Mexican Geography Lesson

So many people have no idea where La Paz is, so here are some helpful the word "helpful" is dripping with sarcasm maps.
Oh boy - maps.
I love maps.
My mom loves maps.
Our nephew, Johnny loves maps.
It's kind of a sickness in our family.
We even have a nickname for it.
"The Map Treatment".
Watch out when my mom pulls some maps out.
You might be there for a few days...
Anyway - this is Mexico more sarcasm here:Mexico is pretty darn big.
This is the Baja Peninsula:La Paz is marked on both maps, so now you know where we are.
Or where the boat is actually...
We are still in Ventura.
But do to this stuff going on:we really need to head back South to make sure my cockpit party lights don't blow away.
I would hate to lose my fishies, cocktail glasses, pink flamingos and tiki lights.
That would be devasting.
I cannot imagine our cockpit without party lights...

Cristina and Boris

Sounds like a nice little couple except for the name "Boris" that to me has a bit of a frightening aspect to it.
Like a nice little couple that would invite you over for dinner and then serve you as meatloaf to their next dinner guests...
Was there a Boris in Rocky Horror Picture Show?

Here they are...Tropical Storm Cristina and Tropical Storm Boris.
Other than the name "Boris", the only frightening thing would be if I was on a boat between the two.
Ick.
They are really South of La Paz and heading West so no worries ~ just an interesting satellite picture to see two swirls so close together.

Girls' Night IN

Nancy had a "Girls' Night In" planned on her boat for last night.
With loads of snacks no balanced meal for us for dinner.
And several wonderful bottles of wine.
And a chick flick.
Virginia, Cherryl, Pam, Nancy and me.
We wouldn't even let the dog inside the boat, as he is him.

Do you want to know what the longest topic of conversation was?
Mascara, lipstick and new nail polish colors...
NO ~ Biodiesel.
Biodiesel and how we could make it.
Biodiesel and how we could get the drums, the used cooking oil and make it.
Biodiesel and how we could make it and have the Island Packers boats run on it.
Biodiesel and how caustic it would be on our clothes.
Nevermind.
At least we didn't talk about rigging, anchors and sailtrim...
But I guess that does mean we are true "boatwomen".
I think our husbands are quite lucky...

Sorry, no pics yet as I didn't bring the cable for my camera.
But it was sort of like this...Except for the sixth lady...

Tropical Weather Update

Now there are four items in the Eastern Pacific to "watch".
Tropical Storm Boris stupid scary name.
Tropical Depression Three-E...
And our Invest Pals, number 94 and number 95.
Four items ~ that has to be a record.
And of course it is the first time we have had a boat in the hurricane zone since 1999 ~ figures...

Tropical Storm Boris

Love these names they come up with...
They probably picked the name "Boris" because they figured it would put fear into my little brain.
Just the name "Boris" gives me the creeps.
It wouldn't matter what the name was for.
It could be for a fine red wine and I would be afraid of it.
Or even chocolate.
Still would be afraid of it.

The second tropical named "storm / depression" of the season is here.Boris follows along after two "invests".
Invest 94 and Invest 95.
Invest... does that mean it is something to investigate?
Sounds like they are starting to stack up down there.For those of you who are "Mexico Geography Challenged", La Paz is on the Baja Peninsula the long piece of land sticking out South from San Diego about 90% of the way down.
It is on the Eastern side the side closest to the big part of Mexico on that large bay pretty much above the "O" in Boris.

But this time, no worries as the storm is so far South of us.

Since we are 1200 miles away from our boat, we check the weather every day, not that there would be anything we could do about it...
Actually we check the weather every day no matter where we are.
People on boats do that.

Quiet Nights in The Ventura Harbor

It's very quiet here in the harbor at night without the mullets "Chew chew, smack, slap, bang, BANG" and the coromuels blowing all night rattling the sunshade and fenders.
So quiet I can sleep.
Except for the never-ending socializing...
Dinner on this boat which includes wine ~ duh.
Dinner on that boat which includes wine.
Cocktails on the dock wine is a cocktail too.
Cocktails and dinner on this boat more wine.
Cocktails and dinner on that boat wine is still a cocktail.
Lunch with her ice tea.
Lunch with them ice tea.
We will weigh 300 pounds but will be well rested...
No complaints on this end however~~~

Watermakers v. Penguins

The other day I read on the inside of a Snapple cap that penguins have an organ in their heads that convert sea water to fresh water.

