Does the Wind Ever Stop Blowing?

Another windy summer day here in Lancaster.  I’m getting a little bored with this.  I can accept that it usually gets windy by 4:00 pm but when it is windy at 7:30 am every day, well that is just too much.  But what’s a girl to do??

We got up this morning and decided to have our coffee out on the patio.  I stepped outside and was surprised by how warm it already was.  Looking out the window and seeing the trees blowing in the wind I thought it would be cooler. 

Brad and I like to sit outside on a weekend morning and drink our coffee and work on crossword puzzles.  All the while I sat out there FarmTown on Face Book was calling my name.  But I was determined not to heed the siren’s call this morning.  At least not until it was time to plant some grapes…

For breakfast I decided to scramble some eggs and eat them with the leftover pico de gallo that we had with carne asada on Thursday.

I’m still using my 4th of July paper plates. 

We spent the whole morning outside reading, doing puzzles, playing with the dogs – in all a great morning.

For lunch I snooped around the refrigerator and pantry and decided it would be grilled cheese sandwiches for us.  And we had a few chips leftover from the carne asada meal. 

After we ate we decided to whip up some falafel mix to use for dinner.  I used garbanzo and cannellini beans, but I think the cannellini beans were too wet.  I like to use those beans in hummus but I think I’ll stick with garbanzo beans for falafels from now on.  I put the mix in the refrigerator, hoping it would be drier by dinner.  I also put together a nice tahini sauce to go with the falafels. 

I finally broke down and took the laptop outside so I could plant some grape crops and check on my sister’s farm while she is out of town.

Lindsay and Ben came by from their trip to Paso Robles.  It sounds like they had a great anniversary trip with mucho wine tasting.  They didn’t seem too much the worse for wear.  And they brought us back a great looking wine.They did seem happy to see their little Riley.  After we told them what a good dog he had been he decided to poop and pee in the house.  Oh well.  Good thing he is a cute little chiaweenie!!

Before dinner we had a glass of the nice little wine that we opened yesteday and did a little more farming.  I was excited to see that Lindsay was now a farmer and would be my neighbor.  I don’t know why that game is so much fun, but it is.

When dinner rolled around the falafel mix was thicker, but I still had to add some flour to it to get it to a better consistency.  We made a lot so we’ll be having them again tomorrow. 

And now it is time to go have a popsicle and watch a little tv with Brad.  Laura is home from Santa Monica but she just left to watch some show with her friend, Christina.

Until tomorrow…

Another Monday…

 

I wasn’t able to find my pedometer yesterday and I was very frustrated by that.  I did find a little throw away pedometer that actually worked so I’ll be using that until I find or get a new one. 

Before going to bed last night I told myself I had to get up around 5:30 so that I could walk, wash my hair and get ready for work.  Well, my eyes popped on at 5:25.  Did I jump out of bed??  No, of course not.  But I didn’t go back to sleep either.  I listened to a book I have on tape but all the while I kept an eye on the clock.  I realized I wasn’t paying any attention to the book so I got up, got dressed and made up the bed while Brad went out and turned on the coffee maker.  He was surprised when he got back to the room because he thought he was going back to bed. 

Zoey saw me putting on my shoes and she was excited.  We headed out the door about 6:00 for a good walk.  For some reason this morning I decided to gently run.  It felt good!  I didn’t run the whole time, but I did put in a good mile.  By the time we got home I had logged 5600 steps – well on my way to 10,000 for the day!

I was trying to figure out how to take a picture of my breakfast today to make it interesting.  I decided to take the picture even before the oatmeal was ready…

We got to the office and before anyone even said hello the staff was complaining that the A/C wasn’t working.  That wasn’t the best way to start the work day.  I called the A/C guys and while in our morning meeting we tried to think of what we could do to get it working ASAP.  Brad and Ben thought they had played with all of the circuit breakers, but after the meeting they tried a couple more places and lo and behold it worked!!  Since it is going to be at least in the 90s today we are thankful.  And I was able to cancel the repair people!! 

