Running in Napa

Last month the Wine Gurus took Hubby and me back to the "homeland" - yes, the place where California Wines were born - Napa Valley!  I'll post more later about the fabulous wineries and restaurants we visited, but today I'm linking up with A Southern Daydreamer for Outdoor Wednesday so I can share some of the beautiful outdoor sights we saw on our trip.

I think this is called Foxglove (?).  This was on the Sterling Winery grounds.

Look at the beautiful colors on this Japanese Maple at Sterling.

This gorgeous flower was at a castle - a real castle (more on that later).

Newborn grapes!

This lovely flower was at Peju Winery.

Another fabulous flower from Peju.

Peju Winery has a tree-lined drive.  They must be in the process of creating an arbor 

since the trees are all trimmed like sticks.

Hope you enjoyed some of the beautiful sights from Napa Valley.  Be sure to leaf this site (get it...leave this site haha) and go visit A Southern Daydreamer on this hot Outdoor Wednesday!  Thanks for stopping by!

Running on Shoesday!

It's Tuesday Shoesday and I'm linking up with The Shoe Obsessed One over at A Mile in Mom's Manolos for a look at some fun shoes this week!

I bought these shoes several years ago because I thought they were cute and a little bit "funky".  They are comfortable and fun to wear with jeans.  One morning when Baby Girl was about 5 I put these on and she commented, "Oh, those are like the circus."  So, I'm thinking she must think they are fun looking, just like the circus. I asked Baby Girl, "What do you mean?" and she replied, "Clowns wear those at the circus!"

Don't you miss being able to say every truthful thought that pops into your mind?

Running on Rednesday!

I'm hooking up this week with Sue over at It's A Very Cherry World to celebrate Rednesday!  

Look at this little beauty!  

It's my Kindle.  

I'm having a very tumultuous relationship with my Kindle, and have been every since I received it (after months of begging) from Hubby at Christmas.


I love the red cover.  And I actually do love my Kindle.  But it also causes me dismay.  So here's my love/hate list for my Kindle!


1.  Love - Ok, I have to admit it...I love when people look at me and say, "Wow, is that a Kindle?"  (Vanity, thy name is...well...me!)


2.  Hate - I told a friend about a book that I read that I really enjoyed - Open by Andre Agassi.  She asked if she could borrow it - well, that's kind of a problem.  No more loaning of great books to friends!


3.  Love - I love reading the NY Times on my Kindle - I feel so "eco-friendly".  No trees have died for my love of the newspaper!


4.  Hate - "Next page" - there's nothing like the feeling of holding that book page between your fingers and waiting for the anticipation of turning it and finding out how the story unfolds.  Instead, I push, "Next page - or Previous Page" when need be.


5.  Love - Books - I don't have to drive to the store and purchase a book.  If a book comes out today, I can have it downloaded in seconds!  And, it's cheaper!  Hey, that's kind of "eco-friendly" again, no gas, no pollution...hmmm...


6.  Hate - Dead batteries - yes, I have to recharge my Kindle.  Never had the problem of a book not ready to be read yet.


Well, the truth is, I'm not going to give up my Kindle, and I'm not going to give up buying books.  I love wandering through a bookstore.  Just the smell of a new book brings me joy!  


So, I'll continue to struggle - I'm ok with it!


Don't forget to pop on over to It's A Very Cherry World to see who else is participating today!  

Happy Rednesday!

Running...away from Termites!

Well, here we are, all packed up and leaving - no, not because we're on our way to Hawaii or Carmel...no...our house is being - De-Termited!  Ok, I know that's not really a word.  I feel like we are evacuating - like on an old episode of MASH!

We packed up everything - food, medicine, wine, anything resembling food or medicine or wine - including the cat - who has only lived in one place all his life!  He's looking at me like - "Where are we going lady?"  All he knows is that the cat carrier means a trip to the vet, which usually means a cold glass stick up his butt!


I mentioned at a Girl Scout meeting last month (we were working on a Dollars and Sense badge) that we had termites, and we were saving money, and working extra to pay for the delousing fumigation.  Baby Girl was close to tears after the meeting - "I didn't want the girls to know we have bugs!" was all she could stammer out at me!  Wow - we have BUGS!  Yuck!  I should have kept my mouth closed!


But really, it's no shame to have bugs termites - just a shame to keep them - right?

Running...without Bunny

We lost our sweet little Bunny last month.  She passed away peacefully during the night.  We found her in Baby Girl's closet in the morning. 

 

Funny thing, she had her routine, and she never came into my bedroom when we went to bed.  But the night that she died, she came into the bathroom and just "talked and talked" to me.  I think she was saying "good-bye"!

We had to make Baby Girl understand that Bunny sought out a peaceful, safe, comfortable place to lay down for the last time.  The kids are both at an age where they really understand this loss, and there were tears for several days.

