10 Things I Hate...and the Solvang trip

Ten Things I Hate (tagged by my sister):
1. Being broke.
2. Sitting in traffic, and getting crummy gas mileage as a result.
3. Scary psycho neo-cons.
4. The entire wedding industry, for making everything so blessed expensive. As if anyone would ever pay $500 for a polyester dress, and yet, when it comes to weddings, people gladly drop at least that much for polyester dresses.
5. Not living near my parents and my sister.
6. Living without pets. It's no fun!
7. Being tired and having minimal time for sleeping.
8. Packing.
9. Bills.
10. Looking for the perfect color of blue tank to go with my blue and white striped skirt from Banana Republic. Seriously, why did BR not sell a million things in this shade of blue last season?

Ten Things I Love (suggested by my sister)
1. My family.
2. Our animals.
3. Tivo
4. Go Fug Yourself
5. Cute clothes
6. My Brookstone FOM neck pillow
7. TL - for being the greatest friend EVER.
8. Paris
9. California
10. Pedicures

Solvang:
Was a blast. Really. I know you're thinking how fun can hanging out with your 96 year old great-grandmother be, but it is tons of fun. Cause she's tons of fun. Saturday we ate downtown in Solvang, and then walked around a bit, purchased a baby gift, and then we rested up for a late night at Theatrefest.

Saturday night we saw Guys and Dolls. At the outdoor theatre. It was, as usual, very chilly. But the show was really good. We were out very late since the show did not end until after 11.

Sunday I took Great-Grandma to church. She was hoping that her preferred minister would be preaching but alas, he was not. And the younger guy who was preaching is not someone she really cares for. Neither did I. He seemed kinda evangelical/fundamentalist for a Presbyterian, mostly in his demeanor and speech patterns. Lots of "Jesus" and the sermon was about what Heaven will look like (I wonder how anyone could even hazard a guess at this. Apparently someone wrote a book about it, and I want to know, did he visit and come back? How does that work?)

Sunday afternoon we drove around the neighborhood, saw the ranch my mom grew up on (now vineyards), we both napped (exhausted after our late night) and then we went to the Firestone Brewery for dinner. We also drove past but did not go into the new Chumash Indian casino. It was pretty ridiculous. After dinner we just went back to the Lutheran home and watched a little TV before we both went to bed.

Monday we had abelskievers for breakfast (YUM!) and then we watched the fourth of July parade in Solvang before I hit the road home.

Anyhow, despite our late nights and early mornings (to avoid mad crowds at Solvang Restaurant), it was really quite relaxing and nice. Solvang is a fun place to go to. The weather is so nice there, warm during the day, cool at night, and despite the hoards of tourists, its still a nice place to visit. Especially to see Great-Grandma.

I am the luckiest person I think. I have the greatest family. Even the crazy members aren't too crazy and the non-crazy ones are just the best ever.