Lisa's Adventure

Remember Crazy Ikes in the 1960's?

2012-01-03T19:41:00.000-06:00

My Deaf Softball team 2

2012-01-03T19:39:00.001-06:00

Honey, Please Calm Down!

2012-01-03T19:37:00.000-06:00

Pumba Behind My Laptop

2012-01-03T19:35:00.000-06:00

Micah and Alexis Going to their friends' wedding

2012-01-03T19:32:00.000-06:00

My Two Precious Boys

2012-01-03T19:15:00.000-06:00

My Deaf Softball Team 1

2012-01-03T19:14:00.000-06:00

Chester A New Additional To Our Family

2012-01-03T18:56:00.010-06:00

The History of Eggnog

2012-01-03T18:55:00.000-06:00

Micah's playing on a 3 on 3 tournament in 1999.

2012-01-03T18:29:00.016-06:00

Never before seen Video of WTC 9/11 attack (EXLUSIVE video footage)

2010-09-12T19:59:00.000-05:00

My Family Portraits.

2010-08-15T19:35:00.002-05:00

My mom, Wanda, age 17

My maternal grandmother, Ruby

Ruby's brothers and sister before she and her younger brother, Roy were born.

Morris, Lum, Myrte, and Clyde

Dick, Dental Lab Technican Instructor

2010-08-15T19:18:00.002-05:00

Dick chatting with students in the cafeteria.

Dick had taught the deaf students how to make dentures, crowns and bridges, etc for 20 years at the Southwest Colligate Institute for the Deaf in Big Spring, Texas starting in 1982. Before that, he worked as a dental lab technican for seven dentists in Spokane, WA for 20 years before he accept an offer to take a teaching job at SWCID. He retired on May 2001.

Don't Leave Your Child Unattended with A Dog

2010-08-15T19:16:00.000-05:00

Deaf Implant

2010-08-15T19:15:00.000-05:00

Is 8-9-10 A Special Day?

2010-08-09T23:25:00.000-05:00

What is the special day for 8-9-10? It's eight, nine, ten.

Micah & Alexis' Wedding Sneak Preview by Prof Photography

2010-08-09T18:31:00.003-05:00

Free Whataburger

2010-08-03T21:07:00.003-05:00

The first Whataburger in Corpus Christi, Texas 60 years ago.

We had some free large hamburgers when we went to Whataburger, a fast food restuarant at Roanoke wearing our orange t-shirts this evening, ate them while watching a loooong line of people with orange shirts. A week before we went there, I recieved an online flyer about the giving out free hamburgers to customers wearing orange shirts. Dine in only for today only as they celebrated their 60th anniversary.

Micah & Alexis' New House in Seattle

2010-07-04T13:18:00.002-05:00

Micah's Childhood Pictures at the Wedding 6/27/10

2010-07-04T13:15:00.000-05:00

Seattle- On The Way To the Wedding 6/27/10

2010-07-03T16:05:00.001-05:00

Micah & Alexis' Wedding 6/27/10

2010-07-03T15:57:00.001-05:00

Kelly's Panting After The Walk

2010-07-03T15:52:00.000-05:00

Red, White & Blue Swim Party 6/5/10

2010-07-03T09:59:00.007-05:00

Sarah and her husband, Ken invited us over to a party.

Me, Dick and Mike. We attended the same school in Washington state.

Patrick and Massiot. They met online deaf dating program. Massiot was from Costa Rica. She is expecting a baby in July.

Discussing the deaf education with Steve who teaches ASL in a high school.

We're hungry.

Debra at left is originally from Arizona and went to college in New York with some of my friends from my school. She and Rick moved from MO to Texas and love living here. They knew Dick's oldest son, Jerry when they lived in MO.

Mike's wife. They met online deaf dating program.

Rick

Ron and Rick.

Rick talking about his car problem thinking someone was trying to rip him off.

Terry and we introduced to ourselves

Dick loved that little boy.

I didn't swim due to a painful calcium deposit in my right shoulder.

Billings, Montana Tornado 6/20/10

2010-06-23T23:30:00.015-05:00

There was a tornado in Billings, Montana where my husband was born and one of his cousins, Patty, lives there. The wife of his other cousin from Denver was visiting with her sister at this time. When I was surfing online Monday morning, I ignored the news of the tornade because the state of Montana never had tornado. His cousin, Ken posted the news and pictures had gotten my attention and I told Dick about it. He thought it was a joke but realized it was real when he saw the pictures. I'm glad that no one was injured. and Patty was out of town at this time.

Would You Do What The Sign Said So?

2010-06-12T15:18:00.001-05:00

Deaf Nation Expo at Ft Worth, TX 4/24/10

2010-05-01T20:26:00.013-05:00

Ron and Laural. Ron was a provost at the college for the deaf where Dick taught. Ron was very happy to see him again.

Southwest Colligate Institute for the Deaf in Big Spring, TX where he taught the deaf students how to make dentures, crowns, and bridges for 20 years.

My long time friend from Spokane was visiting with his friends in Ft Worth.

We got together for BBQ dinner the night before at Suzy's place. John and Suzy who met during the World Deaf Olympic at Sweden in 1974.

Rick, Sarah and me working on a registration desk.

3rd Winter Wonderland in Texas

2010-02-12T16:54:00.001-06:00

$13.17 for A Can Of Similac Baby Fornula??!

