Las Vegas, Raspberries and a Bittersweet Farewell

Friends & Mateys!
I have so much to tell you. Grab a drink and a little snack because we have some serious catchin' up to do. The rain finally quit and that's when the real fun began. Here's a summary...

First of all, I noticed a fantastic deal on the internet for The Bellagio in Las Vegas. $90.00 a night. If you're at all familiar with this 5 star luxury hotel/casino, then you know this deal is phenomenal. Too good to pass up. So me and my friend, Jenifer, promptly booked a two night stay. (Going with a friend, of course, means half price, right?! Woot!)

We flew out of Salt Lake City on the 28th of June. When we arrived at The Bellagio, the check-in lines seemed to be a bit long. So we decided to check our bags with the bellhop and run around for a bit and do some gambling. Six hours later we finally drag ourselves back to the registration desk. Well, this turned out to be a very good move because they had apparently filled all the rooms they had blocked for the $90 rate. Can you say "Free Upgrade"? We got a $500/night suite with a foyer, living room, 3 baths, 4 large flat screen TV's. It even had a doorbell and buttons on the wall to open/close the curtains. Fun! And you don't just get the typical soap/shampoos/conditioners. They also give you hairspray, bath gel, toothbrushes, razors, loofahs, slippers, box of chocolates, etc. It was "suite" indeed! I slept like a queen- the beds were "mmmm mm". Next day we had spa appointments. An hour massage and then four hours spent lounging in the saunas and pools. Fruits and drinks complimentary. It was delightful. So relaxing. We didn't win much as far as the gambling goes but felt we hit the jackpot regardless. Had such a great time.

I spent the entire month of July boating, swimming and golfing with family and friends. I had my granddaughter two different times for 5 days each (sans her parents). She was such a joy- kept the Captain pretty busy! He's her "favorite Grandpa" but he reminds me he works very hard to earn that title. LOL! They're so cute together.

I did a lot of baking too. Our neighbors knocked on our door as they were leaving town and told us to help ourselves to their raspberry bushes. They wouldn't be back for two weeks and the birds and deer would just eat them. We went over for five straight days and loaded up. These were gorgeous, large berries! I baked 3 raspberry coffee cakes and 2 pies. I also made raspberry vinegar, syrup and pancakes; sent a few quarts home with family; and had enough leftover to freeze about 3 quarts. I hope they invite us over again next year! :) Or did we make pigs of ourselves?

End of July and it was time to pack up and head for Michigan. Always bittersweet. We hate to leave our family and friends. Very hard to do. But, at the same time, our little MI cabin in the woods is in such a beautiful location. The hubs has been spending his summers here since he was 14 so it's a very sentimental spot to him. This is where we really unwind and relax. It's much cooler here though. The end of summer will come more quickly for sure. We've done a few fun things so far but I'll post those adventures in my next blog. I don't want to overwhelm you. ;)

Happy Sails!

(P.S. I tried to add more pictures but it's a very slow connection day. I'll make up for it next time.)

Friends, Runaways, and Retail Therapy

I had a little run-away last week. One of my best girlfriends, Cathy, invited me down to enjoy a few days with her and her four year old, Will. Her hubby was out of town on business and since I'd been sitting inside watching it rain for so long, I decided Why Not! I love it here in our cabin at Bear Lake but, I tell ya, the walls had started closing in. So heading off to the big city sounded like just the prescription I needed.

I left early Weds. morning, buckled behind the wheel of our big red truck, and set out on my nearly two hour drive. This is exciting for me in itself because since my hubby retired, I don't get to drive all that often. We always go everywhere together and he, being the man, just usually drives. Needless to say, cruising the curvey canyon and hitting the freeway at 80 mph all by my lonesome makes me feel sixteen again! The trip was off to a great start.

By the time I arrived, Cathy had gotten Will off to daycare and we had the world by the tail. Oh what to do?! The choices were endless. After a bit of breakfast, we decided to hit the matinee- since it's raining at her house too. We hit the fancy new theatre in downtown Ogden and saw The Hangover. Hilarious! And Bradley Cooper is pretty dang easy on the eyes. :) After the movie, we hit The Grist Mill for a slice of fresh High Five bread. We didn't need any lunch after the huge bucket of popcorn we consumed at the show.

Then it was time to hit the shopping mall. It's what girl's do. The day was turning out to be pretty fantastic. The sun had even decided to shine. Cathy took me in to one of her favorite stores and proceeded to take on the roll of fashion coordinator. She's throwing jeans at me left and right, along with funky tops to be layered (she has a great sense of style) and then, sitting patiently in a chair as I stroll out to model, she gives me her semi-professional advice. I haven't had that kind of attention since my Mom took me back-to-school shopping for 8th grade. I loved it! I found some jeans that I thought looked pretty good (Cath agreed) plus a few other things and $200+ later we left the store. Um, I don't usually plunk down that kind of scratch. Well, not since I retired anyway. But I was feeling all right about it. Empowered in a way! Yea, after twenty days of sitting in the rain, I deserved it. I owed it to myself! Am I right, ladies?! Woohoooo.

