Most of the drive from Santa Barbara to Big Sur was farm land. It was  nice to play guess what that green field is growing... I think we saw  a bunch of lettuce and broccoli, but we really sucked at it. The  vineyards of course were the prettiest and most manicured.

We stopped off in Pismo Beach to see the sand dunes... stopped to let  a bunch of geese cross the road, took a nice walk on a chilly pier, and then sat on some swings with Ryder... it was too cold to really do anything with a baby. The sand dunes seemed like something dad would want to do, but baby just didn't think he could hang on, so we opted out of that adventure... why didn't we do these things BEFORE we had a  kid?!?!

I did find it funny that they had a sign saying "Clamming is illegal" but the fine print basically points out you can do it if you have a license... which is pretty standard for fish and wildlife... you always need a license!

Up from Pismo is the Hearst Castle, a HUGE TOURSIST TRAP. We of course didn't know this, just heard there was this must see thing up the coast. Basically you get to park, and then buy a $20-30 ticket to go take a bus and do a tour of the fancy house. We watched the tourists for a bit, Ryan made an observations about "bad parenting skills" observed, and then we took an obligatory photo :)

We also stopped at the light house up the road to see the Elephant Seals... again not much to see other than giant lazy beasts sun bathing.

As we are leaving the great state of California, we have made a list
of a few things we need to do before leaving. One of them is see
Melisa and another was drive up the 1. Melisa lives in San Jose, so it
worked out great.

We left as soon as Ryder woke up. The drive was grey and overcast,
but all the foggy, rainy mist made it rather relaxing. We reached
Montecito by 7am, just when Jeannine's was opening for breakfast. I
had Yelped for a good French Toast breakfast, and this was the place.
It's a cute little white cottage restaurant, with a picket fence and
tables out front. The decor is interesting, as it's kind of mexico
themed with pinata's and stuff, but whatever it's fun right?! The food
was awesome, and they seem to have a special french toast flavor of
the day. Ryan got the banana french toast and I ordered the peach,
but they gave me apple as the peaches hadn't arrived yet... so much
for early bird!

There were lots of yummy baked goods too, and I was really tempted to
buy some for the "drive."

Jeannine's

253 Coast Village Rd
Montecito, CA 93108

.. a cold fridge... a water heater that works... repair men that come on time.

Being able to cuddle up to your husband without a pillow shoved beneath your belly.

I'm pregnant so I crave ice cream (that's the excuse I'm using).
The 2 packs of Klondike bars I bought last night are now re-freezing in my freezer.  I use re-freezing as for some reason my freezer decided to shut off while I was at work. The chicken breasts are unsalvageable. Once the repair man promised a new fridge tomorrow, I decided to fold laundry. Such an exciting, sexy, pregnant life

It was nice, however, to be able to look through my old wedding photos, and remember I wasn't always this super big pregnant lady with bags under her eyes looking at a pile of unwashed dishes.

Seriously I have to give up sushi for 9 months. Do I have to give up
sugar and anything a bit too rich or face this eternal flame of
heinous heartburn?

I have a blog, a twitter, a Facebook, a Wordpress, and the social graces to care about the stuff other people put out there, so blog reading counts as time too. And this was supposed to be my 3 line quicky thought daily blog, which I've done badly on.  Like all things in life I feel like I need to make it deeper, have cuter photos. But sometimes, my thoughts are just, "I'm exhausted. My body aches.  I wish my life were different. I wish I could finally organize my desk to make it look like those modern trendy desks in magazines."  So I repent. I want to capture the moment of time every day. Even if the comment is just.

. . . siiiiighhhh . . .

When I look at blogs it's odd to see friends with multiple children.
In some ways I feel so young in my experience, as if they are 10 years
ahead of me.

MJ's funeral was today... on all the stations. I kinda felt like it
was exploited.
Made some awesome coconut rice pudding. Ryan wants it every day now.
Took photos of Ryan for his Visa so he can leave me for 3 weeks to see Brazil.

I'm proud of myself. I'm not going to procrastinate, even though I have been since the 5th grade. I'm finally getting on my genealogy-- not sure if I want to start with old fashion print it out and put it together stuff, or put together my and my grandparents book of remembrance.  I've exercised 2 nights in a row! woohoo.. and no I wasn't walking at a zero incline with 3.9 speed. I had an incline of 6.5 and a speed of 4.2-6.  I'm also finally putting together my business plan. woo hoo for not being lazy!