Wonderful Weekend

The weekend was wonderful!!!!!!  So wonderful, in fact, that we are doing parts of it again this coming weekend!

Saturday, we got up at the promised 4:30 am...for some reason, it wasn't nearly as awful as I thought it was going to be.  We got loaded up and started off on our journey to the Delta.  Three stops, much coffee, and a lot of good chatter later, we arrived at Orwood Resort, where we launched the boat.  This was our view as we pulled into the channel at 8 am.

Certainly a view I never tire of.

The fishing was slow, the wind was blowing, and we nearly got the boat stuck on some under (barely) water structure.  The tide was the lowest I have ever seen.  After that complication got resolved, we decided to fish the docks around Discovery Bay to stay out of the wind.  Fishing ended up being more like casting practice.  Other than a couple of bites that Husband had, and the two head butting my bait instances I had, we got nothing.  Still, not a bad way to spend your Saturday morning.  Out boating with Husband.  I could get used to that as a lifestyle.  

After fishing, we stored the boat at our friend's house and took a look at a house for sale in the Bay.  Then we headed to the place in Orinda where Husband was to play rugby.  After crawling traffic, several looky-loo type situations on the side of the road, and battling GPSs, we finally made it.  Really nice sports complex there in the works.  They had a couple of fields in use already and the boys took the field.  It wasn't a pretty game (they lost), but it sure was entertaining!  Let's see.......Husband got punched, which he politely returned the favor.  Some people yelled foolish things, to which I had a snappy retort.  More people got very violent, but no blood shed or death occurred.  I guess that's good.

That's Husband there in the back!

After the game was over, we skipped the pizza social held in the dug out behind the turf and headed off to meet our new niece.  Ordered pizza on the way and had that while oooooh-ing and aaaahhhhh-ing over little Keelin.  Man, she is probably the cutest little thing I have ever seen (other than my own children, of course).  She was asleep, as she had just pounded down some nutrients for about an hour, so all we got to do was look.  That was plenty for me.  She is, after all, only a week old.  Luckily we got to get a round two visit in the next day.  Auntie Seren got to hold her.  I forget how small they start out.  My boy was the same size when he was born and now he's 6'4".  Guess birth size has nothing to do with how big you end up.  

Baby Keelin & her amazing aunt & uncle!

So, after our little visit, we stayed at the Bed & Breakfast also known as the in-laws house.  My mother-in-law wanted to take me to a barrell tasting at my favorite winery up there.  I could not say no to Bella!!  Off we went.  The boys (Tactical & Husband) weren't going to stay, but then decided it was too beautiful a day to be in the car, so they stayed.  

Roughing it on a Sunday morning!

Cardio and I went on the tasting and I was not disappointed.  The wine was delicious as usual and I, of course, had to buy a couple of bottles.  Oh, and I stole a glass.  Not the first time THAT has happened.  The winery is really cool, definitely my favorite one.  They have a cave where you taste all the delicious red wines.  It was decorated with a western theme for barrel tasting.  The lights were all mason jars with votive candles inside.  That's me in the cave!!

Love this part of the cave @ Bella!

After exiting the cave, we stayed a bit longer and soaked up some sunshine and took some pictures.  This one is my favorite:

After our little visit with Keelin, we finally headed home.  By way of Bass Pro Shops of course!  Great weekend!!  Looking forward to the next one!  

Humongous! And Why is the Weekend Taking So Long to Get Here??!!

And what is "humongous" you ask??  You would know if you had read my blog a couple of days ago.  Of course, it is the fish I am going to catch with my new reel and rod Husband bought me this week!  It is so pretty!  I tried to take a photo, but unfortunately the lighting in the house wasn't conducive to capturing the super cool colors.  I will make sure to take a picture out on the Delta tomorrow.  Hopefully with a hog of a fish attached!  I'm pretty sure the fat momma fish out there will be attracted to it and will wait in line for a chance to be caught.  Too dramatic and unrealistic?  Probably, but I'm hoping.

We are getting up really early tomorrow (sounds like a good idea right now...bet at 4:30 AM, it will seem dumb) and driving up to the Delta.  We're gonna fish for a little while tomorrow and then head to someplace called Orinda to watch Husband play rugby.  The boy is going to meet us there, so I'm pretty excited about that.  He is too, since momma bought him a bunch of Girl Scout cookies.  Yum!!!!  After that, we head to Santa Rosa to go see the new baby! Then Sunday, we might go an d fish a little, and then home, by way of Bass Pro...duh.  

I really should stay home and work on our yard, which has been completely overrun with weeds.  But really, given the choice of fishing or pulling weeds, the weeds are going to have to wait.  I did find a bright spot in my yard though.  

This little guy makes me smile!  

An update on the thrifty things I bought the other day.  I washed all the items and was able to get the stain out of the navy and white striped shirt!  Boom!  The cute gray ruffle tank is going to take a little more effort, I'm afraid.  I thought the stains might be deodorant stains, but they look more like some sort of greasy schmutz.  Currently, the tank is sitting on top of my washer with my magical stain potion working.  

