And the plot thickens ...

Did I leave you guys hanging?

Racking your little brains

trying to figure out

what in tarnation

SK8 ASYLUM is? :)

Well ... I won't leave you hanging anymore.

That would be cruel.

And you can stop calling our parents' for details.

Thank heaven for you.

And them, I suppose.

So without further ado ...

If all goes according to plan ...

SK8 ASYLUM will be ...

the name of the Peterson's new business. You heard correctly! We are currently waiting for the "2 of 2" packet of information on Bryan's route. Once this arrives, and everything has been filled out and submitted, the business will officially be up for sale. We are in the process of selling it all, getting rid of it completely (Yay! Seriously ... YAY! I might or might not be more excited about THAT than anything ...) and will reinvest in building an indoor skatepark/board shop. Again, not kidding. This is an idea we've had probably since Cameron began his skate lessons about two years ago. Little things have been popping up the past few months - signs perhaps? - that have given us that push we needed. The purpose of our last trip to Vegas was to meet with the owners of the facility Cameron spent a week at for a summer skate camp. We loved the atmosphere of the indoor park and the family feel of the facility in general. Bryan spent quite a bit of time working behind the scenes with the owner at this facility, and Cameron was able to skate non-stop all weekend - he was in heaven!





It's kind of a scary thought to be opening a new business right now, but we've been doing our homework and are pretty confident that it would work. We're combining our likes and dislikes from BOTH facilities, here and Vegas, and creating what we feel is the ultimate skating experience for kids (and adults ... we won't forget those old schoolers that want to push the board around again ...!) We've looked at some building space and met with the owner and broker, as well as neighboring business owners, have drawn up some business plans, drawn up the design of the park/shop, met with the architect and are waiting for the sketches from him, figured out rent and start up costs, labor and materials to build, equipment, staffing, etc. You name it, we've probably already taken care of it. And thanks to my talented friend Heth, we've already got logo, t-shirt, and board designs drawn up! So .. there you have it folks. We are really into step 9 and 10 already with planning, but can't proceed until the first step is finished, which is selling the business. So ... say your prayers, cross your fingers, do whatever it is you need to do for us! We would greatly appreciate it! We will certainly keep you posted once we have more details. :)

Coming Soon ...

Well at least that's the plan. :)

We'll keep you posted!

Tell us how you REALLY feel

What should have been.

RIP.

