Monday Freewrite Fifteen

Just a reminder of what a freewrite is for anyone reading this blog randomly and wondering what the heck it is that I do on a regular basis on this blog of 12 years.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_writing

Well, that was a fun day so far. I think I have two classes that are very engaging and very full! I have about 63 students between both my classes. 

I always enjoy Pilates I because they are "clean slates" and not polluted by impure Pilates (so many hybrids out there - not pure Pilates, not bad, but some people who have done it the other way are shocked at the pure way). I have several returning students this term. The most I have ever had. I miss some of my old ones though. Such great students. I got feedback from a friend who has a girl in her sorority house who has me, and she liked how "engaging" I am. That is nice to get feedback so soon after leading my classes. :)

Well, we had a superb Spring Break. It really was quite perfect from beginning to end. The thing that we all commented on is that we all truly like each other in our family. Therefore, it was so easy to be together on a 16 hour car ride down to Southern California and back. I am going through withdraw though because the kids have gone back to college and George has gone back to work. Thus why I am doing a freewrite and recalling the sweetness of the time.

We left on Saturday, March 19. We rode down and picked Michael up in Ashland. Then we drove down to Santa Nella to Pea Soup Anderson's. It is our tradition (and the first [and last] time the boys had every eaten a Twinkie when they were in the pre-teen years). We left early and went down to stay for four nights with my brother and his wife. Their son is out of the house which probably helped the enjoyment of the trip because he could be very cruel and mean to the kids when they were growing up. He lives in Arizona. So, we hung out with them on Sunday. My brother was alone and caught us up with all that is happening with their life. Then my sister in law came home, and we had a nice tri-tip dinner. My sister in law is THE HOSTESS WITH THE MOSTEST.  She LOVES cooking for people, and who are we to deny her that pleasure?

After that, we walked Shark Tank with my brother, and he explained to me the negotiations. I did not get the "business and financial gene" like my mom and brother. After that, we watch The Passion by Tyler Perry. Excellent and edifying!

We woke up and my sister in law went out to workout and meet with my other sister in law for a lunch planning meeting. My brother went to work, and we went to spend a delightful couple of hours of tea with Dave and Lynn Hunt. What a delightful family! Their son and his family are living with them now so it was fun to meet him. They are moving back to Africa in May. So I am glad we went and visited. 

After that, we went to see my grandparent's grave. Then, we went to In n Out Burger for the kids' first experience. (I went and got Pho). Michael got a haircut, and then we went and met Jerome and Terri for dinner at Macaroni Grill. Just love, love, love those two people. I call Terri my "Texas  Twin"! We are both tall, left-handed, and born in the same year! So fun. The boys took pictures while we were there. (Another thing is that the boys are totally into photography now!)

We came back and watched Dancing with the Stars with my brother and sister in law. 

Then, we got up very early Tuesday morning and went and met with my financial broker. I inherited my mom's. So, he is in SoCal. We learned a lots, and we have a plan of action that we hope to complete before we go on our summer vacation. 

Then we went to the ZOO! So fun. Perfect day for it. After that, we met Susanne and her two kids in Balboa Park and had lunch and walked around together. Paul had never seen Balboa! They have always just gone to the zoo!

After this, we came back and went to see Easter Mysteries.  This is a Passion Play from Peter's perspective! My brother and sister in law's nephew was Judas in the movie. It was very good, but we were the ONLY people in the theatre. So, of course, my brother made jokes, and we laughed about some funny things that I better not mention on this blog.

On Wednesday, Holly fixed us a huge, huge breakfast.Then we all went to La Jolla and went sea kayaking! SO FUN! We saw seals, sea lions, and dolphins.  After this we went to Alphonso's for Mexican food. My brother and I used to go there in the 70's, and they were closing down the following SUNDAY to move to Solana Beach. Alphonso was there and took a picture with us (he is probably in his 80's now).

Then we came home and showered up. We ate leftovers and went to bed early.

We woke up earlier than expected and were out the door by 4:10 am for our trip back up north! We made it to our favorite spot, The Railroad Park Resort where each room is a real train caboose. It was only 2:30 so we went on a hike to the vista point for Castle Crags, to the Sacramento River suspension bridge in Dunsmuir, and Hedge Creek Falls. Then we went to the Pizza Factory (our tradition) in Dunsmuir and saw that the Oregon Ducks were playing Duke. We ate our meal and watched the rest of the game. They creamed them! 

We fell asleep early and got up and hiked around the resort. We left by 11 am check out and came to Ashland. We had lunch at the PIE + VINE. YUMMY! We left Michael there in the residence hall and got back to Corvallis at about 6 pm. 

Perfect vaca in every way!

(I went way over the fifteen minutes because I wanted closure on my typing. In the spirit of the freewrite, I am not proofreading this. I am sure there will be many mistakes!)