet Coke can fix just about anything. I didn’t really want to spend the night alone so she took me to her house where I had a very fitful night of sleep. Every time I closed my eyes I relived the accident over and over. I would just finally get to sleep and I would gasp myself awake. When the morning came and I finally got out of bed I was astonished as to how sore I was. I knew I was going to be sore but I never dreamed that it would be as bad as it was. Even my corneas hurt. I hobbled out of the bedroom and made my way into the dining room. I took about 2 steps into the dining room and the next thing I knew I was doing the Fred Flintstone shuffle in midair. One of the kids had spilled water on the linoleum floor and just left it there and I slipped in it. Just as the car accident had seemed..this slip happened in slow motion. I saw myself being perpendicular to the ground and I knew it was really going to hurt when I landed. As I was on my way to the ground I reached out and tried to grab anything to break my fall and I connected with a baker’s rack that was fully loaded with dishes and large bottles of alcohol. Sadly the bakers rack didn’t break my fall but it did cause me to all but pull my arm out of the socket. Tori raced in and tried to help me up. She reached down to me and instead of her pulling me up I managed to pull her down on top of me. So there we both were..laying on the floor in a puddle of water. I took a quick assessment of my injuries and was pretty sure none of my bones were broken and then we sat there and laughed. <br />A few days after the accident the tow yard called me to let me know that I was racking up storage charges so I wound up signing my car over to them so that I wouldn’t continue to accrue charges. I was planning to give my car away once I got a new one but I can assure you I had no intentions of giving it away when I was still using it nor was I going to give it to a total stranger.<br />I continued to relive the accident 100’s of times a day. I can only imagine that this is the way the brain works through the details that I didn’t notice when the accident actually happened. During one of these episodes I finally had an epiphany. I couldn’t stop wondering what caused me to hit the other car…and then it dawned on me~~I was expecting her to move…and why was I expecting her to move??? Because the light was green. I have no idea why she was just sitting there or why it took me so long to realize that she wasn’t moving but I’m certain beyond a shadow of a doubt that the light was green. Sadly this realization came to me after the police report was written up and the accident was deemed 100% my fault. Mazeltov.<br /><br />Onward and upward…I had a trip to Europe to plan…..Tami Wyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17449377117345420203noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33351879.post-60354180149567053212011-08-25T17:17:00.000-07:002011-08-25T17:44:55.999-07:00My Year of Living Erroneously 3<div>
<br />I was invited to meet Tori at Downtown Disney where she was going to buy me an early dinner. Since my income had completely stopped and my unemployment benefits had not yet kicked in I was thrilled to be getting out of the house and not have to worry about where the money was going to come from to pay for my entertainment. Sitting around the house was starting to depress me so I was pretty excited about getting to be Disneyland adjacent.
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<br />It was a warm and beautiful day. The sun was still shining brightly as I left the house. I was less than 10 miles away from my house doing about 45 mph approaching an intersection. I had a 2 second fleeting thought that something was wrong but I couldn’t quite put my finger on it and before I knew it (insert ominous music here..)<strong> I had plowed in to the back of the car in front of me</strong>.
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<br />In slow motion I heard my breaks screech, I felt my head turning away from the explosion of the airbag in my steering wheel, I inhaled the powder that is inside of the airbag, I heard the sickening thud of my car hitting the car in front of me, I heard glass breaking, I heard metal bending, I felt my head snap forward and backward and the next thing I knew I was standing outside of my car. My first thought was that I was very, very happy that I was standing up because that meant that A. I was still alive and B. Apparently I wasn’t gravely injured. Then I realized that I had actually hit another car and I could have killed someone. You just don’t know the relief I felt when I saw the person in the other car get out and walk over to the sidewalk on her own two feet. I had never before in my life seriously thought that I might have killed someone and it’s a thought or feeling I do not ever care to have again.
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<br />My shaky, wobbly legs carried me to the sidewalk and I walked up to the woman from the other car. She literally greeted me with open arms and embraced me saying, in broken English, “I’n sorry…I’n sorry.” I asked her if she was injured and she said no. Any further conversation was going to be very limited because she didn’t actually speak English. Out of nowhere a father and his teenage daughter were suddenly standing by my side asking me if there was anything they could do to help us. As if by some miracle the daughter spoke fluent Spanish and was able to confirm that the other driver was not injured and did not need medical attention. The girl told me that the driver was asking me to not call the police because she didn’t have a driver’s license. She said that the car wasn’t hers but she was insured to drive it. I asked the father if he could help me to dial my phone because I had made about 10 attempts to call my sister and IMOM who are both on my speed dial but I was such a nervous wreck that I couldn’t make my phone work. It was a total out of body experience when I heard myself telling Tori that I wanted her to come and get me because I had just totaled my car.
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<br />I tried several times to call my car insurance representative and wouldn’t you know it…when I was finally able to successfully make the call the police showed up. So all at once I was trying to answer questions from the police officer and talk to my insurance agent. Neither one wanted to yield to the other so I had to hang up on the insurance guy. The police officer asked us if either one of us were hurt at least 5 times. He offered to call an ambulance if we thought we needed one. We both assured him that we were fine and he separated me from the woman in the other car and we both gave them our version of what had happened. When he asked me what caused me to hit her I had to tell him the truth…”I have no idea…” Sounds just as lame today as it did last year.
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<br />I was able to get the insurance people back on the phone and requested a tow truck and answered all of their questions. I had finally been able to calm myself down enough to realize that my right inner arm was on fire. I was wearing a tank top and thus there was nothing between my skin and the exploding airbag. My whole upper arm was burned. Not so bad that I needed medical attention but bad enough that it really hurt. </div>
<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNlnWqwkrJitgDn83lLz4K8u-2Ova3J5IHCFismBgngeGZdQuw_kEAXxd9Vgs8w5V0FeRn1YMEQGrzsCVuXxgEPbt92ZpWQXrbyOJJ5UhUf9rWGY8FYl4r-qmjklVZ-eqpu1EW/s1600/arm.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5644954269343627410" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNlnWqwkrJitgDn83lLz4K8u-2Ova3J5IHCFismBgngeGZdQuw_kEAXxd9Vgs8w5V0FeRn1YMEQGrzsCVuXxgEPbt92ZpWQXrbyOJJ5UhUf9rWGY8FYl4r-qmjklVZ-eqpu1EW/s400/arm.jpg" /></a>
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<br />Tori arrived just in time to help me try to get some of the stuff out of my car before they towed it away. Mr. Paul was there to offer his help and Jake was doing his best to run around in the intersection in an effort to show us exactly how he felt about his trip to Disneyland being thwarted. People who know me well know that I pretty much live out of my car. I keep clothes, shoes, blankets, cds, food and everything but the kitchen sink in my back seat. As Tori and I dragged object after object out of the car the tow truck driver grew impatient. I asked Paul to carry a 13 lb. bag of cat food over to his mom’s car and he assured me that it was too heavy for him to carry but he was sure that I could do it just fine. Finally the truck driver told us that he had to get my car to the tow yard and that if I wanted anything else out of it I would have to get it later.
