Our Most Excellent Valentine Adventure

Valentine's Day fell on Friday this year and in the day's approaching it, I got to thinking that it would be a nice time for Vladi and me to get away from the house and do something fun. We have both been home for a few weeks, him between jobs and me on disability because of foot surgery. We were both a little stir crazy. We got our taxes done on the 12th and knew we were going to get a little money back so we decided to take a little weekend getaway.

Now, anyone who knows us well knows that we are planners. We like to know what we're doing and where we're going well in advance so that we can be properly prepared for whatever might come up. Well, THIS time we decided to be spontaneous and ready for adventure. We made no reservations, did not decide on any particular destination, just decided to head NORTH.

On Friday, we made arrangements for Christy to spend the weekend at our house to watch Zuli, took care of a few things and threw a few clothes and toiletries in a suitcase.

By 1:30 we were on the road.

Our first stop was in Ventura. As we were approaching the off ramp for the fairgrounds, I remembered the great lunch I had when Christy and her friends participated in the Color Run in October. After the race, we had gone to Beach House Tacos on the Ventura Pier. I told Vladi about it and he was game so we pulled off and found a place to park.

It was probably 2:30 when we got there and this is what the line looked like. From what I hear, this place always has a line but the food is well worth the wait.

It was just as good or better than I remembered it. These tacos are so full of fish and sauce and veggies that it takes two corn tortillas to hold it. So, so yummy. And filling!

When we finished eating, we took a walk to the end of the pier so that our food would settle a little before we got back in the car. We don't have much experience with selfies but we took this one and thought it came out pretty well.

And then, further down the pier a nice lady took this picture for us.

Mind you, this is February 14, at the beach. Note how we are dressed. It was a gorgeous day!

So we headed back to the car and pointed it north again and continued our journey. I wasn't really sure if there was anything to see in Ojai, but when the fork in the road beckoned us in that direction, we decided to explore. We drove through a couple of little towns and I think we were on the outskirts of Ojai when we decided to follow the road pointing to Santa Barbara. Vladi said he had never heard of some of the roads we were traveling on. Highway 33, Highway 154. Now I know what people are talking about when they say "the back way" to Santa Barbara. We drove around Lake Casitas and enjoyed the lovely scenery on this route.

Pretty soon, we were driving through a more populated area and there we were in Santa Barbara. I suggested that we see a movie and have a late dinner there and find a motel.

I had wanted to see August: Osage County with Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts ever since I'd seen the previews, so we decided to find where that was playing. I asked Siri (on my iPhone) to find theaters and the movie we wanted was only playing at one place. The showing was at 7:30 so we decided to look for a motel near the theater and take our stuff there because we had a couple of hours to kill. The first couple of motels were sold out but we found The Sandpiper Motel a  couple of blocks from the theater which had a couple of rooms available. The manager even let us check the rooms to see which one we wanted. In the first one, the heater wasn't working but the second one was fine. So we took our stuff up, settled in, freshened up and went to our show. It was  little theater that only had two shows playing and they gave us the "senior" price without us even asking for it. Some people might not like being mistaken for a senior when they're not, but we didn't care. We got a bargain!

The movie itself was a bit of a downer, about a very dysfunctional family, but the acting was excellent. I guess I didn't expect it to be quite as much of a downer as it turned out to be but at least we didn't pay full price!

It was about 9:40 when the movie was over and we figured it wouldn't be too hard to find a place to eat since it was Friday night, but when I asked Siri to find us an Italian restaurant, and we went to check them out, everything was closed. At that point we just drove around to see what we could find that was open. Vladi noticed a Plaza that seemed to be getting a little traffic so he pulled in to see where the people were going. There was a little place tucked in the back corner that appeared to be happening. We saw that it was a cafe so we decided to give it a try.

Boy, were we glad we did! It was called Harry's Plaza Cafe and the food was incredible. They had a sheet of Valentine specials and though I'd been craving pasta, and there were pasta dishes on the menu, my eye was drawn to the lamb chops because I couldn't even remember the last time I'd had them. Vladi and I decided to split the meal and each get our own starter. The waitress gave us the option of paying a small fee to get our own veggies and potatoes and just split the meat so that was what we did.

