I am a non-smoker.

Day two so far-yesterday was pretty easy because I had a slight hangover, and today has been because, well, smoking is stupid.

Every time I think I want a cigarette I just tell myself that the craving is poison leaving my body, and it won't last forever.

I also tell myself "Thank GOD I don't have to give in to that feeling! Poor smokers-I'm no longer a slave to nicotine!"

I also had 20 minutes to spare this morning-I may be able to sleep in a little later if I want. So many benefits!

The only negative, and I remember this from last time, is my face feels swollen and weird. But that goes away after a couple of days. I'm really looking forward to no longer having a burnt tongue too-food is going to start tasting better than ever! (Just what I need, Ms. Gained8holidaypounds!)

I'm a non-smoker!

Here we go again

Blah blah blah low carb blah blah blah off the wagon blah blah blah quit drinking for 2 weeks.

I'm pretty sure I've said all this before, but we're trying the no drinking thing again-weekends included. Just for two weeks, but I'm really curious to see if alcohol makes that much difference in the way my body looks. I still have some stubborn belly fat that doesn't seem to want to budge. And getting hammered every weekend, which in turn makes me blow off working out, is not helping.

Besides, I'm looking forward to a weekend that doesn't go by in a blur.

Saturday

We had THE best time on our Bodie trip Saturday!

We met Wirecutter (click the link to check out his blog-your daily dash of humor!) in Bridgeport about 10:30-he thinks he was late but we really didn't notice. Gave us a chance to people watch and read for a minute-then started the trek to Bodie. It's about 15 miles from Bridgeport, CA-the last 3 are on a very bumpy dirt/gravel road. I had already been doing my happy/excited dance all morning-but once the town came into view I could barely contain myself!



That is a view of the town from the cemetery-it's the best overall view. You can see that it was actually a good sized town.

There are quite a few homes and businesses you can peek into and get a really good feeling of how people lived back then. I don't remember the exact dates, but the town started as a booming mining town around 1860 and remained occupied until the early 1930's. The state of California eventually stepped in and made it a state park in the early 1970's I believe.

I took close to 200 pictures, so I'm just going to post the ones that really touched me-otherwise this would be the longest blog post EVER.







Looking into the homes, you can imagine what life must have been like. Can you imagine being a wife and mother in 1870? Wearing those big heavy dresses, having to gather wood for your cooking, water from down at the river, all the while trying to keep your children safe from the debauchery while praying to God your husband made it home from the mine? It gives me chills, it really does.

And check this out-they used burlap to insulate their houses, poor things. It can snow up to 6 feet in Bodie-I can't even imagine what it must have been like trying to stay warm.



Hubbs and Wirecutter-look at that glassed in front porch-



No matter where we go, Hubbs can ALWAYS find an interesting car to look at-





And yes, that includes wagons-look at the axle, I'm pretty sure it's a tree branch.



The houses of prostitution and most of the bars burned in one of the fires, but the street where the ladies were located was called Maiden Lane, or Virgin Alley. So I thought I'd get a picture of my sweet innocent self next to the sign-



A shot of a gambling hall-





And check out the legs on this billiards table-thanks to Wirecutter for pointing out it was a billiards table, not a pool table. I didn't even notice!



Hubbs and I-Wirecutter knows a good spot for a photo! I love the ivy growing over the railing-



Wirecutter and I-by the way, I decided that this was the first annual Bloggers to Bodie run-it needs to be a tradition. I'm thinking next time we get a camp space for the night.




He's a really great guy-low key, no bullshit-we got along great. And his knowledge of Bodie is impressive.

It's very easy to get overwhelmed with not just the information, but the feeling of how hard life was back then. We took a cruise through the museum (which was packed with people-I actually took one step in, was about to turn around and go back out, when I realized that the guys were right behind me. I almost lost it there for a sec, but I was saved from myself at the last minute!), and saw some very interesting things-jewelry and hair combs, shoes and old maps-it was really cool.

I'd be very interested to learn more about the attitude toward death back then, and the mourning practices. Not that there was a lot of time to mourn-you couldn't take a day off from fetching water and firewood- but check this out-




That struck me as incredibly romantic.

