The Spa Adventure with Chrissie

This is my tribute to Chrissie...an amazing sister in law who has always laughed at my jokes, been patient with my stupidity, joined in my craziness and seemed to always forgive me for being part of the Pimentel family. Thank you Chrissie from my heart and let's toast to 50 more adventures together!

It all began about ten years ago....

Planning logistics from Fresno and San Luis Obispo was erratic at best. It had to be done between car pools, grocery shopping, homework monitoring, laundry, part time jobs and trying to remember if we brushed our teeth that morning. The plan had been forged in a moment of "mother overload" and money didn't seem to matter anymore because we were looking at driving into a tree as a means for a vacation from our families! We booked the spa weekend, convinced our husbands we would come back as raging sex starved toned women and bribed other mothers with brownies, cookies, casseroles, foot rubs to cover the school pickups and car pools.

Giggling almost maniacally, we set off together for Ojai and our sacred time away from our other life! We chatted nonstop about the beautiful low calorie food, the classes that would unbend arms and legs that had been frozen in picking up clothes off the floor and bent in the sitting position from the hours and hours of driving children around the world, or so it seemed. Our voices raised in happy anticipation of the long soaks in the sauna, tub, pool or any big hole filled with scented healing water. We politely considered each person's phobia about sleeping by the window or door and assigned the beds accordingly....one big queen bed for each of us!

As we entered Ojai, we anxiously scanned the landmarks for our spa. Nirvana was only moments away! We kept looking and rechecking the address for our spa. We passed a huge parking lot with multiple buildings off the main road but instantly scratched it off our search because it was a fat farm for older women. We were looking for that spa that screamed "We Will Rejuvenate, Reawaken and Replenish You Spa"in a gorgeous setting that man designed and nature added the color. I rechecked our address again and turning to Chrissie with my mouth hanging open, gasped,

"OHMYGOD! We made reservations at the fat farm. They are going to give us carrots and water all weekend and make us wear polyester sweatsuits to sweat off more calories. How could we screw this up?"

My voice ended in a big screech.

"We can't do this. We didn't come all this way for a fat farm weekend. What are we going to do Lisa?" replied Chrissie in total panic mode.

"We are not going in there. We booked the wrong spa. Let's find that other spa and see if we can even get in there," and reversing the car, we sped away to see up ahead the place we were meant to be checking into.

It was acres and acres of green lawn; lush, colorful, sculptured flower beds; mighty Californian oaks surrounded by multi-toned grey river rocks; birds chirped happily in their soft little nests and virile, young valet boys bounced around cars, guests and luggage with ease. This was it...The Ojai Spa and they even had a triple AAA discount which we used. In order to get out of the other reservation, I made a phone call telling a big fat lie with lots of choked up fake tears. I felt the flames of hell licking at my feet when I did that and if I was going to die soon, my body was going to be cleansed, buffed and glowing when I met God.

We checked into our room, bounced on the beds, scoped out the freebie toiletries, grabbed a towel and set off for the classes in the Yoga Sanctuary. Chrissie and I were like sugar addicts in a candy store...we crammed so many classes into our days, rode the free bikes in the evening and limped to bed each night determined to tone harder the next day. We did a Chumash mud treatment that will be our secret girl pact...it really is too embarrassing to write about anyways! We ate with an eye for cost and at the end of the weekend we had an aha moment. 

Next time we are at a spa, we are going to relax, do nothing if we want,  eat whatever-we-want-to-heck-with-the-cost, do massages, facials, waxing,  and everything that is fun. No sweating is aloud unless we are in a sauna or whirlpool. We are going to toast each other for surviving life's zingers and hope for lots more laughter in our daily lives.

Chrissie, let's not wait too long.........!!!!

Things I Have Learned so far...

I've learned that, no matter what happens, how scary or bad it seems today, life does go on and it will be better tomorrow.

I've learned that you can tell a lot about a person by the way she/he handles a few things:

driving behind an old person, travelling anywhere, a rainy day and being bone tired.

I've learned that, regardless of your relationship with your parents, you need to accept them, forgive them and love them because you will miss them when they are gone.

I've learned that making a "living" does not mean anything if you are not happy in life.

