Thom and I did some yard work today.  An absolutely beautiful day to be outside . . . about 70 degrees and sunny, with a gentle breeze.  I just wanted to share some of the beautiful poppies in our front yard, the blooms on our fruitless plum tree, and even a little daffodil.  Happy Spring!

After oh so many years of carrying a work load which entailed working many evenings and far too many weekends, I have been allotted a full-time person to assist me.  This person amazes me with her competency, good nature, sense of humor, and true willingness to take on tasks.

Not only is she willing to work hard, she learns quickly and has taught me some things that have been very helpful.  I cannot accurately describe the weight that has lifted from my shoulders by knowing I have her to help me and share the load. I can now come to work and be certain that , most of the time, I will be able to go home at a decent hour and look forward to full weekends off. 

Soooooooooo, everything’s coming up Rosie for me and I am oh so happy about that!!!

My granddaughter, Miriam, made me a word necklace this past Christmas.  I put it on a lamp in my office and I read it every day.  She took a good amount of time to pick through many options of words that she could put together into a sentence.  She ended up with “I wish you a gentle special time.” 

I can’t explain why exactly, but those words touch my heart and give me comfort every time I read them.  I can picture Miriam lacing the words onto the string and see the happiness in her eyes when she handed me the completed necklace.

I read the words and “gentle special” visions dance in my head . . . my grandchildren playing, the softness of their skin and hair, their smiles that light up the world and my heart,   and the love they give so freely.  I also see soft furry bunnies, kittens cuddled up with their mommy, flowers blooming in an open meadow, a beautiful stream quietly flowing through a green and quiet forest.  Ahhhhhhhhh . . .

This necklace will always be special to me.  Not just because of the time, love, and thought put into it; and not just because Miriam made it especially for me.  It will ever be special because each time I look at it I will be reminded to  ”see” all the gentle special times in my life and be filled with warmth, calm, and peace.

To all the special people in my life, I wish you a multitude of gentle special times.

I watched “The Spiderwick Chronicles” the other night and found it to be surprisingly good.  My husband even liked it and he usually isn’t that enthusiastic about fantasy movies.  I wish there had been more interaction with the flower beings though - they were very cool but had such a small part in the movie that one couldn’t get to “know” them well.  I used to dream of fairies, elves, and other “fantastical” creatures when I was a kid.  This movie brought some of those creatures to life.  Perhaps a bit too violent in parts for very little children, but I think most kids (and their parents) would like it a lot.

While celebrating our anniversary in San Diego last weekend, Thom and I went to see “Gran Torino”.  It is a great movie and one I am going to add to my DVD collection as soon as it is released.  Clint Eastwood is just awesome as a director and an actor.  Definitely not a movie for children to see; but I highly recommend it for adults.

Last night, we watched “Perfect Stranger” with Halle Berry and Bruce Willis.  We both liked it.  A good thriller/suspense with an ending that I couldn’t have predicted.  I can say no more without spoiling it.  If you like thrillers, you’ll probably like this movie. 

My son and daughter-in-law gave us a gift subscription to Netflix for Christmas, and I guess you can tell we are enjoying it immensely.  With the exception of Gran Torino which we saw in the theater, we watch most of our movies at home.  Netflix is a gift that just keeps on giving!

That’s it for my movie reviews.  Three thumbs up this time around.

Look at that happy smile and I helped put it there.  My father-in-law recently decided he was going to give up driving and was going to get rid of his car.  I had told him many months ago, when he mentioned he was thinking of giving up driving, that I was interested in purchasing his car for my sister if he ever decided to sell it.

Here we were months later and he didn’t just let me know I could buy his car, he wanted to give me the car as a gift!  I was touched and excited and oh so happy!  I’d wanted for so long to get my sister in a safe dependable vehicle; and now I was going to be able to.

Not wanting my father-in-law to be without any transportation, my husband had the brilliant idea of purchasing a scooter for him.  So, Thom went to Palm Springs one day, took his father scooter shopping, and we bought him a brand new candy apple red scooter with a very comfortable seat, a basket to hold items when shopping, and the option of going from turtle to rabbit speed (literally there is a dial that rotates from a turtle icon to a rabbit icon depending on how fast you want to go).

