I'm Vibe'n

Here's my new Vibe. I am really enjoying the comfy seats and automatic transmission. Mark enjoys reclining the seats (the pick-up didn't have that option).

Rosebud likes to jump right into her new spot.

Christmas Day

It is cold and windy here in California on Christmas Day.

Usually, Aimee is up and about on the weekends by 7:30 or 8.
Today, she slept in until 10:30!
Rosebud is very happy to have us both home during the day.

If it warms up a bit we'll take her out for a visit to the duck pond. Her leg is doing much better and the staples are ready to come out. Probably tomorrow we'll go to get that done.

New Bathroom

We don't have any plans for Christmas week other than to enjoy a few days off and work on updating the bathroom.

We have already started by demo-ing the old bathroom and having a friend come in and start building the new bathroom.

Fortunately, Tony (who was at our wedding and is a licensed roofer) is very skilled and is able to handle a job like this no problem. He brought in a plumber, an electrician, a drywaller and a tile guy to do their parts.

So far, the work is going well and should be done in a couple of weeks.



Here is a picture of Aimee using Tony's saw to help her friend on a project converting an old car seat into a chair for her living room.

On the D.L.

We added another member to the disabled list when Aimee went down with a really bad belly ache.
We had dinner at Sagebrush Cantina in Calabasas the other night, a place we've been to many times. It's been there for decades.
Apparently, the carne asada tacos did not agree with Aimee because she spent the rest of the night getting sick and commuting between the bedroom and the bathroom.
Her digestive system was in full revolt even the next morning.
She spent the entire next day in bed (Sunday) and then had to stay home from work on Monday trying to get some soup and crackers to stay down.
Tuesday she was back at work but she is still feeling a little woozy and went to bed at 8.
Her friend Rosebud is keeping a close eye on her as they both are in recovery mode.

Rosebud's Injury

The other night as we were getting ready to go play softball, we heard Rosebud out in the front yard 'yelping' uncontrollably.

When we got to her on the front porch we saw that she had a deep gash on her left front leg and was quite upset about it.

After we got both her and Aimee to calm down a little bit we paid a visit to the local pet hospital.

They gave her a local painkilling shot, shaved the area around the wound, cleaned it up and

closed it with a series of staples.

Rosebud was a model patient. She is now on anti-

biotics for a week or two and getting around just fine.

They wanted her to wear a cone around her head so she would leave the cut alone, but Rosebud was not very interested in having that thing on all the time.

Fortunately, she doesn't mess with the wound and so we don't have to put the cone on her.

We still don't know exactly how she managed to injure herself but our guess is that it probably involved her giving a high speed chase to a cat or something that may have come into the yard.

It's been a few days and the gash is already looking a lot better and it seems that she'll be just fine pretty soon. She'll have a nice scar on her leg but no other damage. She already gets around just fine and hardly favors that leg at all.

Luckily, we were able to get out of the Urgent Care fairly quickly and made it to our softball game just in time.

Holiday Party

This past weekend, Aimee's firm held their annual Holiday Party. This year it was at the Long Beach Airport in a hangar that has been converted into a party space on the weekends.

There were even a couple of small planes there as backdrop, like the one in the picture.

(Its window sticker said it is a 2007 model and costs $350,000.)

The mood at this year's party was a little different than past years because the firm just laid off a bunch of people in the week before the party.

They considered not having the party but went ahead with it anyway.

Harvey-Cam

The Propes told us of a visitor they've been having to their garage at night in Endwell.

Apparently, someone's been sneaking in at night and snacking on some seeds and nuts.

They were curious to get a look at their little friend.
Nils set up a camera to find out what they could.

This week, they caught him in the act.

They've named him Harvey.

See it here.

Happy Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was a nice day so we took Rosebud for a walk at the duck pond near the house. She likes to go there to see all the ducks and the honking geese.

We came home to cook some bird for dinner. Last night,

Aimee had some work friends over for a pre-Thanksgiving feast. She made some brisket and salad with a fruit cobbler dessert. There was eight of us altogether.

Today, we started to watch some football but both of the games were blowouts so we went to the pond.

Now we're back and Rosebud is passed out on the couch as usual.

Irish and Lions

We didn't get a chance to go to the game on Friday night but Notre Dame was in town to play LMU in basketball.

It turned out to be a closer game than it probably should have been. Loyola has a terrible program and it's been that way for several years.

They had a huge crowd and ND won by 11.

Even though the Irish won, it was just part of an underwhelming weekend for Notre Dame.

It will probably get worse this weekend when Weis and the football team face USC.

That's one we'll be happy to sit out.

ND might lose by 50.

In the rain.

Too Much Smoke

We were not able to do much of anything outside this weekend. There was way too much smoke in the air from all the nearby fires.

Unfortunately, these fires are huge and have done a huge amount of damage.

