I interrupt our St Louis travel pix with an update to say we’re home sweet home!  Just one day into settling in we were hit with that huge power outage yesterday afternoon.

When the power goes off in San Diego, we party!  Hubby grilled a mean chicken and veggie meal.

 We shot pool before it got too dark and played backgammon by candle light.

We settled in the backyard where we enjoyed the beautiful night sky, cool breeze and bonfire.

This is as close to camping as we get.  What a beautiful night all the way around.

Our emergency radio came in handy.  Hubby posted this to his Facebook status, live as it happened:  “Some reporter just asked the spokesman when they knew there was a problem with the power grid, his response, “when the lights went out”. Bravo Sir, Bravo!”

Our little set-up.

The remains of our bonfire.  What a great way to make the most of our evening.

We were so thankful for the cool evening as it felt like air-conditioning with our bedroom windows open all night.

Sometime during the early morning hours, power returned and all is well in So Cal.

Blessings – Debbie

A perfect evening is when we’re lounging in jammies, music is softly playing, windows are open, sounds of crickets make up the background and all is right with the world.

Then is when I slipped into the garden for one last visit.

I enjoyed watching this spider go round and round creating the most impressive web.

My heart could not help but smile.

As our head hit the pillow at the end of the day, it was then we heard the most amazing chorus sing the grand finale.  Twas none other than a coyote family howling at the moon.  And I think to myself, what a wonderful world.

Blessings – Debbie

Summer in southern CA is not known for plenty of rain.  In fact, we won’t look for any rain until fall or winter.

It’s a time when all sprinklers need a good check.  Our gardener does such a great job keeping up the garden.

He’s off checking more sprinklers…It was a fun day in the yard (yesterday) as hubby and I were helping out too.  I guess somebody had to be out there taking pictures to document our fun.

Each zone was thoroughly checked to ensure all plants and trees are getting their needs met.

The flowering trees of summer.

And a rose.

A shot of my hand (taken yesterday afternoon) in the healing process.  The pain is gone and the scabs are nearly (picked off) gone by this morning.

While my hands are healing, we’ve taken to walking the trail instead of riding.  We look to have our full gear soon such that we can ride again.

This was taken last evening on the trail.

This was part of our view.

We enjoyed all of this at a cool 75 degrees.

I love Summer in San Diego!

Blessings – Debbie

Hubby has had a nice 4 day weekend.  We are taking advantage of it right around the house.  Chilling together would have to be the thing we enjoy most and if we get to do it at home, even better.  So we’ll be staying in again today doing a little bit of relaxing and crossing a few more things off our to do list.

For lunch, I craved hot and spicy turkey sausage with peppers and onions.  So good!  But I can’t say hubby was into this like me, this was mine all mine.

I’m thankful my hands are healing and I’m able to do so much more than I could do (without my hands hurting) a couple of days ago.

Hubby is still kissing my hands and making them feel all better each day.  I’m thankful for everything he’s done for me this past week.  Things like cut a watermelon open, take me grocery shopping, peal vegetables and cut them up, bandage my wounds when they hurt, kept a clean kitchen even down to cleaning the counters, opened my bottles of water and constantly ask if there was anything he could do.  He never ceases to amaze me and I never want to take his love for me for granted.

Blessings – Debbie

As I made my way towards the airport, I had a rush of excitement knowing hubby would be home from his business trip.

I’ve seen/passed by this anchor many times.  But today as I passed by, it spoke to me.  It was a huge reminder of the way I feel in our relationship.  I feel secure, at peace and filled with contentment knowing whatever happens, he will always there.  With him by my side, I feel that strong sense of stability knowing that whatever happens “we are in this together”.  That’s a big deal.

I made my way to my favorite spot to park and wait, aka the cell phone lot.  Thank you San Diego Airport for providing this for us.  I love arriving 30 or so minutes early such that if he gets in early, I’m right there to pick him up.

It’s not such a bad place to hang out either.  Check out the view from where I’m parked.  I was standing on the running board of my car (SUV – I always refer to it as my car), that’s the top of the car you see in the bottom of the pic.

More views from where I’m parked.

Based on the time I knew hubby was flying in, I started taking pictures of this plane coming in.  I had a sneaking suspicion hubby was in there.

I was right…

As I watched this US Airways flight land, my phone rang and hubby was on the other end saying “honey, I’m home”!

Welcome home my love, I’ll be right there!

Moments later his arms were around me and I decided then and there I never wanted him to go on business without me.  Of course I decide that every time he leaves and he contends he never wants to leave home without me.  If only it were that easy.

To be sure, we are spending the rest of the weekend catching up on visits and games and more visits and most importantly, just spending the weekend together.  I’m whole again and it feels good.

Happy Weekend My Friends!

Blessings – Debbie

Oh the things we accomplished over the weekend.

Getting new cell phones was a big event for us.  We got our very first smart phones yesterday, May 1, 2011!  We agreed that it felt like signing more papers than purchasing a home.

Since we’ve been with Verizon for many years and very happy with our service, we could not imagine switching over to AT&T.  So we waited and waited some more.  With rumors of the iPhone 4 hitting the market, we waited some more.  We were bound to get the iPhone (with Verizon service) up until hubby read the reviews.  It turned out to be a no-go.  So we waited and contemplated and that’s when hubby turned his sights over to the Thunderbolt.

When the Thunderbolt by HTC hit the market, it truly got hubby’s attention all the way around.  As for me, it didn’t get my attention ’til it hit the palm of my hand.  I had no clue what I was missing.  The service is top notch and the quality of this guy rocks our world.

I was all set to keep the old phone ’til it died.

The texts were always short and sweet and only done with hubby.  It got the job done.

But now?  Take a look at this.  Even tho I had an idea what I was missing, I’m finally able to grasp it first-hand.

Of course many of you know this already.  But it sure is a lot different when experiencing it for the first time.   I may trade in my lap top for this little dandy.  I kid, but that’s how much fun I’m having at the moment.

We had company yesterday!  This is the first time for both hubby and me to see a lizard this size in the wild.  This does not include zoos/pets.  He came running right up to the back door and wanted in.  Hubby said “get the camera!”  Hubby estimated him to be at least 18″ – 20″ long.  He was HUGE!

Over the weekend we also accomplished other things like:

• 2 trips to the party supply store
• A trip to party rentals – we’re renting a table and chairs for the party next weekend.  It seems the way to go to have the items delivered and picked up after our little outdoor event.
• A trip to Wal-Mart, TJ Max, Home Depot and even the .99 cent store
• A number of fun things were purchased for the party and I can hardly wait to get things set up.

Cheers to an exciting week!  Instead of working in the studio this week, I’m/we’re planning a party.  Fun ~ Fun!

Blessings – Debbie

Thanks to hubby for bringing in fresh flora from the backyard.   The greenery was cut from the lily.

I love the arrangement + I love his idea to put it here.

I had them in the kitchen but we enjoy them so much more in this area.  Thanks again hubby for suggesting the move out here.

I hope to make this (picking flowers from the backyard) a weekly tradition from now on.

The weekend has been filled with…

• First things first, Hubby used a vacation day Friday and took off = sweet
• Planning a party (here at the house in a couple of weeks)
• Dinner date this evening
• Shooting pool
• Backgammon
• A little future vacation planning – Should be fun
• Hanging outside while enjoying some music via the outdoor speakers
• enjoying meals on the patio
• Planning a future yard sale – Cheers to getting rid of more stuff

I don’t want the weekend to end…

Happy Easter!

Blessings – Debbie