What I Did On My Vacation

Well, we've been home one week, and I have finally gotten some time on our desktop to be able to download the pictures from our vacation.

After a five hour drive up to Monterey, we visited the Monterey Bay Aquarium. This little guy on the right, is one of the otters that we saw there. They were absolutely adorable! If you ever get to the west coast and find yourself in Monterey...I would definitely recommend that you visit the aquarium.

Here are some jellyfish that we saw at the Aquarium. I couldn't believe how peaceful I felt watching them. However, Twelve knows from first hand experience, just how much their sting really hurts! (She was stung on her leg at the beach one summer).

After the Aquarium, we drove up to Santa Cruz, and visited a place called 'The Mystery Spot'. I've heard of this place for many years. Objects seemingly roll uphill. People look way taller than someone and just by switching places, they suddenly look only mildly taller than that same person. Lots of optical illusions. However, it definitely entertained us. After the Mystery Spot, we went over to the Santa Cruz Boardwalk and walked around.


The next morning, we drove about 15 minutes and visited a place called 'Roaring Camp Railroads' where you can take a steam engine up to the redwoods. (see the picture on the right).It was another fun activity. Once were disembarked, we drove up to San Francisco.





While in San Francisco, we rode the cable cars, visited the Palace of the Fine Arts (pictured here), went to the Exploratorium, which is an interactive museum and great for kids and adults alike. We rode buses, ate dinner in Chinatown one night and North Beach (which is like Little Italy in New York) another night. We also visited Ghiradelli Square, and the Wax Museum. The kids wanted to also visit the Ripley's Believe It Or Not Museum but both DH and I thought it was too creepy.



(On the right is a picture of someone 'turning' the cable car once it got to the end of the line...Twelve took this picture...good for her)






On Wednesday, we visited Alcatraz. It's now part of the National Parks. We took a ferry over to the island, and then took the audio tour. If you ask Ten and Twelve their favorite part of our vacation, they will tell you that it was visiting Alcatraz. The weather during our trip was glorious. No San Francisco fog for us!






On Thursday, we met some friends and walked across the Golden Gate Bridge. It was a beautiful day, and we were comfortable walking the bridge in t-shirts and shorts...with our sweatshirts wrapped around our waists...just in case it became windy and cold.







After we walked the bridge (which sure beats walking the plank), we took a bus over to Golden Gate park and visited the Japanese Tea Garden. We drank tea and walked around. It can be a quiet, peaceful almost meditative place, unless you are walking around with a Ten year old male child. Then it's not so quiet. sigh




Finally, on Friday, we took a detour and stopped in San Jose (Do you know the way to San Jose?...I bet Dionne Warwick does) in order to see the Winchester Mystery House. (Funny how using the word 'Mystery' to describe a place suddenly makes it worth visiting). The story goes that Sarah Winchester (who inherited the Winchester fortune, when her husband died) visited a psychic and was told to build a house, and that as long as she kept building, she would appease the souls of people killed by the Winchester rifles...or something like that. The first 1/2 hour of the tour was interesting...after that Ten and Twelve became quite bored. Which was fine, because then we drove home.


As promised...here is a photo of Ten, Twelve and myself at the bar in the Rainforest Cafe restaurant. Seems that we each grew extra legs while we were busy walking around San Francisco.


So, here it is, one week later. The trip is just a memory...albeit a really good memory. Any suggestions as to where we should visit next year?

Cell Phone Woes

To continue with my whining theme, my cell phone is on the fritz. I purchased it (o.k. it was free with my 2 year trade up and corporate discount) 4 months ago. In the past 3 days, it has decided (for clearly it has a mind of it's own) to only allow random calls to ring through. The rest, it is sending to voicemail.

I have been on the phone (land line) and spoken with level 1 techs 4 different times in the last 2 days. I spoke with a level 2 tech today, and I even went into their local store and had a technician update the phone software today. All to no avail.

The phone will allow me to make calls (kinda) but not receive calls. Now tell me...what is the good in that?

