I'm SOOOOO Excited!!

I just found out that my bff (bestest friend forever) is flying into Redding on Thursday and will be here until Sunday!! HURRAY!!!! I'm SOOOOO excited!! Jill Caver and I have been friends since I don't know when. I met her through her aunt, Mrs. Kinnier. Many friends have come and gone in my life over the years, but I seriously doubt I will ever have a friend like Jill. She is the best!!!

Memorial Day Weekend Trip

First of all, Happy Memorial Day to all of you friends and family!! Memorial Day is a reminder to us of all the men and women who have given their life fighting for our country! Thank you to all those who have served, have given their life, or are currently serving our country!! We owe our freedom to those men and women!

On Friday, my Moma and I left to drive down to Berkeley to see my brother, Wes:

We arrived with a trunk load of groceries for him. When he was up last, he couldn't believe the low prices at Winco, so we shopped for him before we left. While we were down there, we took him to a Mall to get a few things he needed and then to Lucky to grocery shop. When you ride Bart, it's hard to carry all your groceries, so you end up only getting a few things at a time. This trip he was able to stock up on some things since Moma drove us plus he had two other people to help carry everything up the stairs to his apartment.

What did we do all weekend? Glad you asked!! We sat around and visited, watched movies (well, I slept while Moma and Wes watched movies), watched a ballgame and ATE, ATE, ATE!!! All Haleys love to eat!! When we were done with one meal, we were talking about and planning where to eat the next one. We had Chinese Food, Italian Food, Pizza, yummy breakfasts, hamburgers and fries, ice cream, and PEPSI, PEPSI, PEPSI (another thing our family loves).

On Friday night, we walked to this little authentic Italian place. The restaurant was so cool inside. They had an open kitchen in the middle of the restaurant. It was sooo fun, and the food was very, very delicious. I love Olive Garden, but this place made Olive Garden taste like McDonald's. The bread was the most delicious bread I had ever tasted in my life. I made a pig of myself and was almost full when my entree came. Notice in the picture below that my Moma and I are wearing our winter coats -- and I had a long-sleeved shirt and sweatshirt under the coat. And sometimes I even wore my hood. It was freezing the whole weekend!! Of course, after the Redding heat, we thoroughly enjoyed the cold and never complained!!

On Saturday, we drove into San Francisco to meet our friend Greg for lunch at the Double Play. This bar and grill is 100 years old.

Note: Greg thanked me for all your prayers for him during his recent surgery. Some of you will remember him from an older post.

The Double Play is like a baseball museum. They have a lot of baseball memorabilia, the walls are painted to look like a baseball stadium with fans, and the floor looks like a baseball diamond.

The picture below is looking across the street from the Double Play. That used to be the Seals (S.F. team before the Giants) Baseball Stadium in San Francisco. It was tore down in 1959. The red part is where home plate used to be.

Hope you had a great Memorial Day Weekend!! Thanks for reading my LOOOONNNNGGGG blog entry!!

Let's Drop Everything And Go...

This morning when I got home from taking Lyle to school, Hilary asked me if I wanted to run down to the Mall and get a donut and milk. Well, one thing I have learned about 18 year old daughters is that if they ask you to do something with them, you should (within reason) drop everything you are doing or had planned to do and go!! As they get older, those times are few and far between!

We enjoyed delicious chocolate bars and twists, cold milk, great conversation, and laughed and laughed! I can't think of a better way to start my morning than that!!

I love you, Hilary!!

A Walk Down Memory Lane

Yesterday I served as an Assistant Inspector for the California Special Election. Precinct #644 was at Pacheco School -- the school I attended from Kindergarten (Fall of 1964) to Eighth Grade (June of 1973). What a "Walk Down Memory Lane" for me. The cafeteria looked exactly the same (only a different paint color). On my breaks (Note: It was a sssssslllllooooowwwww day -- only 74 voters in an 11-hour period), I walked the halls, peeked in the various classrooms I used to be in, and used the same restrooms. Really, not much had changed. What wonderful memories I have of my years spent there and the great friends I made! My mind was just "thinking back" all day long!

