I just read the comment my Great Aunt Hildred posted and it was about happiness (and Vitiligo) and she said that she thinks I have a happy soul, and she is right! I have learned recently that happiness is 50% genetic, 10% from material items and 40% from things such as volunteering and helping others. I must have some pretty good genes because I can say without question that I was born a happy person!
I think my happiness shines through in one big way...my smile! I believe that smiling is the greatest thing you can do when you first see someone...even if they are a stranger. Have you ever smiled at someone and seen what happens? They smile back (unless they are the poor souls who were not born happy...and believe me, I know some of those people). We all love to see a baby smile, it automatically makes you happy, and I don't think it's any different when we see an adult smile at us...you just can't help but smile back.
The idea that only 10% of our happiness comes from material things makes perfect sense too. I think that most people believe it makes up a much bigger percentage than that, thinking that if we only had that bigger house, that better vehicle, that nicer wardrobe, we would be that much happier. I have learned over time that happiness has very little to what we have and more to do with what we do and what we believe. I have lived under the poverty line as a young single mother and I have also lived a very comfortable life as a married woman with a one and two income household. I have a beautiful house (that is too big at times), a nice vehicle (that is aslo too big at times) and more clothing in this house than any mother ever wants to wash!! My kids have toys coming out of their ears, movies, video games, bikes, and books. We have more than I ever dreamed I could have and I am now starting to get rid of it. Of course I will not get rid of my house, but so much of what's in it is starting to find new homes. There are certain things I will never get rid of, such as the quilt my mom made me years ago or the cross-stitched wedding gift my Grandma Duguid made for us or the handprint Natalie gave me for Mother's Day when she was 5 years old; those things I will treasure forever. The things that are leaving my house, destined for other homes are things such as platters, divided trays, books that have been read - or those that have never been read, clothing that is too small, too big or too ugly, lamps, toys, etc. I took two truck loads to the Playschool here in town, because they held a Fundraiser Garage Sale yesterday. I told myself to just stay away from the garage sale, but I just couldn't, so I went to see what was there. There was A LOT of stuff piled into that gym, but I only came home with a tricycle (which I have been looking for since both Greg and I ran ours over on two seperate ocassions!), a box of barbies for the day home kids (because there is no way on God's green earth that Grace is giving up her barbies for the day home...I am still working on the generosity thing with her!), and some books which just happened to belong to a good friend of mine (and I am sure I could have read them for free before this garage sale, but I paid for them...because it's a fundraiser!). I bid on a few items at the silent auction too - Boston Pizza, Pizza Hut and an oil change, all things that would be used up and not have to sit around my house; I am not sure yet if I won any of them though...but I don't think so!
The third part of happiness is said to be the volunteer work we do and helping others...a whopping 40% of our happiness comes from that! I now understand why I keep volunteering for stuff...it just makes me happy! I have always volunteered for things...except washing dishes or cleaning houses!! I was an "In- School Mentor" with Big Brothers & Big Sisters when I first moved to Lloydminster, after that I joined the board for Big Brothers & Big Sisters and sat on it for 7 years; I was the president of Vermilion Play Development for two years, classroom convener for one year and when I return to playschool in the fall with Will, I will be vice-president for most likely the two years that he is there; I have just joined the indoor playground's board, as "toy master" (which really does sound like a fun job!); I have volunteered in nursing homes and hospitals; I was manager of Mark's soccer team for one season (the one and only time I was able to drag him to the field) and I am currently the Beaver's leader here in Vermilion. I have always stepped up to do my fundraising and volunteering hours for all activites as well (and by golly, there is a lot of fundraising that goes along with kids activities!). I have never been shy about volunteering my time and I hope to get my kids to start volunteering in some way this summer, as I think it is one of the most important things we can teach our children. I have often thought that perhaps I just wanted to "belong" to something and that is why I was always volunteering and joining things, but now I have realized that I do it simply because it makes me happy!