Well, time to get working…

Aftermath…

It’s been a couple days since I’ve blogged so I figured I ought to sit down and put something to paper, so to speak.  We had a wonderful 4th yesterday.  For the last 5 years we have had a small bbq here with our family and Ben’s family.  Yesterday we continued the tradition.

We were hoping for a beautiful summer day, but we got winds, winds, and more winds.  After getting very frustrated with the wind I decided to pretend it wasn’t there and just enjoy the day.  That was a better plan of action.  The weather was warm so we were able to swim.  We had a couple of new rafts and they turned out to be perfect.  Lindsay and I lied on those rafts and drifted around the pool for quite a while.  Lindsay has a great account of the day on her blog www.teachingmyselfthin.blogspot.com.

Yesterday I had some rhinestone flag “tatoos” that we put on for a little patriotic fun – we even put them on Riley (the chiaweenie) and Zoey (the lab).  To my surprise they left them on all day!  As we sat around the backyard watching the (illegal) fireworks displays around the valley I noticed the near full moon reflecting on the pool.  Very beautiful!

View Full Album

I was feeling a bit frustrated with this blogging the other day.  Loading pictures was so slow and the spacing of the lines was so erratic.  Then Lindsay called this morning and told me about Live Writer!  Yay!!  So much easier!

Yesterday I came across a book that I had been reading about a year and a half ago.  In the book there was a place to write down a list of 101 goals.  I had started it and then, apparently, forgot about it.  I started reading it and felt a little disappointed in myself, but then I decided that was useless and I should just renew my drive to achieve these goals.  So that is what I am doing, starting now.  Not tomorrow, now.

One thing on the list is to walk at least 10,000 every day.  Since that is something I can definitely start today I got up to get my pedometer.  But I can’t find it.  I have found a couple of throw away pedometers but I have not found a single one with a good battery!  RRRRR.   I really want to find that great pedometer that you can just stick in your pocket, but Brad and I have looked everywhere!.  Hmmmm.  Well, I am not going to let that stop me – I just may not be able to get an accurate count of my steps today.

Well, it is time to get outside and enjoy the day.  Oh yes, the wind is still here – with a vengeance.

See ya…

TGI Thursday!!

Oh how nice it is to be sitting home on Thursday evening with dinner done, a movie (MILK) playing, and a weekend ahead to be enjoyed. We are lucky and have a 3 day weekend every week, but that doesn't make Thursday sweet, just the same!

Today started out with a nice 2 mile walk with Brad and Zoey. Then it was back to the house to enjoy a cup of coffee before really starting the day. Thursdays are always interesting days. We wake up knowing that the day will be very busy, but that it will be worth it because as soon as the last patient leaves our weekend begins.

Before heading off to the office we prepared the pork and put it in the slow cooker for pulled pork sandwiches for Fun Food Thursday!

We expected to have a lot of people canceling their appointments today since it is so close the the 4th of July weekend. But no one canceled. In fact, a number of people called with toothaches and a dire need to be seen immediately. We were continually trying to figure out where to put patients in the schedule. The way the morning was going we thought we were going to have to work through lunch, but, surprisingling we were all done only 10 minutes into lunch. And since Thursdays are the days that we have an extra 1/2 hour for lunch no one was complaining.

Lindsay and I set out not knowing where we wanted to eat. After driving a little aimlessly we decided to get a sushi. We went to a place called Big Tuna that is popular for it's all-you-can-eat sushi bar. We weren't interesting in eating all we could so we took a table and ordered salmon sushi, a 911 roll, a Hawaiian roll, and some edamame.

As we were eating we realized we had ordered too much. Next time we'll only order the salmon and one roll. We ended up leaving with a nice doggy bag --that would never be seen by the dog. BerryStar, a nice little PinkBerry imitation was a couple of doors down from Big Tuna and we wanted a little taste of frozen non-fat yogurt. Lindsay got chocolate and I got the original tart flavor with a smidge of fresh strawberries and just a couple of tiny gummi bears. It was so refreshing and good!