Well, to make a long story short and sum up the first day, we picked Will up from daycare, took a nice long stroll around the neighborhood, reunited a lost dog with it's owner, and had a lovely dinner at a new italian restaurant. It was a great day.

The next morning included coffee on the back patio overlooking Cathy's "Better Homes & Gardens" yard (yes, she even has a creek that runs through it) and homemade pumpkin chocolate chip cookies baked especially for me. I felt loved. The rain hit again about noon and we ended up bailing out her basement window wells. It was quite a storm.

I headed out of town about 2:00 pm feeling relaxed, refreshed and rejuvenated. It was as if I had spent a fortune at a day spa- but they don't send you home with cookies! Bonus! Thank you, Cathy! And thank you, Will, for sharing your Mom with me. And to all of you out there, make time for your friends. You just don't know how much they might be needing to hear from you.

Happy Sails!

Shoe House, Golf and Wordart Freebie!

Hey Mates!

We had another beautiful day of sunshine. It's been glorious. I know you could probably care less what my weather is here but after 18 days of rain (one day the exception), it's hard for me to supress the news. If I had champagne on hand, I'd be poppin' the cork! We had a 50% chance of showers so we lucked out. And to make the best of it, we played a round of golf and took the dogs to the beach so they could run off some steam.

The golf game wasn't overly impressive although I did par one hole. That tickled me! I don't take my golf too seriously... I'm mostly out there for the scenery and to hear the birds singing. It is a pretty little course (only 9 holes). And just a half a block from our cabin here so it's easy access. I always feel bad that I didn't lug my camera along for some pretty picture-taking. I'll have to do that one of these times so you can get a feel for the beauty. The course is on the moutainside and overlooks the lake so- tres jolie!

The dogs had a blast on the beach. They run around like maniacs sniffing, chasing, tormenting whatever they can find in the weeds. The cutest thing? They are smiling the whole time. I did take my camera to the beach so I'll share those photos with you in the next few days.

We took a drive around the lake last week and I wanted to share a photo of a little house that's been tucked away in the trees for, well, for as long as I can remember. When the kids were young, it was about the only thing we could entice them with to go for a drive around the lake. "We'll show you the Shoe House!" Kids aren't much into scenery otherwise. I remember our road trip to California one summer passing through the Grand Canyon. We could not for the life of us get our two youngest out of the car to take a look because they were playing video games. It's the Grand Canyon for pete's sake! They did finally press pause, run to the edge of the lookout and take one quick peek but they weren't all that impressed. "Huh, nice." Kids! Anyway, here's the Shoe House....



Don't you just want to go in and have some milk and cookies?

So, of course, seeing the Shoe House made me think of my kids which, in turn, makes me think of home and, well, after a bit of reminiscing... waa la, the inspiration for today's wordart freebie.

Click on the title of this post to go to my 4shared file to download. PU and CU okay. No terms for use.

Happy Sails!

The Quest

Woohoo! The sun was out today after nearly a week and a half. It was a sight to see (although I never actually looked directly at it- and neither should you). A couple more days like this and I'm hopeful my Irises may actually bloom. What do you think? It's only mid-June!

I'm on a new quest. I noticed a few months ago that I seem to be having an issue with my arms. Seems to be a parachute-like growth hanging under my biceps. And it looks wrinkled. What is this. I'm only in my 40's. Isn't it a bit premature for Grandma arms? Even though I am technically a Grandma. This is big of me to admit. I don't mind growing old. The best is yet to be, right? But, I don't really want to look old. I'm struggling with this.

So, back to my quest. I've started doing push-ups. On the knee's, girl-type push-ups but push-ups just the same. I started out with 10 and figured I could increase my number by one every day. I'm up to thirteen today. And my arms are feeling it. They are on fire. And, if I may be so bold, my chest muscles (um, pectorals?) are feeling it too. Bonus! I'm envisioning a good outcome here in many ways. ;) When I hit fifty, I'll post a picture. Uh, of my arms.

You have to realize that I'm not a workout queen. Well, that's not entirely true. I used to be when I was in my twenties and sure as heck didn't need it. But I've since developed an allergy to sweating so I try to avoid it at all costs. So far, I'm not sweating with the push-ups but give it a week.

Whatever encouragement or advice you can give me to "stick with it" would be appreciated. Also, I've noticed it seems my nose is growing as well. Short of surgery, is there anything I can do about that? Please let me know.

Good Weekend to Everybody!!
Happy Sails!