Duma

Many of you will remember my cat Duma. We got Duma in 1990 when we still lived in Illinois. We moved to Saskatoon with him, and he's been a huge part of all of our lives for 17 years. Duma has always been a little scardy cat, it was only in the last few years that he would venture outside to the garden, but that was as far as he would go. Some of you may have only seen him running away from you, because he didn't like strangers.

Duma has been sick for the last few years, and it's gotten worse in the last few months. So last week my Dad took Duma to the vet to be put down. It was a very sad day for our family. Duma is in kitty heaven now, with lots of people to pet him, and stretch him, and give him lots of cat nip to roll in, and I'm sure he's not scared anymore.

Our other cat Walter is a little lonely. He is craving attention, poor little guy. They didn't like each other the first time they met, but then they became best buddies.

Montreal Game

So Tim came down for a weekend and we went up to Columbus to see the Montreal Candiens play. It was a very exciting game, and they broke their loosing streak and won the game!!! IF you go to my brothers blog you can get a more complete rundown of the game, and some of the people at the game. We were so surprised by just how many Candiens fans there were there. I took some pictures of them to show you. I would say there were almost as many Candiens fans in Columbus as there were Blue Jackets fans.

Indy

Look at this little guy. Don't you just want to pick him up and hug him? Well who wouldn't really. I can't wait until I live closer so I can see him more.

Blogs you should read

This is Karen, I can't sign in under my own name for some reason, so I'm using Jeff's account. My brother has been busy blogging about his trip down here last weekend, so you should all read about it. Either click on the link on the right of the page or click on this www.schizzo.blogspot.com

CNC working

Here is a video of my CNC machine on one of its first test cuts. The machine is running a sample program that comes with the control software. The software running the machine is called EMC and is free. The router is a Hitachi and the bit is a 1/8" straight bit.

My CNC

Well it has finally arrived. It being the CNC machine I have been dreaming of for quite a while now. The machine has arrived along with all the other parts needed to make it work. This "desktop" machine is three feet long, two feet wide, and two feet tall. The machine weighed over 100lbs before I started adding all the cables, motors and router. The router mounted on the machine is a Hitachi MV12. The machine has a working area of 14 inchs by 25 inchs by 5 inchs. Its not the biggest machine in the world, but it will do everything I need to do. This machine can cut a variaty of materials including aluminum with the proper set up. The machines main use for me will be cutting prototype electronic boards. At present I'm wiring up the stepper motors, encoders and other bits. I'm hoping the machine will be moving by this weekend. I still need to cut a MDF table top for the machine but I will worry about that once the wiring is done.

Kleenex

Bailey loves Kleenex. We have to hide it from him when we're not home.


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Snow

We had the most snow since I've been down here the other day. So Jeff and I went out to take some pictures of horses in the snow. Here they are.

More Pictures

Indiana with Uncle Tim Indiana with his new football

Indiana in his Bumbo seat

Sitting with Uncle Jeff and Auntie Karen

New Indiana Pictures

Alex is holding him up, but photoshop makes it look like he's standing by himself
Using Chopsticks
Drooling
Out for lunch at Saskatoon Asian
Shopping with mommy and Auntie Karen

