Crazy Weather

What crazy weather we are having!! Hot, then rain and cold, then nice weekend, lots of sunshine. Today the sun was shining, however the wind was blowing and a little cool. Earlier the wind was going crazy outside. The flags were whipping around and there was a lot of noise. It has died down. I didn't look at the weather report today so I'm not sure what it is suppose to be doing. I suppose we probably shouldn't be complaining as the days will warm up and we'll be complaining of the heat. :)

I went out and did some errands this morning. Denise called while I was out so I called her back when I got home and talked to her for a little bit. Last evening I was trying to order some makeup off a website that she uses and I kept getting an error message. So I called her to help me with it. She didn't answer her phone so I left a message. She was calling me back today. I figured out this morning what I was probably doing wrong and sure enough when I went back on the website today and did what I didn't do last night, it worked. It was something really simple that I wasn't doing. LOL!!

Denise told me business at their coffee shop is really picking up so she is going in each morning for a few hours to help Stephen out. She works in the shop Wednesday afternoons so Stephen can have some study time and prepare for Wednesday night bible study. She has been doing quite a bit of baking for the shop, however is going to have to cut back on doing that since she'll be working in the shop more. One morning a week she has a ladies bible study to go to and one day a week she goes to Sam's for supplies. She has to drive over to the next town to go to Sam's so she has a full schedule.

Monday is laundry day, got most of it done and everything folded and put away. Just have to do my knit tops which I'll do tomorrow. I panfried some pork chops for dinner and steamed some carrots.

Bekah went to a prom Saturday night. I forgot to ask particulars about it today. She was all excited to be going. Nathan is anxious for school to be out. Just 5 more weeks!!

I worked at my craft table for a little bit this afternoon. Actually got 3 cards made. I'll have them up on my card blog later.

That's all for now.

Catching Up

We went from HOT to cold. The beginning of the week it was so hot, then Wednesday evening a breeze came in. It actually got quite cold Wednesday night and Thursday morning. Thursday the sun was out, yet it was breezy. And then this morning we had rain. Just a trace according to the weather service. There was new snow in the Sierras. It stayed cool and periods of being overcast and the sun shining. The weekend is suppose to be nice, in the 70's.

I haven't done anything exciting for dinner the last couple of nights. Last night I made some hamburger patties, after I browned them I mixed a can of mushroom soup with some water and added it to the patties. They simmered until the meat was cooked through. Tonight we had left over hamburger patties and left over ribs from Wednesday night.

I went down to The Paper Garden (the stamp store I shop at) and did a make 'n take. It was a gift card holder. We have a few high school graduations coming up besides my grandson's so wanted to get the template to make these. They are pretty easy to do. I'll take a picture of the one I made and put it on my card blog. I have a card to post over there too. Hopefully, I'll get to it tomorrow.

I stopped at Nagato's Sukiyaki for some lunch after I left The Paper Garden. The Paper Garden is in the Town and Country Village at Fulton and Marconi in Sacramento. Nagato's is in the shopping strip across Marconi from Town and Country.

This restaurant has been in the same location for over 30 years. I am not sure exactly how long it has been in business actually. My younger sister and her family lived in Sacramento in the '70's and early '80's. I was living in Fresno at the time and Denise and I would come up to visit my sister before we moved here in 1980. A couple of times my sister, her husband and I went to Nagato's for dinner when I'd come for a visit. The first time Gerry and I went out to dinner by ourselves before we got married was to Nagato's. It was the test to see whether or not he would eat rice and Japanese food or any kind of Asian food for that matter. Obviously, he passed the test. :) We started going back to Nagato's a couple of years ago. It hasn't always been convenient to go there from where we've lived. They are one of the few authentic Japanese restaurants in town. It is family run. One of the waitresses there has got to be in her 80's. She has been there the whole time I've known about this restaurant. The service is slow, however, the food is pretty good.

I've been having some episodes of being light headed. I forget what I'm not suppose to do like bend my head back to look at something up high or bend over looking down. I took a Dramamine last night before I went to bed. It is such a pain!!

Last night I chatted with a friend who is in Korea right now teaching school. Actually Lee Ellen is the daughter of some friends my ex and I knew when we lived in Oceanside, John & Sharrill Johnson. At the time they were in the Marines and had been stationed in Hawaii. They attended the church my mom went to and I had met them on one of my trips home. They got transferred to Camp Pendleton and bought a house in the same subdivision where my ex and I lived. In fact, lived across the street from us. We became very close friends and Sharrill and I spent a lot of time together. They had 2 children at the time, Jerry and Debbie. The day Sharrill went into labor with Lee Ellen, I sat at their kitchen table with Sharrill timing her contractions. John barely made it home from the base to get Sharrill and take her to the base hospital. She delivered soon after she got to the hospital. The road to the rear gate of Camp Pendleton was narrow and bumpy and we use to laugh that it was traveling that road that caused her to deliver so quickly. It was also quite a ways to the base hospital from where we all lived.

Lee Ellen became "my girl". I would go over to see Lee Ellen every chance I got, holding her the whole time I was at their house. If she was asleep, I'd go in and take her out of her crib. I told her last night I spoiled her rotten. :) Four days before her 2nd birthday Denise was born. We were in the hospital for 5 days and when we got home, Sharrill, her mother, her sister and Lee Ellen were Denise's first visitors. Sharrill held Lee Ellen up to see Denise laying in her crib and said "say hi to Denise". Instead of saying "Denise", Lee Ellen said "Neceey" and that became her nickname. She doesn't like to be called that now, sometimes I slip up and call her that. :)

Some 20 plus years ago, Lee Ellen was in college at Pt. Loma Nazarene University. During their spring break the choir that she was part of came to the church we attended at the time to do a concert. I went up to her when I realized she was in the choir. I hadn't seen her since she was about 2 and a half or 3 years old. She remembered who I was. Unfortunately, we lost track of each other. I saw her as a friend on a young lady's Facebook who use to go to our church. Jody had grown up in the same church that the Johnson family attended in Garden Grove, CA and knew Lee Ellen.

