Oh Blah Dah

The Way We Were

2011-08-09T11:08:00.000-07:00

All of my life, I have wished people could be REAL and care, and be kind.

All of my life, I have found so many people are actually fake, and visually oriented, and superficial.

I bought into that when I was young. I pretended to be happy and that life was beautiful.

It can be beautiful. There are a rare few amazing people who are very real. They listen and they understand.

Okay, at this point, let's just deal with reality. Be fake. Be superficial. Put on the gloss. Make it all sweet and palatable, like candy. Guard your heart and your real self.

Sad, but true. We have to be fake like some goddamned marketing campaign of life.

A Girl, a Camera, and a Lowfat Recipe

2011-07-03T22:42:00.000-07:00

Shrimp Salad Sandwich
(modified from the Weight Watchers recipe -- "Lobster Salad," from this week's Weekly Reader handout at this week's meeting)

Cue our friend, "Bubba" from Forrest Gump, "Anyway, like I was sayin', shrimp is the fruit of the sea. You can barbecue it, boil it, broil it, bake it, saute it. Dey's uh, shrimp kabobs, shrimp creole, shrimp gumbo. Pan fried, deep fried, stir fried. There's pineapple shrimp, lemon shrimp, coconut shrimp, pepper shrimp, shrimp soup, shrimp stew, shrimp salad, shrimp and potatoes, shrimp burger, shrimp sandwich. That- that's about it."

Okay, I wasn't sure if this would be better with shrimp or some leftover crab claw meat. So I tried both. The shrimp salad had much better texture, but both tasted good. So if you see two plates and two sandwiches, and one less visually appealing, that's what happened.

Ingredients:
½ lb. cooked med-lge shrimp (41/50)
2 T. Best Foods Light Mayonnaise
1 T. fresh lemon juice
2 T. sliced green onions
2 T. cubed celery
1 t. lemon zest
1 T. finely minced capers
Fresh ground pepper
Salt

Remove tails from shrimp and cut each shrimp into three bite-sized pieces. Add remaining ingredients; mix thoroughly. (Dressing should not be too thick or too runny.)

Toast Multigrain Sandwich Thins (or light multigrain English Muffins or other bread)

Layer thin slices of tomato and arugula on top of thin, muffin, or bread.

Pile shrimp salad on top of tomatoes and arugula.

RIP Miss Wishbone

2011-06-29T17:53:00.000-07:00

I had a friend for eight years, a furry friend. She was my best friend, and my constant companion. She is the only one who could love me enough to live with me. She was my puppy. Well, actually she was supposed to be my daughter's puppy, but interest in feeding her and caring for her waned soon after we made her part of our family.

Miss Wishbone watched over me and tried to protect me, and warn me when strangers were near. She had very warm, trusting, dark brown eyes. She was white and tan all over with floppy little ears. Well let me show her to you. This is Wishbone in her glory days.

She was smart and happy and always hungry. She loved rawhide treats more than anything on earth. She should have been a circus dog. She learned tricks easily and had an abundance of energy. She was very affectionate and wanted to be next to me all the time.

In the early days with our old furniture, she was up on the couch next to me, under a blanket, snuggling up close. When I took a nap on the couch, she was right there, spooning, or maybe at my feet at the other end of the couch -- preferably under a blanket.

It turned out that sometimes, she made me itch! I kept a Benedryl rub-on stick around, and decided she could NOT sleep in the bed. I know, hard for a true pet lover, but I got little hives that were too much for me.

When we got new ultrsuede furniture, I had to teach Wishbone to stay off. I just couldn't manage the little white and tan needle like hairs all over the green upholstery. She learned so well. And her new spot was right at my feet, looking up and wondering if any food was around. Or. . . could you by chance scratch my ears? For about an hour? So after that, she had an upstairs bed and a downstairs bed.

What a smart little angel. She always watched me with one eye as she was snoozing when I got ready for work. When she saw the pants go on and the final touch in the bathroom . . . hairspray, she headed for the top of the stairs. Oh boy. Let's go. Time for breakfast and a chew stick. Yesss.

Well, there is lots more to tell. Mish Wishbone went to sleep for the last time on Saturday at the vet's office. She had chewed a giant hole in her leg where a growth had developed. The doc said it was a cancerous tumor, broken through the skin. Wishbone had a lot of allergic skin and eye issues. Her paws were sometimes raw from her chewing the itchy allergies. I tried so many things to make her life better. But this was the end of her time.

I miss her. Each day gets easier, but I will never forget my puppy pal, Miss Wishbone. So much love in one little body. I loved her more than I can say.

Staycation

2011-06-18T16:02:00.000-07:00

Less than no cash. Yes, me and the rest of middle America -- or maybe the lower middle class of America. I still have a paycheck and should be abundantly thankful, but I love traveling more than anything. Well, I actually love shopping most of all. Neither of those is happening here.

I have stayed home a full week and managed to get a few chores done. I trimmed all of the rose bushes -- a dozen of them, full of dead blooms that were really amazing after some huge rain in May. Okay. Roses trimmed. Check.

I have watched a lot of movies including How to Train Your Dragon, Rabbit Hole, Too Big to Fail, How Do You Know, and Blue Valentine. I took my favorite intern out to dinner at North Woods Inn for a decadent dinner where I had Gin & Tonic and Fried Scallops along with their awesome salads (lettuce drenched in real blue cheese and red cabbage covered in oil & vinegar). Oh, and don't forget the sinfully awesome CHEESE BREAD. (Still lost 0.6 pounds this week. Next week, there'll be hell to pay, no doubt.)

My big outing was to The Paley Center for Media in Beverly Hills (formerly the Museum of Television and Radio). I got to see an amazing display of a portion of The Debbie Reynolds Collection of movie costumes, set pieces and memorabilia. I will post photos in a separate entry. I was in heaven with all the other movie geeks, gays, costumers and old time movie hands. It was delightful.

I have two days left for my other big goal -- to add some color upstairs by painting. I have been to Dunn Edwards and managed to procure two quarts of beautiful accent colors: one for the wall I see when I wake up or before I go to sleep, and one for the wall behind me when I sit at my vanity. I picked these walls because no part of them is 20 feet high. I have crazy condo angles with some high cielings that are insane to reach.

Peace River

Okay, I'll admit it. I'm a sucker for blue. The only bedroom paint color I've ever chosen is blue. I was in grade shool and my mom let me choose the color of my room. I chose baby blue. When I chose my daughter's linen colors for her crib, I picked red, white and baby blue (mostly because of the Disney Babies print with them playing band instruments on the crib bumper pads). When I painfully remarried in 1999, we painted a HUGE room with high cielings a French Blue.

Now, I chose Peace River. Yes. Peace like a river. I look forward to opening my eyes and seeing that soothing peaceful pale silvery blue. Okay, not the whole room, but the one short wall opposite my bed. Of course, I already have blue/gold/green/taupe paisley Hilfiger linens with ivory suede trim. I have a treasured Van Gogh with swirls of blues in the sky with wheat fields and cypress trees. All this room needs is new knobs for my boring mission oak furniture. How about painting them gold?

Weathered Coral

I'm not sure who has seen weathered coral or where they were. This is actually a pale, buttery gold color and it will reflect on me in my big vanity mirror area. It will transition between the blues, greens and golds of my bedroom and those of the bathroom. I just realized as I was masking the first wall that the blue and gold will meet at one corner, but not really visible at the same time. I hope. Uh oh. Is this a goof. Not if I love them both!

Tried to cut and paste these lovely shades from the Dunn Edwards site, but no luck. They do have a nice site. I'll see if it will work with me.

Uncle Eric

2011-03-10T17:45:00.000-08:00

Got to see Uncle Eric, that's Mr. Clapton to you, in San Diego on Sunday night.

Super mellow, not a lot of talking, I missed Los Lobos (did they start at 6:30?), but loved every second of the show. Got to hear the new tunes. I'd been playing his latest CD for months now. It's quirky, but great.

All the old tunes were perfect "Before You Accuse Me," "Badge," I Shot the Sherriff," "Cocaine," "You Look Wonderful Tonight," and more including the Crossroards encore.

Courage

2011-02-02T17:46:00.000-08:00

Yeah, I always felt for the Cowardly Lion. I am sort of a Cowardly Taurus. One of my favorite Old Testament quotes is, "Be strong and take courage." I am bold on the outside and a quivering scaredy cat mess on the inside.

I found out I can escape from Alcatraz -- as in retire at my tender age with over 40% of my pay and health care for life -- at least as it stands now. I will work til I die to pay my mortgage, but I don't want to die working here. Please don't forward this to my Boss as I have not told him I'm leaving any day or the day after my birthday.

All I need is courage. I live alone and all of my family is estranged. They don't really know me or understand me or want to try for either option. I spent my life being a single mom and working an hour away so I don't have many true friends. I don't have a husband or a boyfriend. I don't have a financial advisor. I rely on me. And me is scared. It's all blackness beyond where I can see -- which is about five minutes into my future.

I have lost my faith the past year. I don't believe anything I can't see or touch. I can't count on anything if I can't count on the love of my only child. Up became down, and black became white. Nothing is true unless it is right in front of me and can be measured. You can't count on the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. There is no rainbow. You can't find a silver lining to the cloud because it never stops pouring out darkness. There is no God. And Jesus was a friend of mine, but he turned me into the Devil for some cheap reward like my black hearted soul.

Okay, I went a bit too far there. How do you scratch together enough courage to face the world completely alone. I guess I am just going to get used to the idea of being homeless or living in a hell hole rental, being bankrupt, but having my pride and dignity as I perform some menial housekeeping job for minimum wage. After all the taxes on my housekeeping job and my pension income, I may be able to afford meat and red wine once a week? Well, I'll take courage in that, and re-watch the Skid Row section of "The Jerk" again.

Everything to gain by losing it all with an ounce of courage, manufactured from thin air.

Seriously.

2011-02-01T16:47:00.000-08:00

Dear John Mayer:

I have seriously spiritually bonded with my "Where the Light Is" C.D. set. These discs live in Slot 1 and Slot 2 in my car's 6 CD changer. Now, I try to listen to other CDs, but I keep going back to WTLI. I used to have Battle Studies in Slot 3. Right now, the new Clapton lives there. Okay, today I put Battle Studies back in Slot 4 (had to kick out Nirvana).

Anyways, back to the point of our story . . . When I have a bad day (which is often, lately), I go to Slot 1 with Disc 1 of WTLI. Either I go all the way with both disks, starting with acoustic Neon (amazing and awesome hammer-ons), or I head straight to the BLUES.

For maximum joy, I hit the button and forward to Track 6 for "Everyday I Have the Blues," which rocks me home down the 10 Freeway. I sing at the top of my lungs with the music turned up full blast. Sometimes I am your backup singer, sometimes I am you. Sometimes I play air guitar, and many times, I dance. Always, my soul is revived . . . by an old friend . . . rockin' the hell out of that Fender or Gibson.

I lost my daughter this past year. No, not lost to death. I lost her to a boyfriend and teenage angst and rebellion. She did not tell me she was leaving. She does not speak to me. She blocked me from facebook, twitter and her cell phone. She did not come home for Christmas. She lives a few hundred feet away with some family I never met that has a daughter that would never look me in the eyes. The boyfriend would also never look me in the eyes. My only child has completely abandoned me as annoyingly parental after 18-1/2 years of blood, sweat, tears, love and devotion for some guy she met last year. Yeah. All I feel now is grief and lost and hurt and confusion. No one understands. Everyone says “later” will be better. All their words are trite. I am alone with my dog, and learning not to share my pain.

But MAN, when I play the Blues Trio section of Where the Light Is, I try to believe "Good Love is on the Way. I re-live the moment when you played that.

You see, I was THERE that night when the music and video were recorded at Nokia. Or I should say we were there. My daughter turned me on to Continuum about then. What a great surprise -- three shows in one, and three shows that I would never forget, and I still re-live today in my car. I saw you twice in 2010 at Staples and Hollywood Bowl. Awesome energy both places, but we will never approach the phenom that was December 8, 2007. We will move on, we will live life, but man . . . just keep me where the light is.

Love always,

Geri

P.S. Can’t wait for the next album and tour.

Poser

2010-12-04T19:12:00.000-08:00

Green Valley Ranch Fam Trip "Rockstar Experience"

What a night. This was the first night of my Green Valley Ranch Fam Trip. After a great Stag's Leap wine tasting reception, we got to perform onstage for a "Rockstar Experience." I was fairly terrified when I had to go FIRST! Jamie Malloy generously offered to sing "Take It Easy" with me, and I'm almost positive my mic was turned off. Probably better that way. So this is more posing than performing, but what a blast with the live band, lights, video, and a photographer.

Also sang YMCA in a group and got to hear the band perform when we were done.

Later on the same stage, I saw Yellow Brick Road -- a 70s tribute band experience. So fun.

50 Pounds. Yes.

2010-11-28T17:06:00.000-08:00

Okay. I have 1/2 pound to go until I reach my big milestone . . . losing 50 pounds on Weight Watchers. Of course, the chart says I should lose 37 more pounds and I am still obese.

Okay, I am going to ask for a boob exemption from my doctor for a little higher goal weight. How much do you think boobs weigh? I had a guy ask me that on a first date. He was obsessed and just blurted out, "How much do you think they weigh?" I usually don't think about it, and don't know how you weigh them, but I'm considering it. Also, I'm carrying around fibroids that must weigh 15-20 pounds. Yeah, I'm double cursed, top and bottom. Let's say both add up to 30 pounds. Yeah, let's. That way, I only have 7 pounds to go!

Imagine. I guess I can keep going and get sort of bony. I'll have to start working out. Remember when that was my goal? I was just going to work out to lose weight. Yeah. That did not fit in my schedule. I love walking and dancing, but hate the idea of the gym -- so monotonous and boring. I did manage a 5 mile hike, mostly uphill, in under 3 hours. I nearly died, trying to get enough oxygen with my anemia, but I did it!

This photo was taken in Henderson. If you ever get a chance to stay at Green Valley Ranch Resort . . . do it! What a dreamy, mellow place off the strip with everything that you could want or need, including a top rated spa! Best indoor massage ever and one great express pedicure!

Vegan Leftovers

2010-08-29T17:55:00.000-07:00

Okay, nothing in the fridge. Seriously. Nothing, but leftovers with the Emmy Awards Red Carpet shows already started.

I had some fresh spinach twice a couple days ago which would be good, but not alone. I had pulled some frozen mango out of the freezer for breakfast since I had no fresh fruit. Dinner the other night included my Seeds of Change “Tigris” mixture of seven whole grains (yum). I have wanted to gobble that up ever since. I also had some strips of frozen yellow bell peppers from an L.A. Foodies trip to the LAX-C food mart. So . . .

