Normal sinus rhythm

A thing of beauty!

What can happen in one semester. . .

Taylor started his drawing class with a portrait I posted earlier in the semester.

I thought it was really quite good.

 

And then, last night he finished this final portrait. 

I think the semester class brought about an

amazing improvement in his

technique.

What do you think?

No more agendas. . .

With no agenda in mind, our goals have changed. Today, we simply wanted to take and enjoyable walk. A new concept for us, as we have usually had an agenda. Had to accomplish something. Had to work on a goal, a project. . . something had to get done! Things have changed. A new mindset. Peaceful. Just a simple enjoyable walk. It was wonderful! 

 

After selecting a healthy Jamba juice, we took in the sights at the outside mall.

Walking into one retail establishment, Terry modeled a few finds

After a walk around the fountain, we settled nearby for some people watching. Never knew how enjoyable a simple walk could be :))

Refreshed!

What a lovely vacation we had!
A little of everything and just enough of nothing to refresh
our tired, stressed out selves!
The yard looks great, but a couple plants
needed replacing and what better
way to ease into a relaxing week than
a little gardening. The tree we planted also was taking
off well, but had a few insect and mold problems
that a good spraying off with the hose and
a dose of spray from the nursery could handle.

Then it was time to curl up with a good book. This one I chose was
Terry's culinary arts text. Very interesting and informative. I skipped
right to the baking section!

Next, it was off to shop some of the local boutiques.
Someone is having a birthday and I found just the right
something!
Doubling back, we stepped into Starbucks for
that afternoon Latte!

I found these little treasures for Terry's herb garden and
persuaded him to get them, so when he asks
for a sprig of oregano for dinner,
I find the right sprig!

Some more of this. . .

I've been working on a little project since last summer.
It was time now to finish it.
Taylor had made me some little wooden tags when he
was working on the kitchen molding last summer.
I had painted them and taken my time getting all the
right things together that I needed to finish.
I wanted to transfer words onto the wooden tags
for the bathroom baskets I had organized under the vanities.
Transfer medium on the table, so I got busy.

Once the medium was applied and the printed paper was in place, I just
waited for it to dry.
Then, the paper was rubbed off,
leaving the print.

With a little ribbon, voila!

and. . .

We enjoyed some really great dining
at Nic's. . .

I was inspired by a recipe I found that improved on my
Cinnamon Rolls. These are cinnamon bun bites!
Little bites, so easy to eat!
I am making them now for Easter tomorrow,
they turned out that good. They are "proofing" as I blog.

Terry had his own project. A ton of coins that he was wrapping in
rolls. He is a jar coin tosser. Well, in his case, the jar is a big crayon!
He had over $100 at last count.

Another great dining experience at South of Nic's.
We did appetizers again, Dorothy!
From left to right, ranchera tortas, shrimp taquitos, and
the taco plate with 4 different tacos.
Yum!
We had so much, we took it home for lunch the next day!

What a fun, relaxing week!
Have a Happy Easter!

Gone to the beach. . .

spring break, ahh. . .

Distractions

I needed some distractions from my overactive mind.
I woke up to find that there was an endless supply of those
just for my choosing which to involve myself in.
These are a few I thought merited a closer look:
Couldn't neglect a brisk morning walk around the
reservoir on a clear (very) cool morning.

Ok, not my picture, (and must have been taken in the summer ) as it really was cold.
Though, I was comfortable in my scarf, jacket and gloves,
and I really enjoyed this distraction.

In the hour it took to finish my walk, Taylor was able to finish his self-portrait.

Do you see the resemblance?
I thought the likeness was quite remarkable.

A planting bed full of weeds, all that yanking and pulling and ditching,
all that hoeing and digging and thrashing around,
Now!, that was the distraction that was just what I needed!

I'm good now!

March 13, 2012

So just another day in the universe?
Of course not! It's my birthday, and as my loving brother, Dan,
acknowledged for me, it is also the anniversary
of the discovery of Uranus!
Thanks Dan, I'll never see the vast sky
the same again.
Now, that leads me to the sky. . . I went out to check it out
and the moon was big and huge and bright!!
so, Taylor got a shot of it for me. . .

Right?? Huge and bright, right!
Oh, yeah, so it's my birthday. . .
and I had this terrific day!
I had this idea that what I wanted was to take a drive
down to San Clemente to Luxe, a gorgeous shop for "fine
appointments in luxurious homes". Dorothy, back me up here,
a really gorgeous little shop! Someday, we'll do a room in your home!
Remember, I found this perfect, and I mean "PERFECT" beautiful mirror
for our guest room. Perfect design, color, size, it was just right!
I wanted it for my birthday.
I just decided that was my birthday wish!
So, I told Terry that's what I wanted to do for my
birthday. . . drive 120 miles for a MIRROR!
He looked at Taylor and Taylor looked at him
and all he said was "a mirror, 120 miles for a mirror?" Well, "it's her birthday,
you can hardly argue with her".
So, we drove 120 miles for a mirror!
And it is PERFECT in our guest room!
And, we had a blast!

And after I get home from that and after a lovely afternoon with Terry,
out to lunch, shopping @ places like Victoria's Secret and H&M,
even picking up some See's candy that Terry had a
gift certificate for(and used for me),
I come home to this. . .

from Taylor.
Beautifully wrapped gift and card. What was inside?
He had noticed this week that I had dropped my
sunglasses and hopelessly broke them. He found a new pair that
were sooooo me!
I am a lucky, lucky girl!

Gratis to the men in my life!