Don't sweat the small stuff !

Thanksgiving Day discovery
It's a BUGS LIFE !!!

You know how when you're going to have company you run around your house cleaning, picking up, polishing, sweeping, dusting, etc. Well, I do this also. However, when I'm doing it I'm also thinking..."what have I missed"? On Thanksgiving Day the webs in the top the lamps in the living room presented themselves when we got ready to take family pictures. After being embarrassed, I just had to remind myself that there are some things that one can always count on. In this case it's the dust I've missed, the webs not removed, or maybe the windows not cleaned. BUT...I decided awhile ago to just be the best housekeeper I could be. OK...that may mean I don't dust often (makes me ill, literally), I don't vacuum everyday, I really don't "do" windows, and there are things I can just live with. But, really, don't we all have our household tasks that we just don't want to do?

I decided to use the cobweb experience as a means of learning something about myself. I discovered that this is truly one of those moments when I should "not sweat the small stuff". In the world today a spider web is so minor on the scale of important things to worry about. Not only that...but it's the holidays and there are lots of things I would rather be thinking about than housecleaning. So, here's my plan...I will sweep, dust, vacuum, polish, wash, de-web, and all that kinda stuff as necessary. After that I will enjoy the holidays with family and friends and tackle the small stuff another time.

Just a final note. To those of you who are visited by me...don't sweat the small stuff, cause when I come to visit, I won't be looking!!!

Field Trip with Paige

Paige and her classmates outside the Visitor's Center at Knights Ferry

The beautiful Stanislaus River

The Chinook Salmon and Paige pretending to be a salmon trying to make the trip upstream to spawn.

The State of California is rich in history and beauty.

We were privileged to be asked to attend Paige's field trip to Knight's Ferry last week. It was so much fun to see the inside of her classroom, meet her teacher, get to know her fellow classmates and ride on the bus. Yes...I said ride on the bus. Paige wanted to sit with Stan and I, so we squeezed our three bottoms (two big ones and one small one) inside a seat together on the bus. It was cozy to say the least, but we enjoyed every single minute of that 40 minute ride. Upon arrival we were given some history of the Knight's Ferry area and then had fun looking at the salmon trying to swim upstream. There weren't very many fish in the river, but after the game the kids played pretending to be salmon heading upstream, it's very understandable why we didn't see many fish. What a horrendous journey those incredible fish make to get back to their birthplace to spawn.

We really enjoyed getting to know some of Paige's classmates. We were assigned 4 children to watch over and had lots of fun being their chaperon (a word they didn't know the meaning of). After our lookout on the bridge and watching the fish we headed to the visitor's center to learn some more about the Stanislaus River, the old covered bridge (330 ft. long) and some history of the area. They showed two short films that explained alot of the history and we had a scavenger hunt where we had to use the displays in the museum to answer some questions, unscramble words, complete a crossword puzzle and identify plants, animals, and rocks. Wow...I sure learned a few things.

After all this we had a little picnic lunch (temperature outside was about 58, but pleasant) and then back on the bus for the trip home.

I have to say...this was one of the more behaved groups of children I have seen. Their teacher is a sweetheart and we could tell that she loves and cares about everyone of these children. We had a chance to talk with her during lunch and get to know her a little bit. She also had some wonderful things to say about Paige. We totally agreed with her assessment!!!

All in all, it was just a lovely, fun and informative day. Thank you, Paige, for letting Grandma and Grandpa be a part of this day. We loved it !!!

Thanksgiving Fun!!!

Gobble Gobble !!!

I love this artwork!!!

Thanks Paige for a great drawing.

Ellie has a great eye for color.

What a happy looking turkey!!!

Maddy is always so willing to make Grandma and Grandpa a drawing!!!

Isn't this one wonderful?

As I was getting ready for the day, I decided if my hair turned out OK I would try to get a family picture with Nic, Kayla and the girls. I'm so excited that this turned out so well. Not everyone was delighted to have to suspend playtime to have their picture taken, but everyone cooperated so much so that we were able to get this great picture. Thanks to camera technology we didn't even need a human photographer behind the camera. Gotta love it!!!

Being a grandmother is one of life's greatest rewards. We love spending time with the girls and enjoying their sweet and loving spirits. Each girl has such individual special qualities. We love and cherish each one of them.

Thanksgiving Day was perfect. Only exception...the family all the way across the country was not with us too. We missed you all so much.

I'm so grateful that Families are Forever !!!

Happy Thanksgiving Tropical Style

Hi,
Thought I would mix it up a little and add some new pizzaz to my blog. After doing this I had to pick myself up off the floor. This fainting to the floor occurred when I realized that I made this background/template change without any of my "techie" ladies helping me. Aren't you all so very proud of me???

I'm grateful for this technical age that allows us to do these fun things via the computer. It's not just the fun part that's so wonderful. Recently I've needed to get some medical information that I know I couldn't have gotten easily from the doctor's office. I can't believe the vast amount of information that is currently available to us. Stan recently discovered that his blood pressure is a little on the high side. After a little research, a trip to Costco pharmacy, a trip to the juice aisle at the grocery store and some dedication on his part to trying a non-prescription method of lowering blood pressure, I'm glad to report that his BP has moved from the 140's down into the upper 120's. That's pretty remarkable and we didn't even need to make a trip to the doctor's office. Mind you, they didn't say that he had to take medication, but we feel that he was headed in that direction. Also, some research (via the internet)and a change in diet lowered his triglycerides considerably. It's all good!!!

This holiday season I'm grateful for Stan (my best friend), family and the love we all have for each other, friends, this free country we live in, lower gas prices, fun stuff to do with grandchildren (like being invited to field trips, lunches, performances, classrooms, games, etc.), my mother still being alive and a vital part of my life, the Twilight Saga, having a husband that totally supports my need to fill a room full of fabric to quilt, a Father in Heaven and my brother Jesus who love me, and to repeat it again because it's so important...FAMILY!!!

