I Hate This Bird!

Every day I chase this bird away from my Lantana and Sunflowers. It rips up flowers..doesnt eat them...just rips them to shreds!It hangs out in the neighbors orange tree with it's pals. Jack and I call them "Juicy Birds" because we think they'd make a great meal for a Hawk!

I've been closing the store for the past three nights. Getting home around 10:30 or 11 PM,which is late for me. On Dec 21,22nd and 23rd the Mall stays open until 11PM! After Black Friday the Mall traffic dropped considerably and it has been rather slow. We are hoping there will be another shopping surge before Christmas when people rush out for those last minute gifts.

Leaving for Seattle on December 10.I'm looking forward to the days off and catching up with some friends and family during our visit.(Especially Madison!)

This Makes Me Sick

I am shocked and saddened by the headline I just read in the Seattle Times:

4 police officers shot, killed in ambush near Tacoma WA

All I can say is that I am glad my son-in-law did not get hired by the Tacoma Police Dept this year

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2010382767_webfourdead29m.html

Rainstorm Continued...

It actually did rain quite a bit here (for the desert) enough to use my wipers and utilize my sloooowwww WA driving habits. It smells so good on the pavement. The sun is coming out now and even though it is only 64 degrees I will probably head to the pool in an hour or so.

Desert Rainstorm!

Jack and I are sitting on the patio reading the paper and having our morning coffee. He felt a few drops of rain. We got so excited as we watched a few pathetic little splats fall on the ground and stop. I'll head to the bank as soon as the CHP clears away all the wrecks as a result of this rainstorm. Ha ha Washingtonians laugh at this "rain".

Yesterday I did a non scientific poll of people who shopped on Black Friday (at the Westfield Mall) The best buys apparently were at Best Buys with ToysRUS second.Hispanic families came out the earliest at 5AM and the Canadians showed up around noon. Teenagers who don't really buy anything but hang out showed up around 3PM

12 days until we head to Seattle!

Thanksgiving in the Desert

Swimming in the morning and bar-b-que turkey in the afternoon!(Yes, Jack snorkels in the pool. He actually saw a goldfish once.)

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner with Gary and Suzie L.Great weather and I think this is our third year at their house. It is getting to be quite a tradition now! The turkey was perfect and was stuffed with oranges,lemons and garlic..moist and tasty. Plenty of leftovers and Phoebe (sometimes known as "feed me") supervised my transfer of turkey to the zip lock just in case any dropped to the floor.

Tomorrow on Black Friday I don't work until noon,however Macy's and Penneys open at 4AM.

Baseboard Day

Tom came over this morning and installed baseboard around our new carpet. Obviously not his first rodeo. He did a great job,quick and clean! Jack is masking the walls so he can paint the baseboard tomorrow after the caulk dries.

I had some new passport photos taken (horrible,I'll be lucky if they let me out of the country with these) so I can renew my passport by mail. I got all excited when I saw you can now order a passport card for $20 instead of the passport book for $75 until I read the fine print that the card won't get you into Mexico or Canada...figures.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Golf Today

Here is Jack teeing off on 15 at Santa Rosa Country Club. I have not played since September and it showed. I need some practice or lessons or?? Anyway I'm not too motivated to go to the driving range after being on my feet all day. It was a beautiful day however and fun to get out on the golf course.

It's Getting Cold!

Palm Springs Forecast for Wednesday!!!!

76°F | 49° Sweatshirt Weather

Jack had a fantastic dinner waiting for me after work...Pork loin,seasoned green beans,yams and wine. He's getting ready to put new baseboard around the living room and dining room.

Tomorrow we're golfing at Santa Rosa if it doesnt rain.. LOL not gonna happen :)

We made our daily $$ goal plus some at work today and I bought some goodies with my discount.

Thanksgiving Thursday!

I recieved a 40th reunion card from Shorecrest High school ( in the burbs north of Seattle) for next Summer. Like one fellow graduate said in the Shorecrest Reunion Newsletter.." Who are these old people using our names??"

Poolside on the Ship

The Radiance of the Sea has two huge pools. One outdoors and one inside a Solarium. We mainly lounged around the one inside the Solarium figuring we get enough sun at home. The picture above of Jack is on the tender boat returning to the ship from Cabo.

Onboard Casino

Okay you know darn well we went to the Casino. Actually we both did quite well. The machines pay off in quarters. It really screwed up my manicure having to dig quarters out of those machines..but well worth it.

3 Ships in Cabo

There were three cruise ships docked in Cabo on Thursday. Jack and I went into a huge market near the pier and did some shopping. I like Cabo. It has a beautiful harbor full of yachts,fishing boats,jet skis etc...lots of activity. One cool thing we saw was a firefighter spray painted gold and standing like a statue in the square. Jack saw him move and we went over to talk to him and take a picture. He was raising funds for the Cabo San Lucas fire dept.