And the hearse-why did it become uncivilized to drive through down with the casket in plain view?






We visited the cemetery last, and it got to be a bit much for me. The majority of the graves were for children-that and the fact that there were so many unmarked, I started to get quite overwhelmed.









This first picture is of a monument to Rosa May, one of the prostitutes in Bodie. I love this picture-you can really sense Wirecutters feelings for the history and hardship these people faced. And I love Hubbs' look of curiosity. The second picture is of her actual grave, several feet away. She wasn't allowed to be buried in the cemetery-God forbid she should lay next to "respectable" folks.







All in all, we had one of the best days we've had in a long time. Good friends, good food, and a day of learning, exploring and hanging out. Not only did we picnic (well, tailgate) but I splurged and had SAMMICHES! Gotta toss the diet out the window every now and again. Though I'm sure hiking around town for 4 hours burned off a ton of calories.

Thanks again to Wirecutter-he really helped bring the town alive for us. We could not ask for a better tour guide.

Yes, You. Beautiful You.

Happy Happy

Youngest was invited to go to Virginia City with his best friend and her family-an overnight trip, with a cemetery tour, haunted house, trick or treating, etc…

That means Hubbs and I have the evening alone! An empty house! Just Hubbs, me, and the cats! I’m pretty excited.

After work we’re going to pick up his suit we just got tailored-then I plan on tearing it off of him when we get home. Rawr!

So sorry kids, there will be no candy at the Lula household this year.

Have a great weekend!

And I Was Right!

This has turned out to be a very good day. Bad for some, but good for Little Wing and I.

Our skeevy co-worker got fired! I hate to rejoice in other’s misfortune, but he was very creepy. And he made life miserable with his laziness-“I just don’t have time to get to that, maybe next week.”

Well, what we thought was laziness was actually hours spent looking at not safe for work pictures, if you know what I mean.

Good Riddance! And congrats to Little Wing-it’s her story, I’ll let her tell it when she has time. But I am very proud of her.

Best day ever!

So……Tired…….

We had quite the eventful weekend here in Lulaland. We spent Saturday installing our last window, and I FINALLY started painting my living room. We bought the house almost 2 years ago, and it took me this long to decide on a color. It turned out beautiful.

Sunday we played tourist and took Youngest to Virginia City. We had lunch, and I decided to splurge and have a hot pastrami sandwich. I skipped breakfast, and I figured with all the walking it would all work out. WRONG! I gained 5 pounds IN ONE DAY! I know it’s mostly the sodium and it will drop right back down tomorrow, but it was shocking to see my weight go from 138 to 143 in one day!

After lunch Hubbs and I took an old time photo (Youngest didn’t want to)-me as saloon girl and Hubbs as my cowboy. It turned out well-Hubbs has the perfect old west look about him. A couple of tattoos are showing, but it’s very cute. If I can scan it and upload it I’ll share it here.

We decided to have a couple beers with lunch, and that turned it to a couple more once we got home. I didn’t feel like cooking dinner, so we took the boy to a little pub and had sandwiches for dinner. I tried to have chicken wings thinking they were the most diet friendly thing on the menu, but they were so salty (?) I only ate about 4 of them.

So, I lost time on my non-drinking streak, but I am more than willing to start over. I don’t like feeling this tired-it makes for a very unproductive work day.

How was your weekend?

Gotta Love It!

Right wing rocker Ted Nugent has offered to personally help with security for Paul McCartney at his upcoming concert in Israel. The legendary Beatles member and animal rights activist has received death threats from muslim extremists if he plays the concert which celebrates the 60th anniversary of the formation of the state of Israel.

Ted Nugent states: “Regardless that Paul and I have our obvious social, cultural, and culinary differences outside of music, I will not bend or waiver to voodoo religious whackjobs and neither should Paul,” exclaimed Nugent.

“It would be my pleasure to keep this legendary musical hero safe from terrorists and madmen, and then buy him a nice dinner of tofu.

