Every year, my company sends me to attend the California Governor and First Lady's Conference on Women.  It is a huge conference with thousands of women from all over the state gathering for one day at the Long Beach Convention Center.  The conference is hosted by the First Lady of California, Maria Shriver for the past two years.  It is not a male-bashing conference. :-)  The conference is full of inspirational speakers from all walks of life, workshops for women's health, finances, careers, family, and hundreds of booths offering information, products, and freebies.  I have attended the conference since Gray Davis was our governor.  But since Arnold Schwarzeneggar and Maria Shirver took over, the conference took on a huge celebrity boost.  And the gift bags have greatly improved...take a look at all the freebies I got from the booths!  That purple gift bag weighed about 50lbs at the end of the day!

This year, since it could be Maria Shriver's last year hosting (governor's election coming up) she went all out!  The A list of speakers include:

No Toby has not joined a gang.  In the past few days, Toby had decided that he wants to chew his own paws off.  Short of leaving a cone on him, nothing has worked to stop his obsessive licking.  I practically dipped his paws in Bitter Apple spray, I screamed and yelled at him, I give him hugs, I took him to the beach for long wallks...nothing worked.  It's just one of those things I have to break his mindset of.  So for now, I taped up his paws with electric tape.  It seems to be working, he's still licking but the tape is keeping his paws dry.  I came home from work and one paw was free but the other tape stayed on.  Why eletric tape?  The adhesive is very mild (does not pull the fur off) and the glue can be washed off easily with doggie shampoo.  Toby's had his share of hot spots the past four years, but this paw licking appears to be the hardest obsession to break!  I'm also suffering from the flu so having to wake up several times in the middle of the night to stop his paw licking is not fun.

Because two Goldens are better than one...Loki and his mom joined Toby and I for a brisk sunset walk at Hermosa Beach a few days ago.  Toby shared the back seat of my car with little Loki who is actually terrified of car rides!  But Loki was a trooper and got through the ride without having to sit on his mommy's lap. 

Once we got to the beach, Loki perked up and was so excited to meet everyone and every dog we encounter on our walk. :-)  He thinks every dog is as friendly as his buddy Toby.  Innocence is bliss...Look at him...isn't he just adorable?  Click on Loki's pic to see a larger image of his dorky smile. 

By the time we walked back to the car, Loki was so tired that he almost fell asleep in the car.  Still such a baby! Can't wait to see what Loki looks like when he grows up! :-)

Happy autumn to everyone!

I got these tips through email and thought I'd share them with you.  I've not tried any of them myself so let me know if any of these tips actually work.

Reheat Pizza
Heat up leftover pizza in a non-stick skillet on top of the stove, set heat to med-low and heat till warm. This keeps the crust crispy.  No soggy micro pizza. I saw this on the cooking channel and it really works.

Easy Deviled Eggs
Put cooked egg yolks in a zip lock bag. Seal, mash till they are all broken up. Add remainder of ingredients, reseal, keep mashing it up mixing thoroughly, cut the tip of the baggy, squeeze mixture into egg. Just throw bag away when done easy clean up.

Expanding Frosting
When you buy a container of cake frosting from the store, whip it with your mixer for a few minutes. You can double it in size. You get to frost more cake/cupcakes with the same amount. You also eat less sugar/calories per serving.

Reheating Refrigerated Bread
To warm biscuits, pancakes, or muffins that were refrigerated, place them in a microwave with a cup of water. The increased moisture will keep the food moist and help it reheat faster.

Newspaper Weeds Away
Start putting in your plants; work the nutrients in your soil. Wet newspapers put layers around the plants overlapping as you go cover with mulch and forget about weeds. Weeds will get through some gardening plastic they will not get through wet newspapers.

Broken Glass
Use a dry cotton ball to pick up little broken glass pieces of glass- the fibers catch ones you can't see!

No More Mosquitoes
Place a dryer sheet in your pocket. It will keep the mosquitoes away.

