Paulette's Little Corner of the Internet

Here it comes...FALL!

2010-09-09T07:36:00.000-07:00

The last month has been an emotional roller coaster for us. The biggest hill and drop of that roller coaster was dropping off our youngest at college and coming home to an empty house. (well, not so empty with Roxy and Dude aka deet da dee) John and I are enjoying it, but we do miss both of our kids. Michael stops by from time to time. When he does stop, he crashes on the couch and sleeps. Kevin, will be coming home in a week for the weekend, but those plans may change. In the meantime, John and I have kept ourselves pretty darn busy!

Here are some images from the last month or so:

Kevin packing up to go to college. Notice Roxy there on the side? She was very concerned.

Kevin's new home at the University of La Verne. Move in Day

The weekend after we left Kevin at College, I flew out to Arizona to celebrate my friend Janel's 40th Birthday. All day Saturday we prepped, cooked and baked for her party. I baked and decorated the cupcakes. I LOVE baking and decorating cupcakes!

I came home from Arizona and two hours later John and I were headed out to our desert house for an overnight with our friends. We brought our friend Flat Mary Beth aka Flat MB. We had a blast taking pictures of her with all sorts of folks and things. I had also taken her to Arizona and a previous trip to Las Vegas with the girls. The whole thing started because Mary Beth couldn't make it to Las Vegas with us. So of course we found the most hideous picture we could find and made her flat so she could come with us!

So we came home early (really early) on Monday morning so that we could get going with our jobs/work/coaching/whatever it is we had to do....I had to get down to San Diego for a COE conference and John had to get to work. COE is the Council for Opportunity in Education. The highlight of the conference for me was having the opportunity to help out with setting up the 21st Century Classroom and taking pictures of Congressman Louis Stokes.

There were 4 sections of our 21st Century Classroom. A lecture hall, Brainstorming Area, Collaberative area and a workgroup area. Below is the Brainstorming area.

Here is one of my "official" photographer pictures of Congressman Louis Stokes greeting folks.

After the COE conference (a whole weeks worth),I came home and guess what? I was home for a couple of hours and we headed back out to the desert house. The next morning, John and I left from there to head to the University of La Verne to watch Kevin's Scrimmage Football game.

Here is Kevin during "pre" game drills

The next day, John and I went out with Justin and Paige to go visit the newly renovated North Shores Yacht Club on the Salton Sea. We packed a lunch and visite with the Museum folks. What a great time!

Here is a view of the sea from one of the portholes of the Clubhouse

On Labor day we went back to Escondido and enjoyed a BBQ at the Hurkman's house. I didn't take any pictures there. I wish I had now. The food was yummy and the company was even better!

This upcomming weekend promises to be busy. It's the 1st home game for Orange Glen High School and John is one of the coaches for the football team. In addition to it being the first home game, they are playing on a brand spanking new field! Then Saturday we are off to Citrus College to go watch Kevin in his first official College football game. Go LEOPARDS!!!!!

Wow! It's been a BUSY summer & and it's not over yet!

2010-07-30T14:01:00.000-07:00

I feel like I've neglected my blog. I just had one of my facebook friends post on facebook wall that he enjoyed my blog and it triggered my brain, that yes, I do have a blog and I've been neglecting it. It's been just super busy...here is what I have been up to the last month or so.

DENVER
Starting in the last week of June I went to an Education Technology Conference in Denver call ISTE which stands for International Society for Technology in Education. I caught up with a lot of old Friends, made some new friends and gathered a lot of information for work.

Here is a group of us being super silly at a little shindig after the day's events. This was one of those opportunities to hang out with old friends and make new ones as well.

4TH OF JULY
After coming home from Denver, it was unpack and repack for a few days out in the desert to celebrate the 4th of July. It is an annual tradition to go participate in the Ocotillo Wells 4th of July Golf event. This is the 3rd year I have been the official photographer for the event.

This year the entire Donnellon family got to attend. I was so pleased that we got to all do it together. Here is a picture of all of my "boys".

There was also a 4th of July parade with the local fire department comming out and wetting us down. Good times!

LAS VEGAS VACATION
3 days after comming home from 4th of July weekend we took off for Las Vegas with a group of our friends.

This trip Kevin and John got to go play in fancy Cars, Kev an Audi & John a Ferrari. Kevin also opted to jump off of the Stratosphere. What? Yup! He did the tallest controlled free fall in the world and jumped off of the Stratosphere. Here is the video to prove it.

After coming home from Las Vegas, I got to stay home for 5 days and then it was off to:

HAWAII
Hawaii was an incredible experience. My company promotes and facilitates 1 to 1 mobile computing in schools and we had the incredible opportunity to go support Nanakuli High School in Hawaii along side Toshiba and the New Tech Network. We facilitated 2 days worth of "out of the box" experiences" for 160 high school freshman who all each recieved a Toshiba Laptop for their day to day high school activities. They will be doing project based learning that is facilitated by New Tech Network. It's such an exciting time for these kids. I can't wait to go back and see all of their accomplishments.
Here is a short video of the program. You'll actually see me in there too!

After Hawaii, I was home for one night to go hang out with some friends out in the desert house

WEEKEND IN THE DESERT

I invited a couple of my girlfriends to come out and relax for a weekend of fun at my desert place. Movies, crafts and a night out at Captain Jims. Good times!

Here I am doing Amber's make up. Amber has her cocktail in hand ready to be "hoochied" up for the evenings activites.

After my weekend in the desert it was back home for a night then off to

CHICAGO

In Chicago I was asked to present at the All Schools Conference for the New Tech Network. Wow! What another amazing experience. I did a presentation on Geocaching and actually had the group I presented to go out and experience geocaching. I set up a course outside of the hotel with 11 geocaches. The entire group had a fantastic time and I loved introducing them to something new.

I even got my own session "annoucement".

So now I am back home for a week and I'm off to Kansas City in a week for yet another presentation on Geocachig and particpation on a Technology Commission that I was asked to be a part of. From there I'm back to Las Vegas for a couple of days, home and then a few short days later, Kevin leaves for college I can't wait to start watching him play football again. University of LaVerne, here he comes!

4th of July - Ocotillo Wells

2010-07-08T05:22:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we had an incredible time out in the desert. We attended the 29th annual Ocotillo Wells Golf Tournament. The Golf tournament helped raise money for Thundering Trails and Friends of Ocotillo Well.

Courses are set up thoughout two trailer parks. Golf Clubs are handed out along with a tennis ball. Every hole had a cooler filled up with beverages (both alcoholic and non) At one of the holes, the sponsor was BBQing hotdogs. BBQ hotdogs are the best on 4th of July.

After the tournament there was a 4th of July Parade. Everyone decorated their golf carts, trucks, you name it and they participaed in the parade down Split Moutain road past the Iron Door bar. Calfire even got in on the fun and partipated with a few trucks there. Two of the trucks sprayed water onto the crowd. It as easily over 100 degrees outside and the water was refreshing.

Take a look at the photos and video I took during the event. Press the pause button on my pink playlist on the bottom right so that you can enjoy the sound from the video. Really a good time! Special thanks to all the sponsors and folks that put this event together!

12 of 12 for June 2010

2010-06-13T08:40:00.000-07:00

12 of 12 for June landed on a weekend. It also landed on a Saturday with no real plans. However as the day progressed, the plans came together.

1. First picture of the day was of our back yard. Yes, it is June Gloom.
Most times it burns off by afternoon. Sometimes it hangs out all day.

2. FINALLY! I made it to the grocery store!

3. and was able to get some fresh fruit.

4. Then it was off to Kobey's Swap meet down at the San Diego Sports Arena with my two girlfriends, Julie and Debbie. Unfortunately what we went down there for was not there. I spent 6 dollars. Bought a $2 harness for Dude (picture further below) $2 worth of funnels for my husband (50 cents apiece) and a $2 calculator for work.

5. Along with going with Julie and Deb to the swap meet, Julie's Daughter and my "niece" Melissa and her friend Vicky joined us.

6. On the way back to Escondido from the swap meet we stopped in Rancho Penasquitos for some frozen Yogurt

7. The Frozen yogurt place was called Tutti Fruiti. It was a self serve place, meaning pick the flavor you wanted and the toppings you wanted. It was all then weighed to give us a final cost.

8. Here is Dude aka Deet da dee with his new harness on that I purchased at the swap meet. It rendered him unable to move and completely freaked him out. In an effort to get him used to it, I left it on him for the afternoon. He stayed put the whole afternoon. Finally took it off of him at dinner time.

9. Since last week I have been CRAVING a lemon meringue pie. So I finally made one. This time my meringue turned out perfect which was amazing.

10. Here is a Caesar Salad that I put together for dinner minus the dressing. So simple, yet so good.

11. Here is "AL" the bunny rabbit at our friends Jim and Julie's house. Funny story about "Al". "Al" was purchased up in the Garment district in Los Angeles on a street corner as a baby. As a baby "Al" was named Alice. Turns out baby bunny wasn't a little girl bunny but a baby boy. The Hurkman family figured this out after 6 months and a visit to the vet.

12. We went over to Jim and Julie's house to watch the movie 2012. Come to find out after watching the movie there was a 4.9 earthquake felt all over San Diego County during the movie. We didn't even feel it. It's probably a good thing we didn't.

Crazy busy!

2010-06-10T15:27:00.000-07:00

What a crazy busy time this has been. Kevin prom, Kevin Graduating, Kevin's Birthday / Graduation party, Kevin up to University of LaVerne for placement testing. But enough about Kevin then there's the work junk. It's busy season for my business and it's been busy. I hope and pray that nobody stops by and visits the house because it is embarrassingly messy. Oh and we are running low on food in the cupboards, not because we can't afford it, but because I haven't had the time, nor taken the time to get my hiney to the store. Bananas crazy for sure! It's amazing I'm fitting the blog in. I just had to, it's my happy relaxation thing. I know, weird.

Here is a picture that pretty much sums up where I would like to be doing this minute as well. I took this yesterday. Kevin had just finished up with workouts at school with his coach and he was beat. I don't know what Roxy's excuse was. I really do wish I had the dog's life sometimes. Now I certainly get that saying now, "It's a dog's life!". (or is there such thing as that saying?)

And on the other couch we have Dude aka Deet da dee.......enjoying his afternoon nap.

This past weekend we had the graduation / 18th Birthday party for Kevin. Kevin and his buddies set up the biggest slip and slide our yard has ever seen. All the kids had a blast. This is video of Kevin going down:

I'm going to close off this blog only because I'm off to another meeting. This one should be fun as we're having it at Hacienda de Vega.

And I think sometime this weekend or tomorrow I'm going to make that lemon meringue pie I've been craving. My mom always made the best lemon meringue pie! Plus we have some HUGE lemons on our lemon tree that need to be used!

Orange Glen High School 2010 - Kevin is Graduating!

2010-05-26T11:00:00.000-07:00

Orange Glen High School Class of:

1985 - Me
2005 - Michael
and now....

2010 KEVIN!!!!

Holy Cow! I can remember vividly the day Kevin was born and we brought him home. Kevin was born on June 4th, 1992 at Pomerado Hospital in Poway, CA. In the room next door to us, was his girlfriend of today, Cierra and her parents. She was born June 3rd, 1992. It's funny how life has a way of working out.

What I do remember is that John and I hadn't completely decided on a name for Kevin until we were presented with the paperwork for the birth certificate. It was a toss up between, Peter and Kevin. Ultimately, as you know, we named him Kevin, after John's brother. Kevin was born via Cesarean section and all I remember was silence, then the doctor saying, "this is a BIG baby!" then I heard Kevin crying. Our lives changed from that point on. After they wrapped Kevin up, they handed him to me and he was still mad at the world from taking him from his happy little cocoon inside of me, still screaming. But John and I didn't care, Kevin had arrived!

I remember being taken to the recovery room afterwards and I think I was in there 30 minutes when John came running in and saying that he had already called all 20 names on our list to announce our little arrival and he wanted to share the news with more of our friends. Michael our older son was beyond excited about the prospect of a new baby brother and arrived later with Grandma and Grandpa to visit Kevin for the first time. For the first time in his 5 years, Michael was silent. And for those of you that know Michael, it takes a lot to keep him quiet! I think he was just in awe of his new baby brother.
Below is a timeline of random pictures of him growing up to be the young man he is today. (and Kevin, if you are reading this, don't mini throw-up in your mouth, you truly have grown into a wonderful person!) ;)

Kevin and his first two bottom teeth. He was the happiest kid around! He was content to hang out in his swing or even lay down on his blanket and play with his toys.

I remember getting a phone call from my mother saying she had recieved a postcard in the mail for a youth art festival in the mail. Then she asked me, "why hadn't I told her that Kevin's picture had been featured on the mailer?" "What?" I replied. I had no idea, however, Kevin's Kindegarten teacher had selected Kevin's "BIG FAT HEN" picture for the Escondido art festival. Here is my grinning little kindegartner next to it.

Happiness is sliding down the big jumpy jump slide at the Escondido Street Fair!

We always enjoyed going to the street fair as Michael and Kevin grew up. One of my fondest memories is when John still worked for the Escondido Police Department and going over to the command van during one particular street fair. I was always afraid they wouldn't recognize me when I went over to visit my husband in the early days. But one time when Kevin was still young, I stopped by and someone said "I recognize who's kid that is! It's unmistakable that's Donnellon's boy!" Funny.

Kevin and my husband both wanted me to submit the above photo to his Senior football program and his yearbook ad. I refused. What would people think? What if someone called "somebody" on us? After all look at what he is holding? Oh well, here is the "dreaded" picture. It's a crack up to look at. He's the happy little kid he always is.

It's the "under the sea" project. 4th grade.

Kevin went to Juniper school from 2nd grade thru 5th grade. I remember dragging our cat "kiki" in for a show and tell for 3rd grade for Kevin. He was so dang proud of our cat. All "kiki" did was scratch me, then ran off to hide in he corner of the classroom, along with Kevin's 3rd grade class following and laughing. I was so embarrassed that the cat did not cooperate and sit still to be admired. But looking back on it, it's a memory that we'll treasure.

Kevin's 11th birthday party.

In the picture is our Jack Russell, Roxy. Roxy became part of our family shortly before his 11th birthday. Roxy was purchased at the pet store in the North County Fair Mall. I was out shopping for a birthday present for my neice when I met up with John and Kevin at Sears. They had mentioned that they had seen the cutest little Jack Russell in the window at the pet store. Kevin had always wanted a dog. For those of you who remember him when he was little, about 90% of his stuffed animals were dogs or puppies. And he always carried one around with him. His favorite was a stuffy called "San-Ros" San-Ros was named after Sandy, our friends lab and Roscoe our Rotweiller that passed away. However, back to that little Jack Russell in the window. Yes, it was Roxy and yes, she came home with us that night.

A 14 year old Kevin in the hotel room in Hawaii.

