Day 17 of October

Happy Halloween Everyone.
There are going to be a lot of cold little ghosts and goblins tonight...or maybe not a lot!  Typical Halloween weather in Calgary........typical halloween costume in Calgary - Snowpants, wintercoat, and whatever type of costume will fit over!

  Very interesting day yesterday; full of surprises.  It started off at Chapters where I was meeting my manager.  Left there around 10:30 and popped over to one of my other stores.  Turns out, the receiving "guy" is no longer working there.  So sad - Todd was a great guy and a lot of fun. Did a quick walk through Walmart to pick up our Christmas card "picture".  Then I called my girlfriend to go out for lunch - turns out she was stuck in her house - for two different reasons, but the most obvious one being that someone parked right in front of her driveway, and she couldn't get out even if she wanted to.  Obviously some Mount Royal Student was in a hurry and didn't have their brain turned on in the morning.
  So I had a little extra time and I headed to the south for job number #4573804.  I had about an hour before I needed to be at work, so I stopped at a near by hair salon to see if I could get a quick cut.  Good luck was on my side, and there was a gentleman available (not always a good sign).  I explained to Brock that I just needed a quick trim to get rid of some of the frizzies from my perm.  He looked very professional (again not always a good sign)  He had his little apron with 10 or so pairs of scissors strapped in there.  Brock was a good salesman and convinced me I needed a $20.00 treatment to beautify my hair.  I actually thought it was a good idea.  So we treated, washed, rinsed and headed back to the cutting chair.  To make a long story short, 75 minutes later, I looked gorgeous!  No really.  It was more than I wanted or needed, but he did an amazing job.  He blew dry my hair, taking out all the curl, then he used the curling iron to put 3 or 4 curls back in my hair, then he worked his magic fingers and when he turned to face me to the mirror, I looked like I should have on a Christmas party dress and be heading to the ball.  But know, I was off to play with three, 2 year olds.  Needless to say, I may be going back there for the Christmas party do....  So I grab my coat, check my phone (oh no, I'm 20 minutes late), pay quickly and head to work.  I felt really bad because the nannies had been trying to get a hold of me to see if I was ok. (I'm never late, and don't like being late)  But I looked damn good.  The three kids could have cared less. 
  If I hadn't been so tired, I would have suggested to Bill we go out for dinner, as I didn't want to waste my new do.  Just as well, because when Bill came home, he never noticed.  I should have taken a picture because I know I'll never be able to duplicate that look again!!!!!  This morning, it's just my usual curls again.  Kid proof and much faster.
  Seeing how it's Halloween, I've found the best costume ever for playgroup this morning.  I'm going as a Madonna Fan.  I knew this T-Shirt I bought at her concert would come in handy.  Again easy and quick.  My two middle names.
Goodbye October!
Stacey

Day 16 of October

Tomorrow is Halloween.....whoooo.... I miss when my kids were little and we would go out.  I don't miss when they were teenagers, and I'd worry when they went out.

I'm still pondering the PPP - password preservation problem......

Today is about my Kobo.  I'm not sure if I mentioned this problem before, but I'm at the same crossroads once again.  I bought my Kobo a year or so ago, when I was leaving on my train trip for Halifax.  (I think)  Anyway I've read quite a few books on my Kobo (a few bad, but most good)  One of my original disappointments was I would receive all these coupons for 15% or 20% off my next book.  So I started making a list of books I like to read (I usually only buy fiction for my Kobo) Then when I received a coupon, I would pick the next book I wanted to read and apply the coupon.  No chance.  Seems many publishers state that the Kobo coupons are not allowed on their books (They assure me there are some books that allow it, but not books I've picked out)  So that was fine.  I wrote to Kobo/Chapters/Indigo and complained and told them not to send me anymore emails.  I still have my list of books I want, and it's getting longer - and I go online to find out, the new, hard cover books are only actually a couple dollars more than if I were to buy it on Kobo.  I'm also at a stage in my life (old) that I don't want to hang onto a bunch of books, so once I have read them, I like to share them or give them to people to read and pass on.  Thus here is the dilema........I'd be curious to hear from anyone that has a positive response right now for owning the Kobo.  Like I said, when I took my train trip, I didn't have to carry a book around (just a Kobo and a charger)  Before I had a Kobo I was convinced it was a silly piece of technology.  Then my friend had one, and it seemed cool, and so I bought one.  Then it was even cooler, and I tried to convince everyone they should get it.  Now..... is this what they call a traitor?

On a much more serious note, I came across this quote that my cousin posted on facebook.  I had been questioning exactly what a miracle was, and this showed up.  Wow..... blew me away.  Love you Ashley and Patrick..... two of the best things ever given to me. 
Stacey