I diced the peppers and sprayed a pan with olive oil, and sautéed the peppers with salt and pepper, then added the grains. I was heading for a fruity, fried rice with spinach. I microwaved the spinach and threw it in the pan. At the last minute, I added the mango cubes. I deglazed the pan by adding a touch of balsamic vinegar. Beautiful. Perfect. Not sure what to call it and not sure how many points this might be, but I took a photo with some lovely Saddle Rock Chardonnay from my tasting the other day at Malibu Wines. Ah, vacation comes to an end. This is the perfect taste of vacation with vegan leftovers to watch the Emmy Awards.

Olive Oil Spray
1/3 C. Yellow Peppers diced
1 C. Seeds of Change "Tigris" Seven Whole Grains
1-1/2 C. Fresh Spinach
Fresh Ground Pepper to taste
Fresh Ground Sea Salt to taste
1/3 C. Mango frozen (defrosted, cut into small cubes)
2 t. Balsamic Vinegar

First winner . . . Eric Stonestreet from Modern Family for Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series.

Sangria Day at Chaparral Terrace

2010-07-11T20:43:00.000-07:00

Wendy P. wanted to make Sangria for six months. Today was the day. This time, we were hanging out at my pool and taking Sangria (in plastic cups) with us.

Set Free and Learning to Fly

2010-07-10T15:43:00.000-07:00

Free like a bird, learning to fly is my new motto. You see, I used to have a daughter. When August comes, my grief will have lasted six months. As if she died, the house is empty, leaving me alone with the dog, her dog, her sick dog.

For ALL the sacrifice and love and devotion and work, my daughter has used me up and tossed me aside. Yes, the exact temperament of her father rules her existence. He used me up and threw me away, and now so has she.

I have stuck with my healthy eating program and lost 45 pounds now. It translates into 5-1/2 inches off my waist. I feel healthier every day, and have learned to make good choices. I am still obese and old and plain, and apparently undesirable to the opposite sex, but I manage to stay busy.

I have been set free, except for a sick dog to care for, and I am learning to fly on my own. Thanks God for meetups and new friends, good wine at two points a glass, and a few choice concert outings for the rest of the summer.

Yesssssss . . . 42 Pounds

2010-06-01T18:11:00.000-07:00

Okay, finally have some serious traction and results on this healthy eating thing. This was on my birthday in front of the Ritz Carlton/J.W. Marriott L.A. Live. Ate more than my share of fish and veggies at Katsuya, and had an awesome Grapefruit Cosmo and some sake. Then we headed to the Nokia Theater for a big dose of Ricky Gervais.

I am giving a bit of a pose here to show off the new waistline. I have a ways to go, but feeling better all the time.

Now, I need some motivation for exercise. This is the week. Maybe if I leave work on time!?

Sky Bar = Heaven

2010-05-04T18:51:00.000-07:00

I never would have ventured out on a "school" night, but I got caught up in the wave of ladies after a work event at Madame Tussaud's in Hollywood. And can I just say," OY! the traffic at Hollywood and Highland!"

So . . . Sky Bar. Wouldn't you think it was on the top floor . . . as in, up in the sky? Nope. It's out back. Just hand your car over to the valet at the Mondrian Hotel and venture out back to the right, up some wooden stairs, under a tent sort of room. Yes, you have arrived in the land of $16 French Pear Martinis. It's okay. Have one. They float some Perrier Jouet on top and it gets all bubbly. http://www.mondrianhotel.com/default.aspx#/explore/?id=skybar

We had the perfect night with the wind blowing everything away and creating the MOST sparkly view from the top of a hill in Hollywood. Highly recommend you stop by one windy evening and check it out with a Pear Martini.

Fun Trip to The Grand Del Mar

2010-05-04T18:42:00.000-07:00

I highly recommend hanging out at the bar at The Grand Del Mar for fabulous drinks, friendly folks, and very cute boys on Saturday night.

The flowers are amazing and I'm told there is a certain apple spice candle they burn for the amazing smell throughout the lobby. Get yours in the gift shop!

Fresh Tangerine Martini. Simply Amazing -- like the world's best and strongest Screwdriver. Try it, you'll like it.

Girls just wanna have fun. Yeah, they wanna have fun.

We did NOT throw Gabby in the fountain, but proceeded to sniff around the hot spots of Del Mar on the coast. Didn't find any trouble, but had fun being out and about. I am doubled over here a bit in laughter so I look thinner than I am, but I can give an update to say I have lost 39 pounds. May this be the week that I can officially say 40! Yes, Weight Watchers works.

Whale Watching Outing

2010-03-22T21:46:00.000-07:00

I had a lovely day out on the fishing boat, whale watching with the meetup group folks. It was nice and warm until we got out into the channel on the water with the wind. Brrr, my paws were a bit frozen from holding up my camera -- had to be poised for the elusive gray whale. I guess once you spot them, they dive down for more than five minutes before they come up again.

We felt lucky to have so many whale sightings -- ten or more. So it was either 10 whales or 2 whales five times. I caught photos of the flukes four times after getting excited by the spouting. Wow. We really ooohed and aaahed with every steamy spout. What is it about these sea mammals that thrills us? They are huge! And they go on such a long journey from Mexico to Alaska. It is very cool to catch them on their way back with their calves in the channel between Long Beach/San Pedro area and Catalina Island.

I went out with a few people who wanted to get fish and chips after our tour at a little Irish pub in Long Beach. Of course they were gorging on fried food and I tried to be good. I had the grilled salmon salad and they had a low fat tomato basil salad dressing. While being good, I was very bad and ate some grilled bread. OMG, BREAD! It was nice to be out, but I was jealous of their waffle cut fries with Gorgonzola sauce. I lost one more pound this week for a total of 35 pounds. One and a half more pounds and I break the double century for the first time in probably 15 years.

After Five Long Months

2010-02-27T15:34:00.000-08:00

Still a chubby girl, but I don't hate myself so much anymore. There was so much of me to hate. It wasn't actually hating me, but hating the boobs and the blubber, and hating not looking good in anything. I also didn't feel good. Since I was always overeating, my stomach rebelled with indigestion.

I feel a lot better -- a lot lighter. I have a long way to go, but this is the right direction. I have lost 33 pounds. It might take twice that to achieve Lifetime status (free Weight Watchers meetings if you can stay there within two pounds). Now that may be a ploy to get you to keep paying if you go 3 pounds over goal, but the whole gimmick is very motivating. I had not even considered trying to be the RIGHT weight for my height.

My real bottom line goal is to be healthier -- and to fit into normal clothes. Proportional. You know.

It has been easy to follow the plan since it works. Who woulda thought? Eat less, move more and you will burn away all your stores of fat. Now if I start moving more -- as in, on purpose a the gym with the trainer I paid, but have never met -- I might get some real progress.

I will. I can. It is 1000% easier to move not carrying around those 3+ 10-pound bags of flour/sugar/lard.

And hey, those are size 14 petite pants. I get to shop in the regular ladies section again. That is huge. Or, er, not huge.

26 Pounds Gone

2010-01-23T20:24:00.000-08:00

It's so nervewracking and a bit humiliating to weigh in at the weekly Weight Watchers meeting.

They have made it semi-private, but you still have to get on the scale right inside the front door. "Go ahead and step on."

I never know what's going to happen. The little old helper ladies give a little smile whether you've lost a little or gained a little. Today, the lady really smiled. "You lost 3.6 pounds this week."

Wha'?! And . . . YAY! Finally back on track.

I got a bit sidetracked by cookies and candy and parties at Christmas. The cookie habit has lingered, and I have indulged in way too many one-point candies. Chocolate is like heroin to me. I just can't have it in the house.

I only gained 2.4 pounds over the holidays which is not that bad, but I hated going in the wrong direction. It took three or four weeks to re-lose those same pounds. It really messed up my goals spreadsheet. I guess realistically, it would be almost impossible to NOT gain weight if you're celebrating at Christmas time.

So last week, 1.4 lost; and this week 3.6 gone. So 26 pounds after 16 meetings, and I am encouraged. Next week, if I stay on track, I think it will be another good week with more milestones . . . and maybe a new bra! Small steps in a long process. It's all about choices and new habits and being healthy.

The real goal is to be healthy for years to come, but I already feel a lot better inside and out.

Hope for Haiti Lineup

2010-01-22T19:11:00.000-08:00

Loved every minute of watching Hope for Haiti online (www.cbsnews.com). I took down the lineup and verified on what had been posted on www.en.Wikipedia.org.

It was lovely to see everyone come together for a good cause. Let us hope that Haiti will rise up from the ashes and become better than it was before. With the focus of the world and so much aid, I am hoping that what fell down will be rebuilt.

First, let them get food and water and shelter. I knowt that www.worldvision.org is an excellent funnel for your funds. They were already there and on the ground the very first day, helping.

Please help. And buy some of these songs on iTunes tomorrow. They should all be there. Jay Z's "Stranded Haiti Mon Amour" rap was really great. I was touched by Stevie Wonder on "Bridge over Troubled Water," and Jennifer Hudson's "Let It Be." I think my favorite was Wyclef Jean for the Haitian spirit.

Alicia Keys “Prelude to a Kiss”
George Clooney
Coldplay “A Message”
Halle Barry
Bruce Springsteen “We Shall Overcome”
Anderson Cooper in Port au Prince
Leonardo diCaprio
Stevie Wonder “Bridge Over Troubled Water”
Wyclef Jean
Shakira “I’ll Stand by You”
Reese Witherspoon on the phone
A.C. with Pierre Alexis from Orphanage
John Legend with String Quartet “Motherless Child”
Jon Stewart
Mary J. Blige “Hard Times Come Again No More”
Samuel Jackson
Haitian from U.S.
Taylor Swift “Breathless” (by Better than Ezra)
Nicole Kidman
Christina Aguilera with piano and strings “Lift Me Up”
Julia Roberts without makeup
A.C. with 15-yr-old girl, Bea, “I wasn’t afraid, I knew I would live”
Rob Pat with mutton chops and Brit accent
Sting (shaved!) with Chris Botti on Trumpet? “Driven to Tears”
Matt Damon and Clint Eastwood
Beyonce (LONG hair and Fringe) with Chris Martin on piano “Haiti, We Can See Your Halo”
Steven Spielberg on the phone
Morgan Freeman
Sheryl Crow & Kid Rock & Keith Urban “Lean On Me”
A.C. in Haiti
Bill Clinton
Madonna “Like a Prayer” with gospel choir and Adam Lambert’s guitarist, Monte
Ben Stiller
A.C. with Sanjay Gupta in Haiti “Jungle Medicine”
Justin Timblerlake and Matt Morris (Knit Hat Dude) “Hallelujah” by Leonard Cohen
Chris Rock and Muhammed Ali
Jennifer Hudson “Let It Be”
Roots Band as backup with Sousaphone
A.C. with small boy trapped for 8 days
Brad Pitt
Emeline Michel “Many Rivers to Cross”
Tom Hanks
Jay Z, Rihanna and Bono are back-up singers, and Edge on guitar “Stranded (Haiti Mon Amour)”
Julia Roberts
Dave Matthews and Neil Young “Alone and Forsaken” (by Hank Williams)
Denzel Washington
Wyclef Jean “Rivers of Bablyon” and “Earthquake”

Take care of each other, world. God bless us all. And God bless Haiti big time.

Good Times 2000

2010-01-04T19:33:00.001-08:00

4 Days into 2010

2010-01-04T19:27:00.001-08:00

Up early. Dye my grey hairs blonde. Jump in car. Back on the freeway. Back to work.

Four meetings need catering this week - back to back. And me trying to be very very diligent about Weight Watchers. Also trying to find a way to exercise that will allow me more POINTS in my piehole.

Kid is busy following her boyfriend around. Thank God she is back to school and still working. It could be worse.

It's 7:30 and I'm still at work. I guess the dog is waiting at home along with laundry and a bunch of other housework -- the joy of my life.

I remain hopeful that 2010 will bring many opportunities for joy. And maybe this is the year I get an iPod! Yeah, that and a Pocket Shark floor steam cleaner. Baby steps.

Happy New Year!

2009-12-31T19:21:00.001-08:00

Cute as can be at the Music Center (Downtown Los Angeles) on Saturday, December 26. We had a nice dinner at Kendall's and strolled over to the Ahmanson. Truly the good life.

MERRY CHRISTMAS! HAPPY NEW YEAR!

2009-12-26T14:09:00.000-08:00

December 23, 2009

Holiday Greetings to Alternative Celebrations: Hanukah, Solstice, Saturnalia, Kwanzaa, Festivus, Scientology or other wallet-cleansing celebrations!

Here we are, eagerly anticipating the Coldplay Concert at Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre in Irvine, California, on July 19, 2009 (but not enjoying Kitty, Daisy & Lewis much at all, although Lewis rocked).

Dear Friends and Family,

Just wanted to take a few moments to send you our love and best wishes at Christmas via the waves and wires. We hope this finds you happy, healthy and hopeful. Heavenly? Hairy? Hilarious? Let us know which H word describes you best. I might choose HAIRY to describe 2009, but we’ve almost made it to 2010 at this point.

We had a big year with Courtney finishing the first year of college, complete with winter intersession and summer session, and lots of music theory and performances. She started her first job as a beloved Kmart cashier in July. She started the second year of college in August, got her driver’s license just before her birthday, and turned 18 in September! Since then, she is off and running in my old Saturn to school and work and parts unknown . . . a teenager on the move.

After our big trip to London last year, we were close to home this summer. We got to see David Cook at the San Diego Fair, Angels beat the Orioles on Fourth of July, Eric Clapton and Steve Winwood at Hollywood Bowl, Coldplay in Irvine, Steve Miller Band at the O.C. Fair, Katy Perry in her hometown of Santa Barbara (delayed three months by wildfires), the Dodgers win the division vs. the Rockies in October, “Star Wars in Concert” at Nokia, and the big monster of them all . . . U2 at the Rose Bowl (with 97,000 friends in the Bowl, and ten million watching online). Courtney’s favorite part of the summer was the Chocolate Bacon at both fairs. Just ask her!

As for me, I could not believe the better part of Blind Faith was playing again after all these years. (I can’t imagine a more incredible guitar performance than Clapton on Voodoo Chile.) I also was thrilled when Bono sang and Edge played so elegantly and flawlessly, especially on the old favorite . . . I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For. Click on the link and you will hear me singing!

Omigosh, I almost forgot we saw The Dan Band at Club Nokia. What a laugh with the three guys doing Single Ladies and the rest of their girl band songs. They were perfect as the wedding band in The Hangover.

Mary Poppins at the Ahmanson will be our Boxing Day treat this week – you gotta love Disney on Broadway, but it will be pretty tame compared to all the traffic, parking and shuttle bus hassles we’ve experienced this year.

Courtney got the “privilege” of becoming the *Principal Bass Clarinet* in the Mt. San Antonio College Wind Ensemble – a new experience in woodwinds. The Bb Clarinet is her first love, but she has been working on guitar a lot lately, and sometimes piano. I got her to plug in the amplifier for a rock sing-along the other day. She added the banjo to her list of instruments (and this makes nine instruments she can play in total, not counting percussion — e-mail us if you need the whole list).She hopes to add a cello at the NAMM Show in January to explore other strings.