Squirrel Away!
To keep squirrels from eating your plants sprinkle your plants with cayenne pepper. The cayenne pepper doesn't hurt the plant and the squirrels won't come near it.

MINE!!!!!
If you purchase a new bike for your child, place their picture inside the handle bar before placing the grips on. if the bike is stolen and later recovered, remove the grip and there is your proof who owns the bike.

Flexible vacuum
To get something out of a heat register or under the fridge add an empty paper towel roll or empty gift wrap roll to your vacuum. It can be bent or flattened to get in narrow openings.

Reducing Static Cling
Pin a small safety pin to the seam of your slip and you will not have a clingy skirt or dress. Same thing works with slacks that cling when wearing panty hose. Place pin in seam of slacks and - voila - static is gone.

Measuring Cups
Before you pour sticky substances into a measuring cup, fill it with hot water. Dump out the hot water, but don't dry the cup. Next, add your ingredient, such as peanut butter, and watch how easily it comes right out.

Foggy Windshield?
Hate foggy windshields? Buy a chalkboard eraser and keep it in the glove box of your car. When the windows fog, rub with the eraser! Works better than a cloth!

Reopening Envelope
If you seal an envelope and then realize you forgot to include something inside, just place your sealed envelope in the freezer for an hour or two. Voila! It unseals easily.

Conditioner
Use your hair conditioner to shave your legs. It's a lot cheaper than shaving cream and leaves your legs really smooth. It's also a great way to use up the conditioner you bought but didn't like when you tried it in your hair...

Goodbye Fruit Flies
To get rid of pesky fruit flies, take a small glass fill it 1/2" with Apple Cider Vinegar and 2 drops of dish washing liquid, mix well. You will find those flies drawn to the cup and gone forever!

Get Rid of Ants
Put small piles of cornmeal where you see ants. They eat it, take it "home," & can't digest it so it kills them. It may take a week or so, especially if it rains, but it works & you don't have the worry about pets or small children being harmed!

Take Baby Powder to the Beach
Keep a small bottle of baby powder in your beach bag. When you're ready to leave the beach sprinkle yourself and kids with the powder and the sand will slide right off your skin.

After a week of gloom, the weekend brightened up just in time for SC to win an awsome game at the Coliseum and for Toby and I to hit the beach!

We went down to Portuguese Bend at Palos Verdes via the Trump Golf Course.  Thanks to an agreement with the city of Palos Verdes, The Donald has to keep the hiking trails down to the beach public, including the use of his parking lot.  So bag and dog in tote, I hike through the fancy golf course to the trails.  Once I get to the hiking trail I let Toby off the leash.

It was such a gorgeous day, the sky was so blue and the water was glittering.  There was a nice breeze to keep us from getting too hot.  Doesn't Toby look adorable in my hat? Enjoy the pics I took there. :-)

Tee time anyone? Toby gets to sniff the grass.

Rainy mornings are the best times to sleep...there was drizzle this morning in Redondo Beach!  Not enough rain to clean my car, just enough rain to dirty it though.  I can't wait til we get another heat wave soon.  I'm just not ready to break out my coats and sweaters yet.  Also slowly but surely, we are losing a little more daylight hours each day.  I got home from the beach walk tonight at the around 8pm and it was already completely dark.  Soon, Toby will be playing with his buddies at the park in the dark, when the Sun sets at ~4:45pm.

Speaking of Toby's buddies, we have another new Golden Retriever puppy at the park.  His name is Loki.  Loki is so adorable that I couldn't help but carry him every time I see him.  And he loves to be carried! :-)

We already have Toby and Bailey so with the addition of Loki, we now have three Golden Retrievers at the dog park!   Loki and Bailey loves to wrestle with each other, they can play like this all day long.  For now, Bailey (already 8 months old) can pin Loki down by sitting on him, Bailey's favorite wrestling move. :-)

It's only September and I already miss summer.  I've lived in LA long enough to know that we'll have plenty more hot days left in the year but one of my favorite part of summer is already gone...the fruits.  My favorite fruit in the world are plums.  Each year I look forward to seeing these beautiful fruits at my local market.  I eat as many as I can while they are available.  I would sometimes eat about 3 or 4 per day!  But they are mostly gone now and I have to wait til next Summer for another plum feasting. 

