Qu Le Mei Morales

Dance Clinic!

2011-10-15T20:23:00.001-05:00

Dance Clinic!, a photo by Snapshots by ©Nixy J Morales on Flickr.

Mei Mei... Now in second grade... I started this blog because Kim & I were adopting a baby girl from China & now look at her! I'm in awe. So in love.

Happy Boy!

2011-10-03T20:09:00.001-05:00

Happy Boy!, a photo by Snapshots by ©Nixy J Morales on Flickr.

Aaaahh... Dallas in his element! This is what he lives for. This is what he dreams about & absolutely loves to do. Yes, he loves to go hiking & camping, hunting & archery but what really gets his goat? Paintball.

I had the chance to finally go on a tournament with him, as his photographer! What a blast! I could tell that he loved it too, we had a great time and the weather could not have been better. The previous days were cold, windy & overcast. It had been raining! Yuck. The forecast for the weekend called for light wind and sunny, we could only hope... Turned out that the man on the TV was right! Didn't need to consult our pet rock! We loaded up my car & headed out...

What was supposed to be a trip of an hour only turned into 2.5 as the GPS sent us on a wild goose chase around several counties! Crazy. Dallas didn't mind as the weather was perfect and we were very early. Dallas does not like to be late! Love that about him. We enjoyed the country side as the fall colors are in full effect out here in NE WI. Gorgeous country side. I had my trusty camera with me but as I was driving, and we had a goal, we did not stop to photograph the scenery. I did not want to chance running out of memory or battery! It's happened to me before, during the faerie fest w/Mei Mei and I vowed that it would not happen again. Not while photographing my kids! Made me so mad, I was fuming! IDIOT!

I relished the day & I believe that he did too. Made me so proud.

Bliss

great kids! - now fatherless

2011-07-28T21:18:00.001-05:00

great kids! - now fatherless, a photo by Snapshots by ©Nixy J Morales on Flickr.

I haven't posted anything here in a while... Good Lord. Anyway:

These girls, the daughters of Philip Peatross, are now fatherless. Yes, Philips' girlfriend shot him dead yesterday morning (Wedn 7/27/11) over an apparent argument. WHAT? Over an argument? Are you fucking kidding me? What kind of animal is she? Let me back up... Animals don't kill each other over 'arguments'. Humans do.

I'm just seething right now.

Dallas is almost 18...

2010-10-02T15:22:00.001-05:00

IMG_5887_2_pp
Originally uploaded by KDCN Morales

Where has time gone? He's one hell of a good looking 6'5" hunk of a man... Good Lord. He'll be unleashed on the world in due course. You've been warned.

My 'reluctant' model

2010-07-21T22:21:00.001-05:00

My 'reluctant' model
Originally uploaded by KDCN Morales

Whoooeeee! Mei Mei is growing up fast! She is getting used to me constantly taking pictures of her wherever we go! I keep my camera with me constantly, because, well, you just never know what the kids are going to do! Love it!

This shot was obtained while Mei Mei and I walked the botanical gardens in Green Bay. It's free every Wednesday from 4-8p so we took advantage of it. I had planned to hit the farmers market on Broadway also but traffic had the whole area snarled up and gridlocked so I avoided it. We also went to the wildlife sanctuary but we did not take any pictures. Too many mosquitos! Ack!!!! Oh well. We had an awesome day.

A simple balloon

2010-06-20T21:22:00.001-05:00

A simple balloon
Originally uploaded by KDCN Morales

Aaaah Father's Day!!!!!!!! What a fantastic weekend this was!

Dandelions at Sunset

2010-06-01T21:20:00.001-05:00

Dandelions at Sunset
Originally uploaded by KDCN Morales

Life is good my friends... Good indeed.

My Dog!

2010-04-25T09:42:00.001-05:00

My Dog!
Originally uploaded by KDCN Morales

Spring is in the air! Well, not as I type this because it is 40some degrees out w/20-30 mph winds and raining bucketloads of water but we are almost in May! April showers bring May flowers, right? If they survive these hurricane force winds... ;-)

Anyway, everything is moving along nicely. Kids are behaving age appropriate, which means that Dallas drives us nuts at times because he can be so headstrong and stubborn! Lazy. Kim and I obviously were not that way when we were teens because his behavior is inexplicable! Does not make sense to anyone but him. Obviously, this is a condition that is uniquely Dallas'. No one else even comes close. Just ask him! Mei Mei, on the other hand, is about to turn six! She is all grown up and mature already. Just ask her! Such a riot. My coworkers and some friends keep telling me, "just wait until SHE'S a teenager!"! Great. What do you keep telling me that females are much worse than their male counterparts? Yes, she is all drama all the time, but, won't she grow out of it? Soon? Ay ay ay... Life is good.

Daisy, our elderly mini Dachshund, is trying to get my attention by clawing at my legs! Ow. Speaking of our lil Hoover, her nose is not what it used to be! She used to be an expert at picking up kibble, well, like a vacuum cleaner! Non of our dogs could even come close to her skills! Now, even though she still has the same zest and drive for food, she will sniff on by and miss tasty morsels! I have to point them out to her. She's still adorable.

I miss my father terribly. In a couple of days, he'll have had his 65th birthday! Though far from perfect, he was a great dad. I always forgave him for his forgettable moments. No one is perfect! I wish that I could be more like him. I find that as I get older, I am losing my patience much more quickly where as when I was younger, I didn't care about much! Everything slid off of my back, so to speak. I hope that I don't turn into a crotchety old man! I am a work in progress. Every day I strive to have more patience, to be a better husband and father. I hope that my family notices! Love them so much...

Time to get the teenager up! He's still in bed and it is nearly 10 A.M. We need to finish working on his car! His 1992 Honda Accord blew out the radiator AND the exhaust! Rusted out. Yesterday we replaced the radiator and today we hope to finish the exhaust. I haven't wrenched on a car since my early/mid twenties! Wow. Dallas doesn't enjoy it like Kim and I did though, at that age. C'est la vie.

random

2010-02-14T15:18:00.002-06:00

Just thinking to add another blog, one that I maintain & post to on a regular basis. One dedicated to my journey into photography. My frustrations and lessons learned. Still mulling that over...

Dad died on Sunday, December 27, 2009.

Just thought that I'd let you know.

Out w/the Old, In w/the New

2010-01-30T16:58:00.001-06:00

Out w/the Old, In w/the New
Originally uploaded by KDCN Morales

So I am finally retiring my old, holey (sp!) and tired Merrell's boots that I had purchased to go to China replaced them with a comfortable pair of Columbia hikers. I hope that they last as long! Time will tell...

Speaking of time, it's been a long time since I've posted anything here, has it not? Spending so much time on Twitter, Facebook & Flickr! Busy at work and home w/family life. The kids are growing so fast! This will be a good year, I can FEEL it!

My father passed away on December 27th at about 2 P.M. Christmas will now be forever linked to that event. Not a bad thing really! I can celebrate two lives! (dad & Jesus Christ - duh) Dad was not perfect, no one is, but he will be remembered fondly! Loved him dearly...

This year, my goal, in photography, is to expose more in RAW and process in Aperture. I finally received the book Aperture 2 by Long, Harrington & Luna so I hope to complete it this year! It comes w/a DVD for the lessons so it's easy to practice. So far so good!

Look into the Orb

2009-10-04T20:34:00.001-05:00

Look into the Orb
Originally uploaded by KDCN Morales

Purchased a new lens! A Canon EF 50mm f/1.4! Love it! Now I have to master a fixed focal length prime lens so my learning curve has been reset. Starting all over again! This is just more fun than anyone should have! Don't forget to check out my Twitter posts or my Flickr photostream! It all comes together in Facebook...

Beauty & the Grunge photo shoot

2009-09-23T19:55:00.001-05:00

Beauty & the Grunge photo shoot
Originally uploaded by KDCN Morales

Just a reminder that I am still uploading photographs to the Flickr website! It's just that I no longer just emphasize my kids! I'm branching out. Learning new things! Better techniques! Maximizing what I have...

Hi

2009-04-29T21:58:00.003-05:00

Haven't been blogging much lately! Last post in January? Wow. Been busy w/life. Work. Family. Even photography has taken somewhat of a backseat! Dad is taking up my thoughts as he continues to battle leukemia. I recently went to see him for the weekend and, once again, he is improving but fighting depression. Can you imagine fighting a debilitating disease for THREE YEARS!? Nope. Neither can I.

The kids are growing up just fine! Healthy, smart & funny. Normal kids! Registered Mei Mei for school! Purchased a 1992 Honda Accord (stick shift!) 2 door for Dallas and he is set to get his license in the coming months! A job too! Growing up fast. Amazing and wonderful.

Life is good! Still married to my beautiful and wonderful Kimberly!

Check out my Flickr page from time to time...

Waiting...

2009-01-30T10:02:00.001-06:00

Waiting...
Originally uploaded by KDCN Morales

My children are growing up so fast! Dallas is driving now and midway through highschool! Mei Mei will soon be in school too! I can't believe that I will be 40 years old soon! How amazing is that?! I remember when my PARENTS were talking about the very same subject! They are now just past the 60 year mark and doing just fine, thank you. Life is amazing and I cherish every single day and thank God for it. I am so thankful for my wonderful family. My supportive wife is truly special. Dallas, past the 6'4" mark, is not into smoking, drugs, gangs or otherwise selfdestructive behaviour! Just has a tough time doing homework and what teenage boy doesn't? It's just no fun. He loves snowboarding though and purchased his own recently! Soon he'll even hold a job. Good times. We are working on Mei Mei's ABC's and proper pronunciation of words like 'teeth' (not TEEF). Tricky things for a 4 year old! Such great kids. I'm blessed.

My photography is something that I have taken up in full force! I take my Canon XSi everywhere that I go because one just never knows what is going to happen around you! My crazy kids, zippy dogs and beautiful wife are all game to my lens. I upload pictures to Flickr every single day, some silly and some serious. I submitted a photograph to Calumet Photo for their Time Frames series commemorating the inauguration of Barack Obama and guess what? The photograph made it into their online video! YAY!! See it, and the other amazing photographs that made it into their video at www.calumetphoto.com/p/timeframes?a=CM01

I am so lucky...

Mei Mei's first dance recital!

2008-12-06T18:26:00.001-06:00

having fun!
Originally uploaded by KDCN Morales

So I had the good fortune to take Mei Mei to her dance show at a local nursing home today! What fun! It was so cute to watch all of these local kids putting on a heck of a show for these folks! Some of the residents were falling asleep, one that I know of could not hear the music though it was pretty loud and the rest enjoyed the show thoroughly! The dance instructor made sure that some of the Christmas songs that were sung/performed would be familiar to the elderly as songs that they sang when they were kids too! This was just too much fun.

Tender Love

2008-11-08T11:13:00.001-06:00

Tender Love
Originally uploaded by KDCN Morales

Wilbur passed away on Monday, 2 days after Meeshee did. Though Meeshee was struck by a car, Wilbur had cancer. Two dogs in as many days was extraordinarily tough on Kim and myself. Wow.

On a better note, Dallas turns 16 soon! He passed his driving school test and so Kim took him to get his temporary permit, which he received with flying colors too! Kim let him drive home, which was about 20 miles, mostly rural roads but it took 45 minutes and was a white knuckle ride! Breath Dallas! Breath! He's very cautious! For now...

We are getting our first snow/flurries of the season finally! Day time temps are now in the 40's! Most of the leaves have dropped from the trees now and Old Man Winter is settling in nicely.

My dad is doing great! He plans on visiting us here in Wisconsin in the spring or early summer! Yippeee! Amen too! Wow.

Don't forget to drop by to my Flickr website to see the family! ;-)

Rest in Peace Meesheebelle!

2008-11-02T12:53:00.001-06:00

mysterious. pensive. proud.
Originally uploaded by KDCN Morales

A truly amazing dog. My mom picked up this mutt in Puerto Rico as a puppy and was not expected to live long. 10 years later and thousands of miles under her collar, she was hit by a car and died as a result of a head injury. This warm weather, Puerto Rican Sato dog has been with us throught the thick and thin of everything! Fiercely loyal and protective of us all, she would nip at the heals of anyone that she did not know if they came into our yard. Funny thing about this dog is that she would always dance with her paws spread out wide! She would spin clockwise only and absolutely loved to spend all her time with us no matter what we were doing. Heck, she made it through three cold Kansas winters and three Wisconsin winters too! This tropical short haired dog did it all! She is being sorely missed by us all.

A Perfect Day

2008-10-04T22:17:00.001-05:00

frosted seedpods
Originally uploaded by KDCN Morales

Today was perfect in almost every way... I've been waiting for this day for a few weeks now and it all came together perfectly! Almost. Kim went to Michigan to p/u a Chow puppy and was therefore not w/us today. No, we did not get another dog! She was picking up and delivering said puppy to her good friend Meredyth. Happy girl.

We all got up around 6 A.M. to let out the dogs, have breakfast and coffee, and load up the cars for our various trips. I hate waking up before 8 or so on the weekends but today was special. Though Kim would be heading on a long two day journey, I would have both of our children w/me and we had plans man! We had plans! I had made sure that both of our cameras had fully charged batteries and that we had plenty of snacks and drinkables for the day. We all said our good bye's, hugs and kisses and well wishes and departed at 7. I have never been to the town of Navarino but that was not going to dampen my mood! I was very optimistic and a blackberry device w/gps! No problem. Various members of the Flickr community had also written out instructions on how to arrive at the Navarino Nature Center, I simply had no idea how long it would take and we had an 8 o'clock appointment! Too bad that I did not leave earlier as the morning was foggy everywhere! I just love fog. Everything takes on a different cast and feel to it that I just itch to photograph. Speaking of photography, that was the thrust of our journey today! Dallas and I, armed with digital cameras, were going to go and shoot up a storm! We have been unable to go hunting w/our bows and arrows but by golly we can sure hunt with our Canons! Well, my Canon and our Kodak actually but who cares! The day was young...