I have survived the year of “downturn” with almost 17 years of working at SCPPA. It seems we have been on a very long quest for renewable energy – acquiring mostly wind power, with negotiations between developers and attorneys (the hungry devils) in our office so many times that they become like family. Last week destroyed my energy level with four events to coordinate along with the December Board of Directors meeting, but I am regenerating with a week of vacation here at Christmas! Thanks to everyone who made the way a bit smoother.
I have managed to get up our tree and stockings, some garland and one new wreath I made with LED lights. The gifts are almost all wrapped, and deliveries have commenced.

As for next year, Courtney has applied to transfer as a junior to attend and play music at one of the California State University campuses in the fall. She is the only one of all of her friends to complete all her units in two years, and I am proud to boast that she is on track. She hopes to major in music education and performance.

The freeways get worse and expenses are up, but the view from my kitchen window is good today . . . and we made some killer cookies this morning.

Here’s hoping that 2010 will bring prosperity, but also the kinds of things that money cannot buy.

God bless us every one,

Geri, Courtney and Miss Wishbone

On Dancer, on Blitzen!

2009-12-21T20:02:00.001-08:00

Survived my events and lists and details and annual report photos and private dinners, and agendas and USB pens and all arrangements and payments and such for five events in five days. Thank God I have this week off and I only have to arrange Christmas gifts and travel and cards and all. I guess I'd better get shopping a bit more!

Once

2009-12-21T19:54:00.000-08:00

Got to watch "Once" this morning. Yeah, I'm a little late to that party, but I made up for it by watching the special features, complete with director's commentary, music commentary, More Guy, More Girl, and even a webisode. You just have to see it if you haven't already.

The moral was that you shouldn't wait until ONCE the perfect conditions exist to be or do what you want to accomplish. Go ahead, now! Leave for London to find your lost love to sell your C.D. Well, that's not my once dream, but I'm sure I can come up with something I should accomplish about now.

Annual Report

2009-12-10T21:31:00.000-08:00

Now almost 25 pounds lighter, this is my work photo taken by a great photographer in the perfect natural light. Who doesn't love this Murano Teal color of the sweater I just had to buy for the purpose of this photo shoot. Worth twice the price, although I think I got it half off (or more). My bro' tweaked the dynamics of this photo and sent it back to me. Not sure what kind of killer software he might have on his SuperMac down under.

Yup. It Works.

2009-10-31T18:05:00.000-07:00

If you want a plan that works, try Weight Watchers. Seriously. Learn to eat the food you buy and prepare in reasonable, healthy quantities. Go to their classes and focus on what you put in your body. It means counting points, but yup, it works.

Now, of course there is this other part of points where you earn some food back if you actually move your body, but I have yet to test that theory. I will. I'm just having fun losing weight by eating healthy. Each day, I get a bit lighter and I know it will be easier and easier to get more active.

I have officially lost 11 pounds in 5 weeks. With the 6 on my own before that, it is 17 pounds total and my pants are baggy and my shirts are feeling loose. I may have to break down and buy a new, smaller bra and a pair of black pants. Meanwhile, I am using a safety pin to reduce my waistbands and finding few things I to wear that I had given up hope of fitting into ever again.

I actually had the W.W. online tools tell me to slow down. Stop losing weight so fast. Okay. That's nice, but I'm doing great. It actually averages out to about 2 pounds a week. It seems reasonable.

No one has noticed yet. That will be the clincher in acknowledgement for me. I do have a long way to go . . . to achieve healthy. But every step is healthier and lighter and easier.

Okay, it may be the week to hit the gym. For now, I have to face a Halloween party and try to only drink two glasses of wine. I'd better load up on filling foods before I go.

Working on It

2009-10-24T09:46:00.000-07:00

Okay. Finally. Progress to report. Seriously. I posted BEFORE photos and did nothing about achieving the AFTER for a while. Sad, right?

Well, I am working on one part of my two-pronged approach. After years and years of being obese, I actually started gaining weight. Yes, that is the wrong direction. I realize that. I guess it was that change that scared me. Well, that and turning 51. The number 50 was somehow tolerable last year, but adding one meant the trend was going to continue! Reaching this age means running out of certain hormones and facing the rest of my life.

Well, the rest of my life might take a while. Oh sure, obvious to YOU, but it finally became obvious to me. So how about if we work on being healthy as we approach the less healthy time of life and the inevitable outcome. Might as well finally grow up and realize you are not 20 or 30 or even 40 anymore -- no matter how many people your chubby face can fool.

So the point of this entry is that I made a bold investment and joined Weight Watchers. I am counting points and eating filling foods (read ridiculously healthy, often vegetarian, and sometimes macrobiotic), and losing weight. As of last week, it was about 12 pounds from the worst moment ever on a scale. We'll see what the digital wonder says today.

Yeah, it's hard, but at least the plan works. It might take a year. I really don't want to be at my optimal body mass index, but I suppose I could get used to the idea. And I am pretty good at working a plan once I put my mind to it. Maybe it won't take so long. Maybe I'll find a happy weight along the way. I guess I should do the right thing and go all the way.

And the second part of my two-pronged approach? Yeah, that will involve moving my body, calling the trainer and actually burning a few calories.

Yeah, yeah. I'll get to it.

K.P. in S.B.

2009-09-06T19:39:00.000-07:00

Forgot to mention our outing last Sunday to Santa Barbara to see Katy Perry in concert at the Santa Barbara Co. Bowl. What a place! You can see the ocean from your seat.

It even got a bit chilly up there. Yay! We have been so hot (over 100 degrees) with those dang fires for so long. It was nice to feel cool air.

Katy Perry is a blast! And it was very interesting watching all the teenaged girls, and parents who brought their girls, and a few boys who brought their 20-something girlfriends. The outfits were of course crazy -- and I mean the audience.

Katy was a doll in sort of a satin one-piece with polka dot ruffles and a big red sequin heart across the middle. That girl can move! Actually, she is always moving. We had the best time watching her run around, dance, crowd-dive, toss giant strawberries, and reminisce about her hometown, Santa Barbara. We sang along and danced and had so much fun.

It was a long drive up and back, but Sunday sure is a good day for that. Sad part was seeing the hills blazing with brush fires once we hit the west end of the San Fernando Valley. I guess it was the Tujunga on fire that night. The Station fire is still burning. There were big plumes of smoke at both ends yesterday.

Well, go see Katy Perry for sure if she ever comes to town near you. And The Daylights (who opened for her) were not a bad trio of young pups from L.A. (well, a drummer from Sweden with two brothers from L.A.

Carry on.

Perfect Sunday

2009-09-06T15:27:00.000-07:00

I got up and made a great breakfast Eggo waffles and pure maple syrup, Fresh & Easy Breakfast Blend juice, fresh organic Columbian coffee with soy creamer. (Okay, I couldn't resit a See's Peanut Butter Patty candy to jump start the morning. You would, too, if you saw the sucker sittin' there!)

It is finally NOT 100 degrees today -- so there was a cool breeze. I got to see the end of This Week with George S. and then watched my favorite show all week . . . Sunday Morning on CBS. It was their 30th anniversary show and it was fun to watch the past 30 years slip by in video form.

What a perfect Sunday morning . . . until my month-old car would NOT START -- AGAIN. We made it to church anyhoo and home for lunch and out to drop the kidlette at work.

I took a right turn into the Mall, and had to scour Macy's for the perfect way to spend my coupons and get something presale for the Estee Lauder free gift. I ended up birthday shopping all afternoon -- what a chore, shopping for a super picky girl. The kidlette turns 18 this month. I am not quite prepared for the emotional aspect of having an adult child, but I do have the perfect card and wrappings and trappings from the Hallmark store.

PASSWORD HELL

2009-08-27T18:49:00.000-07:00

I am so tired of websites telling me how many digits I need for my password. I want ONE username and ONE password. But noooooooooo!

I have all sorts of permutations of passwords, and I usually store them on my work computer -- if I'm at home. But if I'm at work, surely I have stored the password at home. Yup.

Please, dear Internet, can you help me? I am lost without a password to my own damn blog. Never mind. I relented and hit the oh-so-humiliating Forgot Password link. Yeah. Humiliating. I am an idiot.

Now, what was I going to tell ya'll? I had SUCH deep thoughts before I entered password hell.

Yellow

2009-07-21T17:37:00.000-07:00

Okay, yes. I have fallen under the influence of Chris Martin and Coldplay. Lovely. Delightful. Fun and frivolous. Colorful and wonderful.

If only every day could be as marvelous as a super warm summer day in the meadows of Irvine with four British lads signing and playing for you with video and lights and butterflies and big yellow bouncy balloons.

Look at the stars
Look how they shine for you
And everything you do
Yeah, they were all yellow

Pride and Prejudice -- Gotta Love Jane

2009-07-15T18:50:00.001-07:00

I finished reading my first ever Jane Austen book on Sunday. I had all sorts of wise thoughts after wading my way through all that lingo. So much thought was put into virtue and honor, and connections in society through family. Women had only their virtue since there was no place for them in the work force. Only men inherited property and sons were more highly valued.

Now where are we. Yeah, we are surely ensconced in the workforce now. Virtue is nearly gone, right? We have lost most connections, unless it is friends or very close family. And some people move far away from home and lose all connections.

I am going to think more about virtue and honor, and at least connecting to a few more outside my tiny, tiny circle in life. More importantly, I am going to think about Elizabeth and how she learned to relate to Mr. Darcy. At one point near the end, she didn't shoot her mouth off to tease him even though it would have been correct and true and possibly amusing.

Gosh, I value amusement above almost all else. Gotta work on that. Think before joking.

Our Fabulous Mini Staycation to Del Mar!

2009-06-27T21:07:00.000-07:00

You can see the cloudy weather, but we sure enjoyed our first stay in this little coastal town. The population was a lot bigger with the County Fair running daily.

What a nice fair! We had David Cook sing to us, and we wandered through all the fried food and great displays. Our favorite was the minerals and rocks with the best part being the glow in the dark minerals shown under black lights. Wow. Who knew?

We had dinner with David Archuleta at the Hilton. Well, not exactly with him, but we were the only folks left in the dining room at the end of the evening.

I wish we had a week to stay, or that we had a nice little bungalow on the cliffs, but what a nice place. Everyone should visit.

"Before" at BizBash

2009-06-26T18:19:00.000-07:00

These may not be the best "before" photos, but you can see the triple chin and the thick middle. I attended an event planning expo Downtown a couple weeks ago. Very fun. Now, one motto I heard a long time ago has always stayed with me . . . "Never trust a skinny meeting planner." It means they don't pick very good food for their events, or at least they don't eat it. Well, I am going to continue to pick good food for catering, but I am surely not going to be able to eat it all. Of course, I may not get skinny, but I surely have to drop some pounds to be healthy. I am hoping to report here that after six months (December 31?), I will be 6 sizes smaller and shopping with the normal ladies for a size 10. That would be dreamy. Haven't been THERE since 1994, I believe. Yes, I believe. Okay, I'll settle for size 12, but nothing less.

Alas, the Day Has Come

2009-06-26T18:08:00.000-07:00

I feel like the Universe built a gym at the bottom of my hill just for me. Okay, it's been there for a year and a half, and I never set foot in there until this week. Last year, I planned to join in January . . . wait, February . . . March would be good . . . oops, it's 2009.

I turned 51 in May. Michael Jackson would have been 51 later this year, but somebody made a fatal dosage error. I feel blessed to have made it this far, but I have not been taking care of my "temple" much either.

So I asked my mum for a contribution to a fabulous gym membership for my birthday and she contributed 1/3. I managed to get that in the bank, and I got my annual bonus at work. So I bought the super-dee-duper 24 Hour Fitness discounted membership via www.costco.com. Ya'll, almost anyone can afford this prepaid deal at $12.50/month!

Okay, I'm signed up. I went in and had a talk with Mr. Sales Manager. Of course, he pointed out that I was clueless, had a lot of work to do, and probably would just stop coming on my own. So I am NOW signed up (and a little lighter in the bank account bonus area) for some personal training. Oy. How embarrassing. The trainer will no doubt weigh and measure me. The very thought is heinous, but I plan on being able to looking back to this weight and size.

I am a good worker, a former athlete, and I have a lot of persistence and sticktoitiveness. God willing, I will find a way to be more fit and way more healthy. God help me.

I'm just putting this out to the Universe to make my stand, and be accountable . . . at least to me. I'd better head over to www.sparkpeople.com to be accountable there as well. Gotta love that food diary.

You Gotta Love a Cheetah

2009-06-14T22:15:00.000-07:00

Turns out they need to resst up . . . a lot . . . for all those high-speed chases. Who knew?

Classic Meerkat

2009-06-14T22:09:00.000-07:00

King of the Wild Animal Park

2009-06-10T18:26:00.000-07:00

Here is a raw photo from our trip to Wild Animal Park down near Escondido. They have several many adolescent male lions who are fascinating to watch. This shot is so lovely the way the fountain grass mirrors his fur.

Today's the Day . . .

2009-06-09T15:11:00.000-07:00

"Work out at any Express (Fitlite), Active or Sport Club without restriction."

Sounds great, right? And only $299 for two years. That is about $12.50 per month, and it doesn't get any better than that.

I am feeling old, fat, bloated, winded . . . and just plain unhealthy. If you are what you eat, I am basically a lumpy, bumpy chocolate chip cookie. After hitting yet another birthday, and wishing I were more fit and healthy, and after having the Kaiser people point out my BMI every time I visit them, I am choosing to be ready to be disciplined enough to care about my body, my life and my health. If not me, who else?

Costco is offering a membership for $299 and this is THE deal it took to get me to sign up. Okay, I'm not signed up ro signed in, but I have now paid for the deal. The 24 Hour Fitness people were kind enough to build an "Active Club" (basics only) at the bottom of my hill. I should do them the return favor of visiting them and participating in my own destiny.

Yup. It's all paid for. I will sign up. I will go. I will be a better me.

Happy Birthday, Butch

2009-06-03T17:48:00.000-07:00

So here I am -- almost as tall as the trees of Arden in the late hours of a winter afternoon.

This was from a trip to Arden near Ashville. Yes, I flew all the way to North Carolina to visit my friend Butch, who is gone now, but not forgotten. It would have been his birthday right about now.

He did not make it to 53 so I go on without him. I hope wherever he is, he can look down and know I am thinking of him. I am sure his family is remembering him fondly today as well.

Guess Where?

2009-06-02T18:04:00.000-07:00

Nope. You thought it was Hawaii again, didn't you? This happens to be Laguna Beach down at the cliff's edge where Las Brisas is the best patio hangout with drinks and AMAZING guacamole. Yum.

June Gloom Has Arrived

2009-06-01T13:02:00.001-07:00

To counteract the gloom of our first day of June, here is a photo from the lovely shores of Kauai. It is almost always sunny on the lee side near Poipu. This is just a bit north near the blowhole.
Ahhh, good times.