So, don't forget to be happy and smile...it really is contagious!!
SJ
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Ramblings...
Have you ever had times in your day when thoughts just seem to pop into your head and somehow you end up talking to yourself about these thoughts...often out loud? I have these moments quite often, but sometimes the thoughts are started by someones comments or conversations.
Here are some of my rambling thoughts:
Those are just some of my rambling thoughts for today and I am getting tired, so I will turn my mind off for another day and hit the hay!
SJ
Here are some of my rambling thoughts:
- Last night at Beaver's (I am the leader), we were playing "Freeze Dance" outside and the only type of music that we had was my iPhone, so I turned it on and the boys started to dance and freeze, dance and freeze. One of the boys said to me: "is that an iPhone 4?" and I said "no, it's a 3" and one of the other boys said "you can tell cause the 4 is fatter"...really, at 6 years old you know that?? They then proceeded to tell me that one of the boys in their class has an iPhone 4 and one other boy said that a boy in his class had a Blackberry!! Now, here is where my thoughts start going a little nuts! Are the people of this world insane? Who in their right mind thinks a kid needs an iPhone or Blackberry? In fact who in the world thinks a kid really needs a cell phone at all? My daughter was not allowed to have a phone until she was 16 years old and had a job so she could pay for it herself but I am always blown away to hear about parents who think their kids "need" cell phones or fancy iPods. My friend Bobbie-Jo made a good point one day when she said this: "I know a lady who said that she got her 8 year old a cell phone so she would always know where her kid is" and in response to that she said: "shouldn't you always know where you 8 year old is anyway?"...good point! I think there is some twisted mindset we have now where we think our children need to have everything that is out there now! I am tempted to just get my kids walkmans and some cassette tapes so they can listen to music...it worked for us! My kids (with the exception of Natalie) have never even asked about the idea of having iPods, iPhones, iPads, etc. and I don't plan on planting that seed anytime soon.
- Vitiligo ( /ˌvɪt
ɪˈlaɪɡoʊ/), is a disorder that causes depigmentation of patches of skin. It occurs when melanocytes, the cells responsible for skin pigmentation, die or are unable to function. The cause of vitiligo is unknown, but research suggests that it may arise from autoimmune, genetic, oxidative stress, neural, or viral causes.[1] The incidence worldwide is less than 1%.[2] The most common form is non-segmental vitiligo.
- As you may or may not know, I run a Licensed Family Day Home, which means that I work for an agency and have rules and regulations to follow. We are going through a process called reaccreditation and we have to have site visits in our homes so the government (who helps to fund us) can make sure we are following all the rules and doing everything just right. In preparing for this site visit we have gone through the checklist of what they will be watching for and one of those things includes discipline...which you may think means teaching a child right from wrong or even punishing a child for something they did...you would be wrong though, and I would fail my site visit! According to accreditation, we are not to give a child time out (or anything harsher), we are not to say "no" or "don't" and we are to only use positive statements around the children. For example, if a child bit another child, this would have to be my response: "Oh Johnny, teeth are for eating, you must be nice to your friend"..."let's go play with some toys now." Is it any wonder why our children are so out of control and self centered these days? The people looking after our children (a huge population of children are in licensed care) are not allowed to discipline them in anyway what so ever! I am not saying that we should go back to having straps in schools, but I think a little fear is good for a kid. I am not sure if this way of thinking will change anytime soon, but I fear that if it doesn't change, neither will the children!
Those are just some of my rambling thoughts for today and I am getting tired, so I will turn my mind off for another day and hit the hay!
SJ
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Life Lesson Learned!
I learned a very big lesson in life today! After dragging up to six kids to dance class every Monday, from September through April, so Grace could take her lessons, she decided at literally the last minute, that she was not going to go on stage at the recital today! The lesson I learned is to never put my kids in something that I think they would benifit from, but instead let them tell me exactly what it is they want to do.