Everything looked and tasted SOOOO good! The flower you see in the picture was edible as well. But it pretty much tasted like a flower. Not bad, not exactly delicious--but it sure looked pretty. Anyway, they had TVs on, showing the men's figure skating from the Sochi Olympics, so we watched some of that. And we had a lovely time.

We had someone take a picture of us as we were leaving but we didn't have the real camera with us, only our iPhone, so we are just silhouettes in this one, the flash didn't work.

So we went back to our motel and slept very well.

We thought about finding a place to eat breakfast but the motel's continental breakfast offered some nice croissants which were surprisingly filling and their vanilla coffee with vanilla creamer was quite yummy so that fortified us enough that we didn't feel the need to get anything else.

So, as Vladi said several times throughout our journey, we were "on the road again . . ."

As we were driving, we passed the exits for Solvang and the Chumash Casino and I kind of noted them in my mind and mentioned to Vladi that at some point I would like to check them out. He said he had never been to Solvang and would like to see it but Chumash we should save for another trip. We continued north and kept driving all the way to Morro Bay. As we approached it, we could see from a distance that there was a layer of fog tucked right into the bay. And indeed, as we got there, the sun was pretty hidden and the air was much cooler. We had asked Siri about interesting things to do in the area and one of her suggestions was the Museum of Natural History. It took us awhile to find it because Siri's directions took us to a parking lot that was about a quarter mile before the museum but Vladi's instinct told him it was a little further down the road and indeed, it was. It was a lovely little place, but geared toward kids so we went through it in about 20 minutes.

This statue is at the entrance.

When we first arrived, Morro Rock was plainly visible.

But later in the afternoon, it was completely shrouded in fog.

This picture was from a different angle, but we were about the same distance away.

When we left the museum, we went to lunch at a place called The Bayside Cafe that was in the parking lot that we originally turned in to. 

It was destiny. We had another great meal there. They (like every other restaurant in the area) had clam chowder, but they also had something called California Chowder which was a mixture of clam chowder and green chile soup.

We decided to try it and we were so glad we did! It tasted so good! And especially because there was a chill in the air. There's nothing like hot soup on a cold day. We also shared a salmon sandwich and some onion rings. Mmmmm Mmmmm good.

After lunch, we drove into the town of Morro Bay where we visited a little street fair and found some treats to take home to Zuli.

Then we walked leisurely through the little shops on the main drag and I got some ideas for a little picture display I want to put together on one of my many blank walls. I bought a little replica of a VW van because it reminded me of the one my neighbors owned when I was young. They used to take me and my sisters camping and they had that van equipped for wonderful adventures at the beach.

Along about 5 o'clock or so, we thought we better start looking for a motel. I started calling motels in the area and every one was sold out. Pretty soon, Vladi and I had both our phones going, calling motels in Morro Bay, Pismo and San Luis Obispo. We did find one available room in Morro Bay but when we went to look at it, it smelled funny and I didn't really want to pay the price they were asking. At one of the motels we called, a kind soul said he had called around to help his customers out and found one motel that had rooms available . . . in Lompoc. . . 67 miles away.

When I looked at the map, I saw that Lompoc was actually quite close to Solvang so a plan formulated in my mind. We decided to head there and then go to Solvang on Sunday.

As we were driving, I was trying to reach the motel but the girl that answered was apparently inundated with calls and asked if she could call me back. I said yes but after 20 minutes went by, I started to worry. She finally called me back and we secured a room and felt very relieved that we had a place to sleep for the night.

As we were driving, following Siri's directions, suddenly the GPS changed from saying "go 3 miles and turm right on Hwy 1" to "go 7 miles and turn left on Hwy 1". We couldn't figure out what happened but we were then on a dark, dark rather bumpy road in the middle of nowhere. It felt like we had driven into a scene from a horror movie. We nervously laughed about half expecting somebody covered with blood to jump onto the road and try to wave us down. And THEN we saw a sign for the Vandenburg Penitentiary!

Of course nothing bad happened, but that was a loooong 7 miles.

When we found the motel we were still in that frame of mind and from a distance the motel didn't exactly look reassuring. It was in a huge empty lot and there was a single car parked in front of something similar to the Bates motel. Once we got closer, we saw that the lobby was actually very inviting and when we went in, all thoughts of horror movies were banished. The place was actually very big but you certainly couldn't tell that from the front in the dark.

