Monterey Girls' Weekend

I'm still in catch-up mode! May 16th our mom's group had it's third 'Weekend Away.' Naturally, I've been to all three. : ) We've done SF, wine tasting (in Livermore - ended up being cheaper than staying home!), and finally, this time the beach at Monterey. I'm still emptying the sand out of my purse!

We had a fab time hanging out at the beach, dining at Bubba Gumps and spontaneously hitting a karoake bar. Let me tell you, the peeps at Cannery Row Pizzeria and Karaoke are professionals, with choreographed routines. It was quite entertaining. I conned some members of our group into singing Mama Mia. I thought we sounded pretty good, although you can see from the concentration on my face that we did not have our dance moves down, nor were we slinging the mic around with ease. Whatevs! : )

Mother's Day

Happy 100th post to me!!!!!

Moving right along...

It's been a busy month, and am still catching up on posts I've meant to do....

First: Mother's Day. Mom, Miss P and I had quite the 'big girl' celebration. We got mani-pedi's (pedi only for me) at Lavende at Santana Row. Stepdad and E met us afterward for lunch. Check out Miss P - is she too freaking cute or what???

I am sporting the "I love you mommy" shirt she puffy-painted at preschool. P loved the pampering and was super-still and fascinated throughout the process. We ended up getting our own little room in the back for the three of us, and my mom and I even managed some chatting.

Check out my mom in the top photo - crossing my fingers I look that good when I'm a 'grandma!'

Tiburon Anniversary Trip!

I can't believe I'm so behind on posting! What a busy May, it has been! This is my 99th post and I was hoping to do something creative for #100, so between that, end of the school year craziness, and a couple of trips, I just procrastinated, all the while, mentally composing posts in my head. Time to forge ahead.

On May 1st, E and I took a trip a suprise 9th anniversary trip to Tiburon. It was such a sweet surprise from my husband, who usually leaves plans to me. We were engaged in Tiburon, which is a small town on the water, just over the golden gate from San Francisco. We got married in Maui, HI exactly one year later (May, 1, 2000). So 'May Day' is kind of a double anniversary for us. This one marked 10 years since we were engaged.

I knew something was up. I knew E had planned something. I told him just a date night for dinner would be enough. I figured we'd celebrate on Saturday, May 2. He did a great job of keeping the surprise until Thursday night, when, while watching TV, he let it slip, '..tomorrow, when I have a sub...' -- I called him on it and he blushed. He was taking the day off and we were beginning our celebration the next day!

When we woke up in the morning, he handed me a note that shared where we were going.....back to where it all started!

As you can see, it unfortunately stormed the whole time, which was a bit of a disappointment. Tiburon is known for a restaurant on the water called Sam's, that features a big sun deck, where visitors and locals dine and drink beer and look out over the water. We were really looking forward to that. Our hotel, The Water's Edge, was even right next door!

Instead, we dined at a few other yummy restaurants, wine tasted, saw a movie, drove to Sausolito and hit a street festival, and just generally enjoyed together time.

It was decadent! We are already in saving and planning mode for #10.....possibly a trip back to HI, or a 5 day trip to Disneyland, with a stay at the Grand Californian. It will be a family aniversary trip, with our sweet Miss P in tow.

More catch up coming soon...

Do you have your pets, er, I mean kids?

So tonight, E is working late, and after a long day for me and P, we decided to hit Pizza m$ Heart for dinner. There was a couple of women there with four children, who looked between 2 1/2 and maybe 5. The four kids were sat together and the women sat at a different table at the other end of restaurant. Now, it's not a big place, and I'm all for sitting the kids together. But not to be at an adjoining table seemed, a tad, questionable. The moms kind of watched the kids at first, but then a man joined them and they got busy in conversation. By now, the kids were tired of sitting, and started to run in circles around the place. I watched, as one mom made some half-hearted efforts to check on the kids, slowly rising and glancing around when they were out of vision. The next thing I know, Miss P says - pointing at the front door, "Hey mommy, someone just left without their owner!"

Shhhh..

Sometimes, after I drop Miss P off at Sunday School, I zip back to my car, en route to Starbucks, book in hand. Instead of making a left and walking into church with the rest of the parents.

What's your dirty little secret?

Okay, okay....

...I love Facebook now! I finally joined a few weeks ago, and was inactive at first, just checking people's pages once, and not posting anything myself. But, I've finally gotten into it and have come across so many cool things, such as seeing pictures of E's cousin's adopted sons for the first time and just yesterday hearing about a friend's surprise wedding (and seeing photos). It is a good way to keep in touch with lots of people that don't live close by, and/or just aren't in your day-to-day life due to conflicting schedules. (But whom you still care about).

Bravo, Facebook!

Happy Earth Day

This evening we celebrated Earth Day by seeing the new movie of the same day. It was really good! It was released by Disney Nature and is a documentary following three animal families - elephants, humpback whales, and polar bears. I am not a big documentary person. You won't find me, glasses on, watching the Discovery Channel, or reading National Geographic. It just aint gonna happen! However, I was completely enthralled by this movie.

E and Miss P liked it too. However, there was a bit too much 'circle of life' happening, if you know what I mean, for P's taste. Poor thing had to hide her eyes several times. Unfortunately, she is also a loud movie talker, and peppered us with questions throughout. We were just waiting for someone to turn around and glare, which fortunately, didn't happen.

An understatement, I know, but watching this movie really reminded me of how incredible our Earth is. How animals communicate with each other and instinctively make complex decisions. There is a scene where lions and elehpants are circling each other and the hungry lions are trying to figure out how to get to the elephant calfs. The calfs are too well protected, so they figure out a way to seperate one of the elephants from the herd, and then all the lions attack it at night. I was quietly saying, 'shit, shit, shit' over and over (I never usually swear - I just don't).

Anyway, go see it. Just think about preparing small, sensitive ones first.