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A Week In The Life: Day 7

Well, this will finish up the series, even though I'm late in posting, at least i finished it. I'm just OCD enough that ending a week long challenge on day 6 would annoy me, even though I'm wrapping up day 7 three days late.

Sunday was my 7th day in this challenge. We were at the cabin, a relaxing, sitting around reading or watching tv type of day. Lunch was stir-fry veggies and dinner was spaghetti with sauce from a jar. so not even our food was blog worthy. but we went down to the "big" city of Sonora (population 4,400) to pick out the towel racks and TP holder for the bathroom addition. Since my day 7 was pretty mundane, I thought now would be a good opportunity to show you how far along we are with the new bathroom addition.

The last time I did an update was in December. Well, that's only partially true. In January, I gave a fun shopping update showing some of the things we were hoping to purchase.

It's finally time to show a we-are-almost-there update.
This is the view from the hallway and kitchen. The door isn't on yet, soon, maybe this week. It doesn't look it, but the flooring is in, but that piece of plywood is there to protect it.

Stepping into the bathroom, you can see the full shower. We just picked out the shower doors on Monday and should be installed within 2 weeks.

Here's what it looks like with the solar tube. The previous photos were taken at night. We are so in love with the solar tube and can't believe how much light it lets in. This photo really doesn't do it justice, but even still, you can tell that it gives a good amount of light, it almost looks like the solar tube is a florescent light.

The vanity mirror and lights.

The vanity.

Sink and faucets.

So we went with blue paint and dark wood. We're excited about the pattern of the swanstone and really happy with our choices and even happier that nothing clashes. You just never know when you're looking at color swatches that are so small.

Once this bathroom is done, our contractor will start working on the new deck. Permits permitting.
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A Week In The Life: Day 6

saturday we left the bay area around 2:45 and headed to the hideaway. it was another gorgeous day so we decided to take a different route though Brentwood and Stockton so instead of the usual 2.75 hr drive, it took us a little over 5 hours of enjoying the scenery and going down the road less travelled.

The wind turbines line the road all the way into Brentwood. These are part of the Altamont Pass Wind Farm, the largest wind farm in the country.

Highway 4 is called the California Delta Highway all the way into Stockton because it follows the the San Joaquin River, which is the 2nd longest river in California and used to irrigate many of the farms in the central valley.

Pretty horse near the delta.

Getting into Stockton.

Just a few weeks ago, California's Gold, a PBS travel show that features many natural, cultural and historical sites our state, featured the "Little Manila" of Stockton. In the late 20s and early 30s, the Filipino immigrants came to Stockton to find work in the farms. I wonder if my dad ever worked in Stockton.

The program featured an beautiful old Catholic church and Jimmy and i spent about an hour trying to find this church. Unsuccessful, we gave up and decided to get back on the road to the hideaway. Just as we were about to get on the highway, I saw another tall church spire and asked if we could just check that last one. It's funny how that works, isn't it? Yes, it was the church we were looking for.

There used to be a park across the street from that church and it was the gathering spot for the Filipino community.Opposite the church on the other side of the park was where many of the Filipino immigrants called home. However in 1972 a highway was built right through the park. Many of the fiipino families were displaced and had to move to different parts of the city.

A small historic sign is the only indication of Little Manila.

Heading out of Stockton into the foothills are dozens of cattle ranches.with thousands and thousands of cows roaming the green hills.


These are the stars of the California Happy Cow commercials. LOL.



Heading higher into the foothills. Calaveras County.

Serbian Orthodox Church in Angels Camp.

Downtown Angels Camp.

Between Angels Camp and Sonora is the istoric site of Mark Twain's cabin on Jackass Hill.

Downtown Sonora, about 20 minutes from the hideaway and is the county seat of Tuolumne County.


Dinner in Sonora at Jeb's Hill Country Cookin'. Jimmy got a salmon filet and I got an 8oz prime rib. Our bill was less than $30. I'd give it a 3 1/2 stars and would certainly go back.

By 8:30, we were up at the hideaway, relaxing for the rest of the night.

Here are a few California Happy Cow commercials. Because unless you're in California, you might not be familiar with them and how clever they are.





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A Week In The Life: Day 5

Friday was a good day where we didn't get home till after midnight.
Jimmy had a meeting in the city so of course i tagged along.

