Duck tales (whoo hoo!)

What a night at the Ducks Game!
SO much fun!!!

Sarah and Ty

and Sharel

The gloves are off...

The dessert cart!!!

A surprise visitor!!

The suite entertainment!

It's October 31st

Halloween 1989

Zac and Allison and Logan...
Allison won first prize in El Toro Baptist's
(Salute the Flag) Costume Contest!

Life will still go on, believe me...

Always live with your biography in mind.

90% of who you are is invisible.

The expected is just the beginning...
the unexpected is what changes your life.

When you stumble, make it part of the dance.

Stop apologizing for the weather.

If you have skeletons in your closet, you best teach them to dance.


Live in each season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit and resign yourself to the influences of each.

I'm in repair...I'm not together, but I'm getting there.

Mark your calendars...

I can hear my mother saying, "It'll be here before we know it.."

Things to do til Baseball starts again...

Baseball Season 2008 is over.
Congratulations (gulp)...
to the Phillies...
Honestly, every single year on this night, I sit in my silent home. No Baseball Tonight to watch. No web gems.
No Vinnie to say good night to me. It's very quiet.
But GOOD NEWS! Spring Training games start in about 120 days!
So I came up with 60 things I would like to do between now and then. I would love your suggestions too--but please make note of the fact that I don't watch TV. And, no, I do NOT want to start following football, basketball or hockey.
So here they are...60 things to do until Baseball Season 2009

1. Relax
2. Take a walk (or 120)
3. Organize my 13,000 photos in iPhoto
4. Sell the Barbies in my garage
5. Clean out my closet/cabinets/drawers
6. Hook up the Nintendo 64 and master Dr. Mario once again!
7. Finish my elementary school and high school scrapbooks.
8. Eat every thing I have in the house before going to the store again.
   
9. Get a hobby (what??)
10. Write a book (on what??)
11. Watch classic movies
12. Send personal notes in the mail
    
13. Fall in love (come on, a girl's gotta have a dream!)
14. Scan and organize all my family's slides!
15. Bake a pie from scratch.
16. Go sit on the beach for a day.
17. Stay up all night talking to someone.
    
18. Get a massage
19. Do the art walk in Laguna
20. Stay in bed one whole day.
21. Add music to my iTunes
    
22. Dance in my kitchen with a cute man.
23. Sit by the fire in my living room (with the man? Why not!)
24. Decorate my Christmas Tree
25. Address my Christmas Cards
26. Christmas Shop
27. Sleep in a few times
28. Go to church
    
29. Learn to Golf
30. Learn to Surf
31. Learn everything there is to know about this laptop!
32. Learn everything there is to know about my BlackBerry
33. Resume my LA Times subscription around the first of the year. (Just for the Sports page of course)
34. Buy my tickets to the Dodgers' Spring Training in Glendale, Arizona.
35. Rent a Porsche 911 for a day and take my dad for a long ride.
36. Go to a few movies
37. Have a Dutch Baby Pancake
38. Go skiing
39. Stay in a cabin in the mountains
40. Eat Lobster
41. Have breakfast in bed.
42. Spend the day at Barnes & Noble
    
43. Read!
44. Clean out my hope chest.
45. Have friends over for dinner.
46. Plan a trip for 2010.
    
47. Plant some bulbs and buy a few rose bushes.
48. Watch the Rose Parade
49. Lose 10 pounds.
    
50. Get in great shape.
51. Laugh more.
52. Appreciate life more!
53. Kiss more. (Dreaming again, but I'm hopeful!)
54. Keep up my blog
55. Keep up my Facebook
56. Spend the night at a hotel...just to be somewhere else.
57. Cook myself a nice meal.
58. Organize my iPod. (Too many songs I hate!)
59. Build up my self esteem.
60. Make a lot of other people happy.
    

oh blah di oh blah da...

Chantale's going away party tonight at Salt Creek.
She will be joining the Montage team in Beverly Hills!
(It was also her 27th birthday tonight!)

My former work partner and baseball loving friend, Michael!

With sweet Helen and Christina (above)
And my DARLING friend, Catherine (below)

Five reasons today was a good day:
1. I got on the scale this morning and weighed 10 pounds less than when I returned from Kenya!
2. I had dinner and drinks tonight with some AMAZING friends (above!)
3. Baseball season may go until Thanksgiving now! (Please dear God, that would be awesome!)
4. The stock market finished up by almost 900...
5. I realized once again...that--no matter what--life does indeed, go on!
(And, it's pretty darn good...)

There will come a time when you think
everything is finished.
That will be the beginning.

The benefit of friends...

