A welcome surprise!!!

Ben, Mary, Me, Uncle Bob and Aunt Myrna...and Key, the shyest dog ever!

A few days ago, while on Facebook, I responded to a comment my cousin Mary made...she was in Southern California and I said "Hey...we are out of the way, but stop by!!". Well...last Friday morning she put a message on Facebook asking of it was still cool to stop in! I was so excited!! Elliott and I made a made rush to Costco and Safeway for groceries and then we waited for them to get here. They pulled in around 8:30pm, and they easily got the travel trailer situated in front of the house and we got her plugged in. Dinner was ready for the weary travelers when they arrived...Lee grilled some awesome London broil. My buddy Susan was here too, so she got to meet them as well.....by the way Susan, I owe you another date!!

We had a short, but sweet visit, and I loved talking to my Aunt Myrna, while everyone else was still asleep. I had fun playing the Wii, and with the Nerf guns with Ben....he is such a cutie, I cannot believe how fast he is growing. When he left, he wanted me to go with them, made me feel pretty special!

I think that these visits from family and friends are my favorite part of living here...we have been blessed with visits from Deana, Elaine, Patty and her son, Megan, Brandon, Mike, Mary and Uncle Bob and Aunt Myrna...not to forget the friends we have here, the built in support system has been priceless!

Got my head back in the game...

Above, is a picture of the new gym!! I used to drive about 8 miles to the one in Arcata. The new gym is about a mile from where we live. After vacation...I was admittedly, struggling with going back to the gym...I was only going when I had an appointment with the trainer...which led to only once a week for a couple weeks. I talked it over with Jaime (my trainer), and she told me is was totally normal....that even sometimes she struggles. In the last two weeks I have brought myself back up to 4 times a week....I even attended a class. The class was on my list of goals....my list also includes, trying a pilates class, and swimming lessons...and zumba, which is kinda like dancing I hear.

This change of lifestyle has been hard.....it is such a slow process, that sometimes you feel a little defeated. Turning the fat into muscle does not make the scale go down..in fact it goes up a little, as muscle weighs more than fat...go figure! The scale is the enemy, I have decided...and it is so easy to become obsessed by that number. My new numbers to concentrate on are my blood pressure, my cholesterol, and not so much the size of my pants.

Summer.....where did you go???

The Marina in Port Orchard

Like I said in the cooking blog...summer seems to have left us here in Eureka. I have not seen the sun in days. Today, the temp is not even getting to 60!! It is pretty grey out there. We have a pretty relaxing weekend planned. The new gym opens today...who would have thought I would be so excited about that!! My gym is opening a new site, here in Eureka (I used to drive to Arcata)...and it is less than a mile from our house!! Today is the grand opening and I do not think there will be much working out going on there...so I am hitting the gym early tomorrow morning.

Tomorrow, we are also meeting up with Cara Brockhoff. We have known her 10 years now....she has led us to every greyhound we have loved. Cara runs Northcoast Greyhound Support, they are not an adoption agency anymore, but she raises money for dogs and greyhound adoption groups in need. We are meeting up at Woofstock. Woofstock is a gathering of people and their dogs, with vendors, food and live bands. I am pretty excited, we have not seen Cara since we moved here....and her love of greyhounds inspires me.

Elliott goes back to school a week from Monday, on the 30th. We are anxiously awaiting his schedule to be posted online. I cannot believe he is a senior. I am so proud of my guys....all three of them.

Interesting...

I read a magazine called 'Whole Living', and this month there was a section called "The Whole Truth" on the last page. It was questions they ask celebrities and famous people...it was interesting, so I thought I would blog my own answers to the questions.

If I could say one thing to myself 20 years ago...you don't need a handful of credit cards and start saving!!!

My favorite place in the world...anywhere I can see the water and the mountains at the same time!!

The lesson I keep learning over and over...SAVE, SAVE, SAVE....not just for a rainy day...but for life in general!!

The movie I watch when I want to laugh...not so much a movie as listening to Lee, Mason and Elliott watching a funny movie...their giggles crack me up!!

Unhealthiest thing I have passed off as dinner...ice cream and cake

Personal philosophy...Karma is a bitch!

What keeps me up at night...worrying about money.

Book that changed my life...Twilight...really, some of the best, most fun things I have done, came from reading these books!

I unwind by...reading

I feel healthy when I...go to the gym as often as possible

I define "downtime" as...moments when I can breath without a worry

Coffee or Tea?...I have a passion for both!! Dark coffees and British teas.

Guiltiest pleasure...a trip to the bookstore, and leaving with a bagful of treasures (books and magazines)

The last time I lost my temper was...I cannot remember when....

I am currently reading...Second Chance, by Jane Green

Home means...We move a lot, home is anywhere...home to me, is any place where I am surrounded by the people and things I love the most.

Prized possession...A wooden chest Mason made, in it are my prized possessions, scrapbooks and special books and trinkets from those I love and miss the most.

