Thinking About…

Happy Birthday to my wonderful super amazing husband, Ted!  I got confused last night and wrote, “Happy 38″ on our calendar.  That’s 10 years ago.  To celebrate his birthday, Ted likes to go for special birthday rides on his bike.  One year over the Golden Gate Bridge, another year over near Benicia.   This year he wants to ride up in the Marin Headlands.  So I’m playing hookey from work, and I’ll drive in with him.  I don’t even have a bike, so I won’t be riding, but I’ll drop him off on the SF side of the GG Bridge, then I’ll drive over to Sausalito.  I’ll have a nice walk around there, and we’ll meet at Davey Jones Deli, which is a pretty fabulous deli counter in a bait shop there.  We’ll have the kind of casual lunch you can have in your bike clothes at a deli counter in a bait shop, and then come home.   Tomorrow is the birthday party, and since Sunday is Cinco de Mayo, the theme is Mexican food.  I’ll be making chicken and tomatillo tacos from the recipe below.

What else is there on this Friday morning?  Well, today is also Nance’s birthday.  Happy Birthday, Nance!  I hope you have some delicious pie to celebrate!

Tomorrow is the Kentucky Derby!  I love the Kentucky Derby, and I hope I remember to watch.  I’m rooting for Mylute, mainly because his jockey is a woman, and no woman has ever won the Kentucky Derby.  Yet.

Saw this headline in the local paper this morning, and said, “JESUS”.  Not in a religious way, but in an ‘Crap, REALLY?” way.  Our local Very Expensive Bridge project is SO crazy expensive, and it’s hard to know how dangerous these kind of errors are.  I do know that a few months ago, they installed a bunch of huge bolts that are part of the earthquake safety feature of the bridge, and many many bolts broke.  The real problem with the bolts appears to be something about them not really liking water.  Nice on a bridge.  Not exactly instilling confidence.

Finished a book the other day that I really really liked.  I’ll have to write about it, maybe on Sunday.   Saw ‘Life of Pi’ on On Demand last night.  It sure was a beautiful film.  I wanted the tiger story to be the real one.  Sigh.

I hope you have a super fabulous weekend, and I’ll try to write more soon.  Maybe.

• We went to see ‘From Up On Poppy Hill‘ last weekend, which is the latest film by the creator of Spirited Away, Ponyo, and My Neighbor Totoro. This film is different from the others in that there are no supernatural forces or characters at work. Rather, this is a story about two teenagers in Japan at the lead-up to the 1964 Olympics, and deals with the juxtaposition of tradition vs. modernism at that time. It was very sweet, very enjoyable, and I recommend it, though the ending was a bit abrupt. I do like all of these films, quite a bit.
• Is Obama an idiot for suggesting that the answer to our problems is to cut Social Security, or is he plotting how to make the entire country say, “OH HELL, NO!”  Personally, I think it’s a bit of the idiot, because he’s so darned eager to capitulate to the Republicans, it makes me kind of sick.
• When we hear stories about children who are obese, whose parents feed them whatever and don’t pay attention to the fact that they’re poisoning themselves, somehow child protective  services gets involved.  Yet look at this girl, who is underweight, and it’s a different story.  The girl has eaten nothing but ramen noodles for the last 13 years, they say she has the health of an 80 year old, she’s got more chemicals and salt and crap in her than could ever be deemed normal, and yet, does anyone get involved?  I don’t think so.
• Allergies are crappy, right?  Right.  I’m suffering this morning.  Whilst out at the grocery store, I was chatting with the checker, and she said she saw an allergist a few years ago, who said that if you take a 24 hour allergy pill, you should take them at bedtime rather than in the morning.  This is because allergens in the air generally peak at around 3am, so if you take your pill before bed, your pill will be at its most effective when allergens are at their peak, so you’ll be better prepared, vs. trying to play catch-up by taking the pills when the allergens have already hit you.
• Dishonest tip of the day.  If you buy the good Parmesan cheese,Parmigiano-Reggiano, it is often sold by the pound. I have recently found that if you dig through the various wedges at your local grocery store, there are sometimes wedges that are mislabled, and clearly weigh more than they are marked, so it’s like getting some free cheese. At $15 – $19 a pound, this can make at least a bit of a difference. I doubt that they would actually want you to bring this to their attention, as it would mean more work for them. That’s my justification at least.
• Maya went from simple wisdom tooth extraction to dry socket, which means we have to apply a clove oil goopy Vaseline ointment to the socket twice a day.  Not easy to do, as she still can’t open her mouth completely.  Poor kid.
• Tomorrow is the junior prom!  Gah.  I’ll have a picture for you next week, of Maya in her pretty dress.  Nowadays due to provisional drivers licenses, driving curfews, and perhaps trying to keep the kids from drinking, they are taken from school to prom site and home again in a chartered bus.  Also different from when I was a teen is that if a person doesn’t have a date, it’s perfectly socially acceptable to go stag.  A lot of kids are doing just that.  I think if you don’t have a boyfriend or girlfriend, it’s probably more fun, less pressure, to go and just dance and hang out with your friends.

This week was Spring Break for Maya, and I decided to take the week off from work as well. I’ve been with my company for 12 years now, with one 5 month hiatus when I was laid off, and I accrue vacation time pretty quickly, but we’re not allowed to have a lot on the books, so I take a random Friday off here and there, but once in awhile I need to take a week off.

The week started off busy busy busy. Friday I had errands galore to run, as we had a houseful of teens coming over on Saturday to help Maya celebrate her birthday. Then we went to dinner and a movie as our family celebration. We went to the see ‘The Host‘, which was OK, but if you’re compelled to see it, I’d wait for the DVD. It wasn’t as bad as I feared, but not as good as it could have been.

Saturday was the party, which meant busy in the morning getting ready, then relaxing upstairs and getting caught up on ‘Girls‘ via HBO on the computer upstairs, while the teens had their fun downstairs. We watched almost the whole season in one afternoon, which really isn’t that difficult, as there were only maybe 10 1/2 hour episodes. I really do like that show, I’ll admit it.

Sunday was Easter, and we went for a family brunch at Ted’s parents’ house. It was a relaxing day, but still managed to feel a little busy.

