something fancy that made me smile

sometimes grandmas are awesome.

mine just got out of the hospital yesterday. she is still in special care at her nursing home (she will stay there for a while more before they put her back in her own little studio apartment...where she will be on 2 hour watch...but for now she is in the care unit). this past week has made me think lots about time, and how most days i take it for granted. i try not to but then i just get busy. a lot of days i sit at work waiting for the clock to strike 530 when the reality is i spend 90% of my awake hours here (or at least it feels like it...) and that seems just silly to spend so much of my time wishing it away so i can go and do other things. anyway my grandma reminded me all about this because well for the first time i am really starting to see that she probably doesn't have much time left...she made a comment to me about how my mom shouldn't worry about her anymore because "god will take care of me.."

yeah she said that to me when i was visiting her at the hospital saturday night. kinda caught me off guard and then i started to tear up. i didn't so much love that...mostly i know that all moments i have with her are special...because i'm not sure how many of them left i will have. hopefully lots because the truth is, though she can sometimes drive me crazy (and i say this in the most loving way...mostly because growing up i have been around her LOTS - which is lucky, not many grandchildren can say that...but it's like your mom...you love them, but they can also get on your nerves...anyway sometimes grandma is like that) mostly i just love her always.

plus she does awesome stuff like:

- practices whipping....like the kind of whipping dominatrix people do...sister and i taught her this a couple years ago...and actually that reminds me that i should probably dig up some videos of my grandma and do a post about them...for viewing pleasure...i totally am...so be on the look out for that.

- last winter i trained her how to say "whats up bitch" and made her swear to me that the next time her phone rang (at the nursing home in her little apartment) that she had to answer it "whats up bitch"...well i called her back a half hour later but she forgot to answer it that way...so i reminded her and told her she HAS to do it...well she totally listened to me because my mom called me about two hours later and got mad at me for training grandma to answer the phone that way. she said she yelled at grandma not to answer the phone that way cause what if it was like a doctor calling. mostly i just laughed.

- she says biotch...like a "bee-odge"

- she will read anything out loud that you write in a card...her mothers day card this year was especially fantastic...i will post that video as well...but here is a link to my facebook that you probably should watch...sister and i wrote her fancy things and she is pretty good at reading them out loud. grandma reading her mothers day card=hilarious

- most recently she made me these jewelries...she has really bad arthritis so crafts are sometimes really hard for her...but she started taking a beading class and she really loves it...this was part of my birthday present.

(missing the bracelet in this pictures...but it too is fancy) this beading was the fancy thing that made me smile. because mostly my grandma is so cute and she loves to make me all sorts of things...she is hilarious and awesome and laid back...she will do anything, kiss anyone, and says whatever is on her mind even if it is inappropriate...one time she even told my (asian friend) elena...when we went over to her old house for dinner one time during college...that she hates working with "orientals because the only word they know is pay day"...elena just looked at me and laughed.

my grandma is awesome. i love her and my jewelry...and the best part about the the jewels is that they have magnetic clasps...that part she was most excited about because she said for old fingers those are the easiest kinds to manage.

things about this weekend.

there were lots of things that happened this weekend.

lots of good things.
like getting the living room all put together...(pictures to come soon...things are getting close now...so i can't post too much pictures because it would ruin the house tour blog...) but it looks really pretty i love it love it in there...
also i got to see some best friends saturday at nikkis graduation party. i got to go to target with danielle and laura and we bought decorations for my house and also fish mugs that are blue and plastic and nasty disani water to put inside and we snuck in to michael (danielle's brothers) baseball game to drink our waters with denise. sister had a birthday party on friday and i got to see tara and brett and ashley came and i loved it all. and we had tacos and cake at the party and fancy jello shots and mojitos. and i saw katie (sister's bff...) lots. this was out of order, but all a list a pretty great things.

