Life On The Central Coast

Artwork is from Kiriko-Moth and is called Rebuilding. Artist's Comments: I wanted to create a piece around the theme of strength, so I started with the iconic tarot image of a woman and a lion. But rather than taming or overpowering the lion, she's the lion's creator. The lion is also female, and represents her strength. Its funny that the majority of my posts have been about the fix-ups we are doing on our house. In a sense, we are "rebuilding" those things we always hated about the house but never had the time or money to fix. It started with the bedrooms (3 out of 4 downstairs bedrooms are completed) and now the bathroom. But I had a real "ah hah" moment the other day when I talked to my sister, Lynn. She called after reading the blog post about my oldest daughter having a baby in the same year as my youngest daughter. She told me, "You are experiencing a "rebuilding" year." Let me explain what that means in our family. My dad pas...

The Bathroom Re-Do continues. Over the weekend the bathroom was basically gutted. We took out the tub, sink, cabinets, toilet, medicine cabinets, old flooring... EVERYTHING! It looks like a blank canvas just waiting to be filled. Wes has been working on the tub plumbing. We are going from two separate knobs to a central knob. One of the best things we are doing is raising the shower head. The kids complained for years about being able to wash their hair with the head being so low. Now that they are all grown, and TALL, we think we will go ahead and raise it up a few inches. The new tub enclosure doesn't come already with a hole, so we can decide and make the hole ourselves. We picked up a s hower curtain bar that is curved to give you more arm room too. It's going to be nice. If we have the money, we are going to add a tiled section around the tub enclosure too. We were looking at the tub enclosure yesterday at Home Depot and wouldn't you know it's on the same aisle as ...

We got one of the best Christmas presents ever! Our daughter, Rebecca, is going to have another little baby! She's 8 weeks along and due the 6th of August. That makes 2 new Grandbabies next year. I told my girls and Wes III, when we found out Melody was pregnant, "I feel like by the end of next year, we will have 3 new babies." No, nothing more to announce.... yet!! I still think there could be 3 but it's not up to me. Little Scotty will have a new brother or sister! It's going to be an exciting 2009!

Looky Here!!! Isn't this a cute baby? He's my grandog Wilhelm. His Mommy & Daddy, my daughter-in-law and son, are busy with packing and getting ready to move this week. I offered to watch little Wilhelm for the week and they let me!! I'm jumping for joy! We took him down to the beach for a walk today with our weiner, Oscar Mayer, chihuahua, Rico and their "cousin" Brisa, a white German Shepherd. We made quite the quartet. Luckily, both weiners kept about the same pace although you could hear Wilhelm barking all the way up and down the beach. I'm sure it was barking with joy! He had the best time! Then we loaded them all up and brought them home. We have plans to do it all over again tomorrow. Kristen and Wes III are moving back to this area from Tracy, CA where they have been living or the last 6 months. They will be living with us for a couple of months while they get their deposits together and decide if they are renting or buying in this area. I'm S...

We are so looking forward to the activities of the day! Thankfully, we are starting slow and easy with just the two of us. I'm putting together Lasagne, a Nucci Salad (greens, rouquefort cheese crumbles, crunchy apples and walnuts with raspberry dressing) and Garlic Bread for later today and just straightening up a bit and doing last minute wrapping. The kids will probably be over around 1:00 and we want to go see this movie as our Christmas Day movie at 2:45. Gosh, I didn't even think to get advance tickets! I wonder if we will even be able to get in?? After the movie we will come back over here and probably pop the Lasagne in and do the gift exchange while we are waiting for it to cook. This year because of the recession, we decided to draw names and then buy as we wanted for Scott and the new baby. Hey, Christmas is for the kids right? We are so Thankful everyone in the family will be able to be here today. That is the gift.... Family.