She's been in Korea for 4 months teaching conversational English to 6th, 7th and 8th graders in a public middle school and all girls Catholic school. She is there on a program through the country of Korea that the Korean Nazarene College coordinates. She lives in one of the dorms on the college campus. She is enjoying it, however, was really homesick and so we chatted for quite some time last night. We have a lot of years to catch up. I've emailed Sharrill and Lee Ellen said she was going to email her mom so hopefully I will hear from Sharrill.

Well, I think I am going to go to sleep. Have a great weekend and will be talking to you later!

Weather, Dinner and Other Stuff

It was another hot day. The Sacramento Bee this morning said it was 94 degrees yesterday. Today it was suppose to be in the 80's. I think quite possibly it was in the 90's again.

Gerry came in a little bit ago from getting the mail and he said there was a hint of a breeze outside. So maybe it really is going to cool down tonight and tomorrow. We slept a little better last night. He went over to storage and brought the fans home except that he didn't get the one I use in my office. I have a ceiling fan in my office which helps. In the summer I have the ceiling fan going plus a table top fan. The sun beating through the window makes it unbearable in here. We even have sun screens on the window, it doesn't help a whole lot. Part of the problem is that the air conditioning unit is at the back of the mobile, the mobile is a double wide. For some reason on the half where my office is, very little air or heat for matter, reaches this room. Gerry's office right next to mine and on the other half of the mobile is toasty hot in the winter with the heater on and freezing cold when the air is on. He has something blocking the vent in his office. It is totally frustrating.

For dinner tonight Gerry fixed some baby back ribs on the gas grill. I forgot to take pictures. In the summer time we use the grill a lot. They sure were good and messy too!!

Tomorrow, Thursday it is back to Bible Study. We took a 2 week break for Easter and spring break. We have 3 more weeks to go for this year, our last class is May 14th.

Thursday also means we pick up Andy from school. We haven't had to do that for 2 weeks. One week was spring break for them and then last week Thursday Aunty Elizabeth was able to pick him up. Melody, his older sister, also has a short day. Their school has Open House tomorrow night. Andy gets out at 12:20 pm and Melody gets out at 1:10 pm. So we'll have to hang out for 40 minutes or so.

We got Nathanael's graduation invitation in the mail today. Denise made them and they turned out so good! She probably used Creative Memories Storybook digital photo computer software. She used some of the photos that were taken for his senior photos. She does such a fantastic job with this program. She put together a Storybook of his senior photos and posted the same photos on her Facebook. I am going to order the Storybook. On her Facebook today she said she was putting together an digital album of memorabilia of his high school years.

Well, just 6 more weeks until graduation. The time will go quickly, I think.

I just turned off the air and opened up the doors. There is a breeze out there!!

I'm off to get my things ready for tomorrow. Chat with you all later.

It Is Too Hot!!!

Here it is mid April and we are having 90 degree plus temperatures. It is just too early for this heat!! Yesterday it got up to 92 or something like that and today it is suppose to be the same. Supposedly there is a high pressure sitting over California and it is not allowing the ocean breezes to come in.

However, according to the weather service, by the end of the week a cold front will come in from the Gulf of Alaska and cool things down. There even is a chance of rain for Thursday night and Friday.

Earlier I went to Bel Air for a few things, stopped at the post office and picked up a couple of pairs of pants that I had hemmed. When I drove into the park and headed to our mobile, I noticed that our flags hanging in front of the mobile are straight down. There is not even a hint of a breeze out there.

I mentioned in my post about my granddaughter that I was going to download some pictures to my blog that Denise put on her Facebook. Well, I got them saved to my computer, however the pictures are small. I tried to resize them and they got distorted so I guess I am not going to be doing that.

I am going to fix a salad for our dinner tonight. It is just too hot to cook. I got some spring greens, tomatoes, mushrooms, and cucumbers. I have some red onion left over from the broccoli salad that I can add to it. I got some french bread too. I need to go take a chicken breast out of the freezer so it can be grilled later to add to the salad. Well, I'm hoping there is some there. I didn't get any thinking we had some so I better go check that before I forget.

Here's a little something to share. It may not be of interest, however, today would have been my father's 109th birthday. He passed away in May 1981 at 81 years of age. Yesterday was the 7th anniversary of my mother's passing. She was 87 years old. I still miss them so I think about these two days.

Hope you are enjoying your day whereever you are.

My Granddaughter's Blog

Just a quick post. My granddaughter, Rebekah-Elizabeth Noe'lani Lane, has a blog (actually 3 of them) that I just added to my blog list. She writes stories. Two of her blogs are about her writings. The one I added seems to be the one she updates. Her posts are funny and cute and she has a unique way of expressing herself. She will be 16 years old the end of June, has her learner's permit and she is learning to drive. I can't wait to see her next month. I told her she could be our guide around Enterprise and that way she will get more driving experience.

My daughter posted some new pictures of Bekah on her Facebook. I'll see if I can download them to my blog.

I chatted with my grandson last night on Facebook. He went with some friends from school to Florida for spring break. He got a tattoo while he was there. He sent a link to a picture taken that shows where it is. It doesn't surprise me too much that it was put in the particular location. :) He said his parents were ok with it. I am so looking forward to seeing him next month. I said something to him about referring to him as "my baby boy" since he was an infant. He laughed and said he always would be that to me. I somehow think he is humoring his tutu (grandmother). :)

It's warm here so I am up early. Couldn't sleep. Now I am hungry so think I'll go get some breakfast and read the paper. It's laundry day too! Ugh!!

