Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Smiling Vizslas




This sweet boy isn't Remy, he is a rescue from Utah. I thought the pix was so happy and typical of a Vizsla smile.

Check out the Vizsla headshots from Rusticu Vizslas. This site always has the best Vizsla photos. I love these! Click on the dog faces to enlarge the pix.
We are having a bbq tonite. Burgers with Cougar Country Drive In (mmmm gooood!) "goop" sauce. Omid remembers exactly how the sauce tasted. So good, so inexpensive and one of the best restaurants in Pullman (Wa). Three years ago, we visited Pullman for Spring Break and took the kids to CCDI for lunch. It was great. Ahhhh, the memories. When I was a student (way back when), I thought it was weird when "families" came back to visit the campus. Now...I understand! It's a Cougar thing! Speaking of the Cougs...they play tomorrow night (Fox Sports NW). We have only lost two games...yay!*Update: the Cougs lost last night. Bummer! Must have been the blizzard that blew into town.

!*Sparkling Clean*!

Monday's Snow Day brought a welcome surprise for all of us. The house was deep cleaned. That hasn't happened in weeks...ok...months!
I remember before I worked, there was freshly laundered clothes everyday, scrubbed floors, clutter free counters, the aroma of Pine Sol in the air. There was homebaked bread & some kind of dessert everyday. Ahhh...memories. Now, it's mostly store bought bread & dessert. I am too tired from working & running the kids to their activities to work with yeast.
Now it's frozen lasagna, mystery casseroles, and just plain 'surface cleaning.'
But on Monday....I ran to WalMart and bought a new mop and some more cleaning supplies. The house was polished, vacuumed, scrubbed, everyone had clean clothes (even ironed!). There was even fresh bread. Just like the old times. The house literally was sparkling clean and I loved it. We have a 2 hour late start today...I wonder what I can accomplish in that time.

Monday, January 28, 2008

verbs & ringtones







I now know that "netflixed" is indeed a verb. We were at a party last night and someone asked me, "do you netflix?" Woah!
I asked yesterday (just for fun) on the blog if that was a verb and then this man used it as a verb...it MUST be! I will need to check http://www.websters.com/ to see what they say. Funny!
Have you see the Jason Bourne movies? We have all three and are watching the 3rd movie right now (for the 5th time). Omid loves Jason Bourne. I just changed Omid's ring tone (for my cell phone)from the Bourne soundtrack to the Soprano's theme song. He loves Jason Bourne, but he loves Tony Soprano more! I need to come up with a better song for my ring tone on Omid's cell for me...something Barry Manilow or ABBA...or Erasure...I just can't decide....!Then again...I could do something Pet Shop Boys. Ha ha!
**I just checked www.websters.com and www.dictionary.com, and 'netflixed' isn't in the database. We can only hope most of the American public uses 'netflix' (as a verb) enough for www.websters.com to add it next year.

Snow Day!

We only received a light dusting of snow, but it's enough for a snow day! Woo hoo!

Sunday, January 27, 2008

Dog-gone Crazy

I recently received a catalog in the mail from a retailer named "In the Company of Dogs." They have everything under the sun for dogs and the people who love them. Check them out here: http://www.inthecompanyofdogs.com/.
When my sisters & parents asked what I wanted for my birthday...I said something from this catalog. I had to choose one of these cute doggy planters for my front door. I chose "Scout." He is second from the left. Scout should arrive sometime this week (yay!) as he was on backorder for the holidays. I checked online today to see what new items ITCD has to offer. They have added new 'mini' planters (Yorkie, Pug, Dachshund & Chihuahua) that are cute too.

On another note, if you haven't Netflixed (that's a verb, right?) the movie The Namesake, please do! It's a great story and my new favorite movie.

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Have fun with language!

Here is a fun site: http://a4esl.org/
You can take bilingual quizzes in many different languages - from Arabic to Zulu.

I took the Persian quiz. Here are my scores:

colors: 9/9
fruits & veggies: 9/9
days of the week: 7/7
numbers: 11/11
family: 13/13
giving directions: 10/11
jobs: 11/18

I beat the kids (which is pretty good)! Got to start practicing now that my in-laws arrive in a week! I need to start studying the "jobs" category. I got a score of 61%! Yikes!

Monday, January 21, 2008

I think I'm turning Japanese, I think I'm turning Japanese, I really think so..da - da - da - da -da -da da-.

Is that song in your head now?!!!

I love all things Japanese. The people, the food, the country. It's been 5 years since I visited Japan - and I would love to go back. Until then...I like to keep up with the latest Japan has to offer. :)

I came across this great umbrella stand yesterday. I fell in love with it - but not the price. It's $480! Here's the link: http://www.kyouei-ltd.co.jp/unbrella-pot.html. The rainwater falling off the umbrella waters a small plant at the base of the pot. If you've got the cash and want to start living green - then this is for you!

