Loving Shadows

Sydney is going through a phase right now where she is always spotting shadows. She loves playing in the family room in the morning, seeing her shadow and creating shadows. The other day, she got Brooke involved, she looked like a little monster-LOL

Oh Dear

Surprise Airport Visit

Last week the girls and I surprised David at the airport. He loved seeing the kids faces as they went running towards him. The kids loved watching the planes come in (we watched for an hour before he arrived and and about 1/2 hour after). I think the highlight was that dad arrived on the Shamu plane.

Sydney's Photo Shoot

Airport Dinner

Bistro Boxes and Starbucks beverages

How Many Of Me?

I think I have done a blog on this before but for fun lets do it again. www.howmanyofme.com will tell you exactly how many people share your name. For me there are 791,773 people in the US with the name of Kimberly, it's the 59th most common first name. There are 827,758 people in the US with the last name of Thomas, it's the 14th most popular last name.

There are 2,086 people in the US named Kimberly Thomas

Tuesday Night Art

Tonight I took the girls to "Color Me Mine" for an adventure. They had a blast and we decided we should return with Liz. (She would love it) The doggy is for Grandma (From Brooke) and the Cupcake is for Daddy. (From Sydney)

My Favorites of the McKayla Maroney Memes

I chose JPL (hey its in Pasadena!) and Will and Kate.

See them all here: http://sports.yahoo.com/photos/olympics-mckayla-maroney-is-not-impressed-meme-slideshow/mckayla-maroney-meme-photo-1344522539.html;_ylt=AqZ6k03pcUiA9YCZs1dmVTtMAuh_;_ylu=X3oDMTNxdnFtdG50BHBrZwNmZTJlZWE5NC00NGFhLTM1YjktOGQwMS1kMjBlY2IzYjM5NmIEcG9zAzEEc2VjA01lZGlhQ2Fyb3VzZWxQaG90b0dhbGxlcnlDQVhIUgR2ZXIDOGYyODFmZDAtZTIyZS0xMWUxLWI4OGYtZWRkYjRmNGU2MjA3;_ylv=3

Kathi Goertzen

One of the items in my news reader on Facebook was a link to this story about Kathi Goertzen, an anchorwoman in Seattle who died today. She began her career at KOMO when she was 22 and worked her way up to anchorwoman. She had two daughters who are 23 and 17. 

Kathi died of BENIGN reoccurring brain tumors that had plagued her over the last 14 years. She endured over 9 surgeries and facial disfigurement but still managed to continue her career. Her hope was that she could endure the tumors until a cure was discovered. She was 54. RIP

Diversity At ABC

New Blogger Bites AND Thomas Cove's First Summer (Part 2)

I absolutely HATE the new Blogger. I have spent the last hour trying to align the pictures on Thomas Cove's First Summer. I got it aligned once and then it tried to add some text which completely screwed up the alignment again. I NEVER had this problem with old Blogger and it makes me crazy. The other problem I NEVER had with old Blogger was inconsistent font. I can't get the font I like back consistently. Every once in awhile, the font will be right-like this one-but most of the time it's either too large or too small. 

So, onto Thomas Cove's First Summer, here is part of the text. We are completely enjoying our Pool! We have been in it at least 4-5 days a week and it's been awesome! It is so relaxing coming home from work, eating dinner and then swimming for awhile-it's great family time that we really need!!!! 

Thomas Cove's First Summer (Part 1)

The Bee Killer

Thursday Becca called me and asked  if we had noticed an increase in bees at the pool. I said no and she said there had been a ton of bees at the pool in the previous 30 minutes and Jason had begun killing the bees one at a time. All told, he killed 37 bees on Thursday at Thomas Cove by employing the following strategy: (1) Use the net to capture the bee (2) drown the bee (3) place it in the bee graveyard (planter). On Friday, I got to see the bee killer in action and I thought he did a great job. Good news, only 3 bees on Friday. Not sure what the deal was on Friday.

Swimming Break

Brooke's Special Play Date

Today, Brooke got a special treat as she was able to go to Nathan's while I had a special date with mom. As soon as it was confirmed I started telling her that she was going to go to Nathan's and she couldnt have been more excited. She told everyone that she was getting to go see Nathan, Kevin, Rachel and Kiersten and the morning of the play date the first thing she said when she woke up was "Mom, can I go to Nathan's now?" She felt like such a big girl and had a great time. Thanks to Aunt Rachel for being super aunt-Brooke finger-painted, went for a walk, jumped on the trampoline, played in the sand table and I am sure a bunch more. 

