We are leaving this weekend on a Mexican Cruise. We will be celebrating Hubby's 50th birthday and our 30th wedding anniversary. We are really excited! We are going to Cabo San Lucas, Mazatlan and Puerto Vallarta. We are looking forward to relaxing on the ship and exploring the port cities. We are even excited about dressing up for the two formal nights. (Well, me more than Hubby, but he is being good natured about it.) My cousin and her husband are joining us and tons of fun awaits!
Pray for no seasickness and none of the 'Cruise Crud' which is some virus that runs amok on cruise ships. Sounds utterly disgusting to me. So, we're having positive thoughts only and we're armed with seasick meds and antibacterial wipes and gels. We've got one for my purse, one for the backpack and one for the stateroom. We aren't germaphobes, but one can never be too safe.
Lots and lots of pics to follow when we return and I resume my series on vacations.
Adios for a few days!!
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Saturday, October 18, 2008
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY HUBBY!!!!!
We have been having a lot of fun around here lately. First we celebrated my and son and his girlfriend's engagement. My daughter and family were visiting from "that other state" and today is my husband's birthday. It's his 50th!!! (He probably would have been just fine without me sharing that., but I can't resist).
This picture was taken last weekend when my son got engaged. Isn't he cute for being 50?
I have known my husband for as long as I can remember. When I first started blogging I posted about how he is my soul mate and I can't imagine my life without him. Fact is, I've known him for so long that I can't really remember my life without him. Either that, or I'm just too old to remember......lol.
His turning 50 is really exciting, because he is eligible to retire. He probably won't for a couple of more years, but he could if he wanted to, or if circumstances at work prompted him to. He loves his job, so I don't see it happening, but he could and somehow that is empowering. He has worked so hard and we always talked about when he turned 50 and the ball was in his court. How awesome is it that the ball really, truly is in his court?
We celebrated his birthday when our daughter and family were in town. All of us met for dinner. His big gift is a Mexican cruise. We are leaving next weekend for that. Today he is spending his birthday painting the outside of the house. I tried to get him to spend the day doing something else, but anyone who knows him, knows that I lost that battle. :0)
HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my Hubby! I love you!
We have been having a lot of fun around here lately. First we celebrated my and son and his girlfriend's engagement. My daughter and family were visiting from "that other state" and today is my husband's birthday. It's his 50th!!! (He probably would have been just fine without me sharing that., but I can't resist).
This picture was taken last weekend when my son got engaged. Isn't he cute for being 50?
I have known my husband for as long as I can remember. When I first started blogging I posted about how he is my soul mate and I can't imagine my life without him. Fact is, I've known him for so long that I can't really remember my life without him. Either that, or I'm just too old to remember......lol.
His turning 50 is really exciting, because he is eligible to retire. He probably won't for a couple of more years, but he could if he wanted to, or if circumstances at work prompted him to. He loves his job, so I don't see it happening, but he could and somehow that is empowering. He has worked so hard and we always talked about when he turned 50 and the ball was in his court. How awesome is it that the ball really, truly is in his court?
We celebrated his birthday when our daughter and family were in town. All of us met for dinner. His big gift is a Mexican cruise. We are leaving next weekend for that. Today he is spending his birthday painting the outside of the house. I tried to get him to spend the day doing something else, but anyone who knows him, knows that I lost that battle. :0)
HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my Hubby! I love you!
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
It's Official!!
When my son was growing up I often prayed for his future wife. The words to Wayne Watson's 'Somewhere In The World' were always special to me because they summed up my heart's desires for his future wife:
Somewhere in the world today
A little girl will go out to play
All dressed up in mama's clothes
At least that's way I suppose it goes
Somewhere in the world tonight
Before she reaches to turn out the light
She'll be prayin' from a tender heart
A simple prayer that's a work of art
And I don't even know her name
But I'm prayin' for her just the same
That the Lord will write His name upon her heart
'Cause somewhere in the course of this life
A little boy will need a godly wife
So hold on to Jesus, baby, wherever you are
Somewhere in the world out there
That little girl's learnin' how to care
She's pickin' up her mama's charms
Or maybe, swingin' round in her daddy's arms
Somewhere in the world to be
Though the future's not real clear to me
Their's could be a tender love
Grounded in eternal love above
And I don't even know her name
But I'm prayin' for her just the same
That the Lord will write His name upon her heart
'Cause somewhere in the course of this life
A little boy will need a godly wife
So hold on to Jesus, baby, wherever you are.
This past Sunday, my son placed an engagement ring on his beautiful girlfriend's hand and we couldn't be happier. We are proud of the godly man our son has become and we are thrilled with the godly young woman he has chosen to spend his life with. She is everything we prayed for and more. Our family will truly be blessed when she becomes the newest 'Mrs. Pumpernickel.'
The day was perfect. Our son surprised her. She thought it would be later in the year or early next year. He included both sets of parents in his plans. We arrived early and placed roses down a path to the cliffs overlooking the ocean.
Then we hid behind some bushes, armed with cameras and video equipment to capture the moment. We pulled it off. All the while looking quite like paparazzi stalking some very important people.....lol.