I had the opportunity to take a business trip to Hawaii and my girlfriend Julie volunteered to come along with her daughter Melissa and take Kevin and watch him while I did my job during the day. The funny memory I have of this trip was Julie telling me that they went to the beach and there are all these bikini clad women walking all over the place. All Kevin did was lay on the beach with a towel over his head.

16 year old Kevin on a helicopter ride during a family vacation to Maui.

Kevin has turned into a pretty good football player and will continue to play football in College next year.

Watching Kevin play football through out Middle and high school has been a LOT of fun. Meeting so many people along the way that have become life long friends for sure. When I meet people that have young children, I encourage them to to get their children involved in sports. What a difference it has made in our lives and Kevin's life!

CONGRATULATIONS KEVIN!!!!
We're just so proud of you and your accomplishments! We can't wait to see what the future holds for you and where it will take you. But we're pretty sure it's gonna be a bright one!

12 of 12 for May 2010

2010-05-13T09:10:00.000-07:00

It's 12 of 12 day photo project. Every month, on the 12th day of the month, take photos and post 12 that express what your day was like.

As luck would have it, this month my 12 of 12 landed while I am in Hawaii on a business trip. Here are my 12 pictures that defined my day in the Aloha State.

#1 - 1st picture of the day was of my work area here in my hotel room. I am staying at the Marriott in Waikiki. Love Marriott properties, this just happens to be one of my favorites. Also, it's early here, because my body hasn't quite adjusted to Hawaiian time yet. We are 3 hours behind Pacific Standard time, therefore I was up at 5 a.m. ready to go!

#2 - Here is the hotel lobby. I met the "girls" down here for breakfast and a quick meeting before we headed out for our day's activities.

#3 - Our meeting at 10 was at the State Offices in Honolulu.

#4 - The elevator in the State Offices had a tropical/jungle theme on the walls. LOVED it. Here is Julie and Elizabeth in the "jungle"

#5 - On the way back to the hotel we stopped at Leonard's for some malasadas. Malasadas are big donut holes with a cream filling. Very very yummy. The bakery has many other yummy treats too!

#6 - Back in my hotel room. We ordered room service for lunch and finished off our big proposal and practiced on presentations.

#7 - Any time I travel alone without my family, "stuffy" is my replacement. "Stuffy" was given to me by my oldest son Michael about 7 years ago for Christmas for this very purpose. I've taken pictures of "stuffy" during my various travels. I've come back to my room being made up to see "stuffy" in interesting situations. I've had maids make a bed for him, snuggle him up in the pillows and one time *gasp!* thrown on my suitcase! "Stuffy" is an accomplished Traveler for sure!

#8 - After work and preparation was done, we took off for a beautiful beach view via a world famous bar and enjoyed a Mai Tai!

#9 - And of course we had to indulge in the "world famous" Hula pie from Dukes.

#10 - The view wasn't bad either.

#11 - After Dukes, we wanted to head to the "pink" hotel, the Royal Hawaiian. Beautiful property. And here is the view as we finished off our night with one finial Mai Tai.

#12 - Final picture for the day is all three of us enjoying a beverage. It struck us as funny that the sign I am holding said no drinks on the beach. However, the bar was "on" the beach. Hmmmmm........regardless, it was good time with good friends and co-workers! Julie, myself and Elizabeth.

Where has the time gone?

2010-05-07T06:22:00.000-07:00

A beautiful morning in Escondido!

Holy cow! It's been busy. This month promises to be a doozy! And then looking forward to June, I was just informed by my good friend Debbie that every weekend in June is booked too. The work life has been just as busy and just as exciting! Kevin has less then one month left to go for his K12 career. It's amazing just how fast the time has gone and both of our boys have grown up into something we can be very proud of.

So a couple of things that have happened in the past month. Kevin and Cierra invited me to go play Frisbee golf with them at Kit Carson Park this past weekend. The course was just installed a month ago and what a blast we had!

Our Frisbee Golf game was cut short, but it was okay, because Roxy started to enjoy going after the frisbee. She has us laughing so hard, tears were going down our faces. I'm just sad we didn't get video of her with her butt and legs up in the air as she was going after the frisbee. She hit a hole, tripped, butt over head, didn't miss a beat and kept going. This dog is a source of constant entertainment! Enjoy the following video:

We are also currently going through a brand new roof installation at our house. The guys that have been doing it have been wonderful. I can't wait to see the final outcome and get my house back to myself! (no offense guys!)

So next week, I'm going to try and complete and accomplish my 12 of 12 day. I will be away from home and it's a fun place to be when you are not working. Even when you are working I suppose it is a fun place. Plenty more opportunites are coming up for me to take photos. Kevin's Girlfriend Cierra has her prom this month, therefore Kevin will be getting dressed up in his monkey suit again. (he's so darn cute in it) John's Birthday. Even though he will complain about me taking pictures, he'll thank me for the memories 10 years from now right? Then we have Kevin's BIG Graduation and after that, we're going to have a combo Graduation / 18th Birthday party for him. Oh and of course Memorial day on the Riviera.

With that, here is an orange blossom from our tree. I love the smell that these put out, my allergies not so much. But they are beautiful!

See you soon!

Prom 2010 Orange Glen High School

2010-04-11T07:57:00.000-07:00

As I sit here writing this, it is the "day after" one of my youngest son's, new high school memories that I am sure he will not forget. Kevin is still snoozing away in bed, happy dreams about finally getting those dang dress shoes off that he had to wear all night.

This year "the group" of kids came over to our house for pre-picture prior to the Limo Bus showing up to whisk them all away to Humphry's by the Bay for dinner and afterwards, The House of Blues for Prom 2010. The weather held out and we had a perfect evening for "pre-prom-get-together and pictures. Below is the "picture" story of the "pre-prom-get-together".

Here is Kevin waiting for his date Cierra to show up. Okay, yes, typically boy goes and gets girl for Prom. But in this case, special circumstances were in place. Cierra's family lives up in Ramona (about a 1/2 drive up the mountain from us) and her family wanted to come down and take pictures and see the kids off in the limo.

While we were waiting, I took Kevin outside to test some photo locations in the yard. He actually succumbed to his mother's pleading and humored me. Of course...I did get some nice shots of him.

When Cierra arrived, it was her turn for the photo shoot. She looked like a princess.

Kevin and Cierra looking so grown up. So amazing how fast time has gone by. I remember these two as infants. (Cierra was literally born in the same hospital as Kevin, the day before)

Time for the Boutonniere'

And then the Corsage

I was so amazed I got this shot. Kevin actually smiling and enjoying himself. ;)

Pretty soon other couples started to show up. Here is Andie and Eric.

Once everyone had arrived we lined up all of the girls first for a group shot. I loved the color of all the dresses and they all looked fabulous!

Then the boys. So handsome!

Next, the entire group. All very ready to get their evening on the move on and get down to San Diego!

A different angle at the group.

Of course mom and dad had to sneak in a picture with their baby boy.

Then the Limo bus arrived and it was time for all of our grown up kids to get going and have the time of their life!

I am positive their were some happy memories made. Comming up on May 22nd, Kevin gets to escort Cierra to her Senior Prom for Ramona High School. So one more go around for these two. And of course one more go-round of torturing these kids through another round of pictures!

Easter Weekend in the Desert

2010-04-06T05:20:00.000-07:00

Boy oh Boy it's been busy! So much happening lately and of course we have the home stretch coming up on Kevin's senior year in high school. Prom this weekend, Graduation in May...College in August.

We had a fantastic weekend out in the desert! Here are the pictures and the stories that go with them.

We arrived late Thursday afternoon before the Easter break. First order of business was putting out our Flamingos in our front yard. Our desert neighbor Ron Neeley passed away in a an accident a couple of weeks ago. At Christmas time he had given all the neighbors Flamingos to hang on our door. He liked flamingos.

Sunset on our first cocktail hill run ever. We are starting a new tradition on the Riviera. Everyday at sunset we'll head to the hill at the end of Saundra and have a cocktail and watch the sunset. Catch up on the days events with our neighbors and maybe plan things for the next day. Our first sunset on our maiden run was beautiful!

The "Day before Easter" potluck at Scott and M.A's. So much food, so many people, lots of good times. All the neighbors and their friends joined us. I think we had over 50 people show up.

Our "Day before Easter" potluck host, Scott aka Pappy

Some of the "girls" at the "Day before Easter" potluck

Another run to our newly annointed Cocktail hill. This time we toasted our friend, Riviera family member and Neighbor Ron Neeley with Orange Martini's. His favorite color was orange and he LOVED the desert. Ron's wife, Cyndi is in the red jacket.

A part of "the gang" at cocktail hill. What a great night we had, tunes, dancing, talking and watching the sunset.

The next day was Easter Morning. All the neighborhood kids met at our house to look for the eggs that the Easter bunny had hidden in the lots next to and behind our house. I think we had over 20 kids show up! They all came back with a basket full of eggs and each got a gift. Thanks to our desert godmothers Debbie and Paige. They'll have some fantastic memories!

An overflowing basket of found easter eggs!

My sons Michael and Kevin and I went on a little Easter ride. We did a geocache while we were out and then Kevin led us around on a nice little ride in the desert.
Here is Kevin

And here is Michael looking for the Geocache "Busy Intersection" We ended up finding the cache in the street sign out there.

At 10 to 4 on Easter Sunday we experienced the Easter Earthquake. The kids and I were sitting in the living room and John had gone back to the bedroom to get something when it started. Kevin was the first to say something: "Am I the only one feeling that?" Then Michael and I: "nope, we feel it too" We still were sitting on the couch. The Salton Sea area gets a lot of quakes and so we just ride them through normally. This one wasn't stopped and seemed to be getting worse. When we started hearing things fall down in the kitchen was when we decide we probably should get outside. The most amazing sight? Seeing John's Avalanche truck with the trailer attached shaking back and forth on the street. It's truly amazing to see that kind of energy from our planet earth. After the quake was over we went inside, I went online and saw the magnitude of the quake. Initially registered as a 6.9 it was later upgraded to a 7.2. It was the most powerful quake I've been through. I'm blessed that my whole family was with me. No worries about anybody being okay. Here is a picture of our kitchen. Some of the tin from up top came down, pictures on the wall in the kitchen fell and framed pictures throughout the house needed to be straightened. Other things fell down throughout the house. I'm good with earthquakes now. I just hope I can live through the rest of my life saying that was the strongest I've been through. I'm done! ;)

It was a doozy.

Road Trip to Phoenix!

2010-03-14T19:19:00.000-07:00

This week, I need to be in Phoenix for an Education Trade show on campus at Arizona State University. So instead of flying this time, I opted for driving. 1. I've always wanted to drive to Arizona. 2. Wanted to grab some geocaches on the way out and of course 3. Wanted to take some pictures. I left my house at 7 a.m. this morning and arrived at my hotel at 5 p.m. I think a typical drive at the speed limit is 6 hours. ;) We'll see how long it takes me to get back home on Wednesday.
Below are the photos along with descriptions of my road trip day to Phoenix.

My 1st stop was a geocache at this location. It was cold here. The wind was cold more then anything. Cute location. The Cache was attached to the back of the sign via a magnet.

This was a stop in El Centro for another geocache that I could not find. I hate when that happens. I remember seeing this as a kid when we'd drive through El Centro. Our house in the Salton City is 82 feet below sea level too.

I have read about Plank Road in Imperial County and have always wanted to visit it. Today, I got to do just that! What a cool piece of history in our desert that I am sure not a lot of people are aware of. Plank Road was built in the early 1900's as a way for early era cars to cross through the sand in the desert to get to their destination,whether it was Yuma or San Diego. Today, only fragments of the Plank Road remain. They are protected under the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Land Management.

The Imperial Sand Dunes are the largest mass of sand dunes in California. Formed by windblown sands of ancient Lake Cahuilla, the dune system extends for more than 40 miles in a band averaging 5 miles wide. These dunes are amazing and are SO big. This is also known as the Buttercup riding area for off-road enthusiasts.

This is actually the largest geocache I have ever found. It is located at a Shell Gas Station in Yuma and requires the combination for the lock in order to access it. The combination is located at Geocaching.com I left a trackable coin there that I had found in a geocache in Escondido.

Dateland, AZ. These are Date Palms. There is a geocache here that I could not find. I hate posting sad faces, meaning I can't find the cache. There is also a store here that sells Date Shakes. Someday I will try a date shake. They sell them in Indio, CA as well.

Aztec, AZ. This was the location of another geocache that I was able to find. Aztec, AZ was established in 1889 and was a stop on the Southern Pacific Railroad between Phoenix and Yuma. Now Aztec, AZ is just a ghost town. This was the only "standing" structure there There are several cement slabs in the area as well.

This is one of the many cement slabs in Aztec, AZ. This looks like it went up to some one's house.

Gila Bend, AZ. I stopped here at the Dairy Queen for an ice cream cone. I had intended to do another geocache here, however, unfortunately the museum where the cache was located, was closed with a sign saying that they took Roy to the hospital. I really hope Roy is okay. Definitely a small town and small town feeling.

The Space Age Lodge and Restaurant in Gila Bend. Built in 1963, The 41 unit motel was one of a number of futuristic themed lodges opened by Al Stovall, a friend of President Eisenhower, a supplier of manganese to the government during World War II, and the owner of copper mines and a plastics factory. Stovall invested heavily in the future with the Fabulous Space Age Lodge at Disneyland, which I remember staying at when I was in middle school.

That's all for now. Thanks for reading my ramblings and viewing my pictures. :)

12 of 12, March 12, 2010

2010-03-13T08:47:00.000-08:00

It's 12 of 12 day photo project. Every month, on the 12th day of the month, take photos and post 12 that express what your day was like.

#1
The first picture of the day was of my neice Brittany. She is on town on Spring Break from Colorado. She protested loudly when I went to take her picture and by the time I was ready to click she was posing. She finally just gave up.

#2
John told me my retractable stand for trade shows was ready, so I went down to the shop to check it out. So Cool and so exciting!

#3
On my way back up to the house from the shop I had to stop and admire the Oranges. Nearly Perfect and SO yummy!

#4
I took Roxy and Dude aka Deet da dee out for a potty break. Most potty breaks involve throwing the ball a couple of times for Roxy.

#5
I *love* that I had some friends to come visit me during my work day. Deb, Krista and Dan. Debbie actually stayed for while and assisted me with my work stuff. Krista and Dan had stopped by to pick up a banner from John and then those lucky ducks were off to Santa Barbara for an Anniversary Weekend getaway. I love these moments of quick unexpected visits. Made for a good day!

#6
Had to run back upstairs to do something, don't remember what and my college aged neice Brittany had fallen back asleep. Funny thing is she doesn't do dogs and Roxy just LOVES to cuddle.....Brittany told me that she was imagining Roxy smelled like Juicy Couture and not the dog smell that she is.

#7
Made a trip to Staples to pick up some paper and presentation binders for a proposal that I am putting together.

#8
I took the time to look at an *actual* map to plan my road trip to Arizona this Sunday. I'm off to Phoenix for a trade show. I decided to drive rather then fly for various reasons. 1. I've always wanted to drive to Phoenix 2. Want to do some geocaching on the way out and 3. Photo ops galore on the way out.

