Trip

On Saturday, David and I went to San Fransisco Saturday for the weekend. We left around 11, partly because it was really foggy and partly because David didn't get home until about 5am. We left and I was unusually clam, which normally isn't me. We stopped at Starbucks, my favorite for a road trip, stopped at the bank and on the road we went. I drove to Los Banos because David was still waking up and didn't want to drive before he was wide awake. I woke him up alright. He hates it when I drive.
We stopped in Los Banos at Jack in the Box, where we met up with our friends Matt and Jenn. They live in the bay and were on their way back from Fresno. We ate and visited for a few and off we went to San Fransisco.
We got there in pretty good time. We stayed at the Hilton, at Union Square. It was nice until they told us that parking was $50 a night. We got to our room and looked outside to see a parking garage outside for $25 a night! Whatever.
We quickly got out of the room and went to Union Square. I really wanted to ride the cable car, but for some reason David was not about the cable cars. We went to Macy's to find that they had crappy sales just like Fresno. We went to Guess, Bloomingdales and walked around. Matt and Jenn met up with us and we rode the R train to the wharf. We ate there and David had his first experience with scotch. We are not the scotch types so as much as David liked it, it isn't gonna be under the tree for Christmas.
Sunday we got up and drove to Alameda, where Matt and Jenn live. We saw their house and went to breakfast at a chicken and waffle place. I took my picture with Barack Obama, who apparently lived at this particular restaurant.
Then we went to Ikea, where we bought the boys a bunk bed and dresser for Christmas. We managed to spend $700 there. That is always nice, huh?
On the way home, I talked David into stopping at the Coach outlet. Normally I am all about Dooney and Burke, but since all the rich people carry Coach, I wanted one. We found that everyone felt like this because there was a line outside. They were only letting a a dozen or so people in at a time. I found a purse and wallet. They will be my Christmas gift. I love it. David thinks it is too big, but I say you gotta have a purse the same size as your ass.
So we got home around 8pm because we found it was extremely foggy on the 152 and there were two accidents on 99 that kept the traffic at a little more then a stand still.
We had a great time. I always love to have time with David to reconnect and talk in a quiet atmosphere. I am so glad that I have him in my life. He is and always will be my favorite!

Red Door China Bistro

So, since I really love food, I talked David into trying something new. He hates new, but I guess I was pretty convincing because he said yes.
We went to The Red Door China Bistro at Friant and Fort Washington. We had received a mailer last week or something and it looked really good and I was sure that it was worth our time and money.
I got there and the outside looked really neat. The fountains were flowing and the water was illuminated with colored lights changing through all different shades. The outside dining area was beautifully decorated with, what else, an Asian theme. We didn't eat outside, it's to freaking cold, but would have if the weather permitted.
I walked inside and they have a nicely stocked bar to the left, where there were several men flirting with the female bartender.
I waited there to be greeted and waited some more. It took about 5 minutes before I was acknowledged. I must look homeless or poor because this happens to me fairly often. Anyway, there aren't a lot of people there so it made me a little nervous.
We sat down and were greeted by our server. She was about the sweetest little thing I have ever encountered. She was on top of it.
They give you a salad as an appetizer. Just like Mexican food you get chips and salsa. I have never been given salad at Chinese, but I gave it a shot and it was great. They had small chunks of deep fried chicken on a bed of lettuce with tomatoes and a gingery salad dressing. Yum, I ate the whole damn thing. David then decided to try it and agreed that it was good.
We ordered David's stand by: broccoli beef, my favorite: double pan fried noodles and the free entree (with our coupon) kung pao chicken. Let's just say this, it was better then P.F. Changs. David told the chef, who had come out to talk to the customers, that this was his new favorite resturaunt. That is huge coming from my picky husband.
Now mind you, had our kids been on their best behavior, we would have had a better time, but oh well. They were crawling on the sofa's and using thier "play voices". I had enough by the time it was over, but since the food was so good, it made up for the devil's we had sitting with us.
So, if you are over in the area, go to this place. It would be a great date place. It's got a good wine selection, bar and the food is great!!

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holiday's. I love getting friends and family together and eating, drinking and hanging out. I love the traditions that go along with it. Getting up in the morning and staying in your jammies (although I do that every morning), but it seems better on holiday's. I love to watch cheesy movies, like Charlie Brown's Thanksgiving, to get into the spirit. I love to bake and give food as gifts this time of year.
I have been making a lot of food for the police department lately. It has got to the point were David's Sgt took him aside and asked if I was "chubby" because I liked baking so much. I asked David what he said and after a moment he replied, he said, "I told him NO!" I think he had to think about it too long. He promised it was because he wasn't listening. I am not sure which is worse so I dropped it.
So back to Thanksgiving, I am in charge of dip or appetizers. I am taking a hot artichoke dip and I am gonna throw some garlic in it because garlic makes everything better. I am also taking the cream cheese slab with jalapeno jam on top. I would have made more because I love to cook and to share what I cook because I am fat enough, but I swear the grocery store marked all the food up for the holidays. And my Mom's side of the family had this weird obsession with food and being overweight. If you are over a size 8, you are considered fat. I am over a size 8, so I wear baggy clothes and big sweaters. I will sweat all day, but they will not stare at me and talk about me behind my back! It's pretty sad actually. My Mom is always making jabs at me for being bigger then the good ol' days. I had two freaking kids. There is skin hanging from my mid-section and it seems to not even be attached to my body, except for a couple layers of skin. I would perform a self tummy tuck, but I wouldn't want to clean the kitchen up after it! For people who are so petty and shallow, may you become fat like me someday. Man, I must have written myself into a funk! I am going to turn this frown upside down.
So, tomorrow is going to be good. I will wear several layers of clothing and smile and talk to everyone until they can't stand it anymore. They are gonna be happy that they won't have to see me again for another month. Then I will come home and drink some hot tea and take some Pepto because after all that food comes the air that compresses inside the stomach. Thank goodness David will be working and not have to deal with that fun part of the day! Then I will go to bed. I will watch my TV and become a vegetable for a couple hours!
I hope you all have a wonderful day and eat yourselves into oblivion. May we all be bloated and feel disgusting together!

