Monday, November 9, 2009

Youth... where did it go?

It is a Monday evening, and as I sit here on my couch, it comes to my attention that time flies by when you are busy and that there is just no stopping it...This weekend however, was fairly uneventful.

Don't get me wrong, I like the fact that there wasn't much going on. Everyone needs some down time, although lately my plate has been full. In between planning our 20th high school reunion which is now over, (the party went off without a hitch, I can throw a damn good party by the way...ha ha it took me days to recover, but is was sooooo much fun!!)
I am also helping 3 friends with their weddings, one of which I am in, working my Pampered Chef Calendar, and then launching a brand new project which will be live in January...all while working at my job a 10 hours a week from my regular 40 (my hours were cut in Sept). I have to do this by running back and forth from my house to the office. I am very grateful that I have those 10 hours at the office, as it allows me to keep my insurance, so the 10 hours are totally worth it. Whew, ok, now that I have rambled about my busy schedule, I will be getting to my point.

This weekend, I only had a luncheon to go to on Sunday and the rest of the weekend was pretty mellow... So mellow that my Saturday night consisted of hot tea, fuzzy slippers, facebook and bejeweled.

Dude! when did I become an old lady?

My weekends used to start at 10:30pm now I am usually in my pj's and on the couch ready for bed by 10. This is what my weekends have come to... Were did my youth go?

I am determined to find it... I will let you know once I do. Stay tuned, it could be a wild ride...

Thursday, September 10, 2009

frustration

There are times where I am so frustrated that I cannot see straight... then I eat cake... and all is well!

;o)

Oh, and Miss A. I might need to borrow some of your points, I seemed to have blown through mine the last couple of days....LOL!!

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Mom's Birthday

My mother turned 65 at the end of August and we decided to go away for an overnight stay to celebrate!
We really couldn't do anything expensive, so we decided to take a trip to Monterey, I have an aquarium membership that allows entrance, we could use Hilton points for a free overnight hotel stay, the only cost would be meals. We decided to go for it, and I am so glad we did!

What is there to do in Monterey?... let me tell you, there are plenty of things to do in Monterey that are not very expensive....

To start the day we visited the Elkhorn Slough Safari nature cruise in Moss Landing . It was so much fun!!! If you have not done it, I highly suggest it, we had a great time. The cost is only $32 for adults... and the cruise is an hour and a half!

First off, we completely lucked out by going on the hottest weekend of the year, we boarded the boat at 9:00am and there was not one ounce of fog... it was already over 70 degrees so we knew it was going to be a scorcher...we had a great time cruising the slough checking out the wildlife. It was really great.
We saw over 70 otters, over 400 seals, numerous birds, some jellyfish floating in the water and even some pelicans diving into the water for fish.

Although, if this is something you are thinking of doing, we were talking with others on the boat that on a previous trip, they were bundled up with blankets and jackets and it was socked in with fog... so it all depends on the day and time you sail. Either way, I think it would be a fun trip.

After the Safari Cruise, we traveled to the Carmel Valley and drove around, visited the Bernardus Winery and walked around downtown Carmel.
After taking a rest at the hotel, we at dinner at Domenico's on the warf, it was a great way to end the day!


The next day, we visited the Monterey Bay Aquarium... Did you know that if it is your birthday, you can get a birthday button from the information desk and they put your name on it and you can wear it around all day!!! how fun is that?!?!?! hahaha, needless to say, I think I was more excited then my mother, but she was a good sport. I love my Mom!
The Aquarium has a new White Shark on exhibit and they have Jellyfish as well as a new Seahorse exhibit right now.
The Jellies are always a favorite of mine, they are so cool to watch, I love it. The Seahorses are really nice, it is a larger exhibit then it used to be (they had one years ago) but it is a great one!


We had a great weekend and it was fun just hanging out... Happy Birthday Mom, I love you!

Friday, August 7, 2009

The Eye Doctor

So my very first visit to the Ophthalmologist was fairly uneventful... although, the blackberry message I sent during my the wait time for my eyes to dilate was pretty funny...

I thought I would post it just for giggles...

