Day 3 Family Reunion.....

Day 3 also started with a walk to the store, I got everyone except the kids to go, actually, that is not true. Guoda got up and went with us and she ran with me here and there for exercise, as if she needs it! We planned our adventure this day to go to Turtle Bay and explore the Museum and the Sundial Bridge. It was so much fun, we also went into the Butterfly and bird exhibit, they land on you and in the Bird exhibit, they give you food sticks so the birds land on you and eat out of your hand. The Sundial bridge was really amazing and also the Lego exhibit. We had our lunch there and I think we were there for a total of around 4 hours. Since it was Friday, Jay would be heading up after work. The kids and Aunt Pat and I stopped at Safeway on our way back to the lodge and got food for dinner, we had fajitas. Jay actually made it by 6 pm which was amazing to me, but we were all happy he made it up so early. My mom made her famous London Fogs for everyone (I had mine with a weight watchers smoothie and saved 14 points) which are half gin, half vanilla ice-cream. It was fun to watch all of the "Adults" enjoying themselves, even Aunt Lita, who shares an alcohol allergy with me had a WW smoothie with gin with me. We started to play Trivial Pursuit as we waited for Cory and her family to come up and even thought Stevi and I got the first wedge of pie, Guoda and Aunt Pat started to dominate the board, thankfully we were saved when Cory, Brian, Nat and Ethan showed up around 10:15pm. As Jay and Brian sat outside with their cigars and got to know each other, we sat around and figured out who was going to sleep where, and because we were sure they were exhausted from working all day and driving 4 hours, we let them go to bed. It was a wonderful day, beautiful weather and great family bonding!

Family Reunion Day 2.......

Day 2.......Woke up pretty early and walked down to cabin 5 to enjoy coffee with my Mom and my Aunts. Everyone was still asleep and Stevi forgot her toothbrush so we walked to the store which was around a 1/2 mile down the road. Got a little exercise, some fresh air and enjoy each others company. After Uncle Pete and Aunt Lita got back from grocery shopping we had lunch and headed up to the Shasta Caverns. Uncle Pete and Aunt Lita went sight seeing around the lake and we took the ferry over to the other side of the lake and got on the bus and headed up the hill. The bus ride up was much nicer than it used to be because they got new buses. They used to be very very old school buses, I wish they still had them though, that was half the experience right there! We got inside the caverns and it was nice, lots of stairs and a little slippery in some areas because of the moisture, but very educational and interesting.

We headed back to the lodge and we were all pooped because of all the stairs, I couldn't get my legs to stop shaking, I thought they would actually give out at one point, that's a sign that I need to work out more for sure. We relaxed for dinner and had deli chicken, corn on the cob, salad and Aunt Lita's famous Green Tea, she gave me the family recipe, I will share that at the end of this post. After dinner, the kids all went swimming, the adults were exhausted so we sat around and chatted then ended up in bed after having a So You Think You Can Dance Finale in cabin 5.........We had all voted for Jeanine the night before and she won so it was fun........off the bed right after the show!

Aunt Lita's Famous Green Tea Recipe:

• Pitcher
• Water
• Ice
• Lipton Green Tea Powder Mix
• Stir

Since this is a family recipe, please do not copy and paste......Thank You.

Family Reunion Day 1.......

Wednesday was Day 1. We headed out around 10:30 and caravanned up to Susanville where we stopped at the Black Bear Diner to have lunch. It was so wonderful to watch my Mom with Aunt Dottie and Aunt Pat. They were giggly like school girls and it was great to see them together. My Aunt Pat was my Aunt through marrying my Uncle Ken, who is no longer with us and even though they divorced, she and my mom kept in touch and remained great friends....they were both rebellious and two peas in a pod. My Aunt Dottie is my Aunt by choice, she and my mom were the best of friends since the tender age of 14......and boy did I hear some stories! After we stopped for lunch we headed through Susanville then on to 44 and made one more stop at a rest stop before Burney Falls. I was going to surprise them and take them to Burney Falls for a little sight seeing, but there was a terrible fire and the road was blocked off of any traffic going in that direction. Onward to Redding. We made pretty good time and checked into our lodge rooms, started to relax and then a nice white Volvo pulled up with a very handsome man who looked just like my mother. I said " Mom, come look at this, you've got to see this!" It was her oldest brother Peter and his wife Lita. I remember them from the time we went to New York when I was 16 and Aunt Lita's Cold Cucumber Soup......She taught me some of her secret recipes too that I will share with you later. We decided to order pizza and chicken wings to be delivered so we could just relax and enjoy each others company. Jayson and Stevi went to the pool to swim and Jayson put on his "Dolphin Show" which is so funny he had us all laughing hysterically.
Lots of fun memories were shared by the pool, but it was a long drive for all of us so we actually headed to bed early, I think it was before 10pm.