I mentioned the other day that I had gotten Husband to go to a thrift shop.  He even went with $20 in his pocket.  Ha!!  So, he found me a great fishing jacket and I bought some clogs. Bonus?  50% off at the register!  BOOM!! I like my new shoes.   I got to wear them yesterday and they are stupid comfy!  I know because I wore them all day...even to volleyball practice because this girl forgot her tennis shoes!  Ha ha!!  

So fashionable!

Hoping that my next post will include pictures of the humongous fish.  I will also update you on the latest in Chick-world.  Happy Friday!!

If only...

If only I could follow my own advice...ha ha ha. I have a friend who is trying to lose weight and is getting frustrated with her lack of success. So I gave her all sorts of advice, tips, and generally good ideas. I told her to resist the urge to eat mindlessly and to keep herself accountable for what she puts in her mouth. Huh.

Guess what I've been doing tonight? Eating mindlessly. Ugh. I have no idea why... I've been really good all week, but for some reason, everything bad for me sounds delicious. I should probably stop writing about it because this is making me think of food...lots of food. Ugh!!!

Okay, I have returned with a large glass of delicious water. Hmmmm... It's not working. I'm going to go to bed. I'll probably dream about cakes, cheese, bacon, and other deliciousness. Hopefully I won't sleepwalk and sleepeat! I'll update tomorrow. Good night!

Finding My Inner Cheapskate!

I have a confession.  I am obsessed with shopping for nice stuff at a cheap price.  Yes, I love Walmart and Target.  I love getting things on sale, but I like to take it a step further.  Thrift stores, Salvation Army, Goodwill, consignment shops, estate sales, and yard sales!  Love, love, love them!!  I have spent the better part of a day roaming through these types of places looking for the right piece to go in my closet.  Sometimes I come away with lots and sometimes, nothing.  I definitely have to be in the mood for that though.  I've been in the mood lately!  

My latest find is the Hinds Hospice Thrift Store here in Clovis.  I went there the other day and found a few really nice things for not very much.  The old ladies that work in there are awesome too.  I wandered in and was pleasantly surprised to find that all red tag items were 50% off.  Yippee!!  Here is what I got:

Now, I have to clarify that the red pants are going to be redesigned.  While they are uber fashionable (cough cough), I would not wear them the way they are.  The striped shirt and the red pants were both red tag items.  Woo hoo!!  The white sweater was not, but still reasonably priced at $4.50.  

Love that total!!

So, being the deal seeker that I have unashamedly become, I ventured the next day to the Salvation Army store close by.  I found tons of cute designer clothes there.  Unfortunately most were made for petite skinny folks.  I did manage to find 2 tops that met with my size requirement.  The one tank has a stain of sorts on it, but I am a master at stain removal and think it is something that will come out.  

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You can see the stain, but hopefully it will come out.  It sort of looks like a deodorant stain.  Hopefully I can work my magic.  Neither of these items were further discounted, but here is my receipt:

Look where my finger is...

So, either I look super old, or they were giving the discount to everyone.  I got the "senior" discount!  Woo hoo!!  So, 5 items for under $20.  Not too shabby...

"I'm gonna pop some tags...I got $20 in my pocket..."  Yeah, I not only love that song, but I live it too!  Stay tuned for updates on my fabulous finds!

Oh and the best part?  Husband is going to go to the thrift store today for the very first time to find a windbreaker to wear on the boat.  Have I created a convert?  Hope so.  Always more fun to go with someone..well, someone that isn't the same size as you or has the same taste as you!  We'll see how he fares.

Speaking of the boat.  We are going fishing this weekend!  I'm planning on catching the "humongous" bass that I know is lurking out there in the murky Delta water.  We are also going to Husband's rugby game and going to see our new little niece!  Looking forward to a great (busy) weekend!

Lazy!

I have been so lazy!!  About Blogging, that is.  I have actually been eating healthy and doing some exercise.  I have this new thing I tried last week and it sucks, but at the same time forces me to be more responsible about running.  I have been having the Fish drop me off 2 miles from home.  Forces me to get there on my own power.  Okay, so truth be told, I only did this once.  I was supposed to do it yesterday, but Husband and I had some things to do after school.  I think Thursday will be a run home sort of day.

I read on one of my favorite blogs, Mama Laughlin, that I should include pictures with every post to make it more interesting.  Dear fan, you will have to wait until my next post for that.  I will have photos of some cool stuff I'm doing.  Edge of your seat, right?  Ha ha ha.  Okay, until then...

Dead Presidents = Good Times!

