Not the best way to start (or end) a new year...

Yeah, we've had better...

It's been a tough last few days. Dick got sick with a cold on Saturday, and I came down with a flu on Sunday. We were both out for a few days, and are on the mend, but there's an awful lot of sniffling, coughing, and general exhaustion in our house right now.

Much worse: we had to take our big cat, Marcel, to the v-e-t today. While we were sick over the last few days, we noticed that he wasn't feeling well, either. He hardly ate anything yesterday, which was the big red flag we needed to get him an appointment early today.

We brought him to our favorite vet down in Milpitas who always takes such good care of all of our animals friends. We've been bringing birds, rats, and cats to him for over 20 years.

Sadly, after a blood test and urinalysis, Marcel was diagnosed today with failing kidneys. :(

I'm afraid the prognosis isn't very good, but we're going to do what we can to make sure that he's comfortable and as happy as possible. We don't think that he's in any pain, or is very uncomfortable - more that he's low energy and a little lethargic.

This news makes me so very sad. :(

Dick and I are home with the kitties tonight - sipping some Sleepy Time Tea, and ready to spend some quality time with our kitties. Not the most exciting way to ring in the new year, but I can certainly think of worse.

Happy New Year, everyone. Hope everyone has a fun and safe celebration.

We Wish You a Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to all!
-Dick, Trina, Marcel & Noe

Waiting for Santa Kitty :)

The Christmas Tree in Union Square

"Old One"

Earlier this year, I developed an unfortunate case of tendinitis in both of my arms.

Apparently, there's such a thing called golf elbow, which is pretty similar to tennis elbow. It got really bad in September, so I've been laying off the golf, and trying not to lift heavy objects, etc, since then.

I saw a doctor about it a few weeks back - that's when I got the official word that I had tendinitis in both arms. He told me to take 600mg of ibuprofen 3 times a day for 7 days. He said it should feel better at the end of that time, but that I would still need to keep off of it for a while. For the record, it is feeling better, but I think I still have a ways to go.

What bothers me about this is that I hate not having full use of my arms. I'm used to being able to lift heavy things, and being self-sufficient.

Actually, what really bothers me is that I did color guard for over 10 years without (thankfully) developing tendinitis on my wrists or my elbows (like many of my friends had) but 8 months of golf, and BAM!

Of course, this is just one life's not-so-friendly reminders that I'm getting old.
Bummer.

Getting older, I don't mind. I just don't want my body to start falling apart. :(

I've been using this great Elbow Ice Wrap for the past several months. It works really well.

It's by a brand called "Cold One" and the name is written across the strap of the wrap.

This morning, as I was putting it on, the "C" fell off from the name.

Now I'm wearing a brace that says "OLD ONE".

How ironic, yet appropriate.

Prom Picture Poses from Hawaii

I finally downloaded my pictures from Hawaii. I mentioned in an earlier post that we started doing goofy prom picture poses with our friends while we were all in Hawaii last week.

Here are a couple of good ones:


Trina, Christopher (our Gay Boyfriend) and Dick

...and here's my personal favorite

Reeves, Christopher, Shan, Dick and Omar

It's very silly, but very, very funny!

Noe in the Box!

Noe loves the holidays! Packages are delivered to the house, and that means lots of boxes that she gets to jump into and sit in!

Mousie Cookies!

It's that time of the year again! My Mom and I have an annual tradition of getting together to make "Mouse Cookies" for the holidays. My Grandma started to join us in our tradition last year. This year, my Mom and Grandma came up to my house to make the cookies.

Trina, Mom & Grandma

Mom & Grandma shaping the dough

Barb putting the little peanut ears in

Voila! Mousie Cookies!

Prom Picture!

For some reason, we started to do prom picture poses with our friends when we were all in Hawaii last week.

This past weekend was Dick's Company's Holiday Party. They always have a photographer, and everyone always looks mildly stiff and posed. Dick and I decided to throw in another Prom Picture pose to lighten things up.


Trina & Dick
Winter Ball 2008

Vacuming the Putting Green

We've had a lot of rain here lately. The putting green installers
(yes, we're going to have a putting green! How crazy is that?!) came
Friday and Saturday. They got about 2/3 done and were planning to come
back Monday to finish the job.

We got a lot of rain since then, and had to call for rain days (no
work) on Monday and Tuesday.

Today is bright and sunny (and cold!) so the whole crew is back today.

This cracked me up: before the putting green guys can continue to
work, they had to dry out putting green that was already installed by
vacuming it. :)

Congratulations Mike & Bunny!!!

Beautiful. May you have a lifetime of happiness.