Today was not the best day for this to happen either (not that there would really be a good day for it), as I am surviving on about 4.5 hours of sleep as we didn't get home until past 2:00 a.m. from our trip. Grace did not seem to be in any kind of mood to do anything that involved other human beings today, but we had to get to the recital on time, so I fed her, packed her up and grabbed her costume. I realized when I arrived that all the other little girls in her group had curly hair and Grace still had straight, so I found a teenage girl I know and asked if she could lend me her curling iron...instead, she curled it for me! Once she was in her costume (and let me tell you, she looked so stinkin' cute - not that you will ever know because she would NOT allow me to take any pictures of her), we went out to find our seats so that she could watch the other dancers until it was her turn. My Dad and brother came, Natalie showed up and the dancers began. Grace's class was first after the intermission, and she kept asking me when she got to go on the stage and I kept her updated. She was so excited about going on...until she scraped her arm on the way down the stairs and that was the beginning of the end! At this point, I am already annoyed at almost everything because I was so tired and I was just counting my blessings because of the fact that Grace seemed so willing and excited to dance today, but once that scrape happened, I knew it was giong to go down hill from there. I kissed it better and told her it would be okay. We followed the rest of her class down the stairs and met up with her teacher backstage. Once they started lining the girls up, Grace just grabbed onto my hand and said she wasn't going on! Miss Ellen, the teachers helper, said that she didn't have to go on if she didn't want to, and this was my response: "Don't even give her that option!"...but there was no way she was going on! Miss Sam (teacher) and I carried her across the stage - in front of the entire audience - just to get her to the correct spot and I told her I would sit right in the front row so she could see me. She was stuck like glue to me and Miss Sam finally pulled her off of me and I told her I would be waiting right there for her when she was done. The announcer said that the Preschool Creative class was coming on next and as they all filed out I held my breath. She never appeared...at all. I would have been happier if she at least came out and just sat on the stage glaring at the audience, at least then she would have made all the time and effort we put into the year a little bit worth it. I am not sure what emotion I should have been feeling, but I was really just mad at her then. I walked with all the other moms to pick up our kids backstage and they all gave me that look of: I-know-just-how-you-feel-and-it-is-okay-that-she-didn't-go-on-stage-so-don't-feel-bad. Guess what, it's not okay! If I was the only person who had bothered to go and watch her, then it wouldn't have been so bad, but I can imagine my Dad has better things to do on a Sunday afternoon than sit for two hours to watch girls dance when the only one he came to watch doesn't even go on!!! I told her I was very sad about the fact that she didn't dance (I tried my best not to get mad at her), but I know she could tell how I was feeling. It doesn't help though when she just gives me that look of hers when she doesn't like something (you know the look if you know Grace!), so I decided that I would make her realize that it is not okay to just decide not to do something like a recital at the end of the year and I told her that I was planning on taking her for ice-cream after she danced, but that would no longer happen. I know that might sound a little cruel, but I really was ticked off at that point!! She bawled her eyes out all the way to the truck and once we made it home and she came in the house, she took her costume off in the mudroom, headed for her bedroom got her pj's on and grabbed her blanket. I told her I was more sad than mad, but I also told her that her dancing career is officially over!!
I remember about 13 years ago I went through a very similar situation with Natalie her first year of dance (she only danced for two years). She did end up going on stage, but I had the exact same feeling of being on the verge of tears because nobody else's kid is acting that way! And it really doesn't matter how many women try to tell you that "she will go on next time", because guess what ladies...there will not be a next time!
Lesson learned!