Day 15 of October

Today is a day about remembering.  Or in my case....not remembering.  I am so embarrassed, I am not even going to mention the actual incident, but lets just say, I put something away and when I couldn't find it, I was sure it must have been stolen.  Every once in a awhile I would get a little nudge in my brain that maybe I put it somewhere.....but they my CSI brain would kick in and I'd examine the facts and try to convince my self that no, it must have been stolen.  When I explained the situation to a good friend, she gave me some advice....retrace your steps.  And here in lies the problem.... I couldn't remember them.  I think I did this, but did I do that on that day, and why would I do the stupid original problem in the first place.  I know this sounds confusing,,,, but lets just say, in the middle of the night, out of the blue, i remembered, and the misplace item was found.  Now, I promise I will never laugh at anyone ever again for forgetting something.... unless of course I forget.....
  That brings us to my next dilema.  Passwords.....I have so many... passwords for banking, passwords for my blog, passwords for my I-pad, passwords for Facebook, passwords for my apps on my I-pad, and of course the list goes on and on and on.  What happens when I wake up one day and I can't remember a darn one.  There was a show yesterday that talked about most common mistakes people make on setting up passwords, and I'm proud to say, I don't have easy ones to figure out.....  So I'm trying to set up something, somewhere to list my passwords and keep it private.  But then of course I would need another password to access that.  I have determined that the reason I can remember all my passwords now, is because I don't have to remember phone numbers.  With the technology today, as long as I have my cell phone, or caller ID on my house phone,  I can contact anybody.  The sad part of this scenario,  I can't even remember the phone number to my sister, and when people ask me my number, it's take alot of retrieving time from my brain to remember it. 

 Although it is a wintery day outsite, it is a beautiful one.  I have a girlfriend (she knows who she is) who takes wonderful pictures.  I can't wait to see what she captures with her camera today!!!!!

Moral of the day.....keep your mind active because like the rest of your body, it is a muscle that needs to be exercised.

Stacey

Day 14 of October

You would think that after 13 days of holiday information, I wouldn't have much more to talk about for awhile......... Well then it snowed.

This is my first official pity party of the fall/winter.
I'd officially like to invite all the neighbours because I think they should love me after the grand gesture I did for them last night.

First of all, it's October 23rd, and so it's not that unusual to have a big snow fall this time of year.  We had a little bit yesterday and then last night it came down.

 I was in bed early, around 9:00ish to read my book by my wonderful light.  I'm reading an autobiography of Gloria Vanderbuilt. (I can see why Anderson Cooper was embarrassed to help edit some of his mom's books) Anyway, Bill is downstairs watching TV, whateve scary show he has PVR, or DVD's or is on some cable channel.  He comes upstairs, goes in the kitchen and kindly puts the dishes away (from the counter, not the dishwasher)  I'm pretty sure he does not have a quiet button anywhere on his body - trust me, I asked.  Then he walks into the bedroom at 10:00 (this is at night, remember), looks out the back window, sees all this snow and decides he should go outside to blow the snow away (with his new snow/leaf/pests/anything not nailed down - blower)  I remind him that it's ten o'clock at night.  He's pretty sure the neighbors are still awake.  I finally convince him that it is too late, and if I were trying to go to sleep (which I was), I'd be annoyed at a stupid neighbor.  Plus the golf course is closed now, so he couldn't even blame it on the golf course workers.  Fine, he says, he'll do it in the morning.  Well someone got a good night sleep, so he didn't wake up until 6:30 am (that's late for him) and of course there is no time to blow snow.  I tell him to leave it and I'll do it.  (I'm pretending this part didn't happen, but he said, just to do my section of driveway!!!!) 
  I finally pull myself out of bed at 8:30 and figure treadmill vs driveway - I don't have the energy to do both.  Driveway needs to be done.  Then my OCD sets in and I can't leave a little here and a little there.
Remember three car garage, 5 family vehicles, and I only drive one vehicle and park the same place each time......  45 minutes later, I'm done (not the prettiest job, but clear enough)  And besides, it's still snowing.
        Here is the icing on the cake.  The daughter phones at 7:30 am this morning, on her way to work.  She hasn't been home since Thursday night, but will be home tonight. She's sitting in traffic on Glenmore Trail.  She's wondering if I (yes me) can help her put on her winter tires tonight!   Apparently I offered to help her once (I must have been drunk)    So how bad do we really need groceries today?    

K, pity party is over, work to do, bed to make and shower after that wonderful workout!  (play along)
5 months til spring!
Stacey

Day 13 of October

LA, Disneyland, San Francisco, Vancouver, Victoria, Madonna Vacations
(con't and concluded)

I almost forgot the ending to the story.
So we wake up, Monday, October 1st.  Great memories of the Madonna concert.  I loved the vacation, but I'm looking forward to getting home for a holiday.
Bill finishes up a bit of work on his computer and I pop downstairs to the continental breakfast; one of the best this entire trip, I might add.
We return our car to the Vancouver Airport rental car and head to our terminal.  There was a slight delay of the plane coming from Calgary (hopefully not due to bad weather).  By now the terminal is quite crowded, and the conversations are all starting to sound the same (were you at the concert last night; where were your seats) Seems everyone knew everyone, and everyone was at the Madonna concernt.  Finally our plane arrives in Vancouver and after a quick clean (lets go with that belief) we board our plane.  I just get to my seat in the back of the plane when I realize I have left my plastic bag with all my trinkets in it.  I must have been so anxious to get going home that I left it in the terminal where we were sitting (snoozing).  So as the plane continues to load, I am making my way against people traffic to the front of the plane.  I promise I will never complain about somebody else doing this again.  I just kept hoping my Madonna t-shirts were still there.  The flight attendant (male) asked who was holding up his line.  I yelled out "just me!" I made it off with only a few disgruntle looks. I ran back to our seats, and with relief my MDNA bag was still sitting in the same spot I had left it.  So I sheepishly got in the back of the line and with a long explanation to the lady taking tickets, was able to board the plane again.  The same flight attendant was at the door to greet me and I asked if he was still willing to let me board.  He graciously said yes and hoped I had found what I was looking for.  When I explained it was my Madonna T-shirts, he was excited and even more excited when I informed him that the plane was probably filled with many Madonna concert goers.  Sure enough, as we were preparing for take off, he asked if anyone on board had attended the concert.  I'm willing to bet that at least 80 percent of the people on the flight had been to at least one of the Vancouver concerts (she had two nights)
  The rest of the flight was quiet in comparison, and when I awoke, we were making our landing into Calgary.  As soon as we touched down, the same flight attendant got on the microphone and started singing his favorite Madonna tune (Material Girl).  I think the crowd was tired, because it took us a while to realize what he was doing.  What a great ending to a great holilday.
  Ben picked us up at the airport; got home to an excited Maya; green lawn; fridge full of dead food; Bill off to get in his last week of golf and eventually lots and lots of laundry (just ours).
   THE END

