R and R

Chris and I got away to Santa Catalina Island for the weekend. Got a great hotel package that included the round trip boat ride and unlimited free tours. We took an inland tour, a semi-submersible sub tour, glass bottom boat tour, plus rented a small boat to check things out on our own. Of course, Chris was trying to hit the wakes and throw me overboard, but his plan failed. I will post a slide show at the bottom of the blog if you want to check it out in more detail. The ocean was a smooth as glass when we were out on it. Okay, well almost. Right before we left the van died, and we were taking the Civic. Amy borrowed a car from a friend and it worked out okay, a defective battery was replaced when we returned. Not something you want to hear right when you get up at 5 a.m. to pack and leave!

The Island life is definitely laid back -- the tourist season is over for the most part and it was quiet. We spent a lot of time hanging out on the piers. It did get busy for about eight hours when a Carnival cruise ship anchored on Saturday, but the tourists all left by about 4 p.m. that day. The line to get back to cruise ship was never ending... we couldn't even see the end of it... we were glad we weren't on the ship. The only thing I really missed (except the kids) was Starbucks... nary a one to be found. I found one on the way home though! We were both ready for a mini-vacation -- we both fell asleep on the boat ride over! It's about a 75 minute cruise from Dana Point.

Here's a couple more ghoulie pics...

Of course, we missed Ally's cross country meet on Saturday, and of course she got her first medal of the season...

We visited the pumpkin patch and got our pumpkins, honey, walnut maple syrup, some strawberries, and some gross icky pickled garlic... Chris doesn't believe me that I can still smell it on his breath two days later... grrrrrrrrr.

Spooky! And Piggy.

There are some crazy things in the stores these days! Here's me and ghoulie... Kathy said it reminds her of Jobie... LOL!

Seriously, is this a Christmas decoration?

And here's a giant pepper -- why, I do not know!

Figured I better post a few comments and pics because I'll have plenty to post next week after our trip to Catalina.

Here's Chris getting ready to go to work... I needed a pic for a scrapbook page, so had him pose for this.

Tomorrow we're going to the pumpkin patch. Chris is off work until Sunday night. Woo hoo! Then we will play volleyball tomorrow night.

Made these peanut butter and chocolate squares, but they turned into a giant mess, the peanut butter mix was too soft... sent them over to Amy's friend's house, I'm sure they are gone by now!

The router at work went out, so no internet. Big fiasco with the router and now the modem. It's getting fixed in the morning... will be day four! Didn't realize how much I use the internet until I didn't have it. Couldn't even look up a zip code.

I am steaming because Starbucks raised my frap drink price BY THIRTY CENTS! Come on! I can see maybe a nickle. But geesh... everyone's trying to cut back and cut prices... what is up with that. I am just going to get a tall instead of a grande from now on, I refuse to pay over four dollars for a stinkin' drink!

Batter Up!

No, that title is not because I'm watching the playoffs (I told Chris I'll watch the World Series, that's my limit unless the Padres are in the playoffs -- dream on!), but because of the weird pancakes I made today. It's a German pancake recipe I got from a friend. Kinda bland, but perked up with syrup.

I also made these strawberries for Ally's cross country team party today... they barely made it out the door, we all kept trying to eat them. Chris wants to take some to work tomorrow, so I will make some more... if I must:)

It has gotten hot again -- a couple days over 90 -- boo hoo I thought fall was here. Today I registered for the National Marrow Donor Program. A lady from the church I play volleyball at headed it up, and I figured it would be a nice thing to do. All they do is have you swab the inside of your cheek. Very easy. Only one in two hundred people actually ends up as a donor. I will be in the registry until I'm 61 -- that's the age limit.

Amy lost $50 this week -- she put it in her pocket. I did have to say, "How many times have I told you..." She was upset at first, but got over it. She was going to get her nails done, but had to cancel. Then she found a lady who will do her nails for half the cost she's been paying, so she said it was all good.

This week was Boss's Day and I made some caramels and peanut butter filled chocolates. Plus my new found talent -- caramel apples. The apple was a big hit. Made some extras for Amy's boss at Burger King. Amy said her boss about started crying, no one else had remembered.


Ally is over at Bree's house. Her parents go to a friend's house to play poker on Saturday nights, so Ally and Bree go and watch movies and eat munchies. She said it goes really late... I am picking them up for church in the morning. Hopefully they get up!

