New Furniture~ At Last

For some young couples they begin a marriage by buying a piece of nice furniture and add to it as finances permit. Well, after 35 almost 36 years of marriage, Dan and I finally decided to buy some "real" bedroom furniture. We got a new bed complete with head and foot board and Temprapedic mattress. I consider this a big step. We bought matching nightstands, and a huge 10 drawer dresser. The bed as 6 drawers under it too. Until yesterday, Dan had ALL THE DRAWERS! Yes, that is 16 drawers of his clothing. OKAY, so as not to completely throw him under the bus, he did give me three of the big under the bed drawers just yesterday. Hopefully today we are going to buy a new bedroom set for the guest room. It is actually the same stuff but will be in a darker wood stain.

Unfortunately, if you come spend the night at the Pedersen home, you will have to sleep on a standard/full size bed. A queen won't even fit in the room if you would like to walk around the bed! Can you say cozy accommodations?! We painted the bedrooms and they look so nice and fresh now. The good news~ I get the new dresser in that room all to myself! Sorry guests, you will need to live out of your overnight bag. :)

We also finally gave up the glass dining table and those incredibly comfortable Danish beechwood chairs. We updated to a darker wood table set that is counter height and has 6 chairs with a leaf and two more seats when we want them. A kinda of cool feature is the Lazy Susan in the center of the table. It is a fun set, but you really can't beat the old chairs for comfort!

The only other furniture we need is a new desk type thing for the "craft room" but the old dining table that I grew up with continues to do just fine as a card making desktop.

April Wedding

I've been away from the blog for so long that I need to do some recapping! But where to begin?? In April we had the great opportunity to fly to Fort Walton, Florida for Dan's nieces wedding. There were actually many highlights to the trip one of which was seeing a new part of the country. We were there for 5 days and stayed at a very central and reasonable hotel.

Highlight #1
The wedding was on the water and while it was a casual wedding it had many elegant touches. The bride came down from an upper staircase onto a large garden area just feet from the sand and bay. The ceremony was performed by a minister they both knew from the Air Force. A family style dinner followed and we were seated with the entire Pedersen crew: Virginia and Bob; the siblings~ Beverly and Ron, David and his family, and Dan and me. The food was delicious Italian. The last time we were all together was for Bud's funeral in December, so this was a time of celebration. Dancing in the evening was outside on a large deck surrounded in mini lights and tables with candles. It was a spectacular evening and we were so glad to have attended.

Highlight #2
Being so close to the water, we were able to go out twice on boat excursions. One trip was on a large boat to see the dolphins...and we saw lots. It was a fun way to spend an afternoon. Another day all the siblings  rented a pontoon boat and ventured off to see the sites. That was quite an experience to see how the "rich and famous" live.

Highlight #3
A few days before the wedding Stacey and John took all family members (both sides) on a tour of their giant airplane. They are stationed at Hurlbert Field and that was quite an experience to be  on a military field! There was also an outdoor military aircraft museum located across the street that we wandered thru.

Highlight #4
Just spending time with the relatives! Each day we went on an adventure with some or all of the family. Great fun smashed into 5 days. Well, we got an unintended 6th day because our flight was canceled due to mechanical issues. AA was kind enough to provide transportation, hotel, and food accommodations for an entire plane load of folks until the next day.

A New Adventure: The Grand Canyon

My sister Margey and her husband's family have a huge 4 bedroom house on the Colorado River in Bull Head City. It is near Laughlin, AZ. They invited us to stay at the place and then drive over to see the Grand Canyon and spend a night there. So we turned it into a huge family trip. Jay and Heidi, Dan and Katie, Tom, Margey, and Joey, and Beth. We caravanned in two cars for four hours. It was a fun 5 day adventure.

We spent two nights at the River and then drove 4 hours to the Grand Canyon. Oh, it was so pretty! Dan, Jay, Joey, and Heidi actually did some hiking while the rest of us walked along the South Rim. We  drove through there when the kids were 13 or so and while the Canyon is the same, the museums, shops, and eateries certainly have changed and been modernized.

