Sunday: Things that Make Me Happy

 February 13, 2022

Ten things that are making me happy right now:

1.  Hanging out with my best friend to watch the Super Bowl

2.  My sister coming into town for a visit

3.  My kids experiencing new adventures in their lives

4.  Meeting and getting to know some new people

5.  Keeping on track with my walking goals

6.  My students, who make me laugh every day

7.  Cooking experiments that turn out great

8.  Live music--man, I missed live music

9.  Videos of baby giggles

10.  Looking forward to taking some dance classes

Fun With Backdrops

January 4, 2015

Last November Doug and I went to our friend Rick's wedding.  One of Rick's good friends is a photographer, and she did not only his pictures, but offered fun sittings for the guests as well.  Last night we finally got to see the end result:

Book Scavenger Hunt

January 2, 2015

Yesterday Lisa and I took the kids to Barnes and Noble.  In addition to letting Nicholas and Danielle each get a book of their choice, I also decided I wanted to play a little game, just to do something different and fun.  We all had to look around and find three or four book titles that described something about who we are--titles that resonated with us in some way.  (These were not necessarily books we wanted to read; just apt titles.)  I think we came up with some creative ones!

Nicholas' choices:

Danielle's choices:

My choices:

Lisa's choices:

Nightly Walk

September 14, 2014

On our nightly walk tonight we stopped into Walmart. I spotted in one of the middle aisles a stack of boxes containing camouflage reclining chairs. (Aside: a Box o' Recliner? Really?) Me, to Hubby: "Who buys a camouflage recliner? What need do you have to hide in the living room? 'Hey look at Elmer--he appears to just be floatin' in the middle of the room in front a' the t.v. set!'"

Also, in a nearby aisle, Hubby says, "Look over there-do they have hookers in Walmart now?" Me: "You can pretty much get everything at Walmart these days."

Walmart always provides fun topics of conversation...

Off They Go

January 4, 2014

My sister just left after a four day visit. I love it when we get to spend time together, but I'm always sad to see her go. This time around, Lisa and my beautiful nieces brought along two lovely young ladies to add to the party. As always, no matter what we do, we make our own fun, and this trip was no different. Already looking forward to the next time we can all get together!

Full Day

January 3, 2014

We got the kids all rounded up and headed out to Cal Skate--Roller Town to us--for the afternoon.  Nicholas and Danielle weren't terribly adept, but they managed.  Lisa's girls were a little more light on their feet, but I can't say anyone was especially good at skating.  Luckily, we don't need exceptional skill to have fun.

After skating, we went to pick up Doug at Classic Billiards and ended up letting the kids stay for an hour or so to play a little pool.  Next up was a delicious dinner at Capo's, followed by a very long walk around the neighborhood while blasting tunes and singing loudly and unabashedly.

Once we got back home and settled the kids in to watch a movie, Doug and Lisa and I went to Thai Fusion for a little karaoke.  It was a pretty fun ending to an overall great day.  I love being so close to my sister and my nieces!

Geo-Caching

January 2, 2014

Lisa and the girls are still visiting, and with such a big group, we like to find fun things to do that don't break the bank.  One of the activities Lisa and her kids have really gotten into is geo-caching, which is a big old fashioned scavenger-hunt gone high-tech.  You can search out apps on the smart phones that tell you where little 'treasures' are hidden, and you go find them.  The treasures are in small containers out in public places (literally all over the world!), and many of them have a log inside where you record when you found them.  Usually there's a small trinket there, and you can take that one out and replace it with a new trinket for someone else to find.  Some of the treasures come with requests, such as a request that the trinket or treasure make some specific journey (i.e., to travel from the West Coast to the East Coast).  Anyone who can help the treasure make it further along in its journey is asked to deposit it in the next hiding spot along the way to the destination. 

The apps on the phones help to record not only these 'special requests', but also any helpful hints or suggestions, as well as a handy compass to help the treasure seekers. It's kind of funny to see a big group of people staring at their phones (compasses) and wandering around a given area hoping to find the hidden container, but that's what we did today.  We looked for a few that were indicated fairly close to our home, and we actually managed to find 5 out of the 6 we were looking for.  What a great way to spend the afternoon!  If you don't know about this global hide-and-seek, you'd never know how many treasures are out there.

Sangerpalooza

September 7, 2013

We attended the second annual Sangerpalooza, where Doug and the boys provided rockin' entertainment for the crowd.  Although it was terribly hot in the afternoon, the evening breezes began to blow and it cooled down enough for dancing, which is always a good thing.  Photo highlights from the evening: