Still Here....

I am still here, still alive and well, my family is well, there has not been any trauma or drama or catastrophes....my only excuse for being MIA for the past 2 weeks is LIFE. I have barely turned on my computer to check emails, I have not visited any blogs, I have not even thought about blogging.....I have been a very bad bloggy friend. I am sorry, truly sorry (hanging head in shame). Thank you my good bloggy friends for being concerned about me and sending me emails. It is so nice to know that I am loved.



This is the LIFE I mentioned above. Work, clean, cook, grocery shopping, walk dog, laundry, help with homework, drive children around, work, clean, cook, laundry, watch son play basketball, walk dog, watch daughter play volleyball, work, clean, cook, etc. Nothing exciting at all, except for the new hiking trail we found. We have been hiking it weekly and love it. The above picture was taken at the top of the hill. The bridge you see in the right hand upper corner is the Golden Gate Bridge. The weather here has been 70 degrees and not a cloud in the sky. It is very weird, I wish it would rain, but we have been enjoying the gorgeous views on our hike.



That is my story, nothing exciting, all is well. I am going to start visiting tonight so put the kettle on please!

Cassie and Michael resting at the top of the hill. The hike is about 2 miles straight uphill, very steep in areas. It is very difficult but the views are well worth it!

Clouds

What do you see when you look at this cloud? My son saw an elephant. I can see that too. He is facing the left and his trunk is curled up. What do you see?

What about this one? Michael saw a bunny hopping. I couldn't really see it. I see Mickey Mouse with a really long nose. What do you see? I love looking at clouds, don't you?

Something very strange happened to me last night/this morning. I woke up out of a deep sleep and I was very, very nauseous. I was afraid to move I felt that sick. I laid there trying to calm down and figure out what the cause of this feeling was. I didn't feel sick, sick, just extremely nauseous. As I was laying there, I realized that I was in the middle of a dream before I awoke. In the dream I was flying a small biplane, making loop-di-loops, and basically not flying in a straight line. It dawned on my that I was suffering from motion sickness! That has never happened before.

Altered Book

Have you ever heard of altered books? I hadn't either until Lisa asked if anyone was interested is starting a round robin with altered books. I did a bit of research online and decided to sign up.
I used to collect old books and have many that I obtained for no other reason than they interested me. I perused my inventory and selected a cookbook from 1942. It contains many pictures that I thought would be fun to incorporate in the altering process. Above is my altered front cover.
This is the front and back covers.

This is the front inside spread where the "alterers" will sign in when they leave their mark on the book. The whole process will take about a year as our books will travel the country being altered by the group. I am very excited about this new endeavor, it is just the creative outlet I need right now. I mailed my book today, the round robin has begun. I will keep you updated periodically throughout the year.

Fun Monday

The first Fun Monday of 2009 is being hosted by the lovely Faye, from Summit Musings. Here is her assignment for us:





"What's on your mind as we close out 2008 and begin 2009? Large and small. What are often your first thoughts the minute you wake up? When you're alone and unguarded? Working? Stuck in traffic? Playing with the children? Walking the dogs? When you can't sleep?"

I thought this was going to be easy, but I was wrong. I tried to catch myself at these unguarded moments and remember what I was thinking about. I came to the conclusion pretty quickly that this was not a very good idea. My ideas and thoughts are very random and all over the place. I am afraid if I write them down, someone will think I am insane and have me committed. But, because we are all friends here, I am going to take my chances. If the men in the white coats knock on my door, I will know who called them.

*I wonder if my cat bite is getting infected.

*I wonder if I will lose my arm from the cat bite.

*I should make a hand held sign that says "HANDS FREE' and hold it up to people talking on their cell phones while driving.

*I wonder if I would be breaking the law if I held a hand held sign while driving.

*I wonder if I will make it up this hill without passing out.

*I never knew I could hear my pulse in my ear before, I wonder if that means this hill is too hard to walk up.

*I wonder what this place looked like 500 years ago.

*I wonder what my children will be like as adults.

*Do I have to work today? (first thought upon awakening)

*I wonder if I will ever lose the weight for good.

*I wonder if I will ever be debt free.

As you can see, my mind is pretty random. I am sure there are others, but thoughts go in and out of my mind constantly. This exercise has definitely heightened my awareness of my thoughts. The last two came up quite frequently, obviously they weigh heavy on my mind (no pun intended). This is the year I tackle both of them and hopefully as we ring in the year 2010 I will have made some positive changes in those areas.

A New Year Day Tradition

Our tradition for New Year's Day is to go on a family hike. This year we challenged ourselves and went on our hardest hike to date. If you remember we found a new hiking trail in November and since we loved it so much we decided to hike it again. The first mile of the hike is uphill, some parts steeper than others, but it is a definite uphill grade.


We reached the ridge line and looked to the left and saw this trail snaking its way up another hill. The day was very foggy and the trail looked like it was going straight to heaven. We decided to keep going uphill, this is after a mile of uphill we just completed!

Up we went, into the fog, our lungs burning, our thighs burning...it was gorgeous.

The last portion felt like we were walking up steep stairs. I felt like I would have fallen backward if I stumbled at all. It was quite unnerving. Of course the dog and kids just ran up the hill like it was nothing while Dave and I were sucking air and dripping sweat.


At the top we looked back and our trail was swallowed up by the fog, a gorgeous site. I love foggy days and I love hiking on foggy days.

Foggy days are somewhat eerie and when we walked by a dead tree full of turkey vultures, the eerie factor was escalated.

I was able to capture a profile of these gorgeous scavengers. They may be eerie, but I think they are beautiful birds.
On the way down the hill the kids found this crater and decided to explore it. I think it is an earthquake fault line, but I didn't tell them that. I think Baron is trying to rescue them.

Speaking of Baron, isn't that a gorgeous face? He looks so happy. He loves nothing more than to run free in the hills, exploring the wilderness.

Speaking of gorgeous faces, this is definitely my new favorite picture. They look so healthy and happy.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year to all my bloggy friends. I have been blogging for just over a year now and I am still amazed at this whole blog world. I have met some incredible and talented people, I have learned so much about myself and the world, and I have even been lucky enough to meet 2 blog friends in real life!! It has been a wonderful year and I want to thank all of you for welcoming me into this virtual world with open arms. There were many times this year when your kind and thoughtful words helped me through hard times, many times when you laughed with me and at me, many times when you rejoiced with me over triumphs, many times when you helped me through tribulations. Thank you, my friends. Yes, blog friends are real friends.

We spent a quite evening at home last night and had our own cocktail party.

Cassie and I created quite a spread of appetizers that we had for dinner and munched on through the night.

We played games, watched movies, and stayed warm with a cozy fire.

We toasted in the New Year with our "cocktails" and enjoyed each others' company. It was a wonderful party, lots of laughter, lots of fun. I hope your night was peaceful and fun, and safe.