Well, I'm not back into the real world; it's October 22nd (exactly three weeks since we've been home) and the grass is no longer green.  White with snow already.  I'm sure this isn't the beginning of our long winter, but it sure does make you wish for spring again.

Stacey

Day 12 of October

LA, Disneyland, San Francisco, Vancouver, Victoria, Madonna Vacation
(con't)
Sunday morning, up with the larks, I think I'll take a walk in the park, hey, hey, hey it's a beautiful day.  Ok, not a Madonna song, but it sure fits with the weather in Victoria. Had a much more restful sleep last night. The bed was softer, thanks to the foam cover; and the room was warmer, thanks to a working furnace.  Not sure what time Patrick returned from the University last night, but he crashed on the couch in his room so it was a little noisy in the morning (snoring echoing everywhere)
 Bill went for his usual workout and I packed up our suitcases once more.  With a hug and a kiss goodbye we were on our way back to Vancouver.  We managed to catch the 12:00 ferry without having to wait too long.  This time I did stay in the car to snooze while Bill headed up deck to check out the view.  With the help of our friend GPS we headed to our next hotel.  I'm pretty sure we didn't go the direct route, and I was actually getting a little nervous when we drove through a couple of industrial areas.  But it turns out this hotel in Vancouver was the best hotel of our entire trip (family homes excluded).  It was the Days Inn, Vancouver Metro.  I booked this particular hotel for a couple of reasons.  One, it was centrally located in the middle between the airport and Rogers Place (where Madonna was playing).  Two, it was only one of a handful of hotels that hadn't tripled their price because of the Madonna concert.  Once we arrived, we discovered that we were a few blocks (ok, maybe 10) from the Sky Train.  For the cost of $2.50 (a deal on Sundays) we could take the train directly to the Rogers Place.  The registar at the hotel was very helpful, and if I had to find a hotel to stay at again, I would chose this over and over.  When she found out we were going to the Madonna concert, she mentioned that quite a few guests were also going.  Someone else must have done their research too. 
  We headed up to our room, which was comfortable, cozy and clean.  There wasn't a lot of time for relaxing.  We decided to head out early and eat before leaving for the concert.  Our hotel was located in what looked like a mini Little Saigon, so we headed for noodles.  Supper didn't take as long as we thought, so when we arrived at the Rogers center, we were a bit early.  Bill decided to snooze on a bench and I spent the time people watching.  I couldn't believe the number of scalpers.  I even got to see a police bust go down.  After listening to the scalpers explain the story (cause they are so reliable) I was starting to feel sorry for the guy who was being taken down.  Turns out he just got a ticket for jaywalking. 

  So the doors open for the 8:00 concert and our seats are amazing.

 Rumours were going around that Madonna would be late.  I guess people aren't used to opening acts in Vancouver.  It's not that Madonna was late, she just had a DJ opening for her.  I quite enjoyed him; Bill was getting a little tired of him after an hour and a half.  Of course we spent a lot of time people watching while the stage was being reset for Madonna.

(big hair)

(big nose)

(big egos)

And then she arrived - and boy did she arrive.  I may not agree with all that is Madonna, but the lady can put on a show.  My favorite number was when she brought in the marching band - from the sky.

I lost track of the costume changes, but she wasn't off stage for very long.  I can honestly say that is the best concert I have been too. But when Madonna is done, she is done.  There wasn't really any encores, but there were a couple of times you thought it might be over and she would be back out.  But when the concernt was done, the lights were on and the stage hands had the stage coming apart pretty fast. 
   I was tired from just standing all night, can you imagine how tired Madonna and her dancers were.....   So we headed to the sky train to get back to the hotel and admire my Madonna T-Shirt.  Worth it - quality wise no, memory wise - yes.
   Hotel for 1 night $59.00, sky train cost 10.00, Madonna T-shirt $40.00, continental breakfast - free; Madonna concert - priceless.  Thanks to Ashley and Patrick for the tickets.

Day 11 of October

We interrupt this holiday blog for,    well just because I can.

 It's 7:30ish in the morning, and I'm sitting here doing my best to shrug off this "fight or flight" feeling.  Now I know it is an anxious moment, anxiety attack per say; but I can honestly say I actually feel the "fight or flight feeling.  The problem is I'm not sure what I'm trying to fight or flee from, and here in lies the problem.  I'm thinking about my day and I looking forward to everything in the day.  I'm at playschool with the kids this morning (a fun part of the week); no card stores to do during the day, so I can come home and nap if I need to; I'm starting a water class with a great friend tonight - and I'm wishing it was sooner; Bill doesn't need supper tonight as he has a late lunch; Ashley won't be home tonight so I don't need to make her supper.  You know these things would be much easier to diagnose if there were actual problems or issues for me to see.
  I wish I could strap some fancy medical device to me right now so I could measure everything - blood pressure,(because isn't that what every doctor checks first) heart rate,(because my heart feels like it is beating a mile a minute)  brain waves (especially the brain waves), head pressure (because my head feels like it wants to explode) heck, I might as well give a urine sample too, cause I always have to pee!
  K, I'm going to go and lay my head down for 15 minutes, and I know with time it will pass.

