Claimjumper Dinner

Friday, November 12:   Went to Claimjumper tonight with Stanners, Jennifer, Bridget & Ferdinand, Doug & Barbara.  Had a great time as usual!  Stephanie was working tonight and took good care of us.   Here are the pictures:

Ferdinand made a great impression on everyone.  He seemed very comfortable talking with everyone - if he wasn't comfortable, he sure didn't show it!  Everyone likes him very much.

Yvonne said, "It was so nice to see Bridget so happy!"

Jennifer is going to jump out of a plane for her birthday on December 18th!  She invited all of us to join her - but being sane people, we declined.  Adrienne is recovering nicely from mono and is back to all her jobs.

Wish Nicole, Maryann and Brian could have been with us.

But Thanksgiving is coming soon - we can all have fun together!!!!

An Afternoon at the Huntington Library

Bridget, Barbara, Mama and Janet went to the Huntington Library today (Saturday 11/6).  I had bought a membership through Groupon and it had to be used before Nov. 9th.  It was beautiful weather today - so off we went.  Bridget knew that Mama would love to go and we called Janet because Mary was at the races with Dad.  It has been a long time since I was at the Huntington.  But right away, the memories came flooding back on how I used to take you girls when you were little and you would run around the green lawns.  And you loved to go in the "big house" and see Pinky and Blue Boy.  We stayed mostly around the gardens today - and went to the new Chinese gardens.  I had never seen those before.  You can see the pictures below:


Mama likes to use the trolley for stability.



Janet and Bridget and a special friend.

The mountains were so clear, but we might have rain tonight.

Who are these two beauties?

When we were at the Chinese gardens, there was a cute gazebo and inside there was a Mom and 3 kids.  They were all sketching a duck that was in the pond.  So cute!!!  Bridget and I could see Maryann doing that someday!

A view of the bridge at the Chinese gardens.

Sketching a duck...we talked to them and the kids showed us their drawings.

Bridget and I on the bridge.  I guess that means "Bridge on the bridge".

Now that we have a membership, we will be visiting the Huntington a lot!  And both Bridget and I can take guests (when we go alone), so maybe we will take you sometime!!!

Happy Halloween

The Friday before Halloween our office celebrated the holiday by having a "Gauntlet Competition." We spent the day doing our normal activities, however we were separated into teams and were given points based on our activity. For example, every phone interview was 1 point and submitting a resume to a job was 3 points. We met up 4 times a day to tally points. My team didn't win but we also weren't last place. It was a really fun day and we dressed up! Here are some pictures of that day.

Chris was Zach from Saved by the Bell

Our boss was Oscar the Grouch

JP was a miner

Tyler, Weston, and I were MJ's Sleepover

I celebrated Halloween with my friends in San Francisco. Friday night we went to a bar that has a dance floor. That night I was a devil (which is very out of character for me) and the next night I was a flapper (again, out of my element). That weekend SF was on fire! The Giants were in the World Series and it was Halloween.

This is a picture in front of the white wall in our apartment. Kristen is in the middle (she was Amelia Earhart!) and Laura (she was a vampire!).

Go Bears and Beat Cancer!

October 22nd weekend Therese came to visit and stayed with me in our beautiful apartment. Friday night we met up with Gamma Phis and then came home early to rest for the Berkeley game on Saturday. I woke up early to attend the "Making Strides Against Breast Cancer" walk at Golden Gate Park in SF. Our office met and walked together. We were so lucky--it didn't rain but we heard right after we finished and left the park it started to rain. 

This is Happy Hour in the City

-Kelly, Therese, Kristen (roommate), Me, Shintau, Marice-

At the Walk! (coworker Ashley who referred me to Aerotek)

Go Bears! (there was a balloon man at the bar!)

Our office at the Making Strides walk

It was rainy but we stayed under umbrellas at the Bear's Lair.

I quickly left the walk and went to Berkeley to meet with up Therese, my roommates and other Gamma Phi  sisters. We had a fun time at the Bear's Lair but it was not busy. The rain and Giant's game kept people away. One of my favorite moments: I got my favorite sandwich at Smart Alecs. I took Therese to the airport early Sunday morning, so we didn't get much time together. However, she is a great friend and she will be visiting often!

Barbara and Bridget - the Decorating Divas

The new area rug for the family room was delivered today from Ethan Allen.  I'm not sure the pictures show the true colors.  The green in the rug perfectly matches the green piping on the couches.  Another decorating masterpiece from the Decorating Divas!

Lake Tahoe with Doug & Barbara, continued

Friday we waiting for Maryann and Brian to arrive.  I did a little shopping in the morning and Dad went to bet the races in the afternoon.  So I had to spend a little time in the casino myself.  But more importantly, we were struck by the beautiful fall colors everywhere we went in Tahoe.  Here are some pictures of the colors:

Most of these views were taken from our condo.  
Maryann and Brian arrived Friday night and it was great to see them.  We had a wonderful weekend with them.
Saturday, Dad and Brian concentrated on the horses, baseball (Go Giants!) and football.  Maryann and I went shopping in the cold, windy weather.  Maryann and I went to 5pm Mass and then Maryann treated me to a fabulous dinner at The Chart House. 
Sunday morning, Dad and Brian went to 10am Mass and then met Maryann and I at the Red Hut for breakfast.  Then they jumped in the car to return to Petaluma.
Monday, Dad and I went driving to north Lake Tahoe.  We stopped at a viewpoint and took these pictures of Lake Tahoe:

That was our last day in Tahoe! 

Tuesday we got up early and headed home.  We did veer off the 395 to head to June Lake.  Here are some pictures of that pretty lake.  And we found a very interesting historical point.  Be sure to read the whole plaque!  Funny that I would find that historical plaque!!!

California is certainly full of beauty and we were so lucky to have such perfect weather all week.  It was a great week of relaxing, cheering the Giants to a World Series victory and even winning some money!  Dad and I are ready to plan our next road trip!!!

Lake Tahoe with Doug & Barbara

Dad and I took our first Road Trip!  South Lake Tahoe was our destination - Highway 395 was our route. Tuesday, Oct. 26th was the departure date.  All went well until we stopped at the Visitors Center in Lone Pine.  Doug used the restroom and then reported that he was having a kidney stone attack!  Yikes!  We got in the car and I used the GPS to find the nearest hospital.  Bishop was one hour away and we figured that was our best bet since the other towns are so small.  So poor Dad had to hold on (the pain was slowly increasing) until we arrived at the small hospital.  2 hours later - all is fine and off we go!  We stopped at Schotz Bakery (Lydia and Fr. Michael recommended it highly) and I had a great sandwich and Dad could only watch!  (He couldn't eat for 2 hours!)  We bought some awesome sourdough bread and got back onto the Hwy 395.   The weather was wonderful, there was hardly any other cars on the road and we had all the most gorgeous scenery to ourselves.  (You girls know how much your mother loves "scenes"!

We arrived at Lake Tahoe around 5:30pm and the timeshare was really nice.  Even had a fireplace!  We just relaxed that evening and looked forward to the week!

Wednesday:  It was cold the night before and our fountain was frozen in the morning!  We checked out the casinos and did a little gambling :)  and then watched the World Series.

Thursday:  Emerald Bay drive and some more gambling  :)

Here's some great pictures from our fun weekend with Maryann and Brian:

(sorry....this takes forever to do.....will finish tomorrow)