Scrapbooking my life...one page at a time

California Dreaming ...

Mike & I are busy moving

and

SO IS MY BLOG ...

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Remember to Bookmark or subscribe to my NEW BLOG so don't lose track of me ....

Oh Ya, don't forget to let me know what you think of the new site!

CLICK HERE  http://nannerflysunshine.blogspot.com/

The Other Half ...

  

The other night Mike & I had the chance to see how the other half lives ...

It was our date with the Mariner's in the Private Guest Suite they had comped us.  I can't even tell you how much fun it was - a BLAST I tell ya. 

Normally, you'll find Mike & I  located somewhere in the Coach section of life but just for that one night we were in First Class all the way - it was a real treat.  

From the second we stepped into the stadium we were treated like royalty ...  

It was like falling into wonderland ...

Up the special elevators so you don't have to mix with the 'common' folks and then down a long hallway lined with Guest Suites all labeled with the owners names:  Microsoft, Fox Sports Network, Wells Fargo Bank - along past all the closed doors where you just know all the 'moving & shaking' is happening ...

 

And into the suite ...

The first thing we saw when we stepped inside the suite was a huge buffet: BBQ spareribs, hot winds, egg roles, salads, cheese plates, veggie plates, nachos, fruit plates, BBQ pulled pork sandwiches, and of course HOT DOGS (what would a baseball game be without hot dogs).  They also provided us with drinks, popcorn, peanuts and dessert trays!

My oh my ...

   

Inside the suites there were tables and big screen TV's scattered around the room with playing ever different sporting event on air that night: hockey, basketball, soccer and of course the M's game. 

A sports lover's dream ...

 

You could sit outside in the bleachers (which had these great little tables to put your stuff on) and extra big comfy seating.   The top section of the outdoor seating even rolling style  office chairs...

They sure beats those squishy, rock hard little seats in the econo-class section ...

 

Mike & I sat indoor at the windows because it was a little warmer and they had big windows that you could open and get the most fantastic view of the game.

And there was a big plasma screen hanging right in front of us to catch all those instant replays  ...

 

Mike & I laughed because partly through the night we noticed on the wall beside us they had these cool old baseball team shirts framed. 

The one hanging right beside us was an old Padres shirt ... as in the San Diego Padres. 

Coincidence?

All in all it was a great night of baseball (the M's beat Baltimore 4 -1) and we enjoyed being treated to such a royally fun experience. 

I felt like Cinderella at the World Series Ball ...

The Mariner's, as with almost all businesses, are feeling the economic pinch right now.  The game Mike & I attended just prior to this one had an attendance of only 14,500 people and was the lowest since they began playing in Safeco Field in 1999.

YIKES - I guess that is why the Guest Suites are sitting empty most nights and the M's decided to treat season ticket holders to (and I am sure trying to up-sell them ) Suite tickets.

It was fun for a night ...

Have a wonderful day

N

ps:  tomorrow we start California dreaming ...

Mom ...

 I love you and miss you everyday.

Arrested Development ...

Sunshine & Blooms ...

Not long ago

I thought I saw spring,

it was trying to peek out from behind

the sullen gray-blue sky,

that owns the Pacific Northwest.

 
 Sneakers - soaking up some rays

I saw it outside my window.

Just sitting there.

And it startled me, and

I lost control.

Became psychotic.

Driven mad really,

by the sun, I think.

Seduced,

I was compelled to go outside & play,

to go to the garden shop and buy things,

Lovely things.

And to spent several uninterrupted days ...

In a  t-shirt & flip flops,

pulling and planting.

It had begun ...

the springtime ritual

of primping & preening my garden beds.

Bliss.

*sigh* ...

Heaven.

 
Work in progress ...

Then, I heard a slight gasp in the wind.

But I turned my face and chose to ignore it.

For I was too greedy for spring, and

hungered for plant roots to begin

growing in my garden.