First on my agenda was lunch. Ironically, I found myself at the San Francisco Shopping Centre. mallfood? Seriously? With all of the great food in SF, I end up eating mall food. Well, this wasn't your normal food court. No Panda Express or Hotdog on a Stick. No siree, in fact, most of the vendors are bay area based. And your food is plated on real plates with real silverware. And the prices aren't any more than regular mall food. this chicken arugula salad with soda was $7. Truthfully though, as tasty it was, i wouldn't recommend it because you're still eating in a mall foodcourt when there are so many other great places with better views.

After lunch, I was walking on Powell Street towards Union Square and this truck pulled up with this huge crate. ummm...wonder what's in it?? Although, there were no vent holes, so who knows if it was serious or not. The marking on the box indicated that it was from the California Academy of Sciences though.

Did I leave my heart in San Francisco? Absolutely. And so did a lot of other people and artists. This particular heart was left in Union Square.


I recently heard about Britex Fabrics from some facebook chatter, so I had to pop in and check it out. 4 floors of fabric and notions. I was out of my league.

but was loving the eye candy. shhh...i saw the "No Photography" sign after i took this shot.

It was a gorgeous day to walk to Chinatown.

Kitty Kat graffiti in an alleyway on Pine Street.

After walking and window shopping for the last 2 hours, I ended up at the Museum Store at SFMoMA. Such fun stuff in that store.
There's a nice little cafe in the museum, too. I gave myself permission to enjoy a latte and cookie while people watching. I saved most of the cookie for Jimmy because I suspected he'd need a little energy pick-me up after his long meeting.

Yerba Buena Gardens is right next to SFMoMA. It was nearly 5pm, so I stayed nearby Jimmy's meeting, not knowing exactly how long he would be.

The sunny, almost warm (mid 60s) day beckoned the city dwellers to the large lawn at the gardens.


The tall Jukebox looking building is the Marriott. St. Patrick Church in the foreground was founded in 1851.


I bought a fun book at the museum store called "All Over Coffee". All Over Coffee is a featured strip in the SF Chronicle.
Jimmy's meeting lasted longer than expected. Originally I planned on waiting at Yerba Buena Gardens, but once the sun disappeared, it got cold fast. so i was thankful that the Marriott was nearby. I hung out in the lobby till I got a call from Jimmy that he was done.

But truthfully, our fun day was just starting.
Because the best part of the day was going to dinner at the Bowens.
And playing football with the kiddos.
Then tucking them in at bedtime.
And hanging out with Ed and Angie, talking till midnight.
Love that family like they are family.
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A Week In The Life: Day 4

um.
i got nothin'.
didn't break out the camera at all today.
because nothing noteworthy happened.
didn't even craft.
except I would have appreciated at least 4 hours of sleep last night. I guess that explains why I had a headache most of the day. duh! I just realized it's probably related.

But I'd love to share with you another one of my favorite snacks.
My cousin told me about these last year. or the year before. they are so delicious and the perfect size for that chocolate craving. At 90 calories, 6 grams of fat, 3 grams of fiber, you can have one a day and not feel guilty. And it's "a better way to get your daily probiotics." They're in the diary section of your grocery store near the yogurt.

In honor of earth day and my personal stance on bottled water:

Watch CBS News Videos Online

Oh! A small victory ending in a little defeat-
I hadn't had any soda in over a month. I almost went 5 weeks without any caffeinated carbonated sugar (or aspartame in my case) brown liquids. But I admit that I had a diet coke with lunch today. and 2 refills. going back to the moderation plan pronto!

Alrighty, bring on Friday! I've got lots planned.
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A Week In The Life: Day 3

I missed posting last night because we didn't have power till after midnight. Long story regarding that, so I'll lead into it.

Wednesday started out with the regular routine.Enjoyed surprisingly sweet strawberries for breakfast.

Happy package from Fedex. Tickets to see Peter Pan in San Francisco in June.

Around 4:30, Jimmy and I were both in the office when we heard a very loud crash. Funnily, I heard a cracking sound, Jimmy said he also heard the crunching of metal. We had to investigate.

In the backyard, we immediately noticed that the oak tree that covers 3/4 of our yard was gone and we saw this:
gulp.

We called the landlord then went next door to investigate.
The 30 foot Oak Tree, fallen. The culprit of all the noise and the reason the cement in our yard was pulled up. The root system of the tree just popped the cement off.
We live on the other side of the fence to the left, in front of the grey car.


This is the top of the tree. Just grazed that other car.


Unfortunately, that red car didn't do so well.


Firecrew came to check it out.


