A Day in Solvang

I haven't been to Solvang in years and years.  It is a funny little spot - a created Danish village plopped into the SoCal coastline!  Olga and I had a beautiful drive along the 101 with spectacular scenery the whole way.  We are both East Coast transplants to LA and we kept finding more and more reasons why we love California!  We had a blast singing to the oldies as we sailed along with no traffic whatsoever.

We stopped for a late breakfast and then made our way into the quaint little tourist spot known as Solvang. Tons of shops, eateries and windmills.  We decided next trip we will bring along the pups since most places are dog friendly there.  Lots of wineries and tasting rooms but we didn't indulge since it was just a day trip.  What a perfect and fun day...put 235 miles on "Olive" my trusty RAV 4 with the faithful "Gypsy" my Garmin leading the way!!

black thumb!

I am a terrible gardner.  Everything I plant dies....here's my attempt to make the patio look nice for the Spring...let's see how long these plantings will last!

Lucky for me - Home Depot has a policy that if you bring back the dead pot in its original container, along with the sales slip, they will replace or refund up to one year from date of purchase!

Wrench or Wench to the rescue??

On Mother's Day this past weekend I cleaned up the kitchen, started the dishwasher and went up stairs to shower and get ready for church.  Feeling relaxed and happy I came back down the stairs to find the kitchen floor with an inch of water on it and a stream coming steadily out from the cabinet under the sink! YIKES!!!

I turned off the dishwasher and starting frantically mopping up the floor.  I finally cleared away enough water to look under the sink.  Of course, all the usual stuff one stores under there was sopping wet - extra sponges, a supply of paper towels, etc.  I dragged it all out and hurriedly started to clean up the standing water on my gorgeous new cabinets.

(keep in mind that I'm in my church clothes while doing all this!)

I finally got all the water cleaned up along with the detritus from the garbage disposal (YUCK!) and saw that a pipe had come loose.

the culprit

I went to the garage, found my tool box and pulled out a wrench.  It wasn't easy but I tightened the damn thing and called it a day!  I set several portable fans on the floor and pointed them toward the cabinet hoping to minimize the damage.  It worked!

My mood and clothes ruined, I skipped church and made myself a bloody mary!

On Monday, the contractor who had done my bathrooms and kitchen remodel sent over his wonderful guy - Oscar.  Oscar was VERY impressed with my repair, reinforced it with some glue and offered me a position as lead installer!  If this social work profession thing that I've been doing for the past 33 years fails to satisfy...I may just consider a career change!

sweet doggie dreams

The other day I was getting ready for work and stepped into the shower.  When I re-entered my bedroom not 10 minutes later I found this!!

Skipper decided it was time for her early morning nap!

Mother's Day 2013

Here's to YOU Jordan and Nathaniel!

Thank you to the two most wonderful children in the world for making me a mother!  YOU are my best accomplishments.  YOU are that of which I am most proud! YOU are my greatest joy and my most treasured blessing!

best daughter ever!

best son ever!