Sunday, December 9, 2012

The past 3 months in 30 seconds...

September....

Mom and Dad headed up to Oregon for Dad's 50th high school reunion.  I joined them for the first leg of the journey (in the motorhome) and we stayed at Seal Beach for 4 days.  While there we....

Went to the Getty Center

Went to the Getty Villa (my personal favorite)

(you can sort of see the backside of mom 
through the glass - in the red shirt)

Went to the Queen Mary for dinner one evening

and Mom and I had afternoon tea another day

and we went to the Long Beach Aquarium

Annie and I then headed home for 3 weeks of bliss, I mean 3 weeks of uninterrupted studying.  Oh, I almost forgot (don't tell Shawn) but  a friend came out to see me from Chicago.  We did the Zoo, the Midway, a walking wine tasting tour of Temecula, Food Truck Friday dinner, and a quick tour of Balboa Park before he flew back to Chicago

The 'rents got home and 2 days later I headed up to Utah for the Shepherd's Bush Retreat.  The theme of the retreat was home for the holidays, and it really was home for me.  The ladies at the Bush were my family for the 4 years I lived in Ogden.  It felt great to be back with them, and Teri put me right to work.  Oh woe is me, what a hardship it was to have Paulette Stewart all to myself for half a day (extreme sarcasm there).  Poor Paulette had to put up with a borderline stalker fan picking her up from the airport and acting as chauffeur for the day.
Mindi and Paulette, picture "borrowed" from Plum Street Samplers

Mindi and Jill, with Midge and Gidge,
picture borrowed from Plum Street Samplers
Yes, if you look closely you can see I was wearing my budha pendant on the day I picked Paulette up and took her on a tour of the Temple grounds.  You can't visit SLC without stopping by, its beautiful.

From Utah I drove down to Arizona to meet my parents in Sedona.  For some reason I can't seem to find the gazillion pictures I took, except for the few on my phone.  Oh well, I guess they're on the camera memory card and didn't make it to Dropbox or Picasa.
"Eat more Beef" at one of the artist colonies in Sedona
Typical pose for Annie and Dad in the evening when motorhome camping.
I also got a chance to stop by The Attic to drop off some donations for their charity auction and drool over all the samplers on the walls.  I tried really hard to not look, my budget was already blown.

Early October I went to Las Vegas for my annual geek fest, otherwise known as the SOE Fan Faire.  Its really just a chance to see friends I only see once a year and to have some fun going out to dinner.  Not quite as much fun this year on an extremely limited budget, not to mention I haven't played my geek game (Everquest) in about 9 months.  But, it was good to see friends.

We went to the Mob Museum

Had a "Dark Dining" experience (that's Shawn with me)
No, those aren't bras on our heads, just fancy sleep masks.

Somewhere in all that I did some stitching, a few exchanges, a few finishes, and ripped out half the backyard to prep it for artificial turf.  Pictures on all that next post, if anyone still reads this blog.

11 comments:

Teresa S. said...

I'm still here, Mindi :)

Looks like you have had a wonderful few "mini" vacations. The Getty Villa and the Queen Mary look like fun!

I'll bet you and Paulette had a wonderful day.

I'm putting the Shepherd's Bush retreat on my wish list.

cucki said...

Hello dear looks like you had a fun time :)
Love for you x

Chris said...

So glad to see an update from you!
Looks like you have been having some fun!
I will be woking on my Bristol Girl again soon!

Siobhán said...

Good to see a post from you, Mindi! You've had a super busy time of it the last few months!

Margaret said...

What fun! I loved seeing what you've been up to -- so good to see a post from you! Love all the pics, and love to get to see you in the flesh too! You're so lucky to have hung out with Paulette like that! I know her only through emails and online. She's so nice!

Vickie said...

Looks like a lot of fun! Can't wait to see the artificial turf pictures. Our teenage son wants that for our lawn here in Wisconsin. He mows the lawn. ;)

The Inspired Stitcher said...

Mindi, I'm still here! (waves to ya) I enjoyed seeing all the pics. I still can't believe we didn't run into each other at SB! Next time for sure!

Myra said...

I have missed your posts! Of course I am still here. (Not stitching LK Halloween Rules thought roflol!) I love all the pics too.

Nicola said...

I enjoyed all our photos. The bronze pig is adorable.

butterfly said...

lLooks like you had a great fun time thanks for sharing .

Parsley said...

OH MY! You've been busy with FUN! Looking forward to the next post to find out about stitching, exchanges (hehe) and more.