Back at the office the afternoon seemed to be as crazy as the morning but this time we managed to be done on time! Who would have figured? Laura had taken her car into the VW shop today to have her car serviced. After work we were going to meet her over there but decided it would make more sense (and leave less of a carbon footprint) for only us to drive over and then Brad would drive her car back to the house while I drove ours. On the way over Brad saw the doggy bag and finished it off.

We got home and the pork was wonderully tender. Lindsay and Ben came over a little later and we got out the Orowheat skinny buns and made a nice coleslaw. Okay, I didn't cut the cabbage or carrots, but I did make the dressing. We all enjoyed our pulled pork sandwiches. I like my sandwhich with the coleslaw inside and more on the side.

As I sit hear we are watching MILK. I'm getting better about watching movies. When I actually sit down and watch I enjoy them. Go figure!

I think I need a popsicle...

Until later...

A Hitch in My Get-Along

Today we got up late, I guess I was sleeping so hard that I didn't hear the alarm. Oh, wait, we never set an alarm we just let the light wake us up. I never thought I would be able to do that! So we just enjoyed our coffee in bed and then I fixed our oatmeal with strawberries.










As I was getting ready to go to the office this morning I realized I was running out of foundation. Now yesterday when I looked at my self portrait I realized I need to be generous with the foundation --- I can't run out. So I picked up the bottle to determine what the color is. I had my glasses on and I couldn't even find where the color was on the bottle. Finally I saw a spot, but I could not make out the teeeny tiny writing. Brad took a look and just laughed, then he decided it was a job for his loupes. With great magnification he was able to read it. Pure beige medium 2. As you can see from this highly magnified picture it is not easy to read. I think I'll send one of the girls in to get it for me so I don't have to take a magnifying glass to be sure I'm buying the correct color... If find this so ironic. When I was younger and didn't need glasses I really didn't need much in the way of foundation. Now that I am older and can benefit from good use of foundation I can't read the bottle...














One of the first things I did at the office this morning was send an e-mail to my Aunt Donna. It read simply "Today I think I have a hitch in my get-along :)" Her response was :) :) That put a smile on my face. You see, today was my paternal grandmother's birthday - Aunt Donna's mother's birthday. I called her Foney when I was learning to talk and the name stuck. One thing I remember about her was that if she had a pain in her hip she would say that she had a hitch in her get-along. It always made me laugh...



I received another wonderful Starbucks passion iced tea this morning. I'm addicted.

I'm still trying to get FB to reinstate my page. I'm about ready to shine that on and just start a new page. If I don't hear back from them today that's what I think I'll do. It was easy for a scammer to take possession of my FB page, but it is really hard to get it back. Too bad they weren't as diligent when an unauthorized person changed my e-mail login. What crappy support they have!!




I told Laura last night that there was no reason for her to be sitting home bored during the day when I had plenty for her to do at the office. After going to Target today and picking up my foundation she came to the office where I put her to work. At lunch the 5 of us headed off to Camielle's where, once again, I had the walnut apple tuna sandwhich. I really have to start changing up what I eat.

(Thanks for ghe great picture, Lindsay)

This evening I had a nail appointment so I was glad that Laura was in the office to be able to take me to my appointment since Brad was not going to be able to get out by 5:00. Brad and I ride in together so I couldn't just take our car and leave him stranded. Ok, he wouldn't be stranded, Ben could take him home, but since Laura was at the office it made the most sense for her to give me a ride.




I've been going to the same nail technician for a long time and consider her friend. This year has been a hard year for her and it doesn't appear to be getting better. She lost her mom a little over 2 months ago and now her father is rapidly declining. I feel so bad for her. All I could do was give her a hug and tell her that I was araound if she needed anything. :(

While I was waiting for Laura to come pick me up and take me home I went into the grocery store to get food for Fun Food Thursday. We decided on pulled pork done in the slow cooker. Brad and I will get it ready in the morning and then let it cook all day.