I like to admit when I'm grumpy and revealing this to others ... as if they couldn't figure it out. But I like to give some notice and am very good about knowing WHY I'm grumpy and letting people know. This covers my bases. Almost like a get-out-of-jail-free card. I am allowed to be grumpy and act grumpy, because I let those around me know. It's common courtesy, people. For example, ""Honey - just so you know, I'm grumpy." Some people, when asked, aren't sure why they are grumpy. Nothing in particular happened, but they're just grumpy. Not quite sure why. Me? I can pinpoint the exact incident that memorializes my mood. Let's take today, for example. I had to wake up around 4:00 this morning to deal with a serial cat killer. Not kidding. Not one present mess but TWO left for the family: Birds. Lying on the floor in the upstairs bathroom. The boys' bathroom. The one my husband had just entered to take his shower before work. No - I didn't wake to the scream of a little girl, but I did wake to the grumblings of a "bloodbath" in the "bath". I get up out of bed and cover my mouth with my jammie shirt. Just in case. Who knows? I might puke. Or it might smell. Either way, I'm prepared. Yup. He's right one bird, and oh ... two birds. And wait ...what's this? Oh look ... that one is still moving. Nice. Good thing I'm shoebox hoarder ... just happened to have have a couple lying around. Now at this point, Hayden is lying on the floor of our room like he is THE YOU-KNOW-WHAT. King of the Mountain. He's proud. We still get our little lizards - usually every 1-2 days. I can handle these. I'm very good about thanking Hayden, and telling him he's a good boy and all that crap. But birds? COME ON! Not gonna happen this morning. Bryan grabs the one that's still moving, and I'm working on the dead one. Seriously. Is this any way to start off a Monday? Especially when I don't have to get up for another 2 1/2 hours? It's garbage day, and we decide to set the box with the live bird in it, on top of all the garbage, with the lid open. Just in case. Miracles happen - he might decide to fly away. Maybe he was in shock? What the heck do you do? It's not like we can just toss it anywhere - Hayden would be sure to bring it back - and I'm pretty positive our neighbors wouldn't appreciate it. So while Bryan is on garbage duty, I'm on clean-up. Thank god for anti-bacterial cleaners and Lysol. Blech. So let's see ... where was I? Oh, right. Grumpy. Not done yet. Now mind you, this has taken an hour. Head back to bed. But I'm a bit paranoid. I can't sleep now because I envision Hayden running right back outside to the garbage can and retrieving the goods that we threw away. Or that he might decide to hunt for more. Since we threw his last gifts out. Maybe he's mad? Maybe he's thinking ... 'humph ... maybe that wasn't enough for them ... better get more ...' Whatever the hell he was thinking prevented me from sleeping for another 45 minutes or so. I finally remembered to just get up and put the block in the doggie door. At least I knew I wouldn't wake up to another bird coming in. You know the those times when you wake up before you're supposed to and think ...why didn't I just stay awake? Well I MIGHT have, if I'd had more sleep this weekend. We'll touch on that later. So I finally get up when my alarm goes off and am EXHAUSTED. Peek out the window ... garbage guy still hasn't come. Great. Decide that the doggie door is still NOT coming off while Cameron and I are getting ready, mostly because I just wanted to get him off to school and not worry about any interruptions. Well we're just about ready to leave and I see the cat. At the window of the back door. And he's got a present. I'm hitting the door trying to get him to drop it. I open the door a crack and apparently that was enough for him because he ran in, up the stairs and dropped it at the door to our room. SERIOUSLY?!! Grab yet another shoe box, scoop it up, head out front and see that the garbage man did come, but there's a shoe box sitting in the road next to the garbage can. Great. A re-purposed bird. Damn cat got it out of the garbage can. I tell you. Now I probably wouldn't be so irritated with him, really I wouldn't, had he not ruined Cameron's birthday cake. Again, not kidding. Read this damn post - do you think I'm kidding?

Cameron had skate practice on Friday night, and by the time we get done there, headed to the store to get stuff for Cameron's birthday party on Saturday, and grabbed dinner, it was kinda late. Later than I wanted to be home. After all, mom had a homemade cake to bake! Cam wanted the infamous yellow cake w/ chocolate frosting, so Mom stepped up. Thinking I was going to be fancy, I bought two mixes, and had planned to stack them with a nice chocolate frosting filling. Bake the first cake ... great. But I didn't wait long enough for it to cool, and when I dumped it out of the pan, some of the top came off. Not a problem. This would be the bottom layer. Bake the second cake and make up the chocolate frosting. Set the cake out, and head to bed. It's after 12:00 by this time. Get up the next morning, and ... what the H-E-DOUBLE HOCKEY STICKS happened to my freakin' cake? It appeared to have some of the center missing. Unfortunately, my husband has a sweet tooth. He gets up in the middle of the night, usually still asleep, and heads to the kitchen for something sweet. He wouldn't dare. Called him up. (Told him I was Grumpy before he fished saying hello ..., by the way.) Asked him if he may or may not have tried Cameron's birthday cake. Why would he do that, he asks? Do you really think I would? He asks again. Well I'm calling you, aren't I? No he didn't taste it, so then I determine that Hayden must have wandered over and decided to give it a taste-test of his own. The cat. What cat eats yellow cake? Without frosting? Now remember, I can't just use the first one I made, because the top part came off, and it is damn near impossible to frost the spongy part of the cake. Have tried it many times. Tried it again Saturday morning. (Starting to think that the birds may have been his "I'm sorry ... so sorry ... " gifts ... ?) Call Bryan back and tell him to get a damn birthday cake. Whatever he wants. His choice. At this point I could care less if it was Blues Clues or Hanna Montana. Just get a cake. Also let him know that I couldn't find the Beaver game ANYWHERE, even tthough I was positive it was televised. Double grumpy. Especially when I see the U of O game on like three different channels here. Anyeway, Cameron and I did have a nice breakfast that consisted of a slice of yellow cake with homemade chocolate frosting. From the corners. Before I dumped it. It was delicious. Now ... in the midst of all of this, I proceeded to dump over a half can of Mt. Dew on the kitchen floor, and after that was cleaned up, I knocked the tub of butter off the counter and about 1/4 of it dumped out. Approximately 1/59 of an inch away from the Mt. Dew. Why couldn't they have decided to jump at the same time. Oh well. Do you have to ask if I'm grumpy at this point? Time now to vacuum the downstairs. I got company coming over at 4 for a 9 year old's birthday party. Why did I bother vacuuming? Anyway ... get most of it done, head to the corner with the floor lamp, move the magazine rack and oh look ... a lizard. Scared the bejesus out of me. Screamed like a little girl. Grab my trusty cardboard size 8.5 critter-getter and try to scoop it up. It runs. Under the couch. Which is heavy. And in order to move it, I have to move the coffee table. Which is heavy. Once I'm done moving all the furniture, I finally find the little guy and snag him. Throw him outside, and it's off to finish the last-minute cleaning. All-in-all it was a FANTASTIC party. I shed the grumpiness when I put on my party hat. I'm good like that. Bryan foudn my fgame, so he was a hero. I celebrated with a corona. At noon. Whatever, right? Cam had 5 friends over, 4 stayed the night. Slightly better than last year, although I was told they didn't fall asleep until around 4:30 or so. That explained a LTO of the laziness on Sunday in the Peterson home! The mommies and daddies THOROUGHLY enjoyed the game - YAY Beavers! - and had fun hanging out while the boys did their tthing. Pictures to follow. I cna't find my USB cable for my camera. Oh - that made me a little grumpy.