Happy Thanksgiving and love to you all...Gobble, Gobble!

I've seen it!!!

IT'S HERE, I'VE SEEN IT, IT'S ________________!!! Yes, I promised I wouldn't give an opinion or make any comments about the movie. I took Nancy (who has not read the books) and can you believe that she got up to go get a drink right when all the vampire characters were introduced in the movie. Well...that's Nancy! By the way, I sent the book home with her and she has promised to read it now. We had tickets for the 1:30 showing and got to the theater about 12:10. The first daytime showing was starting at noon, so we figured we couldn't get into that showing. We had 1+ hours to kill before our show started so we decided to hit the ladies room and then just pop into the theater that was showing Twilight at noon. Guess what? There were seats available (not just in the front rows) and they were still showing trailers, so we just found a seat and were ready to watch the movie. This was a delightful surprise! I guess there were many young women still in school and not at the movies. But, the surprising thing was how many MEN were there. I even saw men sitting by themselves. I can't wait to report that to my husband who claims he wouldn't be interested in these books. Bah Humbug on him!!!
Can't wait to talk to you all about the movie. Let's all report in when we've seen it.

I'm a bore!

Ok...here's the deal. I've decided that I'm a bore. And in the blogging world this is a really bad thing. I love looking at eveyone's blog. I enjoy all the pictures and the travel logs, opinions, family stories, updates on sports events, grandchildren funnies, etc., etc. But... and this is a BIG BUT...I've decided that my life is just not all that interesting. I'm grateful each day to be getting up on the right side of the grass, but, after that, each day just seems to be pretty much like the day before. I'm fortunate that occasionally there are bright shining moments; such as, visits with family, hugs and kisses from sweet grandchildren, moments spent with my mother, having the full attention of my husband and, of course, quilting. But really, is that interesting to other people? I guess since I've spent so much of my life feeling that I just didn't stand out in the crowd in any way, I feel that I just don't have anything outstanding to say in my blog. I do have thoughts, opinions, feelings, problems, hurts and such. But do you want to hear about that? I wish I were funny. So many of your blogs are so funny, so again I fall short. I know that you are checking my blog because when I do occasionally post something there are usually comments. So...I guess what I'm trying to get at is this...please forgive me for not posting much. I am trying to get over my innermost feeling of inadequacy. Be patient, I'll keep trying.

HELP... I'm quilting and I can't stop!!!

Couldn't resist these colors at a quilt shop closing it's doors.
Who knew I would like "black" in a quilt?

Country Sampler

I mean it... help!!! I don't know how to say no to Linda when she suggests that we make a new quilt almost before we're finished with the latest one. I even have one that we started and Nancy said she didn't want to finish it because it had "applique" in it. Well, even if she doesn't want to finish it, I'm going (by gosh) to get it finished someday soon. However, I couldn't move on until I finished the projects I've posted here. I must say...I'm rather proud of my work. I really didn't know how I would like the harvest pumpkin quilt with the black in it, but I've decided that I really do like contrast in a quilt. It's taken me a number of years to be comfortable moving away from all my colors being very close in shade which doesn't make for a very interesting quilt. The country sampler has been partially done for a number of months and was only needing me to put the layers together. I could have simple meandered the whole quilt, but decided that I really wanted to make this a showpiece. So...I painstaking went block by block using different quilting stitch patterns. This form of quilting really shows off the details of each block and makes the quilt much more interesting.

Well...with all that said, this post is simply a "bragfest show and tell" on my part. Thanks for indulging me by reading this far and looking at my pictures.

Finished Breaking Dawn

OK...I finally finished reading Breaking Dawn. I can see why she used this title for the book. I don't, however, understand why it took her some 700+ pages to finally "break dawn". I loved the book and disliked it at the same time. At first I was thrown by the chapters where Jacob does the telling. However, after a few chapters into this area of the book, I found that I enjoyed hearing from his perspective. Wow... we sure didn't know Jacob this well before? I was disturbed by the honeymoon area of the book and the discovery that Bella became pregnant rather quickly. I know that we had to travel down the disturbing road of thinking that the baby would be a monster, but it was difficult to get through. I thought that the transition from human to vampire for Bella was very well written. Bella speaking while in the throws of the change was fascinating. I would have liked to hear more from Edward at this point in the story. He seemed to be such a "WRECK" and totally unable to cope. I realize that Bella is his whole world, but I think we should have heard more from him and more about his anguish. I agree that the Renessme name is kinda lame. However, when you say it out loud quite a few times it kinda grows on you.
Now...to the part of the story that I really was disappointed in. The Volturi !
What the heck is with that? Do we really believe that the child brought from South America (half human/half vampire) was their only reason for heading back to Italy with their tails between their legs? I felt there were too many pages devoted to the build up of a fight and a subsequent loss of our favorite characters. Not that I wanted anyone to be destroyed...but couldn't we have had a little more reason for the Volturi to back down. I really thought that when the earth moved and the wind was raised that something dramatic, like the earth swallowing the Volturi, would happen, but she just passed over that quickly. I frankly don't know how I expected the story to end. But, sadly, I was disappointed.
Does anyone else feel that she left a little window open for a 5th book?

I'm really looking forward to the movie coming out on Nov. 21. Can't wait to read your reviews and share my own.

Bears in the campground...Yikes!!!

Is that really a bear climbing that fence?
Yep...that's one of the babies saying..."Wait for me".

Note: little one coming out of the bathroom
I'm done using the bathroom mom...let's eat.

"I'd love to eat, honey, but this darn box won't open!"

"Ah...I can smell the food, now how do I get to it?"