SJ
Today was not the best day for this to happen either (not that there would really be a good day for it), as I am surviving on about 4.5 hours of sleep as we didn't get home until past 2:00 a.m. from our trip. Grace did not seem to be in any kind of mood to do anything that involved other human beings today, but we had to get to the recital on time, so I fed her, packed her up and grabbed her costume. I realized when I arrived that all the other little girls in her group had curly hair and Grace still had straight, so I found a teenage girl I know and asked if she could lend me her curling iron...instead, she curled it for me! Once she was in her costume (and let me tell you, she looked so stinkin' cute - not that you will ever know because she would NOT allow me to take any pictures of her), we went out to find our seats so that she could watch the other dancers until it was her turn. My Dad and brother came, Natalie showed up and the dancers began. Grace's class was first after the intermission, and she kept asking me when she got to go on the stage and I kept her updated. She was so excited about going on...until she scraped her arm on the way down the stairs and that was the beginning of the end! At this point, I am already annoyed at almost everything because I was so tired and I was just counting my blessings because of the fact that Grace seemed so willing and excited to dance today, but once that scrape happened, I knew it was giong to go down hill from there. I kissed it better and told her it would be okay. We followed the rest of her class down the stairs and met up with her teacher backstage. Once they started lining the girls up, Grace just grabbed onto my hand and said she wasn't going on! Miss Ellen, the teachers helper, said that she didn't have to go on if she didn't want to, and this was my response: "Don't even give her that option!"...but there was no way she was going on! Miss Sam (teacher) and I carried her across the stage - in front of the entire audience - just to get her to the correct spot and I told her I would sit right in the front row so she could see me. She was stuck like glue to me and Miss Sam finally pulled her off of me and I told her I would be waiting right there for her when she was done. The announcer said that the Preschool Creative class was coming on next and as they all filed out I held my breath. She never appeared...at all. I would have been happier if she at least came out and just sat on the stage glaring at the audience, at least then she would have made all the time and effort we put into the year a little bit worth it. I am not sure what emotion I should have been feeling, but I was really just mad at her then. I walked with all the other moms to pick up our kids backstage and they all gave me that look of: I-know-just-how-you-feel-and-it-is-okay-that-she-didn't-go-on-stage-so-don't-feel-bad. Guess what, it's not okay! If I was the only person who had bothered to go and watch her, then it wouldn't have been so bad, but I can imagine my Dad has better things to do on a Sunday afternoon than sit for two hours to watch girls dance when the only one he came to watch doesn't even go on!!! I told her I was very sad about the fact that she didn't dance (I tried my best not to get mad at her), but I know she could tell how I was feeling. It doesn't help though when she just gives me that look of hers when she doesn't like something (you know the look if you know Grace!), so I decided that I would make her realize that it is not okay to just decide not to do something like a recital at the end of the year and I told her that I was planning on taking her for ice-cream after she danced, but that would no longer happen. I know that might sound a little cruel, but I really was ticked off at that point!! She bawled her eyes out all the way to the truck and once we made it home and she came in the house, she took her costume off in the mudroom, headed for her bedroom got her pj's on and grabbed her blanket. I told her I was more sad than mad, but I also told her that her dancing career is officially over!!
I remember about 13 years ago I went through a very similar situation with Natalie her first year of dance (she only danced for two years). She did end up going on stage, but I had the exact same feeling of being on the verge of tears because nobody else's kid is acting that way! And it really doesn't matter how many women try to tell you that "she will go on next time", because guess what ladies...there will not be a next time!
Lesson learned!
SJ
San Francisco...DAY SIX....last day!
Well, our trip has come to an end and I have had a great time! Yes, I have been cold, hot, tired, sore, hungry, full, but through all that this has been one of the best trips I have had! We want to bring our kids here next time we come though…there are so many things we want to show them!
This morning we got up and packed our bags but we had until 12:00 to check out and 4:15 to leave for the airport, so we decided to leave our bags in the room and go out for the day to do the few things that were left on our list to do. As usual I put on my scarf and jacket and we headed out of the hotel, got about ½ a block and I had to turn back to change my clothes! Out of all the days that we have been here, this is the first one that is actually warm, make that hot! Thank goodness for the breeze, but it is only a breeze, not the insane wind that it has been! Maybe Mother Nature knows it’s the weekend and has decided to treat the people with amazing weather! This is the first day that you haven’t been able to surf on the ocean, but instead sailboats were all over the water. Today was the first time I went out with no sweater or jacket. Today is the first time I said that I was hot! I am happy that we were here throughout the week though, because for the first time during our trip I would say there are way too many people here now!
