A Perfect Weekend

There are few times in life that everything comes together to create something perfect and this weekend was one of them. The idea of a camping trip was pitched to us a few weeks ago and somehow we agreed before we could completely conceive what we were agreeing to. After all, we are not campers! As the trip grew closer we thought it best to cancel ,as the idea of us spending the weekend roughing it sounded like a lot of hard work at a time that we really needed to relax. But Friday came around, the truck was loaded and we headed out of town. Our destination was Lake Jennings, which is a nice 45 minutes drive from home. We were meeting another family from church who we had become friends with and they were the campers. Thank goodness they had a camper and knew what they were doing.


The first glimpses of our site instantly put us at ease. We may have had the most beautiful location in the entire campground with a spectacular view of the lake. The tent was pitched and before long dinner was behind us, the camp fire was lit and the easy strum of the guitar was a perfect end to a busy day. The weekend went merrily along. The boys fished all day and then went back for more after dinner....night fishing that is! We the ladies passed the afternoon leafing through magazines, then we took an adventurous trip to the nearby outlet for some shopping! This was not "roughing it" as I had imagined, but we sure had fun. Even the dog settled in like he was born to camp.

Saturday turned to Sunday and before we knew it we were packing up and heading home. The weekend ended just a little too soon for all of us. In fact, it left us wanting more, which is not what we expected. We all agreed that this was the best weekend we had had in a long, long time.

Memorable moments: Baxter taking down the squirrel, David discovering the scorpion and JMC finding the tarantula!

JMC RELAXING !

Biking the Bayshore

We had been looking forward to today for a long time and finally it was here. We almost cancelled due to extreme heat, but this morning seemed a little cooler so it was a GO. Today was the day we would bike the Bayshore! "The Bayshore is a delightful 25-mile ride with no significant hills. Most of it runs along bike lanes or separated bike paths. The scenery is rich and varied".

We arrived downtown and started on our way at 7:50. Of course, it would have been better if we had left earlier, but what the heck, we were on the ride at last and the morning air was still somewhat fresh.

I may have looked a little dorky cycling along with a map in my hand along with written directions, but we didn't know if the route was well marked so dorky or not we headed off. The first part of the ride was an eye opener as we rode past rubby after rubby (Canadian for homeless). Some were still tucked in while other were foraging about. Before we knew it we were in an industrial district. This was the least interesting part of the ride and I am glad that it was at the beginning, but having said that there was still lots to look at. We wound through this area, under the Coronado bridge and before long, ended up at a very nice area called Bayfront Park (J Street). Next time this is where we will stop for a snack and rest room break. (We did not stop this time and I regretted it later). The park was on the shore and there was a welcome refreshing breeze.

We managed to find our way, only checking the directions when there was a question about where to go which was not too often. At one point we rode past the entrance to the bike route, but quickly realized and did not waste much time going the wrong way. This was marked on the directions as "poorly marked" so we should have been aware.

Somehow in Imperial Beach we ended up cycling a lot of the way on busy Main Street. This was the first time I felt I really had to be paying attention to cars. It turns out that when we hit the strand we merged with a bike path that we probably should have been following. This path would have taken us through this area without being on the street. I will re-check that later.

The Strand is the Strand! There were many happy cyclists along with skaters, runners and mom's pushing babies along the path. Everyone was very courteously sharing the space. After all, this is such a lovely spot that one could not expect to have it to ones self. Once again the breeze from the water was welcome. We cycled past Glorietta Bay Park , which also looked like a good spot to snack, stretch and use the facilities. Once in Coronado we followed along the route past the golf course and under the bridge. At last across the water the skyline of the City of San Diego was in our sight.

We arrived at the San Diego Bay Ferry dock at 10:20. The ride took us exactly 2-1/2 hours as indicated on the route directions. Just as we were about to look for a bite of breakfast or at least an iced something the ferry arrived and we hopped aboard. Cost was $3.50 each including bike. We were among about 20 other bikers as well as several other families that were on this sailing. I must say this part of the route was the icing on the cake. It made us love our city even more. Where in the world can you have such a wonderful bike ride and finish it off with a ferry ride? Only in America's Finest City.

Father's Day 2008

Tomorrow is Father's Day and we have a nice day planned. We are going to try to make it all about "Dad", of course. Our plan is to get up early and go for a long bike ride. Nothing like starting our Sunday with a little exercise!