Now mind you; I have never had my eyes dilated and didn't know what to expect.
I did not know that you would not be able to see things close to you, as in magazines, cell phones, text messages, etc... cue the following Blackberry message:



Participants:
-------------
Ish•,A. <3

Messages:
---------
Ish•: I just had my eyes sialated and evetything is blirry... I cammot see abything so I xont kow what I'm typing
Ish•: Ho natter how hard I tey I cabt read abtthybg
Ish•: Ny arms are bot long ebough
Ish•: Hipe yoi can read this'-'
Ish•: I find ir ieonic thar ab ete de has stuff to read ib tge waitibg roon wheb you xabt see shit,,, hust ny ovservatuob...
A. <3: LOL
A. <3: Most amazing bbm ever


After I returned home a while later and my eyes were back to normal I finally was able to read what I wrote and replied...

Ish•: Hahahhahhahhaa
Ish•: I can finally read this
Ish•: Omg
Ish•: Too funny
A. <3: :D
A. <3: Funniest bbm ever.



What the Blackberry message should have read the first time:


Ish•: I just had my eyes dilated and everything is blurry... I cannot see anything so I dont know what I am typing
Ish•: No matter how hard I try I cant read anything
Ish•: My arms are not long enough
Ish•: hope you can read this :-)
Ish•:I find it ironic that the dr has stuff to read in the waiting room when you cant see shit... just my observation...


Happy Friday!!!!

Thursday, July 30, 2009

only 1

I have found a tortilla/wrap that is very yummy... it tastes like a normal tortilla not some piece of burlap posing as a tortilla or wrap...and it is made with olive oil...what Italian girl doesn't love that!

and the kicker... it is only 1 weight watcher point! yes, count them, ONE! woo hoo!!!












:o)


Enough Said!!

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Wednesday's, Squirrels....and unconditional love

I believe I have experienced one of my worst nightmares this morning....
FACE TO FACE WITH A SQUIRREL!!!!
(ok, face to shin, but whatever; you get my point)

So when letting the puppy out this morning, and when I say puppy, I mean full grown dog of 5 years plus that still has some occasional playful puppy attitude... I opened up the door to find a squirrel on my porch. Now mind you, not just any squirrel, this was the MOTHER of all Squirrels, it was huge... with a bushy tail and long nails and at least as tall as my knee while standing on it's back feet... and a dark grayish brow... it was HUGE and scary!

Now please, don't get me wrong, I am an animal lover... I will go above and beyond to help animals in need; but squirrels freak me out... I'm talking gut wrenching, cold sweat, and all over uncontrollable muscle twitching; freak me out... I was always told I am not allowed to "hate" anything but squirrels might just cross that line... lol, sorry Mom.

So I open the door and smack dab in the middle of the porch is the Mother of all Squirrels (M.O.A.S.) I freak out... I scream, do a little river dance because I think it is going to run at me...try to slam the door so it wont come in, the dog charges the door to try to save his Mama (he was trying to catch the squirrel, but I like to imagine otherwise) I slam the door on the dog... he yelps....the M.O.A.S doesn't move!!! The dang thing screams at us!

It was this strange cackle, somewhere between a loud chirp and a crows caw and then it takes off across the driveway to be followed by the dog... and I am left standing there in my nightgown hair disheveled and wondering what the hell just happened.... (Mind you, this all took about 10 seconds to happen... which is even funnier now, and if you know me, I know you can totally get the vivid picture)

A few seconds pass and I am standing at the door, trying to catch my breath, thinking that if the squirrel ran into the house, I would surely have to move because the house would then be ruined for me... good God, could you imagine!!! aaaccckkkk!!! (Amaya, it was that whole squirrel in the fireplace thing again)

I finally called the dog back to the house after he did his business and he looked at me like "Aren't you happy Mama...I scared the squirrel away!!" He had completely forgotten I nearly took his head off in the door, he was just happy to be up and chasing squirrels away from his mama. What a way to start a Wednesday morning...

Happy Mid-week everyone!!!

Friday, July 24, 2009

Yummy!!


Greek Yogurt...


I have never thought of trying it... I have heard all about if from friends, and random strangers, but never thought about buying it myself... well, I finally did.

Say Hello to my little friends!!! ummmm best thing ever!!!

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Golden Gate Bridge 5K 7/19/09

Well lets see... where should I start....

In March, my friend Jessica contacted me and asked if I would like to participate in either a 5 or 10K walk to benefit the MS society... I said sure, not knowing if I would be able to complete the entire walk, but why not...I was looking forward to it.