Think of this short blog as a commercial for the next holiday blog - before M A D O N N A.

(Thankfully, the sense of humor or sarcasism is still in tact) or is it
Stacey

Day 10 of October

LA, Disneyland, San Francisco, Vancouver, Victoria, Madonna Vacation
(con't)
Day 11
Saturday, September 29th
  It was a restless night.  I heard the boys come home at two different times and then leave again.  Seems they had finished the pub crawl and were hanging out at another friends place.  Patrick sent me a face message saying they would just spend the night at their friend Elliots.  The restless sleep was also contributed to the fact that Patrick's bed was as hard as a rock. Add in that it was freezing in his place.  Bill took off early for the gym, so it was just me and the laundry (not ours) left on our own.  Patrick finally straggled in some time before noon and Bill returned shortly after that. 

(this is the pub crawl results)

Now Patrick wanted to hit the gym and he needed to get some studying done as midterms were coming up.  That left the afternoon open for Bill and I to venture around Victoria.  Did I mention I would have been just as happy to sit in a lawn chair and enjoy the outside weather.  Our first stop was the nearby Home Outfitters to get a foam mattress to put on stop of the rock bed.  I wanted to get another comfortor as well, but Bill had a better suggestion "Turn on the darn furnace!"   At Patrick's suggestion we drove to Buchart Gardens.  Apparently Bill likes flowers (or walking)  Once we discovered that it would cost us  $30.00 each to admire the flowers, we drove to another recommended park "Beacon Hill Park."  I thought Princess Island Park in Calgary had a lot of birds.  There were ducks and Canada Geese everyone and even the odd pigeon was trying to disguise themself to get the free food.  There were signs posted all over the park,  instructing patrons not to feed the birds.  Needless to say, the signs weren't helping. 

We also stumbled upon a game of Cricket.  I have made it a goal of mine to learn at least a few details of the game, so I can watch a match and understand it. 

We made a pit stop by the ocean and Bill got out to take some pictures.  By now I had had enough walking and I sat in the car.  Turns out I should have accompanied Bill because when he returend to the car, he was covered in dirt, and had scrapes and blood all over.  Seems he tried to take on some rocks and an incline without doing up the laces on his runners.  There is a reason mom's always nag us about our laces.

(this was before the fall)

  We returned to Patrick's, cleaned up, added the foam top to the bed and threw in another load of laundry.  When Patrick got home we took him to pick up a few groceries. (is a few more than $200.00)  Then we headed to The Keg for a nice big steak.  I for one enjoyed my meal and my margarita (or two) 

After our early dinner, we dropped the son off at the University so he could do more studying and we returned to the Patrick Inn, and unloaded all the groceries.  Bill watched a little T.V. and I just relaxed with the I-pad.  Another early evening for the Wee's.

Day 9 of October

LA ,Disneyland, San Francisco, Vancouver, Victor, Madonna Vacation

Day 10,
Friday, September 28th
 I am still in shock that Bill is on aten day (or longer) holiday.  I even got an email from my brother in law who pretty much said the same thing.  I am ready to leave San Francisco (maybe that's why I didn't struggle with getting up at 4;30 a.m. this morning.)  I'm sure there is so much more to do and see, but this is one of those trips where you should have a car, a plan, and maybe a wine drinking girlfriend.  I'm just leaving it at that.
    We had a more positve experience with the cab driver this morning.  She was much more talkative; we learned a little bit more about the San Francisco economy, and she got out of her cab both times to help us with our bags.  The San Francisco airport was huge and practically empty first thing in the morning.  They have a very efficient check in system and it took no time at all to make our way to our terminal.  When we did check in, they had difficulty finding us seats. When they finally did, the lady said the seats were going to cost us extra.  I told her that wasn't acceptable because we had already paid for the seats.  So then she gave us the more expensive seats without any hassle.  At first I was a little excited thinking that maybe we had been upgraded to first class.  That would have been one more thing off my bucket list.  But no, it turned out that we got the seats by the emergency doors, with the extra leg room.  Really, they should pay those people for taking on the added responsiblity.  I pretty much slept the entire 2 1/2 hour flight.  Ahh back on Canadian soil.  We quickly retrieved our bags and headed for the car rental company.  We actually used the a manual map instead of the GPS to get us to the ferry terminal.

 I tried to talk Bill into sitting in the car with me and napping, but he wanted to go above deck.  So that's where I did my napping.
  Before long, we had docked and we were on our way to see Patrick.  We arrived to Patrick cooking dinner for us.  What a pleasnat surprise.  Unfortunately he and his room mate wouldn't be joining us.  They were off to a scheduled Pub Crawl. 

So it was an eary, quiet and unevenful evening.  Two more nights til Madonna!!!!

Day 8 of October

LA, Disneyland, San Francisco, Vancouver, Victoria, Madonna Vacation
(con't)

Day 9
Thursday, September 27th
Happy birthday to my cousin Tammie, who is exactly one week younger than I.  Bill found a gym yesterday on our trek home, so this morning, he decided to try it out.