As the miles wore on, I became increasingly worried that I would not make it in time and that whoever was waiting for us at the center, would either leave, or take a hike without us! What would I do then? I hate missing appointments no matter what the reason. We passed many spectacular sights along the way, considering that we were driving through beautiful undeveloped Wisconsin! I absolutely love the country! The forests in the fall? Simply awe inspiring. Well, I finally saw a sign that pointed to Navarino and it was just 18 miles away and I figured that we would make it just fine but as we got within a few miles of our destination, another thought hit me... I don't carry cash! What if the center charges admission? Now THAT thought gave me goosebumps! So close and yet so far? Hey Dallas, do YOU have any money on you? NO???? Ouch. This was going to hurt. Wait a minute though. Since when does a nature center charge admission anyway? We weren't going to a national park! Whew! Sure enough, as I wound through the streets, following the signs, I knew that we would be fine and OOPS! I nearly passed the entrance as the native grasses were so tall and frosty that I did not expect the sign and entrance to be inconspicuous! Stomping on the brakes and causing some of our cargo and my children to tip forward, I turned into the road that led into the nature center. Hmmm... Looks bare. I passed a lady by the side of the road but she was not holding a camera as I expected so I drove on and parked the truck. There was only one other vehicle there and I figured that it belonged to the person that were going to meet at 8! That also meant that it was the same person that I passed just a few seconds ago! As I am unloading Mei Mei and our camera gear, the same friendly looking lady walked up to us and I immediately knew that this was Dawn, whom had set this whole trip up and had driven from Oshkosh (an hour and a half!) to be here this crispy morning! Perfect! We made it. Now what? No one else was there but I did not see anything either in the immediate vicinity that indicated a center of any sort! Trust Dawn, she knows what she is talking about and had made this place sound good earlier and even posted links for fall foliage reports! Let's go take a hike.

After introductions and some small talk, we veered off into the woods, following a track that had been made by some heavy equipment and we wandered off into the woods. Did I mention that it was a 'crispy' morning?! The thermometer in the truck indicated 27 degrees fahrenheit! I had not bundled Mei Mei up enough so I put my fleece sweater and scarf on her. There is no cuter 4 year old anywhere! Anyway, we could hear many Sandhill Crane in and around the area and I was happy to hear Dawn talking about the birds and local plants. This gal is passionate about the outdoors! I certainly hope that we can meet again.

It seemed like we had not been walking for more than 10 or 15 minutes when Mei Mei started complaining that it was cold and that her feet hurt! Uh oh daddy. What do you do now in the middle of nowhere and no other plan to fall back on? Dallas to the rescue! He wrapped her up a little better in the sweater and picked her up for awhile! Good job brother! What a great bunch of kids! We continued walking and talking and occasionally snapping a shot of leaves and trees and before we knew it, we had arrived back at the start! Not only had the temperature come up but we had warmed up due to the hike also and I was bummed to be finished so soon! Only an hour? Wow. Dawn then mentioned that she had passed an interesting cemetary on the way in so we drove over to explore it and learn a little history.

A couple of miles later we arrived at the location and once again we piled out of our vehicles, camera in hand. A quaint little cemetary greeted us. Rather lonely and forlorn, really. You could tell that it had been there a long time by the way that the headstones teetered this way and that. The layout of the place also indicated that much time had passed between the initial use of the parcel for interrment and the final stone placement. The oldest stones, which had been layed flat in the ground, had been worn out to the point that you could not tell what was inscribed on them anymore. The stone face was simply cratered with age. As I took a look around and Dawn pointed to the huge, majestic trees overlooking the plot, I noticed that there did not seem to be a sense of direction either. There would be a few stones placed in a row in one place but there would be another one or two placed seemingly at random elsewhere. Fascinating. As we started to read the inscriptions, I was startled by the shear age, late 1800's and also by the fact that these were children! The youngest was perhaps one year old! How tragic and sad! If these stones could talk to us today, what kind of story would they tell? What happened back then? Who were these people? I paused for a moment to contemplate the lives of these individuals before photographing their final resting places. It was a little sobering, as any cemetary is.

That marked the end of our photowalk with Dawn and I told her that it would be fun to meet again! I really enjoyed our time together as she is very knowledgeable and likeable. Check out her blog at www.wheretogowisconsin.com or at Flickr, where we all meet, at www.flickr.com/people/wheretogowisconsin/ I absolutely love this kind of activity! It's a huge reason why I've wanted to move back to the north! I love the change of seasons! Love the vast forests! Streams, lakes and wildlife galore! Bear, deer, badger, rabbits and squirrel everywhere! Well, sort of everywhere but you get my point! you simply don't get any of this in the city.

Yup. I am a happy camper. Dallas, Mei Mei and I walked a lot today, took lots of pictures and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. I only wish that Kim could have been here too! I've only skimmed on what we did today but I am tired and it is late for me. Not even the American Lemans race that is on SPEED TV is going to keep me up. I have plenty to do tomorrow before Kim arrives! I need to start getting ready for winter too! Putting away the summer clothes, rearranging the garage to suit our winter needs and cleaning out the barn are just a few items on our collective agenda. I wouldn't have it any other way.

Life is good! ;-)

G'night all...

Blackberry Blogging

2008-09-29T17:46:00.000-05:00

Love this time of year! So amazingly beautiful! Cold weather and colorful forests uplift my spirits! Dallas just took his first driving class in the classroom! Mei Mei is taking dance classes! Dad is alive and well! Life is good folks! Lovin it all...

blackberry blogging - because I can!

2008-09-26T21:28:00.000-05:00

Spending time on facebook and flickr folks! Right now I'm watching the presidential debate w/my wife & planning what to do this weekend w/the kids! Work sucks but life is good. Ask me about that sometime!

Please keep praying for my dad and my grandmother!

great. just friggin great.

2008-07-11T07:42:00.001-05:00

great. just friggin great.
Originally uploaded by KDCN Morales

i don't know what to say... so frustrated. our roof is in the process of being replaced and this leak has NOTHING to do with that! it happens to be raining outside but, oh yeah, this leak has NOTHING to do with that! this little gem will cost about 4 grand to fix since the leak started in the upstairs bathroom. luckily this is clean water and not waste. Kim and I are nearly at wits end.

summer projects...

2008-06-30T21:52:00.001-05:00

dangerous angles
Originally uploaded by KDCN Morales

our house finally has central air conditioning! YES!!! you don't know how much you miss it until you don't have it and the summer temps are around 100 with nearly the same humidity and no wind. yuck. this is WISCONSIN i'm talking about! disgusting. left Florida for the nasty humidity! anywayz. life is good. the kids are behaving wonderfully and growing strong and healthy! so stinking cute they are! (see flickr)

pray for my dad! he's still battling the leukemia...

blow Mei Mei! Blow!

2008-06-05T21:02:00.001-05:00

blow Mei Mei! Blow!
Originally uploaded by KDCN Morales

so Mei Mei turned FOUR today! can you believe it??? so awesome. it's been an event filled day, that's for sure! what? you ask? we got a call from her daycare because she had hives! hmm... not to worry, right? give her some benadryl and call us back. yup, we received another call alright! she was getting worse! belly pain and hot. call 911! damn! Kim and I immediately clocked out of work and waited for the squad to arrive in our ER! enroute, we learned that her breathing was never an issue... whew! so far so good! a tired Mei Mei arrived all strapped down to a big adult stretcher accompanied by 4 techs and her daycare director! way to go gang! kudos to the Luxemburg EMS and Roxanne! she was handed over and then checked out by the capable staff at St Vincent Hospital where she recieved several meds, one being in the thigh muscle. ouch. then we went to Applebees to eat! 4 hours later! by this evening she was doing just great and all about her birthday again so we celebrated with cake! yay! good times!

Dallas, at SIX foot THREE or so,is only 15... ouch.

checked out our pictures lately?

our place, for sale...

2008-04-03T11:56:00.001-06:00

THE HOUSE IS OURS!!!
Originally uploaded by KDCN Morales

62 acres! close to Hays, KS. plenty of space for your animals and kids! great for camping and some light hiking too. set up a blind and hunt on your own property! turkey, pheasant, coyote and deer all pass through on a regular basis. hit me up for more information!

nixy

walking into the sunset...

2008-03-29T15:57:00.001-06:00

walking into the sunset...
Originally uploaded by KDCN Morales

it's nice to be able to finally get out and take a nice walk!!! it may still be a little chilly because of the wind but ya can't complain! it's so stinking beautiful out here! i love it. miss the snow, sure, but love spring nonetheless. we can go out and walk in comfort and we will be hitting the local (some not so local) dog shows and expos too! today, Saturday, we all went to the Pet Expo at the Resch center here in Green Bay (Brown Cty, WI) with Charlie, our standard poodle. Tomorrow we will go with the Afghan too! no kids though. i was not able to take very many pictures because my Kodak DX6490 is pretty old and can't handle the relatively low light that is present in the arena. i will post some pictures tomorrow but don't hold your breath! Dallas ended up taking most of them as i tend to make more blurry shots than he does! he'll be inheriting this camera from me when i upgrade! he takes some neat pictures let me tell you!

speaking of Dallas, he may still be fighting school cause he's a teenager but he really has a knack for building things out of, well, not much. he can still build a mean lego city, or car, or ship, or whatever he feels like whipping up! he asked me to bring him a bunch of boxes and so i obliged thinking that it was for school but he ended up making forts, outhouses, tiers, bridges and other whatnots to go along with the models that he's been putting together for the roleplaying game 'Warhammer'. pretty cool kid! i like it! a couple years back we tried to revive my love of model rockets and cars but we never went anywhere with that... oh well! Dallas is very talented though he may tell you otherwise. he's 15! that's what they do and say. right? nobody believes him and nobody likes him either. crazy.

well, it's time to groom the afghan and the poodle for tomorrow so i'll catch you w/you all later! don't forget to click on my 'pictures' link!

my pops!

2008-02-15T08:43:00.001-06:00

my pops!
Originally uploaded by KDCN Morales

So here he is, still in the hospital - but ALIVE!!!
can we have an amen? a yipeee? a hurray? oh yeah. we
thought that he would be discharged today, Friday day
after Valentines day but that is not to be. He was
just informed that his platelet count dipped a little
again (even though they hung a unit yesterday) so he
will remain in the hospital for perhaps yet another
day. I was hoping to be able to drive him home! It
would have made my day! That's o.k. though, I am happy
to be able to see him and talk to him! he's alive and
that is what counts. i saw his chest x-ray from when
he had the pneumonia and let me tell you, it was
BAD!!! very scary! i've seen some nasty pneumonia
pictures in my day but, #1) they were not my family
and #2) they did not have leukemia!!! it's a
completely different ballgame when your loved one is
involved! that is why in medicine you cannot take care
of a loved one because of bias! yikes. dad had been
given last rites and prayers. no one thought that he
would last through the weekend. at one point, he
thought that he was drowning since he could not catch
his breath and his heart started racing, he was going
into a panic! a heart rate of 140 while that sick is
not good. the doctors ended up haning NINE different
antibiotics at one time! they were all flowing in at
max rate. that alone could have killed him! he had
oxygen going full blast and they were giving him lasix
to try to remove fluids from his lungs. that weekend
was very tense/intense for all involved, let me tell
you! i had no idea how bad the situation was by simply
talking to his wife and to my mother. no idea at all.
i knew that the situation was bad, but i did not worry
too much. i knew that he was (is) in good hands.

i'll be headed over to his room in just a few minutes
again to spend a few more hours with him today. he
gets tired pretty easily still but he is walking
around as much as he can and eating as best as he can!
i love my pops! i am so thankful to all of the staff
that helped take care of him and everyone that prayed
for him. thankful to God too since w/out Him, I know
that dad would not be around right now. wow. awesome.

love you dad!!! see you soon!!! ;-)

my dad

2008-02-03T09:01:00.000-06:00

so my dad is getting better. again. this is worse than a bad roller coaster ride! i can only imagine what dad is going through! i pray for him every day. i miss him! i want him to be around for another 30 years! he's only in his sixties fer cryin out loud folks! is that too much to ask? really. this time, his chemo regimen is really taking a toll on him and he is very tired. weary. rather downtrodden too. can't blame him as he's been fighting off the leukemia for over a year now. i don't want him to give up the good fight and i can't help but wonder, what would i do in his place? would i still be fighting or would i have given up by now? i've always thought of my father as a strong person and his fight only reinforces that belief. i believe in you dad! i'm going to go and visit the week of the 10th of this month as i can't wait any longer to see him. he has pneumonia now too and that could very well spell disaster in an instant. last night, mom left a message on my cellphone that said that the pneumonia is resolving and he is feeling better but i can't take the chance to wait until spring. i would never forgive myself if he passed away! never.

hang in there pops! i'm gonna go see you soon and put a big ol bear hug on ya!

i love you.

my daddy...

2008-01-23T21:48:00.000-06:00

ok folks, today, wednesday the 23rd of jan dad is very sick. he has a fever and is nauseous big time. please keep him in your thoughts and prayers for those of you who pray... Migdalia is there w/him as much as she can and i am extremely thankful for that! mom drops by too when she can. i am glad that dad has people that visit him and drop by as human interaction is very important. tonight, my last patient was a 'crash and burn' patient from the emergency room and came to us intubated and unresponsive. by the time that we were done, due in part to our wonderful nurse and team, he was responding to external stimuli. he also has family that was w/him in the hospital and i sincerely believe that it will make the difference between life and death for that man. people who have family and friends who make it a priority to actually visit do much better than the lonely patient.

my family is getting together in Puerto Rico in July! i wish that i could go... but again, my dad is my priority! i'll be w/you all in spirit (or on the web!).

love you all!

nixy

ice forming on my eyebrows/lashes

2008-01-20T16:39:00.001-06:00

ice forming on my eyebrows/lashes
Originally uploaded by KDCN Morales

i went out around 3 pm today to check on the horses and give them all water and i found out that 1) it is very windy!!! 2) there is about 1hr worth of work to do out here! 3)my eyes are freezing shut!! perhaps if i wasn't full of hot air... i put the dogs out to run outside for awhile while i worked but about 10 minutes later i brought them back in. they just aren't used to this! i am even putting Cotton and Winslow in the barn at night due to the extreme low temps. wow.

now back inside the safe confines of our home, i can finish doing the laundry. Dallas started dinner! the dogs are playing. life is good.