Monday I went to Stockton to try to get my Grandma set up with a Kindle. She is having trouble reading, and her doctor suggested it. We’ll see if it sticks. She really does like the idea of it, but she was confused by the technology, has never handled anything more complicated than a TV remote, and had trouble remembering how to turn the page. I hope it works out for her. If not, maybe large print books from the library will be a better match.

Tuesday was the big day, when Maya went and got her wisdom teeth out. She wanted to go under, which Ted and I were not thrilled about, but she did fine. We got her home, fed her, gave her painkillers, and sent her to bed. I had to keep checking on her, because I was paranoid that she would choke on the gauze that was packed in around her gums, and be too drugged up to wake up. Thankfully, she survived. Then the following day, I saw this story, which freaked me the hell out. I think if I had seen the story first, I wouldn’t have let her go to sleep until the gauze was out of her mouth. I probably wouldn’t have let her go under in the first place, actually.  Ted and I both had our wisdom teeth out without going under, so we know it’s fine.  And maybe that would be good advice.

Other than the teeth coming out, Tuesday was a much needed lazy day for me after the busy busy busy from before. Nice.

I’ve become friends with Denise, who is the mom of one of Maya’s friends from school. We’ve gone as families to dinner a couple of times, we went over to their house for dinner a few weeks ago, and now Denise and I have been taking walks together. On a work day, we just walk on the trail around here, but since I’m off of work this week, we’ve gone up to the Lafayette Reservoir a couple of times for a walk around the perimeter, which is a really nice walk.  That’s where my ‘Wordless Wednesday’ pictures were taken.

Wednesday and Thursday were lazing about mostly.  Went to Berkeley for a little while and walked around a grocery store.  Made some salmon with pesto.  Watched ‘12 Monkeys‘.  It’s been relaxing and quiet.  What does the rest of my time off store for me?  More lazing around with Maya, as she’s not miss energy right now.  Going to try a new recipe or two.  Maybe a movie.  Perhaps some reading of library books.  Not sure what else, which is actually fine with me.

Friday again…what’s new pussycat? I hope you’re well. I haven’t been around here much lately, and it’s not because life is so darned exciting that I haven’t the time, or so darned horrid that I can’t manage it. It’s just how it’s been lately, I guess. The spirit hasn’t moved me. But it’s moving me a bit now, so I’ll give you some random ‘Thinking About…” type stuff, OK?

Maya and her chorale group from school sang at a swanky fundraiser last night at our local swanky rep center. The fundraiser was to raise money for the city education foundation, which spends its money on crazy, extravagant things like librarian salaries, English and math tutoring, counselors, etc. It was swanky, though, so we didn’t buy tickets. Instead, we spent a couple of hours at the local bookstore (Barnes & Noble…all of our independent places have closed down), and then we walked over to Starbucks and had a cup, and relaxed. We went over to the theater at the time they were supposed to finish, and they hadn’t gone on stage yet. So we went inside out of the sprinkling rain, and waited in the lobby. We were there for a little while, listening to the performance being piped in, when we got the great idea to try to sneak in and see them. They performed 2 songs, and we sneaked in about 1/3 way through the second song, so we didn’t see much, but they were GREAT. It was lovely to see her on a big time stage like that, and they really sounded good. Fun.

I was tempted by several books at the bookstore, but I decided to get them from the library instead. I know the bookstore needs my money, but I need it more than they do, and I trust myself to put it to better use than they would.  So…the books I put on hold to read are:

• Disgrace ~ J.M. Coetzee
• The Sense of An Ending ~ Julian Barnes
• Mathilda Savitch – Victor Lodato
• The Last Runaway ~ Tracy Chevalier
• The Magician’s Assistant ~ Anne Patchett
• The Museum of Innocence ~ Orhan Pamuk
• The Great Gatsby ~ F. Scott Fitzgerald

You can easily see that at $15 – $25 each at my local B&N, this was going to break the bank.  So I did the right thing.  I was a bit nonplussed to pop over to the library website upon our return home to find that I am 1st in line for several books at one time.  I hate that feeling, having many library books come at me all at once.  I feel like I have to rush through them and get them back for the next person.*  Then I realized, duh, if I’m #1 in line for them, there is no one waiting, so I can renew them if I don’t finish in time.  That was a relief.  I’m very much looking forward to some good reading time in my near future.

I’ve read Gatsby before, of course, but not since high school, and all I really remember is laughing at my teacher’s massive crush on Robert Redford, which I did not understand, because he’s old and everything.  I have a vague recollection of not liking the story much, but maybe this time I’ll enjoy it more?  I want to read that one first or second, because I’d like to have it more freshly in mind before I see the new film adaptation that comes out in May.  Actually, looking at that sentence, I realize I have more time than I thought I did.  That’s a good thing, too.

I’ve read other books by Chevalier, Patchett, and Pamuk, and liked them all quite a bit, so I’m looking forward to reading these newer efforts.  The others just caught my eye for whatever reason.

Maya is taking the SAT tomorrow.  I don’t envy her that, but I do know that she’ll do well, and be relieved when it is OVER.  This whole college thing is stressing her out.  She doesn’t really know much of what she wants to do with her life, or where she wants to go to college.  She’s thinking about teaching, and about some kind of journalism.  I know she’d be successful at both, assuming there are still jobs in journalism in the next 10 – 20 years.  I know the face of journalism is changing rapidly, but people still need to read and write, right?  I sure hope so.

I’m going to lunch with Dorothy today.  I miss her blog.  I’m happy to see her pretty face, though, which is even better than her blog.  But her blog was pretty funny.  I do miss the days when so many of my real life friends and family were blogging.

Ted and I went to see Side Effects last weekend.  Rumor has it that Steven Soderbergh is getting out of feature films or something to that effect, and this is his last big film.  I hope that’s not true, that he takes a much needed rest for a few years, but comes back to it, because I am definitely a fan of his work.  I’m not saying I’ve seen every film he’s made, or that I’ve loved every one that I have seen, but I did love Sex, Lies, and Videotape way back when, and have enjoyed many of his films since.   I would say that Side Effects was among the better films in his catalog.  It’s a twisty turny suspense type film, and not really what I expected it to be at all.  I generally try not to read reviews of a movie before I see it, because I find if they hate the movie, it dampens my enjoyment, and I notice the things that they mention.  So I won’t say more about this one, except that the performances were really good, the story was interesting and kept me guessing, and I came out of the theater really glad we had seen it.  If you get a chance, I highly recommend it.