 That gave me a little longer "get ready time." It was after 11:00 when we left our room today, and unfortunately neither Bill or myself felt the need to discuss what our plans were.  I thought we had decided on a plan the night before, but I must have been dreaming.  I had wanted to walk through ChinaTown and check out all the little shops.  Bill knew of a walking tour that started at 12:30 on the far outskirts of Chinatown.  This meant we had to rush (up and down many roads), and rush through china town and it's crowd of people to hopefully catch the tour that would take us back to where we just came from.  We arrived at the meeting spot at 12:35 and the tour had already left.  But another tour operator advised us that if we rushed (some more) we might be able to catch up to them.  Now Chinatown in San Franscisco is about 40 blocks in total 4x10.  Do we follow some lousy instructions and rush back through Chinatown or make our own tour?  NowIi'm sure there are some wonderful and interesting facts about one of the largest
Chinatowns iin  Northa America.  But really, I just wanted to stroll, and window shop, and people watch.  Finally after a couple of hasty blocks and countless locals and visitors alike, I suggested to Bill that we abandon our hunt and do the tour on our own.  I think I used the phrase "mosey".  By now both of us are a little perturbed for different reasons.  Lets just say we made our way out of Chinatown faser than we both wanted.  Next stop, the little Italy tour, which wasn't on our original agenda, but both of us were to stubborn  to say no.  Thank god for little Italy.  It was only 45 minute tour/walk, which was just about the right amount of time for both of us to cooll off.  The tour guide did all the talking, so we didnt' have to.  We learned and seen some interesting facts.  There is a Catholic Church that Joe DiMaggio had his first marriage in.  He tried to marry Marily Monroe there, but church wouldn't allow it because Joe's first marriage hadn't been annulled by the church.  The other cool fact about this church was it's address.  The building number is 666. Irony here.  

We concluded the tour in Washington park, which by the way, holds a large statue of Ben Franklin. No body could explain why.  

By now Bill and I have returned to our cheery, talkative selves (use your imagination) and we set out for the water front once again.  We finally come across a nice little Italina restarunt where Bill could get his assortment of seafood, and I could  order something with alcohol.!!!!!!   The meal was delicious and once again, we make the climb back to our hotel.  If my leg muscles haven't stregthened by the end of this trip, well then i just wasn't meant to be.  It was an early night; not even the tv went on becasue Friday is a really early start.  Our flight for Vancouver leaves at 8:15 am.  Who would book such an early flight, oh yeah me.

Day 7 of October

Take a deep breath.  There are only 5 or 6 days left of this holiday blog. (I know I'm thinking, thank goodness)

LA, Disneyland, San Francisco, Vancouver, Victoria, Madonna Vacation
(con't)
Day 8
Wednesday, September 26th
  We slept in a little bit longer today.  Could have been for a couple of reasons:  all the fresh air from the day before, or all the hill walking, or the car alarm that went off around two a.m. right below our window.  It woke me with a start, and my first thought was "is someone trying to break into our rental car?"  Once I came to my senses, I remembered that we didn't have a rental car, so I just laid back and waited, and waited for the alarm to stop.
    After breakfast, we made our way back down to the water front.  We decided to take an open top bus tour.  It was a 24 hour, hop on, hop off tour. 

We stayed on the bus for the entire 2 1/2 hour tour.  You just plugged in your ear phones and the tour was narrated.  It took us throught the financial district, Chinatown,

Little Italy, the Tenderloin district; we even seen a famous record store, or at least famous to Bill.  Its called Amoeba Music:  (Born in 1990 in Berkeley, California, Amoeba Music is inspired by many of the great independent record stores. We stock everything -- from the most popular artists to the most obscure in all genres -- including jazz, international folk and popular music, roots music, classical music, all kinds of rock and soul music, just to name a few of the most obvious categories.)

We also went across the Golden Gate Bridge and back again,

 We sat up on the open top of the bus for the entire time.  It was soo cold and windy as we approached the Golden Gate bridge.  We had planned to get off and walk across the bridge, but by now we were freezing and waiting for another bus didn't appeal to us. 

Our saying in Calgary is "if you don't like the weather, just wait a couple of minutes."  In San Francisco, the saying is "If you don't like the weather, just move a couple of blocks".   In addition to all the unique sites we seen off the bus, there were a couple of unique sites on the bus.

We departed the bus down by the pier and made our way to a hidden little Mexican restaurant and tequila bar called Las Marguerites. 

We had come across this place on a previous walk.  Talk about a large collection of tequila.  This place had over 250 different kinds of tequila.   Bill tried a new type of tequila and I went for my usual marguerita.  Oh yeah, the food was great too.

  Now it was time to take our full bellies back to our hotel.  Am I getting used to the hills or have we finally found a path that seems alot easier this evening. 

Day 6 of October

LA, Disneyland, San Francisco, Vancouver, Victoria, Madonna Vacation
con't
Day 7
Tuesday, September 25th

It was nice to be able to sleep in this morning.  No pressure to be somewhere at a certain time.  We tried booking a tour for Alcatraz, but this particular tourist attraction is quite popular and the next opening wasn't until the following Saturday.  One day too late for us.  Bill had dome some homework, and he had other sites for us to see.  Our first destination was Lombard Street.  It is famous for being the most winding and steep street in,  well somewhere.  It was crazy to see the tourists standing at the top of this road, and right in the middle of the crossing road to get a picture.  Yes, Bill was one of the crazy tourists.  People,,,, it is still a useable road and there were cars driving every which way.

We finally made it to the water front - Fishermans Wharf, and by then it was time for a late lunch.  We stopped for some of San Francisco's famous sour dough bread.  I'm not the expert on sour dough bread, as it is Bill's weakness, but even Bill agreed that Seattle was still the place where we had the best sour dough bread so far.

