Sunday, December 31, 2006

Family Game Night

We headed up to the ALH this evening for a family game night. We started off the evening with Scategories. We finished in this order: Bradley, Mom, Cyndi, Paul, and Amy. I am not sure where Dad fits in... don't remember what his score was. It was Amy's first time ever playing and she did well considering. There is sure be a rematch!After that there was a brief intermission for some people to grab a bowl of ice cream and for Paul and Bradley to bust out some Trivial Pursuit knowledge. Then we played a game that everyone most of us had never laid eyes on before, Scum. Cyndi won and was El Presidente most of the evening. Only being dethroned by Paul once. Sadly Amy never made it up to middle class , surely next time her luck will change.

Saturday, December 30, 2006

Close to my Heart

I am signed up to raise money and awareness for MS this year. I will be creating a team to take to the streets of San Diego with me and complete a walk for MS. Everyone is welcome to join me. Anyone who is interested in joining the team please visit this website. If you cannot complete the walk please think about donating to this cause. I will be selling the Hope wristband for $2. Also this adorable bear for $5
If you do not wish to purchase either of these items but would still like to make a donation you can visit my donation webpage by clicking here. Then all you need to do is type in the donation amount and click the continue button. It will take you to a secure page where you can fill out all of your information.

2007 is Coming!

So I decided to end the year with a survey:
This one's all about what you want out of '07!

1. Will you be looking for a new job?
Looking for A job

2. Will you be looking for a new relationship?
Only friendship

3. New house?
Probably not.

4. What will you do different in 07?
Walk everyday

5. New Years Resolution?
Be come a healthier me

6. What will you not be doing in 07?
Picking stupid fights

7. Any trips planned in 2007?
We are talking about a few possibilities. New York, Arizona, Oregon, Nevada, Mexico and Canada are being discussed

8. Wedding plans?
Not for me

9. What's on your calendar?
The days I will be working

10. What can't you wait for?
All the fun times to come

11. What would you like to see happen different?
Family to realize that it is time spent with each other that is important, not the showering of gifts.

12. What about youself will you be changing?
Hopefully my size

13. What happend in '06 that you didnt think would ever happen?
I am not sure

14. Will you be nicer to the people you care about?
Of course.

15. Will you dress differently this year than you did in '06?
Anything is possible

16. Will you start or quit drinking?
I'll stick with my one or two drinks on a rare occasion

17. Will you better your relationship with your family?
My family relationships are pretty darn good

18. Will you do charity work?
I will raise money for diseases I want to see cures for.

19. Will you go to bars?
Doubtful

20. Will you be nice to people you dont know?
Sure, why not

21. Do you expect '07 to be a good year for you?
I am sure there will be ups and downs, the trick is making the ups count for more than the downs.

Friday, December 29, 2006

On Holiday

On the 22nd Paul and I headed down to San Diego for Christmas. On "Christmas morning" the 23rd we opened stockings and our gifts to each other. The kitty got some treats, Paul really likes his new Walk the Line shirt and DVD set.

We followed up with a late lunch/early dinner at the Roadhouse Bar & Grill. I love their bread and yams! The steak is always good as well. We spent the rest of the day just hanging out. We watched Elf in the evening as my mom had never seen it. One of my favorite lines is "Buddy the Elf whats your favorite color. I also like when he says Christmas is my favorite.

On the morning of the 24th we went to church at VGC...C. Beth and Rusell sang a beautiful song part of it in English and part in Spanish. I have never heard Beth speak Spanish let alone sing it so when she busted out with it I was suprised. It sounded amazing!

When church was over we went and said our hellos, helped get some of the stage put together that would be needed for the evening service and
I finally was able to introduce Paul to Tiffany Henning.

We had a quick lunch at San Diego Brewing Company (so we could watch some fooseball) and then it was time to head back up to L.A. my mom came with so that when Paul was supposed to work 12 hours on Christmas we would be able to spend the day together. Paul and I got all our stuff together and headed to the ALH.