I got home and saw that Brad had prepared the pineapple for dinner and it was up to me to get something ready as a main course. We had some chicken that I had taken out so I decided to make a chicken pasta. I added garlic, sundried tomatoes, kalamata olives, tomato paste, grape tomatoes, and chicken broth and it was so delicious. We cooked a Barilla Omega 3 penne pasta to go under the sauce and topped it all off with parmesan cheese. We had the pasta dish with a pineapple and cottage cheese salad.





Well, not it is time to watch So You Think You Can Dance.


Until tomorrow...

Never eat more than you can lift -- Miss Piggy

Feelin Alright...

I intended to blog last night, but I got a little frustrated after I made a beautiful dinner and then forgot to take a picture. Somehow I remembered to take a picture of the oatmeal that I have every weekday morning...

and the lunch of 1/2 garden burger and 1 scoop tuna that I have every Monday,

but when it came to a new meal I just dropped the ball. And it was so pretty. I cooked salmon the way I have been doing for a month or so now. I got the recipe from Prevention magazine. They called it a no fail recipe and so far it has been no fail. I also made a beautiful spinach salad with oranges and onions and homemade balsamic vinegarette. And I made a side dish of Barilla Omega 3 pasta with grape tomatoes, a litle blue cheese and a fresh balsamic dressing. It was beautiful and it tasted better than it looked. But I forgot to take a picture :(

This morning I woke up ready to take a walk before work. Yesterday we walked 2+ miles but today we got a later start and weren't able to do one of our laps. Oh well, it was better than nothing.

We got back and fixed coffee and took it outside once again.

It was a beautiful morning!!

Zoey loves this routine of walking and this having our coffee outside...



Today we were out of blueberries so we put the delicious strawberries on our oatmeal. It was a nice change of pace...

Then it was time to get ready and get to the office. Lindsay showed up to the office a little later this morning with a welcomed Starbucks passion iced tea!!

It was a very busy morning and I was glad for the break when lunch rolled around. Once again we went for some Thai food and, as usual, I ordered the Chicken Jubilation with soup. Although it was very good I think I need to get out of this rut...

Once back at the office Lindsay tried to figure out how to get Facebook to let me back into my account. I have been trying to get access since Sunday morning when my account was hacked. We did a little googling and found a couple e-mail addresses that we hadn't known about and so wrote to them about the problem. I did get a response back but it looks like it is going to take a little more time to get FB to totally understand what is going on...

In the meantime Lindsay decided to give me a much needed lesson on how to take a self portrait.

Then it was my turn...



I'll get the hang of it one of these days. In the meantime, I can see that I need a heavier hand with the foundation...

At the end of the day my dear husband really irritated me and so as soon as I got home I was looking for something to eat -- and, naturally, I went for something that I should have left alone. Mixed nuts. I think I just wanted the salt.

Now, mind you, I had raw almonds in a jar right next to the bad mixed nuts but my hand went for the oily, salty nuts instead... When will I learn?

We got home a little late this evening and on the way home we decided that we would have veggie burgers and salad. I still had some pasta left over from last night so I brought that out as well. We used Morningstar veggie burgers and Trader Joe's Masala flavored veggie burgers. Laura and I had the Morningstar burgers and Brad had the Masala burgers. I tasted his and did not care for the texture of it.






It's time to get another glass of water.

Be back soon...

Feeling a Bit Out of Sorts

After spending too much time on the computer trying to gain access to my FB account I decided it was time to cook something for my family. After reading how Lindsay has made poached eggs three days in a row I decided I wanted a poached egg or two. I went to the refrigerator and was disappointed to see that we only had 4 eggs left. Oh well, Laura and I would be happy with one and I'd make two for Brad. We had some delicious sourdough bread that Ben brought back from Bishop so I decided it would be poached egg on sourdough toast. Three of the eggs turned out beautifully, but as I was placing my egg on the toast it broke. Oh well, it still tasted good.

I keep checking my e-mail, but still no word from FB about a new password. I think maybe they don't work on Sunday.

I finally gave up on gaining control of my FB account today and went outside to enjoy the day. Today was not quie as nice as it was yesterday because the wind raised its ugly head. It was very hot, but also very windy.

