We Will Never Say Goodbye

(My dad when he was three with Grandpa Knabe after they caught a big fish in Little Rock, Illinois)

I have so many good memories of my Grandpa Knabe. (with Grandma too). They took me, James my brother, Kellie my sister, to Sea World and Knott's Berry Farm when we were little. I wanted to go on the "big kid" roller coaster, and I remember my Grandpa fought hard for me to get on a roller coaster I was too short for. I wasn't able to go, but he gave that kid a hard time for not letting me on.

Grandma and Grandpa Knabe moved to Bakersfield when my little brother Bradley was born in 1993. Here is a picture of Grandpa with a shovel at their new house site.

Then there is a picture of my grandparents on the front porch of their finished house.


Easter Sunday was my favorite time spent with Grandma and Grandpa Knabe. They would "hide" (scatter generously, really) eggs all around their backyard. Some eggs would be filled with candy, others with change, mostly quarters. Then the big money eggs would have 1,5, and 20 dollar bills in them. I'm not bitter Grandpa Knabe used to guide Bradley directly to the $20 dollar eggs. Well, not anymore. I usually came away with $50, so I had no room to complain.

He passed away last night from complications from pnemonia. He was 90 years old, going to be 91 this August. He and my Grandma were married for over 65 years. He had a good life. A loving wife, 3 kids, 9 grandchildren, 8.5 great-grandchildren. And he counted Annie, our family dog, as a member of the family. When my family would go out of town, Grandma and Grandpa Knabe would take Annie and watch her at their house. They would buy her treats and Grandpa would play ball with her outside. You better believe my grandma and grandpa sent her a Christmas card with MONEY in it this year!

(Me, my brother Brad, and my cousin Mark, his wife Jenny, and Drew with my grandparents)
(My dad, his sister Lynn, and my grandparents in Bakersfiefld, CA)

I am going to miss him. I haven't seen him in a year and a half since he and my grandma moved to Boise, ID to live with his daughter Lynn, and her husband, Dave. I always said that I would go and visit them because I was so close in Utah, it just never worked out. I regret not making the time to go and visit him.

I love you, Grandpa. You're in a better place now. God be with you 'til we meet again.

"You will always be a part of me".

Going Green, My Dream Car

I used to roll my eyes at the people who were "going green" to save the earth. Why live up to an unrealistic ideal when you can't really make a difference? I thought to myself, who cares? I'm going to eat at McDonalds when I want to. I'm going to buy that red Mercedes CLK convertible when I can. I'm going to use as much energy as it takes to make my house cool in the summer and warm in the winter.

It all started when my dad bought a Toyota Prius. He wanted to buy a new car, but also save gas. I came home during Christmas break this past year and learned how to drive the Prius and fell in LOVE with it. I love it. It's absolutely amazing. You save so much gas and the car runs really well. The car switches running on the battery and the electric engine. When one is going, the other is charging. It has a Aluminum double overhead cam (DOHC) 16-valve VVT-i 4-cylinder engine, and even though it's 4-cylinder, it still has a lot of power. The next time I buy a car, it will be a red Toyota Prius. It's my DREAM CAR.



Look at how pretty it is!

I didn't care at first that I was using less gas and therefore creating less pollution until I read the best book in the world, Fast Food Nation. I will EXPRESS (Thank you James for informing me that my use of "promote" was incorrect) my thoughts on that book later, but it triggered my "Recycle-Save-the-World-Use-Less-Energy-Use-Less-Gas" way of life.

I just helped to recycle over 250 pounds of garbage from my parent's house (most of it was in the garage and backyard). {I actually felt like a better person as I was flinging wooden boards and metal from the back of the truck.} I bought an organic-cotton t-shirt and feel so proud every time I wear it. I buy organic milk. I don't eat fast food anymore (FFN did away with my fast food cravings... it now makes me gag).

I'm not an extremist. I'm not unreasonable. I'll drive my mom's gas-guzzler across town without complaining. I don't use just one sheet of T.P. like Sheryl Crow says. I accidentally leave lights on in the house. I don't recycle everything. But every now and then I want to fill a truck, take it to the dump, and hurl recyclable objects into the designated recycle pile.


Future plans: Donating to the S.P.C.A. and recycling my parents newspaper.

Side note: I'm SO HAPPY Kristy Lee Cook is off American Idol!!!! I couldn't stand her. And I want Anya to win ANTM.

Yeah, yeah, I watch too much T.V.

WORD OF THE DAY:
Inveigle (Verb)
1. to entice, lure, or ensnare by flattery or artful talk or inducements (usually fol. by into): to inveigle a person into playing bridge.
2. to acquire, win, or obtain by beguiling talk or methods (usually fol. by from or away): to inveigle a theater pass from a person.

Manual Labor and American Idol

My mom is a nurse and my sister is going to nursing school. So I thought I'd be okay working at the hospital this summer, making lots of money and getting out of debt. I went to work yesterday, and I realized that I cannot work in hospitals. I just can't do it. I don't know how my mom and sister go there every week. There are sick people everywhere, and most of them don't have visitors or people in their rooms and it just makes me sad.

I was in charge of getting rooms ready for new patients... and my body is NOT made for manual labor. I sound so pathetic and lame when I say that, I'm even rolling my eyes at myself. I am in awe of people who do manual labor for a career. I lasted eight hours and 30 minutes. My shift was supposed to end at 11 and they made me stay til 12 and that almost made me cry. You shouldn't work someplace that makes you want to cry.

I love that my parents had a bet on how long I would last. My daddy won. So, I'm taking the paycut and working at Banana Republic and Victoria's Secret, reveling in the employee discounts and free merchandise. It's the only time in my life I will be able to work retail, and I'm taking the opportunity and running with it.

AMERICAN IDOL. Two words that make me SO happy. I love love love American Idol this season. The themes recently have been crappy (Inspirational songs?? That was so LAME. Not creative at all), but my two favs keep stepping it up each week. I want the two Davids to be in the final two. Out of all the performance's, David C.'s "Eleanor Rigby" by Lennon (UPDATE: His version of Mariah Carey's "Always be my Baby" is the BEST AMERICAN IDOL SONG I HAVE EVER HEARD!!! 4/21/08)
and David A.'s version of "Angels" by Robbie Williams
were performed brilliantly.

And enough of the boo-hoo from Michael Johns being cut. He was so awkward on stage and deserved to be cut. Not as much as Kristy Lee Cook (I loathe her and her sheer luck that she has been able to sing country songs almost every week) needs to get the heck out of there, but ever since his horrible Beatles melody, he has deserved to go home. I like Brooke White too, but mostly because she's my aunt's roommate's good friend and I have to show support. She doesn't have the vocal range for Mariah Carey songs though and I think she's out.

I won tickets on the radio for having the best excuse for not having my taxes done. Lesson to be learned: Procrastination Pays Off.