We walked around the docks, and we stumbled across a group of school kids, maybe grade five or six.  They seemed to be on a field trip and were going aboard a sailing ship for lessons.  We sat and watched them for about an hour and from the moment they put on their life jackets and yellow rain coats, I had found one youg guy who kept me entertained.  You know how there is always that one kid on a field trip, who is preoccupied, not listening, curious and always questioning why?  Well this young man was that kid.  It didn't take the crew long to figure that out.  By the time there were pulling away from the dock, the boy had one on one supervision.
  Other than walking up and down hills, the day was pretty quiet.  We stopped at a cheese market close to our hotel and picked up some food for supper.  We were still full from lunch, so it was a late dinner in the room. 

Day 5 of October

Day 6
Monday, September 24th

  Can you say air conditioning?  Yes our hotel room came with it, but before we went to bed, Bill turned it off.  I'm not sure what time I woke up drenched in sweat, but I blindly went looking for the on switch to the air conditioning.  Ashley thanked me profusely in the morning for saving us all from suffocating in the heat.  We talked Bill into going for a work out in the morning, so we could get ready at a leisurely pace, and have the continental breakfast.  When Bill returned, we packed up our stuff, loaded the car, and headed to Venice Beach.  An hour later, our friend, GPS had gotten us to our destination without any detours.  We drove staight to the beach and the closest parking lot. 

Unlike the last time we visited Venice Beach; it was about 8 years ago and we spent 30 minutes or longer looking for a "cheap" parking spot.  This time, both  Ashley and I were ready to pull out some American cash, just so we could park close, or at least fast.  The characters at Venice beach were much more entertaining than the characters at Disneyland.  My friend De would be so proud of me.  Two different musicians on the street tried to sell me their CD's and I resisted.  One guy's name was Du Wan.  I kept saying "you the one, Du Wan!"  I don't think he thought it was funny.  The funniest site on the boardwalk was all the walk in clinics for medicinal marihuana.  The "doctors" or advertisers where dressed in green doctor scrubs with a big marihuana plant on the front of their shirt.  They just kept repeating that it was now legal.

We left the beach with plenty of time to catch our flights.  With my organizational skills put the test, I had made sure that Bill and my flight to San Francisco left around the same time as Ashley and Ethan's flight to Calgary.    We returned our car to the rental company and caught the shuttle to our two different terminals.  We were doing the rest of our trip solo. 
  It was a short flight to San Francisco, and an even shorter BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) ride to downtown San Francisco.  Calgary really needs to get this type of transportation set up to our airport.  The most confusing part of this trek was getting a cab from downtown San Francisco to our hotel which we figured was about 12 blocks away.  We finally flagged down a cab and thankfully we didn't let this first impression influence our thoughts about citizens of San Francisco.  He wasn't very friendly; he had never heard of our hotel; he got lost getting there and Bill had to give him instructions; and it turns out he conveniently forgot to turn on the taxi meter.  When we arrived at our hotel, he realized his "honest" mistake and somehow figured out it was probably a 10.00 ride.  Then, he didn't even get out of his car to help with the luggage in the trunk.  I think he might have actually had a second thought afterwards about maybe overcharging, because he followed us into the hotel and asked the clerk for change for a ten.  She didn't have any, so he just left.  Lesson learned, by us.  We had an easy check in, so we headed up to our room, threw the suitcases on the bed and headed out to a nearby pub for a bite to eat.  The hotel had recommended which area we venture into this time of night.   
  It was an early night for these two tired tourists, but I did go to bed with one nagging thought in my mind.  Before we left Los Angeles, I had seen on the news that there had been an earthquake up north, off the coast of Alaska.  The news broadcasters were discussing how an earth quake far away can have the affect of causing earthquakes anywhere.  Where were we again, Oh Yeah San Francisco - can you say 1906!!!!!!!  Then as I am adding this blog, I google earthquakes in San Francisco.  Who knew there had been 84 of them since the end of September, 2012.  Don't believe me, check out the website below.  http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqscanv/FaultMaps/San_Francisco_eqs.html
Thank goodness I wasn't smart enough to do this while we were actually staying in San Francisco.  There is also another website that shows what would happen if the 1906 earthquake happened in 2012.  One thing I did learn on a tour we were at, and I don't know if it was fact for sure, but in 1906, after the Earthquake and the big fire that followed, the city usually referred to the disaster as the fire of 1906.  Why, because the "insurance company" Lloyds of London, did not have coverage for Earthquakes, only fire, and the city needed financial help in rebuilidng.  I thought that was an interesting (truly political) way to get the money.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2196268/What-1906-San-Francisco-earthquake-happened-today-Photo-trickery-shows-hit-city.html

Day 4 of October

Day 5

Sunday, September 23rd

 Ashley's alarm went off at 6:00 am.  How come I was the only one that heard it?  I didn't think I would be able to get up early after last night. But surprisingly I was the first one ready. We were all awake and ready to go by 7:00 am. We said goodbye to our wonderful hosts and set the GPS for our hotel by Disneyland.  I really wanted to nap, but felt I should help keep bill motivated and awake.  Our hotel was within walking distance of Disneyland, and although we arrived way earlier than our three o'clock check in time, the Trave lLodge allowed us to park in their lot.  They also had a continental breakfast, so of course Bill grabbed his breakfast on the go.  With cameras, sun glasses and enthusiasm in tact, we headed to the happiest place on earth.  I suggested to Ashley that she show good faith to her Dad by offering to pay for her and Ethan's park fee.  (Knowing that Bill would not accept the offer, but appreciate it)  To both Ashley's surprise and mine, Bill said sure.  Ooops,   I reminded Ashley that it would pay off in the end. The park was decorated already with a Halloween theme.  Check out the pumpkin Mickey;

The only characters that were around when we first arrived were Donald and Goofy.  You know which one we went for - the one with the shortest line up.

