Are you ready for some football?

Okay, I think that is the phrase, and it is supposed to be screamed so I guess I should have put it in all caps. But in all honesty, I'm not a huge football fan, in fact I'm not a fan at all unless my kids are playing and today they were.

We gathered today and had a "touch" (though I must say it seemed pretty aggressive to me) football game. I knew the boys would love it so I braved the cold weather and went. I did, however, get out of actually playing football and was just a spectator. I'm thinking I might have been warmer had I actually played. Ryan ended up taking off his sweatshirt and playing in a t-shirt only as he'd gotten so warm from playing. I held Zeus and he worked as a great excuse on why I couldn't actually play since he's too big for Hailey to hold without him running her over. But I also got to take photos since I wasn't playing.

After the game, we had hamburgers, chili, and brats along with lots of other goodies (like we need to eat after Thanksgiving....) and visited for a bit. The boys had a fabulous time. I froze, but enjoyed myself and it was nice to have a break from home as going into day number three here with kids having no school was starting to get a bit old. It was great to get out.

So much for making plans!

So yesterday morning, I get up and after writing my blog about how I'm going to Michelle's house for Thanksgiving, I start to make sweet potato casserole to take. My phone rings and it is Hailey. She is on her way home from her friend's house where she'd spent the night before. She was crying.

Seems she ended up having the flu. Above is a photo of how she looked on Thanksgiving.

She thought she'd feel better so she jumped in the bathtub, but after getting out and becoming sick again, she (and I) realized that Thanksgiving plans had to change. I called Michelle who was sweet enough to tell me to come over and get some food to take back to the boys. I went over and picked up turkey, noodles, dressing and mashed taters and I stopped by the grocery store and picked up rolls, cranberries, drinks and a pie to put in the oven. It all worked out well and we had a good dinner (a little later than noon and not on plastic plates....but I will say that when I went to Michelle's and she had her table set, much to my relief there were real plates there also).

So, my plans were set aside as God had other intentions for the day. Maybe He decided it was time for me to get over my "anti-Thanksgiving" attitude and have dinner at my house.

Its 9 am on Thanksgiving and I'm already stuffed...

Let the holidays begin!

So I get up this morning and think, "well since it is a holiday I might as well splurge". So instead of my normal just coffee breakfast, or coffee and some oatmeal, I gobble (get it...ha, ha) down a large (and I do mean large) pecan banana nut muffin with real butter. I can feel my arteries clogging up already and I'm so stuffed that the thought of Thanksgiving dinner in three hours is not appealing at all.

My question is this....why is Thanksgiving dinner SO early in the Midwest? Seems everyone eats it at what they call "dinner" which is really lunch. My recollections of Thanksgiving when I was younger was we'd eat around 3 in the afternoon. Which meant that there were small appetizers from noon on and the main meal was sometime between a normal lunch and dinner. This meant that you finished pumpkin pie about 4, played games, then ate some more and the day was pretty much done. I always feel somehow cheated here in the Midwest (never mind the PAPER plates that are so often used....what happened to china?) in that you were done with the holiday in the middle of the day and it was over.

It has taken me years to get used to this and I still long for the three pm (ish) Thanksgiving dinner. Since I refuse to cook dinner myself (long story, I'll save it for another time) I always go to other people's houses for dinner, so I refuse to complain too much and am very thankful for friends who open their houses and families up to me and mine.

This year I'm headed to my friend Michelle's house. It is at noon and I'm bringing sweet potato casserole. I have no idea if we'll use paper plates, but I do know one thing, I'll be in good company and since my family is so far away that is the most important thing. I'll get over the "dinner" time and paper plates.

I'm wanting a convertible again

Years ago, as in before children, I had a convertible and loved it. Over the years, the memories of a convertible have faded. They were reawakened while in San Francisco. Vic and I were going to rent bikes and ride across the Golden Gate Bridge but we woke up that Saturday morning to gray skies threatening rain. Actually, I think Vic secretly prayed for the gray, rainy day so I wouldn't drag her out on a bike after making her walk up Nob hill the day before...

Anyhow, since biking in the rain didn't seem like too much fun we decided to rent a car and drive across the bridge to the other side to see Napa wine country and Muir woods.....(I'll post some photos). There was a car rental place just across the street from the Hilton, so we headed over there and asked for an economy car (as a side note, to rent a CAR for 24 hours for the two of us was half the price of renting bikes for the 2 of us for 24 hours! - figure that one out). They were out of economy cars, so they gave us this convertible instead. I wasn't too excited, as those gray skies had now turned to a light rain, but what the heck...we weren't going to turn it down.

That last night we left our downtown hotel and for a 1/3 of the price stayed at a Comfort Inn (with free breakfast) in the Napa area. The next morning we woke up and the skies were bright and clear. Although a bit chilly, Vic convinced me to take the top down for the ride back into San Francisco to the airport. I'm glad I did. It was such a fun ride! Now, I miss my old convertible.

Maybe someday, when the kids are gone and I can be less sensible, I'll get that convertible again.

Its cold!

I'm just not ready for this weather. I guess I was thinking since fall was so wonderful, that winter would just never come. I woke up and it is a whopping 20 degrees outside.

Though, I must say, it is nice and toasty in my home. I do wish I had a fireplace though.

Anyhow, this is just a quick post to whine about the weather. Just a couple weeks ago (it was in November), Hailey was running around outside in her bathing suit! If the pool was open, I'm sure she'd have jumped in.

