I'm Home... but not for long!

We arrived home from California very early this morning, and I am headed out to a conference in Atlanta very early tomorrow morning. Talk about jet lag!

Here's a quick recap of what we did in CA (I'll post more later):

6/15: arrived in Ontario (California, not Canada); drove to Menifee where brother-in-law lives. Stayed in Menifee/Canyon Lakes area.

6/16: drove the kids to Hollywood for the afternoon. Spent more time on the freeway than we did in Hollywood, but knew that was going to happen.

6/17: spent Father's Day waiting for the guys to golf and then ate dinner at BIL's house. Also spent much time being annoyed with the Farm Boy's twin. I definitely have the good twin!!

6/18: went to Knott's Berry Farm and Soak City for the day.

6/19-21: half of us sailed and half of us ferried from Long Beach/San Pedro area to Avalon on Catalina Island. Were only scheduled to stay there a day, but the sail snapped on the sailboat, and those who were sailing were stranded in the middle of the ocean for a while. Finally, they motored into Avalon. Instead of going on to Two Harbors, we stayed at Avalon the entire time. We did some horseback riding, snorkeling, beachcombing, glass-bottom boating, kayaking, eating.... you name it. The Farm Boy was able to go scuba diving with his siblings and saw the resident 300 lb black sea bass named Fred. The weather there was absolutely beautiful! I'll post some pics later!

6/22: Sailed/Ferried back to Long Beach/San Pedro. Spent some time on the boardwalk in Long Beach at Shoreline Villages... wanted to take the older kids on the Queen Mary, but ran out of time. I'm pretty bummed about that. Drove back to Menifee.

6/23: had a quick lunch at a relative's house in Upland, then drove into Ontario to the airport for the flight home. Returned just after midnight.

We had a good time, but I can definitely say that a person who is a planner to a fault (ME) will always have a stressful experience with people who decide what to do at the last minute (Farm Boy and all his family). I know the kids had a good time, as did the Farm Boy, so that's all that really matters. I will spend three days in a [NICE!] hotel all by myself while at my conference, so that's where I'll have MY vacation. ;-)

And with that... I need to get back to packing. I have lists to check off and minute details to fret over. W00T!

Sunny CA... here we come...

Not that I've been around much lately anyway... but now we're off to California for a family trip. For NINE DAYS. Can I handle being around all our kids AND the Farm Boy's family for that long??? We'll see. I don't have that much sanity left as it is. haha

I'm hoping to be able to catch a little blog time while I'm there, but who knows.

Right after we return, I'm off to Atlanta for a conference. Ugh. Atlanta in late June. My hair is already wimping out just thinking of the humidity. Oh, well.

I've been in and out of most of your blogs to see what you've been up to for the last month or so. Sounds like everyone is as busy and crazy as usual. I'm still surprised at how much I value blogging and the bloggy friends I've made. I've only ever had one "blate*," but am hoping to meet more of you someday. I don't plan to give up any of it at this point, even if I don't have a lot of time to post or read right now. So there. I'm still here to stay.

Anyway, hasta la vista, my babies. See you again soon!


*"blate" is a bloggy friend date, but I can't remember who coined the term. -R-? Stefanie? metalia? I want to be sure to credit whoever it was!

Ann Curry is Making My Brain Bleed...

Gah. I don't mean to be a stranger. Really, I don't. It's just that there's so much to do, I'm so very tired still (c'mon... it's been a month now. I want to feel NORMAL again!!!), and blogging is moseying its way down the list of priorities right now. Gah.

Here's something I had to get off my chest, though.

Please, for the love of Bob, NBC, PLEASE stop letting Ann Curry do interviews. PLEASE!

As a person, I think Ann Curry might be kind of a nice woman. In fact, she might be fun to hang out with, shoot the breeze, go shopping... you know. She seems like a very pleasant person with a decent sense of humor. A nice girlfriend-type. She also seems like a great, caring mom... I love to listen to her talk about her daughter.

As a journalist, she's fabulous reading the news. She also does great "special assignments" when she heads over to places such as Kazakhstan, Nepal, Iran*.... very interesting with the serious news. What I'm trying to say is she's a very intelligent woman with a lot of strengths.

HOWEVER...

... as a "fluff" journalist, interviewing celebrities and whatnot, she is truly painful to watch. Did anyone see her interview with the Hoff? Yes, we know all about the Hoff's little problem, but let him promote his show (it's not really his show, but let's run with it). Okay? Or how about the one with cute little Bindi Irwin and her mom, Terri? I seriously had to change channels during that one... I was that uncomfortable! I'm not even going to talk about the Brangelina interview. Yikes.

Ann, please just stop. I know you don't mean to offend your guests, but you do. You interrupt awkwardly, you say things you shouldn't, you react even more awkwardly... I find myself actually holding my breath listening to one of your interviews!!

Please just stop. Please. You're such a nice, pretty lady. You have gorgeous hair. And I'm sure you have a fabulous brain! I don't want you to leave altogether... just no more interviews, m'kay????

Thanks for listening.



*Okay, so maybe she didn't have special assignments in those places per se, but she is really good at those wherever they may be.