Exercise routine...4-5 days a week at the gym, usually an hour each time on the treadmill, once a week with the trainer (thanks Dad), and when I can I have a routine I can do at home.

Proudest moment...July 24th, 1990 and February 9th, 1993...the days Mason and Elliott were born!!!

My mom was right about...laughing...she taught me to laugh even when you are scared!!

My mom was wrong about...not trusting people.

My dad always told me..."Check your oil"

Ok...I admit it....

I will admit...I have become the biggest nerd ever! I have become a huge fan of jigsaw puzzles. It started last winter...when job hunting was not going well, and I was pretty stressed out. I saw these puzzles at Costco and splurged. You get 2 of them for about $18 (but I have found them even cheaper on amazon.com). They are Eric Dowdle puzzles, the ones I prefer are the cityscapes. I have done, San Francisco, Seattle, San Diego, Las Vegas and NYC and a couple more. What makes me a nerd....I am totally sipping on British tea and listening to classical music while I arrange the border pieces and then go for the middle. I was doing a puzzle when we had our earthquake in January.

Lee kinda laughs and Elliott rolls his eyes...and Lil' Kitty just likes to plunk down on the table and "help". Best part.....I am not worried about anything other than finding that next piece to put into the puzzle. I do have to admit I have always loved puzzles though...I still have a couple that my mom found for me as a kid.

So...here is my recommendation, when the fall and winter weather gets you down...drag out a puzzle,,,it is a relaxing way to spend a night or two...or four!! As for me....I got a hot date doing the Lake Tahoe puzzle this weekend!!!

Well...that was fast!

Mike came down to pick up Megan...only having two days off, he was here less than 12 hours!! He got here on Saturday, I had planned a barbecue...something easy and filling. It was a nice night and we ate on our patio, with our cool lights lit up and citronella candles flaming....of course Mike and his friend were cold....this is definitely not the warmest part of California!! The next morning, I joined Mike and company for breakfast....it was yummy!

Mike mentioned a few times, that he had forgotten what the drive (WA to CA) was like.....we took this drive countless times as kids. I wonder if he recognized the camp place near Big Lagoon...where we camped once..the ocean was so loud that none of us slept. We took a lot of road trips as a family....Dad saw airplanes 40 plus hours a week....so I think he liked road trips better. We camped once in the Sierra's...all of us got sick, even our dog....nothing like being sick and the only bathroom is an outhouse! We drove to Wyoming through the hot desert...once I got in trouble for popping Mike in the nose and giving him a bloody nose. I wonder what passer-by's thought as my parents got out of the car with a bloody pillowcase. My mom always loaded a bag full of things to keep us busy...this was long, long before Gameboy's and mini DVD players...we played travel bingo and we had these tablets with special pens that revealed the answers to questions....I am surprised we were not dropped off on the side of the road, we must have made our parents crazy.

Mike said he was hoping to come back real soon....on a road trip with his kids....I hope they do, and that they make memories as fun as the once he and I have of road trips with our parents!

Megan

My beautiful niece Megan, was my souvenir that I brought home from vacation. I have had her all to myself for two and a half weeks. The budget was kinda tight, so we did not do anything too exciting. We hit the pool at the gym...the beach a couple times...dashed through the redwoods on our way to take Brandon (Elliott's friend) halfway home...took her to Ferndale for some pizza...to Bon Boniere for some ice cream...we kinda just enjoyed having her around. I cannot believe she is 13 already...I told her when she gets married I will still call her "Baby Girl". She does reap a little of the benefits of being the only girl...in that I want to spoil her rotten. She got me hooked on the Degrassi High series again on Teen Nick...I told her we would have to discuss it via email now!

My brother is on his way to pick her up now....and she will leave in the morning. Makes me sad, since I do not know when I will get to see her again...she seems kinda sad too. So...I am not going to waste these moments...I am gonna go see if I can kick her bootie in a couple Wii games!

Much love Megan!!!!

A Quickie...

Today is Coast Guard Day.....actually it is the 22oth anniversary of the Coast Guard. In the Coast Guard community, it is usually met with some sort of festivities!!! In Petaluma...we always made our way over to Six Flags (Marine World...for those that knew the place back in the day)...for rides and a catered lunch. Here in Humboldt....where the CG community is a lot smaller, we are headed out to the Trinity River, for a bbq lunch and a desert contest. It should be fun. Lee has been out there since 7am this morning, getting together with the other Chief's to help put on the feast. Megan (my niece) and I are heading over with Cirrus (my buddy across the street) and her kids....Elliott is choosing to stay home...can't say I blame him, sometimes these events can be interesting to say the least. Cirrus let me sample her "earthquake cake" she is entering in the contest....I need to get the recipe for that...it was amazing! I hope she wins!!

Mike is coming this weekend to pick up Megan.....I really hope my Dad comes along. It would be a super fast visit, but I want them to see where I live. Cross your fingers!

Well...Cirrus just texted me and said we are about to load up....hoping to get some fun pics to blog about next!!!