GOD BLESS AMERICA!

Need I say more......

California Day 4: Pizza Port

We are creatures of habit.....Seriously!
When we go over to California, we hit the same beaches, same restaurants, same hotels....
Pretty much the same everything.
I think we just find what we like and we stick to it. 

So...one day, about nine years ago we were doing a little coastal drive and
decided that it was time to look for some grub.
This was a little tough because, as I mentioned before,
we really aren't very adventurous about trying new places (or at least I'm not!).
Well, it was that day that we stumbled across this place.....

and have continued to return every year!!!

Now it was not the fact that it was a pizza place that cause me to pull over rather abruptly.
No....it was the term "beer" that drew my attention. 
Since I am a good wife I know that any place that prominently promotes
itself as a place where there is beer, and lots of it, is going to be a hit.
The fact that there is handcrafted beer got me extra bonus points!!

So, anyways, after a day at Torrey Pines beach,
we headed up to Solana Beach and feasted on this...

The yummy Pizza Lahaina!

Now I have friends who would find this very gross

because it has the dreaded pineapple on it but I love it!

In the years since we started going to Pizza Port

the handcrafted beer selection has expanded

from like four choices to about 20 choices.

Like a kid in a candy store or so I told by the family beer connoisseur.

I couldn't tell you anything about them because....ahem....

I don't drink the stuff.

I know...I'm a loser just never developed a taste for it.

Well, that was day four...

Night four was the Padres/Cubs at Petco Park.

More to come.....

A day (or two) at the Races

Our first two days in California were spent at Del Mar.....
"Where the surf meets the turf....."

Anyways, here I am posing

in front of the paddock and imaging myself....oh...
in the first weekend of May looking pretty much the same

except there will be tall spires in the background and a mint julep in my hand :)

Can you picture it?? Anyone? Anyone?

Well I'm enjoying that visual, but for this day

I had to settle for Del Mar

and a Grade I Breeder's Cup qualifier (not thatI was complaining...)

We spent only a half day there on Saturday

and we spent most of that time

getting to know the bartender

who was stationed just outside the Red Star Cafe.

We learned that his name is Brian

and that his real job is as a history teacher at a local junior college.
We also learned he makes a pretty good margarita!!

The second day most of our time was spent at the paddock

where Russell accessed our choices for upcoming races......

And kept an eye on Christina Olivares :0

Overall we didn't do to bad....pretty much broke even.

I did win on the first race on Sunday.
(It was a gray horse....go figure!)

Hopefully our luck will be better in May at Louisville :)

Back to Reality

This was the view I was enjoying this week at this time......

It was pure heaven...hmmmm. Just got back from a week

in California. It was both relaxing and busy!!! We went to

a couple of baseball games, spent a day at the races at

Del Mar, sipped some wine (well alot of wine), and relaxed

at the beach. The last two days were spent at my 30 year

high school reunion.

I was up until 1 a.m. for the last two nights of the vacation (I

don't think I've done that since I was in high school!!). And

then we had the five hour drive back home. It literally took

me until today to catch up on my sleep and feel normal!! Boy

am I feel everyone of those 30 years since high school :0

It didn't help that I had a couple of little dramas to deal with

once I got back home.

Anyways, there will be pictures and a play by play in the next

few days.....for anyone who cares to gander on by.

Toodles......

Latest Obsession

As if I needed another hobby.....I have now added crochet to my repertoire. All my cool scrapbooking supplies have been gathering dust while I work on crochet projects. And since I have the attention span of a gnat, I can't just simply work on one project at a time!!! I have two going right now with my eye on a third....

This is the beginnings of my first project.....a pretty multicolor starburst afghan. I've gotten a little bit further than this on it but this is the most current picture I have. I'm hoping my afghan will look like this when it is finished.

My second WIP (Work in Progress) another granny blanket. I've gotten the first two (of 36 total) squares completed. I got my inspiration for this one here. I love the colors!!! I never would have thought of putting these together.

Of course with my newest obsession comes my never ending need to collect. So along with all the paper I have......there is the ever growing stash of yarn. I just look at the colors and I can't decided.....I need to have one of each. It's a good thing I don't do this with shoes. Oh...yeah...that's right, I have three pairs of Danskos....In three different colors!!!! :o

I've also started perusing (sp?) crochet blogs but my new obsession for that is for another post!!

So I'm off to get hooking ;) I've got a lot of work to do!

I Love the Smell of Rain (and Dust) in the Evening.....

Every place that I have lived has had some meterological (sp?) or geographical anomaly.

I grew up in Southern California so that meant I grew up with earthquakes.

I lived in Arkansas for three years. Tornados!! Yikes!! Scary stuff.....

I lived in Utah for two years. Nothing like digging your vehicle out of eight foot snow drifts. Oh....and I was lucky enough to live there during one of the colder years. California girls just don't do well in 10 degree temps.

And now.....for the past 24 years I've lived in Arizona. Roughly nine months out of the year it is beautiful. But the other three months.....well.... it can be hell. Literally. There was one June where we topped out at 122 (luckily I was working the graveyard shift!). I've grown to hate 110 degree heat but I deal with it because the other nine months of the year make it so worth it. Our major meterological problem is the summer monsoon. Totally hot during the day and then the monster storms roll in. It can be kind of refreshing to get some rain to cool things down but there are some areas that usually get hit hard every year. Wind damage, floods, power outages, etc.

We have managed to avoid any major problems....until this year. Well, until three days ago to be exact. We got hit hard on Sunday and well.....so did my son's vehicle which is parked in our driveway while he is away. This is what it looked like shortly after the storm blew thru.......

Of course I had to promptly post it on Facebook which I'm sure nearly cause him a heart attack!! The good news is there was no damage to the vehicle. The bad news was my husband had a big mess to clean up. I'm glad he's put himself in charge of the "outside stuff"=D. We no longer have a big tree in our yard. I'm pretty sure my son would be glad to hear this since there is another storm brewing outside this evening.

But then there is that outside that the neighbors tree could uproot and fly towards our house. Ooops....I think I'll go knock on wood right now!!!!!

Two Weeks

This is what two weeks of doing no laundry looks like.

I'm sure that those with larger families would find this laughable.

But there's only two of us.....and it's alot of stinkin' laundry!!!!!

I guess I'd better get started......

I'll have more energy tomorrow!! I promise :)