It was really fun to hang with our grown kids. It made me really miss Brian and Patience though. I think it would have been great if Emma and Cayce had been able to join us too.

After the Grand Canyon we headed back to the River house for another day and a half for billiards, Hand and Foot cards, Dominoes, and sightseeing in Laughlin. It was too cold to go into the water and the family was having the dock rebuilt as it had broken down with weather and abuse. It was actually beautiful weather-just right after all the heat and humidity of the Far East.

One Last Stop

This is a HUGE marble fish and it will be delivered to the port in San Pedro (Orange County) in the next month or so. Actually, two of them will. One belongs the Pat and Carol Park and the other to the Pedersen's. I do not know what or where it will go, but it is pretty and pretty big. This was a Dan thing...I suggest Shore Management (Dan's company), but he thinks the house would be perfect. We shall see...

Big Buddha

During our last few hours of our time in Hong Kong we had a chance to go see the worlds largest Buddha. And it was HUGE. I managed to climb up 7 flights of stairs which was only about half way. Dan managed to go the whole way.

It was kind of a nice end to the trip. The entire trip was focused around Asian cultures and their strong belief in the Buddha. We saw massive statues in each of the countries we went. I will always associate  Buddha with incense, fruits, and gold.

This takes us to the end of our journey...except for the big fish! Catch the last entry next.

East vs. West-Toilets That Is

As if the food wasn't bad enough, now you have to find a decent toilet. Cleanliness standards aren't the same as in the US that is for sure. Here is a traveling tip: take your own toilet paper for sure and paper covers would be good too. I would say that a 8 out of 10 public toilets were so disgusting you were afraid to use them. I was really glad for all those Hepititus shots. The ones in hotels and most restaurants were fine, but hard to find when wandering the city.

So, in the Western toilets you can find signs like these posted on the inside of the stall door. It is a reminder to the Easterners NOT to hop up on top of the toilet seat to squat to do your business. Clearly, I would not be doing that! First of all, I could not hop that high, and second of all, who can squat and do business?  It was so shocking I just had to take a picture.

Now compare this to the Eastern toilet. There are two kinds. This one that is about 15 inches off the ground and there are ones that are about 2 inches off the ground. These are usually located near the far end of the row of stalls. See the ribbing on the sides? That is so that when you hop on you won't slip!
Can you say OMG!!

Again, bring your own toilet paper. If I was ever to go again, I would also throw in a wash rag to use as a towel as there is never anything to dry with. It is important to bring tons of hand sanitizer. I brought a lot of it and the other people in our group were happy to use it and I was happy to share.

One place, you had to even reach into the tank and pull the chain or it wouldn't flush.  So between the heat and humidity- and the nasty bathrooms, I would be hard pressed to go back. I have to keep reminding myself that we saw amazing things, met wonderful people, and experienced scenery like no other. It is a cultural difference and I can only wonder what they think when they visit us or other European countries. Guess I am just not that adventurous.

Chicken Head Anyone?

Dinner at a fine Chinese restaurant was not what we expected! Our friend Pat went to nibble on some of the chicken in the basket as it came around on the giant lazy susan at our table when he thought the piece of chicken was a bit bony. Then he took a better look. It is the chicken head!!

Do you see the beak, eye socket and cockle on the head? Once we figured it out we arranged it on a plate and took pictures. I could not eat after this. This was out first meal in Hong Kong and it would be my last. I almost threw up when I realized what it was. I could barely take this picture.

The rest of the meal was equally as nasty. You think well, wanton soup should be safe huh? NOT! The oddest tasting broth was served with the absolutely nastiest little mystery meat dumplings floating in it. The only edible thing was the white rice. I was not the only one who felt this way either. Mc Donalds was my next meal and I stuck with it until we ventured out to an Outback. Chinese food in Hong Kong is NOT Chinese food in San Diego. Can you say nightmares!