GO PACK GO!!!

yup, it's really cold out today!

2008-01-20T10:30:00.001-06:00

yup, it's really cold out today!
Originally uploaded by KDCN Morales

hey Dell! it's even colder in your hometown out there in Minesotta! yikes!

i'd like to say that i am not going outside to do anything at all but that would not be correct! i need to go out and fill the water trough w/water for the horses and sheep! i need to check to make sure that the electric fence has not been compromised and that everything opens and closes properly! aaaaah... life on the barn. farm. whatever. fun! i love it.

heck, the Green Bay Packers will be outside playing in this weather! yes, we WILL take the New York Giants down! trust me on this! it'll probably be a relatively quick game as i don't think that very many time-outs will be called! the huddles may be short and the play action quick and brisk! crazy! my family and i will be watching from the comfort of our home. oh yeah. no tailgating for us! we'll be there in spirit.

well, i need to keep working on the laundry. i'd like to make some bread today too. my allergies are kicking my butt though and i seriously want to take a long nap.

don't forget to pray for my dad folks! he's back in the hospital getting more chemo treatments.

another sun 'ray'

2008-01-16T18:08:00.001-06:00

another sun 'ray'
Originally uploaded by KDCN Morales

so calm and serene around here! i just absolutely love winter! so beautiful. tomorrow will not be so calm though if the storm that's headed this way hits the area! we should see half a foot of snow by the time that it leaves! ouch. schools will be closed too! Dallas is very upset. right. he's already inviting friends over! umm... Dallas? school will be closed due to treacherous conditions son! your friends will not be travelling here just to see you play xbox. nuh uh. no way kiddo. you and Mei Mei will watch Cinderella movies and drink hot chocolate! curl up w/the dogs on the couch! we'll need a shovel on our atv! this shoveling snow by hand kinda stinks! it's not like we have a tiny driveway! we don't live in the city ya know. yup. need a plow fer the atv!

don't forget to watch the Green Bay Packers kick some New York Giants butt this weekend! we're goin to the superbowl! hopefully! do NOT call us on sunday! just kidding. it'll be fun though!

night time snow!

2008-01-13T17:04:00.001-06:00

night time snow!
Originally uploaded by KDCN Morales

let it snow! let it snow! let it snow! oh yeah. i love it!

dad is back in the hospital getting round the clock chemo. pray for him please!

Dallas and Mei Mei are doing very well thank you very much! enjoying the snow and that makes me happy. my family makes me happy! kim hates the snow but whatcha gonna do? sorry hun. let's get a plow for our atv! that'll make a huge difference. ouch.

my friend Amanda had a baby! congratulations! they live way out in England! so happy for them!

my friend Elizabeth had another baby now too! congratulations are in order for them also! they live in o-town and this is their second child. wow.

i'm tired...

Corvette ZR1

2007-12-30T09:45:00.001-06:00

Corvette ZR1
Originally uploaded by gm_blogs

ok. pay attention here! I WANT ONE OF THESE!!! holey moley folks. homegrown domestic demon! ouch. Lingenfelter? Hennesey? lets go racing!!!!

happy kids!

2007-12-08T23:41:00.001-06:00

happy kids!
Originally uploaded by KDCN Morales

mo pix are up! dallas chopped down his 2007 christmas tree! it's an inch too tall too! oh well, we're not gonna do any more cutting on the thing! let's just decorate it! this time of year is just grand, is it not? i love it! baking cookies, bread and muffins! making stew! christmas music! snow! bare trees and crisp air! amazing sunrises and sunsets! awesome night skies! life is good.

Fall program for Luxemburg/Casco High School

2007-11-18T14:52:00.001-06:00

Fall program for Luxemburg/Casco High School
Originally uploaded by KDCN Morales

hey family! Dallas' fall program is over and i posted some pictures! they are all dark and blurry since i could only handhold my camera and TRY to take pictures in the dark of moving subjects! ouch. it was so much fun though! Dallas did great and had a lot of fun too so we went to have icecream after the program... he is doing well in high school!

gotta go. don't forget to check out the pix!

njm

wear safety glasses when using power tools! idiot...

2007-11-12T21:27:00.001-06:00

wear safety glasses when using power tools! idiot...
Originally uploaded by KDCN Morales

so it's Dallas' birthday today! he is 15! FIFTEEN! ouch. he's pretty crabby today though! kinda funny really. maybe it's the fact the the weather is pretty warm! mid november and 60 deg.? throwing us all for a loop.

well, yesterday, Sunday was action packed and busy for the Morales clan! we were all working hard outside putting up fence! i post pictures on a pretty regular basis now so don't forget to check even if i don't post a blog!

Dallas has received all of his birthday presents but he was expecting some more today! the ACTUAL day of his birthday! now he wants a laptop. a gocart. more video games. sure Dallas, no problem! jeez. next year he will be getting his DRIVING license! limited, but nontheless a bonafide driving license to maneuver a multiton vehicle on public roads. luckily there are plenty of back roads in the country that we can practice on! too bad that i don't have the mustang running! THAT would be interesting! he should learn to drive a manual transmission! oh yeah. but he has to 'settle' for a truck and an hhr. fun! he's driven at night and in the rain. he's driven large farm vehicles while living in Kansas too. he's doing pretty good. a little too confident at times but that is why he drives with an adult! settle down there! slow down! good boy.

the Luxemburg/Casco variety show was last night and, as usual, it was fun! Dallas participated in Act 7, In the Jungle, complete with grass skirts and cardboard shields! good job kids! i love watching them perform! speaking of performing, Dallas mentioned that he wishes to quit choir next year and take up A/V classes. he sings well though! don't quit! he really loves the a/v stuff though! he's put a few years in choir though and i like that he wants to try different things in school. you only live once! try em all! there's more to come!

i'm tired. we are all tired. we've worked hard and took advantage of the great weather and had tons of fun. the dog area is complete! THAT is a huge relief! what a big difference it makes already. money and time well spent.

the weather is finally coming down and settling into the 40's! snow is coming soon! all of the colorful glory of fall is pretty much over and the austere beauty of winter will soon be here. i can't wait! i'm taking tons of pictures with my KODAK DX6490 and getting a little better at it! i love photography! i love cameras and lenses! astronomy and telescopes! hiking/hunting and binoculars! the beauty of nature... awesome stuff. puts me in a great mood! so i want to capture those images and moments! my kids are growing up fast and i want to capture that too! yup, photography is the way to go. gonna subscribe to a photog rag. gonna visit a local shop regularly and ask questions. gonna keep uploading pix to flickr and getting feedback from the community. so much fun! i love it! now if i could find what Dallas likes to do... video games don't count!

good night all! Dallas is 15! Happy birthday Dallas!

happy birthday Dallas!

2007-11-03T17:28:00.001-06:00

happy birthday Dallas!
Originally uploaded by KDCN Morales

this was the perfect weekend for Dallas' birthday so here it is... the one and only thing that Dallas wanted and he got it. good grief. so today, saturday, there are 10 kids over and we are all playing video games. the wii system is downstairs and the two xbox 360 systems are upstairs where six kids are linked up playing Halo3. this wii system is pretty cool! now Kim wants one for christmas. sheesh. i'd rather get the star wars lego 2 game for our DS systems! whatever.

Kim and i have been working on the fence for part of the day today and we hurt! muscular pain and joint pain galore! ibuprofen is the name of the game. ouch. we've got a ways to go though. not looking forward to it! nuh uh. no way.

pandemonium! the kids are all switching places! eating cake and ice cream too!

i'll be back later! don't forget to see the pictures that i've posted!

Meeshee...

2007-10-31T17:46:00.003-06:00

noble farm/guard dog
Originally uploaded by KDCN Morales

this is my beautiful mutt Meeshee. perhaps about 9 years young and full of spunk! i love this dog! best farm dog ever! ferocious guard dog too! just ask the UPS guy! the fed ex guy isn't fazed, he pets her. smart man. beware the person who is jogging or cycling though! heck, if a vehicle slows down, Meeshee will get her hackles up and start growling, if after two or three seconds you're still there, she'll take off after ya! look out! bad dog! NO MEESHEE! NO! too late. she's been hit by a car once already though obviously not too bad! scared me almost to death though! this dog came from Puerto Rico, where my mom adopted her. she lived in Orlando for a few years, first w/mom and then w/Kim and myself. Mom was working some seriously long hours and the poor dog was kept in a crate all day by herself. our first problem w/her when we brought her in? getting her out of the crate! Meeshee was very shy and skittish, unsocialized and scared. scared me too when she took off out of the house and just bolted away! where the heck was she going? yikes! Meeshee come back! bad dog! kim ran after her and i went to jump into the car to give chase also. it was all for naught as Meeshee came back w/Kim in tow. i started to scold the dog but next thing i knew, Kim was scolding ME!!! whah? huh? i have to praise her because she came back on her own? oh. i get it. sorry. good dog! you came back! it's been so much fun ever since! it took a year or so for her to settle in to her new and busy life. once i made the mistake of trying to 'catch' her by grabbing her tail and what did she do? she pee'd ,pooped & yelped at the same time! ooops! sorry Meeshee! don't scare the poor dog like that! i never did that again and she soon got over people touching her and her tail. she would go with us to dog shows and behaved very well! what a happy dog! tail up and smiling all the time! whenever she gets excited, she spins in a clockwise direction. so funny! i nicknamed her 'clockwise' because of it. cracks me up to this day. she also stands straight up, puffs her chest out, cranes her neck and head back and spreads her paws wide! i have yet to take a picture of that hilarious pose of hers! it's the best!
we soon moved to Kansas. out of the city and into the country! yeeehaa! wide open spaces! cows, cow manure, feed lots, barbed wire and plenty of stench everywhere! did i mention wide open spaces? yikes. our most excellent mutt though had formed a strong bond w/us by then and never wandered far. heck, there are coyotes out there! big eagles and hawks too! owls! jeez. danger everywhere. no problem for the brave farmdog! no longer just a pet and comealong companion! she started to defend her territory! hmm. interesting! good dog! it only took one skunk to realize that there are some things that you just leave well enough alone! ick. we lived in three different places in our three years in the Hays, Kansas area and this wonderful dog took it all in stride. we even started raising chickens, guinea fowl, geese, ducks and other what nots but no problem. Meeshee would guard them all. what a wonderful dog.
now we live in Wisconsin and Meeshee is still living strong! this dog has put in some serious miles! been there done that! she's great! i can't say enough about this dog! dogs have come and gone but Meeshee will always be here. great dog. my best friend. love her. long live my mutt! so noble. so proud. so naughty! crazy clockwise doggy. def. a keeper. oh yeah.

Meeshee...

2007-10-31T17:46:00.001-06:00

noble farm/guard dog
Originally uploaded by KDCN Morales

Dallas helping Mei Mei pose

2007-10-06T13:08:00.001-05:00

Dallas helping Mei Mei pose
Originally uploaded by KDCN Morales

new pictures are up! it's hot out here in N.E.W.!!! yuck. feels like Florida. 80 degrees and 80% humidity. ick.

oh well. Dallas and I are putting up a permanent fence for us to play in! the agility area will be enclosed and therefore safer. the mini horse and goats can roam free there from time to time and the two outside dogs will live there permanently and not tied up anymore. happy dogs. i just need to paint the free doghouse that i picked up for them and put it in the pen too! we've been caulking windows, cleaning the barn and just plain getting ready for winter!

what fun.

caught a coworker doing good work for free!

2007-10-05T17:03:00.001-05:00

caught a coworker doing good work for free!
Originally uploaded by KDCN Morales

Tracy, seen here just outside my Titan window, is an amazing person. she is very selfless and hardworking and i can now prove it! she left work early today, though i followed a couple hours later and this is what i saw her doing! why didn't she just go home? because she is not wired that way! this mess was two blocks away and i am sure that she saw it as she crossed the street and went north towards the mess instead of south to her cozy home. what did i do? kept on driving... i have a fence to put up fer crying out loud! my two kids to feed! horses to take care of! dogs to run! jeez. really. this gal is plain awesome. great nurse too! you'd be lucky to have her take care of you if were here in St Vincent Hospital cardiology! Way to go Tracy! Excellent work! Kudos to you!

then and now

2007-09-22T14:45:00.001-05:00

then and now
Originally uploaded by KDCN Morales

I've posted some more pictures folks! i've missed Dallas' football games but i'll have some of those too since Kim DID take a few pictures! way to go Kim! our kids grow up fast and i want you, our family, to see them even though you are so far away! love you all!

Ermey and Kim

2007-08-26T20:03:00.001-05:00

Ermey and Kim
Originally uploaded by KDCN Morales

yup, Dallas missed the man himself. we had a great time though! maybe next time though! meeting him made the trip sooo worth it. don't know R. Lee Ermey? hmmm... what can i say? i dunno too much about him either but he's a hell of a motivator! a marine and the star of his own show "Mail Call". great show. actor, activist and firearms safety advocate. hell of a man. look him up! good times.

i remembered my password!

2007-08-12T12:01:00.000-05:00

i'm such a dork. so i wrote it down in my little black book of passwords. duh.

of note, Dallas starts football practice tomorrow! as a FRESHMAN!!! what? why so fast? geez. have you seen how tall he is lately? i need to clean and start up our extra fridge now! ouch. we thought that he was eating a lot up till now.