WOW - so skip using the watermaker and just get a whole bunch of penguins...But then I checked it out on Wikipedia:
"The supraorbital gland is a type of lateral nasal gland found in some species of marine birds, particularly penguins, which removes sodium chloride from the bloodstream. The gland's function is similar to that of the kidneys, though it is much more efficient at removing salt, allowing Penguins to survive without access to fresh water. Contrary to popular belief, the gland does not directly convert saltwater to freshwater. The term supraorbital refers to the area just above the eye socket (which is known as the orbit of the eye.)

Living in saltwater environments would naturally pose a large problem for penguins because the ingestion of saltwater would be detrimental to a penguin's health. Although penguins do not directly drink water, it is taken in when they engulf prey. As a result, saltwater enters their system and must be effectively excreted. The supraorbital gland has thus enabled the penguins' survival in such environments due to its water-filtering capability. The gland is located just above the eyes and surrounds a capillary in the head. This capillary constantly strains out the salt in the saltwater that a penguin takes in. Since the byproduct of the gland has roughly five times as much salt as would normally be found in the animal's fluids, the supraorbital gland is highly efficient.

The penguin excretes the salt byproduct as a brine through its bill. Often, the fluid drips out, and this gives the appearance of a runny nose. However, the fluid may also be sneezed out. In the absence of saltwater, caused by captivity, the supraorbital gland will lie dormant as it has no other purpose. Having a dormant supraorbital gland does not negatively affect the health of a penguin."

Doesn't quite sound like it's going to work, so we will stick with our watermaker for now...

Beats cleaning up a bunch of penguin poop too.

Heat Wave in SoCal

So since Friday it has been really, really, really hot here.
Record temps.
That is all everyone is talking about but it's better than talking politics.
But it's better than talking politics.
Whoa - deja vu.
So anyway it's been really hot.
Sort of like still being in La Paz, only there is another catamaran, "Pig Dog" in our slip... I mean "Big Dog"...
And here I have 154 friends.
Lots of hugs, how are you, wow is it ever hot, what are you doing here, it's hot, how is the boat, I'm hot, how is La Paz, yikes it is so hot, how was the trip down and oh my I'm so hot.

Awesome G Dock

So after my "landing adventure" then I had my "wait for the shuttle van adventure", then the "stuck in traffic on Pacific Coast Highway adventure", and then the "oh boy we will be an hour late getting in to Ventura adventure" while my husband was having his very own "sit in the parking lot for an hour where the hell is the shuttle van adventure".

But it was all worth it when I walked down G dock to find all the wonderful friends and neighbors out on the dock with a full-on welcoming dock party for me~~~
Complete with food, drinks, chairs, tables and more hugs than I thought possible - it was wonderful!

It was great to catch up with everyone, eat, have wine, say hello, eat, talk about our trip down, drink wine, give Stan his jalapeno chips, drink wine, sit, tell my plane landing adventure twelve times, eat, have more wine, talk about La Paz, eat, talk about the old days, drink wine and hear about who has moved in to what slip and then go to bed.

Thank you all ~ hope I don't forget anyone: Walt, Virginia, Linda, Wally, Bob, Nancy, Marvin, Stan, Jeannine, Kathy, Suzie, Tom, Larry, Judy, Ed, Other Judy, Don, Jim C., Little Lovely Lucy Lowe, Brian, John Howard, Angel and Oso ~ can't forget the dogs ~ yikes, who am I forgetting ~ pretty darn good turn out for a Thursday night! Let me know if I forgot you...

And thanks to Bob and Nancy for inviting us to be your guests ~ G dock is still the best! We love you all...

The Third Time is The Charm...

