No More Choking

What is it about little things in life that make such BIG differences in our comfort? I can't believe how excited I was to try this seatbelt adjuster ... something I've been wanting to buy for so long, but wasn't sure it was going to make a bit of difference. Being short, EVERY car I would get into, the seatbelt would be up around my neck, trying to get into my face, even when I could adjust the height of the belt itself. I would have to keep moving it out of the way, and when you're driving, it's a bit of a distraction and annoyance.Well, I finally ordered these things, HOPING it would help and - OH, MY GOSH!!! I LOVE IT!!! It's so easy to use and I don't even think about the stupid seatbelt anymore since it doesn't rub into my neck or face anymore. I enjoy driving so much more, and I'm actually considering carrying the other adjuster in my purse so I can use it in any car...as long as I remember to remove it from the other person's car.(sorry about the bulges)

Simple things. God uses even simple things to show us He is concerned about EVERY detail in our lives. He cares that my children would know Him and follow Him, and He cares that I drive safely and comfortably with no distractions. Distractions are the things that can lead to careless actions and decisions...they can lead to us taking our eyes off the situation at hand...and eventually can get us into trouble or an accident or a situation we can't handle on our own.

How comforting to know that HE is my seatbelt adjuster. Actually, how it's more comforting to know that HE is the driver and I can sit comfortably next to Him and trust Him to get me safely to my next destination.

So...to continue

We went to our hotel - El Morro Masterpiece Motel in Morro Bay. I just looked in Expedia.com and looked for the cheapest places to stay. This was the lowest rate, I'm assuming, at off-season rates. Pretty cool.
Each room and the hallways had replicas of art pieces by artists like Van Gogh, Monet, Renoir, Michaelangelo... "The Obelisk, 1787" by Hubert Robert was in our room over the bed (you can barely see it). This one below is "Falling Water-Mill Run, PA" by Frank Lloyd Wright (in honor of my son-in-law, the Architect). Upstairs was a cute little reading area with a nice selection of books to choose from and plenty of light.
While there, they had a small wine tasting time from 5-7 p.m. There were two different wines - Chardonnay and White Zinfandel - along with two types of crackers, two types of cheeses, some fruit, Cheez-it mix and some cookies. We ordered pizza in and watched some Australian Open - after making use of the spa that was downstairs below us - then went to bed. For the continental breakfast the next morning, they had hard-boiled eggs, 4-5 different breads you could toast, sweet rolls, fruit, coffee, OJ and oatmeal. Some places I've been have only had packaged sweet rolls, cereal and nothing more, so this was pretty good.

Okay...that's all I can handle today. More tomorrow - or at least in the next couple of days. I hope this makes it through. I tried to do this last night and it disappeared. Thanks for reading.

This Will Take a Few Blogs

Dan is home for the week, and we decided to spend a few days together doing things we don't normally do and haven't done in years. Also, a few days to celebrate 30 years of marriage. So on Sunday we headed to Morro Bay to spend the day. We were supposed to go...

...but the trip was cancelled, most likely due to weather or small craft warnings. We decided to have a late lunch at...













and then picked up some yogurt and a truffle at a couple of other little spots. Then we went over by Morro Rock and watched a couple of guys "windsurfing" on land and water. It was pretty windy and they were doing pretty good getting some good rides.


























Then we headed for our hotel. More on that tomorrow. I'm tired and headed to bed.

Mountain Dew Anyone?

So who wants Mountain Dew? I walked into my office today and found this HUGE plastic mug on my desk. I had no clue where it came from until later in the afternoon. One of my office mates, who will remain nameless (Craig), said he found it at a swap meet, but he had no need for it since it wasn't Code Red. But he knew Dan and I would be able to find a use for it - yeah...we'll see. I'm not even sure what size it is, but figured if there were two straws, Dan and I could figure out how to use it. Anyway, what a fun surprise! And for no real reason either.

Can You Tell

Well, I don't know how much you can tell - it's hard to get good pictures sometimes. The first picture was on a recent blog when I mentioned one of my birthday gifts - money that I wanted to use to cut my hair. And the next two pictures are from today after I went to get my hair cut.
I went to Tiger Lily where I've been going and Amanda was the stylist I had.
She cut off a few inches and added a couple of layers. She said while my hair was drying, she could see the curls would look good with the few layers. If I want to add more layers, we can do that next time. I had her blow dry it and add a little body/curl on the ends. Dan liked it. And it feels so much lighter. I think I can handle this for now. My long curly/frizz was just driving me CRAZY.It was interesting to see the color of my hair. I have patches of gray, mostly on top and to the sides, but the back had the highlights. I keep thinking of coloring, but maybe I can handle the gray a little longer to see where it ends up once it all catches up to the length...after a few more trims.

