Well, here we go again-our family! Thomas & I invested in a timeshare that is located at: 1822 Resort Drive, McGaheysville, VA 22840 several years ago: www.massresort.com To be exact I believe it was the first year we were married. It is located outside of Harrisonburg, VA which is north of Roanoke-about a 2 hour drive. We felt since this all season resort was so close to our home it would definitely be utilized for us to entertain family/friends and so we are doing so this week. Our scheduled stay is the 5th week of each year which happens to fall on Superbowl Week-you all know how much I LOVE football so we thought it’d be appropriate to hold an all week celebration for our family/friends. Not really, we won’t be celebrating the end of football season all week long but it will be a sad time as the season draws to a close so we’ll have the usual 1 day celebration as all good Americans do then we’re off to the slopes, waterpark, tubing or just plain ‘ol relaxing in the mountains!
Thomas, Caitlynn and I have been planning and preparing for a week now as the day finally arrives that we do the loading/organizing and travel to our destination spot-Saturday, January 31, 2009. We got up this morning and started our preparation to depart by 10:00 AM. The temperature here at home in Roanoke is 28 degrees as we woke and began loading the vehicles. Notice I said vehicles since we always have to take 2 due to the amount of food that we take to the condo. We like to have everything we need for our meals, snacks and entertainment food and for everyone coming during our week. We were completely loaded to the brim, with only enough space in the pickup for Thomas to drive and Caitlynn to co-pilot his driving while I drove his car with enough room in the driver’s side and nothing else wasted. Off we go for our adventurous week. As I was outside of Harrisonburg I called Glen’s cell phone to check on their progress. He had called Thomas as they were having breakfast in Lexington and then they’d head to the resort also. Carla, Kristen (13 yrs old), Mileena (Kristen’s best friend), her mom-Linda, and her brother-Adam (who is 10 yrs old) were all traveling together in their van. As I entered the road to the resort they had pulled off to the side of the road and waited on me since they had never been here. I took them to the waterpark and all of then but Glen opted to stay there for fun in the water as we were going to get registered and see where we’d be staying. We had an hour and a half to wait until we could actually get into the condo (3:00 PM) so we went back to the waterpark and watched the rest of the crew and visited them for a little before we came back and unloaded our vehicles then sorted things out in both upstairs and downstairs. Thomas started his famous spaghetti but as Caitlynn reminded him “I can’t believe your using Ragu, you never do that” but with all the fresh “fixings” he puts in it I have no doubt it will be good and everyone will enjoy it. Caitlynn & I prepared queso dip and Glen prepared the garlic bread for our entrée this evening. When it was time for Glen to pickup his crew and bring them to the condo (6:00 PM), he left to return and we planned dinner to be ready at 7:30. Caitlynn ran outside to greet Glen and his bunch as they returned from the waterpark. I saw what looked like van lights and told her “that’s them” so she ran outside and yells “Glen my little Princess” just in time to realize that it was not Glen but a Chinese man who thought she was crazy!….As Glen escorted his group to the top floor (above our floor which is a mirror image of our floor-complete with 6 person hottub in the master bathroom, full kitchen, dining area, fireplace, decks, master bedroom with bath and another bedroom with 2 beds, not to leave out the fact that the couch makes into a full-size bed) the girls squealed and said “this is nicer than our house” and then when they set eyes on the hottub they squealed even louder, shut the door and started the water!
After everyone got settled and hungry-we all came to our condo floor to eat dinner together and spend some time getting to know each other. We all sat around talking and sharing stories of events, people, and times that we have shared. Thomas and Glen have worked together since 1991 so they have seen each others families grow and change with the times. Carla was cracking us up with a story about the time Glen was having kidney stone issues and she told us that as he sat around in his boxers, he kept “fiddling with himself down there”. She said he had a funny look on his face as he keep groping so she asked him “did you pass a stone yet”, as he had a peculiar look on his face as he looked up and had something in his hand that he opened it for Carla to find a earring back that must have been lodged in his underpants! Caitlynn held her own as she is so funny naturally-even if she’s not telling stories. The kids all went back and forth between both floors but ironically they did hang out with us mostly to share in the laughter. As Caitlynn now has a full mouth of braces-top and bottom, she is also fortunate to also have to wear a nice bright red retainer on the top section of her teeth so Carla was amazed that she could still talk but Glen laughed and said maybe they were trying to slow her down from talking-you think? Kristen and Mileena are friends from school and play soccer together. Carla and Linda met as their girls hang out together and Linda helped coach the girl’s soccer team. She recalls her famous line she used with Kristen the last season as being “What are you do doing?” as she recalls and demonstrates her reactions when she yells this. Linda shared with us the story of how her ex-husband and she found Mileena’s name as it is so unique. She said she used to be a big fan/player of Mortal Combat which is a video game and she said there was a “big, bad woman that was just awesome and had an awesome body” so they named her after this video woman because she was “so bad” as her says respectfully. Their family moved here 3 years ago from New Mexico so they are adjusting to the cultural differences here in Virginia as Linda tells us is so different.
All 3 of us mom’s sitting here have thyroid issues and we talked about that and the fact that research has changed the normal values that are acceptable. Linda has been doing some research in the information of it and so we all participated in that conversation. Carla shared a story with us that she remembers when Kristen was small and she loved playing in her mom’s lipstick. One day she heard her in their bedroom and she yelled at Kristen that she had better not be in her lipstick! Carla said that every time she would get into them she would apply it around her whole mouth as she was young and didn’t really aim. She said that the next day Glen went to put on a pair of his underwear on and as he turned and walked away, she saw lip prints all over the back of his underpants! She said to Glen, “is there something I need to know because those don’t look like lips!” We were all laughing so hard as I’m sure as parents we can all imagine how that felt. It wasn’t long before they realized that when Carla yelled for Kristen to NOT be in the lipstick, she grabbed her dad’s underwear and wiped her mouth to erase the evidence of her curiosity. Thomas chuckled as he told Carla “and you should of told him you wouldn’t be kissing his ass anyway so those couldn’t be your lips!” Kristen used the chocolate chip cookie mix that Caitlynn gave her and she made us Jesus cookies meaning they were large as she started putting them on the cookie sheet, Carla said they were Jesus cookies because “Jesus those are large!” Glen told her that “they will never cook being that big” but they did and no one cared how big they were as they were ALL gobbled up! After we let our bellies settle then I gave them all blind taste tests for NERD, which is a new business venture Thomas and I have invested in recently (http://www.nerdenergy.tv) . We tested Rockstar, Mother Load, Red Bull and of course NERD. All the kids chose NERD and the both adults tested (Glen and Linda-Carla said she “can’t just sip something or it makes me sick”) chose NERD to be 1 of their top 2 so we did label comparisons and talked about how we came about this venture. As we all sat around we each talked about our families and growing up, in-laws, and parents. Caitlynn shared a story with us when she and her dad (Lynn) were watching an animal show with one of her visits to see him. There was a Silver Back gorilla in the show and Lynn asked her if she knew what “that is” and she said she knew it was a gorilla. He corrected her and said “no, you see the silver line down its back-that is the meanest gorilla in the jungle. That would be your Grannanny (which would be my mother). We spent the next few hours reminiscencing of the many memories several of us here have had together and for the rest of us we were getting to know one another. Kristen came back down to our floor at 1:05AM as she reported to us it was hard for her to go to sleep as she kept hearing all of us laugh so loud down here! After Carla gave Kristen something for a headache, we all decided it was time to call it a day. We departed to lay our heads down to sleep at1:30 AM but as I finished getting ready for bed with my nightly routine, Thomas was snoring so I talked with Caitlynn for a few more minutes then I was off to read and in bed myself to close a nice day.
Sunday, February 01, 2009-As the bright sun filters through our bedroom window the temperature is 45 degrees, Thomas was up to start making breakfast. Happy Superbowl Day-43rd game with Pittsburgh Steelers vs Arizona Cardinals in Tampa Bay, Florida. I am cheering the Cardinals on for several reasons, the first being I have always liked Kurt Warner and secondly they are the underdogs as everyone expects Pittsburgh to win as they have been in the Superbowl before. The preview game show will begin at noon for TV coverage.
As everyone started waking up-the kids first except for Caitlynn, they came to our floor. Glen tells us as he comes to eat breakfast that he heard the kids saying they were going to come down to see if “my good man Mr. Thomas has something to eat” (as Kristen affectionately refers to Thomas frequently) they’re not crazy, they know who does the cooking around here! As they bounced onto our floor they were pleased to see the progress that Thomas was making as he had biscuits, sausage, bacon, coffee (juices/milk for the kids) and was putting the finishing touches on the eggs. Everyone had breakfast as they woke and came downstairs to join us. Linda came down with her Steelers lounge pants, Thomas stated he’s for the underdog Arizona. The night refreshed us all and we spent some time getting ready for the day and Glen’s group prepared the pack since they would be heading back to Roanoke/Salem today. After everyone finished getting ready and was pretty much packed, lunchtime was upon us. We sat out Thomas’s famous tuna-which I have never seen anyone including kids not like eating this! Sure enough we all enjoyed it along with soft tacos that Caitlynn had just finished preparing for everyone. With the adults sitting around talking again as we’ve been able to do with this getaway, we laughed as Linda told us about taking her 2 kids back to NM last year. She really wanted to teach her kids about fishing-catching, cutting & gutting them. She relayed to us that she was raised fishing as a way of life with her dad and she wanted her kids “to get the big picture of that true way of life”. Glen and Carla reported to us Kristen’s realization as Glen told her “this is the fact, every one we catch we will clean and eat”. As he gives us the details Carla grimaced at the thought. Linda is from Albuquerque, NM so we got on the subject of the annual Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta www.balloonfiesta.com that is held there each year where 5,000 or more hot air balloons have mass ascension out of the valley of Albuquerque in the wee hours of the morning in the fall season-it is truly amazing that everyone should see at least once in their life. Lynn, Caitlynn and Shugs (my only Rat Dog at that time) attended and other than Lynn’s constant complaining we had a good time.
Caitlynn joined in with her humor and it’s so funny to hear Kristen and Mileena laugh with her funny tales or comments. She announces that she is wearing my least favorite pair of pants that she wears because she loves them. They have holes everywhere so she wears a pair of basketball shorts under them-if I get a chance one day I’ll have to dispose of them….
The afternoon was already upon us so Glen’s group loaded up and we said our good-bye’s as they departed. It was a good time to be had by all and we made some new friends along the way which is what life’s all about.
Thomas and I made our way to the Woodstone building where he enjoyed the sauna and hottub as I worked out in the exercise room for an hour. He drove back to the condo and I walked it as I felt like I ate all day yesterday, besides the weather is beautiful at a sunny 59 degrees here in the mountains. Nothing like the mountain fresh air! There were quite a few golf carts out as the golfers are enjoying the day here as this is considered an All Season Resort with its own large golf course-not sure “how big exactly” since I am NOT a golfer. I will have to do a little investigative work on the golfing as I will use that to entice Nicole and her family with the golfing here since Justin is learning to golf with Juan so they’ve been trying to play on a regular basis.
As I make my way I think about how blessed I am as I’m able to take time to enjoy our surroundings. I walk and focus to open my eyes, stretch my mind and let go of the security blanket of what I think I know…….Upon my arrival in the condo Thomas pointed out that Caitlynn had baked us a couple of cookies and left them for us to enjoy. She left a note in the floor in front of the front door that read “upstairs taking a nap….hopefully napping” with a smiley face.
The Superbowl pregame show is on and I love watching the interviews as you get such an up close and personal view of the players that you watch play a game that they love and play with such passion each week during football season. The entertainment was music by Journey an hour before the game and I was shocked as I watched them perform because the lead singer is not the original man, he is Asian but performed for the crowd well. I told Thomas it was almost like going to a funeral and seeing the wrong body in the coffin as I did not expect that at all. Matt Lauer from The Today Show interviewed our new president that’s been in the office for 12 days now, that was entertaining and I enjoyed it also. The NFL named Kurt Warner “Man of the Year” and presented him with an award. I talked to Nicole as they are in Texas also getting ready to watch the game. Juan (her husband is also a Cowboys fan like Thomas), we talked as she tells me Lauren had her first fever on Friday evening but is somewhat better today.
Halftime for the Superbowl score is Steelers 17 and Cardinals 10. The last few minutes of the 1st half, the longest touchdown run (100 yds) in history was made for Steelers by a defensive end: James Harrison #92. Bruce Springsteen and The E-Street Band performed at halftime but Thomas and I enjoyed watching the commercials more than their performance. Some of the commercials have brought back 3D, that was kind of cool. We chuckled as Caitlynn has slowly started taking over the top floor since Glen’s group left today so she’s been coming down off & on during the game to get some snacks to stock up there for her. So occasionally we’ll here her abruptly jogging done the steps and selectively picking her next batch of snacks. Thomas and I are enjoying our own little smorgasbord of snacks. As the game time is dwindling down it is very exciting so this marks 2 great teams that deserve to be in the Superbowl. The game was won in the last 35 seconds with a catch by Santonio Holmes (made MVP of this game) with an amazing catch making the final score Steelers 27, Cardinals 23. Pittsburgh Steelers (coached by Mike Tomlin currently, began coaching this team at 32 yrs old) makes history today by being the only NFL team to be 6 time champions of the Superbowl. Ben Rothelishberger is the quarterback for Pittsburgh and his is 26 yrs old and this is his 2nd Superbowl win.
Thomas and I completed our evening in the hottub in our room with wine & candlelight as we relaxed and spent some alone time as Caitlynn was off to watching a movie/sleep upstairs. It’s been a good day.
Today is Monday, February 02, 2009-Ground Hog Day. The temperature is 52 degrees @ 10:00AM and the weather channel is predicting things to start cooling off mid day today with a slight chance of snow showers by Tuesday. “Punxsutawney” (who lives in PA) saw his shadow this morning so he predicts we will have 6 more weeks of winter weather: Frankly I love that because it just seems that winter gets shorter and shorter with less snow each year. We’ve had a few days with brief snow showers but nothing significant to speak of in Roanoke this year.
Monday, February 2nd, 2009-Thomas woke up to take a conference call and is working from here today so he’s on his cell and laptop, busy at it. Once Caitlynn woke she graced us with her presence from her “own floor upstairs”. We chuckled as I said “it’s always fun and games until someone gets an eye put out” as MawMaw Nolen would often tell her grandkids as they would horse-play. I however was referring to the fact that she claimed the upstairs place as hers for now as she “likes living alone” she told us. I said to her, “lots of people do until the bills come in and someone has to pay them if you like the amount of space you have and the amenities. She just gave me that “ok, thanks mom” look but she still came down to see what we were having for breakfast-funny how that happens don’t you think?
Louise called and she is driving here this morning with Lauren (she turned 2 yrs old in November), which I have the honor of babysitting while she skis with Caitlynn today. They will spend the night and go home on Tuesday sometime. So since I have time to spare after dealing with a few work-related issues I am walking to Woodstone to workout. I have joined my office in a 100-day challenge for “Get Healthy VA” and there were 54 teams (last account I had) that for the next 100 days (beginning Jan. 21st) we are competing on weight loss and activity tracked for each team so since I am the team captain-I should be setting a good example. Besides all of that I am not getting ANY younger and have another 5K to do March 14th in Roanoke so off I go. After I finished an exceptional workout I began my walk back to the condo and it was very obvious that the temperature had dropped (as they were predicting) to 41 degrees and the cloud cover was moving in-it’s still beautiful making this 9 minute walk. There are several small pond areas that the geese are enjoying even though there are several frozen patches throughout. Not many people golfing today but I’m hopeful for the weather to change in hopes that we get snow here. Upon my arrival after my exercise, Louise and Lauren had arrived. When I walked in sweaty and looking lovely I’m sure, Lauren said “Hey Aunt Raquel!” Now that is a nice greeting. She had a bag full of toys and books she so eagerly showed me and Thomas. She joined us as we put together a puzzle on the floor. I giggled as Louise brought in 5 pairs of shoes as she tells us that Lauren LOVES shoes. I would agree as that is a common trait all of us women share, I’d say. Caitlynn came down as she and Louise were planning their ski session for the afternoon. Thomas & I are going to go swimming with Lauren as there are several indoor pools to choose from here at the resort. As the girls dressed for their ski event, Lauren and I prepared for our swim. Lauren & I stood on one of the decks and said our good-byes to Caitlynn and her mom for now and I took pictures, one with my phone and sent it via text to Lynn for him to see his daughter in ski gear. Then we waited on Thomas to finish up and head out which took about 45 minutes, so in that time Lauren had dressed and undressed about 5 times. Now there is rain/snow mixed falling as we left the condo and the temperature has dropped to 38 degrees but feels like 34 with the wind. I’d say that Louise & Caitlynn chose the perfect time to go ski as this is great ski weather as it turns out to be with the weather change.
We’re off to the Woodstone recreation building to take Lauren swimming. I got her in the pool first and then Thomas joined us after taking a dip in the hottub which is just to the inside of the pool area from where she and I were. I spent a few minutes in the hot sauna and I looked out the door and low and behold who’s standing there-Thomas was holding Lauren as she waved to me when spotting me. Louise said she had not had a nap today but she’s still going full force! After we finished swimming we took her to ride the little kid’s rides that they have for the children, they require money but Uncle Thomas just shook it with his hands and for a 2 yr old that was plenty. Lauren then tried out the video games and since the screens change to entice any passer-by, she thought she was pushing the buttons and pulling the handles to make things happen-she loved that!
We made our way back to the condo through the snow as it is coming down in really big flakes now and we began to prepare dinner as I figured Louise and Caitlynn would be returning hungry, around 7:30 PM ish…. We opted for leftover spaghetti and so I prepared Lauren’s meal first while I was also waiting on the garlic bread to cook. She surprised me by eating an entire banana (except for the bite her Uncle Thomas begged for and she granted his wish), a small bowl of spaghetti, several Ritz crackers with cheese (typical for a Rothe to LOVE any kind of cheese!), a handful and a half of grapes, 3 small carrots, and 1 tomato that she reached over to Thomas’s vegetable tray and dipped it in ranch dressing before devouring. Of course by this time she is down to only her pull-up again and loving life. I laugh as I watch her because it brings back so many memories of Caitlynn when she was little-she hated clothes! As soon as I’d dress her she’d turn the corner in a dead run and be pulling every article off her body. Then the race was on as she’d run and hide so no one could get her clothes back on. From exhaustion we would give up trying the catch her and calf rope her to dress her again but while she was hiding her giggle would be a dead giveaway where she had chosen to hide! All of Brandon’s friends would laugh because every time they were at our house (which was all the time since he loved being at home out in the country!) she’d be half-way naked or jumping on the trampoline butt naked usually upon their arrival. Good thing we had no neighbors for miles…
We I read Lauren several books I was amazed to see how well she knows the letters of the alphabet and with 1 particular book-she really enjoys to be read to. Louise & Caitlynn arrived and we escorted them in as Caitlynn had a little pain in her left leg, above her ankle area on the outside. Thomas feels like it’s tendonitis probably. Us girls ate dinner and Lauren picked at my food as she took a few bites and ran around and Thomas was STILL troubleshooting his laptop modem issue with HP and Verizon as he tried to transition his phone service to a modem use as a way of getting internet on his laptop Friday before we left on Sat. no luck so far and he’s been trying for 12 hours total for the last 2 days. We cracked up as Lauren entertained us now naked as she stacks her puzzle pieces then sits on them and of course the more we laughed, the more energy she seemed to create. Every time Louise asked Lauren if she wanted something or if she could get something for her she responded to her mom , “no Aunt Raquel do it” and Louise grinned as she said “ok, now I know how your dad feels when we’re home as she always wants me to do it there”. I got Caitlynn to lie down and put ice on her leg while we put the movie “Racing Stripes” in to watch. Lauren has a yellow platapus that she carries around and calls it a duck, she loves it and searches for it when she’s ready for it. I asked Louise where she got it and she told me it was in a bag of things that Helene had given her that was Kayla and Nick’s “kid” things. She believed this was actually Kayla’s in the past and Lauren has graciously adopted it. One of the things that I so greatly respect and admire about Louise and David as they strive to raise Lauren in this day and time is the fact that they are always instilling pieces of family history for her in everyday life. When I say this I mean they encourage her to always use the “title of each family member when addressing or referring to them (ie: Aunt…cousin….Uncle, etc.) and they implement bits and pieces of the family past such as this stuffed animal of her cousins so that she will have a great appreciation of her family roots when she gets older. I love to see that because with the busyness of our daily lives we live today it’s not seen very often and I feel there’s a big breakdown in the time families spent together like I recall as a child growing up in my home as compared to today. There will be a day and time that Lauren will appreciate this attribute as her parents are giving her a heritage and for that I’m thankful.
