New Year's Eve Morning 2009

Had a very fun holiday week.  On Sunday we met up with some friends for a post Christmas - pre New Year's party.  Kittye and Bruce Wallies invited a group of us for an evening of singing, snacks and fellowship!  Kittye and Jeri's grandaughters, Mallorie and Cassandra led off the singing with three of their favorite songs.  Cassandra on guitar and both singing very sweetly!  Then Bruce's brother-in-law, Joe led us in some Christmas Carols!  It was a fun evening.

Monday we met with friends David and Carol Prime and daughter Sophie along with friend Sally Black for lunch.  When Ted first got into horses he met Sally and she was one of his trainers in English riding.  David came over from England and worked for Sally.  They have been friends for a long time.  We had an enjoyable lunch and got caught up on what everyone was doing these days.

Tuesday Max got a haircut, I got my nails done and it was movie night for the "Girls Night Out" group!  We started with Margarita's at Casa De Pico and then went to see "It's Complicated".  A cute and funny "chick flick".

Yesterday we met our friends Jim and Della Crownover to see "Avatar".  All four really enjoyed the movie.  It's almost three hours long but never dragged at all for me.  It has an interesting story line and we really enjoyed the special effects.  I thought it had great imagination!  After the movie we had dinner at California Pizza Kitchen and came back to our house for a card game of Phase 10.  Della was the big winner at cards!  A very enjoyable day.

Today is New Year's Eve.  We are going to friends Tony & Gina Gutowski for a party this evening.  Gotta get going because I need to get groceries so I can actually cook something for the party!  Whew, these holidays inspire a lot of cooking!

Ted and I wish everyone a very safe and happy New Year!  And remember..."Ain't Life Grand!"

Christmas 2009

Christmas Eve our friend Peg came over for dinner and then we played Phase 10, a card game, which Peg won. Then we played Farkle, a dice game, and Ted won! I didn't win but Peg brought me "special coffee" so it was a great evening by all!

Ted and I had a quiet Christmas morning with Max. He had two toys to unwrap and he was a happy camper! He really enjoys tearing off the paper! I made Flying J sweet cream pancakes for breakfast, yummmm! Ted gave me wonderful presents this year; a beautiful black coat with matching gloves, a beautiful black scarf and a diamond Eiffel Tower! A wonderful Christmas for me!

That afternoon we headed for Carlsbad with our friends Jeri and Stan. Jeri's son Tony is married to Gina and Gina's sister Lenette and her husband Ron hosted Christmas dinner this year! Attendees were: Ron's mom Julia, Ron's son Robert and daughter Melissa; Lenette's dad Jim and mom Josie; Tony and Gina, daughter Mallorie (14) and son Trent (9); Jeri and Stan and last but not least, Ted and I.

Lenette is Italian and their traditional Christmas dinner is spaghetti and Lenette made a wonderful spaghetti meat sauce and pasta! We also had salad, garlic bread and little vino! Lenette had yummy home made cookies for dessert! We had a "bring a gift - take a gift" exchange. Ted ended up with a Chevron gas card (very useful for us) and I got a Starbuck's card and glass (good for me)! A great evening was topped off by a fun Charger win! I was neglectful in taking pictures, so only got pictures of a few when we first got there. Probably had something to do with the Charger game or maybe the wine!!!

Yesterday we had lunch and dinner with our friends Jeri and Stach (Stan) and Grandkids, Mallorie and Trent since Mom and Dad were working. Jeri made a book for me of pictures on trips the four of us had been on and included our girls cruise and actually had the book published! It's really cool and so sweet! For Ted Jeri found and had made the perfect gift. She knows about red lips and also that I end the blog with "Ain't Life Grand!" (although she doesn't approve of my grammar!)   So she had a hitch cap made for Ted as follows:

A great Christmas season..."Ain't Life Grand!"