The Original E Ticket

2009-05-31T00:29:00.000-07:00

Yup. The Granddaddy of all Disneyland Mountains. Originally, one of your precious E Tickets would go to ride the Matterhorn (before the silly Abominable Snowman was added.)

This is the one we all wanted to go on before Space Mountain and Splash Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain -- the one where you might get lucky enough to cuddle up to a boy because they put larger passenger with smaller passenger in front of them.

Now, it seems like a bone-jarring way to spend a few minutes, but you still get a thrill as you fly down the mountain.

Tinkerbell flies off the top to start the fireworks. That is one crazy sight, now.

Ahhh, the Matterhorn. Good times. Not quite Switzerland's version, but a good one. Check it out on your Internet map site with the Satellite option on! Search on Anaheim, California near Harbor and Katella -- or maybe closer to Ball Road.

Photo-a-Day

2009-05-30T13:01:00.000-07:00

This is a dark of the night from Fantasyland shot of the carousel horses as we were waiting for the fireworks. Beautiful old merry go round was one of the first pieces at the park way back in the 50s, right? To me, it always feels like the heart of Disneyland. I still miss the "buckets" that flew overhead. That was a great ride.

I got to go on Winnie the Pooh ride and the Astro Blasters ride/game for the first time ever, but I kept noticing things that are gone. Sort of sad and made me feel truly old. Of course, I still remember the ticket booths and booklets that only gave you one or two E Tickets. Remember? (If so, you too are old.)

I'm Going to Disneyland!

2009-05-20T18:14:00.000-07:00

Before . . . After . . .

Can't wait for tonight's American Idol results. And I hear they are going to immediately say, "I'm going to Disneyworld!"

Well, Florida is WAY too far away, but I just went to Disneyland. In case you don't already know, you can get in free on your birthday (if you register on their website, they e-mail you a certificate with a bar code).

In the first photo above, I am all happy and energized at the beginning of the day. In the second, I am on the Astro Blaster ride and not looking too good. I felt a little crippled after walking 12 hours. I didn't get dinner, and there were WAY too many people there celebrating. It was a hot day that turned chilly, and I learned that the Tinkerbell that flies over Fantasyland, is a dude.

Well, that's sort of fitting for our new American Idol hopeful, Adam Lambert. That boy can sing! He has provoked a lot of fantasy from boys and girls, and he is very good at dress up. Can't wait to hear him sing for free for the last time. We'll all be paying for his album or to see him on Broadway soon, I'm sure.

OH, THE HUMANITY

2009-04-18T13:24:00.001-07:00

Yahoo! Love Yahoo! Always have. Always will. But must they tease us with the absolutely most superficial headlines/photos ever?!? If someone was watching, would you really click on those links? Somehow they suck you in. You're alone. You're bored. You MUST know what is happening in the world.

This is my favorite of all time . . . "Kardashian Embarassed by Sunburn."

When you compare "Obama braces country for slow, steady recovery," which link would your most basic instinct, that rudimentary, brain stem, knee jerk reaction in you, cause you to click?

I HAD to see Kim Kardashian's sunburn. What kind of sunburn would cause you to Twitter such humiliation? Wouldn't you just NOT Twitter?

And in the grand scale of things, why would such a thing every truly matter to us?!? People are dying. People are out of work. Horrible things are happening all around us, but a celebrity with a sunburned is ashamed of her tan line and is vowing never to wear her Prada sunglasses while vacationing in a Mexican resort -- ever again. Her cry for help is sooo poignant and touching,

"PLEASE HELP ME! This tan line is not ok!!!"

Please be sure to check it out. And as your penance, please click on World Vision's website and make a donation. There are widows and orphans in refugee camps who need Prada sunglasses or maybe food, shelter and medicine.

Big Week

2009-04-03T19:00:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, we had free tickets (courtesy of Grammy Museum membership) to see two unknown (to us) artists: Madeleine Peyroux and William Fitzsimmons. We were partial to William. We got to see the oh-so-fabulous Club Nokia. It was uber cool and still had that new club feel. I got a VIP wristband, but couldn't hit the Level 4 VIP Lounge as kidlette is under 21.

Ah, the things I do to stay devoted to her. Reminds me of the time they called me to the desk at our Air France flight to let me know I had been upgraded to business class. It was as if the heavens opened up to me. The bigger seats that lay down flat on that 10 hour plus trip to London!! Alas, I had not signed the kidlette up for their frequent flyer program. She was not upgraded. How could I leave her back in steerage alone?

On Tuesday, we had the best Cesar Chavez Day ever. Okay, it's a new holiday. I had to take a vacation day and she had the day off from school. We went to Warner Bros. Studios and got a private tour from my contact in Special Events. It was very whirlwind on a golf cart, but we pulled up to the two "ER" sets (being dismantled) and poked around inside. We stood in "Trauma 2." We pulled into the ambulance bay and looked back at the Jumbo Mart.

Best part was the "Friends" Central Perk set over in the Property Dept. We got to sit on THE couch and pretend to be friends, drinking coffee. Very cool.

Next, we went to Americana at Brand over in Glendale. This was a very hip new shopping/dining arena with very cool decor and a town square with a dancing waters fountain, complete with music. Best part for kidlette was the three-story Barnes & Noble. It was dreamy in there. They had such big book sections, tons of music and DVD movies. Delightful. I had to buy "Kate & Leopold" just because I'm addicted to that movie.

Now, I am facing being approved for adopting a second dog. Miss Wishbone sure could use a friend. I have passed the hurdles of the application, phone interview, and foster mom phone interview. Now they have to do a "house check." YIKES. Does that mean it should be CLEAN? Or should there actually be a TIDY YARD?!? Well, I've got hours tomorrow to dog proof the yard and house, and get it clean enough for the human who will be the inspector. It may be worth all the effort to adopt Andrew . . . he's a precious 10-yr-old Sheltie who they say is a perfect gentledog and very beautiful.

The Eyeliner

2009-03-24T13:01:00.000-07:00

My kidlette is 17 (and a half). There are so many issues to deal with, being 17. I get that. I remember. She is still learning to drive the car. We need to get her licensed and insured -- like this month. I do remember her being 17 months old. It was hard to be 1-1/2.

Actually, every age is hard. I've said that to sympathize her whole life.

"It's hard to be one, isn't it?"

Well, it's hard to be 17.

Let me say this one thing -- it's a pet peeve. I can’t stand the eyeliner. She is so bad at it. And she’s so fair-skinned that I recommended MAYBE NOT THE BLACK. How about a charcoal or off-black? We nearly had a parting of the ways in the makeup section of Target.

Wait, maybe we did part ways. We don’t talk much anymore. She was sooo sweet as a little one. The sweetest kid ever. We were once sooo close. Now we are almost strangers in the same house.

I blame it on the eyeliner.

Becoming Wallpaper

2009-03-07T11:13:00.000-08:00

I wanna hide.

I want to delete my blog here. If there weren't so many small memories that I want to keep, I would just wipe it out, but I'm too tired to take time to save them. Since I lost all my photos and data in the hard drive crash, I think losing this would be a bit much right now.

I am hoping to become wallpaper. Or what did they call girls who only watch at the junior high school dance . . . wallflowers. Is that like the flowers on the wallpaper?

Have you seen Zach Braff in Garden State? At one point he wears a shirt made out of the same pattern as the bathroom wallpaper. He blends in except for his head. You gotta laugh. Okay I need that shirt and that wallpaper. (Nobody wallpapers anymore. Have you noticed that?)

Okay, I am easily distracted. Now I want to look up the origins of wallflower. Hold on. I'll BRB. No news. I found wall+flower. Stupid etymology dictionary.

I've bored myself to death with this. Wait, maybe it's working!!

Sunshine and Snowcaps

2009-02-18T18:13:00.001-08:00

I know you cannot get enough of my weather fascination -- so I must tell you what sunshine feels like today. And I wish I could show you what the snow-capped hills and mountains looked like. Sadly, I been working all day.

We have had a big dumping sort of rain for DAYS. Okay, I know, I know it's a drought here in California, but seriously!? I have learned to venture out into it since day after day after day . . . RAIN.

It never rains in California,
But girl don't they warn ya'
It pours.
Man, it pours.

Okay, the worst that can happen is . . . you get wet. Can I get a witness on how it feels to have the back of your tattered jeans be wet for hours? I need some sort of shorter pants, higher shoes, or a special form of radar for puddles. I also need more shoes that cover my toes. Okay, I need taller shoes that cover my toes. That's it! I've solved the problem. Meanwhile, on Friday afternoon, I sat in the theater watching He's Just Not That Into You with soggy pants bottoms THE WHOLE TIME.

Today is Wednesday . . . and glory be . . . the Sun came out. I went to buy beans at Starbucks, and had to stop for a very long moment in the parking lot to look up at the Sun. I had to wear my Sunglasses. I threw my head back and turned full face to the Sun. YAY! Vitamin D. Good UVA and UVB rays. Wait, are those bad? Well, there are some wavelength of rays that feel positively, absolutely wondrous. Sunshine!

After days of gray and wet and dark and thunder and puddles and pouring down rain . . . it is a tonic like no other. It's warm and wondrous and worshipful. I think I get the whole Egyptian RA thing. I think I would have joined. Not sure I'd build the Temple to Ra, or sculpt his likeness out of sandstone, but maybe I would?

Computer Meltdown

2009-02-07T11:45:00.000-08:00

Yup. Dell baby took a dive -- well, at least the hard drive. I guess it was three years in the making. There were some weird signs for a few months, but it finally got to the place where all the pointers to all the files live. Dead. Blue screen of death. No going back. No booting. And forget about safe mode!

I was clever enough to find the place on dell.com where I could buy the exact replacement drive for my machine. This was the second time I was glad I have an account with Dell. That makes ordering like one click away. They are good to me. It seemed like it arrived the next day.

That leaves me with the challenge of getting the thing inside a laptop. I found a DIY video on the support site for Dell, but I will admit. It looked daunting. There were no girls in this DIY video. So I resorted to calling on my buddy ol' pal -- our beloved IT guy at work. He installed it, got XP up and running with I.E. I managed to get logged on, but I am still struggling with the rest.

What a chore. All I want is my Quicken back. And if someone could clue me in on how the Western Digital Passport works. My really good stuff is locked in there. Have to download Acrobat to read the online guide. Small steps, eh?

Meanwhile we have rain. Days of rain. I looked out on what looks like the Alps this morning, our local mountains full of snow outside my kitchen window.

Thoughts as January Zooms Down the Road

2009-01-28T18:13:00.000-08:00

2009. We are about 1/12th done with the year. Whoooooosh!!!

I keep thinking I can keep the New Year alive if I don't manage to make a resolution, go to a gym, or clean my house. Magical thinking, I suppose.

I've decided it's because I'm lazy. Completely lazy. I musta got lost somewhere down the line.

I got all psyched and hyped up with the Big Inauguration. Awesome. Loved it. Love Aretha's Hat even! Actually, I loved the Benediction the most. That guy was very real. And I have been watching very carefully all the decisions by President Obama these first days in office. He is a man of his word, and a man of action. I love him. Can we keep him? I am more hopeful each day. Well, I haven't really looked into the Stimulus Plan. Lazy, I guess.

Now we all know nothing will change about this lazy problem until I decide to stop being lazy and DO something. I think it kind of goes back to making resolutions and going to the gym. If we are what we eat, I am sort of a danish/fun size Almond Joy/granola/organic vegetarian enchilada person. Yeah, not very appealing, and not poised for action.

Okay. I decide. Today, I am going to decide to do something. Maybe each day I can decide on one small change, one small step toward activity rather than inactivity. I guess I'll have to decide tonight to make a plan for some healthier foods, including PRODUCE. Next stop, Fresh & Easy. Or maybe I should splurge on Whole Foods. That place is like an organic produce party -- with a hefty cover charge.

Change for today - plan for produce.

Etsy Browsing

2009-01-22T14:51:00.002-08:00

Okay, since I have resorted to blogging about the weather (yet another sign that I'm old), thought I'd share a distraction with you . . .

It's the cutest little Honey Tea necklace. I can't believe how clever this is with the topaz crystals dangling down into the teacup. It looks like it's pouring into the cup. Happy.

Enjoy. Get the Green Tea one for yourself and this Honey Tea one for me!

Elbows?

2009-01-22T14:40:00.000-08:00

Okay, now I know I'm truly OLD. My elbows hurt. Unless I think back to being maybe 8 years old and falling down and skinning by elbows, I don't think they have ever hurt me.

I am going to chalk it up to the impending rainstorm after almost two weeks of glorious sunshine out here. Once upon a time, I had a knee injury from skiing. For years, it would ache when the pressure changed and it was going to rain.

But elbows? Seriously. Okay, it's either an arthritis kind of ache or maybe I have tumors in my bones. I know. I shouldn't even say that "out loud" here on the blog.

So let it rain already.

Summer during Winter

2009-01-16T17:51:00.000-08:00

Yesss. Maybe you know this about me. I love summer. I love it to be at least 70 degrees -- 75 even better. I love sunshine -- even if the dermatologist told me, "No sun for you!," after the first tiny bit of skin cancer. Alas.

I am convinced I just FEEL better when the sun is shining. There may be something to this Vitamin D idea or the S.A.D.D., but I have become aware that it all effects me. Lately, I have noticed that I just LOOK better since I've been reviewing photos with a bit of sunshine showing on my face during June/July. Yup.

What I'm leading up to here is . . . we have had a week full of summer weather in the 80s. Thank you, Lord. Whatever we did or didn't do to earn this reprieve, thank you.

The only problem is . . . we are getting used to it!

Oh Yeah, John Mayer Was Awesome . . . Twice

2009-01-08T18:31:00.000-08:00

We were in the 5th row. You remember how that happened -- the fan club upgrade. Like magic.

Here is what it looked like.

Of course, there were way too many cameras held up the entire time, but I managed to love the whole damn thing. John was chatty, and I love that. He was nervous and seemed very human. He played and played and we loved it.

I turned a little techno geek with my BlackBerry, and looked up lyrics when I recognized the songs. I like reading along with the actual words, figuring out what he means.

The Grammy concert was the bomb, too. I was in an altered state, but no worries. I got a ride with a lovely friend from Murietta. We had way too much fun. And seeing the girls sing . . . Mariah, Celine, Christina, and young Taylor was a treat. Hearing John and B.B. was magical -- the horn section was rockin' loud. Then we got the bonus hour of John Mayer with his screaming electric solo version of Crossroads. Yeah.

You shoulda been there. He played Crossroads as an encore again on Saturday night and here is what that looked like. What a happy boy. And he made us happy.

I Meant to Write . . .

2009-01-08T18:12:00.000-08:00

I keep thinking thoughts, and organizing them in my head in order to share here.

Unfortunately . . . I don't follow through with the next step. Maybe I should define the steps.

1. Think thought
2. Log on
3. Blog
4. Post

I guess I should be glad I manage to think thoughts, but that's setting the bar pretty damn low.