My Mom, Aunt Pat and Aunt Dottie in room 5, Me, Stevi, Jayson and Guoda (Jay wouldn't make it up until Friday after work as well as Cory and her family) in room 3 and Uncle Pete and Aunt Lita in room 2. I am glad for the people who were able to make it, but the weekend already started out wonderful and I wish more could have made it. Stay tuned for day 2!

No looking Back......

We have finally finished getting the rest of what we could out of the old house. It was hard, depression, time restraints and just lack of motivation and energy kept us away. There was also a lot of bad energy in that house. Great memories but extremely painful ones as well. 10 years can accumulate a lot. I will miss the family back yard parties and nieces and nephews running up and down the stairs then out to the trampoline, hide-n-seek, doors slamming, hot tub, and of course the space. I will however be happy to shed the bad memories of our alcohol years of tears and fighting and almost splitting up many times. We put our hearts into that house and made it our own and it makes me sad. 10 years down the tubes. Should have never re-financed, definitely should NOT have listened to the mortgage broker who refinanced us at the peak of prices and assured us we could re-finance again before our payments went up. Things work out as they should, we got Stevi away from O'Brien Middle School and into Shaw as we had planned to in the first place. Our intentions where to move to a better area for her difficult years, but as it turned out, we were unable to sell and pushed into a new direction....starting over in our 40's. Yippee......Well, we are not the only family to have lost their house, and at least we have a roof over our heads and food in our mouths. That is a heavy weight lifted off of our shoulders, I don't know what happens next, but as of today, the bank still won't talk to me because I am not on the loan, Jay doesn't want to call them because he knows nothing about our finances and the bank still hasn't contacted us to let us know that the bank owns the property.

On a lighter note, we leave for the family reunion today, and I will be taking my laptop along to take you along with us, Liz is unable to go which breaks my heart, but she will at least be able to read about it and see pictures........wish you could go Sis.....Love you!

Weight Watchers, the beginning to a life long lesson......

We may not need to lose as much weight as most of the Weight Watchers, but we all joined as a family last night. Jay needs to lose around 30 , I could lose around 15, and Stevi 15 to 20. Dr. Fenwick 6 months ago said she needed to lose around 40 but she had such a growth spurt that she is balancing out. I'm sure a lot of you think I am crazy, but you try to teach your husband and a 12 year old about good vs. bad choices and portion control. I think that if we all follow this together, it is a principal that will stay with us for life. It is easy to follow and basically teaches you about portions and choices, such as if you know you want to splurge on dessert, eat healthy and light before.

The point system goes by your weight and activity levels and age. I get a measly 20 points because I am older and weigh the least, Stevi gets 27 points because of her age, but she also gets to add points for different activities, for instance, today she will have an hour soccer practice so she gets an additional 3 points to use, or not. Jay gets 41 points, he has the most weight to lose, but also because he is a construction worker and a man, he gets an additional 6 points a day. Jay and I both get additional activity points, today while Stevi is at soccer, we will run/walk for 30 mins, I get to add 3 points if I would like and Jay gets 5.5. In addition to the daily points, you get 35 flex points, kind of like a savings account, in case you go over a couple extra points, or you can store them for a special occasion, Stevi is keeping hers for a Monday sleep over because they are having pizza, which is 6 points a piece, I hope to use mine at the family reunion. Every week at weigh-in, your flex points start over so they don't accumulate. Stevi is really excited and now has the tools to make her choices without me hovering over her. She hopes to lose at least half by the time school starts, which I think will be great, me, I am doing this for her. I do the shopping and menu planning, I could lose weight on my own, I have done it before, but to get the whole family together on the band wagon, it will be much easier and hopefully start Jay and Stevi off on eating healthy for life..........

Jumping curbs and taking names later.......

Yesterday was my day of leisure...I woke up, called my Mommy, had a fun chat with her, got on the computer and started my shopping list. It takes even longer now that we are starting Weight Watchers tonight, I had to research everything and make sure it was point worthy. Most of it is common sense, some of it is surprising. My mom suggested a W.A.L.K. with the dogs and I thought about it for later. Then I called my friend Autumn because Stevi is having some issues with her computer and she is the "Computer Whisperer." She asked us if we would like to go for a bike ride later and it seems that every time she asks me I am busy or can't for one reason or another, I said yes this time. Stevi wanted to go to Rue 21 and get a couple of summer outfits for the Family Reunion, and keeping in the "Lets be active" mode I suggested that we go only if we ride out bikes. We rode over the and had to race back to beat the rain. Got home, made dinner and called Autumn. After a little deliberation on whether it would lightning or not, we were on to meet at 7pm at the Java Jolt on Vista. As Stevi and I wait anxiously in our summer clothes on our cute little Mountain Bikes, up rides two bike riders ready to hit the road in full gear.............uh-oh. Now you know, I am a glutton for punishment and I will try anything at least once so of course I point to the neighborhood up on the hill, way up on the hill, and say...."Lets go there." Autumn casually smiles and says sweetly......"You know that's uphill right?" As we head up the hill on Los Altos, we get about a block from the meeting place and head towards the sidewalk. First Shannon hops her fabulous bike up onto the curb then Autumn, now my turn...........looks easy enough. I pull up on the handle bars, not as high as I had expected, hit the curb, flip the bike and take Stevi out in the process with my back tire. Of course I didn't have a helmet on, so I protected my head with my arms and got a trophy in return on my arm and elbow. Of course I started laughing as soon as I did it because I realized this was my first attempt at looking cool in front of my friends and I ummmmmm didn't succeed. Stevi is OK as well, but hey what's a bike ride without a little adventure. Now I see why they looked so cool in their gear, it really wasn't for looks, hmm who knew. To finish the ride we all ended up at the Starbucks and enjoyed a coffee, tea and great conversation together. I will proudly wear my scabs and bruises was a badge of honor......I think a helmet may be a good investment!

