I'm Becoming My Grandmother

My mom's mom, Grandma V., introduced me to massages 14 years ago in Hot Springs, AR. Grandma always loved getting massages when she and Grandpa would go to Hot Springs, so even though Grandma was no longer able to go get one for herself, she insisted that my sister and I both go and be massaged. As I said, Marti, my sister, and I had never had massages before.

The place that we went to in Hot Springs was an old school "spa" with the mineral baths and hadn't really been upgraded since they opened in like the 1920's (I kid, but still). So we go down and check in and we are pointed to these little closets and are told to put our clothes on the hooks there and somebody would come and wrap a sheet around us and take us to the relaxation area. Mind you Marti and I are the only people in the spa area that are under the age of 50 in the whole place. Well, I'm in my little closet area and the person comes to wrap my sheet around me, what I didn't know is that I was supposed to turn around and face the wall, but I didn't. So, I'm standing there facing the little spa lady full frontal and she starts yelling me to turn around. That was discomfort moment #1. She wraps the sheet around me escorts me to the waiting area and then takes me back to this big room that has the mineral baths on one side and little cubicles with massage tables on the other. There are all these older women wandering around in their togas moving from salt scrub to mineral bath to God-knows-what. I lay down on my table and the wiry little masseuse starts giving me an old school rub-down. It was really not all that relaxing and very uncomfortable especially since I had to go to the bathroom the entire time.

I didn't go back for another massage for many, many years.

I was thinking about this today as I was having a wonderful massage at La Belle Spa by Donald and I started thinking about how much my Grandma would have loved this place. It started out with a nice foot soak with some crackers and nuts while I stared into a fire. Then Donald came and took me into a private room, with soft lights and soothing music being piped in...so very different than my first experience.

And as he proceeded to work the knots out of my back, I slowly began to relax and stopped resisting, and as I did so I tried to silence the running discussion in my head. I couldn't quite silence the voice in my head completely because as I lay there being kneaded like bread dough, I was thinking "how do I want to phrase this in my blog...."

2009...I'm promising myself more massages. They are SOOOO worth it!!

Obligatory Blog for the Week

I feel that I must blog at least once a week, but I'm having trouble finding topics to actually blog about. So, I'll talk about my plans for the coming year, but first my plans for the remainder of this year....

I only have 9 days before I am on a plane heading back to Texas. This is very exciting for me because I haven't been back there since February, which was also the last time that I saw my family (except for my wonderful sister who came out to California to celebrate my birthday in April). I know that many of you go for much longer periods of time without seeing your families, so nine months really isn't that big of a deal, but to me it feels like an eternity. Before I moved to California, I saw them monthly or at least every six weeks. I also know that my Mom is crazy excited about seeing me again. I am actually going to be staying with the Queen and King B for a couple of days, which I'm also very excited about. I haven't seen them since they stayed with me back in June, although I am in contact with the Queen practically every day. I'm really hoping that the King will cook for me. After two days with the Queen and King and a week with my family, I'm going to fly down to San Antonio and spend a couple of days with a bunch of my friends from college, who I haven't seen in two years. I then will be flying back out to California. Once I'm back out here, I'll be hanging around my own place for a couple of days and then my friend Vanessa and I are driving up to Cloverdale to spend New Year's Eve with her mom in a very quiet manner.

Coming January 5, 2009 I return to the office and am going to try and be very positive and up-beat and start the year off right. I'm hoping that I will pick up some great organization and planning tips from the Queen when I'm with her. With regards to my blog, though, I have purchased a great desktop planner (Do It Later!) with great tips for procrastinating and I plan to share all of those with my readers!!

Rants and Raves on the Road

I don't really have anything too exciting to talk about, but did have some things that the Mensa group in my mind were mulling on my drive in to work this morning...

Rants:

• When did it become okay to drive on the left side of a two-way street? I'm sorry other drivers, do you NOT see me driving in the correct side?
• If you are wearing all black and it is after the sun has gone down or before the sun comes up, pay attention to the cars because we can't see you.
• If you are riding a bike, you have to follow the same rules of the road as a car. Don't glare at me because YOU run a stop sign.
• If I'm going 75-80 already, but that isn't fast enough for you, pass me. Don't just ride so close to my bumper that I can't see your lights. That is just going to piss me off and make me slow down.
• In California, it is illegal to talk on your cell phone while driving unless you have a hands-free device. PLEASE, follow the rules. Even if you are in the hands-free world, you are still required to pay attention to traffic.
• Kids should be strapped down in car seats or in seat belts. Don't let your kids just crawl all wild and crazy all over your car. It distracts you and it distracts me.
• Why do you feel you have the right to cut me off? Why do you think it is okay for you to pass all the traffic and then bully your way in at the last minute? Did your parents not teach you anything about taking turns?
• Speaking of taking turns... How difficult is it to understand a four-way stop? The first person to come to the stop sign has the right of way. If multiple cars get there at the same time, then the person to the right has the right of way. It isn't that difficult, take turns because we all get one.
• If there is a police, ambulance, or firetruck behind you, get over to the right as far as you can. Don't block their way and if people are trying to get over to let the emergency vehicle pass, be kind and let them over.
• Please, use common sense and common courtesy when driving. We all have to share the road. It doesn't belong to you just because your car cost more than mine!!

RAVES:

• The sunrise this morning was lovely, even though it was muted by the fog. It was just a warm pinky glow.

Striker and the Hot Chicks

I was one of the handful of people who listened to the Striker and the Hot Chicks radio broadcast on Tuesday and I just want to let the Hot Chicks (The Queen and Polly) know that they were breaking news!!

Both yesterday and today the radio program that I listen to brought up topics that had already been discussed by The Queen and Polly. First was the discussion of the Sean Avery comment which caused him to be suspended. Second was the list of stupid Christmas gifts. Third was Heidi and Spencer getting married in Mexico. There was something else discussed yesterday morning, but I've slept since then and can't remember now.

I just wanted to send kudos to the ladies for doing such a fine job of entertaining the masses on Tuesday!!

Self Awareness/Acceptance

Some how my mom always seems to know when I'm down and need a little boosting. She sent me this in an email this morning:

This should probably be taped to your bathroom mirror where one could read it every day. You may not realize it, but it's 100% true.

1. There are at least two people in this world that you would die for.
2. At least 15 people in this world love you in some way.
3. The only reason anyone would ever hate you is because they want to be just l like you.
4. A smile from you can bring happiness to anyone, even if they don't like you.
5. Every night, SOMEONE thinks about you before they go to sleep.
6. You mean the world to someone.
7. You are special and unique.
8. Someone that you don't even know exists loves you.
9. When you make the biggest mistake ever, something good comes from it.
10. When you think the world has turned its back on you, take another look.
11. Always remember the compliments you received. Forget about the rude remarks.

I've been feeling a little low lately and questioning my own worth and this just perks me up. I hope that each and every one of you out there read this and take it to heart. I know that I have.

Thanks Mom!!

Thanksgiving Memories

First, Happy Thanksgiving to Everybody!!

Second, I was thinking of things to write about and got to thinking about some of the different Thanksgiving that I've had. A number have stuck out in my memory, both happy and bittersweet. But one to this day still makes me laugh.

My senior year at Texas A&M I was living off campus in a duplex with two other girls. I was working in a really cute little restaurant as did one of my roommates. That year I was unable to go home for Thanksgiving because the Aggies were playing their annual game against t.u. at Kyle Field and I had to go to the game as well as work, so my wonderful family drove down for the day and brought dinner to me and my one roommate, Kim, who stayed in town.