The Weekend

Yesterday, Saturday, I went to the card swap that I've written about on my card blog. It was a great time. 15 ladies from around the Sacramento area were there. I just got done posting all the cards we made so be sure to hop over to that blog and check them out. I'm tired now, it is a very long post. I actually did 2 different posts.

It is a very warm day here in Sacramento. Yesterday was warm too, however, I think today is hotter. I have my overhead fan going, however, I don't think it is doing any good. I can't eat dairy products, yet some ice cream sure sounds good!! :)

I turned the air conditioner on in the van leaving church. Gerry doesn't mind the heat as much as I do. I can feel my feet and hands swelling as I sit here. Don't like that at all!!! I opened up the windows, there's no breeze outside though. Its too early to be getting this hot already.

Last night after Gerry got home from his ride and had his shower, we went out for some dinner. We ended up going to Rey Azteca, a Mexican restaurant in Carmichael. He had a carnitas dinner and I had 2 soft carnitas tacos and a side order of rice. Their food is ok.

We went to BJ's for lunch in Roseville after church. They have good food. They brew their own beers which we don't care anything about. I had a hot meatloaf sandwich which was a slice of french bread with 2 thick pieces of meat loaf on it, some white cheddar mashed potatoes with brown gravy over the whole thing and steamed vegetables. It was fantastic. I brought the rest of the meatloaf home. Gerry had a stuffed baked potato. They have a dessert that is so good, we've only had it once. It is called pazookie which is a huge chocolate chip cookie with ice cream and hot fudge over it. We are always too stuffed from our meal to have dessert.

Well, it is getting really warm in my craft room/office. It faces the west. I am going to find a cooler place like sit at the breakfast bar and read the Sunday paper.

Saturday Morning

I can't believe I am up on a Saturday morning at 6:30 am. Actually I've been awake since about 5:15 am.

Gerry is doing a ride around the Sutter Buttes this morning. I'm not sure if that is Yuba County or Colusa County. Anyway, it is north of here. The first weekend we had the Nissan and went on that long ride, we drove through there so he could see what it is like. It is where we saw the camel, miniature horses, etc. He is riding his single speed bike so that should be interesting. There aren't any real bad climbs so he should be fine. Well, the last I heard he was riding his single speed. He might have changed his mind this morning. He came to tell me goodbye at 5:15 am, I was getting up to go potty. I went back to bed, however, I was awake so just decided to get up.

My friend Michelle and I are going to a card swap in Rancho Cordova. I've mentioned it on my card blog. She will be over a little after 9 am. The swap starts at 10 and goes to 4 pm. There are 18 ladies signed up for it. We are doing potluck for lunch.
Here is my broccoli raisin salad that I made last night. This is so simple to make and is one of Gerry's favorites. I used 3 heads of broccoli, using just the florets. Added about half a package of golden raisins, some red onion diced (I don't measure so it was a small piece that I cut off and diced), about 1/4 of a package of pecans, chopped in my food chopper and the dressing is Hidden Valley Cole Slaw dressing. The dressing is what really makes this salad. Mix everything up and chill until ready to serve. I like to make this the night before and then before serving add a little more dressing if needed. Whenever I've taken this to a potluck, I come home with a empty bowl. I'll dish up some for Gerry so he can have it when he gets home this afternoon.

Yesterday when I drove out to go do a few errands, the accident scene was all cleaned up and unless you knew exactly where the bus bench had been, one would not know anything happened there. Usually around here flowers and other items soon appear at an accident scene. There wasn't anything there that I could see. Actually next to the storage place is an auto body shop, a drive way and then the pest control company. When I came back home I did see a young black man walking over towards the spot and sit down on the curb.

I got the new CD's put on my Mp3 player yesterday afternoon. Then I decided to remove some CD's from the carrier we have in the car and put the new CD's in it. Well, that led to other things and now I have a lot of the CD cases spread out in the living room waiting for me to place the removed CD's back in and get them organized again. I found a couple of CD's in the carrier that weren't on my Mp3 player so I did that too.

Denise called while I was playing with the CD's. I was sitting at the breakfast bar and my phone was by my computer, so I almost missed her call. She and Stephen were going out for dinner at either a Korean restaurant or Japanese restaurant. One of the towns that is closer to Ft. Rucker than Enterprise is, has several international restaurants. They've eaten at a Thai restaurant. She told me there's a small Japanese restaurant in Enterprise and on Thursday she went up there and got lunch for she and Stephen. She said it was pretty good so will have to try it while we are there visiting.

Dinner was quick last night. I've been hungry for a steak so I panfried a rib steak for myself. Gerry doesn't usually eat a steak unless its filet mignon. There was some Redondo sausage from Hawaii in the freezer so Gerry fixed that for him. I had gotten a hot one for him the last time I was at Oto's and bought portuguese sausage. I fixed rice and steamed some crook neck squash.

Well, it's almost 7 am so I better go get some breakfast and start getting ready. Have a great day and I will blog about the card swap on my card blog later.

Our Neighborhood In The News

Last night we went to a Southern Gospel Music concert at our church. The Beene Family from Tennessee were there. The concert started at 7pm and ended before 9pm. We stuck around to visit and purchase CD's.

