The gold bug mine pictures

I have been promising and promising pictures of Sazy and my vacation. Well here is the gold bug mine portion. Remember to click the pictures to get the full view.
First off we couldn't believe that they let us go inside by ourselves. If you have read my blog for a while you know we get into trouble when we are by ourselves. We touched everything there was to touch. In fact we touched so dang much that when we came out our hands were black as soot. We got in trouble when we asked what was on our hands. That didn't stop us from giggling over it for the rest of the day.
We were over 121 feet underground. It was wonderful and cool inside. We then gold panned and got nothing but some bratty kids that followed us around for awhile.

There is just something about grandma's house.

This weekend I went up to grandma's house with my buddy Sazy. We left on Friday around 3pm and got stuck in traffic so it took us quite a bit to get there. Once we hit the trees though it is like a feeling of peace flows through you. And once we reached Placerville it was like life here in the bay area was left behind. If there was a way to bottle that feeling I would be a millionaire.
Once we got there we made our plans for the next two days, played some cards and went to bed.
Grandma has a day sleeper bed that we use. It is one bed that is tall while the other bed slides underneath it to be used when company comes. You pop up the bed so it is normal bed height. I popped up the bed and we grabbed the kittens to sleep in our room.
After getting into our jammies I climbed into my bed while I waited for Sazy to finish getting ready for bed. She walked in and flopped down onto the bed which proceeded to fall down to the floor. (I can't ever remember it doing that before)
At first we laughed our asses off and then there was a moment of OH SHIT THE KITTENS! So Sazy jumped up and we looked for the kittens who thankfully hadn't been under the bed.
But of course then we started describing all the ways we would have gotten rid of the evidence of killing grandmas favorite cat.
Yes we are a bit morbid with our humor but still!
We talked about sneaking outside to bury it and trying to distract grandma from the newly turned dirt. We talked about hiding it under my uncles bed or pillow and blaming him. We talked about each of us taking half (somehow it was cut in half *snort) and putting them behind the tailgate of the car and grossing people out.
The entire time we are laughing our asses off. Laughing to the point of tears. What can I say it had to be at least 1am.
The next day we headed for the casino. We gambled and met up with my cousins for lunch. We were there a LONG time lol. But we figured it out. It cost us $20 an hour to play. Not horribly bad right?
We came home and ate some dinner and played some card games with grandma. At bed time Sazy and I probably spent almost 3 hours talking about Lost. I think by the time we went to sleep our brains were seeping out of our ears. See the more you actually talk about Lost the more confused you get. So again we didn't go to sleep until at the very least 2am. That was two late nights.
On Sunday we had to run an errand for grandma. We went to her friends house to pick up a piece of fencing. This is an older woman who walks with a cane who is taking care of her son that is dying. Well that turned into something completely different. First Sazy and I planted a plant my grandmother had brought for her. Then we noticed that pine needles covered the stairs. Well being nice like we are lol we decided that wasn't cool. So we grabbed some rakes and proceeded to clear off the stairs.... which turned into half a mountain. By the time we were done we were sweaty and had wobbly parts from doing so much exercise. We also had a pile of pine needles that would easily have hidden a full grown cow. Both of us could have laid on the ground and been completely covered in needles to the point of not knowing we were there.
That was the first part of the grandma's friend trip.
The next part was moving fencing, stakes, boxes, picture frames and a tv into my truck. It was packed! There was just enough room for me, Sazy and grandma.
After we left I seem to have made a wrong turn. (ok I kind of knew I made a wrong turn about 2 minutes in) See Grandma's friend lives out in the boonies. The next thing I know is the road goes from being a road to being gravel to being dirt with a nice cliff on one side. I am deathly afraid of heights so I decided to stop this "side trip" and turn around.
I do love side trips though lol
When we finally got back on the main road we decided that we were starving and dying of thirst. We found a nice little pub to eat at. Behind the bar was a ruddy country boy that I decided needed to be Sazy's boyfriend but she seemed fixated by the man sitting with his back to us at the bar. See he had a little bit of crack showing. Sazy kept talking about putting ice cubes, flowers and anything else that popped into her mind into his crack. Gotta love Sazy!
Next stop was caching. For those of you unaware of what caching is...there is a whole hell of a lot of little hidden treasures everywhere. People hide a box full of trinkets and you use your gps to find them. Sazy and I have been geocaching for a long time time. But it had been a while since we had went since it was raining.
Oops actually the first cache was before going to grandma's friend but since I all ready typed out that I am just going to type the first cache now.
The first cache was in a old cemetery. Sazy and I had all ready visited this cemetery to look around once without knowing there was a cache in it. It has funny old wooden tombstones with the names weathered off. I sincerely hope that somewhere someone has those names.

