Huntin'

I found this picture on our computer.  I've never seen it before and I'm about to fall out of my chair from laughing so hard!  I personally, can't stand hunting, but the look of pride on their faces is classic!  Jesse's in the middle with the blue hoodie.  I think this is from the retreat he and his dad took last fall.  It's hilarious!

Jackie's Journey (Part 1)

I took Jacqueline to the vet last Friday and was told she has mast cell cancer.  She had emergency surgery yesterday.  It was originally scheduled for this Friday, but Dr. Wilcox wanted it done immediately because mast cell cancer is very aggressive.  They removed an area of her chest that is the size of my palm.  Jackie's chest is only like, 4 inches across.  She's really little.  We have to wait 7-10 days while her blood work is being processed at KSU before knowing if Jack has years left to live, or only weeks.  I hope this week goes fast.  

I can't believe any of this and I'm in total shock.  I'm really hoping for the best, but it's difficult to be positive when she won't even get up.  She has to wear this bandage for two weeks and then they'll remove the stitches that cross her entire chest and x-ray her lungs.  If the cancer isn't in her lymph nodes yet, it may may not be in her lungs.  And of course, that's what we're hoping for.  They assured me that she's not in pain and if she does go, it'd most likely be painless.  C'mon, this is crazy.  

While I was petting her last night, I noticed that she has a hole in her ear.  It's in the same place where cattle get tags.  What?!  I don't know what kind of life she had before I rescued her, but if someone was sick enough to put a tag through her ear, they need to be shot.  While I was talking to my mom this morning, she said that regardless of how cruel someone could have treated her in the past, she'll only remember the last 5 or 6 years she's spent with me.  She's not going anywhere.  I guarantee it.  She may be little, but she's really a Mastiff in disguise.  

My Stab at Celebrity Gossip

God...I hate admitting this, but I watch Jon & Kate Plus Eight.  I actually loved it until recently.  The publicity got to Kate's head and she's become a little robot.  It's almost sad.  Jon's so cool though, and I like watching him.  Sometimes I get so sick of watching Kate belittle her husband in public and accept when one of her older children mouth off to her and she shrugs her shoulders and says, "that's Maddie!"  Don't get me started on the Duggars!  (18 Kids and Counting) Stop having kids already, Jim Bob and Michelle!  You have EIGHTEEN!  I do turn the channel from TLC to others, I swear.

Anyway, I was watching it as I gave Maximus milk tonight and noticed her barf hair. She even has "slut stripes"! I've never liked her "man-cut" but tonight it got to me.  She looks totally ridiculous.  It was popular in Provo, Utah back in 1993.  It should be outlawed.  I don't cut hair for a living, but I could come up with at least 9 dozen more flattering cuts for her.  She officially has the "reverse bi-level/mullet".  Jesse's mom calls a mullet a "bi-level" and I think it's the most hilarious thing!  It sounds like a duplex!  I'm laughing now!  Anyway, I'm going to post pictures of her disgusting hair.  While I googled images, I found fans that actually cut their hair like hers and were proud!  Gaah!  And I couldn't get a really good picture of her ugly hair.  Rats.  But look closely at the reverse mullet in the picture below.  Seriously, it's a damn shame.

And for some reason, I came across a picture of Victoria Beckham while googling.  I looove her.  I'm not a huge fan of tabloids and I rarely read them.  I hate the gossip because it's rarely true and I've had rumors started about me that weren't true because people had nothing better to do with their time!  (Example: while I was working at Hilton, a few employees told me about a rumor about me on drugs.  I was getting soooo skinny and losing my hair, so people assumed I was on DRUGS!  No, just chemotherapy!)  Anyway, I hate hearing gossip about others and I'd rather hear the story from them.  So, I'm getting to my point...Victoria Beckham.  She's totally gorgeous.  I wish she was taller, but (in my former anorexic opinion) she's totally hot!  Not fat, always wearing killer shoes, has the killer implants that I'd get in a heartbeat (If Jesse would let me), usually wearing awesome shades, has a perfect fake tan and has the best short hair ever!  If I had thin hair, I'd chop it like hers...

Flips!

The Refurbished Collar

We had a collar laying around that made me cry whenever I looked at it.  It was the one Claire wore when she came to us.  It was just a basic webbed collar with a typical polka dot ribbon trim.  It was dirty and old and looked pretty beat up.  I didn't want to continue crying over it and I didn't want to stash it away somewhere that we'd forget about.  