Mei Mei is learning, in earnest now, to potty train. hates it! funny thing is that she'll go to her potty on her own, and then complain, rather loudly, I DON'T WANNA GO POTTY!!! so funny! she's getting the hang of it though. cracks me up.

dad will be here tonight! Him and Migdalia, but not Sylvi. she's busy starting up this next semester of college and work. dad's doing well so far and i'm glad that i took the day off tomorrow! why did i take the day off? kim and i celebrate another anniversary! woohooo! what is that now? seven years? mhmm. 7. good times folks! good times. Dallas will go to Florida for a week at the end of this week to visit friends and grandparents. the dynamics of the family change quite a bit when one of us is gone. feels weird. he'll have fun though and it'll be good before he starts highschool.

oops, mei mei just pee pee'd. gotta go clean her up.

c ya

Dallas pushing Mei Mei

2007-08-05T21:26:00.001-05:00

Dallas pushing Mei Mei
Originally uploaded by KDCN Morales

this weekend we went to Door county again but this time we were there for a party! One of the physicians that i work for is turning 40 and his wife put on a surprise party for him which included his colleagues and families, my coworkers and families, his families friends and families... big shindig. oh yeah. we ALL had a great time! we went on a two hour river cruise and when we returned, had a trolley ride to his property which was very picturesque. the road was very scenic with its old homes and mature trees and the property that he owns is quaint, to say the least. there are three varieties of apple trees, there are grapes and raspberries too! the front half of the property was where the big tent was set up so the food could be served, the band could play and we all could sing, dance and eat to our delight. the little (octagonal) cottage was set back in the trees, not too far from the shore amidst the hardwoods. we were all immediately put at ease in that setting and the children gravitated to the rock pits which held white sand and plastic toys to play with. the other rock rings, which were fire rings, were stocked with plenty of wood for a great bonfire at sunset! mmmm.... loved it. Dallas and Mei Mei played hard! we all had a great time and as a result, this weekend went by entirely too fast. wow.

summer is going by too fast! dallas is headed to florida for awhile to visit friends and family and upon his return, promptly will begin high school. yikes. good times.

good night for now!

i am anxiously awaiting dad's visit next week!

HHR damaged by 30lb coon

2007-08-03T19:30:00.001-05:00

slight offset picture
Originally uploaded by KDCN Morales

I was on a night call and i was going at least 60 when the racoon ran in front of me... to late. ouch. it was gross but i couldn't stop! someone was dying that night and i had to get there NOW! ouch.

on a better note, dallas is headed to high school folks! can you believe it?! HIGH SCHOOL!!! football! girls! dating! homework! proms! school trips! good times! time will tell. both children are growing up so stinking fast! slow down! enjoy life a little! dallas will be wanting his own vehicle soon because he needs to go on a hot date! he still denies the girl thing though. i saw him in action at the local fair one night though and he really isn't interested in dating. i wish that i could've had some video of him! what a goof! he wants to have fun and i'm glad for that. him and some of his friends are starting a game called Warhammer and they are building their repective armies. this requires lots of patience, glue and paint. i'd rather him do that than spend all day on the tv and xbox! he is getting pretty good shooting the recurve bow that was given to us by a coworker too! dallas is very talented and very good at what he puts his mind to. so proud of him!

anyone watching Kat on LA Ink? neither am i.

wisconsin beers are very good! just thought you'd like to know...

SCORE!

2007-06-27T19:28:00.001-05:00

SCORE!
Originally uploaded by KDCNMorales

so i can't log in to my blogger account and i am only posting from FLICKR. that's all well and good.

just wanted to say that all is well at the Morales ranch! summer is going great and the kids are having a ball! Kim and I are working hard but loving our jobs. every so often we go and take a hike along one of the local trails, with or without some dogs in tow! we have yet to take to a trail on a horse but we will! Tristian, our Fjord horse here, is for sale though. he's so cute and well mannered! but like any warmblood horse, very curious and naughty! they are very funny and FUN!

Mei Mei is in her new daycare and doing well! Dallas is about to hit highschool! life is travelling by pretty fast! it's fun being a daddy and husband!

Kim's home now so we'll have dinner. grillin and chillin! mmmm.

a path off the beaten path

2007-05-28T21:40:00.001-05:00

a path off the beaten path
Originally uploaded by KDCNMorales

the past few days have been nothing short of amazing... at least from where i stand as a father, husband and well, ME! the interaction between two siblings is always amazing and the fact that i have two to watch 24/7 provides plenty of excitement and at time, heartbreak. this weekend provided both. i am amazed at my family and love them so much! they are so much fun! next weekend, Dallas and i will spend a couple of days in Elkhart Lake watching the superbike races! (step)father and son at the races. oh yeah. one day i hope to take him to the races to actually race, well, IN a race! whew!
anyway. i tend to go off on tangents. i'm watching the Star Wars programming on the History channel. good stuff!
what the heck did we do the past few days anyway? they all blur together! i was lazy. i got busy. i worked hard and i ate icecream as my reward. i watched part of the F1 race in Monaco and part of the Indy 500 too. missed the NASCAR race though completely! that didn't sadden me as much as the fact that i missed the SPEED GT race! now that the Trans Am series is not running, the GT and Touring races really get me! you know! those are exciting races to watch! kim and i got a chance to have dinner together alone again too! our plans for the house are finally moving forward. we purchased some roof caulk to patch some cracks and buy us time to save the money to replace the roof. we will be selling the two Fjords also as we are more involved w/the dogs and do not have the facilities or wherewithall to cope w/the horses anymore. kims last fall finally took its toll on us. i borrowed a reel mower to help start mowing the grass as our riding mower is still out of commision. i purchased and installed one of the drive belts on the deck but noticed that one of the fuel lines had cracked and was spewing fuel on every crank. oops! i'll fix THAT tomorrow. the push mower got quite the workout too today. we took a walk and we grilled food outside. we purchased a couple of chaise loungers for the outside and a small pool for Mei Mei. we then enjoyed those outside today as the temps were in the low 70's and sunny. a good book accompanied me and Kim clipped the poodles. now if only i could get to working on the Mustang! i did buy the 14 nuts that hold the headlamps in place though! it's a start, right?
i need to go to bed. it's almost 10 on Monday night. this week will be long even though it's a bit shorter! we'll be very busy at work, that's for sure! what a great weekend it's been though. no regrets. even our adopted Sharpei had a great time! he's so cute! love that old man.

from the back side...

2007-05-26T21:03:00.001-05:00

from the back side...
Originally uploaded by KDCNMorales

aaaaaah, spring. i love it! love the fog. love the still, cool weather! love to hang out w/the family! this is very calming for me. i was just out feeding the outside animals and wrangling the two Fjords and i couldn't help but to pause and look around. i love to just listen and watch my surroundings! last night, the moon was out and Venus was close by... the sunset itself was pretty spectacular too! mmmm... spring time...

life is good.

pretty flowers

2007-05-16T19:42:00.001-05:00

see? i CAN take a close up shot w/out it being blurry!
Originally uploaded by KDCNMorales.

Today, Wednesday, Mom and Louis came over and I took the day off. Thank you very much Christine! (she's my boss) I had a great day! Although Dallas was at school and could not come w/us, we all had a great day. They arrived last night and slept in their Freightliner RV. Funny that on Monday, the temps were hot at over 80 degrees fahrenheit! yuck! now that they are here, the daytime temps are hovering in the low 60's and very windy. mom and Louis were cold! our trip to Door county went great though and we all had a great time. our trip started here in Luxemburg and we headed due East to the historic town of Algoma, right on lake Michigan. we then travelled on the local roads alongside the lake to see as much as we could of the local scenery and take pictures. we ended up at the northernmost point of Door county, at the end of highway 42. we got out of the car and braved the elements to take some pictures and take in the sights. as we headed south, we then jumped on highway 57 to speed home and have lunch! we ended up at a Pizza Hut and enjoyed some cheese pizza and Sierra Mist soda. Mei Mei ate more than mom did though! so funny! see my pictures!
When we arrived home, mom and Kim started cooking for dinner and Louis and I fixed the roof of the barn. well, Louis fixed it and i watched and learned as a pro took over and made it look easy! amazing! where i would take a few whacks at the nails and bend them all to death, he drove them straight and true with minimal fuss. believe me when i tell you that i am very thankful! he gave me some very helpful tips about nails, roofs and windy conditions!
finally, we all met at the dinner table (Dallas had arrived from school by now) and ate some wonderful chicken and rice that mom had tought Kim to make. thanks mom! our previous experiments to make rice w/something in it turned out a little bland. Mom and Louis ended up leaving just before 7 to head back down towards the Chicago area where they will spend the night before continuing on to Michigan where their latest project awaits them.
I can't wait until dad takes his trip up here too! his plan is to come around in late summer and spend some time here w/us and w/his daughter Silvi in Michigan. i believe that he will drive the car that he is going to drop off for Silvs and the fly back down to O-Town. i certainly hope that he is in good enough health to undertake such a trip! he is out of the hospital cancer free but he needs to take some time to get his immune system bolstered up again! i'm very thankful that he was never a smoking and drinking kind of man! he used to drink tons of coffee though! now he is a vegetarian and better off for it too as his arthritis does not affect him like it used to when he ate red meat and drank caffeine. way to go dad! i'm right there behind you! i too have modified my diet and am benefitting from it already. whew!
like i said, i am very thankful that i had the day off today! i had an absolutely wonderful time. i am going to make some coffee for Kim and myself now and cuddleup w/her and just relax. i will be on-call for the next 5 days and won't be able to do much! perhaps i'll climb on the barn roof again to practice nailing things down more efficiently! it's almost time for Mei Mei to go to bed, Dallas to feed the outside animals and Kim to manage the inside gang. i'll prepare the coffee and finish cleaning the kitchen. what a great day this has been! i love it!

drooling!

2007-05-06T14:20:00.001-05:00

i was drooling!
Originally uploaded by KDCNMorales.

Dallas and I headed to a small local car show where we spent the better part of an hour just drooling over all the nice vehicles show today! what fun! i absolutely love muscle cars, old and new. i want that '82 Vette back there in the background! it was so clean and very well taken care of and for sale for only $12,500 bucks. what a riot! the owner was great to talk to also, unlike some of the others that i tried to talk to. i would love to get my own '92 Mustang GT back on the road again! it's time to do some serious DRIVING!!! oh yeah. Dallas and I had a great time.

friday 5/4/07

2007-05-04T21:26:00.000-05:00

playing around with my blog layout and whatnot. don't know how well this is going.

our appaloosa, Legend, went to his new home today... he'll be well cared for! not bullied by the two Fjords either. he's such a good boy.

Dallas went to a friends house for the night to 'camp out'. what are 8 teenagers gonna do out in the woods? they say that it's a birthday party thing. kids.

Kim is feeling better, though she is sad today, for the very horse that threw her is now gone.

my dad's health continues to improve! have i mentioned that already? good! i love that!

my wife is the best! best friend! best wife! best mom! the bestest of the best! so beautiful! rrrr

i love my family. i love my job. i love spring and the great north! trees! wildlife! streams, rivers and lakes! great weather! great food! lot's of family stuff to do!

i'm ranting now aren't i? i need sleep. being on-call does that to ya. nuts.

Mario looking longingly at the ring

2007-04-29T14:52:00.001-05:00

Mario looking longingly at the ring
Originally uploaded by KDCNMorales.

so this weekend has pretty much come to a close and we are all pooped! two days worth of showing can leave one exhausted, just ask Mario! anyone that has ever participated in these events or gone to a auto race will know what i am talking about! heck, ANY day long show will leave you tired! we absolutely love it. Mario even racked up another point towards whatever Kim is placing him in. a Championship here, a Major there. i don't know. i'm still learning all of this stuff but i'll keep you posted!

Mei Mei learns the ways of the longbow!

2007-04-20T21:33:00.001-05:00

Mei Mei learns the ways of the longbow!
Originally uploaded by KDCNMorales.

spring is in the air! so beautiful... i was just out feeding the outside animals and i simply had to stop and take it all in! so amazingly beautiful! a lone airplane was sending contrails into the stratosphere, the moon was visible, geese were flying in their peculiar 'v' formations and the local dirt track was kicking into high gear!!!! such delicious sounds! the sun was setting in a brilliant display of red hues that was simply astounding! we all took a long walk to get some fresh spring air and exercise! mario came along too, of course. he's growing up so fast! just like the rest of our children! what fun! i love it!
so dad is doing pretty good! i text him a quick message everyday to make sure that he knows that i love him and that i am thinking of him! send him a picture every now and then too! perhaps he may not be able to talk due to being tired or his mouth is really sore but he can still read by golly! i love that man! just wanted to let you know...
my diet modification is going pretty good too. i plan on bringing my cholesterol from 240 down to at least 150 or less! i'll get retested in 3 months and i am really hopeful that the results will be on a downward trend! i am eating oatmeal in the morning instead of eggs, cheese and bacon! more veggies and fruit! less sugar and milk! more water! whatever it takes. too bad that my allergies don't respond to anything that i try though. i was born sneazing so i am not surprised! just kidding. it just seems like it sometimes. allergy shots are too cost prohibitive for me right now unfortunately. so is a chiropractor! yes, i actually went to one for a consultation. i must be desperate.

Dallas on Easter morn...