I took this picture the next morning.

You still can't tell how big the place is but it stretches out behind this front building a long way.

Anyway, we got settled in our room and needed to find a place to eat. We asked Siri again and decided on a place called "the Lompoc Restaurant". We called to see how late they were open and they said 9. It was almost 8 but we weren't far so we headed there. When we arrived, we could not see any customers in the place nor any cars in the lot but we pulled in and noticed that there was another restaurant behind the first. There was a big sign on the wall.

There were quite a few cars parked closer to this restaurant so following our  instincts, we figured this was the better bet. And again, we were rewarded! The restaurant was full but it was a little after 8 and the sign on the door said "open till 8:30 or later" so we didn't feel unwelcome. We were seated right away and had another terrific meal. By the time we finished, we were the last ones in the place, but we saw quite a few people pick up to-go orders, so we never felt like we were rushed to finish. There was way too much food for us to finish so we packed up our leftovers and took them with us.

We got a great night's sleep at the White Oaks Motel and it was the perfect jumping off place for the adventures of the next day. We got a fairly early start and did not partake of the disappointing continental breakfast that was offered there because I knew that we could get much tastier fare in Solvang.

We got to Solvang around 10ish and found a place to park. We were near a restaurant and bakery but decided to check around before we stopped to eat. At a visitor center we asked for a recommendation for a good breakfast spot. We were directed to The Solvang Restaurant. We put our names on the waiting list and were sitting on a bench outside when who should walk up the street but our friends, Mary Jo and Ron Bass and their son, Jake. Of course there was much laughter and hugging and can't believe its, what are the chances chatter and then we visited a bit until our name was called to be seated.

We had been told that Aebelskivers were THE thing to eat in Solvang, so of course we ordered them along with eggs and Danish sausage. I wouldn't say it was the best meal of the trip and I was not that impressed with the Aebelskivers but it wasn't bad and it was really fun to see our friends so I think that was why we ended up there at that time.

Later on, we found a chocolate shop and we went back to the Danish Bakery that we saw on our way in and ordered some things to take home with us. Now THAT stuff was incredible.

So we wandered around Solvang and saw some neat art and clocks and some amusing signs.

By around 2, we were ready to move on.

We decided to visit Ventura Harbor because I was looking for another item for my "beach" themed display and we knew Mary Jo was working (because she told us when we saw her in Solvang). So we went to her shop and then walked around a few other shops there, and had some decadent ice cream cones. Didn't find what I was looking for but still had a nice time.

From there we planned on going to a movie that started at 7:10 but we stopped for a light dinner at the Yard House in Oxnard on the way to the Roxy Theater in Camarillo.

We were both pretty full from the ice cream cones but we figured we should have dinner before the movie instead of after.

We each had a cup of the chicken tortilla soup. It was SOOO good. I swear, we did not have a bad meal this whole trip. After the soup, Vladi had fish and chips and I had a chicken gorgonzola flatbread that I couldn't even finish. Yum.

 

We decided to go to another movie and decided on "American Hustle" which was Vladi's choice since I picked "August: Osage County". I wasn't really sure why he really wanted to see this movie, but I wanted to be fair. I think we had about the same reaction to both movies. We didn't really know what to expect and they were both well acted but they weren't exactly uplifting. At least there wasn't a bunch of bloody shooting in "American Hustle" which is what I started to expect toward the end. I was relieved that it didn't end that way.

So that completed our most excellent Valentine adventure.

And we have concluded that being spontaneous is an awful lot of fun.

My January 2014

January 31, 2014

It has been a rather eventful month and I'm afraid that if I wait till the end of the year to write about it, I'll forget half of what happened.

So, starting from New Year's Day. Vladi and I cleaned up after our fun New Year's Eve Party. For the party we had Ralph and Janeen, Ron and Mary Jo, and Richard and Cher over. I served a bunch of hors d'oevres and snacks (which was really easy and well received). We played a game that Tracy C had given me for Christmas, called Logo Party. We had played Logo before but this was more suited to a big group and we had a lot of fun. We played teams, boys against girls, as usual, and I think the boys won. The game had some similarity to Cranium in that it had cards you had to act out, cards you had to draw something and cards that you just gave verbal clues. There was also an all play category where a card was slowly revealed and whoever guessed it first, won the round. Everything had to do with advertising slogans, old and new.

