Tadaaa!
Today was a great day to decorate a Christmas tree! Luckily I happened to have one sitting in my living room! WHAT??? And to top it all off, Mariah just happened to show up just when the decorations were ready to go! Lucky girl!! It was a truly good day!
Natalie and Pat and Mariah joined us
It was a beautiful warm sunny thanksgiving day and as usual Scott and I spent most of the day happily preparing a delicious meal to share. This year my house was just too cluttered with boxes, tools, and just a general explosion of messiness to invite many people over so we kept it simple.
It’s so beautiful! For those of you who haven’t been to our house, there has not been any finished cabinetry anywhere since we moved back in about five years ago. Not because Scott was being lazy, noooo, but because he was busy remodeling other people’s houses. It just wasn’t possible for us to survive on one income while he devoted his time to finishing our house. Now that we are sprinting to the finish line we are making it work by the skin of our teeth. When Scott and I set our sights on a goal we may run into a snag now and then or we may be faced with the necessity of a detour of some sort, but we get to where we want to go eventually in spite of how difficult it may be. So every time we reach another milestone I rejoice! This master bath completion.. Is cause for rejoicing!!! I have 16 drawers in that delicious bathroom! And actual cabinet doors, with handles!! It’s amazing how much you appreciate little things like drawers! More than appreciating the joy of cabinetry, I’m massively proud of Scott and the meticulous workmanship that goes into the cabinetry that he is custom designing and producing himself. He is my Renaissance man!
Today I got to visit my daughter, Mariah’s Cosmetology school . She is nearing the end of her program and needed to do one more facial. I was overjoyed to offer myself up as her final facial victim, oops! I meant client!
Scott an I were invited to go sailing in San Francisco today with some very special people. Bare with me as I attempt to briefly explain our connection.
The countdown to our move is marching onward ! Time is truly flying by faster than I can believe! There’s only 115 days until February 1! We have loosely set February/March as our goal to list the house for sale and I must admit that seems awfully quick! Scott is making great progress on all the finish work in the house.
We usually try to get up here to Lake Tahoe at least once a year. It’s just such a beautiful place! The scenery is breathtaking , the air is crisp and clean and there’s no end of possibilities for enjoying the great outdoors.
Scott had a golf tournament today at Poppy Hills on 17 Mile Drive. A beautiful setting! I had a great time hanging out in the clubhouse . Here’s a few pictures.
Lately, as I’ve been ultra focused on all my plans for the next phase of my life, I realize, I need to try to remember to enjoy the moment! This moment……..right now! I was reminded of this the other day as I was working on my client, Barbara Spark’s hair. She was talking about how she often has to remind herself to stay focused on the moment. She said that she has to stop herself from obsessing over the past or the future or things she really has no control over and embrace the ‘moment’. I think it’s a really great thing to keep in mind. This is especially true for me as I prepare to move on to a new life.
Scott’s in the process of getting our house ready to sell by February or March of next year (2013). You may wonder,” what needs to be done?”. Well, mostly all the finish work. He needs to do a lot of woodwork, cabinetry , baseboards, the exterior of the house and detached cottage needs to be painted and our front walkway is getting stamped concrete, also the backyard needs to be seriously cleaned up and landscaped.
Wed morning we checked out of our Villa Nova Inn. It was time for the treacherous but scenic van ride back to Guayaquil . We left at 6:30am Thurs morning so we arranged to spend one night at the Palace hotel , where we stayed one night at the beginning of our trip.
Poor Scott caught a bad flu bug yesterday so sadly our exploration of Cuenca seems to be pretty much done for now. Today he is still down for the count and tomorrow we head back down to Guayaquil . He’s feeling a tiny bit better but still needs to stay close to the Banos. For lunch yesterday I just ate the remnants of our picnic but for dinner I decided to wander out on my own .
I neglected to post the pictures of the lovely dinner we had on Scott’s Birthday on Thursday night. I know Pat ( Scott’s Mom) will appreciate seeing them. Dano recommended this restaurant , Tiestros. The chef came out from the kitchen to introduce himself to us and asked where we were from. We told him we were from California and he scratched his chin , thinking and said… I will make surf & turf for you!! …… Ok?
Today was a relaxing day. We didn’t have much of an agenda so we did a bit of wandering through Old Town and just looking around. I took some pictures of some pretty sights . Some graffiti I found interesting and some of the old Colonial buildings . We wandered upon a panama had museum. Little known fact….. Panama hats originated here in Ecuador ! Why they call them Panama hats, I haven’t a clue. But all the indigenous women wear them here. We also went to one of the other markets . This one , San Francisco Market is in a building unlike the Fiera Libre which was outdoors.
This is Dano, he’s a great tour-guide!
Fireworks at the festival
They fill these paper balloon things with fire then just let them float off into the sky! The sky above the park is filled with these colorful things ! So cool!
Just a pretty tree in the park
Floating balloon!
A couple of them actually floated into the church!
Scott choosing some sweets…. Hard to decide, it all looked so yummy!
this is one of those structures that has the fireworks on it. They light it up and those pinwheels spin around!
An Ecuadorean family in the back of their truck.
Driving through old town with Dano
A store window in the old town.
We had lunch with Dano at one of his favorite places.
The church in Turin , so many beautiful churches.
the view of Cuenca from Turin
More view of the city
and one more!
a friendly alpaca
Us at the waterfall
The waterfall
