Pink House

Holiday Happenings!

Lots going on around here, and I'm just barely keeping up. Today is the last day to "get things done" and I still have a LOT on my to-do list. Not sure I'll be able to post again until Saturday, but I'm taking lots of photos. So I'll be posting when I can.

Happy holidays everyone and be sure to take some time to SLOW DOWN and just ENJOY!

(This photo was taken on Balboa Island by Newport Beach the Sunday evening after Christmas. They had decorated the entire little Main Street with lights, garlands, and wreaths. We walked all the way from one side of the tiny island to the other shore along this road. So pretty!)

Dining out in Newport Beach

We had some yummy and entertaining meals out in Newport Beach. A little sampling of all kinds of dining. Mostly local fare recommended by the locals.

Chase's order of housemade ravioli with meat balls. The meat balls were the size of tennis balls!

One night we went to a little Italian joint called Mama D's that was just a couple blocks from our house. It was packed out (always a good sign) and we had to wait outside for a bit. It was a surprise when the hostess brought us out a tray of garlic bread to sample while we waited on benches out front. Then she brought us little paper cups of water, followed by wet wipes. Wow! Finally she seated us at our table with a smile where we were promptly greeted by a server who introduced himself and plunged right into telling us that we were going to have a great time. And we did! There was a big sign on the wall that said "Voted the FRIENDLIEST business in Newport Beach for 8 years running!" And we could see why.

My order was from the "Light" side of the menu: Chicken Scallopini Pasts - artichokes, mushrooms, tomatoes, chicken and NO tomato sauce! Just the way I like it. Yummy!

The food was great. Everyone enjoyed what we ordered, and the portions were very generous and the prices reasonable. We shared salads to start, and after our pasta dishes we didn't have any room for dessert, as usual. The staff kept busy but always with a friendly attitude and smile - so nice! There was a singer at a keyboard near us performing cover songs. That kept us entertained as well. A fun evening!

Mama D's in Newport Beach  (It appears they don't have a website, but there are a lot of reviews about them on food websites. Very popular locally-owned place.

One day for lunch, the guys were hungry when we were bike-riding so we stopped at another local restaurant near our house that had been recommended to us. It was very crowded on a Saturday afternoon: Avila's El Ranchito. Great mexican food - very fresh and lighter choices on the menu than your average mexican spot. Their specialty is a tomatillo chicken soup which the people next to us ordered and I'm still thinking about. I'd love to find the recipe somewhere. We sat out on a patio and enjoyed the sunshine and people-watched. Lots of LA celeb types in this tiny place.

Avila's El Ranchito on Newport Blvd.

The last evening we splurged and got a reservation at an upscale restaurant called Gulfstream. It was really a nice spot - just a couple of miles from our house and near Fashion Island. A very large restaurant, it was very crowded and noisy when we first arrived but quieted down at the end of our time.

Delicious rosemary biscuits the guys ordered for an appetizer!

The lighting was low and the place was buzzing. Kind of fun atmosphere. The menu was fairly traditional seafood and steakhouse, which was a bit disappointing to me. I like something more creative.

Chase ordered the burger (he doesn't like seafood) which actually had a lot of creative toppings.

Sean ordered the grilled salmon. I ordered salmon too with sauteed spinach rather than fries.

We were told that they had a cool outdoor flagstone patio with fire pits and adirondack chairs, so after dinner we went out to the patio to have tea and coffee. It was a bit chilly, but the fires were going and they had on the heat lamps too. Unfortunately I forgot to switch to the "candlelight" setting on my camera, so they turned out really fuzzy.

The outdoor patio was really a nice touch. The fireplaces and small white lamps warmed up the area and the chairs were comfortable. A fun way to begin or end your evening. We liked our night out at Gulfstream and would recommend for a special occasion in Newport Beach area.

Gulfstream restaurant in Newport Beach

ON Monday Kev and I drove down the coast about 10 miles to Laguna Beach area. We drove through Costa Del Mar and really liked that neighborhood. The concierge at Hyatt had recommended a place in Laguna Beach called "The Beach House" when we asked for a recommend for a lunch spot to enjoy the beach views. It's a good thing we asked because we would have found this spot otherwise. It's an older building off of the Pacific Coast highway, but sits right on the sand. The views? Wow!

We were seated right on the front deck overlooking the ocean. So pretty and beautiful weather too!

We both had the Shrimp Bisque and it was very tasty!

