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| April 2012 - CA |
Monday, April 30, 2012 - CA
What a busy day, starting at 4:45 when my internal alarm went off - I tried to go back to sleep but couldn't and finally just got up around 6:00. I do enjoy seeing the day break and it was a beautiful morning for that.
By 11:30 I had walked the dog, had breakfast, given Mike a haircut, done a thorough vacuuming, and taken a shower and was ready to head to the Apple store to purchase a cover for my iPad. Needless to say, after checking out a few different options, I just bought the Steve Jobs recommended sleek magnetic cover.
When we got back home, we took Frisco for a nice walk. It was warm but there was a nice breeze coming off the ocean that kept it comfortable. All windows on the RV were opened and we both got a little nap in. I was off to the grocery store again to get a few things for dinner tomorrow. I decided to make pulled pork sandwiches and baked beans. I got the beans all prepped and the meat rubbed and marinating in the fridge, then got going on our own dinner.
We watched the movie, "Everything is Illuminated", a recommendation from Ben and Jill and we both enjoyed it. It is a story about an American boy that goes to the Ukraine to research his Jewish family's past.
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April 23 - 29, 2012 - CA
Wednesday, April 25. It's my birthday week and I will be the same age as Mike for a few months. No biggie - just glad I'm still around and enjoying life.
Charlotte has been lots of fun this week as she is getting so much more interactive, like giving kisses with her mouth wide open. She such a wiggle worm that it's hard to hold on to her and she usually doesn't have time for any loving except when reading books. She now has a preference for certain books, one with animal sounds and a couple that have different fabric textures that she can touch.
Last night, Jill made lentils and salmon for dinner and it was really yummy.
Thursday, April 26. Happy Birthday, Walks! April is a big month for birthdays in our family - the combined Bridge/Ursino calendar has 10 birthdays and 2 anniversaries.
The sun just came out at the same time that it started pouring down rain. There must be a rainbow somewhere, but I'm not quite ready to get outdoors, enjoying my morning coffee and the computer.
I did the grocery shopping (pretty major, since I hadn't stocked up in a couple of weeks and the fridge is empty again) with an added trip to Costco. We love their coffee and it costs so much less than buying it at a grocery store.
Friday, April 27. The birthday wishes started coming in shortly after I got up this morning, the first was a video of Mike singing the traditional "Happy Birthday" song to me - started the day with a chuckle! One thing I've always loved about that man - he makes me laugh! Many greetings came through Facebook and emails and even a few nice cards in the mail. I feel good knowing that I have such a wonderful family and friends.
Charlotte was dressed up in a darling pink polka-dot outfit and she and I headed for the salon where Jill gave me another nice haircut. My hair grew so quickly in the last two weeks that I went from kind of needing a haircut to being desperate for one. I was hoping to put it off until our last week here, but Jill had an opening, so I took advantage. Finding a parking spot near the salon was quite the challenge and after circling for about 20 minutes, I finally ended up parallel parking in a tiny spot right in front of the salon. It took many attempts just inching my way in there, leaving about 8 inches in both the front and rear of my car - and no, I didn't even touch the car in front or back. Whew!
When Ben and Jill got home, we ordered pizza and had some champagne and they gave me a beautifully wrapped gift. I was in total amazement when it turned out to be a new iPad from all of my family. What a surprise and what a nice gift. It shouldn't take long to get used to it, as I've been using the iPhone for a few years now and it is so much like that.
Pizza and salad from Patxi's was delicious and we topped it off with Ben and Jill's home-made 2-layer Saurkraut Chocolate Cake - it was soooo yummy. THANKS TO MIKE, PAT, BEN, JILL, and CHARLOTTE for such a wonderful gift. I'm so fortunate to have you all in my life.
Saturday, April 28. We spent the night at Ben and Jill's so bright and early this morning, Ben brought Charlotte in to bed with us. We usually don't see what she's like early in the morning and she was so mellow and content to just sit in between us and play quietly until her Mom and Dad had to get up a little later.
Jill took off for work and after Charlotte went down for her nap, Ben and I walked the dogs down to a new bakery on Balboa St. I wore a light hoody and a lightweight jacket and that was one layer too many. It's a beautiful warm, sunny morning.
After Charlotte's nap, we headed to Baker Beach before it got too crowded. Our timing was perfect and we took a nice long stroll and sat in the warm sand for a little while. Charlotte loves being outdoors and really enjoyed riding on her Dad's back in the baby pack. The dogs got to play and we got in a nice walk - it can't get much better than that.
We're back home now and I'm going to quit writing so I can get to know my birthday gift better.
Sunday, April 29.. This is my first attempt at updating with the iPad. The keyboard will take some getting used to but I'm confident that it won't take too long.