Lauren never went to sleep so after the movie went off Louise took her to their bedroom and read to her and she was off to night-night land in no time-I creeped in to take a picture of her in her motionless state, she’s so cute! Caitlynn was off to her upstairs domain and Louise played her DS game, Thomas was emailing tech support back & forth in between playing a computer game as I’m typing this story. The snow is still falling and it is so peaceful. We’ve never been here for our week when it did not snow, the snow makes the trip complete for me. As I head off the do my quiet time, I think of how ironic it is that my reading is almost always related to the day that’s just been completed for me. The Living Faith daily devotion reads: Jesus’ Humanity Enlivens Us *The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favor of God was upon him. Luke 2:40-the reading for February 2, 2009 I always let this phrase roll around in my head like the last sip of a favorite drink. I savor it because it reminds us that Jesus was a child who grew up, becoming strong and filled with wisdom. Like the rest of us, he didn’t start out that strong or wise. I can’t help but wonder what he was like as a child, what seemingly nutty things he might have done. Jane Goodall, advocate for the chimpanzees, took garden worms to bed as a child to keep them warm. Did Jesus bring home some ragged stray and plaintively ask, “Mom, can I keep him?” or climb a tree attempting to put an unfledged chick back in its nest? Thinking of Jesus as a child enlivens his humanity for me and makes it easier for me to continue to follow the man he became. Dear Jesus, fill me with your wisdom and strength so that I may follow you.
Interesting that we have spent the day with Lauren as a young child and have seen her strong-willed ways and how intelligent she is yet she is still very much a child with so much to learn and such a bright future ahead of her. I pray for her nightly as I do all the children in my family, that God would write his name on their hearts and use their parents to be Godly examples to create a passion in them to seek Him in all they do. Good night all.
Good morning, today is Tuesday, February 3, 2009 and they are saying we got 4-6 inches of snow and the current temperature is 30 degrees. The day is starting out sunny and will melt parts of it away I’m sure before long but for now we will enjoy the majestic view of the mountains covered in fresh fallen snow-it is quite picturesque. I sent via text the girls at the office and Nicole/kids (Justin, Allison, and Lauren-yes I have a Lauren on my side of the family also since last August) a picture of the view outside our back deck here at the condo. Kim sent me back their version of their view at the lab which had an audio clip and it was somewhere that had snow covered cross-country skiing place with huge mountains-they are so humorous. It was obviously not what they were actually looking outside their window in Salem, VA! We are in hopes that some of my staff will be joining us later on this week.
Thomas prepared a nice breakfast for Louise, Lauren and I as we let Caitlynn sleep in this morning. We were impressed to hear the sound of the geese to the little pond area outside the condo as they must be returning after flying off yesterday when the weather changed so drastically. Afterwards Louise, Lauren and I got our snow clothes on and went outside in search of an area to make a snowman. Louise said that Lauren had not liked the snow before (last year) and wouldn’t even walk in it, she was in hopes that her fear had changed. So Louise immediately laid in the snow outside the condo (with Lauren standing beside her) and started making a snow angel. I laughed as I proceeded out the front door to observe her actions and it made me think of the days when Jason and his friends from Jr High would get in and out of the hottub at Thomas’s house to make snow angels in the middle of winter-still not sure if they were dressed or not as I never really watched but just heard the stories from Thomas since I was usually only there for a brief visit from Tx. when we dated. I smiled as I remembered their excitement when they shared the stories themselves with me. We are in hopes that he will be able to join us at some point this week to ski but when I sent him a text after the weekend when we got here he said he was busy getting caught up in his accounting class so I did send him a text picture of the snow and how cute Lauren looked getting ready to swim yesterday as we left-he in turn sent me a text picture of the snow there at Liberty University in Lynchburg, VA. Maybe as the week passes he’ll be able to join us for a little bit.
Louise found a good spot to build a snowman but had to resort back to carrying Lauren as she didn’t want to walk in the snow. Lauren stood there and I talked to her as her mom became the artist creating a snowman before her very eyes, she observed with great caution and as Louise finished I had Caitlynn hand us vegetables to make him come alive with features. So he had celery sticks for his ears, a carrot nose and tomato eyes. There was an old tortilla that Caitlynn had thrown outside yesterday in hopes that the birds would eat it, their loss was the snowman’s gain to be its hat. Then Louise topped it off with a small ball of snow to secure the hat better-Lauren smiled as her mom talked to her as she completed her masterpiece. At this point she did begin to take a closer look and showed a little more interest in the project her mom just completed so I was able to take pictures. David was unable to come so I will be sharing the pictures after our trip is over this week-he’ll like them as I have been able to get some good ones. As a parent can you really ever have enough pictures to look at with your kid(s) in them? I’m thinking not! I then made my way down the golf cart trail to take more pictures as Louise and Lauren headed back to the condo. With me and nature out here alone, it gives me time to once again think about all of my surroundings and realize how perfectly simple life is intended to be. As humans we are the ones that complicate things and by the grace of our Heavenly Father we have the simple opportunities to reconnect and renew balance in our ordinary lives.
Thomas continues to be on the phone with tech support and the same issue with his laptop, he goes between HP and Verizon so Louise, Lauren and I got ready and went to Le Club to swim as they have an isolated kid pool that is heated and other amenities. The sun is out but the high temperature for the day was 33 degrees as some of the snow melts away with the warmth of the sun. This time as we got out of Louise’s vehicle Lauren walked, even though there was snow-Louise and I noticed but didn’t make a big deal out of it in hopes that she will get better while being around it. We had a good time swimming and entertaining Lauren as we had the kid pool to ourselves except for a 4 yr old little boy but his mom only watched and read a book, she did not swim. After awhile Lauren was obviously sleepy so we gathered our things and we’re off to the condo for some lunch and then they will drive home to Rocky Mount. Louise told me that David called this morning and was going home from work as he was not feeling well so he’d be there upon their arrival. We returned to have lunch and load them up for their departure for home. With a full belly her “baby doll”, blankets, and her yellow duck I felt confident that she’d sleep as Louise drove them home to see her daddy! It was a great visit and we enjoyed every minute of it! After they left I straightened the kitchen and talked to the lab several times and Bari regarding work. Caitlynn stayed downstairs after we had all said our good-byes and we talked, she talked about several of her friends, school and our plans for the evening. I like hearing her perception of relationships as she is not easy swayed at all and has very definite opinions of certain things involving relationships. Women typically don’t have the power over their own emotions. You can’t have power over anything if you don’t have power over who you are and you can’t have power over who you are until you have the courage to say no out of love, versus yes out of fear. Women say yes because they are afraid of what others will think of them, what others will say about them. I’ve tried to teach her to do soul searching when forming an opinion and make sure you’re right with God then do what’s right regardless of other people. If they are your true friends they allow you to be different out of respect. She’s becoming quite the young lady that I am proud of her but feel like I have such a mission ahead of me for the next 2 ½ years, with God all things are possible.
Then I settled on the couch to read for a bit and relax. After a couple of hours I decided to go do my workout so Thomas and I left around 7:00 PM to go to Woodstone so he could swim and enjoy the sauna and hottub there until I was finished and joined him before returning here. We ate our dinner as Caitlynn had prepared BBQ for sandwiches prior to us leaving. Thomas and I then started a movie with the fireplace blazing and relaxed as Caitlynn had been back & forth to chat with us and bake us chocolate chip cookies again but then she was off for the duration of the evening. It’s been an enriching day full of good times and relaxation for all.
Today is Wednesday, February 04, 2009 and I woke up to my cell ringing at 3:00 AM and so I talked to Robin at the lab regarding a clinical judgement call on a patient. Then I called Robbie at the lab as Sunday was his 21st birthday and I wanted to make sure he survived! I was off to bed again after toasting myself a PopTart (strawberry and I only had 1) and having a big glass of water. My cell phone rang again around 8:15 AM and it was Nicole. She cracks me up, of course I sounded groggy and she apologized for waking me-not a big deal to me as I love to hear from her and besides I’m on vacation. Whether it be a health related question, opinion seeking, talk to the kids or just to chat it doesn’t matter as long as she thinks for me! Thomas was awake shortly, made coffee and headed to the hottub here in the condo and Caitlynn is still sleeping in her upstairs area. She will be moving down here later today as Bruce and Tracy will arrive this evening to join us and we’ve like to give them some privacy before we have another group coming in on Thursday. Caitlynn has definitely enjoyed her “space” upstairs as she has practiced for living on her own so I have full confidence that she’ll do well when she leaves the nest in a little over 2 yrs., after all she is her mother’s child-right? Scary….
It is a brisk 24 degrees (feels like 16 though) and the high temp for today they are saying is 32 degrees, partly cloudy. Thomas remains working on a Suduko puzzle while enjoying the hottub and I kept his coffee full until I joined him for a bit. I’m grabbing my breakfast after making reservations for the Murder Mystery Dinner Theatre for us to attend this evening as a family before Bruce and Tracy arrive later this evening. Caitlynn had mentioned it with interest the last time we were here for our ski week last year but we had never gone so now would be a good time. I took Thomas and Jason to one similar in Roanoke at the Holiday Inn-Tanglewood for one of Thomas’s birthdays when we were dating and we had a good time so I hope this one is as entertaining for us.
Off I go out the door after starting laundry and vacuuming to go workout. Thomas is on the phone with his offices and working on an excel spreadsheet for tracking production in his offices. Caitlynn is upstairs watching TV so I am sure they will be fine in my absence. I had a good workout out then swam, enjoyed the wet sauna, then moved to the dry sauna before I changed clothes to head back to the condo. Surprisingly Thomas is STILL on the phone with tech support with his laptop connection issues and Caitlynn is asleep upstairs now. After eating I caught up on my texts, phone calls for work then laid down to read before I needed to get ready for our family outing-The Murder Mystery Dinner Theatre at the conference center scheduled for 6:00 PM. So for something to do that had never been done before for this trip would be Caitlynn attending her first Mystery Dinner Theatre, she’s excited. Thomas ended his tech support call to go with us as a family, which was nice. So as we expected, it was entertaining and we enjoyed it-the buffet was great with quite a selection but we especially delighted in the steamed crab legs. Since Caitlynn had a slight reaction to cracking them last time we were in VA Beach last year, we were sure not to let her touch them but Thomas & enjoyed them enough for all 3of us. We returned to the condo (Thomas let Caitlynn drive us back-I of course sat in the back seat as we veered down the mountain side-she is a good driver though. I’m sure it’s due to his instruction and patience) and got comfortable as Bruce & Tracy were driving in this evening and should be here shortly. Caitlynn baked chocolate chip cookies and we greeted them at the front. It is a very brisk 18 degrees outside now as its 10 PM but feels like 10 degrees with the wind chill. We watched an older DVD together without Caitlynn as she was down here with us but doing her own thing in her room. Afterwards we were off to bed. We all stayed downstairs to allow Bruce and Tracy space and time as they rarely get that at home. I am thankful for the day and friends/family that we enjoy spending time with.
Good Morning, it’s Thursday, February 05, 2009 and a bitter 14 degrees when I woke again at 5:50 AM. Thomas was up at 7AM and left for his office in Mechanicsville then Waynesboro to return here this evening. I have the fireplace on in the living room area and my Itunes music playing softly not to wake up Caitlynn as she moved downstairs with us yesterday evening. The sun is bright even though it’s cold and they’re predicting the high of 25 degrees today. I prepared a smorgasbord of breakfast food including freshly made coffee (with cream & sugar as Bruce likes, Tracy is not a coffee drinker) and milk and set it outside the upstairs door then sent a text message for them to retrieve and enjoy their room service for this morning! I fixed myself a small breakfast burrito and caught up with the office several times as Kim took over a sleepless titration for Robbie this AM for me-all is good now. She & Darrell will be joining everyone here this evening early. I will head back to Roanoke around 2 PM to take Caitlynn and friends (Sam, Tiffany and Jake-Tiffany’s boyfriend that they became “promised” to with a ring for Christmas) to see Larry the Cable Guy. Thomas would be returning to prepare dinner for our friends as we are in hopes that Kim and Darrell Wells will be here by then also. The drive to Roanoke was uneventful with me having a lot of good entertainment from my daughter, I often wonder what age she will be when she allows a complete song to play for its entire way through-maybe that’s just too much to ask for a 15 yr old that has such a diverse love of music? Anyway it’s always good to just hang out with her-no place to go (except for the road trip we’re on) and just let her talk about whatever comes to her mind. It’s always interesting to hear her thought process.
We picked up Tiffany on our way in to town then went to our house where Jake met us then Grandma brought Sam to the house shortly afterwards. The Rat Dogz (Shugs-10 yrs old last month, Gizmo-7 yrs old until Oct of this year and Val-3 yrs old until Sept of this year) were so excited to see us! I finished signing payroll checks and gathered the kids to take them to the Salem Civic Center for their evening performance then I went to the lab to work a bit and gather my mail from the week. I returned to my house to write dialog for an interview from Our Health magazine as they will be featuring Sleep EZ Diagnostics, Inc. as a private practice and is interviewing a patient of ours and myself for the article, deadline is tomorrow. Of course they did not notify me until this afternoon as to what the deadline was so I am down to the wire since we did not have internet except for a couple of days while in Massanutten.
Caitlynn sent me a text around 10:00 PM and they were ready to be picked up so I left right after I emailed the interview and off to get the kids I went. We returned to the house around 10:35 PM and told Sam and Caitlynn I thought we should just make a quick stop at Kroger’s then drive back to Massanutten tonight, this meant we would arrive around 1:00 AM but I could do it if they could. They agreed and immediately put their Ipods in their ears as I was in control of the radio station this time-off we were into the night. Actually both kids slept at least half of the drive and I sang. I knew I should have been a backup singer, why am I doing sleep? Sometimes we miss our calling until later in life but I’m not sure my backup singing could pay the bills though-my daughter reminds me often that it won’t. We arrived safe and sound as Kim, Darrell, Thomas, Bruce, and Tracy were watching TV as they waited on us. We all chatted for a bit then off to bed we all went…..
Waking to a cell phone (mine-as if that is a shocker to anyone who knows me…haha) before 8:30 AM on this Friday. A bright beautiful morning with a temperature of 16 degrees, high expected to be 40’s today, first time since Monday when the cold front came thru bringing the snow which has been wonderful to see as we are here in the mountains. We ate breakfast after Thomas & I prepared it and everyone came from downstairs and we were all awake except Caitlynn and Sam. After they woke up we cleaned the kitchen and waited for Jason & Jessica’s (our neice) arrival which was shortly before lunchtime.
We all headed for the Le Club where we could swim, work out, play basketball, racquetball, enjoy the hottub (inside or out), sauna (wet or dry), or swim. Kim, Tracy and I worked out then joined the rest of them in the hottub then moved to the sauna and back. Jason and Jessica went to the indoor waterpark initially but joined us after they realized the cost. It’s always good to have them around. Later that late afternoon Thomas, Bruce and Darrell headed back to the condo to begin our dinner preparations. We had quite a crowd now so they started the process and we joined them shortly afterwards. Everyone got into comfortable clothes and meandered between both floors as Jessica indulged in the nice big hottub upstairs (I loaned her some bubbles to enjoy) and others took showers in the bottom floor, then we all began working together for our meal. We blessed the meal as we once again come together and realize how fortunate each one of us are to have each other and be able to enjoy some “down time” together and regroup. Life can be down at times and it may seem to have too few “highs” in it. The highs are laughter, fun, activity, and involvement with others. I am thankful for this beautiful and magical creation called life.
Kim & Darrell finished grilling our burgers and Bratwurst, we all got a good laugh as Kim came downstairs and asked us if the Brats needed to be skinned or not! (what? Has anyone reading this every skinned a Brat-really?) We had never tried them that way but what the heck? Since Jason is the Brat connoisseur, we asked him what he thought since he had not eaten anything but Brats from his plate tonight and it didn’t seem to matter to him! EVERYONE of us definitely had plenty of food to eat! Afterwards we sat around talking and catching up, listening to Itunes on my laptop as Jason and I like to compare new music that we’ve found. Thomas left and made arrangements for those wanting to snowtube at the lifts and then they left for the adventure. Most of the women stayed except Jessica. Darrell and Bruce all stayed while Caitlynn made chocolate chip cookies for us to enjoy again. After the snowtube group returned Jessica and Jason decided they would leave and drive to Clifton since a friend of Jessica’s was having a birthday party so they left close to 11:00 PM, the rest of us watched a movie and called it a day. Jason and I sent texts to each other as he was driving back to Roanoke in the early morning hours-it’s always great to have him with us even if it’s for a short time. He’s become quite the young man and handsome, compassionate and nurturing like his dad. I can’t believe he’s a sophomore in college!
Saturday, February 7th, 2009. Checkout day so we all ate breakfast together and what a smorgasbord as we were getting the groceries eaten before we had to packup the remains. It was 48 degrees before 9 AM and was expected to be in the 60’s today so it will be good weather for the drive home. We were all gathering and cleaning as we packed our families. It’s amazing how fast it goes with teamwork! We enjoyed the help as it is typically Thomas and I trying to get everything done to get ready to leave after a week. Kim and Darrell left in their truck, Tracy, Bruce, and Sam left in “Ellie” which is Tracy’s vehicle, and then Thomas was in his truck with Caitlynn and me “the Lone Ranger” following them as we all left the mountains of Massanutten to drive to our homes. It’s been a good week. I was greatly inspired by the mountains here as I write yet another story; Let is always have a mountain within our soul with a peak so high that we never quite reach the top…for then we always strive for greater things and will not be content with merely climbing hills.
Southern Sleep Society-Atlanta, GA April 2009
Southern Sleep Society annual meeting-Atlanta, GA April 16-19, 2009
So off Tiffany McGuire (my youngest sleep technician from the lab-she’s a high school senior this year) and I go as we are driving to Atlanta for a sleep conference meeting. From Roanoke to Atlanta where our hotel is located, we should be driving approximately 431 miles. The beauty of that is we are leaving at 8:30 AM from Roanoke where it is 38 degrees this morning as we loaded and it is expected to be wonderful spring day for our drive as we pass thru North Carolina, South Carolina and then arrive in Georgia so we are looking forward to the adventure. I needed to make a couple of stops before we actually were down the highway with the first one being at the sleep lab (Sleep EZ Diagnostics, Inc. www.sleepezcenter.com ). Payday is Friday and they don’t mind me being gone (they probably in fact enjoy the time) but they do look forward to payday so I am leaving the checks with Michelle to disperse for me Friday AM. Next we are driving down I-81 to Christiansburg, VA so that I can have the regular oil change performed on my car and since my inspection sticker expired on the last day of March I thought it best to go ahead and not push my luck and get that replaced while they are at it. After a little bit of a wait since they said I needed a license plate light replaced to get the inspection sticker (why is it they ALWAYS find something that needs to be replaced so they can charge $3 for the part and $15 for the labor?), we were on our way to make 2 more local stops for marketing while in this area. First stop was Dr. Rivero’s office with literature for sleep issues and cardiac implications, a copy of Our Health magazine with Sleep EZ Diagnostics, Inc. featured as an independent practice/interview with one of our CPAP patients, and their Easter “goodies”. They are a great office and love Sleep EZ so we naturally take good care of them. Next was my stop by Rotech (Home medical equipment company) to leave off their Easter goodies and to point out the article in Our Health magazine for Sleep EZ as they had several there sitting on their coffee table as you enter. Annalise, the location manager had not seen the article so she was excited when I showed it to her. I was the one who came from Texas to train her when she first started here and I worked for Rotech. She had just been hired as a clinician for this location, she is now the manager and it is always good to see her. I had not planned on being there long so I pulled up to the front door horizontally so I’d be there very briefly and left the car running with Tiffany sitting inside as she waited on me. As I walked out the door a Parking Enforcement agent pulled up directly in front of the car as “she” faced it. I greeted her and apologized for parking next to the fire lane but explained instantly to her that I had no intentions of being there long. She sternly reminded me that the fine is $100.00 and I immediately thanked her for her patience with me as I told her “I could not afford that and my husband would not appreciate it either”, I thanked her and got into my car to get ready to drive off. She looked perplexed and said “ok” and we departed. I drove off and cracked up as I couldn’t wait to get on the phone with Thomas as we had just had this conversation the other day as he told me I wouldn’t be able to get out of a ticket if it were a woman police officer as I had done so 3 times when I made a trip to Texas last August. He just laughed and said “huh-ho” and was thankful not to have to pay a fine.
