About the rest of our trip

I was going to update this more while on vacation, but our time was just jam-packed with friends and family and other fun stuff!

We did not end up seeing my brothers on Wednesday after all. The car we were driving had some problems. We went with my SIL out to dinner at Todai, which we always love. It is a buffet with Japanese food, sushi, desserts, etc. Great place. I can actually eat fairly healthy there because of the great salads and fish they have. Their desserts are really tiny, too.

Thursday they had to take the car to be fixed, so we rented one while that was going on. We briefly went to Parkway Plaza (the mall in El Cajon) to get a couple of things, and I believe we also went to the grocery store, and I got take-out for lunch... Jack-in-Box used to be my favorite fast food place, but they have changed too much. Well, actually, I think most of their stuff is probably better than it used to be, but their Jumbo Jack is not nearly as good as it was, and that was my favorite burger. Their fries are really good, and so is their bacon cheeseburger. Oh, well. That was my first job, too, working at Jack-in-the-Box in Carlsbad, in 1979. They only had burgers and tacos back then.

David went to Tijuana for lunch; I did not go. We used to like to go there and get the delicious Mexican bread and pastries. He still gets the bread, but of course I can't have either any more....it's such an annoying trek to go there. First we drive to the border, then we park. We either walk across (which is kind of a long walk), or we take a cab ride (and they drive like crazy) or we take a tour bus, crowded with people and sometimes mariachi singers. On the way back, there is usually a long line. It was really long this time, so I guess I made the right decision. It is just a lot to go through, just to do a little cheap-o shopping and get good Mexican food. He did have quite a great lunch at the Ceasar's hotel there, so I missed that.

That afternoon, we drove up to Riverside. We stopped at the little Canyon Crest shopping center there to get some gifts. It is a much nicer shopping center than it was when we used to live there. It has a lot of nice stores. I wish I'd had time to do some real shopping there. We went to our friends' Monty and Paul's house and spent the night there. Monty worked with David at Texas Tech, and later he and Paul moved to Riverside (Monty works at Cal State San Bernadino). They have a gorgeous house. It's kind of like staying at a really nice bed and breakfast, and that is not an exaggeration. Also, Paul is a gourmet chef. They are just really fun and nice people.

Right around the corner from them lives our good friends Shaun and Jadie. When we lived in Riverside years ago, we used to go to their house almost every Friday night. Shaun worked with David at UCR. So it's a funny coincidence that Monty and Paul moved just around the corner from them. I've probably said that before, but it still cracks me up. We all went over to Shaun and Jadie's for dinner and hung around there for a long time, eating and drinking. They made a delicious meal and made sure it was low carb and gluten free for me. They grilled some chicken and sausages, and there were some really good veggies, salad, and dessert, etc. It was all very yummy. I drank quite a lot, but it was fun. It's always nice to catch up with old friends.

We had breakfast with Paul the next morning at the Canyon Crest Cafe, which has a pretty good breakfast menu. Monty had to leave early for a work thing. We drove back to El Cajon and got the now-repaired car, and got rid of the rental car. We then went to San Diego and spent the night there at the Gaslamp Hotel, this little cheap place we like to stay in. It's right down in the tourist area of San Diego. We went to the Padres baseball game that night. First, though, we met with my brothers David and Stephen, and my sister-in-law Zina. We went to this Irish pub that David likes. I thought there would be something I could eat there, but there wasn't too much, so I just had a salad. It was great to see them! Then we went to the game. I don't always love going to baseball games, but this one wasn't bad. It was quick, and there were lots of hits and interesting things to see, and they won. I just hate it when the game is really slow and nothing really happens, and it takes forever. I always bring my iPod just in case I get too bored.

I used to enjoy eating a lot at the stadium, but it's not really something I can do now. No more cotton candy for me :( Stadiums today have a really wide assortment of food, including healthy stuff, so it's a lot better than it used to be. They even have a gluten free stand there. They only sell hamburgers and hot dogs, and some chips, and the bread they have is horrible...but at least they're trying. I had a hot dog, but I threw away most of the bun.

Later, we stopped at this restaurant we like a lot called Osetra, just for a late night snack. It is kind of a seafood and tapas kind of place. I just had some tiny lamb chops, and then a tiny chocolate mousse dessert that was HEAVENLY. OMG, my mouth waters just thinking about how good it was. The service was very slow, though, so it took a lot longer than we wanted. We were both pretty tired. We even sat at the bar, where usually you get fast service, but it didn't matter. The bar has this big strip of ice, so that when they put your drinks on it, they stay cool. Neat.