But, we have to go back in time, just slightly. On the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, Kim calls me at the restaurant and says "I just saw a mouse in the house!! What do I do?" I of course respond with "Kim, I'm at work and can do nothing to help you. Please call one of the guys to come over and help." One of our guy friends came over and helped set a mouse trap and they managed to capture and get rid of that one.

So, jump forward to Thanksgiving. We are all sitting around my little kitchen table, Mom, Dad, Sister, Brother-in-Law, Kim, Me. My sister very calming says "Oh, look, a mouse". And there, sitting in the middle of the floor is this little baby mouse. This of course freaks us all out. My Dad grabs a broom and whacks the baby mouse, then sweeps it out the door. Dad washes his hands and we all sit down and continue dinner. A little while later, another mouse wanders out and we have to have this complete freak out again. Dad and Brother-in-Law then proceed to hunt out a couple more mice and either kill them or stun them and throw them all out into the street and/or garbage.

Eventually, the family has to leave to head back up to Dallas, thus leaving Kim and ABBA to fight off the onslaught of baby mice. By the end of the day, we managed to get rid of no less than 13 baby mice. We decided that the momma mouse was the one that Kim killed on Tuesday and by Thursday all the baby mice were getting hungry and started sending the siblings one after the other to go find momma. "Hey, Joe, you go out and find mom then bring some food back to us." When "Joe" didn't return, they started sending the rest out, one by one.

I know, not exactly the most Thanksgiving-y Thanksgiving story, but it always makes me laugh so hard that tears will run down my face!!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

Saturday Movie Night

No, I didn't go see Twilight or any other movie at a theatre. I did go see a movie, actually a double feature. 

My friend/boss, Terri invited me to come over to her house on Saturday as they were having drive-in movie night in their driveway. They put up a sheet over the garage door and rigged a projector and speakers up to their DVD player and showed Kung-Fu Panda and WALL-E. 

All the neighborhood kids and their parents came over and we all sat outside eating popcorn and drinking wine (well the kids drank water) and watched movies. It got pretty cold sitting out there and eventually all the kids ended up in a big pile on the driveway with blankets and pillows and all the adults were in their lawn chairs wrapped up as well. But it was really a great thing, inexpensive, and entertaining. 

I recommend everybody do this with their friends and neighbors at some time. To me, it was great to see a neighborhood gather together and just hang out like that. I remember growing up in smaller towns and all the neighborhood kids and parents getting together for things like the Fourth of July or something, but I didn't know that people still visited and shared with their neighbors in that manner. Maybe I've just been living the single life so long and going from one apartment to another, that I don't see these displays of Americana anymore. I don't know how to describe it, I guess, but it just gave me a warm fuzzy inside seeing all these kids piled up together to stay warm and all the parents gathered together to have some good, clean fun. 

Oh and Kung-Fu Panda was really good. WALL-E, I could have passed on. And I'm down one more bottle of wine. 

Hi, I'm ABBA, and I Need To Drink More

There have been a number of posts on here from the various wine country tours that I have done with Samantha and the Queen. For all of those, I have been the designated driver, but have somehow always been the one to come home with the most wines as well as all of the memberships to the various wineries.

I currently hold 3 memberships (Cline Wineries, Viansa, and Bonny Doon). They are all great wines and I really enjoy the memberships and getting wines and going to the wineries, blah, blah, blah.

So, today my most recent delivery from Bonny Doon showed up. This winery is the coolest because it is totally hippy-crazy...check out their website BonnyDoonVinyard.com. I open my wine box and then update my Facebook status to let the world know that my wine has come.

Sam comments first asking me how many bottles of wine this latest delivery takes me to, so I had to count. As of right now, I have 60 bottles of unopened wine. I opened one after I counted because I realized that I have to start drinking some of this wine and not just buying the wine. Plus, I have a trip planned in a couple of weeks to head up to Napa so taht I can pick up my latest "shipments" from the other two wineries AND I just ordered some of my favorite wines from Cline because they have it on sale.

So, anybody want to come help me kill a couple of bottles?

Which Winnie-the-Pooh Character are You?

This is something that has been on my mind for a while now and I try to figure which character people that I meet fall into.

• Pooh, of course
• Piglet
• Tigger
• Rabbit
• Owl
• Eyeore
• Kanga
• Roo
• Christopher Robin
• Heffalump

I always wanted to be a Tigger personality, all bouncy and bubbly and "woohoohooo". But as I've aged, I think I'm more of a Kanga personality...I take care of others, sort mother people along, and point out dangers. And yet, there is also a lot of Christopher Robin in me as well...As one site stated, since I was researching said characters, Christopher Robin "is everyone’s best friend and mostly indulges in activities to help his friends to get them out of tricky situations". That is sort of what I do, I try to be everybody's friend and mostly just going along with the others and watching.

I know, sort of lame, but it is something to thing about. So, which character are you?

Update on Weekend Activities

I was putting off documenting my weekend until I had some pictures to go with the story, but my pictures are on my other computer at home and I'm on my computer at work and it is just a whole hullabaloo to get it coordinated, so I'm just going to write here and if you REALLY want to see pictures, you can either go to my Facebook page and see pictures or ask me and I'll send them to you!!

So, Friday night I had plans to go stay at a hotel down in Santa Cruz. Not the best hotel by any stretch of the imagination, but it is what I could afford and I figure I just need a place to lay my head that has clean sheets, a shower, and a locking door. I was planning on staying there on Saturday night as well. Well, during the day I was chatting with my friend Angie who lives down in San Jose and she invited me to just come hang with her and her husband for the evening and spend the night with them. I figured "what the heck, that'll be fun." I called the hotel and tried to cancel my reservation for one night, but they were being all squeaky about it so I just cancelled for both nights and figured something would come along. As I was telling my boss/friend, Terri, about my hotel situation, she offered to let me stay with her and her husband on Saturday for the low, low price of a bottle of Tequila. Yippee!! I now had a place to stay for both nights!!

I get to Angie's Friday evening and it is a pretty low-key evening, with her being VERY pregnant and just put on bed rest by her doctors. We hang out, have some dinner watch a movie and chat. We get up Saturday morning and in my head I'm trying to determine what time I need to leave in order to make it down to Pacific Grove in time to be early for class so that I can get set up. I figure class starts at 10:30, if I'm there by 10:00 that would be good, so I need to leave about 9:00 - 9:15. As I'm standing in the kitchen talking to Angie and Seamus (her husband), I'm telling them this. Seamus, who grew up in the area, looks at me and asks "Where is this class?" I respond, "Pacific Grove, why?" He responds with "That is about an hour and a half drive, you need to leave a lot earlier." It then dawns on my that my original plan was based on me spending the night in Santa Cruz....Ooops!

I get myself around and out the door and on my way. I still make it to class with time to spare and get all set up. I won't bore you all with the details of the class, but here are a couple of highlights.... The class was sort of a kaleidoscope quilt class, but called One Block Wonder where you take your fabric and find the repeat and the cut 6 triangles of the same image, blah, blah, blah. It is a very cool technique and I'm definitely going to do it again. However, the fabric that I chose was of these round, cartoony Indian faces with feather headdresses which when I cut it all up looks like just a bunch of screaming faces to me. It is very disturbing, although I'm going to finish the top and see if it turns out better than I think it is going to. The ladies in the class were all very nice and the teacher was great. I'm definitely going to be going back there for more classes in the future, if my schedule allows for it.