We left there and headed home. Our church is in Roseville on Main Street and Foothills Blvd. To come home we travel south on Foothills which turns into Roseville Road at Cirby. We got to Madison Avenue in North Highlands and made a left hand turn. Jackson Street where we live is 2 traffic lights from Roseville Road and Madison. As soon as we made our turn we noticed lights flashing from law enforcement patrol cars. There were cars blocking the road at Air Base Road with crime tape across the road. The SAFE Credit Union corporate offices are right there so we turned into the parking lot of the credit union, drove through the lot and exited at Polk Street which is the street before Air Base. That takes us down to Myrtle and we can reach Jackson from the south. When we got to the driveway of our mobile home park, we noticed that Jackson was also blocked off and could see crime tape from one side of the street to the other. There is a mini mart on the corner of Madison and Jackson. There are always people milling around there and we thought either there was a shooting or robbery or some kind of crime that happened at the mini mart.

Our neighborhood is not the best and the sheriff's helicopter is always up in the air circling. We like our park or we wouldn't have moved here.

Anyway, Gerry went online and found the reason why law enforcement was blocking the streets. You can read it here by clicking on to this link.
http://cbs13.com/local/Bystander.Fatally.Struck.2.987044.html

Across Madison from the mini mart is a self-storage business. Next to the storage place is a pest control business. The bus bench referred to in this article is in front of the pest control business. We live on the south side of Jackson, a half block from the mini mart.

The kid on the motorcycle is 17 years old so still a minor. His case probably will be handled through adult court. It will initially be handled through juvenile court, where I retired from. I am so thankful I don't work there any longer.

On a much more pleasant note, the concert last night was outstanding. This is the second time we've heard the Beene's. They were at our church 2 years ago and last summer. We missed them on that visit. I bought their 4 newest CD's and now need to get them downloaded to my Mp3 player. We have an auxliary jack in the Nissan that we can plug the player into so we don't need to take the heavy case of CD's with us on our trip.

I am off to do a couple of errands and I will be able to see the accident scene. I've been at my craft table and will have some projects to post on my card blog. Probably do that this afternoon.

This Lady Can Sing!

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=94936

A 47 year old single woman from Scotland appears on Britain's Got Talent, the UK version of American Idol. Gerry sent me the link and then this morning she was being discussed on the Today show with Kathie Lee and Hoda. This will absolutely amaze you!! She was being made fun of until she opened up her mouth and began to sing. You may have already seen this.

Cold Windy Day

I knew soon as I took the flannel sheets off of our bed, it would get cold. The wind has been pretty strong today and its cold. Gerry was going to ride his bike and go do some errands. He decided it was too windy to do that. So instead we went together in the Nissan.

We drove over to Roseville and stopped at DMV first. We have personalized license plates that were on the Ford wagon. We had to wait until we got the registration on the Nissan before we could put our plates on. Gerry did that a couple of weeks ago, just had not gotten the other plates dropped off at DMV.

From there we drove over to Whole Foods which is across Roseville Parkway from the Galleria. In case you don't know, Whole Foods is a large grocery store selling natural and organic food items. The Roseville store is new and much larger than the store in Sacramento. They have a large food court and we both got a teriyaki bowl for lunch and ate it there. Gerry had his with brown rice. Gerry had a few items to get there after we had lunch.

Then we drove to REI, a couple of blocks away. This is Gerry's favorite store. :) He had ordered a bike jersey online, didn't like it so wanted to return it. They had bike shoes on sale so he got himself a pair. One of the pairs he has is coming apart. I wanted to look at some Keen sandals to wear on our trip. Gerry bought me a pair of Keen's last fall and they are the most comfortable shoes I have ever worn. I wore them all winter long with Smart Wool socks. Keen's has a new slide style out that I had first seen at the Arden store. Roseville didn't carry that particular style so we left there and drove to the Arden store. I tried on the new style and liked them, however, the footbed was made from man made leather like material and I thought I would not be comfortable if my feet perspired wearing that particular style. I tried on two other styles and ended up getting a pair just like my sandals only as a slide.
Here is a front view of them. I wasn't sure about the closed toes. I don't like my feet all closed up in the summer time. That's the island girl in me. I think these will be alright.

Here's a side view. They are black like my sandals. I don't know if you can see that the top is laced, you pull on the lacing to tighten it or pull the lacing out to loosen. They really are super comfortable.

Creamy Chicken & Pasta Bake

I found this recipe in the Spring issue of Kraft's Food & Family magazine. According to the article, this dish has less than 500 calories. Browning the chicken.

The pasta happily cooking.

Adding the broccoli the last 3 minutes.

Combining the pasta and broccoli with the chicken and adding some of the mozzarella cheese.

Finshed dish. Sorry the picture is dark.

Dished up on dinner plate with some bread.

Spring greens salad with red wine vingarette. Other bowl is some olive oil with balsamic vinegar to dip the bread in.

Garlic Parmesan Bread from Bel Air.

Here's the recipe:

1 1/2 cups multi-grain rotini pasta, uncooked. (I used regular rotini)

1 small bunch broccoli, cut into florets (about 3 cups)

1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces

1/2 cup fat-free reduced-sodium chicken broth

2 oz (1/4 of 8 oz pkg.) Philadelphia Neufchatel Cheese, cubed

1 cup Kraft 2% milk shredded mozzarella cheese, divided

2 T Kraft grated parmesan cheese

Heat oven to 375 deg. Cook pasta in large saucepan as directed on package, adding broccoli for the last 3 minutes.

Meanwhile heat large nonstick skillet on medium-high heat. Add chicken, cook 3 minutes or until no longer pink, stirring frequently. Stir in broth; simmer 3 minutes or until chicken is done. Add Neufchatel cheese; cook and stir on low heat 1 minute or until melted. Stir in 1/2 cup mozzarella.