the only thing about this weekend...is the fact that most of what i remember about it isn't really the good stuff. mostly i think cause this morning i said goodbye to sister for six weeks and i hate that. also my grandma is still in the hospital...and my dog molly was hella sicks all day saturday. she wouldn't eat chicken or rice or watermelon or her dog food or treats! nothing...i'm not really sure how everyone is doing this monday morning. grandma was suppose to get out of the hospital today, or at least that is what they told us last thursday when she was admitted...molly did eat breakfast this morning so maybe she is betterish. but sister is getting on that plane soon...

hmmm...its monday and i wish it was friday...i need a re-do weekend.

that or a day off so i can sit on my new awesome couch, watch movies and drink from my fish mug.

why i went to college...

yesterday i learned another reason why i went to college.

so that i wouldn't have to be a furniture builder for my job.

denise took me to get my couches yesterday from ikea! wahooo! so so very excited...got them into the house...in boxes...and they looked like this.


yeeeah...so about building them. basically a pain in the ass. laura was there to help. thank god. by myself would have basically been like "oh hey let me just grab that little piece of card board and cut my wrist really quick..." but with her there it was way more fun! because i had someone to shooo him out with.

that is the cat that laura thought was mine because he was just walking through our house and into our kitchen like he payed the rent or something...we got him out but then he stood on our steps and front porch meeowing at us.

also good about laura was that i had someone to load up all of that cardboard and plastic wrap with and take to the dumpsters...we found some that weren't locked (the church had theirs locked that we first tried) the open ones were located right behind the dental office on lombard. so we gifted them with our recycling...


anyway 3.5 hours later...and about 12 re-trys because building couches really isn't as easy as it sounds....they were finished...! (just in time to sit and watch so you think you can dance on them! wahooo!)


probably i won't be building any more of those in the near future. but i am very pleased with all of my handy work :)

ps. dear all those that helped, thank you. mostly cause i think all of those boxes strapped to the top of 'groovy' wouldn't really work...and also building them by myself would have been impossible. xo

also today...i am dyslexic

apparently i really should just stop working. i might be more productive not doing anything else today ...than actually trying to do something.

one of todays tasks...send an e-mail out to several people to let them know about a book signing event at bridgeport brewpub.

the e-mail looked great. the subject line that i wrote? yeah that part i just found out looked retarded...and who better to point it out to me than the editor of nw brewing news...

his response to my invite...

kendall,

thanks for the invitation, but can you tell me what kind of "singing" there will be? drinking songs, i presume?

cheers,

alan moen
editor
northwest brewing news

probably he sent me that because the subject line i sent out on all of the emails read...bridgePort brewery hosts book singing for UC davis brewing professor, charles bamforth, july 12

not that there was really anything i could do to make my dumb ass look better...i wrote him back anyway...

allen,
hmm..
well, apparently as most people will be getting their books "signed..." ?
it looks like i will be "singing"...99 bottles of beer on the wall??...

oops. if only that was sent early this morning i could blame it on lack of coffee...now however i just have to laugh about it.

:)

hopefully you enjoy book signing...as much as singing...and we will still get to see you on the 12th!

cheers,
kendall


i hope he has a sense of humor...and i hope all the other people who got my e-mail can't read today either. and the only reason i am writing about this is i have learned that documenting the embarrassing things tend to be the blogs i enjoy looking back at in a year from now and laughing at the most...but today i feel like a dumbass.

i need help

normally words just spill out of my mouth and go everywhere...even when i don't want them to...well mostly when i don't want them to. then when i do want words to come out generally they don't.

like today.

(side note - you are probably surprised nothing about the house is being posted right this minute...i have a post i still need to do so maybe in a little...for now we are taking a break from the house though and focusing on work for once.)

anyway today i am working on lots of random things...sorta of being productive but held up by my brain that is apparently having issues. i think it forgot how to think. so i am asking for help. i am working on a headline for brideport brewery's summer beer release...its flavor is haymaker.

here are your options...please vote on your favorite.

