Funny things

So as many of you know, I have a black cat (who seems to have the evil reputation). Where I live there is a "property stray cat". He is black and his name is bear. He is so sweet!!! You look at him and he gets excited and starts purring and drooling. When we moved in, we were asked to keep and eye on him and feed him and such. As it turns out, so was the gal in the other cottage. I never knew this. Greedy little guy, comes here and looks through the window at us waiting to be fed, morning and night and then runs to the neighbors and eats there. Well right now he has a gash on his head. I hope it was another cat that got him and not a mean raccoon. Either way, its sad, as it is swollen and yucky so I probably need to take him in to the vet. These cats are funny, they don't look at all alike but they trick me. Obviously not on purpose. I can go out the door to empty garbage and turn around and get startled that my cat go out when it is just Bear. OK so that's enough about the cats.
I have put in volunteer time with the playground. It was supposed to be finished Sunday but it didn't happen. So I guess I will go put some of my spare time into it some more.
My in laws are coming around May 20th so my goal is to tackle a few projects here at home and get them taken care of and clean up before they come.
My brother seems to be doing ok. Bruised and hurting but surviving and recuperating.
Jodie have put up info on her blog on the baby so he is doing well. I have yet to actually see him in real life, only pictures.
The diabetes bike ride is this weekend and I am going to do it! 10 miles. I hope I survive. Sponsor me on the link on the right of the screen.
I am doing well on the insulin pump so that is good. Doing some tests to pinpoint it. I have to do one that is over night tonight. I test my sugar 4 hours after dinner, then every 3 hours until morning, so 6:20 and then figure some things out. Let me tell you, I AM STARVING since I ate a light dinner.
What else is up? Maleah is 6 today.
Shannon has gotten some flying time in and is really happy.
My seeds I have planted are sprouting so that's exciting.
Other than that, I have not seen many friends or anything much. Tami has been the one I see the most. Everyone is busy with their lives. The other half of everyone has moved and stuff. Oh well.
So, for those of you that read this, whats up with everyone?

Today and lately

Well nothing much of interest or at least too much interest has been going on.
My brother is out of the hospital and without surgery so that is good. Apparently the spleen can heal itself. I googled it and found this out.
I am not sure how Jodie is doing, you have to contact her or click on her blog to find out. Guess Cooper is ok and Jodie also.
I have been working on the weddings and events. I am getting booked better through October. I have 2 weddings a month except in June when I only have one. September has 1 booked and a contract due in and then 2 others possible. Walnut Festival is in September also and I have a corporate event looking for a planner also. Yay me!
I have been getting ready for the diabetes bike ride. If you want to sponsor me, there is a link on the right hand side of the screen. It is May 6th and I will ride 10 miles. I am excited that I will be able to do it and if I can keep riding on a regular basis, maybe I can drop a few pounds.
I have been working on this volunteer project and it is pretty neat. www.childrensplayground4all.com and it is to be completed by Sunday April 29th at 5pm. It has been a great experience in several ways. It gets me out of the house, in the sun and around people. I went the first day it was beginning, Friday April 20th. I spent an afternoon soaping screws. Yes, taking a bar of ivory soap and twisting the screws on it to get them coated in a soap. Not too exciting but interesting and I was able to talk to a variety of people that came and went through the afternoon. Yesterday afternoon I went back (I had been busy Saturday and Sunday and they took off MOnday and Tuesday) and spent the afternoon priming a bunch of wood. (I need to take the camera tomorrow and post some pictures) Today was kind of cool. I went and they put power tools in my hands. I was drilling and stuff. That was fun. At first I thought they might be crazy letting me do this but it worked out fine. I will go tomorrow afternoon and Saturday to help.
I guess I am also doing other Walnut Festival volunteer stuff. I am going to help Sunday with the www.wellnesscitychallenge.com in walnut creek. I dont know much else right now. I know that we are working with them for the walnut festival.
The nice weather is here for a day or 2 so I like that.
What else?
Oh I know. Its almost time to open the cabin. Road is clear and everything. Here is a neighbors cabin/webcam www.livingstoncabin.com so that will be exciting.