What else…not much.  Watched an episode of The West Wing on Netflix the other day, and I’m thinking I’d like to re-watch that series.  It’s a nice place to spend some time.  Last weekend was girl scout cookies, and now we’re done with that for the year.  It’s dry dry dry here, though it did sprinkle today.  California needs a wet, wet spring, and we almost never get that.  If you know of any rain dances, please, do one for us.

Happy Friday, and have a great weekend!

*Saturday evening update…went to the library today, and 5 books I had put on hold were there.  Guess I’ll be reading a bunch in the next few weeks, yeah?

I went to the store the other day, in need of a new pair of jeans.  I have a certain brand and cut that I like, and alas, they are phasing that cut out.  No big pile with four washes from which to choose, which is how it was the last time I went to the store.   So I looked all over, dug through pile after pile, and the only pair I found was 7 sizes too big.  Rats.  Every other pair in the store was a stupid low rise cut, meaning I can’t bend over without people knowing what kind of underwear I have on.  I don’t like that, and I doubt anyone who would be forced to see my crack would like it, either.  I’m not a plumber.  When I came home, I tried the online store, and look, they still have them!  Plus, a coupon for 30% off!  So I get my jeans, and save money.  I hope I don’t regret only buying one pair.  Perhaps I should have bought two.  But since they’re going away, I kind of think it might be a good idea to look around and see what else is out there.

There has been a constant drip drip drip coming from our bathroom vanity, and our water bill went up this last time.  Neither Ted nor I are plumbers (as I mentioned above), nor do we play one on TV, but at the same time, a drippy faucet seems like it should be solvable without calling a plumber and paying $75.  Friday was my day off, and Ted replaced our bathroom shower head a few months ago, so I felt like, perhaps, if he can do it, I might be able to do it, too.  I looked online, and saw a video that showed how to remove the faucet, but blurred through the complicated inner workings.  Mostly it said, take it apart, take the parts with you to the hardware store to match them correctly, then come home and put them back in where you found them, and voila, problem solved.  Well, that’s a mighty optimistic telling of how it could go, isn’t it?  I was able to get it pulled partially apart, but not completely.  I wasn’t sure whether to fight it and break it, or if maybe I needed a tool.  So I took some pictures and went to the hardware store.  There, they told me that it was difficult to disassemble because of hard water deposits, and I should just yank on it.  OK.  Back home, and now Ted’s here (he was out giving Maya a driving lesson on the freeways, which I am happy enough to miss…they make me nervous), so he just gives the darned thing one yank, and off it comes.  Yay for big man strength!  Back to the hardware store I go, with the spigot or whatever it’s called, but I didn’t bring the washer.  So they sell me what they think might fit, and back home I go.  I put it back together, with Ted’s help, though again, neither of us are plumbers.  Get everything put back together, turn the water on, and out it comes…even though the spigot is turned off.  Not working at all.  Drats.  Turn it off.  Take it apart.  Look at the washer, which has a hole that is slightly bigger than the hole in the original washer.  I wonder if that matters.  I don’t know.  Back to the hardware store I go, this time with my worn out parts, where they dig around and find yet another kit, with a washer that looks much more like mine than the first one.  Back home. Put it together.  Run water.  No better.  What’s wrong?  Could it be that I have the spring/washer combination put together backwards?  Ted pulls apart the other side of the sink to see, and yes, it does indeed appear that way.  So we try it again.  YAYYY!! This time, it worked.  No more dripping faucet.  No more wondering how much it’s costing me to have it drip, and thinking about the dry January we’ve had, and thus far, dry February as well, so the guilt of wasted water.  And it only cost me $3, four hours, and 3 trips to the hardware store.

Lots of construction around here, jackhammering apart our swimming pool. That was fun. Working from home has its benefits, but listening to someone jackhammer your pool for 5 continuous hours is not one of them. After they tore it apart, thankfully, they put it back together, re-tiled, re-plastered, and filled it with water. Then, walking by the other day, there’s this new sign. WTF? The thing is, even though we live in a condo complex, which is sort of private property, it is not one person’s property. So the pool is subject to all kind of county regulations. Like when they made us add new tiles a year or two ago, to add ‘ft’ to the ’4′ and ’6′ on the sides of the pool. Homeowner money had to go to adding signs to tell us that it was feet, not meters, even though diving isn’t allowed anyway. Frustrating. Anyway, I’m assuming that the sign is a county regulation, so we have no choice but to put it up, no matter how disgusting it is to walk past every day.

Awhile ago I mentioned that I have an avocado tree that needs a bigger pot.  I had contemplated going and asking some people down the street if they’d be interested in selling me their lovely blue glazed planters, and I actually did knock on their door once, but they didn’t answer.  I’ve noticed more often lately that even when people are home, they sometimes just don’t answer the door.  That’s their right, I suppose, but I find it a bit odd.  Anyway, I considered leaving them a note with my phone number, but after knocking, I went and played a bit with the planters, and GOSH they were heavy.  I tried to imagine them with a small tree inside, and I lost my will.  So on the first of my three trips to the hardware store yesterday, I picked up a huge plastic planter and a bag of potting soil, and after we finished fixing the faucet, I re-potted the avocado.  My fantasy is that someday we’ll get fruit off of it, but I’m not getting my hopes up too high.

Valentine’s Day can be a busy, horrid day to eat in a restaurant. There are three days that I do NOT like going to restaurants in a year, and they are: 1. Valentine’s Day 2. Mother’s Day 3. New Year’s Eve. Too crowded; special, expensive menus; harried service; grumpy customers, due to the first three items, plus you probably had a reservation and still had to wait 45 minutes for a table. We don’t go out to eat on any of these days. But we do celebrate, which means some kind of yummy feast. February is mid to late winter, which is prime crab season in NorCal, so we decided to have one of our favorite meals…cracked crab roasted with garlic, butter, more garlic, and more butter, and noodles, with garlic, butter, olive oil, and a few more things. Gah, it was good. Ted had his beloved bok choy, and Maya and I had salad, as we do not belove bok choy. Then, to top it all off, Ted made an amazing apple cake that I think we’ll be having for Thanksgiving this year, because it was SO delicious. Really, really good.  If you behave, perhaps I’ll post the recipe for you.

