Birthday week in SoCal

What a great birthday week this is turning out to be!

What with the fantastic weather, seeing the family and wonderful food and friends, what more could a girl wish for?

Oliver at the park

I think I want a personal chef, and Les is my choice! He is turning out to be a really good cook, and loving his Cordon Bleu school. Ryan is certainly benefiting by eating so well! What pleasure to see them so happy and working away in the kitchen - Ryan tactfully staying out of the way, but doing a lot of the cleanup etc. And eating much more than his usual standard fare! They make a good team. The school is something that I would love to do, but really, what would I do with that training? Use it in the Central America B&B? Well, there's a thought.

The drive down to San Diego county on Wednesday was just beautiful. With all the rain they've had down here, the hills are brilliant emerald green, dotted with masses of purple, orange and yellow wildflowers. I could almost overlook the tanks and hummers at Camp Pendleton as they roared by, tearing up the earth. I took the off ramp and looked at San Onofre and the waves were lining up like ribbons, dotted with wet-suit clad surfers. (Cody later told me how cold the water is!) When I arrived at the apartment, Oliver was sleeping. And when he woke he was very fussy, with a runny nose. And very shy! But he is just the cutest little guy!

We went to pick Cody up from work at 3:30 and stopped at Rubios for tacos-to-go and off we went to the park. Oliver is such an active little boy, just like Cody was. It's either full on, or stopped! No fear, up and down stairs and slides. Mel and Cody are ever watchful as he explores the big world. We fed the ducks, much to his joy - and he wanted to share his sippy cup too, which ended up in the drink! But Cody managed to save it before it sank into the sludge!

Oliver was worn out by the time we got home, and he was in bed and asleep by 7:30 and I headed over to see the Straitiffs and spend the night with them. I just love those peeps! 

LA Traffic - ick!

I woke up early, after sleeping like a log, to find literally dozens of happy birthdays in my email and on Facebook! From all over the world. How wonderful it is to have those connections - nieces, nephews, friends, scattered everywhere, but with the click of a mouse, they are right here! Love it. Had a wonderful breakfast with Steve and Cathy, before Steve went off to be a volunteer science teacher at Devon's Elementary School. What a difference it must be to teach young, inquiring minds versus jaded teenage hellions! Cathy and I chatted until it was time to go to her volunteer job at the thrift store - oh what a pleasure it must be to be retired! - and I headed out to see Mel and Oliver again before heading back up to Encino.

This time Oliver was in a wonderful mood, full of smiles and talking - or jabbering in his own language - non-stop! We took him out for a run in the park again, but he is more interested in cars! Oh dear! It seems to run in the family. I didn't get to see Cody again as he doesn't get off work til 3:30 but will see him this weekend.

New Hairdo :)

Now I remember the SoCal traffic! It was running fine until LA - oh boy, how do people do this every single day! What a waste of time! I got to Ryan's work a few minutes late and we came home to have made from scratch fish and chips! The best I have ever had! We were planning to have lamb for my birthday, but it turns out Les is "doing" lamb at school today so that's what we are having this evening! 

And then, after dinner - I got a haircut! Tate couldn't fit me in at the salon, so he brought his stuff home with him - and I love it! It is definitely wash and wear - I am so not into all the b.s hair stuff and this suits me just fine. And it looks good too! 

So off I go now to meet up with the wicked boys (wicked-pr) about the nut biz - but we are meeting at a local Farmers Market and going to have - supposedly - the best tacos!

Family, Sun, Warm

OK, I have been a slacker about this blog. Lot's of excuses but none of them hold water.


So I am here in sunny Southern California, soaking up the warmth and the sun. I sat out in the sun for about 10 minutes and could tell I was getting burned - I am SO pasty - ick! Tomorrow I head down to Oceanside to see Cody, Mel and Oliver and will spend the night with the Straitiffs, then head back up here on Thursday for a birthday dinner that Les is cooking for me! What  a treat. I am amazed at how far he has come with his cooking. It was just about a year and a half ago that he could barely boil water and now he is in culinary school, whipping up gourmet meals like it's old hat! Tonight he is doing halibut and other wonderful stuff and for my birthday dinner, lamb chops. How spoiled I am - and loving it.


It felt really good to get away from Washington and the cold - and the negativity that has invaded my house. I do have empathy for him, but his thinking is so skewed and I watch him spiral himself in with the negative talk and it is just too much to deal with sometimes. And frustrating! Because I will not fall back into the helping mode and do everything and yet he won't pick up what needs to be done. It's as if the world owes him. So it's good to be away and get some perspective.


Being down here also reminds me of how much I need the sun - and people. I know I will have to work for the rest of my life so I might as well find something that I really enjoy doing, in a place that I like, around people that I want to be around. So the old idea of the B&B in Costa Rica resurfaced and I think of how much fun that could be, near or on the beach, people around, and I can get back into doing the type of writing and photography I love to do, which has been shoved on the back burner. I also realize that I can do the nut biz from just about anywhere - as long as there is someone who can physically pack and ship the orders. Wouldn't that be cool? A warehouse in California or somewhere, and me in the tropics, taking care of the "stuff" while somebody else does the grunt work! 


The site is coming along with the revisions but as usual it is always slower than anticipated. Especially when the designer is off sick and then the Project Manager is sick. And of course there are the constant glitches - I had no idea what really went on with web sites in the background. So often, on a site, there'll be something that doesn't work quite right, and I gloss over it, but when it is your own site! Oh dear, what a difference that makes. 


We are gearing up for a media blitz as soon as the site is revamped and that will be a lot of fun. The PR guys are getting stuff organized and have been a big help so far. I get to meet them on Friday. Now that is going to be a treat as I am meeting them at a Farmers Market in Hermosa Beach and apparently they have the best tacos! Real Mexican tacos, not the wimpy Washington ones. And the Farmers Market is year round, what a treat - not just the months it's ok (sort of) to be outside. I'll post pix.


And then I am getting my hair cut by Tate, a friend of Ryan's who has wanted to cut it for ages! The last cut I had in Port Townsend was terrible and I have let it grow out so he will have a lot to work with.


So it's all good! I just keep a vision of the B&B in the tropics and know that I have a direction to go.