2010-02-02T19:26:00.002-06:00

I was surprised to find how expensive the can of baby formula was when I saw the price tag at the grocery store a few months ago. I used to spend $4.99 on a can when Micah was a baby just after I finished nursing him. Can you believe it?

iPad from Kotex Company?

2010-02-02T19:23:00.000-06:00

Old Lady Stealing A Car.

2010-01-16T19:45:00.001-06:00

Weird Looking Clouds, Oct 2009

2010-01-16T19:35:00.002-06:00

North side

South side

I took some pictures of the weird looking clouds when I took a walk the night before we had a thurderstorm.

Micah & Alexis' New House

2010-01-16T19:17:00.003-06:00

My son, Micah and his fiance, Alexis purchased a new house in South Seattle on Sept, 2009. It looks very nice.

Do Not Text When Driving!

2010-01-11T16:20:00.000-06:00

White Christmas Eve

2010-01-11T16:11:00.002-06:00

We had a snowstorm on Christmas Eve as the temperature was dripping way down. We were disappointed that we decided not to attend our friends' 2nd annual Christmas Eve party because there were so many inexperienced Texan drivers on the roads. I was going to tell our friends b ut they had announced that the party was cancelled after they got home from church. They had to drive very slow and they roads were very slick. We had attended their first party last year and had a good time. The picture on the top was from the online local newspaper.

Trashes on the Curb

2010-01-11T16:06:00.002-06:00

It's not a good idea to leave the empty boxes out on the curb. The empty boxes of expensive items like electronic, TV, computers, etc are the perfect target for the burglars who find out that you have some new expensive items in your houses and they will take them when you are gone or sleeping. Take them to the recycling plants or just cut them into pieces for your recycling carts.

Cost Increasing of the Postal Stamps

2010-01-11T16:05:00.000-06:00

The First Night at the Girls' Dormity at the Residental Deaf School.

2010-01-11T15:58:00.002-06:00

Can you find me?

Report%3A%20Pete%20Carroll%20accepts%20Seahawks%27%20offer%20to%20become%20head%20coach

2010-01-11T10:47:00.001-06:00

Report%3A%20Pete%20Carroll%20accepts%20Seahawks%27%20offer%20to%20become%20head%20coach

Caricature Of Dick By A Friend

2009-09-05T07:52:00.001-05:00

The picture was caricatured by one of our friends in Facebook. We laughed so hard when we saw it. It's cool.

Fence & Post Fixed After The Storm

2009-08-22T22:26:00.002-05:00

Our neighbor, Dan, his friend and I replaced some broken posts in both of our backyards including one in ours on July 21 a few days after the strong storm tore them down (stroll down some posts and see the pictures). We put the fences back up as the other neighbor behind us put some of them up. Dick was disappointed because he was unable to help us due to his foot injury but helped me the next day when I was mixing the cement sand with water and poured into the hole around the new post. Dan suggested us earlier to get a square 4x4 post instead of a round one because it was much stronger before we went to Home Depot to get it. Dan said that he was glad it was done so he didn't have to take his three dogs outside with leaches at same time. We are glad, too and we hope the next storm won't tear them down again.

Dog's Eye Exam

2009-08-19T20:41:00.000-05:00

Deaf Coffee Chat

2009-08-19T20:39:00.000-05:00

Thunder/Hailstorm, 60 MPH Wind 7/19/09

2009-07-20T15:35:00.005-05:00

Pumba during the thunderstorm

After storm. We found a broken post on the east side fence and will have it replaced on Wednesday.

More pictures of Kenny & Jaime's Wedding

2009-07-18T15:32:00.030-05:00

Dad & Kenny
Kenny, Jaime's dad, step mother, grandparents, sister, brother in law and step sister
Kenny, Jaime's mother, sister & brother in law
Dale, me & Dick

Dad, me & Dick

My oldest son, Micah, Jaime, Kenny & their dad
Micah (my oldest son), Kyle (Kenny's friend since middle school), & Travis, my nephew
Jaime's step sister, best friend & sister

Dick, me & my long time friends Yamile & Allan

Carol & Bob ( my oldest brother)

Bob, Heather & Bobby

Carol & Travis
Dad chatting with girls
Me & Travis
Allyson & Bob
Micah, me, Travis & his new wife, April

Video of Kenny & Jaime's Wedding

2009-07-15T22:20:00.003-05:00

My Baby, Kenny's Wedding 7/11/09

2009-07-14T15:46:00.015-05:00

My oldest son, Micah, Dad, Jaime, Kenny & me
Micah & his fiance, Alexis
April & Travis, my nephew & his new wife
Dad, Jaime & Kenny
Jaime & her dad

Andrew & Wayne
Dale & Dad

Renee, Mom's cousin
Dale
Margie, Carol, Travis, & Bob

Mathias, The Alien Sitting In A Garbage Can

2009-07-14T15:44:00.001-05:00

My Nephew, Travis' Wedding 4/7/04

2009-07-14T15:21:00.017-05:00

Our Babies

2009-07-14T15:08:00.006-05:00

"Littlefoot" The Two Stuffed Dinosaurs

2009-07-14T14:48:00.003-05:00

I took "Littlefoot" the two cute stuffed dinosaurs from one of the boxes in the garage, took a picture of them for Ebay and left them on my desk in the den. Dick said the next day that When he went into that room, he was startled when he saw the 2 dinosauers and thought they were doing something on my desk. I laughed and told him that I had bought them for my boys when they were little and they later said that they didn't want them when they got older. They are still in a good condition.