Christmas Eve 2009

Ted had lunch on Tuesday with his friend Jeff Goodhartz.  Back in the early to mid-s 70's Ted lived in San Diego at Reynard Arms Apartments.  This past November we visited Bill and Ginny Nasse in Missouri.  They also lived at the same apartment building as did Jeff.  Right before we left in September, Ted tracked Jeff down quite by chance.  He tried to find him at Granite Hills High School but Jeff had retired from teaching last year!  He tried to get him on Facebook with no response from Jeff.  He was pretty sure he lived in Jamul so Ted went to the Post Office.  He thought maybe they could send Jeff a post card and tell him Ted was trying to find him but they wouldn't do that.  As Ted was leaving the post office, someone who had been inside when he asked about Jeff told Ted that on his street there was a house with a sign that said "Chalet Goodhartz".  So Ted drove up there, found the house and sure enough, it was Jeff!  The other day Jeff was driving by and stopped in at the campground to say hello.  Then on Tuesday they had lunch together with another Reynard Arms friend, Pete.

Yesterday Ted had lunch with a former co-worker, Jonathan Pullen.   You might remember that we visited Salida, Colorado on behalf of Jon and Pam Pullen!

Today we've just been hanging out enjoying the day, our friend Peggy is coming by after work for dinner.  Yes, I am actually cooking!  I have some Pasta E Fagioli cooking in the crockpot!  It is one of my Dinner Studio dinners.  It's got pasta, sausage, kidney beans and tomatoes in it.  Smells pretty good!  I'm also making some cornbread, with my secret cake ingredient (Peggy taught me) and it's delicious!

Ted and I wish all of our friends a very safe Merry Christmas and remember..."Ain't Life Grand!"

Sketchy wi-fi!

Unfortunately at Pio Pico, our wi-fi is sketchy at best!  We use a special antenna booster and it definitely helps but sometimes is not strong enough to use the computer efficiently!  In other words, IT DRIVES US CRAZY and the blog can't always get done!!!!

Anyway, Thursday we had lunch with our friends Jeri and Stach Gutowski.  They are close friends and it was great to get together with them.  My best friend Peggy came over for Survivor in the evening!  The three of us are long-time Survivor fans. 

Friday was some last minute Christmas shopping and we stopped by Ideal Plumbing, the company I retired from.  It was fun to see everyone that was there.   Our friends, and owners of the business, Don and Melissa are our property managers on our rental.

On Saturday we had Christmas with our friend Peggy and her family.  Her son, Sean, cooked a prime rib that was delicious.  We had creamed spinach, twice-baked potatoes and a delicious slaw.  Of course dessert was scrumptious, an apple crisp and a pumpkin trifle, both made by Peggy of course!  We never go hungry at Peg's house!  It was also a celebration for her Dad's birthday.  It was a fun day. 

Charger Sunday was fantastic.  What a squeaker of a game, so exciting and thank goodness, a good result!  After the game we went back to Peg's for leftovers (even better than the first time around) and Survivor finale!  It was an interesting season for Survivor!

Today was heaven!  Ted, Peg and I went to breakfast at D-Z Akins.  They have a two egg, two pancake, 3 sausage or bacon for $3.95.  Breakfast was up to their usual tasty standard!  Peggy found an ad for a 1-hr foot massage for $20.00, so the three of us decided to go for it.  It was wonderful.  We were all in at the same time (lined up side by side) and they started with our heads, necks, shoulders and down our backs.  Then they worked on our arms and hands.  From there, our feet (which were soaking in warm water).  After our feet they worked on our legs and back.  It was all heavenly!  We will definitely try it again.

Having a massage..."Ain't Life Grand!"

Girls Night Out 2009!

Wednesday night was the GNO Christmas get together.  As always, Peggy is a terrific hostess and what a fun night it was. There was yummy food such as Pasta with Alfredo, shrimp, artichoke, edamame, snow pea sauce. We had zucchini casserole, broccoli, chopped salad and before you think we eat too healthy, a to-die-for apple trifle! The drink of the day was a new concoction of bourbon, carmel apple cider, champagne with cranberries for prettiness!  There were lots and lots of laughs (we are a bunch of crazy women) and we all ended up with great gifts!

Ted and Max stayed home and had Filippe's Pizza!

Girls night out..."Ain't Life Grand!"

Back in San Diego!

We are back! We had a fun and busy weekend in Atwater, California. Vicky and Billy hosted the red lips group for the six time and such a fun time it was! There was a total of 18 people involved with some coming and going. We pretty much lived at their house all weekend! There were laughs galore, food galore and lots of catching up! For Friday nights' dinner I made a gingerbread and pumpkin Triffle! Most of you know I don't cook so I called Chef Peggy and off the top of her head she came up with the Triffle. Everyone was amazed that I made it and that it was delicious!

