WORDLESS WEDNESDAY {4.13.16}

this post will be short & definitely sweet!

BUSY... BUSY... BUSY...

cleaning house

packing a bag

packing the car

the E.X.C.I.T.E.M.E.N.T. is building!

pick up ACE & SLE from LAX

on Friday evening

for a 

BABY SHOWER

on Saturday!

memory-making weekend!!

GOOD. RANDOM. FUN. V.9 {2016}

taken outside the Container Store, San Jose
flowers & vegies
reds & purples
GOOD color & texture!

Mission San Miguel, San Miguel, CA

During my drive from Allie's, I took 20 minutes to stretch my legs & take a few RANDOM pictures.

Located 51 miles north of my home,

Mission San Miguel has the only surviving original church altar found in ANY of

the 21 California missions.

This EYE of GOD is located at the center of the church altar... and reminded the mission Indians they had a God who watched over them. My iPad picture doesn't capture the beauty of the colors or details of the design. 

A "baker's dozen" = the number of days spent with Ms.Lola... she's simply FUN, FUN, FUN.

Her expressions tug at your heart!

As much as we wanted her to stay,

her LOVE was needed at home - Allie & Brian were anxious to have their furry baby back.

JPE & I miss our Lola-Bug.

posting with Tamar at Random-osity

Our World Tuesday

and Life Thru the Lens

My question for today?

How are you spending your L.E.A.P. DAY?

FIVE ON FRIDAY {2.19.16}

Shell Beach, CA

Sunsets along the coast have been stunning!

The "hummers" are storming the feeder! this photo was captured on my iPhone. 

LOLA... our sweet grand-dog!

she's been visiting while Allie & Brian are in Washington DC.

Her expressions "crack-me-up"... I think she was wanting to sit in the sun!

Wednesday's rain fall totaled about 3/4 of a inch. Given the California drought, we are grateful for any rain.

Cambria Pines Lodge

A PRETTY Lady!

posting with FIVE on FRIDAY!

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY 2.17.16

quote by Okakura Kakuzo (1862-1913) Japanese author, The Book of Tea

Oh boy! it's hump day (the middle of the work week, which I no longer have to think about)...

WEATHER-WIZE: After unseasonably warm weather (mid-80's) we are experiencing chilly weather & had a dash of drizzle this morning. 

HOME-LAND: We are enjoying having LOLA (our grand-dog) for a visit. She's such an adorable Boston Terrier... a real cuddle-bug when she wants to be (usually while you are sitting on the sofa trying to read)! JPE has been training her to run on a slack leash. They run down the center of our condo complex street (away from the distracting smells of the landscape & bushes). It's a kick watching them take off each morning for two times around the complex.

CALENDAR-STUFF: JPE & I are headed to a meeting this afternoon. Even though we have both retired from SLO County Office of Education, we still maintain ties with our community agencies... 

Don't you love this picture? it was taken on a trip to Virginia/Washington DC this past October. The leaves had just started turning COLORS... I envy those who have "seasons" they must adjust to... On the coast (Pismo Beach, CA) we have few seasonal changes... 

Allie & Brian are in Arlington/Wash DC visiting SLE & MB. They have enjoyed the "hushed" sounds of falling snow on Monday, then Tuesday, they were treated to a "chilly downpour" that turned the snow into slush & ice. Other than wanting to experience more snow, they have enjoyed the "constant readjustments to their surroundings."

Will plan to see you tomorrow...

posting to Wordless Wednesdays

GOOD. RANDOM. FUN. V.7 {2016}

Sunday, February 14, 2016 - VALENTINE'S DAY

GOOD - Went for an afternoon drive to our favorite place along the Shell Beach cliffs! Yesterday was a beautiful, warm (mid-80's) day along the beach. Not exactly winter weather, but okay, I can live with a few days, THEN we better get some more of that El Nino weather (meaning... rain) before all the trees bloom thinking it's Spring. The 101 highway was sooo crowded it took us 65 minutes to drive home... in general, it's a 15 minute drive.

RANDOM - A group of women were practicing their hula dance for an upcoming performance. They were being accompanied by a guy on his guitar. A lovely addition to the beauty of the coastline.

Allie's classroom - Thursday, February 11th

FUN - Volunteered in Allie's TK classroom. (TK = Transitional Kindergarten). Haven't seen her students since October... they are ALL 5 years old now...