We had barely been in that cemetery for two minutes when Sazy leaned against a tree to look for the cache. Within seconds she was coated in mutant giant ants. Hundreds of them. We spent the next few minutes beating her to death trying to get them all off of her. When we were done we found the cache.

The next one was in a Mcdonald's parking lot however it was somewhere a little to close to a giant bee tree for comfort so we decided not to look for it.
<---allergic to bees.
The next one was at a ruins I have driven by a thousand times and not stopped. But I have always wanted too.

On the far left hand side is a low tunnel you can crab walk through to get to a room where the ceiling has obviously fallen down during times passage. We walked through that of course. Sazy was like a freaking mountain goat. She crawled all over that place. I did walk up some old stone stairs but once I reached the open ceiling room I was to freaking chicken to walk around the perimeter. That damn height thing again.
We love stuff like that. There is something wonderful about touching history.
We didn't find the next one or the one after that but we still were having an adventure.
We ended up at a pond with geese. Supposedly the cache was up a mountain...which we climbed... far... high... big old mountain lol. And we had nothing to show for it. Normally we print out the cache listing which will give you a clue but since I had gotten the new computer the printer wasn't set up yet I had just written down the coordinates.
We climbed back down the mountain and went to go feed the ducks and geese. There were people fishing on all the banks so we chose the area with no fishermen to feed them. The geese walked up onto the shore and proceeded to bite the crap out of me. My foot, My leg. I had bill marks on my pants. The whole time Sazy is cracking up and no matter how much I shooed them away they wouldn't leave. Stupid freaking geese!
We decided to call it a day and headed back to grandmas house.
We played cards into the wee hours of the night while drinking champagne. We laughed and just plain old had a good time.
And of course Sazy and I just gabbed out brains out until the wee hours again.
The next morning we packed up and left for home. We made two stops to look at houses for Sazy's mom but neither one was the best. One was in way to small of a town and the other.. I don't know why I wasn't thrilled with it but it just didn't work for me.
We stopped on the way home at a sonic and got a giant cherry slushie and some food.
We were both beat by the time we got to my house. Tired in a good way but so ready to go to bed.
I have to mention that we "watched" the first Sharks game on Sazy's phone. We sat there playing cards and refreshing the score for hours. (the game wasn't shown at Grandmas) The second Sharks game we listened to on the worlds crappiest radio.
All in all it was the best good wonderful weekend!

My god I needed that weekend!

Friday when the honey got home he surprised me by saying he was going up to spend the night with his duck hunting buddies. I knew he was going duck hunting and that he might go up on Friday but he never let me know that it was reality until he got home.
As he packed up I could feel my insides doing a little jig. Home alone! How sweet. I am never home alone!
I let my friend Sazy know and we decided to go out to dinner. She had gotten some gift cards for outback steakhouse for Christmas and so off to Outback we went. We had to wait almost 45 minutes to get seated. By that time we were freaking STARVING to death lol.
We sat down and decided on our meal. Since the person who had given her the gift cards only does the best we decided to honor her by doing the same. We ordered with our empty stomach.
Crab stuffed shrimp to start with. Two bowls of soup, Steak and potatoes, Rack of baby back ribs and a side of king crab legs.
We scarfed down the shrimp and bread.
We wolfed down the soup.. and then noticed that we were kind of full.
Then the dinner came. The giant giant plates of dinner. We ate all of it. Groaning in agony towards the end. We were so full our eyes were crossing.
Then we had to stand up. I thought for sure that the food would settle but instead it seemed to expand.
Both of us were in pain. And we both went into some kind of food trance. We started to laugh on the way home. And laugh. And laugh until tears were coming out of our eyes.
I had grand plans of watching tv as late as I wanted. Of playing on the computer as late as I wanted. All without someone having a fit because I was doing so. But when I arrived home... UGH.
I played on the computer for a bit. I watched tv for a bit and then all I wanted to do was go to sleep. So much for my night alone LMAO!