The family had a wonderful Christmas Eve dinner followed by some dessert, good conversation and the opening of gifts. It is always a great time to be with the family. But...

an evening with the Hutchins clan always ends with these two hitting each other.

Thursday, December 28, 2006

New Element

On the side of our blog I have replaced the photo slide show with a scratcher. Pick up the coin on the screen and move the cursor back and forth over the area to reveal a photo. Every time you visit our page and scratch it will be a different photo from this past year. Holidays, events, trips, and activities. Enjoy!

Wednesday, December 27, 2006

I'll just let the video speak for itself...

FYI

I have updated cyndihutchins.blogspot.com with many new posts. Be sure to check it out. It also got a makeover for the upcoming year. I will be concentrating on not letting my workout journal die as well. So within the next two or three days you can expect updates on it as well. That journal is called ToughEnough. Both of these blogs have links on the right hand side of the page under Ohana which means family.

Tuesday, December 26, 2006

cookie decorating

A week or two before Christmas we all gather at Great Aunt Jeans house to decorate Christmas cookies. She always has them baked and homemade frosting whipped up. We get out all the little do-dads and sprinkles and spend the evening creating cute cookies.
There is always an intense concentration when one is creating such a beautiful thing.
We pause during the decorating to order pizza for dinner and then it is back to the cookies to finish them up. As the boys are studying for their pop culture challenge next month I brought along the Trivial Pursuit Pop Culture cards. We sat around the fire reading questions to one another. The boys boggled the mind of mom with all the strange things they have stuffed into their brains.

Monday, December 25, 2006

Send up

a prayer for my sick loved ones this Christmas.
Paul- has a 102.5 fever and cannot keep anything down

Papa- has had a cold but it has gotten worse and will be admitied to the hospital with pneumonia

Aunt Robin- had a scan to check to see if the chemo treatments got her cancer, it has not grown but it has not shrunk either


also a praise
Uncle Ron- also had a scan to check and see what his cancer was doing, it wasn't there he is cancer FREE!

Merry Christmas

Friends and Family -
I hope you are all having a wonderful time with your
loved ones today. Enjoy the time you have together. Paul and I wish you a very Merry Christmas. We love you all. We will fill you in on all of our goings ons when we see you on the other side. Have a great rest of the day.
Love,Paul and Cyndi

Sunday, December 24, 2006

New Year, New Look

We have mantained the same layout for our blog, however we are playing around with some of the colors and features. You may notice somethings being changed around or disappear for awhile. As we are now using the new blogger there are a lot more options and choices now, please bear with us as I am excited about playing around with some of the features. :)

Merry Christmas Eve!

Your Christmas Song Is

It's The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

It's the most wonderful time of the year
With the kids jingle-belling
And everyone telling you
Be of good cheer
It's the most wonderful time of the year

Hands down, Christmas is your favorite holiday ever
And you always enjoy every moment of it

Saturday, December 23, 2006

Most of the presents I bought came from Best Buy

You Are a Practical Gift Giver

Your gifts are useful, appropriate, and custom tailored to each person.
In your opinion, the best gifts are gifts that someone will actually use.
Your gifts may not be the most glamourous, but they are always appreciated.

Friday, December 22, 2006

i did it twice

... but I only changed one answer that I could not pick between. I believe both are true. What about you?

You Are an Angel


A truly giving soul, you understand the spirit of Christmas.


You Are a Snowman

Friendly and fun, you enjoy bringing holiday cheer to everyone you know!

Thursday, December 21, 2006

20,000

Congratulations to Worcester, Massachusetts for being the 20,000 person served by our blog.

It's a new CAR

My mom's car died, so we had to go out car shopping all last weekend. We came home with a Ford Focus, 4 door in silver. Here is my mom in her Christmas sweater with the new automobile.

