RiderWait

Buki Turns 40 - The Movie

2010-05-16T10:35:00.000-07:00

In honor of Buki's 40th B-day, we took a tour of SF on segways... Oh what a night! We were berated by many many people... They called us losers, they yelled obscenities at us, and they wondered why we had nothing better to do on a Friday night. Quite frankly, if we're honest - this was the best Friday night we've had in a decade!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04kvROr4Gxg

Gloria put together this awesome video (although I wonder if Buki actually put it together?) of our training session.

Happy Birthday Buki!!!!!

: )

RIP Mooski - 11/05/06 - 01/24/10

2010-01-24T18:58:00.000-08:00

Mooski - I will miss your cuddles on the couch, sneaking into bed with me in the morning and the way you assumed everyone loved you (why wouldn't they?). Toby will miss his life partner, his groomer, and partner in crime. (Although, I don't think he'll miss they way you used to hide his ball under the bed where he couldn't reach it). RIP

Luxury....

2010-01-07T10:46:00.001-08:00

So, Pete and I decided to replace all three toilets in our new house. Not that there was anything wrong with them, we just don't like "used" toilets! You never know what's been on them.... I have to give Pete props because 2 of the 3 toilets worked great. They flush, they hold water, they work!! The toilet in our bathroom however, for some reason didn't hold water. I would go to use the toilet, and the bowl would be empty. Depending on what I was planning to use the toilet for, that posed a problem.

I asked Pete to fix it. His solution: Its fine, it works... Just flush the toilet BEFORE you use it to get water in the bowl, and THEN use it, and then flush it again.

Needless to say, this solution didn't sit well with me. So - he called a plumbing friend who gave him suggestion on how to fix it. Weeks go by and then Sandy comes over for dinner. She inquires about the toilet (she's friends with the plumbing friend and he told her about it). Nope, still not fixed, I said. She about blew a gasket - "YOU'RE GOING TO FALL THROUGH THE SECOND FLOOR IF YOU DON'T FIX IT....." Yeah, I didn't know what to tell her. I married Pete - there's not much I could do...

So - yesterday, I was surprised and delighted to receive a text message from Pete. Picture below, and the caption read: "That's right Baby, WATER in your toilet bowl. That's the kind of luxurious perks you get being married to me!!!"

The Bolivians do good work. When they show up!!!

2009-12-08T14:12:00.000-08:00

So - the Bolivians finally came out of the woodwork and helped out. Big Robert helped Pete a few times (but that's a secret because his sister needs help on her house so Robert couldn't let her know he was helping Pete instead!!) I didn't get any pictures of Robert due to the secrecy.

When moving day came, Anita recruited Little Robert. Little Robert recruited Michael and Bryan. Without those three strong Men we wouldn't have been able to get everything done. (By the way guys - I changed my mind the nordic track needs to go downstairs into the office... can you come by and move it?? LOL) Emmy came on Saturday night and put away the entire kitchen. I mostly sat around drinking wine with Anita- but Pete doesn't let me in the kitchen much anyway!

Britt needed something productive to do on Monday, so we put her to work getting the bricks from our old house and taking them to the new house. Four hours of manual labor does a body good right??

Raffa and Augustine came by on Sunday for their weekly contribution. We decided to treat them with the "Big Wallie" from Wallies Diner.

So - the Money Pit continues to suck money and its still not done, but we're all moved in. Thanks to everyone who helped. And to quote my favorite Bolivian, "The Bolivians do good work. When they show up!!!"

Stay tuned for pic's once Pete unpacks everything!!

: )

You painted your cabinets PURPLE??

2009-11-24T20:32:00.000-08:00

So - I finally found my Bolivian friends on Thanksgiving. Anita and Chris came by to check out the progress on the Money Pit. Anita was in a dress and Chris just had surgery on his knee so they claimed they couldn't help out. The first thing Anita said as she walked into the kitchen was, "You painted your cabinets PURPLE???". UGH. We actually painted them a chocolate brown that everyone keeps mistaking for purple. Ok - so, they might actually look purple, but painting them was such a pain that I'm not about to paint them again. Anyway, I like purple, it wouldn't have been my first choice for the kitchen, but seeing as how I don't have a choice now, I'm going to run with. Perhaps we can find some purple appliances and a nice purple velvet Elvis painting as well!