Pumba Wide Awake When Crews Working On Roof

2009-06-08T19:43:00.004-05:00

Hail Storm Part 3

2009-06-08T19:16:00.013-05:00

We finally had the new roof on Monday, June 1st after receiving the check from the home owner insurance company. We were the only one who wanted to leave the old shingles on when we had a new one put on them and they had to remove the old shingles from the trim, corner and top of the roof before they placed the new shingles. The removal would charge us $900.00 and we also didn't need the rain gutters replaced the saved us another $900.00 so we didn't have to pay any cent for deductible.

Third load of new shingles.
Part of old shingles that were removed.

Old vent made of plastic. I covered some holes with some duct tapes the day after the hail storm.
Damaged by the hail storm
New vents made of metal

"A Penny For Your Pet Peeve; Keep The Penny"

2009-05-23T20:28:00.002-05:00

I was reading one of my favorite topic called "The Watchdog," the columns, investigative reports and product recalls at star-telegram.com/watchdog, in our local newspaper one day in January and found the paragraph under "A Penny For Your Pet Peeve; Keep The Penny" saying," David of Irvine: "A ticket I got in Round Rock for a license plate rim that bareley even touched the top of the word 'Texas.' It ended up costing me $445. And that is why I was pulled over. It was not for speeding or anything."
That made me decide to remove the license plate rims from both of our cars so we won't get a ticket and we do not have any cent to pay the fine. I thought it's a crazy idea.

After Hail Storm Part 2

2009-05-23T19:40:00.005-05:00

The home owner insurance adjuster, Brad from St Louis finally came to look at the roof one Sunday morning, April 19th, and when he was done, he worked on his adjustment in his car using his laptop computer for 45 minutes. Then he gave me the paper works showing that our roof including the rain gutters was taking for $7,715.52 to replace. Dick nearly fainted when he found out the estimate cost. Brad said that he was going to send us a check from the hotel in Roanoke where he was staying in a few days.

The adjuster left the chalk markings on the roof.
We continued receiving the door flyers from the roofing companies and I noticed the roofers were knocking on the doors so I decided yesterday to post the note saying "No Roofers Needed" after Max from the Barton Roofing stopped by Monday for a short meeting on new shingles and vents. We decided not to replace the rain gutters because they looked fine even with some dents in order to save our money from paying the deductible. I received a last door flyer this morning and I guess the person did not read the note on the door. When the meeting with Max was done, he said that we were going to have the roof done in a week.

After Hail Storm Part 1

2009-05-23T15:04:00.011-05:00

The night after the hail storm, our neighbor, Tracy was looking at her roof when I got home from the walk and she said that we had some holes on the plastic vent covers like she had her so I went up to our roof to check and asked Dick to grab a roll of duck tape which he did and tossed it to me. I covered the broken vents with the tapes so the rain would not get into the attic. There were some dents on the rain gutters.
A few days later, we received so many door flyers from the roofing companies screaming for our business and money so I decided to email our home owner insurance agent, Carl asking him if we should have a new roof and he said yes. So he sent Max of the Barton Roofing Company to come over to check on the roof and Max brought one of his partner to go up to the roof to check. When he got down, he told Max that we needed a new one and Max had called Carl having him to claim it. I asked one of our friends, Ron, the painter how the hail damaged the shingles which we did not understand and Ron had his friend, Mike the roofer to explain it to us.
Mike said that the hail damaged the granules on the shingle NV ray that drys out the asphalt over the time. If we didn't get it done by the time, the insurance would not cover the further damage we would have on the roof and in the attic.

Here are the pictures of the houses in our neighborhood that had their roofs replaced. The old shingles had to be removed before the new ones are being placed while we wait for ours to be replaced.

Fort Worth Stockyard

2009-05-23T14:40:00.008-05:00

The framed picture on the wall in the museum building

We visited the Fort Worth Stockyard Museum one Saturday in March to do the research for the Historical Sites Project that was due with in a week of the deadline date for my Texas History class, I took some pictures of the places including myself that was required for the project. The wind was very cold and I was not feeling well but I had to get it done. Afterward, I made the paper assignment and loaded a few pictures.

Poop Trap

2009-05-16T19:48:00.000-05:00

Don't Pass The Air Into Your Wet Suit!

2009-04-07T20:13:00.000-05:00

Hail Storm 3/30/09

2009-04-03T12:47:00.005-05:00

We had a hail storm late Monday night and we could feel a strong viberation on the walls when we watched out of the window and I could hear loud bangs on the roof when I turned up my hearing aid volume. Both of our cars were in the garage at that time. The air vents on the roof had been damaged and we will have them replaced soon. There are dents on our neighbors' cars and some others with cracked windshields. The next day I saw three cracked windshields in the back of window repairman's truck when I stopped behind of it at a stop light.

A Visitor From Washington State

2009-03-28T14:39:00.003-05:00

We had a very nice visit with our long time friend, John from Washington State. He was visiting with some of his friend in Dallas/Ft Worth for a week. We chatted one evening at Starbucks for several hours before going to Arbys to eat and continued chaating till midnight. We met him and his friend, Suzy aagain for dinner at Golden Corral. John and Suzy met in 1973 during the Deaf Olympic training at Austin, Texas before going to Sweden.

A Snowman's Funeral

2009-01-19T21:55:00.000-06:00

Bob's New Puppy

2009-01-19T21:41:00.004-06:00

My brother Bob and Carol adopted a new Sheltie puppy in November and named him Darby. Darby and their cat, Stir-Fry became close friends.