They assess the situation. The biggest concern was that the tree was pulling tight on the electrical wires and the transformers were sparking and popping. Power went out about 1/2 hr after the tree fell.

You can see that it was pouring rain. We had a lot of rain this winter and I guess the soil under the tree just gave way.


Thankfully, no one was in the cars when the tree fell.
Thankfully, the tree fell in that direction. Otherwise it would have fallen on our roof.
Thankfully, it's an office building back there and thankfully, it was mostly contained to the parking lot.


Jimmy moved the swing and we got another perspective.
Hello neighbors in the brick house. Nice to see you. They have 2 Doberman Pinchers. Thankfully not in the yard when the tree fell. Part of the tree fell on their garage and also busted part of their fence.


A view of the unfortunate car from our yard.


Powerlines and trees aren't compatible. Electricity was out for 6 hours.


Thankfully I already had plans to go to Kristina's to craft. Lots of fun with the added bonus of not having to spend the evening in a dark house with no power. Jimmy had hockey, so he was out of the house, too.


I got home after 10p. I was super happy that I my OTT Light, used for crafting, is cordless and was fully charged. But it only lasts 2 hours and I had no idea how much longer the power would be out. PG&E were still in my backyard, up on a crane, trying to get the power back on for the block.


So I decided to light some candles. Nice warmth coming out of this sucker, too. Bonus. But luckily, our heat is gas, so we weren't in danger of freezing overnight.


I was also grateful that my laptop was fully charged. No wifi, no internet, but I could watch movies till the battery died!

Power came on just after midnight and Jimmy came home from hockey 15 minutes later.

Quite a lot of excitement for a normal boring humpday. Considering how badly the situation could have gone, we are really grateful that no one was hurt. The owner of that car is unhappy, i'm sure, but again considering what could have happened, the blessings have to be counted. If the tree had fallen the other way, it would have fallen right on our home, into our living room and probably breaking the window of the office. Jimmy sits right next to that window.

Anyone want my mundane week? lol!!!
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A Week In The Life: Day 2

I get my allergy shots every Tuesday, so yipee...that was on my agenda today. I'm reading "The Book of Joe" by Jonathan Tropper thanks to Rosemary's recommendation. Only on chapter 6 because I'm the worlds slowest reader, but I love the story so far. After I get my shots, I have to wait 30 minutes in the office so they can monitor me in case I have a reaction. Prime reading time and I think I've bought 90% of my books for my Kindle in that office.

I also got my hair cut. I needed it. I haven't gotten it cut since June. I looked like Cousin Itt:I suppose I could show you an after, but really, it looks like all the other haircuts i've had before and ya'll don't really need to see that again. But can I just announce to the world that I love the woman who cuts my hair? And who else loves getting their hair washed at the salon?

Our nephew Derek celebrated his 24th birthday today.This is Jimmy and Derek in Muir Woods in 1995. oh how i love flashback photos. :D

Blog browsing today, while on Ali's, she linked to Lisa Leonard Designs, a jewelry designer.Love this very much.

Lastly, this is my new favorite snack - Fruit Sorbet by Jamba Juice:Picked it up at the grocery store yesterday. YUMMY! And only 70-90 calories, 1-2 grams of fat and 3 grams of fiber. Which translates to only 1 weight watcher point if you care about keeping track of that sort of thing.

Hope you had a good Tuesday. Good night!
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A Week In The Life: Day 1

Last December I participated in Ali Edward's Daily December. This week, she's suggested that we participate in documenting "A Week In The Life", from April 19-25th. Truthfully, my life is terribly mundane, aside from a few adventures I'm lucky enough to enjoy from time to time. But day to day...pretty much...nothingness. But I think that's what she's trying to let us all be aware of, that even what we think is merely boring day to day activities, they are important in their own way.

So I decided to participate in her challenge. I'll try to refrain from documenting the blahdeblah that's completely insignificant, like say, walking from the office to the kitchen to the living room. to grab a snack then plop down in front of the tv. but I might include in-progress crafting projects, what i made for dinner, who I hung out with and my favorite tv shows.

Yes. Terribly mundane. But it's just a week. So prepare yourselves to be bored silly.

So to start the week off...drum roll please...I finished last month's playgroup project that Kristina hosts. These are some of my fav cards we've created from her class. I try to get together with her once a month and we create 6 different cards, 2 of each. I'm getting together with her again on Wednesday.

On a more serious note, today was the 15th anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing.
These chairs on this lawn is the site of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in downtown Oklahoma City. There are a total of 168 chairs, each chair representing a life that was lost on that infamous day.
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Sue Sylvester: You have enough product in your hair to season a wok.