Within MINUTES of my 'disappointment with life' post this morning, I had phone calls & emails & text messages pouring in. Literally. I have SO MANY friends who were ready to listen, offer advice, tell me it was going to be ok and even a comment from my daughter suggesting my #1 remedy--have a beer in the bathtub!
Thank you to Eliane, Courtney, my Mom, Gina, Sarah, and Sonja for calling and letting me talk. Thank you for your wisdom and your listening ears and your assurance that INDEED, I would live through this one too. Thanks for analyzing and re-thinking my thoughts and actions and for affirming my decisions!
Merci Beaucoup to SUE for singing two songs for me--one in French--on my voice mail--they really DID make me happy!
A big thank you to my very dear old friends at Saddleback Church. I had to go by and pick something up there today...thanks to Jan, Steve, Gina and Joan for giving me such a sweet welcome. And, a special thanks to Liz for listening to me, laughing with me and loving me through my tears. (Bet she was sorry she asked how I was doing!)
It was a rough day...seriously, one of the hardest ones I can remember in a long time. I said a couple of times today that it's like childbirth--you forget that it hurts so much.
One thing I know now that I've lived through it a few times, is that life will go on. And that I will live through it. And that one day, it won't hurt anymore.
I am ending the day very grateful for true friendship. Very grateful for people who know me and love me and knew I was hurting....and cared for me today. I appreciate you all so much.
I end the night mildly disappointed that the World Series game was delayed. But that's all.
Disappointment is the nurse of wisdom...and I was nursed by the best today.
Honestly, I feel better already.
Of course, the bath and the beer didn't hurt either...

Disappointment

For YEARS I have said over and over again, "Expectations are planned disappointments." Wikipedia defines disappointment as the feeling of dissatisfaction that follows the failure of expectations to manifest.

This morning I am disappointed. Deeply. I am trying hard to process some of these feelings and I am realizing that it's not going to be easy. I have a much easier time with regret. Wikipedia defines regret as an intelligent dislike for personal past acts and behaviors. At least with my regrets, I know I did something I shouldn't have or made a poor decision and I OWN those mistakes and consequences. Much easier for me to accept and deal with my regrets.
Today I am overwhelmed with disappointment over situations and consequences that I didn't cause. I made good decisions, I did the right thing. I had hope and reasonable (not ridiculous) expectations of outcomes.
I am not sure I have ever been THIS disappointed. In just about every area of life.
The last couple of months have been crazy. Starting with the Dodgers' rise to the top only to be three games away from going to the World Series, and have it all disappear in front of my eyes. Nothing I could have done about that. But it sure was disappointing.
But that's an easy one. How about the value of my home, which was thought to be a "good investment" 2 1/2 years ago when I bought it? It is now worth roughly $150,000 less than what I paid and I am having a tough time making the payments these days. And, unfortunately, there is truly no way for me to get out from under it. HUGE disappointment.
Want more? The majority of my savings (including the small chunk left from my divorce settlement) has disappeared. Literally. "Lost" in the demise of the stock market last month. Almost everything. Where is it? I can't begin to figure that out. GIANT disappointment.
One more? Last night. A personal one. I forgot how much that kind of disappointment could hurt. My expectations definitely failed to manifest. Devastatingly disappointing.
I know that no one ever expects this kind of post from me. But once in a while I have to admit--to the world AND myself--that--despite plans, good intentions and hopeful expectations--life is not always good. It's often quite painful.
And that's truly disappointing.

Put it in your pantry with your cupcakes...

I am having a friend over to watch the World Series tomorrow. Of course, we are both BIG Dodger fans, so I asked Alanna if she might be able to make me some apropos cupcakes for the event. Wow Wow Wow! I am so impressed and so grateful!
What a special treat for our evening!
Check out more of Alanna's creations at laneybloggs.blogspot.com

My favorite one...Manny being Cupcake!

There's no place like HOME

I was doing things around my house when I realized it was past 6--and that the World Series had already started! I quickly turned on the TV and (to my GREAT disappointment) the Phillies were already up 2-0! (BTW-just the NAME Cole Hamels brings chills to me now...ugh!) But my question was...how did they get their runs?
Which made something inside me CLICK! Just the idea of "How did they get their runs?" is WHY I love baseball so much. (Well ONE of the reasons for sure!)
Here's what I mean:
If you turn on the Lakers game in the second quarter and the Lakers are up by 10, you know how they got there! They put the ball through the hoop, right? I am not a big basketball fan, obviously...I always figure you can turn on the last 2 minutes and see who wins...that's enough for me. (Sorry Shadi!)
And TO ME, the same is true with hockey...Second period, Ducks are up 2-0. How did they get their goals? They shot the puck into the net. Period. (Yeah, I know, they had a fist fight along the way, so that counts for something...)
But with baseball...ahhh....there are SO many different ways to score runs! You have to ask!! Heck, even these two by the Phillies (which I am still unsure of how they were scored) could have been earned any number of ways! A walk, a hit batter, a double, a scoring fly ball. It could have been a two run homer! It could be back to back home runs!! It could be a couple of hits and beautiful SQUEEZE play. And SO many other ways! THAT'S what makes it so fun to watch. It's NEVER the same game twice. And, we all know, it ain't over til it's over! (No clock to run out!)
I know, I know...and here I promised I'd TRY not to blog about baseball again. But please cut me a little slack today. For the love of God, I'm watching Tampa Bay (who?) play the team that brought tears to my eyes less than one week ago!!
And I still want to know how they scored their runs.
We're in the last few days of baseball and I'm soaking in every play, every run, every minute...
It's a long dark cold winter til Spring training.

