I haven't been here

... because I've been HERE! This is Lake Tahoe, and we've just returned from a lovely vacation week there. Luckily for us. Roger's sister has a house there which is available to various family members. We hadn't really planned on going up this month, but we learned that the house was going to be sitting there empty, and Caroline just got out of school, and Roger just finished a work project, so what the heck...we packed up and away we went.

There is nothing like the smell of the piney, sun-warmed air in Tahoe. It induces instant well-being and relaxation. If I could bottle and sell it, I'd make a fortune. So I spent a lot of time just inhaling it and smiling and feeling good.

I brought my sewing machine and a mindless project, but the machine never came out of the case. I was too busy reading and playing "Animal Crossing" with Caroline on dueling Nintendo's, and floating in the lake. And, amazingly, I think I did pretty well on my diet healthy eating plan, aside from a few gin-and-tonics and my share of a rather HUMONGOUS piece of Hula Pie at our favorite restaurant, Sunnyside.



See? You'd have splurged for some bites of that too, wouldn't you?

Caroline was the only one of the three of us brave enough to plunge her full body into the 58-degree lake water. She spent a lot of time diving under this dock looking for crawdads, coming to shore now and again to sit in the sun and warm up.



My best friend Beth joined us for a day and an overnight, and we had such fun just sitting in the sun and laughing at everything and nothing. She is just the BEST best friend. And she's so great that Roger and Caroline adore her as much as I do.

I think I discovered a cure for my menopausal insomnia and night-time overheating. I slept outside on the deck at Tahoe, perfectly comfortable on a futon and snuggled cozily under a down comforter. It was down in the 50's at night but I was extremely comfy and loved falling asleep gazing up at trees and stars. I haven't slept that well in weeks! Hmmmm...maybe I'll have to try sleeping outside at home on our patio lounge chairs.