Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Today as I was driving through Dublin, CA the streets were blocked off and there were people everywhere! There is a festival in the City of Dublin every year to celebrate St. Patrick's Day!  

Today would have been my first husband, Roland's, birthday...he would've been 57 years old today. He will always hold a special place in my heart......he died at the age of 30, when our children Jackie and Christopher were just 2 yrs. old and 3 months old.

Today I started clearing out the kitchen cabinets. I've taken all the food items out and separated them. One pile to bring to work to share with my coworkers. Some of the girls are quite the cooks and would like to take some of my spices. Another pile is to bring to church to donate and the third pile is to bring to the Blue Star Moms storage locker to donate to the troops.

Two Realtors came to look at the house today with their clients.  Four or five days ago a couple came through and said they were putting an offer on the house, but we never heard anything back from them.  This week I have a painter coming in to give me an estimate to paint the family room a lighter color. People have trouble picturing it the way they want it...I'm hoping it'll help!  The house has been on the market five weeks now. Anytime I've sold in the past the houses were gone within a few days at most. This market is challenging to say the least!

Yesterday Linda had some of us "girls" over for breakfast. Janet, Eileen, Nan, Barbara, Linda, and I had a wonderful breakfast prepared by Linda!  Nan also brought a yummy quiche!  As we were talking we realized that most of us at the table would be leaving the area in the next few years.  Janet and Roland just bought a house in Colorado and will be putting her house on the market soon; Barbara and Bill will be staying till her husband retires, then will probably move somewhere out of state; Nan and Mike are looking at Idaho; Linda and Dave are going to Montana to look for a place in a couple of months. Eileen and Tommy have also considered moving out of the area, depending on where their kids land and the health of their Moms. It's difficult to make a go of it in CA, especially with the economy the way it is now.

I can eat again!!!

Tuesday night was my last meal till late this afternoon because I had to prepare for a colonoscopy today. My sweet friend Eileen drove me to Kaiser in Antioch and waited while I had the procedure done. All went well....they told me I have diverticulitis, so I'll have to read up on it.....They put me to sleep during the procedure...when I woke up I felt as though I'd taken a good nap!

After I got home I had a Lean Cuisine somewhat bland meal...didn't want to shock my system by eating what I really wanted (a spicy burrito!).  A little while later, my hairdresser/friend Norma called and asked if I was going to make it to my hair appointment. I guess there was some miscommunication, I thought we had scheduled it for Friday. Since I felt fine, I drove over and was able to get my hair cut today, which always makes me feel better!

When I was done there I went to the yogurt shop downtown and treated myself to a frozen yogurt with chocolate chips, blueberries, chocolate sauce and caramel sauce....a little bit of heaven!!!

I received my order from Amazon.com of the "china keepers" I had purchased, so I have started packing all of the china and other dishes. It's nice to pack them in these containers.....they will stay clean and "safe"!  I didn't order quite enough of them, so I placed another order tonight for just a few more.

Change in plans!

So now we've decided that Andrew will fly home Friday, March 30th to help move everything out of the house!  The move is scheduled for Tuesday, April 3rd. Then we will both fly back to the Netherlands with the pets April 5th.  Because of these changes I have to bring the pets to the Vet on the Friday Andrew is coming back to the States.  I have an appointment for the morning. That afternoon I have to bring the paperwork I receive at the Vet to the State Department in So. San Francisco, so Andrew and I will do that together in the afternoon. At first I was concerned about the timing, but it will actually work out perfectly so I only have to make one trip up there!

It seems as though God's hand has been there the entire way ever since we started planning this move. There have been so many things that have happened that the Lord has guided us through!

Last night my friend Kristen and I went to dinner to celebrate her first day as a Tour Guide.  She did a tour in San Francisco and had a great day!  When she was telling me about the tour it made me want to go on one myself...there's so much to see in this area!!!

Tomorrow my friend Eileen will be driving me to Antioch for the colonoscopy....not looking forward to that, but it'll be good to get it over with....and it'll give Eileen and I time to chat in the car!

We had two offers on the house a week and a half ago. They both pulled out of the deal, and now there is supposedly another offer in the works. We lowered the price last weekend after having it on the market for a month. This certainly is a different market than I've ever dealt with when selling other homes.......we just need to be patient, and I need to trust God that it'll all work out....

My piano has a new home!

Taken in front of the house!  God's artistry takes my breath away sometimes!

Yesterday, my brother-in-law, Dan had a piano mover come and pick up my piano and had it brought to their house.  It was a bittersweet moment watching it go, but knowing it is going to a home where it will be enjoyed for years to come.

My in-laws invited me over to watch my niece play basketball and then have dinner with them last night!  What a pretty drive to the other side of the Bay!

On my way over I was thinking about the value of this property! Wonder if anyone's ever considered rebuilding the prison elsewhere and selling this property?!?!?  I would think the State would make a killing on this real estate!!!

My niece and her team played a great, fair game of basketball!  She scored 2 baskets (the only 2 they scored!!!). The other team did a few unethical moves (elbowing, pulling on shirts, etc....)

My piano's new home!

We had a delicious meal of lovingly prepared lasagna! After dinner, my youngest niece set up a store. She provided "money" for myself and her Mom, Michelle. We were able to purchase several items at the "store" including a jump rope, a book, etc!

Afterwards both nieces put on a concert for me with their fiddles!!!  The youngest has just started playing....They both played very well!!!

