Hi Ho Hi Ho - It's Off to Disney World We Go!

For whatever reason, hubby decided we would fly to Orlando with DD#1 and her family - and that meant leaving at dawn. But we didnt leave the house as early as they did - they got there at 0330 for the 0600 flight and found out that nothing is open yet....

 

View out of our window at the Boardwalk Villas,,,,Tower of Terror in far background

 Orlando Airport...

 Jack asleep at Oakland Airport waiting for flight

 That boy can sleep in the oddest positions!

 Kaia at dinner at ESPN on the Boardwalk at Walt Disney World

 Luke and Mom on the plane to Orlando

 Ahhhh..... on our bed at Boardwalk Villas in Walt Disney World

Arrived in Orlando....found the bus (Magical Express) to take us to WDW and it started pouring down rain.....but by the time we got to WDW it stopped, the sun was coming out and there was even a rainbow!

A long long day that started way too early....and ended up with me getting my wish - of hugging DD#2 and her two little ones until they complained!!!!

Sunday

Another day of sleeping late.....altho I was convinced it was 0930, it was only 0830 when I got up. But that is still a lot later than 0530, which is when I will be getting up tomorrow!

Had a leisurely breakfast, read the paper, and then went to the gym. That felt good - havent been for almost 2 weeks!

Then home and hubby started the Pumpkin stew.....I made the angel food/pineapple dump cake (http://thefrugalgirls.com/2012/08/pineapple-angel-food-cake.html) and it is cooling - upside down! I have made many angel food cakes in my time and know they have to cool upside down and I have never once had one fall out of the pan....but this one is still making me nervous that it will fall out!

4 loaves of zucchini/carrot/pecan/walnut/chocolate chip bread are in the oven (http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/zucchini-bread-recipe/index.html). I hadnt planned on the two nuts, but the pecan bag was open and they started falling out so used those up....and then finished off the bag of walnuts. I also used 1/2 the sugar and 1/2 Splenda. I have been using Splenda on other things, so we will see how it tastes in baking. I double/triple checked my recipe and am hoping that I did not forget any ingredients this time! We will see!

There is flour all over the flour. I used up the flour in the container and put the rest of the new bag in the container - couldnt figure out why I was dribbling flour everywhere - yup there was a big hole in the bottom of the Rubbermaid container!!! So managed to get most of the flour into ziplock bags.
Went to use the little dustbuster to clean up - and whoever used it last time (I am not naming any names, am I honey????) did not put it back on its charger so it was dead.....

Looking up how to make some tomato sauce to throw in the freezer. Something is nibbling on our tomatoes and I would like us to use them not me!

We were at the grocery store yesterday and there was a woman there with one of those big 5 gallon jugs of water in her cart. Well, I turned down the aisle and there she was taking one gallon jugs of water off the shelf, pouring the water into her big jug, and then hiding the empty jugs!  Really?????!!!!! If you cant afford water and you  need it, there are public water fountains around town you can use rather than steal from a store. I know the idea is - it is a big corporation and they wont miss it - but it is those losses that keep adding to the cost of what the rest of us are paying!

Saturday!

Yeah - I slept LATE today - well, till 0815 but that has become late for me....once upon a time that would have been early!

So we got up and went to the market. And then stopped by some garage sales on the way home. Only got 'lucky' at one.

Isnt this the cutest little tin? I couldnt resist it....I know it isnt antique, I dont think even vintage but...

Also for these buttons (2 cards each of the green and pink ones). And the one earring which will make a good clip for a purse or something.

And then this little yellow cupe - Made in USA. So cute, I think it will be a trinket holder. Hubby also got a Tommy Bahama Aloha shirt for $5 so he was happy!

Finished my 3d project for Camp Loopy. It is drying and then I will take photos and post it - and will earn a prize. I am not happy with any of my projects this summer. This last one was supposed to be a cotton Market bag but the yarn jsut did not want to be that. So it turned into a cotton toddler sweater and I ran out of the complementary color so ..... but I learned FINALLY how to truly do the mattress stitch to seam together the two pieces. It will go into my giveaway basket and find a home someday.

Yesterday was my mom's birthday. And I thought a lot about her yesterday. We had a few deliveries and I thought that was fun to have all those new babies born on her birthday - too bad they were all boys!

The weather has cooled off which is so nice. I made 4 loaves of zucchini/carrot/nut/chocolate chip bread today with my favorite yummy recipe. Too bad I forgot to put in the baking soda.....well, I planned to get more eggs and make more loaves tomorrow anyway!

Loving these mini vacations!

