First off we found out that I am pregnant with our 4th child which on Sept 21st ultrasound showed it to be 95% a boy. I have been very very sick and is the reason I have not been online much.  I have the luxury of having Hyperemesis gravidarum which only 0.3% - 2% of pregnant women get.  I had this with our last child as well and is really not fun.  So far as I am half way through the pregnancy I have learned the ER staff’s names, favorite colors, and favorite foods because I have had to go in many many times for  IVs  and other complications.  Good news baby is perfectly healthy and growing at the expected rate.

My mom came up for a visit for the 4th of July.  The girls had so much fun with grandma at the local 4th of July fair.  They won 2 fish from a game where they throw ping pongs into a bowl.  The fish are now huge and taking up a good amount of space in our fish tank.

Later that day we went to our usual firework viewing spot and watched the amazing show that the town next to us puts on.  The girls of course love fireworks and get so excited.  The spot we go to fills up fast  so we left about 4 hours early to get there and set up.   We thought our youngest we not like the loud noise but she did just fine and even tried to grab and eat a few of them.

Before Grandma left we had to go to the zoo which was also so very fun.  The zoo has done a lot of work and added some pretty cool stuff.  They now have a fountain that kids can play in and get soaked. (yes we all ran through it)

Our favorite summer event is the PepperFest.  It is a local festival that has been going on for a very long time.  The Parade which is obviously the best part comes down the road that we live on and is basically in our front yard.  The girls have a blast they get a ton of candy and plenty of toys.   After the parade we go down the block to the actual fair where they have rides and food.

We moved!!!!   When we found out about the expected baby the first thing that we said was time to move.   The house we lived in was a bit to small for our family and with the addition it would be to little space to live so we decided to go looking for a new home.   Well we found a place (2 blocks away) that I didn’t want to pass up and we decided to move on in.  The 2 older girls share the master bedroom which is huge and the closet could be a room itself.  Yes they are spoiled they even have the master bathroom.  The new place has 2 living rooms and a fireplace that I love.  We now have plenty of room for our large family and everyone loves the new place.

1996 we drove from Tucson Arizona to Long Beach Washington.  The whole way we drove up the coast and stopped at some pretty cool places!  

First stop we made was the Grand Canyon.  If you have never been to the Grand Canyon yes it is a big hole in the ground but its pretty cool to see up close and personal.  If you looked straight down from the railing it is quite the drop and a bit scary if you don’t like heights.  But it is very cool to actually see deep into the Grand Canyon and the rock layers are just amazing.  I remember at this spot I was pretty interested in the squirrels.  They would practically let you touch them.

Next stop was the Flintstones Bedrock City.  We didn’t spend much time here but I remember it being pretty cool. Of  course who wouldn’t find the Flintstones cool I mean come on.  I don’t have a picture of my Mom here but here is one of Fred and I.  Don’t we look cute?

Here we have my Mom  in front of some water some where!  I have no clue where but it was part of this trip.

We stopped at many more places on the way but when we finally got to Long Beach we had some pretty darn good times.  My favorite part was when we would ride the horses on the beach.  The horse I liked to ride was JJ.  He was a young fast horse who liked to play around a lot.  The horse my Mom rode liked to stay in the back, but JJ and I were all over the place.

Finally I wanted to share a picture of my Mom and I that I just love.  My Mom took me to Vegas a lot growing up.  I would go to the theme parks at MGM and Circus Circus but my favorite trip was when we went for conferences and shows.  Here is a pic of us at the Harrahs hotel and casino.  We saw the show Spellbound and had an absolute blast.

I am very excited to see the new changes.  I think I am most curious about the new Fantasmic which was always perfect in my eyes as a child growing up but now it seems they are only going to make it even better.  I can’t wait to see this new dragon, it was already totally awesome and my favorite part during the show. Of course the entire show was absolutely brilliant, but something about that huge dragon was very captivating.  You could feel the heat from the fire spewing out of its mouth from across the river.  

Currently the show begins with Mickey who starts us off with a beautiful water and light show and some outstanding music that grabs the attention of every single little boy and girl, silencing the crowd.  Next we see  some classic scenes from Fantasia, The Jungle book, and Pinocchio.   Peter Pan and Captain Hook then float across with a live battle on the pirate ship.  Finally every little girl’s dream comes true when the famous Disney Princesses float across the river dancing to the song Beauty and the Beast by Celine Dion and Peabo Bryson.  Out comes Maleficent as she reveals her evil plan transforming into the dragon that Mickey must stop.  Mickey does so and in a magical display Tinker Bell welcomes all the Disney characters back with Steamboat Willie at the helm of the Mark Twain as  the show ends with Mickey and a beautiful firework show!  

Here is a breakdown of all the new changes to Summer Nightastic!

