Happy Birthday Grandpa!

My grandpa turns 86 today. In his case 86 years young.



He's a fun grandpa, always has been and I love him very much.

I found this picture the other day and I love it. That's my grandpa.



I love that my grandpa always wears suspenders. And I particularly love the Santa suspenders he wears at Christmas.

Happy 86th Birthday!

Michael Jackson

I am not the world's biggest Michael Jackson fan and I am not heading down to UCLA to stand outside the hospital, or to Holmby Hills to stand outside his house but like most people I have memories of listening to his music.

This is one of those events where you will always remember where you were when you heard the news. I was at work when I heard about Michael. When Princess Diana died I was sitting in the living room watching Jurassic Park with my parents and my Grandma called to let us know.

I remember that my family bought the "Bad" cassette to take on vacation. We were listening to it loud with the windows down and our neighbor was laughing at us. I remember watching his Superbowl performance and being awe struck. I loved watching renditions of the "Thriller" dance and of course listening to it on the radio every Halloween. Every time we drove to Solvang or up that way we would look out the window to see "Neverland". And of course, in not such great times for Michael watching his trial on the news and seeing him dancing on the top of a van. And seeing the woman releasing doves when he was acquitted. I can not claim to be the fan of his that she is but I can respect his talent and the impact he had as a cultural icon.

RIP Michael.

Cousins

These pictures fill me to the brim with happiness. I get a huge smile on my face when I see them.

I love my cousins so much and am very happy we all grew up to be such good friends.

Happy Birthday Beth!

Today is my cousin Beth's 28th Birthday.

Katie, Vickie, and Beth

We share the special "23" birthday, she was born exactly eight months before me. She even got married on a 23rd. Maybe I will have to also.

She's an awesome cousin and an awesome person.

Every girl needs a cousin like her- she's strong, fun, funny, a great listener. She gives great advice, will pick you up in the middle of the night from a Halloween party when you just have to see her. Speaking of parties she throws a great one! And when you need her she'll go above and beyond anything you ever imagined.

She loves cats, Coachella, Betty Page, traveling, her family, and her husband.

And I love her.

Oh the fun we had!

This past weekend was AWESOME!

There was a lot going on but I loved every single minute of it.

We had-

Justin's (my cousin) High School Graduation
Matt/Vickie/Katie dinner and slumber party
Becky's (another cousin) wedding shower
Goodbye/Graduation party for Cory and Justin
Father's Day dinner

Highlights include but are not limited to-

-Going to Pavilions Friday morning to buy wine for Vickie and Matt for that night and the cashier asking if I was 21, looking at my I.D. and then saying "you are old" in sincere surprise. Made me laugh out loud.

-Falling over laughing at the outfits of mine that Vickie was trying on because she forgot her jeans. The best was the dress with her wedge heels.

-Texting my aunt "inside jokes" during graduation.

-My mom hobbling around the graduation taking pictures and my sister and I laughing hysterically. We weren't laughing at you Mom, we were laughing with you.

-Dinner at Maria's with Matt and Vickie.

-My second trip to Pavilions where another cashier laughed at the picture on my I.D. I look young in the picture I guess, well it was nine years ago.

-My cousin Matt being legitimately surprised that I have a nice, clean apartment with furniture. I crack up thinking about what he thought my apartment was going to look like.

-Vickie and Matt's deep spiritual conversation at 1am.

-Getting to be around Matt and Vickie for 16 hours straight. (Will you guys move in with me?)

-My sister and I talking to my mom on speaker phone Saturday morning.

-My mom shutting the shower present in the bathroom so that the cats wouldn't bother it and me opening the door to get it and one of the cats runs out of the bathroom.

-Bridal shower tea with some of my favorite ladies.

-My mom moving away from my sister and I at the tea. Hmm, I think we're funny.

-The fun bbq with everyone and listening to Rodger talk to Vince about the Lakers and my aunt just throwing in a sarcastic "I just love Kobe" every now and then.

-The kittens that have decided to make my aunt and uncle's backyard their home. They were so cute to cuddle with.

-All the laughter at the bbq.

-Shopping with Rodger Saturday afternoon.

-Dinner for Father's Day at Los Guerros with my parents, the Madores, and Rodger.

-Watching "Moving Up" with Rodger and all the general fun we had together. (Will you move in with me?) (this is going to be a full apartment.)

-My amazing two hour Sunday nap.

-Hanging out with my parents Sunday night.

I told you it was a busy weekend right? I loved getting to be around so much of my family. They make me laugh non-stop. I was sad after the festivities were over because I just had such a great time. But there is always next time. Thanks to everyone who made the weekend so much fun.

My Dad!

In honor of Father's Day here are some pictures of my dad. I had a great time looking through all of the old pictures.