Our TV service provider offers a bunch of music stations so you can pick whatever type of music you want to play and I put on "party favorites." With this group, especially Ron, there are always comments about the songs. We watched the ball in Times Square drop when the time came and Olya called us with the tremendous news that we will be grandparents this year. (I don't know if she really said it that way but that was the way that Vladi announced it to me.) Actually, he came in the kitchen as everyone was getting ready to leave and came up to me and said "Congratulations! You're going to be a grandma!" In the first moment the assembled group all thought that Christy or Ben was going to be a parent. But then they all realized that it probably wouldn't be Vladi telling me the news it that were the case. So of course, there were congratulations all around and I could tell Vladi was just SO excited. We have discussed it since and plan on making a trip to see the baby soon after it's born. (Not TOO soon, but soon).

Anyway, so New Year's Day was pretty laid back. We cleaned up and put things away. We aren't really into the rose parade or football so we didn't watch any of that. I had to get to bed early because I had to go in at 1 a.m. the next morning for ad night at work. Christy left for her trip to Redding. This was the second trip she made there for a seminar about relationships. She got a lot out of the first one and decided to go again. She really felt comfortable in Redding and is considering moving there later in the year.

The next day Ben flew home for a visit from Portland. He was with us for 3 full days and 2 partial days. During his stay, he met Zuli for the first time, we played lots of "Settlers of Catan", (which I never won once, although in our last game I was only one turn away when Ben snatched the victory away from me). We saw the movie "Hunger Games:Catching Fire" which we all enjoyed very much. Ben and I went on a hike together, which gave us a chance to catch up with each other's lives, he saw several of his old friends, and he spent a little time with Christy when she got back the day he was heading back home. That was when she took this picture

It cracks me up every time I look at it.

On our drive home from taking Ben to the airport, Christy told us about her trip to Redding. She enjoyed it very much and feels like she wants to make Redding her home. It makes me a little sad to think of her being so far away, but I want very much for her to find her place in the world and if this helps her in that process, I don't want to hold her back.

That week, I went to the first of my appointments in preparation for having foot surgery.

It was Sammy's 19th birthday on the 7th so we made plans to take him to the Cheesecake Factory (at his request) on Saturday 1/11. Of course, that was also the anniversary of Caleb's passing away. On facebook that day, there were many tributes to Caleb and Jessica happened to mention that she was going to go to the Cheesecake Factory to have a slice of cheesecake in honor of Caleb. She said "Wouldn't it be great if everyone who knew Caleb and has a Cheesecake Factory near them went to the there tonight to celebrate Caleb. That boy loved him some cheesecake. He would think that was pretty cool." I was so excited that Sammy had actually requested that. The thing is, we have been taking him to BJs the last few times we've gone out, so it really was his idea and I just thought it was so cool that it coincided with Jessica's suggestion. So Vladi, Christy, Sammy and I went there and had a wonderful meal and celebrated Sammy's birthday and toasted Caleb.

 The following week was pretty quiet. We celebrated my birthday on 1/18 (because it was a Saturday.)

I've gotta say, it was an awesome birthday. Two weeks before it, Vladi and Christy asked if I wanted to do a party. They kind of caught me off guard and I said let me think about it. I knew I didn't want to have to cook so I started thinking about ordering something. As it got closer I started having 2nd thoughts because if you host a party there is always some kind of work involved, even if you do order the food. At one point I was thinking "I need to say something about not wanting to do this kind of thing on my birthday ever again." But I kept my mouth shut and I'm glad I did. I settled on ordering my favorite Mexican food from the Latino Market (carne asada, rice and beans) and I got all the stuff to go with it from my store. We set up the table in the living room, just like we did for the New Year's Eve party and the house was still pretty clean from that. All the same friends from New Year came over (except Richard and Cher because they were sick.)

We played some games, had a lot of laughs and I got some great gifts!