2007-04-08T08:43:00.000-05:00

Dallas on Easter morn...
Originally uploaded by KDCNMorales.

so dallas brought mei mei down this morning around 0800 but he sat on the couch and promptly fell back asleep! we were up until almost 2 this moring watching 'Batman Begins'. i really liked the movie! we then woke him up again because mei mei was finding eggs on her own w/out being prompted to do so! they had a good time looking for the various goodies that were strategically placed around the house. i posted a few pictures so don't forget to click on the link! i hope that you all had a good weekend too! there are races to watch today! F1 and CART are the only ones that matter today though...

stuff

2007-04-01T20:12:00.000-05:00

so Dallas had a 'dance' at school on Friday! did he dance? no. was the music cheesy? yes. did anyone dance? yes. did you like it? sorta. nice to have this conversation w/you Dallas! so funny. if i were to ask him about the latest xbox game though, watch out! he'll talk your ear off! hey mom, what did I like at that age? what did I talk about the most? what a total crack up.

on Saturday, Dallas put together his new desk and shelf system for his study! he did a great job and even looked at, and followed, the instructions! hurray Dallas! looking good buddy! Kim and i worked on Mei Mei's room upstairs and took down the beads that were hanging in the closet entrance. the beads were replaced w/a softer toned curtain. the curtains across the windows were replaced also to start to make her room more Mei Mei friendly. the previous occupant was a highschool girl and she went nuts w/the sponge treatment, including the ceiling. her friends all wrote in big bold black marker in her closet. everywhere. we need to transform that room into a room that is fitting for a toddler! my princess. a room worthy of Catarina!!! Saturday night, we went to a Families w/Children from China meeting here in Green Bay and there were 26 families (I believe) w/probably perhaps 50 children running around amok! I was enthralled, Mei Mei was apalled. poor girl clung to Dallas for a good 20 minutes before warming up to the noise and finally running around w/Dallas too! initially, we didn't know anyone there although i did meet the family that first emailed us about this event. it was nice to finally meet them. we ended up seeing two people that work at our hospital, i had no idea that these two had adopted children or that they were both in the children's center! fabulous start! i love meeting other families w/similar stories and experiences! i want Mei Mei to know her culture and i want to learn Mandarin! eat some good food! what fun!

today was all about working in the barn. we sent Dallas to a friends house for a few hours and Kim and I shoveled for a couple hours until we filled the bed of my truck to the brim. my arms are shaky! since its been raining off and on (our basement is very wet), the truck got stuck as i went to the south side of the barn to dump my load. nice. i picked Dallas up and had him help me shovel the contents of the bed out and try to unstick our vehicle. no luck. we then shoveled tracks behind the tires to be able to get a good run and retreat semi gracefully. no way. how does a four wheel drive truck get stuck in a seemingly flat piece of grassy land? well, this was the low point and the truck was heavily laden w/wet poop. heavy load. wet poop. what fun! anyone interested in some excellent compost? not me. i should sell the stuff. but YOU can come and get it! sheesh. Dallas and i finally extricated the Titan but layed some serious tracks in the process! you should see the ruts! our yard will never be the same. i shoulda taken some pictures. wasn't in the mood though folks. no way.

gonna go out there again but this time it's to feed the critters. our work never ends. Mei Mei is calling from upstairs too. DAAADDY! so heart wrenching. go to sleep my little princess. i love you. we've said our prayers, i'll see you in the morning! buenas noches! wan an!

chugging along...

2007-03-19T18:08:00.000-06:00

yup, that's what we are all doing... just chugging along on the river of life. Mei Mei is asking the eternal question: "WHY?". all day. everyday. constantly now. wow. Kim and I are making plans to replace the roof, fix the basement leaks and add A/C to the house. oh yes, rewire the house to modern specs too! you know, small cheap stuff. home equity stuff. value added stuff. i have a headache.

i'm trying to cook dinner, clean house (vacuum, sweep, p/u toys, etc), help Dallas w/homework all before Kim arrives in about half an hour. where's the 'EASY' button? i swear that i saw it somewhere... may have been the T.V. though. too bad.

our Afghan just pee'd and pooped in the house. gotta go.

i oughta write a book! instead i jot down my blogs. life is good.

2nd in group! - puppy match

2007-03-04T11:33:00.000-06:00

2nd in group! - puppy match
Originally uploaded by KDCNMorales.

so our computer is back in action and i can finally post again! we have been pretty busy, as usual, with family life, dog stuff and work. Dallas is in his spring break right now, i am on-call, mei mei is playing w/her play-doh, the horses are cavorting in the snow and our dogs are lounging inside. life is good! we are finally getting some snow! now we need a plow or some sort of snow moving equipment! good grief. i posted a few pictures of Mario and Kim in their first puppy match, check them out.

it seems like we are finally in the clear w/the whole identity theft thing! we can start saving! again! what a pain!

well, i am out of words! i've had so much to say but right now, well, i am at a loss... sorry gang! i'm going to check out my friends blogs instead! perhaps update myspace too. whatever. make a snowman! the snow is perfect!

Duped

2007-01-14T12:39:00.000-06:00

i thought that i would never be 'had' like this but, i did. now we have no money in the bank and tomorrow, monday, is MLK day. nice. i receive emails on my yahoo account all of the time concerning this account and that that i may or may not have and that includes paypal. they're all bogus, ya know!? I KNOW! like, DUH! well, i received one of those alerts on my hotmail account and when i read it, well, it was different enough and sounded real enough that i did it. i signed in to paypal and gave them all of my information. SINCE WHEN DOES PAYPAL REQUIRE ALL OF YOUR INFORMATION JUST TO LOG IN???????? idiot! wtf and omg. i did not click on a link through hotmail, i used another IE window and typed in the paypal address myself and noticed the 'https' portion pop up when the first page popped up so i didn't think anything was wrong at this point. again, they reiterated the fact that several unauthorized and unsuccessful attempts had been made to my account and so please enter all of this private info to make sure that all records matched and to verify my authenticity. OF COURSE THEY MATCHED! idiot! that was not paypal! legit companies NEVER ask for this info just to log in! that is even mentioned in their official emails to you! it's plastered all over their websites too! unbelievable. i blindly went ahead and entered all of it since i had used another browser window and typed the address in myself. same computer though. at work. nice. nicely screwed we are now though! as you can tell, i am not happy. Kim actually mentioned the cause and effect to me since i did not put two and two together. i had mentioned to her the fact that paypal had requested this stuff of me when we noticed our money missing due to a California initiated Western Union transfer. good lord. lot's of damage control to do now. be careful kids. let this be your public service announcement. amazing.

happy boy

2007-01-07T20:59:00.000-06:00

happy boy
Originally uploaded by KDCNMorales.

oh yes. Christmas morning. Dallas and his white troll. seriously folks! it's what he REALLY wanted! there it is. see my little farm dog in the corner down there? she's come a long way baby! doesn't do so well out in the chilly air any more! being hit by a car will do that to ya. i love my little yellow mutt! anyway, Dallas and Mei Mei absolutely loved Christmas! they had a dashing time indeed. it was funny to watch Mei Mei at first because she didn't know what to do with her package! "what is this thing?" her little beautiful eyes implored! big brother dutifully came and showed her exactly what to do and how to do it! MINE! she screamed! no Mei Mei, that one is not yours! try again! everything is hers! even the moon. the next couple of hours the two of them spent the time putting together their toys, throwing out their trash and just plain having fun! the kids were happy and therefore the adults were happy. good times were had by all.
now Dallas is back in school, Mei Mei is going to daycare every day and life has returned to its usual state of morales 'normalcy'. we are supposed to finally get some snow too! sheesh. good times.

Dallas and Mario

2006-12-04T20:25:00.000-06:00

Dallas and Mario
Originally uploaded by KDCNMorales.

I'm STILL tired and it's been over 24 hours that we arrived back home! The trip went absolutely great but that is also the reason that we are all tired! The temperatures there did not go down below 70 at night and hovered in the mid 80's during the day... Yuck! here at home? 20's and snow. it's good to be home! we are greatly appreciative to Ashley, as she took it upon herself to take care of our animals twice a day during the duration of our trip! a million thanks go to ya Ash!!!! she has no idea just exactly how thankful we are!
I am also extremely relieved and thankful that dad is doing great! his blood counts are coming up nicely and now he can have his heart cath performed too. afterwards though, he still needs to go through two more chemo regimens. you'll do fine pops! we're all rootin' and prayin' fer ya! super thankful that he is surrounded by excellent friends and family to take care of him and lend him support. that is crucial to recovering from an illness you know!
We managed to see quite a few people in the few days that we were there but the heat and all the driving around left us drained! dallas got to stay with his Johnson grandparents for a few days and they had a blast! they ate at Denny's, went to Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios, among other things. it was funny to see the look on David's face when he saw Dallas too! he didn't realize just exactly how much Dallas had grown! Dell too was pretty amazed. so funny. this went on and on as all that saw Dallas last were shocked to see how tall and handsome he's become! grandparents Bigham (they're still so cute!) were the most surprised, i think! he now absolutely towers over them. i'm glad that Dallas' grandparents had a chance to see him. that was important to Kim and myself. first was to see my dad, then for Dallas to see his grandparents. job done.
Florida is changing so fast! we haven't been gone for 10 years and the changes that we saw left us aghast! the interstate was dirty too! yuck. what a shame. this trip solidified our resolve and proved to us that we did the right thing in leaving. we miss our friends and family obviously but central Florida is not the appropriate place to raise our kids! too hot too. oh well.
the trip back was pretty unevently, thankfully! i really thought that Dallas, Mei Mei and the dogs would go nuts but they all took it in stride pretty well! like a well oiled and conditioned machine! we travel well together... all told, we traveled almost 3300 miles! 3281.4 to be exact. wow. don't take the Chicago bypass folks! or the Atlanta one either! it's just not worth it anymore as the construction just clogs absolutely everything and makes that roundabout even longer. fuhgetaboutit! i drove the entire trip but the last two hours, i had to cede the chair to Kim as my left forearm and fingers were getting tingly! the pain in my left forearm was causing me to start losing some sensation on my fingers and that was just too much. unacceptable. scary. weird. done.
now we are watching monday night football where Sylvester Stallone is also a commentator. hmmm. Mei Mei is screaming because she does not want to go to sleep. Dallas is complaining because he does not want to take a shower. the dogs are milling about for no reason whatsoever. nothing has changed!

whew!

2006-10-31T09:58:00.000-06:00

changed the template. it worked. not that difficult really. thanx.

kim and i celebrate an anniversary of sorts today! halloween was when she went w/me to see Carrot Top and destiny took over... wow. what year was that? '98?

life is good

Aaaaargh! *^@!.< bleep!

2006-10-30T20:21:00.000-06:00

SOMEBODY HELP HERE!!! I want to add a little diddy to my sidebar but when i add the lines of code, the whole kit-n-kaboodle shows up waaay down at the bottom! WHY? no matter how i manipulate those lines, the dang thing just does not do what i want it to do. did i add the lines in the wrong place? can i not add a banner there? what gives? anyone? help!? jeez.

Kim & I went to the Journey/Def Leppard concert!

2006-10-26T18:08:00.000-05:00

no, i don't have any pictures of the event but WOW DID I HAVE FUN!!! I never had the chance to go to see those guys when they were 'IT' but it was just as fun to see them now! took me back to the 80's in a big way... plenty of people were dressed up, or still wear the same since way back then! crazy people. i didn't see truly big hair or jelly anything, we didn't get any beer spilled on us and we did not leave stoned. yay! i was rather shocked when i pulled up to the event and the area was not packed with cars! further shock ensued when upon entering the arena, i saw LOTS of empty seats! WHAT? This is Journey AND Def Leppard in one night! together! what's going on? oh yeah. time is what is going on. try over 20 years worth of time! i was almost aghast, flabbergasted even but nevertheless enjoyed the concert immensely. no one took their clothes off or got into a fight! it was perfect. i'm surprised that we weren't hoarse the next day though! we sang (shouted) our hearts out! kim and i needed that outing! very therapeutic folks! you oughta try it some time...

kim and dallas have Mario (the Afghan hound) and Charlie (standard poodle) out at the obedience classes tonight so that leaves Mei Mei and I to fend for ourselves. hmm... what is a daddy to do? let's play! hippity hoppity hippity hoppity! sing daddy sing! the local jazz station is pumping out some excellent tunes tonight! let's eat some chili! then daddy is going to read his archery magazine. want some icecream? it's chocolate chip! wait, let me change your diaper first. daddy may not be able to smell what you've done but he sure can read the signs! your quiet demeanor and tear in your eye tells me everything that a daddy needs to know...

Dallas in his football rags

2006-10-22T20:30:00.000-05:00

Dallas in his football rags
Originally uploaded by KDCNMorales.

aaaaah the fall! i love it! best time of year! only if you live up north that is! my family in Florida? hot and sweaty still. yuck. my friends in Kansas? they don't quite get the change of colors that we do! temps are crazy too. sorry gang! come to Wisconsin and i'll show ya!!!

Dallas is doing great with his football stuff and looking forward to next year! wait. next year? HIGH SCHOOL??? yikes! zoiks! already? unbelievable. mei mei? yup. growing up just as fast! can we feed them a little less, perhaps? what a riot! they are both having a lot of fun during the fall! perhaps next year we can go fishing too! Dallas is itching to go fishing. i want to take the atv on a trail, kim can take a horse. lots of trails to hike on out here! camping too! crystal clear streams! so cool. i just came back an hour or so ago from hiking through the woods and i am exhausted! i love the woods...

right now we are watching Discovery ATLAS - Australia. anyone watching this series? this earth of ours is amazing. anyone up for travelling the globe? mei mei is a little tornado.

dad is doing SO MUCH BETTER! he's out of isolation too! his blood count is improving but he still has more chemo to go through. his arm is healing nicely too. after all of that is over, THEN his cardiologist can do his thing! he still needs to go through a heart cath to see whats up with his coronary arteries! i wish that i could be there for that! go dad! we're all praying for you!

