My new friend Mary Kay

Well you remember me telling you about our new friends from MN that are spending the winter here?
We were on our way home to meet them for happy hour when I received a text from her saying that they were in the ER and she had broken her leg. OH NO!!
They are leaving for home the end of this week or should I say they planned to. I spoke to her yesterday and she was in terrible pain...today going to an ortho to find out if she needs surgery.
They were out biking and her tire got caught between the grass and sidewalk and threw her down breaking her leg. Poor gf...not a fun way to end your vacation or begin a long drive home.

Here we are celebrating our twin birthday and look~ we even look alike and dress alike! haha

Hope she gets good results today and starts to heal quickly. Saying prayers!

Gift from heaven

Today was one of those whirlwind mornings with a quick trip to the Art Under the Umbrella fest in Old Town LQ. We were looking for a watercolor artist that has painted a big horn sheep in the past and promised us he would again. Well he was a no show so off we go to PS to golf with our friends. I dropped my man off and went to drop Grace off at Gdma's and then back to park and go golf. Well the parking lot was full so for the first time ever I parked in the PS Museum parking lot next door. I was apprehensive about leaving it there but was running late so did it anyway.
After golf Jerry drove our cart there so I could pick up the car and unload our clubs etc. There was a black range rover stopped behind my car with the door open. No biggie except the owner came hurrying over to it and I said to her what are the chances? Then I realized it was Diane Keaton! Seriously? So I ask her ( I dont know the protocol for movie stars) aren't you Diane Keaton? I know it really sounds stupid now. She says yes and I tell her I really like her work...again not sure what you say and there are a couple movies I do like. So she tells me she is on an architecture tour and how fascinating it is...so I mention O Donnell golf course having a great history too...and we bond and then go to our cars. Well I get ready to back up but she is still in my mirror..just sitting....so I get back out and ask if she minds letting me out and she apologizes. I back up and then we wave as we pass like we are girlfriends or something for at least one minute!
The very best part of this whole minute or two of my life was this. I do not know if desert living is drying me out or if its just the great aging process, but my skin is really getting loose. I feel embarrassed by it and have tried to stop wearing short sleeves thinking I must be grossing others out. I check out everyone I meet to see if they are also losing the glue that holds them together. I know everyone says the sun and yes I did enjoy my share of rays but as God as my witness I come from a whole big line of wrinkly relatives. Baby if you got bad genes there isn't a damn thing you can do about it. So I have been struggling with this issue for months and just this morning mentioned to my man how sorry I am I look this way. I know I am pathetic but tell me what aisle self confidence is on and I will buy a case. I know, right?
Well here is my greatest birthday gift that just came out of heaven to raise me up. Diane looked just like me! She had lots of smile wrinkles and her hair was completely straight..I could have hung out with her and been comfortable! I am a bit upset that she advertises this moisturizer and looks so wonderful in the ad that I honestly bought a jar of it hoping I would also look fabulous. Dont make me go get it and show you please because while it feels delightful I am still old Cher in the am.
So I feel sad that our society and media airbrushes all the flaws and aging away from the people we see and make some of us feel awful about ourselves. I feel wonderful though to have found someone else dealing with it. She says she wants her face to be authentic and show how she feels. So I wonder how she feels hanging with the Goldie Hawns etc out there that dont have anything true about them.
Maybe she feels like I do or maybe she found the aisle with self confidence galore and she is just fine with the woman in her mirror. I know I felt so much better like maybe I am just fine too.
Thanks for dropping by!  :^>

two posts in one day~

Well you all know I have been working on a piece for over two months give or take company arriving.Today I am finally done and completely drained creatively so I thought I would share it with you. Tada!

This is her sketch of what she wanted in a piece.

This is my vision of her story quilt.

