Monday Musings on Tuesday

It is late Monday night and I really just want to go to bed.

It's been a looonnnggg self-inflicted busy day.
In fact, it was a very long and crazy nuts kind of week!!
Here's a rundown:

Monday was no-school.
Rachel and I went shopping (with a TEENAGER!) and to lunch for her birthday, which was actually on Tuesday, but we didn't have any time to celebrate on Tuesday.
(This was also the day I got rear-ended by that lovely man.)
I made Rachel's favorite dinner and we celebrated with a
family party in the evening.

Tuesday was Rachel's real birthday.
Dan left me home with the beast truck while he took the van to get the damage assessed.
I therefore, didn't go get balloons and surprise Rachel at school -for her very first "at-school" birthday.
BIG MISTAKE!
I didn't think it would matter to her anyways as we had partied the day before, AND since she had track practice, drum lessons, and YW after school.
She noticed.
"Having your birthday on a school day SUCKS!", were her words upon arriving home. "Nobody did ANYTHING! Not even balloons!!!", she declared.
I am now officially a bad mother!

Wednesday felt like a little bit of a breather. Dan went out to inspect a campground at the state line. (Which somehow caused me to feel like I could be lazy that day - go figure!)
After a really good workout that AM, I fought (and lost) the battle of the chocolate zucchini cake.
Mary and I did all her laundry - JOYOUS!
I went and watched Rachel practice hurdles at track practice.
(I wish I'd taken pictures)
Then there was a RS birthday social. Dan was late coming home so all us girls went to the social and he came home with a big pizza and no one was there to eat it!! (tee hee!)
Thursday I had lunch with some of my "crazy lady" friends.
We talked and laughed, and laughed some more! I hadn't seen them in months!!
Then, I ran errands - ugh.
Rachel had track practice again, then soccer practice.
Mary had Special Needs mutual, which she loves.
I was the driver to most of these activities.
Good news - Danny called and he got his "match". He'll be doing his residency in Phoenix. We are thrilled!! He'll be so much closer!!
Dan and I went to a furniture sale in between all this and got a mattress for the guest room.
Friday I took down Mary's old twin bed and set up the queen mattress. Dan showed up in time to take apart the frame.
Now when we have guests, I can kick Mary out of her room and put the guests in there!! She won't mind. She loves having sleepovers with the other girls.
Mary also had some friends come over - they sat on the front porch swing and ate Otter Pops!
Rachel had her first track meet and blew everyone away by
coming in 2nd in the 2-miler. Go Rachel!!
Dan and I drove to Kanab for a little get-away. A friend surprised us there with flowers(daffodils and hyacinths), candles, and cookies - so kind and thoughtful.

Saturday, after a relaxing day of dreaming and planning, we drove home in time to take Jessica's group pictures for the Preference dance.
Jess looked bee-uu-tiful!!
A neighbor and a friend who is very talented did Jessica's hair for her.
It was AMAZING! Thank you Sherie!!
Silly, silly!
Sunday I had to give a lesson and Dan had tons of meetings.
Which brings us back to TODAY and
TO POST OR NOT TO POST...
I know, however, that I can't neglect reporting on some of my "musings".
I mean, my posterity will miss out on some essential wisdom!
(ha ha, right!)
For instance:
--If you pet the cat too vigorously in the spring you will get cat hair up your nose.
--If you go out and 'hoe' weeds after years of not doing this activity, your back will ache like you never knew! Hey, where's the weed spray???
--Dogs look very sad when they want to be fed. Scratch that, dogs look sad all the time!
--If you wash a dark red comforter with something white and fuzzy, it takes over an hour to get all the lint off.
--Wearing white capris might make you legs look tanner, but it will make your bottom look bigger!
--If you want your husband to hurry, don't tell him to hurry.
--Cat hair is very hard to get out of your nose. Or eyes. Or mouth.
--Given a lovely beach and beautiful blue water,
children will opt for the mud!!
Rachel and Jessica - summer 2004.

Okay, so it's Tuesday now and I'm just finishing this.
I know I'm off my regular "format", but hey!, it's my blog. I can do that!!
One thing I'm happy about today...
I've lost another 3 pounds!! Woohoo ME!! That's 13 total!! Oh yeah!
Now, just another 60 to go....