Ok now we are really on the road to drive to Atlanta for the conference. I kept telling Tiffany she could stretch out and take a siesta by all means as I think sleep is important-haha, she didn’t and hung right in there for the entire drive. Not to anyone’s surprise but we talked the whole way (in between my singing of course) and did not run out of things to talk about! We stopped in North Carolina for Subway to eat lunch. We talked and listened to music of various types and talked more-imagine that. Right as we passed through Greenville, SC I realized I had forgotten my bathing suit even after I had reminded Tiffany on several occasions as we planned for the trip. So after I used my GPS on my phone I realized there was no Walmart (what southern town has no Walmart?) but they had a huge Target so we re-routed as we turned around and traveled 3 miles back to the Target. We did not want to have to find a Walmart or Target in downtown Atlanta so we settled for this one.
Tiffany and I were off to shop for bathing suits, she obviously is maybe a little less than half my size but we had a good time and found each of us a perfect choice to purchase. As we were in the dressing room her cell phone rang and it was Robbie from the office with a question for me and when I did not answer my phone (which was in the car currently) then he called hers. I called him back as we were checking out and he asked us what we were doing so I told him “trying on bathing suits” he commented, “I didn’t think you could do that”. I told him “yes you can you just have to leave your panties on to do so for health reasons”, then I told him “well you wouldn’t because you don’t wear panties” and we laughed. I answered his question and we were off to get gas and hit the highway again for the remaining stretch to the hotel in Atlanta. We arrived into the congestion and traffic at 5:45ish that was with 4-5 lanes each way and curb to curb traffic. As my phone GPS reminded me, “0.6 miles to heavy and congested traffic ahead” and that is was. Tiffany commented there would be no way she’d drive in this everyday as she said it makes her nervous. We got to the Hyatt located at 265 Peachtree St., NE, Atlanta, GA, 404-577-1234 at 6:15 PM and our room was not ready so they were going to text me when it was. Tiffany and I looked in the gift shop, asked for the location on the conference which would be here in this huge hotel, watched all the people coming and going, then decided to walk over to the Peachtree Mall that had a walkway connected to the hotel. The walkway was above the traffic which looked really cool and we settled for a local pizza place to get our food and sit in the designated tables in the middle of the mall. We eyeballed the DQ as we walked past it and questioned why Chik-fil-A was closed so early here. As we finished up I received the text that room #201 was ready for our arrival to settle in from the long day of travel. We did so then rested for a bit and decided at 8:40 PM neither of us should try to settle down for the night without DQ ice cream, so we made our way to satisfy that craving and then came back to our room for the night. It’s been a good day.
Friday, April 17, 2009-we woke up to a pretty day starting in Atlanta and made our way to the conference area to check-in and start going through the exhibits. The day started with temperatures at 45 degrees and ended with 69 degrees.
This was a small conference presented by the Southern Sleep Society (www.southernsleepsociety.org ) and it is a sleep professional group that is located here in Georgia but the members are from all over as they have been united since 1979. I thought it was best for Tiffany as this is her first exposure to a sleep society conference since she came to work for me. I had already told her that some of it would be over her head but it would give her something to chew on and think about as she is new to the field of sleep medicine but very interested in pediatric sleep. Continental breakfast was available 7:30-8:00 AM then the talks began at 8:30 AM (30 minutes later than scheduled) and lasted until 5:10 PM. For our lunch break we walked back over to the mall and had DQ, I ordered a kid’s meal with a burger and Tiffany got a chicken strip basket since she says they have the best gravy. I laugh and think to myself, yes and you should eat it on a regular basis so that you don’t blow away! By the afternoon break we were cracking up because one of the physicians that spoke earlier was sitting next to Tiffany and by now he had his head hung low and was sleeping during the other talks-how ironic is that? At least he’s with a group of professionals in case he thinks he needs help diagnosing himself….. After the day spent hearing talks we are heading back to our hotel room before our Awards Dinner Banquet at 7:30 PM at South City Kitchen @ 1144 Crescent Ave., (Midtown) Atlanta, GA, 404-873-7358 www.southcitykitchen.com: Celebrating its 15th year as one of Atlanta's favorite restaurants, South City Kitchen Midtown specializes in contemporary Southern cuisine with a sophisticated twist. Combining the energy of Atlanta with the warmth of a Southern home, the restaurant is nestled in an updated, historic bungalow on the city's famous Crescent Avenue. Dine on local specialties such as shrimp and grits, buttermilk fried chicken, she-crab soup, fried green tomatoes and banana pudding while enjoying the view of our exhibition kitchen or the Atlanta skyline on one of the best patios in the city. This truly is dining the way the new South intended. . As the people from this area describe it there are 3 areas in which people live in Atlanta and Midtown is one of them. We decided since we had not be outside any today and the weather looked great, we’d venture out for about an hour since we had that time to spare before getting ready for our dinner. We found a SunTrust for Tiffany to cash her check and walked up and down the sidewalks in both areas from our hotel to see many sights that were appealing to the eye with architecture along the way and art work. This is the Peachtree area of downtown and it has many sculptures throughout the area and several very old churches that are beautiful with their ability to age gracefully. We returned to our room for a bit and I briefly reviewed the local paper. The headlines for today are: “Jobless numbers offer some hope” as GA job losses are as follows for each metro area, Dalton has 6500 jobs lost which is a 8.6% change, Atlanta has 115,900 jobs lost which is a 4.7% change, Albany has jobs lost which is 3.9% change, and Gainesville has 2,200 jobs lost which is a 2.8% change. Other headlines are: President Obama is in Mexico and he will not renew assault weapon ban. In the vehicle world the headlines are: Toyota Prius a star on the rise. Saying hybrids gets slightly bigger for 2010, and the gas mileage is phenomenal. It is a gasoline-electric hybrid which is rated at 50 miles a gallon but with practice the motorists can actually get better mileage. Last year, more than 241,000 were sold and the company’s goal is 1 million this year. For local news: the Atlanta Dogwood Festival begins for the weekend today. It is a huge aspect for the artist market with over 250 creators from across the country. The festival is 73 years old and due to the drought last year it was moved to Lenox Square but this year was returned to its Piedmont Park stomping grounds. It expects 50,000 visitors to attend each day.
We got dressed and made our way to the concierce desk since we were in need of a taxi to take us to our dinner for the Awards Dinner banquet. It’s been a very nice afternoon with typical springtime temperatures. The taxi driver was “interesting” as Tiffany put it. He drove like he was driving in New York and was listening to a spokesperson that was evaluating the personality of the lion in the movie The Wizard of Oz, are you kidding me? He dropped us off after cordially opening both of our doors and the evening began. Tiffany and I knew no one but as usual it didn’t take long for us to meet a few people. There were probably 60-65 people from the Southern Sleep Society that were with us. We had family style hors d’oeuvres that consisted of grilled BBQ shrimp, pulled pork that was wrapped in a crepe, pimento cheese with vegetable tray and scallops with sautéed cauliflower. Then we had a choice of a salad or she-crab soup, we both chose the soup. It’s a local favorite and I see why! I chose the salmon for my entrée and Tiffany ate their fried chicken which is what they are known for here at this restaurant. Shortly after our meal they brought out several platters of family style desserts and OH MY GOSH-the banana pudding was delectable. Tiffany and I had actually asked for our desserts to be out in a “to go” container but the waitress said that would not be possible since their desserts are served family style also. There was also a fudge brownie type of dessert and an assortment of several types of cookies. Tiffany swore off any more bites of anything since she was absolutely stuffed after the entrée so she missed out, I on the other hand had to at least sample the banana pudding (even if it meant unbuttoning my pants to get up from the table! My Nana Miller taught me to eat dessert first!) and it was SO worth it. Everyone was very nice at our table and there were several conversations going around at the same time but we all seemed to have time to visit. After the awards we got ready to leave as we were stuffed to the gills and the Respironics rep from Houston and a woman sleep doctor from Houston were ready to leave also so we all took a cab together since we were all staying at the same hotel. We rode in a van and it was a much calmer trip than our previous taxi ride. As soon as we got to our room we changed into our PJ’s to get comfortable (so we could breathe) and we settled in for the evening.
Saturday, April 18, 2009-Our meetings began at 8:00 AM and we arrived 15 minutes early and I went to get coffee and something from the continental breakfast and arrived back ready to learn. Tiffany passed on breakfast but had some juice I brought her. When we had a break (they delayed it for 30 minutes) she decided she would go get her some salt that she said she needed, she returned from DQ with hash browns and a French Vanilla Moolatte with cool whip cresting it (she who says she “doesn’t really like sweets”). While she was gone the director of the conference called her name and 2 other peoples names that had been draw and had won a gift. I went with her to collect it and it was an Anti-Snore Shirt. She was not quite familiar with this article of sleep clothing so I explained it to her, she thought she should make Robbie try it on when we get back to the lab. We laughed and then she thought she’d just donate it to the lab for future reference.
We returned to expand our minds with the next few speakers for the day. The funniest one was Dr. Max Hirshkowitz who is a pulmonologist that is board certified in sleep medicine and is from Texas. He opened his talk on “Obstructive Sleep Apnea and Cardiovascular Disease” with a powerpoint and made the statement: Kids get a video and watch it over and over and over, adults buy a video and watch it once and maybe again if it comes on TV. He started his presentation as he opened up the powerpoint and we all could see “Sleepy” from Snow White as he yawned and had his head back as if he was ready to sleep. Dr. Max Hirshkowitz said “Snow White, a lady with a strange sleeping arrangement-7 guys. One of them snores and is a dwarf. He has no nares so an oral appliance will not work and he has cranial maxillary facial issues”. All of the sleep people (all of us in this meeting) laughed! His next case study presentation he used was a study originally done in Canada. He commented, “The great thing about Canada is they track everything in healthcare, the downfall is they don’t let you treat anything”. I laughed as Thomas is from Canada but they have socialized healthcare system which I’m afraid we are headed toward in my lifetime here in the US.
The final speaker was Dr. Wallace Mendelson of Galveston, Tx., he spoke yesterday also. He did a fellowship in Israel and told us of 2 professions that he learned while there and had never heard of them since. One being a Combat Optometrist who would stay on the battlefields so that if the servicemen were to break their glasses while in combat this eye doctor can make them new ones there on the battlefield. The other is an Implosion Therapist who when a prisoner is released/returned then they drive them to where the capture happened (glad we don’t do it like that here in the states). That is to help reverse the trauma to reenact-I’m not thinking that would be more trauma than relief?
So our lectures were over by noon and most were off to a conference sponsored golf tournament-Tiffany and I do not golf so we will venture off to the Dogwood Festival.
We had no newspaper delivered to our room today so I’m unsure of the current events so I will tell you a few important things going on for the year 2009: This year has a few noteable milestones. Charles Darwin and Abraham Lincoln would have turned 200 years old this year of 2009. (Thomas Jefferson would be 266 years old-for those of you who know me well, you know he is one of the people I would have LOVED to meet!) In comparison, Barbie is a sprightly 50…and still looking good. The same year Barbie was born (or rather first manufactured), the doors of the Guggenheim Museum in New York opened. All of these American icons have had an impact on our world. They have given us greater knowledge and freedom, artistic beauty and, most importantly a doll with a never-ending talent for reinventing herself. Barbie inspired kids along with other memorable toys of the last century like Easy Bake Oven (it keeps creating and cooking today), Slinky, GI Joe, Superball, Lincoln Logs, Mr. Potato Head (his parts are still interchangeable today), Play-Doh, Yo-Yo, Etch-A-Sketch, and Silly Putty. As I think of this list of toys, I think about how sometimes the simplest ones were the best ones. Perhaps because they invited your imagination to take over. Loads of imagination went into designing New York’s Guggenheim Museum www.guggenheim.org a visually stunning building inside and out. Much like the new Taubman Museum of Art we now have in Roanoke, VA. The Guggeneheim foundation (Since its inception in 1937, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation has been a preeminent institution for the collection, preservation, and research of modern and contemporary art. The global network that began in the 1970s when the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, was joined by the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice, has expanded since 1997 to include the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao and the Deutsche Guggenheim, Berlin. Each constituent museum unites distinguished architecture with great artworks, a tradition that has become a Guggenheim hallmark. Looking to the future, the Guggenheim Foundation continues to forge international partnerships as it works on developing new museums in the Middle East, Latin America, and Asia. Thanks to its celebrated collections, special exhibitions, conservation efforts, educational initiatives, and scholarship, the Guggenheim is internationally recognized as a pioneer and touchstone for all cultural institutions) has ambitious plans to open the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi in the Unites Arab Emirates in 2012. Over in D.C., the Lincoln Memorial has housed the impressive 19-foot high statue of our 16th president since 1922. Bicentennial celebrations include a Birthday Gala and a Memorial Rededication. Lastly, the Galapagos-a well known chain of islands that is home to an astonishing 2,900 species. Thanks to conservation efforts, this part of the world remains virtually as pristine as it was in 1835 when Charles Darwin visited. Nowadays, that’s a rarity except for maybe Barbie; a hundred years from now she still won’t have a wrinkle!
Tiffany and I gathered ourselves for an afternoon walk that everyone tells us takes 30 minutes as we head back to Midtown to find Piedmont Park for the Dogwood Festival. We met a nice older couple along our way and we escorted them majority of the way to the festival. As it was getting to be mid-afternoon I thought it was best to get some lunch before we actually arrived at the festival but it was within eyesight for us now. Tiffany told me she is a very picky eater and she was right. I saw a Jason’s Deli (which we have in Texas, Caitlynn and I used to love to eat at the one in Lubbock-we looked for an excuse each time!) and suggested it since she had never eaten at one. We entered and I thought she should look over the menu so we could order, when she glanced at it she said she didn’t feel like she would like anything on the menu so we made out way down the walkway to Subway so she could order her sandwich the way she likes them: dry with mustard and turkey. We ate and enjoyed it as we are off to the festival. WOW at all the people, hardly enough walking room but there were people of many facets of life. We strolled through the park area and then headed back for our walk to the hotel. Tiffany was in hopes of finding a tanning salon on our walk but the one we came across she said she could tell, “it’s too expensive”. I asked how she could tell that from the front of the building and she assured me “I just can”. As we walked our return route we opted to walk on the opposite side of the roads this time for a change in scenery and that it proved to be. There was an Open House in a restored condominium building so we made our way to the 2nd floor of the building as the young couple who owned it offered wine and cookies as the people came in and out to observe. Tiffany nor I accepted any wine or cookies but the living area this little couple occupied was very cute and due to the small size they had created a very practical living space without clutter-which I loved!
The day was nearing the end of the afternoon as we arrived back at our hotel so I read for a bit and journaled, Tiffany talked to her dad on the cell phone and she made a short visit to the gym and upon her return I made my way there to do my running time. The exercise was good as I needed it after sitting in meetings for the last 2 days, not to mention the drive here also. We got cleaned up and went to the Hard Rock Café for a much needed burger-nothing like a good burger! The Hard Rock’s are always so busy, loud, crowded but with great paraphernalia and music with videos, gotta love the old school music back in the day! Locally there must have been several proms as the teen crowd was all dressed in formals-they are looked beautiful.
We made our way back to the hotel and began gathering our stuff and simi-packing as tomorrow would be the day to leave. I was happy of the thought to see Caitlynn and Thomas (and the Rat Dogs-all 3 of them), they would be ready for rest as Caitlynn’s dad Lynn arrived the day we left and will fly back to Texas in the morning. Caitlynn has not seen him since summer so he finally decided he’d come here to see where she lives and meet her friends so I thought it was a good time since I would not be there. I have the best husband in the world as he opted to not come on this trip as he felt he should be available if Caitlynn and Lynn needed a “break” while he visited. He stayed at our house during his trip so he would not have to afford a hotel and Thomas let them use the Ford pickup with his GPS for Caitlynn to be able to show him a little bit of her stomping grounds here where we’ve made our home in Roanoke,VA. Lynn has never been to VA, in fact he’s only been to Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, and Tennessee in his entire life to visit.
Tiffany was excited about going home also as she tells me that she used to get home sick when she was younger but she says she’s better now though she still feels lonely when she’s not at home and is relieved when she knows she’s headed back. For this reason she states she has decided not to go away for college in the fall and she will attend a local community college, VirginiaWestern in Roanoke. She will continue to live with her dad and go to college.
Morning came early and I let her sleep later than we have been doing due to the very 1st class at 8AM not being of interest to us but we were there by 8:45 ready for the 9AM. Today will be completed at noon as the end of the conference. I can tell that Tiffany is overwhelmed with the information (not to mention the terminology) but she has said for the last 1-2 yrs that she’d like to be a nurse so this will be the 1st of many lectures she will sit in on that physician’s present information. I think she struggles with what her dad wants her to do for her education after high school versus her insecurity to make decisions on her own. This is a fact that she makes known as we talked on our drive here, she says she “just can’t make decisions, it’s just too hard for me” she tells me. This is obviously an area she struggles in and is very aware of it with the help of a counselor she meets with on a regular basis. That is something I have honestly never really struggled with, what to believe in or the ability to form my own opinion. I believe we are all here by a greater being above us and he freely gives us a free will to use but choose wisely and look to him for your choices to head down the right paths in life. This reminds me of a story that motivational guru Zig Ziglar tells of a memorable revival service led by early twentieth-century evangelical firebrand Mordecai Ham. He is perhaps best known for being the preacher on the night of Billy Graham’s conversion. One evening, before taking the podium to deliver his typically fire-and-brimstone sermon, Ham was approached by a stranger. The man pulled the preacher aside and said, “Mr. Ham, I am here because I’m curious. But I just want you to know that I don’t believe in heaven, I don’t believe in hell, I don’t believe in God and I certainly don’t believe in prayer.” Ham thanked him for his honesty and stepped onto the stage and addressed the large crowd. “Folks, we’ve got an unusual man at our service tonight. He doesn’t believe in God, and certainly doesn’t believe in prayer. So I want all of us, the entire time I’m preaching, to pray that God will kill this man before I’m through.” As soon as the words left Ham’s mouth, the non-believer leapt violently from his seat and elbowed his way past his fellow congregants into the aisle. He sprinted toward the door and burst out of the building, all the while screaming at the top of his lungs, “No! No! No! Don’t you do it! Don’t pray that! Please, don’t you do it!” So as the old saying goes: “Stand for something or you’ll fall for anything.” Hopefully with time this will be a passing phase in Tiffany’s life as I wish her the best on her path for the future.
The release from our conference lead us to check out and have valet bring the car so we could get on the road home. It’s an overcast day but that makes for good traveling weather as far as I’m concerned, so off we go….
I encouraged Tiffany to sleep as it will make the trip seem faster (why that is I am still unsure of even at my age?) but she stated she has always had a difficult time sleeping in a vehicle but after the first hour her head was back with her mouth open for a good 45 minutes-regardless of my driving as my daughter likes to tell everyone that I am the worst driver she knows. I began looking for a place to eat and Tiffany woke up as she did share with me that she loves Out Back Steakhouse as they usually eat at the one in Roanoke when it’s someone’s birthday-especially hers. She shared a story with me about this last birthday meal when her family met there and Robbie joined them late so they pulled a chair to the end of the table and the waiter who served them had very hairy arms. So every time he’d have to reach past Robbie to get to everyone when he needed to service the guests gathered for the family meal and Robbie was grossed out by the hairy arms passing his plate each time!
