Special Delivery: A Belated Merry Christmas!

Here's a message for all our family and friends in which I missed sending a physical newsletter this year...

The Ragan Family

Annual Stakeholders Report

December 2009

Dear Family & Friends,

We can’t believe another year has come and gone! We hope all of you are doing well in your health, jobs, and families. We miss all of you dearly, and we can’t wait until we can visit you sometime soon...

In retrospect, much of the past 12 months seems like a big blur, but hopefully, we can try to capture some of its highlights. Here’s what each of us have been up to:

Justin

The old man has been incredibly busy with his new job in Camp Verde. Much of his work has been patrolling the forest/desert roads and trails on his (beloved) KTM dirt bike. He has also spent a good deal of time fixing things, cleaning things, and keeping the peace between people in the woods. Outside of work, he has enjoyed his spare time fishing, bicycling, hiking, and hunting with Dad.

Adriane

The old lady has been busy working for the Forest Service’s public affairs shop, finishing her master’s degree, and various responsibilities at church. She has especially enjoyed working on her new quilting hobby, cooking tasty recipes, and teaching hula to the ladies at church. She dreams of the day when her domestic skills can further expand with the addition of kids and her own house.

Beetle

The little (big) man has been busy eating Science Diet cat food, scratching the kitchen table leg post, and chasing various kitty toys across the floor. This past year he reached his milestone year of adulthood.

Well, this pretty much sums things up. We wish all of you a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!

With love,

The Ragans

Crack me up....

It's no secret I have a little obsession for the show SYTYCD. My favorite dancer for season 6? Hah, that's no secret either. Howabout E to the double LL to the E to the N-O to the R to the E-O. Put it all togethers and what have you got?? Ellenore-Oh!!!


Ellenore is FANTASTICO!! The perfect combination of technique, personality, stage presence, and wit.

Do you know who Ellenore reminds me of? Take a guess. Who, in my range of acquaintances, is beautifully tan with the most perfect complexion; has long skinny, dancer legs; and is quirky to the bone? Guessed yet? Well, it should be a no brainer....Bucky!!!!

That's right we finally found the Bucksta's long lost twin. And she's a locker-ina...which is like old school pop-and-lock hip hop + classical ballet..

(Copyright of "A Dapple A Day" @ mcsmash.blogspot.com)

Yep. She's Bucky's twin all right.

Although I LOVE all of her routines, my favorite one is probably the contemporary piece she did in the top 14. You know the one with the yellow dress? Yeah, that one. Incredible! Oh, Ellenore, if only I could do your signature move** where your leg is unnaturally yet perfectly extended into the heavens....I would never ask for another thing in the world, never.

Being the pathetic SYTYCD junkie I am, I've watched this routine more times than I'd like to admit....14? 22? 1,325? I forget the exact number but it's up there. So many times, in fact, that I stumbled across this little YOUTUBE gem in the process. Watch it, it's two minutes of hillariousity....Ellenore miming lines from Harry Potter. Make sure you watch the last 2.5 seconds of Harry Potter infused with ghetto attitude...did you just see Bucky? Yeah, me too...totally. I hope the Bucksta checks it out too. I think she will crack up.

--A

**I am dying to remember the balletic name of this move. I knew it at one time. I just covetously mentioned it to Justin last week. If you happen to know, or can perform a Google search more effectively than yours truly, please enlighten me. I will be forever grateful.

Aloha!

Guess which one is 'da the Poly????

I was just rummaging through my photo tub and I found a CD from 2 years ago I never saved to my computer...oopps. Since I rarely upload the pics of moi, I felt it was time to treat y'all to some of my better takes...bright colors, fake tan, and Aloha spirit...it doesn't get much better than that, yo!

Do you like the lazy eye wink????

All of 'da girlz 'n Miss Bunny's Halau
(Miss Bunny is top row, 2nd from R...but you probably knew that, right?)
On a side note, perhaps if I was more endowed, I wouldn't have to worry about my top hanging scandously low, eh?

"Hey! I'm pointing to you...yeah you baby, he, he!!

Good night everybody!!!

Mystery Solved!

The following Yo-Adriane mystery is almost as intriguing as the ghosts lurking in Jerome, AZ (the ones inside the building that is...not the one standing in front of it).

As far back as I can remember, I have made the following sound on an almost regular basis:

Arggghemmmm..Ahhhkkkkk..Arrrrrr!!!

Okay, I don't really know how to linguistically describe the sound but just think of a cat coughing up a really horrendous hairball that NEVER actually surfaces. Or better yet, just imagine Gollum hacking up some pretty stale elven bread. Got it? Okay, so you got a pretty good idea of my less-than-lady-like habit.

Up until yesterday, I really had no definite explanation as to why I did this.

If you were to ask me to guess, I would have probably attributed it to one of the following scenarios:

A) I have an incessant cold.

B) I imagined a medical condition to grab people's pity.

C) I permanently damaged my respiratory system when I recently scarfed a piece of cake down the wrong tube in my throat.

In actuality, the answer has a little do with all three answers...Incessant, Medical Condition, and Respiratory System....So, have you guessed yet?

Well, if you did, your logic must be clearer than mine because I honestly didn't think I would have to deal with.....drum roll please....wait for it...here it comes......ASTHMA!!!!!!!!!

Did I make that dramatic enough for you? I hope so b/c J always says I can be such a drama Q...and I think he is right...so here it is again......

DUDE, I HAVE ASTHMA!

I got the less-than-exciting news yesterday during a doctor's visit in which I was convinced I had bronchitis. Yeah, if only I were so lucky...

And yet, should I rejoice that I have solved this 20-something year old mystery? Should I?

I guess I SHOULD be grateful that I can now silence my death gag with the help of modern, chemical-laden technology.

I know you know what an inhaler is...it's for middle school P.E. first aid kits, right? But did you know, us asthma suffer-ees can also inhale fine, steroid-choked powder through a cute, little, self-priming, purple disc??? It's sooooo cool man.....

And how about the names for these drugs?

ProAir and AdvAir.

They make it sound like I been promoted or something. Yeah I'd like a new introduction now...."Hi I'm Adriane, Senior Executive of Flem-No-More Inc."

But I guess their strategy is reverse psychology...They make you think their drugs = personal freedom when really you're like two steps away from becoming a full-out inhaler addict. Didn't Millhouse from the Simpsons or Steve Urkel or someone like that on tv suffer from inhaler addiction? Yeah, whoever it was, I'll be him/her in like two prescription refills.

You may ask (or at least I had to ask myself)...Am I still normal?

Sure. If you can call a girl with overgrown bangs, size 10W feet, and an undying love of onions and smoked oysters normal. I'm normal.

Truth be known, I'm actually happy I found out what was wrong with me. It's a relief. No more "cough girl" stigma or people thinking I may or may not have some hideous germ which will eventually ripen into the formidable H1N1 ...yeah, all I have to worry about now is if I remember to pack my inhaler in my purse. To quote my new hero, Nacho Libre, "My life is good...really good!!"

--A