We were both real sleepy last night and went to bed pretty early after enjoying a vodka tonic made with Death's Door Vodka from Wisconsin - great stuff - if you like your vodka like we do, you should try it - a little more pricey than some, but it sure tastes great.
It was another beautiful day and we got outdoors to enjoy a good part of it, in spite of the temptation to just explore my new iPad. It has worked out well for reading my book, an improvement over the iPhone, although I was getting used to reading on that small screen.
We pulled out the grill and cooked some cod for dinner, that and coleslaw made for a tasty one - another piece of Ben's birthday cake for desert.
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April 16 - 22, 2012 - CA
Thursday, April 19. Another week just whizzing right by. Marta and I planned to walk this morning, so she took me to the Indian Valley Preserve, near Novato. We walked a beautiful wooded path along a spring-fed stream. I let Frisco off the leash to run with Spirit and he headed straight for the stream where he got a long drink and laid right down and enjoyed the water. He was really good about not straying too far from us and coming back when I called him. I'm so glad that Marta and I hit it off - we seem to have many common interests and its so nice to have a female friend to talk with.
Frisco had to have a bath when we got back home since he ran through patches of poison oak in the woods. He had a lot of fun and is a really tired boy right now.
I just got up from an attempt to take a nap. I started to feel sleepy after reading for a while, took off my glasses and closed my eyes. Tears start flowing from my eyes and I realize that I'm thinking about how sad it will feel when we have to say goodbye to our family again. Dang! I do look forward to getting on with our lives but it's going to be rough for a while. I just wish there was some way to have it both - an affordable community of friends and the closeness of our family. The best that we can do is to visit frequently so we continue to be a part of their lives and little Charlotte grows up knowing that she has grandparents who love and care for her.
The rest of the day was real nice with temps getting up near 75 degrees and we sat outside and were able to have all of the windows open.
Saturday, April 21. Yesterday went well with Charlotte but her nap schedules were way off, so we had to change our plans a bit. We intended to go to Golden Gate Park for a while this morning but she had only had a half-hour morning nap, we thought it would be better when she woke from her afternoon nap. Well, that only lasted an hour, so after a walk to the park and a bit of play, she was cranky and tired. I put her down for a late afternoon nap and she woke up cranky too. I ended up getting her ready for bed and giving her a bottle before Ben even got home from work - and she was asleep when he got home. He alters his schedule so he can make it home to get her ready for bed, but traffic was horrendous and it took him an hour to get home.
The weather reports warned of extreme heat today, with a possibility of 77 degrees in SF. That kind of made us laugh - we were thinking it couldn't get much better than that. It actually made it to 85 here in Greenbrae. We planned to do some outdoor activity with Ben and Charlotte today but she altered the plans once more by taking 2 - 2-hour naps today. We finally made it to the Beach Chalet (just outside Golden Gate Park and across from Ocean Beach) around 5:00 and had just enough time to enjoy some good conversation and people watching while drinking a beer.
We were amazed at the traffic and bustle of activity brought on by the nice weather. The north and south exits to Hwy 1 that goes to Stinson Beach and Mt. Tamalpais were backed up for about a mile. Just past the Golden Gate Bridge, the streets along the coast on the way to Ben's house were also jam packed with parked cars, people trying to get in and out of the beach, bikes, scooters, skateboards and people walking everywhere. There was no parking on Ben's street and when we finally got to the park, we had to park about 3 blocks away. Busy, busy, busy!
Sunday, April 22. We really didn't do much of anything today except just enjoy the weather with a couple of walks, some house cleaning, baked a banana bread and took a nap. We invited Marta to join us for dinner tonight, as her husband had to go out of town. I made a pork tenderloin, roasted potatoes, and she brought yummy steamed vegetables. We had some wine and lots of good conversation.
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April 9 - 15, 2012 - CA
Monday, April 9. We stayed with Charlotte this afternoon so that Jill and Ben could meet up with a real estate agent to look at their options for buying a home.
It was another fun day with our little sweetheart - she is so easy to get along with - plays hard, eats well, and sleeps good. We gave her a bath for the first time and she just loves the water. When using a little hand sprayer to rinse her off, she puts out her hand to bring the water to her mouth. What a little sweetie!
Thursday, April 13. Today was our day off and we both hoped to get a good night's sleep last night but storms came through here about 12:30 until 3:30 and the wind rocked the motorhome and the rain pelted us. Frisco heard thunder and ended up between us in the bed. Hopefully, tonight will be better but storms are still predicted.
It had been nice and sunny and I wanted to walk the Corte Madera-Larkspur path but just as we were getting ready, I could see a huge bank of clouds in that direction. Darn! We ended up walking the path along the wetlands not too far from us and got a good 1.5-2 mile walk in.
I've joined Team Casey (Jill, Ben, and I so far) to walk to help raise money for brain tumor research. It is a 5-mail walk through Golden Gate Park on May 5 - let's hope for a nice day.