We stopped in Clemson, SC to eat at their Out Back Steakhouse which looked to be very new. We got our bellies full without even having dessert and made our way back to the highway to home. Caitlynn kept texting/calling me as she wanted me to give her my ETA because she was beside herself. She couldn’t wait to show me what Thomas had done when he put his racing carburetor on her truck over the weekend and it was running smoothly now when they’d start it, she could not wait for me to see! Our arrival was 25 minutes ahead of schedule so we had time to get Tiffany loaded and on her way so she would not be home too late due to school in the morning. Following that Caitlynn showed me her prize possession-her truck WITH the new carburetor and then we left to go watch Thomas’s hockey game as his season was coming to a close this week. Off to another week of family, work, and planning for another trip.
All my travels in life lead me to think about all the things I am so fortunate to have in my life-the best things in life are definitely free, enjoy them all!
So off Tiffany McGuire (my youngest sleep technician from the lab-she’s a high school senior this year) and I go as we are driving to Atlanta for a sleep conference meeting. From Roanoke to Atlanta where our hotel is located, we should be driving approximately 431 miles. The beauty of that is we are leaving at 8:30 AM from Roanoke where it is 38 degrees this morning as we loaded and it is expected to be wonderful spring day for our drive as we pass thru North Carolina, South Carolina and then arrive in Georgia so we are looking forward to the adventure. I needed to make a couple of stops before we actually were down the highway with the first one being at the sleep lab (Sleep EZ Diagnostics, Inc. www.sleepezcenter.com ). Payday is Friday and they don’t mind me being gone (they probably in fact enjoy the time) but they do look forward to payday so I am leaving the checks with Michelle to disperse for me Friday AM. Next we are driving down I-81 to Christiansburg, VA so that I can have the regular oil change performed on my car and since my inspection sticker expired on the last day of March I thought it best to go ahead and not push my luck and get that replaced while they are at it. After a little bit of a wait since they said I needed a license plate light replaced to get the inspection sticker (why is it they ALWAYS find something that needs to be replaced so they can charge $3 for the part and $15 for the labor?), we were on our way to make 2 more local stops for marketing while in this area. First stop was Dr. Rivero’s office with literature for sleep issues and cardiac implications, a copy of Our Health magazine with Sleep EZ Diagnostics, Inc. featured as an independent practice/interview with one of our CPAP patients, and their Easter “goodies”. They are a great office and love Sleep EZ so we naturally take good care of them. Next was my stop by Rotech (Home medical equipment company) to leave off their Easter goodies and to point out the article in Our Health magazine for Sleep EZ as they had several there sitting on their coffee table as you enter. Annalise, the location manager had not seen the article so she was excited when I showed it to her. I was the one who came from Texas to train her when she first started here and I worked for Rotech. She had just been hired as a clinician for this location, she is now the manager and it is always good to see her. I had not planned on being there long so I pulled up to the front door horizontally so I’d be there very briefly and left the car running with Tiffany sitting inside as she waited on me. As I walked out the door a Parking Enforcement agent pulled up directly in front of the car as “she” faced it. I greeted her and apologized for parking next to the fire lane but explained instantly to her that I had no intentions of being there long. She sternly reminded me that the fine is $100.00 and I immediately thanked her for her patience with me as I told her “I could not afford that and my husband would not appreciate it either”, I thanked her and got into my car to get ready to drive off. She looked perplexed and said “ok” and we departed. I drove off and cracked up as I couldn’t wait to get on the phone with Thomas as we had just had this conversation the other day as he told me I wouldn’t be able to get out of a ticket if it were a woman police officer as I had done so 3 times when I made a trip to Texas last August. He just laughed and said “huh-ho” and was thankful not to have to pay a fine.
Ok now we are really on the road to drive to Atlanta for the conference. I kept telling Tiffany she could stretch out and take a siesta by all means as I think sleep is important-haha, she didn’t and hung right in there for the entire drive. Not to anyone’s surprise but we talked the whole way (in between my singing of course) and did not run out of things to talk about! We stopped in North Carolina for Subway to eat lunch. We talked and listened to music of various types and talked more-imagine that. Right as we passed through Greenville, SC I realized I had forgotten my bathing suit even after I had reminded Tiffany on several occasions as we planned for the trip. So after I used my GPS on my phone I realized there was no Walmart (what southern town has no Walmart?) but they had a huge Target so we re-routed as we turned around and traveled 3 miles back to the Target. We did not want to have to find a Walmart or Target in downtown Atlanta so we settled for this one.
Tiffany and I were off to shop for bathing suits, she obviously is maybe a little less than half my size but we had a good time and found each of us a perfect choice to purchase. As we were in the dressing room her cell phone rang and it was Robbie from the office with a question for me and when I did not answer my phone (which was in the car currently) then he called hers. I called him back as we were checking out and he asked us what we were doing so I told him “trying on bathing suits” he commented, “I didn’t think you could do that”. I told him “yes you can you just have to leave your panties on to do so for health reasons”, then I told him “well you wouldn’t because you don’t wear panties” and we laughed. I answered his question and we were off to get gas and hit the highway again for the remaining stretch to the hotel in Atlanta. We arrived into the congestion and traffic at 5:45ish that was with 4-5 lanes each way and curb to curb traffic. As my phone GPS reminded me, “0.6 miles to heavy and congested traffic ahead” and that is was. Tiffany commented there would be no way she’d drive in this everyday as she said it makes her nervous. We got to the Hyatt located at 265 Peachtree St., NE, Atlanta, GA, 404-577-1234 at 6:15 PM and our room was not ready so they were going to text me when it was. Tiffany and I looked in the gift shop, asked for the location on the conference which would be here in this huge hotel, watched all the people coming and going, then decided to walk over to the Peachtree Mall that had a walkway connected to the hotel. The walkway was above the traffic which looked really cool and we settled for a local pizza place to get our food and sit in the designated tables in the middle of the mall. We eyeballed the DQ as we walked past it and questioned why Chik-fil-A was closed so early here. As we finished up I received the text that room #201 was ready for our arrival to settle in from the long day of travel. We did so then rested for a bit and decided at 8:40 PM neither of us should try to settle down for the night without DQ ice cream, so we made our way to satisfy that craving and then came back to our room for the night. It’s been a good day.
Friday, April 17, 2009-we woke up to a pretty day starting in Atlanta and made our way to the conference area to check-in and start going through the exhibits. The day started with temperatures at 45 degrees and ended with 69 degrees.
This was a small conference presented by the Southern Sleep Society (www.southernsleepsociety.org ) and it is a sleep professional group that is located here in Georgia but the members are from all over as they have been united since 1979. I thought it was best for Tiffany as this is her first exposure to a sleep society conference since she came to work for me. I had already told her that some of it would be over her head but it would give her something to chew on and think about as she is new to the field of sleep medicine but very interested in pediatric sleep. Continental breakfast was available 7:30-8:00 AM then the talks began at 8:30 AM (30 minutes later than scheduled) and lasted until 5:10 PM. For our lunch break we walked back over to the mall and had DQ, I ordered a kid’s meal with a burger and Tiffany got a chicken strip basket since she says they have the best gravy. I laugh and think to myself, yes and you should eat it on a regular basis so that you don’t blow away! By the afternoon break we were cracking up because one of the physicians that spoke earlier was sitting next to Tiffany and by now he had his head hung low and was sleeping during the other talks-how ironic is that? At least he’s with a group of professionals in case he thinks he needs help diagnosing himself….. After the day spent hearing talks we are heading back to our hotel room before our Awards Dinner Banquet at 7:30 PM at South City Kitchen @ 1144 Crescent Ave., (Midtown) Atlanta, GA, 404-873-7358 www.southcitykitchen.com: Celebrating its 15th year as one of Atlanta's favorite restaurants, South City Kitchen Midtown specializes in contemporary Southern cuisine with a sophisticated twist. Combining the energy of Atlanta with the warmth of a Southern home, the restaurant is nestled in an updated, historic bungalow on the city's famous Crescent Avenue. Dine on local specialties such as shrimp and grits, buttermilk fried chicken, she-crab soup, fried green tomatoes and banana pudding while enjoying the view of our exhibition kitchen or the Atlanta skyline on one of the best patios in the city. This truly is dining the way the new South intended. . As the people from this area describe it there are 3 areas in which people live in Atlanta and Midtown is one of them. We decided since we had not be outside any today and the weather looked great, we’d venture out for about an hour since we had that time to spare before getting ready for our dinner. We found a SunTrust for Tiffany to cash her check and walked up and down the sidewalks in both areas from our hotel to see many sights that were appealing to the eye with architecture along the way and art work. This is the Peachtree area of downtown and it has many sculptures throughout the area and several very old churches that are beautiful with their ability to age gracefully. We returned to our room for a bit and I briefly reviewed the local paper. The headlines for today are: “Jobless numbers offer some hope” as GA job losses are as follows for each metro area, Dalton has 6500 jobs lost which is a 8.6% change, Atlanta has 115,900 jobs lost which is a 4.7% change, Albany has jobs lost which is 3.9% change, and Gainesville has 2,200 jobs lost which is a 2.8% change. Other headlines are: President Obama is in Mexico and he will not renew assault weapon ban. In the vehicle world the headlines are: Toyota Prius a star on the rise. Saying hybrids gets slightly bigger for 2010, and the gas mileage is phenomenal. It is a gasoline-electric hybrid which is rated at 50 miles a gallon but with practice the motorists can actually get better mileage. Last year, more than 241,000 were sold and the company’s goal is 1 million this year. For local news: the Atlanta Dogwood Festival begins for the weekend today. It is a huge aspect for the artist market with over 250 creators from across the country. The festival is 73 years old and due to the drought last year it was moved to Lenox Square but this year was returned to its Piedmont Park stomping grounds. It expects 50,000 visitors to attend each day.
We got dressed and made our way to the concierce desk since we were in need of a taxi to take us to our dinner for the Awards Dinner banquet. It’s been a very nice afternoon with typical springtime temperatures. The taxi driver was “interesting” as Tiffany put it. He drove like he was driving in New York and was listening to a spokesperson that was evaluating the personality of the lion in the movie The Wizard of Oz, are you kidding me? He dropped us off after cordially opening both of our doors and the evening began. Tiffany and I knew no one but as usual it didn’t take long for us to meet a few people. There were probably 60-65 people from the Southern Sleep Society that were with us. We had family style hors d’oeuvres that consisted of grilled BBQ shrimp, pulled pork that was wrapped in a crepe, pimento cheese with vegetable tray and scallops with sautéed cauliflower. Then we had a choice of a salad or she-crab soup, we both chose the soup. It’s a local favorite and I see why! I chose the salmon for my entrée and Tiffany ate their fried chicken which is what they are known for here at this restaurant. Shortly after our meal they brought out several platters of family style desserts and OH MY GOSH-the banana pudding was delectable. Tiffany and I had actually asked for our desserts to be out in a “to go” container but the waitress said that would not be possible since their desserts are served family style also. There was also a fudge brownie type of dessert and an assortment of several types of cookies. Tiffany swore off any more bites of anything since she was absolutely stuffed after the entrée so she missed out, I on the other hand had to at least sample the banana pudding (even if it meant unbuttoning my pants to get up from the table! My Nana Miller taught me to eat dessert first!) and it was SO worth it. Everyone was very nice at our table and there were several conversations going around at the same time but we all seemed to have time to visit. After the awards we got ready to leave as we were stuffed to the gills and the Respironics rep from Houston and a woman sleep doctor from Houston were ready to leave also so we all took a cab together since we were all staying at the same hotel. We rode in a van and it was a much calmer trip than our previous taxi ride. As soon as we got to our room we changed into our PJ’s to get comfortable (so we could breathe) and we settled in for the evening.
Saturday, April 18, 2009-Our meetings began at 8:00 AM and we arrived 15 minutes early and I went to get coffee and something from the continental breakfast and arrived back ready to learn. Tiffany passed on breakfast but had some juice I brought her. When we had a break (they delayed it for 30 minutes) she decided she would go get her some salt that she said she needed, she returned from DQ with hash browns and a French Vanilla Moolatte with cool whip cresting it (she who says she “doesn’t really like sweets”). While she was gone the director of the conference called her name and 2 other peoples names that had been draw and had won a gift. I went with her to collect it and it was an Anti-Snore Shirt. She was not quite familiar with this article of sleep clothing so I explained it to her, she thought she should make Robbie try it on when we get back to the lab. We laughed and then she thought she’d just donate it to the lab for future reference.
We returned to expand our minds with the next few speakers for the day. The funniest one was Dr. Max Hirshkowitz who is a pulmonologist that is board certified in sleep medicine and is from Texas. He opened his talk on “Obstructive Sleep Apnea and Cardiovascular Disease” with a powerpoint and made the statement: Kids get a video and watch it over and over and over, adults buy a video and watch it once and maybe again if it comes on TV. He started his presentation as he opened up the powerpoint and we all could see “Sleepy” from Snow White as he yawned and had his head back as if he was ready to sleep. Dr. Max Hirshkowitz said “Snow White, a lady with a strange sleeping arrangement-7 guys. One of them snores and is a dwarf. He has no nares so an oral appliance will not work and he has cranial maxillary facial issues”. All of the sleep people (all of us in this meeting) laughed! His next case study presentation he used was a study originally done in Canada. He commented, “The great thing about Canada is they track everything in healthcare, the downfall is they don’t let you treat anything”. I laughed as Thomas is from Canada but they have socialized healthcare system which I’m afraid we are headed toward in my lifetime here in the US.
The final speaker was Dr. Wallace Mendelson of Galveston, Tx., he spoke yesterday also. He did a fellowship in Israel and told us of 2 professions that he learned while there and had never heard of them since. One being a Combat Optometrist who would stay on the battlefields so that if the servicemen were to break their glasses while in combat this eye doctor can make them new ones there on the battlefield. The other is an Implosion Therapist who when a prisoner is released/returned then they drive them to where the capture happened (glad we don’t do it like that here in the states). That is to help reverse the trauma to reenact-I’m not thinking that would be more trauma than relief?
So our lectures were over by noon and most were off to a conference sponsored golf tournament-Tiffany and I do not golf so we will venture off to the Dogwood Festival.
We had no newspaper delivered to our room today so I’m unsure of the current events so I will tell you a few important things going on for the year 2009: This year has a few noteable milestones. Charles Darwin and Abraham Lincoln would have turned 200 years old this year of 2009. (Thomas Jefferson would be 266 years old-for those of you who know me well, you know he is one of the people I would have LOVED to meet!) In comparison, Barbie is a sprightly 50…and still looking good. The same year Barbie was born (or rather first manufactured), the doors of the Guggenheim Museum in New York opened. All of these American icons have had an impact on our world. They have given us greater knowledge and freedom, artistic beauty and, most importantly a doll with a never-ending talent for reinventing herself. Barbie inspired kids along with other memorable toys of the last century like Easy Bake Oven (it keeps creating and cooking today), Slinky, GI Joe, Superball, Lincoln Logs, Mr. Potato Head (his parts are still interchangeable today), Play-Doh, Yo-Yo, Etch-A-Sketch, and Silly Putty. As I think of this list of toys, I think about how sometimes the simplest ones were the best ones. Perhaps because they invited your imagination to take over. Loads of imagination went into designing New York’s Guggenheim Museum www.guggenheim.org a visually stunning building inside and out. Much like the new Taubman Museum of Art we now have in Roanoke, VA. The Guggeneheim foundation (Since its inception in 1937, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation has been a preeminent institution for the collection, preservation, and research of modern and contemporary art. The global network that began in the 1970s when the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, was joined by the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice, has expanded since 1997 to include the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao and the Deutsche Guggenheim, Berlin. Each constituent museum unites distinguished architecture with great artworks, a tradition that has become a Guggenheim hallmark. Looking to the future, the Guggenheim Foundation continues to forge international partnerships as it works on developing new museums in the Middle East, Latin America, and Asia. Thanks to its celebrated collections, special exhibitions, conservation efforts, educational initiatives, and scholarship, the Guggenheim is internationally recognized as a pioneer and touchstone for all cultural institutions) has ambitious plans to open the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi in the Unites Arab Emirates in 2012. Over in D.C., the Lincoln Memorial has housed the impressive 19-foot high statue of our 16th president since 1922. Bicentennial celebrations include a Birthday Gala and a Memorial Rededication. Lastly, the Galapagos-a well known chain of islands that is home to an astonishing 2,900 species. Thanks to conservation efforts, this part of the world remains virtually as pristine as it was in 1835 when Charles Darwin visited. Nowadays, that’s a rarity except for maybe Barbie; a hundred years from now she still won’t have a wrinkle!
Tiffany and I gathered ourselves for an afternoon walk that everyone tells us takes 30 minutes as we head back to Midtown to find Piedmont Park for the Dogwood Festival. We met a nice older couple along our way and we escorted them majority of the way to the festival. As it was getting to be mid-afternoon I thought it was best to get some lunch before we actually arrived at the festival but it was within eyesight for us now. Tiffany told me she is a very picky eater and she was right. I saw a Jason’s Deli (which we have in Texas, Caitlynn and I used to love to eat at the one in Lubbock-we looked for an excuse each time!) and suggested it since she had never eaten at one. We entered and I thought she should look over the menu so we could order, when she glanced at it she said she didn’t feel like she would like anything on the menu so we made out way down the walkway to Subway so she could order her sandwich the way she likes them: dry with mustard and turkey. We ate and enjoyed it as we are off to the festival. WOW at all the people, hardly enough walking room but there were people of many facets of life. We strolled through the park area and then headed back for our walk to the hotel. Tiffany was in hopes of finding a tanning salon on our walk but the one we came across she said she could tell, “it’s too expensive”. I asked how she could tell that from the front of the building and she assured me “I just can”. As we walked our return route we opted to walk on the opposite side of the roads this time for a change in scenery and that it proved to be. There was an Open House in a restored condominium building so we made our way to the 2nd floor of the building as the young couple who owned it offered wine and cookies as the people came in and out to observe. Tiffany nor I accepted any wine or cookies but the living area this little couple occupied was very cute and due to the small size they had created a very practical living space without clutter-which I loved!
The day was nearing the end of the afternoon as we arrived back at our hotel so I read for a bit and journaled, Tiffany talked to her dad on the cell phone and she made a short visit to the gym and upon her return I made my way there to do my running time. The exercise was good as I needed it after sitting in meetings for the last 2 days, not to mention the drive here also. We got cleaned up and went to the Hard Rock Café for a much needed burger-nothing like a good burger! The Hard Rock’s are always so busy, loud, crowded but with great paraphernalia and music with videos, gotta love the old school music back in the day! Locally there must have been several proms as the teen crowd was all dressed in formals-they are looked beautiful.
We made our way back to the hotel and began gathering our stuff and simi-packing as tomorrow would be the day to leave. I was happy of the thought to see Caitlynn and Thomas (and the Rat Dogs-all 3 of them), they would be ready for rest as Caitlynn’s dad Lynn arrived the day we left and will fly back to Texas in the morning. Caitlynn has not seen him since summer so he finally decided he’d come here to see where she lives and meet her friends so I thought it was a good time since I would not be there. I have the best husband in the world as he opted to not come on this trip as he felt he should be available if Caitlynn and Lynn needed a “break” while he visited. He stayed at our house during his trip so he would not have to afford a hotel and Thomas let them use the Ford pickup with his GPS for Caitlynn to be able to show him a little bit of her stomping grounds here where we’ve made our home in Roanoke,VA. Lynn has never been to VA, in fact he’s only been to Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, and Tennessee in his entire life to visit.
Tiffany was excited about going home also as she tells me that she used to get home sick when she was younger but she says she’s better now though she still feels lonely when she’s not at home and is relieved when she knows she’s headed back. For this reason she states she has decided not to go away for college in the fall and she will attend a local community college, VirginiaWestern in Roanoke. She will continue to live with her dad and go to college.