Tomorrow, after I take Twelve to register for her classes, Ten, Twelve and I will head over to the phone store and get me a new phone under a "warranty exchange". Fortunately, I have a micro SD card in the phone, so I was able to save all of my pictures and videos onto the SD card. Now I just have to remember to have them transfer my contact list to the new phone, and give me credit for my ringtones.

Am I forgetting anything?

I've Got The Blahs

I haven't felt much like blogging these past few days. The little purple pill that I am now taking, doesn't seem to be working very well. Either that, or I am impatient for it to work better. The literature on it says that it can take 8 weeks for the "discomfort" that I feel to go away. (It's easy to call something 'discomfort' when you are not the one feeling it!) I need it to start working right now!

It amazes me how down I am feeling. I've tried visualizations, praying, bargaining, for the 'discomfort' to go away, watching what I am eating...but nothing is helping.

Hopefully tomorrow the sun will shine (of course it will and it will be 95 degrees outside), I will feel better, and I will be able to post some of my vacation pics. I even have one of Ten, Twelve and I at the Rainforest Cafe in San Francisco. In the meantime, I will continue to eat Tums, acidophilis, breathe in and breathe out.

Too Much Togetherness?

As much as I am enjoying this vacation, I feel that maybe there is just too much togetherness happening.

Not so much with the kids and I (I'm used to spending alot of time with them) but with DH and I. I find that I am much more relaxed when we are not with each other all of the time. I can do what I want to do, and not have to consider, or even think about, what he is wanting to do at any given moment. I like that freedom and independence.

I know that I wouldn't want to be alone all the time (been there done that), but I also know that I don't want to be together all of the time.

I wonder how other people deal with so much togetherness.

My Epiphany

The other day I told Patti, in my comment section, that I had had an epiphany, and that I would share it at a later time. Since I am currently away on vacation, I figured now would be the time to share it.

Ten, Twelve and I went to the pool the other night. There were alot of people there. Around one of the tables sat 5 men smoking cigars, in the jacuzzi sat 3 adults and 5 kids, and in the pool there were 3 kids swimming and playing around.

Ten and Twelve went into the pool and started to play together. I proceeded to grab a chair and sit down away from any of the other people. I knew a couple of the men smoking cigars, and I also knew all three of the adults in the jacuzzi, yet I decided against approaching either of the groups.

After a while, Ten proceeded to start playing with the other kids. Twelve swam over to the deep end and pretty much kept to herself. (Both Ten and Twelve knew all of the kids at the pool.) As much as I wanted Twelve to join in with the games and conversation that the other kids were having, I realized that that just doesn't fit her personality.

I've worried about Twelve and her tendency to shy away from people. I've worried about her lack of comfort when in a group. I've wanted Twelve to be more comfortable speaking with people, and making friends. I've wanted Twelve to be more like me...willing to speak with anyone and everyone. (which I do when I am out and about). Yet I realized, that if there is a situation where I might have prolonged conversation with someone I'm not all that interested in, I prefer my own company. I guess that my epiphany was that really, Twelve is like me in many ways (poor thing), prefering her own company over engaging in conversation with people who don't interest her.

We're Going North

DH, the kids and I will be leaving for Northern California tomorrow. We're driving up the coast. It will be nice to get away. Kind of like our last hurrah, before school starts.

I may bring my laptop with me...then again, I may not. We'll see. Now I have to go pack. (yuck)

That Burning Feeling

I am amazed how much I take the absence of pain for granted. Only remembering to be greatful for the absence of pain, when I am in the throes of experiencing pain.

Work starts for me in a few more weeks. I have woken up the last two mornings with a burning pain where my stomach and esophagus meet. I've experienced this before during a particularily stressful time at work, and my doctor said the problem was either acid reflux, or GERD. She said since both are treated the same way, it doesn't really matter which I have. Last year, after I started taking medication the pain went away, and after 4 months, I was able to stop the medication completely.

I've had this sensation for 2 days (did I mention 2 extremely long days and nights?) My sister and brother-in-law told me that I really needed to call the doctor, so I did. I went in this morning and she wrote a prescription for the stuff that worked last year. NowI get to take a 'little purple pill' everyday...I hope it starts working...and soon!