I have spent the last few days in search of ingredients to make pumpkin pies. They are my ultimate favorite. When we stumbled upon them at Costco today, my search was over. Sorry pie bakers, but no one can beat Costco's pumpkin pies, 15" diameter of goodness for only $5.99. It is truly a red letter day when they appear.

A valance is defined as a form of window treatment that covers the uppermost part of the window and can be hung alone or paired with window blinds, or curtains. Valance types range from Ascot to Swag and were popular in Victorian interior design.

Our valance of choice is the Cornice, "a rigid treatment that sometimes serves as a mask for holding attached stationary draperies or for hiding window hardware or even masking architectural flaws. The cornice is typically constructed of a chipboard-style wood or lightweight material over which some kind of padding is placed, then covered with a fabric of choice. It only fits across the top of the window frame and can be a terrific focal point; usually mounted on the outside of the window frame." So perfectly described.

To give us an artistic enrichment day, the Temecula Valley Museum announced a new Outdoor Exhibit Experience taking place at Sam Hicks Monument Park.

Independent Bookstore Day is a one-day national party that takes place at indie bookstores across the country on the last Saturday in April. Due to COVID-19 this special event has been moved to today!

Twenty three years ago, Monday, the light that was Princess Diana was extinguished in a dark tunnel in Paris. I was way too young to remember where I was the day Kennedy was shot, but I'll never forget the day we received the news of Diana's untimely death (she was just 36). As the mother of young sons, it hit incredibly hard and when I think about it now, the sadness of it all returns.

With all that is happening in our world, I thought a flashback would be entertaining! Wow.

I 💗 the United States Postal Service and when I learned there was an event where I could share that love, I joined in. It was actually meant to be as the closest one was in Carlsbad and we were heading there anyway. Fate!

I am surprised at the emotions I'm feeling as I write this. I have to ask two questions: How can it be one year already? and How can it be only one year?

1. My husband is incredible. He is the most amazing caregiver, chef, chauffeur and all around fabulous mate. He went beyond what could be expected of anyone. I don't know if I would have been able to endure all that he did. I knew I picked well, but these last twelve months have solidified his place in The Husband Hall of Fame. I am forever grateful to/for him.
2. They say that friends are the family you make along the way. I am so fortunate our friends were there during this healing journey. Backyard picnics giving Steve a cooking reprieve, sleepovers to babysit me when Steve had to care for his mom, grocery store runs, book deliveries, long visits from out of towners, snail mail (my friends single handedly kept the USPS in business), frequent phone calls making sure I was okay, and even an invaluable physical therapy session. There was such comfort knowing they were on our team.
3. Our family was fantastic, giving unconditional support and being gentle with my brokenness. Compromising and adapting were their specialties. We even had cousins stepped up who we didn't know knew of my accident (I secured my bone growth stimulating machine only because Steve's cousin was insistent that it worked for her and I needed to follow up my request). Brad Henry said it best, “Families are the compass that guides us. They are the inspiration to reach great heights, and our comfort when we occasionally falter.”
4. I now know that simple pleasures are the best pleasures. When you literally can go nowhere for as long as I was homebound, going out for a coffee or a drive in the countryside caused euphoria. Even now, those same simple delights are glee evoking.
5. I recognized that even when I was at my lowest (and there were some pretty low times) my list of things to be grateful for was enormous. I also had to realize that I am flawed and that my actions affect not only me, but those who mean so much to me and for that I am forever sorry.

And while I will most likely never be 100% old me, new me is doing pretty darn great. While we won't find out about my healing progress until after the New Year (when I have another CT scan), I am hopeful. I have survived. I am one lucky gal.

When we decided to refurnish our Temecula house, our goal was to make it livable for the least amount of money.

Note how the cushions are communicating with the drapes. Success! The decor is coming together.

Today we feel settled in and decided we needed to get a routine going. Due to the temps rising, we headed out for a two mile walk at 7 AM.

If you haven't heard, the Tahoe basin is being affected by all the wildfires burning around it. With an unhealthy air quality index of 185, we decided to head south to Temecula where the only thing burning is the temperature (96° when we arrived in the early evening).

While we didn't get a view, we did get a history lesson about Mono Diggins. The plaque reads: 

About 1 mile N. E. of here lies Mono Diggins, the first extensive placer mining excitement east of the Sierra. Cord Norst is generally credited with being the discoverer on July 4, 1859. A town, Monoville, boasted a transient population of 500-1,000. A post office established December 12, 1859, was closed by April 2, 1862, as the prospectors moved on to Aurora.

One of the most ambitious hydraulic water projects of the time was the transportation of water from Virginia Creek to the Diggins by open ditches known as "the Mono Ditch." The remains of the system may be seen by looking easterly from the highway summit or northerly from the bottom of the grade.