December was great, except for the Christmas part. I tried to avoid participating, and really, really tried to keep the bugdet LOW. This was 2008 in a land of impending doom with the equity gone and the college fund dwindling. I was a bit Grinchy and took a total Scrooge approach to the holiday season. At work, we didn't really decorate much and cards were mailed out about Dec. 17.

I was doing great. Everything was according to Bah Humbug plan until the weekend of December 20-21. In these two days, I finally managed to put up a tree and stockings, e-mailed a Christmas card, went to church, visited Grandma #1, and finished shopping. I suddenly realized that Amazon and Dell would still ship me stuff by Monday or Tuesday in time for Wednesday and Thursday Christmas celebrations. Woo hoo!

Then, it dawned on me . . . I have a Dell credit card with a ZERO balance. I almost heard music. I loaded up and even asked for NEXT DAY shipping. I ordered a modest amount on Amazon and paid cash via debit card. The totals were racking up quickly.

I went nuts and even bought myself a new camera. I'd already spent a ton on the kidlette (joy of the only child) and she really wanted a camera. I thought for a long time about this, wanting to make her happy. I was mostly pissed about her constantly stealing my camera because the one her dad gave her broke twice and had been declared dead. After thinking good thoughts and pumping up my own self worth, I thought, "I'm the mom. I'm the photographer. I'm the scrapbooker. I deserve the bitchen boss camera. I need the upgrade. She can have mine which is pretty damn great since it's mine and I picked it and it works great. Yup.

I got the same camera, a little bit newer, bigger and better . . . with the option of a viewfinder, 18 times optical zoom, and 10 Mega Pixels. It's awesome and still affordable -- well, if you have a Dell account with a ZERO balance.

Dreamy, right? Well, I'll share more later. Didn't want you to think I died in the process of Christmas.

Real Life

2008-11-29T15:19:00.000-08:00

Real life is chores and bills and errands. Yeah, I have a lot of that going on. So I sit here and avoid it. Actually, I'm in the middle of bills and Quicken and online banking. Thank God for tools to make that all easier, but it still takes time.

Fun life is shopping and music and movies. I started Christmas shopping early. This year, I resolve to wrap as I go. If I can manage to do that, I will not have to stay up so late on Christmas Eve watching the Pope in Rome. After all, I'm not even Catholic! Somehow I am always watching the Pope Show and hoping I don't run out of Scotch tape.

Now for music . . . I am going to two concerts this week! Two! It might be a new personal best. On Wednesday night, look for me on TV. CBS is broadcasting an hour-long show live to announce the major Grammy Nominations Live. I'm sure you'll see me way back in the Loge section. I just couldn't pass up a chance to see the Foo Fighters and John Mayer. Woo hoo! Also performing will be B.B. King and Taylor Swift. I guess I will endure Mariah Carey and Celine Dion in order to see Dave Grohl and the boys. I thought this would be my only chance to see John Mayer and it might be for only one song, but as it turns out . . .he is playing an hour long concert after the TV taping. Bonus!!

I am also going to see John Mayer in his 2nd Annual Charity Holiday Revue, called "On His Own." I didn't realize he was playing at Nokia AGAIN when I bought the Grammy show tickets. So I had to try for fan club tickets as my membership from last year was still good. It might be all acoustic, it might be solo. I will take what I can get. I am truly hoping for new music. It's time, right? And he has mentioned recording a new C.D., so we will be the first to hear it. The best news is that I got upgraded to the 5th row! Can you believe it? Very stoked. Here's the story . . .

I was online at www.local-83.com (Mayer fan club site) the minute the presale fan club tickets were available, but the Pit seats were gone. Then, it told me that Orchestra seats were gone. WTF? It was 10:02 with a 10:00 start time. I tried again, and got seats in Row N. I was still very excited. (Last year we were in something like RR, way over on the left – and it was still amazingly great, not sure how JM will top last year.)

I got an e-mail from MusicToday (fan club ticketing folks) that said I had been upgraded to Front Row! I had heart palpitations and was hyperventilating a bit. Is that silly? It was a really crappy day at work and I felt like there was some magic justice in the Universe that had looked down on me and smiled.

Unfortunately, I found two more e-mails, one saying they made an error, but I had been upgraded; and a second one showing the ticket change to 4th row, center section. Still! I feel supremely blessed, and it changed my perspective about work and life just a little.

Just the thought of being in the 5th row is exciting. But BEING THERE, IN THE MOMENT, will be the biggest thrill of all. Live music soothes my soul and rocks my core more than anything I can imagine. Actually, I wish life could be accompanied at every moment by some form of music. How great would that be?

It makes me wonder how my neurons are connected. Maybe the eyes and ears are connected to a music center in the hypothalamus or something. Well, at least mine are. And there is only one thing that can properly tickle my brain center -- a rockin', screamin', guitar solo with some insightful, soulful lyrics. It doesn't hurt when they are played or sung by some very cute guys who share it all with us so freely. Thanks, John and Dave.

We Did It!

2008-11-05T07:20:00.000-08:00

Yes, we did. We elected the first black President in America.

I left work and got home to vote right after 7:30. For some reason, there is never a wait at my polling place. I inked the dots and checked to see #12 was correctly filled in.

I drove through El Pollo Loco for a chicken dinner, listening to NPR talk about Virgina going to Obama. Not since Johnson in 1964 has Virginia gone Democratic.

I got home right about 7:55 just in time to turn on ABC news to hear Charlie Gibson count down the seconds to 8:00 in order to call the election for Obama. The moment the polls closed in California, they dumped all of our electoral votes in the blue bucket and put him over the magic number.

They started flashing to Times Square in New York and all the places where people were starting to rejoice. I had to cry a little when I saw the young black kids start dancing and jumping and screaming down at Morehouse College where Martin Luther King, Jr., went to school. The dream he had is one step closer.

I got to see McCain give his concession speech to the lily white crowd of rich folks over in Phoenix at the Biltmore with that moron Palin at his side.

People were literally dancing in the streets and pouring out into public places in huge numbers. A roar started outside the White House on Pennsylvania Avenue where hundreds of happy voters were congregating in the street. The thought of Bush being gone has been a long time coming, but now we have the man we hope will bring us real and good change.

Obama spoke from Grant Park in Chicago on TV. It was eloquent and moving, and once again very inspiring. He told his girls they have earned a new puppy to take to the White House! How great.

I hope you all got to see pictures and videos of the joy. It really has been a long eight years.

Now, if we can bring home the troops from Iraq and finally track down Bin Laden, our joy will be complete. Oh, and if it's not too much to ask, can we get some of our trillion dollars back from the greedy banking bastards?

And for Christmas, I'd like some new tax tables for the middle class. Pretty please?

America’s First Black President
Historic election
Barack Obama beats John McCain to become the 44th president. » McCain concedes
Election map: Results
Obama's next challenge
CNN's hologram reporter
Live: Election coverage
Election 2008 Results

Months of Work . . . it's in the details

2008-10-25T12:45:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure if being a tad bit OCD is good for a meeting planner. If you don't obsess on the details, how will it all come together? On its own?

Here I am in Fallbrook in the Sun Room of the Pala Mesa Resort with my table setting -- in the still quiet room before all the people enter and take over the place. I should have taken a picture the next day after we trashed the place. I love these pre-banquet moments the best. Only the band is setting up. It's so cool and quiet in there. All the linens and programs and flowers and candles and chairs are in place with the place settings just waiting for people -- to come and dine.

Well, I'm not sure it was worth all those sleepless nights and headaches and all, but I did love this moment.

And I kinda like my Nordstrom.com top I ordered the week before. It was stretchy and cute and did the trick.

Having a blast . . . Wish you were here. All the best, Geri

Rock N Roll Will Never Die

2008-09-20T19:45:00.000-07:00

Omigosh, just had a moment of pure joy watching Farm Aid 08 as Neil Young rocked the place with "A Day in the Life." It was amazing and magical, and ended with a thrashed guitar. He actually was playing broken strings at the end. I've never seen anyone do that song -- it's so chaotic and huge, but Neil and the band totally nailed it. It made me feel like the hippie spirit was alive and well. Listening and watching that was like having a piece of the 60s transported in time to 2008. If you get a chance, find a way to see this magic.

I tuned in to watch a litte Dave Matthews. He was acoustic and up close with Tim Reynolds -- so great. I had to get up off the couch and dance to Ants Marching. Very fun. Dave is so true and pure. He gives off a sort of glow that reaches out and makes you feel like you are all right, and everything's all right, and there is love and peace enough to go around. Gotta love Dave.

What a great message Farm Aid has -- good food, locally or regionally grown by family farms the way God intended it. To see the factory farms with animals penned up is just a crime. It doesn't have to be that way.

Check out the Farm Aid website. They have links to Farmers Markets all over the country. I was surprised how many are in Los Angeles. I am going to make a point of buying produce on Saturday mornings at our Farmers Market even if i have to put on my hat/sunglasses/big sweatshirt disguise. (I am not a morning person.) I have lived here almost 6 years and never been down there.

So . . . there is joy. Neil Young plays the Beatles and there is good food. Awesome.

The End of Summer

2008-09-12T19:02:00.001-07:00

We have had a change in the weather out here. Instead of August heat, we have a chill in the air in the mornings and it stayed gray all day today.

It happens every year, but I am never properly prepared. Summer is my favorite time. I don't know what difference it makes now. I am stuck in an office all week long, then I collapse in a heap for a couple days, avoiding chores to rest up for another week in the office. Lately, there is just way too much OFFICE in my life. And don't get me started on FREEWAY.

I guess I am always nostalgic for those long summer days when we were young. My biggest problem was boredom. I so loved getting friends together to play, ride bikes, or go to the pool at the high school. Admission was 25 cents, and all you needed was your suit and a towel. Once you got there, all you needed was a quick mandatory rinse in the shower and enough guts to jump off the high dive!

We used to ride our bikes everywhere in the neighborhood. We would stay out as late as we could (until the street lights came on!), and try to ignore our moms screaming out our names, followed by, "Dinner's ready!" Once she threw in your middle name, you knew for sure it was time to go in.

We are in the last days of Summer for sure. School has already started. There are no days at the pool. I can't remember the last time I rode a bike. And my yardwork has suffered in the heat of August.

I guess it's time to find something to look foward to . . . maybe Christmas? I should plan my Christmas vacation and take a trip to the mountains! Okay, maybe Santa Barbara? That would be nice.

Rest in Peace, Butch

2008-08-19T16:04:00.000-07:00

Butch Schrier Passed Away -- August 17, 2008

2008-08-19T15:50:00.000-07:00

I was walking into work from the parking structure, checking e-mail on my BlackBerry. It's not a great one, and I couldn't quite make out the e-mail from an address I didn't know, but the subject was Butch Schrier.

I only had a tiny screen to read a few lines at a time, and I'm not very good with the trackwheel so I scrolled down and just saw bits and pieces. I was sure that it was a message that Butch's mom had died. She was probably close to 95. I saw obituary, Norwalk, services, "our loss."

By the time I got upstairs to the office, I was sure it was about Butch -- that he had died. There was no mention of how. I walked into my office, stunned. When I got to my desk, I checked my e-mail and there it all was on the big screen . . . an obituary with viewing and funeral information. Butch died on Sunday in Anaheim.

It didn't seem right. He was just 52. I thought maybe an accident had happened. Maybe his diabetes got bad.

The e-mail was from his ex-wife, and she had an e-mail address. So I sent a note of sympathy to her and her boys, and asked how and where it happened.

We don't know more than what we observed...he was coughing and complaining of shortness of breath last week and was taking some meds for that. He lost his mother on Friday so he made the trip out here to start the planning on Sunday. On Sunday morning he again was having trouble breathing and 911 was called. That's it...that's all.

Wow. Unbelievable. And so strange that his mom had died on Friday. And him on Sunday.

Here is what was written for Butch's obituary.

All,
Thank you all for your heartfelt wishes for our loss. I have included below the obituary which will be published on Thursday in the Press Telegraph (local paper in Norwalk CA area). Please send flowers if you wish, although in lieu of flowers the family is requesting you make a donation to the charity of your choice in his name or contact Barbara Redick who will be setting up accounts for his children and grandchild to be used for education purposes. If you require additional information, please contact me.
Albert John Schrier, Jr.
August 17, 2008 – Anaheim, CA

Albert, known to his friends and family as Butch, was born in Southern California in June of 1956 to Frances and Albert J. Schrier Sr. Butch grew up in Norwalk and attended Santa Fe High School in Santa Fe Springs. He started his career in the automotive industry at an early age as one of the youngest drag race crew chiefs. His love for all things automotive continued throughout his life, including hot rods, riding dirt bikes, drag racing, building engines and developing new automotive technologies.

He was survived by his daughter Tammy, sons A.J. and Robert, and grand-daughter Kamryn. Butch was a Brother, Uncle, Father, Grandfather to some, but most of all he was a friend to all.

Viewing will be held on Thursday, August 21, at 5:00 p.m. at Chapel of Memories. Services for Butch will be held on Friday, August 22, at 11:00 a.m. at Bethany Church in Long Beach, CA. He will be laid to rest at Little Lake Cemetery in Norwalk.

Wow. I feel like I do want to go to the funeral. I really hate the viewing part, and believe it should be for family. It might help make it more real. It is so hard to have this sink in -- when someone goes suddenly.

I keep wanting to share with someone who knew him. He had just e-mailed me on Wednesday, and asked me to keep in touch. I sent him some news and mentioned I had known him for almost five years. Either yesterday or Sunday, I wondered about him and thought about why he had not e-mailed back. I thought about him this morning even. It's going to be hard to think of him as gone.

August

2008-08-07T18:36:00.000-07:00

I need a hobby. A hobby that does not involve a screen -- as in the computer or TV.

The hobby should be gardening, but in the August heat, not so good (although I did manage to prune ALL my rosebushes to remove the dead flowers last Sunday).

The hobby should be scrapbooking since I have one ton of photos from London and Paris, but I just can't muster up the wherewithall. Is that how you spell it? And where can I buy some?

The hobby should be cross stitching since I bought a kit last year, and never managed to get past sorting all my floss colors. Hmmm. Maybe if I become bedridden . . .

The hobby should be walking. I just can't manage to drag myself up the steep inclines of my neighborhood. There is always the new gym they built at the bottom of my hill, but that costs money!

The hobby should be cleaning, but that really is a chore, not a hobby, right? We are doing okay. And no one visits lately.

Okay, I'm back to TiVo and Internet. And it's a lot like work using the Internet -- uses all the same muscles. Well, TiVo IS my true love, but I'm thinking I should break TiVo's damn heart! I gotta branch out.

Well, there's always shopping, but again -- the $$$ thing.

ARGH.

Everyone should have a river run through the middle of their town.

2008-07-29T18:26:00.001-07:00

Sitting by the Seine.

Courtney and the pyramid court of the Louvre

ME! Happy as a clam in front of Nike and her fans.

It's funny what you remember about a whirlwind day tour of Paris.