Much to my dismay, I was not the only one who was enthused enough to join. After a few emails that circulated we had a group of friends excited about it.
We campaigned for funds, asked friends, coworkers and even strangers to help support us... fund raising was fun and it felt really great knowing that we were doing a small part to help fight such a horrible disease.
Long story short, we had about 20 people in our group and we raised a total of $6400 for the MS society!!! Amazing! It was a beautiful day, not a cloud in sight... it was warm and we couldn't ask for anything better! Oh and we did the entire 10K!!! I am so proud of us!!!



Fast forward to July 19th... Bella wanted to walk a 5K across the famous Golden Gate Bridge for her birthday... I am a native Californian, born and raised in the South Bay. I have never set foot near or walked across the Golden Gate Bridge. I could not wait to join her, what a way to celebrate.
She researched and found a company called move-something-or-other-fly-by-night-blah- blah.....advertising the walk on Active.com Since Active.com is reputable and trusted by the athletic community, we signed up.
The cost was $20/25/30 depending on when you signed up. Being the procrastinator that I am, it cost me $25.
Ha ha!...oh shoosh, like you thought it would be any different...

We got up at 5:15am to be on the road by 6:15-6:30am. Bella, AM and I were meeting CB around 7:15 at her house so she could walk with us... we picked her up and made our way to the bridge.
Once we arrived, there was no registration or sign-in table, walk signs, or even anyone wearing a familiar logo t-shirt. We thought we had been had! There were other people looking around for anyone "official" but they were nowhere to be found... "oh hell" we said, "we are here, lets walk this thing anyway"... so off we went.

We made our way through the socked in Bridge and were laughing at how cold, wet and windy it was... it is July for cryin'-out-loud... what is up with that... although once we got started it was a godsend... I am so glad it wasn't sunny and hot because it would have been miserable...

We hit the halfway mark on the bridge and we were finally warmed up... we were chatting, laughing and having a great time. We said that we would be doing the bridge walk at least once a year from now on!
By the time we got to the Marin side of the bridge, there were two deer-in-headlights looking volunteers with clipboards, staring at us... they asked us sheepishly if we were walking the 5K. When we said yes, they mentioned that the starting point was on this (the Marin side) WHAT!!! Oh well, whatever... we signed the clipboard and were asked if we wanted water... which came out of the trunk of a car, not cold and not even out of its cello case... ummm yeah, totally and completely cheeeeesy!

Sooooooo, after reading the volunteers the riot act, we were given the "head honchos" information and we were on our way back across to the bridge...
All in all, the walk took us about an hour given the stretching, chewing out the volunteers, and taking some pictures. We had a great time and we are looking forward to doing it again!



Sunday, July 12, 2009

Weekends and Wine

My husbands uncle and his wife were in town, a couple of weekends back and we had a nice casual bbq at the in-laws.
I decided to bring over some wine... I brought over a Malbec and a Pinot
YUM!!!

Zolo Malbec Gaucho Select '08 (750 ML)
92 PTS WILFRED WONG. A fascinating red, the sassy and alluring '08 Zolo Gaucho Select Malbec perches over with the intent of fusing ripe berry flavors onto the palate; long and persistent.



Bannus Pinot Noir Reserve '07 (750 ML)

90 PTS WILFRED WONG. Ripe for Carneros, the bold and almost gutsy '07 Bannus Reserve Pinot Noir powers its way onto the palate; finishes with pleasing elegance; drinks well now.
Both wines were so very yummy...

I would definitely recommend them to anyone who enjoys a great red.

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Monday, July 6, 2009

Sooooo Gooooood!!!


This is possibly one of the most decadent things I have eaten in a very long time...

Will I be paying for this later....oh of course, but at the moment, those were exactly the bites I needed!!!



Blogs

Blogging... I have never really had an opinion about it... Some blogs are good, some are bad, some are just random pictures that have meaning to the blogger and some have purpose. Then, there are a few that are great, these are the ones that have helped me find my voice...

It has take me years to get the gumption to do it, I have always thought to myself, "Why?"
I have now finally realized that I have things to say... albeit random things that only my friends and possibly some family members will think are funny, but things nonetheless and that is OK.

I am embarking on a new journey... come take it with me.