A Bit Of Bragging

My Rissa (Carissa) is a budding Party Planner.  Somewhere in my house I have photos of a Bride’s Shower she did for a friend some years back.  Most recently she put together a huge “Retro” party, working with other people, for her church at a Dave and Busters (or is it Dave and Barry’s – I never can remember 😦 ) in Arizona.

For the Bride’s Shower she did an “Amazing Race – Hawaii” theme.  She picked up six wood pieces from a local craft/hobby store.  They are like small unfinished plaques.  She painted them in bright colors and had the island names put on each plaque.  Each plaque was placed in different areas of a backyard as “stations” for the participants to go to.  I really need to find those photos to do this bragging justice!!!

At a pool in the backyard, empty liquor bottles (she begged and wheedled them from friends) floated on the water.  The contestants were supposed to pick out the correct bottles that would be used in creating the Bride’s favorite “toddy for the body”, a Margarita.  That was fun watching the women use a pool skimmer to get the bottles they thought would be correct without falling in the water themselves.

By a set of playground equipment she had a grass skirt, coconut bra, ukulele, Hawaiian print shirt, and something else.  The contestants had to don the wardrobe, over their clothing, and create a song and dance.  It was timed for about a minute.  That was a riot watching the nervous contestants get with the program and really begin to shake their booties.

In the garage of the home Carissa had a “station” to create a lei.  She had fresh flowers, needles, and thread for the creation of beautiful neck wear.  That was really fun for me to watch one young girl and her grandmother sit at a table and create a lei to wear.

 

Gift box

Inside box

Proudly use mine

Carissa and her husband, Jaime, made these boxes.  She filled them with flip flops, a small candle, a small tube of sun screen, and I don’t remember what else.  These were placed atop the tables where the guests would be having something to eat later on.  I proudly use my hand created box in my craft room.  It is so handy to store my “tools” in!!

Her most recent party was a “Retro – Back To The 80’s” and it is her first “Open To The Public” party.  She shopped around at a local used book store for vinyl records she hung on the walls, used on tables, and bought a couple bowls that had been made from vinyl records.  She found candy from the 80’s and had different kinds of holders place on tables and throughout the room for the guests to enjoy.

She spent a couple weeks with a small group of friends to work out the “Thriller” dance and do it in front of everyone.  She had the audience participate in the Thriller dance by having them come up and dance along with the people that had practiced forever (she says it seemed).  She also had an “Air Guitar” contest.

This is the only thing I am able to get hold of from the Retro Party and I just love it.  It is a 31 second video of the “Thriller Dance”.  My Rissa is in front with the blonde hair and dressed in black.  I’M SO PROUD OF HER!!!!!!!

Anyone that has photos or video of the Retro Party, please – please – please, let me know how to get copies of them.  I’ll pay you for them!!!!

 

 

My Daughter Is Going To Kill Me

But…..I am so proud of her.

Do you remember, way back in July, the story of a couple friends of my daughter that were getting  married?  The couple that had known each other for over 10 years and were best friends?  Then, do you remember when I was at Carissa’s home in Arizona and we worked on her Squash Book Card?

She finished it the first of September and had it completed for her friends wedding.  Just in the knick of time, too.  I’ve been begging, wheedling, whining, doing guilt trips on her, and anything else I could do to persuade her to allow me to put up the video she sent me of her completed project.

I finally have her permission to do so.  Bout wore me out though 🙂

This video is NOT PUBLIC on YouTube.  It won’t be listed on either of my channels.  You can see this video by clicking here.

Carissa, I am so proud of you.  You have done a wonderful job with your VERY FIRST SQUASH BOOK EVER!!!!  Creating the record all by yourself and making it look so real…SUPERB.  Using the things you have on hand and making them work for you is so great.

You think there might be room in this world for a “Mother Daughter Team”?

Love you my Precious!  OUTSTANDING!!!!

Congratulations Loreli

Our daughter, Loreli (one of our Colorado daughters) has been picked by the hospital she works at to be a part of a team for Disaster Assistance.

Our Loreli is an ICU Trauma Nurse in Denver, Colorado.  She is really good at her job….I know because she has been called upon to be the go between with Joe’s doctors when he had his Prostate Cancer treatment and things went a bit wonky, and with me so I would know just what was going on.

Some of the people that work with her, or know of her, had told the Director of the Task Force for Disaster Assistance that she would be an ideal candidate.

Loreli is now sorting through all the paperwork for a very intrusive background check into her life over the past 10 years.  They needed all the names of her immediate family, their birth dates, and addresses along with a bunch of other information.

She’s being grilled as though she is going for a spot in a Top Secret, High Security Government Post.  Which I suppose she will be doing.

There is a team already set up that has been to Haiti for the earthquake, in New Orleans during the Katrina Hurricane damage, and to Indonesia somewhere when the Tsunami hit and destroyed so many lives.

Our Loreli will be contacted at a moments notice and told what flight to get on and where.  She, along with other nurses, doctors, pharmacists, and some police, will go to the areas where they are needed and she will be in the trenches for two weeks.

Quite a way to see the world and how other people live.  She will be working with all manner of ailments.  As if the car accidents, shootings, and stabbings she deals with now isn’t bad enough.

We are so proud of her.

Our Loreli only has one thing wrong with her.  She runs in marathons – which I think is AWESOME, she hikes mountains – again AWESOME, she and her adorable little dog Daisy Mae go to every Weiner Dog Race there is, again totally AWESOME.

Loreli has this thing with the Stair Master equipment at her local gym.  She will text me that she has just climbed 742 stories with the time she did it in.  Now I’m all for exercise – just need to get into it a bit myself – but 742 stories!!!!!  I love you Loreli and I’m so STINKING PROUD OF YOU – So is your Dad 🙂