Cali, Day 2: Pedal Pushers

pedal pushers are a group of volunteers for the Lutherans that work on floats for the rose bowl. we volunteer our time and work on any of the floats in order to pay for ours. in the building we were in, 9 floats were being worked on. i'll try to explain how it all works in a (large) nutshell.

there are different design companies that employ their own artists, florists, workers, etc full time. there are other workers for these companies that work part time (as in the final week) when all the final live flowers go on. every square inch on the float has to be covered with some kind of organic material. this includes things like: ground up rice (white), a million different kinds of seeds, flowers, flowers ground up in a blender (no joke), roses, gerber daisies (these cost $6 a piece!), carnations, mums, other extremely gorgeous flowers..... etc. some of the flowers are grown in CA but most of them are out of season and many come from columbia. here is a (blurry) chart of what the different seed color options are:

flowers go on with glue. there are 3 different kinds: white, sticky (like rubber cement) and super sticky (like super glue). i don't understand why certain kinds are used but that's just the way it is. so in the warehouse there is a booth like this, where this guy's job is to give you whatever kind of glue you need and the proper applicator tool.
there is a flower barn where people make assembly lines and have to cut stems the exact length. seriously, if they are not, someone will come by and make you re-do. then the vials are stuck in huge trays, counted and set in their appropriate spot for the float they'll be going on.

flowers stay in the barn until they are needed for the floats, and then you see them all over the floor, like this:
there are a million people in one barn and so many jobs to do. today i had 4 different jobs:
1) plucking the mums off of their stem (with NO stem remaining) for the ronald mcdonald float's hamburger
2) literally being a pedal pusher and having to cover the words "the lutheran hour" with white carnation pedals (which is a lot like doing a mosaic! it was the perfect job for me.
3) putting gerber daisies and roses on the float
4) making the "burning bushes" by covering willow sticks with ground up mum leaves (you cover them with white glue and get mum dust everywhere!) here is our little group in charge of getting them done and looking for a good home for them before going on the float.

surprisingly the building is cold..... we didn't know what "cold" really meant to cali folk, but we had overcast skies and rain today and it was chilly in there. not to mention the air conditioner was going on and off the entire time.

my mom is LOVING all the color and flowers and took a close up picture of what the color looks like on the float. it really is gorgeous. the lady in charge of our float said there were at least 15,000 flowers on it.

if you happen to be a float driver, this is what the driver's seat looks like, complete with a fire extinguisher on the side. on some floats the driver sometimes has to spend the night inside because there is so much work to be done on the door. that is a job i could not handle.
i'm sure i'm forgetting a bunch of things but here is a view from the overlook of the warehouse:how much does one of these cost? someone threw out an estimate that a small one with all volunteer labor would be around $40,000!
the prize? pride
more to come!

Cali, Day 1: Airport + Laguna Beach

today was a long day!

beezer decided to get up at 2:40 to make sure she had perfect hair
i won $3.10 at the slot machines in the las vegas airport
fly into ontario, ca.
here we are, loving the warm sunshine and greenery (not evergreens, such a change from co)
while my mom is signing for the rental car i dig the sandals out of the suitcase! ahhh... free feet
(believe it or not, i have been designated driver for this trip. we are driving a Chrysler 300. this thing is FUN. too bad my jeep doesn't have this much zip!)
instead of checking into the hotel, we decided to drive an hr south to laguna beach
we saw an octopus and a purple starfish.

it's rough here...65 degrees and sunny!
this SO screams, "we're from out of town!!"

Ulysses Christmas

completing the holiday triangle, we drove down to u-town to see the burnums. it was a monumental occasion as it was the first time all 13 of us were there together for the holidays.
9 adults, 4 kiddos, 2 dogs and 1 cat (not william)...

here is a brief picture of what present opening looks like with kiddos. since our kid has 4 legs and had a relatively quiet gift exchange, dallas and i were awestruck at how quickly the family room turned into mass chaos when all 4 tore into their presents at one time. (for those of you with kids this is probably no surprise but, WOW!). here is an example:luckily big kids (like aunt andi) can enjoy presents too.... like ethan's star command (maybe it's not star commander, but some star wars dude like that) helmet that allows you to speak thru a mike and sound cool.
here is dallas and our youngest niece. he was an incredibly cool uncle that let her practice her make-up putting up skills on him. he insisted that he not be blogged during this experience, but i think this photo is priceless. here she is, explaining the different color options to him.
right now, waiting for clothes to get thru the wash, so i can pack....for....