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<br />I will never forget watching my smashed up car go off in to the wild blue yonder, Jake still having a cow because he still wanted to go to Disneyland, cat food still sitting on the sidewalk because no one has picked it up, arm on fire because it was attacked by an airbag, the relief that I didn’t hurt anyone and thanking God that this mess was only as bad as it was…and thinking that my life couldn’t get any worse than this.
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<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs-m5W6yKjiIZ01sCwC4iRgBVLXfevynE_17binKgVrZCJ5ELBWXL6z94zIEh7Jm3YsHY-KRMRhTB89i3RdIWRa-ohPSPkVce581fwUwa6fq3alQE_G9ivmZDGVNawV37W5h1N/s1600/crashed+mitsubishi.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs-m5W6yKjiIZ01sCwC4iRgBVLXfevynE_17binKgVrZCJ5ELBWXL6z94zIEh7Jm3YsHY-KRMRhTB89i3RdIWRa-ohPSPkVce581fwUwa6fq3alQE_G9ivmZDGVNawV37W5h1N/s400/crashed+mitsubishi.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5644958550812200914" /></a>
<br /><div>October 14, 2010 </div>
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<br />Ha!
<br />Tami Wyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17449377117345420203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33351879.post-9337898016528999362011-08-18T17:02:00.000-07:002011-08-21T16:38:04.705-07:00My year of living erroneously part 2
<br />I spent most of September sleeping in, (Yay!), looking for a job, and worrying my head off. (Boo!) Apparently I shouldn’t have been spending so much time sleeping because one morning as I was snoozing on the couch I didn’t get up soon enough to please Lorenzo and he started a riot among the masses of felines in my home. I was trying to ignore Mr. Idiot Foolish and his minions when all of a sudden one of the cats came flying over the back of the couch and touched off on my face. I got mad and yelled at them to “knock it off!!” (Yes, I was yelling at a deaf cat.)
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<br />In the long run Lorenzo won because I got up and gave the kitties food so they would stay the hell away from me. After I fed them I resumed my snooze fest on the couch.
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<br />Annnnnd when I woke up..I looked like this:
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<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTjnETmOu3XSX5JTaZr_YZqwACiJ2HdO439Zcqmt631MFyVya8J6fyrOr1AJrzWsy1ABtNzFK9gEkRvocox6beo-cWU7BnDIibS_CaQlflOEjZH7fMDLQ2E1TuwDxxPa-hS2hG/s1600/eye+photo.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTjnETmOu3XSX5JTaZr_YZqwACiJ2HdO439Zcqmt631MFyVya8J6fyrOr1AJrzWsy1ABtNzFK9gEkRvocox6beo-cWU7BnDIibS_CaQlflOEjZH7fMDLQ2E1TuwDxxPa-hS2hG/s400/eye+photo.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5642350886398387746" /></a>
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<br />Now, who wouldn't want to hire <em>that</em> beautiful woman?Tami Wyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17449377117345420203noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33351879.post-13806849671509670572011-08-17T08:26:00.001-07:002011-08-17T11:57:54.108-07:00My Year Of Living Erroneously part 1
<br />My blog has been sorely neglected for the last 12 months and it isn’t because there hasn’t been anything going on in my life. Much to the contrary. .. it seemed like for a while there it was whammy city. Every time I turned around something major was happening. Some things were good…some things…not so much. I hope I can remember everything that happened so I can share it with you. If not…then this will teach me what the consequences are when I don’t blog about things as they happen. Let’s sally forth, shall we?
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<br />In August of 2010 I was sitting at my desk in the Legal Affairs office of the major institution of higher learning where I had worked for the last 4 years and 9 months when my boss came out of her office looking like she has seen a ghost. Her voice wobbled as she said, “I have some very bad news for you.” My mind immediately thought that something was wrong with someone in my family and I just about had a heart attack on the spot. She just stood there looking at me with tears in her eyes. It seemed like 5 minutes had gone by but in reality it was more like 10 seconds before she told me that the powers that be had decided to restructure our office and I was going to be let go. As my boss blubbered over the news she had just delivered I sat there dumbfounded. W.T.F. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Although I never did like my job in that office I was a very dedicated employee. They had absolutely no reason in the world to justify letting me go….except for the fact that it was determined that my office would surely parish if they didn’t get a paralegal in their midst immediately. A paralegal who also does clerical scut work. A paralegal who also does scut work for less than $20.00 per hour. F.M.L. After learning about the details of my pending departure it was <strong>ME</strong> consoling <strong>MY BOSS </strong>and it was <strong>me</strong> telling <strong>her</strong> that everything was going to work out just the way it was supposed to and that I’d be fine.
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<br />I don’t know what the hell I was thinking. I am a home owner. I like to eat. I’m fond of my much used medical benefits. Everything wasn’t going to be fine! This country is in one of its worst recessions in history and I was about to have to go out and find a new job.
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<br />Upon hearing the news of the loss of my job...Amanda, Tori and my mom all assured me that if need be I could move in with them. IMOM told me that my bills would get paid and I was not to worry about money. These were all wonderful assurances but I like to pay my own way and take care of myself. It was going to be very difficult to accept all of this help.
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<br />They gave me one months’ notice and boy was it made perfectly clear just how nice they thought they were to have done so. I was told about another employee who was a friend of mine who was given about 5 minutes’ notice of her imminent departure on the very same day that I was given the news that I was going to be gone in 30 days. So as much as I wanted to tell them to stick their 30 days where the sun didn’t shine I guess it was better than getting no notice at all. I spent the next 4 weeks searching the internet for job leads. I kept my eye on the campus employment website. And there was just nothing out there. I applied for a couple of positions through the edjoin website but I couldn’t even secure an interview. As the days went by I was determined not to let my boss know that I was devastated over the pending loss of my job. I wasn’t even going to ask her for a letter of recommendation. If she wanted to give me one then she could just offer it to me. (<em>Yeah, maturity reigns when I’m mad.)</em> By the end of August I had wizened up a bit, swallowed my pride and decided that my resume looked pretty lame with letters of recommendation from to 2005. I braced myself and sauntered in to my boss’s office and asked her if she would write me a letter of recommendation. Well…if I was stunned to hear that I was being let go…imagine how I felt when my boss told me…”It is against company policy for us to write blanket letters of recommendation. Tell me where you’ve applied and I’ll give you a letter that is addressed to them exclusively.” I was so taken aback that I just said, “Oh, ok…I’ll let you know”. But it didn’t take me about 2 seconds to decide that I wouldn’t take a letter of recommendation from that woman if it arrived tattooed on Jackson Browne’s ass! (I called the HR office and asked them if there was indeed a rule about writing letters of recommendation and of course no one knew the answer but if the legal counsel for the entire university said that was a rule then they were going to err on her side.)