I've learned that life sometimes will give you another chance and you need to grab it.

I've learned that everyone is blessed with gifts and gifts are meant to be opened, shared and enjoyed by many.

I've learned to trust my heart and my inner voice which usually helps me make the right decision.

I've learned that even when I have pains, I don't have to be one.

I've learned that every day a kind word, hug, or smile is given to a person, it will have a ripple effect of a stone thrown in water, for others.

I've learned that you can reinvent yourself at any age.

I've learned that love is amazing in three letters: GOD.

I've also learned that there is a heck more I need to learn.

February 14th

This past weekend was all about love. Love for the man of my dreams, love for my sweet father and the longevity of love among nine couples sharing a sumptuous feast. It began in the morning, as the trains rumbled by my parents house in Fresno on February 14Th, with the most heart warming note my husband has ever written or as he puts it, the words were whispered from God's lips to his hands to write. They were beautiful.

My father swung open the old stained glass front door carrying a pink box tied with string with french lettering scribed on it. Yummy. Something rich, buttery, sugary and guaranteed to be lots and lots of frivolous calories. Sitting down, we had a "petit dejeuner" of croissants, strong brewed coffee and fresh strawberries from farmer's market. If I closed my eyes, I could hear french being spoken on the corner cafe and smell the women's flowery perfume as they walked by my table. C'est magnifique!

Packed up, loaded with groceries and champagne, we drove the winding uphill road which blurred from soft greens to snow white. The snow had fallen the night before and man nor nature's creatures had left its mark yet...it was pristine, untouched and breathtaking. The cedars, pine trees, redwoods were heavily sugar coated in white and their branches hung down low like a ballerina's graceful arms. The air felt crisp, dry and cold on our faces. We hardly said anything to each other while soaking in God's glorious white washed beauty of nature.

The fire was spitting out flames and heat as people started coming over to our friend's cabin. We met new friends, ate like kings and queens and discovered that love wove together many of the couples present. We toasted to old love, we toasted to new love, and we toasted to the blessing of being in love. 

I am very thankful to be so in love with my husband.

Merci, Jay. Je t'aime.

Miss, Miss, Miss, Miss, miss and ...

I had the day where I wondered why in the heck I ever decided to do all the things on my to do list that day!

I had five letters I HAD to get out because they were going overseas and I needed a response from them two months ago. I did not have email addresses and anyways, they were the type of letters that I wanted to put some special personalized attention a la Lisa style. 

After kissing my beloved off to work, I sat down to compose these letters on my laptop. That part went okay. I scamper off to the printer in the back bedroom to run off copies which I have finally mastered after all these months of trying. Of course, simple white paper will not do and so I buzz downtown in the car to go look at fun-whimsical-Lisa paper which is a style of paper that is in my head but not on the shelf. I buy "second best" paper, zip it back into the printer at home and discover it will not fit my letter format!

Zoom to another shop where they have more fun-whimsical-Lisa paper, but still not exactly "the paper in my head", so I roll my eyes, say some choice words under my breath, and buy it anyways because time is a-wasting-here-for-me. I load it in the printer and discover it will not fit my letter format either. Since I am computer and time challenged to figure out margin format and all that crap, expelling a huge sigh of defeat, I print out the letters on white linen paper which turns out looking pretty spiffy. Undaunted once again, I zigzag out to another store to buy fun-pretty-artsy-sparkly-Lisa stickers to add pizazz to the letters and recipients life when they open the envelopes. 

I just can't do ordinary. I just can't. It has to have sparkle, a whimsical trait, a magical element that makes you smile and feel good. As I assemble the letters with stickers, I thought my friends might just think I have lost my marbles when they get these missives but it also might make them pause to consider my request to meet up for tea, or a glass of wine.

The letters have been posted and I didn't even get a parking ticket with all my scooting around the city...I am hoping with all those misses, I will have scored a hit in the long run!

Happy Birthday G

Happy Birthday Graeme!

Happy Birthday G!

Happy Birthday G-Ram!

Happy Birthday LB (Little Brother)

Happy Birthday Graemey

Happy Birthday Gumby

Happy Birthday Mr Gun Show!