I took it apart, removed the trim and saved the webbing and pink hardware.  I sewed a new trim on it, added a bow and sized it to Jackie's neck.  Now she wears it and since I'm all sentimental, it makes me feel like she's still around.  I swear, sometimes I catch a glimpse of her or hear the sound of her shaking her ears.  I never believed in stuff like that until she passed.  Here are a few pictures of Jacqueline modeling the refurbished collar.  It's really not special looking and looks like you can buy it anywhere.  Definitely not the most fashionable collar I've made, but by far, it's the most meaningful.

The bacon-wrapped scallop

Oddly excellent timing...I had two people contact me within 3 hours for a scallop recipe!  Here you go!

Bacon (not thick-it won't cook evenly)

Sea scallops (large-ish)

Butter (we use Smart Balance Light)

Minced garlic

Chicken broth

Cut bacon strips in half.  Wrap a piece of bacon around each scallop and secure with a toothpick.  Arrange the wrapped pieces of heaven on a foil-wrapped grilling surface on your outdoor grill.  Grill 3-4 minutes on each side, or until the bacon is crisp, turning frequently.  

In a small saute pan, melt butter and add the garlic and saute for about a minute.  Add a slash of broth and bring to a boil and cook a couple of minutes.  You can brush this lively mixture over the scallops for their last few minutes on the grill.  Remove from grill and let them sit for a couple of minutes so the flavors blend together.  Eat about 50 of them with a glass of dry white wine.

"No one puts baby in the corner!"

I had to use that quote for this one.  You'll understand if you've seen Dirty Dancing.  But this is how Maximus decides to sleep.  I think he likes the soft corners, but he's tall (like his parents) and has no room for his long legs.  Aww...we love this little boy so much.

Tagging and a sofa

I was tagged at the worst possible moment while online shopping.  Thanks Katie!

How to play the game:

1. Sit down.

2. Take a picture of yourself right now.  Don't primp, just snap one!

3. Upload it.

4. Tag 3 people to do the same.

I tag: Starr (do it, bitch!), Courtney and Christy.

Years before I even thought of having a child, I told myself that I'd never buy a "kid sofa".  They were just decorated in some lame Disney theme and took up floor space.  And it pretty much "ghettofies" any room (besides a children's room) that it's put in...but what do you know?  We got one Friday night after our date!  And Handsomer loves it!  It's his favorite toy and he always folds it out to a bed.  Jackie sleeps in it after Maximus goes to bed.  Man, I'm doing only 98% of the things I said I'd never do.

Snot bubble

Jesse discovered iMovie and went nuts with editing.

Toddler throwing

More toddler throwing.  (Please ignore the disastrous mess.  It's what Handsomer does before he goes to bed)

Jesse shaved Jacqueline Sunday morning.  She looked like a little sheep before he did it and now she looks like she's a 5 pound puppy.  

Sun spots

Every morning, Jackie lays around in the sun.  If there's an inch of sun coming through the window, she'll make sure at least her nose is in it.  This morning, she was in front of the sliding glass door for a few hours and Max kept trying to give her "lovers" (when he grabs someone, rests his head on them and says, "mmm".  It's way cute) and I guess it pissed her off, so she got up and Maximus laid in her spot.  He must have felt the warmth because he stayed there for a few solid minutes.  Max never stays in one spot for longer than 2 seconds.  I thought it was so sweet.  

I swear, we're not ghetto and Maximus actually has tons of cute clothes.  He just doesn't wear them first thing in the morning.  It seems like I'm always posting pictures of him in a diaper!

His new thing is putting things "on" or "in".  He loves to put smaller objects into a box or cup and he thinks he's pretty rad when he puts necklaces on.  He piles about nine of them on and runs around.

Wonderful weekend

Our weekend rocked!  Although the weather was bad, it was so nice to have Jesse home both Saturday and Sunday!  For the next three weeks, he'll have the entire weekend off!  Friday afternoon, Max and I drove to Jesse's work and picked him up so we could visit the Apple store in Omaha.  Max screamed for the whole ride to Jesse's work.  It was only an hour and a half drive!  That's Stacey being sarcastic.  Jesse actually works in the middle of nowhere.  I drove for an hour through cornfields after I got off I-80.  Wow.  It was creepy because all I saw were old farm houses.  Anyway, we went to Omaha and got another iMac!  Apple released the newest version and Jesse had to have it, even though we just bought one like 9 days ago.  We got home at midnight and crashed.  

