It's The Weekend woohoo

Good morning! My legs feels like they're on fire from the cat (Lucy) doing a burn out on them this morning. Nothing says GET OUT OF BED like 20 claws poking you in the legs. 

In her defense she was running from Snookie. It's the morning game of cat tease dog, dog chase and bark at cat. 

Last night after dinner I went over to my friend Traci's dock to hang out. My mom and dad came over too and then some other neighbors came by on their golf cart and another gal in her car behind them. Next thing we knew it was like a party. Lots of fun!

The sunset wasn't too exciting. I think maybe because it was a little windy. 

Not too long after it went down we moved down the street to Traci's porch and hung out there until 11 something. Not too shabby of a way to start the weekend. 

Well, minus the cat scratches.

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Date Night

Scott and I went on a date night last night, since the kids aren't here and all. We went out to sushi. I didn't take any pictures because I think I've ate it all now. Well not ALL I don't really care for the just a piece of fish by itself stuff but I think we've had almost all the rolls now.  I ordered the appetizer sampler which was kind of a fat girl mistake because it's all fried. Delicious, but fried. We also had two rolls and ate almost all of it.

When we were done we looked to see if there were any movies playing and Sex Tape was playing at 8. It was 8:07 but we were right next door and they have 20 minutes of previews at the movies now so decided to go see it. When we got in the previews were STILL playing so we didn't miss anything.

I just have to say, this is the funniest movie I have seen in A LONG time. Pretty much hilarious! Everyone was still laughing when the movie was over and we laughed and threw the one liners around all the way home.

My mom is supposed to bring my kids home tonight. Not sure if that's before or after dinner so I guess I'll cook up this chicken I took out just in case.

Tomorrow I have to take my car in to get it fixed for a recall. I think Scott's going to follow me over there since they said it will take 3 1/2 hours, which probably means 6 hours. I think we are going to work on Trevor's room. We had originally put in pocket doors for the kids rooms. We've already replace Melissa's door with a regular door because when it was Jessica's room she slammed it so many times it kept falling off the track. I want to get different door knobs for the doors too so the dogs will stop opening all the bedroom doors when we don't want them in there.

Doesn't that sound like an exciting weekend? If I'm lucky maybe I'll do some painting in there but not sure if I'll get to that part or not. Still need to fill in the holes in the walls..Pin It

Random Ranting

ugh life sucks! I guess we should all be happy we are alive right? We could be like the poor woman who went to the bank down the street from where my mom lives yesterday. She went to the bank with her twelve year old daughter in tow and then ended up being taken hostage in a bank robbery and killed two hours later. Right down the street from where all my family lives and where I grew up.

So close to home and so scary.

I'm thinking I just don't need to go to the bank anymore. I've got online banking, direct deposit and if I need cash I can get cash back at Target or the grocery store. Yep, no reason to go to the bank.

Did you hear about that Malaysia Airlines plane getting shot down in Russia? Yeah, remind me never to fly Malaysia Air. I'm pretty sure they are either going to go out of business or have to change their name now.

Melissa and Trevor are at my mom's house for a couple days to have fun with Grandma. Trevor keeps texting me to buy him some Ocarina toy. I finally told him I'm not buying it and to stop asking for it. Sheesh, kid isn't even here and he's pressuring me into buying him shit.

Little does he know I cleaned out his bedroom yesterday and today I took about 10 bags of stuff to the hospice thrift shop. What's weird is it was all CRAP. Hopefully he doesn't miss that crap too much when he gets home.

I stopped on the way home and bought some Spackle so I can fill in some of the holes in his room. There is one next to his bed that looks like it might be halfway to China. I swear I don't know why my kids are so destructive. I'm starting to think I just need to be mean. Not meaner, just MEAN.

I was also looking at primer and paint. The bottom half of the wall is a dark blue and I think I'm going to need to use a primer to paint over that (in something more neutral). I wanted to ask someone's opinion that worked at Home Depot in the paint department but there was no one working there.

I picked a little brochure to look at, guess I can figure it out on my own.

I also could have just checked myself out at the self check out and done my whole shopping trip at their store without talking to someone but yeah, I hate those things.

Pretty soon places won't even have employees and we'll just go in and leave our money and no one will have a job.

Well since we have no kids tonight and Scott is actually coming home on the train so should be here before 8 pm like he was last night we are going to go out to sushi.

