Wednesday, February 28, 2007

Happy Wednesday

I staggered in from work not long ago and headed straight for my computer.

I knew that there would be some emails waiting that would determine my weekend schedule. I wanted to get them dealt with so I could just collapse after the 10 straight hours of teaching I did today.

I was hot on the trail of the email that would determine my future when Bob came into the office.

He suggested that I might possibly want to go back to the living room and see what it looked like. I was still engrossed in my quest.

Bob repeated his suggestion. I told him I was just about to discover how late I could sleep in on Saturday.

I knew something was up when he made his request a third time. He is extremely patient and laid back. I'm usually the one pressing for action.

I finally did what I should have done the first time he spoke; I jumped out of my chair and hurried to the living room.

This is what awaited me:


My dear husband surprised me with this lovely bouquet and the words, "Happy Wednesday!"

I love being married to a Romance Specialist!

Tuesday, February 27, 2007

Invasion of Privacy

I was keeping these images firmly in mind today as I underwent an uncomfortably invasive ultrasound.



They helped keep things in perspective.



If we can see this from an airplane, imagine what Heaven is going to be like!

It's going to ROCK!

Monday, February 26, 2007

Pace Family Reunion

This is a picture of Grandpa and Grandma Pace with the first of their ten children:


These are the six Pace sisters:



Bob's mom Nellie is in the front row on the left.

Those six sisters and four brothers had families of their own. They got together frequently:


Bob's sister Merilyn is on the far left in front. Bob is the rebel in the front row.

On Saturday the Pace cousins got together again.


They gathered at High Desert Park in Black Canyon City, Arizona.



Bob's mom Nellie is the youngest and sole surviving Pace sibling:

The Pace cousins brought along their kids and grandkids.






There was plenty of food.



This table was my personal favorite:


Bob took plenty of pictures.

I was glad to be there!



Bob has a wonderful family. I am extremely grateful that I've been grafted into the family tree!

Grandma Christian




We hopped in the Wonder SUV Sunday and headed north to Prescott Valley to see Bob's Grandma Christian.

Grandma Christian is 96 years old. She is Bob's paternal grandmother.


It was wonderful to see Bob and his sister Merilyn with their grandmother.

We were all very grateful for the opportunity to visit her.

God bless her!

Saturday, February 24, 2007

Reunion Teaser




We attended the Pace Family Reunion today in Black Canyon, Arizona.


Pictures and commentary will follow, but not tonight.


We're off to Prescott tomorrow to see Grandma Christian.

Will report back soon.

Friday, February 23, 2007

Flying Rocks!

One of the reasons I love Long Beach Airport is because it's easy to tell when it's close to boarding time; you can watch your incoming plane land. You can see it roaring past on the run way before it turns around and makes a bee line for the gate.



After the incoming passengers exit the craft, you stroll right out and hop on.


I appreciate the pilots who heed this sign:




If they don't, it sounds as if they're flying through our living room

Here's a view of downtown Long Beach that I don't see every day.



I was thinking of my brother Ken as we flew past City Hall where he works.


Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenix is a lot bigger:


Here's a picture of a happy Bob moments before he discovered that his luggage was missing:

I ran over to Baggage Relations to report the errant suitcase while he waited for his mom and sister's flight to arrive.

After I returned with claim papers in hand 10 minutes later, he checked the baggage carousel one more time.

He at last located the pancake that once was his suitcase. It had finally been vomited up from baggage hell.

Clearly something large had run over it; something extremely large. It was not a pretty sight.

I trotted back over to Baggage Relations with the recovered, though mortally wounded, bag.

They took one look at it and offered me a new one. When I accepted, they ran to the back, grabbed a nifty new bag, and I was good to go.

Oh, that was after I unpacked the dead bag in a corner of the claim area. They needed the bag that no longer lived for evidence of the crime against it.

Bob was overjoyed with the new aquisition. He had been in the market for a new suitcase anyway.



While I was frolicking in the land of departed baggage, Nellie and Merilyn arrived and successfully claimed their baggage.

Then we were off to get the car.


I had reserved a full size car on line last night. They upgraded us to a premium size (reservations are a wonderful thing in car land) then, because they were short handed and couldn't get a car up to us fast enough, they lead us over to this nifty Chrysler Pacifica SUV.


Score!

We made our way through Phoenix "traffic" to our hotel.



This is what I want to see at the end of a day of flying:


The reunion is tomorrow. I'll keep you posted.

Greetings from the Gate!

We left home at 9:55 this morning. By 10:05 we were parked in the remote lot of Long Beach Airport and on the shuttle bus.


We're going to fly on a jet!

Regular readers know that I love Long Beach Airport.


Why? We've been relaxing at our gate since 10:30am while I kick back and blog on their WiFi.



I love Long Beach Airport!

Thursday, February 22, 2007

Flute Mechanic

I took a quick trip down to San Diego today to visit my flute mechanic.


Jay is a remarkably patient, exacting, truly gifted craftsman.


Today I was there for a "while you wait" appointment; a quick adjustment made in about an hour to keep things working well.

In May my flute will travel back down to San Diego for a five day stay and a more thorough overhaul.


Sometimes it's hard to watch as Jay dismembers my flute.


Don't laugh, but there have been a few times when I've actually felt faint at the sight of the source of my income strewn in tiny pieces over the work table.


Don't try this at home.


Jay whipped two new pads into place in under an hour. He goes into lightning repair mode, works faster than the human eye can see, then hands back a perfectly adjusted instrument. He never ceases to amaze me.

On top of everything he's a really nice guy.

I am extremely thankful for this extraordinary Flute Mechanic.

Tuesday, February 20, 2007

Rave On!

I hadn't planned on blogging tonight. I've got an early doctor's appointment tomorrow and just wanted to go to bed...

...that was until I got an email from my good friend Jerry with outrageous pictures of huge quantities of food, allegedly from a restaurant in Germany.

It was hard to believe the images, so I decided to do some in-depth detective work.

I Googled it.

Here's what I found:


Have some schitzel and 2 liters of beer for not much money


Welcome to Cafe and Restaurant Waldgeist (Forest Spirit) located in Hofheim Germany.

You can visit the original German website

or

The hilarious translated version.


I'm not sure how appetizing this looks


My personal favorite on the translated website is

"the FOREST SPIRIT child map [menu] for children with large hunger"

and


"The new children's playground….
… here children can rave… on…. "


Forest Spirit Beer Garden


So rave on, friends!

Me? I'll be dreaming of "A mountain Pommes [french fries] with much Ketchup"...

or maybe I'll be practicing my flute...

Monday, February 19, 2007

A Change of Scenery



Soon Bob and I will be exchanging L.A. traffic for that of Phoenix.


Phoenix "rush hour"



We're leaving Friday for the big Pace Family Reunion in Black Canyon, Arizona.



Bob & his mom Nellie, the youngest of the 10 Pace children, at last year's reunion


Last year the weather for the reunion was interesting. It was cold, rainy, and windy. In fact, it snowed in Black Canyon.





This year's weather should be much better.



Bob and his sister Merilyn at last year's reunion


Nellie visisted us in December, but we haven't seen Bob's sister Merilyn since the reunion last year.

This year we're flying to Phoenix instead of driving so we can spend more time with Bob's family.

But first, I've got some flute playing to do.

That's okay.

By the end of the week we'll be looking forward to a change of scenery.