When landing at LAX apparently...
Just as the view of the swimming pools below was getting really good, where I could tell what kind of floaty toy the kid in the pool was floating on, the view changed. The pools got farther away, I could no longer see anyone floating and then the runway was behind us.
Hmmmm... not good.
Then we were out over the ocean and I could see seagulls diving and the splashes they were making.
Hmmmm... really not good.
The pilot came on the intercom and said due to "wind shear" we had to abort the landing attempt and that we would circle around and make another attempt.
Some of the clowns that I had watched snorkling the beers in the La Paz Airport got all excited and thought we were heading back to La Paz...
Stupid clowns.
So we circle around and I am looking at the same views of the same swimming pools and there is that kid cooling off again and "oh boy, here comes the runway" again, and the shudder of landing gear, hey what is this shudder shit and then there goes the runway behind us again.
Now it's really, really not good.
We are out over the water again, too low for my comfort and we circle in the other direction.
Ok, how many times are we going to do this?
So the pilot announces again there is a wind shear problem on the South runways and that we will circle around again and make an attempt on the North runway.
Ok, but what was that major shudder when lowering the landing gear?
Then the cockpit door opens (oh crap) and Mr. Pilot or Mr. Co-Pilot walks down the aisle (looking a little haggard I might add) and heads to the head - toilet for you non-boaters.
So, I'm thinking at about this point that maybe one of the landing gear is not functioning properly and he has gone back there to hand crank it down.
Do they even have hand cranks on these things?
And I am thinking are we going to be that plane on the nightly news that circles around for hours and hours without it's nose gear / front wheel down and they show the landing on live TV?
Oh please NO.
Not today - maybe some other time.
And I'm thinking hey my dad was a pilot, I can't die in a plane crash and I have never, ever been afraid while flying before.
Why now? Can't die.
And then I'm thinking of all the people that were in the planes on September 11th.
What must have gone through their minds...
And I'm starting to hyperventilate because I am trying to take nice calming yoga breaths.
Not working.
So there are those stupid swimming pools out the window again, only this time I am further North of them and I don't want to see them again today.
And here comes the runway OH PLEASE, OH PLEASE, OH PLEASE, because by this time my arms are numb and I'm really beginning to think there is a major problem and we are going to just keep doing this over and over and over.
And. Over.
The runway is getting closer and closer, OH PLEASE, OH PLEASE, OH PLEASE...
OH YIPEE we are finally touching down and I am not going to die in a plane crash today.
So then I am thinking oh this is good, but I still can't feel my arms.
It took me a few hours to get myself together after that little 40 minute mis-adventure...
And it took the help of Jim and all of our wonderful friends on G Dock...
And a little wine too of course...
Did I tell you were are driving back to La Paz?

Off to See The Wizard...

Actually I am off to see my husband!
My family!
My friends!
In "Alta California", so will leave "Baja California", head North and end up here~Hope my plane is larger than this one...
Will be on the 3rd dock above the entrance.
Boat hopping...
If you look at the end tie, there is a catamaran there ~ "Meerkat"!
But now there is another cat in "our" slip...
...which will be quite strange to see.

So a week or so of visiting, catching up and enjoying all the great people there.
I will enjoy a little lot of good California wine while Jim is suffering through some Sierra Nevada Pale Ales and Arrogant Bastards.
Then we will do a "Baja Road Trip" back to La Paz if we can afford to put gas in Jim's truck to get over the border where gas is a little more on the affordable side - I wonder how many people from San Diego and Calexico drive into Mexico for gas?.

I'll hopefully post from Jim's laptop, but I think the pictures of this little adventure will have to follow once I return here!
Ta ta!

June 21 - Happy Birthday Early to Mom!

Since I will be there instead of here on Saturday, here is an early
HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!
Found some old cool pics of her!

With my brother (the one who has me thinking mayonnaise is made in the Philippines)and he looks nothing like that now... except maybe the drool and the belly, oh any maybe the spaced off look into "space"
Just kidding Gary - you know you are my favorite only brother!

When we lived in Scotland and she was interviewed for a newspaper article "Hot Babe Living Overseas with Kids" or some such thing she will deny this was the title of the article and I'm sure she is correct, but that is what my Dad would have titled it.Driving her toys - our boat in Maryland and her 1964 Corvette!















And while I am on the subject of MOM... Mom and Dad's anniversary is June 23.
If he was still alive they would have been celebrating 57 years... Yikes.
That is a looooonnnnggg time!
They made it to just under 55 years, so that is pretty damn good!

Especially with five kids...
The reason they made it so long was they made a deal early on:
Whoever left had to take the kids.

Mexico Freezes Prices on 150 Foods for 6 Months

Found this on the internet today:

"Mexico freezes prices on 150 foods for 6 months By ALEXANDRA OLSON, Associated Press Writer

MEXICO CITY - Food manufacturers promised Mexico's government to freeze prices on more than 150 food products Wednesday to help families cope with rising costs.

President Felipe Calderon announced that prices for goods such as cooking oil, flour, canned tuna, fruit juices, coffee, ketchup and canned tomatoes will remain fixed until Dec. 31.

