Not Very Original

Since I find us in a bit of a lull (or is that, since we're a bit dull), I decided that I would follow the lead of Jeff and Nicole. Hope you find this interesting. :)

10 years ago:
I didn't think I would be able to remember anything but luckily, Jeff has reminded us that he was beginning HS and escaped attending Foothill which does jog my memory a bit. I believe that was the year that Nicole and Jon got married and thus brings back all the memories of blizzards, plane rides from he__ and trying to bring a wedding cake back on the plane among other things.

5 years ago:
Jeff was leaving for his mission and we were preparing to be empty nesters (which didn't last). To avoid that dreadfully empty feeling that comes when someone leaves and you know that you're not going to be seeing that person for a long time, I immediately hopped on a plane and flew to Utah for my high school reunion.

5 months ago:
(I had to consult my calendar for this one). I was taking lots of quilting and software classes, and even though it seemed like they were taking up almost every night and weekend, I really enjoyed learning lots of new stuff. And I started making a quilt that I can hardly wait to finish. Dad and I celebrated Valentine's day at Macaroni Grill.

5 things on my to do list:
1. Finishing one of my "in progress" quilts
2. Backing up my pictures from the computer onto a hard drive
3. Getting my sewing room/guest room in order before the kids arrive
4. Relaxing in my lounge chair on the patio with a good book
5. Learning to quilt on a long-arm machine

5 snacks:
1. Godiva or See's Chocolates
2. Chocolate brownies
3. Crackers and Brie cheese
4. Peanut M&M's
5. Mrs. Field's cookies

5 billionaire things:
1. A private yacht and vacation homes scattered around the world
2. Travel via a private jet
3. A huge house with several garages full of really cool cars
4. A fabulous wardrobe
5. Household help, i.e., housekeeper, gardener, cook
(Okay, I cheated a bit to get it all in)

5 places I have lived:
1. River Heights
2. Logan
3. Salt Lake City
4. West Tustin
5. South Tustin

5 things you may not know about me:
1. I belonged to a sorority in college.
2. I had several opportunities to drink while in college, but never did and never have.
3. I went to school with and was good friends with Craig Jessop (formerly director of the MoTab) and Michael Ballam, in fact I even babysat Michael & his brothers once.
4. I was asked out on a date by Sergio Mendez, (the lead of a popular band in the 60's & 70's), but turned him down since I was certain he was just looking for "groupies".
5. I took dance lessons for 6 years and piano lessons for 6 years.

5 pet peeves:
1. Stupid people who just don't get it.
2. People who smoke with no regard to those around them.
3. People who can't pick up their own trash.
4. My next door neighbors.
5. People who spit lougies on sidewalks where I have to walk.

This was fun --

Daddy's Big Adventure or Boys Just Want To Have Fun

We've just spent the past week in Utah celebrating Mom and Dad Crosbie's 65th wedding anniversary. Saturday evening after the day's festivities had ended, Jed took Dad and Michael ATVing up into the hills above the Merrill's house. They returned several hours later and were rather nonchalant about their adventure. Then I noticed that the front of Dad's jeans were really ripped up. When I asked what had happened, he just gave me some story about how he had ripped them on the seat as he was getting off the ATV. Later on something was mentioned about him having banged up his knee. I finally got the whole story out of Michael about how they had swerved one direction to avoid a rut and he had followed them, went off the road and caused the ATV to roll over him. The thing that saved him from more severe injury was the fact that he fell into a rut or ravine as the ATV rolled. So the injuries are confined to a whip lash, bruised ribs, sprained wrist and thumb and a really ugly contused and bruised leg. And you know how Dad is, he doesn't complain about the hurt. So, I took a few pictures so we can all feel the pain for him.

It's a Bird, It's a Plane, It's . . . .

Sawzall man!! Ready to make home repairs in a flash. He can rip through wood, nails, walls, the roof. He's a dangerous man when he puts on his goggles and picks up his Milwaukee weapon! Notice how all the wood facing is missing from the upper eaves.

On the other side of the house . . . . meet our newest family member, Big Bertha Payne. She's going to be keeping our house nice and cool this summer. Her little brother, Henry, resides in the garage and will keep us warm and toasty in the winter.

What a Difference a Week Makes

We are way over due for an update. It's been a busy month and I've been very involved in a not able to be disclosed project. I have been working under a deadline which I am happy to report was met. This project will be revealed to you all very soon, but enough about that for now.

Like all of you, we've had very strange weather. A few weeks ago we had our first heat wave and wouldn't you know it, the AC wouldn't work. Since the furnace and AC were 30 years old, we decided it wasn't worth spending $$ on since it didn't function all that efficiently anyway. So we contacted a acquaintance who does this type of installations and proceeded to replace the old with new. The guy started pulling out the old units and just about that time, another heat wave arrives. We suffered through 4 days of the high 90's -- it was pure misery. Flash forward a week later and the guy finishes up the job today. True to nature, the temps these last few days have been much cooler. Today it was in the low to mid 60's with lots of rain for us and snow in the mountains. Brrrrr. But just because we're looking for the sympathy factor, we took a picture of our thermostat showing the inside temperature of our house during the heat wave. Rest assured, nobody will have to suffer when they visit this summer.

