Makes me Cry....Peace

Check out this video: The Beatles - Let it Be

Happy Halloween

Halloween is my favorite holiday and this year I had a house for kids to come trick or treat at! I was so stoked! Kris and I even dressed up. I was a devil this year and it was FUUUUNN. Picture to the left is me trying to look mischevious and scary at the same time....I think I look like someone scared me!








We had a super scary witch and her black cat (also in staying with the Halloween theme, that room looks pretty scary). My sis and her son came over too. Then we had a NINJA and a grim reaper.















I did Kris's makeup and I think he looked really scary. So did a cute little ladybug and I had to tell her he was really just my fiance and a nice guy. I dont think she belived me. It was super fun handing out candy and looking at all the costumes. We were unprepared for the scourge or kids that trick or treat in suburbia so I actually had to send the Grim Reaper out to Fry's for emergency backup candy. At one point the scary witch was kindly asked to "recycle" some of her candy. She complied and I was soon back in business giving out large quantities of JuJu fruits and Dots. I guess witches dont like those. All in all, Halloween went great and I was happy that Kris had it off and that my sis and nephew were able to come hang out with us! Only 362 days left till next Halloween, I need to start planning my costume!

Emilio

Sherman got adopted today. He went to the sweetest semi-retired couple who had just lost thier shep X about a month ago. I am so happy for him! It made me cry and I miss him but the world works in strange ways.

I called one of our directors and told her we adopted out Sherm and she said what perfect timing. A sweet boy named Emilio needed a foster home right away as all the other fosters are full right now. I said I would go to meet him and see if he was something I could handle.

How could I resist that sweet face? What a lovey boy! He is about 1.5 years old. He walks great on a leash, he is super friendly, likes kids and other dogs and will even sit for a treat! How did this guy end up at PACC?

Unlike most other fosters I have seen he trusted me right away. He rode in the front seat of the car all the way home and sat as quiet as can be. He was content as long as his face could be out the window. He ran right into my house and said hello to Katie and Moki like he had known them his whole life! He is very playful and gentle with his toys. He even let me give him a bath without a wiggle or a peep! He has very unique fur and I am not sure what kind of dog he could possibly be. His fur seemed very water proof and none of it shed off in the bath. This guy is a treasure and any one would be happy with Emilio. I hope he finds nice parents quickly!

Volleyball Craziness!

I played volleyball in high school. I also played in a volleyball club in college. I really enjoyed it. It was fun. I was cool as a cucumber. No stress, no wanting to strangle un-paid refs. Watching my child play volleyball however is a totally different story. I am not cool as a cucumber, I become riotous in the stands with yells like, "You girls gotta call that", " Talk to eachother", "Step back, strong server" and many....uhhh...many others. I was thinking to myself, I wasnt like this when Felicia played softball or did gymnastics. Maybe volleyball is my passion!! So being the ever over zealous and over-dramatic person that I am....I decide that I am going to coach. Who the H E Double hockey sticks do I think i am? Frickin superwoman? Of course, none of my other commitments even crossed my mind when i walked out of that gym. I was thinking, these girls need to run drills, they need to run stadiums they need they need.... So after blabbing to my poor 10 year old that Mommy should coach it looks like I have another commitment on my plate. Apparently, the NYS needs coaches.....dangit! I wil keep you all apprised of my sanity levels when the new league starts in November.

The Junior League of Tucson

I went to my first meeting last night with my new friend Dee Dee. I am so happy that someone encouraged me to join this great group of women! The meeting was a ton of fun and all the women there were so professional, friendly and lovely! I am really exited to be a part of helping the Tucson Community. I have to take a full 8 months of training/classes before I am actually considered a full member but the commitments really arent that difficult and we only meet twice a month. At the meeting we eat dinner together and basically brain storm about ways to better Tucson.

http://www.juniorleagueoftucson.org/tucson/index.jsp

It makes me feel good to know that I am a part of something beneficial.

Now and Then

We just got Felicia's 5th grade pictures back. I mean they look nice, but I am not too sure how much I like them. I think a lot has changed since 1987. To illustrate my point. this is my ten year old daughter. She looks pretty together and actually quite cute. Now brace yourself for step two.








This is MY 5th grade picture. Did my mom dress me? I sure hope I have someone else to blame for the turtleneck UNDER the sweater. Good LORD, did I live in Alaska. Notice the lovely braces and grandma approved hair style.