I also ordered Lobster Sliders (like mini lobster rolls!) but skipped the fries.

 

So many great places in Newport Beach - we loved the area. Beautiful and lots of fun to explore!

Fun in Newport Beach

One of the treats of southern California visits is the year-round warm weather. When we arrived I spotted a chart in a magazine showing their high & low average temps in Newport Beach. In summer the temps top at high 70's and in winter they hover around mid-60's. How's that for perfect?! Every day we were there in November was warm, light-jacket kind of weather and most evenings were moderate too.

For us, that meant lots of outdoor time. Morning started for me on the rooftop deck with a cup of coffee and my Kindle to read. I would look down at the street below and see people walking, walking everywhere. To the grocery store, to the beach, to work. I love neighborhoods where people can just come out their door and take off walking rather than having to drive.

Another common sight was seeing young men long-boarding around as a means of transportation. The longer-style of skateboard with wider wheels is meant as a reliable form of getting around in California and Chase regularly uses his in San Luis Obispo to get from his house to campus for classes. Your arms are free to carry your laptop and a backpack. They're used just like bikes and work especially well in areas without steep hills to navigate. In Newport Beach I saw a lot of young men coasting through the neighborhood streets on their longboards with ease. 

That's Chase ahead of me, carry his surfboard on his longboard

Later we would head out for some kind of activity - beach walking, biking, or watching Chase surf. I LOVE the beach and miss going on weekends when I was growing up in Portland area. There is nothing that I love more than walking on the beach and watching the waves roll in.

Chase is out there paddling out - right at the end of pier

The house we rented had two long surfboards to use and Chase had brought his short surfboard in the back of his Toyota pickup. He also brought his wetsuit along. One afternoon he headed down to the ocean on his longboard with his surfboard under his arm. We were only two blocks from the ocean, so it was easy to tag along.

At sunset one evening we walked out on the beach again while the sky turned pink then orange as the sun sunk into the sea. We made our way back to the house in the dusk, walking on Balboa Blvd while checking out the interesting houses for sale and rent along the oceanfront drive.

The house we rented in Newport Beach

Newport Beach has a 3-mile boardwalk that stretches from the north end of Newport, all the way down the Balboa Peninsula. Since the land is totally flat (of course!), it is a great place to ride the beach cruiser bikes. (This is where the beach cruiser bikes originated in fact!) The boardwalk is so busy in this area, that it actually has traffic lanes and posted rules for passing etc. We walked and rode bikes down this. So fun!

How' s this for a beach front cafe? Stopped by here one morning while biking

Our rental house had two beach bikes for us to use, and we one day we rented two more cruiser bikes so that all four of us could ride. We rode all the way down the peninsula, watched the Wedge (where the Newport bay comes into the ocean) a famous bodysurfing area, and then rode back on the streets. The houses along the peninsula are SO CUTE! Some are huge and ultra-modern, but my favorite where the older tidy-as-a-button ones. It was fun to see the residents out putting up their Christmas decorations in the balmy weather.

I loved riding the cruiser bikes. It made me feel about ten years old again. You sit up high and straight, your arms wide on the handlebars, your water bottle in the basket up front, the fat tires beneath you, and just pedal. Being in a flat area makes the pedaling so easy! No hills mean no need for shifting gears. Good thing we didn't drive there or I would have been buying a cruiser bike for myself to load up and take back home. So many fun colors!

Sean and I were fascinated by this elementary school that we biked past. Newport Beach Elementary has BEACH FRONT property! Obviously, this was built years ago before the real estate when sky high. The school sits on one side of the boardwalk overlooking the ocean. (you should see how many bike racks the school has up front). And their PLAYGROUND is this (see below)- a blacktop pad right out on the ocean side, atop the sand. Oh, those lucky, lucky kids. Four-square, tether poles, and kickball all while watching the waves roll in!

On Sunday Chase headed out at noon to drive back up for SLO (needed to prepare for finals week), and the three of us packed up the house (Kev and I were moving to the Hyatt later that day). We decided to rent a small motorboat and take a loop around the Newport Bay waters. It was a gorgeous day and so interesting to see the houses, stacked side-by-side along the shoreline with their yachts parked just a few feet away. Crazy!

 

Sean got a kick out of checking out all of the creative boat names - everyone names their sailboats, yachts, and even small motorboats. One was named "Free-Range Chicken". I love being on a boat! Someday, some day, I am going to have a boat. On a body of water somewhere. It's on my list. But for now, I will settle to just ride one once in awhile.