Morning came early and I let her sleep later than we have been doing due to the very 1st class at 8AM not being of interest to us but we were there by 8:45 ready for the 9AM. Today will be completed at noon as the end of the conference. I can tell that Tiffany is overwhelmed with the information (not to mention the terminology) but she has said for the last 1-2 yrs that she’d like to be a nurse so this will be the 1st of many lectures she will sit in on that physician’s present information. I think she struggles with what her dad wants her to do for her education after high school versus her insecurity to make decisions on her own. This is a fact that she makes known as we talked on our drive here, she says she “just can’t make decisions, it’s just too hard for me” she tells me. This is obviously an area she struggles in and is very aware of it with the help of a counselor she meets with on a regular basis. That is something I have honestly never really struggled with, what to believe in or the ability to form my own opinion. I believe we are all here by a greater being above us and he freely gives us a free will to use but choose wisely and look to him for your choices to head down the right paths in life. This reminds me of a story that motivational guru Zig Ziglar tells of a memorable revival service led by early twentieth-century evangelical firebrand Mordecai Ham. He is perhaps best known for being the preacher on the night of Billy Graham’s conversion. One evening, before taking the podium to deliver his typically fire-and-brimstone sermon, Ham was approached by a stranger. The man pulled the preacher aside and said, “Mr. Ham, I am here because I’m curious. But I just want you to know that I don’t believe in heaven, I don’t believe in hell, I don’t believe in God and I certainly don’t believe in prayer.” Ham thanked him for his honesty and stepped onto the stage and addressed the large crowd. “Folks, we’ve got an unusual man at our service tonight. He doesn’t believe in God, and certainly doesn’t believe in prayer. So I want all of us, the entire time I’m preaching, to pray that God will kill this man before I’m through.” As soon as the words left Ham’s mouth, the non-believer leapt violently from his seat and elbowed his way past his fellow congregants into the aisle. He sprinted toward the door and burst out of the building, all the while screaming at the top of his lungs, “No! No! No! Don’t you do it! Don’t pray that! Please, don’t you do it!” So as the old saying goes: “Stand for something or you’ll fall for anything.” Hopefully with time this will be a passing phase in Tiffany’s life as I wish her the best on her path for the future.
The release from our conference lead us to check out and have valet bring the car so we could get on the road home. It’s an overcast day but that makes for good traveling weather as far as I’m concerned, so off we go….
I encouraged Tiffany to sleep as it will make the trip seem faster (why that is I am still unsure of even at my age?) but she stated she has always had a difficult time sleeping in a vehicle but after the first hour her head was back with her mouth open for a good 45 minutes-regardless of my driving as my daughter likes to tell everyone that I am the worst driver she knows. I began looking for a place to eat and Tiffany woke up as she did share with me that she loves Out Back Steakhouse as they usually eat at the one in Roanoke when it’s someone’s birthday-especially hers. She shared a story with me about this last birthday meal when her family met there and Robbie joined them late so they pulled a chair to the end of the table and the waiter who served them had very hairy arms. So every time he’d have to reach past Robbie to get to everyone when he needed to service the guests gathered for the family meal and Robbie was grossed out by the hairy arms passing his plate each time!
We stopped in Clemson, SC to eat at their Out Back Steakhouse which looked to be very new. We got our bellies full without even having dessert and made our way back to the highway to home. Caitlynn kept texting/calling me as she wanted me to give her my ETA because she was beside herself. She couldn’t wait to show me what Thomas had done when he put his racing carburetor on her truck over the weekend and it was running smoothly now when they’d start it, she could not wait for me to see! Our arrival was 25 minutes ahead of schedule so we had time to get Tiffany loaded and on her way so she would not be home too late due to school in the morning. Following that Caitlynn showed me her prize possession-her truck WITH the new carburetor and then we left to go watch Thomas’s hockey game as his season was coming to a close this week. Off to another week of family, work, and planning for another trip.
All my travels in life lead me to think about all the things I am so fortunate to have in my life-the best things in life are definitely free, enjoy them all!
Anaheim, CA-December 2008
December 12-20, 2008 Anaheim, California trip
Well as most of you know Thomas and I love to travel to California, not only because of the great wineries but it has diverse scenery (which I like to think it has much to offer like Texas). This trip began as a business trip for the 2008 International Respiratory Congress and this is the 54th annual convention. Each year it rotates the location and we lucked out to come to this one in CA. Typically it is held the first week in Dec but for whatever reason this one is closer to the middle of December which puts a rush on Christmas when we get home this year! Since we were going to be gone so long I felt Caitlynn would enjoy seeing Nicole and the kids in Texas so we flew her there yesterday from Greensboro, NC then Thomas & I did a little shopping and stayed the night in Greensboro since we had a 5:50 AM flight to catch at the GSO airport.
I have been a RT for many years (Brandon was a baby when I started school) and I had not ever come to this particular convention until the year I opened the sleep lab (Sleep EZ Diagnostics, Inc.) in Dec. 2005. The first one I attended 2005 was in Las Vegas but they only had a small amount of classes/seminars related to sleep medicine. Thomas also had never attended this particular conference even though he’s been a therapist for 20 + yrs. Last year it was held in Orlando, Florida so we both attended as the information in sleep medicine had increased. Not to mention VA Tech made it to the ACC Championship game which the announcement was made to hold the game in Jacksonville, Florida. We made that game day one that we were not going to be able to attend any classes and we headed out in the rental car-driving to the game! VA Tech won but it was a struggle…ironically so Helene had gone with some friends from the hospital to also attend so we hung out with her for the latter part of the game and afterwards as we ate. Needless to say our agenda will not be involving a playoff football game this time but I’m sure we’ll find plenty to do while we are here in addition to our classes.
We arrived at 10:45AM into LAX (Las Angeles, CA) and gathered our luggage and retrieved our rental car. As we checked out our rental car at Enterprise, we noticed gas prices to be more than home but much less than when we were in this area for part of our honeymoon 4 yrs ago-$1.71 per gallon currently. We made an immediate stop at one of our local burger joints-“In-N-Out”….it was delicious as we remembered! We had barely driven 3 miles outside the airport property when Thomas stumbled upon it….or did he put it in his GPS (“Karen” he affectionately named her) anyway we are here! So for you to better understand the ‘difference’ of this burger place from others, I will quote their wrappers that come on their burgers:
• The first In-N-Out opened 1948
• All our burgers are made with fresh beef that’s never frozen
• Our buns are made with-out preservatives the old fashioned way-from real sponge dough
• We hand-leaf our lettuce every day
• Our fries are peeled and diced daily from fresh whole potatoes
• We’ve cooked our fries in 100% cholesterol free oil since 1948
**Not to mention they use a dressing that tastes similar to Thousand Island and since I am probably one of the few people left in the country that actually still order that as my salad dressing-I love it!
After we sat outside and ate our meal in the beautiful sun shine and a temperature of 72 degrees, we proceeded to locate our timeshare. Gotta love the LA traffic and its lunchtime so everyone’s out running around.
I like to see the Metro system in use as they utilize it so effectively in this area, it is generated by electricity and the stations are located strategically for public use.
We weren’t exactly sure where the timeshare is other than it’s located within 1-1/2 from the Anaheim Convention Center where our seminar will be held this week. As we neared the address Thomas and I realized much to our surprise since we are not familiar with this area of California that we are in the Disneyland property also. The name of the timeshare is the Dolphin’s Cover Resort. It’s a nice property and conveniently located for our use while we are here. After checking in we got unpacked for the next 8 days and look at all the literature that the resort gave us regarding all the events happening. Later we located the hot tub for Thomas and the exercise room for me (I haven’t been on the treadmill in a week as we stayed very busy getting ready for this trip and also having our Christmas party for our employees as we do a Sleep EZ/Freedom Respiratory party). Since I am contemplating my participation in a 5K on Sunday here, I had better get started! As we returned to our condo we planned our evening. We went in search of groceries and retrieved them then we ate our dinner which consisted of our Macaroni Grill leftovers from the night before in Greensboro. Yes, I hand carried them with us (we hate waste) and we enjoyed them almost as much as the night before. I say it would have been the same if we would have had endless bread being supplied along with olive oil with fresh ground black pepper for dipping that delectable bread in………anyway we did have a loaf with our leftovers so we enjoyed it! I made my way to seek a tub filled with hot water and bubbles-now that was nice. We completed this Friday evening as we watched the brilliant full moon tonight (read attached article relating to it):
Year's Biggest Full Moon Friday Night
By Robert Roy Britt
Editorial Director
posted: 11 December 2008
01:24 pm ET
The full moon Friday night will be the biggest one of the year as Earth's natural satellite reaches its closest point to our planet.
Earth, the moon and the sun are all bound together by gravity, which keeps us going around the sun and keeps the moon going around us as it goes through phases. The moon makes a trip around Earth every 29.5 days. But the orbit is not a perfect circle.
The moon's average distance from us is about 238,855 miles (384,400 km). Friday night it will be just 221,560 miles (356,567 km) away. It will be 14 percent bigger in our sky and 30 percent brighter than some other full moons during the year, according to NASA.
Tides will be higher Friday night, too. Earth's oceans are pulled by the gravity of the moon and the sun. So when the moon is closer, tides are pulled higher. Scientists call these perigean tides, because the moon's closest point to Earth is called perigee. The farthest point on the lunar orbit is called apogee.
Some other strange lunar facts:
The moon is moving away as you read this, by about 1.6 inches (4 centimeters) a year. Eventually it'll be torn apart as an expanding sun pushes the moon back toward Earth for a wrenching close encounter.
There is no proof the full moon makes people crazy.
Beaches are more polluted during full moon, owing to the higher tides.
The moon will rise Friday evening right around sunset, no matter where you are. That's because of the celestial mechanics that produce a full moon: The moon and the sun are on opposite sides of the Earth, so that sunlight hits the full face of the moon and bounces back to our eyes.
At moonrise, the moon will appear even larger than it will later in the night when it's higher in the sky. This is an illusion that scientists can't fully explain. Some think it has to do with our perception of things on the horizon vs. stuff overhead.
Try this trick, though: Using a pencil eraser or similar object held at arm's length, gauge the size of the moon when it's near the horizon and again later when it's higher up and seems smaller. You'll see that when compared to a fixed object, the moon will be the same size in both cases.
You can see all this on each night surrounding the full moon, too, because the moon will be nearly full, rising earlier Thursday night and later Saturday night.
Interestingly, because of the mechanics of all this, the moon is never truly 100 percent full. For that to happen, all three objects have to be in a perfect line, and when that rare circumstance occurs, there is a total eclipse of the moon.
Gallery: Moon Images
Skywatcher's Guide to the Moon
Top 10 Strangest Things in Space
Then followed by Disney’s firework display they do nightly @ 9:30 PM as we stood on our balcony in fascination at the amazing colors.
Today is Saturday, December 13, 2008 and the weather is expected to be a high of 59 degrees today with cloudy skies. Thomas and I woke and he fixed breakfast and we prepared for the day as we would be walking to the convention center to gather our registration packets. It’s a mild but pleasant day. Thomas had left Dietmar a message yesterday announcing our arrival and dates we would be in the area as we’d love to spend some time with him.
After out down time with Thomas at the hot tub and me in the exercise room we returned to the condo to watch the announcement show for the recipient for the Heisman Trophy. This is the first year in history that there is not a senior nominated and the 3 nominees are from Univ. of Texas-Colt McCoy, Oklahoma Univ.-Sam Bradford, and Florida State Univ.- Tim Tebow. I love football, especially college ball and being from Austin (which is where I grew up) I LOVE the Longhorns so this is significant to me. Plus I truly enjoy watching the program/selection as they interview each nominee and give a little history on their lives. The thing also that I liked the best this year is the fact that all 3 of these amazing young talented men are strong in their faith, family and mentoring. They mentor rather it’s to young people, missionary work, or mentoring the players that they play. The gentleman that won was Sam Bradford from OU. Bradford, who leads the nation in touchdown passes with 48, received 1,726 points. Texas quarterback Colt McCoy was second with 1,604 and Tebow—who received the most first-place votes—was third with 1,575 points. Between the 3 nominees their teams were 35-3, now that is impressive. As I have always said since Lynn and I divorced-my daughter is my primary responsibility meaning that it is my job to raise her to be a responsible adult as we live in an atmosphere of mutual respect, love, and accountability in our home. With Tebow’s acceptance speech he said to his parents: “There were many times that you pushed me in times that I didn’t want to do anything and you always expected the best from me regardless of what I was doing-playing or being organized & motivated, for that I love you and couldn’t have done it without you!”
We prepared to leave as we went to The House of Blues as they were holding a Welcome Party for the AARC attendees with John Waite performing live for us. We enjoyed the food and entertainment for a couple of hours then we came back to get ready for bed. I have to be up by 5:50AM to report for the 5K Fun Run the AARC is sponsoring. Lucky me, I registered yesterday when the conference opened and ironically I got my favorite number 8 as I walked up to the booth, it was on top so it was mine…..I’m feeling good about this.
Well I left this morning Sunday, December 14, 2008 at 6:20AM to walk to the Marriott which is where the 5K will begin. I left Thomas in bed to sleep in today. The temperature is 42 degrees without the sun being quite up yet but it feels good, especially for a run. I noticed at the convenient stores around our resort that gas prices had dropped today to $1.59 per gallon.
I completed it with a 37.23 time, not bad considering I haven’t been running regularly since the 1st week of October. Came back to the condo and Thomas was watching the Cowboy news and since the time is 3 hrs behind here from home, that means he’ll be able to catch some of the football games today in between our classes. The Cowboys will not play until 5 PM here. I fixed us breakfast and off for a bubble bath (I never take the time at home to take these so I’m enjoying them here!). Dietmar called and we will meet him on Monday afternoon, we’re looking forward to seeing him as we have not seen him since Thomas and I came on our honeymoon to spend a day with him and Rose. Rose passed away about 2 yrs ago. She had a very charismatic personality while Dietmar was quieter but just as cordial.
We went to our classes then back we came for the “big game”. Dallas defeated the Giants 20-8 so Thomas was ecstatic! I thought we were going to get thrown out for disturbing the peace as he was jumping up and down and screaming at his team thru the TV. Dietmar called and we confirmed our place to meet and time for tomorrow. I spent some of my time watching the football game and downloading family pictures on Snapfish. Caitlynn and Nicole called us today as they are enjoying their time together as they rested after church then off to bed. We ordered pizza and spaghetti to be delivered and enjoyed an evening in. We finished the night off watching the magnificent fireworks as Disney’s ritual at 9:30PM.
Monday, December 15, 2008 is another great day in California…though it started raining during the night and continued on through most of the day. The temperature was a high of 56, though it felt slightly cooler with the rain. The people from this area feel as if this is a cold-front so they are wearing coats, no flip-flops (as usual) and some even had on toboggans? Thomas and I went to our classes then returned to get the rental car form our resort so we could make our way to meet Dietmar and his friend for dinner by 6:00PM. We are unsure about the traffic so we thought it best we leave ahead of time as we were traveling on unfamiliar ground for us so we were going to depend on “Karen” to navigate us. Dietmar had given Thomas a cell number to call as we left Anaheim and as I had predicted it was a female’s cell number. Since we were going to be early as Dietmar told Thomas our reservations were not until 6:00PM, I thought we might need to call the restaurant and be sure we are not too underdressed as we were casually dressed. The hostess said it was a casual environment so we felt good about it. Thomas took me to Martin & Kathy’s for New Year’s the last year we dated and he did not inquire about attire, So horrified to my surprise when we arrived at their new home in Chesterfield, they would be dressed formally with a tux and floor length dress for Kathy…we brought casual slacks and winter sweaters-no dress or tux. In deep regret Kathy and Martin dressed down more than they had originally planned but needless to say-we were VERY UNDRESSED for the occasion!
The restaurant was located in a very quaint area of San Juan Capistrano which is located about 25 minutes from Anaheim. We arrived almost 30 minutes early so we wondered into Chico’s which is located in this strip mall area. I love Chico’s but it is really too expensive for me but the signs advertised on the front window was “65% sale”, so I thought what the heck when Thomas headed inside….So I looked around on the sale racks and found a cute skirt and it was originally price at $98.00 and got it for $5.38, that’s right less than $10.00-I love those kind of sales. Thomas just smiled.
Cedar Creek had a beautiful Christmas tree with a roaring fireplace in the area we were seated. Their tag line is: food-spirits-ambiance and its address is: 26860 Ortega Hwy., San Juan Capistrano, CA, 92675, 949-240-2229 www.cedarcreekinn.com. We were fortunate to meet Dietmar there in a timely fashion and be introduced to his friend Marie. We had a lovely dinner and ironically we all ended up ordering some type of fish. There was plenty of good conversation and I shared with Dietmar the story that I so enjoyed writing on our recent trip with Hans to Canada. I forewarned him that there are stories about him in there also, he grinned and said “umm humm”. The meal was great and the company was very pleasant. We told Dietmar if he can’t remember how long it’s been since he came to VA then that is too long-he needs to come visit us soon! Marie told Thomas & I we should come back to this area to sight-see as across the street there is one of the missions that are in CA and they have a good history about it and it is something to see she says.
From the website regarding the missions: Much of California's history began with the Spanish Missions. The chain of 21 missions along California’s El Camino Real (“The Royal Highway”) represents the first arrival of non-Native Americans to California. Life for the California Native Americans was forever changed. In addition to Christianity, the missions brought many other things to California such as livestock, fruits, flowers, grains and industry. This was also the start of the civilization in which we live today. However, as a result of the arrival of the Spanish, many Native American lives were lost. Every one of the California missions tells a story about the history of California. All have been, to some extent, restored and can be visited today.
Dietmar is headed to Albuquerque, NM on the 18th this month and he will be going to the Santa Fe area also while he’s there. He tells us he used to work in the area so he’s familiar with it. Marie has 2 children-1 daughter and 1 son that live in area. The son is an attorney and never married, the daughter has 2 kids which are her only grandchildren. Marie is quite the conversationalist and we had a nice time learning about her. Dietmar told us how much he enjoyed the sibling’s trip to Germany this past May, and yes he clarified that he would like to make the trip again! After our meal we took pictures and said our good-byes to each of them and headed back to our condo in the light drizzling rain. Regardless of the rain everything is so pretty though as the quaint areas are decorated for Christmas. After our short drive back to the resort we got ready for bed and listened to some Christmas music as we wound down. We missed the fireworks but it was worth it!
Today is Tuesday, December 16, 2008 and the day started off cloudy but cleared off by lunchtime and stayed clear for the rest of the day with a temperature of 54-56 degrees. Thomas & I took care of catch up issues with our offices and computer work for the morning as we also had breakfast he prepared. We then made our way to the hot tub and workout room for activities. After we got back to our place we got online to compare ticket prices for the Anaheim Ducks hockey game. This is the last night they will play here until Dec. 31st, we will be home by then and Thomas wanted us to go to a game while we are here. We secured our tickets online so we got ready and planned our bus route after we bought our tickets to take the A.R.T. which is one of the local transportation trolleys for this area. It cost $3.00 per person for the day so we bought our passes at the resort office. While we were in our resort I gave him a shirt that I found at the Marriott gift shop on the morning of my run. It was on the clearance rack and marked down since it was for the “2007 Stanley Cup Champions-Anaheim Ducks” and it in X-Large also. I surprised him and gave it to him as I said, “I figured you’d need a hockey shirt to wear to the game”. He put it on immediately and out the door we went.