I believe that is the key to my locker around my neck. Did I need to take a picture of it so I wouldn't forget that 5th graders get lockers? The only positive thing I can say about this picture is at least I had the sense to match my earrings! Whilst browsing through my old picture albums I found a rather interesting photo of my 8th Grade Graduation Party. If you look closely you will see Sixela. One of my mostest favorite people in the whole world. We have been best friends since the 8th grade! She is the one in the super snazzy 90's hot pink getup. I bet you cant guess which one is me? Another fashion disaster! Did I think I was getting MARRIED? I hope you all enjoyed this little comparison. I am still waiting on embarrassing pictures from you!!

The Challenge!

#1 The Kitchen Sink
I accepted the home challenge. I had no time to clean or straighten so this is an effective insight into the Page-Zupan household! This is my kitchen sink. Thank God my mom is visiting right now. She did dishes yesterday!





#2 Your Toilet
This is my toilet it is pretty uninteresting except that as you can tell, you can't exactly shower and then have someone run in to "to go". We have a clear glass shower and that could be ahhhhh awkward.










#3 Your fridge
This is a terrible picture of my fridge. Downstairs is pound-puppy territory and the opening of the fridge can incite a riot. I believe that is what was happening in the midst of my superior picture taking. Puppies were attacking me in hopes to throw off my balance and therefor.....take control of the big black box that dispenses cheese and bologna. Don't worry folks, I overpowered their leader and was able to retreat to upstairs.





#4 Your bedroom
Our bedroom. This is where the magic happens...enough said.








#5 What are your children doing right now.
Felicia is watching Grease 2 on her T.V. in her super purple room. Just moments earlier she was singing "Cool Rider". Sorry I missed it and I bet you are too.






#6 What is your significant other doing.
This is Kris playing computer chess. Yes, that's right. Chess. He is pretty cute though.....








#7 Your laundry room
We have more of a laundry closet. Not much to see here folks.









#8 Your closet
You cant tell from this picture but we have a rather large walk-in closet. I have a severe clothes hoarding problem and should probably seek some psychiatric help for it.....I am not exactly sure where Kris is able to keep his clothes.








#9 Your favorite room
I love the family room. We can go to the theatre and not even leave home! Plus, you can see the glowing eyes of the three suspects that tried jumping me in question #3.






#10 your favorite pair of shoes.
These are my favorites right now. I just bought them today and they are my wedding shoes. Very Hollywood 40's glam. I love them!






#11 A self portrait.
This is me. Sans makeup in all my Saturday-night glory! I should of at least done my hair or something but I took the challenge pretty seriously. i think sometimes I am a bit competitive! So now all of you have to embarrass your selves. I wanna see some self-inflicted humility out there!

Sherman!!!

This is Sherman. He is my first foster dog. I decided to volunteer with a non-profit shelter rescue group called Cold Wet Noses. He is a 5 month old Shepherd mix. Sherman was rescued from Pima Animal Control. He was going to be euthanized because he had pnueamonia. Cold Wet Noses rescued him, nursed him back to health and now he is ready to get some good manners, basic skills and socialization. That is where I come in. I will help him with leash training, teach him to sit, stay and cat-test and kid-test him. He is a super sweety! He was a little paranoid on the car but he was super happy when he met Katie and Moki. This is Moki, he is a rescue from Pima Animal Control too. He wasn't adopted and his time was up so he was to be euthanized for nothing. We have him now and aside from having an inexplicable taste for drywall, he is a great boy! My mother thinks I have lost my mind but she knows I mean well and if Kris and I can have two dogs, why not three? I think the hardest part will be spending time with Sherman and then giving him away. I am sure I will have the biggest smile on my face the day he gets his forever home though! If you know anyone who might be interested in cute little Shermie-boy please let me know. He is just a doll!

http://www.tucsoncoldwetnoses.com/

Last Friday

Kris and I have been engaged for 6 months! Last Friday, he surprised me by taking me out to The Melting Pot for a nice romantic dinner. He is such a cute, hopeless romantic. Felicia decided that she wanted to take a picture of us before we left.

We look pretty excited to go eat super yummy food! I have the eyebrow-raise thing going on pretty good. Kris has the look of....hurry up so I can go chow down on some Fondue!

We decided to take a picture of the Feltinator too so she could be a part of the whole...stand in front of the camera thing. She is getting so big and cute! Kris said he was going to run down to Wal-mart and buy whatever clearance shotgun they have just to keep it on standby for when the boys start coming over. I swear he envisions himself getting a generic lawn chair and setting it the drive-way. Whilst sitting in said lawn chair, he will cradle a shotgun, sip on some Crystal Light in a red party cup and just wait for some boy to show up so he can have an excuse for acting like a psycho and quoting, "Hey boy! You sure gotta pretty mouth".