Impatiens ...

Pansy's ...

and sweet, sweet Alyssum.

 
Shadows ...

And can I just say,

in my defense ...

I had seen shadows,

the harbinger of my spring.

For when shadows dance on my wall,

in the earliest morning light.

I know that Spring,

in all it's sun-drenched glory,

has arrived.

But then ...

Hail storm ...

as the gasp had foretold  ...

came the rain, the clouds, the wind & the hail.

Day turned to night ...

The sky opened up ...

And let loose ...

Spring had turned away from me,

to let Winter back in.

And I wondered ..

Had Mme. Nature gone mad,

become psychotic. 

schizophrenic.

Who can say?

And so, for now,

I spend my days

nose pressed against the window,

waiting for the return of my spring.

While my garden lingers,

in a state of

Arrested development ...

- N -

Bodies ...

Human Lungs

Both captivating and edifying, Bodies ....The Exhibition unveils the many complex systems, organs and tissues that drive every aspect of our daily lives and unite us all as humans. Featuring over 200 specimens consisting of whole-bodies and individual organs that have been meticulously dissected and preserved through an innovative process, Bodies ...The Exhibition will enlighten, empower, fascinate and inspire.

Yesterday I went with friends to see Bodies: The Exhibition in downtown Seattle before the show left town this weekend. 

The show, since it's introduction into the U.S. has been quite controversial.  To read more information regarding the controversy click here.

Without getting mired in to much detail about the controversy suffice it to say there is still much speculation and contention about how & where the bodies were obtained.

Mike & I thought about going to see the show the last time that it was in Seattle but in the end decided to pass on it but this time several friends were going to check it out and so I decided to tag along.

The Human Head & Brain

I am not going to post too many pictures because some people may find them disturbing and well, yucky.

I will say that there were several HS school field trips at the show the same time as us and the students all seemed to be genuinely interested in bodies and the 'plastination' process used to preserve the cadavers

I am sure that Katy will see quite a bit of animals preserved using this process as most medical and veterinary schools around the world use them for teaching anatomy & other courses.

I will say that I found the show very interesting and informative but it is definitely not for everyone. 

Heart Health

• The muscles in your heart can create enough pressure to squirt blood 30 feet.
• Nearly 80% of all sudden cardiac arrests happen at home.
• Your heart beats over 100,000 times a day.
• Your heart rate can rise as much as 30% during a yawn.

Blood Bank

• Every drop of blood in the body passes through the heart once per minute.
• By donating just one pint of blood, four lives can be saved.
• There are about 100,000 miles of blood vessels in an adult’s body.

Take a Deep Breath

• In the average lifetime, a person will breathe in about 45 pounds of dust.
• A cough releases air that moves at speeds up to 60 mph.
• A sneeze can exceed the speed of 100 mph.
• The lungs are the only organ in the body that can float on water.
• An average yawn lasts about six seconds.
• Smokers lose an average of two teeth every ten years.

Building Bones

• Bone is five times stronger than mild steel.
• Every three months our bone cells are completely replaced.
• Almost a quarter of your bones are in your feet and ankles.
• One out of 20 people have an extra rib.
• It is impossible to lick your own elbow.
• A person's nose and ears continue to grow throughout his or her life.
• Your thumb is the same size as your nose.

Staying Healthy

• Airborne bacteria from a flushing toilet can reach a toothbrush placed within six feet.
• The distance droplets can travel after a cough or sneeze: 3 – 12 feet.
• The number of germs, per square inch, on a toilet seat: 49. The number of germs, per square inch, on an office telephone: 25,000.
• One third of men don’t wash their hands after using the restroom.
• Unfortunately, germs can stick to food dropped on the floor in less than five seconds.

You Are What You Eat

• Every time you lick a stamp, you consume 1/10 of a calorie.
• If your stomach didn't produce a new layer of mucous every two weeks, it would digest itself.
• People eat more popcorn when watching a sad movie as compared to a happy one.
• Food can get to your stomach even if you are hanging upside down.
• The small intestine is about four or five times larger than the large intestine.

