Saturday-house day

Good Morning! I think I was laying on the bed for too long, as Rory came downstairs at 8 last night, so I went upstairs. I was very ready to get up about 6, except my knee was really bothering me. Did my shortened morning routine as Mari and I were walking the lake this morning. Got Rory his breakfast and then we took off for the lake. Walked our 2.2 miles and then got our oatmeal and coffee and headed home. Doing my emails and house stuff. Called a friend who is still in the hospital and she is getting really tired of being there. Another friend of mine had called me earlier, to see if I wanted to do something next month and asked me to call her back, which I did. She asked me, if I knew she had been at ER last weekend and I said, "No" Amongst some other things, she also has a problem with blood pressure. I have four friends who live here close to me and three of the four have health issues. I am thankful that I have been doing my walking lately, as well as eating healthy. I have seen the difference in my blood pressure and my blood sugar. After lunch, Mari and I went down to Laguna, to get some school supplies and some stuff from Whole Foods. Came home and having quiet time.

Marissa went out on her bike and did one lap around the pool. I am proud of her for keeping going with the bike. Mari and I made dinner and I made some Black Bean brownies, that were really good. The recipe came from "Peanut Butter and Peppers" The girls and I watched some TV and now we are all doing our own thing. Going to do my reading at 9 and to bed at 10. I will say good night now. Trudi

Going and coming

Good Morning! I am combining two days into one, as yesterday, Mari had school from 10-10, and Marissa and I went to San Diego on the train to see an old restored trolley car, that is actually used and then we went to the William Davis house, that Marissa wanted to see. We walked quite a bit around Downtown San Diego and then took the train home. We were both very tired by the time we got home, so I really did not feel like writing. Yesterday was the Farmer's Market, so on the way home from the train, we went by and picked up our box of produce. For me, this is always fun to get, in order to see the produce I can use for the rest of the week and it gives us some new things to try. Today is mainly a day at home. I was up at my usual time and doing my usual morning routine. Need to get Rory's breakfast and get Mari up at 8. On Friday's I really feel guilty about getting her up, but I know she can take a nap later. Mari and I did our walk, then, we came home and had breakfast. Doing emails and house stuff. Here is the park I walk:

I did take a nap today, as I think the trip yesterday wore me out. Had lunch and then went running errands. Came home, put groceries away. When I first walked in the door, Rory was downstairs and Mari's door was closed and I thought, oh great, I am going to have to put groceries away all by myself and Rory was going to non-stop talk at me. GRR! Luckily, Mari came out and helped. I had to send something for Rory to a friend of his and that cost $11.50 and the plumber coming out, cost $98.00. Sort of two stupid things that had to be done. Now getting quiet time. Rory doesn't get it, when I tell him, it would be better if he went upstairs and let me be myself. He really wanted to know, why I was angry-frustration with several things. Mari and I made dinner and we watched a little bit of TV, then worked on the computer. Rory decided to come downstairs, so I went up. At 9 going to do reading and at 10, turning off the light. Good night, Trudi

Celebration

Good Morning! Today is my twin daughters 24th birthday. We are going to Chili's for lunch and also getting Casey's cupcakes. The girls already got their birthday present of pierced ears and Marissa got a bike. I have also accomplished another goal of getting below 235. Now my next goal will be to get below 230. In about 6 weeks, I have lost 9 pounds. YEA! My usual morning routine. Need to make Rory's breakfast and get Mari up at 8. Yes, we are still doing our walking. Mari is making pancakes this morning for breakfast. Did our walk, but made several stops, so it wasn't the best of exercise. The pancakes were great. Over the summer, I did a photo challenge and the prize was going to be drawn from all of the names who finished. I won! This made me very happy, as I have not been feeling the most up about my photography or me lately. I won a $100 gift card and it was very appropriate as the girls b-day is today. I said I was going to give $50 to each of my girls, when we were asked what I was going to do with the gift card. Mari wanted me to have some of the money, so I am getting $50 and the girls are getting $25. Better get my house stuff done, as we are going out to lunch. Had a nice lunch at Chili's and I ordered a light lunch and an iced tea. The girls got gift cards to Old Navy, so we walked over to Old Navy and they used them. From there we drove to Trader Joe's and then went to Casey's Cupcakes. Dessert for tonight. The girls are being well remembered and that is so nice. Came home and all three of us girls are doing our own thing. Rory went out somewhere!