It was interesting talking to a lady that came to the same conference we did for Respiratory and her husband was with her-they are also going to the Ducks game. They are from Canada so we got into a conversation regarding the difference in socialized medicine vs. our industry with our government here in the states. Thomas told them that it really bothered him that the US has taken over the NHL. So they talked about that and she told us that we are fortunate to be able to go to game for a reasonable cost as they are unable to do so. She said they’ve been married for 20 yrs and this will be their first NHL game to go see. She felt it was a good thing for the sport that the US took it over as the program needed more $ to make things happen for the players and it has since the US got involved. The game was held at the Honda Center here in Anaheim. It is huge! The building is 650,000 sq. ft. and is lined inside and out with marble and granite from around the world. The building’s roof spans 444 ft. by 329 ft. with more than 100 ft. above the arena floor. It has 3 levels of seating and can hold 17,174 people for hockey games and as many as 18,325 for stage events. Tonight’s game is the Anaheim Ducks vs. New York Rangers. This is the Ranger’s 1st trip to Anaheim since Nov. 1, 2006 so the crowd is really fired up. The goalie for the Ducks is a native of Switzerland who is 26 yrs old named Jonas ( pronounced “Yo-nas”) Hiller and his goals-against average an save percentage both ranked in the top 5 in the league. During the final week of Nov. when he went 2-0-0 with an eye-popping 0.50 goals against and .984 save percentage so the NHL named him one of their “Three Stars” of the week. He won 6 of his final 9 appearances and saved just under 95 percent of the shots fired at him last season. In June of this year the team rewarded his progress with a contract extension that pays him more than $1 million annually this season and next. So needless to say this was a good game but the Ducks lost 3-1.
We caught the trolley back and Thomas had me get off early (before our stop) with him. After we got off he walked right to P.F. Chang’s for us to have a nice dinner. This is one of our favorite restaurants when we are in an area that has them. We counted and we have been to 5 different P.F. Chang’s in different states. The first one we ate at together was when I had husbandnapped trip to Nashville, TN that I totally planned with his office and he knew NOTHING about until I told him at the airport that he was going with me! So for the next 3 days we spent time in a wonderful bed & breakfast that was ran by a grandson to one of the original men who founded Nashville. So of course for dinner our first night I took Thomas to have his first dinner at a P.F. Chang’s…he’s loved it since!
After we finished our dinner, we took a couple of pictures outside and made our way walking the rest of the way back to our resort which was about 6-7 blocks. We needed to work off our meal anyway. Tonight we missed the fireworks but it was a good evening regardless….
This morning we were woke up to the sound of rain and the high temperature for the day was predicted to be only 52 degrees. Today is Wednesday, December 17, 2008. Everyone in this area said that if the rain was so needed they wouldn’t like it. Thomas and I got caught up on office work we both had to do and then we got ready to head out to Temecula for our tour of the wine country. We haven’t been out to Temecula in 2 yrs so we were looking forward to the day. The weather continued to be rainy/overcast with occasional downpours….
As we left our resort and start out on 95-E we passed the Angel’s Stadium. The entrance design on the outside was cool as it had 2 baseball caps facing each other so that all who entered had to pass. It was quite a stadium.
The traffic is 4 lanes each way with an option of 2 more lanes but they are toll roads that you can use at a cost….next we took 15-S about 24 miles from Temecula. At this time the rain is heavy and we came to a community named “City of Elsinore” since we asked “Karen” to find us a post office en route to our destination-this was her choice. It was a good one I might add as this town had a lot of character and very historic. It was founded in 1888 and celebrated its 100th anniversary this year and a little history on this town:
Native Americans have long lived in the area. Lake Elsinore was incorporated as a city in 1888 (even before Riverside County's creation in 1893) but was inhabited well before then. In the 18th century when the lake was natural it provided a spot for Spanish ranchers and American trappers to replenish their supplies. It was named Elsinore after the Danish city in Shakespeare's "Hamlet", which is now its sister city.
The lake went dry in the 1930s and was refilled in the early 1960s. More than a week of heavy rains in 1980 flooded the lake, destroying surrounding homes and businesses. Since then there has been a multi-million dollar project put into place to maintain the water supply at a consistent level allowing for homes to be built close to the lake. Unfortunately there are no provisions to allow the water to spill out via a river, so the overflow must be diverted into the Temescal Canyon Wash. In 2007 there was an aeration system added to help with the lake's ecosystem.
This would be a nice place to spend a little more time in…maybe next time. As fate would have it, the rain almost stopped in time for Thomas to drop me off to mail all 14 of my postcards I had gotten finished yesterday and wanted to get them in the mail to our loved ones.
As we drive into Temecula we located their Chamber of Commerce for free maps of the wineries. Our goal was to go to different ones than we’ve already visited. Evidentially when we were here originally as we drove through here to go to Las Vegas on our honeymoon, we stopped at Callaway’s and then go back on the road for Vegas. A good memory of Callaway’s was when I discovered that Thomas had never tasted a pomegranate. As we drove up the driveway to the winery, they were hanging from trees along the drive. I told Thomas what they were and he didn’t even know what a person would do with them. I explained to him that as a kid my parents would give them to us for snacks to eat. Ironically the winery as we went inside for the tasting, had a wine made from pomegranate and we sampled it. As we departed I asked one of the employees if they minded if we got a pomegranate off one of the trees-she obliged so we did just that. Thomas pulled the rental car under one of the trees on the driveway and I assisted hoisting him up (from the car door on the passenger side) and he collected one for us to sample (him initially) the rest is history.
Then 2 yrs ago when we were came to Carlsbad, CA and toured the Baja of California we also took a day during that stay from Christmas Eve thru Jan 2nd to drive to Temecula for the day. We enjoyed it tremendously as it is much smaller wineries from what we saw in Napa Valley (on our honeymoon) and the people took a lot more time to explain processes, etc. to you. We when we here before, there were some wineries that we WERE to only ones there at that particular time. Thomas found his most favorite Port (he LOVES a good Port) at a winery named Palumbo, we did not purchase it since it was $85.00 bottle but the winery only made less than 1,000 bottles to sale. But he remembers it every time he tastes another Port-anywhere, never found one better to date he says! On that visit we ended our day with a wonderful dinner at a steakhouse in historic downtown Temecula and Thomas vowed we would return at that time.
We gathered our maps and off we went in search of a new winery. The weather was still balmy but only mildly sprinkling now as we called and made reservations for our first winery as it was by reservations only. It’s named Briar Rose and was only 10-12 minutes from where we left town. We took Rancho California Rd, Calle, and then Madera DePlaya Dr and then another turn to the winery located at: 41720 Calle Cabrillo, Temecula, CA, 92592- It sits on a small mountain that overlooks a valley: Located on the grounds of a former Disney set designer's home, and named after Sleeping Beauty's alias, this magical winery is modeled after Snow White's cottage, and produces all estate-grown, moderate-level production wines (about 2,400 cases per year). Copper walls and wood furnishings give the tasting room an "inside the barrel" feel; VIPs are led into an adjacent space, which is outfitted with plush couches, a river stone fireplace and offers herbs and flowers at an essence table for a multisensory experience. Fun Fact
The property boasts one of the oldest olive trees in Temecula that was planted by one of the Valley's early pioneers.
Many years ago before developers discovered Temecula, the valley was dotted with small, family owned farms, orchards, and vineyards. Briar Rose Winery marks a return to those idyllic times as Temecula's first, reservation only, boutique winery. It is the fruition of a lifelong dream. In a sense the owners, the Linkogle's, have come full circle and want to celebrate the return to a small, family-owned business. They welcome you to enjoy their wines, wander the gardens and savor the enchantment. They are dedicated to producing small lot, limited production wines made from the most intensely flavored grapes from their lush vineyards. Annually, they produce about 2400 cases. Specializing in red, the estate-grown offerings include an intense award winning Estate Zinfandel, award winning Viognier, Orange Muscat and Reisling. Other offerings include a lively, fruity Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Sherry, Chardonnay, Sauginon Blanc and a special Reserve Aleatico Port.
Thomas & I BOTH enjoyed their cabs and I usually don’t like cabernets but their production is smooth and clean tasting. They have a unique wine that has a very slight hint of lemon and it’s very unique as it finishes crisp and clean-a good all around wine to share with others, it’s called Citronier. Needless to say after we sat around for a very extensive wine tasting and a nice talk with the winemaker (the husband-Leslie, to the lady Doreen that assisted us) we joined their wine club. He and Thomas had a lot in common as he is a German also. They’ve been married for 31 yrs and bought this place in 1985 but grew and sold grapes from their land to other wineries until 1998. They started the process of acquiring all the CA license, etc. and it took 5 yrs to finalize all the requirements the state mandates. In 2003 they had their vintage year and just recently did a press release as they were chosen by the Indians in this area (The Pechanga Band of Luiseño Indians has called the Temecula valley home for more than 10,000 years) to make a wine for the mission grapes that only the Indians have the rights to and the vines are 120 yrs old. After the Indians approved the production/taste this winery made this summer, they were allowed to produce less than 200 bottles. The winemaker opened an unlabeled-private bottle to allow us to taste it and share our thoughts of it with him. They are waiting on the artwork for the label to be approved by the Indians and then they will name the pricing for its release. How cool is this to be trying such an exclusive wine with this couple! Since the “mission grape” was used and the Indians are very traditional with the worship, they are leaning toward naming the wine “Sacrament” as long as the Indians approve the name also. We will watch their website for any updates regarding this….. www.briarrosewinery.com We laughed together as we walked out since Jason had been texting me to ask about details for Dickens of a Christmas at home in Roanoke. I guess he has never been and was looking into taking Lauren but was unsure due to her busy work schedule. It’s funny because my daughter prefers to talk to him and his son typically texts me more frequently than his dad-funny how that happens but not at all bad…at least they contact us!
As we depart and drive to our last winery, since we started after lunch and we spent 2 hrs and Briar Rose (but enjoyed every minute of it-education & all) it has started to rain again. We proceeded our drive to Maurice Car’rie Vineyard & Winery located at: 34225 Rancho California Rd, Temecula, CA, 92591, www.mauricecarriewinery.com . It is a much bigger winery but no one was there but us, just like the previous winery. I’m sure a lot of it is to do with the weather and the fact that it’s in the middle of the week, not to mention Christmas holiday time. We were greeted with a most pleasant older lady who spoke with a very strong German accent. Thomas asked her where she was from and indeed it was Germany. Of course he then had a lot to talk about with her-including the history of all his siblings (and his own) names and where they came from. They were having a end of the season sale of 20-50% off on all products (other than wine) in their winery so we found several things we felt like we’d enjoy taking back to VA with us. A little history: The Maurice Car’rie Vineyard & Winery is nestled amidst the rolling hills of beautiful Temecula Valley. The winery was founded in 1986, and designed after a Victorian-style farmhouse. The 46 acres of vineyards were the first vineyards established in the region in 1968. Owners, Buddy and Cheri Linn, and winemaker, Gus Vizgirda, are focused on wines that are ready to drink at a fairly early age. They handcraft 14 varietals that have received hundreds of awards and accolades in a long list of competitions.
After a relaxing afternoon in Temecula we are now in search for Penfold’s Cattle Company in historic downtown Temecula. They are located at: 42072 5th St., 3rd Floor, Temecula, CA, 92590. Description: A study in dark woods and warm lighting, this romantic eatery and special occasion favorite plays host to mostly locals enjoying splurge-worthy lunches and hearty steak and seafood dinners. Faded sepia-toned photographs of the Old West hang over high-backed booths and regally upholstered Victorian-esque chairs inside, while an expansive deck overlooks the street below. It is more expensive than we typically treat ourselves to but we feel since we only come every 2 yrs (if we’re lucky!) then we can splurge this evening. We are celebrating some down time together after our conference and recognized how blessed we both are in many areas-we toast to this together to start our quiet evening filled with great ambiance. Penfold’s has recently undergone a new management team (according to Doreen form Briar Rose) and they have now decided on which local wines to carry for the restaurant. Since Thomas really liked their 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon he bought a bottle to bring in with him and had our waitress open it & pour it as he also expressed to her his great interest in Briar Rose. The waitress laughed and said “the couple that owns it comes in frequently to eat and always ask if they are carrying their wines yet.” She stated they are very nice and also make very nice wines. First we ordered an appetizer of scallops (Thomas’s favorite) but they had an awesome sauce that was slightly sweet and tasted wonderfully! Next we ordered our meal and Thomas had their Ribeye and I had their filet with a lobster tail-umum good! We closed our meal off with Bananas Foster-we paid our debt and off into the rain we went…..
On the drive back to our resort Thomas said that if he didn’t know better he’d think it was snowing as we moved through the mountain areas headed back to Anaheim-about 78 mile drive for us to our resort-we missed the fireworks but what a great evening we spent together!
Today is Thursday, December 18, 2008 and we woke to see snow on the mountains that are off in the distance-not sure how far but they have not had snow on them during our entire stay until now? As I turned on the FISH (Christian contemporary music that is carried on satellite also) radio station they have been playing Christmas music this week as I listened and they made an announcement that CA had snow for the first time in 3 decades in the Malibu area-so it is snow! It is sunny today but the temperature is only 48-52 degrees. Thomas and I opted to just hang out in our resort and relax. So we went to the ice cream social 2:30PM at the snack bar here at the resort ($1.00 per scoop/$1.00 for a brownie). Afterwards Thomas got into the hot tub while I worked out, had to counter the brownie I had split with Thomas…I talked to Caitlynn & Nicole several times today and they are making Christmas desserts and had lunch with Justin at school today. It’s so hard to believe he’s in the 2nd grade already-where does the time go?
We decided afterwards we would walk to Downtown Disney to ESPN Sports so we could watch NFL game tonight. Due to us being on PST (pacific standard time) that is 3 hrs behind us while in VA, the game would be on at 5:00PM. We did just that and walked back to our resort and ended our evening by watching Disney’s fireworks then watching a Christmas movie on the Family Channel together on the couch. I fell asleep at the very end so afterwards Thomas woke me so we could go to bed……
I woke this morning and called Nicole and Caitlynn, they will go to see Marcus and his family as they drive to San Antonio to spend the night tonight. Juan has his office Christmas party there so they will stay the night then head back to Pflugerville before lunch so they can put Caitlynn on the plane by her flight tomorrow at 5:40PM. We will leave at 1:40PM from here then we change planes in Dallas where we will meet up with Caitlynn there so we all fly into Greensboro, NC together. Thomas and I went down for the continental breakfast the resort provided today and met a really nice family form Utah that are vacationing together for the week. They are Mormons and the parents we spoke with have 6 girls and 1 son, the grandkids are also with them. He has traveled extensively and has recently been researching the possibility of buying land in Belize. He says he just bought a book to study the land that is “2 ½ inches thick”. So we talked about our experiences when visiting there, etc. They had a 2 yr old grandson named “Carter” and he was a cutie. Carter is next to the youngest (being 3 months old) and before him is his sister that sat next to me. She had 2 older brothers there also but she was the talker-I guess since she was the only girl out of 5 kids. She had a lot to tell us! Afterwards we said our good-byes and headed back to our condo. I researched the Crystal Cathedral as I thought I saw a sign and did not know that we were less than 2 miles from there! Caitlynn & I have watched Dr. Robert Shuler from the cathedral for years on TV. We packed a couple of boxes that we were mailing home to ourselves (airlines charge $15.00 per bag checked on American Airlines nowadays) and then I googled the information and off we went to the location: 12141 Lewis St. Garden Grove, CA 92840
Constructed from more than 10,000 plates of glass, the Crystal Cathedral is packed with more than 3,000 seated worshippers every Sunday for service, as well as hundreds more who experience drive-in worship in the parking lot, via a nine-storey tall sliding glass doors which allows them to view the service. The cathedral is also most famous as the filming place of Dr. Robert H. Schuller's "Hour of Power" TV show.
Building History
Dr. Robert H. Schuller said, "When the local congregation reached 10,000 and we needed a bigger church building, I remembered how wonderful it had been at my little drive-in church (where the ministry began in 1955) where there had been no walls or ceiling-it was there I fell in love with the sky! And that's why we built the Crystal Cathedral with walls and a roof of glass-crystal-clear glass that lets the sun and sky sparkle through our wonderful sanctuary." On September 14, 1980, in Garden Grove, Calif., Dr. Robert Schuller dedicated the Crystal Cathedral "To the Glory of Man for the Greater Glory of God."
Affiliated with the Reformed Church in America, the church then known as Garden Grove Community Church was founded in 1955 by the Reverend Dr. Robert H. Schuller and his wife, Arvella, and is considered the world's first "seeker sensitive" church. The first church services were held in space rented from the Orange Drive In Theatre. In 1961, the congregation moved to a new sanctuary designed by famed architect, Richard Neutra . Construction on the Cathedral began in 1977 and ended in 1980. The initial estimated cost of the church was $6 million, but the final cost was over $17 million (about $55 million in 2007 dollars). One way Dr. Schuller found to help finance the construction of the Crystal Cathedral was to invite donors to give $500 for each of the 10,000 rectangular panes of glass, which raised over US$5 million by its completion. The entire building was built to be “green”-eco-friendly. Upon moving from the old Neutra sanctuary to the new Johnson sanctuary, the congregation changed its name to the Crystal Cathedral Congregation. One of the church's mission statements is, "Find a need and fill it; find a hurt and heal it." The Crystal Cathedral organ is one of the world's largest pipe organs, located at the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, California. The Cathedral pipe organ, made possible by a gift from the late Hazel Wright of Chicago (viewer from the Hour of Power), is the third largest church pipe organ in the world. Conceived by famed organ virtuoso Virgil Fox, the organ unites the Aeolian-Skinner organ from Avery Fisher Hall of Lincoln Center in New York City with the Ruffatti organ built for the former sanctuary in 1977.
There have been numerous additions and refinements by noted organ builders. There are 287 ranks of pipes and over 16,000 individual pipes, all playable from two five-manual consoles. White oak cases hold the nearly 11,000 pipes in the chancel area. Included there is a rank of forty-four 32-foot pedal pipes, originally in the organ at Bovard Auditorium at the University of Southern California-a gift of the Mt. Olive Lutheran Church of La Crescenta. The South Balcony divisions of the organ contain 5,000 pipes, and in the East and West Balconies are 549 horizontal trumpet pipes-the largest collection of such pipes in the world.
The statues (there are around 20 total inside & outside) are all donated among the campus which is now 40 acres. They were preparing for the play “Glory of Christmas” that is performed live before Christmas, with live animals performing. It was a very good tour provided by Bill Russell who is a current member of the church and is retired.
We left and found a UPS shipping store and then….you guessed it-a “In-N-Out” burger restaurant and we indulged ourselves in the rental car. Off we headed back to the resort and I started packing while Thomas went to the hot tub for a bit. He came back and we watched the Richmond vs. Montana in the Football Championship Subdivision title game with the University of Montana-Richmond won. We then watched several Christmas shows on the family channel here in the condo, then to our surprise as we had lost track of time the fireworks were going off outside our balcony door so we again watched for our final night. I talked to Nicole as they had driven to San Antonio for the night since Juan’s office was having the Christmas party there and Caitlynn wanted to watch all 3 kids. She said Caitlynn did very well with them! Nicole text me to say “good birth control”-I agree! Off to bed after gathering things to pack and preparing for our final California morning……
Good morning-December 20, 2008 today will be the warmest day since the day we arrived-looking to be 60 degrees for the day. We got up and Thomas fixed breakfast that was pretty much a smorgasbord as we were eating the last of our breakfast fixings and any other leftovers we acquired the last couple of days. It was all good and we got our bellies full and put the finishing touches on getting ready and packing as our flight is at 1:40PM but the rental car has to be checked in by noon. Off we head in the CA traffic headed towards L.A. and as usual there is quite a bit of traffic even on this Saturday morning. Thomas is thinking maybe because it’s the last weekend before Christmas? Maybeeeee but I’m thinking this is just L.A. Everything is on schedule as planned until we get to LAX (airport) and when Thomas used the kiosk as I waited in line with the luggage he came back to me and said “we need to talk to someone because when it printed our tickets it shows our departure time as 8PM and we are supposed to change planes in Dallas at 7:45PM”. So we waited our opportunity and spoke with an American Airlines ticket agent and she explained to us that they took 2 planes out of commission due to “mechanical issues” this morning so several flights had to be cancelled and are backed up to get people out. That made us confirmed on the 8PM flight but we could go on stand-by before that flight if we’d like. So with much effort on Thomas’s part as we were ready to get home AND the Dallas Cowboys play at 8PM tonight (but it’s only on the NFL Network) so it will be very difficult to watch unless we are somewhere where the game is be televised, we made our 2nd flight attempt on standby. Meanwhile I got hold of Jennie (our niece) and she will pickup Caitlynn in Greensboro as we were originally scheduled to change flights in Dallas along with her from Austin so we would be flying into Greensboro all together, now our plans are changed. I spoke with Nicole to be sure Caitlynn knew what was going on with us and everyone’s good and squared away but us. As we fly into Dallas, much to what I expected, the football game is on every TV in the airport-after all we are in Dallas. Thomas & I saw on the boards that display all flights coming or going that there were no more going to Greensboro tonight as we arrived at 8:15PM so he sat in front of one of the TVs and watched the game while I confirmed we had no other options for today and confirmed our options to resume our trip tomorrow to go home. We are scheduled to be at Louise’s for Christmas dinner/gift exchange at 2PM. We are confirmed for the only flight with availability tomorrow which will get us into Greensboro at 11:15PM but we decided to come into the airport early to go on standby for the only other flight tomorrow which is at 8:15AM. If we make it we should be able to make the Rothe Family Christmas celebration!