The windows, carpet and tile got put in this week at The Money Pit. Its all starting to come together, but it still feels like it will never be done!!!

Bay window - BEFORE:

Bay window - AFTER:

Pete installing the floor - Looking good!

So - we weren't moved in by Thanksgiving (my original goal), but since our new ATT U-verse is being installed next week, we have to at least have a computer, tv and phone for them to hook up.

Stay tuned for the next episode of "The Money Pit"

: )

Yeah Girls!!!! (And where are my Bolivians??)

2009-11-16T10:50:00.000-08:00

Pete focused his attention on Megan and Haley's soccer team this weekend. They had their championship tournament and... THEY WON!!!! I'm pretty sure Pete was instrumental in the win and I don't think they could have done it without him!! Alex's team took second in their tournament last weekend. I primarily blame myself for them not taking first. They always win the games I attend. I was too busy working on the Money Pit, so they lost their last game, putting them in second - but they played great!

Meanwhile, back at The Money Pit, I had a little help from my friends (not of the Bolivian variety). I was determined to get the painting done by Sunday because the windows and floors are being installed this week. Hayley, Sandy, Rafa, Augustine and Benhamine all helped out. We got so much work done, but sadly, did not finish. We only have two rooms to go (our bedroom and the living room - both with vaulted ceilings) and ran out of paint at about 6pm on Sunday. Right about the time when the downstairs bathroom flooded. That seemed like a good stopping point!!

Below is a picture of Sandy working... She finished 3 rooms essentially by herself. No word on where all my Bolivian friends are!!! Perhaps I need to send out the posse?!!

Stay tuned for the next episode of "The Money Pit"

: )

The Color of (the) Money (Pit)

2009-11-13T06:51:00.001-08:00

Since the windows are being installed next week, we had to speed up our painting process. We finally chose some colors and got to work.

Alex decided he needed the room closest to the laundry shoot, and chose blue paint. Alex and Brandan are great workers and got his room painted in a few hours...

Hayley chose the room farthest away from our room..., and she chose the color green. Hayley and Erin worked for hours, and this is about all they had to show for it....

We also went to our friends floor shop and chose carpet and kitchen tile. I think they thought we were crazy because it only took us about 10 minutes to choose. She pointed out a brand and color - and we said, "yeah, that's fine, we'll take it". She wanted to know if we wanted to take home samples just to make sure it would work with our color scheame... but no - we don't want samples - just order it, it will be fine!!!

Then we went to costco to pick up the laminate floor that I agreed to let Pete and Rafa install. It was a lot of work picking up 37 boxes and loading them onto the cart and then into the car and then into the house. Well, it was a lot of work for Pete.... I mostly just sat there relaxing....!!

Stay tuned for the next episode of "The Money Pit"

: )

The Money Pit - "What ever Rafa says, goes"

2009-11-02T09:05:00.000-08:00

After a week of non-stop work at the Money Pit and nothing really to show for it, we decided it was time to start painting. Or at least primering.. We enlisted the help of Georgia (who somehow didn't get in any of the pictures) Greg, Rafa and Augustine.

We also somehow managed to have Hayley and her friends Erin and Amanda help out. They only stayed for about an hour (which included a pizza lunch) but we were glad to have them!!!

My new favorite phrase is, "What ever Rafa says, goes". I've been using this alot lately. I had to use this on Greg when he said we didn't need to primer the house - he said we should just use two coats of paint. Rafa said we should primer - and what ever Rafa says, goes. This turned out to be the right move, because the crazy colored rooms needed about 3 coats of primer, but we should be ready to paint next week.

Pete doesn't really like my new phrase, but when he tries to tell me something, or explain something - I secretly double check with Rafa. Its not that I don't trust Pete, I just like having a second opinion! What ever Rafa says, goes....