Note: Tent campers in their car now.
"Tent camping can be hazardous to your health...

good thing we have the car."

"Hey mom...wait up!"

"Are you sure the drive-up window wasn't open?"

We had so much fun going back to the Tahoe Valley Campground this last weekend with Carol and Craig. I don't really know how that place can stay so the same as it was 30 some years ago. It's such a fun "home away from home." We're always so surprised at how quiet it is there despite being so near the Y (which includes lots of traffic and shopping areas), but it really is lovely with all the trees and such. We were enjoying the small wildlife in our campsite area and on our walks, but didn't expect for a minute that we would see any bears. I know that we're in the woods, but after all, the traffic and parking lots are just a short distance away. But, while talking to mom on the phone I spied this mother and her cubs coming into the campground area via the roadway alongside the campground. I've never seen bears outside the zoo enclosures, so this was a special treat. It seemed obvious that they were quite used to saundering through this area and seemed very familiar with the fence and tree that they used to enter the campground. Stan was especially excited about the young one coming out the the bathroom. This totally freaked out Carol since she had been and would continue to need to use the showers at the campground. When we followed this little family (in our car) over to the other side of the campground there was a couple in their tent near the dumpster/bathroom area. We laughed at them peaking out from the top of their tent obviously trying to decide what to do about these visitors. They eventually both made a beeline to their car and stayed there until this family had moved on. I have a healthly respect for wildlife, but was so delighted to be able to see them so close up. It made the trip and the camping experience seem more remote than it was.

We also did some biking and took a drive up to where our old house was located. Surprisingly the house is up for sale again. This time the asking price was $584,000. Wow...we can't even believe that we paid $151,000 for it way back when. Candy Dance (the craft fair in Genoa, NV) was wonderful. We got there early and left when it got very crowded at 11:30 or so. Lots more booths this year and lots more people. But all in all, a great shopping experience. Even Stan and Craig enjoyed it...I think. I made a trip into my favorite quilt shop there in Gardnerville and decided that I would come back more often to shop there. Not one quilt shop in the whole Bay Area can hold a candle to this place.

So...a fun time was had by all...even the guys.

Stan and the Scouts

Stan and the boys went on a 5 mile hike. Brave (he says "stupid") Stan did all this with brand new hiking boots. He survived the experience with flying colors. The boys seemed to enjoy the food and camping out near the Napa State Mental Hospital. Stan did so well that he didn't even feel the need to be "checked in". The Friday evening included a flag ceremony, knife and axe safety, campfires (including the ever important Smores) and a talk by one of the leaders. Then some scripture reading, prayers and off to bed. Stan called me at 9:30 and said everyone was pretty much settled in for the night. That would never happen at girl's camp. Only one child (asthma) was up a bit in the night, but otherwise everyone did fine.

Early morning Saturday included the flag raising, first aid workshop, 5 mile hike & nature walk, lunch then finally, the orienteering.

Wow...sounds like alot of activities to be crammed into such a short period of time. But hey, we're talking Boy Scouts here, right?

My Man in Uniform

July 2001 -and- September 2008

Stan has received a new calling. He's now the Assistant Scoutmaster in charge of the 11 year olds. He's enthusastically thrown himself into the calling with gusto. Three trips to the Scout Shop in Pleasant Hill (expensive), numerous phone calls ("I need training!"), many emails (who is in my troop?), a meeting or two (lets get to know one another) and voila' you have Stan doing the Scouting thing.

I say... you gotta love a man in uniform. I sure do!
Good luck with that new calling.

I'm thinking he's gonna need it.

Transformation!!!

Most of you know that we've been doing some remodeling. Nothing major...mostly cosmetic. However, I am so pleased with the results of this project that I just had to share.

After moving all the furniture (not including the Bowflex) out to the garage (a short distance, thank goodness), we moved the Bowflex into the middle of the room, tore up all the carpeting (nasty), tack strips (lethal) and the baseboards (ancient style) and went to work with the transformation. I painted the ceiling bright white with two coats. Wow...already a big improvement! Then the walls got a double coat of the soft yellowish off white paint. At this stage I was really starting to see what the future would hold. Next came the flooring. We had 5 boxes left over that we didn't use upstairs and got 7 more to complete this job (it came down to three planks left over...not bad on the measuring job Stan!). This part went pretty fast with my "Mr. Handyman" masterfully knowing what he was doing. It moved along at a pretty fast pace with only minor input on board selection from me. (I know when to stay out of the way of progress). Anyway, you can see the results after everything was returned to the room. Only a couple of things were placed back in their original location, with one of the two beds being given away.

Now the bathroom on the other hand was a different story. Stan decided that the toilet should be taken up. You have to understand that this was a major life altering experience for him. HE HATES PLUMBING!!! But up it came anyway. Well, needless to say, what we saw after that was not a pretty site. Oh, thank you Southampton Homes for another shoddy job. Anyway, about 6-7 hours later, three trips to Ace Hardware or Home Depot, a few phone calls to our helpful friend, Mike Kincaid, and a number of disgruntled remarks we finally got to the final product you see above.

The long and the short of this journey is that I will no longer refer to this room/area of the house as the "dungeon" again. I now love its new windows, flooring, wall color, white baseboards, white bathroom cabinet (it was dark, dark brown before), lattice mirror in the bath and everything else that now makes it so bright, warm and inviting.

Now, if only, we had somewhere to put the "loverly" Bowflex.

Well, I guess I can't have everything.

Twilight-New Release Date

http://www.twilightthemovie.com/

Sorry to those Harry Potter fans out there. But in case you don't know yet, they've bumped the Harry Potter movie to next year and will be releasing Twilight on November 21.

The link above takes you to the newest trailer available. Wow...it sure wets the appetite.
I can't wait!!! Who wants to go with me on November 21?