Made in America

• The majority of models are skinnier than 98% of American women.
• Each year there are approximately 60,000 trampoline injuries in the United States.
• It is estimated that during his lifetime, an American man will spend between four and five months shaving.

Shape Up!

• Banging your head against a wall uses 150 calories an hour.
• The record for most pushups ever performed in one day is 46,001.
• Weight lifters who work out in gyms decorated in blue can lift heavier weights.
• Kissing for one minute burns 26 calories.
• The amount of time in a day that a preschooler is sedentary: 89%.

Women & Men

• On average, women blink twice as often as men.
• Girls’ brains account for 2.5% of their body weight. Boys’ brains account for 2%.
• A woman's heart beats faster than man’s.
• On average, women speak more than three times more than men.
• If a man never trimmed his beard, it would grow to nearly 30 feet long in his lifetime.

On the Outside

• Fingernails grow faster on the hand you favor.
• Perspiration is odorless; it is the bacteria on the skin that creates an odor.
• The average human eyelash lives about 150 days.  
• People that smoke have 10 times as many wrinkles as a person who does not smoke.

- Smile, it does a body good -

 

N

So True ...

Uncle Frank sent me this hilarious post and I wanted to share it with you.  If you laugh, even once, then you are now officially 'over the hill'.

I laughed so many times - I think I must be nearing 100 ... 

If you are 30 or older, you might think this is hilarious!!

 When I was a kid, adults used to bore me to tears with their tedious diatribes about how hard things were. When they were growing up; what with walking twenty-five miles to school every morning....Uphill... Barefoot...BOTH ways… yadda, yadda, yadda

 And I remember promising myself that when I grew up, there was no way in hell I was going to lay a bunch of crap like that on my kids about how hard I had it and how easy they've got it!  

But now that I'm over the ripe old age of thirty, I can't help but look around and notice the youth of today.  You've got it so easy!  I mean, compared to my childhood, you live in a damn Utopia!  
And I hate to say it, but you kids today, you don't know how good you've got it!
 

• I mean, when I was a kid we didn't have the Internet. If we wanted to know something, we had to go to the damn library and look it up ourselves, in the card catalog!!
•   

• ·There was no email!!  We had to actually write somebody a letter - with a pen!   Then you had to walk all the way across the street and put it in the mailbox, and it would take like a week to get there!  Stamps were 10 cents!

• Child Protective Services didn't care if our parents beat us.  As a matter of fact, the parents of all my friends also had permission to kick our ass! Nowhere was safe!

• There were no MP3's or Napsters or iTunes!  If you wanted to steal music, you had to hitchhike to the record store and shoplift it yourself!

•  Or you had to wait around all day to tape it off the radio, and the DJ would usually talk over the beginning and @#*% it all up!  There were no CD players! We had tape decks in our car..  We'd play our favorite tape and "eject" it when finished, and then the tape would come undone rendering it useless. Cause, hey, that's how we rolled, Baby!  Dig? 

• We didn't have fancy crap like Call Waiting!  If you were on the phone and somebody else called, they got a busy signal, that's it!

•  There weren't any freakin' cell phones either. If you left the house, you just didn't 
  make a damn call or receive one. You actually had to be out of touch with your "friends". OH MY GOD !!!

•  Think of the horror... not being in touch with someone 24/7!!! And then there's TEXTING.  Yeah, right.  Please!  You kids have no idea how annoying you are.

• And we didn't have fancy Caller ID either! When the phone rang, you had no idea who it was!  It could be your school, your parents, your boss, your bookie, your drug dealer, the collection agent... you just didn't know!!!  You had to pick it up and take your chances, mister!