I really loved being somewhere - in the winter, no less - that we could be outside and be active every day of our trip. So much nicer than having to go to the gym to get your 45 minutes in for several months of the year.

In the afternoon, Kev and I checked into the Newport Beach Hyatt resort which we'd booked for a steal on Hot Wire. We planned to spend our last two days here after the guys went back to their homes. This was a fun resort because there were so many outdoor activities  - 3 nice pool areas, a 9-hole par-3 golf course (which we played), outdoor volleyball courts, outdoor ping pong tables, and even shuffle board. Kev taught me how to play shuffleboard and beat me handily. This resort also had a lovely outdoor patio lounge with a gas fireplace that was a fun place to hang out in the evenings. Californians are lucky to be able to enjoy the outdoors year-round. It was fun to sample it for a few days!

One morning I sat in the Hyatt lobby sipping a latte and using the WiFi and reading the newspaper. Christmas carols playing on the sound system and hotel employees were decorating a Christmas tree, while outside the palm trees swayed under the sunshine. Seemed surreal. I loved how the grass was green and flowers were still blossoming outdoors on December 1st. Aaaahhhhhhh!

Later this day we flew back home to snowy cold! Bye bye California!

Black Friday at Fashion Island

While I heard from friends and family back home through Facebook about their plans for Black Friday. They were getting up at 4 am to hit the bargains at the big box stores, but I knew that in Newport Beach we wouldn't be doing any such thing. For one thing, we stay up too late, and then the guys like to sleep in. But we talked about it on Thanksgiving evening and they all agreed that a shopping outing to nearby Fashion Island would be fun for Friday.

At Newport Beach, in the neighborhood we were in, it's all about the little surf shops and small boutiques, and tiny cafes. I never saw a big box store. But then I saw on a map this BIG shopping center just a few miles away called Fashion Island. Oh year, it was BIG and BEAUTIFUL. And had all of the big department stores. The guys finally got up about 11 am, and so we didn't start our shopping until about NOON on Black Friday. Yay, that's how we roll. With the early birds! But there were still some worms to get.

It's nice to "shop" when you really don't intend to buy anything at all, but just to enjoy yourself. Fashion Island is a huge outdoor shopping mall with a beautiful courtyard. There were fountains and flowers everywhere. Green grass and palm tress in November! The weather was positively balmy and we just walked around enjoying ourselves. The stores were all upscale - we wandered into some and Sean actually purchased some clothing on good sales. I only bought some jewelry at Express and my perfume at Bloomingdales, all that I can't get back home. After he warmed up, Chase even succumbed to the shopping virus and bought a few new clothing items (or let Dad buy for him). 

We roamed around and I oohed and aahed over the HUGE outdoor planters overflowing with poinsettias in full bloom. Again: outdoor in November! I thought I took a photo of one of the planters, but it didn't turn out. We spotted a Pinkberry store (popular Cali frozen yogurt) and stopped to buy some mini bowls to sample. Yummy, but not sure it was THAT great. 

For lunch we hit up P.F. Chang's at Fashion Island (there were several large restaurants as part of the development). We don't have one of these in Montana, so Kev and I think it's a treat to hit it when we travel. Their food is SO tasty, even if it is a chain. Of course, we all shared lettuce cups and salt & pepper prawns. Honey chicken, and wok-charred beef. So so tasty!

It was interesting for me to see how California does the whole holiday decorating thing when it's sunny and warm outside. Besides the poinsettias planted everywhere, there was a huge tree decorated in pink and white in the center court, and most interestingly the PALM TREES had white lights wrapped all the way up their trunks. We drove back by at night and the row of palm trees looked like a row of lighted columns in the dark. It seemed kind of fake, because we have the evergreen trees here and frosty snow which makes it seem like "holidays" to us. But I could definitely get used to the warm variety too.

 

Creating Thanksgiving in Newport Beach

People always ask me if I cook Thanksgiving dinner for our family when we go to California every year to spend the holiday weekend with our sons.  They ask, "Or do you just eat out?" My answer to that is always the same: I make Thanksgiving dinner in its entirety for our family of four in California. We also eat breakfast and some lunches at the rental house, but we usually eat out at restaurants for the other dinners. Because it's fun to sample some of the local dining spots, but its also nice to have some mom-cooked meals too. This works out great for us. We always rent a house on www.vrbo.com (Vacation Rental by Owner) and one of my selection criteria is to have a decent kitchen to cook in.