Sitting outside I read part of Scarecrow by Michael Connelly. I am a fan of his work and I am really enjoying this book. Ironically a large part of the story has to do with computer hacking. Hmmmm.

We had planned on getting up very early and being at the golf course at 6:00 am ready to play, but we didn't wake up in time. The country club had a tournament going on at 8:00 and so we realized that if we were going to play today it would have to be later in the afternoon . Around 3:00 Brad decided he wanted to play and I decided I didn't want to play in the 100 plus heat and 30 mph winds.

After Brad left I sat down and planned the meals for the next week and made a grocery list. Then I decided that before going to the store I wanted to take a quick trip to the mall. Laura wasn't doing anything so she decided she would accompany me. I'm glad she did because she found a couple of cute tops at NY & co that I would have passed by. And she kept me from buying a top I am sure I would have regretted having in my closet. Some colors just aren't right for some people and yellow-green is not good on me.

After the mall Laura and I attacked the grocery store. I was pleased when I unloaded my cart to see that most of it was produce. We picked up some strawberries that are deliciously sweet! We also saw that the artichokes were on a good sale and I had to pick up enough for two meals. And they are gigantic!

When we got home Brad was already back from playing 9 holes. He claims that it was great. After we unloaded and put away the groceries Brad went out in the front yard and after being out for a few minutes he came back in and told us to go outside to see some baby quail. Laura and I stepped out the door and in a minute we saw the tiniest little birds following their mom. It was so cute. I wish I had been able to get a picture but I was afraid to get too close.

Since none of us had lunch today we were ready to get dinner ready. Tonight Brad grilled NY steaks and I cooked artichokes and got the watermelon ready. And we had fresh sourdough rolls.

Now it is time to do a little preparing to start the week up. I hear the clothes dryer calling my name. Maybe tomorrow I'll hear something from FB...

A New Twist

So yesterday I had a potential scam blog and today my Facebook is hacked. Geez! I'm just trying to be a modern woman and utilize all of the technology out there for communication! See where that gets me...

This morning my mom called around 7:30 to tell me that my cousin's daughter had called her because I had supposedly asked her to send 900 pounds to me as I was stranded in London after being mugged. She thought it was suspicious and called my mom who told it it was absolutely a scam.

I have been trying since that time to gain access to my account. So far no luck, but it looks like the person may have been blocked out of the account. But not before changing my password, defriending Brad, eliminating posts that dispute the claim for $$. I'm still waiting for FB to send me my new password. I am getting very impatient.

An Easy Saturday

Yesterday I was feeling bad because my blog had been identified as a potential scam blog. After making a brief post I left it alone for the day. I figured I would let google do their thing and it would get resolved.

We had a great day at home. The weather was beautiful -- calm and hot. We spent the day outside by the pool. For lunch I made tuna sandwiches with watermelon and homemade macaroni salad. We took our lunch outside and I was pleasantly surprised when, after 1/2 sandwich, I was full. Maybe it had to do with having a swim suit on while eating...

We lounged around and just enjoyed the day in our backyard.

At one point in the afternoon Brad said that he wanted Mexican food for dinner. On the weekend that means we go to our local Mexican restaurant. Nothing fancy, just good food. Last night I decided to get the all chicken burrito. It was the first time I had ordered it and it was good but it could have been more flavorful. I don't think I'll order it again.

After dinner we decided to watch The Dark Knight. Well, what can I say about that movie other than now I have seen it. I'm not a big one for movies that just seem to be there to blow things up. Oh well.

So Now I Am Spam??

Imagine my surprise when I logged into my blog today and saw that it had a warning on it that this could be a spam blog! Huhh???? It might be self indulgent or boring to some, but definitely not spam. I sent in for my review and I hope they take the warning off soon!

I started the morning off with 2 cups of coffee thinking it might get me working on some projects. Is it working? So far, not so much. I've started the laundry and changed the sheets, checked my e-mail and cleaned the kitchen. Oh and I have read US magazine from cover to cover, but not much else. Brad, on the other hand, called up Ben and recruited him to move some furniture out of the basement and over to the vacant office before he has to return the trailer. I'm tired just watching them.