Happy Birthday Mr Man!

You are the bestest present I have ever received on February 5Th!

Let the day be all about food (your favorites); good laughs, good humor when the lifeguards throw you in the pool; good hugs from all your family and friends and for your birthday cake..good dirt cake with lots of sour gummy worms!

You are the Best!

I love you...Mama

Buns of Steel

It's 6:52am in the morning and I am doing my Saturday Night Fever dance in the showers at the community pool. I am pink all over from swimming hard, dancing hard and laughing hard because I know I am jiggling in places that look pretty silly.

"Hey, Lisa, I think you have a problem..." shouts out one of my friends.

"My problem is you are not dancing with me! Let's do the tango," I quip and go to grab her arm that is covered in soap bubbles.

She smiles and says, "Lisa, you have a hole in your suit."

That pretty much stops everything for me! I look down and see solid black and then start thinking the bad, ugly and horrifying possibilities.

"Where is the hole and I think I am gonna die in a few seconds here..." I ask my friend who can't stop smiling at my facial expression.

"It's on your butt cheeks," she says cheerfully.

"Noooooooooooooo. OHMYGOSH! @#$%." I scream with total and complete embarrassment.

I reach around and feel the gaping hole with my fingers and swivel my head to look at another friend standing there quietly holding her laughter in except for grunts, snorts and burps that still get out.

"Cathy girl! You walk behind me every morning. How could you not see this! It is now your job to train your eyes on my buns as we walk out to the pool and tell me if you see any skin! I want you to fixate on my tush at all times in the morning. Do you know how many guys swim in my lane?" 

Cathy can't wait to answer,

"You had three guys in your lane and they all watched you get out. I know, because I watched them. Do you think they knew about your suit?" 

"What do you think?" I responded but already I was laughing with all of them.

I guess I have buns of steel that wore out a hole in the swim suit but now I have a friend who is going to protect my buns and let me know if anything is amiss. Either I get a full wet suit or I need to assign more friends to my other key body parts.........!!!!!!

Take a Walk on the Wild Side

We live in a kaleidoscope of nature! There are so many hiking trails, mountains, valleys, beaches, dunes, lighthouses, castles, piers, and stepping stones to explore. Add sunshine, cool breeze and lots of splashes of water going down your throat; guaranteed happiness.

Saturday was one of those happy days. I went with a sweet girlfriend to Montana de Oro for a nice long hike. I knew if I had suggested it to anyone in my family they would have responded in hysterical laughter, rolling on the floor while sputtering, "You are a CRAZY WOMAN!"

We took the long winding back road all the way to the end. Parked the car somewhat legally and hiked up to the ranger station to give names, address, phone numbers, bank accounts and next of kin in case we fall in the sink hole. Loaded with maps, water bottles and lots of  girl talk; we set out for our three hour hike.

The trail keeps you on the edge...the edge of the cliffs. Beyond the edge is ink blue ocean with few swells and a sliver ribbon of beach. Huge rock, slate and limestone jutted out of the ocean and were painted with white bird guano. A flock of pelicans flew overhead and one broke formation to skim over the water scanning the depths for fish. Out near the horizon a lazy sailboat floats and bursts of water mark the whales path. 

Our conversation is peppered with laughter, quietness, and drama. The ebbs and flows of it is comfortable, intimate and heart warming. Although we don't talk or see each other every day, there is a golden thread that connects us in a magical way...our friendship is timeless and can be picked up at any moment, day or whim.

I was at the edge of the world and I felt God's presence...it felt real good!

Jay's Birthday: Feb 1st

It's my sweet babe's birthday today and 56 million people are going to be celebrating it with him by watching the Super Bowl! 

After we stuffed him with pancakes and half a pig in bacon, he was uplifted with the Holy Spirit at church and followed it up with family Frisbee golf on a super gorgeous day! Lunch was half a cow in a roast beef sandwich and chips; a little snooze on the couch and now he is watching the game with all his children surrounding him...what a happy man! I think his happiness would be complete if I was sitting in his lap right now! So, before I go there...

Happy Birthday Jay...I am over the moon and stars in love with you.

Let their be laughter, tearful joy and lots of chocolate cake!