Lemon Chicken revisited

OK...I tried the Lemon Chicken again. And voila' ... it turned out great. So using the right ingredients really does make a difference. DA !!!

So I thought I would share this recipe also, especially for those that like lemon chicken at your favorite Chinese restaurant.

LEMON CHICKEN

1/3 cup Bisquick
1 tsp. seasoned salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1/4 cup olive oil
1-1/3 cup canned lemon pie filling
1/2 cup water
1/3 cup cider vinegar
2 tablespoons soy sauce

In a large resealable plastic bag, combine the Bisquick, seasoned salt and pepper. Add chicken, one piece at a time and shake to coat. Note: I cut my chicken into large chunks like they do at the restaurants.

In a large skillet, brown chicken in oil on both sides; drain. Transfer to a 13x9" baking dish. In a small bowl, combine the pie filling, water, vinegar, and soy sauce; pour over chicken. Bake, uncovered, at 375 degrees for 40 minutes.

Serve with your favorite rice.

Enjoy and please let me know if you try it and how you like it.

It's a Tie

So far we have a 3-way tie. That's if you don't count my vote or Stan's vote. FYI...The Beauty of Molokai is my favorite. I didn't realize that the palm tree from my blog page would show through the pictures. The colors are much more dramatic than in these transparent pictures. Does anyone know how to prevent the posted pictures from being transparent?
Thanks for your opinions...it kinda helps.

Costco photo contest

Lahaina Harbor
Beauty of Molokai

Inlet to Nokolele Blowhole

Above you'll see three pictures that I'm considering sending into the Costco Photo Contest. I wanted to ask your opinions as to which one I should send. I have a favorite (I won't tell which one), but want to know what your favorite might be.

The Lahaina Harbor picture was taken when we were returning from Molokai. After the crossing it's a wonder I could even point and shoot this one. Wow...that was rough to say the least.

The Beauty of Molokai was taken from the shore of Molokai facing northeast. It was nice to get out of the tour van so I could take some pictures.

The Inlet to Nokolele Blowhole was taken from the shoreline where the water blasts into the inlet hole and then is shot up out of the ground. Some of you may remember that the Nokolele Blowhole was used to make a Timex commercial many years ago. I believe they dropped the watch into the hole and then after it came shooting up they found that it was still working. Just a bit of trivia for you.

Anyway...let me know which one you think I should submit to the photo contest.

Thanks for you help.

It Was Time

I am so grateful for the internet. About 5 or 6 months ago I googled the question, "When do you know it's time to "put down" a pet?" I looked at about 5 responses to this question and the common thread in each was that you can see it in their eyes.
Well that day came on this last Friday. Our sweet Sadie, who turned 14 in June, is now in the arms of the angels.
This past week she started to show signs that she wasn't enjoying this earthly life very much. For quite some time she has spent most of her days laying around, eating cookies and getting under my feet when I'm cooking. Mostly she did the laying around part. However, since last Monday she started to not eat or drink very much. I know that this is a good indication that something is amiss. But I was watching her closely and she still managed to be up and moving about some of the time. That all came to a screeching halt on Friday morning. Our normal routine each morning is for Stan to come downstairs at which time he gets bread out of the fridge to put her pills in so she will take them. She loved this part of the day and always displayed a great deal more energy than the rest of the day. Even though Stan was at Girl's Camp this last week, she seemed to follow the same happy morning routine Monday through Thursday with me. Unfortunately Friday morning she just wasn't able to muster the energy. I was alarmed when she just didn't want to move. I found that she was awake and still breathing. (I had many times thought someday I would find her dead in the morning). I spoke to her, but she didn't seem to be too interested. So...my plan was to leave her be and wait for her to decide it was time to get up. Most mornings this wakeup routine starts at 7:00 AM. By 11:00 she was still on the rug where she sleeps and in what I would call the "doggie fetal position". I spent about 15 minutes studying her breathing and waiting for her to make some sort of decision about staying or going on her on. Finally, I got the "look". I have never in my life seen anything so sad and heart wrenching. I'm grateful that I had read the articles and knew that "look" meant that she no longer wanted to be here. I made some phone calls, one to Heidi, one to Carol, a call to Girl's Camp to get Stan home, and the final one to the Vet. I waited for Stan to come home to help because I knew I just couldn't do this alone and that we needed to do this together. It was surprisingly easy. I don't mean that in a callous way, but just that I believe that this sweet animal had lived with us long enough and communicated with us through her personality in a way that made it so understandable for me to know that she was ready to go home. I'm glad she's no longer in pain and I'm grateful for her telling me it was enough.
We'll miss her alot.

Had to share!

I just had to share this recipe with everyone.
If you like peanut butter cookies with a twist...you'll like this one!

Chewy Surprise Cookies
-Courtesy of Taste of Home-

1-1/2 cups butter-flavored shortening
1-1/2 cups peanut butter (I used super chunky, but smooth is good too)
2 cups sugar, divided
1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
4 eggs
2 tsp. baking soda
1-1/2 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. salt
1 pkg. (10oz.) Milk Duds

In a large mixing bowl, cream the shortening, peanut butter, 1-1/2 cups sugar and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
Combine dry ingredients; gradually add to the creamed mixture. Chill for at least 1 hour.

Shape 4 teaspoons of dough around each Milk Dud so it is completely covered. Roll balls in remaining sugar.

Place 2 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes or until set. (I found that I needed to bake them longer than this, so add time if you like them crispy)
Cool for 5 minutes before removing to wire racks.

(Note: do not use reduced-fat peanut butter)

Enjoy!

Opps!