After I changed my clothing, we walked to Lombard Street – the Crookedest Street in the world! It is very neat to see and I would suggest you Google it if you don’t know what it is. We could have taken a trolley up to the top of it, but we decided that we could just walk to the top…STUPID! I am amazed they haven’t used this as part of the Amazing Race yet…it would be a good one! Imagine hiking up three city blocks…straight up! It is so steep that they would make a killing if they had a chair lift or a tow rope! Once we got to the top of the second block there it was, the Crookedest street and after sat down to have a rest and let my heart rate get back to a normal rate, we continued to the top of the crooked street. This time there were steps, which for some reason I thought would be better than walking straight up a sidewalk, but these steps are bizarre and tiny….like a half step. I felt drunk going up them and had to hold on the railing because I was beginning to get a little woozy going up. Once I reached the top I looked down toward my purse, which at one time had my sweater hanging off of it…no more though! If I didn’t really like that sweater I would have just left it wherever it fell off, but I do like it! I hiked down the tiny stairs until I saw that someone had picked it up and hung it over the railing for me. I retrieved my sweater and made my way back to the top. Some kid should really open up a lemonade stand at the top of that street – it would probably pay for his college!!
Going down the streets is obviously much easier than going up, but I wouldn’t want to be wearing high heels going down! Both Greg and I have had some pretty bad shin splints from the trips down the streets. It is worth making the trips up and down the streets though, just to take in all the amazing houses and architecture in this city! Just a side note, I have not seen one single overweight local here in San Francisco! I can’t imagine you could be overweight when you have to walk up and down those streets every day, and I imagine most people would have to walk them as parking will run you about $60,000/year here!
After our hike today, we went for lunch and then went to Ghirardelli to buy some chocolate for souvenirs. We came back to the hotel, packed our bags and put them into storage for a few hours. We had about three hours to do anything left to do. We realized at that point that we didn’t have too much left to do! We checked out an old arcade museum where we played some games and watched on game called “English Execution” – how gruesome – and Greg played a game he used to play in the Peace River Bowling Alley. We strolled along the piers and sat down to do a little people watching. We wrapped up our time in San Francisco with a special treat that we have been saving for this last day – a Ghirardelli Ice Cream Sundae…MMMMMMMM!
We are sitting in the lobby of our hotel as I type this post, waiting for our shuttle to pick us up and take us to the airport for our trip home. I am looking very forward to getting home, to seeing my kids and being in my own house, my own town.
Tony Bennett may have left his heart in San Francisco, but I left my heart at home!