#9
Mable aka my car just got back from a repair to gas guage, oil change and detail. She looks like new again! I love when my car is squeaky clean and just in time for my road trip!

#10
John ran a batch of stickers for my trade show in Phoenix

#11
Afternoon Potty break for Roxy and Dude aka Deet da dee. And of course what is a potty break without throwing the ball a couple of times??

#12
Last but not least it's Dude aka Deet da dee enjoying his afternoon break outside!

See you in April with my next 12 of 12!

Michael's Birthday Weekend

2010-03-07T19:54:00.000-08:00

I just returned from yet another really nice weekend on the Riviera. This last time I arrived on the Riviera on Wednesday as I had a work conference in Palm Springs. My oldest son was able to join me on Wednesday and keep me company. As I drove back and forth to Palm Springs, he was out job hunting for Police Officer jobs there in Imperial County.

Thursday was Michael's Birthday and we celebrated that evening by just hanging out and watching a movie with friends out there. We watched 2012...ironically enough the morning after watching that movie we had a 2.0 earthquake with the epicenter literally 2 miles away from us.

Friday night while waiting for the rest of the gang to show up, Michael and I joined Greg and Don for a "mini" ride to the mudpots by Gregs house. It was the perfect evening ride. Weather was perfect and it was just plain relaxing.

Saturday was spent walking around the vendor rows for Tierra del Sol down at Truckhaven. Tierra del Sol is the largest 4x4 event in Southern California. It was incredible...all the jeeps and 4x4 vehicles all over the place. It was literally a city set up for the weekend.

Saturday evening we celebrated Michael's birthday. Teriyaki Chicken, Rice and Vegies, Michael's choice for dinner and of course cake for dessert.

Sunday, we had planned to go riding around and check out the "playground" for 4x4 vehicles and I was going to take pictures, however, unfortunately when we woke up this morning it was raining and rain it did for the rest of the day. You don't want to go 4x4ing in the rain (or maybe you do) Mud just finds itself everywhere. And mud out by the Sea is like clay and just sticks to you and pretty soon the shoes you are walking in are like weights on your feet.

All in all, it was a great weekend!

Mule Hill Trail

2010-02-28T19:34:00.000-08:00

I recently just found my new favorite spot to walk. It's the Mule Hill Trail. It is located across from the North County Fair Shopping Center in Escondido, CA. I just walked this trail a couple of days ago and today I brought my camera. I've never really paid attention, nor have I been much of a bird person. But with the lense on my camera, I was able to see definition and colors. I think I am hooked. Here are a few pictures I wanted to share.

2 Hawks flying around

Western Bluebird. Notice the one on the left has lunch and the one next to him is waving. I loved the brilliant colors of these birds. I've never noticed them before during my walks.

Fortunately Dude aka Deet da dee was looking for Bunny Rabbits and Roxy was lookng for balls, so neither noticed all the birds I was shooting pictures of. I can't believe I got a shot of the two of them facing me at the same time.

San Pasqual Agricultural Preserve

A weekend in the middle of the month of February

2010-02-23T05:13:00.000-08:00

This last weekend was definitely another good one with me. Why? My oldest son joined us out at our desert house for some fun. Michael's work has been a little slow and for the past year he has been attending the police academy every weekend. Therefore he had been super busy and he had never been out to the house with us. John was unable to join us, due to a commitment in Lakeside on Saturday, however, he was going to join us out there Saturday night. So, Michael, Kevin and I left Friday afternoon after work and headed out to the Riviera. All packed up and squeezed into Nelly (my red Jeep) Oh, and we had Roxy and Dude aka deet da dee with us. The past few trips, Dude aka deet da dee has become a nervous traveler, so I had to go get him some natural calming tablets from Petco. It seemed to do the trick. Even all crammed together in Nelly, we had a good time heading out. Michael entertained us with songs from his ipod. I insisted changing over to my ipod once we hit Borrego Springs. He was okay with my song selection. See? I am a cool mom.

Once out in the desert, we unpacked, called up Debbbie (our Escondido and desert neighbor)and her group of kids and we all headed out to dinner. Our destination? The Red Earth Casino. This casino is a tiny casino about 5 miles from the Riviera. They do have a really cute little restaurant called the Beach Club Cafe. The food is pretty good and reasonably priced. After dinner, the kids headed to the arcade and Debbie and I took Michael into the casino (he's 22) and donated a few dollars. Well, let me re-phrase that, Debbie and I donated a few dollars, Michael actually came out ahead. He walked out with 80 bux. Lucky kid!

The next morning, the boys and I got up and headed out on the desert toys across the desert over to Ocotillo Wells. Kevin's Girlfriend, Cierra and her family were out for the weekend and we joined up with them to go on a ride. That ride took us back towards the Salton Sea via Cut-across trail and Tule Wash, then to the am/pm market for a snack. The boys and I broke off from their group and headed back to the house.

Zack, Michaela, Cierra and Kevin ready to go riding

A little later in the afternoon we went out geocaching. Michael and Kevin decided to ride the smaller bikes (they complained about sore butts and legs the next day) and I followed in the Rhino. One of the caches was located under a bridge over a dry pond in what used to be a golf course in the 60's. Salton City was supposed to be the next Palm Springs and sadly that never really happened. I've seen vintage video of this very bridge with water under it, greens and a golfer swinging a a ball in the foreground. Now the area is desolate with a bridge that is not safe to cross over, an empty pond and Palm trees with no tops.

The cache was located right under the bridge here.

Kevin riding around the "rim" of the "pond"

Michael riding in the "pond"

Dude aka Deet da Dee and Roxy joined us for the ride. Dude aka deet da dee does much better in an open Rhino then a closed up car. Hmmmm.......

After some more geocaching in a couple of washes in the area, we headed over to the Truckhaven area and the boys took the "baby" bikes up some pretty big hills. It was fun to watch them. Especially Michael on the 50. Half-way up the hills he has his feet down assisting the bike up the hill and eventually getting off the bike and just walking it up. It was funny.

Michael struggling to get up that big hill on the little 50

Kevin had no problems with the hill. But, his bike had a bigger motor.

Sunday morning we went out on a ride with my husband leading. He took us through Tectonic Wash and then across the S22 into the Freeman Ranch property.

This is a rare moment when both of my boys are smiling for a picture.

On the way home I took a couple of pictures from the S22 towards Borrego Springs. The sky was just amazing. It was nice and sunny in the desert, however, as we headed up Montezuma Grade into the mountains, it started to rain.

The view that greeted us on the way into Borrego Springs via the S22

And rain it did all the way home. We did make a stop at Dudley's bakery to pick up some Bread. Dudley's bread is SO yummy. If you've never had it and you're in the So Cal area, make a point of doing a trip to Santa Ysabel. You will not regret it!

12 of 12, Feb 12, 2010

2010-02-12T18:39:00.000-08:00

It's 12 of 12 day photo project. Every month, on the 12th day of the month, take photos and post 12 that express what your day was like.

So a friend of mine posted this on facebook today and I had to play. So here goes!

#1 Our day started off with a good breakfast. Coffee and Cereal. Kev opted for the Cinnamon Toast crunch.

#2 John getting ready for work. You know that is a LONG commute down the driveway. ;)

#3 Pulling the work stuff together for the Business trip to Chicago. I leave tomorrow

#4 Reviewing Business Card design that Toby put together for me. Lovin' it!

#5 Dude aka Deet Da dee hangs out on the Futon behind me while I work. Doesn't he look like a baby seal?

#6 Roxy hangs out right around the corner on the stairs sunning herself.

#7 Kevin hasn't been home 10 minutes from school and he's already texting someone.

#8 While the rest of the country is under snow, it was an abolutely stunning day in San Diego/Escondido today. Took the dogs outside so they could relieve themselves.

#9 Dang Dishes...they always have to be done.

#10 It's Friday afternoon and Kev is in the Game room doin' his thing.

#11 Packed and ready to go to Chicago tomorrow.

#12 Roxy hanging out next to me on the couch watching Friday night television.

2010-02-04T19:27:00.001-08:00

Roxy is 7 years old!

2010-02-04T09:59:00.000-08:00

I found an online Dog year Conversion Calculator.......EVERYTHING is online..I love it. So I inputed Roxy's age in Human years - 7 and the Calculator told me that she is 41 dog years old. The website suggests that 1 human year is equal to 7 dog years. That is not very accurate, since dogs reach adulthood within the first couple of years. Their formula is: 10.5 dog years per human year for the first 2 years, then 4 dog years per human year for each year after.

We bought Roxy from California Pets at the North County Fair Mall on April 7th, 2003. I remember looking for a birthday present for my neice and John and Kevin had split off from me, since they were not interested in looking at clothing for little girls. I met up with them in Sears and John mentioned that there was some Jack Russell Puppies in the window of the pet store. I told them I was happy to look, but we were not getting a puppy. There were 4 Jack Russell puppies in the window and they wanted to check one of the puppies out. I told the clerk to get us a puppy with a brown mask of fur of the top of its head....but John and Kevin said no, they wanted to see the puppy with the Brown eye patch. So, if you are familiar with California pets, they bring the puppy back to a little area where you can play with the puppy and get to know it. Instantly, John and Kevin fell in love with her. I liked her too, but I had my doubts, would they help take care of her? Pay attention to her? They both promised and we came home with another family member that night.

It took us a couple of days to come up with a name for the puppy. We had taken over to our friends, the Hurkman's house to introduce her and Melissa suggested either Star or Roxy. Roxy stuck.

Roxy has brought so much happiness to our family. She is a constant source of entertainment and don't ever say the world "Ball" in front of her. We usually end up spelling it around her. Oh, and "cat" or "kitty" is another trigger word. She does a few tricks. A couple of years ago she won a Doggy Talent contest for an Event that the Escondido Humane Society put on. She plays dead really well. She's been on TV a couple of times and just attacks the Harley Davidson Motorcycle in the garage everytime it is turned on.

Here is our Goofy dog climbing a pyramid we found on a hike:

For her birthday, I will go out and get her a hamburger plain from McDonalds. Her new little brother, Dude aka Deet da dee will get the same.

Random pictures from this weekend

2010-01-31T19:29:00.001-08:00

Here is a picture of Roxy and Dude aka Deet da dee. They were in my Jeep during a geocaching event and tired out from a full day out in the desert. I peeked in on them and had to take a photo. When I had first peeked at them, they were both curled up and sleeping, but the minute the flash went off they both looked up. They were SO ready to go back to the house and go to bed.

Then there is Maddy. I call her Maddy Moo and she belongs to our friend Greg who is one of our neighbors out on the Riviera aka the Salton Sea. Maddy visits us at our house often. Today, while Greg was outside helping my husband clean the toys, Maddy decided that she wanted to be like my little dogs and jumped up on the couch and curled up and I swear she was the happiest dog ever. Check her out. Life just doesn't get much better then this!

This last weekend? Best weekend in a while!

2010-01-25T19:28:00.000-08:00

Actually most weekends aren't bad. And I have to admit, any weekends that involve the "Riviera" are REALLY good weekends. But this weekend for staying home in Escondido was a keeper.

It started off with my husband and I having movie night here at our house to ourselves. Kevin had the MORP dance at school. uh....not sure what MORP is and not sure if I want to go through the effort to ask him. Luck is with us. Kevin just graced me with his presence! MORP is PROM backwards. What will they think of next? John and I watched "All about Steve". Sandra Bullock is in the movie and she's a crack up. Cute movie..kinda stupid,but then I'm not the world's foremost movie critic.

Saturday morning was spent doing laundry, picking up around the house,vacuuming, getting Kevin to take stuff to Amvets for me. At noon, John, Kevin and I stopped at McDonald's and had the Big Mac Wrap (not bad) and headed south to Melissa Cheer Competition. Melissa, Jim and Julie have been our best friends for years. Melissa has been SO involved with Cheer and we never have seen her perform.

Melissa is in the middle

Holy cow....she's doing great! She cheered with two different teams.

The Donnellons and the Hurkmans

John left from Cheer with Jim to head north to Anaheim for Supercross and Kevin and I headed back north to Escondido. We had mom/son bonding time at Applebees for dinner, we actually talked. ;) Afterwards we headed back home and I made Red Velvet Cupcakes and read. Kevin watched some weird movie that only kids his age would like. (it was really weird. Called "the gamer")

Sunday, John took off early in the morning to head to the Riviera. He had a board meeting for Friends of Ocotillo Wells. He took the cupcakes with him to share, much to Kevin's dismay. About 2 hours after John left...."Mom, where are all the cupcakes?" He did have a couple, so he's good. Teenager cannot live on Cupcakes alone.

My girlfriend Julie and I had lunch at "On the border" And then afterwards, geocaching at Lake Hodges.

The Trail

Me and my "babies"

We had to work that lunch off and then of course x'ed is all out by going to Soup Plantation that night with our Riviera girls Deb and Paige. All in all it was a fantastic weekend!

Dinner with the girls!

I took a break......

2010-01-14T14:03:00.000-08:00

So it's the middle of the work day and I've been going non-stop since about 6 this morning. I actually got out of my pajamas before noon, which is a major accomplishment on home office days! So about 20 minutes ago, my brain was fried up like eggs and I decided the brain need a segway into something else for a few minutes before subjecting it to the "work" stuff. So....I grabbed my camera.

LOVE my camera. My husband got me the Nikon D90 last March and I've been loving it ever since. I actually got a gift certificate from him for Christmas so that I can go get another flash and a lens. I recently also purchased the book, "Nikon D90 for dummies." Let's just say I made the purchase, I've flipped through a couple of pages, but I really need to learn some of the other fun things that this camera has to offer me.

So getting back to the first paragraph....."I grabbed my camera." Of course I have 2 of the cutest most adorable dogs in the world. I have a few friends that own dogs that come in a close 2nd, but I gotta tell you, mine are the cutest. So I decided to take a couple of shots of Roxy and Dude aka deet da dee. Uploaded the pics, the cropped and played around with the picture itself. For me, this is good times. And I love to share them too. Especially since they are super cute pictures of my two adorable dogs.

Here are the two pictures before the crop and manipulation of the picture.

Roxy -

and Dude aka Deet da dee -

So this time, I opted to do them in Black and White.

Here is Roxy. It's kinda like BIG head, little bodyish.......both of these dogs crack me up on how I was able to capture them looking at me "sideways"

And here is Dude aka Deet da dee. I love Dude's eyes, you just wonder what the heck is he thinking? Most likely "Am I going to get food for this?"

The last days of 2009 & the 1st days of 2010

2010-01-03T06:45:00.000-08:00

Desert Flowers

We just got back home from the Riviera, our family home escape out in the Anza Borrego Desert next to the Salton Sea, "The Riviera". What a great week that we had out there. I am attaching some pictures with stories to share the highlights of the week with you.