Then we all met at a restaurant to celebrate.
Dinner was followed with more pictures taken on the beach.
Congratulations to the future Mr. and Mrs. Pumpernickel! May you always be as happy as you are today.
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
What Exactly Are We Paying These People To Do?
Today I had to drive into town. As I was driving down the main road out of the community I live in, I had to slow down for road work. In the median, Cal Trans had dug a huge hole. It appeared that there was at least one, maybe two, people down in the hole. I don't know what they were doing. I know it couldn't have been too mind numbing because traffic was slowly passing on both sides. What struck me as odd though was the fact that there were 8 people standing looking into the hole. All of them were Cal Trans workers wearing their hard hats and orange vests. At the time I wondered if it really took that many people to watch whatever it was the people in the hole were doing.
3.5 hours elapses and I am returning from my trip into town. Yep, you guessed it. The same amount of people were still standing around the hole looking intently into it. I just don't get it. What on earth are our tax dollars going toward anyway? Now, I suppose that it could be a coincidence and the entire time I was gone they were all working and just happened to return to look into the hole right before I drove back by. Somehow, I doubt that. Or maybe there is some job that requires 8 people to stand around the hole and balance the ground.....lol. Seriously.....what the heck do we pay these people to do?
On another note, I will be taking a little blogging break. My daughter, son-in-law and grandson are coming to visit. Every spare moment will be spent getting my Grandma fix. I'll be back next week to bore you all some more.
3.5 hours elapses and I am returning from my trip into town. Yep, you guessed it. The same amount of people were still standing around the hole looking intently into it. I just don't get it. What on earth are our tax dollars going toward anyway? Now, I suppose that it could be a coincidence and the entire time I was gone they were all working and just happened to return to look into the hole right before I drove back by. Somehow, I doubt that. Or maybe there is some job that requires 8 people to stand around the hole and balance the ground.....lol. Seriously.....what the heck do we pay these people to do?
On another note, I will be taking a little blogging break. My daughter, son-in-law and grandson are coming to visit. Every spare moment will be spent getting my Grandma fix. I'll be back next week to bore you all some more.
Friday, October 3, 2008
Miracle March and the Grand Canyon
The winter of 1991 in So. Cal. was dry, dry, dry. No, I don't mean it in the sense that we have no real winter anyway. I mean, we hadn't gotten any rain at all. That is until Mother Nature decided to take pity on us and open the flood gates that March. It became known as Miracle March. It rained and rained and rained. We had planned a trip to the Grand Canyon for Spring Break.
We set off one morning and drove in a combination of rain and snow the entire way. We even took a wrong road out of Flagstaff Arizona and ended up sliding into a snow bank because the road wasn't plowed. Once we corrected our mistake, we arrived safely and stayed at the Best Western Grand Squire Inn. This is a picture of the kids standing beside the snowman that they built in a vacant lot beside the hotel.
The next morning was bright and sunny and we headed to the Village at the Grand Canyon.
While we were stopped in traffic a deer stuck his head into the car and wanted to eat some of the crackers my son was eating. I think maybe too many people had been feeding them.
The canyon was beautiful with snow. We spent most of the day at the rim or in the Village.
The next two days we spent at some Indian ruins. It was educational for the kids to see how they had lived right in the side of a cliff.
Another place we visited had an old mine. The kids got to play in an old mining car.
We spent 5 days in Arizona. Total cost of the trip was $320.00. Our next vacation is an amazing 3 week trip to several National Parks and Canada.
We set off one morning and drove in a combination of rain and snow the entire way. We even took a wrong road out of Flagstaff Arizona and ended up sliding into a snow bank because the road wasn't plowed. Once we corrected our mistake, we arrived safely and stayed at the Best Western Grand Squire Inn. This is a picture of the kids standing beside the snowman that they built in a vacant lot beside the hotel.
The next morning was bright and sunny and we headed to the Village at the Grand Canyon.
While we were stopped in traffic a deer stuck his head into the car and wanted to eat some of the crackers my son was eating. I think maybe too many people had been feeding them.
The canyon was beautiful with snow. We spent most of the day at the rim or in the Village.
The next two days we spent at some Indian ruins. It was educational for the kids to see how they had lived right in the side of a cliff.
Another place we visited had an old mine. The kids got to play in an old mining car.
We spent 5 days in Arizona. Total cost of the trip was $320.00. Our next vacation is an amazing 3 week trip to several National Parks and Canada.
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Surprise-Surprise!!! Tahoe 1990
Like I said in my last post, I promise that after this Tahoe post we will actually start going some other places on our vacations. We will always come back to Tahoe, but it won't be the only place we go! Really, I promise! But, if you are bored to death you can skip this post.
This year my children are 6 and 8. They are getting to the age where my son drives my daughter nuts just by being in the same room. It's not really anything in particular that he does...he just is. They have begun to have different interests and have made more friends outside of the neighborhood and each other. That being said, any parent out there probably knows what comes next. The sheer terror of a 10 hour car ride stuck in the backseat of a car with someone that you don't want to be with.
