Good Bye Summer My Old Friend

Well this weekend marks the end of my summer vacation. Starting Monday it is back to school and back to all that, that entails. So this Friday Greg took the day off from work and we decided to send my summer off with a bang! We started the day off by heading to my school to purchase the remaining books I needed and then headed home to change our blinker on the car. (At this point I am sure that this does not sound like a bang..wait for it...I promise it is coming!) Once the bulb was fixed I decided to take Greg on one of my weekly adventures that he had yet to experience...the recycle plant! We sorted and recycled to our hearts content and then it was off to Indian food! Greg and I love Indian food and really, really enjoyed this lunch/dinner. After that Greg surprised me by taking me to see Julie & Julia. I loved it and of course cried through out...I just tend to cry during movies whether they are sad or not. After the movie we headed to Greg's school where we picked up a co-worker of his and drove to Barnsdall Park to watch Henry V. The play was put on by the Independent Shakespeare Company and was really fun. The play is done outside and everyone brings blankets and food and hangs out watching the play! By the time Greg and I got home from our busy Friday it was after midnight and we were exhausted. So the rest of the weekend was relatively uneventful although tonight I am making barbecue chicken and mashed potatoes...yum! In closing goodbye summer you will be missed and I cannot wait to see you next year!!!!

Greg and I waiting for the play to start.

The Master Plan

Over the weekend Greg put into effect a plan that I am convinced he has been plotting for weeks maybe even months. You see Greg's greatest weakness is... The Pita Pit. Greg loves The Pita Pit and has had a very hard time with the fact that there isn't one closer to our house. So at some point he decided that the only way he was going to be getting Pita Pit was either drive to Flagstaff or bribe me by telling me that we need to go to Home Depot for some home improvement supplies and hey since we were already half way to Hermosa Beach why not just keep driving a ways and get some Pita Pit?! This last option was his master plan, and it worked. We did go to Home Depot and got some screws so that I can hang a couple of hooks in the apartment but the real reason we were out was for our final stop...The Pita Pit. I have to admit though it was fun to get out of Santa Monica and Hermosa Beach is beautiful. We went to The Pita Pit and then walked the pier the whole time Greg talking about how amazing The Pita Pit was. I do have to confess though that I also had a master plan of my own and on our way back to the car I convinced Greg that I had to have some Cold Stone ice cream. All in all it was a very fun day and Greg and I both got something that we have been missing. Well I am off to the gym to work off this weekends fun...till next time!

The shops in Hermosa Beach.

One Family, Two Paths (From the Whiff)

Well Greg has caught you up to speed on how he spent last week but that is only his half of the story...and let's face it you were all dying to know what my side was, or maybe you were not but I am going to tell you anyway. When I found out that Greg was going to be gone for a week I thought to myself what can I do that week, besides sit at home and wait for him to come home? My answer...visit my brother, sister in law, and Rocco (their dog) in lovely Phoenix! Oh sure it was going to be 112 degrees outside during the day but hey they have a pool...I know what you are all thinking "Janet you live at the beach and it never gets over 78 degrees why on earth would you want to go to Phoenix in August?!" Well here is the answer...I am a glutton for punishment. Anyway I left at 6:00am the same day that Greg left. I made really good time and was in Phoenix by 11:30am! I was so excited to be there the first thing we did is go to the store and then have some pina coladas by the pool! Then after talking to my sister in law about Twilight (which I had decided I would never read or watch) she browbeat me ;) into watching the movie. After watching the movie I decided that I had to at least know how the saga ended and so I did the unthinkable...I read the last few important pieces of the final book *gasp*! Once Sarah (my sister in law) heard this she declared that I must now read all of the books...to which I replied...."okay". I know I put up a real fight on that one. So the majority of my trip was spent reading and falling in love with the series. I was able to pull myself away from the books a little each day to walk the dogs make small talk and swim in the pool, and I even pulled myself away long enough to go the mall and to get a pedicure! So that is how I spent my week...some might say it was unproductive and boring but let me just say it was one of the best, most relaxing weeks of my life! Thank you so much to my brother, his wife and of course Rocco for putting up with me and my little dog too!!!

Leaving LA.

Cousin Rocco

Pico catching some ray's in the pool!

Pico on his "walk" man am I a sucker!

My brother and Cousin Rocco.

SNAKE!!!! If you look closely you can see paw prints...where Cousin Rocco was standing just a few seconds prior to this picture!

Pico enjoying the good life...

Driving home...like the pink lips?...Me too!!!!

Almost home!

One Family, Two Paths (From the Mr.)

So, This is my first post!

Last Sunday Janet and I went on our own adventures. Usually we travel together, and so a single blog post is enough. However, with different paths come different stories. I will share my week, and then Janet can share hers.

I got picked-up by a coworker at 6:00am on Sunday for the long drive to Santa Cruz. I was headed to Santa Cruz for a week long summer school on Adaptive Optics. (Astronomers use AO to remove the effect that the atmosphere has in blurring your images. It is also used by eye doctors to image the retina to diagnose the cause of vision problems.) I had been to Santa Cruz twice before but these had been very quick visits.

During my week I mostly spent the days in long lectures and learning labs. The fun happened at night!

At night the deer would come out and graze, the fog settled in, and we had some free time. One night we went down to the Santa Cruz boardwalk and rode rides and ate junk food. We also played laser tag and mini golf. The best part was that rides were only $0.75 and fried twinkies were $3! I got sick from the twinkie but had one of the funnest evenings of my life. I look forward to taking Janet here in the future!

Below are the photo's that I took along the way:

Janet on her way out of town!


Our street at 6am.

A foggy morning the Santa Cruz.

One of the rides I rode at the boardwalk.


Deep Fried Twinkie!

The forest that surrounds campus.

The big fire near Santa Cruz.

A giant artichoke in Castroville, CA the 'Artichoke Capital of the World.'

Tonight Janet gets home. I have missed my whiff horribly and realized that absence makes the heart grow fonder. I have realized how much I take for granted in our little family, and hope that the readers take a moment to count their blessings too.

Greg

Bette (my little sister) Takes on LA!

As promised here are some pictures from my little sisters visit. She came out the day after we took Greg's little brother and sister home. It was really fun having her here and as you can see we kept her pretty busy! Enjoy!

Nothing like Venice Beach and a little Baja Fresh to welcome you to California!

We met Meryl Streep...Bette got her autograph and I blubbered like a baby in the background...still one of my most favorite memories!

PS: We had just bought the hat's Bette's is a 1940's style and mine is a 1920's style...in case you were wondering.

"Nuff" said.

Disneyland! She was a pretty good sport about wearing the birthday Mickey ears I bought for her!

The Pier and saying "goodbye"...

This One is for You Grandma!

I received the following letter this morning in my email box, and I must agree I have neglected the blog lately, although with good reason we have had company! This is very exciting since very few family members have visited since Greg and I moved to Santa Monica. Our first guests this summer were Loren and Anissa, Greg's little brother and sister! Here are some collages of all the fun we had with them! Enjoy and make sure to check back Wednesday for a look at what we did with our second guest my little sister Bette!

My inspiration for this blog post...thank you Grandma!

Greg's little brother and sister and of course Pico, in the car on the way to California!

We spent a ton of time at the beach...

Disneyland!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Kids and I had a blast at the La Brea Tar Pits... Although I am pretty sure the bird in the bottom right corner can't say the same.