This first picture is from our 1st FULL day out there. This is my son Kevin headed up to the Phone booth. Someone planted an actual phone booth on top of one of the highest ridges in the Truckhaven area and this is a favorite off-roader spot to visit. Not just for the phone booth, but for the views as well! This is the first time Kevin "drove" up to the phone booth. It's a sketchy climb as there is a shear drop off if you do not make the right turn towards the top.

This is the view from the backside of Phonebooth hill.

Day 2, One of Kevin's football coaches and his kids came out to visit us. We did a group ride to Gas Domes, Shell Reef and the "pumpkin Patch". Below is a picture at Gas Domes. They're essentially really stinky mud puddles. (sulphur smell, which smell like rotten eggs) We're not sure how deep they go Folks have stuck their legs down them and still haven't felt the bottom.

This is a view from the Gas Domes. Looking towards the Salton Sea. I love this picture for the colors. I took other view pictures as well, which look just as good. It was a tough choice picking my favorite to post here.

This is Shell Reef. Named for the millions of fossilized shells that are in the area. This desert used to be under water several thousand years ago. Shell Reef is a popular hang out to watch the better riders climb this and do jumps.

One of the riders jumping at Shell Reef.

The "pumpkin patch". These large boulders started off as a small shell, or pebble and rolled around the desert for hundredes of years in the sand and became what they are today. It is truly amazing to see this site. There are several other areas where there are smaller "pumpkins" This area provides the biggest. Sadly over the years people have stolen the pumpkins and the population has dwindled. The park service has fenced off the area in an effort to protect these big guys.

Another view of these "great pumpkins"

Day 3 took us around the ENTIRE Salton Sea. Starting off at Salvation Mountain, then off to Bombay Beach and back around to "the Riviera." This first picture is of Salvation Mountain, built by Leonard Knight. Here is the link to the offical site for Salvation Moutain if you want to learn more.

http://www.salvationmountain.us/

Here is a picture of Leonard Knight in front of his mountain. Leonard is a sweet old man that is very compassionate about his mountain and the message of God. He was gracious enough to give us a tour. He gets so excited everytime a group of cars pull up in order to provide a tour. At the end of the tour he gives his guests a "picture puzzle", postcards and a DVD about the Moutain.

Next stop is Bombay Beach. Bombay Beach is a small community on the East side of the Salton Sea. Anthony Bourdain, No Reservations of the Travel Channel visited Bombay beach. Here is the episode in which he visits Bombay Beach. To watch the following video, press the pause button on my pink playlist to the right of this blog.

We did visit the Ski Inn as mentioned in the video above to purchase some "fish assholes". "Fish Assholes" are cans of spaghetti-O's re-labeled as Fish Assholes. They are sold as a fund raiser for the Bombay Beach Fire Department. We only know they are spaghetti-o's cuz we opened up a can when we got back to the house.

A few years ago, Bombay Beach was flooded. Since the flood a Dike was built to protect the community. Unfortunately the flood had some casualties. This decayed trailer is one of the most photographed casualties of the area.

A view from the "beach". The Pelicans are BIG here.

December 30th is Paiges Birthday. The last 3 years in a row we have celebrated Paiges Birthday in the Desert. 1st year was on our property off of split mountain road in our motorhome. Last year was on "the Riviera". Last year was a year to remember as Paige celebrated a milestone birthday. We will never forget that year. The festivities were topped off with a refreshing dip in the Salton sea a little before midnight. Some lamebrained idea of one of our other friends. Even though it was lamebrained, we'll talk about it for years to come. This year was not as spectacular, however, memorable for Paige I am sure. We did a Taco night, then Wii Kareoke. Fun times! Happy Birthday Paige!

We spent New Years Eve at Mobiland in Ocotillo Wells at our friends place, playing bunko with up to 40 other folks. Good times. To Celebrate the New Year, they had purchased a couple of cases of silly string. This has become a tradition, and what a good time it was!

We went on a New Years Day ride. Unfortunately, so did everybody else. The desert was packed full of Off Roaders. We cut our ride a bit short as it was SO dusty and hard to see and just plain dangerous. The picture below show our two toys in the foreground and Debbies cute pink Razor in the back.

They say all good things must come to an end, but this is different. This is the start of a really GREAT new year and it started off with a really good time in the desert with some FANTASTIC friends. The picture below is of the sunset on New Years Day. Definately a sign of good things to come in 2010. Happy New Year!!!

Christmas Cookie Baking

2009-12-21T06:49:00.000-08:00

This weekend I started baking cookies. Only two different kinds were completed. I will work on 2 other today or tomorrow after work. Every year this is a tradition for me...no matter how busy or how tired I am....or I'll tell myself, "I'm not doing it this year"...something happens and I end up doing them. Only because I LOVE my peanut blossoms. So does my family. Peanut Blossoms are peanut butter cookies with a Chocolate kiss stuck in the middle. My mom made these cookies as I grew up and they were my favorite then. It's definitely a Christmas tradition in our house to have these around during the holidays.

This year I documented preparing them. I couldn't help myself! Only because I love my camera and I wanted to share with all of you.

So....here we go.

First off I had to unwrap what felt like a Bi-jillion Chocolate kisses. This year I tripled the recipe and wanted to insure I had enough of these unwrapped. Turned out, I was only 4 unwrapped kisses short. Not bad for a guess.

Next putting all the ingredients together to mix up. This step included, white sugar, brown sugar, eggs, milk, shortening, vanilla and of course PEANUT BUTTER!!!

Then add the flour, baking soda and salt and mix all together!

Once mixed and all of the ingredients are blended together, roll them up into balls, roll in sugar, place on baking sheet.

Bake for 8 minutes, pull out of oven and strategically place a single chocolate candy kiss in the middle. This part is fun as it defines the cookie!

Bake for an additional 6 - 7 minutes and WHA-LA....yummy cookies! And the house smelled great too!

HAVE A YUMMY CHRISTMAS!!!

FINALLY - the Tree is up!

2009-12-15T06:40:00.000-08:00

For some reason, I was having a heck of a time getting into the Christmas spirit this year. It may have something to do with starting a new job on December 1, which involves developing a new company image, company mission, new pipeline.......or maybe I was in denial that it was already Christmas. But late yesterday afternoon it finally hit me. I was going to get my tree up no matter what. And guess what? Once I got that dang tree up, the Christmas spirit finally came to me. There is something to be said about twinkling lights and putting up ornaments that come out once a year that bring back some great memories. Over the years I've saved the ornaments that the kids have made throughout preschool and school. Other ornaments have special meaning too. Actually every single one of them do. And every year I make an effort to buy a new ornament with special meaning to develop new memories.

Here are a few of my favorites....although, it's hard to pick favorites, because as I am sitting here typing this, I am thinking of others tucked away that didn't make the tree. Believe me I have boxes of this stuff!

Kevin made this in elementary school. Unfortunately this does not have a year on it, but I'm guessing it's early elementary school. ;-)

I remember buying this one at the Robinson's Christmas store in the mall. It's a little known fact that my husband likes carousel horses and I put this on a present as decoration for him. I had the words, "I love you" put on the back side of the horse.

This ornament was given to my oldest Son Michael in 1994 from his Daycare providor "Weezie". "Weezie" who's real name is Louise took care of Michael full-time while I was off overseas in Desert Storm.

I remember picking this ornament up 5 years ago at the Hallmark shop in the mall when Roxy was a puppy. I love this little guy!

John's mom made this ornament along with 3 others. 1 for each member of our family. She made these even before she moved out here to California. In fact the one pictured below was for Kevin when he was a baby.

Quote of the Day - Dec 3, 2009

2009-12-03T07:37:00.000-08:00

Action is the foundational key to all success.

- Pablo Picasso

Quote of the Day - Dec 2, 2009

2009-12-02T06:32:00.000-08:00

It may be hard for an egg to turn into a bird: it would be a jolly sight harder for it to learn to fly while remaining an egg. We are like eggs at present. And you cannot go on indefinitely being just an ordinary, decent egg. We must be hatched or go bad.

- C. S. Lewis

Happy Thanksgiving!

2009-11-26T05:45:00.000-08:00

Dude aka Deet da dee checking out the view from Phone Booth Hill

As is our annual tradition for close to the last 10 years, we are enjoying Thanksgiving out in the Desert. This year will be the biggest crowd yet. We are pot lucking with 28- 34 people from our Salton Sea Neighborhood. We've been emailing each other for the past 2 weeks on who is going to bring what. How many Turkey's we'll have here and I think we're going to have 28 pumpkin pies. ;) Everyone is bringing their favorite family dish or dishes. We'll be sharing Sweet potatoes, Stuffing, Scalloped Corn, Brussels sprouts and pearled onions with White Sauce. I will also be cooking a turkey. But mine will be for the sole purpose of Turkey sandwiches over the couple of days. That's the best part of Thanksgiving right? The leftovers!

The phone booth is on top of one of the highest "plateaus" in Truckhaven. The views from up here are AMAZING

We've been out here since last Sunday in the Desert. We went on a ride to the phone booth day before yesterday. We took Dude and Roxy with us. We let them off leash to run down the hill from the booth and Dude aka Deet da dee gave everyone a good laugh. He has NO experience with Sand and wasn't sure what to make of it. He was leaping, spinning, taking two paws at once to get the sand out of his eyes.....but then he would leap down a hill and just prance in pure joy. He absolutely LOVED it. Dogs are amazing how much they make you smile.

The gang all up on Phone Booth Hill.

Yesterday was a down day where we ran into Indio to the grocery store to get last minute items for the BIG dinner. Then baked pies, sat around and talked, watched a movie. I also went on a mini ride with the teenage boys. What a blast! The only part that bothered me was the dust. But I quickly got over that. Always a great feeling to be out!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL MY FAMILY AND FRIENDS!!!! I will post some pictures from our big dinner.

Roxy LOVES the desert!

Disneyland AND California Adventure

2009-11-14T20:24:00.000-08:00

I have to admit, I am blessed that I live in Southern California. There is SO much to do here. We live an hour and a half south of Disneyland. I haven't been to Disneyland or California Adventure in close to 7 years. So when I found out that Veterans day is a holiday at my job and that Kevin had the day off from school and football practice, we took advantage of this and went north. Kevin also invited his girlfriend Cierra to join us.

I went to Vons the night before and picked up the 1 day park hopper passes for us. These allowed for us to go back and forth between Disneyland and California Adventure as much as we wanted too. Plus having the passes in hand mean't that we didn't have to wait in line for tickets there. We started off at Disneyland, rode Space Mountain, Star Tours, Splash Mountain and Matterhorn (in that order). We then went over to California Adventure and had lunch, then went on California Screamin, Soaring over California, Tower of Terror, back to California Screamin, then back to Tower of Terror. Then we went back across the way to Disneyland. Boy did Disneyland pack up BIG time while we were at California Adventure. We were headed for the Castle when Kevin and Cierra found two fast passes for Indiana Jones on the Bridge and the window of time that was slotted on the fast passes was that very moment. So they went on the ride. I watched the parade in honor of the veterans.

To cap off our fun day, we stopped at Fuddruckers on the way home in Lake Forest and had some yummy burgers.

I did not carry the Nikon camera around with me, instead I brought the Canon Powershot. Which is small and compact. I am including a couple of my favorite photos.

Cierra and Kevin got a little wet on Splash Mountain.

So I took a picture of the picture that was posted after the ride.

This picture just cracks me up. And it was PURE luck that I was able to get such a good shot. This was on the Matterhorn and I was sitting in front of Kevin and Cierra and just happened to hold the camera behind me and click....of course check out the faces I got.

Another picture of a picture. This is Tower of Terror in California Adventure. Our 2nd time on the ride that day and Kevin and I decided to pose. Cierra decided to hold on for dear life. We're in the last row on the right. That ride is great! So much fun! The big guy sitting next to me, said that was the first ride that ever lifted him out of his seat...and he was a BIG guy!

Quote of the Day - Nov 5, 2009

2009-11-05T07:28:00.000-08:00

Change is inevitable - except from a vending machine.

- Robert C. Gallagher

Halloween 2009

2009-11-03T05:48:00.000-08:00

This year was a fun Halloween. There are quite a few of us that bought houses out by the Salton Sea and we are all neighbors out there. It's a lot of fun and an escape to go out there and be with your friends and just relax, ride, eat, watch movies, whatever your heart desires.

This past weekend, one of our Salton Sea Neighbors threw a Halloween party. My husband and I had a blast! The theme was 70's Halloween. Greg set up a dance floor on the lot next to his house. A few of his friends had the wagon train circle with their trailers around it. The disco light was strung up over the dance floor and Debbie and Marion brought some fantastic Halloween deco to finish off the look.

First, one of Greg's friends took the kids around the neighborhood for a hay ride to go trick or treating. They hauled in a pretty good load of candy.

Then we all returned to Greg's house for a potluck dinner. Very very yummy potluck dinner. Then, the dancing! At 11:30 Debbie duz Karaoke came over and we sang some tunes till about 1. What a GREAT time. Greg you can throw a party!!

Greg and JD

Paulette and JD (yup he shaved his beard off. I'm still getting used to it)

Check out Disco Granny! What a hottie! aka Debbie!

Paige and "Vietnam" vet Justin

Red neck hillbillies stopped by too!

Orange Glen High School Football

2009-10-29T08:15:00.000-07:00

This is my 2nd attempt at creating a video with pictures. This time with the random pictures I took during the early part of the 2009 Orange Glen Patriot Football season.

Go down to my "pink" playlist on the right side, press the pause button so that you can enjoy the music associated with the video below.

Enjoy!

Our "roots"

2009-10-26T06:51:00.000-07:00

As I sit on the couch here I can see out of our back slider window door down into the back yard and to John's shop. We have a back road that goes to his shop from the main road, and then a side driveway that goes through past the house to the street above, that takes you back out the main road.

This is looking down towards John's shop with is located in the right side.

So this past Saturday morning, I had an interesting experience. I was sitting here on the couch reading the paper, talking to Kevin (John had left earlier for the desert house that day) when Roxy and Dude aka Deet da dee starting barking at someone down on the back road. From time to time we will see folks down there, but mostly the neighbors walking their dog. This time is was a woman jogging (she was in her mid 30's) and I had never seen her before. She jogged down the back road and came up our driveway and stopped in front of John's shop. She starts walking around looking at the back yard.

Of course I get up and go out the deck and ask her if there was something I can help her with.

She responds, that her grandparents used to live here in the 70's and that she was in town for her High School Reunion from Arizona. Her parents lived over the hill and that she jogged over this way to check out the house.

Looking up at our house from John's shop

We talked for about 10 minutes. I think she felt a bit weird being approached...but of course I had to ask her the questions about what our house used to look like.

Back then, in place of John's shop, there were Avocado trees. There were also apricot, plum and fig trees. The deck was here, but the stairs went down on the other side. The back door to my office was there, but it was a dirt floor and just a storage area. She described to a 'T' the layout of the house upstairs. So nothing had changed inside.

Our house was built in 1968, we moved in during the late 90's. You always wonder about the history of your house, who lived here, what kind of people were they.

