Goodbye Mar Vista

After 12 years with Country Villa, I said goodbye to the staff on Thursday June 4th.  The staff could not have been nicer.  They had a breakfast party in my honor and said some really nice stuff about me.  The administrator got me a couple of gifts as well.  I will miss the people but I am looking forward to the change.

I started my new job on Friday June 5th, no rest for the weary.  I have hit the floor running and so far the staff is really supportive.  No buyers remorse yet.

Deedee's Birthday

Happy Birthday Deedee

We celebrated book club otherwise known as mom's night out at my house this month.  Deedee was kind enough to celebrate her birthday with us.  We had lemon buttermilk cake.  http://www.traceysculinaryadventures.com/2013/03/glazed-meyer-lemon-buttermilk-bundt-cake.html#.UkT_ZIash8E

Jacob provided the entertainment with his origami folding.  When he is finished I will post the final product.

5 Pounds of Chocolate

My neighbors received this chocolate bar as a gift.  They let me take a picture of it.  I think it is an appropriate amount of chocolate, don't you?

My Purple Birthday

Jacob made me purple origami for my birthday.

Thea also gave me a purple birthday but hers included more bling.

Tadpole Memories

The Hoff family was down visiting from Washington and we were lucky enough to all get together.  A big thank you to JT for organizing us all.   For those of you that were not here can you recognize all these kids?  My how they have grown.  

We still look the same, right?

A trip down memory lane.  This one is from Zoe's visit in 2008. 

But we still look the same, right?  Near or far we fondly remember our Tadpole days.

Board Certified Specialist

I did it! I managed to pass my board certification in gerontological nutrition. I will now be RD, CSG. I have more respect for parents who go back to school after children. I found it really hard to make time to study. A board certification completes all of my continuing education for 5 years. Yippee!

My Other Life

When I first started with the company in 1997 we had 14 facilities and just 7 dietitians, my how we have grown! We now have 50 facilities and some 38 dietitians. This was a picture from our December meeting that includes dietary supervisors, diet technicians and dietitians.

Deedee's Baby Shower

It was a lovely Sunday afternoon to spend outside celebrating with friends.

Our illustrious book club members Amanda, me, Mandi, Deedee, JT and not pictured Jeanna who had to leave early.


This is Deedee, the guest of honor, who is thrilled to be having a girl. The name wars are in full swing between Sarah and Paige.

Tammie's Baby Shower

From left to right: Mandi, Deedee, Tammie and me. A portion of the book club.
We all enjoyed the Snoopy and Peanuts gang theme.

Tammie's baby will be well cared for, she received many nice gifts.

I won again. I should play the lottery. The game I won had you identify children's quotes with the book it came from. My obsession with children's books finally paid off.

The shower was at Truxon's American Bistro in Westchester. The food was great and the service was excellent. I will definetly be going back.

I Did It and I Won!

I completed my 20 workouts and fulfilled my goal on June 15th. The Healthy Lifestyles Director selected winners from those that met the criteria. I was called today and told I had won five personal training sessions. Now when I started my goal ,the last thing I wanted to win was more workouts sessions. But I got used to working out 5 hours a week and now I miss it, I haven't set foot in the gym since Friday the 19th. Jacob starts swim lessons on the 30th so I will workout while he swims. A win-win situation I think:)

Friday's Happenings

Today my regular aerobics instructor called in sick so we had substitute teacher Lynn. I quickly realized this was going to be a great class. I had a dancer as an instructor, Yes! I finally had a class in which we were on beat, tempo and everything. I was one with the world today. She taught a Zumba class and I am still not sure what that was but I just know I had a good time. Sadly, Lynn does not teach at our YMCA. Figures...

Today was also the volunteer luncheon at Jacob's school. Good thing I exercised because you can see what table I thought was the best:)

Update Getting Fit for Summer

I survived the first week of my new gym program and completed 5 workouts. I attended 3 new classes including fast fit, kick boxing and pilates ball. Most of the classes include moms with kids so it is a welcoming atmosphere. One of the teachers has no musicality so it is a frustrating class not being on the beat. This is one of the main reasons I left aerobics in the first place, teachers that appear to be tone deaf. Also learned a valuable lesson, don't eat breakfast before pilates ball! Onward and upward.

Getting a Jump on Summer Fitness

My gym is sponsoring a program to get members fit for summer. From now until June 15th I am supposed to attend 5 classes/workouts per week and have the instructor sign off after the class. When the month is up, all who completed these workouts will be entered to win prizes. The timing is perfect since Jacob will be out of school on the 19th, at which point I will have no hope of getting to the gym.

Today I attended my first class but it was a bumpy morning. I showed up to a 9 AM class but was told that class no longer exists so I had to wait for the 9:45 AM class. Needless to say I was not happy. I kept myself busy by working out on one of the machines and pointed out all the flaws of their system. I am hopeful the week will get better and not worse. I will keep you updated on my progress because misery loves company.

Happy Birthday To Me!

We went to Disneyland for my birthday and had a great time. Disney gives you a button when it is your birthday and all the staff (and strangers too) tell you Happy Birthday. It was great fun and it made me wonder what it would be like to wear it to work. It was our first trip back to Disneyland without a stroller! Jacob did great and lasted until we left dinner at 9PM. We hit the Lego store on the way back to our car and Jacob decided on this pose for a picture.

Kathleen's Baby Shower

Kathleen is one of my mom friends from our playgroup that formed when the kids were about a year old. She is pregnant with a girl and is scheduled for a c-section on April 22nd. I happen to think that April is a great month to be born. Four out of the eight members of our little group were able to attend, the rest were present in spirit. We all enjoyed the great food, good company and kid free time. Good luck Kathleen, we can't wait to meet her.

Mom's Night Out

You know you are a mom when...going to the movies becomes a photo opportunity. These are my book club friends and we meet once a month. We had all finished the book Twilight before the movie came out, impressive for our little group. We enjoyed ourselves as you can tell and those of us that got to go to dinner first we really having a good time.