Wednesday, December 20, 2006

I've always wanted to go there

You Belong in Australia

Ace!
Sunny, upbeat, and cute
You make the perfect surf bum
Now stop hogging the vegemite!

Tuesday, December 19, 2006

shoot or be shot

Paul found this game, and now I am hooked. I am always looking for ways to improve my typing speed. This one not only makes me type faster it gets my heart rate up because I am afraid of being shot at.
Click on this link and see how well you can do. I use the hard level and these were my scores from the first time I tried it. I wanted to do better than Paul, gotta love competition. :)

score 91680
words spelled correctly 485
words missed 30
average 94%
average bonus 940
final score 92620

There's a little something for everyone in the new U2 video...

Monday, December 18, 2006

...



Dong, Grandpa is talking to you.

Dong, where is my automobile?

Auto mobile? Hahahaha! Wreck! Big wreck!

Sunday, December 17, 2006

Christmas time is near...

Last Wednesday Paul went our searching for the perfect Christmas tree on his way home from work. He didn't find one, although there are quite a few Charlie Brown Christmas trees out there for table tops. So Thursday once his work day was over he braved a few more places to try and find us a beautiful tree. At last success. Paul found the perfect tree to fit inbetween the two recliners. Paul put the lights up while I started un-newspapering our ornaments. After the decorating was over, here is how she looks. Our favorite ornaments are front and center. Some of them include: 3 Nightmare Before Christmas, a puppy with reindeer ears on, 2 child blocks with letters on them one has a bear on top, the other a moose. Paul and Cyndi got these when they were children, they are the same type of ornament. One has the letter P on the front, the other the letter C. We didn't know we both had these until we put up our first Christmas tree. Ironically Paul's also has a C on the back of it. We also have some cartoon characters like Daffy Duck with a stocking and Tigger ice skating. And of course the tree topper which has Hutchins sewn on the banner the precious moment is holding.

Saturday, December 16, 2006

Friday, December 15, 2006

IF YOU CAN READ THIS

YOU HAVE BEEN COMPROMISED.

ABORT MISSION.

DESTROY COMPUTER.

Cuteness

Morgan and I decided to get some kitty accessories for them this Christmas season.

Here is Meeko sporting a jingle bell collar

Meeko wearing light up reindeer hat, she really didn't mind it. She sat while we snapped a few photos. Though she did think that it was a play toy and not something to wear.

We wanted to give Buddy a chance to try on the collar as well, Meeko didn't like that idea and jumpped on top trying to get the collar back.

Finally a shot we snapped quickly before Meeko jumpped up again.

The three of us also decided to try the hat on Buddy, he was not impressed. That is his pissed off look.

Thursday, December 14, 2006

Goofing Around

I picked up my mom and Amy from San Diego the weekend of Paul's birthday so that we could all spend it together. We had lots of fun. The morning of Paul's birthday Morgan and I made breakfast for the 5 of us to begin the day off right. We made french toast, eggs, bacon, and sausage. Along with some milk everything was delicious. Then it was off to church. After church we goofed around the house for a bit and then headed out for a light bite to eat. It was then time to head up to Buena Park so that we could get the tickets squared away for the evening.
My Mom and me, Mom, Amy and Meeko, Meeko

Wednesday, December 13, 2006

A Knight to Remember

Here are some photos from our night at Medieval Times where we had dinner and tournament.
From left to right and top to bottom:

Group photo when everyone got to Buena Park, walking over to the main hall, getting settled in our seats which were right up close.

The knights playing some tournament games, showing how many rings each won, reading of the scroll (who was having birthdays, anniversaries etc.)

Jousting, battle, and the winner of the evening the blue knight.

Tuesday, December 12, 2006

Life is like a box of Chocolate

Open Oyster
You scored 44% Dark, 51% Crunch, and 34% Chewy!

You are an Open Oyster: a creamy blend of finely ground hazelnuts and milk chocolate in a milk chocolate shell.