Micah and Alexis Watching The Seattle Seahawk NFL Game

2009-01-19T21:35:00.002-06:00

Micah texted me the pictures of the Seattle Seahawk home game against Washington Redskin he and his girlfriend Alexis were watching one evening in December.

Freezing Rain In Fort Worth

2009-01-05T16:59:00.010-06:00

It's 32 degrees this morning and we had some freezing rain until later this afternoon. The ground didn't freeze because it was much warmer from Saturday's 81 degrees, preventing ice.

Kelly's Nose

2009-01-05T16:51:00.001-06:00

Click to play

Pumba Chasing The Laser beam.

2009-01-05T16:36:00.004-06:00

Click to play.

Pumba loves chasing the laser light.

Warning: Never point laser beam directly into an animal's eyes. Do not use on or near reflective surfaces. It can lead to vision damage.

Kelly's Ear

2009-01-05T16:15:00.004-06:00

Click to play.

Kelly was shaking her left ear when I was blowing at the back of her head, videotaped her. When I showed the video in my camera to Dick, he asked me what made her shaking it and I said I was blowing at it. He laughed and said, "Cool."

Kelly's Favorite Treat

2008-12-13T09:43:00.002-06:00

One of Kelly's favorite treat is Frosted Mini-Wheat cereal. She begs Dick for some when he was eating some for snack. When she hears Dick opening the package, She runs into the kitchen and begs for some.

Dick's Getting Wet from the Sprinkler

2008-12-13T09:35:00.002-06:00

When Dick was out in the back one early morning with Kelly, he thought it was raining because his pants had become wet during the sprinkle sytem cycle before looking up in the sky and he realized that it not was raining.

Pumba & Kelly peeking through the Open Window.

2008-12-13T09:30:00.001-06:00

Ou Dog, Kelly Leaves her Medications in Her Bowl.

2008-12-13T08:57:00.003-06:00

Pumba checking Kelly's bowl.

Our dog, Kelly left her two antihistamine in her bowl when she finished eating her dinner. Kelly was taking them with some antibiotics for her staph skin infection she had bout with in September. I gave her some Greenies Pet Pill Pockets with some pills inside so she was able to swallow her medications when eating the pockets. Aren't the pockets handy?

Our Cat, Pumba Playing with Plastic Milk Jug Strips

2008-12-13T08:42:00.003-06:00

Our cat, Pumba loves playing with some plastic milk jug strips, when she is done playing with one of them, she takes it in her mouth to the master bathroom and puts it into her bowl. Sometimes she put it into a large water bowl she shares with our dog, Kelly who had to sit by it waiting for me to pick it up before she drank some water. One time she put a small vacuum cleaner belt into the water bowl when she finished playing with it.

Get Plenty of Exercise!

2008-12-13T08:39:00.000-06:00

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year

2008-12-13T08:30:00.001-06:00

Two Old Men Join Us For Thanksgiving Dinner

2008-11-29T19:27:00.011-06:00

Dale asked me on October 9th if we had big plan for Turkey-day and I knew he and Dad would be coming so I said that we didn't have a plan and asked him what his plan was. He asked me how I would feel if the two old guys joined us for dinner and I said that it was fine so he made an arranagement for their flight and motel. They had flown to the Dallas/Fort Worth airport Monday night, November 24th and visited with us for four days. Dale didn't have problem finding the motel and our house when he used his new GSP touchscreen and turn-by-turn voice prompts.
Dale and Kelly in our living room. Kelly was so very excited to see them but was calmed down later.

Dale at Olive Garden after we showed them my college campus. He kept teasing the waitress how terrible our food was in order to get some discounts or free but no luck.

Dad and Dale at Cabela's in Fort Worth the next day about four miles from our home. Dad enjoyed exploring guns and knives while Dick and I enjoyed exploring at large live fish and turtles in a huge from floor to ceiling water tank.

We went out to eat at On The Border, the mexican restaurant. Dale teased the waitress about how horrible the food was and Dad told her that he tried to raise him right making her laugh. They said that the food was so very good and not compared with any restaurant in Spokane.

The gun at the Cabela's gun department was valued as $29,000.00 and Dad nearly fainted when he noticed it.

Lunch at Dickey's BBQ Pit in Roanoke before we went to the mall a few hours before they went to the airport to fly back to Washington state. Dad enjoyed exploring tools at Sears when Dale, Dick and I looked at new clothes and shoes.

Dick and Dad

Dale

Me and Dad

We were sad to see them go but were glad that they arrived Spokane safety Friday night a 11:00, their time.

Too Much To Eat at Thanksgiving Dinner

2008-11-29T09:16:00.003-06:00

I received the same picture of the sick jack'o lantern as one I received in 2001. It must be a popular picture.

R.I.P Jack'O Lanterns

2008-11-16T15:37:00.003-06:00

Three days after Halloween, I drove by the garbage can with five jack'o lanterns in it down the street from our home and decided to take a picture of it because I thought it's cool.

Where Do You Want The TV Dish Being Installed?

2008-10-17T20:30:00.001-05:00

Our neighbor had the TV Dish on his shed roof. What do you think? He is a TV Dish installer.

Starbucks Inhaler

2008-10-17T20:26:00.002-05:00

Have you tried using the Starbucks (I call the Starbucks "Suckbucks") inhaler? I received it from a friend in my Facebook profile and thought it's funny.