It feels like it will never get done, but I've already invited my family over to our new house for Thanksgiving, so Pete better start working double time!!!

: )

Famous Last Words.....

2009-11-01T07:25:00.000-08:00

You won't have to do any of the work.

Does anyone besides me remember that Pete said I wouldn't have to do any of the work on The Money Pit?

He's a liar and a cheat, and I wish I'd never laid eyes on him!

Ok, truth be told, I was mostly helping out because I don't trust that Pete would do the work my way instead of his way. I'm regretting that decision now that I can't move any of my muscles!!

Stay turned for the next episode of.... "THE MONEY PIT"

By the way, if you get an e-mail from Pete with his own Blog labeled "The Truth", please delete this immedatly - its a virus!!

: )

The Money Pit

2009-10-26T20:33:00.001-07:00

Pete and I decided to purchase a house twice as big costing half as much as our old house. I'm affectionately calling it "The Money Pit" because of all the TLC it needs....

For instance, the fireplace in the shuffle board room was ridiculous... Really? Black marble, gold fixtures and salmon walls...? Really?

Pete thought we should keep the marble because its expensive... I said, just because its expensive, doesn't mean it looks good. Luckily for me, one of the panels fell off while Pete was tearing out the floors.

A little sanding, and this should be as good as new... Right?

Rafa and Pete tearing out the faux closet in the office....

Hot tub anyone??? It comes complete with a crack down the middle, a soccer cleat (just one), a pen and some moldy water. Its free to anyone who will pick it up!! : )

Here's the view from my office. I can't wait until Pete has time to work on the backyard!

Stay tuned for more updates and requests for donations!!!

: )

Vacation.... All I ever wanted... (To be read as the song by the Go Go's)

2008-12-14T08:26:00.000-08:00

Pete and I finally went on our delayed Honeymoon. We took a cruise to the Panama canal stopping in Haiti, Columbia, Panama, Costa Rica and Grand Cayman. We've never had so much fun with the over 60 crowd! We were one of about 20 couples under 50 years old - on a boat of about 2200 Seniors Citizens.

Our progressive trivia group started out with 4 people and ended with about 12 - everyone wanted to be on Team Smackdown! Reverend Paul from the group came in handy when Pete and I were chosen for "Who wants to be a Millionaire". The question was about religion (Pete should have known this... didn't he spend years in catechism classes??). We had to phone a friend, and Paul was there for us with the correct answer. We ended up with 64 thousand points. The next couple crapped out on the 4th question... the audience was quiet - but I couldn't help myself and began clapping and screaming YES!!!!! Pete had to calm me down, but from then on, the Cruise Director made fun of my poor sportsmanship! I thought we had the game after 5 more losing couples - until the lawyer couple. They beat us by one question. I'm still waiting for my consolation prize.

We rocked our matching sweatsuits (amazingly enough, I was the one that had to convince Pete on this... He was a bit embarrassed, but I reminded him that these people probably couldn't even see us, let alone realize we were in matching suits!!) And - we (Pete) made the photographers mad because we (Pete) would not stop making faces when being photographed. One of them actually asked us to leave!

We river rafted down a river in Costa Rica in the rain (which was awesome) and we swam with the Stingrays in Grand Cayman (equally as awesome!)

We had a terrific time and can't wait for our next Honeymoon!! See below for the link to all the pictures!http://www2.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=273334002/a=84187515_84187515/t_=84187515

Boys will be boys....

2008-10-19T11:55:00.000-07:00

Last week, Alex thought it might be a good idea to hang on the soccer net before practice. He found out that in wasn't a good idea after all. He fell off and sustained two clean breaks in his arm. A surgery, 4 pins and a plate later and he's as good as new!

