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Not much happening when you've got the flu and fell like pooh! (Well even worse than that.) All our plans for the week went kaput when I got sick Monday night. Fever, cough, aches, etc. I was out of it for 3 days.
We missed the Angels/White Sox game. We delayed our move. Jim has had a lingering cough that got worse again so I hope he's not getting my flu. So we delayed our move and hopefully will head back to Hemet Saturday.
Back to napping.
What kind of crazy people would drive 350 miles for pizza? Well here's an example....my crazy, wonderful family!
We tried to get tickets for the family to see an Angels' game on Saturday but that was sold out. So the featured attraction became pizza at Organ Stop Pizza in Mesa, AZ. I've wanted to share this place with my family ever since our first visit so I was really delighted that they could and would make the long trip.
It really is a small miracle to get the group free from work, school and sport schedules to take a road trip. So it wasn't just for pizza that they came. We all love music of all kinds so the family was as excited about the Mighty Wurlitzer concert as I've always been. Check out the ONline sales tab and you can hear samples of the music. Charlie Balogh played wonderful sets of 30 minutes with 10 minute breaks. So there was plenty of time to get pizza, drinks, salads and ice cream desserts.
Fortunately we got there at four when the place opened so we got a long table together. We stretched out our food and stayed through four sets of music. It was a packed house with lots of birthday celebrations going on . We were celebrating Grandson Jim's acceptance back into Cal Poly Pomona where he'll study graphic arts. Yeah Jimbo!
After enjoying the thundering organ music for 3 hours everyone came back to our little house and the guys played a game of bocce ball on the smooth surface court. It was a new experience for all, trying to roll the ball and bank it rather than lofting it. More finesse required :)
This morning, rather than going out for brunch, I served as short order cook for the group and fed the 9 of us "Eggs in a Toast Hole", scrambled eggs, toast, juice, grapefruit, coffe cake and coffee out of my tiny but efficient kitchen. After I got everyone fed Grandson Jim offered to fix my breakfast and then cooked up seconds for some. The only thing better than having family around is having them cook for you! :)
The kids took off for CA about 1 PM and arrived home safely about six hours later. Memories are made of this!
Hi ho, hi ho, it's off to work we go!....
Can you imagine making millions of dollars going off to work to do the thing you love...play ball?!
We went to Diablo Stadium early to watch the team practice and get a few pictures. I got closeup and personal as you can see and enjoyed watching the players chat with kids and sign autographs. Here's John Lackey and Mike Napoli headed out to practice.
Usually the "big name" guys don't go out to the practice field but in this case ALL the pitchers walked by us and several stopped for autograhs. Santana was especially friendly.
So many new faces that I don't have names to go with ...yet!
Many of the old faces from the 2002 winning team have moved on or retired but we did get to see Big Daddy Vlady, Garret Anderson, Chone Figgins, and Frankie Rodrigues play. New outfielder Tommy Murphy and Reggie Willits did a great job! What an arm Willits has! And Jose Molina got on base several times and even stole a base (although I think that was because of an overthrow).
The opening ceremonies included the presentation of colors and a flyover by two F-16's from Luke AFB. Pretty big time for a little spring training park! We had the best weather day of the week and enjoyed the company of fellow RVers, Jim and Dorthey who drove up from Yuma.
Jim and Dorthey are from Alaska so we brought along a map and asked them for advice on where to go and what to do. Hopefully, we'll make that trip this summer :)
We topped off the evening with an Olive Garden dinner. I had the new Crab Alfredo Venezia (eat your heart out, Renee) and several glasses of Peach Tea. After a hot afternoon in the sun I was really thirsty. I hope next Tuesday is as beautiful as this day turned out to be. We'll be seeing the White Sox and Angels. Oh ....the Angels won 8-3 and are tied for first place in the Cactus League.
I mentioned watching A Beautiful Mind a few weeks ago and that it was very good but intense. It will be awhile before I could watch it again. The next movie from NetFlix was 9/11. I mistakenly thought we were getting the one with Nicolas Cage so was unprepared for this documentary.
The film was shot by two French brothers who were making a documentary of the first few weeks of a probationer fireman at New Yorks Engine 1 Ladder 7....downtown New York. Should be a fun, interesting film until Tuesday morning of 9/11/01. The photographers shot it all. It is an amazaing video, no acting, all real, very emotional.