In Newport Beach, our house was small but newly remodeled and decorated, and only two blocks to walk to the beach. We arrived late Tuesday night and headed for the grocery store on Wednesday morning. We were only a short drive from a Trader Joe's and I had a wonderful time shopping here. We bought a small 10-pound fresh turkey and the other fixings here. I was a happy shopper! I wish we had a Trader Joe's in Billings! (as I've said about a hundred times)

This time I remembered to bring a few things from home so that I wouldn't have to buy things like spices. Most of the vacation rental houses, this one included, only have salt & pepper and pots and pans in their kitchens. So you have to go shopping for the rest. So at home I blended a few poultry herbs together in a small baggie and stuck that in my suitcase to bring along. I mixed that blend with a 1/2 cube of butter and rubbed that all over the turkey as well as under the skin of the breast. 

The view from my Newport Beach kitchen window

I'm always a bit nervous about the kitchen appliances - especially the stovetop and oven. This kitchen had a newer gas cooktop (which is what I'm used to at home) but the oven should be replaced. When we opened it - it was dirty, and we tried using the "self-clean" method twice, but that didn't work so we had to clean out the oven the old-fashioned spray-soak-and-wipe method ourselves. Kev worked on that. I'm also aware that different ovens cook at different temps - and this one appeared to be cooking hot. Anyway, it was a hassle and our turkey ended up being a bit overcooked but still tasted good.

Our tradition is that while the turkey roasts in the afternoon, we always go to the beach for a long walk on the beach. In recent years we did this at Santa Cruz, and Santa Barbara. And this year at Newport Beach. The weather was very warm and just beautiful. There was no wind at all. Gorgeous! I love California in the fall! Newport Beach has the best "beach" for walking of any that we've been to. Long, sandy, and even though there are more people, there is also more room to spread out. The mood is relaxed and everyone seems happy to be enjoying themselves. We walked and took turns riding the two beach cruiser bikes on the 3-mile long boardwalk along the beach. 

Kev brought a special bottle of Justin Isosoles from his collection

When we returned to the house, Kevin got busy setting the table. I asked Sean to help me with the mashed potatoes (peeling, cooking, mashing). And Chase helped with the green beans (sauteing pancetta and shallots, then adding the fresh green beans.) I worked on the stuffing, roasting sweet potato cubes, and making a salad.

I was excited about the carton of baby heirloom tomatoes that I purchased at Trader Joe's. They were so cute! My salad was simple baby lettuces and herbs, with the sliced baby tomatoes on top. 

Here's a photo of our table ready for us to sit down. Dinner turned out great even if the turkey was a bit dry. We ate, sipped, and talked. At the end of dinner we made phone calls to family in Oregon, and family back home in Montana and passed the phones around to give everyone a chance to say hello.

Later I put together the french apple pie (from scratch) to put in the oven while we went up to the rooftop deck and watched the sunset. The guys played guitar and sang while Kev and I just enjoyed the rooftop concert under the stars. Fun times.

Later we went back in and had warm apple pie (I had prepared a large baggie at home with all of the topping ingredients except butter which I cut in before covering the apples. My mixture had four, sugar, and cinnamon.) We added a small scoop of vanilla bean ice cream alongside the slices of pie.

When I cook Thanksgiving dinner for us, I try to make it nice, like a small homemade slice of home. But I don't go for perfection. The menu is fairly traditional, nothing spectacular or unusual, just the family favorites. There's a balance between making things with a bit of special effort, and going for perfection. I KNOW that I can't hit perfection and don't even try. But I try to make it nice, a bit special, and memorable. And that's what I remember from year to year.

Gulfstream....more than a current

We had our last dinner together last night at Gulfstream, an upscale restaurant here in Newport Beach. Very nice interior, delicious food, and a fun time. After dinner we sat out on their patio under heat lamps in adirondack chairs around a gas fireplace and enjoyed after-dinner tea and coffee.

We rode bikes yesterday for a long time - down to the end of the Balboa pennisula, watched the Wedge, and back up. Stopped for lunch at Aliva's El Ranchito's - a little fresh mexican on their patio.

Later we walked on the beach while the sun was setting. Days have been comfortable and warm here, but as soon as the sun sets, the temp drops too and it get chilly.

