Madeira Heritage Day

Back in June, I blogged about having a booth at the Dia de Portugal Festival. Thru that festival, I found a group called the San Pedro Association. They are a group near Sacramento, Calfornia who is dedicated to the preservation of the Madeiran Portuguese culture and history. Since both of my parents were born in Madeira, I knew I had to join. A lot of the Portuguese groups and festas here in the Bay Area are centered around those with ties to the Azores Islands (where hubby's family is from), so it was nice to find a group with heritage from Madeira. I was with my peeps! lol

Today they had Madeiran Heritage Day, which they hold every other year at a small park they Association owns called San Pedro Park - a small park located on a residential street.

Here are some photos of the chapel in the park:

Today we took a slight detour from the shakes and ate some Carne de Espeto (cubes of top-grade beef spiced with coarse salt, bay leaves and garlic and grilled over a pit. Here is a photo of two of the cooks tending to the meat:

A view of the pit afterwards:

There were also folcloric dancers performing dances representing various parts of Portugal.

The striped skirt costumes represent Madeira. Ever since I was a child I recognized those costumes from photos and my trip there when I was 12 years old. My parents took me there for 3 weeks that summer. I still want those boots....lol.

This is a group posing by the Santana house. Does it look familiar? It's my 'house' from the Dia de Portugal Festival. Hubby's dad made it from my father's 90th birthday in 2005. The director's of the Association requested that I bring it. Glad we did!

This is a photo of the leaves off of a huge bay leaf tree/bush in the park. A lot of Portuguese recipes used bay leaves. I remember my mother had a lot of this in the cupboard!

There was also silent and live auctions of gift baskets and other items. I donated a Madeira ornament that I sell on http://www.celestial-creations.com for the live auction. The woman who won the bid is also going to buy more as Christmas gifts!

I really had fun today and I hope to be able to participate in more of their events. I only wish my parents were both still here to have found this club!

Feeling Clean

Tonight was my appointment with my chiropractor. She did some aligning to my neck and shoulders and as always after an appointment with her, I feel great! She also perform a cold laser treatment on me.

I found this information online on what cold laser treatment is:

http://www.coldlaser.net/light.html

The treatment, known as "cold" laser therapy or low-level laser therapy (LLLT), has been used internationally for 18 years to treat soft tissue injuries, cervical neck pain, carpal tunnel syndrome, repetitive stress injuries, tendonitis, hamstring injuries, arthritis and wound healing, among others.
The lasers — hand-held, flashlight-like devices that direct a beam of narrow-spectrum (but not hot) light at injured tissue beneath the skin — have been integrated into medical practice in Japan, Russia and the United Kingdom. In the United Kingdom, cold laser therapy has become a preferred treatment for "whiplash" injuries, neuralgia and shingles. In Japan, the lasers were approved in 1987 and are in widespread use today.

Ok....I know it sounds odd but hey, I am open to trying new things and letting the positive energy in!

Good news....I lost 8 lbs this first week! I know that a lot of it was water weight but it feels good to step on the scale and see a smaller number than before. Hubby lost 2 lbs.

My biggest problem is keeping active and exercising. But I think I found a workout DVD that I can do a low impact workout to. It's a walking routine but a large space is not needed.

Tonight after the appointment we stopped by the local Whole Foods store. This was our first time shopping there. I just wanted to see what their selection was as far as gluten-free was. That place was busy! I am not sure if we will shop there often since they are a bit more expensive than our local supermarket.

One month from tonight is our Sea Hawker chapter annual Event! Everyday now seems like Christmas, as I am receiving items for the gift bags I am making to hand out at the Saturday night event. I always seem to go into 'stress mode' leading up to this! Hopefully my new way of thinking and living will keep me centered....lol.

The Cleanse

No this is not like The Purge on LOST....lol.

About 3 weeks ago, I had my first appointment at a holistic chiropractor that specializes in infertility patients. Hubby has a photography friend who had infertility issues like us and went thru 3 IVFs with no success. Then they went to this doctor and did her program and was successful on their next one.

So, besides the chiropractic aligning I have done now, she has started me on a nutrional cleanse diet. The idea is to rid my body of all of the toxins that I have stored, as well as get back nto a healthy weight to be able to carry and nourish a baby. I will not list the name of the company until we are finished with it. Hubby is doing it for the first month with me so he can 'experience' it with me...lol. It's basically 2 of their shakes per day with a sensible meal for 6 days and then the 7th day is all liquid. All of the liquid products and shakes are their products. I did some research on the company and they are regarded as one of the 'leaders' in nutritional cleansing.

So, we are on day #6 and had the Cleanse Day yesterday as I did not know what to expect and did not want to have any weird side effects at work...lol.

So far...so good! and I feel cleaner already.

Family Reunion 2008

Hubby and I belong to an online Seahawks fan forum where we call each other Family. Each year a Family Reunion weekend is planned on the weekend of a home game - usually the home opener. This year's Reunion was last weekend in Seattle - with the game vs. the SF Forty Niners.

On the Friday night, we met at King Street Bar and Oven for a Kick-Off Party, where our friend's band, Soulfish, played. This was our final weekend of "regular" food before the Cleanse started on Tuesday so I decided to have my blue drinks. But there are 2 types of blue drinks - the evil blue drink and the not-so-evil blue drink. I prefer the second one which is the Blue Hawaiian. The first one is called the Hawk Island Iced Tea - think Long Island but with 'stuff' to make it blue. I think I tried one last year and could not make it thru one! There was also the yearly rendition of "Sweet Caroline" played for yours truly.

On Saturday we went to the races! We went to Emerald Downs in Auburn, WA. Our group had part of a banquet-type room reserved, where we were able to have a buffet lunch and enjoy a view of the races. Hubby placed a couple of $2 bets and I think we won 50 cents! Someone in our group won $80 on a $5 bet.

View of the track from our area

Horse walking by

View of Mt. Rainier

We stayed there until about 6:00 pm and then headed back to our hotel in Seattle.

Sunday was Game Day! We headed to the King Street bar and Oven at 8:30 am (yes - AM) and hung out there with our friends for a while. Qwest Field does not have much for tailgating at the Stadium - pretty much a no-no. A couple of us headed over to the Team Store and looked for goodies. After that, we went around the corner to The Hawks Nest - a new bar and grille that just opened up by a friend of ours. It was packed! I am so happy for her - her dream of a Seahawks-only bar/grille had become a reality.

The game was a good one - was decided in OT by a field goal.....and we were not the winners...sigh. The worst part is that the loss was to the Niners and we had to come back home to Niner-land and hear all about it....lol.