SJ
Saturday, April 30, 2011
San Francisco...DAY FIVE
What a day! We got up bright and early this morning and Greg went out to get our rental car. I was hoping he would come back with some snazzy convertible, but instead he pulled up in a red Toyota Camry; I have to say, it is a really nice little car though, and Greg made a good point in saying “you would be cold in a convertible, Grandma!”…yes, I would! We took off with our Hertz GPS telling us to go this way and that way to get out of the city - I am not really sure why Greg even bothered programming it because he wouldn’t listen to anything she was saying! We had to play “Red Light Green Light” for a while too because the street lights here are not like the ones back home – they are not hanging above you, they are only on the side where the pedestrian lights are. Greg came close to going through a couple of red lights because he didn’t even know there were lights, so I became a backseat driver and had to tell him to go and stop! Once we got out of the city we took out my brother-in-law Luke’s hand drawn map (he is the one who suggested we take a trip down the coast) and set off down the beautiful California Coast. The roads along the coast are amazing – well, I suppose it’s really the ocean just off the road that make it amazing – but you should see it, it’s fabulous! We finally got to the one place Greg couldn’t wait to see – Pebble Beach (the golf course) and 17 Mile Road. We found a parking spot and headed over to the shops and restaurants and we even got to go into the Club House! Greg bought a couple of shirts from one of the shops and we met a very nice lady working there who was chatting with us and told us that we could go to the 18th Green and take pictures on it. She said “don’t be shy, it’s open to the public”, so we thought we would go check it out. We headed over to the club house and followed the directions given by the nice shop lady. I am not sure if I have EVER seen such beautiful views than I did from the club house and I am not sure if I have EVER seen such hoity-toity people in my life and I am not sure if I have EVER been so self-conscious of myself! We walked out onto the area that is just off of the 18th Green and all we saw and heard were the worlds best dressed and some of the richest eating on the patio of some very fancy restaurant – which I don’t think we would even be allowed into – and there we were standing with our shopping bag and camera! Greg asked if he should go over and stand on the Green so I could take a picture but then we both realized that we couldn’t stand out more at that point, so we just snapped a quick picture of the course itself and headed out. I had to go to the bathroom though and saw them as we were walking past the restaurant. I pushed open the door and there I saw two ladies, dressed to the nines, so I just slunked into one of the two stalls and closed the door, but it wouldn’t lock! I couldn’t hold the door because the toilet was set too far back and I figured if I stuck my foot out under the door to hold it, Muffy and her friend might just call security or something! I just took the chance that nobody would walk in on me and see a commoner peeing in their clubhouse! After I had flushed, I looked back and couldn’t believe it – the toilet paper was stuck to the inside of the toilet! What was I to do? Leave the paper stuck to the toilet or flush again?? I could see some very fancy shoes, which were probably worth more than my whole outfit (and I was wearing my best outfit that day), and once I heard them click their way out of the bathroom I flushed again and got out of the stall quick! When I was done washing my hands I looked for some paper towel, but instead I found rolled up towels and a hamper to throw them into! How posh! Once I found Greg loitering in the halls, we checked out some of the trophies and I took Greg’s picture with some big crystal looking thing and a golfer’s picture behind it. As we were leaving the Club House, a very nice lady who was working there told us we were allowed to enter one area and sit down to look at the view – but I think she could tell how uncomfortable we were and she gave me the sweetest look as if to say “I know exactly how you feel being in this stuffy place and I totally understand why you want to run as fast as you can to get out of here”, so we politely said thank you and left! Once we were out of the golf course, we drove past the rest of the gated houses and ended up in the small town of Carmel where we thought we would get some lunch. There seemed to be nothing but art galleries, fancy shops and even Tiffany’s & Co., so we figured that we should probably just keep on going and find somewhere that wasn’t quite so uppity. We drove to some town where they had a fresh food market (just past the fields where I believe they were picking strawberries) and stopped in to get some food. Let me tell you that if you have not eaten California Strawberries in California from a little food market like this, you are missing out! They also grow Almonds here – who knew! – I have never had such fresh, soft almonds in my life!! Sooooo good! We snacked on that until we drove up a winding road to Big Sur went to a restaurant where we had lunch overlooking the Pacific Ocean from way, way up high!
After our tour of the coast, we drove back to Mountain View, a town just outside of San Francisco because we had tickets to a Kenny Chesney concert. Greg wanted to go more than I did, and really only to see Billy Currington open for him, but I thought it might be fun too….boy was I wrong! The concert was supposed to start at 7:00 p.m. but we, along with thousands of others, didn’t even get parked until after 7:00 and then had to walk for about 10 minutes and stand in line for another 25 minutes! I have never been to a concert where people seemed so willing to stand outside partying instead of going inside to see the show – perhaps because all the concerts I have been to in Canada are in the dead of winter!! Some of these girls in their Daisy Dukes must have been frozen by the end of this outdoor party though, because I was chilly with my jacket on – and trust me, I wasn’t wearing any Daisy Dukes! Once we had our seats I got to watch more PDA’s than I would have liked to, but what was worse is that they were between some old lesbians and some greasy couple! Once the concert started we watched Blake Shelton and actually quite enjoyed him, but once Kenny started and the whole crowd stood up…well I couldn’t see a darn thing and so I just sat back down. I don’t think Greg was having the time of his life either, so when he suggested we leave only four songs into the concert I jumped at the chance!! We were amazed by the number of people who were also leaving…sorry Kenny!