Today I’m off to give blood.  Back in November when my grandma fell and broke herself up, she had to have some blood, and I’ve been meaning to do it since then.  Other weekend plans, holidays, and sore throats have foiled my best laid plans, but today I’m all clear.  Eat a big breakfast so I don’t pass out, go give blood, and then come home and maybe have a nap, which is usually just what I want after giving blood.  I’d like to see a movie this weekend, but I still have two more days, so no rush, right?  Nice.   OH, I forgot to tell you, my Grandma is home!  She’s healed well enough that she is now home again, no longer on the schedule of the nursing home, taking their pills and doing exercises, all of that.  I hope she keeps up some of the exercises…stronger muscles make for a less wobbly Grandma, one who is less likely to fall down and break anything.  What a relief!  Yay Grandma!

Happy Friday Everyone!  We finished watching Season 3 of Downton Abbey this week. Agggghhh! How can it be over already? I know, you’re probably saying, “But I’ve only seen 3 episodes thus far, how can you have seen all 7 plus the Christmas Special?” The answer my friend is that I donated money to my local PBS station, and they sent me the DVD. I will not give any plot spoilers, but I will tell you that the LOOK of the show is much better on DVD than it is on broadcast TV. This was a big season in many ways, but I recommend not googling anything, since those in the U.K. have already seen and posted all about the plot points.

This is finals week at Maya’s high school, which has somehow thrown everything off in my brain. Well, not EVERYTHING, but she gets out at 12:20 every day, instead of 4ish, and it’s confusing to my poor noggin. Luckily, she finished yesterday, and has today off, so we can all get back to normal soonly.

Except…that I’m taking Monday off. No real reason, except that I want to, and I happen to think that MLK day SHOULD be a paid holiday. So for me, it is. How do you like me now? I know, I’m in a sassy mood.
Wednesday was my Grandma’s 90th birthday. Go, Grandma! When I spoke to her on Wednesday evening, she told me that she intends to live to 100, and that she wants a party for her 100th birthday. Allrightythen. Call the neighbors. In the meantime, she is still in the assisted living facility (appt for x-rays to determine when she can start putting weight on her cracked pelvis is this week, so we’re hoping she’ll be home soonish), so we are having a small family party on Sunday. I’m making a chocolate cake for her, and I’m tormenting myself with the ‘bake from scratch or use a mix’ dilemma. It’s not that I am afraid of baking, really. It’s just that those mixes have such consistent results, and I’m not sure what will happen if I bake from scratch. OK, maybe I am afraid of baking. It’s so damn precise. I did find a recipe online for a cake mix cake, where you buy a box of mix, and doctor it up with some extra ingredients to make it moist and yummy. I may try that, and if it turns out, you know you’ll learn all about it here.

Did anyone else see this really weird thing on the internets? Jeans that moisturize and reduce cellulite? As much as I’d like to have gorgeous, dewy legs with nary a dimple, I doubt very much that a pair of jeans is going to accomplish that where diet and exercise will not. Also? What kind of freaky chemicals are they putting in dem jeans? Freaky.

Ted saw one of those articles that I was complaining about, the ones that say how to save money by cutting out things that most of us have already cut out.  Maybe eat some leftovers once in awhile so you don’t waste SO MUCH food.  That kind of thing.  This one, however, actually had one handy tip.  They said you can buy discount movie tickets in bulk.  I know that you can do that at Costco, but we don’t have a Costco account.  I looked online, and wow, you can buy tickets online for $3 less than they cost at the theater!  How’s that for awesome?  If you go to the movies fairly regularly, which we do, this might be a good savings.  We haven’t done it yet, so I don’t know if you get them in the mail or print them or what, so I don’t know if you could buy it now and then hit the next showing of your chosen flick.   The three theaters that are closest to us are all Cinemark, so I look at their website, and found savings here.

I’m so sick of insurance. I really want single payer, where everyone takes it, and everyone is covered, and there are no issues. I know many disagree and say no way, but I do! We changed insurance companies, effective the first of the year. I had an eye exam last week, and when I called to schedule it, I told the receptionist that we have new insurance, but I didn’t have my card yet. She told me to be sure to call, because that way they could verify that they indeed accept said insurance. So, I did. However, I spoke to a different person this time, who said no, that’s a PPO, and there’s no need to give us the number or further info. OK. So I went in and had my exam, and then they looked at my card, and figured out, damn, they don’t take this card. SO, instead of an exam that would cost me $10, I got an exam that will cost me $228.00. I know that technically it is MY responsibility to figure this stuff out, and that I will have to pay, but I am NOT happy about it. Grrr.

Ted was in a fender bender last week…some guy in a tall truck (like one that a plumber would drive…because this was a plumber) ran the light, turning left directly into Ted’s path. Ted slowed, honked, and the guy sped on his way. The guy BEHIND the plumber could not see the light, because the plumber truck was too tall, and so he ALSO ran the light. And he ran into Ted. Or really, the car. Poor car. Which is now looking like a 2 week repair job, because they have to order parts and paint parts and so on. The insurance company gave us a loaner, which is good, but I miss our car.

Last weekend, Ted and I went for a walk, stopped for breakfast, and discovered an actual video store! Independently owned and operated! I guess they’ve been in business for something like 35 years, but they only moved to this location somewhat recently, after we had given up on all of our video stores closing up, and gone over to Netflix. I’ll admit, I liked perusing the aisles and seeing their categories…foreign films, classic movies, top 100 box office, academy award winners, etc. We signed up and will give it a go. I cancelled Netflix for DVD, but kept the streaming, as we do tend to use that a lot.

OK, that’s it for now. Have a fabulous weekend, take Monday off if you want, maybe watch some of the inauguration. Disgusting how much they’re spending, and that Obama is selling his face time, just like he said he would not do. Sometimes I truly hate politics and those who smell like politicians.

Jumping right on in here….

