Mammogram

Had my annual mammogram today. There's nothing like having your boobs stretched and flattened like pancakes to allow the x ray machine to get adequate pictures!

OMG, just left Costco $700 poorer.Well, I'm justifying it by Easter's coming up and the oldest 21st birthday!

Waiting in line to get gas at costco. Oh, what don't we do to save a few pennies. Considering I will go into the store and spend $$$$$ I should get the gas for free!

Long Beach Aquarium with friends. What a fun day in the life of a toddler...

Oliver, Lucas, and Hayden watching the seals at Long Beach Aquarium...

A couple of hiking buddies...

Guess who won't take off his brand new Thomas theTank Engine backpack from Target?

Turning the page

Yesterday I got my fitness certification material in the mail. There were a lot of stuff in that box; text books on nutrition and wellness, weight management, personal training, the legal aspects of becoming a fitness professional, dvds, audio cd's, and much more. I am so excited. It's going to be an adventure trying to find the time to plow through all this material, but I'm looking forwad to it. I am turning the page. After 10 years as a hospital nurse I am ready to say goodbye sickness and hello wellness!

My boys in the jaccuzzi after a family dinner of hotdogs roasted on the fire...all kids were at home including boyfriends : )

Hayden with our year 2000 Easterbunny...almost 10 years old!

There is pilates and then there is pilates. How can a class be so different from one instructor to the next? I just wasted an hour of my life!

Interesting Hike

Went on an extreme stroller hike today...well nothing new about that. It's become quite the habit of mine. But it's not everyday one gets to see snakes mating.

Back from x rays. Waiting for the doctor.

At the orthopedist office with the youngest teen. She has a history of mild scoliosis which is acting up again. Trying to entertain the toddler while she is having x rays taken.

My garden project! I dug out dirt for 2 hours and I'm not even halfway done yet...

Starting a Vegetable Garden

Yesterday I spent the afternoon planting seeds in little pots...vegetable seeds that is. The toddler was my little helper. We decided to do the seeds in pots rather than directly in the soil to make it easier to identify the plant from weeds. I am not exactly born with green thumbs. Once the seedlings have sprouted we'll plant them in the soil. But it'll take a couple of weeks which is a good thing since I have to prepare the garden site. The soil at the site we usually use for garden space is depleted and contains too much sand. So, my project for the next few days is to rent a dumpster and then remove a foot of dirt from an area which is approximately 12 by 4 feet. Do the math, that's a lot of dirt to move. I will have my work out cut out for me.

A beautiful view of Santa Rosa Valley...

...and there she is...Daisy eating grass!

Everything is so green and pretty right now. Thanks to all the rain we've had. I will miss this when summer comes and the hills turn brown.

Up on the Santa Rosa trail with my dog Daisy. Just exploring new possibilities for extreme strollering. And no...Hayden's not with me!

Maybe I'm a little crazy, but...

I made the decision! I just ordered an online/homestudy program. I'm going to branch out from being an RN in a hospital setting caring for sick people to help people reach/maintain their health goals in the first place. The program is a combination of credentials. I will become a personal trainer/nutrition and wellness consultant/weightmanagement consultant. I will have a year to complete all course work. There, I said it, so now I have to do it! Wish me luck!

Out on our daily walk. Southern California, what a beautiful place...to have these gorgeous mountain trails around the corner from my house is fantastic!

Eating too Much

Went to a St. Patrick's Day party at a friend's house yesteday.We had a blast, but I ate too much. I'm paying for it today that's for sure. I usually eat pretty healthy, but yesterday I ate everything in sight. Cheese and crackers, chips and dips, deep fried shrimp pancakes, cornbeef and cabbage...and of course a lot of wine. Then I managed to squeeze in a few chocolate chip cookies and whole bunch of strawberries. Well, at least the strawberries were a good choice. Woke up this morning with a rumbling, bloated stomach...yuck!

Tomorrow I will hit the trails hard. I have to work off these 3000 extra calories I managed to scarf down in one day. Don't want to undo all the hard work I've done in the past few weeks. And in the evening I will go to Pilates at the gym. No excuses allowed! Summer is around the corner, and at 45 I can't afford the luxury of easing up on my workouts...unless I'm ok with everything starting to sag which I'm definetily not!

Extreme Strollering

Went hiking today with hubby and the toddler. Took a different trail than our usual. We did the waterfall trail called Paradise Falls. It was definetily doable with a jogging stroller, but I guess it belongs in the categoy "extreme strollering", a term my good friend coined the other day when we went hiking on the Teepee trail. Well, I'm hooked, it was so beautiful and so worth it. I wonder if that's a class I could start. Would anyone sign up?

Success party

The surprise birthday party I threw for my friend yesterday at her house was a success. She knew that something was up because her daughter had told her not to leave the house and to not eat dinner. However, she thought someone was picking her up for dinner. Little did she know that champagne, dinner, and dessert was coming to her. Wish I had brought my camera to capture the look on her face.

When she realize we were staying in she said "Wait, let me run and turn the jaccuzzi on because it'll take awhile." I couldn't help but saying, "Honey, your jaccuzzi is already on. My people took care of it." Well, needless to say we had a blast. We ate the sushi and polished off one bottle of champagne inside the house; then we brought dessert and a second bottle of champagne to the jaccuzzi. One friend couldn't make it, but the birthday girl's daughter came home early from work and took her place. So here we were, four women ranging from the tender age of 19 to the more mature age of 53, solving the problems of the world. Two hours later when I noticed my fingertips looking like raisins, we called it a night. This is what I call quality time with friends!