Had a hard time getting motivated to do anything today... but finally got it in gear, put together some scrapbook pages I had already printed, made some phone calls for the church, did the dishes... that's about it.

REALLY looking forward to Catalina next weekend!

Autumn's in the Air

The hot days are over, although we still have 80 degrees once in awhile, it has cooled off significantly -- and although we don't have any leaves turning (palm trees don't exactly lose their leaves), I can tell by the decrease in my gas and electric bill by almost $300.00 -- woo hoo! I do miss the leaves turning, although we can travel a little and still see some, it's not the same as the midwest with colorful trees as far as you can see.

Speaking of traveling, Chris and I are finally getting away for a weekend by ourselves. I can't remember the last time we got away, just the two of us... a year, two? We are going to Catalina Island -- got a weekend package that includes the boat ride, and unlimited tours. VERY EXCITED... we will go in a couple weeks.

Ally finally got back into racing. Can tell she's had time off, but she did hold off a girl trying to pass her at the very end. The race was almost three miles and they both got the exact finishing time, but Ally was ahead. I tried to tell her as she passed me near the finish line that there was a girl coming up on her... but it wasn't until she saw her shadow and heard her breathing right at the end that she pushed super hard. She gets so mad when someone passes her right at the end... I guess that's good motivation. The race was up near Julian and there are lots of trees like the one in pic that were affected by recent fires.

I won a "basket" from the Lakeside Farmer's Market. But they wouldn't let me have the basket, just the stuff in it. It was strange... a lot of weird stuff donated by the vendors, like their stuff that is less likely to sell, or their leftovers. I didn't get any of the good tamales, beef jerkey, or honey I always buy over there. I got limes, peppers, tomatoes, a bag of tortilla chips (but none of the gourmet hummus he sells). But I did get a few good things... a canteloupe, jalapeno bread, a dozen eggs, two jars of fruit topping, and a coupon for a free BBQ meal from the market. It was free -- so I'll take it.

Had a weekend of making candy. Ally and her friend Amanda made the chocolate suckers, and I wasn't even home. She is learning! I made hard tack candy (pineapple) and the hard tack suckers (yellow) are part of that. Also made some white chocolate rice crunch ghosts and pumpkins. And tried cheesecake caramel apples. Took me three tries on those... but oh so good when I finally got it right. Tried whipped cream cheese and marshmallow cream for a layer first, but that was too soft. Tried melted white chocolate and cream cheese next, but that didn't blend well and wouldn't stick. Finally tried just melted white chocolate over the caramel, then roll in graham cracker crumbs and that was perfect!








Looking forward to fall and the holiday season!

Happy Birthday Ally

A busy, busy week -- just haven't had time to post.

It was Ally's birthday on the 5th. See the bottom of this page for the slideshow. It was cold, windy, and half her friends were sick, but we had fun at Santee Lakes -- barbecued, fed the ducks, rented pedal boats, and so on.

We also attended the wedding of our Youth Pastor down at the harbor. Congratulations Mike and Denise. Saw a huge fire ball from a car wreck on the way back, but never found out any details from the news.

We have the DVR hooked up -- I watched the Charger game in 1.5 hours. Wow, saved two hours by cutting out all the commercial breaks, etc. AWESOME! The game wasn't awesome, just the DVR.

What is up with David Letterman? First no apology or remorse, then just an apology for what the staff has had to put up with. Did he not think his wife would be upset?! Really bugs me that his audience acted like he was a hero -- I could go on here for hours, but I will move on -- grrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

Trying to cut to the basics so my post is not so long. Here's some of my fall decor... I love these pumpkin candle houses and the eggplant. Haven't been able to find any more that I really like.

Here's a pic of a plate that Chris' great grandmother painted in 1898. It hangs above our fire place. Very professional.

Overslept today -- musta turned off my alarm. But the extra hour was nice! Breakfast was late -- it was an Amish casserole with shredded potatoes, cottage cheese, cheese, bacon, and onions. Very good -- tomorrow it's poppy seed muffins (no not from scratch, but definitely easier!). Thursday it's baked oatmeal over apple filling. Haven't tried that one yet.

Chris and I are planning a weekend away in a couple weeks. Haven't gotten away, just the two of us, in forever -- at least a year!