CALIfornia!

my mom, beezer and i are traveling to california tomorrow to work on the Lutheran rose bowl float. computer is going with. i am hoping that internet is free and if so, look for fun stuff to come!

Christmas 09: Year of the Glove

funny enough this year, without everyone knowing it, we all wanted and/or got gloves.

here is the glove club, ready with our own presentation for the happy hands club.

talk about snowin and a blowin...

stayin inside playing.....
BEETLES ROCK BAND holste style
.....day tripper, yea........

i definitely did not make the A team.
maybe it was the fox fur ear muffs

i definitely did not make the "A team" all star band.

Merry Christmas!

hope you all have a fabulous holiday and a
very merry Christmas!

since Christmas is a miraculous time i'll share my miracle with you. 2 years ago i bought a christmas cactus at hobby lobby. it was probably the most pitiful plant in the store but i've somehow managed to keep it alive for this long (plants at our house hang on for dear life). for lack of better places to put it, it got shoved by the kitchen window. i think it secretly likes the cold because this year ....
TA DA! all blooms.
it's a miracle.
my grandma holste would have been so proud!

come home from work last night dallas & i decided over the phone that we needed to beat the storm back to kansas (feeling like a Christmas 06 remake). so i got home and within 45 min we were driving outta denver. so glad we did.

now, back in atwood we get to hang out with the new holste addition, khotti, the kitty cat. occasionally you hear a rustling coming from the tree. no question about it. khotti, more like naughty khotti, loves hanging out in the tree, at least half way up. the amount of ornaments she's knocked off makes ezra's attempts look puny.

other news..... ez had his xrays tues. right now he's signed up for ACL surgery on jan 13. poor ez. after surgery he'll be out of commission for 6 mo. this could be a really long year.

why have i been absent from blogging?

Christmas always wears me out.
i'm a miniature version of my mother. i worry. did i get everyone something that they would like? did i include everyone?....the list goes on. thankfully i think we are about done with preparations here (then i'm taking a nap)!

first off, dallas came home and installed my new dishwasher! it is (ugh, words cannot describe) how fabulous it is.... esp when compared to the other one. here is ez, showing it off. (he's kind of a camera hog, which comes from the cookie nook i think...i pull out the camera and he plops down. look past the pit bull!)

burnum Christmas:

if you were a neighbor you would have received one of these delicious plates.
(including mint meringue sandwiches with chocolate filling, ginger-chocolate brownies, candy striped cookies, almond spice cookies, turtle brownies and magic blondies)
of course i had to pick (on pure accident!) some of the most challenging and most difficult recipes. it has been a really frustrating past 2 days

we are also having company tonight. dallas was so proud of how clean our house was that he took a picture. take a good look. i don't think it's going to be looking this nice for long.
with the addition of one more small gift our shopping is complete! i am PUMPED. call me a procrastinator but i must say, my presents look lovely this year. it helps that i picked out some killer wrapping paper and curly ribbon.

today, which was supposed to be a glorious day of hanging out with dallas (who is now home until sometime in jan---the dude's been gone since sept), doing chores around the house and enjoying no school has turned into a giant disaster. check out the nook for today's giant waste of time and brown sugar. ugh.

good news.... dallas installed my beautiful new dishwasher and now we look like white trash because we really don't know what to do with the other one. if you come over, please don't judge!

back up present

my male friend has recently acquired a girlfriend in the past 3 weeks. he came to me for advice because he doesn't know what the appropriate thing (regarding a present) is to do for Christmas this year. since i havn't had to date anyone for the past 4 years i'm clueless myself.
HELP! (vote on right)

i had mentioned the possibility of having a "back up" gift for that just in case situation. my idea was that a back up gift would be something he'd purchase that could be small (but nice) and could be used for both Christmas and/or Valentines day, if needed. so, if she brought out a present he could pull out his back up gift and be like, Oh look! i got you one too!!! OR if she didn't get one he could save it until the next holiday. votes are greatly appreciated!