I'm sad she didn't stay long (she wasn't the talkative type of lady) Plus I wasn't prepared for all the questions I wanted to ask. Now of course, I can think of all sorts of questions.

I know a few years back when I went back to Canada to visit, I did the same thing. I stopped by a house I used to live in. It is an amazing experience.

One of the houses I grew up in, located in Canada. This house was built in the late 1800's. When I lived here the house was painted white and there were fields all around it. I almost didn't recognize the house because of all the trees that have grown around it

To see a house 20 years later and how much has changed. The ladies that lived there invited me to come in and see it. So I got to see my old bedroom, which seemed a lot smaller then I remember.

My old bedroom. My bed was in the exact same place

Our old Shed room was converted into a family room and in the living room they pulled up a big throw rug to show us the painted black wood floor. Which I was able to share that piece of history with them. My folks were hippies back then and they had some "interesting" parties. But I do remember them painting the wood floor back then. These women were able to strip the floor down on the outside but put a large throw rug down to cover the remainder of it.

It's interesting how we always will go back to our roots.

The boys and I with the family that lives at the house I grew up in now.

Last Home Football Game of the Season

2009-10-23T06:20:00.000-07:00

So every chapter must come to an end and we turn the page to start the new chapter. Tonight is the end of the chapter for home football games at Orange Glen for 2009. Kevin is a Senior, so this will be our last home game as parents at Orange Glen.

I love home games. I love being up in the stands watching the boys warm up on the field, the music blaring from the speakers, watching everybody arrive for the big game, the national anthem and the student tunnel for the football team to run through. Just the excitement of it all is a blast.

As a parent, I will miss being able to watch my son as a participant in all of these festivities as a football player at Orange Glen. I will also mention that we have made some GREAT memories and the better part is that we have made some incredible lifelong friends as a result.

We have two more away games after the home game tonight for regular season. But I will say I can't wait for what the future holds for us and for Kevin. Let's live to enjoy every moment now and savor it all!

GO PATRIOTS!!!!!!!!

Quote of the Day - Oct 21, 2009

2009-10-21T07:14:00.000-07:00

A mistake is simply another way of doing things.

- Katharine Graham

My weekend top 10 to do, REVIEWED

2009-10-19T06:32:00.000-07:00

I made a list Saturday morning of things I wanted to do this weekend, but shouldn't have because I needed to clean the house. Well..........let's review

1. Take Roxy and Dude aka deet da dee for a nice walk. (this is already not sounding so good since it's supposed to get in the high 90's today) I can just see my little furry friends panting after the first 10 minutes.
Roxy and Dude aka Deet da dee did get to go out and take a walk this weekend. Took them on Sunday when it wasn't so hot.

2. Go Geocaching. I haven't done this in AGES. It's always so fun to discover new areas of San Diego via this hobby.
Wasn't in the cards for this weekend. :-(

3. Go to the movies. This one is pretty dangerous, only because it might just happen. I haven't been to the movies in what seems like forever. And that "Couples Retreat" looks like it might be fun to watch. And an afternoon movie is a nice break.
YUP! late afternoon on Saturday, went with a girlfriend. And I watched Couples Retreat. Pretty good movie!

4. Re-organize my bedroom closet. Yeah, yeah, this one kinda goes with cleaning the house. But, this is a whole separate project where I can go in, determine what I really don't wear anymore, get the old stuff into bags to drop off at Amvets...and then of course the closet seems empty and guess what?
NOPE! I wasn't 100% this weekend and I could totally see myself starting the project and halfway through taking a nap and not wanting to finish.

5. Go clothes shopping! Find fresh new stuff for work and play. My husband calls this sport shopping. But I do have to look good for my job right? Then I can stop at the MAC counter at Nordstrom and get more base that I am almost out of. And of course stop by Brighton and get that bracelet that I really really want.
NOPE, so proud of myself on this one. ;-)

6. My Son Kevin and I can have quality time and go into his room with a pick axe and chisel to find the floor again. The kid is 17 years old. So from what I understand, the state of his room is normal behavior. I'm just so afraid to go in there and find some critter family living in the corner or better yet maybe the floor has given way and there is some sort of new civilization living under the house that is living off of the leftover Gatorade, Pringles and Pizza Rolls.
NOPE. Although....Kev and I did have a bit of quality time. We both made a trip to Walgreens together. Since we were both feeling a little under the weather, we stocked up on Cough drops, medicene and various other "things"

7. Go to TARGET!!! I love love loooovvvvveeee Target! I go in there, grab a shopping cart and I can be in there for a couple of hours just going up and down every single solitary aisle in there. Finding the endcaps with all the bargain close out stuff is a bonus. Shouldn't everybody stock up on Evergreen scented Renuzit?
NOoooooooooooo.......Sadly Target will have to wait for another weekend.

8. My husband went away to desert house this weekend. I LOVE our desert house. SO tempting to pack up and go out there this afternoon and join him. But, with the lingering cold and the mere fact that it's just him and the "guys" out there this weekend, it's probably a good idea to hang back here and get my freaking house cleaned.
HECK NO! They would have sent me right back home!

9. Go Antique shopping. I really enjoy wandering around antique stores. Finding cool stuff for gifts or for decorating the house.
NO :-(

10. And finally, number 10......Get into my little red Convertible and go for a joy ride. Where to? I don't know. Maybe to Target? Naw.....remember it's a "little" red convertible. How about the mall? Possibly. Or...I could grab that 17 year old kid of mine and take him out for lunch or dinner. Force him to talk to me and watch him just be all out miserable. All because he would rather be home playing "Call of duty" with his online buddies or some other random thing that 17 year old boys do.
So I did take the little red convertible out this weekend. But I drove it to the movies and then back home. I love that car!

Absolutely nothing planned but to clean my house!

2009-10-17T07:41:00.000-07:00

It's Saturday, I didn't sleep well last night, I'm still suffering from the after effects of a nasty cold and I'm craving Kraft Mac n Cheese in the worst way! (thanks to a facebook post by my friend Mike Garafola on the east coast!) Apparently Kraft Mac n Cheese is on sale in New Jersey. 5 boxes for 2 bux! I love just making a big bowl of that yumminess!

So, I have absolutely nothing planned today but to get off of my hiney and get my house back in order. To me, that is pure bliss. My only problem, is that I have to stay focused enough to get the major stuff done. You know, like laundry, picking up stuff, vacuuming and doing dishes. Cuz when I have a free day with nothing planned, I tend to stray from them every now and then.

Aside from cleaning my house, here is my top 10 list of things I would like to do today on my day with nothing planned:

1. Take Roxy and Dude aka deet da dee for a nice walk. (this is already not sounding so good since it's supposed to get in the high 90's today) I can just see my little furry friends panting after the first 10 minutes.

2. Go Geocaching. I haven't done this in AGES. It's always so fun to discover new areas of San Diego via this hobby.

3. Go to the movies. This one is pretty dangerous, only because it might just happen. I haven't been to the movies in what seems like forever. And that "Couples Retreat" looks like it might be fun to watch. And an afternoon movie is a nice break.

4. Re-organize my bedroom closet. Yeah, yeah, this one kinda goes with cleaning the house. But, this is a whole separate project where I can go in, determine what I really don't wear anymore, get the old stuff into bags to drop off at Amvets...and then of course the closet seems empty and guess what?

5. Go clothes shopping! Find fresh new stuff for work and play. My husband calls this sport shopping. But I do have to look good for my job right? Then I can stop at the MAC counter at Nordstrom and get more base that I am almost out of. And of course stop by Brighton and get that bracelet that I really really want.

6. My Son Kevin and I can have quality time and go into his room with a pick axe and chisel to find the floor again. The kid is 17 years old. So from what I understand, the state of his room is normal behavior. I'm just so afraid to go in there and find some critter family living in the corner or better yet maybe the floor has given way and there is some sort of new civilization living under the house that is living off of the leftover Gatorade, Pringles and Pizza Rolls.

7. Go to TARGET!!! I love love loooovvvvveeee Target! I go in there, grab a shopping cart and I can be in there for a couple of hours just going up and down every single solitary aisle in there. Finding the endcaps with all the bargain close out stuff is a bonus. Shouldn't everybody stock up on Evergreen scented Renuzit?

8. My husband went away to desert house this weekend. I LOVE our desert house. SO tempting to pack up and go out there this afternoon and join him. But, with the lingering cold and the mere fact that it's just him and the "guys" out there this weekend, it's probably a good idea to hang back here and get my freaking house cleaned.

9. Go Antique shopping. I really enjoy wandering around antique stores. Finding cool stuff for gifts or for decorating the house.

10. And finally, number 10......Get into my little red Convertible and go for a joy ride. Where to? I don't know. Maybe to Target? Naw.....remember it's a "little" red convertible. How about the mall? Possibly. Or...I could grab that 17 year old kid of mine and take him out for lunch or dinner. Force him to talk to me and watch him just be all out miserable. All because he would rather be home playing "Call of duty" with his online buddies or some other random thing that 17 year old boys do.

So with that, I am going to sign off, think about getting up and getting a load of laundry going. Blow my nose. Empty the dishwasher. Hack up a hairball. Pick up the junk in the living room. Blow my nose. Take a nap. Wake up from violent coughing attack. Do another load of laundry. I hate being sick.

Happy Weekend!

My Baby Blue Cruiser

2009-10-12T18:27:00.000-07:00

This past September 28th I celebrated my birthday and 18th wedding anniversary. Yes, I got married on my birthday. The reason??? All because my brother was in town from England. He was in the Air Force and that was the only Saturday he would be in town. And in my mind, you had to get married on a Saturday. So, for my 18th Annibirthday as my husband calls it, he gave me an Electra Baby Blue Hawaiin themed bicycle. It's awesome, it's got white wall tires, it's a 3 speed and I went and got it even more "pimped" out this past Saturday. I bought Streamers for the handles...and of course I had to buy the handles to match the seat. I got a wicker basket and a ding-a-ling bell.

Roxy, my 12 lb Jack Russell LOVES riding in the basket of the bike while I am riding. Dude aka deet da dee...I tried putting him in, he freaked out and jumped out of the basket, with all of his legs going in different directions. That poor dog just doesn't have all his brain cells in place. But he's a lover.

I took the bike out the desert house this weekend and that will be it's new home. Our house is located in Salton City and it's pretty level out there. (at least I thought so) and it's a perfect cruiser bike riding area. Just riding to visit our friends out there is great. I can just hop on the bike and go.

So with it being the first weekend out there I discovered that it's not completely level and there is a bit of an incline as you head west. It's perfect and it's a good workout. (I'm really out of shape) My butt is sore....it's not used to the seat. I guess it's time to shrink my butt as well. ;-) The bike will help accomplish that.

Lovin' my bicycle...it reminds me of when I was a kid. I used the love the freedom that my bike brought me. I could go all sorts of places.

I've really got to name my bike. I've named all my cars. The Jeep is Nelly, red car is Wanda and Infiniti is Mable. I might just name the bike Lilo....since it's a Hawaiin theme....it seems appropriate.

We'll be headed back out to the desert house this weekend...and I'm looking forward to some more riding around the neighborhood!

Football Quote of the day - Oct 8, 2009

2009-10-09T05:29:00.000-07:00

Some people try to find things in this game that don't exist but football is only two things - blocking and tackling.

- Vince Lombardi

Go Orange Glen Patriots!!!

Quote of the Day - Oct 8, 2009

2009-10-08T07:01:00.000-07:00

Weeds are flowers too, once you get to know them.

- A. A. Milne

Anybody Remember?

2009-10-05T19:28:00.000-07:00

So I was driving up to Orange County today and before getting on the 73, I looked to the left and when I looked it triggered a memory. I remembered being a kid and see the sign for the Lion Country Safari. Did anybody ever go there when you were little? For those of you who don't know what Lion Country Safari was here is the description from Wikipedia ( LOVE Wikepedia!)

Lion Country Safari was founded in 1967 by a group of South African and British entrepreneurs who wished to provide a safari experience for families who would not normally be able to experience it. The park originally exhibited only lions.

Between 1967 and 1974, Lion Country Safari, Inc. opened 6 animal parks, one near each of the following American cities: West Palm Beach, Florida; Los Angeles, California; Dallas, Texas; Atlanta, Georgia; Cincinnati, Ohio; and Richmond, Virginia.

The first park, in South Florida, is the only Lion Country Safari still in operation. At one time there were parks in Irvine, California (1970-1984); Grand Prairie, Texas (1971-1992); Stockbridge, Georgia; Mason, Ohio (1974-1993) and Doswell, Virginia (1974-1993).

The whole purpose of the park was that you could drive your personal vehicle right there among the animals. I remember visiting Lion Country Safari when I lived in Canada as I was growing up. Our school would do field trips there. See? I don't see why Wikipedia doesn't mention the one in Canada...hold up...gotta look....YUP....it was in Hamilton, Ontario! Anyways (I know, I know....no such word) We would do field trips there when I was in 1st grade, 2nd Grade and 3rd grade. Memories include a lion jumping up on the hood of the bus and all of us kids FREAKING out. But the best part was always the monkey's......they would look in the windows.....go up to the antenna and just shake the dickens out of it. Sadly I never got to visit the Safari in Irvine. I think my folks were to afraid of their car getting scratched, who knows? But everytime we would drive north to Los Angeles, I always saw the sign.

It's funny what you remember and how your memory is triggered by just looking at certain areas.....but that one came up and I just had to google it.

Again, just random thoughts from Paulette. ;-)

2009-10-02T06:37:00.000-07:00

Winning is not everything, but wanting to win is.

- Vince Lombardi

Com' on Orange Glen Patriots! Let's make it 5 and 0 tonight!

Rainbows, Rain and Fall Weather!

2009-09-30T06:55:00.000-07:00

Do you think it is here to stay? The cool weather? I'm so ready for the fall weather! I can't decide if this is my favorite time of the year or not. Seems like every time we have a season change (and yes, we have changes in season here in Southern California, no matter how subtle the change is) I enjoy them. The beginning of Spring, the warmth of summer, the rain in the winter. But I love Fall because it equates to football, desert season, Halloween, Thanksgiving and then the madness leading up to Christmas. It's also a SUPER busy time of the year. I received an email from my boss yesterday addressed to the team that Q4 is a short quarter because of all of the time off we get! LOVE IT.....the only bummer is that we have to scramble to get things done this quarter, regardless, scrambling makes you busy and busy makes time go by faster, which allows me to relax on those LONG holiday weekends!!!

I have a feeling that yesterday was the start of our fall weather. And what a better start then with a fall rainbow. It seems a little weird, since Spring should start with a rainbow, but in a way it is appropriate for the rainbow to appear yesterday. To me, rainbows symbolize good things to come. This has been an incredible time for us. Our high school football team is doing well and my oldest son will be graduating from the Police Academy in December. We've made some LIFELONG friends in the last year and a half. The proof was in my birthday on Monday night. I was commenting to my BFF Julie that it felt like it should have been a milestone birthday, but really it wasn't and just a REALLY REALLY good time. Special thanks to all of my friends for making my birthday / wedding anniversary SO SO special! John and I celebrated our 18 year wedding anniversary on my birthday too!