I remember getting up wicked early to catch a black cab to the station to catch the Eurostar.

I remember the beggars outside Notre Dame, "Do you speak English."

I remember the cute little park next to our bateau mouche dock. So cute.

I remember the butter and ham sandwich! And my cold Heineken, waiting for the boat tour.

I remember the crazy girls in front of us, taking videos of each other, all the way down the Seine.

I remember walking into the first courtyard of the Louvre and being wowed. So big.

I remember the statues brought up from the basement, covered in a gauzy fabric, looking sad.

I remember the deep crimson walls of the Italian painting hall in the Louvre.

I remember being so frustrated, trying to buy a ticket at the Orsay, only to find out it was free.

I remember sitting with some statues outside the museum after it closed, drinking water.

I remember when we couldn't find the Metro station near Musee d'Orsay.

I remember sitting on the steps of Sacre Coeur with hundreds of folks, listening to some African guy play Hallelujah by Leonard Cohen on his electric guitar and little amp. It became a singalong. I wonder if they know it means Praise the Lord?

St. Stephen's Tower

2008-07-29T18:06:00.000-07:00

Pillars of Royal Naval College, outside the Painted Hall

Looking back across the River

Sunset after 9:00 p.m. Crazy, right?

Royal Observatory Cafe Terrace

St. Stephen's Tower (aka Big Ben)

It was a long day. We missed the Shakespeare walking tour because we had not planned for train delays. Avoid South Kensington station in the a.m. That's all I'm going to say about that.

I took advantage of the moment and avoided pouting about the missed tour. We went down the pier and bought tickets to Greenwich. It was such a nice day in the sun on the River Thames. We got to see so much from the river. It was a slow and lazy trip down and such a lovely place once we got there.

We saw the Royal Observatory, the Prime Meridian, the fabulous park full of grass and trees, the Queen's House, and the Royal Naval College. We managed to load up on cash at an ATM and hit the gift shop just off the Greenwich Pier. We had lunch at the Observatory Cafe and looked at the park. Just beautiful.

When we returned, we walked around Westminster Abbey, down Whitehall Street with the war memorials, peeked at the Royal Horse Guard area and looked toward 10 Downing Street . . . all before embarking on our Westminster by Gaslight (London Walking Tour). We had a really great guide named Angela. She had a very dry humor and a quick wit and had loads of stories about Parliament, the House of Commons, the House of Lords, the history of the places, and a little bit of politics thrown in for good measure. We shared in the Bush bashing, and walked all around, across the River, and back.

One of my best, most unique experiences was sitting in on the House of Commons. I guess it was a debate about Food Security. We heard a lot about Bovine TB and badgers, and how they do things in France and the States. I was fascinated by the set-up and figured out the smartest folks were on the Front Benches.

What a day. I'm sorry we missed Shakespeare and the Globe Theatre and Bankside, but I was so grateful to have a day in Greenwich. (Three people had recommended it to me, and it seems it was meant to be.)

Random Shots

2008-07-27T17:48:00.000-07:00

Prince Albert & Queen Victoria (Theed 1867)

Stairs in National Portrait Gallery

St. Martin-in-the-Fields Church (Gibbs 1726)

Have you ever seen this lily? I hadn't.

I Guess

2008-07-12T09:45:00.000-07:00

I guess I am easily disappointed. I am very enthusiastic and get excited about new possibilities. I spin them in a string of positive expectations, and then all it takes is a good strong dose of reality to dash my hopes.

My immediate reaction is to push to get my way. I think, “I can make this happen.” If they see my good intentions, my great idea, the plan for something great . . . they will surely come around and join in. Nope. Reality. It can bite – hard.

The question is . . . what then? What do you do next? Pout? Stomp your feet? If you’ve explained your reasoning, that’s all you can do, right? That, and wait.

I guess I have a hard time waiting. That great plan is just sitting there on the horizon, waiting to be realized. I can’t get anyone to play with me, so I sit, looking at the great plan – alone.

I guess that’s the time when a certain sadness sets in. Unrealized hopes are a hard pill to swallow. Or maybe it slides down real easy? And if you do swallow the bitter pill, it can kind of take over and steal your energy and enthusiasm.

There are a few choices at this point. Escapism is good – entertain yourself with movies or books or whatever tickles your fancy. Substances are bad. Altering yourself to a different sort of escape enough times, you either learn or lose.

I guess I should rally to be productive, get all the things done that need doing and cannot be escaped. This is tough. I am more energized when I’m part of the great plan with hopes being lived out. I get sluggish and lethargic and keep looking for escapism. I end up in a TV marathon of movies on TV, TiVo, or DVDs, avoiding the chores and real life.

And so I sit here writing about it. All I can say is, “I guess,” when I’m sure I should be working away. After working all week through the drudgery of sitting in front of screen, here I am in front of a screen.

I guess I’ll take a break from my week of work, and watch a movie. Yeah, I guess that will be great. That, and a cup of coffee. If only I could hire a maid and a gardener. Life would be a bit more perfect. Then, I could sit in a clean house or out in the tidy garden. Dang. I guess I shoulda been born rich.

Buck House

2008-07-10T16:53:00.001-07:00

London and Paris

2008-07-10T16:46:00.000-07:00

We did it. We turned our dollars into Pounds and Euros, and toured a little bit of Europe. It was my second time to Paris and our first time ever to see London.

Here we are the Royal Observatory in Greenwich - the site of 0 degrees longitude and Greenwich Mean Time. What a lovely place.

Does this observatory not remind you of some crazy professor living up on the hill near Mary Poppins? It must have been built around that time.

We especially liked having lunch near the back of this building, with a view of the Royal Park.

Horrorscope

2008-05-04T10:28:00.000-07:00

This is a good time to follow that urge to express your deep inner changes in your personal growth and publish or write your own books.
Wow.

Nice.

It doesn't say anyone will read it or buy a book, now does it?

My Yahoo Horrorscope is often very insightful and strangely accurate. I try to ignore it. I don't really believe in running your life according to how the planets and stars align. God surely doesn't appreciate the worship of creation more than Creator.

Sometimes, I think we look for signs in all the wrong places. Well, at least I do. I tend to look for signs and wonders everywhere -- just more evidence of being a romantic idealist, full of faith and enthusiasm. Too bad that all my entusiasm is getting bashed by reality, and it's is taking a toll.

I try to BE REAL. Just be real with me. Yeah. If you are real enough for long enough, it will dash even your highest hopes. Maybe that's why we love movies and music so much. It's not real! Films take us away to another place, someone else's story full of beautiful people on a flickering screen. And the best music is a rhythmic, rhyming, idealize version of someone else's story that tickles your ears and your heart.

Yeah, I guess I like to live in that place -- movies and music, more than real life. Well, my love horrorscope for this month also said . . .

By the 14th and 15th, you could be tapping into a whole range of deeply-felt emotions: Passion, jealousy, moodiness, possessiveness. Sure, not all of these are comfortable, but you'd do better to explore them than to ignore them.
Yup. My 50th birthday on the 15th and I'll be feeling deeply. No doubt. I have plans to go hear my first ever Philharmonic Symphony -- Beethoven's Third. He changed the course of classical music to Romanticism. I bet he felt something very deeply to compose this one.

Yay. And Happy Birthday to me.

Senior Prom

2008-04-28T08:39:00.000-07:00

I should dig up my senior prom portrait. I think I wore a ridiculous wreath of daisies in my hair, and carried a little bouquet of daisies, too. I loved them and the yellow lace dress I designed and my mother made for me. I think it was some of her finest work.

However, all the kids at prom pegged me as Mother Nature. Oh well, better noticed than not noticed? Of course, it didn't help that my date wore a YELLOW PLAID TUX. Guess he wanted to be noticed, too.

So I did my darndest to make sure my baby girl, now 16, looked beautiful and elegant and not like a bad margarine ad. I was sweating it out on Saturday afternoon with the curling iron upstairs during a heat wave, putting on the heaviest makeup she's ever worn, complete with eyelashes and three kinds of eyeliner. This, after weeks of planning which dress, which accessories, what kind of hairdo, and determining can we make do with the shoes we have?

She was a goddess in gold.

Next stop . . . Graduation. To celebrate . . . a trip to London! And Paris!

Eat at Joe's Diner. Have some pie!

2008-04-11T21:42:00.000-07:00

"Dear Baby, I hope someday somebody wants to hold you for 20 minutes straight and that's all they do. They don't pull away. They don't look at your face. They don't try to kiss you. All they do is wrap you up in their arms and hold on tight, without an ounce of selfishness in it."

I rented the movie "Waitress" last weekend, and this is the BEST quote from it -- a special moment when the kindest man in her life does hold her for 20 minutes without expecting anything in return. You just have to see it.

I was very touched to learn that the writer/director, Adrienne Shelly (who also starred in the film as one of the waitresses), was murdered just before the film was a hit at Sundance. She was just 40, a wife and the mother of a beautiful little girl. It's so sad to think about it. She just hit her peak for love and life, and then was taken away senselessly.

So see the movie, and wait for the moment. It is so worth it.

Happiest Place on Earth

2008-04-09T17:59:00.001-07:00

We had free tickets! Yay!
We ate giant corn dogs and candy! Yay!
We went on Space Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain twice each. Yay!
We waited in line for the Finding Nemo ride at 10:00 p.m. It was great. Yay!

Un Jour, Je Voudrais Visiter Paris Encore

2008-04-05T15:56:00.000-07:00

Today, I bought a ticket to Paris.

Sitting on my couch in my living room, the signal left the laptop and travelled however the internet gets me to the London office of Eurostar.com. I got that weird feeling in my stomach when I know I am about to make a purchase I can't quite afford. I pushed the button anyway and charged two non-flexible tickets for the express train under the English Channel. Yup, non-refundable. We ARE going! That wasn't so hard, was it?

I probably wouldn't have pushed the button, except that the tickets were selling out (three months in advance!) and the dollar gets worse each week compared to the GB Pound or the Euro. Selling out? Nooo!!! The prices climbed a bit since I last checked, and we want to go on Friday instead of Monday since The Louvre is open late on Fridays. I guess everybody wants to go to Paris on Friday? It's probably the equivalent of a Friday flight on Southwest to Las Vegas, right?

Now, how to see Paris and the whole damn Louvre in one day. Hmmm. Not really feasible, but we are going to give it a go. If we get back by midnight, we can sleep in before the big concert starts in Hyde Park at 2:00 in the afternoon. We GOTTA be there early enough to get a good spot to see John Mayer open the show. With Sheryl Crow and Eric Clapton to follow, I might just be in rock n roll heaven. Live music . . . in the park . . . in the middle of London, England . . . the day after roving around Paris. The anticipation is almost too much.

I am having fun, researching the trip online. Remember the days when all you had was a brochure or a book?

Okay, back to reality and my spreadsheet of the costs of this monster trip.

And If I Had a Million Dollars

2008-03-13T17:21:00.000-07:00

Twice today, I was asked how I would spend a million dollars (after taxes).

Typical response for the $1 million . . .

$600,000 for a decent house (prices are dropping yanno)

$50,000 for a fab car (will that pay for a basic Lexus?)

$100,000 for college tuition for the kid (is that enough?).

I would love to find a way to help others rather than just be selfishly prudent. 10% won't go very far, but I would definitely give away at least that much ($100,000).

What do I have left? $150,000? I might buy a flower shop business, and live happily ever after as a shop owner and oh-so-creative floral designer -- even if I do have to work every Mother's Day and Valentines Day and every Saturday in June.

Of course, the kid would end up wanting to go to grad school, the car would get old, the house would need painting and new plumbing. Wait, how do I pay for my big property taxes?

Now, see how I can worry -- even about how to spend money I don't even have?! Makes me want to say, "Oy, keep the million. I'll do fine on my own."

But I would love that flower shop dream to come true.

What Fingers?

2008-03-08T15:00:00.000-08:00

I'm a suspect -- a glaucoma suspect. Who knew?

I went in for my second round of glaucoma testing this morning. They never mentioned anything about dilating my eyes AGAIN, but they did! ARGH. It’s such a sunny day! I was going to get stuff done today, but now I'm hiding out from the sun and sort of nauseous with my giant pupils again. It feels like a migraine when I get sensitive to the light.

I guess they got a lot of nice retina scans to look for "cupping." She probed me for the thickness of the cornea with some tiny ultrasound device. I am not sure how that measurement helps. They repeated a vision test with my glasses on and took the eye pressure and blood pressure.

I did the visual fields test and it seemed like there was A LOT OF NOTHING in the middle of the test for my right eye. That really shook me up, and I made little muffled groaning noises. Surely there must have been little lights I just could not see.

I wanted to cry. It's a scary moment to think that whatever part of the eye was being tested . . . is just blind. Like the traumatic moment in the movies when they ask the blinded hero, "How many fingers am I holding up?"

And the dreaded response is, "What fingers?"

So I feel like I failed or something. It made me want to take the test again. I kept thinking I could do better. I hate failing tests. Thinking about it now, there's nothing to be done to avoid failing. If I can't see the little lights, I just can't, but I really do feel like they should have been there.

Dang.

Like the Mexican-American nurse told me when she checked me in for my first round of evaluation, "Eet's not lookeen good for yuuu."

Nice.

Thanks.

February 15th: After the Hype is Over

2008-02-15T16:52:00.000-08:00

Yes, I survived Valentines Day, thank you very much. What a frantic rush of commercialism in the name of LOVE!

I saw couples heading for dinner last night. I checked them out. Do they MEAN it? Do they love each other every day? Or do they set aside their differences for the night? Is that as dressed up as that guy gets?! Is he really taking her to SoupPlantation as a special occasion? In a suit? (I'd pass if I got that invitation.)

So. Much. Hype.

Gosh, there is a lot of pressure to produce on February 14th. Although I'm not sure which is worse . . . to expect something and be let down, not to expect anything because he always lets you down, or not to have a Valentine sweetie at all.

Here is how I survived:

- Hid a small box of See's candy and a fabulous sparkly fairy card in the cereal bowl cabinet the night before for
my Valentine. (She smiled, but did not seem impressed.)
- Got kid ready for school.
- Realized that she had not finished her 15 Harry Potter Valentines with stickers and little boxes of conversation hearts the night before.
- Realized at 7:31 a.m. (we leave at 7:30 a.m. for school) that she could not print her super-custom valentine as the printer was out of black ink.
- Discovered that the spare "photo black" ink cartridge I had purchased for such an occasion would not help. We need the other black!
- Realized on our way to school that I was not going to get anything -- not even a kind word or the leftover box of conversation hearts -- from my sweet little Valentine girl. Geez.
- Had words and tears over this. (It's hard being 16. You just naturally ignore your single mom who sacrifices everything for your happiness and well-being!)
- Held my tongue when she wrote "Mamma" on the spare box of candy hearts.
- Realized I have PMS and gave up sweets for Lent -- so there will be no joy in Mudsville today.

