Happy Thanksgiving!

I am thankful that I have a job, it's nothing great, but I have a job.

I am thankful that I have an economical and reliable car.

I am thankful that I didn't loose any money in the stock market crash.

I am thankful that I have a healthy grandchild on the way.

I am thankful that I have total confidence in Lisa's ability to be a great mother.

I am thankful that Andrea is doing so much better and is happy and herself again.

I am thankful that I have found my best friend, my wonderful Marty.

I am thankful that we have an awesome roommate, Sweet Sarah.

I am thankful that I look forward to the future and enjoy the present.

I am thankful that I have learned from and have fond memories of the past.

I am thankful that my family and friends are all healthy and safe.

I am thankful to be so surrounded by so much love.

I hate when this happens...

First, a little background info,...
OK, what most people call "happy" pills, I call my "don't kill anybody" pills. Because although being happy is nice, and important too,... even more important is that I don't wrap my fingers around the throat of someone who, at least at the time, appears to need strangled to death.

Ok, back to my story,... So, due to circumstances beyond my control, I've gone two days without my "don't kill anybody" pills, (I NEVER do that!), so needless to say, I was eager to get to the pharmacy today to get my Rx. So when I get there, it's not ready yet!
I called days ago! But they couldn't find it.

So I called my dear sister for advise. Well, for counseling,.. actually. But she wasn't available, so I left a message on her phone, basically telling her that I was currently sitting on a terrified little pharmacist, because I'd gone 2 days without my "don't kill anybody" pills, and they weren't ready for me. So I was asking if I should go ahead and throttle her, or should I turn her loose and give her another chance to find my Rx. Well, without advice and counseling from my sister, I was left to make my own decision. Probably not a good idea. But what the hell, I'm 49, it's time I depend on my own brain. So,.... well,... uh,... oops... I did what felt right at the time.

So I'm on the run from the law... and the Costco store manager is pretty pissed off too. Anybody have any connections is Canada???

Girl? Boy?

December 2nd, at 11:00, am Lisa has the BIG ultrasound scheduled!
The doc said we should know by then!

YEEHAWW!!!

I'm gonna be a grama!
I'm gonna be a grama!!

well poop!

Still don't know if we're having a boy or a girl. Doc didn't do an ultrasound, cuz it was too early. So we have to wait TWO Frickin' WEEKS!

On the other hand, I heard the little critters heart beat, and it was just a pitty-pattin' away!!!

Christmas has become so materialistic...

My sweet Martin had a wonderful Christmas idea. We were both talking about how disappointed we were that Christmas has become so commercial. It's all about shopping and spending, not giving and doing. He also knows I wont be able to buy much in the way of Christmas gifts this year, so he suggested doing something special together,... volunteer work,... together. So that's what we are doing, probably at the Idaho Food Bank or the VA Hospital. But we are going to give back, together. I love that idea.
I just adore this guy.

Unsolved Mystery

At left,... the suspect in the toilet plugging caper.

The culprit was not retrieved, but had to be pushed the rest of the way through the pipes, but we strongly suspect a toy because,...

On the night in question, we had,... not one,... but TWO,... three year olds here at the apartment.

And we all know how little ones LOVE to flush things down the toilet...

"Nana go down the Hooole..."

Taking a "safety" que from my neice, Anna...

The toilet in our main bathroom plugged up. For two days, I've tried everything to unclog it! Zero success.

Then I bought the "Drain Opener". This bottle has more warnings and crap on it's label than a case of dynamite! It actually has a scull and cross bones on it!!! We're talking seriously corosive chemicals, here.

So,... I donned my best hazmat suit,
and went in!!!

I waited the required 15 minutes....

and flushed,...

nothing,...
it didn't frickin' work!

Ah, geez, now I've got a toilet full of water mixed with corosive acid!!!

Hole-y Jeebus! What the hell is down there????

SHIT!!!

... had an interesting discussion the other night. Haven't come up with the answer yet, what do you think?
Can you take a mini bottle of Jack Daniels in your carry-on luggage on a plane? It IS less than 3 oz. of liquid, so you'd need to put it in a zip lock bag. But since you could use it to hi-jack a plane, wouldn't they confiscate it? I mean, if they take your tweesers, (apparently because you can hi-jack a plane by threatening to pluck the pilot's eyebrows), surely you could use the explosive properties in Jack Daniels to hi-jack the plane. But then again, don't they already HAVE mini bottles of Jack Daniels on board??? WTF???

Why can't I keep my tweesers????