As always, after seeing the attacks on the World Trade Center, I ponder ....why? Why do people hate us so much that they would do such a horrendous thing? So I picked up a book titled The Thousand Year War by Richard Maybury. He writes about the start of Islam, the Crusades, the Dark Ages, The Renaissance and the constant warring between European and Eastern nations....mostly in the name of religion. There are reasons, right or wrong, why we are hated.
Two interesting poinst he makes: To Americans, what happened 50 years ago is old news. We typically want to move on, forget the past, look to the future. To Europeans and Asians, what happened 1000 years ago is as real as today. Wrongs must be revenged.
Secondly, something very important....a basic value. There are two laws that serve as the base for our legal system. They are very simple: Do all you have agreed to do; do not encroach on others or their property.
These two laws are common to all major religions. So simple, yet obviously pretty hard for humans to follow.
Maybury writes in a simple, letter style so it's a pretty quick read. He declares his bias upfront which is unusual. The book is also pretty interesting in that it was written ini 1997, before the 2001 attacks. So much of what he wrote about has now proved true.
Saturday night we watched The Departed. Lots of Academy Awards for this one and I can see why. Any movie that totally grabs you, wraps you up in the characters and takes you to another place is a winner. I'm not sure I wanted to go to this place, but it was another intense movie experience. It could only end badly and sadly...which it did. So many good actors did such a great job in this movie...but I don't think I want to watch this one again either.
So much to think about! I had to take a break and do a few Tough Sudoku puzzles last night to clear my mind!
It's a really hot Saturday here in Mesa, AZ and after breakfast outside I think we'll be in the AC comfort of our home for the afternoon. The Corned Beef dinner is cooking in the crockpot and there's an Angel's game on TV this afternoon. What more could I ask for? (Well a litte cooler weather for one thing!)
It's in the mid 90's which is about 10 degrees hotter than average. Mornings are wonderful, evenings are great but afternoons...siesta time. We ate dinner outside a couple of days ago with a lovely pink AZ sunset lighting the skies. Times like that are treasures. We had huge salads and sushi from Trader Joe's along with a chilled bottle of white wine. I think it was 2 Buck Chuck but here in AZ it's actually 3 bucks :)
We went over to Diablo Stadium and got tickets for a couple of games. Lots of games are sold out! Business is booming. We couldn't get tickets for a weekend game so all the family could come over from CA. Maybe they'll come anyway...we'll see.
We've decided that next year we will be here in Mesa for the whole of March. I really love the small baseball venue at Diablo. We haven't checked out any of the other spring training stadiums...probably should do that. We did drive by where the Cubs play and it looks to be a much smaller, less impressive spot than Diablo. But it's the game that counts and I'm looking forward to Wednesday when we'll see the Angels play the AZ Diamondbacks...numbers 1 and 2 in the Cactus League.
Jim is still trying to get rid of a cold that started a couple of weeks ago. The cough just hangs on which is typical of him. I keep telling him to take a day and "do NOTHING!" ...but that is really hard for him. Today he has a book in hand and is following my instructions :) Hope he gets better soon as the cough is driving me nuts! :)
The forecast is for cooling this next week so if JIm feels better we'll try out the bocce court here. Nothing like we've ever played on. It's green fake grass with concrete edges that people bank the balls on. Hmmm....don't know if we can handle such professionalism. There's a bocce league, tournament and awards dinner at this park but that's over for the season. We'll try it out and maybe join in next year.
Right now....time to mix up a big Caeser Salad and sit back to cheer on the Angels in the comfort of my cool house.
Wow! After 4 months in Hemet...WE MOVED! We spent Monday and Tuesday getting ready, doing some of those things we should have done weeks ago. But after you sit for a long time there's lots of stuff to be checked out to assure that moving day will go well. Check the tires, airbags, engine, wiper fluides,; be sure no birds have built nests in the awning, etc.
So with all checks done we took off by 8:30 this morning. All systems worked fine. I don't know why I get pretty anxious about moving, especially when it's been awhile. I think I got really traumatized last summer when we had so much trouble with the engine, slide, yadda yadda. I was really in knots then. So I don't really relax until we are actually on the road.
It was a long but pretty uneventful day. We planned to arrive about 3:30 in Mesa, AZ but we hit the rush hour traffic on Interstate 10 around Goodyear and sat in a 5 lane parking lot for awhile. As soon as the traffic broke free the young studly jerk drivers let loose and were zooming through traffic creating havoc. 3 accidents in as many miles. It lasted about 10 miles and so we didn't arrive until 4:30 in 95 degree heat.