Stupid Flying

So yesterday Jeff and I flew back from our wonderful vacation in Saskatoon. WE were on seperate flights because of a mix-up with the people who book the flights at Jeff's work. So plan A was that Jeff would land in Lexington at 430pm and pick up the dog and then drive 90 minutes to Cincinatti to pick me up at 605pm. We both flew out of Saskatoon at about 7am.
Moving on to plan B. AirCanada's system crashed nationwide, so although Jeff got onto his Northwest flight on time, my flight to Toronto was delayed. We took off about 45 minutes late.
Moving on to Plan C. I get to Toronto, go to Immigration to get my work Visa, and I walk into the the room and one of the officers is screaming at this poor guy about his paperwork. Then this woman officer starts yelling at me and everyone else who walks in the door to get our fingerprints and picture. And I do mean yelling. SO I finally sit to wait and thank goodness it was the quite person who got my file. I wouldn't necessarily say shw as nicer, but at least she didn't yell. So then I go to pay for my TN, and their credit card machine was broken, so I had to be escorted out to the bank machine, and then wait in line to get to the room so I can pay. So now we're not sure if I have missed my plane or not. So the nice customs guy walks me over to the desk to re-book my flight. Well that lady says I missed my flight and books me on the next set of flightw out and changes the tags on my bags. Then I go through security and get chosen to be the person who gets the "thourough" screening with the pat down and everything. Then I look on the board ans realize my origional flight hasn't left yet. So I go to the counter to see if I can still get on it. Since they already re-routed my baggage, I can't. So now I'm stuck in Toronto for an extra 3 hours. In the meantime I call Jeff and he got into Detroit early and should be boarding his plane at 2pm.
Moving on to Plan D. Jeff calls and they had boarded the plane in Detroit, sat on it for a while, while it got de-iced etc., then there was a mechanical problem and they went back to the gate and everyone got off. Then the flight crew had too many hours for the day, so they were waiting on a new flight crew. Then my flight from Toronto to Chicago was cancelled, so I got 2 more hours in Toronto. However they told me that if our flight was on time, most flights leaving Chicago were running late so I could probably still make my connecting flight, but I couldn;t get a boarding pass for it.
Plan E. After a five hour wait in Detroit Jeff is finally in the air going to Lexington. I board in Toronto, and sit on the tarmac for 2 hours. Miss my connecting flight and I don't have a boarding pass for the next flight. So we finally take off for Chicago, we land and I run to the next gate. They were already boarding the plane and I begged and got on the last flight of the night for Cincinnati. I call Jeff to tell him I will be in Cincinnati at 11:14, it's about 10pm and Jeff has just gotten into Lexington and is on his way home to get the dog. So I land in Cincinnati and no big surprise, my bag didn't make it. So I file a claim, Jeff picks me up and we go to a hotel with the dog and all three of us crash until 10 am.
Now it's 5pm and I just got a call saying my bag is on it's way to our house in the next few hours.
When I was a kid and we came back from Kenya I rememebr telling my cousins we had been travelling for 24 hours. That included driving time and layovers. It took me 19 hours to get from Saskatoon to Lexington. That's ridiculous.

Here's to my Grandpa

My Grandfather passed away on Sunday, he was 84. I was lucky enough to get there in time that Grandpa knew I was there and talked to me. I was also there when he passed, and it was very peaceful in the end.
The past week has been a bit of a blur. I have seen my entire family from that side, and we have spent many hours catching up with each other and sharing happy memories, and I think Gramps would be happy with that.
Some of my fondest memories from my childhood are from my grandparents farm. We spent a lot of time there while growing up. It was like one big playground. There were the horses, the barns, silo, the cellar, the chicken coop, the corn crib. And of course Garndma and Grandpa. Grandma would always make the best pies, and I hate meat loaf and roast, but I love my grandma's meatloaf and roast. My grandpa loved kids, he loved playing with us, and we loved playing with him. As we got older he loved to hear about our accomplishments. When he met Jeff I will never forget the look of pride on his face. He was so happy to meet the man I married. He also loved horses. Jeff and I would buy Grandpa coffee mugs and comemerative plates from the horse park and the Kentucky Derby Museum. They are still displayed proudly in the house.
So I'm sad, but I'm happy that I had such wonderful grandparents and that I had my Grandfather for so long. Keep checking back to this entry for new pictures as I download them.





This is my two cousins Nikki and Danielle when they were pregnant, and my Uncle Lou and Grandpa who are not pregnant.

What a cutie

Yet another cute picture of my nephew.

Merry Christmas!!!

We had a pretty good Christmas today. We've been keeping ourselves busy. I've been doing Christmas baking. We went looking at Christmas lights two nights ago, yesterday we went to the Christmas Eve service at church. Today we opened our gifts and then had eggs benedict for breakfast. We've been talking with family all day, and missing everyone. And we've been watching lots and lots of movies. Here are some pictures.

We went to the "Southern Lights" at the Kentucky horse park. Nothing says Christmas like a bunch of cowboys and cactii around a campfire done in Christmas lights. Bailey stood up by the window and was looking at the lights like it was the neatest thing ever.



Bailey was very interested in all the wrapping paper, and then we gave him his stocking. He especially like his little "greenie". He ate it in like 5 minutes. He got a little doggie collar with bells on it, and he's been wearing it all day.