1. BRIDGEPORT BREWING COMPANY BRINGS OUT A TASTE OF SUNSHINE WITH HAYMAKER ALE

2. BRIDGEPORT BREWING COMPANY RELEASES THE SUN WITH SEASONAL HAYMAKER ALE

3. BRIDGEPORT BREWING COMPANY SPREADS SUNSHINE WITH HAYMAKER ALE

4. ENJOY A DOSE OF SUNSHINE WITH BRIDGEPORT BREWERY’S HAYMAKER ALE

5. BUY HAYMAKER OTHERWISE WE WILL CUT YOU - OH YEAH AND SOMETHING ABOUT SUN

thank you.

making the homestead pretty is hard work!

i finally got to have a full weekend at my new home! well...half of a full weekend, sunday was fathers day so most of sunday i was with dad and family. plus i visited grandma. something cool is that she made me a fancy necklace and earrings and a bracelet...because now she does beading...and she takes classes and everything at the nursing home. i will take pictures about them and blog it cause they are basically gorgeous.

anyway most all of the rest of the weekend was me and my new home. i did lots and lots of shopping and building. i went to target, i went to a furniture store, and also i went here...


something about this place is it is gigantic huge. i went by myself. it was slightly overwhelming and i think i got lost nine times if i counted correctly. but also i found lots of fabulous things! and i am very proud of all of them! i was even so excited and proud that i wasn't embarrassed about pushing two carts around the store.

i don't want to ruin all the amazing surprises that will be the house tour blog. but i will share about one thing. my kitchen table (and don't worry at this point the chairs weren't built...so when i finally get it all finished and the house tour blog gets posted...there will still be an element of surprise left to write about).
here is my gorgeous fancy table :)

plus i made banana bread in my new pans. first time i have ever baked banana bread before. i gave half to my grandma and half to my parents. basically i felt domestic and i loved it.

doing construction

this house is a project.

mostly when you work all day long, and then you dance all weekend, and then you do morning show at 5am for work...it is hard to get all moved in! so its a process...for sure.

tonight's goal was laundry, shoes, garbage, and bookshelf. i started the laundry. i put the book shelf where it will temporarily live until i get my living room furniture. i also book the books on the shelf (eliminated a box from the living room...WAHOO!). i went to fred meyers to buy a garbage can. this was mostly a fiasco so i am choosing not to go that in depth but mostly what happened was the garbage system the land lord has us on requires us to have our own garbage can. well garbage day is tomorrow, we have tons of shit from moving in that needs to be thrown out and no garbage can. so i bought one but because i am so tired it was a much bigger deal to get that 32 gallon garbage can than it normally would be. i'm sure people thought i was ridiculous walking through fred meyer dragging a huge ass plastic garbage can and crying...whatever. i'm tired and that's fine.

mostly something i learned is that when you are tired you shouldn't do construction...because i think that is when people get hurt. and that is what happened to me when i was doing my shoes. to do the shoes i had to make this shelf thing. well first thing i screwed one of the walls on backwards and second thing after i finally got the stupid board facing the right way i was screwing it in and one of the walls decided it would be a good idea to crash down on my ankle and scrape me and cut me and make my blood drip down my leg. stupid mother fucker shelf.


anyway i finished it...finally.

it is now in the closet. full of shoes and looks fabulous.

getting closer to the house tour blog post....be patient with me.

grown up me

i have done blogging about my new house but this time i actually have a picture or two...and of the inside! wahoo! because guess what, tuesday night was my first night in my very own house! and mostly the house looks like a big tornado flew through it but i am perfectly fine with that because slowly but surely it is coming together!

tuesday tara came over to hang out with me on my very first evening. we got thai take out for dinner and decided it was necessary to document the first meal!
yes yes...that is correct paper plates (thank you denise...and for those that don't know that was my happy 23 birthday present from her. they were fancy kind though. with flowers.) and plastic silverware and also we ate while sitting on boxes.