Pumpkin Patch Kids

While growing up, my family had tons of annual traditions.
One really big one was going to the pumpkin patch each October.
There would always be pictures taken of the five sisters...

...and then, of course, there were a couple of (fantastic)
additions to the family who joined us in the fun.
Sometimes I miss those pumpkin patch days...
(yeah, not very often actually)

Eat Weigh Love

My friend Sarah and I met tonight for a FABULOUS dinner at Mozambique in Laguna. We enjoyed a bottle of chardonnay and shared seared ahi and grilled prawns and calamari! And we thoroughly enjoyed an INCREDIBLE bread pudding for dessert!
All the while we talked about the startling stock market, our mystifying mortgages, the demise of the Dodgers, and our ever-wavering weight issues! (And a lot of fun stuff too!!)
It was another GREAT night with Sarah and another magnificent experience at Mozambique!

The only way to make it through til Dodgers Spring Training...
and the rest of life too.

Go RAYS!

Please kick the CRAP out of the Phillies for me.

Yep, I think this will be the first time I ever rooted for the
American League team.
Hmm...how does "Root Root Root for the RAYS" work?
(Not very well...)
You gotta admit a Dodgers-Red Sox series
would have been a WHOLE lot more exciting...

Clip it good!

For YEARS I clipped these 'box tops' and sent them to school with my kids. Through the years I continued to clip them and sent them to my nieces and nephews for their schools.
Old habits die hard. I still clip them, but now I just keep them in a baggie in my kitchen drawer. I just can't throw them away...

So...I know there are still schools who would like to have these. Would you like them or do you know where I might be able to send them for the rest of my life?

Can you hear me now?

Ok, I think I'm covered.
As of last night, I now twitter and I'm Linked in too.
Of course you can always text me...or we can IM...or Skype.
But I'd kinda prefer you shoot me an email, comment on the blog or write on my wall.

I think my mother might be the only person left who will still have to call me on the phone.

Not quite Iowa...

I had someone take this picture of me in Kenya.

...I wanted it to look like this...

Tagging along...

I have been 'tagged' by Sue to share seven unknown facts about myself. Seriously? As if there is anything I have not shared in the last two years on this blog? Hmm.. Ok...see how many you didn't already know...

1. I was accepted to UCLA as well as Woodbury University (with scholarship) right out of high school. Buy me a drink and I'll tell you why I didn't go to either one.
   
2. I wish we didn't keep track of age. I feel more like I am 28 today than I did when I was 28.
   
3. I can belch louder than anyone you've ever heard. And I love to do it.
   
4. I worked for ONE DAY at Sizzler on El Toro Road. I hated it so much, I put the uniform by the front door the next morning with a note telling them I wouldn't be back.
   
5. I would do my current job for free, I love it so much.
   
6. I would rather go out to breakfast than dinner! It's SUCH a treat for me to have bacon and eggs and hash browns (with ketchup!) or a big Dutch Baby pancake!
   
7. I wish I spoke another language. And that I could play the piano. And that I weighed 120.
   

I tag Gina, Sarah, my Dad, Eliane, my friend at Med school, Lisa B and Las Vegas Sarah!

Blackberry Jam

What I am going to buy with all that money I saved
on World Series tickets.

Allison Wonderland

I miss my daughter tonight.
You can't imagine how proud I am of her...
Check out her Kenya blog HERE

NLCS Game 4

My sentiments exactly...

Took my baseball-loving friend, Lisa up to game four...
Yeah, you know the rest. Last night's game was one of those that, if it were one played in the middle of July, you'd leave the place saying, "That was a GREAT game!" Home runs, incredible diving plays...we went ahead, they went ahead, we gained the lead again...
But then we couldn't hold on. I think it was the first time I left the stadium with a loss since...well, it doesn't matter when. It hurt.

Game 5 is tomorrow night. Yes, I will be there.
It ain't over.

The Happiest Place on Earth!

Amen...
Heading up to Game 4...
Go Blue

Great comeback!

I just kept saying, "I can't believe the Dodgers are in the NLCS!"
Unbelievable night...GREAT game!

With my friend Sharel

First pitch(es) thrown by Steve Garvey, Ron Cey, Davey Lopes
and Bill Russell! Does it get any better that!?

Yep, that's the full moon over Dodger Stadium.
Add to that a 7-2 win over the Phillies to go 2-1 in the series...
and you've got yourself the perfect night.
Go Blue!