Started making dinner around 5:30 p.m. Having quinoa, shrimp and squash and of course, cupcakes with almond champagne. Healthy and sweet. Watched TV. Now having quiet time again. Talked to a couple of friends tonight. Going to watch Ghost Hunters at 9 with Mari. I am tired, so I will say Good Night. Trudi

What is a family?

Good Morning! I am not the most up person this morning, but I am thankful for a new day. Last night, I came to realize how Rory's upbringing and my upbringing have so influenced our lives. Rory has become like his dad, who was really not a very nice person. Rory does provide for us with his father's inheritance, but as far as loving us, really all he does is think of himself and what he wants. I was raised with very loving parents. We may not have had much money, but there was love, but I don't think feelings were really expressed. I am so thankful for my girls and the love we have between us. I really feel responsible to stay put until Mari is through school. It is going to be rough, but I feel that is the responsible thing to do. Going on with my day; I was up at 6ish and doing my morning routine. I am enjoying the quiet of the morning. I need to get Rory's breakfast, so I guess, I need to get going. Normal day today, as Mari has school this afternoon. I am going to continue to take care of the girls and myself and I will do what I need to for Rory. Mari and I did our walk this morning at the park. We did 8 laps around with our walking friend. Came home and had breakfast. Did my usual morning routine. As Mari had to be at school at 1, which means we have to leave at 12:15, so we had lunch at 11:30. Mari made a small sandwich for us and I added half a grapefruit to it. I don't think it was enough food, because I was hungry within half an hour. I dealt with the hunger until 3 p.m., when I made smoothies for Mari and me. I had gotten some cut up veges, when we were in San Diego, so I had some of those when we got back from doing errands. With my smoothie, I had a small piece of pita bread with some hummus on it. I had gotten this from the farmer's market last Thursday. Left to go pick up Mari. While I was driving, I was thinking about my self confidence and how I really feel about myself. We are having a chicken pot pie tonight and I want Mari to make it, because making it is something new to me and I don't want to fail. My self-confidence is low on many things. An issue I am also dealing with is feelings and taking a picture that expresses feelings. That is hard for me to do. I have decided to do something for myself and that is take pictures of old, hurt, frustrated and anger, which is something I feel about myself and then I will take pictures of beauty. I will share them on my blog. There is a trailer that is near us, that I have been wanting to take a picture of, but I don't take the time to stop and take the picture. I am going to do that in the next couple of days. The picture I am going to put up today is one I took the other day and this picture is of beauty. I love clouds, especially at sunrise and sunset. Beauty:

Chicken Pot Pie:

Made the majority of the Chicken Pot Pie, but then it was getting to the point I was trying to do too many things at once and I asked Mari for help. The pie turned out good. Ate dinner and watched the end of a program we were watching earlier in the day. DVR is so nice. I had taken Rory's dinner up to him and accidentally spilled the wine. I asked Mari to bring paper towels. I told Rory his wine had spilled and left paper towels for him to clean it up. He wanted to know where I had spilled the wine and he thought I was going to clean it up. He could not see it on his tray. Maybe I should have cleaned it up. Mari and I are going to watch Face Off at 9 and then I am headed for bed. Good night, Trudi

Memories and challenges

Good Morning! 24 years ago on this day, my twin daughters were born. They are such an important part of my life and I am so blessed to have them. My girls turn 24 on September 5. Got up and did my morning routine. Mari and I went out to the lake and walked 2.2 miles, then to Starbucks and got our oatmeal. Lots of people and dogs at the lake. The whole thing yesterday with the picture and it being a challenge, made me realize that I do not challenge myself. When I see that in this challenge, the word is yellow, I only think about taking pictures of yellow and not how I can grow in taking pictures of yellow. When I look at my day, I look at how much can I get done in a day, not the quality of the things I do. Recently, I took a test for ADHD and I realized that I have a mild case of it. When I was an appraiser, it was always called, how many reports can I get done and I really didn't look at the quality. Everything from the lender was a rush and I really don't believe they looked at the quality. When we go to museums or places, I will look at the picture, but I don't really stop and read the description. Sometimes when I am reading, my mind is off somewhere else and all I am doing is reading words. Doing my emails and house stuff. Tried to challenge myself to not take a nap, as I wonder if my nap is only to quiet my mind. Tried to slow down this morning and not race through doing things. Had lunch and watched TV with the girls. My lunch today was a salad with a grapefruit. Healthy! Doing some computer stuff and working on the yellow challenge. This is one of the pictures I took for yellow:

