Happy Birthday ...

to Art & Lucy!  Ohhhhh .... the memories! If you are one of the few unfortunate souls that have NO idea what I'm talking about ... check it out here.   :) It is quite the circus around here! We are so trying to get things moving to open the pro shop within the next week or so, the park soon to follow, if and when we can get things straightened out with the city of Mesa. Very difficult. Dealing with different inspectors that give us different information, approvals, permits, etc. So the political crap has been difficult to maneuver. But ... we're getting there. Again - this is ALL we have done in the past week or so! Nothing too exciting, just trying to wrap up some loose ends! It's rainy here today, and with it being a holiday and no school, Bryan and I looked at each other with a smile thinking ... Yep, this is the type of day we will be LOVING in the future!!!  :)

Thought for the day

If you don't like something, change it.

If you can't change it, change your attitude.

~Maya Angelou

Happy 2010 ...

And only 10 days late. OMG! I cannot believe this is my first post of 2010! It's been pretty crazy lately and to be perfectly honest, we just haven't been home too much this last week or so. Starting with New Year's ... we had a great time. Had about 60-70 people over at the park skating. Had all the fixins' for a nice little party: music, munchies, and of course, some beverages. There were quite a few people skating, and EVERYONE gave us positive feedback about the place. It is almost done, but there were 3 of the 4 areas that people could skate, so they were happy.  :)  It was great to have all of our friends there - new and old - to help us celebrate the upcoming year! Took down my Christmas decorations that weekend, and they are boxed up and ready to be moved into my new storage unit ... under the vert ramp in the park. You have no idea how much storage space there is in there. It will be nice to FINALLY get my Christmas tree out of the guest room closet! ;) Of course, Monday meant back to work for me after 4 days off, which was nice, but started to feel a cold coming on. Tuesday, not a whole lot better, in fact I had some facial swelling when I woke up, so I knew it wa a sinus infection from past experiences. Wednesday ... not so good. Stuffy head, cough, and my face, well ... if you wouldn't have known, you'd have thought I was beat up. bruising under my eyes, swollen eyes, it was HORRIBLE! Needless to say, I felt like crap, and there was NO WAY I was going into the office. So, it was a sick day - first one in almost a year and a half! Felt it was justified. Took some good medicine, and slept for about 5 hours straight. Swelling was a bit better, thank god for sunglasses, and the fact that I didn't have to go anywhere! Cam went back to school that day, so there was the start of some normal routines going on! Thursday morning had a doctor appointment, and ended up getting a nice cortisone shot - in my face - for the swelling. Yes, it was that bad.  :)  I'm happy to report that I am MUCH better. Any hopes of becoming a poster child for a battered wife are null and void. I did have a picture, but I'm WAY to vain to post it. It was that bad. So ... on to Cameron ... he got his report card for last quarter ... HONOR ROLL ... AGAIN! WOO HOO! SOOOO proud of him. He really worked hard to raise some of his grades from the progress report a few weeks ago. He got 2 B's and the rest A's ... love it!!! He's gotten VERY good about knowing his responsibilities with getting homework done, and done right, or the skating sessions will be significantly decreased! Bryan is pooped. Period. But it's good. The park is coming along great - we're just waiting for the bowl to be finished, and that should be about a week and a half. Would like to open up the pro shop within the next week or so, and now that we finally have power to the place, that is a good possibility. No more using our cell phones to use the potty!  Our SK8 ASYLUM sign on the builidng should be up in a week or so, we've got a guy painting a 15 foot SK8 ASYLUM logo on one of the cement walls in the park, alarm company, and the bank will be out on Monday to get things going. :) Craigslist is a godsend. Bryan found a brand new cash register, three tape guns + tape, and a credit card/debit card machine for a great low price of $150. Business close out. It was huge!!! After pricing all of the stuff prior to finding this guy, we were looking at a couple of grand. So this was great.

Now that I think about it ... there really isn't much going on. Work, school, and park have been utilizing ALL of our time. Today is a clean up day. House ... park ... garage. It should be productive. Cam's championship contest is next month, so we're trying to get those travel plans all squared away. Still making an serious attempt at opening the park by the end of the month, so we plan to have the grand opening celebration about a month later - definitely after Cam's contest. That's it for now ... will do my best to post more, and more frequently!

Out of the Mouth of ... Cameron

We were sitting at dinner the other night, and talking about vegetables. Bryan mentioned mushrooms are the ONLY vegetable he will not eat. (I know, he's weird, right?) And Cam agreed, then mentioned spinach. But only if it's in a dip. Then he said that he wouldn't even eat the seaweed at lunch at school. Seaweed? Really? You have seaweed for lunch? Yep - it's always on the menu, you should know, mom.  Hmmm ... pretty sure you don't have seaweed, after all, Ben Franklin isn't THAT hip to offer california rolls for lunch. Well we don't have your January menu yet, so we'll have to wait until tomorrow.  Fast forward to the next day ... Cam brings me the menu, and points to next Thursday's lunch ... See? Right there ... I told you. Let me see that ... Cameron ... this says kiwi. Seaweed, kiwi, same thing, right?