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<br />Just before my time in that office was up I saw a posting for a clerical position at the offices of the campus church. The job description was almost exactly the same as the job that I had been doing for the last 4.5 years so I applied for it. The interview went wonderfully and I waited for about a week until they got back to me. The reverend who interviewed me called me personally to tell me that the position that needed to be filled had been empty for quite a while and there had been a temporary office worker at that desk for the last several months. Even though they pretty much knew that they were going to give the job to the temp worker they still had to post the position and conduct interviews. They thought their temp was a shoe in for the permanent position….until they interviewed me. The reverend said that she just loved my spark and my sense of humor and she especially loved that I had been doing the same job only in a different office for almost 5 years. I thwarted their plans to just hand the job over to the temporary worker. However, after much prayer and deliberation they decided that it just wouldn’t be fair to the temp to not give her the job. Urgh! It would have been so nice to just seamlessly transition from one office to the next without any down time…but no…it was not to be. The reverend went on to tell me that she was so impressed by me that she had given my name to a reverend friend of hers who had a church in Garden Grove that was looking to hire a clerk. I thanked her profusely and even though I didn’t get the job she managed to make me feel pretty good about myself. BTW..I wasn't interested in working in Garden Grove. If I couldn't work at the university I would be looking for a position much closer to home. Beggars can't be choosers but it would have been really foolish for me to take a job any further from my house.)
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<br />My boss was going to be at a seminar on my last day of work so there would be no awkward goodbyes and that suited me just fine. I was going to walk out of that office with my head held high because I knew that there were better things on the horizon just waiting for me. Instead as the clocked ticked 5:00 on my last day I grabbed my purse and started to tell my co-worker good bye and I blubbered like an inconsolable baby. Although I had known for 4 weeks that I was losing my job it wasn’t until that very moment that I seriously, truly, honestly realized that …whoa shit…I don’t have an income anymore.
<br />Tami Wyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17449377117345420203noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33351879.post-6100000056470270482010-08-23T16:54:00.000-07:002010-08-23T16:57:20.765-07:00Red pen sighting in the Viet Namese section of Orange CountyWhile sitting at a red light yesterday it took me a few minutes to figure out what a "barrer" was.<br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg146msHcz8kYmmUgPQEIFSViH3NOZZ9a4Jr9L8kowdnEAfuIJFUeMuiO9FK88hBfdL1naiJzs0WwlqrhRF1ZXZ28G0-72G8Stie-B-YW2BoFu4kAn3U0Gice_vszq_XAodTms5/s1600/Barrer.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5508758009500008770" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 299px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg146msHcz8kYmmUgPQEIFSViH3NOZZ9a4Jr9L8kowdnEAfuIJFUeMuiO9FK88hBfdL1naiJzs0WwlqrhRF1ZXZ28G0-72G8Stie-B-YW2BoFu4kAn3U0Gice_vszq_XAodTms5/s400/Barrer.jpg" border="0" /></a><div></div><br /><br /><br />So much has been going on the last few months...I swear I'm going to sit down and do a recap...I will have a lot more spare time as of September 7th as that will be my last day of work here at the Chapman Ranch. Stay tuned for the update.Tami Wyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17449377117345420203noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33351879.post-74806099237516931482010-07-07T16:32:00.000-07:002010-07-07T16:38:08.840-07:00Where's my red pen?<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizjsSWGqGPzkouts5uUbKZa2VfP7mSupwkoS8-Ka_14vXpW4cnY9PmM_qajZmuel1iHtafR19vieKoIQK3CtBWMezgJiqUqXrAPzwVDtiCTBDiTaUHa1Ny7wmfU-KkkmXbjJl6/s1600/bumber+repair.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 260px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5491311621827759250" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizjsSWGqGPzkouts5uUbKZa2VfP7mSupwkoS8-Ka_14vXpW4cnY9PmM_qajZmuel1iHtafR19vieKoIQK3CtBWMezgJiqUqXrAPzwVDtiCTBDiTaUHa1Ny7wmfU-KkkmXbjJl6/s400/bumber+repair.jpg" /></a><br /><div>This sign is hanging on the fence that divides "Bill Dunn One Stop Shop" from "El <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_0" class="blsp-spelling-error">Pollo</span> Loco" on Beach Blvd. in Huntington Beach. You can't see it from the street...it is only for El <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_1" class="blsp-spelling-error">Pollo</span> Loco drive through customers to enjoy. </div><div> </div><div>It just slays me that the sign maker doesn't have any sort of spell check device. Or maybe even a dictionary. </div><div> </div><div>Do you want to call him or should I?</div>Tami Wyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17449377117345420203noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33351879.post-12925452105891497882010-06-15T11:25:00.000-07:002010-07-14T11:53:38.076-07:00A short story...titled..."Irony"Last Sunday my mom and her precious dog, Angel, a Lhasa Apso, were sitting on the porch in front of her house.<br /><br />Out of the clear blue sky a huge Rottweiler appeared and charged toward Angel. My mom did her best to keep the Rottweiler from harming Angel. There was barking and growling and slobbering and crying...the Rottweiler knocked my mom over, which caused her to break many accrylic finger nails, but my mom was still able to keep Angel from harm.<br /><br />My mom screamed, "Help me!!! Help me!!", to no avail. A couple of girls walked by and watched the melee and didn't offer any assistance. (Idiot Foolishes!)<br /><br />Finally a couple of young men from across the street showed up. They were completely afraid of the Rottweiler and who could blame them. Rottweilers are big and scary. They have a bad reputation. They are nothing like sweet little Lhasa Apso's.<br /><br />The young men helped to keep the evil Rottweiler at bay. And then when no one was looking <strong><em>Angel</em></strong> went over and bit the young man.<br /><br />Now everyone knows why <em>I</em> call Angel "Sid Vicious".