This is Bailey's present. He was very interested in the wrapping paper. But once he saw his new doggie dishes, they were empty so then he wasn't interested anymore.

Passport Woes

I am in the process of re-newing my passport. I had to mail it to Quebec, it's a little more annoying of a process to doit from down here. Anyway, it won't be ready in time for Christmas. So we are spending Christmas alone down here.
We plan to go skiing in Ohio one day, we may go up to Louisville on Saturday to hang out and eat Vietnamese food. On Christmas eve we'll go to church, and then on Christmas day we'll spend the whole day watching movies and eating. So we'll be ok. I think tonight we are going to look at Christmas lights. There is a huge drive-through display at the horse park, so we'll take Bailey out for a car ride to look at all the lights.

Stay tuned for Christmas pictures.
Feel free to call anytime:)

More 7 Week Pics

Hanging out with Grandpa



Indiana and Grandma Chris



Indiana Squirming with Grandpa



Gabrielle dressing Indiana in an outfit I bought him



Alex and Indiana having a little convo

New Indiana Pics

I just got these new pictures of Indiana. He is 7 weeks old in these ones. He is wearing his UK Wildcats outfit in one picture. That's for Uncle Jeff. In the other one he is wearing his Illinois outfit, and well that's for our whole family since we are all Illini fans at heart.

Bath Day

This is what Bailey does after his bath, I have already dried him with the blow dryer, but he feels the need to wipe off any remaining wetness. Here are some more pictures of bath day.


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Snow!

So I woke up at about 6 this morning. No good reason just wide awake. I turned on the TV and they were saying something about snow. So I looked out the window and there was a light dusting of snow on the cars and grass. It didn't stick to the roads or sidewalk. Well, by the time Bailed got up for his walk, there was still a little bit of snow on the grass, but nothing on the cars. And by the time Jeff woke up there was only snow on the rooftops. Now it's gone. Here are some pictures.

Stories from my trip

So my nephew is the cutest ever. As soon as I got the pictures of him I knew that he had my heart, but then when I saw him and held him the first time, my heart melted even more. I took advantage of my week in Manitoba to spoil the kid rotten. We watched lots of Magnum PI on the couch while Gab slept, he got to wear alot of the little clothes I got him, I got him a little bouncy chair, which he loves. And boy did I take pictures. Gab had to ask that she got to be in some of the pictures too.
On Sunday I figured I didn't need to bring my camera to church, well I got into the car, and it was just me and Indiana, and he was sitting there with his little hands folded in front of him looking around all cute like. Well I had to take pictures and videos all the way to church.
Sometimes he'll make this little face, and he looks just like my brother Tim. If you has a baby picture of Tim to compare, you would think so too. A few times I would call him little Timmy. I think he liked it.
He's at my favorite stage right now, the cuddly stage. You can set him down and he doesn't go anywhere, he sleeps, he cuddles, he eats, he smiles and you can think it's because of you even though you know it's just gas. I love this baby stage the best.
The hardest part about all of us kids being all spread out is times like this. I want to be closer so I can see the little gaffer more often, and help out Gab and Alex more. Although, if I lived really close they might get annoyed with me because I would be over all the time:)

Visiting Indiana

I just got back from a wonderful week visiting my nephew Indiana, and my sister Gab and her husband Alex. Here are a few of my favorite pictures of the boy. I really like the Zoolander pose. And the other one is of his first ride to church in his car seat.

Check back in a few days, I plan to update with stories when I have more time and energy.

My nephew Indiana

Hi have a nephew. That's right, Gab finally had the baby. After 40 hours of labor, with no drugs, she had a 9 lb 14 oz. baby boy who is 22 3/4 inches long. Way to go Gab. His name is Indiana Gibson Theissen. Here is a link to some pictures. Baby Pictures

Bailey Coat

It's getting alittle chilly out, and Bailey shivers a bit when we go out for walks, so I dug out his little winter coat. Here is a video showing you how much he likes his coat. He runs away when I take it out.




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Magnum PI

One of my most favorite TV shows is MAGNUM PI. I don't just love Tom Selleck, I love the show. That Magnum is so smart and he always gets the bad guy. And he's got good friends to help him, and is Higgins really Robin Masters or not? Oh, it's just such a good show.

