California Day 1

We arrived in not so sunny San Francisco, California on Tuesday, July 11th at approximately 1:45 pm. The flight was early arriving so we were excited to have the extra time. We were going to miss the rehearsal because of our flight but were early enough to give us a little wiggle room before dinner. We were looking forward to being able to check into our hotel and freshen up a little bit after a long plane ride and a 3 1/2 hr car ride. Now those baseball fans would know that July 11th was the day of the All Star game in San Francisco. When we arrived at the rental car counter they were out of compact cars and wanted to give us a minivan. I refused to drive a minivan. I told the gentleman at the counter such a vehicle. He had to "search" the system. We walked away from the counter why he searched. I was called back to the counter and offered a Pacifica. I refused that as well because that is pretty much the same thing as a minivan in my mind. Finally we were offered a Chrysler 300 for the same price as the compact car. Finally 1/2 hr later we were finally on the road.


The ride to Atascadero was very interesting. There were a lot of really neat things to see. The one thing that I noticed how brown the landscape was. We saw green only when we passed farm fields and vineyards. We have never driven in or near mountains before. The miles and miles of grapevines that we saw was staggering.

More Grapevines with mountains in the background.

Another thing that we had never seen before was an oil refinery with oil drills. Dotted along the mountains and road side were small oil drills.

One of the last interesting things that we saw was the sign posted below:

We found out later that evening that there was either a prison or mental institution near by. In the background of this picture is a bell. These bells were along the highway about 1 hour apart. They were mission bells commemorating all of the missions in that area.

We arrived in Atascadero just in time for the rehearsal dinner. We enjoyed a pizza at the restaurant that Jenelle, (Ben's now wife) ran previously. It was a nice little place and the pizza was good. The cake we enjoyed that night was from the Madonna Inn. Check out the link it is a VERY unique place their guest rooms are very interesting. The cake was FABULOUS!!

We returned to the hotel to check in around 9 pm and turned in for the night exhausted!

I'm Working on it

We got back from California on Saturday night. I am working on a series of posts, including pictures, to tell you all about it. It was an interesting trip!

My $100,000 Leg

I have been meaning to write for a couple weeks now. I looked at the date and cannot believe that it has been a month since I posted. I guess that is because time has flown.

I have been trying to start this exercise regimen. Well actually, I am successful at half of it I guess. My WONDERFUL therapist Marc has an exercise regimen set up for me. I am to ride my bike one day, walk the next and take the following day off. Rinse and Repeat. My goal is 5 miles biking and 3 miles walking. Well I am 1.5 miles away from the biking goal and think that I will reach that. However, the walking thing just isn't going well. I just don't think that I like walking. It is too slow and boring for me. I am only up to 1.2 miles and cannot seem to get past that. I have been Nordic Walking. It is really great for cardio and it works your tummy and your legs so that is a bonus. It is just too hot for me to do this. I get hot and "melt" as my mom calls it and I just feel like I am going to die. I am not, but I feel like it.

The thing is I need this success to move on with my life. I love Marc dearly! I am so happy that I found him as a therapist but, I need to move on. I need to get past this chapter of my life and move onto the next. A year ago I was more than ready to get onto bigger and better things and then my knee started bothering me. This year, I keep living in fear of the next pain, the next problem. This is such a fear I think that I am having a hard time moving past it. I have started to notice little twinges and small pains in my left hip and knee. I panic because I am just waiting for the floor to drop out from under me. Waiting to hear that I need surgery on that side too. I feel like I have been limited for so long. That I am always going to be that way, like I will never be able to lead a normal life. I want to be able to not worry about my body. I want to be able to do things normal people do.

Marc is really starting to prepare me for life without him in it. He is advising me on my future. The fact that I can NEVER stop exercising. I have to keep moving, whether it is biking, walking, swimming or all of the above. I think that I can do that but then not doing it is so easy. I have to remember to push myself. To say "OK, it is exercising time. Lets get out there." It is a hard change to make. I don't know why I keep fighting it!

Let There Be Darkness

You always hear that having a home eats up your time. As a renter you never believe that a house could be that much more work. After all what is a little mowing and snow shoveling right? I guess it is a little more than that. We have been busy with house stuff. Mowing, weeding, picking, cleaning and much more. On April 22nd we placed an order for window treatments to replace the 3 sets of UGLY vertical blinds that were located in the house. We chose April 22nd because JC Penney’s was having an incredible sale. The Bali products were 70% off. On top of that it was friend’s and family day so we got an extra 20% off. Plus, we opened a Penney’s card and got an extra 10% off. So we ended up buying 2 large blinds for $400 instead of $1900. Which was a fantastic deal!! We then went home and did some shopping online. JCP has some French door panels that are attached to your door by Velcro and they can either hand straight down or can be rolled up by hand and there are straps to hold them up. It was nice because the set that I found had a valance that matched. I did a REALLY good job picking out the colors online. They panels are VERY functional and you can keep the sun (heat) and peeping toms out at the same time.

This week the blinds came in. The living room blinds came on Monday. It was nice because with custom purchased blinds you can put 3 blinds on one header. The blinds are then hung at the same level and you don’t have to measure. It was cheaper than buying 2 small blinds and 1 big blind. So we installed those on Monday and it really changed the look of the living room! Yesterday the blinds for the bedroom came in. Josh was happy to remove the last set of vertical blinds. We both hated the looks of them. What was worse was that the blinds weren’t really functional. You had to open and close the whole thing to let light in they wouldn’t turn sideways anymore. After we moved we found out that they were aimed the wrong way and the gears were worn down. So we decided to get something functional. Also, the blinds were thin and light easily shown through and it made it tough to sleep past sunrise. During the week that is fine. However, I like to sleep in on the weekend. That was pretty much the last thing that we wanted to change. We have to find curtains for the living room. Then we should be done for a while. Gardening is next. So we move from the inside out. Fun Stuff!

In Your Face Howard Stern!

I am so happy this morning because the no talent, scary haired freak Sanjaya has finally been voted off American Idol! Each week was more painful to watch than the last. Especially after he stayed and Gina Glocksen got booted. Now I can truly enjoy the show without having to dread his hideous hair and slow painful murder of a one good song! Good bye Sanjaya once and for all!!!