<br /><br />The end.Tami Wyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17449377117345420203noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33351879.post-66752767120641375252010-05-28T11:37:00.000-07:002010-07-14T11:59:04.930-07:00Another adventure with Paul..<div align="center">This post is written about the adventure I had with my nephew, Paul, last weekend.<br />This is Paul:<br /></div><p align="left"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8BEUYccPwPJwXS2SvstJr3WpWEvY9BNAzOR7eZivgrrSMwsfh22ujGoQ4NiKG_3xTiX9DwZNfQGLOW_9C3i7MADRE3WqaSlz5tMIm7DW2iMhu1qeP9wHkZpnfyF5Ujqh49Q3I/s1600/Paul+at+Rubys.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 317px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5476392667968727378" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8BEUYccPwPJwXS2SvstJr3WpWEvY9BNAzOR7eZivgrrSMwsfh22ujGoQ4NiKG_3xTiX9DwZNfQGLOW_9C3i7MADRE3WqaSlz5tMIm7DW2iMhu1qeP9wHkZpnfyF5Ujqh49Q3I/s400/Paul+at+Rubys.jpg" /></a><br />He is 24 years old and we call him "The Mayor" because he never meets a stranger. He was diagnosed as "slightly mentally retarded with autistic tendencies compounded by extreme ADHD". I have written about him before..as a matter of fact he was the subject of my very first blog post...<br /><br />Anyway...<br /><br />While Tori was away in Hawaii last week I spent the weekend at her house so that the house sitter could have a break. I got there late on Friday night. I told Paul that he needed to take care of the multitude of dirty dishes that were languishing in the sink. (Of course the dishes were all Andrews but I knew full well he wasn’t going to do anything about them.) Paul went in to the kitchen and looked around then came back out and told me that the dishwasher was empty and thus his work was done. I told him that I wanted him to LOAD the dish washer. This skeeved Paul to the core of his very being because Andrew had left spaghetti dishes and it was quite a mess. I told Paul to do his best. This took about 5 reminders...Paul was in an out of the kitchen 100 times and then Paul said he was finished. I went in to the kitchen to discover that Paul had rinsed most everything off but he hadn’t put anything in the dishwasher. I figured that 50% was better than nothing so I loaded up the dish washer and turned it on then I went to bed.<br /><br />I got up early the next morning because I couldn’t sleep in that sarcophagus my sister calls a bed and I collected about 100,, well maybe it was more like 5, soda cans and dirty dishes from the living room. If I didn’t know better I would have thought that Paul and Andrew had thrown a party during the night. I tidied up the bonus room and living room and then fed and watered 2 bearded dragons, 1 baby leopard gecko, 1 African Grey parrot, 2 cats and 2 ferrets. The dragon’s water was so putrid that I just about gagged. Why, oh why, does anyone have reptiles as pets?<br /><br />I sent Bek a text telling her that I wanted to go to San Juan Capistrano to see blog writing superstar, “Crazy Aunt Purl”. Her second book had just been published and she was going to be doing a reading and meet & greet. Bek texted back and she said she’d come home and sit with the boys. I don’t know if she thought that Andrew needed a babysitter or if she just simply forgot that Jake was gone but I was shocked that she would even volunteer to stay home with the boys. I told her that I had wanted her to go, too, and we could have a photography field trip.<br /><br />Paul was feeling kind of superior that he got to go on the road trip with us. I could tell this because he was almost silent most of the way. I think it was a big deal for him to get to ride in the Jag especially with Bek behind the wheel. I had Bek look up directions on Mapquest.com and I wrote them down. Sadly, she followed my directions the same way I follow directions given to me on a GPS. (Just in case you don’t remember…ask Mother how many times we wound up in the same stupid vacant lot on our last trip to Hawaii..) The map said to take the toll roads which made for a lovely drive. There was hardly another car on the road and the scenery was beautiful.. The first toll cost around $2.00 and there was a friendly person in the booth to take our money. We only went a few miles on that road before we were supposed to take an exit and Rebek exited 1 road before we were supposed to and of course there was no way to turn around and go back so we just kept on driving. The signs said that we were going to have to pay another toll so we decided that we’d ask the toll person where the heck we were and how to get back to where we needed to be. Lo and behold this toll booth was automated and unattended. Of course we thought this was very funny. We asked the machine for directions and the machine just would not answer us!! We paid the toll and Bek drove onward. We took the first exit from the toll road and it dumped us in to the middle of Tustin. (For anyone who is reading this who is not familiar with California…starting from the city of Riverside on the way to San Juan Capistrano…Tustin is completely out of the way.) It took us several miles before we found a gas station where we could go in and get directions to the 5 freeway and as if just to make us look even more stupid…the on ramp was just on the other side of the gas station. Once we got to the 5 and went a few miles we realized that if we had stayed on the toll road that we had gotten on to mistakenly…we still would have wound up on the 5. We. Are. Idiots.<br /><br />It didn’t take any time at all to get to Capistrano but it took us almost 30 minutes to find a place to park. The library is right next door to the mission and since it was such a beautiful spring day there were a million people visiting the mission and it appeared as though every one of them each brought their own car.. We got lucky and found a spot at an adult school. We decided that if we were questioned about why we parked at the school we would lie and tell the parking police that we had enrolled in a class for remedial map reading!<br /><br />When we got in to the library I’m sure Paul heard the angels sing. A room full of friendly women and a table FULL of cookies, cake, cupcakes, carrots, tomatoes, barcly, (that’s what Paul calls broccoli), dip, coffee, decaf, tea and water. I found a seat and saved the one next to me for Paul but of course he didn’t want to sit next to me. He had to sit in his own aisle behind me. Ok, fine. Laurie, “Crazy Aunt Purl, was out talking to people in the audience and when she made it down to my area I was so excited. I stood up and started talking to her and she was as cute, sweet and gracious as she could be. Paul was immediately up in her grill with dip and cookie crumbs all over his. I’ve never been so proud.