I enjoyed my time off from work.  Sunday we had some friends over that we haven’t seen in ages.  There’s something about having kids who are in school and sports and trying to support them, that doesn’t leave one with much time, so it can be hard to get together.  Then there’s work, which is also a huge time suck.  So between the work and the commuting and the kids and so on, we haven’t seen them in awhile.  Finally we did.    I made a huge meatloaf, we laughed and ate and relaxed.  It was excellent.

Also, went to Stockton to see my Grandma.  She’s still in the rehab facility after breaking her wrist and cracking her pelvis.  But wow, she looks amazing, SO strong, so much better.  This is a woman with osteoporosis so bad that she broke her hip at 40, who has broken other bones several times since then.  She lost her first husband at 24 or 25, her first child at 24.  Lost her second husband at 65.  Lost her second child at 72.  Lost her third child at 85.  Now she turns 90 later this month, and I have no doubt whatsoever that she’ll be up and about again pretty soon, even if that does mean using a walker instead of a cane.  She impresses the hell out of me.  There are few people so determined, and yet in such a soft shell, looking so delicate and helpless.  Ha.  Like a Steel Magnolia, I guess, except she was born in California.

Had my birthday on Monday.  I turned 47.  I’m thinking I should just start calling myself 50, right?  I can just use rounding.  I’m 50 from now until I’m actually 55, and then I’ll be 60.  Just round up or down, and people will either think I’m young looking or old looking, who knows.  I bought myself a birthday gift, a new swim suit, which I badly needed.  SO glad to have it.  Then I went for an hour swim, which felt great.   We went out for a delicious lunch downtown.  A luxury in our little (OK, medium) town.  Then we had more friends over for dinner, my friend Marilee and her husband Paul, who brighten up every room they enter.  it was lovely.  Ted made an amazing beef curry.  Yum.  So good for dinner, and then again for lunch the next day.

Tuesday was New Years Day…mostly relaxed, took down our Christmas decorations.  I’ll admit, I really like that day.  I love Christmas, I love decorating the house, I love the tree, I love it all.  But I also love the clean, open feeling of having all of that stuff GONE.

Then it was back to work…fine.  Whatever.  Thursday was my Meals on Wheels day, and YAY!!! The two women I was most worried about are back on my route!  Can you believe it???  I guess they bumped a lot of people, and then it turned out, they bumped too many, so there was room again.  I cannot tell you how happy I was to see their names on the list Thursday morning, or how happy I was to see their faces and give them hugs when I delivered their meals.  It felt like a great beginning to the new year.

Thursday and Friday were more busy busy days with work.  The IRS put out new withholding tables maybe 6 hours after Obama signed legislation, which was great.  We worked through the night and into Friday to get the changes out to our clients, which felt good, too.

Tomorrow is Saturday.  I have a girl scout cookie meeting (can you believe it’s almost cookie time again?), and maybe I’ll go for a swim, we’ll see.  Hoping to go to dinner with some friends.

Oh, Maya has been getting us into Dr. Who recently, and Downton Abbey starts on Sunday.  Ack!  Cannot wait.

Well, I made it to the end of NaBloPoMo, and I only missed one day, when I couldn’t get onto my blog to post. I’ve resorted to memes, Wordless Wednesday, and recipes. Then again, I like all of those things. I’ve enjoyed having that blog part of my brain tuned in. Like when something at least mildly interesting happens, and you think, “oh, that’s great for the blog!”

I missed saying happy blogaversary to Thinking About. I started blogging back in November of 2005, because all the cool kids were doing it, and it seemed like fun. I don’t think I could have guessed that I would make real friends here, some of whom I’ve not met yet in real life.

Grandma is doing better. She is out of the hospital, in a convalescent home for the next month-ish, until she can walk again. She’s going to be using a walker from now on. At least I hope so. She uses a cane, but it doesn’t stabilize her enough, and she loses her balance so easily these days.

Everyone on FB is talking about how pretty the full moon is. It’s cloudy and raining here, which is fine with me. I love a pretty full moon, but I love rain even more.

Ted came down with a cold last weekend, which means that I’ve come down with it now. Blech. I hope Maya doesn’t catch it. I am glad that it waited to infect our household until after Thanksgiving, and after I had a chance to see Grandma, too.

We’re dipping our toes slowly into the Christmas thing. Ted bought some poinsettias the other day, our boyscout neighbor delivered the wreath we ordered, and I’ve put out our little lighted snowmen. I know a lot of people decorate for Christmas right after Thanksgiving, but Thanksgiving was so early this year, it seems ridiculous to put up the tree for at least another week. Maybe in time for Hanukkah. I know, we’re weird.

Speaking of Hanukkah, it looks like the first night is on a Saturday this year, which means I’ll have a little time for cooking. Maya and I are going to make homemade applesauce this year, instead of jarred stuff, for our latkes. You know that local TV show Ted has been directing and editing lately? He just finished working on a Hanukkah episode, and he edits at his desk, which is right next to my desk, so I’ve heard the apple vendor talking about apples and how to make good sauce. I’ll clue you in now: the ratio is 2-1-1. 2 sweet apples (like a Fuji perhaps), 1 tart apple (think Granny Smith), and another tart apple that is a separate variety from the first (maybe Pink Lady). I’ve only made apple sauce once or twice before, and I did know the trick of using more than one kind, but I’d never heard the ratio before. I’ll let you know how it turns out.

I caved and donated money to my local PBS station (it was giving day, after all). I do regularly give them a little money, but this time the gift with purchase was too good to pass up, so I increased by donation. Season 3 of Downton Abbey. Sadly, it won’t get here before Christmas, or before the season starts, but it will get here just after the beginning of the season, so I can watch it quickly if I want to, and tease my friends on FB about what I already know that they don’t.

I’m sure there’s more I could tell you…but my stupid head cold has my head all blocked up and I can’t think. Happy NaBloPoMo to Ally Bean, who soldiered through with me.

Friday already?  Wow.  That’s crazy.  OK, here we go.

