… was tempted to make my sister and I T-shirts that said “I’m really a Dauban!” …AND hubby won’t be here, he will have already left on Tuesday to go up to the campground to set everything up.
…. and my new job is AMAZING, I love working there, my boss is awesome, told me to take the full 4 weeks off and just come back the following Monday … the guy I work with is really nice too … I learn more each day and get more comfortable with the job each week.
I will be setting my cell phone so that incoming phone calls go directly to my voicemail (I tested it the phone doesn’t even ring) … and will change my voicemail to say basically “text me”
I called t-mobile and had a LONG chat with them about what each option cost while ‘roaming’ over there … yeah my data plan part will be TURNED OFF !!
I will be able to use my Mum’s computer to check email and Facebook … but on the island I am not sure how it will be (though I did see an internet cafe is the footage of Amazing Race tonight
I am going to keep my internet stuff to a minimum, I am actually really looking forward to unplugging for a while and spending time with my sister and our cousins.
I will be waiting nervously for ONE text though … Maddie will find out on April 12th whether she was accepted into the Digital Media program at Alexander Dreyfoos High School of the Arts …. I hope she isn’t disappointed … they only take 27 students out of the 250+ that applied for this program …
Nils will be off from the Fire Station pretty much the entire time I will be gone, the 2 or 3 shifts he couldn’t get coverage on, my wonderful MIL Joanie will of course step in and help ….
OK, so I know I was rotten in 2009 with my blog – I am going to be better in 2010
That said,many of the photos in priors posts are now missing, this is because I have switched over our website from one hosting company to another… but I only put minimal stuff on the new site because I want to restructure it, streamline it etc …. so that will all fix itself in 2010 as well
Off to NC with the family tomorrow early so today is a day of major packing and preparing
Everyone is fine – but the neighbours’ (about 10 houses or so east of us) Ted Shed is GONE though.
Thankfully the corner of their house that was next to the shed didn’t catch on fire.
Hubby and I and a couple of our neighbours/friends were driving around on their golf cart at midnight, honking and watching fireworks and stuff .
Filed under: Alice, Family, Kids, Mel | Tags: alice, downhere, melanie, video
…. not only because it’s an amazing song (“How Many Kings” by Downhere (downhere.com) but because Melanie and I are IN it !!!
It was put together by Downhere fans !!!
Enjoy
more on the cruise (and pics later – maybe much later!!)
GLAD to be HOME
After I JUST sorted out some insurance/doctor’s office mess (after a week of being on the phone with UMPTEEM people) and I was feeling relieved, huge weight off my shoulders and then this happens – totally a ‘bad timing’ thing
I’m fine, I was only backing up at about 2 mph! I can’t believe my bumper got scrunched so much, her car has a tiny dent & paint scrape on her passenger side back door.
The other woman & I both backed out of our parking spots at the exact same time …. unfortunately (for me) her spot was 1/2 a spot further back than mine, so I hit her (as … Read Moreopposed to our bumpers hitting if we were exactly opposite each other or her hitting ME if I had been the one in the furthest back spot) ….. BUT she was not completely honest with the cop & so the police report has me at fault.
The female cop didn’t either understand, care or want to hear that there was no humanly possible way for us to hit bumper to bumper (which she said would have meant no fault etc) with our positioning – see below
then a diagram of the impact
Not sure if my insurance company will fight hers or not, either way my insurance will prob go up 
I went to a concert last night with my friend Tecie to see this amazing Croatian singer Tatjana Matejas-Cameron – Her croatian name is Tajci (TY-chee)and her story can be read at idobelieve.com
She was basically the ‘Britney Spears’ of Croatia … then realized there was more to life than that – read her story here
The video quality isn’t great, but hopefully the audio will be good enough to showcase what a beautiful singer she is, she basically did the story of Jesus’ life through the progression of songs she sang (did not video all of them) …
Then at the end all 3 of her boys came up on stage and sang stuff too – adorable! I really enjoyed it.
You can watch them small below by clicking on the play button in the middle of the image, or if you want to see it larger, click on the title below the video and it will take you to YouTube to see them in a new window
| Breath of Heaven | What Child is This | Silent Night |
| Home for Christmas | Wonderful World | SC is Coming to Town |
| Reindeer Reindeer! | Jingle Bells | I Do Believe |
Filed under: Alice, Family, Matt | Tags: alice, christmas, matt, matthew, mumto4ms
This will be a mishmash of bullet point, pics and videos I think …
Where were we before … Oh yes, this year the infamous Bertelson Bulletin 2008 Christmas edition, along with annual family photo will NOT be reaching you before Christmas!!
Fear not though, it WILL be reaching you (especially anyone who sends US a newsletter and or family photo – hint hint – I love getting them, but not just a card with no news or photo, I always feel that such a waste of a stamp these days!!) ….
…it will reach you sometime in the New Year – sort of a welcome to 2009 nugget/suprise for you once you’re back in the doldrums because the holiday season is all over and the bills that made it happen are starting to roll in!!!