They say it going to be a hot day today and it seems rather calm. Looks like the pool will finally get some use.

Maybe I can get toned and lose 10 pounds before I put on my swim suit this afternoon. A girl can dream...

A quick trip to Santa Barbara

Yesterday we decided to run up to Santa Barbara and get Laura's bed taken care of. She is renting the top half of a hourse right across from the beach with 8 other girls for the next school year. She won't be moving in until August but, since we are paying rent, she wanted to stake out her part of the room that she shares with two other girls.

The main thing that she needed was a bed. We realized that we had a good full size mattress in the basement so all we needed to buy was a box spring and a frame. Brad was determined to take the mattress in the Landcruiser. He spent a good deal of time tying it to the roof of the car and as he did that Laura rounded up some things that she wanted to take to the room. She suggested to Brad that he take the car out and test how the mattress did on the roof, but he was sure it would be fine. So, off we went...

Our house is about two miles from the freeway and the ride down M was smooth. We got on the freeway and Laura suggested we check out the mattress through the moon roof. When we opened that we saw that the mattress was lifting quite a bit. Brad assured us that it was very secure but he kept peeking at the roof. I couldn't take my eyes off it, the mattress seemed to be straining to get loose. By the time we had gone three miles we were exiting the freeway and headed back in the direction of home towards a rental place where we picked up a trailer. Much better.

Santa Barbara is a nice two hour drive. Yesterday was a bit crowded on the road so it took a little longer but it was an easy drive with no mishaps. Laura's roommate called her and said their room was the smallest room and we all started worrying that this full mattress wasn't going to fit. So we decided to stop by the place first before heading out to purchase the box spring.

As it turned out the room was larger than Laura remembered and there was a spot all ready for her full sized bed. We carted the mattress up the stairs and into her room and then headed off to the mattress store. At the mattress store a young guy helped us and when he asked for our address Brad started giving him ours. He abuptly cut Brad off and said that they needed Laura's address and phone number. We all laughed about that when we were in the car. I guess that is as good a way as any to get a girl's name and number...

We lugged the box spring up to her room, set up the frame, and installed the bed. By this point we were starving -- ok, maybe not starving, but we were sure hungry. We decided to go to The Elephant Bar where I had a tasty citrus chicken salad and iced tea, alathough I was surprised that the lettuce was all iceburg.


After lunch we headed over to KMart to get some risers, a mattress pad, and a lamp, then it was back to the house one last time. We were able to install the risers without removing the bed although Laura was a bit creeped out crawling under the bed. I don't know why she thought it was going to fall on her. We had decided to not get sheets and all at this point because Laura didn't want to make the bed inviting to strangers...

It's funny when I look at this picture the kitchen looks so nice and clean. It is an illusion and camera angles...

There was nothing left that we wanted to do so it was time to head back to our home. We decided to try and find a station that was playing Michael Jackson music on the way home. We didn't have much success. We were listening to satellite radio and we were sure we would be able to find such a station, but we finally gave up and listened to what we normally do.

We got home around 9:00 and we each made ourselves a little snack. I had toast with peanut butter and a popsicle. Then I sat down and watched a number of MJ videos before turning in.

Ahh Thursday

Well, today was the day for my mammogram. When I made the appointment (yesteday) I asked for an appointment first thing in the morning. I was surprised when they offered me 7:00 the next day! Wow! I thought/hoped I would have to wait a couple weeks. Oh well, at least I would get it done. The Rx has been sitting on my counter for a couple of weeks...

I got up early and showered and discovered how many times I wanted to reach for the deodorant or cologne, but that's a no no for a mammogram. So I put the Secret in my purse. Then off I went for my test.

Naturally, I had to fill out a few forms- eventhough I have had my mammogram done at this place every time. Oh well. Then I got to wait. Fortunately, since mine was one of the first appointments I didn't have to wait too long. Then they took me to the little changing room, assigned a locker for my clothes, and gave me this adorable little cape to wear. I wish I had worn my cute blue shoes because they would have gone better with the cape than my brown heels. Then it was off to another waiting room.

