Belt Ceremony

This past Saturday was the belt ceremony for tae kwon do. I had to share the picture that is below. I took it right after the Black Belt had tied Katie's new 1st degree red belt around her waist and Katie turned to where Rick was standing. I was fortunate enough to click the shutter just at that moment and got a great picture.

Testing and Puking

This past Saturday Katie tested to advance to 1st degree red belt in tae kwon do. She did pretty good on her form and one steps, but her kicks seemed a little off. After testing, we went to McDonald's for a celebratory lunch, which has become a tradition. You may be thinking, big whoop, McDonald's but we make a concerted effort to make dining at McDonald's an exception and not a rule. I did not grow up with fast food restaurants and have never gotten the hang of it, fortunately. Anyway, Katie considers it a treat especially when she gets to romp in the germ area . . . er . . . play area. Later that afternoon while Katie and I were straightening up Katie's room, Katie complained about not feeling well. A ploy to get out of cleaning? Perhaps, but she had been keeping her room pretty clean for the last seven months or so. I kept on going and Katie laid down on her floor and fell asleep. Then out of the blue, she stood up went into the hallway and puked. After I got her to the guest bathroom to finish, got her snuggled in bed and cleaned the carpet,  Katie informed me, "I am never eating McDonald's again." Well, guess we'll have to find a new after-tae-kwon-do-belt-testing tradition.

 Katie this past Saturday before testing. Not the best pose or picture. Her leg is bent and I gave her a toe-ectomy with my camera.

Back in the beginning when she was a white belt, the first belt, with one itty-bitty strip. Katie is in the middle of the picture.

Katie, three years old, and a white belt with Mr. Ben. Katie appears to be saying, "Huh?"

The Boys Are Back In Town

(My language is not the best or most proper in this post. If you are easily offended, toughen up!)

The boys are back in town and by "boys" I mean male or female rattlesnakes and by "back in town" I mean out of their winter hidey-holes.

Rick shot the first rattler of the year two days ago on Good Friday. Rick was heading down to the shop, which is the Quonset Hut, when he came upon a rattler stretched out across the road. For clarification sake we will call this snake Good Friday Bastard. Rick tried to run over Good Friday Bastard with the golf cart, but he coiled and then slithered into a culvert. The snake, not Rick. Rick rushed up to the house to grab his .45 and back to the shop to get a can of gasoline. He used the gas to flush the Good Friday Bastard out of the culvert and shortly after Rick dumped gas into the culvert Good Friday Bastard came sliding out only to have his head blown off.

Today, which is Easter, Rick was in the shop gathering the wood to make shelves for the kitchen in the missile base. He picked up a cardboard box and underneath it was a fingerling, a baby rattlesnake, whom for clarification sake we will call Little Bastard. Rick goes to the golf cart to get a shovel. He didn't want to shoot Little Bastard because Little Bastard was next to a can of gasoline. Of course when he returned to the shop equipped with a snake-killing shovel, Little Bastard was gone. After looking for him for twenty minutes, Rick hears the unmistakable vibration sound of an adult rattler. . .behind him. He turns and there is a big snake. When I say big, I mean it looked like he had just eaten or she was pregnant. For clarification we'll call this snake Fat Bastard. Fat Bastard also possessed a huge head, the kind that would have gotten him called names on the playground. Anyway, back to the golf cart Rick goes to get the .45. Since snakes can be little tricksters and escape out of the shop via the back or side, Rick decided to catch him exiting the shop. Rick went down the outside of the shop on the right side. Aha! Just as Rick thought, there was Fat Bastard trying to make a break for it! Rick expertly shot him so that his head only hung on by threads. Rick was pleased with himself. He out-maneuvered the sly snake. Then it was back into the shop to find the Little Bastard. Once there, holy crap!! There was Fat Bastard still in the same place. Well, who the hell was outside the shop?! Well, that must had been Medium Bastard! Not wanting to waste time figuring out who was who, Rick shot the real Fat Bastard in the head. Shortly thereafter, Rick found Little Bastard underneath the boards that he was gathering for shelving and about 6" from the before mentioned gas can. Because Rick is so spot on when he shoots, he shot Little Bastard and didn't blow up the shop. This weekend will forever be known as the Easter Weekend of  four bastards. To commemorate the start of staying-out-of-the-tall-grass, always-looking-where-you-step, and carrying-a-gun-every-single-time-you-go-outside season, or in short rattler season I have include pictures of the today's dead bastards for your viewing pleasure or to give you the heebie-jeebies.

From left to right: Medium Bastard, Little Bastard and Fat Bastard. Good Friday Bastard didn't get his picture taken.

Fat Bastard measured about 46" long if you account for the bends in his body. Rick couldn't get him in a straight line because by the time I came along with my camera, rigamortis was already setting in.

Fat Bastard and his big head. His head is at an angle here so you cannot see the full width. I bet he was a bully with all of the teasing he had to put up because of his mammoth head.

Bag o' snakes

Bringing You Up To Date

This post is composed of pictures that highlight moments from the last three months.

Rick, Katie and I drove over to Rick's parents in Florida to spend Christmas and New Year's. (Actually Rick drove and we rode.) We wanted to do a road trip just because we usually fly.

 Christmas Eve. Katie putting a smile on Rick's face.