<br /><br />Bek took a couple of pictures of me and Laurie and then the nice woman sitting next to me took pics of me, Laurie and Bek. We had to take several shots because each time one of us had our eyes closed. I think Laurie and I were cut from the same cloth.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju0a5wQb9wuQAaIftciAapPMzDlPW1s8mx5TR6i2uCxSu35QmghAZrYgIF-pwV9nJrgTMKmUt78Is29VbfPGuenUe6G3AKrzqClOCZY1QY3Ju1u43gd38GTGIRDDDygVeZixJF/s1600/Me+and+Crazy+Aunt+Purl.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 267px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5476392467656246722" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju0a5wQb9wuQAaIftciAapPMzDlPW1s8mx5TR6i2uCxSu35QmghAZrYgIF-pwV9nJrgTMKmUt78Is29VbfPGuenUe6G3AKrzqClOCZY1QY3Ju1u43gd38GTGIRDDDygVeZixJF/s400/Me+and+Crazy+Aunt+Purl.jpg" /></a> <span style="font-size:85%;">(and yes, I do think it's a good idea to stop putting make up on half of your lower throat area, why do you ask?)<br /></span><br /><br />Laurie moved on to talk to other people and Paul engaged the lady sitting next to me in conversation. After about a minute I told Paul that he needed to be quiet and take his seat and the lady said that it was A Ok and that she was enjoying the conversation. I took that opportunity to go plug in my camera battery in so that I would be able to take more pictures later in the day. When I came back from finding a plug I saw Paul was playing paparazzi with his game box. It is so amazing how children, even man-children learn what they live. He likes to take the photographers stance of putting one foot out in front of the other and then he bends his front leg sort of like a semi lunge, and then snaps a picture. He is always very proud of the shot he gets and it doesn’t matter to him if it looks like his subject was jumping up and down.<br /><br />Laurie was ready to start her reading and Paul went and barreled over a handful of unsuspecting ladies who were innocently standing at the dessert table. He didn’t really hurt anyone but I’m sure they were wondering what this obviously starving young man was doing at a book signing. Bek left the room and sat outside in the sun and read her book. Paul was talking to the woman at the table…I’m sorry to say that he wasn’t apologizing to them for mowing them over…I think he was discussing the pros and cons of decaf vs. regular and I think he also let them in on the little secret that he was going to have iced tea on his next round at the table. I could hear most of this from my seat so I turned around and gave Paul the death stare. He brought his 5 course dessert meal to his seat and sat down.<br /><br />Laurie started her talk by introducing herself while Paul is sitting behind me giving a blow by blow commentary to everyone and no one regarding everything he was eating. I turned around and gave him another death stare. </p><p align="left"><br />“SORRY AUNTIE.” (‘<em>just stop talking’</em>. ) “BUT I SAID I’M SORRY AUNTIE!” (death stare.) “Grunt”. (death stare.)<br /><br />A couple of minutes go by….BURP!!! (death stare.) “SORRY AUNTIE I BURPED!” (death stare, jut jaw and close eyes as I turn away.)<br /><br />Another couple of minutes go by..”SLLLUUURRRRRRRPPPPPPPP!” (ignore, ignore)<br /><br />“MMMMMM-ahhhhhhhhh, SSSLLLUUUURPPPPP!!” <em>(‘knock it off right now or you are going to sit outside.’)<br /></em><br />“MY TEA WAS GOOD, AUNTIE!!!” <em>(‘stop TALKING!’)</em> “BUT AUNTIE…MY TEA WAS GOOD!”<br /><br />CRUNCH! CRUNCH! CHEW. CHEW. “HEY AUNTIE, DO YOU WANT SOME SALARY?” <em>(‘noIdon’twantcelery! be. quiet!</em>’)<br /><br />This onomatopoeia fest continued throughout Laurie’s presentation. I didn’t take him outside because I knew that he wouldn’t have gone willingly and it would have created an even bigger scene.<br /><br />As Laurie read her book the crowd laughed and Paul guffawed. I’m certain that there wasn’t a thing she said that he understood but this is one boy who knows his laughing ques. When she was done with the reading she did a Q & A and this was Paul’s opportunity to get another plate of snacks. I’m actually glad that he was distracted because I had visions of him raising his hand, getting called on and then asking to Laurie if she wanted some salary or barcly.<br /><br />After the Q & A a line formed so that she could sign books and I just stayed in my seat waiting for the line to dissipate. Of course Paul wanted to leave as he always thinks there is something better to do. I explained to him that it wasn’t over and we would leave as soon as I was finished. The lady sitting next to me engaged Paul in conversation again and she was being so kind to him. She told me that her name was Connie and she was from San Diego.<br /><br />I left Paul with her while I bought my book and had Laurie sign it. When I came back to Paul the kind lady’s husband was there and he was talking to Paul, too. As they left she gave me her card and asked me the name of my blog. She didn’t even write it down so I didn’t figure I’d ever hear from her so how shocked do you think I was when she wrote me a letter the very next day telling me how much she enjoyed my blog and how nice it was to meet Paul!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil1Zjn1GXQrvotlIPRz2VeAEFLEHw_yE-Rs4iwQuit2EXk4ecU0yax8gtkws7KDfLHtgmbRvI0IB1EnrNITwelLL2XReQO1wIkPHmcA5RqZneypBfpA6-QnrKipO-KgZyZzL_A/s1600/Laurie+and+Pauls+new+friend+Connie.jpg"></p><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 281px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5476392475420850370" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil1Zjn1GXQrvotlIPRz2VeAEFLEHw_yE-Rs4iwQuit2EXk4ecU0yax8gtkws7KDfLHtgmbRvI0IB1EnrNITwelLL2XReQO1wIkPHmcA5RqZneypBfpA6-QnrKipO-KgZyZzL_A/s400/Laurie+and+Pauls+new+friend+Connie.jpg" /> <p align="left"></a>Connie and Laurie<br /><br /><br />I hope that Paul and I have made a new lifelong friend. It is very, very rare that people want to befriend this ever innocent man child and I want to take this opportunity to thank Connie from the bottom of my heart for going out of her way to be so kind to Paul. And I will apologize in advance for the first time Paul uses her shirt to wipe off his mouth.<br /></p>Tami Wyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17449377117345420203noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33351879.post-46156609042172399702010-05-26T11:50:00.000-07:002010-05-26T11:51:08.544-07:00The best way to keep your kitty fresh....