Moroki's Silver Dawn (Mario)

2006-10-09T13:18:00.000-05:00

Moroki's Silver Dawn (Mario)
Originally uploaded by KDCNMorales.

so kim has a new dog... any surprise here? not to those of you who know us! how many dogs do we have now? again? wow. 3 are show dogs though. my farmdog is my personal favorite though! she rocks. We just picked up Mario this past Saturday just past Indianapolis. it took us 8 hours or so to get there! what a trip! Dallas and Mei Mei behaved pretty darned good though, considering the time spent just sitting! traffic through Chicago was the pits! don't take the bypass folks! it's also a toll road with miles and miles of ongoing construction. yuck. we arrived at Morokis kennel around one or two in the afternoon (we left at 0600) and were greeted by a symphony of dog barks, howls and yelps! sounds just like home! what fun! This lady breeds and shows Akita dogs. her dogs are absolutely beautiful. she is now doing Afghan hounds and we purchased one of her first from her first litter. Dallas was a huge help as we were there for two hours talking dogs, signing papers, and just plain milling around getting to know the owner and she, us. driving through was so beautiful! i love the fall with all the brilliant colors! i need to take a walk through one of these forests! i love it! grab a dog or two and go!
the trip back was relatively uneventful and that is a good thing! it took us six hours even though we went through the heart of Chicago. what a view! so awesome! that is a city with some history to it! wow! just prior to hitting the suburbs of Chicago, Mario started to fuss and figet... hmmm... gotta potty? let's find somewhere to stop. NO MARIO! NOT NOW! yep. he pooped in Kim's hand! gooey puppy poop!

to be continued...

my pops

2006-09-18T18:27:00.000-05:00

IMG_0375
Originally uploaded by KDCNMorales.

that's him on the right w/Mei Mei... love him like any good son should! he's been a good dad to me, you know? he's the best! why am i writing about my dad all of a sudden? well, lately he has not been acting very well, er, rather, not feeling very well. blame it on his arthritis and hard work! like any good dad, he's an excellent provider and a hard worker. they just don't make em like they used to! right dad? well, dad had a fall a few months back and hit his head pretty good. subsequent ct scans showed a good solid noggin though! way to go dad! i always knew that you were a hard headed son of a gun! love ya! dad is getting 'up there' in age, you know, past 40. past 50. around that 60 year old mark. doing great so far! so why the 'not so good health'? working too hard? long crazy hours? probably. he doesn't eat red meat anymore though. never smoked in his life. his wonderful wife, which happens to be a great RN, takes great care of him! hmmm. recently, still feeling rather down, his doctor suggested a series of tests... let's check out your heart, he said. no problem! dad didn't have any chest pains! this will be cake. nope. the stress test stressed him out and he failed that test! uh oh. cardiac problems? pulmonary issues? couldn't be, he breaths just fine and can still work a full shift no sweat! his knees though, those are def. a problem! further tests, ecg's and what not pointed to his heart though. has a couple blocked arteries actually! what? did he have a silent heart attack? he has yet to have his heart cath procedure performed! who knows? doesn't look good though. doctor says, come in next week though, you'll be fine. nothing to worry about. we'll work you up and do the heart cath soon... next thing you know, dad is admitted to the hospital in a negative ventilation room with, get this:

LEUKEMIA!!!!

What? you have got to be freaking kidding me!!! no way. i don't believe it. dad didn't either, at first. mom just got married and is off on a marathon bike trip for untold miles and states! good for her! be careful mom! come back safe. she is staying in touch and being part of the 'support crew' like me. those of us that are too far away to be able to 'be there' for my dad can always call and lend a receptive ear or two, you know? we'll be there for you pops, we all will. i have yet to hear what type of leukemia it is though. mom heard this morning that it is the worse, most aggressive type. what type? she doesn't know as the doctor used medical mumbo jumbo and dad couldn't remember the exact name but the effect was the same. cancer. aggressive. chemotherapy. life expectancy. good Lord. what are we to do? my family and i have a trip to Orlando scheduled for November! we are GOING to make this trip happen come hell or high water! i need to see my mom and dad again now more than ever. i was JUST THERE fer cryin out loud! it was for mom's wedding! happy times! now this. great. thanks.
Dad, I love you like you'll never know. Words fail a person in times like these but know that my family and I will do whatever it takes to help you. If all that we can do is pray, and you know that I am not a prayin man, I will pray. I'll be here to listen, if all that you need is for someone to listen. Call me anytime! My cellphone is on most of the time (24/7 when I'm on-call!), the house phone is usually available, Kim's cell is mostly available and even Dallas now has his own cellular phone! You can reach me one way or another, I'll even give you my work number!

I'll see you soon dad. I love you.

Nixy Jose
hijo primojenito
te quiero mucho!

Neenda papa. ninda.

2006-09-12T16:20:00.000-05:00

can anyone help me with this one? i really have no idea what it is that Mei Mei is trying to say here! she says it quite often too! sometimes loudly and other times very softly and rather coy. hmm. now she is FINALLY saying "i love you" though! or something to that affect! she's so adorable... speaking of adorable, Dallas is having his FIRST FOOTBALL GAME tonight! YES! i took four hours off call tonight to be able to be there and hopefully photograph him in action! Kim said that he looked very handsome this morning in full football regalia! i wish that i could've seen him but Mei Mei and i had left home at about 5:30. this time of year is great but it is now taking on a whole new meaning for us as a family! i am very happy that my family will finally be able to experience a northern winter and change of seasons as i did as a child! the kids are active in school and we are having a good time enjoying nature! this is so great! i am one happy camper, let me tell ya! a dream come true really.
gonna run now and dress Mei Mei in her cool fall clothing. we need to be there early and get a good spot! now where did this child put her cereal? jeez. can't look away for very long, huh?

One Year Later...

2006-09-06T21:10:00.000-05:00

folks, it's been one whole year since i left Hays America to come to work out here in beautiful Wisconsin! (love the cheese!) amazing how time flies! Dallas in now in EIGTH GRADE and approaching 14 years of age! Mei Mei has turned two in June and both kids are adorable as can be! i feel very blessed although right now, as i write this, i am exhausted and sweaty from working around the house doing chores all by my lonesome. kim is currently working nights and that has left us all with a sour taste in our collective mouths. yuck. i wish that i could post some pictures of Dallas at practice but i have yet to see him at it! he's having so much fun! i am very glad and thankful that he went to Kansas this summer and made peace with himself. he is now starting the school year fresh, from the beginning, with new friends. he is very excited about most things again and the general attitude around the house has lightened noticeably. we are still up to our eyeballs with work around here and the house is in a perpetual state of dissaray but it is a happy mess! just ignore our grumbling as we enter the door each and everyday though! will this stuff ever end? didn't we JUST clean this and that? amazing.
even though we are working our buns off, we may not be able to head to Florida this November! our projects around the house and responsibilities are keeping us mired in a perpetual bog of work and general 'fixing up' of, well, things! we need to get ready for the winter and the house still has some issues that need tending to. we are all in need of fresh winter undergarments and whatnot too! i love it! we still try to get out and live a little but the checks and balances of life sometimes dictates that we forego certain items to do others. we need to rearrange priorities regularly as lifes' events come rolling our way. time will tell. (gas prices will be most telling too)
my trip to Florida was bittersweet in that i really enjoyed going and driving around to reminisce but on the same token, i realize just exactly why we left! it was a good decision even though we left many loved ones behind. i miss my parents, friends and Kim's family too. i felt surrounded by a bunch of wonderful people but then again, i spent 17 years of my life there! SOMETHING good is bound to come of that! life is too crazy there though and the humidity! oh the humidity! it's a killer... simply standing at mom's wedding left me sweating profusely! yuck! trying to hold on to a sweaty slippery daughter in one hand and a slippery sweat infused camera on the other sure was interesting! sorry that i didn't take/post more pictures!
speaking of the wedding, my new family is very good looking! wow! what a great bunch! hey mom! you did great! what a catch! Louis is amazing, what a guy. his kids, though quiet, are kind and very intelligent, hard working people. i enjoyed thoroughly listening to Louis talk about his life's exploits and all that he has done and accomplished. what an amazing man. he seems content with life and i like that. he and mother go bike riding together and enjoy each others company in ways that only age and experience can accomplish (or polish!). i felt very relaxed in their home and felt welcome too. Mei Mei sure spiced things up for all of us too! what a ham! she is a riot! such a wonderful child! she tolerated the plane trips better than daddy did too! i received many comments on how well behaved she was and i was very proud. we had many setbacks and delays but she took them all with aplomb! only during the very last flight towards the middle of the flight did she finally let go and start crying. what was i to do though? we had exhausted all of our food and drink! i could not console her and i thought that this was just going to make us all very miserable for the last half our of the (late) flight! but wait! what's this? the young, beautiful and sexy stewardess come to the rescue? did someone prompt her to do this? NO! this gal, though serving drinks near the back of the plane, came all the way forward to tend to Mei Mei's cries!!!!!!! i fell instantly in love with that woman! an angel come to rescue us all! i don't think that she realized that in that one minute of her time, and the rest of the passengers time, she totally changed the demeanor of us on board. Mei Mei instantly quieted down and started singing again and just went back to being her regular happy self! wow. Chandrie, thank you so much! suddenly, all of the days problems just melted away and my thoughts turned happy once again and looked forward to seeing my family reunited again! once i arrived at the airport though, what happened? happy ending? of course not! one last blow needed to be dealt. no luggage. no surprise there though so i was not upset, just extremely tired. Mei Mei? still singing and playing quietly and unobtrusively! amazing precious child. air rage was averted. no stiff drinks were consumed or profanity was uttered. the thoughts were certainly there though! my luggage arrived at home promptly the next day too. gotta love DELTA. yes, the trip was an absolute success! loved it! i wish that i could've seen a few friends and family but it felt good to relax and enjoy the company of my parents. both sets of them!
Thank you all! I love you all very much!
Sincerely and forever,

Nixy
p.s.
'Uncle' Joe, though unmentioned in my post, played a crucial role too! thanks go to him too!
:-)

'57 Caddy

2006-09-03T11:49:00.000-05:00

wedding 050
Originally uploaded by KDCNMorales.

so no, perhaps this picture has nothing to do with my mothers wedding on Friday night but it played a role in it anyway. Mom's husband is pretty amazing and has an amazing collection of rare vehicles that he has restored all by himself! He's a great man and mom is pretty lucky/happy to have found him! Hector, Dad and I are pretty happy for her too... i didn't take many pictures as i was chasing Mei Mei mostly and making sure that she didn't go near the pool unattended! the ceremony was short and sweet too, which i liked. no long drawn out speeches. the humidity woulda killed us! at least the kids behaved pretty well and the rains quit before the ceremony so all went well.
Mei Mei and i are headed back home monday afternoon and i just can't wait! then we'll return in november... good times.

family day out!

2006-08-26T22:37:00.000-05:00

even Isobel had fun!
Originally uploaded by KDCNMorales.

so far, in the few months that we have been living here in Green Bay, we have done more and gone to more places than in the three years that we lived in Kansas. still love Kansas though! amazing... so even though i didn't take all of the pictures that i wanted to due to kim and i separating, check them out for a small pictorial story of our day today. Mei Mei and Dallas (and even the Chihuahua) had tons of fun today! we walked and walked and then we walked some more! i don't think that we saw everything that there was to see though. Dallas and i shot expensive high tech modern Bowtech parallel limb bows! Dallas shot a dreaded 'black rifle', an assault rifle! an awesome DPMS carbine w/a collapsible stock chambered in .223 Remington! best 5 bucks we spent all day! happy kid! he could not drive any of the ATVs or vehicles but we participated in those events too! you shoulda seen all of the boats, trailers, atv's and whatnot that there was displayed! i know, that's the purpose of the festival! so cool. tomorrow we would like to go to the downtown Green Bay 'Art Street' art extravaganza in the streets of historic downtown Green Bay! (did ya like that sentence?) that should be interesting! i hope that the weather holds, or improves! it was overcast and muggy today. we are all tired and happy. plenty of exercise was had by all. i am not on call. that is all. g'nite ya'll!

cheesy, i know but i am tired! canoe dreams await...

Kim and I celebrated 6 years!

2006-08-14T22:06:00.000-05:00

walking through a trail in Penninsula State Park in Door Cty
Originally uploaded by KDCNMorales.

Life is grand.... and then you go to work to be told that you need to be spoken to for 'performance issues'. nice.

NOT THE TOPIC TODAY!!! quit it already! no negatives! good.

We all had a grand time yesterday! oh yes. ALL of us! we left the dishes and laundry to go hiking! oh yes. a lifelong dream realized for me and an eye opener for my family! yes, the weather was about perfect (70's) and we were all pumped to go exploring some woods! too bad that it was a bit overcast! check out my pictures! just a few because we were so tired walking up and down these trails! we need to do this more often! there are some trails that we can take the ATV and others for the horses so we will explore those in good time too. so nice. so relaxing. love it.
Dallas is starting FOOTBALL practice this Wednesday! yikes! i wish that i could be there! i'll be there for weekend pratice though! wow. kid's growing up fast! he's very handsome too. you should see.
i'm going to bed now. tired. need to be in to work by 0600 tomorrow. gotta wake The Cakes up earlier than normal. this'll be fun! c ya!

untitled

2006-08-12T12:22:00.000-05:00

it's tough to post on a regular basis when, well, we are all so happy and everything is going well! not much going on either! Dallas will be starting FOOTBALL this monday though! ouch. stay tuned. school starts soon after... Mei Mei is still the most adorable/beautiful/cuddly baby in the whole wide world! what a precious child she is! Dallas too is incredibly tall and handsome! good grief! Kim and I celebrate a six year wedding anniversary thing tomorrow! yippee! three days later we'll celebrate her birthday! what fun! the weather out here is still in the 70's. are you jealous or what? well, just come on out here then! there's plenty for everyone! plenty of room! plenty of homes and jobs! you won't regret it! life is good

Green Bay Tall Ships Festival!!!