Heading up to the rooftop deck for coffee and sunshine. Everyone's leaving today. Sad about it...

Dinner at Mama D's in Newport Beach

Last night we went to a really FUN Italian place for dinner near our house - Mama D's. It was a really good recommend and we had a great time.

Mama D's has one awards for "friendliest" business and "friendliest service" at a restaurant and we could definitely see why. From the minute you walk in the door and they take your name - the staff is smiling, serving you with a happy attitude, and just generally acts like they're having a good time. It was incredible, really.

The food was really good too (some photos coming later when I upload) and the place was busy and noisy and bustling with energy. There was a musician, singer/keyboardist, who was performing near our table and that kept us entertained too.

Some clouds blew in over our Newport parade last night but today looks a bit better. We're supposed to be "partly cloudy and a few showers" but it's still warm. So we're going to rent two more beach cruisers to go with the ones here at the house, and head out on some bike adventures today, probably down the pennisula and maybe over to Balboa Island too.

Grocery Stores or the lack thereof

It looks like texting a post from my Blackberry worked, so I'll actually be able to do some short posting from on the road...twitter-style. So I plan to do so...especially about any interesting adventures we're having. Keep checking it out.

Laundry is done, bags are mostly packed, and mentally I'm already checked out. I don't think that I've felt this strong of a NEED for a vacation in a while. I really want to get out of town. We've both been working more hours and staying closer to home than past years. Most of the short trips we've taken this year have been business-related as well. With my husband's band involvement (which he loves) our calendar is filling up months ahead of time with gigs, and work and meetings, and it has me feeling a bit trapped. So I am so so happy and relieved to be leaving town. I really look forward to hanging with my two sons this week.

We rented a house (love that VRBO) in Newport Beach and so YES, there is a kitchen and I will be cooking Thanksgiving Dinner just for the four of us. For many years, I've cooked T-Day dinner for upwards of 16 - 20 people. So only four is very easy and fun. Since both guys live in California now, it's easier for us to head down their way for the break. Warmer weather too. This is our third year going down for T-week and we love it. So relaxing.

Wednesday morning we'll be heading to a good grocery store or two in the Newport Beach area to stock up on food for Thanksgiving dinner and breakfast and snacks while at the house. This is actually a treat for me because I love good grocery stores...and it's something we're lacking here. When I lived in Portland we had many truly GREAT grocery stores and it's something I've continued to miss for the past 24 years. I have several friends who like to talk about grocery stores they visit while traveling in other cities and states. One of them usually says, "Oh! Don't even get me started on grocery stores!" We laugh but it's kind of painful. Our knitting group used to like to gripe about how Bozeman (a town 2 hours away) could have good groceries and we don't. It's an actual topic of conversation here.

When we travel I sometimes get to go in a good grocery store to visit...but unless you have a kitchen to take food home to and cook in, just SEEING the isles of goodies is really just another form of disappointment. Torture even! So when we've rented vacation homes through VRBO in California for Thanksgiving, one of my big treats is to actually shop at them. In Santa Cruz, it was a beautiful small gourmet grocery in our neighborhood and a Whole Foods. Last year in Santa Barbara we had the infamous Lazy Acres...oh, so nice! So for Newport Beach area, I google-mapped it (of course!) and wrote down the address of several good groceries nearby: Whole Foods, Ralph's Fine Foods, Pavilions, and Trader Joe's. Always have to make my trip to Trader Joe's too. I've been known to pack boxes of non-perishable TJ items in the trunk of my car when I drive home from Oregon. My supply is getting low.

And so, part of my treat, is to shop, select from the choices of good quality FRESH items, and actually get to take them home to a kitchen to cook with. Can't wait!

Fall Leaves Under Night Sky Quilt

I've been trying to spend some of my free time this summer and fall working on FINISHING some creative projects (quilting and knitting) that were started several years ago and have quietly waited in my studio closet waiting for their day to shine. I've made some progress...slow but steady.

I started this quilt in 2002 at a quilt retreat that I went to with my mom in Port Townsend, Washington. We had never gone to a retreat together and thought this sounded fun. I had to get time off work and fly out to Portland with all of my supplies and sewing machine. From Portland we drove up toward Seattle, took the western route up the Olympic Pennisula to the tip where Port Townsend, a cute Victorian town sits on the waterfront overlooking the northern part of the Puget Sound. The views are incredible.