We did most of the attractions.  My favorite was splash mountain.  We had decided at the beginning of the day to only do the Disney side and not California Adventure because we probably would run out of time anyways.  There were a couple of rides that Ashley and I sent Ethan and Bill on all by themselves.  We figured we had enough throw up rides from the night before.  By the time we left the park it was time for dinner, so we strolled along Disney street and ended up at a restaraunt called Jazz Kitchen.  The food was very good and the margaritas even better.

We finished up our meal and headed back to our hotel.  I for one, was ready for bed, as were my tired feet.  Tomorrow would be a sleep in morning. (for those of us who didn't get up to run)  

Day 3 of October

LA, Disneyland, San Francisco, Vancouver, Victoria, Madonna Vacation!

(cont)

Day 4

Saturday, September 22nd

This is the wedding party

These are the huge lobster tails Lora made for my birthday dinner.  I loved how she made them look like boats.  That's on my list of things to try next.

This is when Patrick skyped my on my birthday and I got him to look up like the Brady Bunch show.  Thanks Mike, the father of the bride, and Grandma, the cat lover!

  The big day started out relaxing for me, but Bill and the kids went shopping.  I was keeping my fingers crossed that they remembered we needed to be ready to go by 1:15.  They were back in plenty of time, but Lora still had to call up to us a couple of times to get some of us moving. Ashley, Ethan and Bill rode with Alan in his car and I hopped into a car with Alice, Steven and Mike's mom (Or who we called grandma all weekend. ) Both the  wedding and reception were being held at a rustic resort called San Moritz.  It was about 90 minutes from Victorville and 75 of those minutes were spent on winding, hair pin turns. We had been pre warned about the trek up the mountain and I thought I was being proactive by taking my gravol.  Let's just say that the gravol only helped by allowing me to make it to the resort, find the bathroom before anyone else, before I upchucked.  Embarrassed, nope, not me. In fact Bill mentioned that I could have been a little more subtle.  I told him he married the wrong person if he was looking for subtle.  The best part about throwing up is how well you feel afterwards. Except for being a little tired from the affects of the gravol, I was feeling great. The decor of the wedding was rustic and beautiful. Linda and her bridal party did a great job. The ceremony was held outside.  As we were waiting for the bride to walk down the petal aisle, the m.c. made  an announcement. " we are looking for the father of the bride to walk the bride down the isle!" Seems Mike had forgotten his part and he was sitting in the front row waiting for the ceremony to begin.  The ceremony was beautiful and went off without a hitch. Lots of family pictures taken afterwards and then the bar was open. Ahhhhh.  There was a special bartender concoction called "love potion #9-22". (Hence the day of the wedding). I decided after the third one, I really didn't like it that much.  Dinner was filling, but as is always the case at table number meals, we were one of the last tables to go up.  The DJ was also the MC and he kept the evening running very smooth; from the few speeches to the first dance to the cutting of the cake.  One of the most beautiful moments was when Linda and her dad did the father, daughter dance.  Mike is a seasoned dancer and  he and Linda had practised a couple of times.  They had chosen the song "Moon River" by Andy Williams as their song.  Fast forward a day or two, and Mr. Andy Williams passed away.  This would be one of those do-do-do-do moments for me.  Then while Linda was changing into her Chinese dress, Lora and Mike gave us a demonstration of their cha-cha moves.  Amazing.   It was also around this time, when Uncle Wayne got up and gave his speech.  I must admit, I thought there would be a lot of humour in it, but he was actually very sentinmental and expressed his love for Ryan and Linda.  Later on during the dance, he did get up and play his harmonica to a couple of songs.  A talented guy!  There weren't a lot of kids at this wedding, but there was this one little girl who was really getting into the music and dancing up a storm. Both Nick and Linda Pohorelic (another cousin from Calgary ) commented how the little girl reminded them of Ashley when she was that age, and dancing at their wedding.  Before long, the evening was over, and if we weren't sure, the DJ played "Hit the Road Jack" just to remind us.  With my new gravol already taken, and a couple of Ativan thrown in for good measure, I was ready for the long, winding trek home. (Or so I thought) the only good thing about the ride home, was that Alan drove crazy fast.  Ashley said the gravol didn't help her, but I know it helped me, because again I was able to hold off re-sampling my supper until we returned back to Hotel Kwan.  Thank you Bill for the ginger ale when I emerged out of the bathroom.  Best to get a good night sleep - early morning tomorrow.

 

Day 2 of October

LA, Disneyland, San Francisco, Vancouver, Victoria, Madonna Vacation!

(Cont)

Day 3, 

Friday September 21st 

It's one day before the big day.  Bill went for his usual morning run, and I stayed in bed for my usual longer relaxing. Spent most of the morning visiting and looking at old pictures.  Except for a small quip in the daily plans (which have since been rectified, and I'm not supposed to talk about), the day was pretty uneventful. Mike's sister, husband and two kids popped over for lunch. 

