Are we at the top yet?

Sister

#

3!

The

BIG

SISTER!

...

Bishop's Peak

I grabbed

my

companion in climbing crime,

Annie

and we were off to tackle

the

Big Sister

Now

I consider

myself

quite

strong

I mean

I work out

and run,

but......

Who knew?

Off we go

first look back

towards

Cal Poly Campus

and downtown SLO

Emerald green

grasses

and

ponds

full

from so much rain

I am

still

talking

(and breathing)

at this point

Next

look behind......

Look!

There's

Islay Hill

in the distance

and

Madonna Mountain

(aka San Luis Mountain)

Sisters one and two

just to the right

up

up up

switching

back and forth

up

up up

UP

Looking back again

toward

Laguna Lake

and the Irish Hills

,

Oh Look!

There's our house!

See......

here's

a

better shot

can you see it now?

Are we at the top yet?

breathing

labored

no conversation anymore

There's

Steph and Brynn

just in front of me and Annie

It's

Foggy

at the

summit

(nice and cool...)

Brynn and Steph are moving pretty quickly

(At this point

I am barely able to catch my breath

heart beating

almost

out of my chest)

Annie so encouraging......not

"Come ON, MOM! You bag on me to finish all my job applications

now I am bagging on you to

keep going

AND

hike to the top!"

are we at the top yet?

At the top

YUP!

AT THE TOP

we found Steph and Brynn

The top of Bishop's Peak

sweating profusely

wishing for water

but smiling

This Big Sister

is

quite

dramatic

down down down

.....

....

...

..

.

easier

that

UP

little flowers

driving home

Annie

shot

Sister Bishop

from Foothill Blvd.

See those rocks at the top?

that's where we were!

Crossed

Big Sister

Bishop's Peak

off my list

......

thank goodness

fish tacos

blog

is next

Searching for the BEST Fish Tacos around SLO

This

last weekend

was

Polywood

aka

(Open House)

at

Cal Poly.

SLO

had

like 10,000

extra people

roaming around

in town!

(that's quite a few)

You

could not

have

asked

for better weather

for

Polywood

...

maybe

80 degrees

soft breezes...

perfect!

The

bright blue skys

and

warm

sunshine

gave me a craving

for the beach

a beer

and some fish tacos

off to Avila

glorious!

We

are still

doing

that

no sugar

no flour

no preservative thing

so

FISH TACOS

are

becoming

a staple

in our diets

We were

(and still are)

on a hunt for the best fish taco in SLO County

we

scooted

to

the

end

of

the Olde Port Pier

(aka the Harford Pier)

to

Pete's Pierside Cafe

Pete's has been around forever

I used

to

know

the

REAL

Pete!

Great guy,

jovial

happy -

loved Mexico,

the Caribbean

and

all of

Latin America, really

and the food!!

OH, Yes!

Pete was a foodie!

(I wonder what happened to Pete.....)

Salmon tacos,

yes, please!

and crab cocktail

(as crab is in season right now)

and

a couple

Red Tail Ales

We grabbed this little table

in the

warm sun

with a view of

San Luis Harbor

Wild Salmon Tacos

and

the Red Tail

scale of 1 - 10 maybe a 5

fish was GOOD

not enough cabbage

and only one tort

Onlookers

looking for our leftovers

No

worries....

we didn't share any scraps

with

our feathered friends

Next stop

for

fish tacos?

Maybe Splash Cafe,

or

The kilt

or Schooner's

...we will let you know

That Phinn...

ok -

way too much information

I know

but I had to

giggle

as Phinn proudly found himself the bottle of

Fanny Wrapper's

(the best lingerie shop in SLO)

brand of KY Jelly

and decided

to chew it up

Why is this funny? I know you are asking....

I guess it is because one of my favorite blogs is about

LIFE

written by

a gal with

three young kids

Her youngest is Fin.

He found the KY Jelly

decided to

spike his hair

with it

and ultimately won the best

crazy hair

at Awanas....

I guess the Fin and Phinn thing got me....

OK!

not so funny

The next few blogs will be about

our hunt for the

best fish tacos

in SLO county

(If you do want a fun read

please click on to

Kasey Buick's

life blog)

Footprints

Some people

come into our lives

and

quickly go.

Others

stay a while,

leave footprints

on our souls

and

we will never, ever be the same.

-R. Hoskins

This is a difficult post,

but

one that I feel

the need to share.

I have

posted

a

few

really

special

"Petit Soleil"

serendipitous

moments

with you,

and

have

shared

a

few

very

special

Petit Soleil

guests

with you

but

this

story

left

a

footprint

on

my

soul

Cal Poly's

2011 Freshman,

and their families

are beginning

to arrive

into town

for

orientation

and

school tours.

The

excitement

is

contagious.

Three years ago we felt this same excitement as a young man from Austin TX,

Carson,

and his family

were

touring

Cal Poly and San Luis Obispo

and

were

making

the final decision

for Carson

to become a

Cal Poly

Mustang.

