V-A-C-A-TION....gonna have some fun!

So we left early Friday morning....very early. It was still pretty chilly out, like 55 degrees at 0600.  We spent the past week double bagging all food items we were leaving in the house, and moving all the indoor plants outside, cause while we were gone we were having the house fumigated for termites. What a PITA that is. Now I know why most people wait until they are moving to do that.

So we headed out with our first stop being Kingman AZ. We got there about 4:30 or 5:00 PM and it was in the 90's!!!

It is their Centennial year and there were signs every where reminding you of it - Happy Birthday Arizona! After several days there I still cannot understand why anyone stopped there and said - "hey! this looks like a great place to live!" I totally agree that the desert is beautiful - but I am not a desert person and really do not like the idea of living anywhere that you end up spending months in the house because it is too hot to go outside! And I dont care WHAT state that desert is in!

For all you out there - there are wildflowers and color out there - but mostly in the high country.

Had some very good BBQ for dinner that first night - Redneck's Southern Pit BBQ in Kingman AZ. Very good - I had a pulled pork sandwich, the regular size, and it was almost too big to finish! Hubby had ribs and chicken, both of which literally fell right off the bones.

Stayed at a Holiday Inn Express (good - free - continental breakfasts in the mornings people!) and the oddest thing to me was there was no clock in the room at all! No alarm clock, nothing. Very strange. But like most hotel rooms, you know when it is morning cause those curains dont completely keep the sun out!

Oh yeah, for you Californios out there - gas in AZ is much cheaper! I think the highest we paid in AZ was $3.76. Altho isnt that sad to be saying that that amount is cheap!??!

The Walk

Well, the walk is over and I survived. Wasn't sure I would complete it this year because of a bunch of different factors but I did!

First of all, this allergy season has been bad. Friday I caught myself wheezing in ways/tones I have never heard. Had to go to 3 different shops to finally find eye drops because the other stores were all sold out. But it wasnt bad - it was the one day in recent memory that was not windy, so that helped a lot.

And it was hot. I had bought a special shirt for the walk and could not wear it. So I wore a short sleeved t shirt and carried a light sweater with me. And sweated the entire walk so never needed the sweater! Last year was windy and cold. This year hot. Go figure.

I was also tired. We had recieved a call about a situation at our rental so we had to drive down to deal with it yesterday. The renters have a brand new baby and they have seen, and caught, some rats and noticed a bad smell coming from under the house. So my husband - who is always my hero but especially so yesterday - went under the house not once, but 4 times! Something you could not pay me enough money to do! Cleaned up the "bathroom" under there - set out a bunch of traps - and put some odor neutralizer things there. I just hope it all works.

Yesterday was also the retirement party for one of the best - and most irascible - OB's I have ever worked with. I planned to stop by on my way to the walk, but with the trip down to Seaside, I had no time. So I was very disappointed about that.

Plus I was disappointed that my whole team had flaked on me. There were supposed to be 5 of us - and there was only me. Of course I am very proud and very thankful to all my supporters - I had well over $700 in contributions! And I wasn't walking totally alone - I walked with my daughter and her friend.

So I was just not in the best frame of mind to do a 10 K walk. I was also sad to see that there were less walkers than usual. And altho there were some interestingly decorated bras there was just not the usual array of originality (I even saw one group who had copied our idea from last year - guess imitation is a form of flattery?). Later today I will post the few photos I have.

We managed to be near the front of the pack which is great. The beginning of the walk is thru the main downtown street and it usually gets bunched up and slow there. It is fun because a lot of the restuarants have outdoor seating and they get a free floor show and we get a lot of cheering on - but it does slow us down.

But the first 2 - 3K was miserable for me. My knee was killing me as well as the bottom of one foot. I wanted to quit right then and there. So I started making deals with myself - if I could make it 1/2 way, I could get a ride in and still feel ok about myself. Then I started thinking about calling husband to come pick me up....there is a small hill up to and through a park (found out form a lady behind us that there is a family of foxes living in that park - that would have been neat to see!) and I did not think I could make it through that.  Got past that obstacle and kept going and all of a sudden I had no pain anywhere!!!!! YAY!!!

