A scattered post. (Sorry)

So, my head is in a weird place and I can't think of any one thing to write about. Sure I could overload you with photos and travel logs and the like, but frankly that requires way more patience than I have right now. So, for the sake of updating this blog, here's a very random update of some of my recent thoughts and doings:

We had dinner with a good friend from our church the other day, Ernie Jarvis. He's 97 and he's awesome. He was the first friend we made upon moving to Fullerton and he remains one of our dearest companions. This week he invited us to his retirement home's Hallmark Dinner - a once-a-year, very fancy dinner event. Keep in mind, Ernie lives in a sort of "Park Place" of retirement homes, so this was especially fancy and formal. The menu included crabs legs, Peking duck, orange roughey, baby lamb chops, etc. etc. True, the food was all still incredibly bland and overcooked - it IS a retirement home after all, but it was fancy and fun. Conversation was good, the atmosphere was fantastic (think 50s era White Christmas), and it was nice to catch up with him. The best parts: watching retirees examine each others' walkers the way a teenager might size up a new car. And this: after noticing several attendees in gold name tags, I asked Ernie if they were the evening's designated hosts. "No," he replied, "we all have those tags. I don't ever wear mine...but I still remember who I am and how to get home." And he was serious.

Oh, I do love Ernie.

Moving on. I love finding new restaurants...the smaller and more obscure the better. Kenny came for lunch today and we were both craving Pedro's tacos, but couldn't swing the "quick" trip to San Clemente on my limited lunch break, so we went exploring. Tacos Mesa in Costa Mesa was a good and comparable find. I am full and happy. You know what else would make me happy? Digestive regularity. Unfortunately I'm not sure Tacos Mesa is going to help me much with that. Oh well. It tasted good.

Work has officially (or rather informally) stopped for the season. Unfortunately, I'm still here in the office pretending to work. Time to online shop! (I wish. That would require me to fist, have money for one thing, and second, to NOT have a moral conscience. Blogging is as unproductive as I allow myself to get while working.)

Kenny's little brother got home from his mission yesterday. Yay! I'm excited to see him. Also, my little sister turned sweet 16 this week. Yay! I'm excited for my dad to be the father of a dating teenage girl again. I think it will be more entertaining for me as a spectator than it was when I was the teen.

I noticed today that I feel the slightest bit of anxiety entering and exiting elevators. I stare at the crack in the floor and hug all my belongings tight to me. I finally realized this is a result of growing up on the 18th floor of a Cambridge, MA apartment building. I can't even remember all the things I must have dropped down that crack. Also, I refuse to "hold the door" for others. It's not out of rudeness (mostly), but rather out of a previously subconscious fear of getting my arm stuck in the door. "That's ridiculous," you say? Ask my little brother how ridiculous. Now there's a story for you.

Speaking of stories about the little brother, here's one that I was reminded of recently. When Ryan and I shared a room in MA, I had the bottom bunk and he had the top. I was wired late one night and kept bugging him and keeping him awake. You know, big sister stuff. Well, I eventually pushed him too far. He left the room only to return with a full glass of water which he then threw all over me. Of course I told on him. Again, it's the big sister thing to do. My father didn't much appreciate being woken up to deal with this matter and proceeded to make Ryan sleep in the soaked sheets on the bottom bunk. Although a better person might have fessed up that she deserved the soaking, I rather waited until Dad was again fast asleep before I fetched a few towels for the poor kid. It was truly the least I could do, and it effectively served to alleviate some of the guild I was feeling. But I stayed in the dry top bunk. Again, Ryan, I'm really sorry about that.

So...that's all for now I guess. I'll probably try to find some work to do or something. Happy Friday!

M.I.A.

Nov. 19-Nov. 29: 8 full days of Family, Fun, and Feasting = wonderful.

Nov. 29: 10 hours in the car (when the total trip should have only taken 6) and 30 minutes bathroom lines at gross truck stops = not wonderful

Nov. 30 (Monday): 4 more hours in traffic and a 6 hour interview = exhausting.

So I'm back.
And really tired.

Family

While Kenny and I enjoyed our dinner last night (pumpkin-granola-banana pancakes - YUM) we realized that today marks the four month anniversary since his dad, Ken, passed away from ALS.

Then, today, Kenny's sister, Amelia, posted this on her blog. I'm sure the timing wasn't a coincidence. It is a beautiful post with (always) beautiful images about a beautiful family.

In this season of thanksgiving, I am grateful for family - the families I was born into, the family I married into, the family I hope to have one day, and for the many friends I have that are so close and so wonderful they might as well be my family. You know who you all are. Thank you for being you and for being my family.

PS - I'm leaving tomorrow (yay!!) to spend Thanksgiving with a bunch of family and I could not be more excited. (This week has been the slowest, EVER.)

PPS- Happy Birthday to this Lady. Hope your day is magic.

On dreams...

First things first: I've had two consecutive nights of not just adequate, but incredible sleep. Hurray! Congratulate me. It was wonderful.