When Jeff and I were in Hawaii on our honeymoon, we made a special trip to the house where Magnum PI was filmed, and we walked on the beach. I found this website, and that's how I figured out how to get there.

When we first drove by Jeff was going too fast, and I had my hands up to the window and was looking for the house, and Jeff drove by it, so I made him turn around. Then we finally found it. The pictures are of me by the guest house where Magnum lived, and Jeff by the enclosing wall of the estate. If you are a Magnum fan you will recognize both from the show. If not refer to the above mentioned webpage and it's many references. It was one of the most exciting things we did on our trip.

Jeff just bought me some software to make ringtones for my phone, and my brother found the Magnum PI theme song on the web, so now I have the theme song as my ring tone!!! That's right, whenever my phone rings, it's MAGNUM!! So if I let it ring a little longer than normal, don't be distressed, I'm just enjoying the song before I answer the phone.

Happy Thanksgiving

Today we celebrated Canadian Thanksgiving. We went out for dinner at Cracker Barrel. And then we had a cake that looks like a pumpkin. My friend Beth made it, she decorates cakes, very well as a matter of fact. Happy Thanksgiving to everyone back home!!

Football

Last night we went to a UK football game. I've wanted to go to one because, well we do live here, and since my family lived in Illinois for 12 years, I wanted to see of a UK game would be like a U of I game. Well, first of all, we had to find a parking spot. Jeff got really frustrated, he wasn't expecting parking to be like that. He kept saying things like "this is bunk". Tim and I laughed. See, to park anywhere near the stadium you need a parking pass. After that it's a good idea to get there early so you don't have to walk too far. People we parked all over the university, on the grass, on sidewalks. It was crazy. So we parked a long way away and had to walk. We walked past all the people who were there tailgating. Now tailgaiting at a football game is something many of you Canadians may not understand. Everyone goes out to the parking lot, parks their RV's and they BBQ all day, drink beer, play games, just hang out and party all afternoon until game time. It's pretty fun to watch.

Then we got to the game. The stadium was not as full as I expected, in Illinois it sold out for every game. This game wasn't sold out, but there were still about 61,000 people there. (The stadium holds 65,000) We were in a UK section, but right next to the University of South Carolina section. So we got to hear a lot of the bickering between fans. Well that was fun. You see USC is the "Gamecocks". Their mascot is a bird named "Cocky". And they had cheers like "Go Cocks Go" or "Game-Cocks". Well that made it really easy for UK fans. So the USC fans would be yelling Game, Cocks. When they yelled Game, the UK fans would yell "Sucks" so it sounded like "Cocks-Suck" or twist that word around, and you can imagine. It was so funny to see these hundreds o

Bourbon

Yesterday I went to a few bourbon distilleries with Jeff and my brother. So first we went to Buffalo Trace because Jeff and I hadn't been there before. It was a nice little tour. They have some gardens with their buffalo mascot in it, which I included a picture of for your viewing plaesure. We got to go into the storage building and see all the barrels that are aging. And then we had a bourbon tasting. It was an alright tour.

Then we went out to Woodford Reserve. Unfortunately we missed their last tour. I've been on this tour before, and well I htink I prefer it actually. They take you into more areas fo the plant. You get to see the bourbon sit in the fermentors, and then you see the distilling process, and then the show you where they put it in the barrells, and then you go see their storage building, and then go for a tasting.

I'm not a big bourbon drinker, but I do like bourbon balls. It's chocolate with a bourbon flavoured filling, and a pecan on top. They are good. I wish I had taken a picture of one.

Keeneland

So on Friday Keeneland opened. Jeff and I always enjoy a good day at the races. This time was even better because my brother came down from Toronto to go with us. and then group of my friends from work came too. The very first race I bet on, and it was my friend Julies first time betting on a race ever, we bet on number 8 because it was wearing pink and was named girljuswannahavfun. Well, we won 13.40 each. Then my friend Mel was cracking me up. She would pick her horses, go place a bet, sit down and find a horse who had the same birthday as her and go place another bet. Or you know, some such silly reason to bet on a horse. But she won $80. That's me, Mel and Julie to the right.

It's always fun to people watch at Keeneland, and this day did not dissapoint. There was this one college kid in salmon coloured pants with a blue pin-striped shirt and a pink tie. You just can't make this stuff up. My brother blogged about it too. You can read it if you click here.