"This is a measure that will positively and directly benefit the finances of millions of Mexicans," said Calderon, flanked by representatives of Mexico's business chambers. "This reflects the commitment of Mexican businessmen to the country and to price stability."

The Mexican leader has blamed high food costs on rising global energy prices, soaring food demand in China and India and the use of corn for ethanol production.

Food prices, especially rice, have reached historic highs almost everywhere in the world.

Calderon, a conservative elected in 2006, has already taken several steps to fight high prices. He eliminated import barriers on wheat, corn and rice in May, won an agreement from rice farmers to sell their crop at 10 percent below international market prices and last year imposed price caps on tortillas, Mexico's staple food.

He also announced small monthly cash subsidies to 26 million poor Mexicans, about a quarter of the population. The cash payments of about 120 pesos (US$11.6) a month are expected to cost about US$433 million.

Mexico's central bank said annual inflation rose to 4.95 percent in May, the fastest pace in more than three years, led by the swelling costs of food oils, rice, wheat products and corn tortillas. The country's daily minimum wage is about 50 pesos ($4.80)."

I can see us now ~ living on canned tuna and ketchup tacos.
With a side of canned tomatoes.
And drinking fruit juice.
I wonder what the other 144 products are...
Beer possibly? Wine hopefully?

Clean Boat

Well at least until the afternoon wind comes up...

I took the sunshade down and of course half way through the wind started blowing.
Sunshade all over the deck...
Then washed the boat.
It is so dusty here and there is always (90% of the time) some breeze, so by the time I was rinsing the stern, the bow was dirty again.

This is the first time in over three years the whole enclosure is off the boat.It looks so strange to me!
Hopefully my party lights in the cockpit will be ok for the few weeks I am gone...

Sunshade down, folded and stowed, boat washed, a load of laundry in and a shower all by 10:30 am.
Wow - all of the rest of the day to pack (and read) and clean out the refrigerator.

Frigatebirds

Per Wikipedia:
"The frigatebirds are a family, Fregatidae, of seabirds. There are five species in the single genus Fregata. They are also sometimes called Man of War birds or Pirate birds. Since they are related to the pelicans, the term "frigate pelican" is also a name applied to them. They have long wings, tails and bills and the males have a red gular pouch that is inflated during the breeding season to attract a mate.

Frigatebirds are pelagic piscivores which obtain most of their food on the wing. A small amount of their diet is obtained by robbing other seabirds, a behaviour that has given the family its name, and by snatching seabird chicks.

The Magnificent Frigatebird is 100 cm (39 inches) long with a 215 cm (85 inch) wingspan. Males are all black with a scarlet throat pouch which is inflated like a balloon in the breeding season. Although the feathers are black, the scapular feathers are iridescent and produce a purple colour when they refract sunlight. Females are black, but have a white breast and lower neck sides, a brown band on the wings and a blue eye ring. Immature birds have a white head and underparts.

These birds do not swim and cannot walk well, and cannot take off from a flat surface. Having the largest wingspan to body weight ratio of any bird, they are essentially aerial, able to stay aloft for more than a week, landing only to roost or breed on trees or cliffs."

They should add to this "or masts".
...landing only to roost or breed on trees or cliffs or masts.I actually saw two of these mast-sitting today...
Luckily not on my boat!

And I would have to disagree with Wikipedia's statement of: "A small amount of their diet is obtained by robbing other seabirds".
I think it should say "A HUGE amount of their diet... blah blah blah".
We always see them tormenting other birds and stealing their food.
They are so cool to watch though!
They are amazing "thermal riders".

And when I read the statment: "Immature birds have a white head and underparts".
I mis-read or have dirty contact lenses as I read: "Immature birds have a white head and underpants".
Underpants?
Since when do birds wear underpants, so then I went back and re-read it.
It's all good.
As long as it is not my mast.

The Mullets Were Back...

In force too.

Chew Chew BANG Slap Chew Slap BANG BANG BANG Chew
Chew SLAP SLAP BANG Chew Slap BANG Chew Chew Chew

SLAP BANG Chew Chew Chew



I can't believe Bono had a mullet once... how disturbing

And the wind was up last night too.
At about midnight I heard the connector to the two pieces of sunshade pvc pipe clink down the deck.
So I got up and looked for it - no joy.
Must have clinked right off the deck and in to the water...
So I was worried about the pvc pipes coming all the way out of the sunshade and got up at 1:00 am and hooked them together with mini bungees.
I LOVE mini bungee cords!