Going to finish a couple more things and go run a couple of errands. Trying to buy only what we need, so I don't feel like I have a jam packed refrigerator. Not trying to see how much I can accomplish as well. We ran our errands and I got some pictures taken. Came home and having quiet time, before I start on dinner. Made dinner, watched the last season of Anthony Bourdain. Talked to my friend who is in the hospital and worked on my other blog-gypsymomvirtualconcierge.blogspot.com. Rory came downstairs and wanted to talk to Mari regarding school. He keeps wanting to know about money and we finally sat down and told him what it is. He makes me uptight when we talk, as he talks over all of us, even though he wants information. He goes on and on and never stops. I am emotionally tired from dealing with him. Good night. Trudi

Wonderfully cool

Good Morning! My usual morning routine and it has become wonderfully cool in the morning and I am so enjoying it. Better get moving, as I need to make Rory breakfast and Mari up at 8, so we can go walking. Going to Laguna today to get some supplies for Mari. Mari and I did our walk this morning. Lots of interruptions and a nice compliment from someone who remembered us from a couple of weeks ago. Came home and Mari made carrot cake pancakes. Yummy! Did my usual morning routine. Took my nap. Had lunch and then headed down to Laguna to get some supplies for Mari. Traffic was packed. Last weekend of summer, warm day and the beach, what do I expect. Rory went to the store and came home with things he wanted. The girls birthday is this week and we were going to go out and get cupcakes, so he brings home cupcakes from the store, which, to me are not as good as Casey's. He likes the store bought better, so I told him he could keep them upstairs. I really tried not to get angry. He has no willpower when he goes to the store. Having quiet time until dinner time. Clouds from this morning:

Made dinner, and for once did not turn on the TV. The girls and I sat around and talked, which was really nice. Rory, of course, was up in our room eating his dinner and watching TV. After we had dinner, Mari colored my hair. I am doing a challenge in a group that I belong to and we are using the word yellow. I put up a picture and someone challenged me to do more with the picture. I have a hard time with criticism, but I am trying to learn from it and do more with what I have. This is a learning thing for me. I was getting Mari involved in it, but I know she needed to do homework. I need to learn this on my own. A friend of mine texted me at 8:40 and wanted to know if I wanted to go out for frozen yogurt or Starbucks. I really like going out in the afternoon or late morning. Overall, after dinner, I like to be home. Need to give Sweet Pea her shot, do my reading and get to bed. Good Night. Trudi

Heading for one of my favorite places

Good Morning! It is a field trip day, so up around 6 and doing my usual morning routine. Mari and I are headed for San Diego this morning. We are going to meet a photography group and go to the National City Railroad Station. Then we are going to go over to Coronado and take some pictures. Looking forward to a day away. Need to get breakfast. Made breakfast for all of us. Went through emails. Mari and I left sort of on time, but that was ok. Just as I was pulling out of the garage, my cell phone rang and a friend of mine called me to say she was in the hospital. She had hit her head on her chest of drawers on Thursday and because she deals with cancer, they put her in the hospital. We talked for a little while and we decided I would call her later. Headed for San Diego and stopped at a vista point and took some pictures of the birds. Went to In N'Out Burger for lunch and then over to the train station and met up with the group. Hung out there for a little bit and took pictures, then headed for Coronado to take some pictures and then headed up the coast. It was a beautiful day! Made a couple of stops on the way home. Marissa put in the ribs, so that with rice and veges is what we had for dinner. I did call Val back. There are times, I wish people would stay out of my life. I know she means well! I am tired tonight and I feel somewhat depressed. I really didn't feel like writing this tonight, but thought it might cheer me up. I think I am just tired.