We will try to leave home about 7:30 and be back around 9:30. If we leave early we can avoid the heat and get home early enough that we can still enjoy breakfast. Father's Day needs to have good food, so we will start off with our traditional family special occasion breakfast ,which includes "Wife Saver Breakfast Special, fruit salad and this time we will have Einstein Bagels (Cinnamon Sugar and Jalapeno Cheese). We are going to try adding Mimosas, which we have never had with our meal before but loved them when we had them at Lisa's for Mothers' day. We hope to be home from the ride and sit down to eat about 10:30, at the latest.

After breakfast we will head off to church. They will have something special for Father's day and we won't want to miss feeding our spiritual souls, so that will be a nice part of our day. What will we do after church? What ever the "Father" in our house wants to do. Perhaps a walk on the beach or a trip to the dog park! I guess as long as we are all together it doesn't really matter.

We have a dinner reservation at 5:30 at our fav restaurant. Yes, more eating! You could say in our house every celebration centers around food. It's no wonder that we have "large" waist lines. If everything goes as planned it should be a perfect day.

Two years ago I missed sending my Father his Father's day card. I actually took the time to buy the card, but just never got it in the mail. Sadly, this was my dad's last Father's day. Who knew? Who would have ever thought that he would be gone in less than four months? A Father's Day will never pass without thinking of my ol' Dad... sure do miss you!

Crystalized Ginger-Snap Cookies

1-3/4 cups all purpose flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
2 tsp ground ginger
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1/3 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp white vinegar
1/4 cup molasses
1/4 cup finely chopped crystallized ginger

Preheat oven to 325 degrees

Stir together the flour, baking soda, ginger and cloves in a bowl and then set aside. Beat the butter and sugar until light. Mix in the egg, vinegar and molasses. Add the flour mixture and crystallized ginger until blended. Form dough into 1-inch balls and place on a non-stick or parchment-lined baking tray, spacing them 2-inches apart. Bake 15 minutes. Cool completely on a baking rack.

These moist cookies get better with age. Store in a tight-sealed jar and try them after a week or so. The flavors in the cookie will deliciously meld together, making eating just on a very hard thing to do.

My Little Boy is Growing Up!

Tomorrow my little boy will graduate from Middle School. OMG ! Where has the time gone? When I look at him I still see a little boy and perhaps I always will. This last school year has not been the best academically for him, but not because of lack of intelligence. He does not go to school to learn. He goes to school to entertain and if he gathers a little knowledge along the way, that is a bonus.

The last progress report that he brought home from school was the worst ever. In fact, he received his first "F" and in English of all subjects. I say that because at the beginning of middle school he was in honors English and was tested to be reading at a grade 12 level...and the boy can read. How does this happen to a smart kid like this? When I contacted the teacher she said he was a really good kid, funny and polite. The reason for the "F" was that he simply had not handed in his assignments nor his reading logs. Again, the boys reads all of the time so why would he not hand in the reading log? When I asked him he had no answer, so I can only assume that it was not a priority for him or he is just plain lazy.

English was not the only subject that he did poorly in and the other teachers told me basically the same things about him. How can a parent motivate a child to do well when he simply does not care? I had already taken away all of his privileges and praised him when he did well so what was the thing that would motivate him to succeed? I was at my wits end, but really wanted to help my child.

In the end it was constant follow up from me that got him to take interest. It seemed that he wanted me to be much more involved than I wanted to be. I guess I wanted him to be like his brother and follow through without supervision and he proved to me that each child is an different. Many years ago I read a book called "ending the homework hassle". The book explained how to liberate yourself from feeling anxiety about homework by making your child responsible for his own work/actions. At the time I was beside myself with my older son who would take HOURS to do his homework. It was frustrating for both of us, but the book cured me and helped him. I wanted that for this child too, but he really needed me to be following him every step of the way, not just going through the motions. It was his way of getting my attention, making me slow down and take notice of him. Once I realized that he really needed to be parented in a different way it made things easier.

With this new found knowledge I hope to be able to help my son succeed in high school. I know now that he is not ready to let go and needs me still. After all he is my little boy!

The Bike Ride of our Life

Today we went on another bike ride. We headed out from the mall where we left the truck. Immediately, we had the good fortune to come upon a group of cyclists called the Knickerbikers. It would have been fun to ride with them, as they were following a route from the J Street marina over toward Otay Lakes, but we already had an idea of where we wanted to ride.

We wanted to try a little "off roading" and follow the power lines to see where they might lead. We soon discovered that we were heading down into a valley. At first the rush downhill was fun, but we got a little concerned when we continued to head down hill realizing that sooner or later we would need to head back up. We had an idea to follow a path that we saw at the bottom that would hopefully take us out of the valley another way.

