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I was standing in line at Safeway yesterday afternoon, unloading my stuff on the conveyor belt, when I suddenly felt someone watching me. I looked up and the woman in front of me had stopped what she was doing and was fixated on my groceries. My little basket was overflowing with heavy items - 2 bottles of detergent, box of dryer sheets, 3 jars of pasta sauce, 2 boxes of pasta, blueberries, 2 boxes of cereal, and tortilla chips. I was embarrassed about how much stuff I had crammed in the basket. I over-did it as usual. "I had coupons." I said laughing nervously. Dork. "I write books of games for adults." she said. "One of the games I created is with blueberries. I see you have blueberries there." Uh. I glanced at my blueberries and looked back at her without saying anything. Because really, what do you say? She then goes on to tell me the game. "You put a blueberry in your mouth and then your partner, or date, or the other player, tries ...

Elli has called every friend she knows and no one is home. There are voicemail messages from her all over town. "Hi, It's me Elli. Do you want to go see the Smurfs movie today and stay for a sleepover? Call me back. BYE!" she has said over and over again. At first I was worried. What if they all call back. It's going to be a party here. It's been two hours and no one has called her back. "Well, I guess I can just hang with you guys." she says with a humph. Gee. Sorry to be such a drag. I remember when she used to gladly go to the movies with us. She didn't have to have a friend with her. She wanted to sit in my lap. Not anymore. She's only nine. I thought this happened when they were teenagers. Pretty soon she'll want us to drop her off at the mall to hang with friends. She won't let me walk her to school. She won't be my little shopping buddy. Unless of course I'm buying her something. Boo hoo. I totally get...

We took the family to Yosemite on Tuesday. The plan was to hike a few trails before heading back to Bass Lake where we were camping. We started with the easy Bridalveil Falls before we ventured to Vernal Falls. Bridalveil Waterfall Elli with her cousins Maya and Ben Bentley and Sam got to go too. When we got to the trail head for Vernal Falls we noticed a sign posted on the rail. It was a MISSING sign for the three hikers who disappeared on July 19th. They climbed over the guard rail at the top of the waterfall and fell down 371 feet into the rocks and rushing water never to be seen again. Vernal Falls We saw it on the news here in the Bay Area. What we didn't realize was the three bodies were still missing. All the photos on the sign were taken on the trail before they got to the top. Wow. Not a happy way to start a hike. Everyone read the sign including the kids. It was a good reminder to all of us to be extra careful. As we walked up the trai...

aaaaaaaaah. It's been a long, busy, sweaty, depressing week. I got another job rejection to add to my long list of job rejections. It's been hot. There is no A/C at home and not much at the store which is making me sweaty, smelly and cranky. I hate sweating. I have anxiety about going camping tomorrow. We're meeting my sister and her family, which I know will be a lot of fun, but I'm stressing about packing, bears, taking the dogs, bears, and sleeping in a tent for four days with bears. Our house is a mess. Which always adds to my anxiety. Don spilled my travel mug of coffee in his office tote a few days ago. "Why don't you ever empty your coffee mug!" he grumbled. "Why did you put my coffee mug  in your tote?" I asked. This was not a welcome response. Now brown stained paper is strewn all over the house to dry. Our house looks like a recycling center. It's dry now. But it's still everywhere. I did write a post...

"Where did you get the old cameras?" Abby asked Tom, looking around his living room. "My dad. He collected them."  he said, pouring her a glass of champagne. "They're really old, from the 60's I think." Abby smiled, "They look like they're in great shape. Do they work?" "Yeah, they still take great pictures." he said, picking up the camera and snapping a few shots. Where do you get the film developed?" she asked curiously, knowing most people have abandoned old 35mm cameras for digital. "I do it here. I converted a closet into a dark room. I still like to play around with film and developing. The process is really relaxing." He smiled, "It reminds me of my dad. We used to hang out in the dark room when I was a kid." he set the camera back down and took a sip of champagne.  Abby laughed, "I took a photography class in college. Dated the PA so I could get extra time in the lab. I ...

We spent the day on Saturday visiting my brother and his family. He and his wife had a baby two weeks ago, so we got to see the new baby. Their life has been totally crazy. They moved into a new house three days before she had a baby. Her mom and dad came to visit (help) for a week. Then my parents came for a week. Talk about chaos and craziness. She and my brother were amazingly calm. After visiting in their home for a few hours we ventured down to Rio del Mar beach for some gelato at Pixie Deli and a walk along the beach. It was a perfect day.  The little guy had on his running shoes. So everyone had to run. A brief break to see if we could see any fish. Lots of guys fishing. The cement ship. Great deli with really yummy gelato. You would think the gelato would have been enough. But, no. We had to go and have pizza at Smoke. And boy was it good. Margherita Pizza Buffala pizza - sausage, roasted garlic, fresh basil Chocolate...

You are not having a deja vu moment. You saw this about a week ago. Can you tell the difference?   Yes, I added the much needed mushrooms and sausage to the recipe . It tasted great. I made this version of the pasta the day after I made the original recipe . I had cooked the whole box of pasta so of course we had a lot left over. But when I looked at the leftovers the next day it really didn't seem like enough for 3 people, so I added more pasta. Notice the two different noodles in the bowl? I didn't have any spaghetti left, so I added fettuccine and made some new sauce. Then guess what happened. Sam, the dog, stole the cheese. I had just finished grating the cheese for the sauce, turned around to stir the pasta and he snuck in and grabbed the cheese. I didn't even hear him come in the kitchen. And trust me our kitchen is the size of a shoe box. He knew exactly what he wanted to do. I went to grab the cheese to grate some for a bowl and couldn't fi...

