San Diego County Fair in Del Mar

Morgan invited Brenda and I to join her at the San Diego County Fair in Del Mar--and we accepted! It was a nice day, not too hot. There were a million other people there but we still had fun!





The kids got to ride a few rides, we ate more than a few things we probably shouldn't have and just had a grand time together.

We got to see a free concert while we were there, for just the price of admission: Switchfoot. They were fabulous!

Thanks for the invite, Morgan!!

Memorial Day Follies

Brenda came up with what ended up being a great unique idea for memorial Day festivities. We went to Lake Perris and rented a "luxury" pontoon boat for 3 hours. The guys went golfing and we went to the water.

Brenda got us out of the dock area then I took over the driving! Call my Kaptain Kay! We rode around the lake, stopped on the island for a while and let the kids play in the water. Everyone wore their life jackets like good little sailors. Kent wasn't too happy getting on the boat but, when it time to turn it in, he was pretty sad it was all over!

The girls had to find big rock to use as our anchor on the island. Good thing they are young and strong!

We had a family barbecue at Brenda's afterwards. Grilled ribs, brats, kielbasa and wings plus all the trimmings! Brenda had a good friend who had no plans. Her husband is deployed in Iraq so we felt privileged to have her with us. It was a great day.

Larry Turns the big 6-1

We all knew it was coming. May 17th. Larry turned 61 with a bit of fanfare and a nice family gathering. He played golf with Dan in the morning, we had a nice family dinner at our house that evening.




I made a chocolate-chocolate cake and we had the traditional singing. He blew out his candles and opened a few gifts.

Morgan and the kids joined us for the occasion.

THE CRUISE NEWS

We went on a short 5-day cruise the first part of May. We drove down to San Diego and boarded beautiful Holland America's Oosterdam, affectionately known as one of those "dam" ships. We joined up with Rob an hour or so later.. He had come in with a huge a huge group from Seattle. We enjoyed a wonderful lunch then set off north!




We had good days at sea and choppy. When it was choppy and cold and windy, they locked the doors and wouldn't let us out on deck. Good thing we had plenty to do.

We went to the art auction both days. I fell in love with a Charlene Mitchel water color. The next day it was offered again. Rob asked me if I still liked it. I responded with an enthusiastic yes. He bid and bought it. Isn't it gorgeous??? Quite the Mother's Day gift! Thanks, son!

The other days went by swiftly. We had a couple very choppy days at sea where I verified what I had long suspected: I do indeed have a cast iron stomach! Larry was very queasy a few times but his discomfort never involved either method of food removal from the body!

I was a bit annoyed because they shut us off from the outdoors...we couldn't even walk the decks! It was a sight to behold, the seas and the waves. I loved it. They even closed the curtains in the dining rooms so as not to alarm people, I guess.

Each night we went to the main show. There were a few Dutch officers on board; also dozens or more Indonesians as room stewards, etc. Larry spoke to one the night before we docked in beautiful Victoria and arranged for a room service meal of Bami Goreng and all the trimmings! We were so excited and hoped no one would forget.

We spent a partial-day only in Victoria, deciding to spent the time touring the lovely Butchert Gardens of which we had heard so much. It took a while getting there involving various forms of public and private transportation and money exchanged hands. IT WAS WORTH IT. Here are a few photos:

It was acres and acres of gorgeous, master-planned flower beds, lots of tulips, my favorite. I experimented with my camera and got literally hundreds of photos, close-ups, etc. Yay!
















The day was beautiful weather, too; people told us the day before had been blustery and cold. It was sunny and bright but cool.

When we returned to the ship before 8:00 PM, we only waited a few minutes in the stateroom before our Indo meal arrived. OMG!! YUM!

We went to another show that night then I watched Rob play Roulette for a while. He and I also attended the very late Indonesian Crew Show. Late bedtime that night!






Here is photo from the Formal Dinner night. We attended a cocktail party thrown by the company through Rob booked the cruise, Travel with Alan.

The next we disembarked in Vancouver and began the hours-long ordeal of getting on tour buses and making our way back to the U.S of A. Going through the border proved exasperating. we waited in the bus line for hours!

The wait proved fatal for several people's chances of catching return flights, including Rob's! He missed his but was able to go stand-by only an hour later and get to work on time.

Larry and I made ours with 20 minutes to spare, which was good as none of us had eaten anything since breakfast aboard the ship! We grabbed a burger in the airport. It was good to get back to Southern California. Our friends picked us and we made it home before midnight. It was a great short vacation. Thanks, Rob, for inviting us, for taking care of all arrangements, etc. I love a good cruise!

MOTHER'S DAY 2010

Mother's Day has never been my favorite holiday, especially since my mom died and my kids all grew up and left me. Today was no different. We didn't even get a chocolate bar at church as usual!

The cruise was fun with Rob and he got a mother of a gift--he bought me a framed Charlene Mitchell print at the art auction. It arrived just the other day and I hung it in the sun room. It is beautiful.

Brenda is Almost Employed!

As you may remember, Brenda was pink-slipped last March from her job as a school teacher in the Menifee USD. She loved teaching and was very sad. But with her usual determination, she enrolled in a Masters Program and is almost finished. She will "walk" and graduate in July. We are very proud of her. There were days i despaired of her finishing high school and here she is almost with a Masters Degree!

She also has been interviewing around local school districts for teacher's aid positions. Most of them turn her away as being "over qualified." However, a couple of weeks ago, she interviewed for and was ultimately selected to fill a teacher's aideposition in a special education classroom, which thrilled her as that is what her MA is in. She looks forward to being in a class room and learning on-the-job, as it were. Jacob Weins Elementary is lucky to have her. She starts April 13, 2010.


This comes at a fortuitous time as Dan was also laid off from Verizon as of last Friday. They are trying to get a mortgage loan modification and have listed the home for sale. They are upside down about $200,000 so a "short sale" would be great if the loan modification doesn't come through. I have been so happy to have her living so close and do not want them to leave me!

Tina is Almost Employed!

My baby Tina has a job! She will be employed at St. Mary Lodge in Glacier National park from May 23 - September 23, 2010. She is excited. I am excited. Check out her employment site at http://www.stmarylodgeandresort.com/index.php

Tina is also busy working off a high fine traffic ticket. She petitioned the court several times and was assigned to Alternate Sentencing because, being unemployed and no longer even receiving unemployment benefits, she could not pay the high fine. She now goes daily to The Alana Club, a place in Riverside that sponsors numerous AA, Al-Anon, NA, etc., meetings on a daily basis. I drop her off at 9:30 or so and she gets a ride home at 3 or so. She sweeps, mops the floors, cleans the kitchen, makes coffee, babysits kids that accompany parents to meetings, etc. She likes it. I like having time to talk to her each day.