More graduation magic

Here's some more photos from this weekend's festivities:

"Anna" graduates

Chris, Jessica and I are down in Van Nuys/LA this weekend for Wilson's graduation from UCLA. We arrived yesterday afternoon right around 3:00 pm and spent some time stretching our legs and unpacking before meeting Wilson for dinner after she was done with her main college graduation (this morning was the departmental graduation). Wilson, with her friend Jeraldy, came to the hotel and took us to a late night dinner at a Chinese restaurant called Chi's after our initial attempt at sushi was abandoned due to long waits and empty bellies.

After a few hours of sleep we were up again early for a 6:00 am breakfast in order to make an 8:00 am graduation. Since we forgot to get our graduation tickets from Wilson the night before we had to do some last minute scavenger hunting this morning for the tickets she left at will-call for us at her work. Luckily Drake Stadium was a big venue and there was still plenty of great seating once we were able to make it back from our little ticket detour.

Even though Wilson was very close to the beginning of the processional, the way they were dismissing rows to go up and receive their diplomas made her the next to last row. Oye!

Even though Wilson gave them a name card they still mispronounced her name as "Anna". Brilliant! After graduation we gathered on the field for some family photos.

Wilson even did a little tribute for Little Man on her cap who died 9 years ago today, but would have been so proud of his "big butt" Wilson. 

After graduation Wilson took us on a quick tour of the campus trying to avoid the dozen or so other graduations going on at the same time. 

Lastly we went out to lunch with Wilson at a Koren BBQ place of her choosing. That's when we gave her her graduation gift of the cruise for her and Raquel for a week to the Mexican Riviera. She was appropriately excited. It was Jessica's first time at Korean BBQ (grill insert in the middle of the table to cook the plate of raw meat they give you) and I think she liked it. 

Chris was a sad panda though when there was a lag in the meat delivery. 

Look at that pouty lip! Once we were done with lunch we released Wilson to go have a good time with her friends while we raced back to the hotel so that we could promptly sleep off the 12 pounds of meat we'd just eaten. We met up with Jessica at 6:00 pm for a dinner date downstairs at the hotel restaurant where we just got some salads and calamari to share. After breakfast in the morning we'll be packing it up and heading back home. More photos (and video) to post when I get home.

What the duck?

Me and my bunko prize from last night.

Don't be jealous. I'm not.

Small but mighty

While I was at Kohl's the other day I picked up a new candle that was on sale. It's a fabulous scent called 'sandcastles'. I bought a couple of votives and a car freshener.

Just one little candle made the whole house smell delightful.

While out helping Chris service the HVAC earlier today, I stopped and checked on our veggie garden. The tomatoes (Momma Mia) and squash are off to a good start.

Looking back at my blogs from last summer it seems like the garden is off to a slower start this year than last, but hopefully that means they won't fizzle out and die as fast as last time.

We spent a little time at Barnes & Noble this afternoon, after which we ran next door to CholoMaxx where I found the new, super elusive pretzel M&Ms. They sponsor one of the NASCAR drivers that Chris likes, that's how I knew about them, but haven't had any luck finding them in the individual bags. We ate them all on our drive home. Chomp, chomp, chomp.

See, I cut one in half so you could see its meaty pretzel goodness. Now go get some!

Random activities

Sunday is our last minute catch up day for anything we needed/wanted to get done before the work week starts back up. Today that included clearing out the spare bedroom from the wreckage left behind after Chris remodeled his bathroom.

At this rate we might actually have somewhere to put Jessica when she shows up later in the week. Not only was there inside work to be done, but the yard was in desperate need of a mow and weeding.

After watching Chris do all this hard work I needed to cool myself down with a refreshing blended drink of ice cream and Irish cream.

Very tasty. Now I have the energy to go watch him service the HVAC system after it started making a 'clunk, clunk' sound this afternoon. Never a good sign. 

Bottoms up!

Today was the brewfest out at the Elk's lodge that we bought tickets for two longs months ago. Learning from last year, we decided to go over late, about an hour after it started so that we could avoid the long line to get in and the drama-rific college kid stories that go along with it. Here's what we learned about going late: a) you miss out on all the event pamphlets so you have no idea which breweries are there or where they're located, and b) people have already made a serious dent in all the food booths. Since I don't drink beer I was just there for a couple of ciders and some munchies.

I stuck with soda this year while Chris enjoyed 18 different varieties of brew.

Not so many pirate hookers this year, but I was almost attacked by a renegade Frisbee. Some drunken retards were tossing it back and forth in the empty field behind us and when the guy closest to us missed the catch it flew across our table scattering our complementary basket of pretzels to the four winds. We've decided to take a break from the brewfest in the future. Next year we're going to try the League of Women Voters' wine/beer tasting that happens in April over at California Park Pavilion. It's cheaper and has less annoying participants. Hopefully.

When we got home I finished up a scrapbook page I'd started last night. It's about when Wilson came and visited for a weekend back in March. I completely scrap-lifted the layout from a gal who's blog I follow, but that's why it looks so good!

Awww.....aren't we cute?? Next up is my Mercy Me concert I went to with Kari at Arco. But first I've got to find steal a layout for it!

Listen up

This week Chris and I are taking part of the Arbitron radio ratings survey. We both have a radio journal that we have to log all the stations, and times, we listen to. And for our hard work and effort, we each got two crisp dollar bills with our journals!

It started yesterday and goes through next Wednesday. Then we seal the journals and drop them in the mail. We're only one and a half days into it and I'm already behind. Oye! This is going to be a long week!

The other night I had a hankering to go to Target for some Brita water filters that were on sale and while there found a frequently advertised exercise fad and had to have it.

Yes, we bought the shake weight. And let me tell you what - it's kicks your butt. It says you only have to do 6 minutes a day, but if I actually did 6 minutes my arms would fall off and spontaneously burst into flames. After about a minute I'm on the floor crying. But the tears means it's working, right? Seriously, you feel it. I did it arms raised, behind my head and after about 30 seconds I was done and it was still sore the next day when I tried it again. And I used to do weights, before my surgery, but haven't done anything in the last 6 months because I can't stretch that much on the machines at the gym. But I'm still surprised that this little plastic demon is wiping the floor with me. We'll see how long it takes before both arms end up in slings!