So handsome!

This picture cracks me up,I had never seen it before and have no idea why he is holding a knife.

Dad and his friends

Halloween, maybe 1984

Christmas Eve family picture at my grandparent's house. Maybe 1985?

Dad and our cat Goldie, and Pete the Parakeet in the background.

Swimming

The zoo



A family vacation- either Utah or Arizona. I don't always remember exactly what we saw on our summer vacations but I remember the vacations and the love and fun they contained.

A trip to San Francisco



Vickie's HS graduation

My dad in his element.

Happy Father's Day Dad! Thanks for being a good example of leading a good life and letting us learn through your actions. I love you!

Scene from a Kitchen

Act One

"Dinner was Served"


Act Two




"Dessert"

Act Three



"The Real Dessert"

Game Five- Lakers are Champs!

Game Five was all it took for the Lakers to win the finals.

It was a lot of fun to watch them win and celebrate.

I was particularly happy for Odom to win his championship. And it was cool to see Fisher and Kobe win another one together.

My Dad really enjoyed seeing Jackson get his tenth ring and he thought the hat was pretty cool.

This picture is for Vickie, I know you will love it (wink wink). (Please leave a sarcastic/witty comment).


I am very happy for the Lakers and it was an exciting playoffs to watch. I am happy for Rodger who has been on cloud nine since they won and has me recording the Laker parade on two different channels tomorrow.

Already looking forward to next season and another championship.

Go Lakers!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Game Four- Fisher Baby

I am having a hard time remembering exactly what happened in Game Four, I just know that the game belonged to Fisher. It was reminiscent of the old Laker days. His two three point shots saved the game.





Also memorable from the game was the the flagrant foul on Pau (or "The Beast" as I like to call him). That was pretty bad and uncalled for.

I was reading some news articles on the web about the game (seriously, what's happening to me?) I will just consider it research for my blog not a commentary on my life. Here is what Fisher's teammates had to say about him-

LAMAR ODOM


"He did it again," Lamar Odom said. "He just did it again. "He's a legend."

KOBE BRYANT

"That's Derek," said Bryant, also a 13-year veteran. "He just has supreme confidence."

JORDAN FARMAR

"He's not afraid of the moment," said Fisher's young understudy, Jordan Farmar. "He's done it before. So he knew he had it in him."

ANDREW BYNUM


"He just pulled up, shot it and hit it. That was the end of it. He came down and saved us."

SHANNON BROWN


"Fish has been doing that all season. He's been doing that his whole career. He has rings already. He told everybody on the bench he wasn't going to miss anymore and he didn't."

It was a great win for the Lakers and hopefully they seal the deal tomorrow night. I hear Odom can't sleep because he is excited to win a championship and I wanted that to happen for them asap. And for Rodger too, he's been literally dreaming about a Lakers victory. It would be awesome! Go Lakers!

Mmmmm Donuts

My incentive to get out of bed on time this morning was the chocolate bar I had promised myself the night before. I could taste it. I had to have it. I do these small things in the morning as a self incentive program. It works for me.

I get to the donut place and look in my purse for my debit card. I was planning on going to 7-11 to get cash back because the donut store only takes cash. I rummage through my purse looking for the card because my it just never makes its way to my wallet. No debit card. It was then that I remembered that it had to be in my jeans pocket from the night before. A small bead of sweat forms on my forehead. I have to have this donut, but all I have is my Amex card and not enough time to go home, what to do? I have a lot of change in my car, 90% of it being pennies. I dig every where and come up with 85 cents. About 20 cents is pennies. I shamefully make my way to the donut store and once inside some of my change drops. Please don't let it be one of my precious dimes! After much searching I almost give up but the lady behind me finds the dime. Thank God! I go to the counter and ask for my donut. Only 80 cents, I start counting. Why do people give you the craziest look when you give them change?. There is a certain shame that comes from paying with change, doubled when you are paying with pennies. I got the feeling the donut guy would have rather given me a free donut then to watch me count my change.

Donut in hand and four pennies to spare I leave but not before the ear piece falls out of my phone and my phone falls out of my pocket. Just a regular Thursday morning for me.

It was worth the counting, shame, and fumbling, the chocolate bar was great!

Me and Homer Simpson, nothing stops us when it comes to donuts.

Game Two and Game Three

One post for two games, it counts. Plus the Lakers lost Game Three so who really wants a whole post about that?

Game two was great! A nail biter to the very last second and on through over time. One of my favorite parts of the game was Jack Nicholson's flip out. And I also enjoyed the Orlando players going to meet Jack after the game. They may not be back to L.A. for the finals so maybe they wanted a chance to meet him. Rodger and I also thought it was funny that Mark Wahlberg was there, I'm sorry aren't you a Boston fan? So many Laker fans would have died to have had the seat he had. Oh well. Anyways this post wasn't supposed to be about celebrities.