My other favorite fruits include black berries, cherries, strawberries, and raspberries.  Winter months are such sad months for fruits...

I admit, I usually don't like Chihuahuas.  I personally prefer big dogs because the little ones tend to be yappy and hyper.  But for some reason Pigalou (pictured here) tugged at my heart strings!  Pigalou (so named because apparently he looks like a pig) is an abandoned little dog in China.  I read about him from a blog by Candi Cooper that I read on occasion.  She and her husband lives in China which I find very interesting. 

The story goes, Pigalou is currently being cared for by a furniture store owner until she finds someone to adopt him.  He would sit in a cabinet drawer by the store entrance everyday just waiting for anyone to pet him.  What a sweetie!!  For some reason, that just melts my heart.  I would actually take him home if he was in LA.  Candi Cooper is dying to adopt Pigalou but her husband needs some convincing.  I hope she does adopt him, then she'll post photos of him regularly!

I got this toy box for Toby years ago from Ikea.  It is a little wooden chest with a lid which I keep open so Toby can poke his head into the box and pick out a toy of his liking.  As you can see, Toby's got a lot of toys.  I only paid $11 for the toy box at the time and honestly thought that I would paint it a nice color once I get it home.  Well, after almost three years, I finally decided to spend an afternoon painting it.

I knew I wanted it to be blue...and I wanted it to have Toby's name on it.  Just my luck, I had some blue paint that's been sitting in my garage since I moved in over three years ago.  I've always wondered how long paint lasts...well, at least 3 years! :-)  I did have to peel off a thickened layer of paint but a couple of stirrings of the residual paint and it's good to go. 

To paint out Toby's name, I picked a cute font from PowerPoint and printed it out, making sure to use a large enough font to cover the toy box.  I then cut it out and taped it to the toy box and traced it out with a pencil.  I initially wanted to tape it out so that I can just paint over it and peel the text off after the paint drys.  But it was too tough to tape out the text.  So I ended up painting around the text free hand with a very small art brush.

What do you think?  I love it!  It reminds me a little kid's toy box.  Toby was a bit perplexed as to why his toy box was sitting in the backyard overnight but is glad to have it back...along with all of his toys.

Tis a sad day for Toby...one of his favorite personalities have met an untimely end.  Undoubtedly, one of the biggest news of 2006 will be the death of Steve Irwin.  Toby loved watching the enthusiatic Irwin wrestle a croc, the way Toby would if he ever met one. 

Whenever someone larger than life meets an untimely death, it makes me take stock of my own life.  I also wonder who would take care of Toby?  Who will know that when Toby paws at you, he just wants  a hug?

It saddens me to think of Steve Irwin's two little children who will never get a chance to get to know their father.  And his wife, who now have to raise the children on her own and has the responsibilty of keeping his memory alive in their children.  So sad...

It was such a relief to see that the Trojans are back...not with a bang but with a calm determination that only Coach Carroll can project.  Unfortunate for the Arkansas fans, but Saturday's game was the answer to all the doubts people had post-Rose Bowl. 

Having waited years to be the starting quarterback, John David Booty seems to have absorbed all that was great of Matt Lineart and Pete Caroll without feeding into the hype.  He was calm and very professional.  He never gave into the temptation to wow the Trojan fans with any fancy plays.  I was far more impress with his determination to "just get the job done."

I'm very excited about the rest of the season!

Speaking of winners, congratulations to Lockeed Martin for winning the NASA contract to build Orion, the next generation space shuttle.  Orion will be a throw-back to the capsule design of the past, with modern electronic sophistication.  The most important part of the capsule design is that there will be an escape tower that sits above the capsule that can easily be ejected and parashutes itself back down to Earth.