How did we go from............

 This 

To this

and more of this......

all in one day.............where am I??

A Million

I’ve always wanted to have a million of something, well mostly a million dollars. Once there was a time a million was a big number. And I suppose now it still can be, because once you have the million it can somehow reproduce itself or so they say. It has to do with all that investing stuff that is light-years over my head. And I suppose if I never spent any of the money I’ve earned in my lifetime (which includes the ten cents an hour I use to make babysitting) I would have a million by now. But who can do that? So since accumulating a million bucks at this point in my life is probably not going to happen (sorry kids) I’ve decided I’ll have to get a million of something else.

After a little snafu with my camera Sunday (I deleted all my pictures on my camera accidently) I decided I needed storage totally dedicated to pictures. So in my search for storage I found that the newest affordable “number” in the computer world is a terabyte. I was just getting use to gigabytes and now we are on to terabytes. So what can I do with one tb (that’s short for terabyte)? Well, one tb will storage up to 4,000,000 photos. Four million are you kidding me. So that is my goal to fill up my terabyte before I die. I’m not really a picture taking person although it seems like I do (for me) have a lot of pictures spread between my three computers, not to mention CDs and 3 ½ floppy disks (hello I’m dating myself a whole 10 or 15 years).

Guess I better get started, the journey of a million pictures starts with me!

Happy Birthday Shout Out

It all started with my love for Birdie.  I couldn't stop loving her.

So we I (I'm the main dog lover, but thankfully Mr. Man supports me in all things dog) decided it was time for our own Griff.  First we waited 6 long months. Finally on March 28, 2009, you were born.  We waited another 8 weeks to bring you home.

I knew you were the one!  Not only were you the one but you are a direct sister to Birdie, pretty cool!

You are all grown up now.  It is hard to believe you are one today. You are everything I love about the griff and more. Playful, curious, full of energy, loving, obedient (my favorite thing) and a pretty good sister to boot.

Happy Birthday "Dottie On the Spot Von Herrenhausen"

I Want To

Each day I deal with a good number of city and county websites in search of plans, addendums and planholder lists. It is so interesting to me how completely different each website is. Each website I go to I have to try and think what the person who designed that website might be thinking. What was going on in their mind when they set up the website. In most cases I look in their engineering department or public works department; that just seems logically to me given what I’m looking for. Sometimes it is so time-consuming because the information is so “embedded” it is ridiculous. It’s like looking for a needle in a hay stack. Take today for instance. I was looking on the City of Sausalito’s website; where to start, where to start! I checked out City Hall, I found Public Works, I went to the Engineering Division. Nothing……..I was looking for an addendum and just figured they didn’t keep that information on their website. Some cities do, some cities don’t. I rely on Builders’ Exchanges for a lot of that information; slowly but surely however cities are getting up to speed and putting this information on their own websites. Anyway, back to Sausalito an upscale town. I found out that they keep that information under “I Want To”……….who would have thought “I Want To” was the place to look! Who would have thought "I Want To" would be a heading on a city website. I want to.....hummmmm!  I want to eat ice cream, I want to take a nap, I want to own a corvette ......... that's what I want to do!

Happy Birthday Shout Out!

To Grandchild #5 who is five!

Sending hugs and kisses....

Thanks for a great weekend!

Sunday's Lesson

I was asked upon returning from church today what I had learned.  The question was asked with a bit of sarcasm, figuring my answer would be routine.  I felt my answer was anything but routine. 

So what did I learn at church today?  I learned that "family is more important than dirt!"  And I believe that it is.  It was a great lesson and one that I have mulled over repeatedly since hearing the idea.............."family is more important than dirt!"  I hope it is a lesson I never forget.

More Surprises.......

This time we got to surprise #1 Son. We traveled to Utah this weekend to watch him participate in a triathlon in American Fork. What work and dedication it takes to participate in such an event…………WOW! We were so proud to have had the opportunity to share this day with him and his family!

Cheering on Dad

Heading toward the finish line!

Hugs and

smiles all around!

Where Have You Been?!?!?

We’ve all said and heard it before, “where have you been?!?” Well, that is the question I wanted to ask my luggage Thursday night when my bag came off the carousal in Salt Lake City. I know my luggage has seen better days, but this trip was much harder on it then I expected. Although sad to see it go, Southwest happily gave me a new piece of luggage, not as cute as the red but still as functional. Not only do bags fly free on SWA but if they can’t take the ride you get a new one………no charge!!

Wow, what a ride..........

Make-up case and poor little lotion didn't fair so well either!

Crazy..............