<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzjBdyrlELC21TTkWK7ElWVjCzLkmLbKRwRJAMiw5JoHg3vbKintEfh7pxKvc8-_MlghIgE9IXSYev_jFyIP_WnlZu0bgVb6TMi1488fxW3cVmS1Ekim2byR7uTImL-xEDep4S/s1600/0515000905.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 275px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzjBdyrlELC21TTkWK7ElWVjCzLkmLbKRwRJAMiw5JoHg3vbKintEfh7pxKvc8-_MlghIgE9IXSYev_jFyIP_WnlZu0bgVb6TMi1488fxW3cVmS1Ekim2byR7uTImL-xEDep4S/s400/0515000905.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5475653101184644626" /></a><br />Is to keep her in Tupperware!Tami Wyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17449377117345420203noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33351879.post-91931591600484612852010-05-26T11:42:00.000-07:002010-07-14T12:03:25.947-07:00These are the people to whom I pay huge amounts of money to care for the health of my kitties...<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRA3VwmVy1H1UBBl2-2YVS6-qTHJLcqkHC8P3RfKwGHzAa7FC3egIt3DeSr4kTqAp-wVmzvDIFtHv4Nq14JqkZIvOt7UKpy8i3mbZ-NvE5neVniScZd_gD_OiSqxw9zenXeLgz/s1600/0424001620.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5475651405447308306" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRA3VwmVy1H1UBBl2-2YVS6-qTHJLcqkHC8P3RfKwGHzAa7FC3egIt3DeSr4kTqAp-wVmzvDIFtHv4Nq14JqkZIvOt7UKpy8i3mbZ-NvE5neVniScZd_gD_OiSqxw9zenXeLgz/s400/0424001620.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><br />Please don't confuse this with the animal hospital where Elijah lived last year. Not only do they know how to save lives ... they also know how to structure a sentence.Tami Wyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17449377117345420203noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33351879.post-34933643293003552982010-05-25T16:05:00.000-07:002010-05-25T16:08:51.984-07:00I thought I was seeing things....Would you or anyone you know EVER purchase this and/or put it in your hair???<br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCF0p-_Yos3KPmY0qhLqnduJJawc658S1NwZo4yXbztij5282vy58w_HQQl9ZY_Fdgo8eg7-JevCr-4bwzjaDm-lHDbpkath6c8ju2_kcJPWhBoS3VgGhZ4V4PW4fXX6odRL0Z/s1600/gorilla.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCF0p-_Yos3KPmY0qhLqnduJJawc658S1NwZo4yXbztij5282vy58w_HQQl9ZY_Fdgo8eg7-JevCr-4bwzjaDm-lHDbpkath6c8ju2_kcJPWhBoS3VgGhZ4V4PW4fXX6odRL0Z/s400/gorilla.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5475347877638002898" /></a><br /><br /><br />Just in case you said, "Yay!!! Yes, I DO want to put something called 'Moco De Gorila" in my hair!!"..You can purchase this at the Walmart in Buena Park, California. Right down the street from Knotts Berry Farm.<br /><br />I just can't get over how gross this is.....Tami Wyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17449377117345420203noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33351879.post-14002108369602492182010-05-11T16:37:00.000-07:002010-05-25T16:09:35.509-07:00I'd like to make an announcement....My niece, Rebekah, just got her high school graduation announcements. They say, <strong>"REBEHAHA".</strong><br /><br />I'm the meanest aunt in the world because it's been over an hour and I still can't stop laughing about this.<br /><br />See! Even SHE thinks it's funny....<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbSQamLWH0tRkfF52VfC6kPABGOWhpQZqF7w_s3jIVrboaeM0c_weAModU58Hy0GRcoajGhW8Qa2A8otWrD2tiaHPtpBVvIccmz4aym5I1GVLHnt3r6z-bT-LVt_Ky-YSMEmTI/s1600/Mothers+Day+076.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 309px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbSQamLWH0tRkfF52VfC6kPABGOWhpQZqF7w_s3jIVrboaeM0c_weAModU58Hy0GRcoajGhW8Qa2A8otWrD2tiaHPtpBVvIccmz4aym5I1GVLHnt3r6z-bT-LVt_Ky-YSMEmTI/s400/Mothers+Day+076.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5470161472686386114" /></a>Tami Wyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17449377117345420203noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33351879.post-8130204990982358832010-05-10T15:49:00.001-07:002010-05-25T16:10:17.340-07:00Is it just me.....Or are there other houses in America that have a bottle of rubbing alcohol or hydrogen peroxide with a Q-tip floating around inside?Tami Wyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17449377117345420203noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33351879.post-32733783043085725722010-04-26T16:01:00.000-07:002011-08-03T15:01:30.450-07:00BloggersWhen I started blogging it was really only for my sister and my mother. They have always enjoyed my take on things so I recapped my weekends for them. Little by little my writings grew in to more than just things for the two of them. I started telling stories about my ever growing herd of cats, I started writing my occasional column called, "Free Paint" and my other column called, "Where's My Red Pen". I never, ever dreamed that anyone other than my two family members would be reading...and I never dreamed that I would get <em>so</em> caught up in the reading of other blogs. There is an entire world of people out there who write blogs. Pretty much all of them have more readers than I do and that's fine. I don't know if I could survive the pressure if I had had an actual fan base full of people I don't know.<br /><br />Last week I attended a meeting of bloggers and as I sat in "Las Brisas" the <em>beeautiful</em> cliff side restaurant in Laguna Beach..and watched the following people come in one by one...I wondered if <em>they</em> ever dreamed that they would reach such great heights of popularity as they are all enjoying these days. All of them are simply women, (and one man!), who have the ability to put their thoughts in to writing and make me laugh just about every day. And to me they are rock stars!<br /><br />Please meet Y from <a href="http://www.joyunexpected.com/">http://www.joyunexpected.com/</a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxImcylpkUT_UclcVu1T2Knu6kHZzd38fue8Hss0Z8SpoB_uHZfNED00cSigbUGMYlsc1dUlQ7J4lL46XrPJxmF0tKmvAV-H4IiFPESbyQL8IFKMgpudyNOhtajvinlklfj7qs/s1600/Y4.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 267px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5464585728720724850" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxImcylpkUT_UclcVu1T2Knu6kHZzd38fue8Hss0Z8SpoB_uHZfNED00cSigbUGMYlsc1dUlQ7J4lL46XrPJxmF0tKmvAV-H4IiFPESbyQL8IFKMgpudyNOhtajvinlklfj7qs/s400/Y4.jpg" /></a> Suzanne from <a href="http://www.twentyfouratheart.com/">http://www.twentyfouratheart.com/</a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGeDcyCuqvwkIty3ON0ucSGYFVVTa8de_lkzTHdhYpupQaeJ765RBE2BhY5eCTRiQMnaLpPvzLvz-BWXGXhuEOSd9TI85PNgJ2KOO8-8mFGb5bCiY5wEGsg4HzaoEge4PnEqUg/s1600/Suz1.