A Saturday Adventure

Saturday we took a Drive and our destination was to the Moaning Cavern in Vallecito Ca. Back in December, I picked up little touristy fliers on this, while up at PAWS with Tami.
Basically we drove East on Highway 4 and it was out there. http://www.caverntours.com/ Wow, how cool was this??? Fortunately we were smart enough to just do the walking tour.

Here is a picture down, I think, from the top or maybe up. Not sure as I think Shannon took this one.
The tour is 248 steps down.

This metal thing in the picture is the stairwell, its a spiral stairwell going down. First it is a narrow wood stairs and then it stops at this landing and then you do down the spiral enclosed stairwell. I did ok considering I don't like heights. The landing has a ledge under it so that helped. However going down the spiral part, I didn't look down. (only down at my feet)

This is looking up from the bottom. You actually go 165 feet underground.

So then there is the rappelling option/tour. Descend by rope 165 feet into the huge main chamber of Moaning Cavern! No experience is necessary, and gloves, hard-hat, and the highest quality rappelling equipment are provided. Adventurous people from all walks of life are thrilled by this unique and exciting opportunity to try something new! Total trip time is approximately 45 minutes.

Holy Crap, I don't think so. There is a picture of the rappelling guy 1/2 way down but cant tell that's what it is. Ok, its in the picture of the stairwell looking up and just next to it you can see the guys legs. This is just after he came off the rope, obviously.

The cave tour is really cool. Due to lack of natural light and all, you really can not tell how big some of the formations are and stuff. (Pictures don't come out that great either)

The rappelling thing also goes like this. After you get off the rope, you crawl through the enclosed tunnels in the cave. (better not be claustrophobic) The guide (teenager) says that at one point it is a tight squeeze, the size of a 5 gallon bucket. So not sure I could do that either. Read some of the descriptions of the tours and caverns. It was worth doing.

Then there is the sample gold mining thing. (Touristy thing) if you look behind me being a ham.

Somewhere on the drive to the cavern was a sign saying Road Closed at Lake Alpine. So.... Shannon wanted to drive to where the road closed. As we headed that way, we drove through Angels Camp and then the next place we drove through, with any sign of a town, was Murphy. Super cute little town and we stopped and had lunch at the Main street grill or something like that. Very yuppy little town, lots of tiny shops called "wineries". Still had cute charm to the town.

So off we went driving further. Most the towns had a population of around 125. One town had a town sign with an elevation but no population to it. Then there is Arnold with 4000 plus people, but I have no idea where. So this is a picture as we went further up. Apparently we were still on 4 and drove by Bear Valley resort. I have never been out here at all.

Finally we hit what must be and is Lake Alpine. Way cool, a frozen lake. (Shannon thought it was cool to see in California) I just have never seen a frozen lake so that was beautiful to me.

We had a great drive, drove in snow and played in snow. I think Shannon was worried I might try to walk on the frozen lake. Wrong, not going that close. So that was an adventure, a little one, but had a great time.

People and such....

So sometimes I think I am the only one that communicates by email. I know I am not, because I get replies from several people. Some are short replies and some are super long and some in between. I don't really think it takes that long to reply to a message personally sent to someone. I personally think it takes less time than calling someone. For some people maybe it does take longer. Someone that is not computer literate or that is not familiar with using email or something. I dont think I know but maybe 2 people like that. I guess I dont get it. Oh well. At least I know I try to keep in touch with some people.

Hey, I know there are bunches of you that read this and there are maybe 2 or 3 people that ever actually put in a response, comment or anything. Someone else respond sometime, shock me or something.
Ok I vented a little and hope that the wrong people dont get offended by it.

My Brother

&&&4/19 update- Bobby is doing better, and they are sending him home Thursday morning- I think- Here is what Jade just sent

Long day! Just gettin back home from the hospital. From what your dad
said the nurses and doctors told him - Bobby should be coming home
tomorrow some time. He's starting to feel the "soreness" in his whole
body from the accident now and looks like a little old man hobbling
around.