My work day is finally over, so ... here's to the bottle of wine on my counter - it's time for a nice glass of sure-to-get-rid-of-your-grumpiness ...

Happy Grandparent's Day!

Few can bring the warmth

We can find in their embrace,
And little more is needed to bring love.
Than the smile on their face.

They've a supply of precious stories,
Yet they've time to wipe a tear,
Or give us reasons to make us laugh,
They grow more precious through the years.

I believe that God sent us Grandparents
As our legacy from above,
To share the moments of our life,
As extra measures of His love.
-By Author Unknown

To all of our wonderful Grandma and Grandpas ... we love you! But that's the easy part ... the hard part is being away from all of you! Thanks for being the best and for all the love you give. Wishing you all a wonderful day - please know you are all in our thoughts today. We miss you!

9-11-01

I remember what I was doing exactly eight years ago today. I’m sure you all do. It's right up there with the Challenger explosion for me, and even the start of the Persian Gulf war - the first war to occur in my lifetime, in which I was old enough to know what was going on. Life pretty much came to a halt with the somewhat rude awakening that a terrorist attack of this nature could occur. On our own soil. Eight years ago exactly at this time, I was watching the news and getting ready for work. It was just another day. Eight years ago, and in about a 1/2 hour, that all changed. The breaking news story came on. I was paralyzed in the spot I was standing. Even more so when the second plane hit - and I realized that it wasn't a replay, but another attack. Happening at that moment. Live. Cameron had just turned 1. I was still a new mommy. I was devastated. My first thought was about all those parents that lost a child in that daycare center. All those people that lost a child working in the building. All those people that lost a child on the airplane. Then I started crying. I had only been back to work from maternity leave for a few months and I remember dropping Cameron off at Bryan's aunt's house and how hard it was for me to leave. The third hijacked planed crashed into the Pentagon while I was on the freeway to work. I remember there being a lot of traffic and it moving slowly. People were numb and listening to the radio intently. Nobody at work was even working. There were groups of people all huddled around TVs, computers, radios, whatever they could, just to get some information. And when the last plane crashed, I remember the silence that followed. No phones. No talking, nothing. More numbness. Some people just got up and left. I think I called Sara - again. Just to calm myself. Reassure myself that this was happening at the other end of the country and Cameron was okay. But it didn't matter the distance. We all felt the pain and the shock and the big question of Why? I couldn't wait to go home and see my husband and son.

Some pictures I pulled from the web ...

So in honor of September 11, I just wanted to take a minute and recollect as well as pay tribute to those lives that were lost. Now ... I'm going upstairs to give my baby a kiss, a hug, wake him up for school and thank god that my family is here with me.