Of course this happened a week after Mooski was trapped in the soccer net all day and almost perished. I might have implied that Alex was responsible because Mooski drives Alex crazy. After that event, Alex told Mooski, "Mooski, I don't want you to die, I just don't want you to live...". So - after Alex coincidentlly got hurt, Mooski sent Alex cookies in at the hospital and reminded him that he was no where near Galt at the time of the incident.. In fact, he's never even BEEN to Galt, and doesn't even know anyone in Galt!!

PeteCante - A success, even without the prize!

2008-09-20T20:18:00.000-07:00

Pete decided to enter his famous PeteCante in the 1st Annual Redwood City Salsa Fest! He recruited the best team imaginable. Team PeteCante consisted of Pete (Team Leader) Brenda (Team Bosser Arounder), Pollo con Sombrero (Team Spirit), Anita (Team Decorator), Sandy (Team Safeway runner) and Gunner (Team Chopper).

There were several categories up for grabs... Mild, Spicy, Best all around, Best Booth, and the coveted Peoples Choice earning the winner $500. The rules were simple. Nothing was to be prepared at home, and everyone had to comply with the health department regulations.

Team Bosser Arounder insisted that PeteCante follow the rules. Unfortunately, about half the contestants brought product they made from home - Including that Bastard "The Spaniard" who ended up winning "Most Spicy". Team Bosser Arounder is planning to lodge a complaint with the Salsa Committee.

We didn't walk away with a prize this year - but we had a great time - and received a TON of Peoples Choice tickets. I'm pretty sure we were a close second! Next year Team PeteCante plans to sweep ALL categories!!!

Haley's 15 Birthday Party

2008-09-14T12:18:00.000-07:00

Haley turned 15 - so we thought it was about time for a costume party. The birthday girl came dressed as Alice from Alice in Wonderland... She looked super fabulous!

Savannah came as Tom Cruise from Risky Business. And - it was a little risky walking around on the hardwood floors with socks - but she managed not to kill herself and looked cool in the process!

Alex was a jumbo plumber, and Hayley was a hippy. Surprisingly, no one could tell if either were actually wearing costumes!!!

Megan was an M&M and Emmy was a cowgirl - and we managed not to get good photos of either of them - hard as Georgia tried!!

Pete and Brenda came as "that couple wearing matching sweat suits..." Luckily we already had our travelin' suits in our closet so we were all set!

The cutest costume goes to Gianna - who came as a Junior Fire Fighter!! Isn't she the cutest thing ever?

Chelle and Joe came as new parents. It was quite a stretch for them. Georgia came as the Aunt who pretended it wasn't a costume party. Greg and Pops came as die hard football fans and they pulled it off!!

Good times!!!

Marriage.... Is what brings us together....

2008-08-24T07:37:00.000-07:00

After a long awaited engagement, (that some of you thought we made up..) we finally took the plunge! As most of you know, we were waiting until we landscaped our backyard because we wanted to have a small backyard wedding. Obviously, this was never going to happen. Then, as Pete was helping a friend do some work on HIS backyard, he made a comment that we will never forget.... He said, "I bought this house with a big backyard so I could have people over.... We've been here 5 years and we never have people over because our house is never good enough. That's why I like you and Brenda.... your house isn't good enough, but you have people over all the time!!!" Pete took this as a compliment, I did not. Either way, it gave us the push we needed to say, "Who cares if our backyard isn't landscaped.... we don't have the type of friends that would notice!!"

So - we handed things over to Party Planner Anita and her Junior Assistant Party Planner Sandy, and things could not have been more perfect.

Our friend Bri married us, and even began the ceremony with, "Marriage.... Is what brings us together" (said as the line from Princess Bride).

All of our kids stood up for us and looked amazing!

We ate:

We gave out awards...

We Danced....

We climbed tree's....

Pete pretended to be Superman...!

It was the best day ever.

See below for links to more photos than you would possibly want to look at!!

http://www2.snapfish.com/share/p=79111218522283705/l=414187803/g=84187515/otsc=SYE/otsi=SALB

http://jmccauley.smugmug.com/gallery/5663439_7Ei2f#P-1-12

http://www.flickr.com/photos/29752283@N03/sets/72157606858289626/