I was blown away when I opened my daughter's gift. She bought me 2 tickets to see my hero, Cesar Millan, at the Civic Arts Plaza in April. I am so excited! She had been asking me recently to give her an idea of what I wanted, even if she couldn't afford it, she just wanted to know. I had mentioned that I would love to attend one of Cesar's training camps since his "Dog Psychology Center" is not too far away. I had no idea that he was doing a tour of seminars and that he's coming here, to TO. I can't wait!

Then Vladi gave me a gift certificate for an hour and a half massage and an hour facial. Awesome!

I also got gift cards to Olive Garden and Home Goods.

Lisa had been making something for me for Christmas but when she didn't finish it in time, she said it would be my birthday gift. She still wasn't finished for my birthday but she finally brought it over on Super Bowl Sunday(Feb. 2). It's a very cool dog house for Zuli. (I love the personalization.)

So I would say that this year I got the best birthday gifts I can remember. Love them!!!!

The  Friday after we celebrated I had surgery on my foot. I didn't want to make a big deal about it, so I didn't tell anyone (except work and Vladi of course) but my daughter got very upset with me for not telling her and I promised I wouldn't do anything like that again. I can see her point, and it made me feel pretty good that she cared so much.

So I got the joint replaced in the big toe of my right foot. I'd been having trouble with it to the point where I wasn't able to do my brisk walk for exercise anymore because it hurt too much. It was very arthritic and I'm hoping that the replacement will heal well and I'll be able to get back to my exercising again. I want to walk with my Zuli.

Vladi did a great job of taking care of me (as always) and it's been so pleasant to have this time at home together that it's going to be really hard to go back to work when the time comes. I so wish we could just retire now! It's nice to be able to stay up late and sleep in and putter around the house. And watch all the shows I've recorded. The first two days I was laid up I watched a Dog Whisperer marathon and an Ellen marathon and I got caught up on Parenthood by streaming all the shows from the current season. I never do that! And it was fun.

So that was my January.

A look back at 2013

A Look Back at 2013

Around this time (January) last year I was taking a fond look back at the year that had just passed (2012). A lot of great things had happened and I was looking forward to 2013 delivering more of the same. Little did I know that a few days after I wrote my retrospect, I would get a phone call delivering some of the worst news I have ever received in my life. My nephew had taken his own life. I have never felt so blindsided, so absolutely punched in the gut, heart ripped out, devastated. My first instinct was to gather my 2 kids and go to my sister and her family to be with them as they absorbed this abomination. Within hours of hearing the news, my daughter and I were on a plane from LAX and my son was booked to fly from Portland to meet us in Kansas City the next morning. I am so glad that I listened to my instinct and I am so glad that I had the ability to do what I knew I had to do. I could not have been anywhere else that weekend.

          This year has been colored by the sadness of missing a person that was very, very important to me and the other people I love most in the world. The hardest thing to come to grips with is the speed with which life moves on. Every day, Caleb slips a little further away from us no matter what we try to do to hang on to him. I have pictures of him in several locations around my house so that I have a vivid reminder of what he looked like. I have heard that as years go by, you start to have trouble remembering the image of a lost loved one's face. I don't want that to happen. I have the book he wrote and a book of his poems on my nightstand. I have read them more than once and as they gather dust, I know I should put them away, but, again, I don't want to let go of any of the reminders I have of him in my life. I still have his phone number in my phone and his address in my phone book. Deleting and erasing feels like such a betrayal. I just can't do it yet.

One thing that I can count as good that has come out of this is that I think my sister, E. and I have become closer. We have certainly talked more this year than we had in many previous ones. I am so glad that she calls me when she needs to pour out her overflowing grief. I can only imagine how she feels and even the imagining is heartbreaking. I hope that I have been able to offer a little solace by listening. I hope that I have offered a little bit of comfort. I have come to understand that all she really needs me to do is be there to listen. And I have been so glad that I've been able to do it.

But now, to look at other events of 2013.

January and February were the continuation of one of the coldest winters I could remember, and it was made worse by the fact that our heater broke and it took us 5 months and several repairmen to get it replaced.