Hard to get used to not seeing Bunny on my bed everyday when I come home.  

Here's to you, Bunny!  Thank you for 17 years of love and companionship.  May you run free in heaven with all the other much-loved pets that have gone before you!

Running on Shoesday!

It's Shoesday - Tuesday!  And today I'm linking up with A Mile in Mom's Manolos for her Shoesday celebration!

I fell in love with these boots when I saw them on the Cole Haan website!  (Or as Hubby likes to call them - Cool Hand!)  They were WAY expensive and after buying them I suffered from "buyer's remorse" and actually returned them.  Then...are you ready for this...they went on sale for 1/2 price!  Yes, I know, 1/2 of WAY expensive is still kinda expensive...but aren't they beautiful?  So, I bought them again!  They are a gorgeous fabric, and very snug fitting.  The only problem is...I don't have the perfect outfit to wear with them!  So, I'm always on the look out - any suggestions about what would go perfectly with them?

Thanks for stopping by on this Shoesday - Tuesday!  Be sure to check out A Mile in Mom's Manolos and see who else is walking by on Shoesday!

Running...in a Prom Dress!

First, let me tell you that I love my baby boy!  Truly - he's a wonderful son.  Full of charm and humor and uniqueness.  However, there are trying days when he wins the prize as "World's Biggest Stinker"!

I should tell you that he's 12.  (Many of you are nodding, knowingly - "Oh, yes!" you are saying - so no further explanation is necessary.)

So an occasion came up when I, as a mother, had to fight back!  I know soon he will be much taller than me, much quicker than me, and, sadly, much smarter than me.  So I had to strike while I could.

Here's the story...a year ago my children's school had a Father/Daughter dance.  My daughter, who is all tomboy, consented to us finding an "unfancy" dress and some matching Converse shoes to wear to the dance - she looked adorable!  Hubby, the good father that he is, pulled out his tuxedo and took our Baby Girl to the dance.  They took a picture that is just filled with so much joy!!  

The plan was for the school to have a Mother/Son dance later that year.  When I learned about this, I immediately joked with Baby Boy that I was going to wear my prom dress - since Daddy wore his tuxedo!  His reaction was pure terror!  Thus, my plan was born.  I have to mention here that I'm not that weird kind of mother who would actually take my son to a dance wearing my prom dress, but Baby Boy didn't know this!

Sadly, the dance was cancelled last year - to the utter relief of Baby Boy.

But...they scheduled another one for this year!  So, I've been talking for the last month about how I was going to pull out my prom dress and try it on and see if we could find a matching outfit for Baby Boy!  He ignored me for the most part...

When the fliers were sent home, Baby Boy shredded his copy and stole his sister's copy and threw it in the recycling bin!  He knew what was coming!  But his sister, being a typical little sister, told me all about it!  Baby Boy was being such a total stinker about the dance that I knew I had to move forward with my plan!

So, in the week leading up to the dance, my son moaned and groaned every day.  All I could talk about was wearing my "beautiful" prom dress and how excited I was.  So, finally the day came.  Amazingly, my 25 year old prom dress still fit (I could barely breathe, but I could zip it up)!  I found the biggest bow that Baby Girl had and pulled my hair back.  I let Baby Girl in on the secret - that I wasn't actually going to go to the dance.  She loved this and helped me pick out shoes and the bow.  Unfortunately, the white shoes that I wore to my prom were nowhere to be found - really, it was before Memorial Day, but I still could have worn them...(no, I lied, I don't wear white shoes)!

I found 2 dusty plastic Hawaiian leis for us to wear and we hopped in the car ready to go.  We had to take Baby Girl to karate first, so Baby Boy was in denial until we dropped her off.  We were heading back to school, and I mentioned that I was going to take the freeway, since it would get us faster to the dance!  

Here's an aside...my son makes this "tooting" noise with his nose when he is upset about something - believe me, with all the "tooting" that was going on, I thought a band was in the car with us!  

Baby Boy was beginning to groan as he know our next stop was - THE DANCE!  I told him that we probably had time to get ice cream before the dance, but if he really wanted to get there fast we could skip the ice cream.  He screamed, "No, let's get ice cream!"  So I pulled into the parking lot of our local Cold Stone Creamery.  I parked and looked at my son and said, "Don't you think it would be pretty weird for a mother to wear her 25 year old prom dress to a dance with her son?"  He looked at me with horror in his eyes and said, "YES!"  So I said, "We're not going to the dance - I've just been messing with you all week!"  I couldn't tell if he was going to laugh or cry!  

I hope he's learned a lesson about being a stinker - and I can imagine Hubby, Baby Girl, and me sharing this story with every girl he brings home on a date!  

So our evening ended with ice cream - not a dance...but there's always next year...and the prom dress would probably still fit in a year...with the right shoes, I could just pull this off!

And, yes, I did change out of the prom dress before we walked in to get our ice cream!