Trying new recipes can be fun and exciting. That is...until you have a disaster. Tonight was one such occasion. I cannot, however, blame the recipe or the sweet person who wrote it. No...the fault is all mine. In this lovely sounding recipe (Lemon Chicken with Rice) it calls for lemon pie filling. Now my pea-picking three tiny brain cells immediately thought of Jello Pudding and Pie Filling in those nice little boxes. I gleefully bought a box of "sugar free" lemon pudding and pie filling (always trying to save a calorie here or there) and proceeded to make this recipe. It should have been a huge red flag when I read that it called for 1-1/2 cups of pie filling. (I can see that some of you are getting where I made my mistake already). But no, I just figured I had made a typo and that the one little box would do what was called for. The next clue to my being "stupid" was that it said to pour the sauce ingredients over the chicken. When I put together the box of lemon pie filling, water, soy sauce and cider vinegar its consistency didn't come anywhere near being able to be poured. Again...I pressed on thinking that I was doing this right. I spread the "goo" over the chicken I had prepared (this turned out correctly) and placed it in the oven. Now, mind you, I love Lemon Chicken!!! So I thoroughly expected this to come out like my favorite at China Boat in Maui. WRONG !!! I can't even describe the appearance of this dish when it came out of the oven. I guess my best description is to say that it looked like it had some sort of brownish, aged, wrinkled skin spread all over the chicken. The chicken was still under all this and actually tasted pretty good when the creepy looking skin was removed. It even tasted like lemon, however, I only had a small amount. I just couldn't get past the "goo skin".

Well...to make a long story short, the light bulb finally came on. Yes, I know, all of you have already figured out that I was supposed to use canned lemon pie filling. DAAAA!!!! I know that they make pie fillings in the can. I've used pie fillings that come in a can. My question is...why wasn't it located right on the shelf next to the box of pudding/pie filling so that I would not make such a dumb mistake? Not to worry, I won't make it again. I also want to know why my three puny brain cells failed me. Normally I can depend on them to keep my going in the right direction. However, in this case they failed miserably.

I am determined to make this recipe correctly. I'm headed to the store first thing tomorrow morning and purchase that can of Lemon Pie Filling !!! I'll let you know how the second round of Lemon Chicken with Rice turns out. Come on three puny brain cells...don't fail me now !!!

Pleasant Hill High School - Class of 1969

When I was in high school, if someone had told me that someday I would be sitting at a computer, uploading (wouldn't have even known what that was) my senior picture and then typing something into said computer and sending it out into cyber space for all to see...I would have called in their reservation to Napa State Hospital. Never would I have imagined that such a thing were possible. I knew about computers, but these were monstrous things that took up the space of a whole room. My world was mimeograph machines and electric typewriters. Wow...we thought we had it all.
The rapid passing of the last 39 years since I was in high school was brought into sharp focus yesterday when I met with 6 of my fellow classmates to work on plans for our 40th Class Reunion in August of '09. As we sat and discussed the various aspects of the reunion, I was overwhelmed by how little I knew these woman. I took a moment, as our chairperson was talking, to look closely at each one of them. In this little group we had the quiet, timid type, the former cheerleader (very confident), the all around leader of the pack, the biker dudette, the victim of a con man, and last, but not least, the most foul mouthed woman I've met in a very long time. I can't say for sure where I fit into the group or just what my description would be if you were able to ask them, but I was both annoyed and honored to be a part of the group. My feelings about participating in the reunion plans were about as mixed as a can of Planter's mixed nuts. Our "foul mouth" kept referring to us as being old. I found that this annoyed me almost as much as her bad language (biker dudette had a pretty mean mouth too), mostly because the last 39 years since high school seem more and more a blur to me. I look at the picture I have posted here and I wonder where did that girl go? I still feel the same things that she felt. I still laugh, cry, love, worry, strive, wish, hope, and all around feel the same as I did then. Why then is she not the person in the mirror? Yes...I know that we must all get older. But that's just it...I only want to get older - Not OLD!!!
So, the reason for the posting of the picture and my ramblings about time and it's swift passing are all part of a request. My desire at this point in my life is for you to humor me. Please refrain from using the word "old" in my presence. I'm not old, my mother is not old (at least I don't consider her to be old), and I'm not married to an old man.
I have friends who throw this word around like it is a badge of honor. Well, I don't consider it to be any kind of prize. I promise you that I will go down kicking and screaming as I progress in this life to my ultimate demise. But right now I don't feel that said "kicking and screaming" is anywhere near commencing. I am banking on the fact that my mother is a spry 85 year old who has the energy of someone half her age.
So...to the women of this family, I say thank heavens for an apparent strong and healthy gene pool. Lets all do the best we can to take care of those youthful genes and live long, long happy lives.

Menu Progress Report

The menus are coming along nicely. We are currently at 75 main dishes that have been printed out with corresponding shopping lists. Heidi has more items that are not formal recipes that she has included in her list of dinners. She has also sent me various sidedish ideas. I have yet to work on these, but now that we have 75 main courses established, I think I can start thinking about sidedishes. We've even thrown in some desserts. Even though Stan and I don't often make a dessert, it's nice to have good recipes for when one is needed.

Heidi and I have set a new goal. We will be making a list of our top 45 favorites from this list of 75+ menus by July 31st.. We've decided that we can either repeat this list twice to make our 90 day food supply or we can add in any other ideas that don't require formal recipes, ie. pancakes, nachos, homemade pizza, etc. This would also include a few nights where we would be going out to dinner.

I have started a binder with the 75 Day Menu "table of contents" page and have all 75 recipes in alphabetical order. Now...most of you are saying, "She's gone completely off her rocker with this", but I'm havin' fun so there's not harm done to my psyche, really !!!

We anticipate that after the 31st we'll be pretty close to making our master shopping list and then be able to head out for the store. This could get expensive. Today I did some shopping at Super Wal-Mart for my current 2 week menu and got some staples from Costco. OUCH...that cost me nearly $300 and... that's for only two people!!!