I think the fact that we were keeping up a pretty fast pace is what initially did me in. We usually are in complete darkness when we get to a certain part of the walk that is almost 1/2 way through and it was not completely dark when we hit that place.

If we hadnt stopped for a bathroom break (the part after the break has some really long stop lights to wait for) we would have made it back in 2 hours. That is like a 20 minute mile which is pretty darn good. But we had to stop and they didn't have many bathrooms open - but we didnt realize they had another bathroom stop shortly after that. After that point it felt like we were at the back of the whole walk - but turns out we weren't.

I think we made it in at about 2-1/4 hours which was pretty darn good!

Sat there sweating and drinking more water - and eating some goodies (would love to know where the awesome cupcakes came from). Sat through the raffle drawing - none of us won anything - and the costume prizes  - again, we didnt win anything. And came home.

Tossed and turned all night even with my tylenol on board but today am feeling pretty good. Tired and my knees are a little stiff - but not so bad after all.

Happy Mother's Day to all - we will shortly be going to daughter's house for the annual brunch. I will post photos after we get home (if I have any energy left!)

That's It - I Quit....

                                          RIP Jack 12/2011

Rip Althea, 5/2012

Hubby is laughing at me, but I just cant do it any more. No more dogs. See, he doesnt believe me when I say that - knows it is just because my heart is broken.....maybe so, but right now I am totally serious.

So sad - it hurt us both to have to call our daughter to tell her. Damn cancer - took 2 of our dogs. Not fair at all - people or dogs!

Monday Monday

Forgot to get a photo of his arm....but this is what a 'wed pospicle' looks like when it is all gone!

First time I have seen him play this year - and he did a great job fielding balls hit his way - he needs to work on his throwing arm but did a great job of paying attention and stopping the ball!

He played catcher - which is almost a silly position in Little League at this point when there is a coach there actually doing the catching...nbut he does have pretty good form!

Had several days off in a row which was lovely. Got to the gym quite a few times which always makes me feel good - afterwards! Couple of very hot days expecially for April.

The worst was Saturday - very hot. and we went to help daughter with the boys. The little one had his first birthday party to go to - the first time when HE was the invited guest and not the tag along! So hubby and I went to be with the older boys for their Little League photos - stood around a hot field for about an hour or so.....then went to their games.

It was opening day and they had programs for all the games - and announcers and all. It was really fun. Great to see how the older boy is doing - he got a hit every time at bat and really paid attention to the game. He has really come a long way since last year. But he is so hard on himself....but oh it was so hot.....hardly any shade....and I think we really got dehydrated no matter how much water we drank.

Daughter took middle son to his game and we went after the older one's game was over. At least there was shade there! And it was only an hour game - but we got to see him bat (he got a hit WITHOUT using the tee!) and he did so good fielding...

Sunday hubby roto-tilled the garden - hopefully growing those plants really helped the soil. Today we got the tomatoes, the corn, and 3 of the cukes planted. Didnt realize we had so many cuke plants - have 4 more to plant! And the beans, bell pepper, watermelons, pumpkins, eggplant, carrots, radishes.....But we planted the ones that were out growing their pots and seem hardy enough to stand up to the weather right now...the rest will stay in the greenhouse just a little longer - we will get some more planted at the end of the week.

Back to work tomorrow....I love my job, I really do, but I am really loving my days off more and more!!

Have had to switch old dog to canned food. She was off her feed and I realized that she did well on human food but not so well on her dry food. I think her teeth are getting bad - and I am not about to get dentures for a dog - LOL! So we tried some freeze dried food and she didnt really like it, just tolerated it. But she is liking the canned food (gag! I HATE the smell!) and we mix it with the dry food and she is eating well again.

Came up with an idea for my bra design for my walk! Cannot believe I have recieved over $300 in contributions! Anyone else want to contribute - please go to www.trivalley.org and click on 'support a walker'. Thank you!

Wondering what our weather is going to be like on vacation - hot or snow?