Happy New Year

It is so hard to comprehend that another year has come and gone! I think our family faced quite a few challenges whether it be health related or simply the complications that arise with differences in opinion and judgment. However, I'm a firm believer that we are not given more than we can handle. So with that said, I'm fairly certain we rose up to the challenges and persevered. Family ties are strong, and those bonds can and will help you. Our family and friends have been incredibly supportive in our decision to sell Bryan's business and venture on with the skate park. We are praying that 2010 proves successful in our decision! We are spending the evening at the park, hosting a private "invite" only, if you will, skate party. Looking forward to less "business" tonight, and more celebrating with new and old friends. We have met an incredible group of people in the skateboarding community, veterans of skating and Arizona skate culture, pros, amateurs, and those that will do absolutely anything they can to help us lift this project off the ground. We could not be more appreciative! Okay - it's a little early for me to get teary-eyed and emotional - need to slow down a tad. So 2010 will be rung in with much anticipation and excitement: Bryan and I celebrate our 10 year anniversary this year, Cameron hits double digits in age, and of course, a new business. Who knows what it will bring. But I can tell you - that we are prepared for it. I think. :)

To all of our family and friends, near and far, we wish you the Happiest of New Year's. We hope your year is filled with joy, peace and love.

More Christmas

I've finally had a chance to go through the rest of the pics from Christmas, so here they are as promised! We had a great Christmas. It came fast this year for us with so much going on, but it forced us to slow down for a couple of days and enjoy the season. I took a few days off work, so Cameron and I had some fun together. The 23rd was spent shopping. All day. Not necessarily for Christmas presents, we were just out shopping and enjoying ourselves Had lunch, got a coffee and dessert at Starbucks and had a great time. Grandma Doris was in town visiting her brother and sister-in-law, so when Bryan got home from work we headed out to meet her and mom and dad on their way into town for dinner. It was nice to be with everyone, and the bottle of wine mom and I shared was fabulous! :) Go figure. Headed over to Mike and Denise's Christmas Eve for the Peterson tradition of pizza. It was great to see Grandpa and Grandma Lasky, and Lee, Sara, and the girls. (Okay, they'll be 21 in a couple of months, but they're still the "girls" to us.  :) Christmas Eve was a late one ...  :)  I think it was finally around 3:00 when Bryan and I hit the hay. Guess SOME of us just weren't that tired, and had a hard time falling asleep. Or waiting for someone. Little eyes read this blog, so you can probably figure out the rest. Chances of sleeping in on Christmas morning? Slim to none. Little taps on my cheek and "Mom ... Merry Christmas!"   "Merry Christmas, sweetheart. What time is it?" "Well it's ALMOST 8 ..."  He rounded up. Way up. At any rate, it was a most enjoyable Christmas morning with our Baileys and coffee, big breakfast and of course playing with new toys. And .... we all snuggled together for a nap a couple of hours later. How perfect! Headed over to the Peterson's for Christmas dinner as well, and just had a great day. Mom and dad were down for the weekend for Christmas, and to help Theresa move into her new place. They all came over for our gift exchange, so it was great to be able to spend time with them as well. Although Christmas seemed to come out of nowhere this year, we did find time to enjoy it, but just not as long as I would have liked. Our tree is still up, the decorations are still hung, I'm going to keep my Christmas coffee cups and wine glasses in the cupboard and I'm going to savor it until we take it all down - in March.

Out to dinner with Grandma Doris and Mom and Dad.

Cam and Great-Grandma

Alex opening presents from Auntie & Uncle!

 

Oh Auntie ...  :)

 

New t-shirt

   

EVERYBODY got new backpacks!

The official pose in front of the tree Christmas morning ...

 

And the fun begins ...

 

"Mom! Are you gonna do this for everything? Fine. Here. I'm holding it up. Happy?"

 

Yeap. You'll shoot your eye out.  Nothing like an M-16 Airsoft gun to show how much you care.

 

At least he's got the goggles. And he's ready to go!

 

Seriously. Is there anything better than an ex Marine/police officer showing you the ropes with your gun? Pretty sure Great-Grandpa Lasky will be adding this to his birthday list. :)

 

Hmmm.. Do I want this one, or this one, or this one? I'll just pick them all up before I decide.

 

Cam and Great-Grandma Lasky

 

Heaven for Cam: Watching the Cavaliers play. The end of a perfect day.