2006-07-31T21:46:00.000-05:00

100_1942
Originally uploaded by KDCNMorales.

your probably wondering where the 'Tall Ships' are! you'll just have to click on my pictures link to find out! there's one problem though... i only took a few pictures before the battery died! it was overcast too! bummer! not even an hour after the battery decided to leave me 'high and dry', the sun came out and the ships just looked resplendant! so cool! what fun! Dallas had been rather cranky up until this point! he was in awe at the ships! we learned that some of them give tours and others give summer 'camps'!!!! yippeee! we're sending the kids off for the summer! just kidding. wouldn't that be fun though? we'll look into that for Dallas next year! speaking of sending Dallas off, one of the local racetracks around here has a drag racing program for teenagers! oh yeah baby! i may not be able to afford karting lessons for Dallas but we can certainly go drag racing! he'll have to learn on my truck first though! not much fun but safer! THEN we can cajol mom into lending us her HHR!!! THEN maybe he can learn on my MUSTANG!!! yeah. right. not the Stang! too much power. what am i thinking? my kids are wonderful, that's what!
we've all been extremely busy the last few weeks! i took call for two weeks straight and that nearly killed me! rough! jeez. kim is working a different shift for the moment and that has us all askew. akimbo. whacked out. tired. Dallas is looking forward to going to 8th grade! Mei Mei will be moving to another room in day care too! moving up! our Chihuahua made friends w/a coworkers Chihuahua this past weekend too! grrrr! ours is female and unfixed, theirs is male and fixed. what fun! we'll go there again. Dallas has one of his friends over for the night and they'll be up playing xbox all night but in the meantime, i need to prepare the house for my brothers arrival tomorrow! him and his girlfriend will arrive sometime in the afternoon. just in time to beat the heat! this weather has been worse than that of central florida! even my cohorts in Hays don't have it this bad! that's right. Kansas has nothing on this heat right now! we have had 100 degree days W/NEARLY 100 PERCENT HUMIDITY!!! take THAT! ouch. by wednesday though, the forcast calls for a high of 71. go figure. that's July upnort fer ya!
well, gotta keep cleaning, folding, vacuuming, wiping, eating, drinking, washing... i've got a long night ahead of me still.

K&N install on my 2006 HHR!

2006-07-02T17:13:00.000-05:00

100_1930
Originally uploaded by KDCNMorales.

holy smokes people! i should have taken pictures from beginning to end but i really didn't think that a 'simple' filter replacement would take me several hours! granted, i've never done it on an HHR but, really! what a pain! what i thought was a simple engine cover, wasn't. this IS the air housing! the screws that hold this contraption together are behind and underneath the apparatus! no, that's not all! there are two other nuts that need to be removed down by the engine block! realistically, i should have removed the two nuts FIRST! then disconnect the various air hoses and electrical bits that are attatched to the box. there is one screw that i thought should have been removed (i nearly stripped it) but didn't need to be. what a pain! it just goes on and on... oh yes, i used a 1/8 inch hex key, which i lost in the back of the engine somewhere. the screws ARE NOT hex heads! they are those funky star shaped thingies! folks, please use the proper tools! next up will be a cat-back exhaust from Magnaflow! good stuff. i love it!

24hrs of Lemans!!!!!

2006-06-17T10:46:00.000-05:00

please join me in watching, once again, the 24 HOURS OF LEMANS!!! love it!

in other news...

i am working on uploading ALL of my pictures from China so come back every now and then to check em out! there are over 400 so it will take me a month or so at these dial-up speeds!

thank you. gotta go.

Mei Mei is sick. Dallas is upstairs. Kim and her mom are hittin' the rummage sales...

2006-06-05T22:02:00.000-05:00

well i'm sitting here with kim's laptop on my lap, waiting for a picture to upload... waiting... waiting... still waiting... yup. still. waiting. wow. could take all night folks!

we had such a good time today! Mei Mei, Dallas and Kim all went to the zoo! Mei Mei loves the outdoors and she absolutely adores animals so what better thing to do than support our local zoo? we just need to remember to keep bug spray/wipe/ointment stuff with us at all times! we aren't too sure what got to her face but it sure did get swollen! sad Cakes. didn't dampen her enthusiasm one bit really. such a happy girl. for her birthday, she recieved lots of 'Hello Kitty' items! YAY! she wants her diaper changed on her new Hello Kitty blanket! she naps with her new Hello Kitty doll and even cooks and has tea with her! she also got a new kitchen set with a basket to put her shopping things in! she loves to put things in baskets! she played quietly by herself for a long time after we arrived at the house because she was just so into her new kitchen! she even picked up after herself too! can you show older brother how to do that Mei Mei? for cake, i bought some Klondike bars in plain vanilla and Reeses Pieces! Mmmm! says Catarina as she smooshes it all over her mouth! good stuff dad! thank you! 'sounds like titoo' two years old... wow. it was such a short while ago that we brought her home and spent two wonderful weeks in China! let's do that again Mei Mei! we all love you so much! you are growing up so fast! you do so well in everything! you love to eat, nap, play, run around with brother! he's so good to you, isn't he? grow up big and strong, O.K.? good night Mei Mei! 'nye nye' she says! see you later! prayers and kisses!

on life, and Luther...

2006-05-26T22:05:00.000-05:00

Why are we being punished? Why did Luther have to die? The last few years have been extremely trying times, to say the least. Now THIS? Why? It's not fair. Kim is devastated. This was her baby! Her Mighty Fortress! The leaning tower of Luther. You'd know what I mean if you ever met him, or any other Borzoi for that matter! I always thought that HE was going to finish ME off with all that hair! I was so allergic to that dog... But I too miss him dearly. I finally broke down and had a good cry after work tonight. I was researching plaques, stones, garden monuments and I just couldn't hold back any more. Damn dog! Dogs are my weak spot. I love all dogs. Even those that annoy me or threaten to give me an asthma attack! Those that pee and poop inside the house (they all do) or eat your food or lick you on the mouth are all game to me. I love dogs! I even play Nintendogs on my DS. Luther was special though! He was big and dumb! All fluff and big goofy woof! Oogly eyes! Crazy huffing dog. He was a very sweet, lovable lap dog. Yes, he always thought that he was a small cuddly lap dog as he was raised by 7 Jack Russell Terriers! You should have seen him the first time that he was in the ring! Talking and jumping about! Just like a Jack Russell puppy! It made everyone, including the judge, laugh but it surely didn't get him anywhere that day! Don't forget to check out the 'pictures' link to see some dog pix! Luther and friends... I miss him so much. Damn dog. I want to let Tammy and Tony know that he will always be loved. That he will always be with us and remembered fondly. He was a bright, white spot in our lives if even for a short while. Luther was a lover of all things! Car rides! The outdoors! Chasing things! Licking small children! Leaning on adults. Laying in the cool grass! Sleeping on a secluded slab of cold cement! What a fine dog he was. So cute. So cuddly. Utterly adorable. He will be missed...

Dallas sings again!

2006-05-23T21:35:00.000-05:00

i need a monopod! i cannot possibly hold the camera still/steady enough for dark photography! so it's a little blurry folks! Dallas is in the back, head down, arms crossed... contemplating. they sounded so good! i am so glad that Dallas loves to sing! i wish that he would've stayed in the band because that is even better! at least for me as i was in the band in high school and absolutely loved it! the trips were even better! oh the stories! i wonder what stories Dallas will accumulate? the Luxemburg/Casco school district put this 'Spring Concert' on in the downtown historic Meyer theater and it was absolutely gorgeous inside! i took a few pictures but they turned out absolutely, well, dark. i don't have the time to fiddle w/the images and post them. sorry folks. the one picture that was viewable is very blurry. hmmm. anyway. half way through the concert, i had to come home and bring in The Cakes as she was getting loud and cranky. what happened Mei Mei? she loves music but not this time! oh. she was hungry, thirsty and tired daddy! sorry! we came home, sat on the picnic table out back and had some chicken! mmmm! Mei Mei said! then we came back inside to give her a shower. such tears! why the crying? she loves the shower! what? momma does it better? thanks. so i quickly dried her off, put fresh diapers on and wrapped her up in some clean warm jammas! oh happy girl! 'nigh nigh' Mei Mei said! yes little one! time for nite nite! where's your favorite stuffy? will it be the turtle tonight? no? the pink doggy! ok Mei Mei! let's go! look at her walk up the stairs like a big girl! one step with each foot! big steps, careful there Catarina. you are so big and smart! once in the crib, you again arranged your stuffies in just the right places and then i went ahead and covered you in your favorite fleece blanky to say prayers. such a funny girl! why are you laughing? papa make you laugh? let's pray... Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul keep. The Angels watch me through the night, until I wake in the morning light. Amen. nite nite precious! i love you! nigh nigh Mei Mei said! see you later! what's this that i hear? mom and Dallas home now? yay! i wonder how his concert finished? what fun! i love you too Dallas! now go take a shower. no complaints! jeez kid. hugs all around. see you later...

Dallas does good.

2006-05-20T13:09:00.000-05:00

so here he is doing his school project... chocolate chip cookies! what a huge mess was found all around afterwards though! holy smokes batman. poor Dallas ended up making two whole batches as he didn't quite follow the ingredient instructions to the letter and the cookies ended up pretty flat! some burned up and stuck to the pan, which needed to be thrown out. wow. i quickly ran to the grocery store before it closed and saved the day (night)! i think that he ended up making about 60 cookies and he told me that some kids ended up asking for a third helping and that he got a good grade on the presentation. way to go kid! i wonder how much of the batter he ended up eating in the raw though... we finally finished cleaning the kitchen only today. amazing. he loves cooking though! Kim bought a small charcoal grill a couple weeks ago and now that is the hot ticket to dinners. literally. what fun! spring is great! what are all YOU kids doing out there? don't you love this time of year? everyone is happy. i've even seen several Red Fox too! plenty of love-struck turkey too. it's so funny to watch them puffed up and strutting around. let's go camping! Dallas, Mei Mei and i will take a bike ride around here a little later on today. the weather is great! a little too windy but that's o.k., we won't complain! oh yes, we'll plant some strawberries, raspberries and blackberry bushes too! we even have two trees to plant! a Weeping Willow and a Red Maple for now will do just fine thank you! Arbor Day still has to send us 8 more trees though! i forgot what they were exactly but it was a mix of flowering trees and shade trees. go back and see my pictures of this place and you'll notice that there aren't any big trees around! evergreens were planted a year or two ago but they are still very tiny. look again in a few years though and see the transformation! i hope that it will all turn out in a good way!
Dallas just changed Mei Mei's poopy diaper and now she's running after him with the wipes and powder! put it away Dallas! so funny! hey! put her pants back on kid! she loves that boy like there's no tomorrow! let's go outside...

grumpy got busted!

2006-05-18T16:51:00.000-05:00

grumpy got busted!
Originally uploaded by KDCNMorales.

now THIS is interesting! Kim called me at work early this morning to tell me that our neighbor was getting raided by the SWAT team and she wasn't kidding! wow. perhaps he'll get taken away for good! no more threats! no more worries! perhaps the feds will allow us to buy the property for 500 bucks per acre and we'll rent it out! whatever. i wonder what really happened over there and what's going to happen now?

Mine!

2006-05-08T20:37:00.000-05:00

Mine!
Originally uploaded by KDCNMorales.

my work life may not be very stellar right now but let me tell you a little something about my children! they are so stinkin' wonderful (when they are not being headstrong!). such sweet kids... Today, May the 8th, marks exactly one year with The Cakes! Crazy Cakes! remember? this is the best thing that we have done in a long time! Dallas is very proud to be an older, protective brother. check out the photo history! what a change! these kids grow too fast! can we feed them once or twice a day or something? if you could only hear their sweet melodious voices every now and then! speaking of voices, Dallas' voice is changing! have you talked to him lately? so funny! no cracking or octave skipping yet but def. a big change! he's becoming a man! so scary. so much work! Kim and I were never like that! nope. Mei Mei just said, "I'm gonna go nite nite!". pretty close, at least. she still speaks Cantonese. or greek. same thing. so adorable. you know, i recently bought the best of Poison and Guns-n-Roses cd's and Mei Mei jammed to those tunes too! cracks me up! is there any kind of music that she doesn't like? good for her. Well, Kim, Mei Mei and I are going to put her bike stroller together before we all go 'nite nite'!
P.S. if you ever come across Hersheys Special Dark Espresso chocolate, stock up on that stuff! it's the smoothest, best tasting chocolate that i have ever had! bar none. oh yes. wow.

let's go!

2006-05-07T11:01:00.000-05:00

let's go!
Originally uploaded by KDCNMorales.

so Mei Mei had some pop tarts that mom gave her... bad momma! Mei Mei loved the boxe that our ionic pro filters came in on though! she just loves things! very tactile child. now that spring is here, she'll be outdoors more often playing w/brother! (see brother mow some grass!) see you later! that was a quote from The Cakes herself. such a smart girl!

darn...

2006-05-03T20:20:00.000-05:00

sorry folks, but i cannot upload photos using Kim's laptop! yes, i have pop-ups enabled from this site but the little button thingy still won't work! just click on the link though as i can still use the flickr uploadr though! whew!

Mei Mei is on my lap right now saying, "bye bye! see you later!" to all of us. so funny! she is talking so much lately! she's been super active, really. hurricane Mei Mei is loose! lil' Tornado! we've quit trying to clean up after the children until after they've both gone to bed! what a mess this place is! so gross... both kids are growing up so stinking fast! why? Dallas is incredibly tall (and handsome), Mei Mei is bigger, faster, more agile and more talkative than ever. what a riot! i can't keep up! i'd like to post some pictures of the things that Dallas is making in school! The Cakes makes some cute things at daycare too. i can't possibly post them all with this cheesey dial up connection!

green bay is getting nice and green again! i love spring! this will be a good year...

Saturday 4/21/06 about 6:30p.m.

2006-04-22T18:27:00.000-05:00

oh happy day! thunderstorms have come and gone today, perfect reading weather! Mei Mei is polishing up on one of her favorite subjects! modified mustangs rule. dallas and his friend Patrick are upstairs doing the x-box thing. what'll we make for dinner? bbq chicken? mac-n-cheese? i dunno but kim and i are enjoying ice-cream as we read though! "YUM! YUM!" says Mei Mei. she's so funny! and active fer cryin out loud! never a dull moment, worse than a jack russell puppy - we should know! she's getting into (and out of) everything! gets kinda scary sometimes. Dallas brought her down this morning as she was trying to walk down the stairs... she had climbed out of her crib and was headed down! sheesh! she also has a little trash can that she loves to sit on, or move it to strategic places so that she can climb on them! what a little booger. Dallas says that his grades are all up! straight A's! really? finally! keep it up kid! good job. now what do you want for dinner? what are we gonna do tomorrow? it should be raining the next few days with temps in the 50's or so. speaking of outside temps, we have a naughty Fjord that has figured out how to get under the electric fence! Isa simply turns her head so that the fence lays across her mane and then simply pushes through... what a naughty horse. warmbloods tend to be that way though.

