9.22.2011

THINGS TO COME

I'm winding down another busy week at work (trying to keep from pulling my hair out) and looking forward to my girls' weekend away, this weekend.  It cannot come soon enough. 

One final weekend of summer (even though I know that it will actually be Fall, the weather in the desert is still VERY summer like right now) to relax and bask in the dry heat of Palm Springs.  I really need a full weekend to be completely nonproductive.  Laying by the pool with an occasional dip to cool off, sipping ice cold drinks, reading magazines...and return refreshed and relaxed.

Coming up right around the corner is our October trip to visit our daughter, son-in-law and grand-babies.  Aaron will be celebrating his first birthday and we can't wait to get some Memaw and Pepaw time with Grace and Aaron.

We received this cute family photo from them in the mail on Monday.(you have to read the text beside the photo):


Did you figure it out?

Yes!!  We are going to be blessed with one more sweet grand-baby to love and spoil!  Happy, happy, happy! 

I won't be blogging again before we escape to the desert.  Tonight, I will be busy packing for the weekend, shopping for last minute items and crossing things off my list, so I will blog again after I get back.

If I come back.  (Just kidding)

I know, I know....keep my day job.

Over and out....

9.18.2011

SUMMER'S CLOSE

Last night, we closed the Summer season with friends at Coronado beach for a summer bonfire cookout. 

We snacked, sipped, chatted and took photos (with our phones and cameras) before the bonfire was lit and we began cooking hot links, sausages and hot dogs over the fire.  

Finally it was time for dessert:  s'mores and banana boats and some awesome Brazilian chocolate that Patrick brought back from Brazil (of course...haha).

With the warm sand between my toes, I watch the sun set into the ocean and in my mind, I could hear the melody of a Beach Boys song playing softly.



Adios, Summer...

9.15.2011

HOW I SPENT MY HIATUS

Where have I been?  I've been well; just busy and not in a very bloggy mood either. You know how that is.  Right?

So now that I have come out of my hiatus I'll attempt to fill y'all in on my goings-on for the past two weeks.

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Our Labor Day weekend was relaxed and it ended with rain. 

Saturday was warm and sunny and filled with errands and a family birthday barbeque for my momma at my brother's house. Good food and good company...oh, and exceptionally good cake!

Sunday was also warm and sunny and we went to the La Jolla Open Aire Market and did some shopping and then we made our first visit to Mt. Soledad.  It was a beautiful day and the views from Mt. Soledad are amazing!  The tributes to our Veterans were both sobering and inspiring.  There are so many stories brought together in one place. Here are some pics I took with my phone (neither one of us thought to bring either one of our cameras!  duh!)


The beautiful cross 


A slice of the view to the ocean from the Monument

One last photo of the cross and the Flag

Sunday evening, we made homemade ravioli for dinner.  Bruce made the dough and cheese filling and we worked as a team to pull the dough through the pasta roller and create the individual raviolis.  It was comical at times, and it turned out delicious!  Well worth the work and comic relief.  We opened a bottle of Petite Syrah and heated the small loaf of fresh sourdough bread we bought at the Open Aire Market that morning.

Monday dawned with clouds and rain.  Then thunder and more rain.  And more rain.  The sun broke through a few times, but the rain prevailed throughout the day and evening. Seriously, it was so un-California like weather for September. Our plants loved it and I was pleased we were relieved from our watering chore, so it was a win-win.

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Last week at work was so bad...well, it's better to leave that subject alone, lest I get so stressed out again that I need a vacation locked in a padded room!  LOL!  Let's just say I'm happy to have survived it and this week is so much better. 

Last weekend, I made two more recipes of jalapeno jelly.  One of the batches included a seeded habenero chile and it is HOT.  I had originally intended to make the second batch with two seeded habenero chiles, but after tasting a bit of the first, I decided that there probably weren't that many people out there that wanted their jelly any hotter, so I made another batch of my original recipe. 

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September 11 was a day of reflection.

I woke up earlier than I usually do on the weekend. The house was quiet. I started the coffee and turned the television on. Most of the stations were covering the 9-11 memorial in New York. Remembering the lives lost that day in New York, Arlington and Pennsylvania.

I somberly listened as the names were called and my heart ached hearing the emotional tributes given in honor of the loved ones lost that day. I felt sadness, anger and hope at the same time. I so clearly relived how I felt that day.


As I watched the rest of the memorial, I cried for the children that never knew their fathers. I was also very proud of our country's heroes who stepped into danger; some were heroes in the commission of their jobs and others were ordinary people stepping up to do something brave and good.  All of them were extraordinary.


For everyone we lost that day and for all Americans, our lives forever changed, I will never forget.


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As I previously mentioned, I am having a good work week, which is awesome and rare, so I am enjoying the respite in what is usually "stress on steroids" for me at work. 


This weekend, we are meeting a group of friends at the beach in Coronado for our 'end of the summer beach bonfire dinner'.  The guys will build a tower of wood and light it and we will cook hotdogs over the fire, savor lots of good food on paper plates, dig our toes into the sand and watch the sunset over the ocean,  and close the evening with messy, gooey and oh, so delicious s'mores. Note to self: Bring your camera.


So, now you are caught up with me.  That's a wrap, folks.  'Til next time!

9.01.2011

LOOKING FORWARD

September is here.

This weekend is a long weekend.  An extra day at home.  An extra day to relax, to float in the pool, to find a spot on our newly discovered "private" beach and listen to the surf crash against the sand sweet music in our ears and feel the sun on our skin.

September brings warm weather for us.  While the rest of the country has their summer weather in June, July and August, we have a delayed summer season.  July, August and September. 

I love September.  By September, the "Zonies" have vacated our beaches and returned to Arizona, throngs of tourists have gone back home and our beach town becomes our own again. 

School is back in session.  College campuses are brimming with students.  The days are still warm and sunny, but our nights are hinting at the nip of fall.

It is a month for winding down, for a girls' lazy weekend to Palm Springs, for anticipating Autumn -- Apple Days in Julian, chilly nights and warm blankets to snuggle under.

I love September and the promise of the season that follows.