 

• We didn't have any fancy PlayStation or Xbox video games with high-resolution 3-D graphics!  We had the Atari 2600!  With games like 'Space Invaders' and 'Asteroids'.  Your screen guy was a little square!  You actually had to use your imagination!!!  And there were no multiple levels or screens, it was just one screen... Forever!  And you could never win.  The game just kept getting harder and harder and faster and faster until you died!  Just like LIFE!

• You had to use a little book called a TV Guide to find out what was on! You were screwed when it came to channel surfing!  You had to get off your ass and walk over to the TV to change the channel!!!  NO REMOTES!!!  Oh, no, what's the world coming to?!?!

•  There was no Cartoon Network either! You could only get cartoons on Saturday Morning.  Do you hear what I'm saying? We had to wait ALL WEEK for cartoons, you spoiled little rat-finks!

• And we didn't have microwaves.  If we wanted to heat something up, we had to use the stove!  Imagine that!  

•   And our parents told us to stay outside and play... all day long.  Oh, no, no electronics to soothe and comfort.  And if you came back inside... you were doing chores!   And car seats - oh, please!   Mom threw you in the back seat and you hung on.  If you were lucky, you got the "safety arm" across the chest at the last moment if she had to stop suddenly, and if your head hit the dashboard, well that was your fault for calling "shot gun" in the first place! 
  

  See!  That's exactly what I'm talking about! You kids today have got it too easy. You're spoiled rotten!  You guys wouldn't have lasted five minutes back in 1980 or any time before!

I think I like the ones about cartoons and seat belts the best.  Which one is your favorite!!!

Thanks for sharing Uncle Frank

Hope everyone has a great day

N

Ten (31) on Tuesday ...

I receive many, many jokes, tales & story emails everyday.  I read almost all of them and occasionally pass some of them along to people that I think would enjoy them also.

This morning I received one from my sister, Cathy, and I found it rather interesting and so I decided to post it as my Ten (31) on Tuesday.

How many did you already know ...

• 'Stewardesses'  is the longest word typed with only the left hand.

• 'Lollipop' is the longest word typed with your right hand.

• No Word in the English language rhymes with the words: month, orange, silver or purple.

• 'Dreamt' is the only English word that ends in the letter 'mt'.

• Our eyes are always the same size from birth, but our nose & ears never stop growing.

•  The sentence: 'The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog' uses every letter of the alphabet.  (now this one I knew from Typing 101)
  

• The words: racecar, kayak  & level  are the same whether they are read left to right or right to left (palindromes).   

• There are only four words in the English language which end in 'dous': tremendous, horrendous, stupendous, and hazardous.
  

• There are only two words in the English language that have all five vowels in order: 'abstemious' and 'facetious.'

• TYPEWRITER is the longest word that can be made using the letters only on one row of the keyboard.  

• A cat has 32 muscles in each ear.
  

• A goldfish has a memory span of three seconds .. (Some days that's about what my memory span is.)

• A 'jiffy' is an actual unit of time for 1/100th of a second.

•  A shark is the only fish that can blink with both eyes.

• A snail can sleep for three years.

• Almonds are a member of the peach family.

• An ostrich's eye is bigger than its brain. 

• Babies are born without kneecaps. They don't appear until the child reaches 2 to 6 years of age.  

• February 1865 is the only month in recorded history not to have a full moon.  

• In the last 4,000 years, no new animals have been domesticated.

• If the population of China walked past you, 8 abreast, the line would never end because of the rate of reproduction.

• Leonardo Da Vinci invented the scissors.

• Peanuts - are one of the ingredients of dynamite! 

• Rubber bands last longer when refrigerated.
  

• The average person's left hand does 56% of the typing.

• The cruise liner, QE 2,moves only six inches for each gallon of diesel that it burns.

• The microwave was invented after a researcher walked by a radar tube and a chocolate bar melted in his pocket.

• The winter of 1932 was so cold that Niagara Falls froze completely solid.

• There are more chickens than people in the world.