for the past 4 months i have been rehab-ing a 5 year old hamstring injury from college. they have been some of the most frustrating, depressing and "want to pull my hair out" months! as of 9:45 this morning i am 95% healed and released.....
merry christmas andi!

part of my rehab included between 120-180 min of yoga weekly. ezra likes to help out when he can by keeping me company. he also has a leg injury and is frustrated, regularly chewing entire tennis balls apart. check out our media room. areas circled are doggie drool land mines that he's chewed at for more than 5 min and are saturated. i love ya ez but, ew!

yes, we have a bit o' cleaning to do before dallas' return this weekend.

will someone else please fess up to having no Christmas shopping done yet? i'd like to know i'm not the only procrastinator this year

tell me this isn't the most pathetic thing in the entire world,
his chops are out in full force.

sadly i'm finished painting the house i've been working off and on for the past few weeks. this family was really fantastic. just as i was leaving today the little kiddo came running up the stairs screaming, "mommy! i found a booger in my nose!"

it was priceless.
i'm really going to miss them.

dear william lovers,
this is disturbing and you may not want to read.

last night i was in my art room working on some things and heard this scream noise from outside. it is amazing how you instinctively know that your child is in trouble. i rushed to the front door and william came sprinting. (yes, i wouldn't have believed it either unless i saw it with my own eyes. must be the sympathetic nervous system kickin in). anyway, today my neighbor was telling me how they've seen a pack of 6 coyotes roaming around the neighborhood.
yes, i saved william from the coyote(s).
it really bothers me that if i hadn't been awake my poor little kitty would have been an early Christmas dinner.

anyway, i cleaned our house the other day (another miracle) and apparently william, like a bird, molts when he gets all flustered. check out all the hairballs he nervously shed while i was gone today

also, i have been enjoying veggie tales Christmas cd compliments of Beezer. thanks beezer! (you're probalby thinking that this is what your kid listens to. you're right. it is. and i like it too!)

cuties

i *heart* cutie oranges.

they are the most delicious little treat in the world.
if you are a cutie expert, please tell me why the cutie on the left (below), which is a lighter orange color with smooth skin isn't as good as the other cutie that looks like dark orange old man skin, wrinkled with large pores? this one is so much better than the other.well, at any rate, i was lucky enough to accidentally grab a bag of uuber delicious ones and had "a few" for breakfast. life after finals is good

I'M DONE!

tha'ts all i can say today. i gave it all i had and am exhausted. i took 2 tests for a total of 6.5 hrs. A&P was only 1.5 hrs. My chem teach is most definitely on the naughty list this year.

dear Willaim,
i have to apologize to you.
for the longest time now i have thought that you were the crazy rascal that kept knocking ALL of the ornaments on the floor. it has recently come to my attention that you are not the only culprit in the stripping of the Christmas tree.
i owe you extra whisker lickins.
love,
andi

it is obvious william is male--

he is an overwhelming bucket of emotion.

william "on alert"
(animal in house besides ez)

william in relax mode some days it is too much to handle...

how did i spend my afternoon?

you try getting 2 dogs to
line up wearing santa hats.
as you can tell, it went real well

i've been painting someone's house in my spare time this past month. they are the most wonderful family with the best and funniest kids. things like this crack me up:
(a=andi; m=mom; k1=older kid; k2=younger kid)

a: k1, what are you going to do on your Christmas break?
k1: i don't know. probably eat dinner

k2: mom, what are snowflakes made of?
m: what do you think?
k2: meat
a: giggling and has to stop painting

k2 (coming home from school): wow mom! this is beautiful!
(seriously, what 1st grader says that?)

k2 (to after school friend): hey clyde, you know that sam in our class?
clyde, the friend: yeah...
k2: he's a really good listener
(this kid will have no problem ever finding a girlfriend)

birthday party!

yesterday my lab partner celebrated her 22nd birthday. this makes me feel old but i went anyway and had a blast! she wanted to do this thing called jump street. basically it's a building full of trampolines (one with dodgeball!!) i'm going back when i'm more in shape. this stuff is hard work---no joke! we were breathing hard after 10 min. we bounced for 80 min and finally left at 11:30. (talk about late night for the old lady)
and yes, i'm SORE today!

this place is awesome.

my sister beezer just recently got a new kitty named phillis. although i have never seen it in person, you can agree that it is pretty darn cute. when i was talking to her the other day she had mentioned somehting about phillis being in time out. i thought this was rediculous! who puts their cat in time out? does the kitty even know what is going on?

is putting your cat in "time out" for bad behavior an effective form of punishment for felines?

thank you readers responding to my poll: (since i'm sure my sister voted against me i'm not including her vote!). it's good to know that 71.4% of you are normal and think the concept is by far the craziest thing you've ever heard of!!