We drove back to San Francisco and arrived at our hotel around 11:00 p.m. for our very last sleep of the trip! Tomorrow will be our final day in this very wonderful city, but I know we will be back again!
SJ
Thursday, April 28, 2011
San Francisco...DAY FOUR
I really don’t think of myself as “high maintenance”, even though Greg likes to refer to me as that quite often, but maybe I am a little bit. I don’t mean high maintenance in the sense of needing my hair and nails done all the time, or needing fancy things like clothing and cars…but here is where I become a little high maintenance:
1. I like the weather to be just right – not too windy, cold, hot, rainy, etc.
2. I don’t like most things on menus without tweaking them a little
3. I don’t like my environment to be too noisy
4. I like a nice soft bed, with soft pillows and plush blankets
5. I like my clothing to be comfortable – at all times
6. I want to eat when I am hungry….and I don’t like to wait!
This morning after I woke up in this rock hard bed with a sore back I was hungry and wanted to go eat…so we went out in search of some good breakfast and found a bar called Jack’s- something –or- other in the old Cannery building (a very famous building in San Francisco), and had the best breakfast ever for only five dollars! They didn’t have many things on the menu:
· Eggs, toast and your choice of meat
· Coffee
· Juice
That’s about it. I finally joined the “Clean Plate Club” today with this incredible breakfast! I do believe we will go there again tomorrow morning, and most likely Saturday as well. After our breakfast we walked out into the cold, windy weather and headed to the Hyde Pier – the pier that was once the only way into San Francisco, before they built the Golden Gate Bridge – where we got to climb aboard some very old ships that they have restored and made into museums. We saw an old Ferry boat that is incredibly beautiful, a sailing boat that might be one of the most impressive things I have ever seen and an old tug boat, which I didn’t feel very steady on, so I didn’t spend too much time on that one. The old sail boat was from the 1800’s and it had pictures and movies that you could watch and it was still filled with the original furniture and such. A great thing to see here.
After our boat tours we headed for the Hop On Hop Off tour bus and traveled to Union Square where all the shopping is. You name it, they have it: Louis Vuitton, Prada, Tiffany’s & Co., etc., etc. and Greg asked if we should check out some of these shops – not because he had any intention of buying me a diamond from Tiffany’s, but just because we are one of the 2.5 million tourists to come to this city and that is what tourists do. I said no way because I have already experienced the “Pretty Woman” scene in Vegas, you know when you walk into a very expensive shop and the people working there turn around and walk away not even giving you the time of day. I have realized that you have to look a certain way (very high maintenance) to be taken seriously in those stores, and when you walk in holding city maps and comfortable shoes, that is a dead give away that you are just a tourist coming in to gawk.
Only three blocks away from Union Square is the Tenderloin and in the Tenderloin is a little restaurant named “Dottie’s True Blue Café”, and I have been waiting to go there this entire time! I watched the episode of “Drive-in’s, Diners & Dives” on the Food Network and this place was featured. This little café only seats forty people, but after being in there I would have to say that number is a little high! We stood in line – like they said we would – on the sidewalk for about a half hour. We were told that on Saturday and Sunday, the line goes right to the next block and it will take up to two hours to get a seat! As we stood in line, we were greeted and quite entertained by a very flamboyant middle aged man who was wearing a leather vest with a diamond tiara broach! We eventually got two seats at the counter and had to decide just what to eat. We had front row seats of the owner cooking right in front of us, and it all looked so good it was nearly impossible to decide what to eat. I opted for the “True Blue Plate” – bacon, eggs, toast and potatoes – but I regret not getting the French toast with fresh fruit that the people next to me ordered. My meal was so-so, but the toast was Jalapeno toast (and that was not mentioned on the menu), so I didn’t eat that. After I ate all I could of my meal, I decided to order some coffee cake that was made fresh that morning by the owner – he bakes all the baked goods that morning – and they warmed it up and poured icing on it! It was gooood! If you want to check out Dottie’s online you can just Google “Dottie’s San Francisco” and it should take you to YouTube and show you the clip from the episode it was on.