- Drank coffee out my Beatles/Cirque du Soleil LOVE coffee mug! (Possibly the best moment of my day.)
- Drove to work, and got caught in traffic behind 3 accidents on 2 freeways.
- Fed 15 people or so for a lunch meeting. Tangy Tomato Salad is a hit again.
- More work, work, work.
- Drove in hideous, Valentine dinner time traffic. Everyone was going somewhere.
- Picked up kid at boyfriend's house -- fully loaded with a basket stuffed animals, chocolates, silk roses, mylar ballons. He got her a little bracelet. Ah, puppy love. How sweet.
- I drove through Weinerschnitzel (second time this week) for a Polish Sandwich and Iced Tea. (I had 10 minutes to get to my next stop and was in the wrong part of town for good food.)
- Headed for the Drum Line performance for parents so I could pass out the lastest fundraising propaganda. This Band Parents volunteer thing is killing me -- 3rd night this week.
- Went home and treated myself to pistachios -- remember, no sweets!
- Got to watch Eli Stone. That show is a treat for me.
- Looked at last year's heart-shaped See's candy box (sitting on a shelf under the TV, now holding greeting cards), and realized that all of this loneliness without an official "Valentine Man" is better than enduring the abuse of Mean Drunk Guy who thought I owed him big time for any such gifts, and it was okay to beat me up if he got drunk enough.

Yeah. I survived. All of it.

Hard Rock Calling 2008 - Hyde Park, London - June 28-29

2008-02-13T18:15:00.000-08:00

YAY! We're going to London.

It's the kid's graduation gift -- the experience of a lifetime, complete with Eric Clapton and The Police, and our other favorites John Mayer and Sheryl Crow. Check out the Hard Rock Calling website. We have weekend tickets. We have plane tickets on Air France. And we are so very, very excited. Woo hoo!

And now, if you all could think good thoughts and try to get the dollar to come back in relation to the Pound and the Euro. Geez, we may not be able to eat over there! I read that Starbucks coffee and muffins for two is about $30. Whoa. And don't even get me started on hotel prices. The ones I can afford actually have enough fleas to be called fleabags. So we are going to pay the ransom asked by one of the cheapest Hilton Hotels, I think. Unless I can come up with an alternate plan.

Once in a lifetime -- together at least.

I am hoping to take the train to Paris. Those tickets are $105 on the Eurostar. I didn't realize it was only 2-1/2 hrs. to Paris under The Channel. Awesome. We are heading for the Louvre for sure with possible pit stops at the Tour Eiffel and Notre Dame. Hmm, what else can we do in one day? That's probably the limit.

Any helpful hints? I am all over Trip Advisor for cheap touring tips, but I can always use more!

Hundreds of Great Thoughts

2008-02-13T18:05:00.000-08:00

And yet, none of them are here in my blog. I guess I've been too busy with life to post anything here. No one reads it anyhoo. Just me. My little dalliance. And after my dismal failure at NaBloPoMo, I got discouraged.

I have also been busy trying to jump start some resolutions. I really want to be healthier [read lighter] and I resolved to join the gym they built at the base of my hill for me -- but only after the New Year's swell in gym attendance dies down. Okay, now it's Valentines Day, and I need to get in there! I will.

At least I resolved to give up all sweets for Lent. Never been Catholic, but I like the tradition. Some things only come by prayer and fasting, you know. I messed up last weekend in the excitement of a big Filipino family party (family of my daughter's boyfriend). I wolfed down some Devil's Food Cake and something called a Turon (banana in a deep fried egg roll wrapper, covered in stickiness). Yum. When I automatically restrained myself from a second Turon, I stopped to ask myself why. Oh yeah, I'm off sweets. Damn. I messed up.

Well, I'm back on the wagon, and surely craving anything that resembles a cookie. The only problem is . . . we always have cookies, and candies, and donuts at work. This is hard. I have substituted corn nuts, dried peas, and a few nuts. It is really not the same.

So . . . that is my world. Restraining myself, working, and getting the kid to Colorguard practice and competitions, and serving on the dang Band Parents Association -- torture of the highest order. Seriously.

Here is the result of many hours and days of practicing . . .

Oh, and we're going to London!!

Been There

2007-12-20T17:54:00.000-08:00

Okay, I've been to North Carolina and back. It even snowed on me. Somehow, I thought there would be a lot more kisses involved. Turns out I'm his buddy. Yeah, buddy. There's a prefix on that buddy bit, but I will not dignify the term with a mention here. Let it suffice to say . . . I'm a fool for love. And when there's no love involved, I refuse to be fooled any longer.

I saw a lot of trees, not many with leaves, but lots and lots of trunks and branches. I kept trying to imagine the branches with greenery. I guess it's like imagining my buddy sprouting fresh new signs of life by adding some love. Some things are not meant to be. Some things are meant to be, but you can't get the man to cooperate. Yeah. That's the moving on time.

I should know better. Look for signs of life and love and light BEFORE investing your heart!

Extra Credit

2007-11-05T17:31:00.000-08:00

Okay, I'm going for extra credit to make up for my Sunday failure.

Here is the long-awaited Homecoming Dance photo post. Ah to be 16 and that damn happy. So few mistakes have been made. The world is your oyster. (Is that a good thing? I'd rather have the world be my own personal Toys R Us, I think.)

OMG I Failed!

2007-11-05T17:22:00.000-08:00

I missed Sunday! I was going for streak of blogging every day in November.

Well, I achieved a personal best of like 3 days in a row. Wowie. Dang. What are the rules? I'll just keep going. I don't really need a prize or anything. What would I do with WordPress help of any kind when I can't even function this Blogger account, really.

I've learned in life that the FREE prize is not really all that great. It is a powerful motivator to get anything for free. I have put out some big effort for even a CHANCE at a prize. I have worked hard or achieved some silly thing just to get a little prize that I don't want.

I guess this kind of wisdom comes with age. And yes, I am pretty damn old . . . on a slippery slide down to 50 next year. I looked at my hands this morning, and they are the hands of an old woman. Of course, it doesn't help that I rarely give them any good moisture. I might try drinking more than 8 ounces of water to hydrate the skin, but NOOOOOOOOO!

Anyhoo . . . all that is to say I'm no prize. I will not win the NaBloPoMo prize. I don't want a prize (other than the Mega Millions winning ticket or perhaps a late entry Prince Charming to spend my old age with). And I'm going to think of some prize to motivate someone.

Oh yeah, $20 to my daughter and her boyfriend was offered this afternoon if they'd rake, mow and sweep our little condo yard. Now, if you raking those damn Sycamore leaves out of every bush and border, it doesn't really seem like a small task, but it is a smallish L-shaped yard.

I'll let you know how they did. They were pretty excited about the offer of money. And that's a prize we all go for, eh?

Memory Triggers

2007-11-03T18:57:00.000-07:00

I got stuck on VH1 today, starting with an hour on Freddie Mercury, followed by an hour of Elton John. I skipped most of Pink Floyd and Syd Barrett, but saw some interesting moments. The best part I am saving on TiVo . . . The Amazing Journey of The Who.

I was such a Beatles and Stones girl that I never really got into the history of The Who even though I love them and have seen them twice now (finally! it took until the new millennium!).

Watching old 60s stuff triggered my earliest memories of where I was when I heard certain music. Embedded in my mind is the time my best childhood friend's mother took us for a ride in the dad's baby blue Mustang. It was the coolest car in the neighborhood and she was the mom who was the most fun. The Beatles were on the radio with Come Together. Cool. I guess it was from the 1969 album Abbey Road. What a great song -- so obtuse to an 11-year-old. And riding around in a Mustang, singing along? So. Very.

We were totally into the Beatles, my best friend and me. Of course, we were too young to have our own records, but we would sneak into her sister or brothers collections and play their albums before school. We acted out all the songs and listened to them over and over while we tried to figure out the album covers and liner notes. We would also smoke cigarettes, but that's another story for NaBloPoMo.

When I finally got to buy my first record, it was The Ballad of John and Yoko, which was a single in 1969. I guess The Beatles were about to break up if you hear the name Yoko in the actual title of the song. I remember my second 45 as The Doors' Love Her Madly, but that didn't come out until 1971. Surely there was something in between.

I used to get out my little phonograph and 45s and play them alone in my room. I would save my allowance for trips to Sears where they had a display of the top 25 singles. I remember the cost being 49 cents, but it might have been 99 cents. Around the same time, we used to go see two movies for 49 cents. My folks would give us $1 and we could get in and buy popcorn or candy, too.

I wish I could remember more of the singles I bought. We were pretty poor, so maybe I just didn't have that many, but I remember a small stack. And who could forget putting in the little piece of plastic in the big hole of the 45 rpm records? I think I had a cylinder that would let me stack them, which would drop one at a time. Wow. Good times.

Now back to The Who on VH1.

Friday Yuck

2007-11-02T14:39:00.000-07:00

The day that will not end. It's only 2:30 and it feels like 6:00. Maybe I am anticipating the time change. Maybe too much has happened here today. ARGH!!! I'm fed up with this day that drags, and the mail has not even arrived.

I have sent way to many e-mails, rearranged the storage closet, called the building engineers when the kitchen drain backed up. Now I have to pay some bills, and return some parts that were ordered according to spec., but are wrong. The boss left for the day, two other people are out, and I want out myself! At least I have the mail to look forward to.

Okay, I will find you a lovely photo for today that has nothing with office drudgery. How about a nice Puss N Boots playing the clarinet on Halloween. You don't see that everyday!

New Month - All Month

2007-11-01T11:25:00.000-07:00

Okay, it is once again National Blog Posting Month (NaBloPoMo). Check the link there to see who thought this up. The challenge of the month is to post every day. I have NEVER attempted this superblogger feat, but I am going to do it . . . no matter how short the entry.

I guess I can enter photos since I have been more actively taking photos and getting them onto the computer. I just looooooove blogs with photos. (Lately, I am thinking I am way too visual.) Of course, the camera is not with me at the moment or I'd have some cool high school homecoming photos of my daughter's pep band performing and her semi-formal outfit for the dance, AND some interesting Halloween shots.

Let's see what I DO have here on this machine . . . okay . . . how 'bout first day of school, senior year, for my 16-year-old? Nice shot of her, I thought.

Carry on. I'll be back tomorrow.

Mute, but not Deaf

2007-10-04T08:35:00.000-07:00

Okay, I have no voice. It seems like a cosmic message . . . . "Shut up!"

I have been sick, then sicker, then what-the-heck-is-going-on sick. I had to make a deal with God in the dark of the night when I couldn't stop coughing, it made me throw up a little and pee my pants a lot. Sheesh. I think I had to give up two secret crushes and agree not to have sex for a month -- or some terms like that. Actually, I think I had to clear my mind of all distractions and pray for healing.

The main problem was that I was working, leading a tour of 30-40 people all around So Cal and over to the desert of Las Vegas to visit Hoover Dam. Climbing hills and dealing with desert heat, I had to be "on" when I wanted to be down and out and sleeping in a bed. I was up very early, organizing breakfast, lunch, dinner and drinks on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, then rearranging hotel rooming list on Saturday morning. Sheesh.

I hit urgent care once my plane landed at home. I got good drugs which have a whole set of side effects you don't want to know, but I am on the mend.

Maybe now I won't have to learn sign language. Maybe a week later, I'll have my voice back?

Maybe if I turn in my 17 hours of OT, I'll feel better?

It Must Be Me

2007-09-12T17:39:00.000-07:00

He was lovely, and just my type -- tall, blond, blue eyes, friendly, casual, talkative. Just my age. Single parent of a teen like me.

We talked, we laughed, we shared. All great, right? Well, he didn't buy my drink. Now, it might seem okay. I got there first, and bought my own glass of wine since I seriously needed one. They were small and expensive, so I needed another one after an hour or so, and ordered it.

"That'll be $9."

He did not reach, he did not offer. He did not intend to pay. I reached for my purse after that painful pause. "Let me see if I have another $9."

You know, it could be that he wrote me off as not his type the second he saw me. I hate that, but it could be true.

His son called his cell phone. Maybe it was a rescue call. Call me at this time, and if I don't like her, I'll have a reason to leave. "Yeah, I have to go. He needs me to make him dinner."

Okay, I have a 16-year-old. She knows how to make soup, Easy Mac, hot dogs, grilled cheese, and a few other items.

Oh well. He was very lovely. I enjoyed the whole hour-and-a-half immensely -- even if I did have to buy my own wine.

Kismet?

2007-09-10T18:12:00.000-07:00

I remember hearing this word back in the 60s. I guess people said that like we say Karma. Now, we're not really Hindu and we don't really believe that way, but we DO believe what goes around, comes around. Well, Kismet is some sort of Muslim word for the will of Allah. Okay, now. Erase, erase, erase. I will have nothing to do with that form of religion. I will just look for big blessings. And they come every day, well -- at least small ones. I was thinking of Kismet in a wonderful romantic way of meeting. I'll have to find another word.

In the beginning of what is now the Internet, I used to prowl Love at AOL. This was like in 1994. I met a dozen or so people in person and never had a second date. And, yes, I got a complex.

I have looked on Yahoo Personals for years, and even married one in 1999. YIKES! That's another story for another day. It didn't last long, but it's a long and sad story. I'll tell you about that later.

I met a very lovely, emotionally unavailable, blond-haired, blue-eyed, hunk of a man way back in 2003 on Match.com. It was under miraculous circumstances, and I was sure. He was The One. Coulda been, but he decided I was not The One. He still wants to be buddies if you know what I mean.

After adjusting my brain or getting it around all of that, I met Mr. Wonderful from my high school class reunion. Coulda, shoulda, woulda got very serious. Then I figured out he was actually Mr. Mean Angry Drunk Man Who Must Control All. We can't have that. We really can't. No one should. The cost is too high. With emotional abuse comes the most unhealthy form of destruction. It starts on the inside.

Not to worry. I drew a line and stood my ground, defending my life and rejecting all hate. That is not love and you can't sell me on it. My life was good before I met him, miserable with him, and good again now that he's gone. It sure makes you appreciate those days alone, cleaning your place, watching a movie, and doing any damn thing you please without fear of retribution.

Okay, I've been laying low, working hard, cleaning the house, volunteering, and going to church. I have peeked at Yahoo, Match, and even BBW personals. I have looked a couple times on Craig's List to admire the work of the perverts. On Saturday night, I saw a friendly CL ad which was just my speed. I don't know where I mustered the courage and confidence. I guess it mostly came from my buddy who called me vivacious. After four years as a friend, he called me vivacious. Nice.

On Sunday afternoon, I found a response. This was his only post and he got no local responses, except mine. He doesn't like to e-mail much, so how about we meet to determine chemistry. Well, last time I heard chemistry, it was preceded by the word "no." Or was it fireworks he wanted? Can't quite recall. So, you never know, but I think it's a good match.

Tuesday. Magnolia. I'll let you know. Maybe fate?

P.S. He sent photos and he is adorable.

Too Darn Hot

2007-09-03T14:49:00.000-07:00

Okay, yesterday I hid out from the 102 degrees that felt like 104 degrees according to weather.com.