This morning I took off the rest of the dodger "windows" and washed them - filthy from this wind!
Rinsed the sunshade off too, so I can take it down tomorrow.
Also filthy.

No bees yet today however...

Bees in the Boat

Today I have done nothing except chase bees out of the boat.
And kill as many as I could.
Luckily I have this handy bee killer, courtesy of Greg and Janis on "Gitana"!



Bees keep flying in here...
This concerns me ~ are they coming in here because they are building a hive somewhere close outside?
Like in the mainsail cover?
Or maybe just because there was no wind today until the afternoon breeze, the "coromuel" just came up!

Yikes, just chased another one out a hatch!

So that is all I have done all day ~ chase and kill bees.
Well, actually I cleaned the walls of the port head.
And read.
Made this really good salad with Chinese noodles and sesame dressing.Then I ate it.
Made and drank a bunch of limeade.
Returned a movie and a book to the book exchange.
Made popcorn.
Washed dishes.
Cleaned the floor.
Got rid of a few gray hairs with some dye.
Then the gray hairs came back when the bees started flying inside the boat.
So then I killed some more bees.
So that really is all that I did today.

Couldn't Sleep...

Even though the mullets must have found some other "bottom of the boat smorgasbord", I couldn't fall asleep last night. I kept waiting to hear them bang into the port hull, but they were elsewhere (thanks guys and gals!).
Still couldn't fall asleep though...
So always thinking of traveling, I started counting the States in the USA I had been to and the number of Countries I had been to.
I was wondering if I had been to more States or Countries...
And does it count if I was only in the airport?
What about if I don't remember being there?
Or if I think I was there?
My brother used to tell his younger sisters (me included) things and we would believe him (yes, Gary... remember the "mean monkey"? Or how about "the reason Mount Mayon is smoking is that they make mayonnaise up there"? I still look at the back of mayonnaise jars to see if they were "made in the Philippines")...
And what about an "Unincorporated Organized Territory"?
Where do I put Guam - do I need a third list for Territories?
And I think I was there, because I remember my brother telling me the airport was bigger than the island and how could that be?
I do have a vague memory of looking out the window from inside the airport, but if I was only at the airport and "think" I was there, does that still count?
But since I don't know where to list Guam anyway...
Then I wondered if I list something from my childhood and I really wasn't there and my Mom corrects it, is that going to make me wonder about the rest of my childhood memories?
What about if she tells me I was somewhere and I never knew this until now, does that count?
At this point I started wishing it was the mullets that were keeping me awake...

So before I compile my official list, time for a new poll.

The fish.
The fish was originally in my toilet, but then I flushed him, so he most likely turned in to fish food.
So now he is probably inside another fish.
So the correct original answer was "In my toilet" - congrats to you eleven normal people.
In my limeade? That is disgusting...

Where mayonnaise comes from:

Sunday's Walkabout

Today on my "walk about La Paz", I headed towards the Cathedral.
I hadn't walked around that area since we were here on our old boat, "Thistle" eight, nine and ten years ago.I was treated to "sort of a concert" in the town square.
A lady was singing to canned music, but her voice was actually quite good.
Just not sure how she could stand there in the sun in 90 degrees in skin-tight jeans...
What is it with the girls here wearing skin tight jeans anyway - ick.
I can't imagine how sweaty and uncomfortable I would be if I tried that...
Pants in general - ick.

The square and Cathedral here are very pretty - reminds me of the central square in Tepic as this square has pine trees too!











Then I meandered.
Down one street, up the next then down again in a sort of grid pattern.


I found the old movie theater where we saw "Titanic" back in May of 1998.
Doesn't look like they will be showing any flicks soon...Bummer, because it would have been nice to have had a theater within walking distance.
Oh wait, I remember how they had no water that day and there were 200 people wanting to use the restrooms. Nevermind...

More meandering.
I love this portion of the sidewalk on Bravo, even with the hazards of huge steps.I also love the painting on this garage door.
Back to meandering.
Needed limes so headed up to the Bravo Market and spent a whopping 5 pesos.Amazing what you can buy for 50 cents here, and now I have limeade ingredients to last me until I fly out of here on Thursday!

That ended up being close to 4 miles, so I'm good for the day!

Attack of The Mullets...