Saturday evening, I head back over the Santa Cruz mountains, which by the way I had no weather problems due to the fact that the Queen was not with me. I arrive at Terri's house, with my bottle of Tequila and settle in for another quiet evening. Terri, Chris (her husband), and her 5 year old step-son and I have dinner, chatted, played some dominoes (which was a new game for me as my family only plays Chicken Foot when we play), and watched a movie, which I fell asleep about half-way through.

Sunday morning, I got up and around and headed over to meet the horse-riding group. We headed out, back over and into the Santa Cruz mountains. After driving up this dirt road, we arrived at the area where the Pacific Coast Gaited Horse Adventures horses were being kept and all piled out. We signed our wavers and got our helmets on...none of us novice horse riders were about to get on a horse without some head protection. (By the way, I can actually be seen on a horse on their website!!)

After some quick lessons (left, right, stop) and filling up the saddle bags with our snacks and drinks, we were finally off on the trail. I had the sweetest horse named Chico. He was an older Peruvian Paso with the most beautiful reddish-blond hair. I actually wanted to take a swatch of hair as that is the color of hair that I want. We first took off through the redwoods on some fairly steep trails and came out in this open meadow that over looked the ocean. It was truly breath taking. There were a number of other groups (horse people, mountain bike people, hiker people) milling around in the pasture as it is part of a state park. One group of uni-cyclists showed up and we were all quite amazed that there is such a thing as mountain uni-cyclists!!

Anyway, we all had some snacks, wine, cheese, crackers, lovely conversation, great views, and the horses got to have a little bit of a break, as did our legs. After about 45 minutes, we all mounted back up and headed off again. Since it was a nice day and we were all pretty relaxed, one of the trail guides asked if any of us wanted to take our horses on a slightly faster pace, although the walking was fine, the horses were feeling a little frisky and wanted to stretch their legs. About half of the group, myself included, decided that we did want to pick it up a little so we took off at a nice clip. My poor little pony really wanted to keep up, but she was sorta like me, could run really well for a bit, but had no real stamina, so we had to slow it down to a walk, but she sooo wanted to keep up with the pack.

Eventually, we all made it back to the barn and dismounting was the next challenge. We were all quite sore and had bruised sitting bones. But we all managed and everybody had a great time. We were happy that nobody fell off their horse and aside from the soreness we couldn't have asked for a better day.

I now know what I'm going to do with my sister, brother-in-law, niece, and nephew when they come out to visit...we will definitely be taking a horse ride through the Redwood forest and over looking the blue, blue ocean!!

Weekend Plans - Santa Cruz

As you may or may not have noticed, I have not been making my rounds to comment on my fellow HCBC blogs this week. I'm not really certain why, I just have gotten out of the habit of documenting on my own blog and going and reading everybody else's blogs. I guess it is just cyclical, I get into the groove....I get out of the groove. Maybe I'm getting back in the groove, but who really knows.

So, this weekend I have quite the full schedule. After work this evening, I am heading down to Santa Cruz to spend the night in a hotel down there. I just spoke to my boss who grew up in Santa Cruz and she knows the place. Basically, it is cheap and clean and the door locks and that is really about all I'm looking for. She told me that I probably don't want to go wandering around the streets much as the neighborhood in one direction is a little seedy. However, she did give me some suggestions of places within walking distance that I can go and check out some of the local color.

Tomorrow morning, I get up and drive down the coast a bit to Pacific Grove to attend a quilt class, which I'm very excited about. I got up bright and early (heck it was actually still dark and early) this morning to get all of my things packed. I had already gathered together all of my sewing paraphernalia and had it all ready to load up into the car. The class is from 10:30 - 4:00 so I may just decide to hang out in Monterey and grab a bite to eat down there and then head back up to Santa Cruz... We'll see. Since, it is just me I don't really have to consider what anybody else wants to do.

Sunday, I get up and check out of my hotel room. I then have some time to kill because I am meeting the group of us that went camping a while back for a horseback ride in the Santa Cruz mountains. However, we aren't meeting until 11:00 and the drive from my hotel to the place where we are meeting is about 5 miles. Since I am very much a morning person, I'm certain that I will be up and around WELL before 11 AM. So, as I am writing this I am considering going down to Capitola and finding a place where I can get a nice breakfast and watch the early morning surfers.

The only thing that has me ever so slightly concerned is the weather. Mind you, the weather reports look to be clear and beautiful, but one never knows. The last two times I went down to Santa Cruz was with The Queen B and one of those times it ended up sleeting and snowing as we were driving over the summit of the Santa Cruz mountains. The last time I was down there with the Queen it was in a torrential rainstorm where the waves were cresting the sea wall. I'm going to chalk the weather phenomena up to the Queen's presence and keeping my fingers crossed that this trip will be smooth sailing.

Hopefully when I get back on line I'll have pics to share of the trip.

Karaoke at the Mint

On All Hallows Eve, Samantha and I joined some friends at a karaoke bar called The Mint. After some liquid courage, Andrea made it up onto stage with Lewis Fernandez (a.k.a. The Artist Prince, the Purple Rain years). 

We performed a powerful rendition of the classic Summer Lovin' from the award should-have-been-winning film Grease. Surprisingly, Lewis performed the Danny Zuko part and I played the demure Sandy (does anybody know what her surname was?). It turns out, after looking at the picture, that we will need to return to the stage and perform The One That I Want, as I just can't seem to pull of "demure". 

Aside from the singing there was dancing and all around merriment had by all those in attendance. In fact, here is some of our group dancing: 

That would be Austin and David our Irish contingency performing their own rendition of River Dance... we'll just call that Celtic Thunder in San Francisco!!

So, ABBA has one more thing that she can scratch off her list o' things to do before she shakes off these mortal coils (in 30 or 40 years!). 

Thanks to everybody who talk me into moving out of my comfort zone!!

Computer Dating to The Extreme

I admit, I have a listing on Match.com. It has a picture from 5 years ago and I don't think I have updated it really since then, although I am thinking about doing that.

But I just read this story: Woman Kills Virtual Ex-Husband and thought, "That is just a little crazy."

I've had some bad breakups, but I don't think I could ever get quite so attached to a virtual mate that when they dumped me I would hack into their system and kill them. Well, that and I'm not really certain that I would know how to hack into some body's system....Maybe I could just hire a virtual hit man, instead....

Why Are People So Disgusting?

I got on my elevator in my apartment complex this morning and was confronted with a very disgusting blob of spit. Why would somebody do that?

I can understand, although I don't condone it, spitting on the ground when you are outside. I've dated my share of guys who dip and need some place to get rid of the juice. I also have family who work in the great outdoors and every now and then something gets in your mouth and you have to spit it out on the ground. I'm okay with that, not thrilled, but okay. And even outdoors, I don't think there is really a need to just spit as you are walking down the sidewalk, as I have seen people do, causing me to then change my path so that I can avoid the giant loogie on the ground.

And, yes, I feel that it is mostly men who spit, although I just don't understand why. I don't recall my Dad EVER spitting, nor my brother-in-law. (These being the two primary men in my life that all other men are compared to.) So why do other men feel the need that spitting anywhere, any time is okay?