Drain pasta and broccoli. Add to chicken mixture; mix lightly. Spoon into 8 inch square baking dish; cover. (I used an 8x11 oblong baking dish).

Bake for 15 minutes or until heated through. Sprinkle with remaining cheeses. Bake, uncovered for 3 minutes or until cheese is melted. Let stand for 5 minutes before serving. Makes 4 servings.

This was good, however, I don't know that I will make it again. Gerry enjoyed it.

Bel Air's central bakery makes different artisan breads each day. Today they had the Garlic Parmesan bread. It was very good, moist and soft. Dipping it into the olive oil and balsamic vinegar made it all the better. For a salad we like the spring mix with a simple vingarette for a dressing. This red wine vingarette is actually by Wishbone and is fat-free.

There are several recipes in this issue that sound and look really good. I bookmarked a few of them to try, like for instance, Layered Strawberry Cheesecake Bowl (a trifle), Berry Cheesecake Parfaits, Peaches 'n Cream No-Bake Cheesecake, Fruit-Filled Coffee Cake, Easy Lemon Cake and Cheeseburger Joes.

Let me know if you try this recipe.

A Beautiful Spring Day

Today was a beautiful day, in the high 60's. I woke up this morning feeling better. I still have some light headedness and slight dizziness when I first sit up. However, compared to a week ago, things are looking up.

Gerry went on his usual Monday club ride. After I put a load of laundry on, I decided to go to Bel Air and get some groceries. An hour or so later and spending more money than I anticipated, I walked out. I had a list, I always think of something else when I get there that I didn't put on my list. Gerry was home soon after I got back.

I finished up the rest of the laundry; I still have a load of clothes in the dryer that I need to fold. I stripped the bed this morning so Gerry helped me put fresh sheets on after we had dinner. I finally took the flannel sheets off and put regular sheets on. I sure hope we don't have a cold spell and need to put the flannel ones back on. Actually I think we will just tough it out if it does turn cold again. I got warm last night and had most of the covers off of me this morning.

The wind did pick up earlier this evening. Hopefully it will pass quickly. The weather forecast did say it would be nice all week.

I found a blog today called 100 Hawaii Icons. The blogger is a photographer traveling around the islands taking pictures of the different icons or landmarks, like for instance the Aloha Tower, the Hawaiian Coat of Arms plaques that are on the gates at Iolani Palace, Hulihee Palace on the Big Island of Hawaii and the Royal Mausoleum, among others. He has photographed 23 of them so far. He has a little write up about the history and then he asks a question. He has a contest going on. Who ever answers the most questions will receive an 8x10 of one of his photos. Here's the blog address: http://100hawaiiicons.blogspot.com. It's quite interesting. A few of them I did not know about.

Resurrection Sunday

It was a beautiful day here in Sacramento today. The temperature was probably in the high 60's or low 70's. There were a lot of people at church today which is usually the case on Easter and Christmas. People that don't come any other time of the year will be in church on this day. Several families had extended family members there too.

There was a brunch and an egg hunt for the children.

For probably 8 years or so in the mid 90's through early 2000's, I led the Hospitality Ministry at church. One of our responsibilities was to do a Christmas brunch and Easter brunch. Saturday night I was thinking about so many Saturday nights when I was up late getting my contributions ready for brunch and then having to be at church early to get every thing set up and ready. I had a group of ladies that worked with me, however, being the ministry leader there was a lot more I had to make sure was done. We always had a sunrise service so it was making sure the coffee was ready for those at the sunrise service.

The Easter brunch was much more extensive than the Christmas brunch. For Christmas we had baked goods and fruit. For Easter it was scrambled eggs, sausage, bacon, sliced ham, egg casseroles, fruit salads or cut up fruit, enchiladas, baked goods, cold cereal for the children, fruit juices, and of course coffee. There was always so much food and much of it was gone. If there was anything left over, we took it down to the Salvation Army mission to be served to the homeless who would go there looking for a meal.

It was fun at first and then it got to the point where I dreaded it. I would make myself so crazy trying to get everything done that Gerry and I would be at each other's throats. The last year I did it, I did not even get to worship services that day and that of course did not make me happy. It was soon after that I resigned my position and actually left the church for about 3 years. There were other problems going on and I just got totally frustrated and felt like I could not be there even to worship. It was a dark period in my spiritual life.

It is amazing how God heals the hurts and restores the desire to live for Him. We are back worshipping at the same church. However, the desire to be a part of ministry or even to volunteer for anything is just not there any longer. So being at the brunch today was not something I gave a second thought to wanting to participate.

Today was about remembering our Saviour, how He died and arose for us. Resurrection Sunday is about hope and life. Brunches are just window dressing for the day.

I trust that you had a fantastic day!

A Little Bit of This and A Little Bit of That

One of my friends who has experienced episodes of vertigo told me her doctor told her she could take Dramamine for the dizziness. I emailed my doctor and asked him about it. He said the symptoms experienced with motion sickness for which Dramamine is taken, could be the same as those for vertigo. He said it would be alright to take Dramamine when needed. Gerry got me some Thursday night and I took a tablet before I went to sleep that night.

I slept pretty good and did not feel dizzy, however I didn't get up Friday morning until almost 10 am. I was a little dizzy when I first sat up. I still have the feeling of pressure in the back of my head and it has caused some feeling of being light headed. I will be so glad when this is over.

Gerry took me out to do some errands Friday afternoon. I will write about that on my other blog since it's card related.

He went for a bike ride today so I played at my craft table. It turned out to be a really nice day after all the rain we had earlier in the week. Friday was a nice day too after the rain stopped in the morning.

