Won't You Be My Neighbor

Today I had the great fortune of meeting my next door neighbor and his three young daughters (his wife was out with her gal pals, though she's very nice. She and I met in passing a couple weeks ago). As others in the neighborhood arrived home I was introduced to them as well. Three beers, two hours and one mudslide later the hubby arrived on the scene. I only partook of the mudslide since I'm not much of a beer drinker - though I'm trying to keep an open mind about this. Hey, beer pressure can be tough, I don't want to be that one lame neighbor who won't belly-up to the bar and kick one back, ya know? How un-neighborly would that be?! And poor Erik, he didn't even get one brewski, as I gave away all our Bavarian beers to our new friends - guess that means we'll have to buy more ;-)

It seems we moved into the coolest neighborhood in all of the Antelope Valley! Our neighbors actually know one another and interact on a regular basis. I'm not talking about, "Hi, nice weather we're having, huh?" I'm talking about, "Tomorrow afternoon we're hanging out at Duke's place. You should join us, bring a lawn chair." I'm talking about "Hey, you like Attack Uno?" I'm talking about some fun people who know how to have a good time. I can't wait to get to know them all.

Apparently in the winter things slow down as people tend to stay indoors. But, in the spring/summer folks sit out in their driveways with the garage door open (this provides quick and easy access to the garage fridge with the beer) just waiting for you to come over. If you don't see them sitting out, don't worry, they'll give ya call on the tele. How awesome is that?

Time Away

Had a great time visiting friends in CO and San Fran. We were fortunate enough to have fabulous weather at all of our destinations (Denver/Lakewood, Pine, and Ft. Collins, CO; San Fran, St. Helena, and Napa, CA).

I figured Ft. Collins would be OK and that Frisco would be awesome. I was surprised to find that I enjoyed Ft. Collins very, very much; more than I thought possible. It reminded me of Madison, WI, St. Louis, MO, and a few of my other favorite places. Frisco was nice but the cloudy, over cast skies were rather brooding. The toppling buildings gave the city a very circumscribed feel. Very strange. Of course the culture, food, people, diversity... that was all amazing and just what I expected. Being with good friends of course trumps all.

St. Helena and Napa were wonderful. Great weather coupled with great surroundings made for a very enjoyable trip. The bed and breakfast we stayed at, Prager Port Works, was lovely. A large room with piano, mini fridge, comfortable seating, and a TV. A hallway led to the bedroom which was also large, with a chaise lounge, vanity table, and of course a beautiful bed. The bathroom was spacious and had two sinks so the hubby and I could preen without knocking elbows.

All and all a very relaxing and enjoyable trip.

Doubtful

I noticed I hadn't written in a long time... no reason, just lazy. So today I figured why not just write something, anything .... and this is what I wrote. Sad, very sad. Perhaps tomorrow I'll have something meaningful to say.

At least I have a pretty picture of one of grandma's gorgeous garden flowers.

439

The hubby has been on a winning streak for the last few weeks and has been kicking my butt in SCRABBLE. He scored 439 in a single game!!!!!! Way to go darling!

I am not a drunk!

Today the dentist assaulted the right side of my mouth.

Normally I enjoy going to the dentist. I love that nice clean feeling of my tongue sliding over my teeth, but not today. Today I felt as if I was a drooling fool, even though every time I checked there was no drool present.

I couldn't say the word 'briefly' without looking and sounding like a drunk. My co-workers thought this was hilarious and I would have too except I couldn't laugh.

I can hardly wait to go back next week to recreate this in the left side of my mouth.

Hubby

I love you.

Personal Best

Today the hubby was kind enough to indulge me in several games of Scrabble. Usually we both score in the 200 range, sometimes the 300 range. This evening I managed to score 407, a personal best.

My better-half was supportive and encouraging. This of course is very nice compared with his behavior the very first time I ever won at Scrabble. That was years ago and he's since learned to just enjoy the game. However, he is rather competitive. OK, extremely competitive. This is great in the courtroom, but not so good in the dining room. Fortunately he's not overly competitive with me anymore and we both get to have fun just playing the game and beating our own personal best scores.

Full-time

They still like me! I was asked today if I was interested in working full-time instead of just 20 hours a week. You betcha!

Not only will the extra dough be nice, but my employer will contribute even more to the excellent benefits the hubby and I are enjoying. Yippie. Life is good.

Brrrrrr

House Hunting

I'm enjoying the process of looking for a new home. Unfortunately the hubby is not as enthused with this process as I am. After 3 houses he's down for the count. "They all the look the same!" Well, it's true, after awhile (especially with the new construction model homes) they do all start to the look very similar. But each is decorated differently and this is where inspiration strikes. I get lots of fun ideas for things we'll be able to do our own place when we find one. Perhaps I'll just look solo and narrow it down for the better half to view at a later date.