"For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder; and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace." ~KJV Isaiah 9:6~

My Friend..... there are no words to describe the absolute JOY I feel knowing you are OK. I am so Thankful for the educated and experienced Doctors that operated and made critical decisions. May those caring for you in the hospital take care of your physical needs and also your healing spirit. I can't wait until you come home!  I'm sure you can appreciate this. I "prayed" the Goddess Rosary for you today. Isn't this just the prettiest Rosary honoring the Goddess? I found mine HERE . The Large Beads are the Our Mother: Our Mother who is within us, we celebrate your many names. Your wisdom come Your will be done, unfolding from the depths within us. Each day you give us all that we need. You remind us of our limits and we let go. You support us in our power and we act with courage. For you are the dwelling place within us, the empowerment around us, and the celebration among us. Now and forever. Amen  Miriam Therese Winter Medium Beads are the Hail Goddess: Hail God...

May You All Have A Peaceful Yule!  Video courtesy of Joanna At Gaian Tarot.

You've seen THOSE people before. They are in the parking lot with an item too big for their car and they are trying desperately to squeeze it in. "Maybe in the trunk?" "How about across the backseat?" "I Think I could probably tie it on top!" We go by and laugh, "What were they THINKING??" Today, we WERE those people! We made the trip to Home Depot with our bathroom list and wanted to get it all over with. Wes took care of the sink, cabinet, hanging cabinet, mirror and plumbing and I went and picked up a couple of lights. It took two carts; a shopping basket and one of those big flat bed carriers. I looked at the load and wondered how in the WORLD it was going to fit but Wes said that if it didn't fit, we could come pick up the rest tomorrow. They called an employee to help us "load" the items. He did one of those looks at the cart, then the car, then the cart... you know one of those "What were you thinking??" looks. ...

Not much going on today. The weather is gloomy but no rain. Picture-wise, not much to share... what can I say... It's "Hump" Day. Sometimes just getting through a work week is enough.  Tonight we are heading to Home Depot to make those pending Bathroom decisions. We've had an ongoing problem of this overhead cabinet. As you can see from the picture, small cabinet big space AND the cabinet is only here because of the heater ducting you can see on the top shelf. This has been a basically useless area for years and since we are redoing it, we're RE-DOING it!! The cabinet is getting taken out completely, the heating duct is going to be a bit smaller and more square, and we are going to hide it behind a diagonal sloped piece that will make the ceiling look like it's an architectural feature. It will go along this entire rear wall of the bathroom and be painted in to make it just a wall again. We will more than likely put in a cabinet with towel area or a standing o...

Red Rock Arizona “Beauty before me, beauty behind me, beauty beside me, beauty below me, beauty above me — I walk in beauty." My sister called from Barstow today to tell me it was snowing. SNOWING!!! That is pretty rare for Barstow but oh so beautiful when it happens. Have you taken some time today to look around where you live and see the beauty? Here in Grover Beach today we had rain. It smelled fabulous and everything was washed clean. Out my back window I saw a bird totally enjoying the rain. It was flopping its feathers and shaking the water off and, well, it was beautiful! I was reminded of this Navajo Prayer, "I Walk In Beauty", and I thought I would share it with you as well as some words of wisdom from a motivational speaker. Hope you enjoy it. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Dorothy_M._Neddermeyer,_PhD When my Lakota (a.k.a Sioux) friends and I say our good-bye, whether on the phone or in person, we part with the comment, “Walk in Beauty.” “Wal...

Had such a fun day today! Wes went into work for a few hours this morning and I got to sleep in about an hour! Bliss! Got up and read the Sunday paper and Tiffany showed up with Works Bagels for Breakfast. We visited for a bit and then she had to do some shopping. I popped a roast into the crockpot with some seasoning and went about my day. We met up with Beckie, Matt, Chris & Tiffany for lunch at Taco Loco. Because it's Christmas they had Tamales on the menu and boy were they ever good. Then we took a walk along Arroyo Grande creek. Snapped some cute pictures of Scott. He's such a cutey! Check out these crazy chickens. Arroyo Grande is known for having chickens that parade around the "Old Town" section and sleep down by the creek. The rumor is that they escaped from the local meat market. Do you think these want to go back? The only question for me is why were they advertising Tri-Tip sandwiches with all these fine birds volunteering for the sandwiches? Then we d...