The U Of Ok Fan Wearing UT T-Shirt & Cap

2008-10-15T14:36:00.002-05:00

Here is the picture of our deaf friend, Kelly from church wearing a Texas Longhorn t-shirt and baseball cap at our deaf church picnic Sunday. Is he a fan of the Longhorn? No, he is a fan of the U of Oklahoma foot ball team. Why was he wearing these shirt and cap? When I saw him wearing them, I raised my fists into the air and said "Yay!" But he said that he had to wear them because he lost the bet with Cathy, the Longhorn fan when the Longhorn football team won the day before during the Red River Rival Day that was held at the Texas Stadium in Dallas. Kelly told Cathy that she would have to wear the red UO t-shirt if the Longhorn lose and she also told him that he would have to wear the Longhorn shirt if they win. Most of the people at the picnic had worn the Longhorn t-shirts, and Dick wore a Longhorn crew sweatshirt and I wore my hoodie which I bought with a JCPenney gift card. Most of us also wore them when we were at church and Kelly was the only one wearing his UO t-shirt and spring jacket. Kelly recently said that he had bought them at Walmart on his way to the picnic with some tomatoes and onions to go with the BBQ hamburgers.

Pet's Pill Pockets

2008-10-11T20:41:00.003-05:00

I ordered some free samples of the Greenie's Pill Pockets for Cats and Dogs a month ago and I didn't think I would use them for a while but when Kelly was experiencing some rashes and itching on her skin causing by the staph bacteria infection a few days ago and had to take two different kinds of medications, I started using the pill pockets and realized how easy to use. She is taking some antiboties and anti-histimane medications.
With Pill Pockets, there's no more forcing a pill down your pet's throat. This patented pill pocket treat allows for easy insertion of pill and supplement. Perfect for fussy dogs who don't like to take pills. These treats leave us and the pets smiling. I won't get an icky saliva from Kelly's mouth after forcing a pill down her throat again. I recommed you try these.
We had bought two more bags last night at Petsmart costing $6.99 a bag with a dollar off sale after checking with them at Petco that cost $10.99 a bag. Kelly ate them with some anti-histimane tablets without spittting them.

Here's Come Hurricane Ike

2008-09-12T19:57:00.006-05:00

I received the pictures from Brent, the former student of the college in Big Spring, Texas where Dick taught in a Facebook page. He was trapped in a traffic jam near Houston during the evacuation due to the coming of Hurricane Ike when he went to a grocery store five miles from his home.
I told Dale that Ike was trying to reach his birthplace that was in Denison, Texas where the former President Eisenhower was born and he said he thought it was funny. He was going to tell it to my dad. We will have a lot of rain and strong wind tomorrow but we are not sure since the weathermen kept changing their news. When I went grocery shopping in four stores this afternoon, there were so many people buying some food. A couple bought a new large cooler. We had filled up our Explorer with gas yesterday and Dick filled our Focus with gas this afternoon.

Waiting For My Dinner

2008-09-12T19:54:00.002-05:00

I received the pictures of the bear from cousin, Renee a few weeks ago and I thought they were cool. I sent them to my son, Micah. He asked me if they were real and I told him that I was not sure.

Would you serve the bear some food?

Broken Water Main Canceled Classes

2008-09-12T19:27:00.002-05:00

Maintenance workers look at broken water main at Tarrant County College Northeast Campus in Hurst, Texas. The classes including evening classes were cancelled on Wednesday and Thursday due to broken water main leaving the 14,000 students campus without water and air conditioning. Updates were avalaible at the college's Web site, www,tccd.edu or by calling their phone number.
On Wedenesday morning I was leaving at 6:50 for school when I receiced the text message from my interpreter, Tiffany saying that someone texted her saying that the classes were closed due to broken water main, I took off from the road to check the college's Web site in my Sidekick pager to see if the classes were canceled and sure enought they were canceled. I went to the store instead to get some food and batteries and returned home. I thanked Tiffany for letting me know. I continued studying for my psychology test by using the flashcards and kept checking for update online and the classes were open this morning. The tests I was supposed to take were postponed until Monday giving me more time to study.

Fall Classes Started & Financial Management

2008-08-27T13:35:00.004-05:00

My Fall classes started on Monday, August 25th and I was so anxious to begin taking courses. My courses I'm taking on Mon, Wed and Fri are English, Writing and Principles of Behavior Mangagement and Modification. I wanted to add one more course to take on Tues and Thurs but due to the rising gas and food prices was hurting us and we are short on cashes I decided not to take it. I still think about adding it but I had better not. I'm sure I will add to some of my courses in next semester. Dick and I took two very interesting financial management courses online recently that will help us manage our finance better without using our credit cards including the gas credit cards which we no longer hold them. After figuring out how much we spent on gas credit card by mean of four Winter months, we know how to save some cashes ahead of time for gas per month. Each course took us three to four hours. We had been excited about learning them. We are starting to save money toward new tires for our Ford Exploerer. We are praying that the annual auto inspector will pass the old tires for another year. Texas has strict rules on old tires. I'm so glad we had cut down eating out since Feb and we started to feel healthy. We are learning to adjust to our new eating habit since Dick was dignosed with diabetes last winter. I spent time researching online and ordered some books about how to "halt diabetes" that helps keeping his condition under control and he doesn't need any medication for it. We are keeping the negative labeling out of our minds. Dick gave up his Coke cold turkey in December and has been drinking some iced tea. He also has to stay away from some sugar replacement with aspartame in it because it also makes diabetes condition worse.
I had ordered some new textbooks from the online catalogs that were lot cheaper than the college bookstore with some money we saved earlier. I had to buy one of them at this store because it was not available in any online catalog. I have the person type the notes for me to read in her laptop called "CART" during the psychology lecture instead of the interpreter so I could get them in my email inbox hours after each class and I re-read them. She types notes in her small CART machine like some people use them at courts making notes into her laptop for me to read. Some other classes are being interpreted. I'm excited about my writing improvement.