I Like to Arrange Surprises

Today is my friend's birthday. Her husband is in Chile to visit his mom in the aftermath of the massive quake! She has two teenage daughters, one is studying in Spain this semester, and the other one is working tonight. Couldn't get the evening off on her mom's birthday. That sucks!

So, I'm going to surprise her! I already involved two other friends. I'm going to get some balloons, champagne, and some good sushi and we are going to knock on her door at 7 pm. I told her daughter to make sure she doesn't make any plans, and to turn on the jaccuzzi before she goes to work at 5 pm. We're going to have a girls' night out at her house and she doesn't even know it! How cool is that?

Out on the trails. Had planned for the angel to walk up the steep hill. Guess who fell asleep? So much for counting on a little help. Guess I'll have to suck it up and push the 38 lb toddler the rest of the trail aswell.

Oscar Night

Some friends of ours had an Oscar party last night. The red carpet was rolled out and there were a lot of good food and drinks. So, in honor of the occasion I dressed up in a lot of bling bling...a silvery mini dress, sparkling tights, high heeled black boots and layers of silver chains around my neck. Maybe over the top, I know, but what the heck? Having a toddler we don't get out much...at least not to occasions were the dresscode is dressy. So, I had fun with it.
However, I almost had to fight the toddler for the necklaces. As soon as he saw me all dressed up and wearing the "fun" layers of silver chains, he stated "I want my necklace" "It's my necklace"! This went on and on throughout the evening. Because, yes of course we brought the toddler to the party. It was a fun family oriented event. Luckily there was an 11 year old boy there that caught my angel's attention and finally he forgot about the necklaces.

Our friends hosting the party had an Oscar game in place. We all had ballots with all the categories so that we could cast our vote. At the end there was going to be a price. We had only seen a couple of the nominated movies, so I felt a little lost in judging the them. We had seen Avatar and Hurtlocker, both amazing movies. My husband is great with these kind of games, so even though he had only seen a couple of the movies he won the game. Luckily the price was movie tickets, so I get to go enjoy it too...ha,ha. All in all, we had a lot of fun, and I think especially the toddler who got to hang out with a "big" kid for the evening.

Moms' Night Out

Had a moms' night out last night with some friends. Went to this Mexican little place that had great Ahi Tuna burritos!!! They were even cut up and served like sushi rolls. Absolutely delicious. I also had a couple of beers which I hadn't had in a while. It was a lot of fun. The time just went by way too fast. It's funny how you want to keep a conversation going with everyone, and I think all of us may be conversation starved because everyone was talking at once. We've got to do this more often! Even though I am so fortunate that I have the most wonderful husband who'll always encourage me to take time for myself I tend to hesitate. It's the constant guilt feelings of leaving and just spend time and money on me. And also, my husband does not do it for himself, take time I mean, so I guess I have to encourage him. Maybe then my guilt will lessen!

Having lunch with friends...priceless!

What Not to Wear

Oh lovely, the toddler has already reached the age where he wants to decide what to wear. I thougth this was a girl's domain! Thought little boys didn't care! I don't remember my now 19 year old son being so particular with what shirt to wear at the tender age of 2 1/2.

There are only two shirts that my son wants to wear out of his collection of probably twenty. There is a dingy washed out white spider man t shirt and a red short sleeve polo shirt!!! Those are the only two he wants to wear. And he has a little fit when I explain to him that they're in the laundry. "We can't wear them everyday. Let's pick another shirt!"

"No, wanna wear red shirt, wanna wear spiderman shirt!" Oh boy, I think I need to take the boy shopping! A few weeks ago he was in the "I wanna wear white shirt" phase, so I bought several white shirts, so that he could wear one everyday if he pleased. Maybe I should go get some red dye and spruce up the white shirts? Just a thought!

FW:no subject

Hiking buddies...

My Little Musician

It's a "quiet" morning. Hubby left early this morning for Oakland, and the "big" kids are in school. As I'm on my computer to check mail the toddler is serenating me with his latest aquisition...an old guitar. He found it in my daughter"s closet last night, and hasn't stopped playing since. Well, except for a few short hours while he slept. Think the guitar belongs to my 19 year old son who used to have that room before he moved out. Maybe he'll let his little brother keep it! What joy, more noice! Can you you put a 2 year old in guitar lessons or is that a wasted venue? Or maybe I just need to get some earplugs!

Had a great birthday yesterday! My husband and kids got me this gorgeous Guess purse, Guess jeans and this cute shirt. I'm pretty lucky.

A Happy Birthday

Today is my birthday...and I'm now officially in my mid forties! I celebrated like a kid. Took the toddler out hiking and jumping in mudpuddles, and afterwards we went to Chuckee Cheese for pizza and some serious playtime with our buddies. Tonight it is family time and we'll go have a birthday dinner at B.J's. I'm so lucky to have such caring family and friends.

And jumping in puddles is always fun...!

On the trails with the toddler. They are a little muddy and extra challenging today. Climbing the hill with a 38 lb kid sure makes me feel alive!

Sorry for the silence, but in the aftermath of Chile's 8.8 earthquakee my thoughts were elsewhere. My uncle and aunt are there right now, and a dear frie

nd's mother in law lives in Santiago. My thoughts and prayers are with them.