Well, the sun is back out again. At least for awhile. it should be a beautiful sunset tonight. not like we had in Kansas but just the same, they are a sight to behold. nature at it's best!

NICE!!!

2006-04-19T20:58:00.000-05:00

so Luther is back home again! guess what? Mei Mei absolutely adores white dogs! she chases Luther around all the time saying, loudly, "NICE!" it's so funny! when Josie came home, yes, we have a standard poodle now too, she went nuts! NICE! when she went to Kingman with Kim, all of the horses were hers. MINE! she loves animals! what a fabulous child. dallas and her have been horsing around a lot lately too! the weather has had a lot to do with it, i'm sure. it's been in the 60's with light winds and partly cloudy - perfect! i love it. we have all been going out for 2 and 3 mile walks regularly too! what fun! the sheep are still here but their days are numbered. they are headed to a petting farm and a better life soon. in their place though, we have a chihuahua, the standard poodle and a class A miniature horse. what a riot. the horse will arrive in July though. stay tuned.

Dallas says that he now has straight "A's"! really dude? let's see your report card man! he is so stinkin tall! he isn't even 15 years old! yikes. Mei Mei will always be short, petite and cute. what a duo! i love it!

Sat. 4/15/06

2006-04-15T16:48:00.000-05:00

so i can't post pictures!? why not? jeez. i had some good ones too! i'll try flickr, check out my link! yup, it worked. slow connection though so only one at a time please! thank you very much. speaking of pictures, i was sent one of someone holding an EPT thingy and it said "PREGNANT" on it! i wonder who that was? is? holy smokes batman! is it whom i think that it is? wow woman! the other family of ours in our circle has started the paper process for another child and we have stalled due to events beyond our control. i wish them luck, love and happiness forever and ever! congratulations all of you!

I'm done

2006-04-08T22:41:00.000-05:00

Kim broke her promise to me. twice now. why do I bother? we will be a farm family forever. farm pets. farm things. i just don't wanna take care of them all. not my thing. jeezzus. Dallas and I had a great time at the Bulls and Broncs Chute Out tonight! money well spent. the funniest thing i ever saw was "Whiplash" the rodeo monkey! that was a hoot! to see a monkey riding a dog, herding small sheep was a total crack up! tiny cowboy hat, bandana, lead rope and all! so funny! what will tomorrow bring? g'nite all!! oh yes, the little class A pony is allegedly Mei Mei's. that's the excuse. ok. whatever kim. i hear he's very cute.

fri nite/sat morn

2006-04-07T23:58:00.000-05:00

ok kids, i haven't posted in awhile due to schedules, work, home, life... i've many ups and downs lately. dallas dropped the f-bomb recently and i wanted to hurt him. bad. i don't like for anyone to speak to Kim in a nasty way, I don't like to see her hurt. but when it comes from your own child? saying the f-word? i don't think so. work life has not been good either. what is wrong with these people? there is no harmony. everyone for themselves. yeah, i do my share of boneheaded things but no one steps up to help or offer words of encouragement/advise. nothing. you'll certainly hear about it later though! jackasses. perhaps i should consider a career change. who knows. later, perhaps.

dallas and i had a good day today though. i came home early, much to his surprise. i was here when he arrived at 3:30! we hung out for awhile and then i told him that we were going out! since Kim and Mei Mei left, he's been saying "I love you" more often and today he mentioned that we needed this time together. what a sport. great kid, really he is! we went to return an item at Target and walked around goofing off for awhile. we were hungry and i was going to take him to the famous wisconsin friday night fish fry somewhere here in green bay but then we decided that bbq would be much better! boy were we ever right! good choice Dallas! he had a half (!) rack of ribs and i had a 1/2 lb bison burger. so good. the 22oz guinness draught was excellent and dallas had a rootbeer float. we both agreed that it was the best dinner we had had in a long time! guy time. great time. we walked off our dinner at the mall and watched the teenagers goofing off around us. dallas was apalled but i informed him that pretty soon, he'd be doing the same thing! he promised that he wouldn't be so dorky. he likes grey/white and not black so no maude/grunge/industrial look for him! he'll be a lady killer in white! we'll see. if i could figure out how to post a picture from my phone, i'd show him sleeping here beside me on the couch like an angel. so cute. so stinking tall too! good grief.

gonna go to bed now. long day later today! go-karts, archery and racing programs await! we need to do some serious house cleaning too! yikes. don't forget to watch the IROC races! F1! SPEED GT, SPEED TOURING! CART! oh yeah.

kids...

2006-03-23T19:25:00.000-06:00

yeah, Dallas is throwing a major fit right now... no, actually, he's been at it since he arrived this afternoon! butting heads in a major way. if we say 'A', he says 'B'. if we say 'B' he'll invariably say 'A'. how nice. even Mei Mei is at fault tonight! what's the deal here? gramma? grandpa? any ideas? it's kinda funny really. how long is this going to last? oh yes, the next few YEARS!!! jeez. if only you could be here now! aren't you all just jealous!? what fun.

Mei Mei is using her incredible repertoire of words regularly! SIT DOWN! SIT HERE! so funny! sit with you, cheese and shoos (juice) are favorites too! you gotta see the facial expressions when she says some of these things too! she is also now climbing the stairs regularly. yikes. not something that we were looking forward to! yeah, other kids do it and she does it a daycare, but, not here! Mei Mei NO!!! it's scary for the parents! where's that baby gate? oh yeah, she'll climb it! baby Joy is probably hot on her heals too! i wonder how they are doing... i miss them all so much! i wish that they could play together every day! heck, I am the one that wants to see them every day! they are so stinking cute! incredibly intelligent and so much fun!

well, i still have some laundry to do and the animals to feed... gonna rescue mom from the kids too. they are both being rowdy now. not feelin the love here. just cryin' and screamin' ttfn

Space Pies!

2006-03-18T12:25:00.000-06:00

why can't i upload pictures? jeez. Mei Mei is pronouncing her words better! These are her favorites words : space pies, MOM!, momma, juice, cheese, and finally, NO! so funny. Dallas returned from his trip a level two snowboarder... hmm. mom is working now. dallas, mei mei and I are hanging out for now. we have plenty of work to do around the house! always tons of work to do... i'm a little distracted right now so i'll log off and try again later as you kids won't get the gist of what the heck i'm trying to say! too incoherent. sorry.

Saturday, 3-4-06

2006-03-04T13:40:00.000-06:00

this more recent photo is kinda cute, huh? i like it so much that it is my current computer background image! don't let those cute faces fool ya though! these kids are dangerous! they work in tandem and they'll subvert you without you even being aware of what they are really doing to you! charming and cute. what a combination. they are both struggling to find their little 'niches' or to establish pecking order because they fight all the time too! Mei Mei is into "NO! NO! NO! NO! NO!" and Dallas is into "NO! I'M NOT GONNA!" also. who got what from whom? yikes. this place is quite the battlezone at times! then there are times like right now... peace and quiet reign supreme. the cat's soft feet are heard skulking around the corner and Cotton is woofing at everything outside. oh yes, Dallas is chomping open mouthed on some chips. yuck. anyone want to join? come on over! never a dull moment around here!
Dallas is very excited to go on his mini vacation in a few days! he'll have so much fun! time will go by way too quickly for him, that's fer sure! then he'll head on over to kansas in july for another short jaunt of fun and relaxation. oh yes, he now has his own cell phone. oh boy. useful though! he's been very responsible too which has surprised me! i thought that he'd burn through his allotted minutes in short order! what a good kid he is! did i mention that he is about 6 feet tall already? what the heck are we feeding this little monster? Mei Mei will be all of 5' 4" and big brother will tower over her at about 6' 4"! wow. she adores him! they crack me up. i think that i'll take them out for some snowboarding or skating in a while here... it's so nice outside today! lot's of snow and not much wind! perfect.

I'm back! lessee if i can upload a picture...

2006-02-25T16:52:00.000-06:00

Tadaaaah! there we are! (Dallas took the picture!) this was in the Packer's pro shop where Mei Mei and Dallas just looove to go! like kids in a candy store but candy would be much cheaper! hmmm. right now, Kim is at work, Dallas is cleaning upstairs, Mei Mei is napping and I am cleaning downstairs! so much fun! The kids and I took a one hour trip today to see a couple of historic towns by lake Michigan, it was such a beautiful day! Dallas was supposed to have had a short recital with his classmates but we took a wrong turn and arrived too late. sorry gramps! no singing pictures! we went to Algoma and Kewaunee. we had a great time! Dallas brought his skates but we did not find a suitable area to iceskate. the wind was blowing around 20 mph so the windchill was hovering around zero today, we would not have lasted too long out there anyway! we had fun and now we are going to give mom a surprise by cleaning up around this dump! sheesh!
Anyone watching the Olympics? I absolutely love the winter olympics! The U.S. might not be doing so hot but we are still doing very well and having lots of fun too! anyone want to try their hand at 'skeleton'? woohooo! did you see the 52 (62?) y/o 'grandma luge'? what a riot! check out the Japanese skater Arakawa! wow. that Hughs girl? oh yeah. anyway, i stray away. don't miss the closing ceremonies Sunday night! yeah, yeah, I know that it's the survivor finale and that there is yet another Titanic special on the History channel but, hey, the Olympics come only every FOUR years! don't miss it!
I feel better now. i'll go finish my chores too. the barn needs some attention! catch you all later!

Wednesday 2-1-06 and I am tired...

2006-02-01T09:52:00.000-06:00

Mei Mei is cranky and Dallas is being hateful... he hates me and he hates kim. we are 'ruining his life' he says. what a way to start the teenage years. kim and i are losing sleep and getting cranky with each other due to all the stress coming from all sides. no one feels like the other is helping with anything. nice, huh? life is not bad. really. just challenging now! i'm sure that kim and myself were not difficult kids, were we? nah. just ask OUR parents! goodness. dallas has a friend that is 'pro school' and into studying so he is helping him bring his grades up! he is also into the outdoors so they are becoming good friends. we approve. Mei Mei has been moody lately but is that a reflection of our overall feelings at home in general? is she feeling the strain? wow. we are all working things out but the stress is def. there. big household. lots of responsibilities. different ages, sexes, backgrounds, etc. normal family life! who said that it would be easy? i'm not as patient as i once was and that is not good/helpful. i'm working on that. we've been through a lot in the past year and it's def. showing! we'll be fine, i promise. we all love each other very much and are all investing in our future together. what a trip! i wouldn't change a thing...

Jan. 4, 2006

2006-01-04T10:08:00.000-06:00

well kids, we finally hooked up our computer at home and, well, oh well. we live too far out to get any repectable speeds from the internet. 25k dialup speeds are not conducive to uploading pictures. i can't really post from work and upload pictures and it's extremely slow at home and spotty service so i may not be posting too much now and that disappoints me greatly as i want to share Mei Mei and Dallas with my family! this was the easiest way for me... i'll see what i can do or come up with a creative solution to this dilemna. keep looking from time to time though! you never know when i'll post something new and exciting!

Dallas in Casco

2005-12-05T08:07:00.000-06:00

so we all went to our first Christmas concert! dallas was worried because, being the new guy, he didn't know the songs very well... yeah right! he sang his heart out! he loves to sing! he did quite well by us, that's fer sure! it seemed like all of the 7th and 8th graders were in the band, singing or otherwise involved in some music aspect. very nice kids! i love to listen to band! Mei Mei loved it too! she did not fuss one bit! the whole time that we were there, she just sat and danced, clapped and talked up a storm! what a riot! she sat and just stared at times in rapt attention then she would smile a huge beaming smile and sway or jump up and down on our laps. we all had so much fun! dallas was pumped afterwards too! he's such a turkey... you know, i saw two girls flirting with him too! he won't admit it but they would follow him with their eyes. he's so handsome! tall and sweet. get 'em big D! you're the man! he's still rather clueless to it all and that is fine with me! i'm very proud of him.

where's the computer?

2005-11-21T07:46:00.000-06:00

can't post at home and show pictures without a computer! it'll be found soon, i'm sure... i dropped Mei Mei off at the daycare center for the first time and i found that leaving her there, though in good hands, was hard! i dressed her up in her finest Packers outfit, she looked so good! as usual, i know. she's adorable. several other children and parents also had Packer paraphanelia and acoutrements. what fun! i'll go back and check on her later today. Kim is doing her orientation today also! today will be kinda crazy! it's already begun.

have patience!

2005-11-14T10:23:00.000-06:00

we still don't have the computer set up at home so i can't post pictures and whatnot yet! dallas has turned THIRTEEN though! jeez... what fun! he is a full inch taller than me too. yikes. he wants to do sports so bad, he's gonna be one strong teenager. we are all settling in pretty well. lot's of work to be done... wow.

11-5-05

2005-11-05T18:14:00.000-06:00

picture taken around 1P.M. today, the day before the game. tim has already parked 'Blue' in the shadow of Lambeau Field but there were at least 4 other vehicles scattered about that had staked a spot too. a short while later as tim and i were taking a beer break, these Steelers fans started harassing us so we invited them over for some cheap brew on us. what fun! by the time that i left at 6, the parking lot was almost full of campers and whatnot from all over Wisconsin, it seemed! what a riot! i'll return, on foot, tomorrow for the best tail-gateing to be had anywhere! this will be great! i hope that it doesn't rain... speaking of rain, the Morales caravan is making good time on their onerous journey to Wisconsin. don't ask Mei Mei though! she's mad! get me out of this stinking seat already! why is no one listening to my screams? yikes. stay tuned.

Friday night... 11-4-05

2005-11-04T20:29:00.000-06:00

today was hazy and dreary... my wife is sick. tempers are running amuck. the dogs are restless. children are crying. the Morales caravan/circus is slowly making it's way in a most ponderous manner towards Green Bay. i just hope that they all make it here safely. that is all that i want. that and for the Packers to kick some Steelers butt! yeah right.