Fun nite at Kristina's making a couple of cute projects:



Got home in time to watch the new season of Glee!
HI-larious!!!
Sue Sylvester is the snarky cheerleading coach in Glee and glee club's nemesis. She's also the star of this video.
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Wontons

Every now and then I get a craving for my mom's wontons. They were yummy and believe it or not, Jimmy likes them. In fact, his whole family likes them. Trouble is, they are not good for you. I know I don't look like I am the picture of good health and nutrition, but even I know that eating deep fried food should not be consumed with much frequency. So I only make these once or twice a year.

the basic ingredients are simple: wonton wrappers, seasoned ground beef, water to use as glue and canola oil to fry. Please ignore the date on the wonton wrappers, this particular photo is from dec 06. but i forgot to take pics of the-before-frying-steps so went back to my archives. i really didn't serve my family wonton wrappers that expired in feb 07.

My ground beef is seasoned with unmeasured amounts of garlic powder, onion powder or 1/4 of an onion, pepper and soy sauce. If you want to follow my mom's tradition, you'd add MSG, too. But I avoid it because I ate enough of it growing up to last me 7 lifetimes.

I work on a plate, plop a wrapper down, a little bit of ground beef, again eyeballed so it's not too big that the wrapper will split when closed but not too small that you feel jipped out of a tasty meatball.

You'll want to fold the wrapper over the meatball, making it into a triangle. Slide your finger, that you've just dipped in water, around 2 of the edges to seal the triangle closed.

Here's the tricky part, and I don't really know how to write how to do it. But you want your wonton to look like this:All you do is hold the triangle in your non-dominant hand with the long edge (folded side) up. put a dab of water on the wrapper right next to the meatball then fold and pinch the other side up and sort of around the meatball so the back side of the wrapper hits that dab of water so you can pinch it so it's 'glued' together. Making sure the whole time that your wrapper doesn't split. And it depends on if you're left or right handed which side of the meatball you'll put the dab of water. If you're right handed, you'll put it on the left side of the meatball, left handed on the right side of the meatball.

Did you follow that? I knew you did.

If it's not working, then you can just fry them as triangles. Because it certainly can't be because you weren't able to follow my completely clear and understandable instructions.

Make the entire package of wrappers into wontons.

Fry these suckers in hot oil. They fry FAST. Sometimes, so fast, you'll wonder if the beef is cooked. I've never had even a slightly pink meatball, so don't fret how fast they fry. But turn your heat down if they're getting dark too fast. When it's golden on both sides, take it out and drain on a paper towel or wire rack if you're feeling fancy. The oil splatters A LOT so be careful and either wear an apron or an already ruined shirt.

Before you know it, you'll have a mountain of wontons ready to be gobbled up.

Serve with sweet and sour sauce. About a pound of ground beef will make a package of wontons. I think there are 40 wontons per package. Everyone eats a lot of them.
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Happy Everything

Fun cards made at Elizabeth's last night.




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A Stroll on the Beach

Flat Stanley had such a great time with us. He was so excited to see the grand ocean from our high vista point.

Then when I looked down at the beach from our perch above, I saw this guy walking along the shoreline. Barely looking at him at the time, I snapped a quick photo. But as I looked through the camera lens, I realized the young man forgot to put on his pants. and underwear.
I didn't tell Stanley.
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Don't Mess With Her Easter Eggs

Hawk at the parentals. Guarding her Precious very carefully.
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Readers please watch and listen

You might be tempted to click close on this one, but give it a go all the way thru. Pretty clever effect and the message is worth a listen.

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Easter Projects

I made a couple of cute little easter projects a few weeks ago with my friend Doris at Elizabeth's Friday night stamp club.I thought this one was super cute and really easy, too. It's just an orange scalloped circle, cut with a die cutter but can easily be hand cut, and 3 green scallop ovals, cut with a hand punch, again you can hand cut if you'd like. Just shape the circle into a cone and glue to hold shape, then glue the 3 ovals on top. Fill with easter grass and add an easter bunny candy inside. You can add the tag as just a little bit of extra embellishment if you'd like.

Elizabeth gave us the template to make this little basket. Basically, it's a square piece of decorative paper folded to make a basket and a die cut floral boarder is used to make the handle. Fill with easter grass and 4 mini hershey candies.

I hope you all have a great Easter weekend, however you celebrate it!
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