Can you believe Christmas is only 11 days away? I finally got the Christmas Newsletter all finished up and spell checked and ready for the OfficeMax printing today. Oh My Gosh! It turned out so good, and in the process, we ran into one of Melody's friends that works there now, Doug. Cards with newsletters will be hitting the mail on Monday. Then we ran down to Santa Maria to do some shopping. Thought we would pick up Melody since Mike was working a "side job" today. We had lunch then went back to the house and picked up Brisa, her dog, for a drive in the park. This is the beautiful sight we found. Three trees all white against a green background. The picture doesn't do them justice because they were much whiter than they appear here. Next, my little 86 year old neighbor asked me to find Alfie's Fish & Chips, a restaurant in Santa Maria that has authentic English Fish & Chips and a little "British Market". Margaret is originally from Wales, but sp...

** I don't usually write about Religion on my Blog. It's very personal and some people feel confrontational and attacked if everyone doesn't agree with "their" theories on the subject. But, I'm stepping outside my comfort box today to share my feelings on the subject. It is not my intent to step on anyone's toes. It's more about sharing who I am. If you don't like what you read, you are free to leave this page and never return. But you are NOT free to leave negative, hurtful comments. Thank You and Blessings. ** Today is a day set aside to honor The Lady of Guadalupe with pilgrimages and feasts. It's one of my favorite stories about the appearance of the Virgin Mary to the common world. You can find the Story of Our Lady of Guadalupe here. I'm no longer a "religious" person. I affiliate with no religion but have attended many to come to this point. Presbyterian, Methodist, Lutheran, Nazarene, Baptist, Latter Day Saints, Jehovah...

My daughter called me this morning to let me know she was too sick to go to work today. She and Scotty have both had a really bad cold. So I thought I would finish our 2008 Christmas Newsletter first. There was only one small section left to complete and then making certain all the I's were dotted and the T's crossed. The weather outside was crisp and winter-like, so I grabbed my dog and took a walk on the beach. When I came home, I spent about an hour doing some routine straightening up around the house. Wes was able to take the afternoon off we and we made a plan to go into San Luis to the DMV and Home Depot. Yup, we are doing another 8 day make-over!! Our hallway bathroom, the main one for the ground floor is in need of a complete overhall. So we get into Home Depot with a thorough list we made 6 months ago and I thought it was going to be clear sailing. But no, it's always more interesting when there is a challenge right? We picked up the lighting, humidity reducing cei...

We had dinner out last night at Pancho's Restaurant in San Luis Obispo. I've been wanting Tamales lately, probably because Tamales are traditionally made around the Holidays. Anyway, we walked into the Restaurant and there on the Daily Special Board was "Albondigas Soup with Tortillas." Over in my "100 Things About Me" post, you'll see that I could eat soup for every meal. I went back and forth in my mind; tamales or soup, soup or tamales? When the waiter came over I decided... Albondigas Soup. Am I ever happy I did! It was a cold evening and I have been feeling like a cold was coming on for about 3 days. This soup came brimming hot and filled to the rim with traditional meatballs and large pieces of potato, carrot, zucchini, celery & onion. There is no way I could EVER tell you just how good this soup was! The waiter came over and I told him this is the BEST Albondigas soup I have ever had! He said they keep this soup as a "Special" in hi...

Today I felt EXTREMELY grateful.... extremely ! My wrist is pretty much back to normal. When the symptoms first came up on Friday, I couldn't think of one thing I had done to "mess" is up but it did feel like it was out of alignment somehow. I tried twisting it and bending it back and forth and it just hurt.... period. So I thought maybe it was Carpal Tunnel. All day Saturday I wore my wrist brace and it gave it the support it needed but it was still painful so I broke down and took a couple Tylenol around five in the evening. Then my husband suggested I take a hot bath and soak my wrist. I went into the bathroom and started preparing the bath. I heard a little "pop" sound and thought is was my knee but hoped beyond hope that it was my wrist. I thought, "I'll just move it really slowly and see if anything has changed". Gingerly I started working my wrist up and down, back and forth, left and right and no more weakness and extreme pain! I continued ...