And who ever taught these people that spitting indoors was EVER acceptable? I realize that it is "just an elevator floor" or "just a concrete lobby floor", but it is still a floor and indoors. Its not like the rain is going to come along and wash it away. It is going to sit there like a giant icky blob until the building super gets around to mopping the floors, which I really don't think is high on his "to do" list!!

So tell me, if you know the answer, why are people so disgusting?

World of Warcraft...Maybe Not

So, about this time last year I was addicted to playing World of Warcraft (a.k.a. WoW) and I admit that there are times when I miss playing it. But, luckily, I was never anywhere close to being this sick about playing: Biggest Warcraft Addict Ever.

Let's all take a moment of silence for ABBA's dropping of that obsession....

I did like beating the @#$*# out of creatures and imagining them as people I work with, but now I am finding a healthier outlet for getting those feelings out. Now I just argue with them until they bend to my will. Of course this happens as I am walking and only in my head, but it makes me feel better!!

Wagon Status

Just a short note to give an update on where I am regarding getting back on the wagon o' health.

1. I've walked the Stanford Dish 3 times this week and have noted that since the first time I walked it, I have improved my time by 15 minutes. My goal is still to get it done in under and hour, which I am 3 minutes away from doing. After I've managed to do that, I'm going to start doing two laps, hopefully.
2. I'm very jealous of one of my co-workers who left the company yesterday. She told me that she sat down and thought back over the past 5 years to determine what job she had that made her the most happy. She said that her new position would allow her to come in to the office, sit at her computer, put on her headphones and just power through test scripts and documenting what issues occurred. No managing other people. No being on call. Man, I want a job like that where I don't have to deal with all the stupid questions that people come to me with. In that context, I've updated my resume and am scanning the monster.com and careerbuilder sites as needed. (Never mind the fact that when I was looking at a job on careerbuilder this week it somehow had a virus attached and then infected my work computer, but whatever.)
3. Through my friend Angie's Facebook site, I've been surfing through some of her friends' pages and am very impressed with all the artsy people out there that have actually made that part of their life work. I'm working on that. I'm working on a business plan to get my quilts out into the public eye and possibly sell some.
4. I've pulled out my Osho Zen Tarot cards and they keep "telling" me that it is time for change or change is on the horizon...maybe here really is something in that.
5. The biggest and hardest part for me is shutting out the voices in my head that keep telling me that I can't do it and that I'm going to be a disappointment. But that one is being beaten into submission, so hopefully it'll go away soon as well.

Anyway, that is the update. I appreciate everybody's support and filling of the love-tank.

Getting BACK on the Wagon

So, I woke up this morning out of a dead sleep having a full-on anxiety attack. I probably should have known that this was coming, but I wasn't quite prepared for it. Three hours later, the ringing and buzzing in my head has stopped, but I'm still working on getting my heart rate to slow, but that will happen in due time (of course the coffee that I got on my way into the office doesn't help!).

The reasons that I think I'm probably going through this right now are all over the map, but most of them surround the fact that I had such a negative day at the office yesterday and that I've fallen off the healthy eating wagon. I was so annoyed yesterday and didn't want to face another day of annoyance today, that I almost opted to not come into the office (it has been awhile since I've taken a mental health day). But that really isn't something I could do in good conscience since my boss is out of the office this whole week. Plus, I want to walk the Stanford Dish after work as I know that will be very helpful to my condition.

But you may be saying to yourself, "What does ABBA intend to do about this to address it in the future?" Well, let me tell you....

1. Walk more, everyday, if I can.
   
2. Avoid negative people. After spending the weekend with some of the happiest people, I find myself very envious of their lives and want a piece of that for myself.
   
3. Learn to say "no". This is a tough one. It isn't something I do well. The Queen left me a big NO sign for my wall, but I still can't seem to form the words.
4. Eat better. I admit, I've been hitting up the fast food again. So, that means stocking up the freezer with more Lean Cuisines, since I don't cook no matter how many times I try to think I'm going to.
5. Drink more water. Lots more. I have the big bottle sitting on my desk, I just sorta forget to drink from it.
6. Really, really find another job where I can just sit at my desk with my headset on, listening to music, and focus in on my task at hand. I have to remind myself that I don't want to be management and that the battles that have to be fought at work are not always MY battles to fight.
7. Stop letting everybody else's issues and problems become my issues and problems.
8. Stop feeling guilty when I'm not constantly plugged in. I need to remind myself that if I want to spend the whole weekend in my jammies working on quilts and not speaking to a soul, that it is okay to do that.
9. Stop listening to the negative voices in my head. Trust me, this may be the hardest thing to do. I have a terrible inferiority complex and suffer from social anxiety disorder, so this is way harder then some people can imagine.

There are a number of other things that I probably should list, but I think if I can tackle those low hanging fruits first (walking, water, and weight) then the other things will slowly come around.

I'll keep you posted.

ABBA at the Renaissance Faire....

I only wish I has some pictures to post along with this, but I only took a few on my own camera and haven't moved them to the computer yet, but here is the play by play, or a close proximity of a play by play.....

For those of you who aren't aware, my best friend from high school, Angie (and yes, she goes by Angelia but she will always be Angie to me) lives in San Jose. I was completely unaware of this until about 6 months ago when we found each other on Facebook (we had not been in touch in probably 20 years). She is married to a wonderful man, Seamus, and they both are very involved in the Northern California Renaissance Faire. They typically work at the faire, but this year they opted out of working as Angie is 7 months pregnant. They were nice enough to invite me to join them at the faire this past weekend and to spend the night at their house.

I arrive at Angie and Seamus's house Friday and they welcome me with open arms, which I promptly throw all of my stuff into and give Angie a big hug. Friday night we just hung around, did fun domestic stuff like grocery shopping and having dinner, and then we headed down to the basement, which functions as Angie's walk in closet and I am SOOO very jealous of, to pour me into a bodice and skirts in preparation of going to the faire in costume. After much hemming and hawing, we locate one that will work and Seamus cinches me in. We all agree with the look, I learn how to breathe (or not), sit, walk, and function while wearing a corset/bodice, and then we take it off and put on jammies to head to bed as we need to get a good night's sleep in preparation for the next day.

Saturday, we get up and dressed, get cinched and tucked and what not, we gather together all of the accouterments, grab the flasks (because believe me, you can't function out there without a little Parrot Bay in your system) and head off....all the way to Starbucks. The three of us are quite the vision as we stand in line for our mocha and carmelmachiotto, and whatnots. A few people ask, "Are you off to the Renaissance Fair?" and with humor in her voice and a glint in her eye Angie pipes up and says "What? We dress like this everyday!"

Finally, we are on the road. We arrive at the grounds, pile out of car, and finish putting on the final touches to our wardrobes. I get my final cinching up, belt, fan, flask, and flowers for the hair. Seamus puts on his belts, pistols, sword, flask, and god only knows what else he had on. Angie, puts on her wings (she makes beautiful fairy wings, check out her work at On Gossamer Wings).

Finally we are at faire, and this is where things become a complete whirlwind for me due to the sensory overload. But here are a few things that I recall that I liked and didn't like:

Things I Liked:

• Everybody was incredibly nice and welcomed me
• Black-Cherry hard cider
• I felt, almost, like I fit in there
• Meeting new friends
• Spending time with great friends
• Corsets/Bodices...These things are great. I never thought I would say that, but, This was the first time in my memory where I spent all day on my feet and my back wasn't killing me by the end of the day. The thing not only get the girls high and mighty, but it was wonderful support for my back.
• Steak sandwiches
• Dancing with some complete stranger, to no music besides our laughter, in the middle of the muddy path (me = sober, him = not so much)
• The cute boy that we never saw again....