Hopefully all this menu planning and bulk shopping will have the desired effect. That would be...saving time, money and being PREPARED!

Still Cooking!

Wow, this cookin thing has taken on a life of its own.
Heidi and I have decided to create a 3 month food supply. Well...Heidi made the suggestion that we do this and I readily agreed that it would be a good idea. We quickly started making plans and brainstormed as to how we would get this project underway. You have to remember that we live 2375 miles apart, so this wasn't going to be really easy. We found that as we brainstormed we were needing to describe our thoughts in great detail and hope that the other was getting the picture. After some discussion, we made a plan to get 30 of our favorite recipes together (to be shared with each other), figure out the shopping lists and then send them to each other. All this was to be done by July 15th. After a slow start (about 4 days) I decided Heidi would get way out in front of me on this project so I better get my rear in gear. So...out came all the old family recipes, recipe group favorites and Taste of Home cookbook recipes Stan and I like. It didn't take any effort at all to come up with 30 favorites. I, in fact, got on such a roll, that I came up with 48 pretty quickly. I decided it was just too difficult to keep track of all these when they were on or in many different paper sources (recipe cards, cookbooks, sheets of paper, and then the scraps of paper I have scribbled on). So I headed for the computer. Needless to say, I'm now feeling chained to this computer. I decided to retype all the recipes and add a shopping list on the side of each one. I'm getting really tired of typing the words boneless, skinless chicken breasts and many others that are repeated often. However, I am feeling a great sense of accomplishment. I feel that I've embraced this challange. I'm excited to get the 3 month food supply, knowing that I'll be buying only those items that we use for our favorite recipes. I know for a surety that I will never be one of those that stores a wheat supply that I would never use. After all...how many things can you really make from wheat? Really !!!
My firend, Linda, says that Heidi and I should combine all our recipes, make our shopping lists, make that master shopping list and then put this all together and try to get it published. Linda feels there is a market for a book where all this work is done for someone who just doesn't have the time to do a two week menu, make the shopping list and get to the store in an orderly fashion. I got the feeling that she has difficulty with this herself. Anyway...we are (I think) ahead of schedule on our deadline. It's exciting to see this task come together.
Anyone interested in seeing our finished product? We'd be glad to share !!!

Imagine that...I like to cook!

In the past few months (well, maybe the last year), I have discovered that I like to cook. I have to give credit for this to Heidi. While staying at her house she turned me on to doing a two week menu. I was advised to record dishes I wanted to make, create a shopping list from these menu items, shop only (well almost) for the items on the shopping list and then I'd be ready to make any of them on whatever night I chose. I watched this work for her, but I'll admit I was slow to learn how efficient this was. Anyway, some months after my observations, I finally decided to give it a try. In this process I've discovered that I really do like to cook. I thought I had lost that feeling after having children that had such different ideas about food likes and dislikes. It sure can take the wind out of a cook's sail (all you mothers know what I'm talking about). I also found that it's difficult to cook for just two people. Recipes are generally created to serve many people. This makes it hard when there is so much left over (that's providing Stan doesn't love it and have multiple helpings). I have made a concerted effort to cut recipes in half, and this taxes my math skills considerably, but I've managed to not mess up too many recipes. Also in my journey of revelation, I have discovered (also with the help of Heidi) the Taste of Home cookbooks and magazines. I have to tell ya...these are recipes I can cook. I love that they don't use exotic ingredients. Most everything is something I've heard of, have on hand, or can find at the local grocery store. Yeah...that makes cooking so much easier. I have in the last two days made a couple of things that Stan has asked me to repeat. So, I guess I'm pleasing the crowd (of one) and enjoying it as well. After all, life and eating are meant to be enjoyable, right?

Catching Up

Stan and I are trying to catch up to the current technology. I thought it was such a great accomplishment for me to get an iPod, get music and movies on it and then figure out how to listen and watch. We've had Dish Network Satellite for quite some time and I think I've become pretty proficient at using it. I even knew enough to ask for an additional USB device so that I could store such things as all this season's Lost episodes. This was done in an effort to make some sense of this story by watching it over and over. Whatever made me think I would have time for that? At any rate, I have felt more hooked up with the current technology. This blog was also a big accomplishment for me. With help from Kayla, Christy and Heidi I have been able to make posts and hopefully I'll be able to include pictures soon. All this being said...we've added a new dimension to our lives filled with entertainment. We recently signed up for Netflix. I've got to tell you...whoever thought up this concept was really hooked up with what the current populous wants. Signing up rewarded us with 4,000 airline miles so we had some pretty good incentive, plus Nic and Kayla have been telling us how much fun it is to get movies in the mail. We've received our first movie, watched it, mailed it back and a new one is on the way. Thanks to my email, I know when it's been mailed and it's title. Now I ask you...with gas prices being what they are now, how can you miss on entertainment coming directly to your home on a regular basis? It doesn't cost us much to receive one movie at a time and I can cram as many into the month as is possible. Also, fortunately, the trip to my mail box (both to get movies and return movies) is approximately 50 steps away. I find this to be an awesome thing.
All this makes me wonder...what did my grandparents do for entertainment and am I in serious overload? I don't know the answer to either of these questions, but I do know that it's nice to be able to watch a good movie and de-stress. So I say...enjoy this type of technology, I believe it can be good for you.