Check out the other quirky items on the webpage such as the 'topography soup plate."

If you are into Japanese anime (& graduated from Avatar & Pokemon) - watch Hayao Miyazaki's Spirited Away. It's a great animated film. N doesn't like it (too scary) but M and I love it.

Sunday, January 20, 2008

More Razor Clamming Photos






Razor Clamming






Yesterday, we went up to Longbeach (Ocean Park, WA) and attempted to go Razor clamming with our friends the Kelloggs. We had such high hopes when we left. We all had visions of getting 60+ clams, plus the clams the kids would be digging. Our mouths were watering. We piled all 8 of us (& two 50 pound dogs in the car). Remy was not happy having to sit in the "way back." He had to act like a dog and not the person he thinks he is. The first photo shows how unhappy he was. He stood the entire way there (2 hours). While Jack reclined and slept on the bed. It was raining when we got to Ocean Park and Omid & Ward set up a shelter to protect the kids, dogs, moms from the wind & rain. The rain stopped the minute we got there. It was great. It only rained two other times for about 10 mins each, so it wasn't too bad. Remy whined the entire day. He was protesting the clam dig. He would have preferred to be back at home next to the fire. poor baby! The kids had a great time. N at first really didn't want to go - she wanted to stay home and study. Halfway through our day, she said she was happy she had come. At the end of our day, the 8 of us got ONE Razor clam. Amazing! NOTE! That is NOT a hot dog in Omid's hand. That is the GIANT Razor clam Ward found.

Friday, January 18, 2008

More Mexico




Here are a few more pix of the vacation. All the 'dads' went fishing. They caught a lot of Dorado (Mahi Mahi) and even a Marlin (which YES, they released!). We still have some of the Dorado in our freezer. They make the best fish tacos. Fish tacos sound so gross - but are sooooo good. If we weren't already having leftovers for dinner, that's what we'd have.
Enjoy...and think SUN!

Margaritaville





I received an email two days ago from this great resort we stayed at in October. It's called Royal Solaris and is located in San Jose Del Cabo, Mexico. They are having a Spring Special. Here's a link: http://www.clubsolaris.com/
This place is great! It's all inclusive (which is the way to go!). No budgeting required. Don a bracelet when you get there and never worry about bringing cash or your credit card.
The only thing I would do differently is bring a large plastic cup (16 oz at least!) from the Dollar Store with me. The drinks are in juice glasses (maybe 6 oz). I saw a lot of people with their own tumblers and I wish we'd thought of that too. Oh well, next time! this eliminated frequent trips to the bar for them.
Also...the cockroach above was the only one we saw the entire time.

Thursday, January 17, 2008

Z5 explained


Ok, for those of you who don't know....Z5 is what I sign on cards, etc. It's easier than signing all our names. And yes...Remy is included. Go Remy Go is what I named the blog.


I named it this because if you know Remy....he can run about 65 mph. No kidding! When he runs in the field by our house, he takes off like a rocket. We are always yelling, "Go Remy Go!! He loves to hear the cheers. You should see the smile on his face. :) Just ask Grammy & Arezou what if feels like to get knocked down by a dog going 50-75 MPH. Grammy never even knew what hit her. She was out with a broken pelvis for quite a while. Thanks for not suing us Grammy! Arezou was slammed from behind on Government Island. She and Matty were racing. Not one to come in last, Remy ran as fast as he could and knocked Arezou flat. He was guaranteed a win. Thank God she wasn't hurt!

Out of the mouths of babes....


While working in a Kindergarten classroom this a.m., a student told me her brother was 15 and went to high school. I told her my daughter was also in H.S. She said, "my brother's name is Andrew and he has a girl friend named N. I said to her, "you want to know something funny? I have a daughter named N." This student said, "N has curly black hair and kind of dark skin." I said to her, "so does my N. You can go home and tell your brother that you met N's mom today." She said, "Mmm hmmm." I looked up and the K teacher was laughing.

Pasta and language



While trying to figure out the blog template last night, I made pasta for the kids and it sat on the stove for over an hour. Isn't it funny how time flies when you are on the computer?! When the kids finally came down for dinner, the pasta looked normal until they took a bite out of it. I wish I had a camera to capture N's face! She said, "this is disgusting and I am not eating it!" I took a bite and the noodles just about disintegrated in my mouth. Wow. Yuck. But...I ate my noodles and sauce as it was what was for dinner. M had Italian sausage and N had a banana (& I saw her sneak a chocolate chip cookie!) O came home late and had a salad. There is now a package of leftover noodles in the fridge and guess who will be eating them all week? Me.


Ever wish you learned a language in HS or college? Now is your chance. Go to http://www.babbel.com/. This is a free program very similar to Rosetta Stone. We use RS at work and it's very pricey. Babbel offers German, SPanish, French, Italian and English. This site is good for kids too. Get those kids on the language wagon...it's good for their brain!!!