1. I adore the fact that Obama won.  I keep hearing how our economy is on the mend, things are getting better, all of that.  I want Obama to get credit.  I don’t necessarily think that the President actually has much power to make jobs and fix the economy.  But if Obama is in the White House while it happens, then he gets credit, and hopefully the next election will also go well.  If Romney were in the White House, he would get credit, and the next election might go his way.  I don’t like that.  Then of course there’s the whole pro-choice thing, and who we get as a supreme court justice.  Then of course there’s the fact that I like Obama, and I feel like although he is far more moderate than I am, at least he’s closer to my values than Romney and the extreme right wing that was working to pull him to the dark side.   So yay.
2. Maya has been driving all week.  She’s starting to get a feel for the boundaries of the car and where they are.  Ted’s been great, taking her out to drive after school in the afternoons.  The more practice, the better.  I do wish that we had a more rural environment for her to learn in, but at the same time, this is where she lives, so I guess it’s good that she learns here.
3. Lincoln is coming out today, or maybe next week, depending on where you live.  I’m looking forward to seeing it.  The first review I’ve seen is the SF Chronicle, which says it’s AWESOME.  Groovy, I’m in.  Also the new James Bond review.  Not a fan of Bond movies, but they can be fun, so if others in the house want to go, I’ll go.
4. Work is crazy busy.  We’re going into year end, with states changing their withholding tables and so on.  My job is to update computer software with the changes, so our clients’ employees will have correct withholding.  Plus I get to do busy work for a project that is going on.  Plus I get to do two aspects of my coworker’s job, since she was laid off in May.  So I’m busy.  Trying to put aside time for exercise and so on, but it’s not easy.
5. We went from mid-80s this week, to cool and rainy.  I love it. Not a fan of the hot, and when it comes to November, not even a fan of the medium hot. I want cool or cold.  And I feel so fortunate to be here, safe and warm, not affected by first Sandy and then the snow and (real) cold.  My heart goes out to those people who have lost loved ones, to those who are without power and in a difficult situation right now.
6. Anyone reading a good book?  I’m trying to get into Tracks, by Louise Erdrich.  There’s nothing wrong with it, but I find myself watching reruns of old TV shows instead of reading.  Like M*A*S*H and Cosby Show.  Not a good sign.  I don’t do much nonfiction, so keep that in mind if you’re going to recommend a book.

Happy Friday everyone!

Did anyone notice that it’s November?  Thinking maybe I’ll try for NaBloPoMo this year.  A few years ago, it was more difficult for me to restrict myself to a post a day, and now it’s crazy for me to post two days in a row.  So let’s see if I can rise to the challenge.  We’ll start with some randomness, shall we?

Maya took her written driving test on Tuesday, and passed, so now she has her permit.  I don’t know what the laws are in your state, but here, that means she has to take 3 driving lessons (2 hours each), drive at least 50 hours for practice, and wait 6 months before she can take the driving test.  Then, during her first year with her license, she cannot drive anyone under the age of 18 in her car.  Sorry, but no wonder kids are waiting longer to get their licenses…I remember so fondly driving all over Stockton in my friend Rosemary’s little convertible MG.  I don’t know if this law is genius (teens are easily distracted) or spoiling all of the fun (because, duh, driving around with your friends is FUN).

This weekend is the end of Daylight Saving, where we turn the clocks back and get an extra hour of sleep.  Except I’m old and can’t often sleep later than normal, so I’m not sure that will help.  I’ll admit, I like Daylight Saving.  Not the transition, because that sucks in both spring and fall, but the light evenings, I like that a lot.  I’ll be sorry to see it go.

It’s also getting cooler…not cold like in some parts of the country, but cooler.  Not so much thought has to be put into ‘can I get a nice walk in before it gets hot?’  I’m glad for that.

I feel for the people in New Jersey, New York, and elsewhere, affected by Superstorm Sandy.  Ugh.  It’s frustrating and inconvenient and painful for everyone without power, but especially for the elderly and those on medical equipment that requires electricity.  I heard the other day on NPR about a couple…they live on the 7th floor of a building in Manhattan, without power.  They didn’t evacuate, because the husband’s health is delicate and moving him is extremely risky.  So they took their chances, and now they are dependent upon friends and neighbors, who are bringing them batteries (car batteries, other kinds of batteries, etc.) to keep his ventilator going.  This has to be extremely stressful.  My heart goes out to these people.

I’m so glad to not live in a swing state.  Ugh.  I feel for the people being inundated by robocalls and political ads all damn day.  We have our state propositions, but that’s pretty much it.  Yes on 30, no on 32, yes on 34, yes on 37, no on 38.  The end.

Maybe I’ll post again tomorrow.  You all know that quantity often signals a lack of quality, so there may be some crummy posts in the next 29 days.  I hope not, because then, what’s the point.  But we’ll see.  Have a lovely weekend!

Happy Friday, Everyone! A 3-day weekend is upon us, so let’s celebrate Labor, the Labor movement and all that it’s given us, and a bit of rest from our own Labor.

I signed up for a free trial of AmazonPrime last month, and one nice thing that you get for your annual fee of $79 is free streaming of a lot of TV and movies. Not the new good stuff, but a lot of other things. I won’t renew past the 1 month free trial, because we already pay for OnDemand and Netflix, and I suspect there’s a lot of crossover. One show that they have on AmazonPrime that they don’t have on the other services is Season 4 of thirtysomething.

I was hooked on this show back when it was in its first run on TV, and I watched the episodes again when they were on Lifetime for a few years after that.  I think it was the first TV show that I fell in love with as an adult, outside of my mother’s house.  It feels different, right?  It felt very grown up to watch something that my mom may or may not have even known about, but certainly didn’t care about.  The first 3 seasons are available via DVD through Netflix, but season 4 was produced for DVD in an Amazon exclusive, I think. For a little while, you could watch SOME of the episodes on Netflix streaming, but many were not available, and now they’re all gone. I just realized that I could watch them here the other day, and my free trial ends on Monday, so I’m watching episodes back to back. It’s a good season. I had forgotten how innovative the show in general was at the time. Gay men in bed together (considered so racy that the episode in question wasn’t ever shown on repeats, and 5 advertisers pulled from the show, even though they didn’t even kiss or touch). The trials of working women. The trials of stay at home women.  The trials of being successful in your work, and in not being so successful.  The stress of providing for your family.  I don’t remember seeing these issues on TV much before this.  I love it, and I love the late 80s clothes and hair.  The big earrings.  Melissa with her one earring and her asymmetric hair (a look I loved, and tried a few times, but I didn’t have the curls, so it wasn’t just right for me.)  So fun.