She has the most interesting items in her classroom! a new set of puppets with an upper & lower case letter on them...

And, doesn't this plate of (plastic) spaghetti look tasty? At the beginning of the school year, playing in the kitchen was the TOP choice during free-time... now it's the writing center (they love those glue sticks + scrap paper). Allie has a huge stack of little "treasures" created by her students!

 Posting with Tamar at Random-osity

Last I checked, she was enjoying
a snowy day on the slopes!

A HOUSE GUEST!!!

taken 2.11.16 - ALLIE's birthday!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ALLIE (ACE)! ummm... as I'm typing this, I realized that ALLIE is no longer ACE. Those WERE the initials of her first-middle-last name. She's married now, so technically, she is ACM, but I think I'll refer to her as ALLIE from this point on.

I drove up to volunteer in Allie's classroom on Weds & Thursday... and take her to buy some work-out shoes for her BIRTHDAY.

JPE + Lola ~ VALENTINE'S DAY 2.14.16

AND... I picked up LOLA to spend a vacation here while Allie & Brian are visiting SLE & MB in Arlington, VA & Washington DC. 

GOOD. RANDOM. FUN. V.5 {2016}

Saturday, we took a drive to Montana de Oro... about 25 minutes from our house. There are H.U.G.E. cliffs with sweeping views of the midnight blue ocean. Waves were pounding the rocks, people stood along the bluffs enjoying the wind and watched the storm blow in. It was sooooo GOOD to be out in nature...

Hopping rocks, looking in tidepools, exploring between the incoming tide... A few RANDOM samples of ocean life. 

Some FUN... a break from procrastinating

(still decluttering the bathrooms,

honestly, I haven't gotten far...).

Too late for Christmas, but it was certainly FUN mailing this ornament to Allie & Brian. 

• I photocopied both sides of their wedding invitation on card-stock, cut it into slivers of paper, which I rolled around a pencil & dropped them inside this glass bauble.
• Then I punched purple(s) & green confetti from the crepe paper I used to make their wedding flowers. 
• Here are the photos I sent to family showing them how this looked. Since no one had seen the ornament, I labeled the arrows showing them what the curled paper pieces were... C.U.T.E. & FUN!

posting with Tamar @ Random-osity

THE POWER... IN READING!

quote by Lynn Payne, American artist

Retirement has allowed me to become "friends" with my local library again! When my girls were young we visited the library every Wednesday for Story Hour, and brought home a stack of books to read. Both my daughters love to read... although they fell in LOVE at different times in their lives.

Now, as a primary school teacher, Allison's classroom library is the "envy" of her colleagues. Need books to support a lesson on APPLES? she'll loan you Johnny Appleseed, Apples and Pumpkins or How Do Apples Grow? from her stack of primary books. She shares the MAGIC of books with her 5 year olds every day!

via amazon

When Stephanie wasn't at the dance studio, she had her nose in a book... my fondest memory is the summer we drove to Colorado to visit family. She was reading Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, by Mildred Taylor... she went to that MAGICAL place where you aren't aware of your surroundings... tears rolled down her face as she was turning the final pages of her book. She was silent for an hour, processing what she had read, glancing back through the book to re-read passages that captured her emotions.

via amazon

When we returned home, she checked out Let the Circle Be Unbroken and Song of the Trees... also authored by Mildred Taylor... I believe this was her introduction to African American literature.

With a book in hand... you can experience different periods of history, explore new countries, learn about other cultures... the POWER of READING is MAGICAL. 

How has reading changed your life?

GOOD. RANDOM. FUN. V50

Sunday, December 13, 2015 - rain beading up on roof of my car

As I mentioned in my blog post yesterday, the Central Coast of California got a bit of rain! Californians get EXCITED about rain due to our multi-year drought. So, anytime we get ANY rain (we had less than 1/2 of an inch yesterday)... that is the "talk about town". A GOOD reason to celebrate!

Monday, December 7, 2015 - Bunco party treats

Last Monday, I hosted our Bunco Holiday celebration. No, we still don't play BUNCO, in fact, we don't even know who has the box (with dice, scorecards & pencils)??? but, we DO love to EAT & TALK about what's happening with our families... All of us are at different stages of our lives. A few are retired, most have grandchildren, a few have grown children who are getting married or defining their career paths, and almost all of us have creative interests (gardening, sewing, painting, decorating, baking or entertaining). 