This scooter is pretty cool.  It runs on battery only and will go 13 miles before needing recharging.  To recharge it, one just plugs it in to a wall outlet.  As my father-in-law lives in a location that is close to shopping, fast food, library, senior center, and pharmacy (all via sidewalk and signalled crosswalks) - it will work perfectly for him.  He was tickled to get this scooter and be able to travel about without the worry or expense of a car.

Last Thursday evening, Thom and I drove to Palm Springs to pick up the car and get the pink slip.  The car is a 2002 Ford Taurus with only 20,000 miles on it.  We stayed the night in Palm Springs and left early Friday morning to deliver the car to my sister in Cornville, AZ - a seven hour drive.  Thom drove his car and I drove the Taurus.  I gotta say - that car drives like a dream.  I called Lisa (my sister) enroute to let her know about the electric seat adjustment, inside mirror adjustment, awesome CD player, etc.  Needless to say she was quite excited.

We arrived in Cornville late Friday afternoon without incident and Lisa met us in the driveway.  I was happy to see her and even happier to be bringing her such a cool gift!  She was thrilled all the way around!  We spent a couple hours vacuuming the car out, applying Armor All to the dash, washing the windows, etc.  Lisa and I did most of the manual labor, with Thom overseeing us while he sipped on a well-deserved glass of wine.  Then the three of us headed out for the car wash!

 On Saturday morning, Lisa  loaded us in her new car and drove us to a hiking trail at Wet Beaver Creek where we three went on an eight mile hike.  It was absolutely beautiful!   Sunday morning, we all went in to Sedona for breakfast and then Thom and I had to head back home.  The visit was too short, but oh so happy!

Many thanks to my dear, dear father-in-law for his generosity and thoughtfulness.  Thanks to Thom for his support, encouragement, and help in getting and delivering the car.  Finally, thanks to my dear sister, Lisa, for being who she is . . . my friend, my sister, my confidant - I’m ever so happy to see you in your new car!

It’s been awhile since I’ve found time to visit my blog.  Jim was nice enough to update me to the new version of Word Press, so I’m learning the revised layout of the program.  The look is quite a bit different.

So far, I’m doing okay finding things.  The old things are all there, just in different spots.  It seems to take much longer to upload photos than the old version, but maybe it’s just that my computer’s a bit old and not fast enough for the new program.  I was able to upload a couple of pictures to my last two posts which I’m pleased about. 

Soooooooooooo, nothing new to report, no recent photos to put up, no brilliant ideas to pass along.  I’m just practicing . . .

We had quite an adventure getting up to Hillsboro, OR, to visit Jim, Rebecca, and the grandkids Christmas week.  Our flight from Ontario Airport, CA to Portland Airport, OR was cancelled due to an excessive amount of snow in the Portland area.  Unable to bear the disappointment of not being able to spend Christmas with the grandkids much less even thinking about not getting all the love, hugs, and kisses . . . we decided to drive up there.

With Jim on the cell phone giving us constant weather updates, we made our way up, stopping in Sacramento to pick up Michelle (a friend of Jim and Rebecca’s who had become another stranded traveler who was longing to make it to Portland and back into her sweetheart’s arms).  We ran into snow, icy roads, and rain along the way but it didn’t get horrible until we approached Salem.

The freeway was a mess - crawling along at 10 to 15 mph with deep snow and packed ice.  Scary at times what with semi trucks in the lanes next to us slowly sliding our way on the ice.  After many tense hours driving on this mess, we were able to drop Michelle off at a pre-planned pickup point where she reunited with her sweetie and kids. 

Thom and I continued on very slowly - finally reaching Hillsboro and the warm welcoming Goings family home.  We were met with smiles of delight and lots of hugs and kisses from the grandchildren making the whole terrible drive up well worth the effort.

We spent Christmas week playing and visiting and having a most awesome time.  We were hoping that Sophie Grace would make her appearance while we were there.  I would have been so excited to have been able to be at her birth.  Alas, it was not to be.  Sophie arrived on January 3rd - just a couple days after our departure.  From the photos I’ve seen, she is a most alert and beautiful baby; and I can’t wait to meet her in person.

The high desert got lots and lots of snow yesterday (12/17/2008).  Snow fell all day long.  At our house in Hesperia, we got a good 8″.  The other end of town, closer to the freeway and Oak Hills got over 12″.  Very unreal to see the desert covered in snow.  Click here to see some pics.