Today, for the first time, we stopped in the early afternoon and took a 15 minute nap at a rest area. Both of us were feeling sleepy. Must have gotten up too early :) We were very refreshed after that and I imagine it helped us get through the traffic jams safely.
Gas is about 60 cents a gallon cheaper here! Yeah! Too bad we can't fill our water tank with it and take it along to CA when we return.
We got settled in, cooled down our house, had a beer and I made guacamole and chips then toasted cheese and bacon sandwiches. Light and easy! Tomorrow we'll hit the ball park and see what kind of spring training tickets I can turn up.
It's 9 PM and I haven't had a bite to eat since our Brunch at the Mission Inn in Riverside. We were so lucky to get a lovely courtyard table on the Spanish Patio in the shade with a slight breeze and only steps from the "feast." Our 12:30 reservation was just right.
The kids (Jim, Renee and Tom) came with big appetites and we didn't leave until 3:00.
The champagne flowed freely and mixed well with the fresh orange juice. Do you think we had enough?
I'm sitting hear dreaming about the tiny Belgian Waffles with strawberries, blueberries and whipped cream. Or how about smoked salmon rolls sprinkled with capers and red onions...a really nice appetizer. The Eggs Benedict were hot, creamy and done just right. Omelets were made to order and in high demand.And did I mention the champagne flowed freely ? :) I just wish I could have eaten more...I've only mentioned about 10% of what was there!
Tiny Creme Brulees, luscious Lemon Squares, Tiramisou and fresh fruit topped off a wonderful meal. The designated drivers did have coffee with dessert!
While we love being with our entire family this was a special treat to have time with "our kids". Wish Laura and Steve had been there. I think this may become an annual "big kid" thing to do. If you get to Riverside... check out the Mission Inn Sunday Brunch!
Lucky us! Another beautiful day and we got to see Bryan pitch five innings. It was a tournament game at 10 AM. We had to get up early (!) and drive 60 miles. I should have picked up some Krispy Kreme's for us! Bryan pitched real well the first few innings but then errors and a walk put them down a few runs. He made a couple of great pick-offs at first and second, then got pulled in the 6th inning.
It was a good game with several kind of crazy plays. The parents on the other side were kind of vocal. We all thought the umps made some bad calls but I guess the other team really voiced their opinions. When the umps left they came by us and said, "Usually we go out the other way but the home team is too hostile!" So we lost but it's always fun to watch.
Bryan's number one fan and protege was there, baseball in hand. Seems he can't attend a game without it since Uncle Bryan gave him this ball.
Yesterday we visited daughter Renee at her work place. It's a small family owned manufacturing firm, making unique industrial fans. Renee is the "money person." I'd call her the CFO but I doubt they have those titles. We lunched at Olive Garden all with the good intentions of having the soup/salad lunch. But the new special Crab Venezia looked so good....and it was! We all got it.
So we've put a lot of miles on the car the last few days as the gas prices climbed to $3.10. If we didn't have such itchy feet we might stay put because of the high prices. Oh well! LIfe is short and we only go through once...I want to see the Angel's Spring Training!
Saturday morning I started a Beef Pot Roast Dinner in the crockpot. We've rearranged stuff so the pot is easy to get to and now I'm more likely to use this wonderful gadget. The 5# boneless chuck roast was on sale so we started out cheap. Here's what I did:
Day 1: Put quartered onions, carrots cut in long strips and whole tiny red potatoes on the bottom of the crockpot. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and tarragon. Put pot roast on top. Add about 2 cups of hot beef broth (I use "Better Than Buillion" paste). The liquid should cover the veggies but not the beef. Sprinkle with the same spices. Cook on Low 8-10 hours. Now I hate to touch all this food so early in the morning so I got a late start and cooked it on High for 2 hours and Low for 6 hours. It was perfect.
Day 2: Plenty of beef, onions and potatoes left but short on carrots and broth. So I cooked up some more carrots in the micro, added some beef broth and reheated. We had hearty servings again. Note that I didin't thicken the broth. I thought that would be the end of it but I'd added lots of carrots so....