Busy weekend last weekend.  Thank you dead presidents for letting me have a three day weekend!!  Spent it with Husband visiting his parents, sister, (who is about to give birth!!!!!), her husband and my boy!  We had a great time.  Caught up on the latest with the family, watched Husband play rugby, ate the most delicious pizza on the planet, went out with some of the rugby boys and their significant others, had a fun breakfast with the family and house guests, went wine tasting, spent some money at Bass Pro, and finished off the weekend fishing at Pine Flat!  <3 <3 <3

Watching Husband play rugby is always very entertaining.  He is very athletic and very angry.  A perfect combination for the game.  When we finally got to the field (Cardio's British accented GPS lady took us for a wild ride), someone in the stands was shouting about someone being down on the field and an opposing team member stepping on his face.  Saw that.  Then realized that the guy on the ground, was none other than Husband!!  Poor choice for the little guy on the opposing team.  Ha ha ha!!  Karma was in full effect, however, when Husband 'accidentally" held some guy head down on the ground and inflicted some "accidental bruises on another.  Later at the after game social, this little ruddy faced, scrawny guy came up to Husband and apologized for "accidentally" stepping on his face.  Pretty sure the "accidental" part came after Husband stood up and the guy realized how athletic and big of a guy he chose to abuse.  Good comedy!

After some time at the social (where I ate the most delicious tortilla chips ever-eating good stuff was a common thread all weekend), we went to Old Chicago Pizza in Petaluma.  Hands down the BEST pizza on the planet.  We were told it would be a 30 minute wait to be seated...so, we had a couple of drinks at the bar, watched Cardio & Tactical color with crayons, and then decided before things got too silly, to get our food to go.  Delicious!!  There was a lot of deliciousnes this weekend.  That of course translates into many calories as well.  Boo.

Got to go wine tasting Sunday morning as we were heading out of town.  (More calories and deliciousness)  Went to Kenwood and was pleasantly surprised that they had all sorts of specials on yummy wine.  Got a half dozen bottles and am now not having so many holes in my wine racks.  Yay!!!  Another treat?  We went to Bass Pro on the way home as well.  And since we didn't have the boat with us this time...just the bird dog, I got to go inside!  That might have been bad, as I bought a hat, a sweatshirt, and some peachie-os!!  Husband bought a fish finder...I call it a fish tv.  It is really cool!  Anyway, we headed home after that.

Monday (thank you dead presidents), we went to Pine Flat to go fishing.  It ended up being more of just boating, as we didn't get a single bite.  We did try out the fish tv and that was pretty cool.  You can set this thing to view the fish in a few different ways.  I prefer the Fish ID method...they look like fishies and it tells you how deep they are.  Pretty entertaining actually.  Unfortunately, none of schools of fish we saw thought it would be cool to bite on our Senkos, spinner baits, swimbaits, or anything else we threw out there for them. But it was a nice day, nonetheless, so no complaints here.

Today I had to go to work and I really am hoping and praying for rain!  That way, volleyball practice will get cancelled for today and I can go home and pack my stuff for 6th grade camp tomorrow.  It is that time of year...babysitting 150+ kids and adults in the outdoors.  Can't wait.  Seriously wish alcohol was allowed up there.  It would make this adventure so much better.  Hopefully, when I get home Friday night, Husband will have a glass of something Kenwood waiting for me.  :)

Healthy Me Update for Last Week!

O to the M to the G! This has been a rough week! I should clarify that it's been a rough weekend!  Husband had a rugby game against his best friends team.  I was at our school district's wrestling championships and ate like a champion all day!  Really!  I had a Non Fat White Mocha from Starbukcs and a bagel with cream cheese for breakfast.  Later I had some pretzel sticks and Nutella and 2 packets of Emergen-C since I felt like I was in a giant fishbowl of germs.  I drank an obscene amount of water all day.  Once the tournament was over, I headed over to the bar where the debauchery of good eating habits began.  I missed the team dinner of (gag) hot dogs and Frito Boats, so I ordered loaded french fries and chicken dippers.  That pretty much cancelled out any healthy eating I might have done that day.  I also consumed a few glasses of "Hooligan Juice".  This stuff is a delicious concoction of various alcohols and grape Gatorade.  It tastes a lot like grape flavored candy.  Dangerous.  I may or may not have (leaning towards may) have had a bit too much.  Oops!

So, Saturday being a caloric disaster, we move on to Sunday, which happened to be Super Bowl Sunday!!  We had been invited to a couple of parties, but decided to stay home and I cooked a tableful of appetizers.  I have to give Ree Drummond, The Pioneer Woman a huge shout out though!  She was instrumental in my cooking success this weekend!  I had watched an episode of her tv show a while back, where she made hot wings.  Husband is from New York and hot wings (Buffalo wings) are a food staple back there.  Maybe even a food group.  Of course, in New York, one eats wings with blue cheese dressing, NOT ranch.  Ranch dressing is very West Coast.  I looked on her website and found super detailed instructions for making the wings.   I followed aforementioned directions and adjusted the Frank's Hot Sauce to our taste (we prefer to eat wings without having a 4 alarm fire raging in our mouths).  They were deeeee-licious!!  I also made Queso according to Ree, which was also bomb.  Also on the menu?  Pigs in a Blanket, chips & salsa, something we call Heart Attack (cream cheese, chili, shredded cheese baked to bubbly perfection...served with Scoops!), and corn salsa, which made its way to the chicken coop.  Here is a photo of the feast:

Any wonder that I felt Fat on Fat Tuesday????