Did You Know There Were Rules?

About roasting pumpkin seeds?  Several people have told me this - I had no idea.  Apparently you can't just gut the pumpkin for the seeds - you must carve it also.  I haven't done anything with a pumpkin for years - but after roasting pumpkin seeds with my cousin on vacation - I thought it would be nice to roast some more.  So pumpkins were only $3.50 at Trader Joe's - so I picked one up earlier in the week and last night I gutted it for the seeds - they are roasting right now - but to keep you interested - you'll have to come back later in the week to find out the fate of the pumpkin - I'll post pics of the gutting and the seeds tomorrow or the next day.  So for now - have a lovely middle of the week and stay tuned...

You Already Know What I'm Thinking

So yesterday I spent most of the day at Disneyland - and had a wonderful time.  A little different than when I went with the adults a couple of weeks ago - but it was so much fun with Cindy and her kids - Brian - about to turn 7 and Maddie - just turned 4 - wanted to set the stage.  

When I got there I went into the bathroom outside of the park before I met up with them and when I walked in - there was Brian standing by the exit and I looked at him and said - I know you - how are you, Brian?  And he got this big smile on his face - which was a nice feeling, since there was one time that I met them at Disneyland years ago and he turned and ran away - I just have that charming influence on kids :) - usually I make babies cry - like Angelica on Rug Rats - but I digress...

So we went in and first went on Buzz Lightyear - and at first, neither of the kids wanted to sit with me - but as we were going through the queue, Brian and Maddie ran ahead and we rounded a corner and met up with them and Maddie came up to me running full speed to give me a hug - melted my heart - she was my ride buddy from there on!  She was so excited about the ride and as soon as we got on the ride, she grabbed the blaster and was ready to go!  It was fun.  We then wandered over to Star Tours and had to measure Maddie to make sure she was tall enough and she was - and she got so excited when she found out she could go on the ride - it was very cute to see - although I'm not sure she was as excited about the ride itself!

We then went over to Autopia and again, Maddie was my ride buddy - and it was like we were made for each other - we got in the car and she kept saying - go faster - go faster!  But if you have ever driven the Autopia cars - the gas pedal can actually be hard to hold down and not that easy to go faster!

So after a stint in Tomorrowland, we wandered over to Splash Mountain - Brian and Cindy went on that and Maddie and I went on Winnie the Pooh.  At one point while we were standing in line - mainly to keep her occupied since she kept trying to climb over everything - I asked her where we were on the map that she had - it was very important that she be able to carry the map the whole time - well she opened up the map and was showing it to me - face up for me and upside down for her - and all I could think was - she would make a great district office employee since they are supposed to mark the maps upside down (facing the member) when they are doing a routing or a TripTik!  Unfortunately, shortly after that - they announced that the ride had broken down - so now I had to explain to her why we couldn't go in to see Winnie the Pooh - I told her he had to take a nap.  She didn't like that and started to stomp out of the line - even dropping her map in the process!  I got quite a few sympathetic looks from the adults in line as I followed her out - and of course, all I could think of was that it was so something that I would have blogged about if I had witnessed someone elses kid doing it!

So now we had to wait for mom and Brian to finish with their ride - so I asked her if she wanted to go into the shop - did she want to walk around - all she at first wanted to do was stand in the middle of the walkway with her head down.  I did get her over to the side and I sat down on the ground and somehow we started a game of peek a boo - with her hiding behind me - and then she wanted to play with my hat and to tell you the truth - we had a grand old time - probably more fun than if we had gone on the ride - got some cute pictures of the whole thing.  

After that we went on Haunted Mansion - that one I rode by myself - neither kids wanted to be my ride buddy - I don't really blame them - nothing is better than riding with mom - they did wave to me on the ride though!  Then we went on Pirates and again, Maddie was climbing over everything and I kept reminding her to get down and she kept doing it - I then started to ignore her - that seemed to help a bit.

So Cindy really wanted to go on Space Mountain - so we headed back over there - but before we got there - Brian wanted to go on the Rockets - he really likes that ride.  So we get in line and Maddie starts climbing on things again and this time I completely ignore her from the beginning - she looks at me and says hello - and is trying to get my attention and I look at her and say - 'you already know what I'm thinking' - and she says 'to get down!'  At least I now know that she hears me - she just doesn't obey - I let Cindy take it from there.

After that Cindy and Brian went on Space Mountain and Maddie and I decided to go look at the castle - while we were over there I thought it would be fun to ride the carousel - which I found out later is one of Maddie's favorites (one of mine too) - so we went over and rode the horses and on our way back to Space Mountain, I noticed that they had pumpkins carved as Disney characters - so we stopped and took a few pictures there - it was fun.

At that point they were going to head somewhere for dinner and I made my exit - had dinner with another friend planned for the evening.  So I said my goodbyes and got hugs from everyone and just really had a great time!  To see pictures of the great time - click here.  And God Bless the Happiest Place on Earth!

Seriously Cute

Goodness - I was so good last weekend while I was on vacation - then I had to go back to that place called wuh wuh wuh - aka work.  And then I don't know exactly what happened to the week - I do know that I have so many ideas running around in my head - and quite a few blog notes that I've taken that I'll work on getting it all in.  For today - wanted to at least post something to let you all know I am alive and well and have a couple of stories from yesterday...