Texas Longhorn Rocks!

2008-08-27T13:12:00.002-05:00

I took the picture from one of my Facebook friends and saved it because I like it. I sent it one of our friends Kelly at church who supports the Oklahoma State University as our other friends and I gave him bad time about how the UT rocked. One night four of us wore the UT sweatshirts at church to show to him. We often shook our longhorn hand sign. I showed it to my son Micah when I saw him in Seattle in June and he thought it's cool. I explained to him that the deaf students at Texas School for the Deaf made the longhorn hand sign for their Rangers mascot but some UT fans who saw their hand sign stole it and made it for their mascot hand sign making the students upset so they added "R" sign to their longhorn hand sign.
Texas Longhorn that's the University of Texas at Austin rocks. We watched the Rose Bowl game which the U of Texas and U of Southern California were playing on Jan 5th, 2006 just three months after we moved to Plano from North Idaho. We made comments about one of the UT players names Vince Young the quarterback because he was tooo good not compared with e robot. I texted my brother Dale asking him if our dad was watching the game and he said yes, he was supporting USC. During the helf time Dale texted me saying that our dad changed his mind and was supporting the UT because the team was going to win which they did. I bought a Rose Bowl championship t-shirt like I have and sent it to our dad in the mail the day after the game. When he received it, he laughed so hard thinking I was funny. Before the game started, there were so many people wearing their UT t-shirts all over the place and they still continue wearing them. I ordered another t-shirt and sent it to my dad for a Father's Day with a written note on a large evelope saying " Do you remember?....See inside." Dale emailed me saying that his friend saw my dad wearing it to the senior citizen luncheon where he usually goes during the week.

4th Of July Wedding

2008-07-23T14:32:00.005-05:00

We were invited to a wedding by my chiropractor Jason and his new wife Amanda. They were married on 4th of July. Amanda is also chiropractor. They met at the college in Dallas and started dating. Her dad wore a white baseball cap with a logo "Father Of The Bride" on the front after the ceremony.
When we saw Jason coming out at the front waiting for Amanda to walk on an asle with her dad, I saw Dick dropping his mouth open because he said he thought Jason was young and handsome. I agreed with him.

We loved that chocolate cake, yum. Dick kept saying after the wedding how good it was so I printed a picture of the cake and taped it on the fridge because I thought it's cool.

Paul the CODA (children of deaf adults) who along with his son were also Jason's patients interpreted for us during the wedding. He also interpreted for me last year during my first few appointments at his office. Paul had recommended me to Jason when I told him at the Deaf Coffee Chat one night about my search for a new chiropractor. Paul loves to socialize with deaf people. He is originally from Chicago where his mother lives.

Jason's jeep

Just a month before wedding, Amanda wrote in their website saying that Jason took her to San Antonio for the weekend. They spent the day walking around the River Walk. That night he took her her out to eat and then up to the Tower Of Americans observation skyline deck. Looking out at the San Antonio at night he got down on one knee and asked her to marry him.

Jason always wanted to get married 4th of July on a beach. Amanda always wanted a June wedding in a little country church with a steeple. Their compromise....July 4th in a country church with a steeple of course. She liked to keep things simple and elegant and Jason loves bold and crazy, we could definitely see what each has contributed to the planning.

Lighter Grocery Bags

2008-07-21T12:32:00.003-05:00

Have you notice that your grocery bags were getting lighter? I had noticed that the new designed Tropicana orange juice pitcher was 8 oz less than the older one pictured at left. I had suspected it had been reduced when I found out that it was announced that they were making some new design so I decided to save the empty old pictcher so I was able to compare it with a new one. The older one was 94 oz and new one is 86 oz. They both are the same price. The the boxes of Kellogg's Frosted Mini-Wheat cereal is 6 oz lighter than older boxes as well as other cereal were put 2.4 oz less in each box. Also the sheets of paper and toilet papers have been reduced like 90 to 84.
Not only are gorcery prices rising, some ice creams, soaps, mararine and other products have been slimmed down, as food maunfractors look for alternatives to raising prices to offset their own rising costs. I think it's deceitful.
Some observers says cosumers are less likely to notice a packaging change than a price increase.

What do you think?

My Baby's Getting Married!

2008-07-09T10:44:00.003-05:00

Picture taken by Renee for her blog

My baby Kenny made an announcement via text yesterday that he and his girlfriend Jaime are engaged. I asked him when the wedding bells were going to ring and he responsed saying he had no idea but Dale said recently it was probably in July of next year. He and Jaime were at my dad's place for dinner yesterday making an announcement for him and Dale.
My nephew Travis and his girlfriend April are also engaged and will be married on March 7th. April already had bought a new dress and picked out the dress color for the bridemaids. Dale said that he and others could not believe how quick she was moving along. I asked him if she had given Travis a nose ring with a rope. He said " TOO FUNNY!! I will ask him."