That paints a pretty disturbing picture. Kris is a big guy and he looks pretty mean when he doesn't smile. Watch out all you suburban teenage boys! I can see them all talking about Felicia in a huddle in the locker room at school. "yeah, Felicia is pretty but I am never going over to the Page-Zupan house again. Her step-dad is a backwoods talking, crystal light drinking, shotgun wielding psychopath". And knowing Kris, if he could be a fly on the locker room wall...he would smile and think to himself....mission accomplished.

Oh My God! Your a what? Why?

These are common reactions that I receive from people when I tell them that I am a Vegan. Yes, I am a Vegan. I know this may seem strange coming from someone with a farming, ranching and hunting background when in reality it just makes more sense. My grandfather was a farmer. He had land and raised pigs, chickens, turkeys, cows and vegetables. He did this in a simpler time. All the animals roamed around, breathed fresh air and ate corn, wheat and good ol' homemade table scraps. My mother witnessed my grandmother killing chickens for dinner and it was over in a matter of seconds and very humane. I have not one single issue with this way of life. In fact, I really respect the hard work and the care that was put into raising healthy animals. My mom tells a story of a weanling pig that my Grandma got extremely attached to and actually kept it as a pet. I do however have a huge problem with factory farming in all its aspects. The big companies dump animals into crowded and unclean pens, pump them full of antibiotics, leave sick ones to be trampled, and kill those who do not produce. I am a lover of animals and therefore for years I felt like a hypocrite every time I cut up that steak, ham or chicken breast and put it in my mouth. Factory farming has a huge impact on the environment as well. It creates large manure cesspools that leak into groundwater and methane gas that pollutes the air. Consuming and producing meat on such an enormous scale takes an unbelievable amount of grain, corn, wheat and water. Think about how many food shortages and worldwide hunger problems could be solved if more people strived for a vegetarian diet? I am not a Nazi-Vegan. My fiance and my daughter eat meat, its just not the right choice for me. I feel that if more people really educated themselves and became conscious of how that steak got on their plate, more people would be Vegan and Vegetarian. This is a quick rundown of factory farming if you would like to learn a little more http://www.idausa.org/facts/factoryfarmfacts.html . Thank you for listening!

Kids Cartoons

Anyone recognize this super scary villain? I do, I think from 5 to 6 I had approximately 100 or so nightmares involving this guy. I liked to be freaked out as a kid....What happened to great cartoons like He-man and the Masters of the Universe, Transformers, Thundercats, GI Joe or even The Smurfs? Most of the subject matter was down right terrifying (yes, even Gargamel and Azriel) but we LOVED it! These fun yet extremely violent cartoons got me up before 8 am on a Saturday and I LIKED it. I had all the play sets and the castles and and and...I think I had an imagination and I actually played outside! Who wants to get up early on a Saturday to watch Dora the Explorer or Jimmy Neutron? Boooorriinng! Maybe that is why kids are bringing guns to school and engaging in violent activities in real life. We have grown so accustom to shielding them from every day things..."no candy cigarettes", "no play pistols", no "violent cartoons", "keep all your feelings inside", "live in a box and play video games all day long"....that kids have no way to release any anger or curiosity that they have. Or, it could just be my need to watch Skeletor and Mumra reruns....

G.I. Joe?

No, actually it's not. Amazing similarities I know. But what would GI Joe be doing in the suburbs? It's not like the Taliban is here. This is Kris and I think he looks pretty cute in his Airforce getup. He hates having pictures taken but I threatened to make him do the laundry for a week if he refused. We both hate laundry. Every weekend we stare into the laundry room like we are waiting for something from Poltergeist to come bounding out after us....He is a good sport and is super funny and nice. Thanks babe!

My Friend Kyle

This is Kyle Cota. Doesn't he look like a handsome, nice, happy, fun guy? Don't be deceived because like Neil; inside hides a full on badass. I have had more laughs with this guy and been in the oddest situations! He has kept me out of trouble just as much as he helped me get in to it. Looking back on our friendship I just smile. He taught me the true meaning of "Starting the Revolution" and a invoked in me a renewed love of Prince (also a badass). Oh, did I mention that he can quote "The Three Amigos" verbatim? That is quite a skill! I am also secretly jealous that he knows more about computers than Bill Gates. How does he pack so much knowledge into that cranium? Love you Kylie!

Neil Diamond

Neil Diamond is a badass. Not only does he have super-sweet

cool hair, great fashion sense and a crooked smile that would even make Princess Di jealous. He is pure class. Is there any song more fun to sing along to than Sweet Caroline? Can anyone truly mimic the open shirt, hairy chest style that he helped pioneer? This ones for you Neil. We love you babe!

This is me!

Oh someone please tell me that there is a grant given for Botox injections??