JPE made dinner for us - lasagna, fresh olive bread and I added a kale salad (prepackaged from Trader Joe's). As everyone arrived, we munched on dried apricots, nuts, crackers & cheese. 

If you haven't tried this cheese, run (yes, run, because it's a seasonal treat) right out to Trader Joe's for a chunk of STICKY TOFFEE Cheddar Cheese. It's not a very pretty cheese (color, bleech!) but it's filled with toffee bits, raisins & dates... a RANDOM tidbit to add to your holiday eating!

Arroyo Grande Village Holiday Party - store window

I'm first to admit I cannot draw... but I do like to try my hand at lettering signs. I created a chalkboard drawing for Allison's and Stephanie's wedding. It was an opportunity to add my personal, FUN touch to their very unique weddings. If you haven't tried chalk lettering, Pinterest is the place to search ideas, or better yet, visit Lily & Val to order a copy of this book... The Complete Book of Chalk Lettering, by Valerie McKeehan. 

Well, must get to my house cleaning! then run a few errands before meeting JPE in San Luis Obispo for dinner with friends. YEAH! 

posting with Tamar at Random-osity!!

give her blog a peek! & tell her I sent you!!

WILL YOU DANCE WITH ME?

quote by Shira Tamir, blogger

Tuesday... A relaxing day?!?

Plumber came to fix the backed-up drain...

Took Mom to get a massage from Patricia...

JPE bought a turkey...

(having our Thanksgiving feast Friday) 

Talked to Allison & Brian...

(Lola photobombed our FaceTime visit)

Began our House of Cards Marathon...

(watching ALL 13 episodes of Season 3 w/mom)

Listened to the rain...
(considering a rain dance for more rain tomorrow)

GOOD. RANDOM. FUN. V47

Cambria, CA 11.23.15

Mom came up on Amtrak Sunday evening... We spent a GOOD part of Monday walking around Cambria... Isn't this a GOOD way to keep track of socks missing their mates??

hilarious book about breastfeeding

One of our RANDOM "finds"... some laugh-out-loud information about breastfeeding!! This might make you think I don't support breastfeeding... but it should be noted that I breastfed both of my daughters until they were almost 2 years of age. We couldn't help laughing at this silly cartoon, "Bad time to breastfeed"...

Ball & Skein Yarn Shop, Cambria, CA

I've seen plenty of cardboard reindeer heads, but this is my "first" cardboard sheep. What a novel, FUN way to display skeins of yarn. Allie would love-love-love the yarn in this store...

posting with Tamar @ RANDOM-OSITY!

GOOD. RANDOM. FUN. V2.5

Allie photobombed this pic of Brian!

Met Allie & Brian at Roaring Camp Railroads in Felton, CA... This is a GOOD site for their wedding this coming June.

Rust is pretty RANDOM, don't ya think? these were both taken at Roaring Camp!

Living near the ocean... It's FUN stopping to get a breath of fresh air! & check out the surfers & sailors.

I snapped 300+ pictures & edited the file down to the best 75... still in the learning process... but this captures Allie's beautiful smile.

posting with Tamar at Random-osity

check out her blog! she had a snow day today!

I think I'm a bit jealous!

10 on 10 ~ SEPTEMBER 2014

"dripping wet"

morning fog {7:55am}

drive to work
{along Hwy 101, just past Avila Beach, CA}

sheep are still grazing {work}

S.U.N.S.H.I.N.E.
{taken only 30 minutes after the previous picture}!

Lunch BBQ ~ Nancy "flipping the burgers"

yummy "BBQ" roasted corn from Farmer's Market

drove through Pismo Beach
{way home from work}

see the "fog bank" on the horizon?

AMAZING!!

 fog doesn't obstruct the ocean view at the end of the day!
{BUT! fog IS on the horizon}

Clam Festival is coming!

chowder tasting & music! 

{one of the concrete "clams" that advertise coming events}

pet store? t-shirt shop? restaurant?

guess again...

it's the Tiger Rose Tattoo shop in Pismo Beach 

"enjoying the sun"

coleus in the front planter
{home... sweet... home}

posting at "10 on 10"

hosted by Rebekah @ A Bit of Sunshine

{10 photos taken on the 10th day of the month}