Sometimes you're open, sometimes you're closed, but hidden deep within is a pearl. You don't have much of a wild steak, but you do have your creative and more passionate moments, as well as your sweet ones. But you can turn all that on and off just as easily as an oyster opens and closes. You suck people in when you show them your sweet side...don't be afraid to open up more often ;)

See what chocolate you are HERE

Borrowed from Amy's Blog

Monday, December 11, 2006

Celebrate

We celebrated Paul's 30th birthday by going out for Dinner and Tournament at Medieval Times. Our group cheered for the Green knight. He was the best the entire night! Right up until the Black and White knight killed him, who was by the way the worst the entire night! The food was good and it was cool to see all the different 'games' of the tournament. It was nice to be with so many family and friends to celebrate. And Mair was even given a flower by the Green knight when he won an event. It was really cute. Well, Happy Birthday Paul! And here is to many more to come.
(more photos to come tomorrow.)

Saturday, December 09, 2006

Lazy Saturday

Well, at least the afternoon/evening. In the morning we were actually productive and cleaned up the whole apartment. We tried to get a Christmas tree too, but couldn't find one we like. We only have room for a table top tree, so our options are limited anyway. After that we went down to San Diego. Cyndi and Amy are in for a treat tonight as they get to see "Shaun of the Dead" for the first time. I know they'll love it.

Friday, December 08, 2006

Happy Friday!

Yea. Time for the weekend. Paul has a three day weekend, and I have a two and a half day weekend so it is time to party. I was back at a H.S. today in a math class. I basically sat, read and made sure the students completed their quizes. Nothing really exciting happened. I am sure after the weekend, I will have some photos to post. We haven't taken any in awhile. Have a great weekend everybody.

Thursday, December 07, 2006

So excited!

On our blogger dashboard today it finally said we can switch over to the Beta version. This means we have to have a google account, but I already do for my Memory/HighLow blog. There is a catch however, this would switch both the P&C blog and the Survivor blog. I do not know if that would screw everyone else up since I tried setting up a Beta blog to begin with for Survivor. What do I do? I have waited for this moment for so long... you don't even know!

Wednesday, December 06, 2006

Violet, you're turning violet, Violet!

[edits for misinformation]
Today was fun times. I was subbing an English class for a H.S. I watched Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory 5 times. The students were to compare it to a novel they just finished reading called The Inferno, by John Ciardi.

What I did instead of paying attention to the movie for 5 hours:
Addressed Christmas cards
Circled jobs in the want ads for LA and San Diego
Made some Christmas gifts
Read my book
Wrote letters
Stared into space
I ddi watch some of the movie but let me tell you nothing kills a movie faster than having to watch it so many times in one day.

I must say both WW and CC factory movies have good points but I think I prefer Depp's version better. I like the changes they made (the dentist dad thing I am on the fence about).
And remember,
"We are the music makers and we are the dreamers of dreams."

That is all for tonight. I have to hit the sack as I go teach J.H. English tomorrow.

Tuesday, December 05, 2006

Sunday, December 03, 2006

I'm trying to sleep!

This weekend in review:
On Saturday I woke up early at 8am, got up showered and dressed. Grabbed some breakfast (a rarity for me) and headed up to the ALH. I met Mair at the in-laws house and the three women folk headed out to the Harvest Festival. This has been a running tradition for us. We always walk around and look at everything, have some lunch and then split up to do any shopping we may want to do. Good times. After we got back to the house I jumpped in my car and headed back to the apt. Paul and I had some dinner and I packed up my stuff for an overnight trip to SD.

Very early Sunday morning (midnight o'clock) I tried to get some sleep. Meeko had other plans. She wanted to play at first, she had gotten her shots on Saturday afternoon and had been groggy but no throwing up this time, :) that makes me happy. However, this also means that she had quite the nap and wasn't ready for bed. Meeko finally settled down on top of me, and kept trying to lay her paws on my shoulder and her head nuzzled in my neck and purring extremely loud in my ear. She was a very cute kitty, but it was my bed time.