The radio played in the background as I was getting ready. I wasn't really listening until I heard the first beat of one of my favorite songs. donnnng.....   Her face is a map of the world   Is a map of the world......   You can see she's a beautiful girl   She's a beautiful girl.....   My mood instantly changed. I could feel my heart race. My face felt flush as I bobbed my head to the song and my body moved to the music. And everything around her is a silver pool of light   The people who surround her feel the benefit of it   It makes you calm   She holds you captivated in her palm   I slipped my black knit dress over my head and gently pulled it down. The fabric soft and snug against my skin. I ran my hands down my sides towards my thighs, sliding the fabric to get it just right.  Then a little half turn and a peek at my butt in the mirror. Suddenly I see   This is what I wanna be   Suddenly I see ...

Cole Haan, Stephanie Air OT Clog, $328 I saw these Cole Haan clogs on Sunday and I haven't been able to put them out of my mind. I had just painted my toes, and these shoes seriously needed some nicely manicured toes. Pronto. I liked everything about them. The open toe style of the clog, the color of the leather, the stripe pattern, the buckle, the red lining, and the top stitching. They thought of every detail. How cute would they be (on me) with a pair of capri linen pants, or jeans, or a skirt. I wanted them. This had nothing to do with need. It's all want, baby. There's just one problem. Well technically it's more than one. Three hundred and twenty eight of them to be exact. As in $328. Wah. Why, why, why? Why $328? Why can't they be $125 or $150? Seriously though. Major sad face. I guess I'll have to stalk the Cole Haan Outlet for the next 12 months waiting, and hoping, they get there. And are priced less. A lot less. I did splurg...

Don and I love watching America's Test Kitchen . Something about all the trouble they go through to create a recipe just fascinates us. We love when they test kitchen gadgets and products, too. The episodes where they looked at ice cream scoops, canned tomatoes, paring knives, barbeque sauce, and chocolate bars immediately come to mind. And then there are the recipes. Last Saturday they taught us how to make Foccaccia bread that was crisp on the outside and chewy on the inside. This recipe took way too long. So I probably won't make it. But the second recipe for an easy pasta dish definitely got our attention - Spaghetti with Pecorino Romano and Black Pepper. The chef in the test kitchen tried 100 different variations until she got the recipe she shared on the show. Wow. I'm pretty sure I would have given up after the 2nd or 3rd try. There is no way I would have made this recipe 100 different ways. We watched them roll the pasta on their fork, enjoying bite after...

Oh how I wish I had the recipe for these.  Fresh, hot, zucchini blossom, cheese and chili quesadillas Authentic yumminess We got to sample these yummy quesadillas at our store this week. The wife of Renee, our lead guy in our workroom , made them. She brought in a plate for the guys to share. Lucky for us, Renee shared one with me and Don, too. They were crisp on the outside, hot, cheesy and SPICY on the inside filled with fresh zucchini blossoms, chili and cheese. Absolutely delicious. I was almost done with mine when I thought HEY! I should feature these on the blog. I can get a picture of Renee's wife and the recipe and have a cool story.  But unlike me, queen blabber-mouth, she wants to keep it a secret. wah wah Now I'm on a quest to find the recipe.

I watched out the window for the sorority girls to start walking back to The Greek. They were so dumb and trusting. I decided to give their boring, preppy little lives a little excitement. I stripped down, grabbed my coat, and moved quietly in the grass. I stood still in the shadows positioned perfectly between two lamp posts. No one could see me. Two clueless bitches were walking towards me. They were completely oblivious to everything around them. This was going to be fun. - - - - - - - - The house was so loud.  I couldn't concentrate. Every whisper, cough, toilet flushing and footstep sounded like a monkey screaming in my head. I was so glad to be in the library. My brain could think. I looked at my watch. It was time to go. I walked out with my friend Judy. "How's it going?" I asked as we started walking. "I'm good. Tired. It's been a tough year." she said. "Nursing is hard." "Yeah, I've heard. Do you h...

Elli left tonight to go camping with another family for 5 days. This is the first time she's been away from home for more than a sleepover. She's camping with friends in Oregon at a campground seven hours away. It all sounded fine when they invited her two months ago. But now I'm not so sure. I'm not sure I'm ready. I'm going to miss her hugs and smiles. She's my little buddy. I started thinking of all the things that could go wrong. The "what ifs" flooded my head. "Mom, this is going to be so fun!" she squealed, as we loaded the car. What if she gets lost? "Mom, we're going to a famous spot to collect agate rocks. Did you pack the bags for the rocks?" She asked, sounding mature and excited. What if she needs me and I'm not there? What if there are bears? What if she gets a bad bug bite? "Mom, how much candy can I eat each day?" she asked in all seriousness. Clearly, she was not worri...

On Friday night Elli hiked up to the West Point Inn with our friends Lisa and Lili. The girls spent the night together on the mountain in one of the cabins. Don and I hiked up Saturday morning with the dogs, then we all walked down together. 9:30 am  The whole San Francisco Bay area was covered in a blanket of fog. It's like walking on clouds. The fog is so thick and dense you want to jump and walk across it. The buildings in downtown San Francisco are peeking out of the fog, way in the distance. We live down the mountain where you see the bay. It's so beautiful I couldn't stop taking pictures. Don and the dogs were way ahead of me.  Elli was very happy to see us. Even the little lizards were enjoying the view. Cabin #4 is "THE BEST CABIN" mom. According to Lili and Elli. It has the comfiest beds. And a most amazing view, from the quaint deck. It even has a shower. So you can rinse off after a run on the ...