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 360px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5464585722058488626" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGeDcyCuqvwkIty3ON0ucSGYFVVTa8de_lkzTHdhYpupQaeJ765RBE2BhY5eCTRiQMnaLpPvzLvz-BWXGXhuEOSd9TI85PNgJ2KOO8-8mFGb5bCiY5wEGsg4HzaoEge4PnEqUg/s400/Suz1.jpg" /></a> Neil from <a href="http://www.citizenofthemonth.com/">http://www.citizenofthemonth.com/</a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-GqBRaEx5zsexG9nSBqVtJTZecD4EHe19nIY4IqA1kAK7pSGiihmf_NdYLsuoApvEgRmyHv8rcmVK2_jwhC2DTQjHNVTrGGYju_LlQOdl17enMi1_L14hjbpzNP5stuKGul7j/s1600/Neil3.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 366px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5464585701080269554" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-GqBRaEx5zsexG9nSBqVtJTZecD4EHe19nIY4IqA1kAK7pSGiihmf_NdYLsuoApvEgRmyHv8rcmVK2_jwhC2DTQjHNVTrGGYju_LlQOdl17enMi1_L14hjbpzNP5stuKGul7j/s400/Neil3.jpg" /></a> Meredith, who currently doesn't have a blog..<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7n46MdoZQMmEn5FEAcj7_JFCMYQmZmR03g-OaQayPHTQiP6ZSi3DwO4hdEyjNua9_5YZQEOmTNXmtXztuqOuTM9rXYQMDbApDUmnxTajZ34952LmgfmRWqC4INvXjfXSkL10d/s1600/Meredith1.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 355px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5464585693864645282" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7n46MdoZQMmEn5FEAcj7_JFCMYQmZmR03g-OaQayPHTQiP6ZSi3DwO4hdEyjNua9_5YZQEOmTNXmtXztuqOuTM9rXYQMDbApDUmnxTajZ34952LmgfmRWqC4INvXjfXSkL10d/s400/Meredith1.jpg" /></a> <p>Kim from <a href="http://heartshapedhedges.blogspot.com/">http://heartshapedhedges.blogspot.com/</a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2nY3wj4vt86zwlPj73-514uT6PMe4LS0IojMwIKx2T1W7tc-mB5gauzfhy3nfgbnIXA4FrYkHTS_o1qRDcubk5dvIwOEd5s_JS5Vx5QFAMUczO6qz6V6C1Kgfuj4LXoNILsuu/s1600/Lim.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 267px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5464585487838663922" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2nY3wj4vt86zwlPj73-514uT6PMe4LS0IojMwIKx2T1W7tc-mB5gauzfhy3nfgbnIXA4FrYkHTS_o1qRDcubk5dvIwOEd5s_JS5Vx5QFAMUczO6qz6V6C1Kgfuj4LXoNILsuu/s400/Lim.jpg" /></a> Kirsten from <a href="http://coffeeteasodapoppeets.blogspot.com/">http://coffeeteasodapoppeets.blogspot.com/</a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCbyymES7GAYp8DIAB50-IUzk3gcHPFU6EVtEae-_R4G4Yj55LB6izP0PKCl3LFUW1N0_HoLiOh7jY7NtqAEtCgBaWZ7Vktb6Vw_uumvNW9LxgTxZFvdKdCfwnZIRpTz-DVHw1/s1600/Kirsten.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 267px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5464585474333968514" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCbyymES7GAYp8DIAB50-IUzk3gcHPFU6EVtEae-_R4G4Yj55LB6izP0PKCl3LFUW1N0_HoLiOh7jY7NtqAEtCgBaWZ7Vktb6Vw_uumvNW9LxgTxZFvdKdCfwnZIRpTz-DVHw1/s400/Kirsten.jpg" /></a> Beckey from <a href="http://hippobrigade.com/">http://hippobrigade.com/</a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEgR4NfBhEiww-6YYlGOc5SFiNi-ynGhC9Z78o8LFnlBtJB73bAnM1280jH2oiD_9QtwANcD0MW2BEpmIqosuCUfuakLbNXoLAMlzqfP6DRPLXVL6khNUyu_2iiJoCTUgQULUe/s1600/Beckey2.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 350px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5464585458277322322" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEgR4NfBhEiww-6YYlGOc5SFiNi-ynGhC9Z78o8LFnlBtJB73bAnM1280jH2oiD_9QtwANcD0MW2BEpmIqosuCUfuakLbNXoLAMlzqfP6DRPLXVL6khNUyu_2iiJoCTUgQULUe/s400/Beckey2.jpg" /></a><br /><br />And last but not least...the reason why we all met at this fabu place on a cliff...<br /><br />Meet Georgia from <a href="http://www.iambossy.com/">http://www.iambossy.com/</a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCsvjUmEZATbxcM-YjNVqj121jLm825tIfE9B5kiHbXDsN2dC7z_irzlsTnIhgr_jg7Dmz4vJMcmwU6FvYjtgc9_YNml0lDw_w-rIeDf3y0OizGaKSKD2YdSrDSgasaia8P1w6/s1600/Bossy7.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 312px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5464591530307754850" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCsvjUmEZATbxcM-YjNVqj121jLm825tIfE9B5kiHbXDsN2dC7z_irzlsTnIhgr_jg7Dmz4vJMcmwU6FvYjtgc9_YNml0lDw_w-rIeDf3y0OizGaKSKD2YdSrDSgasaia8P1w6/s400/Bossy7.jpg" /></a></p>Georgia, or Bossy as we tended to call her...is on a cross country trip on her "No Book Tour". Ford has given her a lovely car to drive that she has lovingly named Harrison. ("Harrison Ford", get it?) This is her 2nd cross country trip where she goes from state to state and meets up with groups of her blogging friends. I would love to say that I had a nice long chat with her and was as eloquent as I am when I'm speaking to anyone...however...I was dumbfounded the minute I met the 2nd person to arrive from this group. (I was worried about being late and I got there first!) As each person arrived I found myself turning more and more in to an intimidated goon. I was engaged in conversation by everyone pictured and pretty much every time I opened my mouth something a tad less intelligent than, "Um, duh..." came tumbling out of my mouth.<br /><br />I hope to get a do over with all of my new friends so that I can prove to them that I am capable of stringing together a complete sentence...and I might even be able to make them laugh, too! (Look at me setting my sights all high and everything!)Tami Wyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17449377117345420203noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33351879.post-1876862304349110962010-04-14T14:30:00.000-07:002010-05-25T16:12:28.186-07:00I took some pictures this weekend...I took some pictures this weekend. I think I had more fun than the girls did. These are all just straight out of my camera..except for the last one. I played with it a little.<br /><br />Can I take your picture next time?<br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBJqou0shGtOO7Pz-ga9AJg-0pw7VG7QwxEF6XTF95bQaKYdiPaN26BROX7b0t-5iRY3p21EuiU3qnsYnlnCck1Mf_0CHCA4SuzOteaHS15w8gASHiMytjzYLJLLY6au7SuvTp/s1600/girls+pics+4-11-10+197.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 267px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5460109874412902802" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBJqou0shGtOO7Pz-ga9AJg-0pw7VG7QwxEF6XTF95bQaKYdiPaN26BROX7b0t-5iRY3p21EuiU3qnsYnlnCck1Mf_0CHCA4SuzOteaHS15w8gASHiMytjzYLJLLY6au7SuvTp/s400/girls+pics+4-11-10+197.jpg" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBBXu6IdbD49kk9G0LYNnU7ktb5NG8KuF-HXsc4SKkhjUQT0Vkzq0MQoq7UshCa4ywXAjR2eKVdkrh3p0n2ysVyBIIjoh_THqPU4RQpKYLOEPZe913pALgqA2eAJjv2shtuVGQ/s1600/girls+pics+4-11-10+196.