Any contribution you would like to make would be much appreciated.
The last 2 days with Charlotte were great as usual. She cut her 2nd tooth and wasn't feeling too good yesterday. Boy, I'd forgotten how sharp those little things are and it must be painful for them to poke through.
Saturday, April 14 Our new friends, Marta and Kerry invited us to join them today on a tour of the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park�??s warehouse in Alameda. Kerry works at the museum doing restorations, so he was familiar with many of the stories being told, but it was all new and very interesting to us. The warehouse has artifacts that may or may not go into the museum at some time, but all have some history linked to the area or are linked through some connection to items that are currently in the museum collections, therefore it is necessary to catalog and preserve them for future generations. It wasn�??t fancy but our guide, Diane, led us through the huge building and told us the history and interesting stories of several of the larger pieces.
Many of the items in the collection brought back memories of family members and friends that built boats or owned similar boats back in Wisconsin. Mike�??s grandfather and uncle owned and operated Inland Boat Works, a company that has serviced the Madison area boating community for decades. From its humble beginnings out of a World War II Quonset hut, they produced hand crafted wood and fiberglass boats. Uncle Bill was know for building his fast racing boats. The Inland logo can still be seen on many boats throughout the Midwest, a testament to their quality and appeal. The business was sold in 2004 but is still in operation and Mike's cousins Louie and Rick are still working there.
Also, our dear friend Tom MacKenzie of The Loon Works has been building wooden canoes since 1973 and Mike has had the pleasure of owning two of his beautiful boats; the first being a 17-foot birch bark canoe (the top one pictured in the above link) and the second was a Kevlar covered wood canoe (very similar to the turquoise one in the above link) that has been passed on to our son, Pat. Our tour also brought back memories of boat rides on Lake Waubesa with our friends Jim and Sue in two of Jim�??s restored 1950�??s vintage Chris Crafts.
Back to our tour. Many of the items appeared to be just old pieces of junk but they all had a story and some significance, many provided insight to the materials and techniques that were used in the construction of boats. The San Francisco Bay area is so full of maritime history that includes the Navy, commercial fishing, sailing, and pleasure yachting. The warehouse is home to pieces from many of those fields.
One very interesting story behind two pieces in the warehouse were the Mermaids, the first was a 19 foot boat that was sailed solo from Japan to San Francisco in 1962 by Kenichi Horie. He arrived in San Francisco without a passport, no money, and he spoke little English - he was arrested upon his arrival, but later was sponsored by the Mayor, given clearance and a key to the city. In 2002, he made another voyage in the Malt�??s Mermaid III that was built with recycled materials, and thus called a beer can boat. I just can�??t imagine being out on that huge ocean in such a small craft with no company and no way to communicate with the rest of the world.
I also found the Alaska Packers salmon boats interesting, mostly because they seemed so small and crude and did such a huge job. The thought of a crew being out on the ocean for several days at a time in one of the simple boats has got to be a hard way to earn a living. There was also a nice diorama that depicted the processing plant that was quite detailed and interesting.
They even had a couple of barber chairs that came from an old barber shop on the Embarcadero and are believed to be the same type that were used at Alcatraz. An entire aisle was full of sails, probably none of them complete, but they are used to learn about the materials and the construction techniques so that replicas can be built to complete a restoration project. Another aisle held boat motors.
By the time we finished our tour, we were all hungry and stopped at the Marin Brewing Company for beers and sandwiches and some great conversation to get to know our new friends better. The sad thing is that we are just getting to know each other and we will be saying goodbye in just a few short weeks. We will make the best of it now and hopefully, we can stay in touch and visit each other in the future.
Sunday, April 15. A slow day around here. The only thing I accomplished was a trip to the grocery store to fill the fridge and cupboards again. Tacos for dinner really hit the spot, it's been a while since we've had them.
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April 2 - 8, 2012 - CA
Monday, April 2. What a nice day! We took Marta and Spirit with us this morning to the Point Isabel dog park. Mike didn't go the first time and wanted to walk with us and see how much fun Frisco has when he's off leash. He really does play hard and was pretty good about sticking near us. His entire belly and legs were covered with black mud - he went in every puddle that he found. At one point, we were busy talking and I turned around to check on him, but he was nowhere in sight. Finally, I saw him off in the distance and he came right to me, but I was a bit worried there for a minute. Mike's lungs are still recovering from the virus that we had, so he only did half of the walk, but that was still about 1.5 miles. I'm glad he's finally feeling better.
When we got back home, Mike's toes were hurting from his old walking shoes and mine have been through the mill, so we headed to Sport's Basement in San Francisco to replace them. We both found some great deals and walked out with new shoes.
I had a nice conversation with Jonnie this afternoon and was happy to hear her good news of safely making it back to Florida and landing a job as soon as she got back home. It's got to be lonely for her.