Things I Didn't Like:

• It rained, not just a little spitting and sprinkling, but a complete downpour, luckily we took shelter in one of the clothing booths.
• Dealing with Port-a-potties in two skirts, a long chemise, and lots of stuff around my waste
• Mud, but only because I was slipping and I was worried about Angie slipping and I understand that the mud is better than the dust
• Not getting to see any of the shows. Darn it, I guess this means I'm gonna have to go back!!

At the end of the day, we were kicked out because we did not have passes to stay for the after-hours, and it is my understanding that the after-hours activities are when the real raunchiness begins. We went to a local restaurant for a bite to eat before we hit the road. Driving back, I dozed in the backseat and could only hear the faint murmurings of Angie and Seamus as they drove home.

That night I slept like a baby, basking in the glow of a wonderful adventure. While I've marked one more thing off my list of things to do before I die, I've added one more thing to my list of things I want to do again.

Angie and Seamus and all of your friends at the Faire, Thank you!!

The Big Read

Here is a list put forth by the National Endowment for the Arts in the U.S. It lists the top 1oo books and asks how many you've actually read. The Big Read (which is an initiative of the NEA designed to restore reading to the center of American culture) estimates that the average adult has only read 6 of the books on this list.

Here’s how it works:
Look at the list and bold those you have read.
Italicize those you intend to read.
Reprint this list on your blog and link back to this post (As seen on Rachel Made Me Do This...).

1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling
5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
6 The Bible
7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell
9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman - Read the first one. I figure that is enough.
10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott
12 Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
14 Complete Works of Shakespeare (I’ve read a lot of them…)
15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks
18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
19 The Time Traveller’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
20 Middlemarch - George Eliot
21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald
23 Bleak House - Charles Dickens
24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy (Started, and think I actually completed, but I've blanked out a lot from my Russian Lit. era)
25 The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
26 Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy (I'm about 1/2 way through, so that counts)
32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis
34 Emma - Jane Austen
35 Persuasion - Jane Austen
36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis
37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
38 Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
40 Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne
41 Animal Farm - George Orwell
42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44 A Prayer for Owen Meany - John Irving
45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery
47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
48 The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood
49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding
50 Atonement - Ian McEwan
51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel
52 Dune - Frank Herbert
53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt
64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac
67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
68 Bridget Jones’s Diary - Helen Fielding
69 Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie
70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville
71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
72 Dracula - Bram Stoker
73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
75 Ulysses - James Joyce (Started, but couldn't finish, but it still counts)
76 The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
78 Germinal - Emile Zola
79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
80 Possession - AS Byatt
81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker
84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry (I started this, got about 100 pages into it and it didn't grab me, so I quit reading it.)
87 Charlotte’s Web - EB White
88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
90 The Faraway Tree Collection
91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery
93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
94 Watership Down - Richard Adams
95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare
99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl
100 Les Miserables-Victor Hugo

Considering that I think they have missed a number of GREAT books that I've also ready, I think I've done a pretty good job of reading... 49% already read with an additional 19% in planning.

Circus Bella at Dolores Park

Yesterday Samantha and I walked up to Dolores Park because there was an Independent Arts festival and our friend, Abby, was performing along with her circus, Circus Bella. The performance was fabulous and I am so going to sign up soon to learn how to do the flying trapeze. here are some pictures, I didn't get a really good one of Abby on the trapeze, but this will give you all an idea. 

Abby On the Trapeze

David Hunt on the Slack wire

Bronker Lee as the Human Beatbox

Big Blue Bunny Enjoying the Show

The Whole Troupe at the Finale

Dolores Park was beautiful. The weather was perfect and I even got a little color on my shoulders and chest. 

Oh yeah, we also saw a wacky, naked guy dressed in only a sign protesting the war: 

There is NO PLACE like San Francisco!!

How Did I Make It Through The Day?

So, yesterday I left the office right after my last painful meeting because I had a fever, sore throat, and headache. I came home and found out the UPS hadn't delivered my books (see previous post). I did, however, go ahead and go into my "class" and complete the orientation and then headed off to bed. 

This morning I woke up, no more fever, although I did still have a little bit of a headache, but I opted to go ahead and go in to the office because I knew that my boss was going to be working from home and one of us needed to be there to represent some form of intelligent life form in our department. When I get in to the office I get an email from the boss lady asking me to do her daily dashboard. Anyway, blah, blah, blah... I got through a bunch of other stuff today and dealt face to face with a number of different people. 

I get home this afternoon and go to change out of my work clothes and reach up to take off my earrings. I realize at that time (12 hours after I put them on) that I had two different earrings on. 

So, my question, did nobody else even notice? Did I just not rate eye contact and therefore ear contact? Understand, I have short hair. Short hair cut above the ears short hair. I was wearing long dangly earrings. Were people just being nice and not wanting to point out such a mistake? Was it the fact that I only dealt with boys today? If you had noticed this, would you have told me, or just thought I was making some sort of wacky fashion statement (sorta punk thing to go along with my khaki pants and black cardigan)? 

Rant Against UPS

I do not understand UPS and their delivery folks....

I have signed up for a paid for a continuing education course in order to get my Six Sigma Greenbelt Certification. The course is all on-line and I had to order my books and have been anxiously awaiting their arrival so that I could begin studying. Well, they are being delivered by UPS.

Wednesday, I get home from work and there is one of the UPS sticky notes on my door saying that they tried to deliver a package, but I wasn't home. However, I could sign the sticky note and leave it at the same place and they will leave my package. So, Thursday morning before I leave, I sign the notice and I stick it on my door.

All day Thursday I'm all giddy because I know I'm going to come home and have my books so that I can start my class.... As I walk out of my garage Thursday afternoon, I glance over at the wall of mailboxes, and lo-and-behold, there is a UPS sticky note saying they tried again to deliver my package, but it I wanted to sign the notice and leave it in the same place, then they will leave it there the next day. I get to thinking, well, maybe this is for a different package, so hopefully my books will be left by my apartment door, where I left the first sticky note signature.

Nope, I get off the elevator and look down the hall and do not see a package there and the sticky note that I signed in the morning is still on my door.

So, Wednesday's driver made the effort to actually go up the elevator and leave a note for my on my door. Thursday's driver was too friggin' lazy to do that and therefore did not see that I had ALREADY SIGNED FOR THE PACKAGE. Instead, they are going to have to make ANOTHER trip to my building to leave me my books.

I now have a signed sticky note on my apartment door and one on my mailbox. Do we think I will actually have my books when I get home this evening?

Why can't they all be consistent? Grrrr

Trying to Break The Cycle

I'm once again trying to break the cycle of caffeine. I made the mistake recently and started ordering soda when I've been out at restaurants. Then I bought a some Dr. Pepper to have at home. I also bought some of the bottled Starbucks frappucinos.

I'd been so good in cutting caffeine out of my life and had been feeling much better. I was saving money on not buying the $5ish coffees and sleeping better. But that all went to hell in a hand basket the past couple of weeks.