We are lucky that the worst part for us is smoky air and a pool full of ashes. Also, Aimee's softball games were cancelled over the weekend.

That meant more time at home to give Rosebud a bath, brush her teeth and have her nails filed down. It was like a day at the spa for Rosebud.

Halloween

Friday night we were at home with a bowl of candy and, as usual, very few people came by.

Typically, we'll get about 3-5 groups of kids the whole night and that's about what we had again this year.

Not sure why there is not a lot of foot traffic.
There's plenty of kids in the neighborhood and it
was a warm night.

Maybe they're going to clean out one of the
fancy neighborhoods nearby.
















Here are a couple of pictures of Aimee's prize-winning pumpkin from last year. There wasn't a carving contest this year at her office.

Visit from Nils

Aimee's brother Nils was in our area a few days ago.

He was here on business, sent by his company to give a presentation on prognostics and diagnostics.

Fortunately, he had a little bit of free time to meet up with Aimee in Pasadena for some fish and chips.

We're hoping that this won't be the last time they send him out this way and he'll have more time to visit next time if there is one.

Sunday Softball

One of Aimee's softball teams plays their games on Sunday mornings at a park a few blocks from our house.

Rosebud often goes to the games with Aimee and everybody likes to see both of them.

Here are some pictures that were taken at last week's win.

Smoky

Monday Rosebud and I had to postpone a planned afternoon hike because the air was just too smoky from two nearby fires.
Unfortunately, the smoke may stay in the air for a few days.
So, we stayed inside and watched baseball.
Meanwhile, Aimee is busy working very late with a couple of deadlines looming this week.
Thursday will be a day off for both of us.
Hopefully, we'll be able to do something outside.

Home Run Derby

Last weekend they held this year's Home Run Derby for Los Angeles.

Aimee showed up as the two-time defending champion and this year's contest was held at night.

While Aimee did her best and made us proud once again, she came in second place this year.

For that, she gets another trophy for her crowded mantle and recognition on the web site.

We were pleased to see her do so well but she is determined to work harder and make a stronger showing next year.

Helping Out

This is Owen after a swim at our house last Summer. He just turned five in July.

His parents are very good friends of ours and you may have met them at our wedding.

They were shocked to learn when Owen was born that their first child had Down Syndrome.

It came as a complete surprise and they were totally unprepared for that kind of news.

Fortunately, they took the time to educate themselves about what life is like with a special-needs child. Today, Owen is the bright star in their life and he is the older brother to his sister and a new baby boy.

During this time, his mother Suzanne has gotten very involved with raising awareness and research funding for Down Syndrome.

She has worked the last three years on putting together a special fund-raising night here in California.

The event has been very successful the first two years. This year's event will be held on Oct. 11.

If you'd like to know more about how to chip in a little bit (with a good chance of winning some nice raffle prizes), check out the following information.

http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dgfrqh67_21sczcckfm

Saturday

The Notre Dame Club of Los Angeles has hosted viewing parties at various establishments around here over the years.

Aimee went to the San Diego St. get-together a couple of weeks ago with one of her former classmates who was in town.

Today, we watched the game against Michigan State from the couch at home. This gives us a chance to take care of a few things around the house while the game is on and to forget about how it's going to be another long year for the Irish.

After the game, Aimee went to go get a haircut and Rosebud and I went to pick grapes from the yard. We have many bunches of purple grapes growing among some ivy in the back.

They are sweet and smell very good, but we won't be producing any Merlot anytime soon.

Next week, we'll tune in to the Purdue game and hope for a turnaround for ND.

Bath Time

Sunday was time for Rosebud to get a bath.

She gets one about every other week or so.

Sometimes it's in the bathtub and sometimes it's outside with the hose.

Either way, she's usually very patient and well-behaved for the process. The whole thing only takes about ten minutes or so.

Afterward, Aimee gives her a treat to munch on and Rosebud lies in the warm sun to bask in her cleanliness.

Labor Day

We went for a brief hike this morning on Labor Day.

Aimee did not work on Friday so she had a four day weekend.

She spent part of the time painting the living room and installing a new cabinet in the bathroom.

There's been no softball for a few weeks but that will change this week when the new season begins and Aimee is part of several different teams.

More on Trip

We had a fun trip to the East.

We were lucky enough to spend each night with family members. Three nights at Jean's apartment, five nights at Mims and Elaine's house and six nights at Nils' house.

We appreciated the hospitality and look forward to doing it again sometime.

We also got to visit with some of Aimee's former classmates for dinner a couple of nights in NYC.

The Notre Dame Architecture group has a lot of good people and they do a good job of staying in touch.

Over in Endwell, N.Y. we got to visit with Nils and Dick and Sook Propes. It was the first time we had seen them since 2006 when they lived in Atlanta (although Nils was out of town that time, so we hadn't seen him since our wedding in '05).