Springtime in Sunny California

This is one of my favorite times of the year -- the weather is beautiful, the temperature is just right, in the 70's. Most of all, I love seeing everything come back to life. The trees are starting to get leaves on them, the hills are really green; when there were orange groves in Orange County you could smell the orange blossoms everywhere which was absolutely heavenly. The hay fever isn't so fun, but Zyrtec and Nasonex make it bearable. One of my very most favorite things about spring is seeing my roses begin to bloom. Just a little over two months ago, they were pruned down to just a few canes. It's pretty amazing to see this particular bush, (which we have nicknamed the "USC" rose because it's crimson and gold), it's got over three dozen blooms on it. So for those of you who are still dealing with the cold and snow, I just wanted to share with you some place where there is some beauty on this earth right now. (And apologies to Jeff, no one has invented a blue rose yet -- at least that I'm aware of).

What Have I Done?

I've been in this organization mood lately -- (wish I could see/hear the reactions of my kids as they read this). A year ago I had a friend from my quilt guild come in and help me revamp the arrangement of my sewing room/computer room/guest bedroom. This is how my room looks on a good day: I got this great idea a couple of weeks ago, why not move the contents of the closets on both ends of the room, i.e., put all the clothes in the big closet and move all my fabric and sewing supplies down to the other closet which is nearest my sewing area. Good concept!!! So, the 1st day of my spring break, I enlist Michael to help me pull out all my crates and I spend the rest of the day moving things around. I ran out of time to get the crates relocated, so that was my big task for yesterday. Our mantra around here is that there is no easy project and this one was no exception. The big closet is 30" deep. The small closet is only 23" which meant that the majority of my crates wouldn't fit. So I've had to go through things in the storage shed to find some smaller ones and now I'm unpacking the big ones and transfering the contents to the smaller ones -- bigger to smaller means that not everything is going to fit which means some stuff has got to go! This is where I am right now:Ugh!! Give me a couple of days and it will again look like the 1st picture.

Our Trip to Cambria

It's Easter break and we're celebrating our 38th!! anniversary. So my sweetie (Stevie Wonderful) plans this great getaway to one of our favorite spots. It's midway up the coast of California, a good five hour trip, but it's scenic and beautiful and very green. Cambria is a very small little town that sits out on the beach. It started as an art colony and hasn't grown a whole lot. The people there like it that way. There are no franchise restaurants or hotels but that's okay because it's just a nice wonderful place to just kickback and energize -- which we both needed.

So, SW makes all the arrangements, goes on the internet to find a great place to stay, and chooses this little place called Moonstone Inn that's right there on the beach. It looked really good on the internet. We drive into the parking lot and one look tells us that it's a dive. We check in (with trepidation) and after the lady gives us the keys, she tells us to be careful, we're on the 2nd level and the railing isn't very stable. That was an understatement and the door looked like someone had tried to kick it in, too. The inside was, well -- not the worst we've ever seen, but it looked like it hadn't been decorated for a few decades. The carpet was rather dirty, the TV very old and the remote was taped together. The wallpaper on the wall had been painted over and was peeling apart. The bathroom was interesting -- dingy towels and black mold or mildew all around the ceiling. It did have one redeeming factor though, our breakfast was delivered to our door on china and a silver tray -- warm Costco muffins, cereal, juice and the hot chocolate was very good. We then checked out and went down the street to a place we're stayed at before -- like going from a Motel 6 to a Marriott. And it was cheaper too!! Go figure.

The other little kink in this otherwise great adventure was that when we were unpacking the car at the 1st place, we discovered that my suitcase had been left at home and I had no clothes except for what I was wearing. We had to make a 23 mile excursion over the mountain to Paso Robles to find a shopping center. I made sure that I shopped for nothing but the best -- $22 jeans at Target, and I spent $33.66 at Kohl's for two shirts and a nightgown. Just a couple of miles up the road is where the elephant seals hang out. If we'd been up there about a month ago, the beach would have been covered with Mommy seals giving birth to their babies. The roadsides are covered with all sorts of wild flowers. These are California poppies. Our favorite restaurant in Cambria is Main Street Grill. It's a barbeque joint -- better than Whole Hog and the all the others that we've tried. We only ate there once on this trip, but the pulled pork sandwich was soooo yummy. When we first started going to Cambria, this place was a little shack and was a favorite of the bikers. They enlarged the place and the bikers still love it. We do too.This was a great adventure and we had a wonderful time.
This was a great adventure and we had a wonderful time.

Just a couple of miles up the road is where the elephant seals hang out. If we'd been up there about a month ago, the beach would have been covered with Mommy seals giving birth to their babies. The roadsides are covered with all sorts of wild flowers. These are California poppies. Our favorite restaurant in Cambria is Main Street Grill. It's a barbeque joint -- better than Whole Hog and the all the others that we've tried. We only ate there once on this trip, but the pulled pork sandwich was soooo yummy. When we first started going to Cambria, this place was a little shack and was a favorite of the bikers. They enlarged the place and the bikers still love it. We do too.