Wednesday, January 30, 2019

Turning 62 is the best!

Greenfield, CA

Wow, almost a month since the last check in on Blogger.
Since then we've been busy as usual.

It's the rainy season here which produces beautiful rainbows..


..sunsets..

Patty Kennedy took this stunner

and sunrises..

Thanks to Steve Best for this picture!

Just yesterday I turned 62!
George and I thoughtfully decided
it was a good time for me to file for SS.
So, my first check gets deposited the last
Wednesday in March.
Hallelujah!

Monday the staff in the office had
a combined birthday party for Jodi and I.
Jodi's birthday was the 21st.

We had pizza..


..and then ice cream cake later..



I take advantage of joining different clubs
for 'free' meals and such.
One of them was Denny's.
Yesterday morning we drove over
to the local Denny's for a free
Grand Slam.


It was yummy!!


The next step in my adventure was
getting together with Connie & Greg.
We started out wine tasting at Sarah's (of course)!

We only went to one winery as it was getting close 
to our reservation time at 5 pm.
My choice for dinner was an iconic restaurant in Capitola.
Shadowbrook has been there since 1947 and is a great romantic place.
It sits right on the Soquel Creek, with wonderful fairy lights in the trees.

I had gotten a call earlier that the restaurant's famous funicular
had an electrical problem,
and anyone with mobility problems needed to know.


Greg drove us over to the restaurant to check it out
in case the 96 steps down (and back up!) would be a bit too much
for Connie to tackle.

I have to say that she was a real trooper and had no issues!

This was the view from our table, nice!


Connie and I decided to start out with
an appetizer of Baked Brie with Jalapeno Jelly.
It was delicious, but no pictures! 

George ordered Artichoke Hearts, nicely deep fried
with a cilantro lemon-aioli .

Next came a cup of artichoke soup, which was delicious!



 George and Connie ordered the special for dinner..
Shrimp Scampi with Tagliatelle pasta.
They said it was great and garlic forward! :)


I had the Braised Osso Bucco made with pork.
Oh boy!


Greg ordered the Lobster Tail and a Caesar Salad,
and again was just delicious!
Somehow I missed a picture of his.


We were all too full for dessert, 
but I did order their special chocolate truffles "to go'.
The server did bring it in a cute little box,
and a lighted candle on the plate :-)
All of us could have sworn we got a picture of that, 
but apparently not :-(

Traditionally the server takes a picture of the party,
which is then printed out and you can also download off their website.
I believe my truffle is behind the water glasses somewhere :-)


All in all it was a great way to celebrate getting older!


Tuesday, January 1, 2019

It's 2019!

Greenfield, CA

It's 2019 already!?
Seems like yesterday we were worried about the Y2K thing.

Our Christmas came and went,
as well as New Year's Eve.

Christmas eve was spent worshiping at church with Mom,
then meeting Adam, Jen, and Austin for our traditional Chinese food.
Afterwards we met back at Mom's
where we visited a short while.

Adam & Jen had plans with friends on Christmas Day,
we were on call at the RV park,
and Austin came down and we watched home movies.

Austin and I got together for breakfast on Tuesday
before leaving for San Francisco.
All of this, and no pictures!

The Saturday before Christmas we traveled up to Morgan Hill,
to help celebrate Greg's birthday.
Their daughter Carrie was in town, with her dog Bella.
We took Cooper up so they could meet :-)
Bella is 14, and wanted nothing to do with young Cooper!



Cooper decided to play hard to get :-)


Bella finally let him giver her a little smooch!


We are hoping that 2019 is filled with love, peace, and joy!