Wednesday, April 4. The last 2 days with Charlotte have been delightful, as usual. Yesterday, I made Swiss Chard and White Bean Soup - a recipe from Sunset magazine. It was served with sour dough bread, brushed with olive oil, and toasted in the broiler. Yum! Yum!
Makes 2 1/2 quarts; 4 to 6 servings
1 bunch Swiss chard (about 1 lb.)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 quart fat-skimmed chicken broth
2 cans (15 oz. each) cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
About 1/2 cup fresh-grated parmesan cheese (see notes)
Salt and fresh-ground pepper
Preparation
1. Rinse chard well and trim off and discard discolored stem ends; tear leaves from stems. Thinly slice stems crosswise; cut leaves into 1-inch pieces.
2. Pour oil into a 4- to 5-quart pan over medium heat. Add chard stems and garlic; stir often until stems are limp, about 10 minutes. Add chard leaves, broth, and 3 cups water. Note: if you are using imported parmesan cheese, cut the rind off and add it to the soup at this time, then discard before serving. Bring to a simmer; cook, stirring occasionally, until chard is tender to bite, 10 minutes longer.
3. Add beans and stir occasionally until hot, 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in 1/2 cup parmesan cheese and add salt and pepper to taste. Ladle into bowls; offer more parmesan to add at the table.
It was excellent - you should try it some time.
Ben had good news for us when he got home last night - he had his annual review and got a generous increase in salary in recognition for his hard work. You go, Ben!
I had read that today was a free day at the zoo, so we fed Charlotte and headed to the zoo. Once we drove in the parking lot ($8.00) we realized we couldn't get out without paying it. Then we walked to the zoo entry and Mike went to pay the parking and get the ticket to get back out, then we went to get our hands stamped to get in. We were told that the deal was for San Francisco residents only but we could pay $15 each to get in. The bad thing was that Charlotte had to be back home in an hour for her bottle and afternoon nap so that wasn't going to work. We could see the giraffes walking around on the other side of the fence so I took her out of the stroller so she could see them. She was more interested in all of the kids that were running around that she never even focused on the giraffes.
She's getting close to crawling, advanced several inches on her tummy today and she recently started saying da-da, ga-ga, and ba-ba sounds. Whenever I go to get her out of her crib after a nap, I blow on her butterfly mobile above the bed and she watches carefully. Today, I picked her up and she was doing the blowing thing. It seems like all of a sudden there are huge changes going on. Wow! Naturally, we all think that she is so smart!
It was a surprise when we heard the garage door open this afternoon at about 4:30. Jill's last 2 clients of the day canceled and she came home early - so we went home early. Kind of a treat for us but not so good for Jill's income - good thing Ben got a raise yesterday.
Sunday, April 8 Happy Easter!
Not much going on around here except that Friday with Charlotte was a wacky day. When we got there, Jill informed us that she had sprouted her first tooth and also that she had no nap in the morning before we got there, and only 2 very short ones later in the day. Not only that, she freaked out when I went in to get her from her naps - I think she might not have been fully awake although she was making lots of noise.
Other than that, all was fine and she demonstrated her new scooting along the floor abilities. Wow, she's really going to take off now.
I got a few projects done around the house yesterday. Washed the front windows of the motorhome and gave Frisco a bath. I also went to Bed, Bath and Beyond to pick up a couple of gifts for Ben (we never did celebrate his birthday).
It was a beautiful day and we were able to have the windows open and sit outside for a while. For dinner, we grilled some tuna steaks and had them with a salad - good stuff!
I bought a ham last week and some red potatoes, took them with us to Ben and Jill's this afternoon and they made asparagus to go with it. An easy Easter dinner but still tasty. Ben made another of his specialty cakes, this time a rum cake and OMG was that yummy - a layer of rum soaked cake with toasted pecans that was topped with a dense and moist chocolate layer - mmmmm mmmmmm mmmmm.
Charlotte was wearing a cute little stocking cap topped with bunny ears for her Easter outfit - cute as can be.
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Sunday, April 1, 2012 - CA
Happy 45th Anniversary to my sister, Rita and her husband Denny. WOW!
When Charlotte woke from her morning nap, they came over to pick us up and we went to the Anchorage 5 restaurant in Sausolito for breakfast, based on some of the reviews that we read on Yelp. Their special today was the Crab Eggs Benedict that Mike and Jill ordered and Ben and I both ordered the Corned Beef Hash. They were all very tasty and we had an enjoyable time. Charlotte was well behaved and didn't start to get restless until we were finished eating. We came back to the motor home, Jill fed Charlotte and put her down for a nap (on a blanket on the floor of the bedroom) and we sat around talking while she slept. What an enjoyable time we had.
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Created on 04/01/2012 09:39 AM by bridge
Updated on 06/21/2012 09:48 AM by bridge
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