Funny article. Mom's read!

To read it clearly, click on the article itself.

Wines

So David and I love to drink wine. For the last two nights, we have sat in the backyard, put a log in the fire pit and poured a glass of wine and watched the boys play "detective" in the backyard. It is definitely been a good last couple nights.
So, although we have our cheap stand-by, Foxbrook Cabernet, which I get by the case, we also like the occasional splurge.
I encourage everyone to try J. Lohr Valdigue and Riesling. Both of these wine are about $10 at Savemart. They are sweeter wines, but have a deep quality about them. I wish I could afford them more often. I am wanting to go wine tasting at their facility, but we haven't done a wine tasting vacation...yet!
Another good wine, Smoking Loon. I like the smokey taste about this one. It's really good with BBQ or a smokey-type dinner. I tried it for the first time at my parents. It's about $5-$7, which isn't that bad, but if it's over $1.99-we, again, have to wait for a special occasion.
Now, I am still a beginner when it comes to wines, but I know a lot about beer. Maybe it was from parties at Frat houses or going and having pizza and beer at BC's Pizza and Beer (they had great beer there!), but I am kinda picky about beer. It has progressed from my younger years of Bud Light to dark beers like Newcastle and Sam Adams. My favorite, which David hates, is Hefenweizen. Yum!!
Now I have realized that wine really is a hobby of mine. I think you can still be a wine fan on a budget. I think you can enjoy wine with friends and family and appreciate someones hard work needed to develope and create new flavors. I wish I could say I knew a lot, but all I can tell you are the ones I like and that taste good to me. Add to this!! Leave comments, I am always up for suggestions!

Wednesday night

It started out as a normal day. We hung out as a family for a couple hours until David had to go to work and after he left, I went about my business. I made dinner, cleaned up dinner, cleaned up kids, read books and got in bed. I watched TV until my eyes wouldn't stay open. I guess it was about 11:15 when I called it a night.
It was 12:30-ish when I got a call on my cell phone from David. I was kind of irritated because I had tried calling him all evening and he didn't answer my calls or send me a text message telling me goodnight. So I ignored the first call. Next, he called on the home phone. Fine, I'll pick up. He sounded weird and told me, "Don't worry, I'm okay". Okay, don't call me in the middle if the night and say that. What happened? He went on to say he was in an "OIS". First he freaks me out with his comment, now he's gonna use an acronym? I had to ask what an OIS is since I was still asleep. He replied "Officer involved shooting". Since I was kinda out of it, I said, "Okay". He went on to tell me that he would be late because he had to be interviewed by Detectives and so on. So I had got off the phone with him and realized that I didn't ask if he was the shooter. I tried text messaging him with negative results.
So, needless to say, I didn't sleep well. He got home at 6:00-ish, at which time I jumped out of bed and met up with him in the office to talk about what had happened. It turned out it was his partner that was the shooter, but he was right there next to him. He saw the suspect get shot and said that if he had he had a clear shot, he would have shot him also.
So after the de-briefing, I was amazed at how comfortable I was with everything. I know that David is a good cop. I have full faith in him as an officer, that he can handle any situation and know that he will do everything in his power to come home at night. I tried to be encouraging, but I could tell that he was a little different, as anyone would be after going thru something like this. So he waived his right to three days paid administrative leave and meeting with a Doctor to go back to work the next day.
Well, Thursday night he went to work, even though I thought it wasn't the best idea. At 8 o'clock he calls and tells me that he was being sent home by his Sgt because he hadn't been "cleared" to come back to work yet. Apparently he has to meet with a Shrink and have three days off, which is standard protocol. He was glad to be home, but I could tell he was sorta angry inside.
Today, he went to the Doctor and had a great experience. He was really positive about their talk and explained to me some of the weird things he was experiencing. He went into things he could and couldn't do for health reasons and why different things were happening with his body. It was great to see him make sense of things that he would have otherwise, not.
I am still in a little bit of shock, but all in all it has been a good week. My husband went through a very difficult situation and I felt like I was able to help him and encourage him. He still has some things to deal with, but all in all, we are good and healthy. He has told me he doesn't want to talk about it to people, which I respect. He wants to move on and learn from this experience. Keep him in your prayers and thoughts as he still has some things to cope with.

Ghost Hunters

I watch a show called Ghost Hunters pretty regularly. It's on cable and it's about a group of guys that goes to house/hospitals/hotels, or the like, in search of paranormal activity. This really isn't my thing, or hadn't been. When I hear ghost stories, or things like that, I get all choked up and my eyes tear-like I am crying. Kind of a weird reaction, but regardless, that's what happens.
So David and I have been watching these shows and I sit there and cry and he constantly says, "Did you see that?" or "Wow". I can't watch these shows by myself and after watching them, David has to rub my back until I go to sleep-how brave of me, huh?
So Sunday morning when he gets up, he tells me that he watched the show when I was asleep and that this particular group (TAPS) is coming to Clovis. I knew what house immediately after he said that. They are coming to the haunted house on Clovis Ave, that they have used for several years as a Halloween attraction. The last I heard is that they shut it down because the fake haunting was being disrupted by the real haunting. Anyway, they have concluded the investigation and are airing it on TV soon. I am sure I will write about it because I have such an exciting life that I have to write about TV instead of my fun filled days. Heck, I will probably air the You Tube version on here for those of you who are cable-less.