What a morning

I just spent the most amazing morning in the foothills of Boise. A friend and I went to breakfast and than on a long walk where I was introduced to bird watching. Yep that is what I said watching the birds in the trees and the sky instead of my feet. The sun was breaking over the hills and the air was alive with the sounds of music. It sounded like the sweetest concert ever played. Birds were flitting and chirping and going about their merry way. I was introduced to Morning Doves, Robins, A great Horned Owl, Hawks, Pigeons, and 7 other species of birds, whose names I will have to learn. It was amazing to watch and to feel the passion my friend has for these tiny creatures. I am inspired and will need to purchase a set of binoculars and a better camera. I will NEVER take a walk again without looking around me and listening to the sounds.

Glen Ivy 2009

Ok it is time for another adventure..lets head for the sun.
Carrie, Signe, Bonnie and I jumped a plane on Thursday and headed for LA. Our goal is a Spa at Corona Cal, called Glen Ivy, it is our second trip in as many years. So the plane leaves early and it is a quick pleasant trip, the shuttle to Dollar arrives rather quickly....but the line for the car is out the door long. One hour later we are picking up a sweet little convertible and on our way....except the top won't come down because out overnite bags take up too much room in the trunk. What? Why would that have any bearing on lowering the top? Well it does so no worry..off we go with the windows down and our trusty GPS guiding us. Wait with the windows down we can't hear a word she(the GPS) says...After a couple of miss turns and lunch it is like 2:30 and we are there. So we check in and go get undressed so we can enjoy the facility.
Carrie and Signe opt for the works with a massage but Bonnie and I go with the mud bath, the Grotto and doing our own thing...that's what is nice about Spas' you can do what you want. You asked what is a mud bath and Grotto..let me tell you. Club Mud is where you shower and than rub red clay all over your body, than you let it bake either in the Waffa oven or the sun and than you rub it off before you go into the warm mineral bath and soak. The Grotto is underground and they paint your body with Alo and Kelp and allow you to sit for 20 mins. in a heated area, followed by a shower and hanging out in a cooler area drinking green tea and feasting on green apples. From there you have a hugh range of things you can do...we opt for the sea salt pool which is luke warm and with the wind way too cold for us. So off we go to the stem room and than the hot tub and by now it is almost 5pm and closing time. Carrie and Signe finish right at 5pm and only have time to sit in the steam for a couple of mins. We are all totally relaxed and ready to go to the next part of our adventure. Sig and Carrie are headed back and Bon and I are staying in La. We all have to overnite but they are doing so in Seattle and flying out early the next day.
Bon and I head out to Santa Monica to the Travel Lodge and a great Mexican restraunt we know. By the time we get there and have dinner we are ready to crash so we go to bed and get up early the next day and go down to the beach and watch the surfers, birds, a seal and people. Than off we go back to the airport.
It was a good time out after a hard couple of months....

PS:On the way to the airport I tried to run down a man. I had already pulled out to cross the street before I saw the man with a dog following him... what I almost didn't see was the man who was attached to the dog. I was stopped in the middle of the street with cars on my ass and Bon yelling at me because I was trying to take out this man. See always an adventure.
Until next time....

Special Olympics

Boise hosted the 2009 Special Olympics and I was lucky enough to be able to attend most of the performaces. ....I was so touched by these young people that I cried and laughed and came away feeling renewed.  It is such an honor to live in a state/town that takes on such a great cause and than to be part of it is unexplainable.  I watched one young man who tried with his whole heart to skate backwards and even though he never made it, he was so proud of what he did that the crowd loved him.  He bowed and threw kisses and BELIEVED that he had done an excellent job.  When he fell he got up and tried again and my heart filled with happiness.  If only the world could look at things like that. 

At the Floor Hockey I sat with the Team from Bulgaria and Tim Schriver sat right in front of me. I watch Team USA beat Team Kuwait by one point and Team Spain beat Team Combodia 7 to 2. The players were very competitive and they all came to win. At one point one of the players got upset and his coach made a donward move with his hand and he settled right down. I was there for the finals and watched Kuwait win a medal and they were immediatly on the floor giving thanks to their God...than they were dancing and singing and very very happy.

I took Keegan and Tristan to watch the figure skating and Scott Hamilton and Michele Quan was there.The Vice President attended, but we had to go so we missed him. We ended up sitting in the "nose bleed section" but the view was great. It was packed and noisy so Tristan kept covering his ears and everytime the music stopped Keegan would sign for me to tell them he wanted more music. He would bounce and clap and loved every moment. They were such good little boys and we had a great time.

Olivia,Martha and I went to the Speed Skating we sat with the delgation from Hong Kong and Olivia spent over 2 hours visiting with one of the skaters. Ryan skated the 700 and the 775 and medaled in each event. He was honored to be in our country and to tell Liv about his country. She now wants to go to Hong Kong.

Every event was well worth attending and I am so honored to have been part of the Special Olympics. Kudos to Idaho and to the people who took the time to make this happen. My life has been blessed by these athletics!