This morning Daylight savings time began. For the first time ever, I forgot to set my clocks ahead! Soooo, I was about 30 mins. late getting to work....oooooops!  When I got to work I noticed there was an abundance of staffing (which nevvvver happens!), so I decided to use my vacation time and leave for part of the day. I was able to plant the flowers I've had sitting there for a week and get the rest of my laundry done.  At around 1000hrs, I took Sammy out of the house so that some realtors who had called the night before could come in and look at the house and yard without the dog barking.  Sammy and I went to the park, where we both took a nap in the car! We went for a short walk around the park after that.......It is such a beautiful park and so well maintained......Every time I walk through the memories come flooding in of the kids playing soccer, baseball and football there!  The sounds and smells come back to me and makes it feel like just yesterday even though many years have passed....

At noon I brought Sammy back home and left for work where worked the rest of my shift and then some overtime on swingshift.

Pregnancy blood test?!?! Are you serious?!?! LOL!

This morning I had an eye exam. I want to get all my medical things done before I leave the States! Afterwards I met a couple of friends for coffee. I decided to have an iced mocha coffee...It was my first "fancy" coffee drink in years!  It was absolutely delicious!  I had a 1/2 caffeine, 1/2 decaf. About an hour later I was so shaky I could hardly function....didn't help that I forgot to eat too!  Oooops!

Soooooo, Kaiser called and left a message a couple of days ago saying I need to go in for a blood test. I called to find out what it's for, and they said because I'm scheduled for a colonoscopy this week I have to have a blood test to make sure I'm not pregnant before they can go ahead with the procedure!  I asked them if they realized I'm almost 55, and they said "you never know about these things"!!!  So, I went ahead and had the test today. I got there at 5:55, they closed at 6:00 p.m....whew!

A couple of days ago I had the prescription filled for the "Colyte". It's a medication you have to drink starting the night before the procedure. It is literally a one gallon jug!  EWWW! I am not looking forward to that! They warned me that it tastes terrible.....

A friend of mine is going to drive me to Kaiser and back home Thursday morning, since they put you under for this. Thank God for good friends!!!

As of two days ago we had two offers on our house. We decided to counter the offer with the people that had a nice down payment and easier loan to qualify with.  Unfortunately today they backed out of the deal. So, we essentially lost both offers. I feel bad about turning down the other offer, apparently this will be their first home purchase.....

So, tomorrow we start over......we've lowered the price of the house a bit. My realtor will be holding an Open House tomorrow. We'll see what happens!!!

Trip to Yountville

Today some of my fellow Blue Star Moms and I (Linda-today is her birthday!!!, Eileen, Barbara, Becky and I) took a trip to the Yountville Veteran's Home. We met at the storage lockers and loaded up Linda's truck with boxes and boxes of Girl Scout cookies and boxes and boxes of candy. The veterans really appreciate receiving what the Blue Star Moms bring.

After we left the Veteran's home, we went to lunch. We decided on "Hurley's" restaurant for lunch

I had the butternut squash ravioli!  I think Linda ordered the best lunch at the table...she had a grilled cheese sandwich made with smoke mozzerella cheese, sundried tomatoes, kalamata olives, etc!  

After lunch, we did a little shopping. Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera with me, so I had to take pictures with my funky phone...this is the best I could do!  This is a picture of an $11,500 painting!

 Not sure of the price on this one, but I imagine it was in the same range!  I was politely asked by someone at the store to not take pictures...ooops....!!!

We decided to celebrate Linda's birthday with a bottle of champagne from Domaine Chandon!

Barbara brought some sugar cubes and some bitters she put in each glass of champagne...very tasty!!

When we got back to the storage lockers we all worked on putting some boxes together for Kevin and his guys who are still in Afghanistan. I am so blessed to have such wonderful, beautiful friends!

Yami Yami is yummy yummy!

This past week has been hectic and tiring, but I finally feel like I'm back on schedule with my sleep.

Thursday after work I met some friends (Cathy, Sally, Tracy, and Karen) for dinner. It was so nice to spend time with them and catch up. It's starting to get difficult to see people knowing it could be a very long time before I see them again...if ever!....Sometimes I wonder if maybe we should live life in this state of mind so we don't take people for granted.....

Friday morning I met some friends (Linda, Janet, Nan and Barbara)  for breakfast where we had lattes!

Friday night I took my daughters, Jackie and Amanda, out for dinner to celebrate their birthdays!  We had a nice dinner....it was so nice to have a girl's night!!!  The food and atmosphere at this restaurant was wonderful...I highly recommend it!

this is the Yami yami roll---it is delicioussssss!

Green tea ice-cream.....hmmm....it's "different"!

Yesterday I was finally able to take my car in to have it looked at. They replaced the spark plug Allen wasn't able to get at (didn't have the right tools) and it's running great!  I had to walk home and back because I had to get the dog out so people could come in to look at the house.  It took me about an hour and a half to walk home.  I hadn't walked along that road since my accident...and I had to go by where I got hit. Kevin happened to call me on my cell literally as I was about to cross that street. So, I stopped to talk to him before crossing. I was on the phone with him for about a half hour. By the time I got off the phone with him I had wrestled up enough nerve to cross the street. On the way back to pick up my car it was a little better. It still makes me very nervous being around a lot of traffic, I usually try to avoid it!

The daffodils are blooming...they are so pretty!!!

I've always loved this tree....the trunk gets more interesting every year!

Spring is coming!

And for dinner.....Ok.....yes, I'm addicted!  "LION KING"!!!