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 267px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5460109866264868114" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBBXu6IdbD49kk9G0LYNnU7ktb5NG8KuF-HXsc4SKkhjUQT0Vkzq0MQoq7UshCa4ywXAjR2eKVdkrh3p0n2ysVyBIIjoh_THqPU4RQpKYLOEPZe913pALgqA2eAJjv2shtuVGQ/s400/girls+pics+4-11-10+196.jpg" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5dEfYopGCOFe7WzYksDKtfv6hBdJ9fpi0pgN0vlnoPjnYhpnOKf3TWJbZDXpC1VlMIGGbkff4hcurHjzGxMwRTDF6OLh-S2VGcXtyhdCKdhDkRr7IGH03ZARwFy50Y-EKExA9/s1600/girls+pics+4-11-10+155.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 267px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5460109857308752114" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5dEfYopGCOFe7WzYksDKtfv6hBdJ9fpi0pgN0vlnoPjnYhpnOKf3TWJbZDXpC1VlMIGGbkff4hcurHjzGxMwRTDF6OLh-S2VGcXtyhdCKdhDkRr7IGH03ZARwFy50Y-EKExA9/s400/girls+pics+4-11-10+155.jpg" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPKttbckSWSLPR3rc9ZjH5I1mUkSLt9tMde1enmwQGJHvQTqfUrtsC3JZJS-_TaRZ1lnzuUPjSXkDZcoga9z-yfLHS36glsxWwYL3RQSHggWMBFdLtlRLoFzqrTVxHST9qxhZ8/s1600/favorite9.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 267px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5460109848927384850" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPKttbckSWSLPR3rc9ZjH5I1mUkSLt9tMde1enmwQGJHvQTqfUrtsC3JZJS-_TaRZ1lnzuUPjSXkDZcoga9z-yfLHS36glsxWwYL3RQSHggWMBFdLtlRLoFzqrTVxHST9qxhZ8/s400/favorite9.jpg" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC3XDhqg-p4SVgbIH3sI1kMNciw9ht6WRnL7hvPz8o1CEZApQ10BEMDp1MLUgGCNQRnaIrfE8qd9zsDbFJxdXhqsqUCSSkOu_l1qdC1IJDcnmcGy3JUZYcP79sD9YN93ELKVgf/s1600/favorite4.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 267px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5460109442223259730" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC3XDhqg-p4SVgbIH3sI1kMNciw9ht6WRnL7hvPz8o1CEZApQ10BEMDp1MLUgGCNQRnaIrfE8qd9zsDbFJxdXhqsqUCSSkOu_l1qdC1IJDcnmcGy3JUZYcP79sD9YN93ELKVgf/s400/favorite4.jpg" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9ZaeAvJhGCv2aF21cxmHkcxdOcqUlr_tC11Na_zYNa6pf3x_KwY5KdhQJBkCjuy0TI9DjBFDK-8Dy96FhszvZYTwuqcsDl4LVgcLuPSoLjOZpKjCMH4RbBhg9DnOS6Uf3ThLa/s1600/favorite3.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 267px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5460109430629433378" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9ZaeAvJhGCv2aF21cxmHkcxdOcqUlr_tC11Na_zYNa6pf3x_KwY5KdhQJBkCjuy0TI9DjBFDK-8Dy96FhszvZYTwuqcsDl4LVgcLuPSoLjOZpKjCMH4RbBhg9DnOS6Uf3ThLa/s400/favorite3.jpg" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM7O8AhSqvvgP4xpytfNPXs4ajUUetsU1wBVUFFqvKg9oi3pXf0mqTL46bJfyaBOOM2177kTvxGjTDSFgrD-OAgeHcKgdY5YOAwGTrr_7t7HXyAZpAUo5ic1N9fNTQYTbQptpi/s1600/favorite1.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 267px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5460109423882579074" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM7O8AhSqvvgP4xpytfNPXs4ajUUetsU1wBVUFFqvKg9oi3pXf0mqTL46bJfyaBOOM2177kTvxGjTDSFgrD-OAgeHcKgdY5YOAwGTrr_7t7HXyAZpAUo5ic1N9fNTQYTbQptpi/s400/favorite1.jpg" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUXKpJrP7N2TSKXBA2xTC9mFwSKKU3yn8MvFO93jDe_6w6Z04xyBdXwu1LEFwnHOURAcll-_Utu4gzW6MR6o0KV8VH2pym0qFE_GBgShLS2VXHbqqssOLvSwV80_C9j4ND7QIn/s1600/Bek+picnik+127.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 267px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5460109420690077666" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUXKpJrP7N2TSKXBA2xTC9mFwSKKU3yn8MvFO93jDe_6w6Z04xyBdXwu1LEFwnHOURAcll-_Utu4gzW6MR6o0KV8VH2pym0qFE_GBgShLS2VXHbqqssOLvSwV80_C9j4ND7QIn/s400/Bek+picnik+127.jpg" /></a>Tami Wyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17449377117345420203noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33351879.post-49060253312156391072010-04-07T14:31:00.000-07:002010-05-25T16:13:37.616-07:00Where's mah red pen?<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoihfBxCpWfzadkL5SDaUdE-VYtlLvxe8K8wF4fx1gJX9JQLfTf_AD8_7QPF0rSEewyVVAXddTL54Jp4CoTM888XCF_6HZTqME7T2l001mbyubn40lsFrBjMoXDTsGswptAdH4/s1600/Where+is+my+red+pen+123.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 323px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5457511394579550930" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoihfBxCpWfzadkL5SDaUdE-VYtlLvxe8K8wF4fx1gJX9JQLfTf_AD8_7QPF0rSEewyVVAXddTL54Jp4CoTM888XCF_6HZTqME7T2l001mbyubn40lsFrBjMoXDTsGswptAdH4/s400/Where+is+my+red+pen+123.jpg" /></a><br /><div></div><br />I saw this at the Huntington Beach Tuesday night street fair.Tami Wyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17449377117345420203noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33351879.post-75451353338675093782010-03-15T08:53:00.000-07:002010-03-15T08:58:36.756-07:00Free PaintQuestion: What is periwinkle, turquoise, chartreuse, and occasionally black and white?<br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_dXDk8apNAhlmuGH0gOFUHxAdT6bajQVe99H5RFNbUXpBqyGsHmHYhW5MohJLJOp8HdF1kl-X1PaDInRqFsyOY3uSbj1jxs0_jrEAi3wBgJEz0MjF5H-IjYZLkveRHrivSikC/s1600-h/Free+paint+2.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5448889570632765986" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_dXDk8apNAhlmuGH0gOFUHxAdT6bajQVe99H5RFNbUXpBqyGsHmHYhW5MohJLJOp8HdF1kl-X1PaDInRqFsyOY3uSbj1jxs0_jrEAi3wBgJEz0MjF5H-IjYZLkveRHrivSikC/s400/Free+paint+2.jpg" /></a><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQLM_nywqWqzRVvQI4mPovg-wA6I9f0s7KH0rg3_tQrU2SjNKyUG89aY8HqLj0GxlWIQBI8yB-KLKVBslQzMo_7RP6_al3Mr0QGpCiCwMq2G3Py49yIGDwxLBQ7Loq7pHJ__Ls/s1600-h/Free+paint+1.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5448889561828017602" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQLM_nywqWqzRVvQI4mPovg-wA6I9f0s7KH0rg3_tQrU2SjNKyUG89aY8HqLj0GxlWIQBI8yB-KLKVBslQzMo_7RP6_al3Mr0QGpCiCwMq2G3Py49yIGDwxLBQ7Loq7pHJ__Ls/s400/Free+paint+1.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><div>I just don't get it.</div></div>Tami Wyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17449377117345420203noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33351879.post-11435463474854647192010-02-24T11:36:00.001-08:002010-05-25T16:13:17.700-07:00For any of my new readers...The last post I wrote regarding Dave's lost weekend...<br /><br />Just so you know..my big, white, deaf cat, Lorenzo has an alter ego. He thinks he looks just like Dave Navarro. (google him if you don't know who he is.)<br /><br />That should clear things up.<br /><br />:) TamiTami Wyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17449377117345420203noreply@blogger.com0