Sigh....

Love these guys....the elephant seals are so much fun to watch and listen to! They bark and roar and whine....and complain a lot! Oh, kind of like being at home...

I dont know how many times we have been to Hearst Castle now (considering I had never gone until last decade!) but it never ever gets old. There is always something new and beautiful to see - something to be amazed over - some new adventure.

Went to the local breath taking nursery twice this weekend - the first to get a beefsteak tomato and some chicken manure (which magically turned into earthworm castings - and they say women change their minds!). And today to get a dwarf apricot tree for the corner of the yard. I am hoping to find a large enough planter to go back and get the dwarf fig tree!

Anyway - these three photos are all from the nursery....

Have no clue what this is - the place was too busy to ask too many questions - I call it a shrimp shrub because it you look closely enough the flowers look like shrimp!

Oh yes, the sigh.....because today is the last day of my vacation and I am so spoiled - I do not want it to end! I do NOT (insert stamping of foot here) want to go to work tomorrow! Can I call in sick cause our new alarm clock wont arrive until Tuesday??????

Easter is over - Vacation Begins!

Pumkins and green beans...

Pierogies! 105 of them! Thank goodness over the years we have gotten things down to a science - and every year we come up with yet another idea to make life easier....Now it takes a few minutes on Friday - and maybe 2 hours on Saturday instead of all day long....we bless my Kitchen Aid every year!

My daughter made a Rice Krispy Lambie Cake....years ago when the kids were little I would make a Lambie Cake for Easter. The pan got banged up over the years, and some years it came out better than others. But frequently it looked drunk when I tried to put the two halves together - and you often had to watch out for toothpicks! I would even dye coconut green for the 'grass' for it to sit in. Eventually the pan was in such bad shape it got tossed out. And then a couple of years ago my daughter found a pan and surprised us with a lambie cake!

Easter egg hunt with 3/5s of the grand kids. Missing the other 2 this year - but we will see them in 5 months! I cant wait...

Off to Cambria for a couple of days. Who cares if it rains?! I actually love stormy coastal days....we will do (yet another) tour at Hearst Castle....and know where we want to eat but otherwise - no plans - just fun!

And then home again - and next week on my days off, time to get serious about digging out the hoarder room!

Happy.....Vacation?

RIP old frenemy.....Woke up to this strange sight....which meant we had to run and check out what the real time was. Am very glad it wasnt a work day. Anyway, after all that we were definitely wide awake...at 0500. Even earlier than if I had to work. I was early to my mammogram appt. so I got taken in before the first appt of the day. And then off to run the errands we needed to get done for this weekend.

Guess we will be shopping for a new alarm clock next week - tried to remember when we got this. Might possibly be around 20 years old!

See those lovely objects? I won those! And that bath fizzy spells soooooo yummy I cant wait to use it! Anyway, these wonderful items came from Sandlapper Soaps so be sure to check them out - especially the awesome soap sack they have...

Tomorrow is the day I do NOT look forward to...followed by the day I do look forward to. Got the filling made today; will go the market tomorrow to get the asparagus. And then we will start making the pierogies. We have improved the technique over the years but it is still exhausting. But oh boy, will they taste good Sunday!!

While we were at the Polish store getting the sausage we picked up some poppy seed roll that is so fresh and good - yum!

I am reading a really good book from the library - "If Today Be Sweet" by Thrity Umhigar. I recommend it to everyone. Very interesting.

We have some babies peeking their heads up - yup, the radish and a couple of other of the seeds we planted are breaking thru the dirt! And the corn is going bonkers! I think they have tripled their size already!

This is one of the 3 times a year that I wish we had a second refrigerator. Even just a smaller apartment sized one. Just do not have the energy or gumption to make the pierogies on the same day we will eat them. So we make them the day before and of course they have to be refrigerated....along with the sausage etc. While we were in Concord for the sausage we stopped by an estate sale - and of course we were not driving the truck - and they had 2 refrigerators for sale - IF they worked, they were probably among the most reasonably priced items there....oh well...