Some pics from the Central California Coast

One of the first things I noticed about southern and central California coast is the PLANTS! WOW! Things we grow as housplants grow outside like weeds there!!! The Bird of Paradise is used like we use roses, it's in every flower bed, and they were all in bloom! Absolutely magnificent! And Ice Plant is everywhere, it really is a weed! The ice plant is a ground cover that blooms bright pink and bright yellow. It's very pretty.

This is John and Martin. These two grew up together in Southern California as surfer buddies. John is so cute! He started sharing stories about their early years, surfing, drinking, and sleeping in the ice plant, (the official ground cover of the state of California), and I was laughing so hard I almost wet my pants.
This is John's house, it's a tiny shack right on Morrow Bay. It's about 30 X 40 ft. - and surrounded by HUGE houses. I LOVED his little house, it reminded me of the shack I lived in on the hill. And John was so generous with surrendering it for us to stay in.

This is me with John's girlfriend, Annie. Annie and I had so much in common it was just scary. I think I found a kindred spirit.
We both work in horticulture and are plant geeks. We both love and grow orchids. I swear we have the exact same house plants! We dress the same way. We have the same dreams and goals. We both own a parrot. Much of our past has been similar.
We even had our new laptops die at the same time. We both got them from Best Buy, had the extended warranty, and had them in the shop at the same time. And after taking this picture, I realized we even had similar shirts on, blue and white scenery.

We are both even bird nerds!

Martin wading in in a really big tidal pool.

Martin and I on a cliff overlooking the magnificent Pacific.






We got to enjoy several types of wildlife, like this groundsquirrel that is a professional freeloader. We also saw a coyote, sea otters and harbor seals. We also watched Pacific White Sided Dolphins surfing the waves with human surfers. It was sooooo cool! I wish I could have caught that on film. On the other hand, it was pretty easy to photograph these elephant seals as they basked in the sun.

And this little girl seemed pretty interested in us.

And this is the group of neighbors that got together for lunch. Me, John, Pam & Hans (Hans is very german, cute accent!), Daniel and Jacqui, (kiwis from New Zealand, both had cute accents.), Lori & Jason, and Martin.

Coming up:

Our visit to the J Paul Getty Villa Museum.
A-frickin'-mazing!!!

This is my friend Martin.
He's an awesome man.

We can talk forever about everything, or about nothing.

He says I'm "refreshingly unconventional".
He grins really big
when he says it.
Is that a good thing???

This is so frickin' cool!!!!

We felt it!! There's really something in there!

Lisa was sitting and watching TV this evening and she felt the baby move! So she hurried into my room and put my hand where she'd felt the thump, and sure enough,.... "thump." Small and soft, but definetly there. It was soooo cool! We were both just grinning so big!

I cant wait 'til the 19th to see if they can tell us the gender!
Woooohoo!

Speaking of birds...

My parrot, Gracie, found a great new place to hang out.
"The Box Under the Toilet" is clearly the hip place to be if one is a bird. I'm guessing all the cool birds go to this new club....

My daughter and my grandbaby...

My darling daughter, Lisa, is really starting to show!

And after we were done being silly,
she decided to take a picture of her real tummy.

Her next doctor visit is on the 19th. They are going to do an ultrasound, and we're hoping they can "see" the gender of the baby by then. We are soooo excited to find out what she's having!!!

This is my friend Larry, and his buddy Jake. They went
south for the winter...

They are roughing it at an RV park outside Quartzite, Arizona. Last I heard, it was in the 80's there.

Not that I'm jealous, I love this chilly weather,... really,... I do. Do you believe me???

Ah geez,... where do I start?

Well, here's a few pics from October 9th when we moved into our cute little apartment. Gee, it's been almost a month already!

This is our honkin' big 26 ft. truck. We didn't need a truck this big, but when we got there to pick up our 17 ft. truck, they didn't have ANY trucks available - but after a few calls, they found us a 26 ft for the price of the 17 ft that we had reserved.

My sister-in-law, Marlette, was in town, so bless her sweet heart, she helped us, (Sarah, Lisa and I), move into our apartment.

We loaded everything from our storage units into that truck,

and then unloaded it into the apartment in just 4 hours!




WE ARE WOMAN, HERE US ROAR!!!











After a few shorts days, ok,... a week or two,... we had the apartment all put together and cute!

Finally!!!

I got my computer back last night! I'm back among the living!!! YEEEHAAW!!!
No time to say much right now, but I have so MUCH to catch up on!
The move into the apartment.
My job... (eye roll...).
Lisa, mama-to-be.
My weekend on the central CA coast.
Future travel possibilities...
etc...
I'm closing at work today, and opening tomorrow... so I'll try to do a proper blog tomorrow evening.

P.S.

YES WE CAN!
Yes we did!
Yes we will!!!!