New Month, New Outlook, New Challenges and Successes!

My computer is broken!
I cannot retrieve my pictures yet, but The Writer will be here for dinner tonight and I think I will be able to bribe him to see what his brilliant mind thinks.

So..

Mr. Tennis, get it?

I will put up some old pictures, as I write, that are stored for some reason in Mr. T's computer. They are totally random and I can see I need to get back to my fighting weight!

July brings a lot of hope in our family!  The Maven seems to have rid her body of those awful steroids and she is back to what I call "The Chatty Cathy Maven".

 Conversation is flowing, laughter is bubbling and energy is at hand again.

We will resume our "let's get back to regular life" training again. Today we start that with.....

driving!  The Maven hasn't driven since March, so today she will drive around our little neighborhood to see how it feels.  And no, I will not be wearing a helmet - I have every confidence she will do just fine.

This past weekend Mr. T, The Maven and I headed down to Orange County to check out some rentals for our move at the end of August.  We have one great contender that we have put an app in for, but rentals are flying "off the shelves" here and I'm not sure if two fiftysomethings can outfox the wily 20 and 30somethings that we seem to be competing with.  So, until it's a done deal, I will not show any pictures. Mainly because I don't have any.  If we are granted a lease, I will have plenty of pictures.  In the meantime, we will continue our hunt.

The area we have just fallen in love with is Orange, California.  Home of my good blogging friend, Sue, at Country Road Antiques, in Old Orange, Ca. Please click and take a look at all the goodies she has in her store!     It is a very nice community with a sweet "old towne" area where Sue's store is.  The town center is surrounded by beautiful bungalows and craftsman style homes.  I was mad at myself for not bringing my camera because I really want you to see these homes.  You can bet I will bring it on our next jaunt down there. And no, the rental is not one of those, but that will be my dream home, I think, if the California powers that be let us settle in that area and have successful business ventures there.

Coming along for the rental tours, long car ride and lunch was a good test of The Maven's stamina yesterday and she did so great.  It was like old times to be able to have a day of adventure and fun.

Also on our list of conquests is going to a mall.  Crowded, noisy places have been a particular challenge for The Maven, even before the surgery with the vertigo she was experiencing.  So it will be back to the mall for us!  And a movie at some point this week.  We tried one a couple of weeks ago and it was not a good experience for her - and we are known for our love of going to the movies!

We also plan to do a lot of walking, which we have kept up since surgery, but we will expand out of the neighborhood and go on some fun hikes.  We took one on Friday at a nearby park and The Maven did really well, even with the small hills.  One of our goals since living here has been to hike to the Hollywood sign and we've decided to make that a long-term goal to try in the fall when the weather cools down and we have built up our stamina.

July.
So glad it is here. New month full of promise.

Have a wonderful week my good friends and family!