Tall,

lean

an obvious athlete,

with

charm

and

a

Texas size smile,

Carson

won over our hearts

(and the hearts of

all the

young Cal Poly girls

that work at Petit, as well)

Carson's family,

equally

as

warm and charming,

shared in the

excitement

of

his future

of

architecture,

mountain bicycle adventures,

and

hopeful dreams

The dreams changed.

Carson

died

of

alcohol poisoning

at

a

Fraternity

initiation

party

December 2, 2008

...

hazing was

the

alleged crime

Time stopped

for

his family,

friends,

and

everyone else that he touched

was

started

by

Carson's family

to honor

his

legacy

...

to educate

children, young adults

and their families

about

hazing,

bullying

and

alcohol poisoning

...

Cal Poly

honored

Carson

last week

with

the dedication of

a bicycle rack

in

an

emotional

ceremony

Carson's family

along with

Cal Poly

want

to ensure,

through education,

a

safe

transition

for kids

into

adulthood

The

day was perfect

warm

and breezy

young

people

sang

and many

just

listened,

cried

or

quietly remembered

Carson

Carson's

roommates

and

closest friends

gathered

with

his

parents

With Carson

will

be

honoring

Carson's

memory

Please read the

Cal Poly

bike dedication

page

Parents!

educate yourselves

and educate your children

Young People!!!

Never

Ever

let anyone

bully

you

...

never

become

a

bully

Please read

about

Carson Starkey

here

after knowing him

I will

never

ever

be

the same

Happiness is....

IMG_0708, originally uploaded by TTT with Toulouse.

I believe that kids are like boomerangs!
Whoooosh.....you send them off to college and they spin and twirl and whoosh..
back to you they come!
Secretly, I am thrilled to have them back in SLO; chatting it up with the guests at Petit, eating up leftovers at home, filling up our DVR with hundreds of "Sex in the City" episodes and ESPN programs and whipping our butts (mine and John's) at Cranium, Catch Phrase, Rummikub and Yahtzee. I love their energy and their ability to always keep us guessing.
I did find this plaque - on FACEBOOK,( believe it or not), while I was stalking pictures of the newest arrivals at a charming little shop in Paso Robles called The Cottage. I sent Sandy a message to hold one for me.
John permanently adhered the plaque right in between the doors of Annie and Andrew's rooms (always their rooms whether they live here of not).
I hope they remember what they read here:

Happiness is not a destination it is a way of life.

(I know I appreciate the daily reminder, too)

It is not easy keeping up on a blog

It

is

quite

a

challenge

to

keep

my

blog- readers

interested

in

reading

this

blog

(Jenny- I think I need a picture of Reggie the Randy Rover cruising across the screen with Toulouse)

I do have some

recipes

to share...

or

I could share

my

Happy Anniversary with John

pictures

with you

or

I

can

go out and take

pictures

of

the

extraordinarily

beautiful

emerald green hills

and

wildflowers

around

SLO

with

you

or

I could

tell

you

about

our

killer wines

for

April

.......

but

today I choose

to share

some

happy

videos

of

Petit Soleil

with you:

#1

by

a

creative

guest

#2

by our

amazingly

talented

and

dear friend,

Jenny

of

Live Artfully Productions

#3

our

Joyeux Noel

TV

greeting

#4

breakfast at Petit Soleil

by

Molly

(for a Cal Poly Senior project)

or

Spring is springing!

There's a cloud
There's a cloud
A blue sky darkening
That veils the light of the sun
And foretells the rain
But there's a bird
There are birds
And some are singing

To greet every new day that may come
Like the first of spring

It is cold
It is cold
I've had the feeling
At the heart and in the core
The roots of all things
But there's a bud there's a bulb
It will be blooming
To greet every new day that may come
Like the first of spring

Tracy Chapman

Today

is the

first day

of

Spring!

Don't

you

just

love

Spring?

Everything

is

all

SO

new

again!

.....

We

had

a wicked rain

last

night

in SLO -

like

four inches

in

24 hours!

(that's a lot for us!!!)

but

the

rain,

even the wicked rain

makes

fresh air

and

happy

flowers

cheery

Johnny Jump ups

pansies

kale

daisies

so happy!!!

A

few days

ago

John

planted

my

old bird cages

full of

flowers

I think

he

quietly

remarked

that

my idea to

plant flowers

in the

old

cages

was

a

REALLY

good one

since

we

have

had

numerous

canaries and finches

that

literally "flew the coop" when I was cleaning the cage

(oooops)

Last

night

I woke up

in

a

scary

panic,

or was it a hot flash?

during

the

wicked

rain storm

worrying

that

my happily planted

bird cages

might

blow over

and

be

T O A S T

joyfully

they

were

P E R F E C T !!

sadly,

though,

the wicked

four inches

of rain

caused

a

about

four inches

of

flood

water

in

Petit's

kitchen

.......not so fun

the

old

bicycle was

upright

and it's flowers

happy

"But there's a bird
There are birds
And some are singing"

on

the

first

day

of

Spring!