So as you probably know from a couple of weeks ago, I'm OBSESSED with those Caltrans electronic signs that tell how much time it will take to get to a certain point.  I really can't go by one now without clocking it.  Yesterday was no different.  I was in Fullerton Thursday and Friday so I was taking the 5 freeway again - Thursday there was an accident - so that is what was featured on the sign - but yesterday there wasn't anything on the sign on my way to work and I just didn't quite know what to do..3661`2  - those last few characters were Sadie's contribution to the entry... anyway - back to the story - luckily - on the way home there was a sign near Main Street that said it would take 10 minutes to get to the 133.  Yeah - if you speed!  I made it in 10 minutes - but, again, I had to speed to do it! 

So while I was at the Fullerton office, I was using someone's office that was right by the waiting area for the members - and had the pleasure yesterday - all day long - of listening to a particular episode of Huell Howser interview people in Yreka (up near Mount Shasta).  The day before was Rick Steve's in Italy - he wasn't as obtrusive - don't get me wrong - I have enjoyed watching Huell Howser in the past - but for 8 hours a day - the same show over and over - glad I'm done with that!

So on my way home yesterday - I stopped at Costco to kill some time before meeting Brandy for dinner at the Spectrum and there were a couple of things that I found fascinating - first off - they had brand new vinyl records for sale - that were copyrighted in 2008!  What's up with that?  There were a couple of bands - but the only one I could remember was the Beach Boys.  

They also had boxed sets of three DVD's for several different actors.  The boxed sets for Elizabeth Taylor, Jack Nicholson, Tom Hanks and Johnny Depp were all $19.99 - while the sets for George Clooney, Drew Barrymore, Natalie Portman and Angelina Jolie were only $8.79 - they must not rate as well!  Again, fascinating!

But you want to talk about fascinating - check out the Spectrum on a Friday night!  The different people and what they were wearing!  Some GREAT people watching - just great!  We, of course, ate at Wahoo's - our traditional Spectrum fare.  We changed things up a bit and sat outside - it just seemed too nice an evening to be inside - had to walk through a group of people having a full on conversation while standing in the middle of the aisle though - what were they thinking?  And we are starting to take bets on whether the server will take the little table tent numbers when they drop off the food.  We each had our own number on the table and when they brought all our food - they picked one up and left the other one - which they retrieved later - which seems about par for the course!

After dinner we wandered around a bit and did some shopping.  That's when I found a skirt on clearance for $6.99 - when I brought it to the front - it rang up for $2.14!  What a deal - thought about going back for one in every color!  Also saw this cute baby skirt on clearance and just had to show it to B - said to her - look at how cute this is - to which she responded - really cute - then I looked at the tag on it and the tag said - seriously cute!  How fun is that.  Anyway - we had a lovely evening - as always - and got more than our share of people watching done!

Today I enjoyed the day at the Happiest Place on Earth - but you will have to wait to see pictures and hear about that - must be up early in the morning.

Exercise In Patience

Well, I'm back home now - sitting in the dining room - what has become my 'office.'  No more lovely plants or animals to enjoy - except the pumpkin sitting on my dining room table and of course, the cat - who does seem to be glad to see me!

So what happened to the rest of my last day up North...  well, Michele and I went to see 'The Duchess' - which I enjoyed - especially the music - composed by Rachel Portman.  One thing I found amusing was at the beginning of the film they show Kiera Knightly running around with her friends and then she finds out she is going to be married to the Duke - so at the wedding, they put her hair all up - actually it's a wig - but I swear it reminded me of the Bride of Frankenstein!

After the movie - we went back to the house and carved up one of the pumpkins from our outing the other day so we could roast the seeds - the entire process is chronicled in pictures  - check them out here  - also included in the pictures is one of my dad leaning forward so he can see and hear the TV better - his boy, McCain was on!  When Michele and I got back from the movies and started talking with my aunt in the other room - we noticed that my dad kept turning the TV volume up - it was at that time that I snapped the picture!

After that I spent a little more time out in the garden reading my book and then we had dinner.  After dinner, my dad held court and was telling stories about the Gallery.  Our favorite story was about the tall Spaniards that live in Mexico City that come and visit the Gallery!  It makes me laugh just thinking about it (and Michele, I bet you are laughing right now too)!  He also talked about white water rafting with wetsuits - God Bless Him!  We turned in relatively early since we had an early morning wake up call! - 5:15am!

We were up - packed and driving out of the driveway at 6:02am.  I stayed awake for the first 45 minutes - felt like I should keep my dad some company while he was driving that early in the morning!  At about 6:45am though - as the sun was coming up - I did get my pillow out and nap for about an hour.  At 8am my dad took this offramp that led to nowhere and I asked him what he was doing - he told me it was my turn to drive.  He must have been pretty tired - didn't give me much warning and since there really wasn't any place to stop - he got back on the onramp and pulled over to the side of it so we could change places.  He was asleep within 15 minutes!  Come 9am, though, he was up and ready for 3 hours of Rush Limbaugh!  I only had to endure 2 hours on the way up since we ate an early lunch - but I knew there was no getting out of it this time.

