Sleep

I had to dedicate a post to my man's sleeping habits... they are quite unique...

Check out some of the images I have been capturing.... He falls asleep everywhere ...

(out to dinner with friends)

(on a very bumpy bus ride in the south of Italy)

You can see why I drive... he falls asleep on the way to and home from work... even when driving...

(coming home from work)

Hilarious ... Right?.....

Car Problems...

Oh boy... was I tested... Yesterday afternoon I dropped my man off at the airport (he has some business in Europe this week)... on the way home a werid light come on in our car... I first thought no way... can it wait for hubby to get home??? I stopped and check our book (car manual) and found out one of our tires had low tire pressure....

I stopped at a gas station filled the tire with air and checked the air pressure with the attached Gauge! Yeah!!.... All with just the help from my mom via the east coast!

Anyhow, in complete denial that anything was really wrong with the tire, i drove home and expected to fill the tire with air all week until hubby got home ! (big Grin)!

Well, to my surprise (not really)... the tire was completely flat this morning. I found out our Ford Roadside Assistance was no more... called the insurance company... had someone come out and put the spare tire on the car.... (oh believe me I tried to change it myself... but the new cars and an SUV has some specialties that my old sedan did not have... i.e I could not just pull out the spare tire from the trunk and attached it to the car... plus, the car is sooo big now! crazy!

(flat tire getting a donut)

Anyhow, I drove it to the dealer and they fix me all up! Accomplishment! CHEER!!!

back to home decorating

Okay, so I really need to finish what I set out to do this year on our house.

Here are a few things I am thinking about:
1. Kitchen (paint cabinets)?
2. Hall Closets (redesign or paint)?
3. Guest Bathroom (paint vanity)?
4. Hardwood the rest of our living/dining space
5. Buy some 'key pieces' of furniture for the living / dining space
6. hmmmm... I am sure there are more

So, why these things... I have to say I HATE our cabinets (wood work) + Black granite counters in the kitchen and bathrooms... We live in a condo in the city and they basically bought a whole lotta cabinetery and just plopped it everywhere. I personally do not like the honey color and I especially do not like the honey color with the black granite.

I love this color for the vanity in our Guest Bathroom:

I have see a few great ideas on Urban Grace Interiors and I love this Kitchen it is such a great makeover. I already have the black granite countertops and the overall color skeem goes with the rest of our place!

Recap ... Mt. Shasta

Okay so we did it! It was crazy tough but so rewarding....

(the crew at the summit)

It was a lot of fun (now that we are down, breathing regularly, rested and fed)! We really thought this was a great climbing group.

(11:30pm Saturday wake up: went to bed at 7:30pm Saturday)

Route Details:
Bunny Flats trail head (6,950') to Horse Camp (7,800') to Hidden Valley overnight camp spot (9,200') up West Face Gully (portions were up to 40o slope) across top portion of the Whitney Glacier to Misery Hill to Summit Platue (snow field) to the summit (14,162)
The saw a Lake at about 13,000 ft called Sisson Lake, just beautiful.

(Shadow of the mountain over the landscape as the sun rose)

We were so tired on the way down everyone had stated they were giving up climbing and camping for awhile. We ate dinner, crashed for the night and by the time morning and our final drive home came around everyone had a new mountain to add to the 'what mountain should we do next' list! Funny!

Weekend

This weekend we are off to try to summit Mt. Shasta! My husband and I have a yearly tradition of going up to Shasta.

The first year we had no idea what we needed to do or what it was going to be like... no planning at all... We arrived on a Saturday afternoon and we went straight to the Trailhead. It was there that a ranger recommended we head back to the town and pick up crampons and an Ice Axe for our climbing attempt. When we walked back to the car we realized it was leaking oil... because it was a Saturday we new we had to get the car fix before starting out on the trail. Luckly, we found a car fixing business (still open) and they went to town... We picked up the car at 4:30pm and drove back to the trailhead. Started a 3 hour hike/ climb. We stop just short of Helen Lake on a flat plato, unpacked, pitched a tent and cooked dinner. The wind was so strong it blew hard on our tent all night... the next morning we woke and played around in the snow and explored the area. We were hooked and decided every year to climb a mountain.

The following year we booked a trip with a tour group up Mt. Rainier in Washington State... Awesome (I'll post about that some time).... Last year we headed up to Shasta and almost made it to the top. We experienced some AMS and headed down early.

What will this year bring??? I am sure to share!

Scandal at the Zoo

This article from 7x7 was just too funny, I had to share... check out the examiner for the full details.

At our local Zoo, there seems to be a scandal brewing in the penguin habitat where a same-sex penguin couple (Its San Francisco), Pepper and Harry, have called it quits. The reason is Linda, a recently widowed penguin of questionable reputation (she been around the block with multiple partners). The zookeeper, David Brown. “To be completely anthropomorphizing, Linda seems conniving," Brown told the Examiner. "She’s got her plan." Harry has joined up with Linda leaving Pepper to be a lonely bachelor... even after successfully raising a chick!

Ana Neuvo

Check out what we were up to this weekend!

Ana Neuvo State parks could easily become one of our favorite local escapes. It is a great drive down south and along Highway One on the way to see the elephant seals. This is the world's largest mainland breeding colony for these massive animals. There is a short hike out to the seals which is gorgeous, too. At this time of year you can view them up close and personal without hordes of people. They are hundreds of pounds of blubber just a few yards away. It's amazing. You'll see males 'play fighting' preparing to return for the mating season...but for now, they are molting (shedding their fur / skin) before heading back out to season until their return in Dec.
This one reminds me of a normal 'human' beach! Ha ha... What makes them unusual is there size and the snot (elephant like!).