A&P take 4

yesterday our shining star student struck again.
we are currently talking about the nervous system and were discussing the space around the brain. i always get a kick out of this student because you can tell that between the time the teacher talks about one subject and moves to another the student is s l o w l y processing the information and then interrupts the class to ask her dumb question.

teacher: so there is a space around the brain..... moves on to next topic...
****next topic being discussed****
student: so if you were in a really bad car accident, and your brain moves around, is that a bad thing?

yes, she seriously asked that. i can't make this stuff up

another thing i have learned from a&p: i keep a stash of jolly ranchers in my bag for when i start falling asleep in the middle. i also always have earl grey tea in my green starbucks mug. i have, after months of testing, determined that no flavor of jolly rancher goes well with earl grey tea.

happy birthday ezra!

today is ezra's 2nd birthday, which makes him officially a teen. (great....2 teenagers) today he got to go for a brisk walk in the park and go to the pet store for some new toys (and dog cookies, of course!). this dog is so spoiled he even got a birthday card in the mail from my grandma!

here is the b-day boy with his stash of goodies,
and also wondering why brother william
gets the first sniff
happy birthday big guy!

also....for those of you with animals that have strong jaws, i now only buy products from here. Fat Cat toys are heavy canvas on the outside, reinforcement canvas, stuffing and squeaker on the inside. out of the 3 ez has he has only been able to de-stuff one (and that was thru a 2" hole. it was alligator, if you remember dr.ez). they're seriously the best!

we made it home today from a wonderful vaca. when we got home william was a stinky mess so both he and ezra got much needed baths!

also, i have determined that i'm getting old because i now consider true love when your husband buys you a new dish washer! yahoo!!!

i also put up the tree today! our tree is ultra ghetto but its just big enough for our house and comes 99.5% assembled. how could i not like it? also, since we're doing the martha stuff this year, martha suggests that you make your tree more fantastic by putting lights from the edge of your branch to the inside of the branch.... to add depth, of course. (my mom made us do this growing up and we all hated doing it and so we made beezer do it every year). anyway, the tree comes PRE-light-put-on martha style! it was definately worth the small amount of money we invested at hobby lobby.

may i point out some fantastic features of our tree:
1) lights come pre assembled
2) it is decorated with "fancy" plastic balls. this is for william, who usually knocks them down. (we usually find them all year under chairs). there will be extra this year since he is angry i gave him a bath.
3) our tree skirt is phenomenial. it's an old cloth i once used in college for a toga party (i have no idea why i still have this). sophisticated, i know. nothing but the best for our tree!

whew! this thanksgiving break has been awesome and really relaxing! hard to believe that it's almost over already!
this is what we all feel like....

after this 1 full week of school left, finals and done till mid january! between that time we have cookies to make, a house to paint, christmas..... WOW!

Happy Thanksgiving!

down in u-town this is how we do thanksgiving....
everyone gathers elbow to elbow at this "small" table
for an afternoon of food, convo and coffee.
this year there were 27. YEOW!
(the table was gorgeous when all set but didn't have a chance to get a pic before everyone showed up!)

ezra loves coming to ulysses
he loves cousin amosand is very tolerant of obie one's attacks

a&p take 3

today during our a&p class one of my classmates had yet, another stupid question. after just going over the bone structure of the spinal cord for our last test, we are now going thru cranial and spinal nerves.

class: (looking at Cranial, Thoracic, & Lumbar nerves on slide)
student: what does C stand for?
andi: banging head on table
student next to me: also banging head on table
teacher, who somehow kept a straight face: cranial
*pause*
student: what does L stand for?

oh dear....