And although it was a wonderful weekend - and I could have gone for several more days of rest and relaxation - there is something to be said about being at home.  And God knows that the drive home was definitely an exercise in patience - between Rush Limbaugh and my dad barking driving directions at me - God Bless Him.  We didn't stop for lunch or anything - except gas and the bathroom - so we made it to Big Bear around 1:30pm - which was nice for me since I could then get back on the road by 2pm and drive another 2 hours to get home.  So it was nice to be home relatively early - unpack and do a load of laundry.  Also take some time to get my game face on before I have to go to work in the morning.  Michele - thanks so much for your hospitality - and thank your mom also - and if you are ever in So Cal again - feel free to stop on by and stay a bit.

Party In The Park

Greetings from the Garden!

It has been simply beautiful up here - not sure what the weather has been like in So Cal - haven't been checking - but it's been wonderful where I've been.  I little chilly this morning - but that's ok - I have a sweatshirt so I can enjoy the garden - just too nice not to sit out here.  Also don't want to miss all the birds flitting around - the squirrels coming to visit!  And yesterday - what a day!

Didn't do too much around my Aunt Jo's after I posted - we had lunch - sat around and talked - my dad even turned off the TV for a bit!  Then we headed out to Brentwood to see my Aunt Anne - and she had invited everyone in the area to come - not everyone was able to make it - but got to see all my first cousins - everyone I grew up with at family reunions!  And the day was warm and sunny and pretty and we all just had a great time.  We played Bocce ball, horseshoes and just sat around and chatted and ate - and drank.  Was feeling quite good for a bit - I figured - I'm on vacation and I'm not driving - after four glasses of wine, though, I did switch to my cousin Kathleen's 'wine spritzers' - a mix of wine and Sprite.  It was so much fun - check out the fun here!

I have an uncle that is wheelchair bound - but zips around town in his electric chair.  He lives in the same area as my Aunt Anne and as we were a couple of blocks from house yesterday - my dad saw someone in a wheelchair driving on the sidewalk and in jest said - 'Look, there's Uncle John' - as we passed him - we looked back and Michele said 'I think that is Uncle John' - lo and behold - we found out later that it was!  Probably one of those stories that you had to live through to appreciate - but we all found it amusing!

And today, like I said, another beautiful day - unfortunately, the last day.  Michele and I might go to the movies later this afternoon - but for now - I'm just enjoying the morning and the beauty around me.  God Bless Us, Everyone! 

What A Wonderful Vacation It Has Been

Greetings again from Northern California!  So yesterday, after my marathon blogging session - for one entry - I spent some more time out in the garden.  We then had lunch and my cousin, Michele and I went out to a pumpkin farm to pick up a couple of...  can you believe it... pumpkins!  She also bought a pomegranate.  After that I spent some time out in the garden reading - and then went upstairs and enjoyed a nap!  Ahh... what a wonderful vacation it has been.  After dinner last night - Michele and I went to the Natalie MacMaster concert in Napa - about an hour drive - but definitely worth it!  She and her band were WONDERFUL!  All the energy and seeing her dance around on the stage while 4 months pregnant!  And the music reminded me a bit of Barrage.  It was just a really great evening - and nice to get out of the house by ourselves.  

Today we are off to another aunt's house for a picnic and BBQ with her family.  Should be another wonderful day.  So to see how my dad has spent his vacation - along with other pictures including the wildlife in the garden - click here.

My View At The Moment

This is my view at the moment.

Sitting out in my aunt's backyard - enjoying the beauty around me!  What a beautiful day - this is the day the Lord has made!

So yesterday my dad and I made our way up to Northern California.  It was a pretty uneventful drive.  We were driving out of the driveway at 6:30am - right on schedule.  I took some pictures along the way - check them out here - keeping in mind that several of them were taken from a moving car!  We stopped in Harris Ranch for lunch - mmm the best French Dip sandwich I've ever had!  Saw lots of crops - saw a lot of this particular tree - weren't sure what it was - our guess was some kind of nut.  Saw cows and horses and even SHEEP!  Unfortunately - I was driving when we saw the sheep so I didn't get a picture of them.  Of course a couple of hours into the trip we realized that we may not have told my aunt and cousin what day we were going to arrive!  I thought my dad had talked to my aunt and my dad thought I had talked to my cousin.  As it turns out - they were ready for us when we got here around 3pm.  We had a nice afternoon chatting and then two of my other cousins came by to visit since they are going out of town for the weekend and won't be able to come to the party tomorrow evening.

And last night I got to sleep in my favorite bed ever!  The bed in my aunt's guest room is just wonderful - so I took full advantage and slept in - and now have been thoroughly enjoying sitting out here with the squirrels and the birds and just enjoying the day - this is what vacation is all about.  Tonight my cousin, Michele and I are going to the Napa Valley Opera House to see fiddle player Natalie MacMaster from Canada - can't wait!  

So it has now take me an hour to type up this entry - have been just enjoying everything around me - this really is what vacation is all about!