Norm's excellent adventure - Day 3

Norm on the train to Salisbury.

Visiting Stonehenge...strange and mystical....just like Norm the gnome!
Steve, our tour guide/taxi driver for the day. He liked Norm...he thought we were a little weird though...wonder what gave him that idea.
Norm visiting Salisbury Cathedral. He feels a strange kind of kinship to this place....I wonder why.
We ran into some of Norm's cousins while we were in Salisbury. Friendly little fellows.
The cathedral in Bath. We got there 5 minutes too late to go inside, bummer! Just means we'll have to go back another time for a tour.
In the Paddington station after a long day.

Norm's excellent adventure - Day 2

Norm being accosted by a wooden guard at Covent Garden, a cool shopping area in London.

Admiring the Tower Bridge from one of the rooms in the London Tower.
Stairway in the London Tower.
One of the chapels in London Tower.
A little tipsy after a great dinner in China town.
Our waiter loved Norm.

Norm's excellent adventure - Day 1

Norm with his boarding pass-ready to head to London on "Air France" Enjoying a quick bite to eat with his Penguin friend in LAX before the flight departs
All tucked into his seat, ready to take off.
London at last! Norm with the "London Eye" ferris wheel in the background.

A Fog Blog

I thought these couple of pictures would be perfect to share with you since I'll be heading off to London tomorrow. They were taken at La Jolla Shores last week, and show the fog rolling in, as if it were being pumped in by a giant fog machine. We got there at 10:30am, and it was clear and sunny, as you see in the first picture. By 11:30am we felt like we were in the middle of a horror flick, as the beach was being consumed by the cold, moist fog. It didn't take long for us to pack up our sunscreen and head home.

So, why, do you ask, am I choosing to share them with you today, in honor of my impending London trip? Haven't you made the connection? Fog....London....London Fog. OK, you got me, it was lame attempt at humor.

Anyway, don't wonder why I haven't posted a new blog for a week or so. I'll be out and about seeing the sites and taking notes, in order to report back to all ya'all. (Had to throw that in there for my Texas family - you know who you are.)

Cheerio folks ~ check back for an update soon!

Dogs? Surfing? You betcha!

If you read yesterday's blog, you'll remember that I mentioned something about taking our pups surfing. You probably thought I was nuts. You may be right. But, that doesn't change the fact that we did, indeed, take our dogs surfing yesterday. Hey, we are practicing for a dog surfing competition coming up in June. We are even on a team - the Golden Surfurs - and I am not kidding.

We are fortunate enough to live in one of the best climates in the world. Sunny San Diego, or Sandy Ego, as I like to refer to it, is absolutely one of the best places to be if you prefer a year round moderate climate. Generally our weather hovers in the mid 70's for the greater part of the year, and is sunny winter, spring, summer and fall...except yesterday. The day we have the great surfing adventure planned it was cold, cloudy, windy, yucky. Ocean temperature in the low 50's, which, in my book, is just above freezing. I swear I saw some ice chunks floating among the waves. Brrrr! Thank goodness I didn't have to actually go into the water all the way. My hubby and son braved the frigid water, along with some other members of our Golden Retriever group, while I stood idly by, keeping warm and taking pictures. Despite the cold, it was an awesome day. Don't believe me? Just check out the pictures!

Ready?

Set...

GO!

Sometimes it fun to just run around!

These pups are part of our group, and just a little too young to try surfing.

I've got the "It's 3:38am and my car alarm just went off" Blues!

Yup, you read that right. 3:38am this morning and the Smart Car alarm goes off. Good Morning? I think not.

Now, I don't know about you, but when I am awakened (is that a word?) in the middle of the night (which I consider 3:38 am to be- the middle of the night that is...) I don't go back to sleep....can't go back to sleep. When you are startled like that, it's like being shot out of a cannon, not that I've actually been shot out of a cannon of course, but, you know, I can imagine...anyway, the good ol ticker starts pounding and the brain starts racing, and boom, the night is over. Of course my wonderful hubby threw some shorts on over his "skivies" (how often now-a-days do you hear the term "skivies"?) and ran out to check the "situation" out front. It was all quiet, no signs of bad guys trying to steal the little car, or even mess with it for that matter....so what gives? Why the alarm? You've got me! When he tried to reset the silly thing it started to "chirp" at him again. I use "chirp" as a nice way to say that IT WAS 3:38am AND THE STUPID THING WAS SCREAMING AT US AND WAKING THE WHOLE NEIGHBORHOOD! Anywho...not a great way to start the day...and about 5 hours too early for me to start a Saturday. By the way, did you realize that even with over a hundred channels on cable TV there is NOTHING worth watching at 3:38am? Believe me, I checked.

Slobber flyin!

I took this little video today while at the
beach surfing with my pups. (More on
that soon!) This is my boy, Jack, and it
just makes me smile to see him this
happy.

Faces

OK, so, you know how people collect things? Matchbooks, Antiques, Beer mugs, husbands, etc.? I've recently had the revelation that I collect something too, (other than just the dust bunnies under my couch) which, up until just a short while ago, I didn't even realize that I was collecting...Faces. Yes, you read that right....I collect faces. I thought I was being hip by collecting all of these cool little statuaries for my backyard, but when I recently went to my favorite store where I aquire some of these items, and I tried to explain to a nice young man (my way of saying a "newbie" that had no clue what I was asking for) what I was looking for, he commented, "Oh, so you collect faces?" "No," I preceeded to explain, "I collect statuaries that are, you know, on the mythical side, nice little gargoyles, elfs, fairies, etc." "Yeah," he said, "and they all have faces, right?" Smartie pants. Anyway, I got out of there that day without doing too much damage to my debit card, and came home and looked around my back yard. Faces everywhere...here are a couple of my favorites. Some of the best ones come from a company called Carruth Studios. Check them out online if you have the inkling.