• Winston Churchill was born in a ladies' room during a dance.

• Women blink nearly twice as much as men.
  

Thanks Cathy!

I Hope everyone has a great day!

N

MVP ...

I can't remember if I already mentioned this or not but earlier this year Mike was nominated for and selected as a Microsoft MVP (Visual C++).  

'MVPs make exceptional contributions to technical communities, sharing their passion, knowledge, and know-how. Meanwhile, because MVPs hear the opinions and needs of many others in the technical community, they are well-placed to share highly focused feedback with Microsoft.'

If you are a computer geek you probably already know that this is quite an honor.

You are nominated by your peers and selected by Microsoft experts and a panel of current MVP's.

 

This week was the MVP Conference which is held in Bellevue & Seattle.  His work agreed to pay him to attend the 4 day conference  (which is BIG since he is a contract worker and normally he only gets paid for the days he is actually in the office- no PTO)  He was very happy to be able to take the 4 days off with pay to attend.

 

All week long he has been going to presentations, seminars, networking events and last night they had their BIG +1 wrap-up Party.

There are about 1000 MVP's at the conference and they have flown in from 70 different countries to attend so the party last night was quite an event.  It was held at a venue called The Garage which is located in Capital Hill in downtown Seattle. 

It is a large old converted garage which now a mixture of 20 bowling lanes, 25 pool tables, 6 bars, 3 private rooms, and plenty of lounging room for a night out. It is nearly 40,000 square feet and so there was plenty of room for everyone.

And can I just add, Microsoft throws a mean party - they are not stingy.  Aside from the bowling, pool and dancing they also had numerous buffets and a completely open fully-hosted bar.  They had everything from Beer & Wine to Martini's & Cosmopolitans.

 

We didn't hang around too long because we didn't know anyone there, don't drink much, don't play pool and the bowling lanes were all busy.  We just had something to eat, a few drinks and then left.

 
 

Sunshine today!

Have a good one.

N

Autobiography ...

Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don't resist them - that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like.
- Lao Tzu -

Sometimes, in order to move forward, you must stop looking behind you and just forge onward, no matter how scary or unfamiliar.  You must simply shut your eyes and take that first step into the unknown.  And sometimes, you must give up, give away, or throw away everything that blocks your way - no matter how much psuedo-comfort you think it is bringing to the table ...

My journals have always brought me tremendous joy.  I loved writing them and they always helped calm the rough seas during my stormy weather. 

They have guided, comforted and healed me and at times - they have been mentor, confidant and one true  friend.  But, if you are a journaler, then you probably already know this.

Over the years I have created many journals - I currently keep a Daily journal & Blog as well as several Gardening Journals, a Wishes & Dreams journal, a 'Things I Love' journal, a Birding, Nature and a Gratitude Journal ... just to name a few.

I have been chronicling almost every single event, dream, thought or fear I've had - almost daily - for the past 7 or 8 years (as well as sporadically all my life). 

I loved to journal.  It kept me focused, centered - it was my only needed therapy.

They were my proof of life, my paper-trail, as it were, my autobiography. 

My journals lined the walls of my office.  They were never been neglected for I loved to take them down and look at them - update them - color them - doodle on them or simple relive them.  They were my emotional safety deposit box.  Until to today ...

Recently, I have come to understand, that for me, a big part of moving forward, is letting go of the past because in much the same way as Emotional Eating has kept me overweight - emotional safekeeping has slowed me down and held me back.

When you put all your time and energy into trying to hold on to, what is now, the past you simply haven't anything left over to propel you forward ... into your future.  I don't need or want to weigh myself down anymore - it's time to clean house.

 

And so, without much adieu, I have tossed out years & years of journaling and journals because I have come to realize that if it is a memory worth keeping - I will hold it tight and keep it inside me always - everything else is garbage. 

