The Red, White and Blue of the 4th.

The red is the car, the blue is the resulting bruises and white is just a skin color.

Coming home from the gym, pulled out of the parking lot and made it to the  corner light. BAM! A toyata hit the Girls car on the driver's side where she was and totally rolled us completely over. The other driver ran the red light going very fast. We live to tell the tale. Spent a little time in the ER to make sure there were no bodily damages that needed more medical attention than resting at home and taking ibuprofen. We are good, thanks to the Lord, and as soon as the Girl feels like it, we will shop for a new car.

On a  side note, all the folks on the treadmills at the gym had full view of the accident and some mighty fine fellows came and pulled the door open on my side so we could get out. Today we are both sore but living. And, it was the worst and weirdest ride and feeling ever!

Such a busy busy time!

Wow! That's all I can say about the last month. It was a very busy month. It started off with the landlord wanting to do the following things, and my loving Husband telling him that I can get all the quotes and schedule  all the repairs since this is what I do. Yeah.

So, evidently the insurance company said that they would cancel the insurance if certain repairs weren't made. There is some stucco damage along the bottom and the roof is at least 25 years old and needs to be replaced. Add to that, the paint is just bad and needs a thorough redo.

So, the owner's son came to take a look and agreed, these things need to be done. And he wanted to have a termite report. Yep, I had the pleasure of scheduling, meeting and interviewing each vendor, sending estimates to the owner and requesting approval and scheduling again for call backs.

The termite company said, surprisingly, that the house was pretty clear of termites, some places were active but mostly in the doors and along the west side. He recommended tenting rather than spot treatment, to get what can't be seen. I would agree, this is SoCal. So the owner agreed. It was a very busy schedule to get it all ready for the tent.

You have to double bagged all food, including the fridge/freezer except unopened cans and sealed bottles. You can't do this without cleaning the cabinets, it's just too embarrassing! So I spent a good week bagging and cleaning kitchen cabinets and bathroom cabinets. It was a chore, but everything looked good!

 Bags of food were everywhere, and I had reduced our food before this started. I had bagged all the fridge and freezer stuff and cleaned them both out. Dang, it all looked good when we left, other than stuff sitting around all over the place. I would be glad to puts stuff back into clean cabinets.

We had to find a place to stay, and some of the animals wouldn't be able to stay with us. The cat had to be boarded at a kennel, since I was certain we would loose him. He is really old and I wasn't really positive he would survive either the kennel or a couple of nights stay in a kennel at the cottage.

In order to have him boarded, we had to have his shots updated and that has a bad effect on him. It can take up to a week for him to feel better and he only weights 6 lbs. so that could be a death sentence for him. He survived and went to the kennel, as planned. He has never been away from home since we got him, so I was feeling really bad about this.

We found a place to stay that would allow us to bring the birds and the dog. Oh boy. This was a cottage in Ocean Beach. It was a one bedroom one bath with a fold out couch. I am not a fan of OB, but there was no other place to go with animals, and to board the dog and birds was going to be $300. So OB it was. It was a really nice place, to my surprise, with a totally fenced in yard. No bums sleeping in our flower beds. Full kitchen with cookware and table ware. I really liked the place. Amazing.

Girl and I went to the farmer's market on Wednesday evening. We bought fresh strawberries and other stuff, listened so some strange music, petted lots of dogs, viewed all the hippie crafts (its OB after all) and walked a bit around. We clocked 5 miles that night.

The next day, we went to the beach, but it was  COLD and spent some time with the dog who will not touch water. I think he has a defective gene somewhere.

The Husband went to work, and later that day so did the Girl. I worked from the cottage that day. It was quite and lots was accomplished.

Then came Friday, move back day. The husband went to work and the Girl dropped me off at the house to pick up the truck to haul ourselves back home. Then she went to work and I went to OB and began the loading process...birds, suitcases, a bit of food and other stuff. Tidied the cottage and left the key. Home I went sorta excited about putting stuff into clean cabinets!

I got home and let me say, nothing was clean. Fans blowing around air in a dirty tent make a DIRTY house. I didn't put anything away. As a matter of fact, I worked that day and waited until Saturday to begin the work. I was not in a good mood.

It took me all week to thoroughly clean the house. I started with the cabinets so I could put up the food. The fan in the dining room broke two paddles off and it took out two light bulbs. It took all week to find all the glass. I had to clean floors, baseboards, cabinets and walls. In every room. The bathrooms followed the kitchen, and during all this cleaning the washer was running. I know were are in a drought, but I need clean linens and things.

I have never had such a clean house. Everything is back where it should be, and I am glad, BUT I WILL NEVER DO THIS AGAIN.

Bragging Rights

Today was the Girls first "Girls on the Run-San Diego". She's been working for the Y for over a year and this year, she was the one who spear headed the GOTR for her elementary school. It was a lot, and I mean A LOT, of work outside of her regular working hours, to get this thing up and running. Her students running buddies tended to bail, so she was the running buddy for most of them. She had 15 girls for the run from her school, with a couple of moms who showed up, and they did what they were supposed to do. Run a 5K. Most of the student had really no idea what that was or the distance. They trained, and they all went to the finish line.

This picture is from the start line. There were probably 30 schools there and the sea of green shirts and tutus was mesmerizing. When the girls got to the finish line, they didn't look quite this stoked. I directed them to the banana/water/bagel station and then watched them collapse.

Amazingly, within 10 minutes, the DJ had them all up and dancing to "Let it Go" from Frozen and "Shake it off" by Taylor Swift.