Gi-Gi, Squirt, and Big Pawpy

...forget the "Three Little Pigs," and the "Three Blind Mice," how about the "Three Wet Dogs"...fresh out of the pool, and looking for a treat.

Gi-Gi (aka Jill aka Gi-Gi Bop) Squirt, (aka Kona, aka Chonie) and Big Paw-py, (aka Jack, Jackie Brown, and Jackson, among others...) enjoy a warm April day.

A challenge for you

A few days ago, on my way home from my morning kid carpool commute, I heard the guys on my favorite radio station talking about a book. The more they talked about it, the more intrigued I got, so I stopped by a bookstore and picked it up.

The book is called "Not Quite What I was Planning" Six-Word Memoirs by Famous and Obscure Writers. The book is made up of just that...six-word memoirs. People have summed up their lives in six words. Sounds strange, doesn't it? Well, I've got to tell you, it's fascinating! Here are a couple of my favorites:

• Never really finished anything, except cake. --Carletta Perkins
• Cursed with cancer, blessed with friends. -- Hannah Davies
• Seventy year, few tears, hairy ears --Bill Querengesser
• I'm my mother, and I'm fine. --K. Bertrand
• Won the fight; lost the girl -- Jim O'Grady
• Slightly psychotic, in a good way. --Patricia Neelty
• Found true love after nine months -- Jody Smith

And some very poignant ones:

• Found true love, married someone else --Bjorn Stromberg
• Dad died, Mom crazy, me, too. -- Moby
• Two boys, my life, conquering autism.--Michelle DePasquale
• Caring for parents. Life is circular.-- Timothy McGrath
• Mom, Dad have dementia. Got Gun? -- Carol Belding
• I was never the pretty one. -- Joan Nesbit Mabe
• Fell in live. Married. Divorced. Repeat. --Lori McLeese
• Thank God the suicide attempt failed. -- Rhett Miller

I could go on and on with these, but don't want to spoil any more for you if you get the chance to pick up the book for yourself. It really is a lot of fun to read through, and I bet you'll find yourself, as I did, trying to sum up your own life in a "six word memoir." Here are a few of my ideas for my own - so far. Please feel free to share your own.

• I gave up skinny for joy
• My Golden Retrievers made me friendlier
• Chocolate is the essence of life

I still haven't found the exact right one that suits me though...I'll keep thinking about it. See what you can come up with. Six words, no more, no less.

Bundle of Boxers

This evening I went with my friend Lisa to look at some boxer puppies. We were just going to "look" - so you know what that means...she wound up getting a new addition to her family! She picked out a little white girl with brown patches on her. Lisa says the patches look like hearts, I think they look like Montana, or Kentucky...or one of those states...I'm not sure which...I never was very good with Geography. Her new puppy is 7 weeks old, and has one blue eye. She's probably going to be named Bonnie Blue. Bonnie Blue the baby Boxer has a nice little ring to it. Little Bonnie Blue doesn't know it yet, but she's a lucky little girl, she just hit the jackpot!

The puppy pile!

Bonnie's big sister

Bonnie playing "Queen of the Mountain!"

Look closely and you can see her blue eye (her left)

Snuggly and warm - on the way home

Hey, let me snooze!

Food? Yes, I like food.

Hey Mom, gimme a little bit more of that stuff!

Yum, yum, yum, I love this stuff!

Just a quickie...

Just thought I'd share a couple of quick pictures from our little pool party this past Sunday. The pups loved it, and a fun time was had by all.

Our "diva" Jill, "big Poppy" Jack, and pooped little guy Kona.

Vegas or bust? Yeah, kind of a bust...

I went to Las Vegas this past weekend on the premise of meeting up with some old high school friends. This had been in the planning stages since last August. That's 8 months...that's a long time...but apparently not long enough for people to plan on being there. There were supposed to be a lot of people showing up, at least 20 to 30 classmates with their spouses. Oh, there were a lot of people there, in Vegas that is...but only one other classmate... seriously, only one other classmate was able to plan ahead, make the commitment, and actually show up. After 8 months of knowing about this, no one else could make it? Wow!

Several of my classmates did let me know that they weren't able to make it because of legitimate reasons...and I appreciate that....a lot of them didn't...or when they did they had really lame excuses for not coming...(you've had 8 months to plan, and couldn't find anyone else to take your kid to practice, or music lessons, or...or...or....oh PLEASE!) Seriously, I'm kinda callin people out here. I'm torked, peeved, and downright angry at some of them. I'll remember that next time one of them needs a favor... I forgive people, but I never, ever forget. Ever.

Whew, that felt good to get out there. I'll leave it at that...at least for right now...until I get mad about it again. But I'll try not to post when I get mad. Can't guarantee it though, but I'll try.

Anyway, I did make the best of it while I was there, and as promised, I brought my little friend "Norm the Gnome" along with me for the trip. Here are a couple of pictures. Enjoy!

On the road, and thirsty.

View from his room at the Tropicana.

Elvis was able to join us, and he's supposed to be dead!

A little relaxing at Trader Vic's at Planet Hollywood

A little more relaxing...

Oh, things are starting to look blurry!

Wranggling a giant lizard in the Amazon...

or was that the Rain Forrest Cafe?
Lounging by the pool....
Norm needs a nap.