Vladi continued to work for Morrow Meadows and in January, renovation of Dodger Stadium began after it was purchased by Magic Johnson. Vladi was sent there and became a temporary foreman as he worked 7/12s (7 days a week, 12 hours a day). He did that for 3 months (with an occasional shorter shift and a couple of days off). Exhausting! We rented him a motel room so that he didn't have to make the 1-2 hour (depending on traffic) drive home every day. It was a fun adventure to meet him at the motel once a week for a little rendezvous. I would bring him food for the week and do his laundry for him. It broke up our routine for a little while. You have no idea how much I appreciated the warm room after coming from our freezing cold house. I'm just glad he had the stamina to survive that grueling schedule. Morrow Meadows kept Vladi working steadily and with lots of overtime for most of the rest of the year until the beginning of December (it always seems to happen in the winter) when their work slowed down too much and they laid everyone off. We were disappointed. Vladi was really hoping he could stay with that company for a few more years until he retires. but it was not to be.

During those first few months of the year Christy took on the task of painting our entrance hall. She is really getting good at painting walls. She and I decided on a beautiful warm yellow/orange color and over the course of a few weeks, little by little, she got it done. I was in charge of choosing the pictures and whatever decor to put up on the finished walls and although I've gotten some of it done, I still haven't completed that project. My bad.

In March, Christy had a memorable birthday celebration with Lael. It was a "Birthday Movie Night" and they rented a blow-up screen that we set up in the backyard and they rented equipment to project the movies on the screen. We watched "Princess Bride" and "Robin Hood, Men in Tights". Everyone brought their own food and ate picnic style on blankets and we served "movie snacks" like popcorn and cotton candy and other candy selections. It was a little chilly but we made hot chocolate and had a few fire pits going. It ended up being really fun and I want to apologize to my daughter for being somewhat skeptical about it and not being fully on board about hosting it. The girls pulled it off marvelously and I have to admit, it was fun and memorable. (And I really didn't have to do much work.)

On the last day of March, Vladi and I decided to go look at cars because I was considering giving Christy my Honda as a graduation present. As is typical for us, the first place we went, we found a car I really liked and we came home with it. I had wanted a car that got good gas mileage (top priority) and that had more space in it than my Honda did. We found the new model of Prius, the PriusV which has a very good reputation as far as gas mileage as well as having been around long enough to have worked the bugs out of the technology. And the new model is kind of like a station wagon.

 So, we thought we'd try leasing instead of buying and figure out if that works for us now and in the future. I transferred the Honda to Christy's name so that she didn't have to keep riding the bus to school and figuring out transportation to anywhere else she needed to go.

She had been a real trooper after her car died in getting herself where she needed to go and I was really proud of her resourcefulness but I didn't want that to be another thing she had to worry about in the logistics of her upcoming move from home and continuing her education.

In April, we lost our dear puppy, Samson. He developed problems in his hindquarters in which his control of them deteriorated rapidly over a 2-3 week period. The problems were beyond the vet's expertise and since Samson was 12 years old, we decided that we really couldn't afford to go to specialists to extend his life. We were very sad to lose him but he got a lovely sendoff from Christy and my son Ben's friends who came over and wheeled him around the neighborhood in a wheelbarrow the night before we put him to sleep. I will be forever grateful for their thoughtfulness that night.

In May, my precious daughter graduated from Moorpark college with two AAs. I'm inspired by the way she has persisted toward her goals after some setbacks and hardships in her life. She makes me very proud. I can't wait to see what the future holds for her. She also took over a nanny job from her friend, Emily. Emily was moving to Santa Barbara to explore new opportunities in her life and the family that she nannied for needed someone to take her place. She recommended Christy and they worked together a few times so that Christy could get a feel for it. When Christy started the job the Healys had one five year old girl and an 18 month old boy. The mom (also Christy) was about ready to deliver her third baby. For a girl who had very little experience with babies, the challenge for Christy was pretty great. But she dove in and after a pretty short adjustment period, she took to the job like a duck to water. She has shown herself to be a natural at managing three kids and the other tasks that she's expected to perform in her roll as nanny. And the Healys have provided a warm, accepting, encouraging environment for her. They even had her move in with them when she had some difficulty finding a place to live at the time when we had agreed for her to move out. She has made herself an invaluable member of their household.