A BOLDER FANTASMIC!: Guests will find new thrills at the popular Fantasmic! on the Rivers of America in Frontierland. The evil Maleficent from “Sleeping Beauty” transforms into a 40-foot tall, fire-breathing dragon. Ursula the Sea Witch from “The Little Mermaid” introduces her pet eels, Flotsam and Jetsam, who slither into the show with new power. In addition, the Fantasmic! video projections practically leap off the giant mist screens, thanks to HD (high-definition) technology … (in this case, HD takes on a new meaning - Huge Dragon).

AN EXPLODING CELEBRATION IN THE SKY: Magical is a new Disney fireworks spectacular created especially to celebrate Summer Nightastic! at Disneyland. Tinker Bell is once again your host, waving her wand to ignite the brilliant color, stunning special effects and charming music. But she won’t be alone in the sky this summer. Dumbo will make his surprise airborne debut in the new show. Tink’s sparkling touch awakens a fantastic array of Disney’s most magical characters, from Pinocchio to Mary Poppins to Cinderella’s Fairy Godmother, and the Three Good Fairies from “Sleeping Beauty.”

NEW FLOATS BRING NEW MAGIC TO ‘DISNEY’S ELECTRICAL PARADE’: Everything about “Disney’s Electrical Parade” will have a new glow as Tinker Bell leads the way, waving from the basket of a magical balloon aboard a new opening parade float. The parade’s beloved music and floats will feature electrifying audio and lighting technologies, with sparkling pixie dust added to all the parade floats. Snow White and Pinocchio return to the parade this summer as well, after several years’ absence, riding bright new versions of their classic floats. 

AN EXCITING NEW DANCE CLUB ‘IGNITES THE NIGHT’ IN TOMORROWLAND: Tweens, teens and families will be drawn to the TLT Dance Club at Tomorrowland Terrace in Disneyland. Dazzling décor will include an illuminated DJ console where the TLT Dance Club DJ will spin the hottest dance tunes, guaranteed to keep Tomorrowland rockin’ all night. Live bands and the hottest Southern California radio stations will appear on select nights throughout the summer.

PIXIE HOLLOW ENCHANTMENT: Tinker Bell and her friends have been welcoming guests into their Pixie Hollow home, tucked into the glen near the entrance to Sleeping Beauty Castle at Disneyland, since fall of 2008. This summer, for the first time, nighttime visitors will find magical surprises as Pixie Hollow and the nearby pond come to life in iridescent light shows. Pixie dust cascades across the landscape and radiates down into the pond. Even the water becomes enchanted as playful fountains spring to life, pop jets perform with whimsical precision, and sparkling strobes shine throughout Pixie Hollow.

Below you will find some screen shots and descriptions of a few of the changes not all of them.

Chat icons - The chat icons have changed.  Here you can see the R (room owner) the M and K are the same just not showing on this screen shot.  Your friends are now displayed as a person and no longer the star.

Game tab - The game tab is pretty nice it has the name and your rating, also includes the description and instructions for the game.

Achievements tab -  before the achievements were bellow the game and chat, you had to scroll to see them.  Now you can simply click on the achievements tab and view any and all badges for the game you are playing.

Silenced users - Silenced users no longer are just grey.  Now they are grey with a line through the name.  Additionally the silenced user will go to the bottom of the chat list.

Private Messages - Before you would type /w name message every time to send a private message.  Now you can just scroll over the name in the chat list and a window pops up with the option to send a private message.  In addition a reply button is included on the message to easily respond.  Another great feature is the private message’s have a blue background to easily see them in chat.

Profile - Looks better contains basically the same info now includes your recent badges you have earned, your favorite games, and easy to use links to get to the main profile.

Overall I am extremely happy with the new chat.  Furthermore its damn sexy!

]]> http://theycallmes.com/2009/04/23/new-kongregate-chat/feed/ http://theycallmes.com/2009/04/22/do-you-feel-safe/ http://theycallmes.com/2009/04/22/do-you-feel-safe/#comments Wed, 22 Apr 2009 17:34:34 +0000 theycallmes http://theycallmes.com/?p=55 I have seen many documentaries on volcano’s, earthquake’s, tsunamis and so on.  But this time I really was quite shocked when I heard what could happen if the Yellowstone super volcano erupted.  Last night I was watching a documentary on the Yellowstone supervolcano and asked myself the question, “do I feel safe?”

Wikipedia defines a supervolcano as.

A supervolcano or super volcanic eruption  is a volcanic eruption which is substantially larger than any volcano in historic times (generally accepted to be greater than 1,000 cubic-kilometers). Supervolcanoes occur when magma  in the Earth  rises into the crust  from a hotspot  but is unable to break through the crust. Pressure builds in a large and growing magma pool until the crust is unable to contain the pressure. Supervolcanoes are relatively new to science; they were previously unknown because they do not fit the stereotypical model of volcanoes.  Although there are only a handful of supervolcanoes, super volcanic eruptions typically cover huge areas with lava  and ash and cause a long-lasting change to weather (such as the triggering of a small ice age ) sufficient to threaten the extinction of species.