Box Canyon hike

A few weeks ago we packed up and headed out for an unknown hike. We had JB and TK here needing a little stand up time after all the tiling. Jammie and Wolfgang arrived around noon and off we went.
Our neighbor loaned us the best book about hiking around here and I am pretty sure TK is carrying it in most of his photos. In fact we had our friend Janna from CO, (a very serious hiker for sure!) here last weekend and the book went on a different hike with her!
We hiked the Painted Canyon/Ladder Canyon loop which is about 5 miles. The desert heat was not a problem because the canyons were all relatively cool and of course we were only in March.

Cute explorers!

So much more fun than laying tile!

Happy kids!

The gang~

Its difficult sometimes to capture the beauty of nature and this was one of those days. I was amazed at every corner how beautiful it was and how blessed I was to spend the day there with my fam.
I hope if any of you come to visit we are able to repeat this day over and over.

Favorite day

Well today is the beginning of my last year in the 50s. I received a happy birthday text just after midnight from my new MN friend whose bday is today as well. She is one crazy chick for sure and I kind of like that about her. My man made my favorite breakfast of blueberry pancakes and we ate outside on this perfect day. Just returned from a walk around the hood and now onto a few favorite pastimes. First thing I need to finish reading Hunger Games...I am almost done and I just couldn't stay awake last night to finish. Perhaps the last chapter while lying in the hammock...If you have not read the books I seriously think you should. Very entertaining at the least.
My mom took me out for a birthday lunch yesterday at Pacifica in Palm Desert and it was a wonderful time. We walked thru Saks and I just find it the most interesting place for people watching. I cannot afford a single item in the store and yet its packed with ladies with attitude.  I also received a phone call in the store from Timothy explaining his latest adventure and how the tour has been cancelled for 3 weeks due to Donald fracturing his foot. I felt a bit sad for Timothy because this has been a dream of his to go on tour and from what he was telling me its not at all what he expected. Lots more drama and confusion and tension than he expected and that always takes the fun out of anything. He is flying home today for a few weeks and I am sure Jammie and Wolfgang will be delighted to see his furry face! lol

Now you all know how much I love posting before and after photos...not exactly the same angle but still feels good to see all the improvements!  These were taken a year apart and John made our yard look even better but still~
I have great news to report~I graduated from Physical Therapy yesterday (with a tee shirt to boot!) and I am living pain free for the first time in about 2 months. I just need to watch how much time I spend hunched over my worktable/sewing machine and continue to do neck exercises forever. Feels so good to not hurt!
OK I am off to enjoy the day and Box Canyon hike is next post for sure.

having too much fun!

While our friend IngerLise was here she wanted to take us to one of her favorite restaurants here in LQ...The Cliffhouse. We have been wanting to try it but it never seems to work out so we were delighted to go. I found out its happy hour all night long on Sundays so of course that was the day to do it! Well it was packed and we got one of the last tables but when we sat down I noticed the lady next to us was wearing the exact same shirt I had on. Kind of awkward but I decided to just joke it up and told her she had great taste in Chico shirts! We started talking and turns out she and her husband are from MN about 40 min from Alexandria. We all continued to chat and out of the blue she asks me when my birthday is. Not sure why but we discover we share a birthday too! Well long story shorter we ended up taking them home with us for another glass of wine! I know right...who does that?! We enjoyed meeting them so much we exchanged numbers with plans to golf today. The following week we take a couple from Gig Harbor to The Cliffhouse and OMG they are there again too!
Well the golf turned into bike riding and beer and lunch at Hog's Breath...an absolutely perfect day and I cant believe how much we have in common. They also like to hike, bike, and golf so I am hoping we all stay in touch and meet up again next year. We are going to our favorite restaurant for my birthday that we have been enjoying for over 25 yrs. Since its Mary Kay's birthday as well, we asked if they wanted to join us...Jerry said he had not even finished asking and they said YES! So we will see them again to celebrate our twinness but hopefully not wearing the same outfit again!! haha!
Life is funny but oh so wonderful!
I am making great progress on my story quilt and feel quite pleased with how it is turning out. I am hoping to be done in a week, two max. Its such a wonderful feeling to see the almost finished piece and be happy with my work. This one has been a tough project but I have learned a lot and its enabled me to open up my creativity for future projects. Now to just find the time I need between friends and fun times!
I promise I will tell you about our hike in the morning over coffee. I just feel the need for a glass of wine sitting outside listening to all the birds singing. I do need to hit the store for more sunflower seeds...geez I can't believe how fast they go thru my bucket.
Thanks for dropping by!