I feel fortunate that we just happened to be outside with the dogs when the rainbow first appeared. It was brilliant, and above that rainbow a 2nd one started to appear. You can barely make it out in the picture. Then the rain came! The rain is something that we desperately need here in Southern California. Unfortunately it wasn't a lot of rain, but just the same, it was enough to make it smell good and just be out in to enjoy and savor! I like the fact that I was able to snap a picture of the rainbow going into John's workshop! JD Built is at the end of the rainbow and he is Irish! So appropriate! It's his pot of gold!

Here we go! Fall! Autumn! Q4! Football! Desert Season! Halloween! Thanksgiving! and I can hardly wait till "black" Friday to head to Target and just be amazed at the amount of people that get up at 4 a.m. to take advantage of rock bottom prices!

Orange Glen High School Homecoming 2009

2009-09-27T08:47:00.000-07:00

As a parent of a Senior in High School...what a night! About a month ago, Deb came to me and suggested we cook for the kids this homecoming and make it EXTRA special this year. We took the idea and ran with it.

The table settings were beautiful. We went to the Dollar Tree store here in Escondido and picked up tableclothes, Champagne glasses, mine treat glasses and all sorts of other goodies. Since my husband has the resources, we blasted the interlocking OG on the glasses for the kids to keep as souvenirs of their special night. Deb's Friend Marion (Wayne Johnson's Girlfriend ((inside joke)) ) created the beautiful flower arrangements.

On the menu for dinner was Prime Rib, Lemon Chicken, Baked potato, your choice of tossed or Ceaser salad and for dessert, cheesecake with fresh berries on top. Everything was done up just right. There was a mini cup of Au Jus for the prime rib served along side. For their potatoes the kids were given a trio of butter, sour cream and chives on a little clear plastic plate. Sparkling cider and Evian water was offered as well.

Kevin's girlfriend Cierra arrived at our house from Ramona at 5:30 and we took a couple of pictures at our house before they headed to Deb's for more pictures and the dinner.

Cierra is a beautiful girl and her mom did a fantastic job with her hair for the evening.

There were 12 kids total for the dinner at Debs. Once everyone arrived at Debbies, the kids exchanged boutonnières and corsages. Oh my goodness, the only smart boy?? Tyler. His boutonnière was magnetic and went on nicely. The rest of the boys had to endure getting pricked by pins with their flowers. Kev was the biggest baby of all! Eventually all of the flowers got on, but I do believe that excercise took a FULL 30 minutes! Moms, dads, dates, everyone was involved.

Krista putting on AJ's boutonnière

Thank goodness, the corsages were just slipped on a wrist!

Cierra's corsage

Then the picture taking ensued. We found the perfect spot in front of the fountain, ,however, unfortunately the fountain was in the rocks....and boy on boy, every girl but one hat on spikey heels...and walking through the rocks was a challenge for them. And did I hear about it. But as parents we just wanted the pictures! We kept reminding the kids they would appreciate these pictures in years ahead.

Kevin and Melissa. These two have known each other since preschool and they are like brother and sister. They call each other cousins.....and when we asked them to pose together, this is what we got. Yup!! A total brother / sister pose!!!

The girls!

The boys!

The group!!

After picture it was time for dinner. We sat the kids down and then they saw their surprise waiter and waitress for the night! Ruth Arner, who is the trainer for the Football team and Coach Victor Garduno. Coach Garduno has been with the majority of the boys since their freshman year and this was a special time. The reaction when they saw both of these folks walk out was priceless. They'll never ever forget this dinner. Kevin talked about it last night and was laughing everytime he told me a story. As parent, Mary Beth, Deb, Julie, Mindy and I, we hid in the kitchen and prepared the food, served up the plates for the "wait staff" as they brought up the orders. Victor likened it to Hell's Kitchen when he started shouting out the orders first trip up. We had a blast as parents doing it. I don't think we'll forget this night either!

The girls at the table

The boys at at the table. Their surprise reaction when they saw Coach Garduno was there to wait on them. Priceless!

Everybody and the "wait staff"

Homecoming 2009 was definitely a memory made. The group of parents that have become GREAT friends as a result of our children. The great group of kids, which incidently all but two in the photos are on the Varsity football team...which, by the way are

4 and 0 baby!!!!!! Go PATRIOTS!!!

Quote of the Day - Go BIG BLUE!!!

2009-09-25T07:38:00.000-07:00

Football is an incredible game. Sometimes it's so incredible, it's unbelievable.

- Tom Landry

GO BIG BLUE!!!!!

Let's make it 4 and 0!!!!!!

My Dad and Alzheimers

2009-09-22T19:18:00.000-07:00

Celebrating Pa's 80th Birthday

I've been neglecting my blog. I haven't posted in like over a week! It's just been so dang busy. I knew that going into this week this past weekend it was going to busy, and then you get thrown a couple of curve balls.

I recieved a call first thing Monday morning. My dad was taken to the hospital. He was vomiting blood and my mother used his lifeline to contact the paramedics. My dad was admitted and they've been doing tests on him. Ultimately we found out he has a tear in his esophagus. He is on a liquid diet now and once he can consume solids and keep in down, he'll be discharged to go home.

My dad is 80 years old and has Alzheimer's. What an awful disease. My mom and I have been taking turns watching him and keeping him company at the hospital. This morning when I arrived, my mom left to go back to their house to take care of their cats and pick up some things for my dad. Once she left, my dad launched into a series of questions:

Where am I?
Where do I live?
- and whereabouts is that?
I have a house don't I?
I have a wife right?
How many of us are there here? (referring to family here in town)
We're in Westmont right? (this one is interesting...he hasn't lived in Westmont since he was a child.....)

For 2 hours, these questions were repeated. Constantly. He was definitely a Chatty Cathy. But he recognized that he couldn't remember and you could tell it was frustrating for him. But I have to admit, it was the first time in awhile where he was friendly and did not get agitated. He was just happy to be talking. My dad has had Alzheimer's for a little over 5 years and it just gets progressively worse. Yesterday in the Emergency room he was trying to escape out of his bed. Fortunately he was so weak, that he didn't get far.

My dad is a little guy and the nurses fell in love with him He would come up with wisecrack answers, to their simple questions.....and then laugh at himself.

Alzheimer's is just such a challenge and my mother just loves my father like crazy to put up with these antics. I joke with my husband John and ask him if he'll be patient like my mother and take care of me. I also tell the boys to be prepared for John and I to grow old like my mom and dad.

I just got off of the phone with my mother and she is home alone and dang happy. She told me she left the hospital when my dad starting messing with his IV and told the nurses he was their problem now. (she cracks me up!) But just talking to her, I can tell she is savoring her time alone at home with no interruptions.

Ma and Pa AND Paul and Paulette

Alright, I've typed enough. This week is homecoming week at Orange Glen High School. So exciting for those kids. Kevin and some of his friends are doing dinner together and then off to the dance. And of course, Friday night is Football night and a chance for Orange Glen to go 4 and 0. So exciting! Thursday night I will have the Varsity football team here for team dinner. I love those kids. Every single one of them is great.

100,000 miles

2009-09-16T07:01:00.000-07:00

My car has officially reached 100,000 miles. I remember picking the car up on August 10, 2003, brand spanking new. Since I am in sales it gets around. Longest roadtrip? From Escondido, to Laughlin, to Las Vegas, back to Escondido. Other then that, lots of trips to Orange County and Los Angeles. Her name is Mable and she is reliable. I love this car. Now all the poor thing needs is a car wash!

Orange Glen Football: Send off's , some football and Pizza!

2009-09-13T12:49:00.000-07:00

Friday, September 11th was a day to remember, but also a day to celebrate for the Varsity Orange Glen Patriot Football team. Since kickoff was at 3 p.m. down in San Diego at Crawford High School, the boys were granted early release at school and there was a great send off for these kids at lunch time! There was a blue carpet and a student tunnel. Led by the Orange Glen HS Drumline, the boys followed and then the cheerleaders...all the way from the weight room to the buses in front of the school.

Student Tunnel

The boys picked up a sack lunch made by Wayne Johnson of Agrusas before boarding the bus and they were on their way down south.

Wayne Johnson handing out lunches for the boys

Orange Glen Football team loaded up and ready to go!

Head Coach Plash and his team ready to go

Team Huddle

What a GREAT game. Ending score??? 47 - 6...Orange Glen winning!!!! That's two games in a row!! The boys are are rockin' it this season. My son, #28 Kevin Donnellon, completed two touchdowns during the game. His Friend's Dana Walker #32 had two and Jacob Sneary #15 had two. Then "little" Willy....(we love Willy) #8 Willy Lopez saw the end zone with the ball!

My son #28 Kevin Donnellon, running the ball towards the endzone

After the game we informed them we were taking them to Round Table Pizza for a celebration dinner. We had all but two boys show up for pizza! (yeah, those kids can eat!) They ate and played video games and just had a GREAT time. What a sense of community spirit and pride there too. The other patrons at Round Table thought it was great that the Orange Glen Team was there and they were winners!

What a fantastic day! And amazing! And truly memorable!

Salvation Mountain, Niland, CA

2009-09-09T07:09:00.000-07:00

This past weekend, I had the opportunity to go visit Salvation Mountain. Salvation Mountain is located in Niland, California, which is located on the southeast side of the Salton Sea.

Salvation Mountain is Leonard Knight's tribute to God and his gift to the world with its simple yet powerful message: "God Is Love." The minute we arrived with our two carloads of folks, Leonard was calling to us to go on the tour with him and another family that had just arrived. Leonard is 77 years old and has been working on the "mountain" for 27 years.

Leonard Knight, the creator and builder of Salvation Mountain

Leonard is so passionate about his mountain and very eager to share it with the public and all the detail that went into it. He has "rooms" in his mountain and you can definately tell the temperature difference when you enter them. Within his room he has a couple of "trees." The trees are made of tires. Car Tires, Tractor Tires.....and then built up with Adobe, hay and paint.

The "tire" tree

He has his resident cat that hangs out in the mountain too. His name is George.

"George"

Leonard told us to take the "yellow brick road" up to the top of the mountain. Of course the kids scrambled up it fairly quickly. They loved the moutain.

It is truly amazing. The bright colors, the weirdness of it all, it's just downright cool in it's own way.

The Yellow Brick Road

There is a dedicated website about the mountain, the link is below:

www.salvationmountain.us

The mountain is about 45 minutes away from our Salton Sea house. Right behind the mountain is another wierd sight. Slab City. I will post pictures and blog on that next.

Debbie, Paige, Leonard & Paulette

Kimberly, Tyler, Ivan, Kevin & Leonard

I told the kids to remember this opportunity to meet Leonard. I have a gut feeling that long after Leonard is gone, the mountain will live on.

Dust Storm; Sand Storm; Rain Storm; Flash Floods

2009-09-06T08:05:00.000-07:00

Wow! We had some weird weather in the desert last night. We arrived Friday night and when we woke up Saturday morning it was overcast and humid. Later in the afternoon about 5ish, I was getting dinner ready and looking out the back window here in my kitchen and you could see the dark wall coming across the desert. Actually it didn't seem like it was moving that fast. The first thing you could hear was the thunder and a couple of lightning bolts. So I was anticipating rain. But no....what we got was a HUGE dust cloud with wind blowing like CRAZY! It got dark in the house and I looked out the window and I couldn't see more then 50 feet. Visability was almost zero. Of course I snatched up my camera and started taking pictures thru the windows. It was blowing so hard outside and the dust and sand were everywhere, I didn't dare go out there.

Here it comes!

Looking out towards Debbies house. Where is Debbies house???

Back row of houses, looking out our back slider door

After the initial duststorm, the sand was flying. Our front porch area has a fresh layer of sand up there I have to sweep up.

The power actually flickered in and out 3 times, but fortunately didn't stay completely out. Pretty soon the big FAT raindrops started coming. The rain was almost coming sideways hitting the back of the house and just covering my back slider and kitchen window.

Here comes the rain

Now that the sand and dust wasn't flying around anymore, Deb and I grabbed a glass of wine and went out to the front porch and watched the rain, the lightning and listened to the thunder. Southern California doesn't give you many storms like this and it was a joy to watch.

The rain came down so fast and swiftly that the roads out front started to fill up with water. Now you KNOW what they talk about when they say flash floods are imminent. It was amazing how much water comes down in the span of 20 minutes (if that) Enjoy the pictures of our weird weather! It certainly was a treat to watch!

Water out in front of the house

Behind Debbies house

Weird looking sky after the storm

Hanging out in the garage watching the lightning show after the storm.

Quote of the Day - Sept 1, 2009

2009-09-01T06:51:00.000-07:00

Defeat is not the worst of failures. Not to have tried is the true failure.

- George Edward Woodberry

My Lego Project

2009-08-31T12:48:00.000-07:00

For those of you who noticed...there was a night last week I didn't do a thing on Facebook. ;) That's cuz I was busy. It's healthy right? To do something other then Facebook?

I don't know what it is with me and toys lately...but recently when I was in Target I picked up the above lego set. The intention was to pick it up for the kids to play with, but since it went a whole weekend and nobody touched it, it was fair game. Oh my gosh! I have never had such peace of mind and a feeling of accompishment as I did, while I put this together. It's relaxing. I enjoyed it so much that I want to get another kit. But first I will complete the 3 house designs that came with this set. Here is the 1st one.

Getting Started

The final result

LOVE the lego chicken!

"knock! knock! Anyone home?"

There is even a satellite dish. No detail was left undone.

Big Wheels

2009-08-25T19:37:00.000-07:00

Time to reminince again. I was just thinking about my favorite childhood memories and one of the ones that stand out are riding the Big Wheel. Unfortunately it wasn't my Big Wheel. My folks didn't get me one, so I rode the neighbors Big Wheel. I loved when I had the opportunity to get to ride it. My brother and I would fight over who got to ride it. The poor neighbor kid never had a chance. I'm not sure why we enjoyed it so much, except for the fact it was almost like you were driving and you definately weren't walking! We did have a long drive way with a bit of an incline. So the best part was getting to ride up the driveway and fly back down it.

Come to think of it, my brother and I had skateboards. So we traded the neighbor the use of our skateboards for the Big Wheel. I don't think we ever rode those skateboards the right way either. We were always sitting on them and riding them down the driveway in a kind of backwards "S". That was fun too! We perfected going down the driveway on that skateboards after a few skinned knees and elbows.

I think we were riding that Big Wheel up until Middle School. Then the plastic base started to give away and it cracked. Very sad day when we became to heavy for the Big Wheel. That was THE coolest toy ever! I know that John annd I got one for Michael when he was little. It wasn't the original. If I remember correctly Michael's was black. And I remember him riding it all over our old neighborhood in the cul-de-sac.