I was afraid that I would start to panic as I emptied each binder and tossed out each handmade journal ... but I actually began to feel lighter, calmer, more in control with each toss into the recycle bag ...

I have made the decision to keep only my day-timer (which I track appointments and such in) and my Love journal, Gratitude journal and my Nature journal.  That's all - oh ya, and my blog.  I feel comfortable keeping these because they are ones that I only write in once and a while (and they do not chronicle my everyday life).

Well, I now that I have emptied my office and filled the recycle bin I feel so much more able to move on and begin my new adventures.

My journals are the first of many major purges that I will undertake in the next few weeks/months as I move forward into my new life - so stay tuned.

There is so much I want to do with the rest of my life and I will not allow anything to hold me back or weigh me down any longer.  I now know I don't need the safety nets & padding - I only need Mike to catch me when I fall!  That's it.

Have a great day

N

Moving into tomorrow ....

As some of you may or may not know - Mike left early this morning for San Diego, CA.  He has a job interview tomorrow with Qualcomm, a worldwide leader in telecommunication technology, was recently voted as the 9th best company to work for in the U.S (Bonus!). 

Qualcomm has over 12,000 employees with offices throughout the U.S. and the world however the job Mike is interviewing for is located at their headquarters in San Diego, CA.   I was excited about going with him to San Diego but because the trip ended up being so short (he left this morning and will be home tomorrow night) we decided that it was not worth the airfare for me to fly down overnight.

 

While we are excited at the possibility of relocating to California we are not getting too excited - we've been here before.  Why San Diego?  Well, we'd love to move there for three, no wait, four reasons:

1. A full time job with benefits would be the primary reason.  As I mentioned above, Qualcomm was recently voted the 9th best company to work for in the U.S. - they offer competitive salaries, great benefits their future looks solid and stable. 
2. Sunshine, glorious sunshine is another.  San Diego receives, on average, 266 sunny days per year compared to Seattle which tops out at around 150!  That's huge - the older I get the more I seem to crave sunshine and San Diego seems like a good choice because while they have a lot of sunshine the average yearly temperatures are pretty moderate - nice but moderate.  An average low of about 60⁰ and an average high of about 75⁰ - not bad huh!
3. Moving on & exploring life - the time just seems right for Mike & I to move into a different phase of our life.  We have raised two amazing daughters who are strong & independent and as Katy's graduation approaches we see that she sits poised - ready to take ownership of her life and so we are ready to graduate into a new life too! 
4. Okay, sure, I'll admit it, who wouldn't want to be the best Nana E.V,E.R and live within driving distance of Disneyland, Lego-land, Sea-world, Mexico and the San Diego Zoo!!  What can I say .... once a Nana - always a Nana!

Whether we relocate to San Diego (or another city) or not we have decided that we definitely want to move into a more urban lifestyle.  So we are going to sell our house and move - we are just not sure where yet.

One thing we are sure about is that we no longer need to live in the suburbs, we don't kids living with us anymore that require access to good schools,  family friendly neighborhoods, daycare or little league soccer.  We loved that part of our life but it's over now and we are ready to move onto something new & different, the 'just us' phase of our lives.

Anyone with kids knows that there is rarely enough time, money or energy to advance too far beyond the day-to-day.  Homework, sports and laundry alone take up much of your everyday living but while ....

...I will admit that the transition to an empty nest, was for me, extremely difficult - I loved being a Mom!  But, I now realize that while I am still (and will always be) a Mom - I am no longer the day-to-day kind and I have finally reached a place where I'm okay with that.  

We are ready for change ...

We're looking forward to traveling more, near & far - exploring our own backyard as well as the world at large. 

We want to embrace the city we chose to live in and not live in the outskirts of in anymore.

We are excited to begin doing more of the things we love and less of what we think we should do  ...

With this in mind - I am ready to purge much of my old life to make room for my new one but, more on that one later.

I'll keep you posted on the outcome of Mike's interview.

Have a great weekend

N