The Bachelorette

THANK YOU LADIES!!! (and guys: Sean & Derek stopped by too!)

I had a great night!! You're the BEST!!!!

T-shirt from Candice & Shannon

Starting out at The Crown Bar

Shannon, Jo, (Derek, Otto & Sean), Chantale, Candice & me.

(April & Megan stopped by too - thanks!)

Chantale, Candice & 'drinky'


Shannon & Jo


(Does this one even need a caption??)

Irish.
Car.


Bomb.
(aye-yi-yi......)

Woooooooooo!

The girls at Hanks

I even got to see my honey :)

Paul Newman

Oh, we have lost a great, great, great man.

I was in the middle of doing dishes Saturday morning, the kids were watching TV and Shawn was on the laptop. "Did you hear who died?" he asked. I walk towards him and ask, "No, who?"

When my eyes hit the screen I am dumbfounded. My heart starts racing and I start to shake.

"Paul Newman, dead at 83"

Then the tears start. They are falling down my cheeks uncontrollably. I try to turn away so my family won't see. I go back into the kitchen and cry a little more while scrubbing away.

I didn't know this man, why has this hit me so hard?? Because I just LOVED him. I loved his acting, I loved his charity and I loved his racing. He was a great man! I know no man is perfect, but "they don't make 'em like they used to". He was the epitome of cool. What real men should aspire to be... Great... In every sense of the word.

I fell in love with him when I saw part of The Hustler when I was about 8 or 9. I've -sadly- only seen a handful of his movies. Shawn recently introduced me to Cool Hand Luke but his performances in Cat On A Hot Tin Roof, Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid, The Color Of Money (reprising "Fast Eddie") and Message in a Bottle (as the grouchy/loveable Dodge) are AMAZING to watch.

Cole even knows him as 'Doc Hudson' in Disney's Cars

And from Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid came the selfless Hole in the Wall Camps. A camp just for kids suffering from illness. A place for them to play and interact without the burden of their illness. Camp Korey in nearby Carnation, WA was just opened in 2007.

Funny that most of "my" generation probably knows him best for his dressings, etc.
What's not to love - it's delicious and it donates 100% profits!

"When I realized I was going to have to be a whore, to put my face on the label, I decided that the only way I could do it was to give away all the money we make. Over the years, that ethical stance has given us a 30 per cent boost. One in three customers buys my products because all the profits go to good causes and the rest buy the stuff because it is good." -Paul Newman on Newman's Own



This is how I got to know him in the last couple of years. Co-owner of Newman/Hass Racing. I've seen him in person at 2 Champ Car races in Portland and Las Vegas. Even then he looked frail. That his age was starting to really show. But man, what an icon.

I'm still at a loss for words. We lost a great, great man. I know the word is fairly generic but the man was not. Thanks Paul, for everything, I can only try and aspire to all that you've done.

Paul L. Newman
1925 - 2008

Busy, busy, BUSY!!!!!

Where does the time go?? I honestly don't know. I haven't blogged in a month(?) - how does that happen.

Wedding stuff, that's how it happens. As of today it's less than 3 weeks.

Yikes. Ugh. Argh. - All in good tone, I promise you!

We have been busy, I swear! Every weekend seems jam-packed! Thanks mostly to Shawn and his slight A.D.D., God love him. It amazes me how he can sit in front of the big screen ALL DAY on any give Sunday (or Saturday for that matter) and watch football. But other days we are go, go, going!

I don't think I have any photos of our adventures, I've been seriously slacking on that aspect. Ugh. I think Shawn is teaching the kids to groan when I pull out the camera. Thanks hun! ;)

A few Saturday's ago (yes, I'm losing track of the weekends) we took Anna & Cole to the University of Washington / Oklahoma game at Husky Stadium. It was a GORGEOUS weekend and Shawn originally wanted the 4 of us to go to the Hawks game, but I just couldn't do $80 a person. As nice of a weekend as it was, I just couldn't do it.

So he calls me Friday afternoon,"I found Husky tickets instead!" he says excitedly. "$20 each!!" Okay, now THAT I can get on board with!! So on a beautiful Indian Summer Saturday, we ventured up to the U-district for some FOOTBALL!!! Roamed around the gorgeous U-village with its hanging flower baskets still in full bloom, quaint & modern water fountains and sushi & sandwiches out in the sun. Does it get any better??

Cole was a trooper and got plenty of "Awwww..." looks and gestures as he practically crawled up to our seats. He's like his mama with heights.

Okay, so we (the Huskies) got slaughtered and we left at halftime, but Cole was able to go to his first REAL football game!! (I guess the Seahawks scrimmage doesn't count) (no photos cuz we left the camera in the Pathfinder)


This past Friday, went to a birthday party at my friend Shannon's house. She claims she's in 'the hood', but their place is really cute and the neighborhood was not as ghetto as she makes it out to be! (although they do have a nice view of St. Josephs Hospital). It had been a long week all around and the tension turned to 'discussion' when Shawn & I got home. In the front yard. At about midnight. I went for a walk to calm down.

See, it's been almost 3 years together for Shawn & I and we're still working out the 'bugs'. It's a work in progress and as long as we keep the discussion open I think we're doing just fine!


Saturday started out with us dress shopping for Anna for our wedding. I have to admit, I was a bit nervous shopping with a teenage girl. She's like I was at that age - wearing gloves and armbands, mis-matching clothes, worrying about her hair, wearing glitter eye-shadow and generally being a teenager.

We approached the dress section at JCPenny's, I grabbed an awful purple satin rhinestone thing and told her, "Nothing like this." And she agreed. We picked out 3 dresses for her to start with and the first one she came out with was PERFECT! A black chiffon halter with a touch of silver beading. Who knew it would be that easy?!?

Saturday evening was a 'Cousins get-together' at my mom's cousin Cal's. Is that my second cousin? I get lost in it all. They have a beautiful place out in McKenna, past Roy. We had lasagna, garlic cheese bread, caramel apple pie, fresh-picked blackberries from down the road and vanilla ice cream. YUM! Before dinner we stood outside and watched the boys throwing the football. I have to say that Cole has an amazing arm on him!! He was throwing spirals the whole time. And long-distance at that! Makes his mama proud! And his dad too :)


Sunday was the highlight of the weekend - for the boys. Shawn was able to score tickets for he & Cole - Cole's FIRST real Seahawks game - in the 2nd ROW FROM THE FIELD!!!!! He kept telling Cole that they were going to the game, but he "didn't know where the seats would be" that they "might be way up high, like at the Huskies". So I think Cole probably crapped his pants when they got there and saw where they were sitting!! And most of the game, Cole was in the front row since he was so little and no one minded that he was almost in the aisle. Anna & I were watching at home, pausing and rewinding to see if we saw them and sure enough! With Shawn being a big guy, we could spot the big "83" and the little "8" right there on the 30 yard line! So, so, so COOL!!!
(no photos cuz I forgot to give Shawn the camera, he did get some on his phone so I'll see if I can figure that out)


Other than that, it's been wedding planning, strategy and organizing. So don't hate me because I'm...... stressed! hehe!

First day of 2nd Grade!!

Cole the 2nd grader.

Note the 'rock star' hoodie and Chuck Taylors, picked out by the lil' man himself!

Nope, no crying from either one of us. (I think that stopped at Kindergarten, and yes, it was me) But still hard to believe.... Now he's full of excitement and anticipation. To use new school supplies, see his friends and compare backpacks. Not much has changed in the (ahhhem) years since I was in his shoes. And the blue backpack holder behind him is *very* special to him. =)

Oh mom!

It was a great start to a great year of Second Grade here at

Sherman Elementary!