After lunch, Bill and I headed back to LAX to pick up Ashley and Ethan.  Their flight was on time, and Bill dropped me at the arrivals while he drove around until we were ready.  Mike had warned us that the traffic back to Victorville would be really bad. Not only was it rush hour, but it was a Friday and the freeway would be full of people heading to Vegas for the weekend.  His suggestion was to stop off and eat some where until the traffic thinned out a bit.  So that was our idea.  There was one small problem, where to eat. We had decided on Mexican food, and we decided we didn't want fast food.  That's where the GPS once again became our guide.  The first two restaurants didn't appeal to us for different reasons.  Finally I found a restaurant. It met our criteria: it wasn't fast food, the area seemed safe, and there were cars in the parking lot.    After we left the restaurant, we proceeded on our way back to Mike and Lora's.  Our intention was to find the freeway, but the GPS had other plans for us.  We took the scenic route, and it wasn't until we hit Ontario, California, that we had anything exciting happen. We passed a couple of hand made signs written in Spanish that basically translated to "detained".  Turns out there was a check stop.  I can't believe I had to come all the way to California to go through a check stop. The stopped us and asked to see Bill's driver's license. Then the officer asked Bill where he was living this EXACT moment.  Without missing a beat, Bill said "Canada". That seemed to be the correct answer and we were sent on our way.  I guess it wasn't a check stop for illegal substances, but more a check stop for illegal aliens.   We finally stumbled upon the freeway and headed back to Victorville.  

     The rehearsal dinner party was still going on over at Linda and Ryan's so we made a pit stop over there.  There were still a few stragglers left including Uncle Wayne.  In the words of uncle Wayne, every family has one of those Uncles and uncle Wayne is the Clover's.    He is a gold smith, and told me he could make me a key pendant to fit in my ring with the key hole.  If I provide the gold it will only cost me the shipping. Another  long distance venture.  More  about uncle Wayne at the wedding.  We spent about an hour at the party, and listened to some of the bridal party do karaoke.  Usually I would have been first in line, but the heat and stress of the day had me jealously just sitting back and watching.   Shortly after the singing started, we then headed back to hotel Kwan for some much needed sleep.

Day 1 of October

LA, Disneyland, San Francisco, Vancouver, Victoria, Madonna Vacation!

Continued

Day 2

Thursday September 20th

  Happy birthday to me.  51... I say it, I read it, I hear it, but I can't believe it. Which just goes to prove, our mind is stronger than all our other senses.   It was a very relaxing day. Bill went for his daily jog. Thankfully no snake encounters. After breakfast Bill and I drove (somewhere) to check out Trader Joes.  It has some of the neatest products, and the prices, I found were compatible and some times cheaper.  It was about a 20 to 30 minute drive, and the thermostat in the car read 101 degrees F.  Not a good day to be buying anything covered in chocolate.  Despite the long drive (that was all freeway driving), we really didn't go to any other stores.  Once we got back to Victorville, Bill did want to stop into the Barnes and Noble store to check out some music.  We parked the car, and as we were crossing the parking lot,  a lady pulled up in a car that was advertising quilting.  I told Bill to go on and I would catch up.  This poor lady didn't know what hit her. As she was opening her door, I quickly asked her if the car she was driving was hers. (like she was going to tell me if she stole it).  When she confirmed that it was, I asked another obvious question, "Do you quilt?" She replied yes and said she could teach me.  After it was determined that I didn't want to learn, I wanted to hire someone to make a quilt, the do-do-do-do moments started to happen.  I explained I wanted to make a quilt for my daughter.(she has a daughter too). I went on to say I wanted the quilt made out if  ribbons. (she had seen those quilts before.) The ribbons, I went on, we're from when my daughter used to ride equestrian. (her daughter, who is now thirty, also used to ride horses, and has many ribbons as well. )She asked if she could brag a little about her daughter.  It seems her daughter is  in some record book, for being the first African American to win this certain level of jumping). She went on to say how proud she was of her daughter Ashley!   You can imagine my expression when I found out our daughters also shared the same name. By now we had walked from the parking lot to the middle of Barnes and Noble.  The funniest part of the conversation was when Debora asked me where I was from,and when I told her, she thought I was joking. Her next statement made sense "don't you have people in Canada that can quilt?" To be honest I have looked around a little bit, but the few people and places I have inquired at we're not very helpful, or enthusiastic.  I realize this  could be an expensive project with Debora, but somehow everything just seems right. I have her business card, so I will see where this journey takes me. Remember, everything happens for a reason.

   So that was the extent to our shopping excursion. We returned to Mike and Lora's for a quiet and relaxing afternoon.

    Dinner time was all about me and my birthday.  Lora made a delicious meal which included some large lobster tails and a tiramisu cake.  Lora even wrote happy birthday in Chinese on the cake and sang to me in Chinese. It was a small gathering of eight that included Bill and myself, Lora and Mike, the bride and groom to be, Linda and Ryan, and their beautiful dog Georgia, Mike's sister and Mike's mom.  Alan, Lora and Mike's youngest son joined us afterwards.  There were a few of highlights of the evening. The first was when Patrick facetimed me, to wish me a happy birthday.  I passed him around and he got to see everyone. Then Ashley and Ethan called to wish me a happy birthday. But the funniest 30 minutes was when I brought out my iPad and introduced Tom the talking cat to Mike's mom.  She sat and talked and giggled at this animated cat for at least thirty minutes. I only wish I had understood what she was saying.  And she didn't just say one word here and there,she was having lengthy conversations.  My heart was smiling just as much as this 87 year young grandma.  Again, it was an early evening and I crawled into bed by 10:30.