My favorite things about traveling

1. Planning a trip
2. Being on a trip
3. Coming home

In that order. I love it all I guess, and that is what makes me a person who loves to travel and see new things. Researching a place and figuring out what I want to see when I'm there is so much fun and builds excitement. On the trip, it is amazing to see new things and people and it makes me realize just how small and insignificant I am in the world, which is humbling, but also reminds me of the diversity and magnitude of the world that God created. I also LOVE coming home to "my world". I always appreciate home so much more when I've gone somewhere else. I'm ready to jump in my car and negotiate streets that are familiar to me once again.

There was so much more I did on my trip and I'll post that information and photos later, but wanted to add this little blurb this morning as it is what I was thinking about....but with home, comes the responsibilities of my work, so that is what I'm going to be concentrating on the next few days.

But in the meantime, it is good to be home....

A Taste of San Francisco

Last night Vic scored me a ticket to her opening reception....good thing because I wasn't about to pay the $150 for the ticket! She is friends of someone higher up and they got me an extra ticket. Anyhow, it was held here at the hotel in the ballroom and was just fabulous. It was set up all around the room with the different areas and neighborhoods of San Francisco represented. There was sushi from Japantown, shrimp, oysters and crab from Fisherman's Wharf, Chinese food from Chinatown, Italian from North Beach, chocolate, chocolate and more chocolate....and too much to name really. Prime rib, roast beef, pizza with goat cheese and shrimp. You get the picture.

I paced myself. I ate a little bite from each and felt like I got a taste of each neighborhood in San Francisco. It was great! I was hoping to hit a lot of these places for the food, but didn't feel I had the time. It was wonderful to have it all in one place.

After the reception here at the hotel, we had four additional receptions to attend....we made it to two of them and then decided we were too tired (we are getting old), but we both came to the realization that parties are only fun if you want to be there and we decided that relaxing in the hotel would be more enjoyable so after the first two we headed back to rest our tired feet. The next two receptions were also great. One was held in some wild looking underground nightclub and the second was in a huge, ornate turn of the century old theater. Just going to the buildings and looking around was worth it. Of course the food was plentiful in both places and I had to sample some more yummy things....oh yeah, and more chocolate. Today I don't have a migraine hangover - I have a chocolate hangover.

San Francisco

Day one - well, it is actually day two since I arrived yesterday.

Didn't start well. I woke up at the crack of dawn, though actually it was BEFORE dawn (don't schedule a vacation where you set your clocks back, and then gain two more hours in flight...seems like all that gaining time would be great and it is, until you wake up at 5 in the morning) anyhow, back to my point why it didn't start well. I woke up with a migraine. They are always the worse kind. I feel them all night long so I don't sleep well, yet I'm not awake enough to realize I have to get up and take some medicine or it will be worse. So I woke up and was miserable. I took some medicine and laid back down but as usual with migraines I don't keep it down. So, poor Vicki had to hear me sick in the bathroom (you know how hotel rooms echo...I bet the people next to us heard it) but she was a good sport about it and told me that Rebbecca got sick every day of her pregnancy so it didn't bother her at all. Good thing she isn't one of those who get sick at hearing someone else sick!

So I finally kept a few pills down and went back to sleep. When I woke up again around 9 am, Vicki was leaving for her appointments and I was feeling better. I manged to shower and get out of the hotel by 10 am. As long as I kept my dark sunglasses on I wasn't too bad, though could feel the "hangover" of the migraine (that is kind of how it feels). I took about a 1 1/2 mile walk to Alamo Square and took a walking tour of the Alamo historic district. This is where the famous "painted ladies" are - the ones you see in the opening of Full House sitcom. We took a tour of a private home and Richard, the owner, had refurbished it in period 1880's and 1890's antiques. He actually lives there but I'm not sure how, as it is more like a museum. It was quite a site. We learned the history of the area and the homes and walked around for two hours discussing the different styles and periods. This is a free tour (takes up a donation) and was very informative. I highly recommend these tours to anyone visiting San Francisco.

After the tour, I was going to try to book it back to take a tour of Nob Hill with the same city guides, but it was quite a walk back and the effects of the migraine were still lingering so instead I took a leisurely stroll back stopping in shops, eating at an outdoor restaurant, and visiting a local farmers market that I walked through on the way down there. It was a great way to see San Francisco. I walked about 3-4 miles, and didn't get to take my second tour but overall a good day.

Last evening, Vicki and I went to a swank restaurant for dinner as one of her friends/business associates Valorie took us to eat. The place was incredible and the decorations were out of this world. You were definitely paying for the ambiance as the food was very good, but not incredible enough to warrant the prices. Though I'm finding food in SF to be quite expensive. Good thing I don't eat too much...ha, ha.

Tonight there are three receptions to attend....should be a blast.

When a child grows up.

I've had this discussion with a friend. At what age does a child start realizing they are not the center of the universe? I think it happens slowly and little by little, they begin to put others first. Then perhaps, for most, it reverts during those teen-age years. Hopefully, by the late teenage years they've once again realized they are not the center of the universe.

I mention this because I witnesses something very special this weekend. Brent really wanted to go miniature golfing yesterday. As I had a lot to do and wasn't feeling that well, I reluctantly went. I eventually decided to go because Ryan has hit that age where he doesn't want to do much with mom and I thought to myself that someday Brent will be there (soon I'm sure) so I should take advantage of every opportunity I get to spend time with him.

So, Brent, Hailey and I head out to the park and when we get there I get my purse out and get ready and Brent says "you can leave your purse in the trunk, I'll pay". WOW, what an incredible gift on his part to me. Not that I can't afford the $16.00 to miniature golf, but I just thought that the mind set of wanting to pay had hit that level where he decided to put someone (me and his sister) ahead of himself or something he could have bought for himself with that money.

It was the best game of miniature golf in the world!