March , 2010 - Spring Break - Where we stayed!

Dan and I grew up in southern coastal California.
We have visited the beach for a day, sitting on a blanket under an umbrella.
We have camped at the beach in a car or van, and again, in a tent.
We have stayed at the beach in a tent trailer.
We have stayed with family while visiting the beach.
And, we have even visited the beach while staying in a hotel.

BUT, we have discovered...

that the best, most relaxing way to visit the beach by far...
is to stay at a comfy and cozy BEACH HOUSE!!

And that's just what we did this year when we went to
San Diego for Spring Break!!
We used some discounts that we had and
we found this little jewel in Pacific Beach...

on a quiet little street just a few blocks from the ocean.

Living Room - very comfy!

Spacious kitchen - nice to cook our own meals!!

Crazy red stairway

Master Bedroom - mmmm...luxurious!
Plus the beds were really comfortable!

Master Bath

Master shower

TV room upstairs

Upstairs bedroom

Our bags - all packed up and ready to go - *sniff*.

Rachel "Longstocking" - in the 3rd bedroom.

It was hard to leave and head home - back to 'real life',
but, then again,
if we didn't have real life, then vacations wouldn't be so great, right?
So...when can we go back???

March , 2010 - Spring Break - Day 4

Well, all things must come to an end, including spring breaks.

Ahhh, it was such a wonderful week.
We actually came back feeling refreshed and relaxed.

Our last day, after cleaning up and packing,

we headed down to La Jolla cove for one last flirtation with the waves and the sea.

Mary enjoying the ocean breeze??

Why is it that the sounds of the ocean are so soothing?

Jess - sure footed as a mountain goat?

Looks like she belongs there!

Rachel and Jess just couldn't get enough of the tide pools.

They were getting further and further out and touching all sorts of creatures!!

"Look, I fit!!"

Parting the sea??

Rachel Roni - in her element!

After checking out the tide pools, we had a picnic up on the grassy cliffs overlooking the cove,

sharing it with a friendly squirrel!
Don't worry San Diego - we'll be back!!

March , 2010 - Spring Break - Day 3

A Day to Chill and Watch the Sunset

Monday thru Wednesday were pretty grueling and non-stop, so the girls and I opted for just chilling at the beach house for most of the day on Thursday.
BTW, this beach house was awesome. This is the way to go on vacation. All the comforts of home, we can cook our own meals and bypass all the fast food, and everyone has their space!
(Hey! I'll do a post just on the beach house next!)
After sleeping in ridiculously late,
Dan went back over to his Moms house to work on taxes again, and we just stayed put.

Meanwhile, we prepared food for an evening barbeque. (Dan's family was coming over late afternoon) Rachel and I explored the yard, or, SHE explored it while I swept the patio, chairs, barbeque grill, tables, fountain...yea, I pretty much had a sweeping FRENZY!

In case some of you didn't know, Rachel loves to look for "treasures" in the loosest sense of the word. By the time she was 3, she had wire collections, nuts and bolts collections, and lost key collections, just to name a few. Even at the ripe old age of 15, she still loves to search for "things" to collect! Love that girl!!
While Rachel and I were doing this & that, Jessica did homework (BORING...) and Mary colored in her drawing book. Later in the afternoon, the girls got in their swimsuits and laid out to catch some rays and get their first tan of the year!
THEN...Dan, his mom, sister, and nieces and nephews came over around 4:30pm and we went down to the beach to take a walk and catch the "GREEN FLASH" of the sunset.

Rachel & Jay

Grandma & Mary

The whole gang (except Dan who was taking the picture)

So much to catch up on....!

Mary, Mary, quite contrary....

Rachel & Jess under the pier

Jess

Jessica and a beautiful sunset

Rachel, "Look Jess. I got a crab in here!"

Dancing in the surf!

One of the funniest moments came when a rogue wave got Jess unawares!
It looked like she had a little oopsie in her pants!!

All in all, it was a great day. Quiet, fun, family, and some R&R!!
Oh yeah...we saw the Green Flash!! It was SOOO COOL!