What a Blast!

Last night was the Parents vs. Predators softball game. What a BLAST! We had so much fun! We bent the rules quite a bit because it was for fun, but I got quite a bit of exercise. I played right field and Jay played first, (both of Stevi's positions) and I backed up Jay every hit that was made so I got a lot of running in and missed the ball a lot when I bent over to get it, apparently when you are running at my age and trying to scoop the ball up, your back locks up and you can't bend over as much as you had fantasized.

Batting......

I actually hit the ball! I was up 3 times and hit all three times, straight! The last at bat I actually hit over the second base. I stole 2nd and ended up getting out at third because once I started running as fast as I could, I couldn't stop! My legs almost gave out between 2nd and 3rd base but I kept going. It was so much fun, we talked about getting together as parents and doing a co-ed softball league in the spring. I would love it, I need a lot of fine tuning but there is potential. Jay had to hit left handed but did great, as usual and the girl where playing for blood......they are so competitive we were just having fun as parents it was great to play our state champion girls, thank God we had the Dad's or

we......................WOULDN'T HAVE WON LIKE WE DID! Yee haw!

Where's Jay, can you fine him in the picture of all the parents?

Almost Embarrassing........Make-up Organization

I found the "I'm an Organizing Junkie" blog and decided to jump in with her organizing monthly tasks......as you can see, I needed to. This month for July was organizing your make-up storage.......why, mine was perfectly organized.

During the process, I think I threw away about 80% of my make-up, which a lot of it was pretty old. Most of my lipsticks over 30 resembled eachother......I n

ow have 9 (which is good for me!) Got rid of all (around 15) but 3 lip glosses, got rid of 4 blush/bronzers and probably a third of my eyeshadows......and who needs 4 black eyeliners? Apparently I do, there are so many different shades of black. It should take me alot less time in the morning to put my face on......and maybe now I won't look like a drag

Queen, Stevi said I could do "make-up for drag queens" with the selection I had. At 41 I guess it is time to select the shades that work for me at my age and use them, not lose them in this mess.

The pile on the floor is the purge pile, and the pile on the table is all that was in there......Thanks for lighting a fire under my butt to get me to do this "Organizing Junkie" obviously it hasn't been done in awhile, while doing it, my daughter did hers an my mother said she would go home and do hers as well!

Fun morning ride!

Jay and I have not had time, nor energy to ride, so last night my friend Ree was texting me and asked me to go on the wine walk. Since I can't because of Stevi's Predator BBQ, game against parents and awards ceremony, I invited her and her boyfriend Gary along. We started at Mimi's and had a great breakfast with lots of laughter and talk. Afterwards we went on a short ride out to Verdi to get lotto tickets, Ree was a virgin so I told her to just slap her 20 down on the counter and tell the guy in the red hat that she would have what Lisa and her Mom get. Miraculously she came back with lotto tickets, (I think that means MY MOM, is a regular, like Norm at Cheers if you will.)

I won $15 dollars! Yay, gas for the bikes then Gary led us through Verdi the back way and I took over through Summerset. When we reached the bottom of the hill at McCarran, Ree informed me that we needed to stop and get another Starbucks. Little did we know she was "meeting" someone there. We parked the bikes, and stepped inside. As we stood at the counter behind a few people deciding what we were going to order, Gary got side tracked and was looking at coffee in one of the baskets off to the side. Ree, grabbed the guy in front of her and gave him a terrific snuggle, feeling his chest and his tummy area very sweetly, she really seemed to like him, until he turned around and gave Gary a shrug like, "It happens everywhere I go."

She screamed and ran and hid behind the ad sign as we laughed hysterically, she though she was snuggling with Gary, but no, she now has a new friend. It was awesome! I have casually held another man's hand in the mall, not paying attention and in Winnemucca, Jay snuggled up to a woman at Round Table and attempted to put his arm around her while I watched, I guess it is Gary's turn!

Thankfully, the guy was a great sport and we laughed about it for the whole time we were there as well as the Starbucks workers and guests.

Have you ever thought you were with your significant other and done something like this? Please fess up!