2nd: if I've ever met you - even for a second - I'm fairly certain you made an appearance in last night's dream. My question regarding said dream is this: why did so many of you feel the need to sneak into my apartment only to fall asleep on the floor under my living room window? Seriously? It's, like, a foot from the couch, why not sleep there? I don't get it.

I guess it's been so long since I've slept deep enough to even have a dream that I'm just marveling at the weirdness of it all.

Things I learned at work this week.

It's Friday!!! Yeah! Here's a few things I learned this week:

• When touring an oil refinery, bring flat, comfortable shoes. Black, snakeskin, platform heels will clash horribly with the bright yellow hard hat you'll be asked to wear. Also, there's that whole issue of safety or something. And comfort.
• Males in the oil refining business really will not care about your appreciation for their impeccably preserved mid-century building and decor. Noticing his surroundings for what seems like the first time ever, Mr. Oil Refiner will inform you that his father (the company's founder) built, furnished, and "decorated" their office space in the 50s and he simply hasn't seen a need to update it - at all. After realizing that said male oil refiners take no interest in their office surroundings, don't continue to gush about it anyway. (Really, though, I couldn't help myself. It was marvelous. I want to live in that building...minus all the oil refining machinery surrounding it.)
• Just because you provide, in advance, a detailed check list of all the information and documentation you will need from your client doesn't mean the client will provide it all. Or any of it. Actually, I'm pretty sure they won't even bother reading your carefully prepared list.
• Your business colleagues experience bouts of road rage in traffic just like you do. It's best to act invisible at those times. Laughing at them will not help.
• As professional as you might try to appear, if you're even remotely attractive, you will be hit on. Apparently, you can only hope to be taken seriously when your old and ugly. Or if you bring along women younger and prettier than you are. Or at least one with bigger boobs than you have.
• It's really good that drugs and alcohol aren't allowed in my office. Judging by the way my colleagues employ peer pressure tactics to get the health-conscious to consume junk food, we'd probably have an office full of strung out drunks all the time.

That's all. In all, I'd say I've grown leaps and bounds this week. Thanks, Job, for providing such valuable learning opportunities. My resume gets more impressive every day.

On Wiener Dogs

I’m not much for pets. At all. I never had them growing up. (Well...we did have a few birds – a gift for my brother from a lonely, but sweet old man who hung out in our building’s lobby. However, those didn’t last long with my light-sleeping father in the house. Also, my sisters’ had some goldfish, but those don’t count.) Truthfully, I never really wanted a pet. I especially don’t now, in my adulthood. I figure when I want that sort of responsibility I’ll just have some kids. Anyway. Moving on. To enter for a giveaway the other day, I had to mention my favorite breed of dog.

Uhhh. Again, I don’t actually like dogs. I certainly don’t have a favorite type. And I most definitely know nothing regarding various breeds. My only appreciation for the animal (and really all animals) has been for the cartoon varieties, like Disney’s 101 Dalmatians. Remember that scene where everyone is walking a dog that looks just like them? I loved that. That got me thinking...if I were in that scene, what dog would I be walking? After some thought (and again, my knowledge of dog breeds is VERY limited) I concluded that I resemble a Dachshund aka "Wiener Dog" – at least in body. Long torso and short legs. Yup, that’s me.

Kenny found this website last night, full of photos of people who resemble their canine friends. The resemblance is uncanny in a few. Like this one:
So, which dog would you be?

THIS EVENT just maybe redeemed all of 2009

So if I had a scanner I would have scanned and posted two things: my Mammoth lift ticket from Memorial Day, 2009 and the ticket from October 16, 2009.

Yeah; that actually happened.

I snowboarded (at an open resort - i.e. I wasn't hiking) less than five months after the prior season ended. Kenny and I were very happy people. So were the 4,500 other die-hards who showed up for Mammoth's sudden - and unusually early - Opening Weekend. It was crowded, but so fun. And because I've been accused of not posting enough photos, here' s a WHOLE bunch.

First, from Memorial Day 2009:
Me, then Kenny, at the top of the Gondola. It's really high up.

Overlooking Twin Lakes

Now October, 2009.

Look! We found Autumn! In Crowley. I guess one only has to drive five hours to the Sierra Nevada's to find it.
Mammoth Resort is located in a the town, Mammoth Lakes, and it was fun to finally be able to get to all the lakes. When we're there, the roads are closed and the lakes all frozen over. These next few photos were near Horseshoe Lake.

The photo below is barely edited. It is beautiful up there. (Twin Lakes)

A random grove of Gold.
I forget which lake had all these boats...but we stayed here for a long time.



Can you see why?



After day one of snowboarding.

In my head I looked graceful...

Again hanging out on some dock. I could have lived forever right there. In my tight orange snow pants.


Flirting with death at the dam...that is just feet away from a waterfall.
Oh, don't we all love taking photos of ourselves? And then oversaturating the colors?


Some fisherman offered to take a photo for us. Yeah! a photo together! (that we didn't try to take ourselves...)
...like this one.
Mammoth, I Love You.