Saturday, David and his mom and sister went to look at retirement homes. It went pretty well. I stayed home and worked, watched TV, and did more laundry. They picked me up for lunch. We were going to go to this great Greek buffet that we like, but it was closed for a private party, so we went to this Chinese place that Susan likes instead. It was ok. It was not very spicy, even though I got a spicy dish.

I was hoping to go to a casino or a movie that night, but it didn't work out. Our friend Ira came over later, and we went out to dinner at Grossmont Center. They have an Irish pub there now called Houli's. Normally the food at Irish bars is not that great, IMHO. Or it's heavy with bread and pastry. This one had a really good menu. I had corned beef tacos (!) and they were the most delicious thing I've ever had, I think. Fries were awesome, too. I'd eat that every day if I could, although it would be really bad for me and probably kill me :) It was nice to see Ira. We had a good visit. I had hoped to spend some time in the mall, but it was already closed.

That's the problem with getting older, you slow down. We had to take so much time during the trip for napping and sleeping... it seems like we were always either doing that or visiting with people, and there wasn't much time for anything else. Not shopping, not working. I had some time late at night, but either I was the only one awake, or I was sleeping, too. It is tiring enough traveling, but it only gets worse as you get older.

Sunday was quite busy. First we had breakfast with our friends George and Beth. They have these great 3-year-old twins. It was really nice seeing them all. We met at the Hamburger Factory, which is in a park near their house. They have a little train there, and the kids love it. I took lots of photos and put them up on Facebook. I'm mad at myself, though, that I forgot to take photos the rest of the trip. I was too busy having a good time! But of course, when there are little kids, it's natural to say, oh, they are so cute, let me get my camera out! We went with them over to their house afterwards and hung out a little. It was very fun. The kids are just adorable. I got to read to them, too, and that was fun. George and Beth are great parents, and you can tell by the fact that their kids are not annoying like so many are. They behaved really well.

I was pretty tired already, but we went to see my brother Stephen and Zina again. They moved into a new, much bigger place and wanted us to see it. It was really big, so now they have room for all their stuff. We got to see their two big dogs, too. They are very sweet dogs. One of them has no teeth, so his tongue hangs out to one side...looks very goofy! But cute. We went out for a snack at this place DZ Akins. I tried to find something I could eat, but there wasn't really anything...but Zina had ordered this ice cream dessert that was much bigger than she expected, so I just had some of hers. I didn't really need any food, anyway! We had a nice visit. I was pretty exhausted, though. The restaurant turned out to have this really nice gift shop, and it had lots of lady bugs! So I had a bit of fun shopping there, too. I took a little bit of a nap, but not much of one.

That night was our big karaoke night. I wish more people would turn out, but we didn't have too bad of a crowd. We usually go to the Charcoal House because it is close by and they have karaoke almost every night. They have a room off to the side, so we usually go there with our group because you can still hear the singers, but it's not so loud that you can't talk. My old friend Mary showed up, and that was great. She was in a car accident early in March, so she still has on a back and neck brace, but it was so good to see her. She really is a good friend to show up and hang out when she's in pain! She can't drive, so two of her sons came with her, and one of their friends and his girlfriend. She has a really nice group of kids. I had fun chatting with them about singing, and about TV and scifi. Our friend Martin usually joins us, too, and he did show up as well. He's always such a nice and fun guy. He and I always do the duet "A Whole New World" from Aladdin. We should learn some more duets...but anyway, it went great, maybe our best ever.

I had posted on Facebook that anyone was welcome to show up to karaoke. This guy we knew from way back when, Jamie, was the only one to take me up on the offer. He used to be in STAR, the scifi club we all belonged to, so we had a lot of mutual friends there. He also dated my SIL and was married to a friend of David's. I didn't know him very well, but he has been nice on Facebook. We had a good time chatting with him at karaoke, and it was nice of him to show up. He's a very nice guy. We've all grown up LOL!! It was a fun night, all the way around. Martin and Jamie both took photos, so I will post them when they get around to sending them.

Remember the old days when people would say, oh, I didn't develop the photos yet? Now you have no excuse...but sometimes people still get lazy ;)

Being a Sunday, there weren't many singers, especially for the first few hours, so I got to sing a lot. It was great. I had a lot of fun. It is rare that the evening ends and I think, okay, I've sung enough. That actually happened this time. I felt like I sang so much that I could barely finish a conversation because they kept calling me back up to sing.

Mary's boys sang, too. They are so talented. She is very lucky to have such kind and talented young men. And I know she agrees with that sentiment, too :) How many guys in their 20's are happy to go hang out with their mom and her friends for the evening? Yet they really seemed to have a good time. She has some other sons and daughters, but they are either out of state or not old enough to hang out in a bar. They are all very nice, though. Mary is such a great mom! I hope next time, after she heals, that we can hang out some more, and I can meet her boyfriend, Dan, who is an actor.