The next day Sazy came over around 11am and we set off for our day of fun. We started at the bowling alley. Now neither Sazy or I have bowled in many many many years so we pretty much had no idea what we were doing. But we bowled two games and had a great time. I won one and she won one. And we both each got a strike. Woo hooo us!!
The next stop was a free museum that we hadn't been to yet. It was a nice museum but very forgettable art. There was an entire room of paintings by a guy who obviously loved row boats. We would stop in front of each of the abstract paintings and tell each other what we saw in them. This caused quite a bit of laughter too.
As we reached the end of the museum we saw the door to the bathroom down this hallway that ended in closed double doors. I started to go into the bathroom when Sazy says.... "Um there is a naked woman in there"
I looked at her and walked back to the door. Sure enough through the slit between the two doors I could see a woman standing there fully naked. It had to be an art class. This set Sazy and I off on a conversation about whether or not we could stand there naked in front of a room of random people.
The answer is no. No way would I stand there with my 42 year old droopy breasts and my pudgy belly hanging out for all to see.
When we were done we noticed we had a lot of time still. We decided to look up another museum. We found one that had a Picasso. A real Picasso. Neither one of us had ever seen one in person so we figured why not.
After a brief lunch we headed inside. It was fairly small and not very well watched. That is a disaster when they let in two people like Sazy and I who have a tendency to want to touch things.
The first room was all abstract. The second room was pretty much the same. Although there was a ceramic warthog that both Sazy and I stopped to look at. We found ourselves walking around the back of it to look at the ass at exactly the same time lol.
The next room had the Picasso. The incredibly boring Picasso picture and a ceramic plate he had made. But we saw a Picasso.
We head upstairs and on the way up I told Sazy that we had to touch the Picasso. When in our lifetime will we ever get that chance again. She totally agreed. So we looked around upstairs. Then we headed to the last area of the museum which was downstairs.
This area was wonderful. It had native American artifacts, religious artifacts and a hodge podge of other stuff. We wandered through the area. I stuck my head into a reed hut. I opened a drawer on a commode from way back when. We pretty much did everything we weren't suppose to do.
We did see a painting of a woman that the artist gave her a pretty hefty mustache. Poor lady.
Then we headed back upstairs to touch that Picasso. And we did. And we both laughed and laughed and enjoyed every damn moment of it. How many people can say they touched a Picasso (even if it was under glass)
Again we had a little bit of time left and somehow we ended up in this neighborhood that was filled with old Victorian houses. We drove around ooooing and awwwing for a while before we noticed that we were by the old cemetery where my grandmother was buried.
So we went inside and said hello to my grandmother and great grandmother. Then we proceeded to explore the old stones. And there were some doozies. Some incredibly stunning stones and monuments. Some sad baby stones and some beautiful carving work.
After that we headed for home.
By the end of that day I was feeling so much better. Revived and peaceful.
I needed that so bad.

Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

It is freaking Freezing here! Seems like a lot of people are getting snow. Living in California we don't. Sigh. I would love to wake up to a blanket of snow once in a while but the last time it snowed here was 1978. So it looks like my chances of that are small.

I am loving my new kindle. It is so easy to use and very comfortable to hold. I have all ready read one book on it and have purchased two others to read. Two paranormal romances and one zombie book. But I have to finish the paper books that I bought before really using my kindle even though I don't want to lol.

