Snow White Has Gone Missing

So I started the week on Monday morning and ended the week on Friday night at Disneyland.  Just the way my birthday week should be!  Last night I went to see fireworks - and they actually had them - amazing, considering the last several times I’ve gone to Disneyland to watch fireworks - they have been cancelled “due to winds at higher elevations!”

I originally went to have dinner and watch fireworks with Steve - which we did - hadn’t intended to stay much past fireworks - but when we met up with Chris before fireworks - he wanted to go see Fantasmic - and of course I can’t turn down any opportunity to spend more time at Disneyland!  Chris was even able to get us special seating - which was nice since we walked up about 5 minutes before it started - because you know - it’s not what you know it’s who you know!

So during the show - there is this one scene where Arial, Beauty and Snow White all dance on a floating stage with their men.  Well, we are watching and Snow White never showed up - all I could think was - Snow White has gone missing - maybe she was out in the garden for photos and something happened to her knees!

The night ended with a trip to Haunted Mansion - and then after all that I had eaten for dinner and the ice cream I had for dessert - I walked back to my car in the structure - including the 5 flights of stairs!

Of course when I got home (after midnight) - I made the mistake of turning on my new toy and then ended up staying up until 2am playing!  Which I will not be doing tonight - so after this post - am going to bed - I can play tomorrow - especially since Craig helped me download my itunes from my ipod - helped me is a bit of a stretch - he took my MacBook and fixed it all.  God Bless Him!

Scenes From The Symphony

First of all, a shout out and a very big THANKS to Terrie for inviting me to the Pacific Symphony tonight - the inspiration for this entry.  What a great day - I got to break software at work and I got to go to the symphony!

So it was at the new Sergerstrom Concert Hall - across from the Performing Arts Center - beautiful facility!  Jan - I thought of you when the guy giving the opening comments used the word juxtaposition!  Part of the program included a guest pianist, Gabriela Montero.  She was WONDERFUL - young and very relaxed, but a great pianist and fun to watch.  She played without music and you could just tell that she was very passionate about what she was playing - and she kept a keen eye on the conductor - our choir director at church would love it if we all watched him like that!  We were in seats where we could watch her face and expressions while she played - it was just fascinating!  As an encore she asked the orchestra for a musical theme that she could improvise on.  So one of the violinist played a little classical excerpt - which I recognized, but don’t know the name of it - and she just started playing and improvising with different styles of that theme.  It was amazing - and the best part was watching the members of the orchestra watch her - they all looked so awed and impressed - she was great!

At intermission it’s always fun to do some people watching and we were definitely not disappointed.  There was this one guy that went walking through the crowd and I swear he looked like he was walking the catwalk!  The sweetie darling was really working it!  And then to watch this other group watching him - it was hilarious!

Finally during the last act they played a piece that I wasn’t all that thrilled about - but it was neat to watch the orchestra play - especially this one cellist that was very animated and intense - next to another guy that was very relaxed.  It was fun.  A very good evening!

Remind Me Of Being A Kid

Have you noticed the Jacaranda trees lately?  When I was growing up - I remember walking home from school down streets that were lined with Jacaranda trees.  I know they are terribly messy - but they are beautiful and just really pop against the grey skies that we have had recently.  I just love them - they remind me of being a kid.

So when I ordered my computer last Monday, I was hoping it would arrive in time for the long holiday weekend so I could play with it all weekend - so what did I do - Saturday with my free time, I napped and caught up with Grey’s Anatomy and Sunday - I napped again and read a new book I’ve started.  Thanks to Kris, Terrie (and Lynne, I know you were there in spirit) and Brandy for taking me out on my birthday - you all are the best !  Then today I spent the day at Disneyland with friends.  So Disneyland was fun - but we seemed to have bad ride karma - wait a moment - we don’t believe in karma - we believe in Grace.  Anyway - some of the lines were unbelievably long and a couple of the rides tried to break down - but all in all - we had a good time and got on all the good rides - Space Mountain, Matterhorn, Thunder Mountain, Indiana Jones and Tower of Terror - so - it was a good day - especially since it was spent with friends.

So I know that it has been almost a week since I posted - and I set a goal of posting 3-4 times a week - so I’ll try to be better this week.  I also know that I was going to talk about England - which I will - but am still having issues uploading pictures - so until I figure something out - the blog will be all about random ramblings.  Enough for now  - after a week - I think I’ve finally adjusted back to the time zone - so am off to bed for now.

Life Is Looking Up

Greetings from my new friend - MacBook!  Still trying to figure everything out - but so far - I like it!  And it's amazing how fast the internet can be when your computer isn't as slow as a turtle!  It really is high speed!  So I downloaded all my England photos - but when I was working with shutterfly earlier to create albums to share with all y'all - I ran into some issues that I haven't taken the time to figure out - so I'll eventually post some stuff and pictures about the trip - but until then you'll just have to be satisfied with this picture of Miss Sadie - this was taken this weekend when it was so hot.

So I decided this morning that setting goals is a good thing - although I said it in jest yesterday - I did sleep until 4am this morning - life is looking up - am going for 6am tomorrow!  Pleasant dreams everyone!  