The airlines put us up in a Holiday Inn Express by the airport and gave us food vouchers for tonight and tomorrow for breakfast. We get $10 each for dinner tonight and $5 each for breakfast. Since it is 10:50PM as we catch the shuttle to the airport, we decided to order food in the room to be delivered. Of course we have none of our luggage as it went on from LA so we will wear the same clothes tomorrow and the hotel gave us a toothbrush & toothpaste for our personal hygiene for the night.
Sunday, December 21st, 2008 Thomas and I catch the airport shuttle from the airport on a nice brisk windy morning at 6:05AM. We get to the airport nice and early to try to make the first flight on standby. After we get thru security we decide to go have a nice breakfast to kill some time. I chose burritos and Thomas had a regular full line breakfast-both were great! Much to our delight we made the standby list and we were the only ones since there were 2 seats left only-good choice to get up early!! So we landed at noon in Greensboro and made the Rothe Christmas Family celebration at 2:20 PM. I love this time of year as we spend time with all our family, it’s great!
Well as most of you know Thomas and I love to travel to California, not only because of the great wineries but it has diverse scenery (which I like to think it has much to offer like Texas). This trip began as a business trip for the 2008 International Respiratory Congress and this is the 54th annual convention. Each year it rotates the location and we lucked out to come to this one in CA. Typically it is held the first week in Dec but for whatever reason this one is closer to the middle of December which puts a rush on Christmas when we get home this year! Since we were going to be gone so long I felt Caitlynn would enjoy seeing Nicole and the kids in Texas so we flew her there yesterday from Greensboro, NC then Thomas & I did a little shopping and stayed the night in Greensboro since we had a 5:50 AM flight to catch at the GSO airport.
I have been a RT for many years (Brandon was a baby when I started school) and I had not ever come to this particular convention until the year I opened the sleep lab (Sleep EZ Diagnostics, Inc.) in Dec. 2005. The first one I attended 2005 was in Las Vegas but they only had a small amount of classes/seminars related to sleep medicine. Thomas also had never attended this particular conference even though he’s been a therapist for 20 + yrs. Last year it was held in Orlando, Florida so we both attended as the information in sleep medicine had increased. Not to mention VA Tech made it to the ACC Championship game which the announcement was made to hold the game in Jacksonville, Florida. We made that game day one that we were not going to be able to attend any classes and we headed out in the rental car-driving to the game! VA Tech won but it was a struggle…ironically so Helene had gone with some friends from the hospital to also attend so we hung out with her for the latter part of the game and afterwards as we ate. Needless to say our agenda will not be involving a playoff football game this time but I’m sure we’ll find plenty to do while we are here in addition to our classes.
We arrived at 10:45AM into LAX (Las Angeles, CA) and gathered our luggage and retrieved our rental car. As we checked out our rental car at Enterprise, we noticed gas prices to be more than home but much less than when we were in this area for part of our honeymoon 4 yrs ago-$1.71 per gallon currently. We made an immediate stop at one of our local burger joints-“In-N-Out”….it was delicious as we remembered! We had barely driven 3 miles outside the airport property when Thomas stumbled upon it….or did he put it in his GPS (“Karen” he affectionately named her) anyway we are here! So for you to better understand the ‘difference’ of this burger place from others, I will quote their wrappers that come on their burgers:
• The first In-N-Out opened 1948
• All our burgers are made with fresh beef that’s never frozen
• Our buns are made with-out preservatives the old fashioned way-from real sponge dough
• We hand-leaf our lettuce every day
• Our fries are peeled and diced daily from fresh whole potatoes
• We’ve cooked our fries in 100% cholesterol free oil since 1948
**Not to mention they use a dressing that tastes similar to Thousand Island and since I am probably one of the few people left in the country that actually still order that as my salad dressing-I love it!
After we sat outside and ate our meal in the beautiful sun shine and a temperature of 72 degrees, we proceeded to locate our timeshare. Gotta love the LA traffic and its lunchtime so everyone’s out running around.
I like to see the Metro system in use as they utilize it so effectively in this area, it is generated by electricity and the stations are located strategically for public use.
We weren’t exactly sure where the timeshare is other than it’s located within 1-1/2 from the Anaheim Convention Center where our seminar will be held this week. As we neared the address Thomas and I realized much to our surprise since we are not familiar with this area of California that we are in the Disneyland property also. The name of the timeshare is the Dolphin’s Cover Resort. It’s a nice property and conveniently located for our use while we are here. After checking in we got unpacked for the next 8 days and look at all the literature that the resort gave us regarding all the events happening. Later we located the hot tub for Thomas and the exercise room for me (I haven’t been on the treadmill in a week as we stayed very busy getting ready for this trip and also having our Christmas party for our employees as we do a Sleep EZ/Freedom Respiratory party). Since I am contemplating my participation in a 5K on Sunday here, I had better get started! As we returned to our condo we planned our evening. We went in search of groceries and retrieved them then we ate our dinner which consisted of our Macaroni Grill leftovers from the night before in Greensboro. Yes, I hand carried them with us (we hate waste) and we enjoyed them almost as much as the night before. I say it would have been the same if we would have had endless bread being supplied along with olive oil with fresh ground black pepper for dipping that delectable bread in………anyway we did have a loaf with our leftovers so we enjoyed it! I made my way to seek a tub filled with hot water and bubbles-now that was nice. We completed this Friday evening as we watched the brilliant full moon tonight (read attached article relating to it):
Year's Biggest Full Moon Friday Night
By Robert Roy Britt
Editorial Director
posted: 11 December 2008
01:24 pm ET
The full moon Friday night will be the biggest one of the year as Earth's natural satellite reaches its closest point to our planet.
Earth, the moon and the sun are all bound together by gravity, which keeps us going around the sun and keeps the moon going around us as it goes through phases. The moon makes a trip around Earth every 29.5 days. But the orbit is not a perfect circle.
The moon's average distance from us is about 238,855 miles (384,400 km). Friday night it will be just 221,560 miles (356,567 km) away. It will be 14 percent bigger in our sky and 30 percent brighter than some other full moons during the year, according to NASA.
Tides will be higher Friday night, too. Earth's oceans are pulled by the gravity of the moon and the sun. So when the moon is closer, tides are pulled higher. Scientists call these perigean tides, because the moon's closest point to Earth is called perigee. The farthest point on the lunar orbit is called apogee.
Some other strange lunar facts:
The moon is moving away as you read this, by about 1.6 inches (4 centimeters) a year. Eventually it'll be torn apart as an expanding sun pushes the moon back toward Earth for a wrenching close encounter.
There is no proof the full moon makes people crazy.
Beaches are more polluted during full moon, owing to the higher tides.
The moon will rise Friday evening right around sunset, no matter where you are. That's because of the celestial mechanics that produce a full moon: The moon and the sun are on opposite sides of the Earth, so that sunlight hits the full face of the moon and bounces back to our eyes.
At moonrise, the moon will appear even larger than it will later in the night when it's higher in the sky. This is an illusion that scientists can't fully explain. Some think it has to do with our perception of things on the horizon vs. stuff overhead.
Try this trick, though: Using a pencil eraser or similar object held at arm's length, gauge the size of the moon when it's near the horizon and again later when it's higher up and seems smaller. You'll see that when compared to a fixed object, the moon will be the same size in both cases.
You can see all this on each night surrounding the full moon, too, because the moon will be nearly full, rising earlier Thursday night and later Saturday night.
Interestingly, because of the mechanics of all this, the moon is never truly 100 percent full. For that to happen, all three objects have to be in a perfect line, and when that rare circumstance occurs, there is a total eclipse of the moon.
Gallery: Moon Images
Skywatcher's Guide to the Moon
Top 10 Strangest Things in Space
Then followed by Disney’s firework display they do nightly @ 9:30 PM as we stood on our balcony in fascination at the amazing colors.
Today is Saturday, December 13, 2008 and the weather is expected to be a high of 59 degrees today with cloudy skies. Thomas and I woke and he fixed breakfast and we prepared for the day as we would be walking to the convention center to gather our registration packets. It’s a mild but pleasant day. Thomas had left Dietmar a message yesterday announcing our arrival and dates we would be in the area as we’d love to spend some time with him.
After out down time with Thomas at the hot tub and me in the exercise room we returned to the condo to watch the announcement show for the recipient for the Heisman Trophy. This is the first year in history that there is not a senior nominated and the 3 nominees are from Univ. of Texas-Colt McCoy, Oklahoma Univ.-Sam Bradford, and Florida State Univ.- Tim Tebow. I love football, especially college ball and being from Austin (which is where I grew up) I LOVE the Longhorns so this is significant to me. Plus I truly enjoy watching the program/selection as they interview each nominee and give a little history on their lives. The thing also that I liked the best this year is the fact that all 3 of these amazing young talented men are strong in their faith, family and mentoring. They mentor rather it’s to young people, missionary work, or mentoring the players that they play. The gentleman that won was Sam Bradford from OU. Bradford, who leads the nation in touchdown passes with 48, received 1,726 points. Texas quarterback Colt McCoy was second with 1,604 and Tebow—who received the most first-place votes—was third with 1,575 points. Between the 3 nominees their teams were 35-3, now that is impressive. As I have always said since Lynn and I divorced-my daughter is my primary responsibility meaning that it is my job to raise her to be a responsible adult as we live in an atmosphere of mutual respect, love, and accountability in our home. With Tebow’s acceptance speech he said to his parents: “There were many times that you pushed me in times that I didn’t want to do anything and you always expected the best from me regardless of what I was doing-playing or being organized & motivated, for that I love you and couldn’t have done it without you!”
We prepared to leave as we went to The House of Blues as they were holding a Welcome Party for the AARC attendees with John Waite performing live for us. We enjoyed the food and entertainment for a couple of hours then we came back to get ready for bed. I have to be up by 5:50AM to report for the 5K Fun Run the AARC is sponsoring. Lucky me, I registered yesterday when the conference opened and ironically I got my favorite number 8 as I walked up to the booth, it was on top so it was mine…..I’m feeling good about this.
Well I left this morning Sunday, December 14, 2008 at 6:20AM to walk to the Marriott which is where the 5K will begin. I left Thomas in bed to sleep in today. The temperature is 42 degrees without the sun being quite up yet but it feels good, especially for a run. I noticed at the convenient stores around our resort that gas prices had dropped today to $1.59 per gallon.
I completed it with a 37.23 time, not bad considering I haven’t been running regularly since the 1st week of October. Came back to the condo and Thomas was watching the Cowboy news and since the time is 3 hrs behind here from home, that means he’ll be able to catch some of the football games today in between our classes. The Cowboys will not play until 5 PM here. I fixed us breakfast and off for a bubble bath (I never take the time at home to take these so I’m enjoying them here!). Dietmar called and we will meet him on Monday afternoon, we’re looking forward to seeing him as we have not seen him since Thomas and I came on our honeymoon to spend a day with him and Rose. Rose passed away about 2 yrs ago. She had a very charismatic personality while Dietmar was quieter but just as cordial.
We went to our classes then back we came for the “big game”. Dallas defeated the Giants 20-8 so Thomas was ecstatic! I thought we were going to get thrown out for disturbing the peace as he was jumping up and down and screaming at his team thru the TV. Dietmar called and we confirmed our place to meet and time for tomorrow. I spent some of my time watching the football game and downloading family pictures on Snapfish. Caitlynn and Nicole called us today as they are enjoying their time together as they rested after church then off to bed. We ordered pizza and spaghetti to be delivered and enjoyed an evening in. We finished the night off watching the magnificent fireworks as Disney’s ritual at 9:30PM.
Monday, December 15, 2008 is another great day in California…though it started raining during the night and continued on through most of the day. The temperature was a high of 56, though it felt slightly cooler with the rain. The people from this area feel as if this is a cold-front so they are wearing coats, no flip-flops (as usual) and some even had on toboggans? Thomas and I went to our classes then returned to get the rental car form our resort so we could make our way to meet Dietmar and his friend for dinner by 6:00PM. We are unsure about the traffic so we thought it best we leave ahead of time as we were traveling on unfamiliar ground for us so we were going to depend on “Karen” to navigate us. Dietmar had given Thomas a cell number to call as we left Anaheim and as I had predicted it was a female’s cell number. Since we were going to be early as Dietmar told Thomas our reservations were not until 6:00PM, I thought we might need to call the restaurant and be sure we are not too underdressed as we were casually dressed. The hostess said it was a casual environment so we felt good about it. Thomas took me to Martin & Kathy’s for New Year’s the last year we dated and he did not inquire about attire, So horrified to my surprise when we arrived at their new home in Chesterfield, they would be dressed formally with a tux and floor length dress for Kathy…we brought casual slacks and winter sweaters-no dress or tux. In deep regret Kathy and Martin dressed down more than they had originally planned but needless to say-we were VERY UNDRESSED for the occasion!
The restaurant was located in a very quaint area of San Juan Capistrano which is located about 25 minutes from Anaheim. We arrived almost 30 minutes early so we wondered into Chico’s which is located in this strip mall area. I love Chico’s but it is really too expensive for me but the signs advertised on the front window was “65% sale”, so I thought what the heck when Thomas headed inside….So I looked around on the sale racks and found a cute skirt and it was originally price at $98.00 and got it for $5.38, that’s right less than $10.00-I love those kind of sales. Thomas just smiled.
Cedar Creek had a beautiful Christmas tree with a roaring fireplace in the area we were seated. Their tag line is: food-spirits-ambiance and its address is: 26860 Ortega Hwy., San Juan Capistrano, CA, 92675, 949-240-2229 www.cedarcreekinn.com. We were fortunate to meet Dietmar there in a timely fashion and be introduced to his friend Marie. We had a lovely dinner and ironically we all ended up ordering some type of fish. There was plenty of good conversation and I shared with Dietmar the story that I so enjoyed writing on our recent trip with Hans to Canada. I forewarned him that there are stories about him in there also, he grinned and said “umm humm”. The meal was great and the company was very pleasant. We told Dietmar if he can’t remember how long it’s been since he came to VA then that is too long-he needs to come visit us soon! Marie told Thomas & I we should come back to this area to sight-see as across the street there is one of the missions that are in CA and they have a good history about it and it is something to see she says.
From the website regarding the missions: Much of California's history began with the Spanish Missions. The chain of 21 missions along California’s El Camino Real (“The Royal Highway”) represents the first arrival of non-Native Americans to California. Life for the California Native Americans was forever changed. In addition to Christianity, the missions brought many other things to California such as livestock, fruits, flowers, grains and industry. This was also the start of the civilization in which we live today. However, as a result of the arrival of the Spanish, many Native American lives were lost. Every one of the California missions tells a story about the history of California. All have been, to some extent, restored and can be visited today.
Dietmar is headed to Albuquerque, NM on the 18th this month and he will be going to the Santa Fe area also while he’s there. He tells us he used to work in the area so he’s familiar with it. Marie has 2 children-1 daughter and 1 son that live in area. The son is an attorney and never married, the daughter has 2 kids which are her only grandchildren. Marie is quite the conversationalist and we had a nice time learning about her. Dietmar told us how much he enjoyed the sibling’s trip to Germany this past May, and yes he clarified that he would like to make the trip again! After our meal we took pictures and said our good-byes to each of them and headed back to our condo in the light drizzling rain. Regardless of the rain everything is so pretty though as the quaint areas are decorated for Christmas. After our short drive back to the resort we got ready for bed and listened to some Christmas music as we wound down. We missed the fireworks but it was worth it!
Today is Tuesday, December 16, 2008 and the day started off cloudy but cleared off by lunchtime and stayed clear for the rest of the day with a temperature of 54-56 degrees. Thomas & I took care of catch up issues with our offices and computer work for the morning as we also had breakfast he prepared. We then made our way to the hot tub and workout room for activities. After we got back to our place we got online to compare ticket prices for the Anaheim Ducks hockey game. This is the last night they will play here until Dec. 31st, we will be home by then and Thomas wanted us to go to a game while we are here. We secured our tickets online so we got ready and planned our bus route after we bought our tickets to take the A.R.T. which is one of the local transportation trolleys for this area. It cost $3.00 per person for the day so we bought our passes at the resort office. While we were in our resort I gave him a shirt that I found at the Marriott gift shop on the morning of my run. It was on the clearance rack and marked down since it was for the “2007 Stanley Cup Champions-Anaheim Ducks” and it in X-Large also. I surprised him and gave it to him as I said, “I figured you’d need a hockey shirt to wear to the game”. He put it on immediately and out the door we went.
It was interesting talking to a lady that came to the same conference we did for Respiratory and her husband was with her-they are also going to the Ducks game. They are from Canada so we got into a conversation regarding the difference in socialized medicine vs. our industry with our government here in the states. Thomas told them that it really bothered him that the US has taken over the NHL. So they talked about that and she told us that we are fortunate to be able to go to game for a reasonable cost as they are unable to do so. She said they’ve been married for 20 yrs and this will be their first NHL game to go see. She felt it was a good thing for the sport that the US took it over as the program needed more $ to make things happen for the players and it has since the US got involved. The game was held at the Honda Center here in Anaheim. It is huge! The building is 650,000 sq. ft. and is lined inside and out with marble and granite from around the world. The building’s roof spans 444 ft. by 329 ft. with more than 100 ft. above the arena floor. It has 3 levels of seating and can hold 17,174 people for hockey games and as many as 18,325 for stage events. Tonight’s game is the Anaheim Ducks vs. New York Rangers. This is the Ranger’s 1st trip to Anaheim since Nov. 1, 2006 so the crowd is really fired up. The goalie for the Ducks is a native of Switzerland who is 26 yrs old named Jonas ( pronounced “Yo-nas”) Hiller and his goals-against average an save percentage both ranked in the top 5 in the league. During the final week of Nov. when he went 2-0-0 with an eye-popping 0.50 goals against and .984 save percentage so the NHL named him one of their “Three Stars” of the week. He won 6 of his final 9 appearances and saved just under 95 percent of the shots fired at him last season. In June of this year the team rewarded his progress with a contract extension that pays him more than $1 million annually this season and next. So needless to say this was a good game but the Ducks lost 3-1.
We caught the trolley back and Thomas had me get off early (before our stop) with him. After we got off he walked right to P.F. Chang’s for us to have a nice dinner. This is one of our favorite restaurants when we are in an area that has them. We counted and we have been to 5 different P.F. Chang’s in different states. The first one we ate at together was when I had husbandnapped trip to Nashville, TN that I totally planned with his office and he knew NOTHING about until I told him at the airport that he was going with me! So for the next 3 days we spent time in a wonderful bed & breakfast that was ran by a grandson to one of the original men who founded Nashville. So of course for dinner our first night I took Thomas to have his first dinner at a P.F. Chang’s…he’s loved it since!
After we finished our dinner, we took a couple of pictures outside and made our way walking the rest of the way back to our resort which was about 6-7 blocks. We needed to work off our meal anyway. Tonight we missed the fireworks but it was a good evening regardless….
