New Car?

I know it's silly to get sentimental about a car but I really was sad to sell my RAV4. I guess it's all the memories that I had during the 7 years I owned it. Here's my snazzy new Camry! I haven't had a car for about 15 years having had my truck and then the SUV.

French Festival - More dogs and Femme Fatale Drag Revue

How do I look ladies?
Notice the matching striped shirts and berets?
She was one of the Can Can dancers and then participated with her doggie in the Poodle Parade.
Ooh La La!!!! Who is this? He was a bonus at the festival as part of the Femme Fatale Drag Revue.
Yes, this hottie is a male. All the entertainers were quite good and this particular singer really knew how to strut her? stuff!

This was a really fun event with great French food, lots of fun stuff to buy and great entertainment. I think it will become an annual event for me.

French Festival - Poodle Parade in Santa Barbara

Here's some great pics from last weekend at the French Festival in Santa Barbara. It always makes me feel better when I see that there are people crazier than I with their dogs.
Mon Ami! Is that the Mona Lisa?
Black dress with pearls for Madame and the black poodle?
These dogs looks a bit still?
Mon Cheri - we should always have an unbrella to shade our delicate skin from the sunshine. Whoops! I only think I am a French Poodle.

A Night of Blues Music

Just some pics from Saturday evening when we all went to dinner and to see four blues bands. Great music, good food, entertaining people watching and a memorable evening with some of my favorite people!

Dizzy's 60th Birthday in Mission Bay

What a beautiful setting for a birthday party! It was so much fun to see Dizzy, Sabrina and Shannon and meet all their kids.
Dizzy and I have been friends for about 20 years. We worked together and spent many holidays together but haven't seen each other for about 10 years. She lives in Ohio now with her daughter Shannon and family.
That's Victoria, Karlee, Sara and Olivia (twins) and Tyler - five of Dizzy's 7 grandchildren.
This is Oliver. He was a Mother's Day gift to Dizzy and is so darn cute! Look at that hair! He's a pretty special pup as he got to fly from Ohio to spend the week in Mission Bay for the party.
Sabrina, Karlee and Seanah.

Arizona - Brittany's Graduation

Marv and I went to Arizona for Brittany's graduation. Marv, Jeff and Tony spent the day on the golf course while we were getting ready for the party. There was a bit of excitment a couple of doors down the street - a man had stabbed himself in the abdomen and his wife was running around yelling for help. I thought she was just some crazy woman but apparently she had come into the garage and found her husband with this huge knife in his stomach. Luckily, Jennifer had watched enough Grey's Anatomy to know we shouldn't pull it out and we called the paramedics for the woman and the man is okay.
That's Brittany in the yellow with her mom, Jenn and Auntie Laura!
Brittany and new mommy Kelli.
Tyler has gotten so tall. He's now living with his Aunt Debbie and Kelli brought their younger brother Ruben for the visit.
Relaxing after the celebration with Marv and Lola.

Summer - friends and family

This is my lovely friend Rose. We were celebrating her 91st birthday in Santa Barbara. I met Rose a few years ago and she holds a special place in my heart.

Marv and I went to spend the day with the Bolks family a few weeks ago. Going to dinner with the whole crew is always an adventure. This is Maria's sister Nicholette and below is Rich and Maria.
It's tough to get my mother to smile but here she is on her birthday and she looks pretty happy!
Ruth is my mom's best friend and has been part of my life as long as I can remember. Her daughter Kathy is Mark's Godmother.

May 2008 - Misc.

This is Trisha at her baby shower given by her mother-in-law and I in Santa Monica. She looks beautiful as a pregnant lady. Trisha has been part of my family since she and Mark were in High School together. I'm very proud of the woman she's become and I can't wait to be a pseudo-grandma!
This is on the Sundial Bridge over the Sacramento River in Redding. I was at a conference there for the California Employer Advisory Council. Oh and by the way, I was voted the incoming President for the next two years! Pretty cool!

We actually did work at this conference but those pictures aren't any fun. This is my friend Hope and Lynne at the wine tasting social in Redding at the Turtle Bay Museum on the river.
Well, who is this cute guy? That's Rusty - the newest member of Marv's family. You can't really tell from this picture but his face is sort of wrinkly because he is part Sharpei. He is going to be a tank - you should see his feet!

Stagecoach Music Festival

The final day of Stagecoach had Gretchen Wilson, Carrie Underwood, Trace Atkins, Big and Rich and Tim McGraw. Mark had an extra ticket so I got to go.
Aaron and Monica
Tyler is Mark's God-Daughter and he got tickets for her and her friends for the concert. They had a tough time staying awake.

Oooops, looks like Mark had a tough time staying awake too. Poor guy, he went to 3 days of Coachella the weekend before these 3 days of Stagecoach. Guess 6 days of concerts in 10 days took it's toll on him.

And More Beijing China

We took a rickshaw ride to see the Hutong area. This area is just outside of the Forbidden City. How would you like to cook in this kitchen? Everything is very small but this is how the "Common People" live.
The girls always attracted attention everywhere they went and people would look at Donna and I wondering what the heck we were doing with these Chinese kids????

More Beijing China

This was my favorite place in Beijing. It the Summer Palace where the Imperial Family went to vacation. The story is that one of the Emperor's was 5 years old when he became an Emperor so his mother, the Empress Dowager (aka Dragon Lady) really ruled the country. She is not well loved as she spent way too much of China's money enlarging this Summer Palace among other things (she loved pearls and jade). The lake was enlarged and lots of temples built for visiting monks from Tibet and Mongolia. The place is huge but very beautiful and serene.

This is a boat made all of marble - looks great but couldn't be used as it would sink. Another senseless expense by Dragon Lady.
This corridor at the Summer Palace goes on for more than a mile and each of the beams above you is handpainted with different scenes.

Beijing China

These gas masks were in the closet of the first hotel we got to in Beijing. It was sort of scary. Donna moved us the next morning to a 5 star hotel that was very nice. I never did find out what the gas masks were for!
This is the hotel we moved to. It was closer to some of the tourist stuff and we could walk to the stores. Do you see Gwen and Maddy at the right?
Yes, this is the squatty potty that the Chinese use. You have to stradle the sides and squat. Some of the children wear "split pants" that are open and they just squat and do their business because that area of their pants is open. Pretty interesting!
Yes, I did walk on the Great Wall. It's one of the seven wonders of the world and is in length the equivalent of the distance from San Francisco to New York. I was complaining about the steps as they are all different heights and very difficult to walk up and down. The guide told us they were built that way to keep the approaching enemy army from being able to get a rythym.