Of course karaoke is always fun, but it's ten times better when we have good friends or family around to share it with! My only regret is that I did not take pictures, plus I spent the whole night sober. What was I thinking? :) Hopefully, next time we can go to this other place that Mary and her friends like (they only have it on Mondays, so we have not yet been able to fit that into our schedule).

Monday was our last day before flying. We had picked up quite a few things that we worried would not fit in the suitcase (or would make our luggage too heavy), so we mailed a box full of stuff home. We had lunch at a local Mexican restaurant that we have passed for years but never went inside. I just wanted good, authentic Mexican food, like fast food, but David and his mom wanted a sit-down meal, so I gave in. But, anyway, it was okay, not that great. We won't be going back there again. I should have asked people at karaoke what their favorite local place was. I might have gotten some good suggestions!

I wanted to go to a mall and look around. David wanted to go to another baseball game. We went to Horton Plaza in down town San Diego. It is not as good for looking around as it used to be. It has a movie theater, and a great food court, but the stores are so-so. Anyway, we looked around there for a while. The weather in San Diego was actually kind of chilly, so I bought a sweat shirt for the game. And I was still freezing! So stupid to be freezing in June, especially when back home it was in the 90's! But that's the coast for ya. Anyway, we were planning to go to a Chinese restaurant that we like in Horton Plaza, but instead we just ate Indian fast food at the food court. It was pretty good. I also had some Ben & Jerry's ice cream. Awesome. It is so hard to diet while on vacation.

The game was really awful. It was slow, boring, and the Padres lost 1 to nothing. The other team, Colorado, scored a run in the first inning and that was pretty much the whole game. Blah. I did try the gluten free hamburger later on, and it was not that great, either. Oh, well. I even drank coffee at the game...that's how cold I was. I hate coffee. But I was freezing, and also the caffeine was needed. I was falling asleep half the game, and I mean I really was dozing. I'm not exaggerating. Sometimes I got up and walked around up where they sell stuff, just to get warmer and wake up.

We all flew back to Atlanta on Tuesday and stayed at the Westin airport. It was a fairly uneventful trip. We didn't go out to karaoke or anything this time because David had to get back to work the next day. We had a really good dinner at our hotel, though. It has been hard this past week getting back into a routine. The trip was so much fun. Then of course I slept a ton when we got home. I have been tired all week, actually.

Mostly I have just been catching up on working on my site, and doing stuff in the house. I need to get back into recording and singing again. I hope you all had a nice Memorial Day!

Tomorrow it's off to the dentist. It's long overdue. I have to get my teeth cleaned, and I have a tooth that needs re-filling because the filling fell out. Ugh. Is there anyone who likes going to the dentist? I think I hate it more than most. Not the pain or fear or anything so much as I gag really easily, and I have a really small mouth. It sucks when even getting x-rays hurts.

We had the house cleaned today...always nice to have a clean house. We have it done once a month, roughly. I know that so much of this blog was about eating. Well, you know, when we vacation, food is important :) I have started back dieting, though. I gained a little weight back recently and I would say I need to lose about 40 lbs. We'll see how that goes. I am mostly back to just eating salads...

I saw this doctor on TV when we were in San Diego, Dr. John LaPuma. He was on an infomercial, but it was quite interesting. Normally I am skeptical about anyone like this, but I could not find ONE person on Google that said he was a fake or anything like that. Also, his stuff is based on science, nutrition and things I've pretty much read in other places. He just does a better job of packaging it. He runs the website ChefMD. He is a doctor that got interested in nutrition and how food affects our health, so he went to culinary school. He teaches about how to use nutrients in foods to keep yourself healthy and fit. Not a really ground-breaking idea, but he focuses more on what you can eat than what you shouldn't eat.

It's all pretty easy stuff, like eating foods, fruits and vegetables, lean meats, whole grains etc. and not eating processed or artificial foods. He has a lot of interesting things he tells you, like that eating watermelon that is not kept in the fridge has more nutrients than eating it out of the fridge. Or that if you eat a handful of almonds 20 minutes before you eat something fattening, it's healthier for your arteries. Stuff like that. Really fascinating. He has some great recipes on his website, too. I bought his book on Amazon, so I've been reading that. It's very interesting.

Speaking of reading, I have been reading the Harper Connelly books by Charlaine Harris (as well as the Sookie Stackhouse novels that "True Blood" is from). They are great. I wish there were more of them. It's about a girl who was struck by lightening, which gives her the power to find dead people. She travels around the country with her stepbrother, finding dead bodies for people. It's really good.