Before school started, I looked up and saw one of the teachers I had in 7th and 8th grade walk in the Cafeteria door. I was soooooo shocked!! Mrs. Glazzard is retiring in 13 days after working at Pacheco School for 38 years. I was blown away to think that one of my teachers was still there after all those years. We talked about old times, other teachers, and our fun time with the Drill Team (Mrs. Glazzard was the Advisor for our Drill Team).

Throughout the day, as people came in to vote, I saw soooo many people I knew but had not seen for so many years. People from North Valley Baptist Church, parents of kids I went to school with, parents of my brother's friends, men who worked with my Dad, and old-time friends of my parents. I was referred to as "Waldo's daughter", "Waldo and Marie's daughter", "Wes' little sister", and (of course) "Julie Haley".

There were two precincts at Pacheco School. Two of the ladies working on the other precinct have known my family since before I was born. Both of their husbands worked with my Dad for years. What fun it was to visit with them throughout the day! I also had the great opportunity to get acquainted with some new "friends" I had never worked with before. I had a great big smile on my face all day!!

P.S. Oh, did I forget to mention, I will be getting a check for $100 for serving on the election board!!! HURRAY!!!

A Weird But Good Recipe

I had a small turkey breast in the freezer, and I've been hungry for a "Thanksgiving Dinner". Since I had to work yesterday, I wanted to put the turkey breast in the crock pot. I found this weird but good recipe (and easy, too!) on the internet:

l small to medium turkey breast

1 stick butter

Salt

Wash and pat dry turkey breast. Season lightly with salt. Place in crockpot with 1 stick of butter. (I did cut the butter up a little bit.) Cook on low for 10-12 hours. Very moist!!!

Let me tell you, it was delicious!!! Bob couldn't even slice it because it just fell apart on the platter!! We had dressing, mashed potatoes, and gravy with our turkey! YUM!!!

My Dear Friend Michael

Today I had lunch with my dear friend, Michael. Anyone who knows Michael Black could immediately guess where we went -- Casa Ramos! We both share a love for Mexican food. Bob jokingly says to people, "Michael is the only man I let my wife date." I met Michael when I was 18 years old, and he attended North Valley Christian School.

We had a wonderful time visiting for 3 1/2 hours. Michael and I can talk about anything (and I do mean anything!!) and everything. He is such a wonderful, loyal, caring, kind friend who loves me (and many others) unconditionally. He loves my husband and kids, too. In spite of all the difficult things he has been through, he is so forgiving and remains upbeat and positive.

Michael, always remember, God loves you and I love you and that's the way it will always be!!

Hapy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all my blogger friends and followers of this blog!! I pray you had a relaxing, fun day with your families!!

Happy Mother's Day to my wonderful Mom, too. I can't express in words what all she means to me. I love you, Moma! Thank you for all the wonderful things you do for me and my family!

Cartoon of the Day

When I read the above cartoon, I laughed soooo hard! Do I have a weird sense of humor? Or is it just funny because I can relate with Eve's frustration?

I'm So Bummed!

As most of you know, I am a HUGE Randy Travis fan!! I love all of his songs!! I attended one of his concerts years ago, and I would absolutely love to go to another one. Well, today is Randy Travis' 50th birthday, and I am so bummed he didn't invite me to his party :) It's not like he can't afford to invite all his fans. Doesn't he know that I had planned to invite him to my 50th birthday party in October?

Happy Birthday, Randy!!!

P.S. Since you didn't invite me to your party, could you PLEASE call me in October and sing "Happy Birthday"?

It Puzzles Me...

Bill Giovannetti, the pastor of Redding Neighborhood Church, has been preaching a series on "Can You Feel It -- God's Wisdom on Human Emotion". Pastor Bill doesn't know a thing about my life and what I am experiencing. In fact, he has never even met me. So, how is it that every Sunday he preaches a sermon just for me, covering topics of things I am going through right at that moment? It puzzles me...