resort living

One morning I woke up and began my routine of taking Gracie outside and of course filling my birdfeeders. I was so surprised to find this handsome boy at my feeders. Notice the confused expression trying to assess just how this would benefit him. Free food perhaps?

Well of course being a dumb male he brings his girlfriend back and tells her he has booked a 5 star resort for their romantic weekend together.

She obviously fell for it as we all do at some point hoping for Prince Charming....
As soon as the photo shoot was over we sent security (Gracie) out to tell them no freeloaders.
I guess gated community doesn't apply when you fly in!

One very busy week!

So on Weds. lovely Ingerlise headed back to Seattle and on Thurs our friend John B and Timothy arrived. I am not sure if I mentioned Timothy is leaving on tour this Friday with a band called Childish Gambino. Yeah, I didn't know of them either but after checking out the tour schedule I think Timothy is one very lucky guy right now! It was fun to catch up with him because when he is excited or passionate about something he talks really fast and loud. I am so proud of this fact because he got it from me! Anyway he is SOOOO excited to visit all the places they hit on the tour and I think it will be a once in a lifetime opportunity. I am always so envious when some country star lets you come inside their tour bus to see what life on the road is like. Sounds like a whole lot of fun which of course it probably isn't. Just like being a flight attendant appeared so glamorous until you actually put on the nylons and tried to stay awake all night! ha!
The point of all this was we needed him to hurry and come over to help us tile because he is a professional at it. Once he leaves on tour we will probably not see him again as a worker and hopefully we are done soon! Now that the tile is completed we can replace the carpet and then work on our golf games. Sounds perfect to me!
Poor John on the other hand flew a trip to LAX and then rented a car to come see us and go hiking. He said he was trying to get away from all the projects at home and have some fun. He is a very good sport and also an amazing tile guy. Listening to him work with T and J.. I am pretty sure he had a little bit of fun as well. He and Timothy have probably not seen each other for 10 years and had a lot of catching up to do!

Here are the obligatory before photos....

hallway to powder room

Guest bathroom

Entry from garage into laundry room, mstrbdrm, powder room and into great room

Here we have the Ta Da photos! Yea!

Entry looking into powder room

Entry looking into laundry room and of course Buster! DONT STEP ON THE GROUT!!

Guest bathroom!

I can only tell you it looks amazing and so much better than the ugly worn carpet we ripped out.
Here are my fav guys hard at work! Nothing like having tile setters with engineering degrees and the perfectionism of two and a half pilots.

I will share with you next post the most awesome hike we took together the last day of their visit. I simply have to post too many photos it was so beautiful.
I had two more rose bushes blossom and this one is my favorite...Scentimental. Its absolutely delightful!! I am sharing this because we are having gale force winds and I feel confident I wont have any roses left tomorrow. I can see one bush is flat on the ground from the wind.

I never knew it was so darn windy in the desert but we have had more than our fair share. Not fun!

Last but not least....I have begun to assemble the story quilt and my worse fears have come to be. Its very difficult to sew 26 little canvases to one larger canvas and have them all lay flat and lined up. As I sew they seem to be bunching up and I have ripped out more seams today than any person ever should. Needless to say I WILL turn this baby around and it will still be amazing but I have no desire to repeat the process. I am not sure any of you actually wanted one yourself so probably not a big deal but still frustrating to the artist. Just a little bit of perfection in my work would be such a gift!
Thanks for dropping by...I believe its cocktail time at the Kamolz house!