Billy and Vicky's son plays in a band and has many musician friends. He invited them over Saturday afternoon and they set up in the garage and played for us. They played the rock and roll from the 60's high school days, surf music and more. The cutest drummer is Vicky and Billy's great grandson! He's ready to join the band.

Saturday night was the gift exchange. Each person brings a gag gift and a good gift. The best gag gift this year came all the way from Austria. Not sure how they managed to get it back to the states.   Phil and Elaine brought it and it was wrapped beautifully. Vicky chose the package and as she slowly peeled open the paper, decided it looked like a dead animal. Guess what, it was! It was a stuffed dead weasel, with teeth! Our mountain woman, Neddy decided she liked "Glen" and took him off her hands.  Boy was Vicky happy about that! I'm not going to tell you about the naked hillbilly I got! But we all had a lot of fun!

Of course there had to be a red lips picture!

We all appreciate Vicky and Billy for hosting the party.

On Monday we left the cold and rain behind in Atwater and headed for Acton, California with our red lip friends Jim and Della for one night. After Della & Jim's left over spaghetti (which tasted even better than over the weekend) we had a good game of Phase 10.  It was good because I won for a change! Ted won over the weekend.   I think that is a first. Jim or Della most always win!

Yesterday we headed for San Diego and here we are at Pio Pico Campground in Jamul. We are scheduled to be here until January 4th (three weeks), 2010. YIKES!

Back in San Diego..."Ain't Life Grand!"

Leaving Fresno today!

Yesterday Ted noticed one of our front tires didn't wear well.  Apparently the tire toed in and ate up the outside of the tire so it had to be changed.  So yesterday Ted took it to a place where they rearranged most of the tires and put the spare on the back and realigned the tires.   Meanwhile, I stayed home and did some laundry and played games on the computer!

Last night we met Chip and Stephen with their girlfriends Haley and Marissa, for dinner.  We went to a pizza place with them.  It is fun to be with the kids and their dates.

Today we leave for Atwater which is up the road about 100 miles.  A group of "Red Lip Society" friends from Ted's High School are meeting for a Christmas celebration weekend, so more to follow....

Dinner with family..."Ain't Life Grand!"

Visiting Our Nephews!

We left Bakersfield yesterday morning and are now in Fresno where our three nephews live. Last night we had dinner with Craig (oldest) and Stephen (youngest). Craig started Law School in the fall and he looked pretty exhausted. He works at a law firm full time and attends school full time. He finished his last final for the semester on Monday night. Stephen is in his first year of college at Fresno State and also works. He has finals next week so he's still stressing!

Today we somehow managed to have lunch with all three of them! Chip is a Senior at Fresno State. He will graduate in June with an engineering degree. He also works. All three of them are incredibly busy so it's a special treat when we get them all together. It's fun to be with them and watch them interact with each other. We are so proud of all three of them!

And, as you can see, they are pretty good looking too!

Ted and I did a little shopping after lunch and then headed back to the campground.

Craig is taking a break from school and work and going on a 3-day cruise from San Diego down to Mexico with a couple of his study group friends so we won't see him until the next time we visit. Tomorrow night we are going to have dinner with Chip and Stephen and their girlfriends.

Three great guys..."Ain't Life Grand"

Winter is upon us!

Yesterday we went to Ethel M's chocolate factory in Las Vegas! They have realllllly great chocolate. Everything is freshly made with no wax or other preservatives. We left there and headed to our friend's David and Debbie Hawkins for dinner.  Max was invited and we all had a great dinner and an enjoyable evening.

This morning we left Las Vegas and headed to Fresno via Bakersfield. We got on the road were amazed at the snow in the Red Rock Mountains. When we went to the Hawkins' yesterday there was no snow and overnight it snowed quite a bit.  We continued on and the skies were looking very dark and rainy.  We knew there was a storm near San Francisco so we decided to call the road condition number to see if Highway 58 from Barstow to Bakersfield was open. The recording indicated there was no problem at this time so we took off on 58.   When we got to Mojave it was raining pretty hard. We went over the Tehachapi mountain range and the temperature kept dropping. The summit is approximately 4,000 feet and we drove through a bit of sleet and fog. Conditions weren't great but still passable so we carried on and arrived in Bakersfield at 3:00. Watching the news at 5:00 we found that 58 was now closed because of snow! Around 6:00 they closed the Grapevine! We were very happy to be settled on this side of the mountain and although it's still raining we are toasty warm and not snowed in!  Tomorrow we should be able to get to Fresno!