We very much enjoyed spending a week with them. The time flew by and we were sad to have to leave when it was time.

Cooperstown

One stop on our trip was at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown.

The drive from the Propes house in Endwell was not very long - less than an hour and a half.

We were there a few days after the most recent induction ceremonies (when the small town is very overcrowded).

Fortunately we missed the large crowds and had an easy visit on a Friday afternoon.

Yankee Stadium

Last week we went to a game at the 'old' Yankee Stadium. The picture above is of the new Yankee Stadium being built next door.

It was a very warm day and Max was taking his turn for getting sick at the ballpark.

Fortunately, he woke up in time to see the Yankees score a bunch of runs and beat the Orioles 13-3.

.

Heading East

On Friday we are going on a two week vacation to the East coast.

Mims is picking us up at JFK Friday night and we'll spend the weekend in Connecticut. We're looking forward to seeing Elaine and the kids. We haven't seen them in two years.

We're hoping to spend some time with Jean as well. She told us she just got back from a brief vacation at the Jersey Shore.

Aimee has friends in the NYC area who are planning to meet up with us while we are there.

Then we are headed to Endwell, NY to visit Aimee's brother Nils and mom and dad. We haven't seen them since the summer of '06 when they lived in Georgia. That time, Nils was out of town so we haven't seen him since we got married.

One day will be spent about an hour and a half up the road at Cooperstown.

Rosebud will be staying with a former workmate of Aimee's who has taken her before. There is another dog there who enjoys Rosebud's company.

Hopefully Rosebud will be glad to see us after 15 days.

Bass Lake Photos

Some photos of our trip to Bass Lake.

Rosebud had her own tent, which she flipped end over end one night. It did not phase her though, she just slept on the bottom of her pet bed.



Mark scored a double ringer in a game of horse shoes to steal the game away from the girls in one turn. Rosebud does not seem all that impressed.



She did, however, seem to enjoy her new chair.

Bass Lake

We are heading out for a long weekend to Bass Lake, which is just outside of Yosemite National Park.

It's the same place we've been to the last couple of Summers. This year will be Rosebud's second time coming with us.

We are spending three nights at a campground spot about a hundred yards or so from the water's edge. Rosebud has her own little tent set up right next to ours.

She seems to enjoy going camping........and swimming, too.

Even the ride up there goes smoothly because she sleeps for the whole 4 hour plus trip.

New Shed

We spent a good part of the weekend tearing down an old metal shed that was in the backyard and clearing out the space for a new and larger one to go in its place.

This one is a durable vinyl material that should hold up very well for a long time.

It was quite a bit of work and we had a guy come over on Sunday to help with the install.

There's quite a bit more room inside the new shed without taking up too much space in the yard.
We were able to move a workbench, some shelving units and a bunch of other stuff out of the garage and into the shed; and still there's plenty of room inside.

Thankfully, the garage is less cluttered and better organized. Plus, we'll be able to park both cars in there.


In the picture above, our plum tree can be seen on the left. We planted it three years ago and this summer was the first time we got fruit from it.
They are a little better than golf ball-sized and very tasty.

Dinner at Wimbledon

I just finished watching the Federer-Nadal Championship match from Wimbledon.

Well, I watched as much as I could.

Since Aimee and I had much to do on Sunday morning, I recorded the match and planned to watch it on Sunday night.

Around 7:30 pm we popped in the DVD and settled down to watch a great tennis match. As you may know, the start was delayed by rain. Then, there was another rain delay in the third set.

After Federer won the fourth set tiebreaker to force a fifth I knew we had a problem. Our recording was only six hours long and this match was already five and a half hours past the scheduled start time.

As I was watching the fifth set, with time running out, the rain came again. That's when the recording ran out.....2-2 in the fifth.

My hope was that this delay would be a long one so that it would be too dark to continue and they'd have to play the rest of the match on Monday.

I checked online..........no such luck.

Nadal won the longest Mens Final ever, 9-7 in the fifth. Apparently, the match was only moments away from being suspended for darkness when it ended. So, I missed the end.

That's the way it goes. Wimbledon.org and NBCSports.com both have video of the match available, but I would have liked to have seen it 'live.'

New Blog

Welcome to our new blog.

Oftentimes we don't really have much to report in the way of interesting news.
Much of our time is spent on routine stuff that doesn't seem like it would be very newsworthy to anyone else.

But occasionally we might be able to come up with something worth sharing, even if it is just a little thing. That is why we have TheThomasonsUpdate.

(well, that and also because it is free and we thought it might be kind of fun)

This way, you can check in with us when it is convenient for you. I can't promise that the posts will be fascinating or frequent, but the cost to you will be minimal.

Check in as often or as little as you want......we won't know.

If there is anything we think is worth sharing.....we'll try to get it on here.