Yesterday, I had not one but two big Dr. Peppers, finishing the last one up around 8:30 while watching Biggest Loser and listening to Will and The Hot Chics, with "Polly", Queen B, and "Natassia". I then was wired enough to stay up and watch the end of Dancing with the Stars.

I headed off to bed around 11:15ish, which is REALLY late for me. I then couldn't figure out why I felt so strange. I couldn't relax. My legs were all jumpy. I couldn't find a comfortable spot. I just wasn't happy. Then it dawned on me....caffeine.

Eventually, I did fall asleep and it was really hard getting up this morning, but I managed to drag myself out of bed. I had a huge struggle this morning on my way into the office... stop at Starbucks/don't stop at Starbucks...

I ended up passing on stopping and now I can't stop yawning. If I can make it through the day, hopefully I'll be able to sleep this evening and not have to deal to much with the caffeine detox...

Family Horn Tooting!!!

This past weekend my Mom, niece, and nephew all entered quilts into the Trinity Valley Quilt Guild's annual quilt show.

My Mom, who is a prolific art quilter, entered 3 or 4 quilts, I'm not quite sure. Every time that I would hear from her she was putting on ANOTHER quilt sleeve or binding another quilt in preparation for the show. Part of this was probably due to the fact that she was also in charge of the miniature quilt auction as well as participating in a group quilt with her Creative Crones quilting group.

My niece and nephew both entered quilts as well. The show has a "Young Quilters" category that they could have entered, but that category is not judged and coming from a somewhat competitive family they wanted to have their work judged. So, they both ended up in the "Small Pieced Machine Quilted" category. Mom's, I'm sure were in the "Art Quilt" category.

Anyway, Mom won an Honorable Mention and a Third place for two of her quilts. She also won part of the shared prize for her small 9"x12" Alzheimer's Quilt which will be auctioned off to help fund Alzheimer research. Check out the Alzheimer Quilt Project, if you are interested in learning more. I don't have pictures of my Mom's quilts to display, at least not the finished quilts.

Now to the big news, my nephew, Colin, who is 11 won Second Place in his category!! This is his first quilt ever, and I'm very happy for him!! He did all the work himself on this quilt, except for some of the quilting that my mom did. I don't know if this is going to be something that he will pursue, but I'm very proud of our boy. He won and won big against a bunch of ladies that have probably been making quilts for years!! Here is his quilt before the quilting was done while it is up on Mom's design wall:




Colin - I'm SOO proud of you!!

To Do Lists

I just read a blog regarding a list of 30 things to do before turning 30 (see Skinner Family News) and it sorta made me cringe. I am far, far past 30 so it is too late to do that list. So I'm going to shoot for a list of 45 things to do before turning 45.

Any recommendations on where I should start to create my list. I don't want it to be 45 things to be done in the next 5 years, because that would just be way too much, but I do want to challenge myself.

I guess I'll then need to come up with a project plan with sub-tasks and dependencies, etc. to make all of this happen.....

Maybe I should look more long term and go for a list of 60 things to do before 60. Should I make another list at 45 to be "5 more things to do before 50", and then so on?

Perhaps the first thing I should put on my list is "Have voices in your head agree on the parameters of the list and the rules around creating the list..."

Exercising at Work

I just read an article about treadmill desks and people who walk on the treadmill while working. I would love to do this, but there are a couple of hitches:

1. I end up in lots of meetings, how would one move the treadmill desk to the conference room
2. If I could make all of my meetings conference calls, would people wonder about all of my heavy breathing
3. Would if be considered an on the job injury and covered by workers comp insurance if I fell on the treadmill, which I would inevitably do, while "working"?

Thoughts, comments, anybody want to start a fund so that I can purchase one of these?

This Day Ain't Gonna Be Pretty....

Let it be said that as a child I don't think I ever had a problem getting out of bed. (Stop laughing hysterically, Mom, I said "as a child".) I recall getting up early on the first day of school, getting completely dressed, and then laying back down until my mom would come to get me up for breakfast and to catch the bus.

As I grew, I had a tendency to sleep in more and more and by the time I was in high school, it was becoming a little tougher to get up, but I still don't recall being a complete beast. Aside from weekends when I didn't have to get up, but Dad would miraculously have to trim the grass and/or bushes directly outside my window, and a couple of times when I had a bit of a "headache" from enjoying myself a smidgen too much the night before, I usually got up early. (And, yes, kids, I was not perfect in high school and I did imbibe when I shouldn't have. Do as I say and don't drink until you are of age and not as I did.)

Anymore, I'm back to being an early riser. On weekends, I typically don't sleep past about 6:30 or 7:00, although I often do take a little nap in the afternoon. However, during the weeks, I have a slightly tougher time.

I am a snooze button girl. I admit it. I will hit that snooze button 4 or 5 times before I actually get up and going and usually I get up and move to my comfy chair to stare at the morning news while I eat my Cheerios before I can really function. This morning though, instead of hitting the snooze button, I hit the OFF button, and fell blissfully back to sleep. I could have stayed asleep all morning and completely missed my day o' meetings that is Thursday. Luckily, something in my bladder knew that I needed to get up and going and even though the alarm was off, it insisted I get up and around.

So, I was only running about 30 minutes late this morning. Luckily, I got my hair cut this past weekend and as always the two caveats for a haircut are: don't make me look like a butchy lesbian and I want to be able to dry it and style it within the length of one song on the radio (and not one of those epic songs like Bohemian Rhapsody). I jumped in the shower, I already knew what I was going to wear, which is a miracle in and of itself, did my makeup, hair, dressed, grabbed some stuff for breakfast and lunch, and still made it into my car in 45 minutes. I may not be super model fantastic today, but at least I made it to the office with enough time to blog before my meetings start, and that is what is really important!!

Sad Single Life

While there are still a number of things that I could talk about regarding the camping trip, I'm finally a little bored with rehashing it. In a couple weeks, who knows, it may come up again, but right now, I'm closing the book on that adventure. It was a great time and I will definitely go camping in that style again....

On to my next obsession...my Sad Single Life.

I've been thinking about this for a while. I read all the HCBC blogs and hear about their husbands and families and can't really appropriately understand because, well, I have neither a husband nor children. I'm okay with that most of the time, but over the past couple of weeks it has started to get to me.

Then yesterday I was on the phone with my best friend from college. She and her family are down in San Antonio. I am the Godmother to both of her kids, I was a bride's maid in her wedding, her folks are like another set of parents to me, blah, blah, blah. She has yet to come visit me. In fact, as I sit here and think back over the many years that I have known her, I've always gone to visit her, but she has always had a slightly more demanding life between her kids, helping to raise her sister's daughter, managing her parents' and now her own daycare, but whatever. So, back to yesterday's conversation.

Her: Husband's cousin is getting married in Rhode Island in a couple of weeks and we are going up there for the wedding.
Me: Oh how fun! Taking the kids?
Her: Nope, just the two of us.
Me: When are you going to come visit me? (Because we all know that San Francisco with ABBA is much more fun than a chi chi wedding in Rhode Island.)
Her: When you get married, we'll come see you...

I know this shouldn't affect me, but it was sort of like a punch in the stomach, especially after all my sad, single life thoughts that I've been having....

I'm considering dusting off my Match.com profile and going that route again, but that would require an updated picture of me, since I don't think it is fair to put my 20 year old photo from college up there. Maybe it'll just be less frustrating to get a cat and start becoming the crazy cat woman I keep threatening my family with...