I guess I should go clean something or go fill some holes or something.


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Camping!

Wow it's been almost a whole week since I last blogged. I'm becoming quite the sporadic poster. I need to work on that a bit I think!

Last week was spent trying to get my shit together with my eating and exercising. Then we went camping and I ate a shit ton of crap. It all balances out in the end right?

Scott didn't want to take the truck so we took the 2 cars, which have fold down seats and are wagon-like so it worked out just fine. Trevor and Snookie rode with him and Rusty and Melissa rode with me. I now have enough dog hair in my car to make a 3rd dog, but I think he was pretty excited to go for a ride.

Snookie wasn't too sad either.

We only stopped three times on the way, once to get gas & ice right after we left, right before ranger station in Bear Valley because my bladder was going to give out and then just a bit farther down the road at the ranger station to get a campfire permit. 

When we stopped in Bear Valley Melissa found these HUGE dandelion looking things. When she blew them it was like Bugs Life with them floating all around. Pretty cool.

We were pretty excited when we got up to Hermit Valley and saw that our original favorite site was free! Up where we go it's free to camp, you just have to get there first. It was nice that we got there when it was still light out so we could take our time unpacking things and setting up the tents. 

The kids each had their own and so Scott and I had our own. Or so we thought until it got dark and Trevor changed his mind and climbed into ours.

For dinner the first night we had hot dogs and brats. I tried to come up with stuff that would be easier to cook this time. We made them over the campfire, which was super nice!

and then we had smores for dessert of course. Scott kept saying we needed to wait until it was dark but I didn't. I had stayed up until 2 am the night before getting everything ready to go camping and I was totally exhausted. Yes that's a Reese's s'more. It tasted just as heavenly as it looks.

I pretty much begged off and went to bed after it got dark. 

The next morning we had breakfast burritos. Scott did all the cooking while we were camping it was great!

We were still eating breakfast when the first of the Death Ride riders started coming down the mountain. Part of the reason we went camping this weekend was so that we could watch the race. Scott knew two guys that were riding it (they ride the train with him). 

We pulled our chairs up closer to the road and watched and waved. 

When it was over Scott and I rode bikes down to the bathroom (downhill) and back (uphill) for .7 miles each way. That was enough for me.

For lunch we had sandwiches and then we took a little walk back to the "beach" to play for awhile.

I pretty much took over that there folding chair and laid under the umbrella while we were there. Trevor asked me why I wasn't playing. I said to me that was my version of play lol. 

When we came back we played a few rounds of rummy and then Scott made us dinner, hamburgers and Italian sausage, followed by you guessed it, more s'mores!

Sunday we got up and had pancakes and bacon. Sounds like all we did on our trip was eat and you're right!

It's just so beautiful there. Even if you aren't doing much it's nice to just sit and relax and enjoy the area. Although I've decided that camping would be a lot more fun if there were no bugs or dirt. 

We were on the road by 11:30 and back to 100 degree temps. We stopped in Angels Camp for lunch, well kind of , we went through the drive thru since we had the dogs but it took so long I had to turn off my AC since it had started to just blow hot air. Ridiculous. 

This is my least favorite part of the drive through Copperopolis. it's just so blah. Well except the clouds were kind of cool. 

Once we got home I hit the couch until it was my turn for a shower. Ahhh the best part of coming home.

If it didn't take so long to get there and back I'd go again this weekend. Well, if my bug bites go away by then ;)

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4th Of July

Finally an update on the 4th! I swear Trevor's like an internet addict now. He's always hogging the computer. Now he's also into watching Dr. Who on Netflix though so he's giving You Tube a break for a few minutes.

We went over to my brother Louie's house for the 4th of July. We did some swimming, some snacking, and lots of baby holding. I only got puked on once.

Melissa & Vincent

Me & Vincent

Me & Emma

Scott & Emma

Feeding time (Scott's brother Howard, Michele, Ava & the twins)

The guys playing some kind of intense basketball game

Melissa and her fan club (Ava & Adrian)

Mom  & Tinkerbell who wants to love me but can't quite bring herself to (the dog not my mom)

We left around 8 and went to watch the fireworks show in Manteca. That is the first time I've EVER in my entire life paid to watch fireworks. Guess what? They weren't much better than the free ones. 

my best picture lol

Manteca has their show at Big League Dreams which is the baseball stadium where Scott and Jessica have both played at before. The parking lot was full so we ended up parking across the street in the shopping center. WHICH only took us about an hour to get out of post fireworks show. 