Daylight Saving Time......there is no "s"

Many people pronounce it Daylight Savings Time....... but alas there is no "S"  Which really makes sense because hello you just lost an hour and that's no savings.  The hour is gone, poof, bye-bye just like that, gone!  But for that lost hour I get more daylight and I love daylight.  Leaving in the light coming home in the light......it's heaven.  But what I really love is this.  Because when this comes I know that the light days of summer are not too far behind!

Great............

Today was a great day.  Work was great, lunch was great, the weather was really great........it just was great!  Then we came home.

1. Forgot to close the doggie door.......of course Belle and Lola made themselves at home.......not great!
2. Next made coleslaw for our work luncheon tomorrow......that was great!
3. Put some cabbage down the garbage disposal...........clogged the drain.......not so great!
4. Phone in the sink.....that was really not great at all!

The Weird and Wonderful.........

One of the synonyms for strange is weird and wonderful. My yesterday post left me feeling pretty let down; I guess that is what estranged will do to you. But today out of estranged I found strange. Strange is much more uplifting……..because it is weird and wonderful! Today these three articles floated across my desk and have helped me move away from estranged and on to strange, the weird and wonderful.

The first one from a John G. Miller "Quick Note" (QBQ!) talking about Personal Accountability. John says, "Life teaches us all—whether we’re a child, a teen, or an adult—that we cannot control what other people say and do, or most events occurring around us. The only thing we really have control over is ourselves. And this is exactly why personal accountability is so critical, and why people and organizations who demonstrate accountability stand out. In truth, there actually are reasons things go awry: people make mistakes, the ball gets dropped, stuff happens. Life can be complicated, confusing, and complex. Because of this, any one of us on any given day could go on and on with “reasons.” But when we attempt to exonerate ourselves with explanations, all they sound like are excuses—and, of course, that’s all they really are. What we need to do, instead, is look to ourselves and ask, “What can I do?” and get to work solving the problem. In other words, practice personal accountability."  I believe Personal Accountability is huge!

The second one was from a blog I follow.  Sherrie's blog today compared quilts and people.  She said, "One of the first things I was taught is that when picking out the materials to be used in a patchwork quilt the most important thing is contrast. You need dark materials and light materials. You need various patterns. If every square were exactly the same, the quilt wouldn’t be very interesting. It is the contrast between the patterns and colors and intensity that make a patchwork quilt beautiful. The same is true of people. The strength that comes as we gather in congregations or families is brought about by contrast not sameness. If we all had the same opinions or experiences or thought processes there would be no synergy. But because we are all different, when we come together we each add something to the whole—we make it better and more interesting."  I believe that being different doesn't make you right or wrong, it just makes you different and differences are what makes the world go round!

Lastly an article from the New York Times came to me via email.  The article was entitled "The Secret to Having Happy Employees."  The statement in the article that caught my eye was, "I have learned the long, hard and frustrating way that as a manager you cannot make everyone happy. You can try, you can listen, you can solve some problems, you can try some more. Good management requires training, counseling and patience, but there comes a point when you are robbing the business of precious time and energy."  This is a great article and so true, you simply cannot make everyone happy.

Isn't it strange that these three articles surfaced today........it is a weird and wonderful thing!

Words that disappoint.......

I love words but sometimes there are just some words that really bother me. The one that has been bothering me lately is the word estranged. It doesn’t even sound nice because it isn’t! By definition the word means a disruption of a bond of love, friendship, or loyalty.  Sometimes we can’t stop words from happening….I’m just disappointed this one has!

Mother of Invention

So I’m catering an anniversary party in a couple of weeks and have started do some of the pre-party baking. One of the appetizers I’m making is little mini “appetizer bowls” I’m taking an un-cooked tortilla and cutting it into four rounds. Then put the 3” rounds in a mini muffin tin. Unfortunately, the first go around the tortillas puffed up so much I realized there would be no room for the goodness I was going to fill them with. So I consulted with my sous chef, D-1 and she suggested filling them with dried beans, I say wonderful idea. Then I say I have some pie weights, I’ll use those. Which I did. Unfortunately, the tortilla loved the little pie weights and just puffed up nicely around them hugging them for dear life. So I realized that wasn’t going to be my answer. I needed something with a little handle. So I took a length of foil and rolled it into a ball and leaving a little tail on the end then placed my nifty little foil weight inside my yet to be cooked “appetizer bowl” popped them into the oven and 7 minutes later…..perfection!

I know how Thomas Edison must have felt…….it was definitely a light bulb moment! I love when things work out so splendidly!

Not so pretty .....

Hey what a great idea....

A little fuzzy, but lovely...lovely!!