Saturday - Camping Day Three

We now had the whole party present at the camp ground now, so when we got up this morning and had a full breakfast of sausage, bacon, hash browns, eggs made-to-order, fresh brewed coffee with Bailey's Irish Cream, and Mimosas. You have to admit that we know how to start the day off right.

Serving Breakfast:


Group Shot Enjoying Breakfast:



The next thing on the list was to move Heidi and her husband, Tony, and Alex down from the campsite next to the bathroom to the campsite next to the sloping site where Jill, Samantha, and I were located. (One little side note, poor Alex didn't sleep well because the air mattress he stole from me lost all of its air and by the middle of the night he ended up sleeping directly on the ground.)

After all of the rearranging of the campsites and cleaning up after breakfast, we put on our suits, gathered up our alcohol for the day and headed off to play on the lake. Luckily Alex had experience with his own boat at one time, so Jill had somebody helping her out with getting the boat on the water, the people loaded into it, and driving it around the lake so she could enjoy herself as well as the rest of us and not have to be on constant alert as to what was going on with the boat. While the day on the boat was pretty uneventful, in that there were no moments of Andrea falling off the boat and that is really what is really important here!! Okay, only kidding. Pretty much everybody took turns trying out the wake boards or knee boards, but the real hit was the giant inner tubes that were pulled behind the boat. Check out some of the photos from Saturday on the lake:

Group in the Boat


Tony and Alex Set for Tubing Battles


Heidi Being Swallowed by the Man-Eating Life Vest


Alex, Sam, and Jill in the Boat


A little after noon, we docked at a restaurant/bar on the lake and went in to grab a bite to eat. By this point my back had started to glow just a smidgen (even with the SPF50), so I was pretty happy to get off the lake for a while.

About 2:00 PM, we all piled back into the boat and decided to stop at one end of the lake and just float for a while so that we could all just relax and enjoy the sun and water. Check out all of us relaxing in the sun:

Alex Relaxing in the Tube


Sam and Heidi


Andrea Asleep in the Boat


We spent a nice long time just floating and chatting and sleeping. Eventually, we were visited by some water fowl, who it seems love to eat Cheetos and attack toes:

Jill's Toes, The Geese, and a Cheetos


Tony and The Geese:

About 5:00 we decided it was time to get off the lake and go take showers and have a bite to eat. So, Alex helped Jill get the boat anchored down, we all went to Miller's Landing and paid the $3 for 5 minutes of showers (I actually splurged and paid for 10 minutes.) We grabbed some more ice, firewood, and headed back to the campsite. Surprise, surprise, it had once again gotten dark out, so dinner (a wonderful tri-tip, garlic bread, salad, and corn on the cob) was cooked by lantern light, but it was still wonderful tasting.

I, unfortunately, became quite the victim of camping injuries on this night. I twisted my ankle, again, and ended up falling and sliding down the slope. I ended up with a bruise on the palm of my hand, scrapes and bruises on both knees, dust and dirt all over which was upsetting after just showering. I then was helping to clean up after dinner and was bringing the Coleman kerosene lantern over to the group. It was decided to turn it off, since we had plenty of light from the fire, sadly I didn't know how to turn it off and made the mistake of twisting the screw thingy on the top of the lantern, which was VERY hot and managed to burn my finger and thumb. I vaguely doing this before when I was a child and camping with my parents, but I survived then and I survived now....

Everybody was pretty worn out after the day of boating, so we turned in pretty early. Alex was still challenged with his flat air mattress, luckily Sam had blown up a floaty chair that was initially going to be used on the lake but Alex ended up using that as his sleeping chair. Sadly, we have no photos of Alex "sleeping" in the floaty chair with his Boise headphones that he needed to use to block out Tony's snoring.

Personally, I again loved falling asleep looking up at the stars through the skylight in the tent. Admittedly, I did say after falling and burning myself that I hated camping, but that was just tired, grumpy five-year-old Andrea coming out. I still greatly enjoy camping and look forward to my next trip.

Friday - Camping Day Two - Afternoon/Evening

So, the three of us head to the boat ramp to get the boat in the water and have "girl time".

Sadly, the first challenge was getting the truck and boat backed down the ramp. Luckily, a couple of very nice gentlemen offered to give us a hand, mostly because I think they didn't want to have to wait in line while we pulled forward then backed up and pulled forward again. Jill and I jumped on the boat and backed into the lake while Samantha drove the truck and the boat hitch thingy to park it and the plan was to meet us back at the dock. While Jill and I were floating around on the lake, we decided that we needed to cool off a bit and I did something that I haven't done in probably my whole life. I jumped off the boat and went completely underwater. (For those of you who are not aware, I have a slight 'issue' with having my face wet, to the point where I have to keep a towel in the shower with me to dry my face. I have always been the Queen of the dog paddle.) So, me jumping in the water straight off, going under water, and enjoying it was a completely new experience for me!!

We get back on the boat and head over to the dock. Jill gave me a quick lesson in tieing ropes and then handed me the rope to use to tie up the boat. Her words to me were "Hop onto the dock and cushion the boat." I say "Sure, not a problem." We approach the dock, I swing one foot over the side of the boat in preparation for "hopping". Understand, I don't "hop". I figured I would just "step" onto the dock. So, we approach, Jill tells me to hop, I step. My left foot is on the dock, my right foot is stuck in the seat cushions on the boat. Even though the boat is in neutral, there are wakes coming into shore and the boat starts to float away from the dock. I am now the human equivalent to the wishbone being pulled apart. I give Jill a look of complete fear and confusion. She, sadly, sadly can do nothing for me. Sam is too far away on the shore to do anything. I am stuck and being stretched, farther and farther apart. Finally, I have to make a decision. I remove my foot from the dock, slap into the side of the boat, my foot comes unstuck from the seat cushions, I yell out, and splash into lake. Yes, it was the quintessential boating physical joke. The good thing, I survived (only with a swollen ankle, which gave me trouble the rest of the weekend) AND I never let go of the rope to tie the boat off. Jill killed the motor, I swam around to the rear and pulled myself back into the boat laughing the whole time...

Whew, quite the excitement. The rest of the afternoon the three of us played on the lake, drank some champagne, ate some Cheetos, soaked up the sun, and shared stories. Sam learned how to drive the boat so that Jill could do some wake-boarding. Check out some of the photos:

Sam Learning to Drive the Boat

Jill and Sam

View off the Boat

Jill on the Wake Skate

Around 5:00 we decided that we were getting hungry (and you know I don't do well when I'm hungry because then I get grumpy) and decided to get off the lake. We anchored the boat near our campsite and swam into shore. Sam and I went and set up the tent for the guys since we didn't want them to have to deal with it when they finally got in (yeah, yeah, we are really nice). We then grabbed a change of clothes and headed down to Miller's Landing for showers and to grab a bite to eat. We still didn't have a grill or lights.

The tokens for the shower were $3 for 5 minutes. It is surprising how quickly you can learn to shower when it costs that much and the water is only cold. After the showers, we got burgers and shakes at the grill there and waited for Alex and Tony to arrive so that they could follow us out to the campsite since it was a little difficult to find.

After food, the five of us headed back to the camp site and started a fire. "Luckily" we still had some gasoline left over from when we had to fill up Jill's truck, so that was used to get the fire started (Kids, don't try that at home EVER). We made some cocktails, turned on some tunes, and kicked back. Somehow, Jill and I ended up dancing the night away.