The reason behind this is because we (all 6 of us) are going on a Christmas Cruise (east carribean) with my MIL Joanie, and SHE’S footing the whole bill – yeah baby!! We leave on Dec 20th and return Dec 28th ….
We will be taking our family photo sometime while on this cruise, the exact location and or background to the photo will remain a secret to further build your anticipation… although as the children get older, they are less receptive to my crazy wacky ideas of how to do the photo!
Sadly, and I know some of you are SO sad at this (snort) Twix and Twizzler will not be featured in the family photo since they cannot come on the cruise with us.
Matt – recent photo – was going surfing (the water is chilly, well for us Floridians it is!)
Was taking a bunch of photos of Matt (to showcase his almost 70 lbs lost in the last 8 months)
What amused me about this photo, so I zoomed in was the girls chores pasted on the door behind him!!! His head is blocking Maddie’s (12) list, don’t worry she doesn’t get out of chores! Mel is 17, Kenzie is 11
What else ? – Done 50% of the shopping, we will be doing our Christmas on Dec 19th before we get on the cruise, so sense lugging all those presents onto the ship (well maybe not ALL those, but the few there will be, trying to not go overboard this year)
Oh here’s a Hairy Happy Greeting from Twix!!
She’s The POSTER child, well I mean dog for ‘A Norwich Terrier that needs stripping” – LOL
Her hair is SO long and shaggy, I stripped (grooming term – google it!!) Twizzler recently (3 hr job!) but neither hubby or I have gotten around to doing Twix completely – you can’t see it but her rear end is done, so she looks even weirder from the side.
She is SO cute – we love her
OK so today Joanie was interviewed AGAIN (see below for prior segment that has already aired) by ABC News (Miami WPLG station) for a story on cancer/prosthetics.
Neither Melanie nor Kenzie wanted to be filmed in their school uniform (we went to MIL’s house right after I picked them up from school) but I was in some of the filming, but will probably end up on the cutting room floor!!
Below is the prior story that aired (on Nov 6th 2008) – the dog in the clip is OUR Twizzler !!!
First you will see an image I created showing the start and stop frame of the segments of Joanie. Just pull the thingy-ma-jig over to where it is on the image to get to where you need to (unless of course you want to hear the news for that day first – about 13 mins!!
The segment is about Joanie, her doctor and artist/sculpturer Puchi Noriega, (who uses her full fancy name in the clip!!)
I designed both Puchi’s art/sculpture web site (puchinoriega.com) and her prosthetics web site (prostheticartspecialist.com)
So now you can click HERE to open up the actual video in a new window (from the actual site) and match up the start button on that one to the image above
Once again – an AMAZING weekend … I feel SO FILLED with the love of God
I was SO happy that Nicole C Mullen was part of the conference again this year, this was Annie’s first time at a Women of Faith conference and I was thrilled that she got to experience it and to see Nicole CM perform …
Here are 2 videos I took of her …. (not the best quality, if you want better quality go can go to her YouTube account (nicolecmullenmusic) or her official website) … and yes she will be part of the 2009 conference too
If you are interested in more information on Women of Faith, and about this years (2008) “Infinite Grace” conference (almost over, 2 more cities to go) and NEXT years (2009) conference called “A Grand New Day” … you can see some great videos including ‘highlights’ from the 2008 conference and a great preview for the 2009 conference on the Women of Faith (wofvideos) YouTube stream.
It’s a life-changing event attending one of these conference, I highly recommend it.
Filed under: Alice, Dogs, Family | Tags: alice, Dogs, fromping, stripping, twix, twizzler
OK, so today was a GORGEOUS day – when I got home from church (trying diligently to NOT dwell or think about the fact that my BF Jenn is getting into her car this afternoon and MOVING to GA finally … I decided I would tackle the one chore that has been on the ToDO list for MONTHS!!
Stripping the Dogs – it’s how you have to groom them if you want to keep their coat integrity, ie wiry, dirt-repelling etc. You don’t cut/shave/trim them, you ‘strip’ them – this entails pulling out the longest hairs (they have a double coat) VERY few at a time, so it takes a LONG time!!
OK so below are both a recent photo of Twix and Twizzler (not the greatest photo, but you can definitely see thier hairy, shaggy coats) as well as a video of them partaking in their beloved pastime of ‘fromping’ …. you can see in the video as well how shaggy they are. Make sure you watch to the end though because it’s cute!
Here is the VIDEO of them
This is Twizzler waiting for her dinner AFTER I spent 3 HOURS stripping her outside (gorgeous weather here in Florida) she looks like a new dog – half the size – she was SUCH a good girl!
This is Twizzler from the side AFTER I spent 3 HOURS stripping her – you will notice the hairs hanging down under her belly – I did NOT pull/strip them – too tender, so hubby will trim there with the hair clippers when he gets home.
and just because we CAN’T leave Twix out – here she is …. Twix waiting to be fed too – obviously I didn’t get around to stripping her as well – LOL – she’s – STILL a HAIRY monster!