Awesome Achievement For Desktop Teams!

I am so proud of the team and everything we have been accomplished and our part in Desktop Services at Dell. Today, Gartner announced that Dell was a leader in the Magic Quadrant for Desktop Services Outsourcing. After research and customer feedback we obtained this recognition. Click here for the Press Release.

Awesome job everyone!

Today Is National Best Friend Day

I want to wish my BFF a Happy National Best Friend day! Lucky for me, I received this news (via Facebook) and I didn't miss this special day. I love you and am so fortunate to have you as my best friend! Love your show! 

P.S. Love your hair in this pic :)

Lemonade

I have been to Lemonade a few times but it's a bit odd and I don't normally frequent there. It's true weird California food but there are definitely a few things that I like. Since I was eating at my desk today I decided to run up there and bring something back. I decided on the following:

• 1/2 portion of the Balsamic, Bleu Cheese and Fig Greens
• 1/2 portion of the Avocado, Cherry Tomato, Pine nuts, and Lime salad  and

•  Seared Ahi Tuna with a crushed orange ginger ponzu

The food was healthy and everything was delicious but when I say that have some weird California salads, I mean it. Examples: (1) Kale, mushrooms, kumquat vinegar (2) Apple braised cabbage and goat cheese, (3) Beluga lentils, apple with voodoo vinaigrette

I havent had the sandwiches but I have had the Braises and they are pretty good. I like the traditional short rib or lemongrass chicken

Lastly they have 7 different types of lemonade but I have yet to order any of them. 1 bottled water for me.

Geez, two food posts in a row.

Code Word: Angel Hair

Back in 2001 there were a group of co-workers that would meet at Pizza Place CA in San Gabriel to discuss an ongoing major work event. On the days of the lunch meetings the code name was "Angel Hair" due to the outrageously good Angel Hair pasta at this place. 

I haven't been there in years but today I decided to take Larry. Once arriving I knew it was a mistake, this place is sooooo good. They have great garlic rolls and their pasta is to die for! I went for the Angel Hair but there were three other dishes that caught my eye: 

The Chicken Ravioli with mushroom sauce is out of this world. (Yes, I ordered that frequently) and Larry ended up getting this. He passed me a ravioli and I was reminded how good this was. 

The Chicken Ravioli with Tomatillo sauce was always one of my go-to choices. So very good.

The Clams and Scallops in Angel Hair and Carintas Pizza were my original favorites here.

Bottom line, everything on the menu at this place is good. You should go!

The iPhone 5

This article talks about how the iPhone 5 may be a big disappointment because Apple isnt getting the message that users want larger screens. "Apparantly", the iPhone 5 is going to be about the same size as the iPhone 4 and 4s. If this is true I will celebrate this and may do the opposite of this article and switch my Android (which I really love) to an iPhone. My HTC Incredible was nothing short of incredible but when I switched to the Incredible 2 (slightly bigger) I was terribly disapointed in the size. I have gotten used to it and I believe the iPhone is about this same size but I CRAVE a smaller phone, big is not always better!

I still miss my Blackberry Pearl-the best phone ever!

http://www.businessinsider.com/if-the-iphone-5-really-looks-like-this-apple-may-be-screwed-2012-7

Best Ice Cream

Wilcoxson's Ice Cream is made in Montana and the Ice Cream of choice served in Yellowstone. Every time we are there I have ice cream more days than not. I have two favorites, The Huckleberry and the Maple Nut-both are to die for and this year I decided to bring some home. I have 2 pints of Huckleberry in the fridge and they are slowly being devoured.

In Life...Choose Your Own Adventure

I loved the Choose Your Own Adventure books, this one offered 22 possible endings. I think we should be more deliberet with our actions and "Choose our own adventures" thoughtfully.

Example: You are driving to the beach and your realize that you are running low on gas:

*You stop immediately and gas up at the first place you see (turn to page 54)

*You pull out your phone and use an application to find the cheapest gas in your vicintity (turn to page 11)

*You call and annouce you'll be late to your destination (turn to page 38)

*You decide to take your chances, after all life is an adventure (turn to page 22)