My baby is 16 today. Her Dad is taking her and her date out to dinner tonight before the dance and as a surprise I've been invited along with her grandparents, and several of her friends from school. I'm bringing her 16 roses and some baloons. Her 'real' present will be a bit later. She and I are going to spend the weekend at a spa along the ocean getting facials, mud baths, massages, and riding horses. But we want to let the weather clear up a bit to go.



In other news all is going well with me. Another clean day eating though I've had to push trough a few cravings last night and today. There is little so hard on me as walking through the grochery store some days. Today was one of them as I wanted ever single sugar/carb loaded thing I walked past. I bought almonds and left. Tonight should be a challenge as the birthday dinner is at olive garden. I've already had to talk myself out of a big plate of pasta. I WILL be eating chicken tonight! I've been below 180 for two days now, I will NOT sabitague myself! There is NO excuse worth seeing the scale go back up. Not at this point.



Tomorrow we're going to the Winchester Mystery House. For those who don't know this is the house built by the Winchester Heiress. She believed that the spirits of those killed by her husbands rifles were haunting her and as long as construction was going on at her house it would keep them at bay. She had people working on her house EVERY day from 1884 - September 5, 1922. That's 38 years! Part of the home was destroyed by an earthquake and rebuilt, so it's actually smaller then it could have been.



Number of rooms: 160



Cost: $5,500,000



Number of stories: prior to 1906 Earthquake - 7; presently 4



Number of acres: originally 161.919; presently 4



Number of basements: 2



Number of windows: frames 1,257, approx. 10,000



Number of doors: doorways 467 approx., 950 doors not including cabinet doors.



Number of fireplaces: 47 (gas, wood, or coal burning)



Number of chimneys: presently 17 with evidence of 2 others



Number of bedrooms: approx. 40



Number of kitchens: 5 or 6



Number of staircases: 40, total of stair steps - 367



Number of skylights: approx. 52



Number of gallons of paint required to paint entire home: over 20,000



Number of ballrooms: 2 (1 nearly complete and 1 under construction)



Blueprints available: No, Mrs. Winchester never had a master set of blueprints, but did sketch out individual rooms on paper and even tablecloths!



The most interesting part is that though the house was built in the victorian era it has modern heating and sewer systems, gas lights that operated by pressing a button, and three working elevators. As to why it's a 'Mystery House'. It also boasts a stairway to 'nowhere' a seance room and other such 'oddities'. Truely a cool place to visit if you are ever in the bay area.



We're also planning to hike the dipsea trail this weekend for a 'trial' run. We'll walk it of course!



Also Andrew I wasn't the one bragging - Nigle and his coworkers were, I'm just along for the ride!



Alrighty then - I think that's all for me!



Have a great weekend everyone