Oh, and Amanda wants to use me for one of her models next week for some showing at the salon. Just a quick "telling what I did to get your look" type of thing. Not sure who will be there, but it's just her and another friend showing how they come up with different styles. Should be interesting. I've never been a model before...

Because of HAIR!!!

It's 5:00 a.m. I've been up since 3:30 because I keep trying to figure out WHAT TO DO WITH MY HAIR!!! I can't believe I'm so obsessed about this right now. So...since I wrote that I was going to do something to change my style, I will at least go in and make an appointment, unless when I walk in they can do something then...but I'm thinking of coloring, too, if I get the nerve up. I'm tired of looking at the two patches of gray. If it were more evened out, maybe I wouldn't mind it so much. So MAYbe you'll see a different me in the next day or so. I'll post something when I DO something.

My Birthday Day

It was quite quiet, to say the least. I'll start with a couple of days ago. We drove Danielle and her boyfriend, Steven, up to San Francisco to stay with a friend overnight before they caught their flight home to OR early Saturday morning. We stayed in a Travelodge - the one I lived in for about two weeks before I moved onto the Presidio when I was 9 years old. I thought we would make a day of it on Saturday, going to Ghiradelli Square, check out some ships, drive to some of my old stomping grounds. Well, when we woke up on Saturday, Dan was barely able to talk. He had a sore throat and wasn't feeling very well. So, there went my plans. So I started driving out of the city and actually drove up Steiner to my old school - St. Vincent de Paul Catholic School. It looked just as I remembered it...the doors to the church, the playground. So strange to see it after all these years. We got home late Saturday afternoon. I'm thinking about calling my friend in the Bay Area and she if she wants to check out our old stomping grounds. She will appreciate it more than Dan, I think.

Dan called in sick today; he was supposed to head to LA to begin his new schedule at LAX. He will be working nights again (not what he wanted), but he will have weekends off. He'll work four days, so he gets off on Friday morning and will drive home. Maybe he will be able to get to church again after all this time.

So, my birthday, as I was saying didn't quite go as planned, but it was still kind of nice. My mom-in-love and I went to IHOP and I had my first "Senior" breakfast the "Rise and Shine". Okay, now stop laughing. It's pretty sad when one thing I was looking forward to were senior discounts and specials when I turned 55. Well, it was pretty nice actually, especially when our server told me I didn't look anywhere near 55...I looked much younger. Needless to say, he got a big tip (or should have - I didn't pay).

Then I went to the bank to put some money in my daughter's account for her school books - one thing we said we would do while she is in school. Then I went shopping for some cards and a gift for a birthday buddy who is now two years old. I had another birthday buddy and when she turned 21, I decided I could let her go, and when I did that, the Lord gave me another buddy to spoil for 21 years. I will still think of Kacey and wish her happy birthday, but the gifts have stopped. My prayers for her will never stop, especially now that she is a wife and mom.

After buying all the stuff I had to buy, I got home and started playing on Facebook and found a gazillion birthday wishes. That was unexpected and very nice. Oh, and I did get a couple of gifts. Money from my mom-in-love that I am going to use to change my looks - getting a hair cut/style, most likely to medium length or shorter. My hair is bugging me right now. I'm tired of the frizz and trying to straighten it all the time. It doesn't curl like it should and I'm the type that likes to just wash and go. So in the next few days, I'm hoping to change this:And Dan gave me a digital frame - you can kind of see what it is and I think most of you know what it is. I just loaded a bunch of kid pictures on it for fun. I'll load more when I have time and space.I did get calls and texts from my daughters, too. Was going to do the "free admission at Disneyland on your birthday", but didn't. Liz did go without me with her friend. And, lastly, since Dan was not up to going to McLintock's (where I've gone every year for my birthday since a couple of years after it opened), we just ordered Applebee's and picked it up. So, I actually had two free meals today and they were both very good. I'm looking forward to sharing another meal with two other friends - one whose birthday is the 6th and she shares the day with another friend who is celebrating her 30th wedding anniversary. We got together one time a few years ago to celebrate all our special days and it's become a tradition. So we go to different restaurants, one pays for all or we each pay for someone else's lunch or we go dutch. It's just been a fun tradition to get together like this and celebrate what the Lord has done for us.

Yeah - it's been a good, quiet day. Sad that Dan had to be sick, but glad he was actually here for my birthday - he would have been gone otherwise. We will go to McLintock's later in the month and celebrate my birthday and OUR 30th anniversary. Can't wait.