Erica’s Blog

Ahhhh….No kids…No dog…It’s SO quiet around here.  Well, except for the dryer.  And the washer.  And the computers.  And “Cops” on TV. 

The Things & Jenna went up to Poppa & Nana’s house yesterday for the weekend.  We hopped in the big car and headed down to Santa Cruz for an overnighter before the church marriage workshop.  We stayed at the Coast Santa Cruz Hotel.  Now, a room’s just a room unless you spend a lot of money.  However, if you click on the link for the hotel, you will see that it’s ON the beach.  Not near the beach - ON the beach.  They built it narrow so that they only have rooms on the ocean side of the building, so every room has an ocean view and a balcony.  It was great.  We slept with the sliding glass door open all night so that we could hear the waves.  Talk about relaxing!

After hearing Gail talk about the night they had last night, I’m glad we didn’t stay wherever they did, with the “pornographic” (her word, not mine) couple next door with the guy who snored like a…a…an I-don’t-know-what. <VVBG>

We were supposed to ride down w/MarkyMark & Bobcat, but Bobcat decided she wanted to make the most of the opportunity to have a grown-up conversation w/her husband w/o anyone else around.  Imagine that!?  So, I grabbed my stuff for some “car knitting”, and we hit the road.  Sadly, I forgot that the light would be failing.  Plus, trying to knit going down Highway 1 doesn’t work too well.  <Note to self:  Next time you’re a passsenger riding south through Devil’s Slide, DON’T LOOK if you don’t want to get freaked out, ya goofball!!!>

Dinner at Carniglia’s on the pier.  Wow.  Hubby had steamed mussels w/a garlicky, tomatoey sauce, then cioppino.  I had prosciutto & melon, then grilled swordfish and double vegetables (no mashed potatoes).  Took him forever to eat the cioppino, so I had a couple of pieces of bread, then helped him a little with the broth (peppery goodness!).  We looked at the dessert menu, but decided we didn’t want anything after all.  The dinner cost us almost as much as our room but it was great!  Grandpa Gil, you’d probably like this place.

Breakfast was a snack of raspeberry fig bars I’d brought from Mollie Stone’s (thank you, Karen!), then they had coffee & bagels at the workshop.  Proud to say I passed up the cookies completely.  (I think they were from Costco anyway.)  Lunched w/MarkyMark & Bobcat at an Irish pub.  Fab salads.  How come Lee & Rhonda got served WAY before we did when they came in after we did?  Whussupwiddat? 

Rode back home w/Gordon & Fiona, which was a real treat.  Just can’t knit while riding on Highway 1.  Bummer!  After we dropped them off, we found some cheap gas and filled up the Pilot for only $45!  Isn’t that pathetic?  “Only $45.”  Feh!

Home at 5:30, in time to throw in some laundry, eat, check email, and pop in an early movie.  I just love “The Wedding Singer”.  Hubby won’t admit it, but he liked it, too.  I saw him laughing!  Adam Sandler is such a doofus, and it’s hard not to love a movie about the ’80’s.

We get to turn the clocks back tonight.  Woo hoo!  An “extra” hour of sleep.  Of course, I’ve been drinking a ton of water today, so I won’t sleep through the night, but it will be nice to be able to go back to bed after I get up and not have to feed the dog, let her out, feed the Things, etc., etc.