I finally got to sleep sometime after 130am. I was woken up at 4:42am to get up and dressed so that I could help my mom and get her bag in the car to head to the airport. We had an exhausting morning.

Here is what happened:
Cyndi: Mom, what airline are you on?
Mom: American
Cyndi: Okay that is Terminal 2

We head to terminal 2, my mom walks fast as she can (snails pace) and we get to the check-in. She swipes her credit card to bring up her flight info, nothing happens.

Cyndi: Are you sure you are on American?
Mom: *checks e-mail info.* Oh, no I am on United.
Cyndi: Great. That is in a different terminal.

We then walk all the way back to the car, pay 50 cents to get out, drive in a circle back to Terminal 1. This time I spot a wheelchair just sitting on the side of the parking lot, I hijack it. I got my mom in the chair and I RAN throught the skywalk all the way to the United check-in. There was a short line. As soon as we walked up we were greeted by a lady who worked there and asked where we were headed. I replied Oakland. She asks if I am sure I am at the right airline, I say yes, my mom is flying United. She looks at the info. and says but you are stopping in LA, that means you are flying out of the Commuter terminal. My reply was tell me you are joking. Mind you all of this started at 530am, and her flight was at 7am. So running back down the skywalk I go. All the way back to the car. Pay another 50 cents to get out of the lot. I drive around the circle again over to the Commuter terminal. I ask the woman if there is an auctual chance she will make this flight, the woman is kind enough to check us in there so that would allow us a little more time.

Cyndi: Well the flight gets into LAX at 750am. I can beat the flight there if we drive. *praying she makes the flight* Mom, I will drop you off at the front and then go get a parking spot.
Mom: Which way do I go
Cyndi: *pointing* Right down there.

My mom starts her journey to where she needs to check her bags. I park the car and meet up with her before she makes it to the door. We get her bag checked. I double check that she will be allowed to have her cane on the plane with her and then it is off to security. The woman who checked the bag was nice enough to call the gate and let them know that my mom has a cane and makes sure they won't leave without her. She gets through security. I tell her to have a nice time and I will see her at the end of the week. Then I pray I have enough gas to get home since I didn't think I would be driving around all of the terminals at SAN International Airport. Once home I crawl back into bed. Guess who wants to play instead. After a couple more hours of sleep and some laundry it is time to get the kids ready to go on their vacation. Buddy was not excited about this prospect, he hides and claws and makes it most difficult to get him in the crate. Meeko goes in without a problem. I find their favorite toys (a little monkey, a sparkely ball and a green fuzzy ball) then it is off to Best Friends Resort. I get them all checked in.

They will be getting play time twice while they are there, and one night they will get a bedtime story. Awww, how cute. (Why would a kitty want a bedtime story? What do you read to a kitty for a bedtime story? Oh well it is free so I am not going to knock it)

Saturday, December 02, 2006

Don't believe everything you think

I believe that imagination is stronger than knowledge -
that myth is more potent than history.

That dreams are more powerful than facts -
that hope always triumphs over experience -
that laughter is the only cure for grief.

And I believe that love is stronger than death.

- Robert Fulghum, 2003

Friday, December 01, 2006

There is still time

Have you been naughty or nice this year?
Nice
Naughty
Giving Santa some cookies.
Giving Santa some bourbon.
Calling your mom.
Calling your mom collect.
Getting Dad's slippers for him.
Telling Dad to get his own damn slippers.
Opening a door for a woman.
Opening a door for a woman, then sneaking a peek at her butt.
Bake cookies for the less fortunate.
Play hooky with the less fortunate.
Helping an old lady across the street.
Crossing in front of an old lady in the street.
Taking chicken soup to a sick friend.
Giving avian flu to a sick friend.
Making a donation to a charity.
Making a donation to Tom Delay.
This was found on this website. It was editied for content sake.