I’m Dirty Harry with a ponytail, and I’m at Paul’s service”

Busy

We had quite the eventful weekend here in the Lula household. I took Youngest school shopping Friday since I got off work early. The traffic was horrendous-it's Hot August Nights week here.

We were not going to go out Friday night, but of course I got a wild hair about 9pm and said "Let's go!" There is a little dive bar by our house, just a tiny place that also serves food. I'm pretty good friends with the bartender, and we've made quite a few other friends there too (Hey, Garden Friend!) So it's nice to go socialize every now and again. We stayed way too late, and drank WAY too much. I had a shot the owner bought me-I don't even remember what it was called, but it was 151 and Wild Turkey-UGH. I was pretty much done at that point. I don't really drink liquor anymore, and that just did me in. Then we got invited to breakfast at midnight (probably what saved me from a terrible hangover Saturday).

When I woke up Saturday, I felt guilty for spending money we shouldn't have, so my penance was to clean the whole house. And I mean clean-the walls, the floors, the bathroom, the ceiling fans-everything. This house hasn't been this clean since we moved in.

We also watched the movie "The Eye" with youngest-it wasn't that great, but it passed the time.

This morning we went and watched the final parade of all the Hot August Nights cars. Over 5500 cars registered this year-we probably saw about half of them this morning.

Then, I'm having lunch with Bartender Friend, after Hubbs and I trim the trees.

A non stop weekend I say! But a very pleasant one.

Life is good.

Let Me Count The Ways

Why do I love my husband? I was asked this question last night, and it was nice to list my reasons instead of saying "I don't know. I just do."

Wow. I'm like a grown up.

1. He is sexy
2. He is intelligent.
3. He always thinks of me first, even if I sometimes forget to do the same for him.
4. He is kind. (That's a secret, don't let it get out.)
5. He is patient.
6. He will do anything to make me happy, even if it means saying no.
7. He will beat the hell out of anyone who hurts me.
8. He loves my children.
9. He instills good values in my youngest child. (Whether Youngest likes it or not)
10. He doesn't hit.
11. He wakes me up with a smile every morning. (and a cup of hot tea)
12. He supports me in all I do, no matter how silly it may be.
13. He loves me as I am, and encourages me to do the same.
14. He understands my fears, and helps to alleviate them.
15. He lets me talk to him about things that may be upsetting for him to hear, because sometimes I have to get it out.
16. He holds me when I cry.
17. He makes me soup when I'm sick.
18. He can be really funny, when he lets his guard down.
19. He lets me nag him about his health, and considers my position.
20. He reads.

It's Friday

And I'm going out for sushi for lunch with Work Friend. Very excited-I haven't had good sushi in years. And I love Work Friend! What an excellent Friday.

Tomorrow Husband and I are helping Work Friend move in to her new house. (At some point she have to have a different nickname) I am very excited for her-buying your first house is an awesome experience.

Happy Friday!

We're Home!

Camping was awesome. I love getting away from the heat and hassle of the city. I did well on not overeating and drinking-I actually lost 2 pounds! And I think a few days away was exactly what my husband and I needed.

I remember camping once with my niece-she must have been about 4. We were laying in the tent, watching the trees through the little window, when I said "Isn't it beautiful? It's like TV" and she said "Yes. Can we change the channel now?"

Happy Wednesday!

Book Review

Bright Shiny Morning by James Frey

I LOVED this book. It is the story (stories) of several people and how they ended up in Los Angeles, and what happens to their dreams once they get here. (Oops, I mean there. I don't live there anymore. I'm leaving the typo)

I could not put it down, and I cried on several different occasions. James Frey has really redeemed himself. Highly HIGHLY recommended.

Best Day Ever

Last night was the first time I slept through the night in like a year. I have serious sleep issues, it kind of sucks. I never realized how much it wore me down until this morning-I woke up at 5:30, and felt great! I wasn't tired at all!

I jumped right up, did 15 minutes on the elliptical, sang a few songs to the cats, hugged and kissed my family, came to work AND FOUND MOM"S EARRING! It was just randomly lying on the floor next to my file cabinet.

Truly one of the best days ever.