April 28th, 2007

This is Elda and Mary at the top of the cliff above Newbrighton State Beach. We walked from the far right side of the picture where I live to Capitola. There we visited with my our friend Anne and she joined us to walk to Peets Coffee in Capitola. Anne was able to show us a really great trail along the river. Our four legged friends in the picture are Revel the big guy of course, Cooper who belongs to a friend of Mary's and Libby, Elda's dog. The dogs got along great and everyone had a wonderful trip. It was Elda's birthday and I was really glad she sent it with us.

This hike is about 4-5 miles and is one of my favorites. We had a really nice opportunity to watch Pelicans feeding just off shore as we walked toward Newbrighton.

April 26th, 2007

Take your last look, the tired warn out driveway is gone!

They brought out a small bull dozer and here we go.....

Aprile 25th, 2007

This is one happy Giant's fan. We have won 7, yes that's SEVEN games in a row. The last two against the Dodgers in LA. That is huge!

Contractors promise to take out the driveway in the morning. Pictures on the Friday posting. I am off on Friday and Saturday so should be able to get you some before and during pictures posted to this site.


Go Giants!

April 22nd, 2007

As I stated in my last post I worked the weekend so not much news. Just a brief update, nothing has happened on the Landscaping plan. We had rain on Thursday and Friday and the contractor does not want to start in a large mud puddle. Hopefully we get started tomorrow. The family has been trying to work out a plan for the fountain in the front yard. I think we have a solution, we are going to get it to the contractor and see if its possible.

The kids are doing very well. Edward is settling into having a more crowded house and adjusting to his brother driving. They have not gone out together yet and I think that's Edward, he was not really comfortable with some of Teddy's training and he never forgets a wrong turn, or missed light.

The next part of this post is from Amber. She has asked me to add the following to tonight's post.

"Now that things have mellowed out a bit and I have a minute to sit down and write, I just wanted to take this time to tell you how grateful I am for your support and finally take the time to thank everyone for their generosity. Being a mother is harder then I ever imagined but it's worth it every moment. Anyways, I wanted to take this chance to thank you. "

Sincerely Yours Amber and Gavin

April 17th, 2007

Revel and I enjoyed a wonderful day walking from the house (under the far right side of the cloud) to Capitola (behind and about another mile). He is so wonderful to walk with these days. He heals the entire route on a short leash and is friendly with all the people and other dogs we meet along the way. Its about a two hour walk and you can end it by sweeping down into Capitola after picking up lunch at Gayles. Sit on the Esplanade and eat while watching the kids play on the beach. You cannot however walk on the Capitola beach with the dog.

Dorothy also joined us at the training class this morning and was quite surprised to see Revel climb 8 foot tall obstacles and follow my commands with his sister just 8 feet away to be played with. The instructor asked me if I was going to pursue the ABC obedience certification. I told her I started the class to just get some sense of control, certification would be an amazing result.

Needless to say with those two activities out of the way the big guy is crashed on the kitchen floor. I don't suspect he will move until dinner several hours from now.

April 16th, 2007

It has been a very busy week. Many wonderful things to write about. Lets start with Edward turning 22 on Saturday. While he was not thrilled with the idea of giving up the childhood birthday party he will come around to the idea that he had a very nice dinner birthday party. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you who came. I would also like to let you know that Edward is really thrilled with the gifts. It really is hard to believe that he is 22.

Speaking of ways to mark time. Here's another big one. On Wednesday last week Teddy passed his drivers test. He is loose on the roads of California. I explained to the guy at the Toyota place today I think the six month drivers permit is for the parent to learn to be comfortable with their child driving. I might recommend a slightly longer buffer period. Seriously on the risk of regretting this, he is a very good driver and has been very willing to listen suggestions of improvement.

We got some great shots of Gavin just prior to Edwards party. He only opens those eyes for short periods at a time so these are precious pictures. Let me know if you want copies of any of these.

Dorothy and I played tennis on Friday and Sunday and won all the matches that we played in while I am more than a little sore. We were both thrilled at having won. On the sports page the Giants have one two games in a row. They beat the Rockies tonight (sorry Barb) not that you care but it is your home team.