***4/17 update- No Surgery, so far, this is from Jade
Hey yall!
Just checkin' in for a minute. Bobby is still in Special Care at St.
Thomas and has been sleeping most of the day. I went by earlier this
afternoon and the nurse says he'll probably be in special care through
tomorrow and maybe get a regular hospital room tomorrow night or Thursday
morning. They still have him hooked up to an IV and are checking his
blood every 8 hours. He hasn't been able to hold down liquids yet - he
ate some jello this morning and threw that back up. He says he's hungry
and it hurts his tummy when his stomach growls.
I haven't seen one of the doctors today to get his opinion again of what's
going on - but I'll make sure to find one when I go back this evening.
Other than that, we're just waiting for him to heal up and get better! He
is definately feeling a little better cause he was joking around this
morning with one of the nurses about his ass hurting from laying on it too
long!
**********************************************************************************
4/16
Here is the very latest, My brother lives in Tennessee. He went dirt bike riding today and had an accident. Apparently he is in the hospital with a ruptured spleen. So far they are not doing surgery, yet. UGH, go figure. So he is in ICU

Shannon went flying

SHannon went flying and came home so happy. He was up in the air for over 5 hours and this is just above San Ramon. What you can see is Bishop Ranch and the bottom is more of the new Windemere places being built way out Bollinger. If you know the area, you can figure out where our street is and where we live. It may not be too exciting to some but I thought it was neat.

The latest-

Not too much to report in my boring life. I started the insulin pump as I said and it is going great and so much easier and less stressful then injections. Yay!!
Jodie left me a message Friday and she sounded so happy I can not even explain it. Cooper was going home yesterday and I am assuming he did. I left Jodie and Mark alone as I know the families would be there and take up her time and such. You can see her updates on her blog but she is about a week behind. She will catch up soon.
We went out Friday the 13th. It was the 20 year anniversary for Pete's in Danville (www.petesbrassrail.com) however it was also Smokin J's playing at Meenars (they played at Pete's also) and it was Vicki's birthday, which ment the Danville crowd would be out. Shannon, Jim and I went and joined the festivities. Kind of funny that we ate at Norm's since Pete's was packed as I expected. Food was pretty good, a little different menu but it was good. We wandered down to Pete's and found the gang. Some people I had not seen in years and didn't know they even lived in the area again. We Went to Meenar's and eventually Vince and the gang made it. I had a good time. Now Eric (Nyman) was around and I haven't seen much of him over the last year. How does he get away with things. He had on those shoes kids where with wheels!!! I didn't know they made them in adult sizes. He was wheeling around in Pete's, he is so funny. He said he likes the mall because it has a smooth surface!!! So that was entertaining.

I have been job searching, putting in resumes and been on 3 interviews. I am also putting my name out there for corporate and other events and of course do the weddings. I booked 2 new weddings this week so that is exciting. Please feel free to pass my name on for whatever it may be.
Jasper has been his normal blob self, he is so big. He has a new thing with sleeping in the middle of the floor. Nearly fell and went head first into the table the other day trying not to step on him. It is sort of weird behavior for him. Starting to wonder if he is ok.
Shannon is flying today (hopefully) so he is happy. Either way he is happy as he is at the airport playing with planes.
I have stuff planted out in the yard, it helps pass my time. I also have a tennis lesson I am taking so I like that and may start doing that more.

I have been riding the bike to get ready for my ride. So far I know I will make the 10 miles. (sponsor me on my diabetes link)

Walnut festival people have some interesting things coming up, one is regarding building a park for children of all abilities. Its the first of its kind in the country. Here is the info- so going to help with that.

we are
now ready to start the build of this playground...
we are in the need of 300 volunteers a day for ten
days to complete the project...20 april until 29 april...

please, go to the website: childrensplayground4all.com

to get more information, volunteer time, tools, money,
food, etc...if you have more questions, contact me or
walter...you can sign up on line for a time slot...if you have
four (4) hours and want to be part of this fantastic
project...sign up...

this project started as the dream of one lion...it is now
grown to include the city of concord, other service organizations,
local citizens of the area...

i am attaching a flier requesting monetary donations
for tools...walter is the tool coordinator and this
opportunity just became available...if you can help
or know someone...give them the flier...

again, if you have any questions, please call me...
thank you for taking the time to care...

So as I said, not much going on, just little things here and there. I am sure I missed something. The thing about Eric and his shoes was a highlight, it was pretty funny. I did watch Tami's cat. That cat tries to kill me and won't let me walk.
So support me for the Diabetes ride and make a donation or come help us build a park.

Remember Kitt?

You too can be the next owner of Kitt- up for sale here in the east bay!!

http://cbs5.com/topstories/local_story_092142014.html