Jaime and April used to go to a same high school at same time and hadn't seen each other until last year when they met again at Bob and Carol's house. They caught up their news.

Funny NO!

2008-06-30T14:20:00.001-05:00

$27.08 a gallon of gas?! When ?! No way!! I would stick to a bike, mini bike or a horse!

Dick's Playing With Wii Video Game

2008-06-23T12:23:00.003-05:00

Dick was playing with Wii tennis video game at Jeff's place while we visited with him. This game has been on our Christmas gift list since 2006 and we hope to buy one when we are rich enough.

Dick was surprised to find some of my old video games including Nintendo 64 and Sony Playstion games when we were dating and he decided to try playing some car racing. He fell in love with them and bought a new XBOX. We had fun playing together. One of our favorite games is Test Drive Off-Road Wide Open. We continue playing with some other games during our free time.

Father's Day Lunch with Jeff & His New Townhouse

2008-06-16T16:15:00.012-05:00

Jeff's new townhouse at right in Dallas. There are four floors including the garage and guest room with a patio. The second floor is a living room with a bathroom and balcony, third floor is a living room and kitchen with a balcony, fand ourth floor is a roof top patio.

Jeff invited us to have a Father's Day lunch with him at the burger cafe down the street after showing us his new townhouse. We parked our car in front of his garage door when we got there.

Jeff with his room mate Alfonso's dog Pepsi. We thought Pepsi was a puppy when we saw him jumping up and down in his cage next to his dog, Cody but Alfonso said that he was three years old and very hyperactive. Jeff said that Pepsi loved his mother, Patty and he cried every time she went home after the visit. What a baby!!

Jeff's clock collection

Jeff and Dick on a third floor balcony

Doggy litter box

Forth floor is roof top patio

Decorated by Alfonso who decorates at Hugo Boss stores all over USA.

Jeff is a vice president of the bank and he travels often.

Dick playing with Wii bowling video game in a living room

Jeff's dog, Cody

Large vase of soap bars and bottles of shampoo and lotion they collected from the hotels they each stayed during their business trips. Jeff told me to help myself take some home. He said that some visitors who stay in his place could take some home also. There is another large vase like this in other bathroom.

Dinner with Micah and Alexis

2008-06-15T18:02:00.003-05:00

My son Micah and his girlfriend Alexis picked me up one Friday evening at Marie's place at Camano Island and I was so glad to see him again since I hadn't seen him in over three years. When we embraced, two of Dick's cousins Patty and Joy came toward us making acquainted with them. Patty said that my being reunited with Micah made her and Joy cry. When we were on the road, Micah said that Alexis' aunt and her boysfriend were renting the house there. We had a good dinner and conversation at Jimmy's Pizza and Pasta at Stanwood where Micah's boss lives and recommend him to the resteraunt. It's was my real pleasure to seeing him again.

Reunion & Celebration at Camano Island, Washington

2008-06-10T11:10:00.028-05:00

Dick and I had flown to Seattle from Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas on June 5th to attend his cousins' reunion and the celebration of his aunt Marie's life at her place in Camano Island, Washington over the weekend. Marie passed away on April 1st at age 99. She was born on a Halloween Day in 1908. We had a wonderful reunion with his cousins and playmates Joy, Patty, Ken and Jari and their spouses over the weekend. Joy and Dale moved back to Spokane, Washington from Alaska a few years ago, Ken and Jeanette live in Thornton, Colorado, Patty lives in Billings, Montana and Jari lives in Kirkland. Dick and I were never out of place. They kept us company by writing notes. I brought my large note pad. Patty told some of Marie's friends that we had been bonded. We wished that her late husband Bobby was there to have fun with us. She said that Bobby would have enjoyed talking with me. Dick is very fortunate to have some wonderful cousins. They have been very close. We keep in touch via emails.

We brought Dick's mother's old pictures for some identities the day before celebration. Jari, Ken, Joy, Jeanette and Patty. We are very grateful that Jari had made us get together for the weekend. I got to know them very well and I enjoyed learning their family history. I brought home the notes so I could re-read them.

Marie's house which she and her late husband Ed built and moved into almost 40 years ago after living in Kirkland.

Marie's front yard. Marie's 95 years old friend Connie lives alone across the street from her. Connie gave us a tour in her house and she has a beautiful view. She even mows the lawn and does the yard work. She checked on Marie often. They played card games together.

Ken's wife Jeanette talking with one of Marie's friends during the celebration open house which took place at Marie's house. We met her same friends as we did at her 95th birthday party in a same place five years ago.

Dick's cousin Patty (center) with Marie's friends.

There were about 30 of Marie's friends mostly in the living room.
Cousins introduced Dick and me with some friends and were encouraged to write notes with us which they did. I was taking pictures of the celebration for Jari.

Joy, Jeanette, Jari, Patty and Ken

Ken and Joy's husband Dale playing card game

Jari (right) talking with her mother Marie's friends

Dale playing with Marie's friend

Clarance with white sweater in center talking with Jari was marie's boss at a bank where she worked for years in Kirkland. He and his wife in back coat were also at Marie's 95th birthday party when I saw Clarence and Marie talking with each others holding their hands.

Jari invited three firefighters who came to help Marie in the past for the celebration.

We were given with truck demo by the fighters. The truck was worth at $450,000.00. It makes 6 miles per gallon! They filled up the truck with gas every other day.

Dick

Patty pointing at my camera

Patty, Dale's brother Neil, Jeantette, Dale, Joy and Neil's wife Ann, & Marie's friend Ken's dog.