This posting seems to be all about Beavers and Ducks!  I know at least one of you understands the movie reference!

Quick Entry Tonight

Just a quick entry tonight...

First off - kudos to Kris for catching the time mistake that I made - 2:30am in America is 10:30am in England - that's what jet lag will do to you. Was up again last night at 2:30am - so am trying to stay up later tonight - going to try to sleep in until at least 4am!

Second off - was all excited about uploading photos and then linking them in my blog for everyone to see - and then my computer decided to stop working and get all hung up on uploading the photos - it must know that it is being replaced. So I can't do any of that just yet with this POS machine I have at the moment - but - drumroll, please - my new MacBook should arrive tomorrow! I'm very excited - although since I've never owned a Mac - there might be a bit of a learning curve going on - but I'll post as soon as I can figure it all out.

Toodles for now!

It's 8:30am in England

So if you are anything like me - you'll take a look at end and see what time this was posted and think - what on earth was she doing up at 2:30am?! Simple - it's 8:30am in England - so I should be up and I caught a cold out there - and it has decided to rear its ugly head by making me congested and just a bit miserable at the moment. Not to mention the fact that I'm still processing the trip and getting excited about buying a new computer and my mind is just having a hard time shutting down at the moment... B - I know you understand! :) Good thing I have today off!

So we just got back from England and on the trip - there were a couple of people that were blogging daily about the experience and adding pictures to their entries and it got me thinking about how much fun it would be to share the England experience daily on my blog over the next couple of weeks - because you all know how consistent I am about posting! Maybe this will help. Hey - come on now - don't be doubting me - it's worth a try - I posted consistently back in October when I really put my mind to it and set a goal. So as my book on prayer says... make a goal that is achievable - so my goal is 3-4 entries a week - feel free to hold me accountable. The funny thing is - I take notes about stuff that I want to blog about and they are sitting all over my desk - waiting to get out - I'm rambling, huh? Ok - two stories and then I'll retire for the evening.

The first story is about my mum... go figure! I went by today (I guess really, it was yesterday) to see her and when I first got there, she was down the hall chatting with some of her friends and I could tell that she recognized me - but was processing who I was - but she figured it out and introduced me to her friends. She knew I was gone the last couple of weeks - but couldn't remember where I had been - but that's par for the course. Of course, her naber (mom's spelling - how phonics worked for her), Helen, had to tell me about how much I remind her of her own daughter because I am tall - because when her daughter was born - they told her, 'Mother she is going to be tall' - but not to worry because the boys are getting taller also. Usually Helen comes over and asks if I am Lucille's daughter - because I've only met her every time I've been there since February. God Bless Her! The funny thing - my mom tells me that Helen drives her crazy - but doesn't recognize that she tells all the same stories also. So I asked her if she saw John and she said no - however - I noticed a stuffed I Love Mom teddy bear in her room and asked where she got it and she told me she had gone to John's house. Prayer does work!

Finally, the cat. Thanks again, B, for taking good care of her and all her antics!
Apparently, on my last day out of town, the cat knocked the Tupperware container off the counter and somehow got it open - so there was food all over the floor - at least I know she didn't go hungry! And she was so cute when I got home on Saturday night - mewing - with the meow that I only hear after I've come home from a long trip. She has proceeded to follow me around the house since I got home - not letting me out of her sight (she is currently laying on the bed next to me -watching me post)! So, while we were in England - there were several places that I could have gotten some kind of cat toy for her - but I know her well enough to know that she likes the simple things. So I brought home an empty toilet paper roll for her and then when I was unpacking I had a paper bag I didn't need - so I crumpled it up and we played a bit of catch as I threw it to her and she would bat it back to me. She finally got a hold of it - and this photo shows her enjoying it while on her cat tree. For her - it truly is the simple things in life!

Last but not least - a shout out to Jan for showing me that the picture in my blog doesn't have to always go at the top - God Bless You! Although I'm still not sure exactly how you did it - I tried putting the pic in first but it still wasn't working - I'll have to experiment a little more - I did notice, however, that there is an Edit Html option - and I know just enough Html to make me dangerous - so I just altered the coding - and look - it worked. I just noticed that instead of complete sentences I have a tendency to use run on sentences with lots of hyphens - I get that from my Dad - God Bless Him, too!

Ok, it is getting late - it's 3:30am now - so I think I will have a bowl of cereal (that's what my mom always fed me as a kid when I couldn't sleep) and I'm either going to try to get some sleep - or if worse comes to worse - I have two weeks of Pioneer Woman's Blog that I can catch up on... Cheerio and stay tuned for more adventures...

I Don't Want To Be The Parent

I'm struggling tonight. Had a nice dinner with my brother and his family and their friends. He picked up my mom and I took her home and I just struggled - the whole evening. I miss my mom. I know that sounds crazy - but I do - very much tonight. I just have such wonderful memories of the family getting together and the joy and fun... Not that we didn't have any fun - we did and we had some great laughs tonight - but I just miss talking to my mom the way we used to - I miss her being the mom - I don't want to be the parent.