The snow was so deep by 3 o’clock yesterday afternoon and the roads so unsafe that I had to be driven home by my boss in his 4-wheel drive vehicle.  On the drive home, we saw multiple vehicles spun out, a huge u-haul van jackknife across one road, stupid teenagers playing in the middle of the road with vehicles sliding out of control around them . . . it was quite the adventure.

Now, the morning after, the skies are clear, but the snow is still deep and the roads still treacherous.  Since we get snow so rarely in the high desert; and never to this extent in my history here; snow plows are not high on the list of needed equipment.  We will have to wait for Mr. Sunshine to do his job and melt it all away.

The good news - free day off work to stay home, bundle up, light the fire in the fireplace, drink hot cocoa, and watch movies.  Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh the benefits of snow.

Thom and I went to Encinitas this past weekend to visit Craig and Brenna.  We stayed at the Moonlight Beach Motel.  I highly recommend it.  It’s not fancy, but it’s very clean, comfortable, and roomy.  Plus you can’t beat the view of the ocean from the balcony.  Room #308 has the most awesome view and that’s the room we had.

There is a nearby path down to the beach which is a nice walk.  It was cloudy, stormy, and very cool this weekend, but there were a lot of surfers in the water and people in shorts and t-shirts playing beach volleyball.

You can see some of the pics of Moonlight Beach, the awesome sunset, and the Christmas lights display we drove through at Del Mar by clicking here.

Thom and I spent a couple of days in Las Vegas this past week.  On Monday night we had front row center seats to see the Blue Man Group.    We dutifully donned the  plastic cover up garment provided and watched the announcements streaming by on the electronic banner device - “turn off cell phones” . . . “no video and no picture taking allowed” . . . the typical stuff.

About two minutes before the show was to begin, the banner read “we have some special guests in the audience tonight” . . . “Susie Jones please stand up” (Susie stood up looking a bit bemused) . . . “please applaud for Susie - she won the curling championship in the 2006 Olympics” (the audience applauded and cheered).  The electronic banner continued “Thomas Hopkins is also in our audience . . . please stand up Thomas” (Thom dutifully stood up) . . . “Thomas Hopkins is the researcher/scientist who mapped the human genome, let’s applaud for him” (Thomas happily waving to the crowd and hamming it up to wild applause and cheering).  I am cracking up as I realize this is all a joke.

The lady next to me was very impressed with Thom, leaning over to exclaim “Can you believe it?  Is that really him?  The guy who mapped the human genome?”  This lady is a bit put off because I’m laughing so hard I’m nearly in tears.  Through my laughter, I manage to get out - “he’s my husband!  he hasn’t mapped anything!”  The lady then ignored me the rest of the whole show, so I’m uncertain if she thought I was stupid to not recognize someone famous when he was sitting right next to me or if I had inadvertently insulted her by my laughter.  It didn’t matter  - I knew this was going to be a really, really good show! 

We were not disappointed, my human genome mapping partner and I - we had a blast even when we got slimed with puree of banana which was spewed from the Blue Men’s tummy buttons.  I had banana in my hair, on my sleeves, on my shoes, and all over the not so protective plastic poncho.  The Blue Man Group show is truly incredible both in the sounds/music they play and in the subtle and not-so-subtle ways they have of communicating without ever speaking.  If you haven’t seen these guys live or on video, you are missing out.

On Tuesday night, we had front row seats for David Copperfield.  This man is amazing!  A full size 1940’s era vehicle appeared out of nowhere - poof! there it was.  He passed himself through a 3″ thick steel plate and a spinning industrial sized fan with nary a hair out of place.  He got in a collapsible coffin-like box with his head out one end and his feet out the other.  The box then started getting shorter and shorter until you saw his head at one end, his feet at the other, and about 8″ of box in between . . . how did he smoosh himself down so much!?!  I’m telling you I was watching everything like a hawk.

From my front row seat, I could literally touch his feet as he walked by on stage by just reaching out.  I looked under things, over things, through things . . .  I couldn’t see any secret chambers or holes in the floor to disappear into.  His magic is amazing and I’m glad I couldn’t figure out how he does it all.  I like still having magic in my life.

At the end of the performance, during the standing ovation, he reached out and I got to shake his hand!  A minute later, I got to high-five him too!  How cool is that?  Another show you just gotta see.  If you don’t have any magic in your life or in your imagination, you will have plenty of it after seeing David Copperfield perform.  He is truly a master magician.