Jill and Andrea Dancing

Eventually Heidi and her husband arrived with the lamps and the party kept going. Around elevenish, we finally wrapped it up and headed to bed. All in all (aside from the whole Andrea falling into the lake thing) it was a great first full day camping. At this point, I'm still liking camping!!

Next day of camping and boating coming soon....

Friday - Camping Day Two - Morning

6:00 AM I woke up so that I could be one with nature and watch the sunrise....

After watching the sunrise, I decided to take a look around the campsite, since it was now light and I could actually see where we landed. It seems that the raccoons had a lovely meal of hot dog buns and pistachio nuts, but luckily everything else had been safely tucked away so that no other foodstuff was ruined. The Taj Ma-Tent had been set up on a slope and we didn't take the time to stake the tent down the night before so it had stared to slide down the hill.

Around 6:30 - 6:45 Jill and Samantha crawled out of the tent and Jill put on some coffee. While we did not have the grill, we did have Jill's camp stove, so she started percolating the coffee and then threw on some sausage, bacon, and eggs. Check out the kitchen setup:

By 7:30 we were sitting down watching the sun over the lake eating a nice hearty breakfast, and can I say that there is something really great about eating food cooked in the great outdoors.

Sam then took off to check us in at the Ranger's office and stake our claim on the other campsite so that the folks that were arriving on Friday would have a place to set up their tent. Jill and I rearranged the tent so that it was sloping back to front rather than side to side. This way we would no longer roll out of our beds in the middle of the night. While Jill cleaned up the tent (sweeping, making the beds, etc.), I cleaned up and straightened the camp site, got all the rest of the stuff out of the trucks and did other putzing around. Check out the Taj Ma-Tent with the great maid service getting it all ship-shape.

At about 10 AM, camp was in shape and all of the paperwork was done so the three of us decided it was time to put the boat in the water. We put on our suits, climbed into Jill's truck and headed down to the boat ramp....

Come back soon to see what happens next!!

Thursday - Camping Day One

NOTE: Times are not exact and the initial plan was leave Jill's by like noon so that we could get to the camp site while there is lots of light, get the tents set up and cook dinner, and relax. 

8:30 AM, Samantha is scheduled to pick me up on the corner with all of my gear. About this time she pings me to let me know that she has to deal with the movement of cars since there is street cleaning to contend with in the city and she, nor her folks, want to deal with the ticket. 

9:00 AM, Samantha picks me up with her truck loaded with all her camping gear and we head down to San Jose to hook up with Jill and help her get the rest of the camping gear, the boat, and head out on the road. 

10:00 AM, Samantha and I get to San Jose but Jill is finishing up getting the boat in ship shape, so we stop at Walgreen's to pick up some additional last minute things, like aloe vera for the sunburn I know I will get, Chapstick for Sam, Oreo Cakesters because I'm hungry for something bad for me, allergy medicine since we both woke up with allergy attacks and know that it will just get worse as we head into the woods. 

10:30 AM, Samantha and I stop at Starbucks so Sam can get a coffee fix. 

11:00 AM, Samantha and I get back to Jill's house and wait for Jill. While there we come across the Costco list that Jill has planned and added a few things. 

11:15 AM, Jill arrives and we all jump in Samantha's truck and head off to Costco. While at Costco, we purchase meat, water, soda, crackers, beer, champagne, orange juice, tequila, rum, buns, sausages, eggs, and a big ol' cart of other stuff. We loaded up the truck and headed back to Jill's. 

12:45 PM, Jill and I start loading up her truck with all the camp gear while Samantha ran to the grocery store to pick up a couple of final items like tomatoes, potatoes, and some other perishables that we would need for the trip. 

1:45 PM, Samantha makes it back with the groceries, but missed getting ice for the coolers, so headed for a final run to the store to get that last final requirement. 

2:30 PM, we throw the last of them items into the trucks, climb in and head out. We are only four and a half hours behind schedule. 

3:30 PM, Jill calls Samantha and tells her that we forgot to pack the portable gas grill that we will use to cook dinner on. Should we turn back and get it or power on forward? We opted to power on forward and Samantha called Richard to get in touch with Heidi, who was coming up on Friday afternoon and could swing past Jill's house on the way out to pick up the grill. Whew, crisis averted. 

4:45 PM, we have been following the directions that were printed off from Google maps and find ourselves lost circling around a women's prison. 

5:00 PM, we are back on track and heading into the foothills. Samantha has taken the lead and we feel we are making good time along this remote winding road. 

5:15 PM, Jill is no longer behind us. Hmmm, let's pull over and give her some time to catch up. 

5:25 PM, strange lady pulls up next to us and asks if we have a friend towing a boat? If so, she is a couple of miles back pulled over on the side of the road with only fumes left in the truck and is in need of gas. 

5:30 PM, Samantha and I turn around and go back to Jill, determine to go get gas and bring it back so that Jill will have enough gas to get to gas station to fill up. 

6:15 PM, Jill's truck is gassed back up. Samantha asked the locals for directions to Bass Lake and the Wishon Campsite, so we are back on track and heading to our campsite. 

7:00 PM, we arrive at the boat ramp and unhitch the boat, then head off to claim our site. 

7:30 PM, we arrive at our site. The one that we really wanted had already been claimed so we took the double site next to it and started to unload. Mind you, it was starting to get dark, surprise, surprise. Our site had a great view of the lake, but there was no completely flat area and there is a serious slope from where the trucks are parked to where we were going to set things up, but we manage. We set up the "kitchen" area, which contains three tables, including the bar. By this time it is almost pitch black and we realize that we have also forgotten to bring any lights, aside from a wimpy cheap flashlight that I picked up at Target and another little lantern that Samantha had. Jill and Samantha decide that we will only set up Jill's Taj Ma-Tent and the three of us will all stay in there for the night. The only problem would be that the tent was set up on a slope, but more about that later. The air mattresses are blown up and Jill whips out the 300 thread count sheets and comforters and make up the two beds. 

8:30 PM, we realize that we are all hungry and even though Samantha is already into her whole "one with nature" mode and keeps trying to point out how beautiful the stars and the moon look, all I can say is my blood sugar has crashed, but bowl of cereal at 5 in the morning and my Oreo Cakesters at noon are long gone and I can't appreciate nature when I'm feeling grumpy." (FYI, don't cross Andrea when she is grumpy and hungry.) So we all pile into Jill's truck and head off to find food. As it turns out, we had to drive quite a ways to locate a restaurant that was actually open but we found one eventually. 

10:00 PM, we get back to camp and sit around and look at the beautiful stars. I can now adequately appreciate them now that I have some food in my belly. 

10:15 PM, we all decide that it is time to turn in. We look around and think that everything is battened down and we crawl into our beds. 

Midnight, I hear scratching outside, but am too concerned to get up and see what it is. 

1:30 AM, Samantha gets up to go to the bathroom. She comes back in to the tent and announces that there are raccoons out there and asks if we put all food away. I have a brief mind flash that we perhaps didn't get the hot dog buns put away. She and I determine that neither of us want to face off against a rabid pack of raccoons. 

Lessons learned from day one.... 1. Go to Costco before the day you plan to leave. 2. Keep a map in the car. 3. Fill up your gas tank before you leave. 4. Get to the camp site before dark. 5. Always enjoy yourself. 

Come back for Friday - Camping Day Two. That's when the REAL party gets started!!