Rick and Katie Christmas Eve

Katie's Christmas portrait

Katie and her Auntie Linda Christmas morning. Whatever they were talking about must have been fascinating.

Katie and her big Christmas present, a trampoline. Do you think she was excited?

One day, my mother-in-law Carol, Katie and I drove down to Weeki Wachee Springs to enjoy the state park. There were a so many peacocks running around the park.

Weeki Wachee Springs State Park is known for their mermaids. There is an underground theater where the mermaids put on a show about Ariel. It was such a cult classic, 1950's.

During the mermaid show, this big, ol' manatee came floating along.

Katie and her Great Aunt Naomi playing Yahtzee. Katie is unbelievably lucky in dice. She has no problem throwing straights, six-of-a-kinds, full houses.

On the drive home we stopped at Battleship Park in Mobile, Alabama. In the harbor they have the USS Alabama which was in service in the Pacific during WWII. It is now a museum of sorts. You can tour the battleship at your leisure. I took oodles of pictures, but I won't overtax you with those. Rick commented that it reminded him of the missile base, and it really did to me also. Apparently our armed forces only have a few paint colors from which to choose and all branches have the same interior decorator.

Katie at one of the front gun positions. As a side note, the men that manned the gun posts did not sit on metal, folding chairs. They were there because earlier a ceremony took place on the battleship. Did you know that the main deck is a popular wedding spot? Also, I was surprised how many Japanese and Japanese-Americans were touring the battleship.

Also at Battleship Park, there is a submarine, the USS Drum. We were also able to tour the inside of the sub, but I didn't take any pictures of the inside. I was too busy gawking.

This scrape on Katie's arm is not like any other scrape. It is the first of many injuries that she received while riding her bike without training wheels. Rick had been working with Katie on riding her bike without the little white wheels, and it seemed to be slow going. Then one day he hung onto her shirt as she pedaled up the driveway. By the time they got to the gate, she was pedaling and staying up by herself. On her trip back down to the house, she was flying. Typical Katie. You cannot get Katie to do anything new until she thinks she's ready, be it potty training, learning the alphabet, or riding a two-wheeled bike. And when she is ready, she takes to it like she has been doing it her whole life.

The plastic bubbles on Katie's head are the type that you make yourself by smushing some plastic liquid on the end of a straw and blowing. As for the ladder that is the one that goes up to her loft bed. Other than that, I cannot explain this picture

Katie making a cake.

There's the short, pictorial version of the last three months. Now let's see if I can keep up on this blog.

"Please Mayor Bloomberg, help me control my sugar intake!"

Just a quick rant and nowhere near as long as what is in my mind. Why does Mayor Bloomberg of New York City think he knows what is best for New Yorkers? Why does he have the attitude that New Yorkers are self destructive and he must protect New Yorkers from themselves? Who elected him dictator? It scares the crap out of me a government entity can ban a particular size of a legal beverage. (For those not familiar with the ban, New York City was very close to enacting a "law" that banned the selling of sugar drinks over 16 oz. in restaurants, movie theaters and other food services establishments.) A little too Big Brother for me. The  fact that Mayor Bloomberg didn't bring it to the New York's City Council but to the city's Board of Health which just so happens to be a panel whose members were each appointed by the mayor, is the only reason the ban got halted, not because it is flipping intrusive. The ban does not stop the consumption of large surgary beverages, it just makes necessary the purchase of two smaller sizes or in the case of coffee from places like McDonald's, the patron will have to add their own sugar. About the only ones deeply and financially affected by the ban are the food establishment owners. They will have to redo all of their menus, sign boards, internet sites and order new glasses. As I said the ban is stopped for now, but has it started a slippery slope? As my husband predicts, soon you will have to weigh-in when you enter McDonald's. If you are overweight you cannot order and get booted out of the restaurant. Laugh if you want, but you probably would have laughed at a large sugary drink ban a few years ago. As for the title of this post, there's something no one has ever said.

Homicide Update

For those who read my previous post regarding the murder of a 14 year old girl in Red Bluff, CA., the police have arrested a man in connection with her murder. It's the guy from the surveillance camera tape. I really hope they have concrete evidence that he is their guy. Click here for more information.

Cheerleader Friend Update

Here's a quick update about Katie's cheerleader friend that was in a horrible car accident. C.F., cheerleader friend, was put into a medically induced coma and then had some brain tissue removed, her broken femur repaired and a plate put into her head. There were other repairs that I won't get into. It is now a month since the accident and C.F. is still at Cooks Children's Hospital in Fort Worth. She is out of the coma and is in rehab. She has to wear a helmet 24/7 because she lost the front, top and sides of the forward half of her skull. The damage to the frontal lobe to her skull has also severely affected her short term memory. She can be introduced to someone, turn away and not remember you when she turns back. She cannot remember anything for more than a few seconds and this includes how to use utensils, etc. There is no estimate on how long she will be in rehab, but six months is a conservative estimate. She also has language difficulties in that she can talk, but regularly veers off into babble. She is in a wheelchair because of the repair to her femur--they added a steel rod--and it takes a while to heal. The journey through rehab and beyond will be a monumental task for C.F. and her mom, but if there is one woman who I know that could carry her daughter through this it is C.F.'s mom. That is how much her faith has impressed me even before the horrible accident.  After the rehab reaches its apex, who C.F. will be and what she can do is a big question mark at this time. Prayers, as always, are appreciated and needed.