Branching out

Over the weekend, I had the opportunity to venture from the couch.

Joseph's strategic planning meeting comes this time every year,

and I really didn't want to miss out on the good food,

maid service, change of scenery, and of course 

spending time with Joseph.

The doctor gave me the go ahead as long as I kept my foot elevated most of the time.

How hard could that be?

One thing I discovered was that the middle back seat wasn't really 

meant to be sat on for long car rides.

The hotel was a set of "bungalows" with rock or brick paths in-between.

It was located in the hills of Santa Barbara with a great view

over the city and the ocean.

Unfortunately you can't see it in the picture I took as we were leaving, but that's 

the ocean where the clouds are hanging out.

These brick paths are tougher to roll over than you think.

This beautiful courtyard is where we had the first night's dinner.

Our cute little room is the one on the bottom because of course I couldn't go up the stairs.
This is where I spent my days.  Not too bad, huh?  The only thing that would have made it better would have been
a porch with a soft chair.  I'm sure it was a handicapped room because I could roll
right into the shower.  Pretty sweet!

It was the only time in my life that my shoes didn't take a third of my suitcase space.

And today, with the help of my kids, I went grocery shopping after 4 weeks.

I loved driving the electric cart around the store and

pointing to what we needed.

We were a great team!!

The even better part was that they put it all away when we got home!!

What more could I ask for?!!

Our weekend away . . . kind of

Last weekend, Dad and I had a business trip for the annual strategic planning meeting.

He worked all day, I played/rested, then we shmoozed all evening.

Remember this hotel room last year?

Well, this year's hotel, the St. Regis, was in Dana Point, near Laguna Beach.

Of course it was a beautiful place (the Board doesn't go any place shabby).

Our room overlooked the back of the hotel with its balconies, lawns, and the pool (yes, that is the swimming pool pictured above).

To my delight, we even got to witness a wedding before our first nice dinner.

It was beautiful!

It's funny that I got a picture of the bride but didn't get a picture of my new outfit for the evening.

I felt pretty good that night with no picture to show it.  Oh well!

The funny thing is that we discovered that the last night we were supposed to dress up too, but I only brought something casual.

That meant we had to go shopping for a new dress. . . darn!

Joseph came along, and although it was awkward to have him there at first, 

he was very helpful in sharing his opinion about what looked good.

I felt good than night too, but sadly, no pictures.

So the only picture you see above is of me in my most comfortable dress

that I brought to wear on the way home Sunday (not the most flattering).

If you were wondering, Rachel, who is about to turn 18, was the sitter at home, with the help of Bekah.

People at the meeting were astonished that we would

trust an 18-hr-old for 3 full days without any adults checking on them.

It felt good to say that we trusted her and believed she would do a good job and that Bekah

would help whenever she was needed.

And yes, they did beautifully-the kids were safe, driven to where they needed to go, and

no wild parties were had at our house.

Was there any question?

Thanks girls!

Kinecta Christmas party at the Montage

I've been busy, busy, busy lately so I've not posted much.

But quickly I'll share a couple of photos from the weekend.

We had a work Christmas party that was held at the Montage Hotel in Beverly Hills.

It was fancy shmancy.  We even got to stay over for one night.

Next time we'll have to talk them into ending the party sooner so I can really

take advantage of the awesome bathroom.  That's a TV over the tub and the shower

has a great shower head that feels like rain.

We were told that Maria Schriver and Judge Judy live there in the condos above the hotel.

There were other famous people but they couldn't divulge their names.

I tried hard not to gawk at everything like a country bumpkin.

Parties and costumes at the Pelican Hill Resort

I showed you before  pictures of our beautiful room and promised to tell about the weekend's activities.  So even though we were enjoying our surroundings, we were there because of Joseph's job.  That means there were requirements to fulfill.  Joseph had to work part of the time and we had to attend meetings and gatherings, nothing new there.  But. . . we are new to this company, and they do things a little differently here in CA.  Now, as my family will attest to, I complained and moaned about this the whole time leading up to the event.  Never before had we been asked to do anything other than attend and be proffessional.