We didn't venture too far into the city itself. A few years ago on our cruise to Mexico we went on a timeshare tour (for the free liquor package) and saw a new development with million dollar condos overlooking the bay. I'd like to go back sometime and spend a few days exploring the city.

Home Again

Too tired to blog now but here are some pix of the ship. I'll add more later as well as some of Cabo etc.

At Sea

Hola: We spent the morning in Ensenada yesterday and it is a fairly yucky town. Back on board ship and headed to Cabo tomorrow. At sea today,beautiful weather and lotsa luck in the casino. Jack got his picture on the "Wall of Fame"...more on that later. Still eating waaay too much and the food is great.

In Ensenada!

Okay so this internet access is .55 cents a minute so Im makin it fast! We arrived in Mexico this AM around 7 and will be getting off ship in an hour or so. Last night we ate like pigs and played in the Casino (won $$!!). Our room is nice,the ship is beautiful however we don't think it's full. I'll have pix when I can download them and not worry about the $$$.

One More Work Day..Then Cruisin'!

I helped close the store last night with the Assistant Manager and we could'nt get the cash register to balance..argh Maybe today will be better.

Always good people watching in a mall.Met one young man from Northern Europe who is camping at Joshua Tree but headed to Washington. I told him about some good spots to visit while there but advised this isnt really the best time of year to be camping in the rain forest! Another young man with waist length hair,a skateboard and bracelets up and down each arm stopped for a cheese sample. During the course of conversation I told him I make braclets too and his response was "Oh these are for "Raves", are they the kind you make?" ( I believe a Rave is an all night dance party with electronic music and abundance of drugs)

So off to work for a few more hours and then home to finish packing for the cruise!

Living Room...so far

We still have to hide the cords coming down from the TV but we've started putting the room back together. With the 3rd couch gone there is much more room! We love the new carpet!

New Carpet

The carpet guys, Victor and Jesus showed up around 1:45 and were finished by 4:45. They did a great job. It's hard to tell the true color from these pictures but it's called Desert Stone. Our living rooms walls are not really pink either as they appear in the picture! We put the couches back so we can watch the new 52" TV. The rest of the furniture will go back in place tomorrow.

Great Evening with Friends

We had a great time at Gary and Suzies with the best food and friends....Wayne and Sharon,Lee and Jan,Dick and Sue,Pam and Bruce...Had to leave when they ran out of ice however LOL

The Mess

As you can see our living room is still torn up. Jack is installing brackets to hang the new TV (which is awesome!) and the carpet should be here next week. We leave for San Diego (and the cruise) next Monday!

Garage Sale Day 2

The "NOT FOR SALE" sign on the golf cart yesterday didnt seem to get the point across so today we put Fire tape around it and people still looked but didn't ask the price.

Here is a picture of Jack's big find...a $5 work bench! We gave a bunch of stuff away toward the end just to get it out of the garage.

Santa Rosa Country Club opens tomorrow so I know where Jack will be. I may get a pre-cruise pedicure. Our new TV should arrive today!!

Day One of the Garage Sale

We sold the 2 TV's and the couch so that was a plus. Books always sell well. I sold my bicycle to a highly annoying guy who kept returning and asking me if I had a tire pump..."NO" a wrench?.. "NO" How do you shift gears? How much do new tires cost? C'mon dude for $20 bucks I'm not adjusting your gears ,giving you lessons or pumping up your tires. I put a "Not for Sale" sign on the golf cart because people ALWAYS ask about it. Tomorrow the general public can come inside the gates. It's a great time to practice my Spanish. We hope to have everything gone by 8AM!

Where I'd Rather Be....

I'd rather be in the pool instead of tagging items for the garage sale. It starts tomorrow at 7AM. We wound up with more sale items than we thought we'd have. You know how it is when you start looking through the old boxes etc.

Finished our job at the Palm Springs Convention Center last night and celebrated by going to the dinner buffet at Agua Caliente...not much luck on the slots this time.

All I Need is a Harmonica

Do I look like a security guard or a Blues Brother?? This picture is minus the blazer and yes I do tuck my shirt in on the job.

Two days down and two to go.

My Girls

Maddy was a witch for Halloween.

Jack and I go back to the Palm Springs Convention Center for day 2. Yesterday was fairly quiet with participants registering etc. These people are brainiacs with Ph'd's,researchers,pathologists etc. We spent most of the afternoon directing them to the registration desk. Our feet and backs were sore by 6PM when we left. Not much sitting going on..today I plan on borrowing a chair from one of the meeting rooms.

Cruise Countdown! New T.V. and Garage Sales

16 days until our cruise!

Along with our new carpet we are getting a new 52" TV! It'll be great to watch our current favorite football team, the Oregon State Ducks. So glad they trashed USC yesterday. The poor Cougs are just plain painful to watch.

The annual Ivey Ranch Neighborhood Garage Sale is next Friday and Saturday (the 6th and 7th) We'll have two TV's, a couch,golf clubs and shoes,books and more... almost free as they say in Mexico!