Good times...actually simple really good times. And for snack a graham cracker. ;)

There is a website where you can order the original Big Wheel. They've been around 40 years! Seems like forever, but geez, I guess that's right.

http://www.originalbigwheel.com/

Ramblings about the weekend

2009-08-24T07:16:00.000-07:00

I'm sorry that the weekend is over. We had a great time! A group of us were out in the desert. Actually let me re-do that....a group of us bought homes out in the desert and we are all neighbors. Which is fantastic! There are about 10 homes out there that are officially our fun homes. (well, one is his full time home, but technically, he's out there on the weekends with us too...HAVING FUN!)

I've been wanting to take pictures along the route to our house from Escondido, to the Salton Sea. So....when I rode back home with Deb yesterday (as John waited out there for some friends to show up, that literally just bought a house by us!) ((another new neighbor!)) We stopped in Henshaw for a potty break. The routine is when we leave the "fun" house, we swing by So. Cal's largest AM/PM market by our desert house and grab a drink and a snack. By the time we get to Henshaw, that drink is wanting back out of our system. This is when I pulled the camera out and started to take some pics from the parking lot of the restaurant there. I also took a few coming down Palomar Mountain.

Dude aka Deet da dee and Roxy sitting in my lap on the way home. I love how Roxy just kind of lays on Deet da dee.

Next trip, I want to take some going down Montezuma Grade into Borrego. That is some AMAZING scenary. Enjoy the pics and they're not perfect, but they are after all taken from the front seat of Deb's truck through the windshield! ;)

Rose in our Backyard

2009-08-21T14:24:00.000-07:00

Playing around with camera and new software.

More Ramblings from the Couch

2009-08-18T20:20:00.000-07:00

So if you don't know, I'm a HUGE OBSESSED fan of facebook. I love it. It's a social networking site. It allows me to keep in touch with all of my friends. I love to share what I'm up too and see what they are up to as well. This includes friends that I haven't seen since school days. It's an incredible advance in technology today and how we use it. It used to be snail mail and postage stamps. Thanks to the internet, (and fedex and UPS) the post office is having to shut down several of it's office nationwide. Including one in our home town of Escondido. Think about all of the technology we use today and how did we live with out it.
I know you've seen emails with similar stuff, but here are my memories.

Folks my age.....remember when:

We had just one black and white television in the house and you had to get up to change the channels??

I remember when we got our first microwave oven when I was in High school in the 80's.

I remember visiting my first video rental store. The had VHS and Beta movies for rent. We rented Beta as my dad worked for Sony and he brought home a betamax. We were SO cool. ;) The pic below is identical to the Sony TV and Betamax that we had!

Speaking of Sony, my dad also brought home a Sony walkman for me. And it was cool, cuz when you unhooked the headphones (with foam earpieces!) there were speakers on it so I could share my tunes with everybody!

Our telephone was a rotary phone. I remember doing phone tree lists to call people and my finger getting sore from dialing.

I didn't get my first computer until after I was living on my own and it was an Apple IIe with two 5 1/4 in floppy drives. One drive was used for the operating system. The other was used for programs. I only had three programs...Appleworks, Hitchikers guide to the Galaxy and Printshop.

I thought I was SO cool when I got my first cell phone in the early 90's. It was a handset attached to a brick that was installed in my car.

It's amazing how much stuff has advanced. It will be even more amazing to see what comes up when our kids are grown.

I'm rambled enough, time to get off of my soapbox, but I had to reminisce. It's fun to do it every now and then. ;)

Make it a GREAT day (or night!)

Random Ramblings from here on the couch

2009-08-17T06:59:00.000-07:00

It's Monday and the 2nd week of school for Kevin's senior year. Just packed his lunch for the day. I haven't officially counted how many lunches left to pack before he graduates high school. Not sure if I am ready for that.

I've got a busy day ahead of me....as a matter of fact, it's just a busy week! I'm afraid to write up the "to do" list for fear it will be a little out of control. I'm thinking of all the "to do"'s for work right now, haven't even begun to think about my personal life and the house. Although, admittingly, that's popping up in my head at this exact moment. Heck, one thing at a time, and it will get done. Fortunately today is an office day for me, so I might mix a little of the personal stuff in with the work stuff...meaning, load of laundry, go downstairs, do email, switch laundry over to dryer, add another load to washer, go downstairs, answer phone calls, fold laundry, go downstairs to do work expenses. Sounds exciting huh? oh, maybe unload the dishwasher of the clean dishes and load up the dirty ones too.

What a cute little dog ;) Currently she is sitting in my lap as I write this up.

I think I have two trips to the "OC" this week, although, I haven't fully consulted my calendar yet. Remembering from memory. Although, it might be 3.

I think this is officially one of those rambling blogs....it just goes on and on with useless information, but yet, you are reading this! ;) Yeah you! Cuz if you got this far and you see the words, you're reading it! Wierd how that works and how I know. I'm sorry if I wasted valuable seconds of your life reading this!

Well I'm off to get my day and week started. My baby 17 year old is up and having a bowl of Golden Grahams cereal for breakfast.

I am looking forward to getting away to go to the desert this weekend. It's definately an escape!

Make it a GREAT day!

Interesting and Useless Facts

2009-08-16T08:21:00.000-07:00

Table salt is the only commodity that hasn’t risen dramatically in price in the last 150 years.

AND

There are 2,000,000 different combinations of sandwiches that can be created from a SUBWAY menu.

Did you know?

2009-08-13T05:38:00.000-07:00

The Country Store in Baker has sold more winning California State Lottery tickets than any outlet in the state?

Hmmm....interesting. Being that is the last pit stop before you reach the Nevada border on the way to Vegas, or the first pit stop in California leaving Nevada. So, the lesson here is buy a lotto ticket in Baker on your way to Vegas, just in case you have a losing streak there, cuz the odds of winning the lotto in Baker might be better.

Baker is also the home of the World's tallest thermometer and Alien Fresh Jerky. Just writing about Baker, I'm wanting to take a road trip. I love that stuff like this is in seemingly the middle of nowhere. Yet, so many people are there just passing through.

It's been a while since I drove to Las Vegas. I usually jump on a Southwest flight and I'm there in an hour. Although, if you look out the window from the plane you'll notice the captain will usually start his descent into Vegas just after passing over Baker. Sit on the right side of the plane and you can see the tiny little town. (although, the worlds largest thermometer is not visible from the air)

Here is the link to the Baker Chamber of Commerce. Next time you head out the 15 northbound. Stop at Alien Fresh Jerky, get a snack, go to the Country store, DEFINATELY buy a lotto ticket, then take a gander at the Worlds Largest Thermometer.

"http://www.bakercc.com/default.asp"

Fun Interesting Fact

2009-08-12T07:58:00.000-07:00

Apples are more effective at keeping people awake in the morning than caffeine.

Quote of the Day - August 11, 2009

2009-08-11T05:57:00.000-07:00

Experience is a great teacher.

- John Legend

Happy Birthday to my BFF

2009-08-10T07:53:00.000-07:00

There is nothing on this earth more to be prized than true friendship.

- Saint Thomas Aquinas

Happy Birthday to my BFF Julie!

- We've raised our kids together (Simple pleasures, like dunking their heads into coolers)

- Taken trips together (Hey! Hoover Dam is only a mile away!)

- Shopping together ( did you ever use the bargain pressure cooker? I never used mine!)

- BIG cutting board; little teeny cutting board

- BIG dog; little dog

- Matching Dresses in Hawaii and the Salton Sea (both vacation destinations!)

- I ran up that flight of stairs on the way to the Hoover dam 10 freaking times for 10 bux!

- VEGAS trips!!!

- Riding down the Valley Center grade at 4 mph in the driving rain as your passenger in the 1970's era motorhome that was WAY groovy!

- Disney Cruise, getting in trouble together for being TO OLD to be on a certain beach. (that sucked)

- Roaring Rapids in the Hurkman pool with the kids

- planning our lives around menus and food.

To my good friend remember....

You'll always be my best friend....you know to much!!!!

ENJOY YOUR DAY!!!!!!!

Are these the LAZY days of Summer? More Rambling.......

2009-08-04T06:28:00.000-07:00

We have a week and a half before school starts back up here in Escondido. Well, at least for the high school district. I'm feeling pretty good. We cleaned off the deck this past Sunday and now we can go out and enjoy the evenings. It's always so nice to have friends over to enjoy it with them. We're having friends over tonight for another evening on the deck and I am looking forward to it.

Our clean deck with the playhouse that John just painted. He also painted the railings on the deck.

This last Sunday was great. John was out painting the playhouse, Kevin was helping me clean off the deck. The ipod was shuffling through some tunes. Roxy was patiently waiting by her ball just willing myself or Kevin to kick it so we could start the process again. Dude aka Deet da Dee was freaked out by the water on the deck and wasn't sure what to make of it. So he hung out on one of the deck chairs and watched. Occasionally he'd run after Roxy when she was chasing the ball. How is it that it is relaxing while you are working? That Sunday it was and I think Kevin even had fun helping out. But only because he would torture Roxy everytime she ran by. The hose would magically shower water over her. (of course with his help!) Needless to say both the dogs got a bath that day as well. (in the kitchen sink)

Right now I'm sitting on my couch looking out the slider which is open and letting in the morning air and I have a great view of the valley. Mostly tree tops, but a nice view. I have Roxy in my lap and Dude sitting next to me. We are savoring this moment. House is silent too as Kevin and John are still in bed. But I can hear the neighbors chickens. Although, typically you can hear them all day long.....that is until the Red Tail Hawks come flying through, that's when they shut up. John LOVES those hawks. I've got my cup of Dunkin Donuts vanilla Coffee with Vanilla flavored soy creamer (which I swear by). Life doesn't get much better then this!

Here is the view with Dude aka Deet da Dee enjoying it with me!

I do have a busy work day ahead of me and I've got to break this relaxing moment to go downstairs and start printing up my propaganda and prepare for the day. Besides Roxy and Dude aka Deet da dee, just left my side and went running out onto the deck to go check something out that they heard. (or thought they heard)

Make it a GREAT day!

50th Wedding Anniversary

2009-08-03T07:16:00.000-07:00

This weekend was a special weekend for the Donnellon Family. We had a SPECIAL celebration of a love that has lasted 50 years and is still going strong!

John and Rosemary Donnellon were married on July 25th, 1959. They had five children, Mary, Laura, John, Noreen and Kevin. Out of those 5 children they now have 11 grandchildren.

Friday evening was spent at Kit Carson with all 23 members of the family doing the official family photo. It was really neat to have everybody together. Saturday night, we celebrated the anniversary at Bill and Mary's house in Carlsbad with our family and friends.

Mary (the oldest) and Kevin (the youngest)both toasted their parents 50 years together. Both touching toasts.

50 years - that's a lot of kisses, thru sickness and Health, 50 Christmases, 50 Valentines days, and most of all, LOTS of memories.

Two slideshows are below of all the festivities. Enjoy

2009-08-03T07:11:00.001-07:00

2009-08-02T21:38:00.001-07:00

HAPPY 50th Wedding Anniversary

2009-08-01T08:01:00.001-07:00

Happy 50th Wedding Anniversary to my Mother and Father in Law. Still in LOVE after all these years. Just look at the picture. It says it all!

2009-07-31T11:13:00.001-07:00

Journey

2009-07-30T07:12:00.000-07:00

So I am off to the Journey Concert at Pala Casino tonight. Thank goodness for the Indian Casinos, cuz now they get all the 80's bands and folks that we adored when we were 20 years younger! I am looking forward to "Midnight Train" or "Don't stop believing" (what is the official name of that song?) In my opinon it's their best song and I may just get emotional when they play it. I love the build up and just everything about it. I'm looking forward to a good time tonight.

Here is a little blurb, I pulled from Wikipedia on Journey:

Journey is an American rock band formed in 1973 in San Francisco, California with former members of Santana. The band has gone through several phases, but its strongest commercial success came in the late 1970s to the early 1980s. During this period, they had hits with a series of power ballads and rock songs, including "Don't Stop Believing", "Any Way You Want It", "Faithfully", "Open Arms", "Send Her My Love" "Separate Ways", "Wheel in the Sky", "Who's Crying Now", "Stone In Love", "Lovin,' Touchin,' Squeezin;'", and "Lights". The group enjoyed a successful reunion in the mid-1990s with a major Grammy-nominated hit, "When You Love a Woman." Throughout Journey's three decades of existence, their albums have achieved gold status twice, platinum status three times, multi-platinum plateau eight times, and Diamond one time. These include seven consecutive multi-platinum albums, stretching from 1978 to 1987. They had 18 Top 40 singles, six of which reached the Top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Their signature song, "Don't Stop Believing", is the top-selling catalog track in iTunes history, at more than two million downloads.

Quote of the Day - July 28, 2009

2009-07-28T07:58:00.001-07:00

A dog is the only thing on earth that loves you more than you love yourself.

- Josh Billings

Quote of the Day - July 27, 2009

2009-07-27T06:07:00.000-07:00

If we don't change, we don't grow. If we don't grow, we aren't really living.

- Gail Sheehy

Girls Weekend on the Riviera 2009

2009-07-25T10:19:00.001-07:00

Last weekend we had a girls get away to the desert house on the Riviera. Who would have thought that 13 women would want to get away to the desert in July with the high temp being 117 degrees??? It happeneded and we had a blast!

Everybody showed up Friday night. We started the festivities with a couple of ice breaker games to include a purse scavenger hunt and observation game. Then we had our Greek themed Mamma Mia night. (total chick flick) We had chicken, greek salad, stuffed grape leaves and baklava for desert. And to cap it off we watched Mamma Mia!

Saturday morning was a time of relaxation and just talking and lounging around in the PJ's. There were coloring books and crayons, Girls night out Dare Cards, hula hoops, you name it, it was there to not act our own age! Early afternoon we played bingo and inbetween games we went out to check on our egg that we decided to fry in the hot afternoon sun! It took an hour but it happened.

That night we got into our 70's themed festivities by dressing up for the era and having a progressive dinner. 1st house had the typical 70's appetizers and Salad bar, to include celery sticks and deviled eggs and of course a punch bowl full of spiked punch! 2nd house included the main course which was Hamburger helper, tuna Casserole, Chicken Casserole and Veg-all! The last house was dessert, where we celebrated 3 birthdays and had cupcakes and cookies.

We were then off to Captain Jim's bar in our 70's attire and took the Salton City by storm. What a GREAT time!

Please see the slide show pictures below.

2009-07-25T10:18:00.001-07:00

Quote of the Day - July 24, 2009

2009-07-24T09:31:00.000-07:00

A business that makes nothing but money is a poor business.

- Henry Ford

Quote of the Day - July 23 2009

2009-07-23T06:01:00.000-07:00

If everyone is thinking alike, then somebody isn't thinking.

- George S. Patton

Quote of the Day - July 21, 2009

2009-07-21T06:15:00.000-07:00

Lots of people want to ride with you in the limo, but what you want is someone who will take the bus with you when the limo breaks down.

- Oprah Winfrey

Feather Boas

2009-07-17T05:44:00.001-07:00

So lately, I've had this interest in Feather Boas. They're are just so many options and colors and it is such a glamourous accessory.