I hadn't been to Sushi Masa's for a couple of weeks so I went there for lunch today. It was the first time to drive in a week. Miyoko was working today. The waitress who works the evening and weekend shifts had to be out so Miyoko was filling in. We were surprised to see each other. Tomiko wasn't cooking. She only cooks on Tuesday and Wednesday lunch. She is suppose to be going to Japan some time soon.

They spoil me in there. Tomiko usually puts something extra on my plate when I go in. Since she wasn't there, Miyoko brought me some edamame and then a small dish of some vegetables. Don't know what it is called, it had a piece of carrot, a piece of potato (I think), a piece of the tofu that's used to make Inari sushi and some seaweed that was twisted in a knot. (At least I think it was seaweed). It was all really good. Then I ordered my usual Chicken Teriyaki.

I was going to go to Bel Air, however, felt a little weak so came straight home after I ate. I noticed there was a lot of leaves and tiny rocks on the floorboard on the driver's side of the van. So after I got home, I got a small wisk broom and cleaned that up. I need to get a dust buster out there and vaccum. I don't want that stuff to get ground in the carpet that it did the Ford wagon.

Some time ago on one of my shopping trips at Bel Air, I noticed some bottles of soda in a cold case that had some speciality sodas and beers in. I was surprised to see soda from Hawaii made by Waialua Soda Works located on the North Shore of Oahu. They make several flavors, Bel Air only carries the Root Beer and Cream Soda. I buy some whenever I can remember. I enjoy both flavors. They are made with cane sugar and have a very distinct flavor. I drank a bottle of the Root Beer earlier.
Here is the bottle. The bottle caps have a hula girl on the top. Gerry has saved some. He found a company online that will make a rear view mirror that fits on eyeglasses with bottle caps. He clips a mirror on his sunglasses when he rides his bike.

Tomorrow is Resurrection Sunday! I've always called it Easter Sunday like most people. When Denise and Stephen first started attending Calvary Chapel in Fayetteville, NC, I noticed that they referred to Easter as being Resurrection Sunday. I really liked that so I've started referring to Easter in the same way. It is really about Christ being resurrected from the grave after his crucifixion on Good Friday.

So however you celebrate it, have a fantastic day!

Care Package From Jalna

My Hawaii blogger friend, Jalna, sent me a care package of all kinds of goodies. The box arrived yesterday and I was the kid in a candy shop pulling the goodies from the box. Jalna blogged about finding some of these items and about how good they were. The package on the left with the Japanese characters was one of the items she blogged about. The package on the back side says they are fried rice crackers. I must tell you these are so delicious. They kind of melt in your mouth. Gerry said they were addicting. :) They come 6 crackers in individual packets. We finished one of them this afternoon. Then over on the right side are some chocolate fortune cookies. We had one of those after dinner. Again, so yummy!! The fortune cookies and the Senbei (Sesame Seed Tea Cookies) next to the fortune cookies are from the Ohta Wafer Company. This company has been in business for 69 years. Jalna blogged about them too. They only make small batches of their products and they don't distribute. To purchase their items, they have to be bought at their factory. The pile in the front is an assortment of different Japanese cookies/crackers and some dried salted ume (Japanese plums). And the container in the back are little morsels of whole grain corn puffs that are made in Hawaii.

She also included a package of instant Miso Soup, 4 packages of Korean style seasoned seaweed and a package of seaweed with sesame seeds. This is the black seaweed that is around sushi like California Roll. I take a piece of this, heat it for a few seconds over the gas flame on the stove and then put some rice in it and wrap it up. That's called musubi. Yum!!!!

Jalna has become a very special, dear friend. Her blog is http://jalna.blogspot.com. She calls herself a "wannabe photographer". Two of her friends have also become my friends Leslie, her blog is http://lesliekuba.blogspot.com and Erick http://erickt.blogspot.com. Jalna and Leslie work together and Erick is one of their photog buddies. Check out their blogs, their photos are fantastic. Someday I hope I will have the opportunity to meet them in person.

Jalna, Mahalo Nui Loa!!!

A Rainy Day

It has rained continuously all day today. I needed to go to Bel Air for some groceries; getting dressed and going out in the rain just wasn't too appealling. Gerry had to go out for a few errands so he stopped at Bel Air and WalMart on his way home for a few things we needed. Hopefully, we can go out tomorrow or Saturday. Gerry is not going to ride tomorrow if it's raining and ride on Saturday instead. Saturday its suppose to be a nicer day. Sure hope so.

Wednesday Ride with San Luis Obispo Bike Club

Gerry and Joe met up with the bike club members from San Luis Obispo Wednesday morning about 8:30 am. Seven of them went with Gerry on the short ride which turned out to be a total of 50 miles. The other 8 riders went with Joe on a 60 mile ride. There were actually 15 people that rode. The wife of one of the riders took the train to Truckee Wednesday morning and then rented a car and drove over to Lake Tahoe.

The American River Bike Trail is a total of 33 miles. It starts at Discovery Park on the banks of the Sacramento River and ends at Beals Point which is at Folsom Lake. Gerry told me his group rode at about 10 to 12 mph which is a lot slower than he normally rides. He said he enjoyed it though because he got to see parts of the trail that he hasn't really seen because he is usually whizzing by. He thoroughly enjoyed the ride and the SLO club members did too.

There were some concerns that it would rain, however, Gerry told me they just got a few sprinkles. Nothing to be concerned about. His group returned to the LaQuinta Hotel after 3 pm. Joe's group had gotten back earlier. One of the guys in Gerry's group is a diabetic and he got to not feeling well on the ride back. He was expecting to go no further than 20 miles. When the group got up to where they were going to get off the trail and go to Bella Bru's for lunch, it was a little after 10 and too early for lunch. So they decided to ride a few more miles over to the fish hatchery. That was probably too much for that particular rider to do. His wife was with the group on the long ride. One of the ladies in Gerry's group stayed with him and made sure he got back okay. His blood sugar was high when he got back so after taking his insulin, he slept for awhile.