This is a really nice time of year to walk along the Beach Boardwalk. This afternoon I had off and I've been waiting all week to do the Beach walk so I grabbed my two dogs and set off. They were so excited to be doing this walk again. They kept up a great pace only stopping when I stopped to take pictures. Here are a couple. First is of the Beach Boardwalk with the ocean and Pismo Beach in the background. The second is my "boys", Rico and Oscar Mayer.   My goal is to keep walking for 30 days and hope that it becomes a habit again. There's been another development that is not so positive. I guess I've been doing to much blogging lately or maybe it's just the ergonomics of my computer work. Either way, this morning I woke up with a VERY sore wrist.  By the end of today, it was so painful I had to run out and buy a wrist support. I'm hoping the inflammation will subside over the next couple of days. Until then, I hope all of you have a great weekend.

Soon it will be Winter here on the Central Coast of California. It may be better to describe it as "Winter" because temperatures here are so mild, the bulk of our rainfall won't arrive until January and we get virtually NO snow. Today, temperatures are in the mid 60's and it's sunny. We are still able to leave our windows open during the day to let in the fresh ocean breezes. I'm sure that sounds like heaven to some of you who are already clearing snow from your paths, putting chains on the tires and having to split wood for the fireplace. There's a little part of me that envies you! For the record, "I sure do miss snowy winters!" I didn't always live here in paradise. Once upon a time, I lived in a four season state... Arizona. As a kid growing up in Winslow, Arizona, I experienced snow regularly EVERY winter. So much snow that at times it resulted in Snow Days off from school. We'd bundle up with extra sweaters, socks, boots and scarves...

You were so together today when I talked to you on the phone. You told me probable diagnosis, facts and expected protocol. There was no hesitation in your voice, no fear, no tears, just "this is this and that is that". You are so strong! This isn't the first time I've seen that strength. You've had some challenges in your life, BIG ones! Ones that would have put a weaker person away. But I know you. You will do what you have to do. Take things in stride, find out all the facts, have the surgery and recover. We are all going to be there for you, family and friends to help out with your everyday healing and recovery. Your Mom, Amber and the Angels to help your soul recover and give you additional strength and love. I am so proud of you in all that you are doing right now. You GO girl! 

Walking. I love it! No matter what time of day you go walking there are always fun things to see. My friend Janine and I used to walk around our neighborhood every morning with our four dogs. We walked when it was hot in shorts. When it rained, we carried umbrellas and wore boots. When it was cold, we bundled up with coats, mittens and scarves. We missed very few days of walking back then. Once a week we would take a different route that ran along our local beach and through a grove of Eucalyptus filled with wintering Monarch butterflies. We walked every morning for at least two years, probably more. What happened you ask? Why do I talk about walking in the past tense? Janine moved away from this area for about a year and I got out of the habit of walking. Shortly after that, I was diagnosed with hyperthyroid. One of its symptoms is achy, crampy muscles. I would try to walk and when I would come home, my muscles felt either too weak to hold me up or so tight they might cramp if I moved...

It was one of the largest and quickest jobs we've done in this house since we moved in. When my son let us know he was coming we told him, "sure, the room will be ready in 8 short days." We made up a list of what to do each evening. I say evening because the rest of the day was each of us working our "1st jobs". Following the outline we tackled the daily list each day. First it was cleaning the room out, then spackling and painting followed by new hardware on the door and closets. Next, the floor was sanded and re-varnished. While the varnish was drying, we went furniture shopping. Guess what? We were told white furniture was on the way out. Good for us! It meant for bargains on everything. We spent Monday and Tuesday putting on the finishing touches; blinds, new electrical sockets and covers, fine detail painting near the ceiling and new pulls on the fan. Wednesday, we woke up to rain... rain with furniture being delivered! But the skies dried up just long enou...

I'm inspired to try something new when it comes to New Year's Resolutions this year. Christine Kane  has been choosing a "Word of the Year" instead. That's right, just ONE word as a touchstone. Now is the time to begin thinking of what that one word will be. I'm leaning towards Gratefulness. I am Thankful most of the time... in a general way. But I want to sit down every day and really think about my day and what I experienced that I can be Thankful for. So this past weekend I set up a new Blog space to record that Thankfulness. I look forward to recording many events over the next year!