No, not the horrid hairstyle - the fish!Most likely because we have no bottom paint whatsover and really don't want to haul out (who does?) quite yet or ever I was surrounded last night.
The mullets swim alongside the bottom of the boat and I am assuming feed on the crap growing there which is a lot of crap because I don't feel like paying a bottom cleaner if we aren't going anywhere for awhile.
They bang into the boat when scared (which is every 14 seconds) and it sounds like someone is hitting the boat or someone is knocking on the boat.
Apparently mullets are nocturnal or just never sleep.
This went on until I don't know what time, but very late or very early in the morning.
Since it is not a consistant noise it wakes me up ~ sort of an internal warning system from spending so much time at anchor.
Tonight I think I will pour a gallon of bleach down the hulls before I go to bed. Make the crap taste like crap.

This is a Good Thing

I love it when this says "No tropical cyclones at this time".
This is something we want to read everyday from now until the end of November.
Key word is "NO" (meaning none, nada, nothing to worry about).

Books

Books - a huge part of living here (or cruising, which we aren't doing at the moment)...

There is a wonderful book exchange here in the marina, that I go wander into every day and sometimes twice or three times a day.
The turnover is amazing - new books every day!

Found this one yesterday and finished it this afternoon.Any travel books with humor interest me.
This writer went around the world by herself pretty much without the use of planes.
The book covers her trip from South Africa to departing Sudan and crossing into Egypt.
She has a webpage of her trip: www.MariesWorldTour.com (of course the trip was completed a few years back ~ sure wish I could have followed the website as she was doing this).

This is the second book I have recently read about Africa.
The other one had it's own type of humor...
I think it was humor.
It was actually pretty insane.
True story of a girl growing up in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), Malawi and Zambia in the late 60's and early 70's.
All five of us who sailed motored "Meerkat" down Baja read this book on the way down.Made us all appreciate our own childhoods...

Both really worth reading!

Also found some nutso Florida novels (but we may have already read these two...)Remember, Jim is gone, so I'm not doing much down here by myself!

Sidewalk Hazards #2

While out walking the town today, I found my "New Favorite Sidewalk Hazard"...
Second place for the day goes to:




I guess some people think if it's filled with trash, it won't hurt as much when you step into it by mistake...

Official Hurricane Preparedness Week

Not.
Nothing forming either.But since I will be gone for a few weeks, do need to prepare the boat.

And we do have some clouds today YIPEE!Never thought I would love clouds so much.
Never thought I would want them to cool me off either...

We took the headsail off last week, and before I leave will take down the sunshade, the rest of the dodger and wrap the mainsail (maybe - if I can reach it).

But Jim never said anything about shrinkwrapping...
Do I need to do this? Where oh where am I going to find enough shrinkwrap...

On another "hurricane note", check out the list of Eastern Pacific hurricane names:There are some things about this list that bother me...
1) The only hurricane we "weathered" here was about 15 years ago. We didn't have a boat here and were in a hotel at the time, so it wasn't too bad. However, "IT" is on this year's list... "Hurricane Fausto". Not looking forward to the F hurricane this year...
2) Several years ago a hurricane wiped out the marina we are in. "Hurricane Marty". It's on the list for 2009. Couldn't they come up with another M name? I can think of a lot of M names... Miguel, Mary, Michael, Melissa. Anything but Marty.
3) The X, Y & Z names aren't very original.
4) Some of them just plain suck. Really "Octave"? "Cosme"? "Paine" - hurricanes are always a pain... "Kiko" and "Tico" in the same year - what did they have to pick some that rhymed?
5) And my main complaint, never a "Heather".

"Jim ~ Less" Food

I eat totally different when I am without Jim.
Little or no meat.
Lots of cucumbers, avocados, more cucumbers, tomatoes and sometimes some more cucumbers.

Things like stuffed avocados (yes, there is tuna in this so Jim would eat this):oh, look ~ there's a bunch of cucumbers

Nachos (there are beans and some cheese on this, along with jalapenos, so Jim would eat this too):No cucumbers though...

And pasta salad, with carrots, cucumbers, duh! red bell peppers, red onion, kalamata olives, cheese and balsamic vinegar (Jim would not touch this):I'm not obsessed with cucumbers, but they are cheap here and are always wonderful!

All my food is served "round"...
No square meals for me!
If you look down inside a wine glass it is round too...

Evann's Numerous Awards!

We just had to brag a little about our niece, Evann!
She just finished 5th grade and was awarded a special scholarship ~ with only one of these given to a student each year!She also received these other awards ~ what a great kid!We are all very proud of her and are thrilled that she is doing so well!I think she was thrilled too! Good job EP!