Luau magic

Last night we enjoyed a luau at the Old Lahaina Luau. Needless to say...they delivered a beautiful evening. It's so nice to be greeted with an aloha and a smile, a fresh orchid lei, and a virgin mai tai. After being escorted to our seats we went to have our picture taken. They turned out pretty good and we'll share them with you when we return home. The beverages are limitless so our waiter (Nelson) was ready and willing to bring us all we wanted. The favorite at our table was the virgin Pina Colada. Wow...sugar, sugar, sugar served in a convenient container with a straw. But it's yummy!!! The food was fantastic with so much to choose from that you can't possibly get even a little of everything on your plate. Dessert was great also. We enjoyed the company of a family from Michigan who was also seated at our table. The entertainment was the best part. As you all know we love the Hawaiian culture and it's music. We also love the traditional dances. The Tahitian dances are fast and colorful. The costumes of these various island cultures are varied and vivid. I just didn't want it to stop.
We head home on Thursday. Can't wait to see you all cause we miss you like crazy.
Aloha... means we love you!

Aloha from Maui

Aloha!!!
It's been a lovely couple of days here in Maui. We arrived without any problems, actually the airport was fast, the car rental was fast and picking up Carol and Craig later was fast also.
We got our shopping done and then off to the condo. We decided to give Aloha Mixed Plate a try again and found the traditional food to be very good. Then off to get more groceries at Safeway. Nice to have a Safeway here in paradise.
Sunday church was nice, crowded and pretty darn cool. They didn't even have the fans on and the air conditioner didn't seem to be up very high. The weather has been very pleasant. The temperatures have been hovering in the high 70's.
Today we reached 87 degrees, but it was not humid and felt very pleasant. We snorkeled in Honoloa Bay where I came within 3 feet of a turtle. It was fantastic !!! He was so cute and seemed so comfortable with us being right near him. One bad thing though, he had only 3 flippers. It appeared that something bite one off awhile back. It didn't seem to effect him at all. He hung around with us for quite awhile and then swam down into where it was much deeper. We were in about 40 feet of water when we came across him. The coral over on that side of the bay holds many fish and beautiful, colorful coral.
We then decided we wanted to just do some swimming over in Weilea, so after a stop at Maui Taco for lunch we went over by the Grand Weilea to swim. You can walk right into the ocean without any breakers and the bottom is flat and sandy without any rocks or worries about stepping on anything. It's like having a huge swimming pool with a sandy bottom.
After our swim we cleaned up and went to Cool Cats for dinner and then a walk through Lahaina. Snorkeling, swimming, and walking really makes for tired bodies.
We'll post more in a couple of days. Tomorrow we're going for a drive and have lunch at the Pineapple Plantation. They have a mean Macadamia Nut pie !!!

Aloha from the Big Island

Aloha,
First of all let me tell you that if you want lots of details about our experiences here you need to go to Carol's blog. She gives much more information.
We are having a wonderful time. The Big Island is just what is says it is..BIG!!! We took a drive all the way (well just about) around it on Wednesday. Let me tell, the island is as different as night and day from the east side to the west side. The lava flows are, well, just plain ugly. However, when you get on the other side (east near Hilo) it starts to look very different. There are many resorts down near the water on the west side, however, these are definitely "out of our league".
We've been snorkeling twice and found it to be a delightful experience. The variety of fish is incredible. There is nothing like getting up close and personal with a puffer fish. We saw a snowflake eel today and followed it for awhile. It was only about 18-20" long, so we didn't feel threatened at all. The cove where we've snorkeled is shallow and has lots of coral and many, many fish. We've seen turtles, however, the ones I saw were only on the shore eating the green aglae. I guess this is a delicacy for them. Looked kinda green and slimy to me.
Anyway, you get the idea. I'm really suprised that we've taken to this sport to well. Dad (Stan) is doing good. Today he stayed in the water for almost as long as Carol and I. He stays closer to shore even though you could be out about a hundred yards and still stand up. They ask that you don't do that because you are standing on the coral...a living creature. Makes for an interesting swimming experience.
We've been trying not to eat too much. We've found some nice places to eat based on a couple of recommendations. But we've also enjoyed picnicing and eating in. The pineapple and other fruits are my favorite. We've also been able to keep up our exercise routines. You'd think swimming and lots of walking would be enough, but it's really nice to get up early (6:30 AM) and go for a walk. The weather is so pleasant then. We've had some rain, but not enough to ruin any plans. It actually keeps the temperature down a bit. Today was our warmest day down at the beach. Did some swimming only at a beach closer to the condo. We met some nice people from Canada. Sad for them... they go home tomorrow and back to jobs.
Tomorrow (Sat.) we head for Maui. We'll be glad to get to our favorite island. We'll miss the cove here for snorkeling. I know I have never seen anything like it over on Maui. Here's hoping for some good snorkeling over there. We'll post some more the beginning of next week. We haven't had time to post some pictures. Maybe next week we can get some to you.
Hope you are all well. Please know that we do miss you all very much and really, really wish you were here to enjoy this with us.

Aloha

A New Kind of Freedom

This last Sunday I was released from my calling as Relief Society President. I have mixed feelings about this latest development in my life. I have been asked by countless people if I feel that the weight of the world has been lifted off my shoulders. Well...no, not really. I know that I am no longer entitled to inspiration when it comes to the sisters. However, I still care about all that happens to them, good or bad. Also...I've gotten to know so many of them better than I ever would have had I not been the President for 2+ years. Don't get me wrong...there were times when I felt that I couldn't do it one more day, I couldn't listen to one more problem I knew I couldn't fix, or I had to let a sister vent when she knew she couldn't do anything to help someone. But along with those times came great moments of joy, opportunities to serve, chances to get inspiration and pass that on to others, and to watch the glorious acts of charity that were betstowed on those in need.

I went through a husband dying (motorcycle accident), child with a brain tumor (mother gave birth during this 4 month ordeal), three sisters who developed three different kinds of cancer, and at the end, a elderly sister given the news that chemo will not prolong her life. However, on the other side of this came many moments of joy and a realization that our Father in Heaven loves us all the same. He gives some of us trials we don't think that we can bear, but we can learn from this that if bad things didn't happen we would never know what the good times can be like. In one of my favorite movies, a character asks her husband how God could let bad things happen to good people. His response is that God doesn't stop bad things from happening to us, but that the proof of his love is that he will be there when it does. I love this thought. He will be there for us. I know this for a fact cause he's been there for me so many times.