First off, we had a Mardi Gras night where we were asked to dress colorfully and wear masks (we didn't wear them long, thankfully).  Hmmm...  I looked and looked for purple, green and gold (Mardi Gras colors) but settled for my "party" shirt that I kept in the back of my closet.  It sure fits the colorful requirement!

During the evening, a Grammy award winning song writer (sorry, can't remember his name) performed.  He also had taken information about all the board members and the executive team then wrote a short song about each.  He wrote all of them within a day and a half!  He was amazingly talented.

The following video is the clip about Joseph.

The next night was the most dreaded request, to dress as our favorite celebrity.  Really?!

And to top it off, we would be in public playing speed croquet.

Thankfully the lawn was somewhat secluded.

And, even better, my team "The Nightmares" won!

We got a trophy and a $50 gift card to boot! (It actually turned out to be pretty fun)

From left to right:  golf pro (can't remember his name), Santa, Penelope Cruz, Johnny Depp, Elvis, Monica Luinsky (her husband was Bill Clinton of course), Cher, Kobe Bryant, basketball player with beard (can't remember his name either), Dolly Pardon, and Tom Selleck

And you'll probably recognize Elvis, Ellen Degeneres, Simon Cowell, Santa, Cher and way in the back is Benny Hill.

Since the chairwoman of the committee (Dolly Pardon) is also on the board of directors, we decided, reluctantly, to be good sports and find a costume.   I first started thinking about Carrie Underwood but soon realized that as cute as she is, everything she wears shows either her shoulders or legs.  So Rachel finally suggested Doris Day.  Perfect!  I love her (and she's modest)!  Joseph's co-workers offered him a Led Zeplin costume . . . um. . . no.  His first thought was to be the Lone Ranger, but they didn't have the costurme.  So we tried Zorro.


I went to this fabulous costume store the size of a gymnasium.  Everything was either too huge or too small.  We then decided against Zorro since the costume made Joseph look pregnant plus he wasn't really a celebrity anyway.  Finally he went with Harrison Ford.  For me, I found this cute gingham dress.  Now the Doris I wanted to be was the thin, tiny one, but I was willing to settle for the older rounder version.

Here are some more pictures of our elegant hotel at The Pelican Hill Resort.  They certainly don't due it justice.  So if you want explore it more go here to browse through the gorgeous pictures.

The pool is perfectly round and heated.  Nice.

So

The biggest hotel room I've seen

Once a year, Joseph has been part of the strategic planning for the credit union and I've always been invited to go along.  Even though he has to work during the day, we have the afternoons and evenings to enjoy together.

And this year is no different except for the company, people, activities, and amount of money spent. I think this is the biggest luxury hotel room (bungalow) we've ever stayed in!  It has two living areas and two bathrooms!  I tried hard not to let my mouth gape like a country bumpkin when the bell boy showed us the room.

This is our patio that spans both rooms.  It's cloudy outside so the water seems to blend into the sky, but it's there.

This is our living/dining room.

It's complete with a big screen TV, Bose sound system, and fireplace.

The master bath with separate shower and soaking tub plus a "water closet".
There is also a smaller guest bath off the living area.

The tub has a window over it that opens into the bedroom.

This is the view of the bedroom out to the deck with a another fireplace and big screen TV right next to it.

And finally our front door.

Even though this isn't a true vacation, we feel very fortunate to be able to experience some of the finer things in life and do it together (especially since we don't have to pay for it).

  I'll share more about our "interesting" activities later.

I think I'm going to go explore.

Our new boss

This is the place...

where Joseph is going to work (I like their logo, very colorful).

As I write this, Joseph is sawing logs next to me.  He flew in today and is on North Carolina time (1 am). His downfall (besides time change) was laying down to discuss the moving information.  That gets him every time.  Oh well, he needs his sleep