still rockin the dance floor

i am so old. my guys working for me are totally apalled by the cds i am spinning. i have beastie boys solid gold going right now, and yes, i am old enough to appreciate a greatest hits cd which i totally used to make fun of. i had beatles abby road this morning (she came in through the bathroom window is one of my favorite songs although i love joe cockers version the most but i have overplayed that cd and need a new one).......................................... and last night had on the blue album for the boys, they totally love the beatles. they also love genesis and paul simon. my kids totally rock. so tomorrow morning mike and i are off to llano texas to see jimee graduate which i am nervous about but whatever. suck it up, keep my mouth shut and look really great. that is the best i can do. janice and i have never met face to face and i have not been looking foward to it based on our past phone conversations. she is crazy and who can argue with that? so, off we go and i will let you know how it goes. on an up note, i had my hair permed earlier this week --love it! and today, i got a third hole added to my left earlobe because i was bored with having to choose 4 earings. now i can choose from 5. i was the speaker at referralls this morning and it was crazy trying to explain my life in 10 minutes or less. all i could get out was that i have lots of kids, take in strays and will take anyones who will give them up. he he. my life is so revolved around kids, but i love them and i don't know what else to do. i am a total nerd, don't like tv and would rather read or needlepoint. old-lady-dom here i come!!!! i am one damn hot happening old lady though. everyone has to have a mantra.

memorial day

the boys left yesterday with nana for california. they went to see aunt rachel and spend some time with nana. they will be back tomorrow. mike and i spent the day at work and have much to attend to this week as we leave friday for texas. jimee ann will be a high-school graduate. i am totally frustrated with my camera and not being able to get the pictures onto my computer so i may have to break down and buy a new photosmart. we will see. so our weather has been super crazy. last tuesday was 116 and i had frozen towels on my neck and head to cool down all day and then friday was rainy, and 58. i nearly died of cold. we had a fire in the fireplace and had tomato soup and hot chocolate for dinner. it was super cold saturday and yesterday too. today is warmer, but not hot. only in the 90s. so, it must be the end of weather changes and will be getting hot again. i wore heels out saturday night and have been paying for it since. my feet are so screaming at me. mike and i might go to the movies since the boys are in california, will keep you updated tomorrow.

end of school

today marks the end of another year for the boys. school let out at 11:30 making ian a junior high kid (scary), jule a 1st grader and owen is still a second grader until he completes summer school. he will miss out on the summer with his dad as we were unable to get morenci to enroll him there. so, lessons to learn, i bet he will do his homework next year so he doesn't miss out on his vacation. ian came to work this afternoon with a good attitude, kept focused and did a great job. i have to say i am very proud and he somehow seems older today. my roof on my house is paid for and will begin being torn off soon (i hope) and my bathroom is nearly done in my room which i am so looking foward to not have to walk through the house in the dark in the night. i get very lost. he he. i am losing weight and am much more comfortable in my shorts so the running is paying off (i am sure it has nothing to do with quitting drinking..........) and i am busy as ever trying to keep up with everything. will post more pics soon.

my great brother and some stuff.

this is my brother douglas, which is one of the hardest workers i know. he is an incredible welder and fabricator, taught by my dad. i took this picture yesterday because i was infatuated with the amount of grease he attracts daily. he is getting married june 7th. amazing how time flies. my brother is one of the most wonderful people i know.
corian countertop on an upholstered built-in aluminum cooler box we fabricated out of an old potty closet in the cuddy of a fountain boat. we cut down the bulk head to open up the space (not structurallly changing anything as far as stregnth wise) and made this. we obviously still have to carpet under it.
embroidery on captains chairs which are totally baseball stitched and beautiful.

spring cleaning

my soon to be sister-in-law (rachel), has been working for me for about a month now. one of her many assets is that she is an organizational wizard. she cleaned and totally re-organized my office and now we can 1. walk, 2. find what we are looking for, 3. get to the water dispenser without tripping over many things that don't belong there and lots that do, 4. display the sample books so customers and us can find them, 5. water the plants easily, and 6. have the tv\ vcr where the kids can see it on long days here. amazing what alittle time and some elbow grease will do. we are still busy and seem to be on a smoother production scale since we got some good employees. things really seem to be running with less agravation. we are finishing up the large fountain job that we have been working on for the last month and are getting excited about getting that boat back to its home. this morning i went to run, ran out of time so i had to get to my referrals meeting right away (it starts at 6:15) so i showed up in my running cloths all sweaty and no make-up hair not brushed and had to be the greeter for the morning. then, i had to come straight here so i still have on my running attire and am anxiously awaiting my bath tonight. we made the orchids and onions section of the newspaper again this morning which is always wonderful. it read: orchids to mike and becka at main stitch upholstery on lake havasu avenue for recovering our handicapped son's seats for his cart. you did a beautiful job, and we appreciate it. it is always nice to get a thank- you. hope you are all having a wonderful evening!

know when to give up

i am the queen of trying to do it all myself and have been working on getting over that. i have appointed others to take care of various aspects of my life, which is like pulling teeth, but i have found people. so, what i need is a clone of myself because i want reliability, accuracy and neatness, which i cannot seem to get. i have a whirlwind going on every day in my personal and business life and have yet to find the time to call it to a halt. i am frustrated and have decided that i can't make things happen and that is just how it is. so, i am going to get more direct, less nice and kick some ass cause i throw in the towel on trying to get anyone else to do things. on a better note, i am running again and am happy about that.

mean mothering and 11 year olds........

so ian has informed nearly everyone that talks to him that i have been mean to him lately because i have been yelling at him and making him behave. he didn't realize the value of getting ready for school on time today until we decided that he could walk to school instead of riding with the other kids since he chose to drag his feet excessivly eating, getting dressed and brushing his hair and teeth. he also did not see the value in coming to work today after school until i told him he would be fired and not have a job unless he showed up and worked with a good attitude (although he does see the value in having the money in the end to buy the used game system he has been paying a friend for).................... he did not see the use in keeping his mouth shut that miss terry bought him a small blizzard since he was sitting in the front seat and the other kids got star bars as treats the other day. he had to try to get a reaction (with no results) out of them that he had better ice-cream than them. that is the last time he will be getting something different. he decided last night that he could eat before all of the rest of us at dinner (for mothers day) and came waltzing out of the house with a plate of pasta salad. upon being told that he could eat with the rest of us, he chose to throw a fit, talk back and end up in time out until he could change his attitude. so, i am a mean mother, and for the record, i don't care. on the other hand, yesterday owen wrote me a letter for mothers day. it read " dear mom, thank you for feading us, thank you for reading us stories, thank you for letting us pick the stories, i like when you tuk us in. thank you for taking us to the beach. i love building sand casles. love, owen " yes, i copied the spelling too because that is still cute. jule bug had fun all day, still loves me and rode his bike every chance he got and invited aunt rachel to ride with him, which she did after dinner. so, all is well, normal and never boring!. ......... until next time........

more..........

this is an eliminator we just finished

this is a before and after of the fountain captains chairs - we are doing the whole boat at the moment- huge job
michael bought this motercycle and came to the shop to give all the kids rides. they totally loved it.
i did this bimini on tuesday. mike bent the frame monday and got it mounted. this is an eliminator daytona so we wanted a sleeker looking bimini than usual. it is lined and rivited also so it can handle higher speeds.

pictures, finally!

my owen alexander bug. i love him so much. cool ,kid!
Ian at his MMA class which he totally loves and is doing great with.
the jule bug! self-explanatory. this is a happy child.
totally custom captains for a boat we did. it is a carrera this is going to a sound show in las angelas
front bow section of same boat.