A feather boa is a fashion accessory that is usually worn wrapped around the neck like a scarf.

A boa may be made of fur, but it is usually made from various types of feathers: Ostrich, marabou, chandelle and turkey are the most common feathers used although non-feather boas are also available. Feathers used go through bleaching and/or dyeing processes and are glued and stitched into lengths called "ply". Sometimes more natural boas are produced. A lightweight chandelle boa may only weigh 65g while a 24 ply ostrich boa may weigh 200g. The more ply, the fluffier and thicker the boa. Boas are generally measured by weight (grammes), length and ply.

Types of feather boas

Ostrich — Thousands of long thin feather strands woven into ply are used to construct these very fluffy boas. These form the larger, Las Vegas showgirl type boas, as when they are coloured and woven into many ply, they can look very dramatic even at a distance.

Turkey — Many larger flat turkey feathers form these heavier boas which might weigh 120-180g and reach 30 cm in diameter.

Marabou — The fine down from marabou is used to form these very thin, and very fluffy boas.

Chandelle — Smaller feathers or "flats" from the turkey are used to create these lighter boas with smaller diameters.

Quote of the Day - July 15, 2009

2009-07-15T07:26:00.000-07:00

I found this quote in honor of my upcoming weekend with the girls:

I did not have three thousand pairs of shoes, I had one thousand and sixty.

- Imelda Marcos

The Fruitless Mulberry Tree

2009-07-14T06:05:00.000-07:00

Last night when I was out with the dogs, I was reminded of a memory that was made in our front yard. First of all I love Summer. I love it for the fact that the weather is warmer and that the days last longer. I love the smells of the BBQ's when the neighbors fire them up to make dinner.

A few years ago, JD aka my husband John, used to have a part time job on Thursdays and would not be home till around 9ish. One of those nights (during the summer)The boys and I decided to have a Picnic dinner in our front yard. We have a HUGE fruitless Mulberry tree in our front yard. Our front yard hasn't changed much in over 10 years. The boys then were quite a bit younger. Michael's voice hadn't even changed yet and Kevin was still dragging around his favorite little "stuffy".

Back then, money was a little tighter for us, so I scrounged around the refrigerator and found some little Smokey sausages and eggs. I chopped up the sausages, scrambled the eggs up and we took our plates out to a blanket under the HUGE fruitless Mulberry tree. It's amazing how much fun a simple summer evening can be with your kids. We sat there, we ate, we laid on our backs and looked at the sky. I don't remember what we talked about, but everything was pretty much perfect. Definitely quality time with my boys. Quality time is defined as all parties have a GREAT time.

I'm not sure is Michael and Kevin remember this, but it's a memory that I will treasure forever. Our picnic in the front yard. And that fruitless Mulberry tree? Loads of memories come from that. Hanging Birdhouses from it, the kids climbing it when it was trimmed back, Michael raking the leaves from under it. And even now, just last week, Kevin and I were under it watching Roxy and Dude run around the yard like maniacs. I even challenged Kevin to try and catch the maniac dogs (since he's supposed to be so fast) We call them the greasy pigs when the dogs get like this. Kevin caught both of them. Me? I failed miserably.

I treasure these times and I can't wait to make new memories. Something about warm summer evenings. They're magical.

Quote of the day, July 13

2009-07-13T06:28:00.000-07:00

People think computers will keep them from making mistakes. They're wrong. With computers you make mistakes faster.

- Adam Osborne

Quote of the Day July 12

2009-07-12T05:43:00.000-07:00

If opportunity doesn't knock, build a door.
- Milton Berle

Quote of the Day July 10

2009-07-10T05:36:00.000-07:00

You never get tired unless you stop and take time for it.

- Bob Hope

2009-07-09T16:23:00.000-07:00

I've been pounding away here on the keyboard and researching stuff for work, and decided, I need a break from all of that "stuff." So with that, I thought I would post some useless bit of information here. Haven't quite determined what that might be yet, but as I type here, I am sure I can think of something that you'll be thankful for taking the extra minutes of your time to read. (hmmm...hopefully nobody notices that HUGE run-on sentence there)

I will tell you that currently both of my dogs are sitting in my lap, which a HUGE feat, considering, well...maybe not...the size of my lap. But, to further clarify, both dogs are under 15 lbs, so they're not huge.

So as I sit here rambling I have a ba-jillion things going through my mind and not sure where to start....so thinking maybe I just won't (start) :)

So see? I have wasted your time and I believe the only quasi interesting thing about this post was the fact that both of my dogs are in my lap, which incidentally, Dude aka Deet da dee has decided to stand up in my lap, with his front feet on my desk and watch me type...which at the moment he seems to think is pretty darn fascinating. I'm watching his head tilt as I clack away at the keys. Underneath him is Roxy as she attempts to maneuver herself in my lap to a better position, so that when Dude wants down, there will be absolutely no space for him, therefore being banned to the floor. She's such a smart girl. Dude aka Deet da dee, just isn't all there. But he sure is a sweet loyal dog. So with that, Dude has just jumped up off of my lap and Roxy has taken over full lap comfort.

Yup, I believe I have sufficiently wasted your time and mine, for that matter. Now I'm gonna post a picture of the pooches so you can visualize the faces much better.

Thanks for reading and I promise, just maybe a better posting next time!

Happy Video for July 8, 2009

2009-07-08T06:25:00.000-07:00

This video was made in the Antwerp , Belgium Central (Train) Station on the 23rd of March 2009. With no warning to the passengers passing through the station, at 08:00 am a recording of Julie Andrews singing 'Do, Re, Mi' begins to play on the public address system.”

As the bemused passengers watch in amazement, some 200 dancers begin to appear from the crowd and station entrances.

They created this amazing stunt with just two rehearsals!

Enjoy!

Just click the pause button on my playlist located at the bottom right hand side of my blog so that you can enjoy the sounds of the video.

Michael Jackson

2009-07-07T06:19:00.000-07:00

I'm Gonna Make A Change,
For Once In My Life
It's Gonna Feel Real Good,
Gonna Make A Difference
Gonna Make It Right . . .

- Michael Jackson, Man in the Mirror

Before all the silli-ness and weirdness, MJ was a great entertainer and his music was something I would crank up in my car and sing-along too. I still will listen to his music, for years to come. (I'm not ashamed to admit it!) ;) He did make a difference in the music world.

4th of July in the Desert

2009-07-06T10:29:00.001-07:00

We spent the 4th of July in Ocotillo Wells. Ocotillo Wells is an unincorporated community in San Diego County, California that lies along State Route 78, three miles west of the Imperial County line. During the summer time, temperatures can hit the triple digits regularly. On the 4th of July, we were easily at 104.

As you can see from the slide show pictures below, there was a parade and the Ocotillo Wells Fire Department was gracious enough to "hose" us down after the parade. The water felt great!

2009-07-06T10:28:00.001-07:00

Quote of the Day - July 6, 2009

2009-07-06T07:44:00.000-07:00

"A word to the wise ain't necessary -- it's the stupid ones that need the advice."
Bill Cosby

2009-07-02T09:01:00.001-07:00

God Bless America

2009-07-02T06:57:00.000-07:00

With the 4th of July fast approaching, I thought it would be appropriate to keep up with the patriosm of my postings here on my corner.

I looked up the lyrics to "God Bless America" I can honestly say, I don't know all the words. Whenever this song is sung, I can definately belt out the 3 primary words of the song and "from the mountains, to the praires" and "my home sweet home", however other then that? It's a shame, that I mumble along. Now I have "somthing" and I am PROUD to be an American! I hope that you too will benefit from this post and next time the song is sung, sing along with confidence. Just be aware, don't be around me when I sing....I'm not a very good singer. My son shudders when I sing along in the car. It's not pretty.

God Bless America
Words and music by Irving Berlin

"While the storm clouds gather far across the sea,
Let us swear allegiance to a land that's free,
Let us all be grateful for a land so fair,
As we raise our voices in a solemn prayer. "

God Bless America,
Land that I love.
Stand beside her, and guide her
Thru the night with a light from above.
From the mountains, to the prairies,
To the oceans, white with foam
God bless America, My home sweet home.

Quote of the Day Wednesday, July 1

2009-07-01T05:00:00.000-07:00

Where liberty dwells, there is my country.
- Benjamin Franklin

Gallaudet University

2009-06-30T05:06:00.000-07:00

During my travels to Washington DC, I am staying on campus at Gallaudet University. There is a Kellogg Conference Hotel on campus for folks visiting the area. It is located on Capital Hill.

Gallaudet University is a federally chartered university for the education of the deaf and hard-of-hearing, in Washington, D.C. It was the first school for the advanced education of the deaf and hard-of-hearing in the world, and is still the world's only university in which all programs and services are specifically designed to accommodate deaf and hard of hearing students. The university was named after Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet, a notable figure in the advancement of deaf education.

While I was out this morning taking photos it was neat to see all the folks sign their greetings to me. Please see my photo slideshow of the campus below. It is a beautiful campus!

2009-06-30T05:04:00.001-07:00

Fun Facts - The Football Huddle

2009-06-29T05:30:00.000-07:00

As American Football became more organized and formalized, so too did the huddle. Bill Hargiss is often credited with one of the first uses of the huddle while coaching the Oregon State Beavers against the Washington Huskies in a 1918 game in Seattle. Another instance of its use was when the huddle was formed by Paul Hubbard, a deaf player who went to Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C. To avoid having the other team see his sign language between plays, he and his team huddled together to conceal the signs.

Quote of the Day Sunday June 28

2009-06-28T06:52:00.000-07:00

Operator, give me the number for 911!
- Homer Simpson

Quote of the Day Saturday June 27

2009-06-27T08:31:00.000-07:00

Food labels that say "no fat, no cholesterol" might as well say "no taste, no fun."

- Julia Child

Quote of the day

2009-06-26T05:32:00.000-07:00

The best way to make your dreams come true is to wake up.
- Paul Valery

Quote of the Day

2009-06-25T06:28:00.000-07:00

Whatever I feel like I wanna do. Gosh!
- Napoleon Dynamite (2004)

Our home away from home

2009-06-24T21:08:00.000-07:00

Salton City

In 1955, on the Western Shores of the Salton Sea, the east three fifths of Section 9, Range 9 East, Township 9 South, was chartered by the State of California as the Desert Shores Community Services District. In 1957, M. Phillips and Holly Corporation of Dallas, Texas began development of Salton City.

Throughout the 1960's and early 1970's the area was all a bustle with tourists and winter vacationers enjoying the areas many recreational opportunities such as fishing, speedboat racing, kayaking, hiking, bird watching, and golfing. The permanent resident population stayed below 3,000 and its further growth was stymied by back to back once in a 50 year type record rainfalls in the late 1970's and mid 1980's. The resulting rise in the seas elevation and its' increasing salinities toll on the fish stocks made the area non-conducive to further real estate speculation and the areas population growth stagnated.

Starting in 2003 the effects of the ever increasing cost of real estate in California was beginning to be felt in the area and residential development began to blossom. By the year 2010 the permanent population may be as high as 10,000. Because of attractive pricing, we were able to purchase a home that bordered the Anza Borrego State Park and Ocotillo Wells SVRA. We are huge desert nuts and enjoy
4x4ing, 4 wheeling and dirt bikes. (depends on who you talk to in our family) The development we are in is nearly sold out. We are fortunate enough that several of our friends bought houses in the same development and of course we've made many new friends as well.

The Salton Sea

The Colorado Desert is a very arid region in southwestern North America. Extending from the San Gorgonio Pass in the San Bernardino Mountains in southeastern California to Baja California in northwestern Mexico. Several mountain ranges, including the San Bernardino and the Chocolate, separate the Colorado from the Mojave Desert. Much of the region, about 200 miles long and 50 miles wide, lies below sea level. The depressions include Salton Sea, the Imperial Valley, and the Coachella Valley. The area, where irrigated by canals from the Colorado River, is noted for the production of fruits, cotton, and vegetables. Temperatures change suddenly from 32° F to 115° F with a mean of about 90° F. Precipitation rarely exceeds 4 inches annually.

The Salton Sea is was formed between 1905 and 1907, when the Colorado River broke through an embankment at Parker, Arizona, and overflowed into California. The lake at first covered an area of approximately 450 square miles and had a maximum depth of 67 ft, but its area has since decreased by at least one-third through evaporation. The floor of the Salton Sea is approximately 280 ft below sea level. Currently the lakes salinity level is about 25% greater than that of the Pacific Ocean.

The Salton Sea is in the Pacific Flyway, which sustains numerous migratory bird species, particularly the waterfowl and shore birds. Nearly 400 bird species have been observed at the sea, about half of the known bird species existing in North American.

Quote of the Day

2009-06-24T07:45:00.000-07:00

"Strange things are afoot at the Circle K"

- Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989)

I don't know why, but love this quote. It's a classic!

Geocaching; one of my hobbies

2009-06-23T17:25:00.000-07:00

I have a hobby called Geocaching. I absolutely love it when I have time...but seems like lately, I haven't had the opportunity. Maybe when Kevin graduates from high school (1 more year) and things slow down just a bit. I particularly enjoy doing it out in the desert. My boys used to do it all the time with me when they were younger. To them it was a big treasure hunt. ...and literally it is!

Geocaching is an outdoor treasure-hunting game in which the participants use a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver or other navigational techniques to hide and seek containers (called "geocaches" or "caches") anywhere in the world. A typical cache is a small waterproof container (usually a tupperware or ammo box) containing a logbook and "treasure," usually toys or trinkets of little value.

Geocaches are currently placed in over 100 countries around the world and on all seven continents, including Antarctica. There are over 820,000 active geocaches in the world right now. I have a few out there I have placed myself, including a couple in the desert and three here in Escondido.

I have geocached all over the United States and in Turks and Caicos in the Carribean. Here are the states I have found caches in.

It's amazing to see the creativity that goes into the containers and disguising them so that regular folks can't see them.

Please see our Youtube video on the right side of this blog. Fox 6 news had come out and interviewed us on the hobby, they did a great job.

Here are some pictures of our adventures!

Geocaching in Hawaii - This is Makapuu Point on Oahu.

This is "The Breakers" Summer cottage for the Vanderbilt Family in Newport, Rhode Island. Cache is located very near where I took the picture

This is in San Antonio, Texas along the Riverwalk. It was hot that day!

Julie and I went caching in Turks and Caicos. It's a BEAUTIFUL island in the Carribean. We found this big starfish during our adventures

This is a cache right here in the Anza Borrego Desert off of Split Mountain Road in the Fish Creek area

And a cache right here in Escondido at Lake Hodges. We started caching in 2004, and this is one of our first finds. So my boys look young!

One of these days we'll find time or make time to get out and do the wonderful hobby again. I'm sure there a bunch of BRAND new caches that have popped up within a 5 mile perimeter of my home. In fact I am positive there a bunch of brand new ones.

If you are interested in more information, check out the website:

http://www.geocaching.com