Unfortunately, when we got to the bottom, there was no connection to the path that we could see in the distance. In fact, we realized that it was a dead end. We headed off in another direction still trying to find a way to the path that we wanted to take. At some points we had to get off our bikes and walk as the hill was just to steep to pedal up and at other points we were heading down hill so fast it was scary.

It was then out there in the middle of no where that I realized how this bike ride was so similar to our lives right now. For example, we could have ridden with the pack but we chose to go our own way. So true in our lives as we have followed a very different life path than those around us. Personally, we too have come so very close to the bottom and how desperately we are searching for that path that would take us up again. The path was there, we could see but somehow not get to it. Just like the bike ride, in our lives we had tried several paths, sometimes I led, sometimes he led. He saw things that I didn't see and vise versa. Together we tried to get back on top, but just can't seem to find the way. At some points we had to back track a little, but eventually we did get out.

In our life we have not found the way out of the valley just yet. I guess we need to keep trying, stick together and take turns leading. And remember that with faith we will find our way. Maybe where we want to go is not where he wants us to go, but he will show us the way. It seems clear to me that this the bike ride came at an opportune time. This was the the Ride of our Life.

I am only one

I wanted to share this original art created by Brad Ruggles. I liked it enough that I decided to post it so I could look at it from time to time.

Last night was the lacrosse banquet for our older son. I was very proud of him as he has turned out to be a fine young man both athletically and intellectually. Last night he received an award for 2008 Varsity Attackman of the Year. He is making some wonderful memories for himself as an athlete and a good one at that. Younger son was at the banquet too, taking it all in. Next month he will be in high school with his older brother! I will have a freshman and a senior. How the time is flying.

The first week on the new "secret" job is over. I feel very happy with how it went and have learned a lot already. My question is how deep is the pond? In other words, right now I am not sure if I have learned 10% or 70% of the job. At any rate, I am enjoying having my own office and feel comfortable with my new responsibilities.

I am worried about my DH. I know he is trying to keep a happy face, but I can tell that inside he is raw. His job situation or rather lack of has him really down. I on the other hand, seem to be so very positive that something good will come of this bad situation. I think he needs to reflect and see what is really important to him in life. He seems to have lost himself somewhere in his journey and he needs to find himself and fast.

June Already!

I am very happy these days as I am training for my new job. It is amazing how a change of employment can really make work exciting again. I am still feeling happy that I was picked to be "the one". I wonder where this job will lead? It is the beginning of something new.. something I can really plunge into and explore. What is this job? Well ,for now it is a secret so I will have to write about it at another time.

Also, Mum is here visiting. It is nice to have her around as she always gives an interesting perspective to things. Maybe I just like having another female in the house. Yesterday she declared that she could not possibly spend another day in this house. I guess she is feeling a little cabin fever from being holed up here for the last few days. We planned a nice outing to cheer her up. The boys and my DH met me at Islands near the job. We had a delicious lunch together. I went back to work and they headed to Target. Who doesn't love Target? The day before, when I was at Target, I picked up the cutest patio lights. I had visions of stringing them on the fence in the backyard to give it a more romantic look. I bought 75 feet of lights only to find out that I actually need 175 feet. Opps! I think I was a little off on the calculations. I really want the yard to look great so we can enjoy it as this may be our last summer here. Now all we need, besides the extra lights, is a gas heater which we will pick up when they are on sale at Costco this month....we have a coupon. Yippee!

This has to be the busiest week of the year! Not just this year but every year. Tuesday was the PTSO meeting, Wednesday the nail appointment, Thursday is the awards ceremony at the high school and Friday the High school LAX banquet..! The weekend does not look any quieter. We have dinner at Lisa's on Saturday night and the middle school LAX close of season party on Sunday. It is good to be busy. I just hope we can squeeze a bike ride in somewhere.

I was saddened to hear the news today that Sen. Hillary Clinton will officially suspend her campaign for the presidency on Saturday and "express her support for Senator Obama. I really wanted Clinton to win. I feel that she would have former President Bill Clinton there to guide her along so it would be like getting 2 for 1. After all she has already been in the White house so to speak. It's not that I have anything against Obama, it's just that I think Clinton is a stronger candidate....darn I wish I could vote!

In closing I am reflecting on the boys. I can hardly believe that one will be a senior and the other a freshman. Where has the time gone? How will I feel next year at this time when my senior will be graduating? The thought of it makes me sad....very sad. I must do everything I can to make this last year of school a good one for him and the first year of high school a good one for my little boy.