What a day.....a special THANK YOU to John and Jeff!!!!

This past Saturday about 30 friends “stopped over” to help me celebrate my Half-Century mark, in life!!! I’ve always loved helping others celebrate special occasions…usually lending a hand in my favorite place: the kitchen!!! I decided to throw a party to mark this "hard to believe I made it" birthday. I had a great time.

I could not have pulled this off without the incredible help of my friends, Jeff Valdez and his partner John Patterson (pictured above), from Los Angeles.
Their talents are many and varied:
Culinary, design and just how to achieve “the good life”!!! They put all of these to great use this past weekend. My place looked awesome, the food was delicious, and most of all, my friends were there to help me soak it all in.
Some great gifts, many happy birthday wishes (thanks to all my friends on facebook), and the party went on.....until I crashed on Monday. Time to get some personal thank yous out to folks and prepare to celebrate the life of my wonderful Uncle Tom Haley, who passed away this past December. Family and friends will be gathering this Saturday in Concord, CA to celebrate a rich and varied life….

For now, here are some pictures of my Birthday Celebration – thank you for your camera work, as well, Jeff Valdez!!!!

Back To Blogging….

Now that I’ve had a long break from my initial blog posts, I’ve had the chance to reflect on how I should proceed. My goal is the same: to post about things happening in my life during this special half-century year of my life. Lots of things have kept me from the keyboards, but mostly it’s been feeling daunted by the task of committing lots of time to the lengthy scribes I figured I needed to have.
The beauty of time, is that it gives us perspective. I’ve come to realize that it’s not about SIZE, but about capturing and sharing the many moments that are important to me. So, here we go…..

In the coming weeks I have many important things happening. This weekend is a memorial service for my Uncle Tom, in Concord, CA. He passed away in December, and we are gathering, near his home, to celebrate his life.

Back to Palm Springs for a couple of weeks before returning to NorCal when I will be flying from SFO to Paris with my friends, the Lepplas as David Leppla and I are milking our 50th birthdays on another continent. Then, it's back to NorCal for a week at my dad's house, in Pleasanton. My band teacher from high school (yup - over 30 years ago!!!) is retiring from an amazing career, spent mostly at my alma mater: Foothill High School. Mr. Moorefield was in important person to me and the thousands of students he influenced.

Then, it's a quick flight to Southern California to finally get home....but not before making a quick stop to pick out a new member of my family - an English Cocker Spaniel. More on that later.

Finally, I'll be settling back into the routines back at home, in Palm Springs....just in time for the blazing hot temperatures that are part of life in this amazing part of the world.

My First Blog

I started this blog, initially, as a lead up to my 50th birthday. These early posts will be mostly about my upcoming trip to France.....an amazing celebration that is happening ONLY because of my great college friends - - David and Jacqueline. This is something I didn't think I'd be doing again, in this lifetime. Initial planning took place in early March, when I was at their house in Reno, NV for a weekend. It was weekend full of lots of fun and the crazy-ness of trying to find a hotel for just two nights in Paris. Once we sifted through all the different options and sent a bunch of e-mails out to clarify room configurations and such we found a great place on the left bank.....more about that after this initial post. (It was also a learning experience....as we discovered that: chambre double is a room for two, but it can mean two twin beds OR one double bed......In rare instances, it can mean a queen bed....).

As I'm approaching the half-century mark, in life, I see nothing but great things during this year and, hopefully, the years to come. Great experiences, more quality time with family and friends and who knows.....other stuff, too!!! If you'd asked me a year ago if I'd be celebrating this way....and BLOGGING.....I'd have said: "No way!!"

The trip will sort of begin in April - when we are all meeting up in San Francisco to jointly celebrate my birthday and David's (he's one month and one day OLDER than me!!!). Because of their incredible kindness and generous spirit we will celebrate the first leg of our birthdays at San Francisco's famed restaurant Boulevard (Nancy Oakes is a culinary genius) with the girls: Morgan, Margaux, and Madeline. Then, we'll catch their favorite baseball team (The Boston Red Sox) in action, across the Bay, at the end of that weekend. After that weekend, it's back home to pack and do some final planning and preparing - until 19 May 2009, when we meet up at SFO to fly to Paris and then on to Bordeaux. Pictures and tales to come.....