So I will say again Odom is the heart of the team. I love to see him pump up the team before the game.



As much fun as Game Two was to watch Game Three was not fun to watch and to be honest I didn't watch all of it. I missed most of the first quarter because I was getting a hair cut. But I watched the rest of it and it was a close game so that kept it interesting. Unfortunately they lost. It's too bad but at least there will be more games to watch since it isn't a sweep and I think it will be more fun for them to win on a Sunday then a Thursday. Weekends are just better for a win, I think.

So a Sunday win it will be, I think. That means they have to win tomorrow. Of course, if they don't then they would have the chance to win the Championship at home and that would be cool. Honestly, who cares what night they win as long as they win.

Rodger, you better appreciate these posts. I really never thought I could write this much about basketball. They are for you nut, please enjoy. Someday I may make you start a blog and write all about "The Real Housewives of New York".

Hier Kasse Kasse*

I have always wanted to go to Germany. There is a lot there that I would like to see and experience.

Now there are two more reasons that I want to go, Larisa and Sipura.

They are twin panthers new to the Tierpark zoo in Berlin.

I just want to cuddle them.

Also, I think they resemble my own little black panther- The Sush. So maybe she can go with me. Do animals have to be quarantined to go to Germany?

Don't they look so love able and cuddly?

I will need to go soon though, in a few weeks they will be bigger then me.

*google translator English to German (here kitty kitty). Eliza, is this correct?

Happy Birthday Matt!

My cousin Matt turns 26 today. He really is more like a brother than a cousin. We grew up together, played together everyday of every summer growing up. He is one of my best friends. He is just a good guy who likes to have a good time. When I am with him I always feel loved. The night that this pictures was taken he continually put his arm around me and patted my back. For my birthday this year he made me dinner and bought me cake. He is one of those people that are just easy to love.

One of my favorite things about Matt is how funny he is. He can crack me up without even cracking a smile himself. I think it's the sarcasm. It's in the genes.

Hope it's a great birthday Matt! I love you!

Game One- The Slaughter

Rodger asked me to post a blog for every game of the finals, which after tonight's disaster for the Magic, should probably result in four posts. So I am obliging, (even though he never comments on my blog anymore), it really is the very least I can do. After all, Rodger is the one that fixed my computer disaster. I accidentally uploaded a virus on my computer and he backed everything up on a external hard drive and then reformatted my computer. Three cheers for The Rodge!

Game one was tonight- Lakers won, Lakers actually killed. Odom was amazing, Odom is always amazing. I don't care what anyone says. Does anyone else think it is ridiculous that a team in the finals would only score 75 points?

Also, I don't like when Kobe sticks out his bottom teeth. Scary pants.

Game one in the bag.

Game two is Sunday, let's hope for another big win and a lot less cheesy commercials of Kobe with the basketball trophy.

Detained

Last night I watched Larry King Live (no judgement) and Lisa Ling and her family were on to talk about Laura Ling, Lisa's sister, and Laura's colleague Euna Lee who had been detained in North Korea for illegal entry. Their families say they had no intent of crossing the border from China into North Korea. Watching their families was heartbreaking. Both women are married and Euna has a young daughter.

While I don't know a lot about U.S./North Korea relations, or lack thereof, and I don't know a lot about journalism, I know what it is to have a sister. Someone who you love more than you love yourself, someone who's pain you physically feel. I can't/don't want to imagine what these families are going through. To think that your sister could be in that position while there is very little you could do would be unbearable. I know that I would go to the ends of the earth to save my sister from this kind of pain and she must feel so helpless. The humanity of this story is a little overwhelming.

I joined a couple of groups on Facebook and I am going to research more on petitions and letter writing to see if there is anything that I could do to help bring these women home. While I know that what I do will probably be of very little consequence this is one of those stories that tugs at the heartstrings.

If you feel moved by this then maybe you can research and find something you can do to help.

My thoughts and prayers are with Lisa Ling and these two detained women.

This is an exerpt from the letter that Laura wrote her sister Lisa-


When I first got here, I cried so much. Now, I cry less. I try very hard to think about positive things, but sometimes it is hard too. Some days I get to go outside and get some fresh air. In the early evening, I do some stretching. I also sit and meditate. I breathe deeply and think about positive things that have happened in the day. For example, I think “I’m lucky I made it through another day.” I’m lucky my family is working so hard to get me released. I’m thinking about you all constantly and how fortunate I am to have an amazing family. Stay strong and please take care of yourselves. That is my request. Know that I’m thinking of you and dreaming about being reunited with you all again.

All my love,

Laura