At the beach for Mike & Bunny's Wedding

What a gorgeous day!

Dinner at Roy's!!

As much as I love the Roy's in San Francisco, nothing beats a meal at
Roy's in Hawaii!! Butterfish all-around!!!

Drinks with the Boys

We're checked, but waiting for our room. What to do? Why, go to the
pool bar for some drinks! I love this vacation!!

We're Gonna Go Hawaiian!

(does anyone else remember that Hawaiian Punch Jingle?)

We're on our way to Maui!!
Mike and Bunny are getting married Monday morning, and a bunch of us
are tagging along to help celebrate! Should be a ton of fun.

So far, this trip has gotten off to an excellent start. We had seats
in economy plus (United) but were able to upgrade with our over-
abundance of frequent flyer miles last night! Yep, first class on a
777. Very nice.

We hooked up with Our Gay Boyfriend early on at the airport. Here's a
pict I took of of Christopher and Dick while we enjoyed a little nosh
at the United Lounge before boarding the plane.

Next stop: Paradise!! See you on the other side!

Port-O-Potty Row

Nothing says "Big House Project" like a Port-o-Potty sitting in front of your house!"

I've been meaning to blog about this for a while now...

Yes, the Great Backyard Landscape Project of 2008 is still going on. Yes, the original target completion date was roughly a month ago, and yes, we're a few weeks past due. But, that's okay. Really. I absolutely love the team of men and women and we have working on it, and they are doing an amazing job. The craftsmanship and workmanship that they've put into this project ha been incredible. We're really pleased with how it has all come together, and how amazing it looks.

I'd guess we still have another week and a half or so before everything is completely finished.

But, back to the port-o-potty...

So, yes, nothing says "Big House Project" like a Port-o-Potty sitting in front of your house. Our port-o-potty has been sitting proudly in front of our house for 2-1/2 months.

Funny thing is, we're one of four port-o-pottys on our block! That's right, just on our one single block, there are four major construction projects going on. That doesn't even include the project around the corner (with yes, another port-o-potty) or all of the PG&E construction that's been going on for several months.

It's a busy time in the neighborhood, and a loud one. Lots of jack-hammering and sawing going on. Lots of dumpsters and work trucks parked on our street. It has actually been fairly difficult to park on our block during the weekdays.

I don't know about all of them, but I know that at least two of the projects (including ours) should be done within the next couple of weeks. It'll be nice when it's a little quieter on our street.

Windows Live is Live!

So, I know a few people who have been working on different aspects of Windows Live over the past few years.

Yesterday, the newest version of the Windows Live Home Page was launched.

It's very cool. I use hotmail (all of my email gets forwarded to this account for easy accessibility) and Dick and I both use the Windows Live Calendar for keeping track of our individual and combined schedules.

The new home page is really cool. It has everything upfront so that you can see your latest emails, your next calendar appointment, the temperature outside, etc., all at a glance. Very handy.

My favorite part? (cause I'm a dork) The dynamic themes that users can choose from.

I'm using the one with the little dark haired girl, and her little cat. They are so cute! What's so dynamic about it? Well, the header picture changes according to what time of day it is, and what the weather is like.

For example, here's what my home page looked like around 7:30 this morning:

Foggy early morning

Here's what it looked like around 8:30 this morning:

Still foggy, but some sunshine

...and here's what it looked like around 10:30 this morning:

Cool, and sunny

Isn't that seriously cute? I love following my little girl and her cat around throughout the day.

The Universal Wish List Button

Because really, don't we all need one?


It's that time of the year! The holidays have arrived, and I am woefully behind in all things holiday related. I usually have all of my Christmas shopping done by now, but this year.... well, let's just say that I finally got started by shopping online last night!

I always appreciate when friends and family share their wish lists for gift ideas. I find it helpful, as I know that I can get them something that I know they would like.

I've been a fan of amazon.com's wish list for several years. I try to keep my wish list updated, and hope that it's helpful for others. (Not that I expect anything!)

The only problem with the amazon.com wish list is that you are limited to what is available to buy through amazon.com. (Not that their selection isn't entirely enormous, so you can generally find anything that you want there.)

Recently, amazon.com introduced something new and exciting!

The Universal Wish List Button!

That's right, with this handy tool, now you can put any item from any website onto your amazon.com wish list! All that you wish for in one handy place! (well, almost anything, anyhow) You can even add items from ebay.com! (no, really, I'm not addicted to the internet.)

Pretty cool, isn't it?

Now you, too, can add that adorable sterling silver "I Love You" heart charm from Tiffany's to your very own wish list!

:)