So, we didnt get up to the Yosemite area over Memorial Day weekend as usual, so we decided to go up there this week. Lovely time to go - yes, I missed seeing the dogwoods and other wildflowers in bloom - but it was a much quieter time!

 

 This was close to sunset in the Bass Lake area - can you see what I am calling an angel's wing?

 Such a lovely place to stay... and this time we got a room we never even knew existed before! Large and quiet....we already booked that same room for Memorial Day Weekend 2013!

 He looked thirsty, so after he scampered away at our approach we ran some water for him. Hope he came back and drank!

 Got lots of Yosemite photos....but in many ways, this is the most important one!

 Thought I would try out my sepia....

 and my black and white!

The grounds of the Narrow Gauge Inn are so beautifully landscaped....

Anyway, we drove up Tuesday and while hubby was playing golf I went to a couple of favorite thrift shops. One was a complete waste of time...the other I got a silk Hawaiian shirt for hubby for $2!!! And some other little knickknacks.

Had dinner at Bass Lake that night after we went to see The Expendables. Totally not my kind of movie - but the movie there was only $6 so cant complain about that.

They yesterday we spent in Yosemite. Wandering around....took the Valley Floor Tour which we havent done in oh, about 10 years or so....that was fun. I so love Yosemite....I was thinking while there that day of all the years wasted  that I had never seen Yosemite....not until we moved back to CA in the early 90's!

Came back and had a wonderful dinner at the NGI. Hubby had venison steak - and I was so jealous! It was so good!!! My chicken marsala was fine, but not nearly as tasty....

Today we drove him cause I work tomorrow. I could have gladly stayed up there longer, but....

What a Week!

It was a busy couple of weeks; even my days off were busy. And I did a couple of 3 day stretches, which I normally dont do. And hubby knew I was exhausted. Got home Monday night barely able to stay awake to drive home (thank goodness it is only about a 10 minute drive!) when he said - I looked, and you have 3 days off with nothing planned....you have long wanted to do the Elkhorn Slough Safari - why dont we go???

Yeah right, it is the ending of summer and we are going to be able to get reservations on a Tuesday (I was too tired to deal with it that Monday night!) for a Wed night place to stay and a Thursday tour????

Yeah right, we did!!!!!

So Wednesday we drove down to spend a lovely sunny and warm day in Monterey - hubby got the new walking shoes he needed; I got the yarn I needed for a Christmas present.....then we drove to Moss Landing. While waiting to check in we visited a lovely new antique shop.


 Here we are on the way back in .... in the sunny part of the tour!

 We stayed at The Captain's Inn B&B in Moss Landing.....after an underwhelming dinner at a restaurant I wanted to eat at (tasteless cioppino, tasteless sanddabs, but good wine, beer and french fried artichoke hearts!) we sat on the deck to wait for the sunset....

 The Inn was lovely....my only complaint was trying to watch the Olypmics on a tiny TV (hey, a lot of B&Bs dont even have TVs!) and unable to prop up against the iron headboard cause the pillows were way too soft...

 In my opinion, the only good seagull is a .....

 Must be August - the naked ladies are out!

 So we saw lots and lots of different types of birds, and well over 60 of my favorites - the sea otters! This seagull is really hoping to steal the food from this guy....this prompted the story about an otter that was being deviled by a young seagull....until the otter finally had had enough and ended up filling the seagull and eating it! Which is a rarity...

 Lots of sea lions....over 300 of them...I love their faces! Also lots and lots of harbor seals...

 And you thought you had bad hair days???????

 Lots of jelly fish of all sizes floating by - so quickly I only got one shot of one!

 White pelicans....

Can you see the white dots in the trees? Nesting birds

So we drove home Thursday cause I had to work Friday...left  Moss Landing when it was 64 degrees, and got home to 94 degrees, yuck. But I was quite refreshed for work on Friday which was the whole idea.

Sat we babysat 2 of the grandsons while the youngest went to a birthday party. And that evening went over to their house for the family birthday celebration of the middle one. (and by the way, the temps today ranged from 104 - 108!)

Today we drove to San Juan Bautista (emailing the photos from my phone is taking an exceptionally long time) for their Antique Show. Still trying to figure out when we went to the last one and thinking it was sometimes between 10 - 15 years ago. And it was smaller today. But it was fun - including all the yard sales. Some of the people were unwilling to budge on prices, which meant we walked away from some of the things we wanted, but we got a few things anyway. And enjoyed the 85 degree heat there - and the 78 degree heat on the way home to....99 degrees!

Back to work Monday and Tuesday. Then 3 days off which will include a haircut and a baby shower....middle of next week we will be spending time at the Narrow Gauge Inn - time in Yosemite....

