One Last Birthday Dinner Before Casting Off

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The packing was nearly finished when Brian called and invited us for a Bon Voyage Birthday Dinner. I usually don't like to do too many things on the day before leaving on a trip, but we were as good as ready. We went to The Lazy Dog, and I was all set in my mind to have the Orange Peel Chicken and rice. It's been months since we've had dinner there and we used to go all the time. That's Brian and his mother, Heidi, across the table from us. Heidi stays at the house when we're out of town and looks after all the animals. The cats adore her (and Brian as well!)

When the waiter came to the table and said the fish special was blackened ahi, I had to have that again. It's just a favorite; what else can I say? Our dinners were wonderful, and then we splurged and had the Pan Brownie with ice cream...and yes, it's as good as it looks! There's too much for less than four people, so it was fun to have it again.



Heidi wanted to have pictures taken with Ken and me, so here you are, Heidi!
We came home, sat and chatted a bit, talked to Heather on the phone, and then it was time to survey the packing one last time. We'll be on a cruise to Alaska for the next week, so after a brief dry spell, there should be a lot of pictures to share. The weather reports show cold, rainy days ahead, but we're going with 30+ friends, so I'm expecting to have an exceptionally good time, no matter what.

Being silly...

I was just cruising other people's blogs and came across this quiz. Ken's always kidding me that I'm like a cat, so I took the dog and cat quiz... http://www.blogthings.com/areyoumorecatordogquiz/
Guess Ken's right!

You Are: 40% Dog, 60% Cat
You and cats have a lot in common. You're both smart and in charge - with a good amount of attitude.However, you do have a very playful side that occasionally comes out!

Tommy Bahamas~A Great Place for Dinner!

I've been to Tommy Bahamas on Maui, and I don't recall raving about it the way the group did this evening (Monday night the 21st). From our drinks (I had another wonderful Mango Margarita) through the main course, everyone thought what they had was the best. I know that the ahi I had (see photo) was the best ever. It was finely crusted in macadamia nuts which put the flavor over the top!



Pam was able to join us again before heading back to Santa Maria tomorrow. We celebrated three birthdays, Pam's is Sept 12, Lorna's whose is the 29th of Aug, and mine, just past on the 19th. Also there were Karen, Harriet, Barbara & Shirley. (Still more pix below...)

Tommy Bahamas...

Ohmygoodness! And I do mean "Goodness!" We had this darling, friendly waiter named Charles who had a good time swapping snappy one-liners with our "class cut up", Karen (on the left in the big group picture) It didn't take him long to figure we were celebrating birthdays, though that wasn't the original intent. After dinner, he told us not to go away and later came out with these two divine desserts! The one was a Pina Colada cake and the other, well, look at the picture, it describes itself! That was one delectable brownie (gooey) with ice cream and whipped cream! Lorna insisted that Pammie and I blow out the candles. I don't know what to wish for anymore...life is good! Seated around the table are Karen, Harriet, Barbara, me, Lorna, Pam & Shirley.

Pre-Cruise Party at Barbara & Ed's

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Our hosts for the day, Barbara & Ed. Thirty of Ed's friends are taking this cruise to Alaska to celebrate his 70th birthday that was on July 27th, (the same day as Heather's). We couldn't have had a more perfect day for the party, but that's a pretty safe bet in Southern California in the summer! On the other hand, we've been hearing reports of cold, rainy weather in the area where we'll be cruising. I picked up a couple novels at the library yesterday, so in the worst case, I can enjoy both cruising and reading!

The bartender was kept busy pouring glasses of Navy Grog for everyone.

Aubrey and Nancy...haven't seen them in a long while. They moved a way south of here and travel constantly. Aubrey is going to take everyone's photos and make them into a DVD for us after the trip, complete with music.

David and Harriet

This was taken early in the party. Not long after, the table was laden with delicious finger foods!

Shirley and Gary

Barbara, Shirley, Louise, Harriet and Nancy

Pre-Cruise Party...

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I met this group of gals in an aerobic's class 25 or more years ago! We'll be on the cruise to celebrate Ed's milestone birthday.

Ron & Ken

Barbara with Joanne, Bill and their daughter who's not going on the cruise.

Barbara & Ed's sons, Mike and Jim with their girlfriends, Jenny & Andrea.

Lorna and Ron who had the summer party yesterday.

A Pre-Cruise Party...

. Going through the Celebrity Cruise itinerary in the living room.

Visiting in the family room

Above and below, pictures of the Radfords, our hosts for the day and who arranged the cruise to celebrate Ed's 70th birthday.

(Doesn't look that age, does he?)

That's Navy Grog with the little party umbrella!

Louise, Shirley and Lorna

A Summer Afternoon Party at Lorna and Ron's

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The day of my
birthday, Ron and Lorna had planned a party, which is why we went to dinner the night before. I didn't take as many pictures as I might have liked on this day... Maybe it was standing and talking in the afternoon sun, drinking a margarita on an empty stomach, but I suddenly felt faint, sat down and proceeded to pass out! I spent most of the party inside on the couch, but all my friends came by to talk with me, so when I felt better, it wasn't terrible. I just missed a nice picture of the Mexican buffet that was catered...you know how I like food pictures! I guess I did get some good pictures of some of my friends and a nice husband's group. The bottom picture is of Lorna with Dennis and Pam. They'd driven down from Santa Maria, about 4 hours north. We haven't seen them in ages! Pam brought along a beautiful book her new daughter-in-law had put together with photos from the wedding last October. We all wish they still lived down this way; we don't get to see them often enough!

Heather Celebrates My Birthday with Human Clock

I have to brag about my girls! They're willing to jump in and play along with my whims when I get one! Even Ashley writes that she's been taking some "Human Clock" pictures and the owner of the retreat in Turkey even thought it was a great idea! Time Magazine named Human Clock one of the 50 most creative websites in 2006, so we haven't been on a bad bandwagon! And by the way, that's a darling picture of Heather!

Birthday-Eve Dinner with Ken at Roy's

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Roy's is one of my favorite seafood restaurants, so Ken arranged that we have dinner there to celebrate my birthday. We sat in a different room than we usually do, and I loved the art on the walls...it looked like ceramic, but each piece was on canvas with raw edges and a high sheen to the paint. Because there were only the two of us, what follows are too many pictures of me with my assorted food groups! But it was all so pretty, and absolutely delicious!

I was questing for a Mango Margarita and got it this evening! Strawberry Margaritas are good, but this sends me to the tropics!

In the foreground is the card Ashley had left for me before leaving on her trip. She'd taken the picture on the front and wrote a personal message inside. The other card and gift are from my friend, Mitch, in Hawaii. We'll be staying with her and her husband for a few days when we're over there in September, so you'll meet them then!

Mitch knows what I love! Keith and Carmen are favorite musicians of mine when we visit Honolulu. Actually, I have a picture of me with them on the mantle in the bedroom in Lunenburg. This CD won an award, and understandably! I've been listening to it in the car since that evening!

Ken with his appetizer, gyozo of some sort which he proclaimed to be delicious. Mine might not have been to everyone's taste, but I adore Ahi, and this was "Ahi Poketini", marinated ahi in a martini glass, hence the name.

This is Roy's birthday presentation. Ken and I had each had a nibble before I realized I wanted a picture! The little cake was a marzipan with ice cream and whipped cream. I'd had a nice ahi dinner beforehand, and we topped off dinner with a chocolate & vanilla creme brule, cappuccino and a Kahlua. You could say it was about perfect!