I am really getting frustrated at the lack of job here. Sending out anywhere from one to six resumes a day and not even hearing a peep is making me feel a little inadequate for some reason. The honey says not to worry that I will get a job after the new year but man I am worried. My unemployment will be running out in 4 1/2 more payments and if I don't get an extension I am in a world of trouble. I am not even sure if they are still doing the extensions. The last time I was in this spot they didn't have extensions and the money just stopped. Thankfully in January I can send for my tax refund if I get my W2's in time. That is a little money that will help for sure if there are no extensions.
The honey told me I should start some schooling. I would need something that I could learn in a year. He said he would help with the bills while I went to school. The problem is what in the heck do I go to school for. Any ideas would be great.

My grandmothers dog is doing ok. She has a giant cast on her front leg and needs to be carried out to go potty. Today she got 14 inches of snow so that is probably a pain in the ass. Not to mention the poor dog got diarrhea from the medication. It can't be easy taking care of all that. I am thankful that my uncle is there to help.

I don't have any Christmas items up at all in my house yet. No tree, no nothing. I just don't have the mood for some reason. I need some Christmas cheer.

The honey will not be doing Christmas with me this year. That makes Thanksgiving and Christmas spent apart. It is a strange thing for me. It makes me feel a little sad. He will be going to his family's Christmas party on the 26th instead. I will be at a casino gambling my birthday money on that day since it IS my birthday. Sucky birthday right? At least my buddy Sazy will be with me for Christmas. Last year we had snow. I can wish for that again right?

41 turns into 14

Along the drive to pick up Sazy from the train station in Sacramento I pulled one of my famous side trips.
See I have this problem with driving straight somewhere. There are sparkly things on the side of the road that draw my attention and make me turn off to go see. I think I picked the sparkly thing up off my mother a bit.
Anywhoooo... there is this fish hatchery that I drive by every time I come home from grandma's. Normally I have the dogs in the car so I can't exactly stop and play tourist. This time I had grandma in the car. She kept telling me no... we have to pick up Sazy... no we don't need to go on another side trip today.. NO NO NO!
As I turned into the fish hatchery.
What? I couldn't stand it... I needed to see the fish lol
All right in Grandma's defense I tend to get into some form of trouble on half of the side trips I take. Like ending up in the middle of the forest on a one lane dirt (mud) road with no idea where I was.. or coming around a death curve only to find myself on a one lane rickety wooden death trap bridge with pieces missing. (That one I actually pulled over after crossing and boo hooed from relief) So I understood the NO NO NO comment but my nature just doesn't let me NOT side trip. I like to go where I don't know where I am and explore.
Anywhoooo..... The fish hatchery. Somehow we arrived right at feeding time. It was incredibly cool. This little go cart with a air blower attached would drive by the multiple ponds and shoot food pellets out of the air blower. As the cart drove by thousands of baby fish would jump and fight for the food. I stood on the side and watched. The cart when by me and ummmmm hey ass you forgot to turn off the blower because I got pelted with a million fish pellets that stung.
They had these fish food stations too. So I grabbed a handful of food and gave half to grandma. It was fun feeding them.
We hopped back in the car a little later then we should have. When all of a sudden all I could smell was fish. Turns out the pellets had some kind of super soaking death fish oil or something in them that melded into your palm and wouldn't come off even after repeated hand wipes. YUCK!!
We got back on the freeway and Sazy called. She had arrived. We were late... oops!!
We picked her up and drove back to grandma's.
That night we went to the casino to meet up with most of my family up there. Lost a bit of money. Nothing like I normally do since I still don't have a job. We played and played and came home around 10pm.
After sitting for a while everyone went to bed. The problem with Sazy and I is we talk to each other. So we laid in the room on our little separate twin beds and yakked our brains out. Before we knew it, it was 3am.
We decided to sneak outside for a smoke. Well we didn't really have to sneak but at 3am anything you do feels like you are sneaking.
So we are standing outside and decide to walk over to the temperature gauge to see how freaking cold it was.
CRUNCH CRUNCH CRUNCH in the woods.
We looked at each other and ran to the porch. Like the damn porch was going to save us lol
We decided to go back inside and try to sleep. Except see we are like 14 year olds when we get together like that. Talk talk talk.
Finally it was lights out.

The end of the trip will be tomorrow. I seem to have caught a bug of some variety and I really really don't feel well.