Right before the fireworks started Trevor went to get a churro and then missed like half the fireworks. He was more into the churro than the show I think. 

This is such a weird time in our lives when the kids are getting to big to enjoy things like this but then you think you should still do them for the tradition part of it.

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Meal Planning

I'm working on my grocery list and menu for the next few days! Trying to "be good". We are going camping next weekend if everything goes as planned so I'll work on that menu later. 

I love going through Pinterest to find good recipes to try! Cooking is so much more fun if you are trying something new and not just eating the same old crap every day. Plus I've found that when I do this, make a menu and then a shopping list with everything I need on the menu, I actually do really well with my healthy eating. You don't need to go get chicken strips and fries from the corner store if you have a delicious meal planned.

Here's what I've got on my "menu"

I'm going to give this a try. Skinnytaste Veggie Ham Egg & Cheese Bake

The "egg cups" kind of gross me out but maybe this one will be better. I figure I can portion it out and reheat in the morning right?

This looks like a nice twist on the Greek Salad. Greek Garbanzo Bean Salad 

and this Mexican Chopped Salad just looks delicious

I figure I can take some of one of those and have some of these Spicy Turkey Burgers for lunch

or some of this Zucchini Lasagna

For dinners I have these

Szechuan Chicken Stir Fry

Italian Chicken, Mushroom and Zucchini Skillet

Chicken and Spinach Parmesan

and the Naked Turkey Bruschetta Burger

Now to put some clothes on and go to the grocery store!

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Book Club

I never got around to posting about last weekend's book club. If you've been hanging around here for any amount of time you know that every month I have book club. We alternate between houses-we currently have ten members and each person picks the book when it's going to be at their house.

June was my turn (we meet the last Sunday every month but December which we skip) and of course for months ahead of time I was trying to find an acceptable book to pick. Nothing too raunchy, nothing too graphic, nothing too boring haha.

I was just playing around on Amazon looking at books and I came across Moving Day: A Thriller by Jonathan Stone. I downloaded it and a few hours later finally put it down finished. Now if I can read a book without falling asleep or setting it down you know that it's a winner. I always joke that "I"m reading a book" really means "I'm taking a nap".

Here's a little about the book from Goodreads:

Forty years’ accumulation of art, antiques, and family photographs are more than just objects for Stanley Peke—they are proof of a life fully lived. A life he could have easily lost long ago.

When a con man steals his houseful of possessions in a sophisticated moving-day scam, Peke wanders helplessly through his empty New England home, inevitably reminded of another helpless time: decades in Peke’s past, a cold and threadbare Stanislaw Shmuel Pecoskowitz eked out a desperate existence in the war-torn Polish countryside, subsisting on scraps and dodging Nazi soldiers. Now, the seventy-two-year-old Peke—who survived, came to America, and succeeded—must summon his original grit and determination to track down the thieves, retrieve his things, and restore the life he made for himself.

Peke and his wife, Rose, trace the path of the thieves’ truck across America, to the wilds of Montana, and to an ultimate, chilling confrontation with not only the thieves but also with Peke’s brutal, unresolved past.

I had ran to the store early Sunday morning and got two bunches of flowers. I separated them and put them in mason jars all down the table. I think it looked pretty nice. I had planned to take a bunch of pictures before but well yeah that didn't happen. I did manage to remember when everyone was sitting down though!

Left to right: Marion, Nancy, Carol T, Mom, Joanie, Carol K. and Ginny. We were missing two people, Traci and Bridget.

I like having it set up in the kitchen vs the living room because no one ever likes to sit on my couch because it's "too squishy" and swallows them up and because this way everyone is closer together and converses more as a group.

Plus I get to set the table all fun!

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Crazy Mornings

Well the last two mornings have definitely not been sleeping in type mornings. Yesterday I was actually AT WORK by 6:30 because I couldn't sleep.

I have no idea who I have become. 

This morning I was wide awake at 3am (the time Scott is usually not getting up but somehow waking me up), I made it until about 6 before I was sure I was just not sleeping any longer. We had talked about going for a bike ride this morning but someone else never got up so I guess that's rescheduled for tomorrow.