Today, it's 105 in the afternoon and my A/C running full bore can only manage to cool us to 82 degrees. I guess the extra humidity of desert thunderstorms is just too much for us in So. Cal.!

Happy Labor Day. We're heading for the O.C. to visit grandma's house and pray for a few degrees relief.

Self Portrait

2007-08-26T23:50:00.000-07:00

Okay, I'm barely in MySpace and I refuse to even look at FaceBook, but my daughter and her friends are all about that stuff. It's a whole network of communication they have going.

They are constantly taking "MySpace Photos" with the weird angles and self-portraits at arm's length reach.

I recently changed my hair to Loreal Medium Golden Brown a la Andie McDowell and all my blonde photos just don't reflect the new ME! So I gave in and manged to snap a few arm's length self-portraits to post in order to lure someone into saying hello to me on Yahoo Personals. Sheesh, what a losing cause.

One snapshot struck a chord. It was a mistake, but I like it.

My Cup Runneth Over

2007-08-25T11:41:00.000-07:00

I want it all. Yeah, I'm an extrovert. I like to say gregarious. I get energized by people. My ex-boyfriend tried to slam me recently by saying, "You always want more " (as if it were a bad thing). I guess if you're a cold-hearted, greedy bastard demon from hell you don't want "more."

Anyhoo, I noticed as I poured my coffee this morning, that I never leave room for cream. Or rather, I THINK I leave enough room for cream. Once I get the sugar in there, I can barely stir. The cup is so full. Well . . . let me show you . . .

I have heard people at Starbucks say, "Leave room for cream." I never say that since I think I can just add more and more, and there's plenty of room. I guess stirring is actually the problem. Or if you can't get your coffee the right color . . . verging on taupe.

Well, I just had to share. It's better to leave a little room or ask for a little room. We want it all, but it has to fit in the cup. Am I right? Because wasting coffee is a bad thing and I have actually had to resort to copying some guy I saw in Starbucks . . . spilling coffee into the trash to MAKE room for cream.

And is anyone coveting my Tinkerbell mug from Disneyland? Or perhaps my CaesarStone counters? Red KitchenAid Java Spa?

For now, I will think about my cup runneth over from the 23rd Psalm . . .

4Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
5Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
6Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.

Or in Luke . . .

Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together
and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it
will be measured to you." -- Luke 6:8

True Love Again

2007-08-25T11:17:00.000-07:00

At last, I have purchased my very own photo printer/ scanner/ copier. I am so excited.

It's a Canon MP810. Consumer Reports rated it tops. I longed for it, researched it, considered three or four other options, watched CNet video reviews, visited printers at Circuit City, then bought it online with free shipping on Amazon. They had the best price $234.99 and stores are not carrying this model -- yet.

I had some money set aside for this since April, but I never got around to taking the plunge. I had been using an old HP970cxi that did okay, but couldn't print 4x6" prints. As you may know, HPs never die, but I wanted more out of photo printing. Sorry HP. We had a good thing, but you just couldn't meet my needs.

Just one question . . . Why does a USB printer cable at Best Buy cost $34.99? And who are these guys, the Geek Squad? I know they fix PCs, but how'd they get in the extremely-unreasonable-mark-up cable business? Dang, I saw one for $10 online, but I needed to print NOW!

Well, you will all be happy to know I successfully installed the cable, along with the cyan, magenta, yellow, black, and OTHER black ink tanks, the software, and the paper. I even found the media card slots. Okay, so I just wanted to print one single 4x6 photo. That seemed to take two hours of trial and error with printer settings. I did a little dance when I got to happen, but I can't print from Picasa. And that, my friends, is bumming me out.

Okay, in every relationship a little rain must fall. I'm still in love with Canon and the photos look AMAZING. Now I have enabled my photo hobby to the point where I never have to leave the house, except for my new ink and photo paper habit. It will surely be an expensive one.

Can You Feel Your Heart Break?

2007-08-21T18:39:00.001-07:00

I was watching a program on PBS (gotta love pledge season) and there was a lovely lady doctor. She told a story of how she got divorced, was experiencing the Empty Nest, and had a lot of regular stress, and she started having chest pains. She described it as feeling her heart breaking.

Have you ever felt your heart breaking? Where do your feelings live? I know some attribute them to the heart area, some the gut, some just point to the middle.

One thing I know for sure, no matter who ends a relationship, you still have to go through the grieving process. And it hurts.

Yesterday, I do believe I allowed myself to grieve and felt my heart break a little. It was mostly grief for what could have or should have been. There was grief over thinking that since things ended badly, I should never risk again. Of course, then there is no hope for a future relationship, and that is sad, too. What can you do, but guard
your heart after someone stomps all over it?

I resorted to a little Kelly Clarkson rock 'n' roll rage to soothe my aching heart. Since You Been Gone works well.

Here's the thing, We started out friends
It was cool, but it was all pretend
Yeah, yeah, since you been gone

You're dedicated, you took the time
Wasn't long 'til I called you mine
Yeah, yeah, since you been gone

And all you'd ever hear me say
Is how I picture me with you
That's all you'd ever hear me say

But since you been gone
I can breathe for the first time
I'm so movin' on, yeah yeah
Thanks to you, now I get what I want
Since you been gone

How can I put it, you put me on
I even fell for that stupid love song
Yeah, yeah, since you been gone

How come I'd never hear you say
I just wanna be with you
Guess you never felt that way

But since you been gone
I can breathe for the first time
I'm so movin' on, yeah, yeah
Thanks to you, now I get, I get what I want
Since you been gone

You had your chance, you blew it
Out of sight, out of mind
Shut your mouth, I just can't take it
Again and again and again and again

Since you been gone (since you been gone)
I can breathe for the first time
I'm so movin' on, yeah yeah
Thanks to you (thanks to you)
Now I get, I get what I want

I can breathe for the first time
I'm so movin' on, yeah yeah
Thanks to you (thanks to you)
Now I get (I get)
You should know (you should know)
that I get, I get what I want
Since you been gone
Since you been gone
Since you been gone

Thanks, God

2007-07-17T17:27:00.000-07:00

I have spent quite a few nights on the balcony off of my tree house bedroom lately, stopping to contemplate the trees, flowers, birds, lights, and view. It is a special place -- all my own. Well, the dog thinks it's hers, too. I hate to admit that I smoked some cigarettes on the recent vacations away with the EX-boyfriend, and I had some left. (I quit years ago, but still have the craving and love the buzz.) So my first agenda was smoking outside so as not to get odors in the house, but I think I'll keep up the meditation ritual. (Yeah, the pack is gone, and I REFUSE to buy more.)

Every time I stand outside, up as high as the tree branches, I stop to thank God for such a beautiful place. It's like we live in a park with our common areas full of lawns and tall trees and landscaped beds. We are directly across the street from a wilderness park full of trees and trails. It is so awesome to have that open space that will never change. We are also across from a "parkette" the city built last year. It is still so new and beautiful and manicured. The birds love this area, and our neighbor has many hummingbird feeders. So we see hummingbirds, sparrows, finches, doves and lots of small unidentified birdies.

From my balcony, I can see over another condo complex, past a housing tract and small shopping center, across the valley floor to the foothills. When the lights come up, it's magical.

It was surely a miracle that I was able to buy our condo. It's been five years as of Monday that I found the place after a fairly extensive search of what I could afford. Prices were going up $10,000 a month and they really didn't stop until last year. Real estate is a test of my faith, and it's only a mustard seed to start.

I remember feeling so very alone making every decision. I remember seeing awful, tiny places that needed work, and big, ugly places that I couldn't afford. Finally, one listing said Turnkey, Turnkey, Turnkey, and so on. And it was perfect. As I drove more south than I wanted to go away from the hills, I said to myself, "Well, I'd better find this place fast, or I'll run into that hill." At that moment, it hit me. I gasped (big time) when I realized . . . IT'S ON THE HILL. No. Way. Not me. I'll never have a house up on a hill.

I kept driving up past a stop sign, up to the top, and up a bit more. I thought I was on the highest point on the highest hill that there ever was. I saw the lawn and the tall trees and the place. Of course, it's a blur. I tried to remember everything by taking notes in my Palm Pilot. New carpet. New paint. Big Kitchen. Really big bedroom with giant mirrored closet doors. Small second bedroom. Really big garage. Little yard. I couldn't really take it all in. I lingered up in the bedroom jotting my notes.

When we left my agent told me plainly in a monotone voice, "There are no negatives. We need to make an offer today."

"What? Who? Me?"

I was dumbfounded. How on earth do I do that? What do I use for a deposit? Play money? In this rising market, offers were going over the asking price and coming in three at a time, a few days after listed. That's exactly what happened in my case. We offered $2,500 over their asking price (which I found out was about $80,000 more than they paid a couple years earlier). There were two other offers, one was the same as mine. Uh oh.

But how much had they prayed? Yeah, I had prayed and sung worship songs on my way each time we went to see a new place for sale. I had a talk with God, plain and simple. I had done my part. I had given my share, I had sacrificed, I trusted Him. I had done without, I had been persecuted and abused, and not lost faith. I took care of a man and his two boys and went into debt to feed and clothe them. I ended up failing miserably, but I always did my part. And I never lost touch with God. He and I were a team. So making a real estate deal fall into place was no problem.

The seller said she accepted my offer because she liked that I took my time while looking at the place. Maybe she thought I would treasure it. Maybe all the others were rushed or rude. Or she caught the spirit of the thing. In reality, I was just struggling to take all my notes in the crazy little Palm Pilot shorthand language.

I was in escrow before I had the early inheritance that was the true miracle gift from my parents. It all worked out, but the $16,000 to close nearly killed me. During the first year of mortgage parents, I nearly starved my kid, feeding her carbs, carbs, and carbs. We cut out every extra except the satellite TV and cable modem for the PC. We just stayed home. My daughter asked why we couldn't go to the movies like other people. Yeah. I hated to tell her we couldn't even buy meat at the grocery store.

It is better now. God is good. I refinanced twice. Once to lower my payments, and once to remodel the dilapidated kitchen (so depressing!). I just consolidated all my old debt with an equity loan, and believe me, there is still equity. Prices doubled over the course of four years, and I call it "play money" since I didn't really earn it. It's like I've been set free. My daughter goes to the movies a lot. And I just buy whatever we need at the grocery store! Crazy! I know!

So thanks, God. I promise to keep talking to you, and I will meet you on the balcony.

Brunette Now

2007-06-24T23:04:00.000-07:00

Longest Days of the Year

2007-06-24T21:14:00.000-07:00

Okay, it's June, and I'm a lackluster blogger. (I love you, blog. I promise to do better even if nobody reads this but me!) I love summer. I guess it goes back to being free from the school year and riding bikes and playing Barbies, and actually getting "bored." Yeah. Those were the days.

My angel finished her junior year of high school (wow) and was even selected Woodwinds Captain for her marching band next season. This is huge. She has wanted to be a leader for three solid years. She loves the kids so much. Music and marching band are her life, and she is such a very good shepherd. We will think very good thoughts as they approach her senior year. Just doing the job will cause her to stretch and grow.

Meanwhile, she is taking summer school and going on vacation with her dad's family before Band Camp and Drill Week before Labor Day and Senior Year. (So Many Capitalizations!) So after school ended on Wednesday, we had our "vacation" together. I stayed home and picked her up from her three minimum days, shuttled her here and there to perform at graduation and all, then . . . we went to see THE POLICE perform at Staples Center. Yeah, it's been way too long since they quit touring in 1984. I think I died a little when Sting went solo. And Wednesday night, I came alive hearing Message in a Bottle and Driven to Tears and Can't Stand Losing You. Awesome.

Thursday: We drove up to Pismo Beach. Beautiful. Sunny. Sort of quiet and sleepy little pier surrounded by a bunch of surfers. Being there on weekdays, there were not many people. Being from L.A., this is like a miracle to me . . . to enjoy surf and sand and sites with just a smattering of tourists. I guess since it's not a hip or cool beach, I loved it. I am no longer one bit hip or cool, and I really fit in. There were even a majority of white folks up there. Wha'?! I wished I could stay for a week. We walked the pier, had seafood for dinner, and I watched the sun set over the hills. Yeah.

Friday: Got up for FREE breakfast, complete with Belgian waffle maker with timer designed so that even idiots could pour in the cup o' batter and flip the doohickey. Yum. We packed up the car, and I begged my teenager to walk on the beach. Well, she would walk onto the sand, and near the wet part known as the ocean, but she would not get near it.

I ditched my sandals, rolled up the jeans, and put my feet on wet sand. I wish I could have walked a mile or two, just breathing in the moist ocean air. Alas, we had to move on. This was speed-vacation day two.

More Friday: Drove from Pismo to San Simeon up Highway 1. Wow. It happened so many times -- coming around a turn, over a little hill, we would come upon THE PACIFIC OCEAN. Yeah. I know. If you've seen it, you've seen it. But then you SEE IT with rocks, with cliffs, with Morro Rock, with flocks of pelicans, with little piers, with whitecaps, with a circular bay . . . and so on. I don't know about you, but it takes my breath away. Like this . . .

Yeah, God is good.

It's Almost May!

2007-04-25T17:15:00.000-07:00

Wow. I'm not sure what happened to me since February. I might be able to recreate it.

Maybe I never recovered from the holidays. Or maybe I am in the throes of still trying to get along with the "new" boyfriend of eight months. Both are true.

I did get to see Pete Townsend and Roger Daltrey be THE WHO one more time at the Long Beach Arena (sad excuse for a venue with breaking seats covered in some awful shade of turquoise vinyl). Pete is still a genius and was very talkative. We all screamed out "Who Are You?!," "We Won't Get Fooled Again," and "We're All Wasted!" as if it were the same year the albums were released. A touch of Pinball Wizard from Tommy finished out the evening. They still rock.

I also got to see E.C. once again. Check out http://www.whereseric.com to get the latest on the Eric Clapton tour. I took the boyfriend and my daughter. Daughter was transfixed as we were, seeing the oh-so-amazing Slow Hand play along with Derek Trucks on slide. That kid was a phenom. I've never seen or heard slide guitar like that!

Real life brought me to Cabo San Lucas and the fabuloso Tesoro Los Cabos resort. I had never been there before. The town seems to party all night, and I'm just too old for that. I think I'd choose a resort on the coast outside of town next time. We took a boat ride down the coast to Chilleno Bay and it was so delightful. We saw all the big resorts and timeshare condo places. Find one with a BEACH! It is a lovely part of the world -- the land's end tip of Baja. Water's cold, but clear and blue. I have some cool photos on my Google/Picasa web album.

The photo above is me in the shade on Medano Beach, hiding my fair, fair skin from the wicked rays, but enjoying life. I am breathing easier as I refinanced my debt and the money came through while I was in Mexico. I also got my tax return money and I even got paid.

Life may be completely different from now on. I still have to melt or cut all my cards and delete all those account numbers so I'll never never go back again. Credit card debt is gone. It's a trap. I never thought I'd find my way out of that maze.