The truly big new is that on Tuesday (yes tomorrow) Kai and his bulldozer will be here to begin work on our yard. None to soon, I could use the hot tub now. We are still sniffing around for a water feature we can live with. We found one we like but the artist has an inflated view of what its worth to my yard. Perhaps we can come to an agreement soon. Let me know do you think its worth 3,500$? Solar system is ordered and should be installed around the beginning of May.


Next week we will have pictures of the demolition phase. Until then keep in touch.

April 8th, 2007

This has been a very challenging week for me. The work at AdvantaCare just keeps getting tougher. I did have a wonderful and fun thing happen to me this morning. On Easter Sunday morning on my way to work, I stopped to get something at 7-11. The girl behind the counter who I did not know, said "Its very nice of you to spend your Holiday saving lives. At first I didn't realize what she meant until it dawned on me that I was in scrubs and she presumed me to be a physician. Mistaken identity not withstanding her comment pointed out to me what I often forget in the muck of business, that I set out to help people who are in need of pharmaceutical help and I am doing just that. It was really a wonderful thing to be reminded of.

Several weeks ago two of my friends, Mary and MaryBeth from AdvantaCare joined me on a walk down the beach from my house to Pajaro Dunes. Mary provided me with these wonderful pictures today. The two are from Revels encounter with two Mastifs we met along the way, not nearly as pretty but very impressive the larger one was probably 175-200 lbs. The third picture clearly indicates what a beautiful March day in Aptos can be like, for those of you not living in coastal California especially this week don't look.

Worked both jobs this week about 56 hours so not much has happened that wasn't work, eat, sleep and get up and do it again. I did discover some wonderful Peanut Butter cups from Trader Joe's that will be used in cookies in the future. Next weekend I'm off Friday, Saturday and Sunday and we have Edwards birthday. So much more news next Sunday. Until then enjoy your week.

April 1st, 2007

Great news Baseball Season starts tomorrow! Bad news is that the Giants don't play until Tuesday. I have waited this long, 24 hours, is OK. I will get over it.

Weekend off so I set out to make some progress on the remodel plans. Biggest step was Friday the loan was funded. So we have the money in place and are ready to spend a little. Saturday we visited hot tub stores and rock shops. The end result was a whole lot of learning about textures, colors and price per ton of rock. We also learned about ozone filtration systems and which spa form was ideal for our aches and pains.

Sunday I convinced Teddy to join me in test driving my favorite spa. This was mildly embarrassing but the store was very good about it. I just couldn't spend that much money without getting in it and making sure that when I got out I was relaxed and comforted. It was very effective. I put my down payment down and we will have the tub in 4-6 weeks when the slab is ready for it. (one more job done!)

Next week we work on the water fixture and the fire pit. They go at either end of the house. Water in the front, fire in the back by the tub. The blocks to the right are the color of driveway that we picked out this weekend. Still arguing about the pattern. Remember that the house will also be painted in the process so we are not trying to match the house paint.

Gavin is getting bigger every day. We spend about an hour each night with the baby and give the kids a break. They have been very attentive and supportive of the baby which has been great. Teddy is slowly learning more and more about his own finances and how to manage them. I am sure he will have to fail at least a few times but so far he's doing great. He takes his Drivers test on April 11th during spring break and then things will once again change drastically. I think I will be getting a great deal of pressure from both Teddy and Dorothy to get him a car. I am in no rush.

Edward and I went bowling today. This is typical for us on Sunday mornings. He was very good today bowling 105 and 113. The really great news is in that environment he is calm and safe and we had a conversation of what else we could do with those numbers and I helped him learn to calculate the average of what he bowled today. He then calculated the average of what I bowled today. The great leap for him was when I asked him to calculate the average of all of our games he realized that he had to divide the total by 4 instead of just two. I was thrilled to know that he could reason this out. We are going to do more of this on the weekends. I may even see if they can turn off the scoreboard at the bowling alley and I will teach him to do it manually.

Revel got time at the dog park today and played with Bella a four month old female Malamute. She was so cute only 55 lbs we thought at first that she was a Husky. Revel really ignored her at first but when the dogs all got tired it was Revel and Bella who ended up laying next to each other. Where is my camera when I need it? By the time we left the two Mals had all the kids in the park playing with them and petting them.