Saturday morning, we both got our hair done.  Jesse is currently sporting a hawk that's hot!  I have a new, short and sleek bob.  That night we had a "date night" and stayed in.  Jesse's parents stopped by with many gifts for Handsomer, then we grilled dinner (in the freezing cold), made awesome pomegranate martinis, put an exhausted Handsomer to bed and watched season two of 30 Rock on Blu-Ray.  We even sat in the garage and had cigars!  It was such a fun night!  Those of you who have your husband around all weekend are lucky.  Appreciate it!  I only wish Jesse worked normal business hours, but he doesn't.  Aww...I love spending time with him, Max and Jackie at home.  It's seriously a near-perfect life.  (all we need now is to be back home in Salt Lake and have friends over for summer time bbq's!)

Friday morning-he's wanting the kids two doors down to play.

We love the iMac so much that we had to get two...but only for 24 hours.  We returned to smaller one because we got the upgraded, new, sick one!

Maximus' new favorite toy.  He'd climb up on it, stand and then turn circles laughing.  He doesn't know how to get down safely; he walks off the side and biffs it.

Tagged

Three's
THREE NAMES I HAVE BEEN CALLED:
1. Stacor Mundo
2. Stasia
3. Huuuge bitch!

THREE JOBS I HAVE HAD IN MY LIFE:
1. Sous chef
2. HR Manager
3. Employment and legal manager (loved it!)

PLACES I HAVE LIVED:
1. Southern California
2. Salt Lake City, Utah (miss it!)
3. Grand Island, Nebraska

THREE TV SHOWS THAT I WATCH:
1. 30 Rock
2. The Office
3. My Name is Earl

THREE PLACES I HAVE BEEN:
1. Manhattan
2. The Canadian side of Niagra Falls
3. El Paso, texas (barf!)

PEOPLE WHO E-MAIL ME REGULARLY:
1. Heather Squared
2. Stephan Latkiewicz
3. Tristina Salisbury

THREE OF MY FAVORITE FOODS:
1. Anything Greek
2. Seafood
3. Dark chocolate

PEOPLE I THINK WILL DO THIS:
1. Well, I got it from Katie...
2. Maybe the Skinny Bitch?
3. And Courtney James Frehner Bitch?

THREE THINGS I AM LOOKING FORWARD TO:
1. Talking to my mother again on Tuesday
2. Having my parents visit us once we're settled in Salt Lake City
3. Maximus' first word

Such a kid!

Max woke up this morning and threw a fit until I let him outside.  He LIVES outside now.  I dip him in sunscreen and put a hat on him and out we go.  He's still dressed in his "nap clothes" in these pictures.  We have a fenced yard, so I can almost leave him outside...like our dog!  (I don't of course, but I could!)  I wish it was spring and the grass would turn green, but it's supposed to snow tonight.  Rats.

I drank my Coke Zero and he wanted the can.  He's cross eyed!
I love this one.  He's such a typical little boy...Tonka dump truck in the dirt with a juice cup laying next to it.

Helicopter baby

 

 

We can finally go outside!

After an average of 8 degrees all winter, Max and I were sick of staying indoors.  Today it reached 58 degrees and we spent two solid hours outside running with Jackie.  I had to literally drag Max in to eat lunch before we ran errands.  After shopping, we went to the park and spent another hour playing there.  Needless to say, Maximus is exhausted and taking an excellent nap.  Here he is playing with a Mardi Gras necklace and Claire's old "fetch it" thrower.  When he picked it up, I started to tear up again.  I miss Claire so much and it's still not getting any easier!  

I can't get over how much of a KID he looks like in this picture.  He's not looking like a baby too much anymore, yet kids at the playground run around saying, "come here, baby!  Be nice to the baby!"

The other night, Max and I were watching Handy Manny and eating popcorn while we waited for Jesse to get home.  He went to Omaha after work to pick up our new iMac and since we live in the middle of a cornfield, he didn't get home until after 9pm.  We can't wait to move back to Salt Lake where everything is nearby!  Anyway, we were sitting around eating popcorn and I reached in and noticed two little surprises in our popcorn bowl.  I love stuff like this!