We walked back to Union Square and caught the bus to come back to our hotel. At about 2:30 p.m. we walked into our hotel room and I was so tired that I needed a nap! My head hit the pillow and I didn’t wake up until almost 6:00 p.m.! We are going to go out for supper after American Idol tonight and check out the night life in San Fran, since we haven’t been out at night yet!
I am not sure yet were we are going to eat tonight, that is still undecided, but we might walk to Little Italy and check out some of the restaurants in that neighbourhood. We will watch American Idol, I will get my Steven Tyler fix for the night and then we will be ready to rock’n’roll!!
SJ
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
San Francisco...DAY THREE
You know the feeling you have when you have the day after your have gone horseback riding for the first time in 15 years or done aerobics when you are really out of shape? I have that feeling today! I can hardly walk and I am so incredibly tired! I realized that walking around San Francisco all day and then going to Alcatraz – which by the way, walking up to Alcatraz from the ferry is the equivalent to climbing a 13 story building – is not a good idea! Not only are my legs aching, but my hands are soooooooo sunburned that I really probably should seek some medical help. The good news though is that I didn’t wake up until 9:30 a.m. today, which was much needed but didn’t seem to make a difference – I was still sluggish all day! This vacationing is an exhausting past time…good thing I don’t do it very often!
Once we got up and moving today, we went out to find some breakfast and went to some so-so diner and then found the “Hop On Hop Off” bus tours and bought some tickets and caught the bus just before it left. We had no idea where we were off to, but to our delight it was Sausalito, just across the Golden Gate Bridge. We had about one hour to spend there and it reminds me of my very favourite place – Hornby Island, B.C. – it was a great place to see! Once back in San Francisco, we were taken around to some of the same places we saw on our tour yesterday, but we finally made it to one of the places I really wanted to go to – The Ferry Building – a marketplace that is downtown and not much of a tourist attraction, much more of a local market place. There was one place in the market that I really couldn’t wait to visit, a small bakery named Miette (which means “little crumb” in French). I bought a cupcake and some souvenirs to take home with me and took a whole lot of pictures of this bakery. One more thing most of you probably don’t know about me – my biggest dream in this world would be to open my own bakery like this one! I was just smitten with this little bakery.
We hopped back on the bus after our Marketplace visit and headed back to Fisherman’s Warf because we were just spent – and it was only about 4:30 p.m. We thought we had better eat some supper at that point because we knew that once we got back to the hotel, there would be no leaving for the night! There are so many places to eat in this city, however knowing just which ones are worth going to is not always that simple. We decided to go back to on place we already knew and love – Bubba Gumps!! Let me tell you just what the USA does way better than Canada…FRIED CHICKEN!!! I am so in love with the fried chicken down here! Once we were done with Bubba Gumps, we dragged our tired butts back to our hotel, which is about a 20 minute walk on a good day, and once we were back in our room, I put my sweat pants on and climbed into bed! We watched a movie and now have American Idol playing as I type away. As soon as I lift my hands off this keyboard, I will lay my head down and close my eyes until tomorrow morning. We have a big day planned for tomorrow with lots of stuff to still see and not that much time left. There are a few walking tours we would like to take, as long as our legs will hold out for another day or two, and we still haven’t had the chance to ride the trolley cars, so hopefully that will all happen tomorrow!
Good Night!
SJ
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)