Making it safely over the mountains..."Ain't Life Grand!"

Viva Las Vegas!

Yesterday morning we ran some errands and drove over to the strip to check out the parking at the Wynn Hotel where we were seeing a show last night. When you drive "a manly truck" you need to make sure there is some place to park it! We were meeting friends David and Debbie Hawkins for dinner at the Wynn and then we were going to see a show there, Le Reve, a Cirque du Soleil type of show.

We got there a little bit early and walked around to check out the hotel and did a little bit of gambling (donating). We saw the Parasol Lounge but unfortunately with my cell phone it did not photograph well. It is outside and is a waterfall falling from the bushes, there is an infinity looking pool with a statue near the edge that looks like someone standing there! It was pretty cool looking.

We met David and Debbie for dinner and did a bit of catching up since the last time we saw them, until time for us to go to the show.   Le Reve is an amazing aquatic show of acrobatic dives, strength and stunts with synchronized swimming. It is very dramatic and almost sensual. The "actors" are in amazing shape!  The show is directed by Frank Dragone who directed "O", "Mystere" and Celine Dion. Ted and I really enjoyed the show.  There was no photography during the show just before and after so used my cell phone to get a couple of pictures.

After the show it was still early so we walked over to the Encore Hotel.   Fortunately the hotels are linked by a hall of very exclusive shops, none of which had any customers, so we didn't have to venture out in the cold! We decided to try our luck again and Ted won $160.00! I gave another small donation!

Today we went over to Boulder Station, the casino/hotel near our campground. We had breakfast and spent most of the day gaming! I still had no luck but I think Ted broke even after paying for breakfast. We had a late lunch and had to wait so long we got that for free!

Seeing Le Reve...'Ain't Life Grand!"

Casino, wine, pie & bingo!

Yesterday was a busy day. We started out at the Castle Cliff Casino ready to win - WRONG! We made our donation and had lunch. Right outside our campground and down a dirt road is a winery. The Alcantara Winery. We decided to taste their wines. It's a very small winery just starting out in 2005 so their vines are very young.  They make less than 300 cases a year.  Right now they  purchase the majority of their grapes from a relative in Paso Robles. We bought two bottles, a Petit Syrah and a Moscato.

After wine tasting we headed to the RV and  then went to a pie social (our dinner) at the campground. There was a group of 39 who had pie or carrot cake and then we played Card Bingo. Ted had pie and I had carrot cake. Both were good, enjoyed meeting a few people but again - NO LUCK for us!  The lady at our table said she wanted to win the last hand (worth the most money).  She mentioned it many times and then she actually did win the final bingo!

This morning we left Valley Verde and arrived in Las Vegas this afternoon!

Games, wine and pie..."Ain't Life Grand!"

Valley Verde

We left Tucson Monday morning and drove a couple hundred miles north to Valley Verde. I took some pictures along the way that I thought were interesting! The highway patrol sets up these unmanned cars with cameras and about a mile ahead warn you so you can slow down and go the speed limit and then you pass the car and go whatever speed you were going before. Not sure I find that too effective???? The Christmas decoration is in the middle of nowhere between 4 lanes of light traffic. Your guess as to what that is about is as good as mine!

Today I got my nails done and then Ted and I headed to Montezuma's Castle. It got Montezuma's name but he was actually not there.  They kept the name anyway! The Sinagua farmers began building this five-story 20-room dwelling in the 1100's. It stands in a cliff recess 100 feet above the valley. Some of the buildings were restored in the 1920's. Beaver Creek is close by to supply water and the ground was fertile for farming. They don't know for sure what happened to the Sinagua because they disappeared after 300 years. But they think they mixed with the Hopi Indians and left with them for some reason. You can't get inside the dwelling these days but get a good view from the ground below. The pictures in the second row are of Castle A. It is badly deteriorated but was once a six story building of 45 rooms.

Enjoying the cliff dwellings..."Ain't Life Grand!"