In June, the avocado tree that we planted in 2010, started producing it's first real crop.

It took a little while for them to be a good size to pick but we harvested about 40 avocados. And I was thrilled to learn that they stay green as long as they are on the tree and don't begin to ripen until you pick them. That means that we were able to eat almost all of our avocados.

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At the end of June, Vladi and I went to Hearst Castle with our friends, Ralph and Janeen.  Vladi and I had never visited it and it had been many years since Ralph and Janeen had. Unfortunately, it was VERY hot that weekend (upper 90's to over 100 degrees) and there is no air conditioning in the castle (just fans) so our visit probably wasn't the most ideal, but we did enjoy learning about the history and seeing the amazing views. While we were in the area, we also visited Morro Bay, and had a lovely meal looking out over the harbor. We took a boat tour of the harbor and viewed the seals and sea lions. One night we also visited a hot tub resort that Ralph and Janeen knew about. We didn't get any pictures of all 4 of us together but here are a couple we took when we walked along the beach in Carmel.

July brought us the most wonderful occurrence of 2013. Which was the birth of a Mr. Jack Richard Roemer. This is Jessica and John's 2nd baby and Rylee's baby brother.

This is the happy new configuration of the John Roemer family.

 Jack is holding a ring that Caleb used to wear that is now worn on a string around Rick's neck. It was a precious symbolic moment linking the past and present with great hope for the future.

These are the happy gammy and gampa.

In August  we went to Newport Harbor to attend the wedding of Blake and Brandi Behringer. We have watched the courtship of this young couple over the course of several years now and we were very happy to see it culminate in a lovely wedding. It was also great fun to attend a wedding on a boat cruising the harbor.

 Also in August, I finally "came out of the closet." I had used a large closet in our entry hall as my office for many years. It was the perfect size for a computer desk and it worked pretty well, but it always bothered Vladi that I didn't have a real office. So when Christy moved out, we finally had a room where I could have a real office and I started thinking about what kind of desk I wanted. We looked around for several weeks and I kept coming back to a desk I saw at a store called PTS that is pretty overpriced but I just couldn't find anything I really liked anywhere else. And I figured, I might as well get a desk I really loved. I would be spending a lot of time at it. And Vladi, as usual, wanted me to be happy, so he told me I should have what I wanted. (I love that man!) So we bought my beautiful L-shaped desk to put in my office.  And now our hall closet is back to it's proper function.

I'm still setting up my office the way I want it but it is very lovely to be out of the hallway.

In September I was able to visit Ben in Portland. I went by myself (Christy visited him by herself in August) and it was the first time I had seen the place he's lived for a year and a half. I had a really nice visit with him which included meeting his lady love, Annie.

 We had some great conversations and Ben showed me around Portland, including his school, Portland State University and the Whole Foods Market where he works. He also took me to Powell's City of Books which is the largest book store in the US. One day he let me wander around Powell's by myself and I was in heaven. I could happily get lost in that place! We played a few games of Settlers of Catan, which is simply a given any time we're together lately. We both love that game! And Ben cooked me some fine meals. He and Annie have collaborated on a fish taco recipe which is now called Benannie's Fish Tacos. It is absolutely wonderful! They use a Nappa Cabbage Leaf as the shell and then layer it with fish cooked in taco seasoning, a yogurt dip from Trader Joe's, fresh salsa, avocado, cilantro, mango and pepper jack cheese. I could not believe how delicious it was. He also cooked a breakfast of Applewood Smoked Bacon, eggs and kale. And he cooked everything perfectly! I learned what to do with Kale so that it actually tastes good and does not have all the toughness to it. You simply peel the tender part of the leaf off the tough spine. I never knew that! I am so proud of the way he eats so healthy. And I am so happy to see the loving relationship that he and Annie are developing. I hope she's the one for him to spend his life with. She's a keeper.