Another thing I've learned through this journey is that I can do some things I never thought I would be capable of doing. I've grown in a way that is difficult for me to describe. There is a part of me that was not there before this calling. The Lord definitely has helped me to grow.

During my tenure as RS President I know that some of you felt I was not giving you as much attention as I could. For this I am deeply sorry. I hope that you will forgive me for any perceived lack of interest or involvement in your lives. Believe me...it was not my intention and now that that part of my life has come to a conclusion, I hope you will give me the opportunity to be more a part of your lives.

Anyway...that's a short synopsis of my current life and my feelings about being released.

Stay tuned for a little news on our trip to Hawaii. Aloha love to you all and we miss you very much!!!

Time Out for Women

What a wonderful blessing it was to go this last weekend to Southern California with Heidi, Christy and Carol. We had so much fun!!! It made me feel like a teenager again hanging out with my girlfriends. Disneyland was, well... DISNEYLAND!!! I mean, how can it NOT be the best fun for four women together for the day. We thoroughly enjoyed Space Mountain. I had not been on this ride (my favorite) since it was remodeled and reopened some 2 1/2 years ago. It is the best, craziest, most exhilirating ride out there as far as I'm concerned. The pictures taken by their cameras told the tale very well. We laughed and laughed at ourselves. All the rides were fun, especially because we did them all together. The only exception was the Matarhorn. That one is too hard on my back so Heidi and I took a short "sit down". After all that fun we headed for San Diego. The ride was nice with lots of pleasant conversation and laughter. Time Out for Women was totally awesome. What a spiritual feeding that was for me. There were many mothers and daughters there together. They had us all stand up and I swear it was well over half of the audience. That was a beautiful thing to behold. The speakers and music were so great. I'm still floating on a spiritual high.
Last, but by no means least, we had an opportunity to go to the San Diego Temple. What a beautiful and holy place. If you've seen it from the freeway you have a tiny glimpse as to its beauty. Believe me...the inside is so much more beautiful. What a blessing it was to be able to go there.
I send my love and thank you to Heidi and Christy for planning this lovely weekend. Can't wait to do it again.

Favorite Hawaiian Song

First of all a big thank you to Kayla for helping me get this song on our blog.

Many of you know that we listen to Hawaiian music even when we're not in Hawaii. We love it so much and have purchased many CDs. However, one particular artist has become our favorite. This music you're hearing is by Keali'i Reichel (Ka-ah-LEE-ee Rye-shell) and entitled Ka Nohona Pili Kai. The song extols the beauty of Keali'i's grandmother's home by the sea.

I have tenuously started making a study of the Hawaiian language. I find it beautiful and lyrical. I know I will never speak Hawaiian, but I'm trying to learn mostly how to pronounce the many varied words. This will be a long and (hopefully) fun journey.

Hope you enjoy our Hawaiian song as much as we do.

What's wrong with Jury Duty?

Today I went up to Fairfield to report for Jury Duty. This is not the first time this has been a necessity for me. I say necessity because we really have been given no choice in our being selected for this obligation. Now many of you might see the words necessity, obligation and duty and think negative thoughts. I just want to give you the flip side of things. We live in a free country. We may not like all the things about our country, but you have to admit, we are a free people. That greatest of all freedoms is ...choice. Yes, that jury duty summons appears to negate that choice, but if we could only see jury duty as a choice to learn, a choice to expand our thoughts, a choice to see new things, a choice to experience new thoughts, a choice to anguish over injustice, and a choice to show our gratitude for a country that gives us the right to a fair trial. I know the system is flawed, people don't want to serve, and it can be an inconvenience, but I've served on one jury and found the experience to be eye opening and (believe it or not) fun.
I was excused today after 26 people were questioned. I was glad, only because I have been ill and some of my symptoms continued on into today and I was having trouble concentrating. I was, however, also sad because I would have liked to experience this part of life's journey again.
I guess what I'm getting at is this... when you receive a jury summons, try not to be so negative about it. And especially, don't whine and carry on about it in front of your kids. They are facing a scary world out there. Crime will always be there and we need responsible people to be willing to serve on juries. Help them take pride in serving. I thought it was ironic that the Asst. DA today kept asking people she interviewed if they were glad to be there. Sadly, no one gave a positive response.
Darn...wish she had been able to ask me!

New Floors

I just had to show off our new hallway and stairs. We had a friend of Carol and Craig's come over and do our hallway and stairs going from the family room downstairs to the garage. After that we debated whether we could do the stairs and hallway upstairs ourselves. I was sure that we could, but Stan was a little hesitant, mostly because of the stairs being open on one side. After consulting with a handyman friend of ours we decided that we could indeed do this job together. It took a number of days, but we were so delighted with the results. It feels good to do something like this together. We had some intense moments of consultation and discussion as to what would work the best, but in the end it came out exactly like we wanted it to. We gave each other a huge "high 5" after this project was done. If anyone is considering do something like this, we're available for consultation. Ha Ha !!!

Pilialoha - what does it mean?

Many of you know how much we love Hawaii, its people, the music and the language. We wanted to to incorporate this into our blog. So we've chosen Pilialoha - Still Believing in Forever as our title. The word Pilialoha means "close friendship, beloved companionship, beloved relative, loving association, to have a loving or tender relationship, to be in a bond of love, romance. That explains pilialoha. Now for the second part. Our song is Look at Us by Vince Gill. In the lyrics there is a line - "Still believing in forever." I thought these two thoughts went perfect together. So... in our loving associations we will continue to always believe that it's forever. Hope you enjoy our blog.