The group invited Gerry and I to have dinner with them. They called Joe too and he met us at the restaurant. They had "happy hour" first at the hotel and then we walked over to El Coyote Junction restaurant just down the street from the hotel. The food was very good, I had a Taco Salad and Gerry had a combination dinner, chicken enchilada and something else (I don't remember). One of the couples had bought Gerry's lunch and the couple who sat across from us bought our dinner. They are a nice group of people. A couple of them invited us to come visit.

One of the couples has 5 acres outside of SLO and grows apples. They brought a big ziplock bag of dried apple slices. I was enjoying them so when we left the hotel to go to dinner, they gave the rest of them to us to bring home. They are really good and Gerry and I have been enjoying them.

The SLO club does a fundraiser the end of April called the Wildflower Century. I've mentioned to Gerry a few times he should do it because I want to go to Solvang which is south of SLO. For you that don't know, it's a Danish town situated in the Santa Inez Valley. Lots of neat shops and bakeries with the fantastic Danish pastry. That's really what I want. :)

Gerry

Yesterday Gerry wanted to go for a ride since he had missed his ride on Friday and Monday. Rain was predicted for late afternoon. He left home about 10 or so after of course, checking Accuweather. It was overcast a little.

Well, about 1 pm or so I noticed that it was getting darker outside and sometime before 2 pm I thought the wind is picking up and it sounds like its raining. I looked outside and sure enough it was raining buckets. According to Accuweather it wasn't suppose to rain until 4pm. A little after 2pm Gerry calls wanting to know if it was raining here at home. He was on his way home and had stopped at American River College which is about 3 or 4 miles from home. He said he was standing in a dry spot. Well, it was obvious the rain was not going to stop any time soon, so he said he was going to make a mad dash for home. I got him a towel ready to dry off and when he came in, he was drenched. So much for Accuweather's predicting when the rain is going to start. One of his shoes was filled with water. He went in and took a hot shower right away. Lord willing he won't be getting sick.

Last evening he was meeting a group of bicycle riders from a club in San Luis Obispo. They were coming to Sacramento to ride the American River Bike Trail. Gerry and another guy from the Bikehikers were going to lead the group. They were meeting at LaQuinta Hotel close to Discovery Park where they were going to start their ride this morning so they could get acquainted. Gerry wanted me to go with him so I tagged along. I think there were about 18 riders. Gerry was going to lead the short ride and Joe Perfecto was leading the long ride. There was much discussion about the rain today and whether they'd ride in the rain. They were meeting at 8:30 this morning.

The short ride was going to Bella Bru on Arden Way and Fair Oaks Blvd for lunch, about 14 miles from the start at Discovery Park. The long ride was going to Karen's in Folsom for lunch which is about 20 or so miles. Joe is one of the fast riders in the Bikehikers. He asked how fast did they ride and they told him 12 to 13 mph. They also wanted him to be in front so they could follow and not get lost. In the Bikehikers the leader of the ride rides in the back so a sweep can be made, making sure no one gets left behind. In the San Luis Obispo club, the leader rides in front and they regroup every so often. I was teasing Joe later about having to ride so slow and he said he was going to have to tighten down the brakes to hold him back. LOL!! He's a nice guy, a little strange.

The group that came seemed like a nice bunch of people, all about our age and older (60 to 80). They were going to Tower Cafe downtown for dinner. Several asked if we were going and we said no. It was a little after 6 by then and it was pouring buckets. Hopefully, they all found their way and didn't get turned around downtown. One of the couples wanted to go to a Mexican restaurant next door to the LaQuinta and asked us to go with them. They had all been drinking wine and driving around in the rain didn't sound like a good thing to do.

After Gerry and I left there we drove over to a Japanese restaurant on J Street, downtown, across from the Spaghetti Factory for dinner. A couple of years ago or so, this restaurant had a fire and was closed for a long time. We tried to go another time after they had reopened and couldn't find parking close by. It is very nice inside and looks like maybe run by Koreans. Gerry and I both had donburi, oyakadon for him and guydon for me. His was chicken and onion mixed together in an egg omelet over rice. Mine was beef, onion and green onions mixed together over rice. We also ordered a Philadelphia roll which is smoked salmon and cream cheese. The dinner was very good and we were stuffed. It is not a very big space so the tables are pretty close together. The table set up's were pretty interesting, they had upholstered love seats like against the wall for each table and then upholstered chairs on the aisle side for each table. They were very comfortable.

Well, I hope the ride goes well for the SLO club today. So far there's been no rain and that's a good thing for them.

My Mama's Fried Rice

Fried Rice is the absolute comfort food. Gerry and I both love it, however, I don't make it often enough. This was dinner one night last week. I make it the way I remember my mom making it. When its ordered in a Chinese restaurant, it usually has peas and carrots added to it. I don't like it that way. I believe in my mom's later years, she got to where she would add other things to her fried rice.

So here's how I do it. First, of course I cook the rice, usually 2 and a half cups for us. Then I chop up half of an onion and slice 5 or 6 strips of bacon. I start cooking the bacon and half way through add the onion.

When the bacon is cooked, I drain off most of the grease, leaving a tiny bit to scramble the egg.

I beat up 2 or 3 eggs, then add it to the pan with the bacon and onion to scramble. First I push the bacon and onion to the side. Some of the egg will run into the bacon and onion.

When the egg is just about cooked then I incorporate everything together.