I’m trying to teach my brother-in-law how to cook a few dishes. He tends to eat the same 3 or 4 dishes, and he’s bored to tears of them, but isn’t really comfortable in the kitchen. So far we’ve covered Chicken Piccata and Rib Eye Steak with Tomato Basil Relish, which is basically a bruschetta with steak instead of toasted bread. Delicious. It’s fun to show him, and I hope he begins to feel more comfortable with cooking.

I saw this article, and I can’t help but think that, unlike a real astronomical sight, a blue moon is purely a matter of human timekeeping. Mars, Venus, and Mercury lined up? A meteor shower? Those are pretty special. And any full moon is indeed beautiful (and they wake me up in the morning, shining brightly through my window), but they’re just a figment of our imagination, a matter of how we keep time. This full moon looks the same as the one earlier this month, and the same as the one next month. If we kept time from one moon to another (every 28 days), they wouldn’t occur at all. But then, there’s the poetry in the fact that Neil Armstrong was laid to rest today, on the date of a full moon, the day every month when we see more of the moon than any other time. That’s touching, and makes this blue moon a bit more special to me.

I got the DVD of The Grapes of Wrath from the library. I think we’ll watch it one day this weekend. I want Maya to watch with us, but she’s not so sure, because she didn’t really enjoy the book. I’m not sure if it’s because she’s young, or if it’s the writing. I hated Steinbeck at her age, though to be fair, all I’d read was The Red Pony. Wait, no, I also read, Of Mice and Men, which I liked OK, and she hated. I’m guessing she’ll bail. Maybe she’ll be more interested when she’s older. I didn’t read The Grapes of Wrath until I was in my late 30s or early 40s (within the last 5-8 years), and I loved it.

I’m looking forward to the elections being OVER this fall. I hate the phone calls. We have caller ID on our phones downstairs, but the one in our bedroom (aka, my office, where I sit all day) is circa 1988. So the only way to avoid the political calls is to not answer the phone, which is an option I’m not happy about. I’m glad we don’t watch a lot of network TV, at least not live. We do watch shows on OnDemand, which sometimes has no commercials, and even when there are commercials, there aren’t as many. I’m hoping no political commercials that I can’t fast forward through. Ted watched more of the Republican Convention than I did, and he paid for it in the form of nightmares of Romney being elected. I felt superior in my decision to go to bed early.

There’s a wasp nest in our parking lot. Technically in the rocks to the side. They’re kind of swarming around, and yesterday 2 kids and one adult were stung. I hope that an exterminator gets out here soon.

There’s a handyman coming to work here next week. We need his help for a few little jobs that have been sitting there, bugging us. Ted and I can fix some things, but not others, and these are beyond our skills, sadly.

Giving blood tomorrow morning. Gross.*

I went to lunch today with my coworkers. We all work from home, at least those of us who live in California. We don’t get together very often, so it was nice to see everyone and catch up on our more personal stuff. I’m stuffed with Mexican food, though, so I’m thinking dinner will be nada for me. It was nice.

That’s it for me. Have a lovely weekend. Take a minute to stop and think of the labor movement, and what it means to you. I’m thankful for all that the unions and the movement fight for…workers rights, safe workplace, 40 hour workweek, etc.

*Updated on Sunday afternoon to tell you that my issue with giving blood is basically that I hate needles, I hate blood, and I’ve had  a couple of uncomfortable experiences with it that psyche me out for future donations.  So this time, I decided to use the power of positive thinking, not let myself get so freaked out by it, and breathe more.  Know what?  It worked.  The needle going in stung a bit, but not for long.  The needle BEING in was gross, as always (that thought in my head that there’s a big needle in my arm, draining out my blood, which is powered by the pumping of my heart…it’s almost enough to make me faint…so I tried to not think about it), but it wasn’t painful.  I got a good seat, which means right next to the radio, which was distracting, and made me think that maybe next time I’ll bring my iPod.  It was over quickly, and I had that great feeling of having helped people, REALLY helped.  Plus, they have teen volunteers in the cantina area, who will bring you OJ or whatever, which is sweet.  Overall, a positive experience.  You know, except for the blood part.

Wow, it’s been a month since my last post.  That’s crazy.  Life hasn’t been that crazy lately, so I don’t know what to tell you.  Anyway, no one cares why I’m NOT writing, so instead we’ll try a little Friday Randomness instead, and see if I can come up with something.

I’m reading a really good book right now, which I’ll tell you about when I finish it.  How’s that for unsatisfying?

I have a stupid sinus headache right now that tortured me all night.  Why the heck didn’t I get up and take something for it?  Why try to sleep through it and hope it will go away?  I don’t know.  It’s been pretty hot here for the last day or two, and promises to be for the next day or two.  When it’s hot like that the air quality goes down the toilet, and my head suffers.  I’m probably not the only one.  I have a pool outside, and it opens in about 1/2 hour.  I have a meeting at the same time, but right after the meeting I’ll go for a swim.  Sometimes that helps a sinus headache, believe it or not.  That’s one bonus (among many) to working from home.

I’m taking a week off from work!  Way back in February or March or something, my boss wanted us to plan our vacations, for planning purposes.  I picked this week sort of randomly.  I’m not sure what I’ll even end up doing…Ted’s been out of work since May, so we’re not eager to spend a bunch of money.  BUT he might be starting a contracting job this week, so he might not be available much for day trip kind of things.  We’ll see.  Maya’s going down to Los Angeles for a few days to visit her cousin (I had enough miles that her trip was almost free).  If we can, Ted and I are thinking of going to Santa Cruz next Friday to see The Fixx.  Remember them?  Gah, I loved The Fixx back in the early 80s.  I saw them at Day on the Green in 1983, with Oingo Boingo, Madness, The Thompson Twins, and the headliner, The Police.  What an amazing concert that was!  My favorites were The Fixx and The Police.  Anyway, they have a new album out, which is actually pretty good, and at Santa Cruz, they have free music on the beach on Fridays during the summer.  FUN!

Tomorrow I’m meeting my bloggy friend, Heidi (aka, Curiosity Killer, whose blog is defunct now but I keep the link on my sidebar just in case…).  She’s a musician in Hong Kong, and is here to party at the Outlands Festival.  We’re going to have brunch at The Cliff House, which is always beautiful and tasty.  We’ve never met before, so we’re looking forward to it.