There are only 8 super eruptions that scientists have recorded. 

Lake Taupo, New Zealand - 26,500 years ago 

Lake Toba, Indonesia - 75,000 years ago

Whakamaru, New Zealand - 254,000 years ago

Yellowstone Caldera, United States - 640,000 years ago

Island Park Caldera, United States - 2.1 million years ago

Kilgore Tuff, United States - 4.5 million years ago 

Black Tail Creek, United States - 6.6 million years ago

La Garita Caldera, United States - 27.8 million yrs ago

As you can see these eruptions have happened a very long time ago, which only adds to the amount of pressure building within these supervolcanoes.  

December 2008 swarm

The Yellowstone supervolcano has been displaying signs of an eruption over due by 20,000 yrs.  Earthquakes are a common,  averaging 1,000 to 2,000 earthquakes a year. Yellowstone volcano observatory  recorded about 900 earthquakes occurring between Dec. 26, 2008 and Jan. 8, 2009.  Durring this swarm the largest quake was on December 28th recorded at a magnitude of 3.9.  Swarms are common at Yellowstone only this one was above typical activity. 

What will happen if the Yellowstone supervolcano or any other erupts?  Well within a week, the skies will be dark with dust from the impact and they will stay dark for years. All plant life will be dead within weeks. Animal life within a few months.  Anyone within about 62 miles (100 kilometers)  would simply be killed by the explosion itself.  So ask yourself.  Do you feel safe?

I signed up to Twitter knowing just a handful of people.   I didn’t tweet often and didn’t check to see if I got an @ reply from anyone.   It was nice being able to communicate with friends and family, but I didn’t quite understand what the Twitter craze was all about.  Michael Arrington, Scoble, Jason Calacanis, and many other popular bloggers and such were all writing about Twitter with both good and bad reviews.  I just didn’t see what the fuss was all about.

When I got my first follower that I did not know I thought they had the wrong person, but then I got another and another and another.  Ha finally I start having conversations with people I don’t know and having a good ol time doing it.  As the followers started coming in I started to loose track of conversations and plain couldn’t keep up with it.

Thanks to my wonderful Matt, he told me to get TweetDeck.  Oh great another application for me to learn pfffft. Not looking forward to downloading and learning something new yet again but I did and my goodness it really helps keep track of conversations.  A few of the key functions (in my opinion) are being able to tweet directly from Tweet Deck, separate your friends into different groups, and tweet in real time.

I know there are many 3rd party applications that you can use with Twitter but for right now I feel really comfortable using Tweet Deck.  I will continue to read reviews of the others and see if maybe just maybe something else catches my eye.

My dad and I at the OK Corral in Tucson for my grandparents anniversary

I want to tell you about the biggest inspiration in my life, my dad.  I have always looked up to my dad growing up as a kid and even more so now as an adult as he is the reason I became the person I am today.  

This afternoon I found out that he is cancer free for the first time in 2 and 1/2 yrs.  CONGRATULATIONS DAD!  I am so proud of you!   As most of you know I am a self proclaimed daddy’s girl.  Unfortunately I do not live near him, he lives in AZ!  Not being able to give him a hug when he needed one  has been the hardest thing  for me to cope  with over the last few years.

You always here about those stories of car accidents, hurricanes, freak accidents, cancer etc, and say that won’t happen to me that won’t happen to my family.  Well I remember the day my dad called to tell me he had cancer.  I was crushed and didn’t believe it I couldn’t believe it.  After he told me I didn’t know what to do I knew nothing about cancer.  I felt so helpless living 1,827 miles away, all I could do is tell him how much I love him.  Now that some time has passed by since the first day he told me I have learned a bit more about the cruel heartless bitch that will stop at nothing to destroy anything in its path.   I know how hard it was for my dad to call me and tell me that he had cancer or that it was back or that it was here for a 3rd time.  The strength and courage it took him to explain things to me, the gut wrenching dr. appts, surgeries, chemo, radiation, and just the mental aspect of having to deal with it is simply out of this world.  I have shared with many of you the journey that I have taken with my dad through this time and passed his updates to those who cared (especially Andy), thank you.  I am now able to happily say my dad is cancer free!  

I would like to encourage any and all of you to visit my dad’s blog where he shares his experiences.  http://windowintoahovel.blogspot.com/

Cheers, I love you dad!

I found this vidoe on YouTube of the actual jump!  THIS IS NOT ME!

Unfortunately my hiking days pretty much ended after I blew my knee out,  I could no longer go as often and I would have to stick to the easy trails which was fine with me, I just missed the adrenaline of the climb!  

This pic is from 1997 at Bear Canyon

This was my 16th birthday as I recall.  You can’t see me in the pic just my arm up with the tongs and the chicken.  I have been to the park a dozen times I remember they had a lady named Tucson Terry that would travel every week just to volunteer her time to the animals.   I really enjoyed this place and think that everyone if in the area should visit.