Laying in bed the animals were all being wild kingdom like and being scrappy, jumping all around. Finally I couldn't take it anymore and got up. That used to happen with the kids in my bed. All rough housing. Now we're just down to furry things being annoying in the morning.

Don't mind that crap in the background. That's the "catch all" desk in my room/house. I should work on that (again) this weekend.  

Eventually today we'll make our way over to my brother's for baby holding and bbq'ing and maybe some swimming if the heat to water temperature ratio is correct. 

I hope you have a fabulous 4th! Wish us luck on the whole "paying to watch fireworks" tonight. 

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You Never Know

Last night I went to play BINGO down at the club kitchen. I always sit with my neighbor who is on the high side of 80 but you'd think he was maybe 65 if you didn't know better.

This other guy sits next to him. I've met him several times and he seems like a nice enough old guy. He's got one prosthetic leg which I learned last night is from having a bad knee he got tired of messing with. He said the last time he was going to have surgery on it he told the doctor to just take it off. I guess that's one way of dealing with it.

So this guy we'll call him Joe, tells me his wife doesn't cook so every day he drives to town (12 miles one way) to get dinner. I was thinking oh, poor woman, she must be sick? Maybe I should make them some meals and take them over there so they can have a nice home cooked meal.

Then he's telling me how one day they had a doctor's appointment and he wanted some coffee so his wife says go over to the Shell station. So he goes over there and there is this drive through coffee place. A little light bulb goes off in my head because I remember that there is a drive through coffee place there and I can see where this is headed.

He drives up and this is one of those "lingere" coffee stops that have been popping up all over. So he's telling me how he was surprised when he drove up and this woman's boobs are "just barely hanging in there" and how he couldn't believe they didn't pop out. (Remember this is like a probably 80 year old man telling me this story). I laughed thinking how funny that was and how the girl was probably laughing her ass off at surprising this old guy. He says "I gave her a fifty cent tip".

After BINGO, which I just missed winning every game by like one number-so not my night, I went into the bar (it's attached to the kitchen at the club house) and had a drink while I talked to one of my other neighbor friends and the bartender. I'm telling them this story the guy told me and they are like

OOOHHH NOOOO those people are nasty!

I'm like wha? They are old? Then they are telling me how this guy's "trophy" wife (there goes my invalid wife thinking) came into the bar before wearing a dress with large holes in it (I'm thinking kind of mesh like?) and nothing on underneath. EW and how this guy bragged about how he liked to watch someone else have sex with his wife.

WTH. People are freaking crazy.  I'm still blown away by the whole thing. Dirty old people. Pin It

Here and There

So I've totally lost my focus on exercising.

I know!

God I suck. I was going to start over with the Couch to 5k on July 1st. But it was 106 outside and obviously from the pony tail I wore to work I wasn't up early enough to beat the heat. It's still really hot today. So I'm thinking maybe NEXT week I'll restart the Couch to 5k. Sounds like a winner to me.

It's been kind of nice not exercising. I've been so busy with everything going on and all the Netflix episodes I had to watch and that 2 trip buffet and all that.

So let's talk about some fun stuff I've done.

Last week I met up with my friend Twila for lunch. We were part of a group of 4 from high school. We got together back in the fall or so but FAIL didn't take a picture to prove it.  I made sure to take one this time.

We met at Mimi's again. After three times in a row I guess that's going to be "our place" to meet up haha.

So she's dealing with something that we are all going to be dealing with sooner or later.

Elder care. Her Grandparents ended up needing a lot of care (and cleaning of their house as ordered by a social worker) and she has been doing a great deal of it. Not fun.

Growing up kind of sucks sometimes.

Anyone have any big exciting plans for the 4th? Scott said he doesn't care what we do but this year we are paying to see the fireworks somewhere. Apparently last year's sitting on the side of the road in a blind spot was a bit too much for him haha. (wow looking at those pictures it's hard to believe that was only a year ago. Seems like so much longer)

Personally I could care less about the fire works. I'm officially old and dead inside I guess.  Too many people, too much stress about "getting out of the parking lot" that we have to go through every year. It takes all the fun out of it. I guess my brother has invited us over to his house so at least Trevor will have fun hanging out with his cousin. I'd be happy to just lay around the house and read a good book.

All these holidays without my Jessica kind of just suck. Now I know why old people are so cranky when their kids all move away.  Well except the rich ones that can afford to travel and stuff. That would take your mind off things a bit maybe ;)

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