When I got home from that trip Vladi and I decided to join Weight Watchers. We both have the desire to lose weight and eat healthier as we get older. We want to be able to enjoy our retirement, which means we probably have to curtail some of our bad habits. I was also inspired by my friend Tracy B. who lost 30 pounds by doing the Weight Watchers program. I saw how great she looked when I saw her on 9/15 and we signed up on 9/18. We were very gung-ho at first and got all the tools and went to all the meetings. After a couple of months, Vladi had lost 20 pounds and I lost 12. But then Vladi got laid off and we couldn't really afford the monthly fee. We figured that we had learned a lot about what to eat and not eat so we decided to just do it on our own and maybe rejoin after he goes back to work. Of course, this was right around the holidays and there are so many opportunities to eat stuff you shouldn't at that time of year. I find myself slipping into bad habits again, although I have actually maintained my original loss. I just haven't lost any more. Vladi hasn't weighed himself in awhile and for him, the biggest drawback of not working is that he doesn't maintain the activity level that he sustains at work. When he's working, he's burning those calories! So our plan is to go back on the program as soon as he has steady income again. And to not completely backslide before that.

In October Christy ran a 5K called "The Color Run" with Christy Healy and her friend Liz. I came along to take pictures and offer support and I had way more fun than I expected to.

You probably can't tell from the picture but the color run is all about this colored cornstarch that gets thrown around at every opportunity. Basically, the runners are pretty much covered by it at the end of the day. Christy did a great job getting ready for this race and I am so glad that I went with her. After the girls ran, we went up the road and had fish tacos at a place on the pier. So good!

We celebrated Vladi's birthday by inviting our closest friends: Cher and Richard, Janeen and Ralph and Mary Jo and Ron to join us at BJs restaraunt. Christy joined us as well and we had a fun evening.

Mary Jo and Ron threw a great Halloween party (as they do every year) and this time, Vladi and I really dressed up. I decided to find some kind of costume about 2 hours before the party started and I thought of a box I have out in the garage that has costume stuff from years past, mostly if not all from the kids. I pulled out a kangaroo costume that Christy's friend's mom made her in the sixth grade. The body of the costume is just a sweat outfit that was dyed brown and had a "pouch" sewed to the front and a tail sewn to the back. Then there was a headpiece with ears. I tried it on and was quite surprised that it fit. Then I had to figure out something for Vladi. He is such a good sport that he was pretty much willing to wear anything. So I had a bunny ear headband and I fashioned a fluffy bunny tail out of a white scarf I have and he wore one of his white shirts. We also used some face paint for our noses and whiskers. I'm glad Christy was here, because she knew just how to make us look right.

The day after this party, we added a new member to our family.

We named her Zuli in honor of her blue eye. Azul means blue in Spanish and Lapis Lazuli is a blue stone. It was Christy's idea. Vladi and I thought it was perfect.

November was pretty much consumed by our learning how to raise a dog properly. We consumed (and continue to consume) as many episodes of The Dog Whisperer as possible, and we are trying to put all of Cesar Millan's  theories into practice. I realized that I made a lot of mistakes with Samson and I don't want to repeat them with this little girl. So "rules, boundaries, limitations," "nose, eyes, ears," "exercise, discipline, affection," and "no touch, no talk, no eye contact," have become our new mantras. But it is so much harder to learn how to have "calm assertive energy" and make your dog have "calm submissive energy" than you would think by watching this show. But we're learning. And hopefully we'll end up with a well-adjusted, balanced dog. It really makes me happy that Vladi is on board with learning this stuff along with me.

And finally, December. Although Vladi got laid off on 12/8, it has been nice for him to be able to be home with Zuli. I hated leaving her by herself when we were both getting up at 4 in the morning and going to work all day. I know the time will come when we'll be doing it again, but while she's so young, I'm glad she's not alone for so many hours every day.

The holiday season was pretty stressful at work, but I got through it alright.

As for Christmas and the process of regaining the Christmas spirit, this year, I made a date with Christy to make Christmas cookies. It ended up being a 2 or 3 day process but that was completely okay and we really enjoyed our time together. We made a new confection--"cake balls" that came out really good and we shared a lot of laughs as we decorated them. We had our eggs benedict on Christmas morning with the Heatons. It was a low key kind of season and that was just fine.
And in the very last hour of the year, as we were waiting for the ball in Times Square to drop, we got a most wonderful phone call from Olya, letting Vladi know that about midway into 2014, he's going to be a grandpa for the first time! Yay for 2014!!!

So goodbye to 2013. And here's knowing that 2014 has good things in store. . .