Marie's friend Ken and his yellow lab Alex the same kind we have. We were playing with her. She reminded us of our dog Kelly. We left her with the Pets' Hotel in Southlake, Texas on our way to the airport. Our cat Pumba was a queen at our house with some extra bowls of cat food and water. Dick realized how easy to care for our cat.

Dick, Patty, Joy, Ken and Jari. Patty,Joy and Ken are the children of Bud and Lois. Dick is the son of Audrey and William (Scove). Jari os the daughter of Marie and Ed. Bud, Audrey, Marie (the brother and sisters) and their spouses had always gotten together annually to play the card game tournaments.

Jeantte (Ken's wife), Ken, Joy, her husband Dale, Patty, Jari, Dick and me. (I wore a few layers of clothes keeping myself warm). It was around 50 degrees during that weekend, brrrr.

Ken the Gourment Cook making a Shrimp Scampi Saut'e with noodles. It's soooo good and lot better than any restaurant. I had given him bad times about poisoning us and he said not me and others but only Joy.

Dale unloading his van. We went back to the break and breakfast on the island after the celebration. The breakfast we ate the next morning was very good.

Bed and breakfast over looking the ocean

Patio from our room.

Good For One Gallon Of Gas

2008-06-02T15:52:00.001-05:00

Here is the coupon good for one gallon of gas.

Reasons Why We Love Our Ford Focus

2008-05-25T10:00:00.003-05:00

The reason why we love our silver 2005 Ford Focus and want to buy another one some day:

The heater heats up quickly

The tiny little motor has more power than the Honda Civic and Toyota Corella.

Parking is easy

Fuel economy is good

Interior is quiet except for little road noise which expected in comact cars

Automatic transmission is powerful for a 4 cylinder & repinds well to my lead foot

Parts & tires are cheaper

Cool dashboard

Digital read gas milage

large trunk space with fold down back seat are good option

Solid driving

Easy to change lanes & pass other cars

Filling up with gas is a lot easier on my wallet

Interior & exterior are great

30-35 MPG

My hubby Dick who used to enjoy driving our 2004 4x4 Ford Explorer fell in love with our Focus and wanted to use it for his commute to work so I let him have it and I use our Explorer for my commute to college since the freeway where Dick drives to work and home gets congested during the rush hour and our Explorer takes too much gases when repeating his lead foot. Using our Focus saves lot of gas. Dick also said that it was easy to change lanes and passing other cars than Explorer.

We recomend Ford Focus very highly to others.

Children's Language Development

2008-05-24T18:27:00.002-05:00

This is one of my favorites because in psychology class I learned about the "overregularization". Children pick up grammatical rules intuitively and apply them rigidly. Overregularization is the kind of error that results when a grammatical rule is missing applied to a word that has an irregular plural or past tense like they begin to say "goed," "comed," and "doed." Like the cat in this picture above saying "I eated it." I had never heard my boys or any other small children saying like these because I deaf and couldn't understand them nor any adult telling me what the children had said.

My Boys Visiting With Their Grandpa

2008-05-24T18:08:00.003-05:00

Micah, Dad and Kenny taken by Alexis

I recieved some pictures from Micah and one of them was taken when he and Kenny were visiting with my dad. They also took him out to eat at Worley Casino. My dad wore a black Harley Davidson sweatshirt we sent to him for Christmas. I was glad to hear that my boys had visited with him during their spring break. The picture was taken by Micah's girlfriend Alexis. Micah and Alexis live in the Seattle area. Micah is taking some EMT courses and Alexis will be graduating in Aug from nursing school. Kenny is taking the communication disorder courses and is dating a high school teacher/cross country coach.

Grandparents are important!

$4.00 A Gallon Of Gas?!

2008-05-23T13:53:00.003-05:00

$4 Gas Is Here!! Four dollar gasoline debuted in Dallas Friday May 23 to herald a Memorial Day weekend of record-high across Texas and the Nation.

The AAA Texas gas price survey found regular self-serve average $3.73 per gallon, 5 cents more than last week. Nationally, the average price rose 6 cents to $3.83 per gallon.

I was disgusted to find that it keeps going up and up. I am concerned about my driving habit toward college and home starting this Fall when I start taking classes. There is no bus line in our area. I go to multiple stores in one trip. I went to the grocery shopping on my way home from college. I will stop by Game Stop where I applied for a summer job a week earlier to see if they get my application after my appointment with the chiropractor next week. We live in the country in north Fort Worth and most stores and restaurants are over five miles from our home. Subway, Schlotzsky's, Post Office, two banks and Exxon gas station are about three miles from our home.
I read some newspaper stories saying that more and more families had to cut their annual travels. Some others were going to the nearest lakes.
Will the increasing gas price make the commuters change their driving habits? Maybe the rush hour will be less congested if people realize how thing are now.
If the price of an oil goes up:
150/barrel=$.50 a gallon at the pump
200/barrel=$6.00 a gallon at the pump
The employees at the gas station don't get much increase in their paychecks. They can only earn enough from the food they sell.
The property tax value went way up so high because of the college heating and air condition use.
Our electric bill went down to $121.00 a month from $250.oo last summer since I started hanging wet clothes except towels and socks on both bathroom shower curtain rods with hangers! Using the air condition in our house is a must or we would melt.
What are you gonna do this summer? We will spend most of our time at home. We could visit with our friends via videophone. I have a summer math online homework that keeps me busy.