As proud as I am of each of these girls taking this course, I am most proud of my Girl. She has shown  her passion for children and helping them reach and obtain goals in a kind and loving way. I don't know how she understands them so well, and seriously controls them in a manner that is admirable. The few parents who came had no idea who I was, but talked openly about Girl in front of me. They were also impressed.

My Girl is a great person! This was no easy program to run solo and I think I will have to take her out and let her know a little honor is a good thing.

Resurrection Day

I love Christmas. I love all the fun of Christmas. I like the season, the songs, the food and the gifts. I know that it isn't really the anniversary of Christ's birth, but a super great way to remember. Without his birth, I'd still be having to hitting up the temple with my sacrifices. I am a wicked sinner.

By far, my most faith filled holiday is Easter. I am totally awed at the sacrifice that Christ did for me. It humbles me and makes me feel very thankful. To be acknowledged by so many events of His resurrection, there is not one reason why anyone shouldn't be completely convinced. But there are.

We are not ham eaters, so our holiday dinner was brunch. After the service this morning, not the sunrise one, we came home and got the eggs Benedict, bacon, hollandaise sauce, potatoes, fresh fruit and OJ. It was delicious. Poaching eggs may be one of my least favorite things to do, but the end result is worth it. I didn't see one morsel on any plate left over.

The easiest hollandaise sauce ever made is using the blender. maybe 3 mins from pulling stuff out of the fridge to sauce. No more whipping over a double boiler.  Clean up was a breeze and now it's sit back and relax time. Tomorrow will be here soon enough.

My mind wanders

Recently, I went to the mall. For those who know me, I am not a shopper. But on occasion, I like to go to the mall. The Better Buzz coffee kiosk is there, and few stores that have unique things that I like to look at. Type is one, Antrhopologie and Sur la Table. My mind must be small.

You cannot go to one of these stores to the other without passing certain stores, you know the ones that make you blush or the ones that pump music and scent to the point you will get nauseated just standing in front of the store.

On my excursion this past weekend, being the people watcher that I am when my glasses are clean, I watched the amount of young women taking in their "significant other" into Victoria's "not so" Secret. No honestly, why would I want to take the Husband into a lingerie store that has perfectly shaped mannequins with thongs up perfectly shaped hinney, and bras that will lift those perfectly shaped "girls". None of those mannequins adequately represent me, with my not shapely seat and saggy "girls". Add to that, I really don't see the comfort in holding up a pair of panties or bra that would create a reaction that most men would get in a lingerie store, total embarrassment. Why would a man put himself in that position? I saw men staring at their phones while the Lady shopped. There there is the "bench of shame" where it was filled with men who did not go inside, but I saw one lady showing her sales, piece by piece to the man on the bench. I really was amazed at the whole "show you what I have underneath" show.

I can tell you what, the Husband would NOT go into that store, or sit on the bench of shame. He might even feel the need to cross over to the other side and stare at the the J. Crew mannequin just to be sure he wasn't mistaken as one of those men.

My last observation is about California Adventures-Disney. I was not impressed. It lacked the Disney feel, I didn't feel like I was the at the happiest place on earth. There was no Mickey, no princesses and really no feeling of the cleanliness I get at Disney. I didn't find the "cast members" to be overly friendly and the costumes seemed to be a bit shabby and ill fitting. I felt more like I was at an amusement park than at a Disney Park.

My next excursion will to be close my two day ticket at Disneyland, with the Pirates, Space Mt, Indiana Jones, World of Tomorrow and the Matterhorn. Gotta see the clock, train and Main St.

The Good Ole' Summer Time

I remember a day when it was cold. I bought a pink coat to wear when that day came. It came and I wore that pink coat.

It is a princess style with lovely deep pockets. It is made of boiled wool, which surprised me. I can't wear wool, but this was not an itchy one. It comes just below the hips and is water proof, so they say. I was amazed at how warm it was.

That was the one day it was cold. In the morning. Then it warmed up and the coat was a bit itchy.

That day is over, and as you can see, summer has come back. Dry heat Santana winds and high temps create stuffy noses, coughs, headaches and just a general feeling of yuck. But this also brings out a lovely night sky, bright stars and clear skies. Don't know how I feel about August in February. I see that the east was supposed to get a mammoth snow storm this weekend. Is there a place somewhere in the middle that I can wear my coat, but not fall on the black ice? Not too keen on rain, though the water would be very welcomed here. It sort of sounds like my growing up place, cold and foggy in the winter, hot and clear in the summer.

 Nah, not ready to do that. Guess I will put my coat up for the season and treat it with moth balls for the one day next year when I can wear it again.

Super Bowl Sunday

I am neither a fan of  the Patriots (though I have heard some very ugly things this week from others who are not fans!) or of the Seahawks (though I know some people who are avid fans, down to all the stats) but I love to see the people of my town prepare for the Super Bowl.

For the week leading up to the games, there are cars driving around the city displaying the flag of the team of their choice. Often time, I will see cars at a light flying the banners of their team next to cars with the opposition. I see on FaceBook the friends who are having the party of the year, complete with the largest flat screen available, and all the trimmings that come with a party.

It nearly, almost, makes me want to be a fan. But I am lost with football. Please don't tell my extended family, since we have had 2 major team foot ball coaches in the family and they would be horrified that I know nothing about this game. For me, the games in hight school were about 3 things, playing in the school marching band and half time show, checking out to see who would be going to the dance following the game, and finally the dance event. And that was the end of my football interest.

I wish I had waited until to day to go to Target. Yesterday was a total mad house, so I assume today will be a lot quieter. I may take the 3 o'clock hour and do some grocery shopping. My cupboard is bare and needs to be filled.

So I say to the Patriots and the Seahawks, Play Like You Mean It and head to Disneyland when it's over.