Amanda's Birthday

Amanda on her Birthday in Tempe, AZ. 2010

Planning for May

The month of May is shaping up to be, ah, interesting at least.

First, my cell phone contract is up! Hurray!! We wait years for this, so we can select a new phone and/or a new contract.

Then, Ed is commuting here on Saturday for another two weeks in the Silver Spring office. Only, now that he is on the East coast again, he has new work assignments. So, of the coming two weeks, he will need to spend about 4 days in Puerto Rico. Awww. Shoot. I can't go!

In my office, we are gearing up for the big annual meeting, the Directors Meeting. We have about 90 attendees and I'm responsible for parts of this. So, May is pretty stressful in our office.

In my work life, we need to be forecasting our annual leave needs for the coming months. We are ask not to take any leave during July, as we will be extremely busy evaluating the new proposals for the next 5 years of library services.

So, I'm flying to Sacramento the day after our Directors Meeting to meet Ed. We will leave on our drive across the country straight from the airport when I get there about noon. Ed is selling the furnishings from his condo in Vallejo, and has ended his lease.

I'm busy with Google Maps planning the trip. They are still getting snow in the Sierras and in most of the northern routes we might consider. (Like Glacier National Park.) Looks like we will go a more southern route, much like we took 5 years ago. But, of course, our goal is for this to be different.
So, I'm busily on the Internet making estimates of driving distances and hours elapsed, seeking adventures along the way, booking lodging, sometimes tickets for little events. I have found I can't book the lodging too far in advance, for fear we won't make our daily driving distance. So, we'll book some and opt for max flexibility.
This is the most fun I've had in a while.

The first thing I had hoped to do, was stay at the Furnace Creek Inn in Death Valley. A beautiful 4 star resort, I found it closes for the summer!! Darn it!! SO, No go for that beautiful resort. I'll have to go back sometime.

The second thing was to stay at El Tovar in the Grand Canyon. But, that also is not available. Oh Shoot!

Joey sent me an app suggestion for my iPhone that will help. It is the RoadsideAmerica.com app, (Your Guide to Offbeat Tourist Attractions). For example, it tells me that when Ed and I are in Amarillo, TX, we can stop and see the Waylon Jennings Museum and Drive Through Liquor Store. Might come in handy after several days in the car together.

At least we won't have the cats with us this trip. I've arranged for the cat sitter for the two weeks. More things to get arranged.

We are planning to go to Geneva while Joey is there this summer. (but not in July obviously.) So, I'm learning about Geneva too. Hadn't thought much about Geneva before, but will learn now. So far, I'm looking forward to good chocolate.

Thursday, April 22, 2010

The new office staff photo for 2010.

Hi, Can't believe this week is nearly over. I'm off tomorrow, thank goodness. Joey is going to Philadelphia today by train, I love train riding. So nice.
I think he is less enthused.

We are having a great day here, nice weather, I'll go outside to eat my fuji apple and turkey sandwich. And Cherry Coke Zero. I'm trying.

I think I have allergies, I've had a mild headache all week, until it rained yesterday and cleared the air a bit.

We had the cats groomed yesterday - they were shedding so bad. The look very neat now, got all their shots = bill is $275.00
yuck.

This morning there is water dripping from the light fixture in the shower. Nice. Always a challenge! Wonder where the source of that is? Ed is still here for now, but was slated to leave on Sunday.

Amanda will be 29 again on Saturday! We're going to celebrate, I just wish it could be with her. Hey!! Don't open those presents yet!!!

Lovely Spring Weekend and the Demolay Boys

Ed and I got to see some of our extended family this weekend. We were so pleased! The event was Ed's oldest grand-nephew, Patrick Sharpe getting installed to a "chair" or an office in the Demolay.

This was quite a doing, complete with almost all that side of the family and food and later dancing. It was really nice and really fun to see everyone. We got to see the other two grand nephew and niece this weekend also, on Sunday.
We are very proud of Patrick! I'm also really proud of his Mom, Kammie, and his Dad, Brian, who hosted a wonderful party for these kids. Everyone was dressed up and the whole thing went so well. What a nice event it was.

We topped off our weekend by having a fun dinner out with John and Pam. We got to experiment with our newest electronic gadget, the GPS. John matched wits with it and won! Yay John! We have selected the Amanda voice to tell us where to go!

Days of Our Lives

Its just after 4:00 AM here on a Saturday morning. Yes, I'm wide awake! I'm not sure why, except that it was a long week of getting up very early every morning, about 5:30AM each day. I was pretty tired last night. Ed was watching some really dumb movie about an idiot mall cop, and not a cute one in my opinion...I went to bed early and really slept hard. So, here I am at 4AM, unable to get back to sleep.

Who knew Giada was on at this time? I love the Food Network. In the first half hour, she went to Emeril's Delmonico in New Orleans - Hey! I've been there! I love it.
The next show was Giada also, but she was attending a DOL celebration - this show started when I was 13, I remember watching it in the living room at Sun Valley with Mom.
Like sands through the hour glass, so are the days of our lives....Ha! I love it. It was fun to see the stars interviewed by Giada.

I can also see across the courtyard to the guy who lives in the opposite condo straight across from mine. He has a larger flat panel TV than I do. He is up this morning also and is watching a movie. He did have lights on too, and his blinds up. He has turned off his lamps and now just has the big TV on. He was walking around to the kitchen and back to his La-Z-Boy. There aren't many other lights on this morning, it is always interesting to see who is up.
That is something I actually enjoy about condo life, I can open my door and see brightly lighted hallways and know life is going on.

Its not too cold on the balcony, about 50+.

Well, maybe I'll go back to bed now, its just after 5. So glad you were here for me to share this time with!! I love you guys!

Skates on the Bay

Skates on the Bay - at Berkeley, CA, April 2010. Beautiful restaurant, good food, great views - fun dinner companion [Ed]!






This was caught on the Berkeley Pier, which goes out into the Bay about 1 mile. We walked it all, this was caught at the end of the pier. It was really fun to see. My images do not convey how heavy this fish is, nor how she sounded, she was sort of hissing sometimes. They also don't show you the strength she exhibited, lots of movement of her strong fins. These men could hardly lift her out of the water, nor get her turned over.






Apparently, this is a Bat Ray. She was a girl, you could see on her belly when they flipped her over to remove the hook. She was slimy! But really beautiful to see. One fisherman said she was pregnant, so they hurried to get that hook out and get her back into the water. People do not eat these creatures. They do date back to the time of dinosaurs. She had beautiful eyes. I was relieved when she flipped her fins and swam away. I guess she just could not resist the anchovies they were baiting the hooks with.




I'm reminiscing here, this is the last shot I took of our deck in Vallejo. It is a little disappointing to have to give up on this dream of living back in Cali. But, we think it best to stay here and move forward. Can't spend all the time looking backwards. We do learn, however, that I do not think we want to purchase a home that close to the shoreline. It was very often downright cold and had a heavy marine layer, which is to say, very damp fog. We like the climate much better in Concord or Citrus Heights, where it got warm.

We have decided to focus on getting to know Maryland/DC now. We'll be looking for adventures locally to squeeze in on our off hours. I'm thinking we'll walk miles in the National Botanical Gardens, which we have never seen although we live right here. They are huge, free and beautiful.

And, I did spot a pink dogwood tree right in front of the library. Made me nostalgic for WV!!