My children always had a plastic bin of toys, game boys and cassette players between them. (Yes, they had cassette players. This is before the days of Ipods.) It was supposed to sit in the middle of the center seat, giving each child the same amount of room in the backseat. At some point during this trip, my daughter decided that it was on her side perhaps a centimeter too much. He was breathing in the backseat and SOMETHING needed to be done! ANYTHING!! She didn't care just as long as she no longer had to deal with her brother. Being the creative thinker that she was, she took a boat oar and ran it from the back seat to the front dashboard. Then she hung a towel over the oar, set the toy basket dead center and informed her brother that he was not to even think about moving the towel, the oar or, heaven forbid, the toy basket. We eventually made it to Tahoe without them killing each other.
Once there, they were the world's best of friends again. A fun two weeks began. We did the usual river rafting, pancake breakfast eating, hay riding, swimming, hiking and blue jay feeding that we always did.
This was also the year that our weather was weird. In past years, I had always taken way too many warm clothes. We might have worn a pair of jeans a couple of times, but never enough to warrant more than one pair. This year, I decided to just bring one pair each. We had snow in the higher elevations and it was darn right cold several days. I had to go to the Laundromat after everyone had put their jammies on and wash our jeans. The poor things could almost stand up on their own! We also had a lot of wind. This is a picture of Lake Tahoe with wind caused white caps.
This is probably the trip that we introduced the kids to "Sneaky." Sneaky is a game that my sister and I used to play after my mom had put us to bed. We would try to quietly sneak into the other sister's room without them hearing us (or mom) and whisper "Sneaky!" The idea, of course, was to scare the other person. It wasn't one of our most thought out games, because it usually got us into trouble. After all, when you scare someone they usually make noise. Sometimes we would be crawling into each other's rooms and run into the other person crawling into ours. This would cause hysterical laughter and we would still get into trouble. Trouble or not, it made for many years of fun.
At the cabin, the idea is to sneak up on someone in their sleeping bag without them hearing the floor creak. This takes some planning. Sometimes, while someone is taking a shower, you make your sleeping bag look slept in and hide under the person's bed. You get the idea. After they have laid down, you lie in wait and then yell "sneaky!!" Good times.....lol. To this day, we play Sneaky when we are at the cabin.
This vacation cost us $450.00. Next up.....drum roll......The Grand Canyon!
This year my children are 6 and 8. They are getting to the age where my son drives my daughter nuts just by being in the same room. It's not really anything in particular that he does...he just is. They have begun to have different interests and have made more friends outside of the neighborhood and each other. That being said, any parent out there probably knows what comes next. The sheer terror of a 10 hour car ride stuck in the backseat of a car with someone that you don't want to be with.
My children always had a plastic bin of toys, game boys and cassette players between them. (Yes, they had cassette players. This is before the days of Ipods.) It was supposed to sit in the middle of the center seat, giving each child the same amount of room in the backseat. At some point during this trip, my daughter decided that it was on her side perhaps a centimeter too much. He was breathing in the backseat and SOMETHING needed to be done! ANYTHING!! She didn't care just as long as she no longer had to deal with her brother. Being the creative thinker that she was, she took a boat oar and ran it from the back seat to the front dashboard. Then she hung a towel over the oar, set the toy basket dead center and informed her brother that he was not to even think about moving the towel, the oar or, heaven forbid, the toy basket. We eventually made it to Tahoe without them killing each other.
Once there, they were the world's best of friends again. A fun two weeks began. We did the usual river rafting, pancake breakfast eating, hay riding, swimming, hiking and blue jay feeding that we always did.
This was also the year that our weather was weird. In past years, I had always taken way too many warm clothes. We might have worn a pair of jeans a couple of times, but never enough to warrant more than one pair. This year, I decided to just bring one pair each. We had snow in the higher elevations and it was darn right cold several days. I had to go to the Laundromat after everyone had put their jammies on and wash our jeans. The poor things could almost stand up on their own! We also had a lot of wind. This is a picture of Lake Tahoe with wind caused white caps.
This is probably the trip that we introduced the kids to "Sneaky." Sneaky is a game that my sister and I used to play after my mom had put us to bed. We would try to quietly sneak into the other sister's room without them hearing us (or mom) and whisper "Sneaky!" The idea, of course, was to scare the other person. It wasn't one of our most thought out games, because it usually got us into trouble. After all, when you scare someone they usually make noise. Sometimes we would be crawling into each other's rooms and run into the other person crawling into ours. This would cause hysterical laughter and we would still get into trouble. Trouble or not, it made for many years of fun.
At the cabin, the idea is to sneak up on someone in their sleeping bag without them hearing the floor creak. This takes some planning. Sometimes, while someone is taking a shower, you make your sleeping bag look slept in and hide under the person's bed. You get the idea. After they have laid down, you lie in wait and then yell "sneaky!!" Good times.....lol. To this day, we play Sneaky when we are at the cabin.
This vacation cost us $450.00. Next up.....drum roll......The Grand Canyon!
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