Day 3: Cut up the beef, onion, potatoes, and carrots in small soup size pieces. Add some frozen peas, cup of beef broth, and a teaspoon of Emeril's Essence. Heat thoroughly and serve with French Bread.
I think the third day was the best and all this was easy cookin' .....my favorite.
We were happy to join the family Sunday for Hilly's birthday...lots of opportunities to fill up the emotional bank with hugs :) Here's the Birthday Girl with her favorite nephew. He's looks ready to make a fuss but I think he's just watching the birthday cake and candles approach.
Evan spent a lot of time in the backyard trying to get in the bocci ball game. All he got was picked up and handed around so that he wouldn't get bopped on the head with a ball. The guys played one long game that was called on account of darkness. They all warned Grandpa that he'd lose...but alas he won again, bad shoulder, bum eye and all :) You can't keep an old guy down!
Everyone managed to be at the party at one time or another. Renee and Tom put out a big deli spread topped off with lemon cake and lime sherbet. Tom, the hard working, traveling service guy, had to head out for Orlando early in the evening and Brad came in late after a long day at work. So we were real happy to see everyone.
Yesterday I had a play date with Evan. Of course I needed a nap when I got home. At 18 months he's lots of fun and is a real happy guy. We went outside for a little while and he wanted to practice going up and down stairs then running down the grassy hills. Kept me busy.
I put his house key on my chain while we walked so when we went back to the apartment I gave Evan the key chain to carry. When we got to the door he picked out his key from the dozen or so I had and wanted to be lifted up to put the key in and open the door. What a smart baby!
We danced to the Disney Channel kids, stacked blocks, ate lunch (pbj), read books and hugged. He talked a lot but I couldn't understand much of it so we had a few frustrating moments. But he used a lot of body language to show me what he wanted. For example, he went and got his own diaper when he needed a change! By the time we come back in April I bet he'll be saying a few sentences.
My reward for the day was a spontaneous hug from Evan and the words, "I ee you" ...I love you!
Tuesday was such a rainy, nasty day that we delayed our lunch out with Mary until Wednesday. Good decision! It was a lovely day for lunch with our youngest granddaughter at PF Changs. Here we are at Chang's.
I love the lettuce wraps (crisp iceberg leaves wrapped around a warm chopped chicken, water chestnut concoction) and Jim hit the jackpot with the Honey Shrimp. It was all very good and topped off with a Lucky 8 dessert, chocolate filled pastry sticks to dip in carmel and roll in toffee!! Wow! No need to cook dinner that night!
Thursday was car maintenance day. While Jim took the car in for an oil change I vacuumed and cleaned house. Oh, it's so much easier to do when "himself" isn't around :). Jim asked the mechanic to check out the "sticky" gas pedal. Once or twice a day the gas pedal would stick on acceleration from a stop and we'd get a big lurch. Not a good thing. So they checked it out right away and said there was "schmutz" in the throttle body (I don't think they used that word) and they'd have to clean it. $165 later it's cleaned.
We first learned about schmutz from our mechanic, Phil, in Florida. He worked for an hour or so trying to find the problem with our air conditioner, then pulled off the dash switch and blew in it. Lots of schmutz came out and the AC started working. I love the Wikipedia definition: dirt that moves :)! Since then we've been attached by schmutz several times. Currently, our Bose system has schmutz in the sound connection so we have to blow in it periodically. We need some canned air for a really big blow!
Jimbo came by to scan some black and white negs on our Nikon CoolScan. I had it all ready after scanning 1978 slides all afternoon. While he scanned I cooked up a skillet of Spanish Rice. I was out of chili sauce so it wasn't as yummy as usual but it filled our tummies. We enjoyed seeing the pictures he is putting together in his portfolio for submission to Cal Poly. He's hoping to return there for his senior year.
We closed out the evening with a movie from Netflix, A Beautiful Mind. It's been long time since a movie held my attention and brough tears to my eyes but this one did. What an acting job by Russell Crowe. I'd like to watch it again but I'm not ready for that intense emotion.
Looks like our weekend weather here in SoCal is going to be beautiful so maybe I'll get some picture taking opoportunities :) We'd planned on going to Bryan's baseball opener but the games were cancelled. The stupid athletic director didn't arrange for umpires so the team is SOL. We do have Hilly's 20th birthday to celebrate on Sunday. Yikes! Three grandkids in their 20's! I'm sure Sunday will be a great family day and my camera will get a workout.