This morning we were woke up to the sound of rain and the high temperature for the day was predicted to be only 52 degrees. Today is Wednesday, December 17, 2008. Everyone in this area said that if the rain was so needed they wouldn’t like it. Thomas and I got caught up on office work we both had to do and then we got ready to head out to Temecula for our tour of the wine country. We haven’t been out to Temecula in 2 yrs so we were looking forward to the day. The weather continued to be rainy/overcast with occasional downpours….
As we left our resort and start out on 95-E we passed the Angel’s Stadium. The entrance design on the outside was cool as it had 2 baseball caps facing each other so that all who entered had to pass. It was quite a stadium.
The traffic is 4 lanes each way with an option of 2 more lanes but they are toll roads that you can use at a cost….next we took 15-S about 24 miles from Temecula. At this time the rain is heavy and we came to a community named “City of Elsinore” since we asked “Karen” to find us a post office en route to our destination-this was her choice. It was a good one I might add as this town had a lot of character and very historic. It was founded in 1888 and celebrated its 100th anniversary this year and a little history on this town:
Native Americans have long lived in the area. Lake Elsinore was incorporated as a city in 1888 (even before Riverside County's creation in 1893) but was inhabited well before then. In the 18th century when the lake was natural it provided a spot for Spanish ranchers and American trappers to replenish their supplies. It was named Elsinore after the Danish city in Shakespeare's "Hamlet", which is now its sister city.
The lake went dry in the 1930s and was refilled in the early 1960s. More than a week of heavy rains in 1980 flooded the lake, destroying surrounding homes and businesses. Since then there has been a multi-million dollar project put into place to maintain the water supply at a consistent level allowing for homes to be built close to the lake. Unfortunately there are no provisions to allow the water to spill out via a river, so the overflow must be diverted into the Temescal Canyon Wash. In 2007 there was an aeration system added to help with the lake's ecosystem.
This would be a nice place to spend a little more time in…maybe next time. As fate would have it, the rain almost stopped in time for Thomas to drop me off to mail all 14 of my postcards I had gotten finished yesterday and wanted to get them in the mail to our loved ones.
As we drive into Temecula we located their Chamber of Commerce for free maps of the wineries. Our goal was to go to different ones than we’ve already visited. Evidentially when we were here originally as we drove through here to go to Las Vegas on our honeymoon, we stopped at Callaway’s and then go back on the road for Vegas. A good memory of Callaway’s was when I discovered that Thomas had never tasted a pomegranate. As we drove up the driveway to the winery, they were hanging from trees along the drive. I told Thomas what they were and he didn’t even know what a person would do with them. I explained to him that as a kid my parents would give them to us for snacks to eat. Ironically the winery as we went inside for the tasting, had a wine made from pomegranate and we sampled it. As we departed I asked one of the employees if they minded if we got a pomegranate off one of the trees-she obliged so we did just that. Thomas pulled the rental car under one of the trees on the driveway and I assisted hoisting him up (from the car door on the passenger side) and he collected one for us to sample (him initially) the rest is history.
Then 2 yrs ago when we were came to Carlsbad, CA and toured the Baja of California we also took a day during that stay from Christmas Eve thru Jan 2nd to drive to Temecula for the day. We enjoyed it tremendously as it is much smaller wineries from what we saw in Napa Valley (on our honeymoon) and the people took a lot more time to explain processes, etc. to you. We when we here before, there were some wineries that we WERE to only ones there at that particular time. Thomas found his most favorite Port (he LOVES a good Port) at a winery named Palumbo, we did not purchase it since it was $85.00 bottle but the winery only made less than 1,000 bottles to sale. But he remembers it every time he tastes another Port-anywhere, never found one better to date he says! On that visit we ended our day with a wonderful dinner at a steakhouse in historic downtown Temecula and Thomas vowed we would return at that time.
We gathered our maps and off we went in search of a new winery. The weather was still balmy but only mildly sprinkling now as we called and made reservations for our first winery as it was by reservations only. It’s named Briar Rose and was only 10-12 minutes from where we left town. We took Rancho California Rd, Calle, and then Madera DePlaya Dr and then another turn to the winery located at: 41720 Calle Cabrillo, Temecula, CA, 92592- It sits on a small mountain that overlooks a valley: Located on the grounds of a former Disney set designer's home, and named after Sleeping Beauty's alias, this magical winery is modeled after Snow White's cottage, and produces all estate-grown, moderate-level production wines (about 2,400 cases per year). Copper walls and wood furnishings give the tasting room an "inside the barrel" feel; VIPs are led into an adjacent space, which is outfitted with plush couches, a river stone fireplace and offers herbs and flowers at an essence table for a multisensory experience. Fun Fact
The property boasts one of the oldest olive trees in Temecula that was planted by one of the Valley's early pioneers.
Many years ago before developers discovered Temecula, the valley was dotted with small, family owned farms, orchards, and vineyards. Briar Rose Winery marks a return to those idyllic times as Temecula's first, reservation only, boutique winery. It is the fruition of a lifelong dream. In a sense the owners, the Linkogle's, have come full circle and want to celebrate the return to a small, family-owned business. They welcome you to enjoy their wines, wander the gardens and savor the enchantment. They are dedicated to producing small lot, limited production wines made from the most intensely flavored grapes from their lush vineyards. Annually, they produce about 2400 cases. Specializing in red, the estate-grown offerings include an intense award winning Estate Zinfandel, award winning Viognier, Orange Muscat and Reisling. Other offerings include a lively, fruity Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Sherry, Chardonnay, Sauginon Blanc and a special Reserve Aleatico Port.
Thomas & I BOTH enjoyed their cabs and I usually don’t like cabernets but their production is smooth and clean tasting. They have a unique wine that has a very slight hint of lemon and it’s very unique as it finishes crisp and clean-a good all around wine to share with others, it’s called Citronier. Needless to say after we sat around for a very extensive wine tasting and a nice talk with the winemaker (the husband-Leslie, to the lady Doreen that assisted us) we joined their wine club. He and Thomas had a lot in common as he is a German also. They’ve been married for 31 yrs and bought this place in 1985 but grew and sold grapes from their land to other wineries until 1998. They started the process of acquiring all the CA license, etc. and it took 5 yrs to finalize all the requirements the state mandates. In 2003 they had their vintage year and just recently did a press release as they were chosen by the Indians in this area (The Pechanga Band of Luiseño Indians has called the Temecula valley home for more than 10,000 years) to make a wine for the mission grapes that only the Indians have the rights to and the vines are 120 yrs old. After the Indians approved the production/taste this winery made this summer, they were allowed to produce less than 200 bottles. The winemaker opened an unlabeled-private bottle to allow us to taste it and share our thoughts of it with him. They are waiting on the artwork for the label to be approved by the Indians and then they will name the pricing for its release. How cool is this to be trying such an exclusive wine with this couple! Since the “mission grape” was used and the Indians are very traditional with the worship, they are leaning toward naming the wine “Sacrament” as long as the Indians approve the name also. We will watch their website for any updates regarding this….. www.briarrosewinery.com We laughed together as we walked out since Jason had been texting me to ask about details for Dickens of a Christmas at home in Roanoke. I guess he has never been and was looking into taking Lauren but was unsure due to her busy work schedule. It’s funny because my daughter prefers to talk to him and his son typically texts me more frequently than his dad-funny how that happens but not at all bad…at least they contact us!
As we depart and drive to our last winery, since we started after lunch and we spent 2 hrs and Briar Rose (but enjoyed every minute of it-education & all) it has started to rain again. We proceeded our drive to Maurice Car’rie Vineyard & Winery located at: 34225 Rancho California Rd, Temecula, CA, 92591, www.mauricecarriewinery.com . It is a much bigger winery but no one was there but us, just like the previous winery. I’m sure a lot of it is to do with the weather and the fact that it’s in the middle of the week, not to mention Christmas holiday time. We were greeted with a most pleasant older lady who spoke with a very strong German accent. Thomas asked her where she was from and indeed it was Germany. Of course he then had a lot to talk about with her-including the history of all his siblings (and his own) names and where they came from. They were having a end of the season sale of 20-50% off on all products (other than wine) in their winery so we found several things we felt like we’d enjoy taking back to VA with us. A little history: The Maurice Car’rie Vineyard & Winery is nestled amidst the rolling hills of beautiful Temecula Valley. The winery was founded in 1986, and designed after a Victorian-style farmhouse. The 46 acres of vineyards were the first vineyards established in the region in 1968. Owners, Buddy and Cheri Linn, and winemaker, Gus Vizgirda, are focused on wines that are ready to drink at a fairly early age. They handcraft 14 varietals that have received hundreds of awards and accolades in a long list of competitions.
After a relaxing afternoon in Temecula we are now in search for Penfold’s Cattle Company in historic downtown Temecula. They are located at: 42072 5th St., 3rd Floor, Temecula, CA, 92590. Description: A study in dark woods and warm lighting, this romantic eatery and special occasion favorite plays host to mostly locals enjoying splurge-worthy lunches and hearty steak and seafood dinners. Faded sepia-toned photographs of the Old West hang over high-backed booths and regally upholstered Victorian-esque chairs inside, while an expansive deck overlooks the street below. It is more expensive than we typically treat ourselves to but we feel since we only come every 2 yrs (if we’re lucky!) then we can splurge this evening. We are celebrating some down time together after our conference and recognized how blessed we both are in many areas-we toast to this together to start our quiet evening filled with great ambiance. Penfold’s has recently undergone a new management team (according to Doreen form Briar Rose) and they have now decided on which local wines to carry for the restaurant. Since Thomas really liked their 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon he bought a bottle to bring in with him and had our waitress open it & pour it as he also expressed to her his great interest in Briar Rose. The waitress laughed and said “the couple that owns it comes in frequently to eat and always ask if they are carrying their wines yet.” She stated they are very nice and also make very nice wines. First we ordered an appetizer of scallops (Thomas’s favorite) but they had an awesome sauce that was slightly sweet and tasted wonderfully! Next we ordered our meal and Thomas had their Ribeye and I had their filet with a lobster tail-umum good! We closed our meal off with Bananas Foster-we paid our debt and off into the rain we went…..
On the drive back to our resort Thomas said that if he didn’t know better he’d think it was snowing as we moved through the mountain areas headed back to Anaheim-about 78 mile drive for us to our resort-we missed the fireworks but what a great evening we spent together!
Today is Thursday, December 18, 2008 and we woke to see snow on the mountains that are off in the distance-not sure how far but they have not had snow on them during our entire stay until now? As I turned on the FISH (Christian contemporary music that is carried on satellite also) radio station they have been playing Christmas music this week as I listened and they made an announcement that CA had snow for the first time in 3 decades in the Malibu area-so it is snow! It is sunny today but the temperature is only 48-52 degrees. Thomas and I opted to just hang out in our resort and relax. So we went to the ice cream social 2:30PM at the snack bar here at the resort ($1.00 per scoop/$1.00 for a brownie). Afterwards Thomas got into the hot tub while I worked out, had to counter the brownie I had split with Thomas…I talked to Caitlynn & Nicole several times today and they are making Christmas desserts and had lunch with Justin at school today. It’s so hard to believe he’s in the 2nd grade already-where does the time go?
We decided afterwards we would walk to Downtown Disney to ESPN Sports so we could watch NFL game tonight. Due to us being on PST (pacific standard time) that is 3 hrs behind us while in VA, the game would be on at 5:00PM. We did just that and walked back to our resort and ended our evening by watching Disney’s fireworks then watching a Christmas movie on the Family Channel together on the couch. I fell asleep at the very end so afterwards Thomas woke me so we could go to bed……
I woke this morning and called Nicole and Caitlynn, they will go to see Marcus and his family as they drive to San Antonio to spend the night tonight. Juan has his office Christmas party there so they will stay the night then head back to Pflugerville before lunch so they can put Caitlynn on the plane by her flight tomorrow at 5:40PM. We will leave at 1:40PM from here then we change planes in Dallas where we will meet up with Caitlynn there so we all fly into Greensboro, NC together. Thomas and I went down for the continental breakfast the resort provided today and met a really nice family form Utah that are vacationing together for the week. They are Mormons and the parents we spoke with have 6 girls and 1 son, the grandkids are also with them. He has traveled extensively and has recently been researching the possibility of buying land in Belize. He says he just bought a book to study the land that is “2 ½ inches thick”. So we talked about our experiences when visiting there, etc. They had a 2 yr old grandson named “Carter” and he was a cutie. Carter is next to the youngest (being 3 months old) and before him is his sister that sat next to me. She had 2 older brothers there also but she was the talker-I guess since she was the only girl out of 5 kids. She had a lot to tell us! Afterwards we said our good-byes and headed back to our condo. I researched the Crystal Cathedral as I thought I saw a sign and did not know that we were less than 2 miles from there! Caitlynn & I have watched Dr. Robert Shuler from the cathedral for years on TV. We packed a couple of boxes that we were mailing home to ourselves (airlines charge $15.00 per bag checked on American Airlines nowadays) and then I googled the information and off we went to the location: 12141 Lewis St. Garden Grove, CA 92840
Constructed from more than 10,000 plates of glass, the Crystal Cathedral is packed with more than 3,000 seated worshippers every Sunday for service, as well as hundreds more who experience drive-in worship in the parking lot, via a nine-storey tall sliding glass doors which allows them to view the service. The cathedral is also most famous as the filming place of Dr. Robert H. Schuller's "Hour of Power" TV show.
Building History
Dr. Robert H. Schuller said, "When the local congregation reached 10,000 and we needed a bigger church building, I remembered how wonderful it had been at my little drive-in church (where the ministry began in 1955) where there had been no walls or ceiling-it was there I fell in love with the sky! And that's why we built the Crystal Cathedral with walls and a roof of glass-crystal-clear glass that lets the sun and sky sparkle through our wonderful sanctuary." On September 14, 1980, in Garden Grove, Calif., Dr. Robert Schuller dedicated the Crystal Cathedral "To the Glory of Man for the Greater Glory of God."
Affiliated with the Reformed Church in America, the church then known as Garden Grove Community Church was founded in 1955 by the Reverend Dr. Robert H. Schuller and his wife, Arvella, and is considered the world's first "seeker sensitive" church. The first church services were held in space rented from the Orange Drive In Theatre. In 1961, the congregation moved to a new sanctuary designed by famed architect, Richard Neutra . Construction on the Cathedral began in 1977 and ended in 1980. The initial estimated cost of the church was $6 million, but the final cost was over $17 million (about $55 million in 2007 dollars). One way Dr. Schuller found to help finance the construction of the Crystal Cathedral was to invite donors to give $500 for each of the 10,000 rectangular panes of glass, which raised over US$5 million by its completion. The entire building was built to be “green”-eco-friendly. Upon moving from the old Neutra sanctuary to the new Johnson sanctuary, the congregation changed its name to the Crystal Cathedral Congregation. One of the church's mission statements is, "Find a need and fill it; find a hurt and heal it." The Crystal Cathedral organ is one of the world's largest pipe organs, located at the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, California. The Cathedral pipe organ, made possible by a gift from the late Hazel Wright of Chicago (viewer from the Hour of Power), is the third largest church pipe organ in the world. Conceived by famed organ virtuoso Virgil Fox, the organ unites the Aeolian-Skinner organ from Avery Fisher Hall of Lincoln Center in New York City with the Ruffatti organ built for the former sanctuary in 1977.
There have been numerous additions and refinements by noted organ builders. There are 287 ranks of pipes and over 16,000 individual pipes, all playable from two five-manual consoles. White oak cases hold the nearly 11,000 pipes in the chancel area. Included there is a rank of forty-four 32-foot pedal pipes, originally in the organ at Bovard Auditorium at the University of Southern California-a gift of the Mt. Olive Lutheran Church of La Crescenta. The South Balcony divisions of the organ contain 5,000 pipes, and in the East and West Balconies are 549 horizontal trumpet pipes-the largest collection of such pipes in the world.
The statues (there are around 20 total inside & outside) are all donated among the campus which is now 40 acres. They were preparing for the play “Glory of Christmas” that is performed live before Christmas, with live animals performing. It was a very good tour provided by Bill Russell who is a current member of the church and is retired.
We left and found a UPS shipping store and then….you guessed it-a “In-N-Out” burger restaurant and we indulged ourselves in the rental car. Off we headed back to the resort and I started packing while Thomas went to the hot tub for a bit. He came back and we watched the Richmond vs. Montana in the Football Championship Subdivision title game with the University of Montana-Richmond won. We then watched several Christmas shows on the family channel here in the condo, then to our surprise as we had lost track of time the fireworks were going off outside our balcony door so we again watched for our final night. I talked to Nicole as they had driven to San Antonio for the night since Juan’s office was having the Christmas party there and Caitlynn wanted to watch all 3 kids. She said Caitlynn did very well with them! Nicole text me to say “good birth control”-I agree! Off to bed after gathering things to pack and preparing for our final California morning……
Good morning-December 20, 2008 today will be the warmest day since the day we arrived-looking to be 60 degrees for the day. We got up and Thomas fixed breakfast that was pretty much a smorgasbord as we were eating the last of our breakfast fixings and any other leftovers we acquired the last couple of days. It was all good and we got our bellies full and put the finishing touches on getting ready and packing as our flight is at 1:40PM but the rental car has to be checked in by noon. Off we head in the CA traffic headed towards L.A. and as usual there is quite a bit of traffic even on this Saturday morning. Thomas is thinking maybe because it’s the last weekend before Christmas? Maybeeeee but I’m thinking this is just L.A. Everything is on schedule as planned until we get to LAX (airport) and when Thomas used the kiosk as I waited in line with the luggage he came back to me and said “we need to talk to someone because when it printed our tickets it shows our departure time as 8PM and we are supposed to change planes in Dallas at 7:45PM”. So we waited our opportunity and spoke with an American Airlines ticket agent and she explained to us that they took 2 planes out of commission due to “mechanical issues” this morning so several flights had to be cancelled and are backed up to get people out. That made us confirmed on the 8PM flight but we could go on stand-by before that flight if we’d like. So with much effort on Thomas’s part as we were ready to get home AND the Dallas Cowboys play at 8PM tonight (but it’s only on the NFL Network) so it will be very difficult to watch unless we are somewhere where the game is be televised, we made our 2nd flight attempt on standby. Meanwhile I got hold of Jennie (our niece) and she will pickup Caitlynn in Greensboro as we were originally scheduled to change flights in Dallas along with her from Austin so we would be flying into Greensboro all together, now our plans are changed. I spoke with Nicole to be sure Caitlynn knew what was going on with us and everyone’s good and squared away but us. As we fly into Dallas, much to what I expected, the football game is on every TV in the airport-after all we are in Dallas. Thomas & I saw on the boards that display all flights coming or going that there were no more going to Greensboro tonight as we arrived at 8:15PM so he sat in front of one of the TVs and watched the game while I confirmed we had no other options for today and confirmed our options to resume our trip tomorrow to go home. We are scheduled to be at Louise’s for Christmas dinner/gift exchange at 2PM. We are confirmed for the only flight with availability tomorrow which will get us into Greensboro at 11:15PM but we decided to come into the airport early to go on standby for the only other flight tomorrow which is at 8:15AM. If we make it we should be able to make the Rothe Family Christmas celebration!
The airlines put us up in a Holiday Inn Express by the airport and gave us food vouchers for tonight and tomorrow for breakfast. We get $10 each for dinner tonight and $5 each for breakfast. Since it is 10:50PM as we catch the shuttle to the airport, we decided to order food in the room to be delivered. Of course we have none of our luggage as it went on from LA so we will wear the same clothes tomorrow and the hotel gave us a toothbrush & toothpaste for our personal hygiene for the night.
Sunday, December 21st, 2008 Thomas and I catch the airport shuttle from the airport on a nice brisk windy morning at 6:05AM. We get to the airport nice and early to try to make the first flight on standby. After we get thru security we decide to go have a nice breakfast to kill some time. I chose burritos and Thomas had a regular full line breakfast-both were great! Much to our delight we made the standby list and we were the only ones since there were 2 seats left only-good choice to get up early!! So we landed at noon in Greensboro and made the Rothe Christmas Family celebration at 2:20 PM. I love this time of year as we spend time with all our family, it’s great!
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