The Smoke Clears...

No, no, not the smoke you see when I'm desperately trying to formulate a thought...

I was asked to do something 'nice' for my manager's birthday. Her assistant asked that I bake her a special 'princess crown' cake (don't ask)

butter, water, vanilla, etc, in the mixer, in the pan, in the oven. Apparently I forgot that Dora was a messy endeavor, and forgot to check for leftovers. No need! It became obvious from the smoke pouring out of the oven that perhaps I need to invest in 'Easy Off'... that's right folks! FIRE!!!

It was messy, but I was able to take care of this little concern without the aid of the local firefighters, or any of the geriatric patrol (my neighbors) that nose into my business causing trouble.

The cake is safely baking, the bottom rack is lined appropriately, and I am icing my sore back with a bag of frozen edamame... Life is good.

2 weeks and counting...

nuff said?

2 weeks... Scott, Jill, Mom and Stu... and me... What's wrong with this picture? Well, let's see. They rode from Seattle to Portland, hiked all summer, bike all the time, play tennis like it's their job, and ... um... OH! Scott owns a TV that he might watch a movie on if he happens to be home for more than 10 minutes.

SO... where does that leave me? Well? Confession time - my profile on the site we met said that I like to hike. I've recently told Scott that perhaps, after Half Dome and some other 'real hikes', I should have clarified my love of 'hiking' with 'likes walks in the woods'.

There may not be enough Ibuprofen in Sacramento... but I'll get some phenomenal pictures. That will be my cover... yeah! I'm not huffing and puffing and needing to stop... I just really want to get a picture of that really pretty snake over there... great...

Trish and Stacy's CRAZY decision

Half Dome... for those of you that are not familiar, it's one of the popular hikes in Yosemite... it's also listed as an 'extremely strenuous' one day hike in the guide books... in fact, most sane people do it in 2 days. Not us... No sir... we are animals...
The highlights are to numerous for me to tell you about, but... here's some pictures from the day

Congrats AMY and NICK

Threesome anyone?

Cat came to visit... which I loved! It was a tough time for her, but I think we all had fun... check it out!

Birthday Fun

It's been a big year for some of us with birthdays...

I hit a major one... no comments please and thank you. August, especially Leo's seem to be very big in my life. Scott and his sister both had birthdays in August, and I and a little fun with them!

Scott, may the force be with him, is a HUGE Star Wars junkie... Jill loves her hikes and bikes... so Mom requested a um.. special theme. I did my best. For those of you with small children and recognize the um... hiker... no comments. It's a white girl this time

Lazy dayz

So I spent a lot of eh, er... um... RECOVERY time in Reno and Tahoe with Scott. This has evolved into quite an experience, and quite a love... for both of us. Check out my myspace and facebook pages for more pics!

Everyone else is doing it...

So why shouldn't we???

So Scotty will probably be surprised to see this, as I didn't really let him know I decided to do this (sorry honey!)
So many friends and family have started these to keep up, after everything I've done this summer, figured, why not?
So as you know, the Summer started with my surgery and recovery, and, as you may not know... Scott. There have been parties, weddings, babies (congrats Amy and Nick), loss of pets (sorry Cat), new pets (Amy and Cat), visitors, insane hiking trips through Yosemite, more regular hiking trips in Tahoe and the Sierra's, bike rides, and, coming soon, the Grand Canyon.

Wow that's a LOT... so here are some pics, and possibly some words, regarding some of these events. Enjoy, comment, and be happy for us, we are happier than ever together!