From Port Townsend we continued along the shoreline to Fort Worden historic state park. Fort Worden used to be an military base in the early 20th century, and was inactive, turned into a state-owned retreat center. The old officer's houses and army barracks were transformed into bunkhouses for retreaters and classroom space for workshops. It was quaint, old-fashioned, but adequate. The setting too, was gorgeous - with the waterfront property and the grounds that we walked around on. A fun place to be creative and "camp out".

We were lucky enough to be there in the fall too, and there were lots of towering trees full of autumn colors all over the grounds...falling leaves everywhere of gold, orange, and rust-colored hues. The fall leaves inspired me to create this quilt. I thought of the golden leaves crunching under my feet as we walked back to our room at night from the gathering in the dining hall. The starry skies were above us. It was a magical time.

This particular class was taught by Debbie McCaffrey who has out several quilt books. This quilt was based on her "Noodle Soup" book which uses 2 1/2" strips of fabric to create a variety of quilt designs. It was fun to see the wide variety of quilts and fabric colorways that people in our class were using. All very different.

Well, as good intentions go, I returned home with this and several other quilt projects in the works, and over the course of seven years, I have finished a couple of them. About two years ago, I buckled down and pulled the pieces of this one out of the bag, and got busy putting the blocks into rows, and rows into on-point designs.

Large triangles finished the four corners and "floated" the stars in the center of the dark sky. Sadly, the quilt top sat folded on a table in my studio for another two years until I finally took it to quilt on the long-arm machine last spring. Then it returned home and sat through the summer until I finally made the binding and sewed it on just a couple of weeks ago. This quilt has had a long journey.

But it's finished now and I hung it up on the wall in our basement family room. It helps warm up the room. But mostly, it's nice to finally have it finished.

Another one done, but many more to go!

Sometimes I Work and sometimes I Daydream

I have been SO busy lately! Every week I'm printing out my schedule from my Google Calendar and then checking it every day to make sure I don't forget something. Add to that my everyday tasks (empty dishwasher, do laundry, go to grocery store, etc.) and it feels like a lot. By evening I am ready to fall onto the couch where Rocco is patiently waiting for me.

I think it's going to be at this pace now until we leave for Thanksgiving week to California. We're continuing our tradition of renting a vacation house at some location in Cali where the guys will come to meet us for the long Thanksgiving weekend. In 2007 we stayed in a beach town just south of Santa Cruz called Aptos. That was a great little beach house. Last year we rented a house in Santa Barbara which was fun too. This year we plan to head further south to Newport Beach area. We found a cool beach house to rent with a rooftop deck (!) and I'm looking forward to exploring that area. It's always fun to see the guys and to just have a few days of "just us four" again. It only happens once a year which is not enough, but part of reality now. I treasure the time. 

But I'm also REALLY looking forward to having some vacation time. I feel like this year both Kev and I have been working hard and not taking as many breaks. He added the band (which he loves) to his already full schedule, and I've been working with students and taking graduate classes through UCLA (one more to go to complete my program!) For the last two weeks both of us have had evening meetings Monday through Thursday.....we're missing our dinners for two at home, and Rocco is missing couch time with us. I'm feeling like we need to take a break.

This summer we only went out of town twice and one was camping on the Smith River (doesn't count!) and the other was a crazy-long drive to California over a long weekend. No weeks of relaxation. Then fall came and we're into the cold long winters. I realized that I may be in for a bad winter if I don't get some serious vacation time out of state!

We were lucky that the board my husband serves on met in sunny Phoenix for their fall meeting. We got to stay at a gorgeous resort (Sheraton Wild Horse Pass) for four days in glorious warm weather. Friends were there and we shared some good times. I got to sit by this beautiful pool for three whole days and just read and chat! One of my favorite things to do.

This was the best kind of place to be - this is my kind of "office". I took along my laptop and some reading to do (the work kind) but I just couldn't make myself do it when I got to look at this kind of view from my lounge chair. So......I simply didn't. I simply let myself veg out and enjoy. Well, we did get up to do a bit of shopping and go to lunch too. Tough duty.

My plan now is to buckle down and work hard until we leave for Thanksgiving in California. Seniors are working hard on applications and essays, and I have some new students to start the process with. I also have to do some research and write a proposal for a practicum. But I just keep thinking about that sun on the California beach. It's the carrot to dangle before myself to keep me going.