At least this waiting room had a TV to divert my attention away from my nerves. But wait, the TV is turned to the local Fox station with that horrible Jillian Barbieri. Is there anyone on TV who is more unprofessional than Jillian?? What an ego that woman has...

Finally, they called my name and put me in the room with the big x-ray machine. Now it was time to go to my happy place while this technician moved each breast all over the place before tightening the machine on it. Move here, hold this, drop your shoulder, twist your body, tilt your head, now relax and don't breathe. Oh joy, oh joy! At least I need only four pictures total!!

It all went great until the technician asked if I had had a mole checked. Now, I had just had a complete physical and I had made a point of having my moles checked but I decided to panic anyway. Afterall, why waste a good opportunity for a panic! At one point she asked me, while she was manipulating my breast, how I was doing. I said that I had been doing fine until she asked about the mole. She laughed and said she was not mole expert and that since I had had it checked I should stop worrying. Easy for her to say -- lol. Then she let me go.

Of course when I got to the office I had to ask Brad about my mole. And, naturally, he rolled his eyes at me because he had been in the room with me while I had my moles checked and because, in his opinion, there is nothing suspicious about the mole. But still...

I didn't mention that before I went to the appointment I had my coffee, chocolate and oatmeal and blueberries. I was nervous about the appointment and forgot to take pictures.

I got to the office earlier than I usually do. In fact, I got there before Brad and a number of the employees did. Weird.

Today Lindsay was coming to the office to work on a couple of projects that I haven't been able to do. The first one is a slide show for a digital frame. This is our 25th year in the office and I want something to commemorate it in the reception room. When she arrived she had a wonderful unsweetened passion iced tea for me. It was just what I wanted! What a good girl!!

The morning went by quickly. Thursdays usually do since we are busy,have two hygienists, and take lunch an hour earlier (noon) than most days. Lindsay and I decided to go to Camielles, a local "sidewalk cafe". I ordered their tuna sandwhich on whole wheat. Their tuna has apples and walnuts in it and it is just delicious. They serve it with a few chips and salsa. I wasn't as good as Lindsay at ignoring the chips, but I was better than I usually am. We had iced tea with our sandwiches.

After lunch was rather weird at the office. Laura called and said that she had read that Michael Jackson had died. She was on her way back from Castaic Lake where she had spent the day with her friend Christina and saw this on Twitter on her BB. Naturally, we had to go online to check this out. The front office doesn't have a TV like the treatment rooms and the reception rooms. The husband of one of our employees works at UCLA and called and confirmed the rumor. It was so odd, since earlier in the day a patient was just leaving and as she walked by the reception TV she saw that Farrah Fawcett had died and told us about it. A very strange day...

We got home and decided that for Fun Food Thursday we would go out for sushi. For FFT we usually stay home and fix something that everyone likes and thinks is fun. Lindsay and Ben always come over for FFT. We've made pizzas, quesadillas, meatball sandwiches, sliders, soft tacos, German pancakes, BLTs and so on. We are always looking for something fun for Thursdays. And I am always looking for something that everyone can help cook. But this night we thought sushi sounded just too good. So Brad, Laura, Lindsay, Ben, and I headed off to Goldfish.

We had to wait a while, but we got a nice place at the sushi bar. The place was busy and the music was loud, but we had a good time.

We started off with the complimentary edamame...

Brad and I shared a cold Sapporo...

We started off with salmon and yellow tail sushi. I forgot to take pictures at first so I "borrowed" Lindsay's

The fish was good and fresh! Then we shared a 911 roll, a Washington roll, and a scallop and salmon roll. I think we got our share of Omega 3s with that meal...

After dinner we sat down to watch a little TV but it was all Michael Jackson everywhere. Laura and I tried to watch a program about Farrah, but I fell asleep in the middle of it. I hate cancer!! When I woke up I found myself in the kitchen looking for chocolate. I should have stopped myself but I ate a delicious brownie...

I was having a bad allergy attack so I took a couple allergy pills -- hence the reason I was so tired. Hopefully Friday will be allergy free...