The Mossdale Railroad Bridge

 “Although I was born in April,

 I’m quite certain I was not fully awake until October."

 
~Peggy Toney Horton

 

  Stop the World and Get Off

 

I understand that sentiment. I was born in June, but because of my deep dislike for summer, it feels like I didn't fully become a person until autumn. October in particular. I love the month of October. I love learning about new things in October, as if I were a kid going back to school. I enjoy reading all year long, but it's during this time of year I like to pick up a great biography or a book on the history of a certain place, and jump right in. See this beautiful old railroad trestle? I have driven past it upwards of 200 - 300 times in the last 40 years, and other than admiring it, and the one that sits near it, I never really thought much of it. But the other day, while visiting, River Islands, in Lathrop, I glanced over, and it just seemed so great that I just had to photograph it. I am going to do more on the railroads out here, and the rich history of the Gold Rush days, but for now I present simply a pleasant picture and a link to a brief history of something really cool near where I live. 

 

 

New Year's Resolutions 2016

"What is it you most dislike? Stupidity,

 especially in its nastiest forms of racism and superstition."

~Christpher Hitchens

Hitch-22: A Memoir

New Year's Resolutions. I don't make them. I used to. Then I stopped. Then I decided to give it another try. Then I said... NOPE. Not going down that road that is only there to make you feel meserible sometime around Valentine's Day. Nope. I am not wasting any more time making resolutions! But what I am doing is putting more thought into how much time I want to sit and think about the things I should or shouldn't be doing, thinking, feeling, considering, and or deciding! If 2015 didn't teach me anything else, it taught me that the clock ticks away, and it's up to me to make sure I am doing what I need to be doing. Even if that means, telling someone else I have no time for their time table. 

It seems like from March on through to the end of the year, my life, and Alan's became about other people's schedules. NO MORE! I have a certain amount of time left in my life, and I am done living by other people's time manipulations. ENOUGH! But that's not a resolution of any kind, it's more a matter of one more place I feel I finally matured over. It's another way of setting fair boundaries! So, while I don't have any real resolutions to discuss, how about we touch base on the things I loved and didn't love about 2015, and what can be learned from them!

5 Things I Was Happy To Learn 2015

1. It's over.

2. We bought our first house, and we got the one that has been waiting for us our whole lives!

3. I got a little smarter, by going through the drama necessary to make me smarter!

4. I didn't roll over and give up!

5. I know now, that when my values are tested, I don't waver. I can't be bought!

5 Things That Disappointed Me In 2015

1. That Donald Trump could make it as far as he has.

2. American Horror Story: Hotel

(Blech... they lost me with the classroom of children turned into vampires! Enough of children being killed already!).

3. The fact that the only place Alan and I could afford to move to was Stockton. (I like Stockton, but my heart is in the Bay Area).

4. Obama didn't do as much about gun control in 2015 as I think he could have. Sigh. At least he is on it now.

5. I didn't cook more. In fact I barely cooked last year. I know, we were constantly in flux, but cooking relaxes me.

It's not a resolution, but rather a fun little challenge I am giving myself to try at least one new recipe a week, and post the results here on my blog! Getting out to do new photos might be especially challenging this year, due to Alan's schedule, so you might see more photos of my latest cooking and recipe developments. I hope to try some really challenging recipes, and just think, they will mostly be done in the pink Barbie oven! Welcome back to the Mad Men Era! In fact, I may try some recipes from that era, and put some modern spins on them. Stay Tuned for my new series...

From The Pink Oven! 

 Mini Cherry Cobbler

December 31st 2015

Mood: Happy

~Me :)