Next the hot rice is added. At this point the fire can be turned off. I leave it on to make sure the egg is completely cooked.

Then I add salt, pepper, some garlic powder and shoyu and mix that together. As I mix it, I will add more shoyu so it has a nice brown color.

After that is all mixed up, then I add some chopped green onions. By this step the fire is off. The green onions are just gently folded through the rice mixture.

And the finsihed dish. We eat it in bowls with chopsticks. We do use bowls to eat from often and they are mostly bowls we've gotten from an Asian store somewhere. This one is a bowl I found in an Asian store at Jack London Square in Oakland, CA.

On several trips to visit my daughter and family, Denise has requested that I make fried rice for dinner. One funny story about my sweet girl. She has not always been fond of eating rice. She, of course, endured eating it through her growing up years. Usually on her birthday I would fix potatoes for her. She and her husband went to Germany, Stephen's first duty station while he was in the Army. One Sunday morning Gerry and I were getting ready for church and the phone rang. Gerry said it was Denise. When I got on the phone, she wanted to know how to fix fried rice. Stephen was wanting some. So long distance I went through each step with her so she could make fried rice for their dinner. :) I do believe they have rice for dinner once in awhile.

Another Version of Sweet & Sour Spareribs/Pork

I made this for dinner one night last week. This recipe has evolved over the years. In the mid '60's my ex and I moved to Oceanside, CA where we bought our first home. We lived in an apartment until our house was finished. Most of our belongings were in storage including pots and pans. We bought an electric fry pan to do most of the cooking. A recipe book came with the pan and there was a recipe in there for sweet and sour spareribs. One of the ingredients was corn kernels. It was good and I made it often. I did use spareribs although recently Bel Air Market when I shop has not had the spareribs and have resorted to using the country style pork strips. They have a lot more fat on them which needs to be cut off. So here is how I do this dish. I don't measure ingredients so I can't tell you exactly how much of what I use. I can just tell you how I do it. After cutting up the strips in smaller pieces, I brown them in butter. Part way through browning the meat, I add a half of an onion, chopped. After the onions are translucent and the meat browned, I drain off the grease that has accumulated.

Oops, I forgot one of the pictures! Oh well, then I add about a 1/2 teaspoon of fine ground dry mustard and celery seeds; salt and pepper; a couple of heaping tablespoons of brown sugar and lemon juice. I use the soup spoon of my silverware set. The lemon juice is Real Lemon in a bottle. Then I pour in some ketcup, I can't tell you exactly how much, maybe 2 cups. Add water until it comes up to the top of the meat and stir everything together. Then turn the fire down, put a lid on and let it simmer for a couple of hours or until the meat is fork tender.

As you can see, grease does accumulate and it needs to be skimmed off.

And here's the finished dish. It really tastes better the next day. Asparagus were still on sale so we enjoyed some with this dinner. I should say because I don't measure the ingredients before I add it to this dish, it comes out different each time. So if you should want to try this, I guess you will just have to experiment. Anyway, Enjoy!

Doctor Appointment Today

I was able to get an appointment this morning with my doctor. My appointment was for 10:20 am and the advice nurse told me I might have to wait. I had no sooner sat down, Dr. Huey's nurse was calling my name.

The diagnosis is that I have a serious case of vertigo. The official name is Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo. It's an inner ear problem that causes a spinning or whirling sensation when a person moves their head. Evidently I have had it for a while in describing my symptoms to him and this past weekends episode was the worst that I've had. It does clear up in a week or so, unfortunately once a person has experienced it, it will occur again. There's really no treatment for it. He could have given me a prescription for Valium, however he said it would just make me sleepy and mask the problem. He gave me some head exercises to do and doing them supposeldy helps in clearing up the situation. I'm suppose to sleep with 2 pillows propped up and not do any sudden turning of my head, or looking up where my head is tilted back or looking straight down to pick up something. I can take Tylenol for the headaches. I felt better this afternoon that I've done some reading and my head hasn't been spinning. I've also been up all day.

My dear husband didn't go on his bike club ride this morning so he could take me to the doctor. He doesn't want me driving until I feel better. I'm not sure I want to do any driving until I do feel better.

On Saturday, his bike club did their annual funraiser with a century ride along with shorter rides in the hills surrounding Ione. Ione is a town north east of Sacramento. He was gone all day and kept calling me to make sure I was okay. Tonight they had a pizza party for all the volunteers. He was gone for a couple of hours or so.

One of the youth leaders from church asked to borrow one of our vans to take the youth on an outing tomorrow. Gerry was going to go and drive, however I asked him not to go in case something happened. I didn't want him to be far from home. The youth had planned to go to Santa Cruz, however its raining on the coast and will be tomorrow too. Shawn and his wife just came to pick up the van and they are going to San Francisco instead and do a scavanger hunt in a mall somewhere out there.

Well, I better get off the computer for the night. We stripped the bed earlier and need to get some clean sheets put back on. Talk to you all later.

Just Checking In

Hi all, I have not been feeling well so haven't done any posting for a few days. I'm dealing with dizzy spells, headaches and nausea. I will be calling the doctor in the morning if I am not feeling any better. I have several posts to do and hope to get to them this next week. Also, need to be at my craft table getting some cards done, have some deadlines coming up. I had planned to stamp all day yesterday (Saturday). Unfortunately, it did not happen.

Gerry has been taking good care of me. This morning he said I was terribly spoiled as he fixed waffles for breakfast. Maybe so, however, it does him good to do for me once in awhile. :)

It is a beautiful day here in Sacramento, a little on the warm side. It's suppose to rain Monday and Tuesday according to the weather report on the MSN home page. Will see if it actually happens.

Trust you are having a great day whereever you are.