Jamestown

 I thought we were going to go into Sonora - at least go out to the Mile High Pie Place! But we were both tired from staying up to late Friday night watching the Opening Ceremonies for the Olympics, so we walked around Jamestown a bit and then headed home. Stopped in Manteca to eat at hubby's favorite chain restaurants!

 See.....hubby rides his trains and I go along with my camera and my knitting! And we are both happy (also my kindle in my purse...)

See that huge rusty ladle? It really is quite big. Now visualize it hanging on the wall or fence with some kind of trailing plant in it....yup.....hubbies entry for the 2013 Fair!

And this is a bargain piece of Balleek I found. Probably the bargain because no saucer. Oh well.

This was the weekend we were going to spend in the Jamestown/Sonora area, trying out a new B&B. What we had forgotten was that this was smack dab in the middle of babysitting our granddog!

So we were able to cancel the B&B reservations (sigh) but the train tickets were non-refundable. So we drove up there today to ride the train!

Hubby was in heaven - of course! Cause it was a steam train! (http://www.railtown1897.org/railtown/default.asp). I told him he needs to start a bucket list of all the trains he wants to ride....

We walked around Jamestown afterwards & enjoyed going into antique shops. Some were intersting - one had the largest amount of Autumn Leaf china that we have ever seen in one place! - and one was quite outrageously priced! An old, dirty, iron glass topped table - not even the original glass, and most definetly NOT an antique - and they wanted $49! HA! I wanted it but not enough to have my money stolen for it...

A Rant Against the Fast Food Nation

Ok, here is the warning. This is a generalized rant. I know you all know exceptions to what I am going to say; even better, I know exceptions. But I still want/need to rant.

Yes, I read the book The Fast Food Nation and that is not what this is about. That is what I call a younger generation - twenties into early thirties. You all know them....they were raised via the drive thru's...and therefore expect immediate satisfaction.....

1. It is the young woman who are opting for c/sections because they don't want to 'feel the pain' of labor and delivery and who opt out of pregnancy when they 'are tired of being pregnant'. These are the women who only hear what they want to - pain medication and no labor.....they don't hear the part that describes abdominal surgery and the fact that the pain comes afterwards and usually lasts longer than those who opted for vaginal deliveries...And oh by the way, it is the medications fault if it does not IMMEDIATELY take away all the pain because it is expected to act immediately because, well, that is what you expect when you live in the Fast Food Nation.

2. And these same women are very disappointed when their bodies don't become like they were when they were not pregnant. Someone also forgot to tell them - or they forgot to listen - that they are not like the celebrities they are copying - they don't have people air brushing their photos - nannies raising their children - a trainer that gets them back into shape immediately - a cook to cook only healthy food for them - and the surgeon who does all that touch up surgery before they hit the public eye again...

3. These are the same people who apparently never listened to anyone who tried to explain "if it sounds/looks too good to be true, it probably is". They are the ones who jumped right into buying overpriced houses in areas they really didn't want to live - using the ARM because of course they only planned to own the house until they doubled their investment in oh, 1 - 2 years, so that they could afford the house of their dreams. And when the market crashed, what did they do? Walked away from the houses because they weren't worth it any more....foreclosures and short sales. Gumming up the system from those who needed the system because of job losses/major life changes, and things that were out of their control. And the best part? They are ANGRY at the people who advised them not to buy, and those who were not hurt or did not give up....

4. These are the people who CAN NOT be separated from their cell phones/iPads/whatever for a single second of any day because OMG they might miss something important - from someone else or more importantly that they need to share....What?! Their talking (loudly cause apparently cell phones don't have the same connection as telephones do) bothers you? You actually think that being polite to people working the cash registers, etc, is more important that what is going on in their lives? And you know, those posted signs are NOT meant for them.....or maybe they cant read those signs because they use complete words instead of Internet shorthand? (BTW, I really don't care what is happening in your world - and your having a cell phone attached to your body really does not make you an important/interesting person automatically)

5. I have heard that some schools are/considering not even teaching cursive writing anymore because this Fast Food Nation can only read printing because that is what comes through when you text and type on a computer. So that means they will not be able to read any historical documents from the past centuries - unless some learned elder transposes everything into printing.

I can, and probably will, add to this over time. This was precipitated by many things - the patients who will not/cannot get of the phone for the nurses to take care of them (after all - why do they need that - all the information they need can be found on the Internet and not from trained personnel).....the person at the gym who thinks the signs about cell phone usage means everyone but them because of course they are more important than anyone else....the person who holds up the line at the store because talking on the phone is more important than listening to what the clerk is trying to explain to you....