i did other things like put away dvds, line a few shelves in the kitchen with shelf paper, put some clothes away...and also i put together my bed! (not all the pillows and cute blankets are on it because i hadn't found them at the moment...) but see see?!
dear people who read this, meet my new bed in my new room...xo, kendall


i will keep updating with pictures! and once the whole house is finally put together we will put up a post dedicated to a house tour! loves it.
oh, and also, just so you know, i love visitors :)

a week in paradise

...hawaii...gorgeous. hot. gorgeous. pineapple. gorgeous. sandy beaches. gorgeous. hot surf boys. gorgeous. sun. gorgeous. ocean. gorgeous. parrots. mostly just gorgeous.

to celebrate the parents 25th wedding anniversary that was in march we waited waited waited till sister was done with school for the year and finally finally got to go to hawaii...last week. and it was amazing. everyday day i did this.

wake up at 5:30 (hawaii is three hours behind)
work out and then do abs on a bamboo floor that looks out at the ocean. you can literally do crunches to the sound of waves crashing on the rocks. amazing
go to delicious breakfast buffet
put on swim suit
lay by the beach till noon
go each lunch
lay by the pool till four
go shower
sit in the favorite spa under the palm tree watching the surfers and the sunset
go to dinner
watch a movie (or so you think you can dance...which my friends is AMAZING and will im sure have several of its very own blog posts)
go to sleep

i did that everyday for 8 days. and it was the best ever.

this is where we stayed

i called it paradise but most people called it turtle bay resort. mostly cause everywhere you look there are turtles! snorkeling you see turtles...boogie boarding you see turtles...walking along the rocks you see turtles...surfing you see turtles...

yes yes you read that right...SURFING! i tried it. i really did! i tried surfing. and guess what!? i looooved it! i wasn't even all the way horrible. i sometimes did ok! and by sometimes that means only three waves in 2 hours...but one time i even road it all the way onto the sand! here is proof


also we went to a luau

it was actually really great! i have been to one before a long long time ago but i didn't remember it being that great. mostly cause i think i remember the dancers kind of being fat and bad. but these ones weren't! these ones were actually very very good!

there was one thing funny about hawaii...there were lots of wild birds.

we saw tons of chickens. and one time even saw a chicken that would fly into a tree and then fight with these two hawaiian crows (im not actually sure they were hawaiian crows. that is just what sister and i called them cause they were so nasty mean) anyway lots of wild chickens.
also a wild parrot...well kind of. he lived at our hotel during the day.

there was actually two of them. a red one and a blue one. but the red one was kind of a bitch and never really liked people by him. so we just took a picture of the blue one...and look at his cute foot. he is waving.

hawaii was fabulous and i loved getting to play with sister for so many straight hours in a row :)

paradise is fun!

playing limo!

i have been gone forever i think. but now i am back. and that means i can finally catch up on what has been keeping me soooo so busy!

first things first. as promised pictures from the birthday extravaganza and how us shepherd sissies play limo! (my favorite game ever!!)

after a slightly rocky start---due to not escaping the office till 515 (thank ms. ashley...but not that it was really that bad because the afternoon consisted of making margaritas on the floor with my awesome new and fabulous blender that works like professional basically it was like the pr room turned into cabo for the afternoon...) anyway we rush rush rushed to ashleys to change...we changed in six minutes (that included taking a couple fancy sips of fancy stuff) and made it to henrys by 6! amazing i know! we are like queens of speed when it comes to getting to parties!

here were my guests

loves loves loves them alll! bestest friends ever!

after delicious dinner favorite game began!

the limo driver was a bit of a retard.

example - phone call at 8:05 (pick up time was 8:00)
dail (oh man be impressed tara that i just remembered that name cause probably i asked what it was 900 times) - on he phone "hello, i am trying to find your house."
me - "my house? um...pick up is henrys downtown 12th and burnside?"
dail - "oohhhhh...um. yeeeeah. ok i will be there as soon as i can."

he got there at 8:35

he was also kind of a crazy driver...at one point tara had her seat belt on...who decides its necessary to wear a seat belt in a limo??...yeah out of control.

but we sang lollipop real loud. and boots with the fur louder...and bleeding love and all the favorite favs! it was a very very happy birthday!