The Olympics have been cool to watch, but I’m mostly over it now.  Poor athletes for the last few days.  Everyone is just too worn out.

I went to Stockton last weekend to see my Grandma and her sister, and my cousin.  Grandma’s feeling better (she hasn’t been doing well the last few months…), looking a little stronger, which is a very good thing.  My cousin lives in Santa Maria, and was up for a few days.  She almost didn’t get to come because her car was having trouble.  Went to the dealer and they told her this and that, and that it would take several days and at least $1,000, probably more.  She felt weird about that, and had it towed to her mechanic, who fixed it in an hour or two.  It was a spark plug wire that was loose and causing some other problem, or something like that.  Cheap and fast.  Stupid dealers.  I swear, if they didn’t act this way, they wouldn’t have the reputation of being crooks.

Ted and I watched John Adams on HBO on Demand (which we get for some reason, though we don’t get HBO).  It was really good…based on the book by David McCullough.  It’s a sweeping story, and I got the feeling that Adams might have preferred to live in less interesting times.  But he was swept into the events of the time, and he influenced the direction of the country in its infancy.  And gosh, he sure loved his wife, huh?  It was pretty satisfying.

Perhaps the most exciting thing going at the moment is that Ted and a friend have a political interview type show on TradioV.com, which is an online TV show.  The station is sort of like a radio station, except they film the DJs or whatever you want to call them.  They put a decent variety of personalities on the station, and they can say things that you wouldn’t get to say if the FCC were watching.  Ted’s show isn’t like that, though.  It’s politics, his second love (after me!).  You can watch his maiden voyage here.  I thought it went REALLY well.  He said he’ll interview fewer people next time, because it seemed they just got started on a subject, and the next thing you knew, it was time for that segment to be over.   The guy in the paper bag is not Ted.  That’s Ted’s friend, who is worried that if he says the wrong thing, he could lose his day job, which he doesn’t want to do.  He works in an industry where that might be true.  Anyway, you can see what you think about a bunch of smart liberals put together in a small room.

Oh, wait, REALLY the most exciting thing is that Cherry had her baby!  Not that you’ll read about it any time soon on her blog…she now has a toddler and an infant.  Gosh, he’s a sweet little guy.  I’m thinking maybe I’ll go see them one day on my week off, if she’s up to it.  Congrats, Cherry and Eric!  And welcome to the work, little Jacob.

OK, that’s it for now.  Happy Friday, everyone! (I hope this headache goes away soon…and I hope to write more on this week off from work.)

Last week was Ted and my 19th wedding anniversary (link is to Ted’s blog, where you can see a slideshow if you’re interested….we look so YOUNG to me). It seems so strange that so many years have gone by, and yet I still sometimes feel 27. But then I look at my pictures, at my face in the mirror, and I think, oh yeah, I’m not 27 anymore. Oh well. We had a lovely day.

We started off by driving to Muir Woods for a hike, with a pit-stop in Sausalito for sandwiches. We saw a segment on Check, Please, Bay Area about a deli counter in a little market, Davey Jones Deli, and we thought we’d get sandwiches there. All I can say is, YUM. Perhaps the best sandwich I’ve ever had. The ingredients were so obviously made with care, obviously the best possible quality, extremely fresh, all of that. Also, quite innovative. I had the porkberrywich, which is seasonal and not on their menu, and consists of pulled pork, strawberries, raspberries, maybe some mustard in there, and Cole Slaw sans mayo, on a dutch crunch roll. Really, really good. Ted had the Cuban, which was (clipped from their website) ‘Pulled Pork, Ham, Turkey, & Cheese with plenty Irish Mustard, Pickle & Pepperoncini, Fresh Jalapeno, Lemon, & Cilantro, Lettuce, Tomato, & Onion with Roast Garlic & Red Pepper Sauces on a Po’ Boy Roll.’ Maya went traditional, and had a tuna salad sandwich. She wasn’t as impressed as Ted and I were. I think she liked it OK, but she’s loyal to Morucci’s sandwiches, closer to home. I’ll be diplomatic, and say that if you’re in the Walnut Creek/Lafayette area (aka, the wrong side of the tunnel), go to Morucci’s, but if you’re anywhere near Sausalito, go to Davey Jones Deli. It was pricey, sandwiches were $12 or $13 each, maybe a bit more. Three sandwiches, three drinks, one small bag of chips, $42. But you could taste the quality, so I felt like it was money well spent.

Then we moved on to Muir Woods, which was packed with people. Tourists galore. We heard people speaking Italian, German, French, Hindi, and English in many accents, Southern, South African, British. I could have done without the crowds, but the trees are beautiful. It’s such a peaceful, beautiful place. The coastal valleys of California used to be populated with these old growth redwoods, but most of them were cleared for the wood, and for houses. Luckily, people were thinking ahead a bit, and saved this beautiful place. After hiking for a couple of hours, we made our way back to the car for the ride home.

Once we got home, Ted and I wanted to go out to a celebratory Anniversary dinner. Maya didn’t really want to go, which was fine with all of us. It was nice to spend family time together, and then have couple time together in the evening. So I made her a grilled cheese sandwich and some fruit for dinner, then Ted and I went out to one of our favorite local spots, Chevalier. Our favorite part of our honeymoon was in Paris, so we often try to have French food for our anniversary. I went all cheese, with a cheese plate appetizer and stuffed squash blossoms for my entree, which was delicious, but I don’t think I’d do all cheese again. Pretty rich stuff. The squash blossoms are something I’ve seen made on TV a few times, and had vowed to try if I ever saw it on a menu. These were stuffed with goat cheese, and very yummy. Ted started with a salad, and then moved on to a skirt steak. He really enjoyed it. It was a lovely anniversary.

On a more somber note, I went to Stockton that Saturday. I have a friend, Helene, whose lovely 18 year old daughter, Bronte, passed away from complications of Cerebral Palsy and Pneumonia. Helene and I are not close friends, we have not kept in touch over the years, I had never met Bronte, but when I heard of her loss, I wanted to be there for her. I came away wishing that I had met her. Everyone who met her talked about her wonderful, joyous spirit. She will be greatly missed by many people. Mostly, of course, her broken hearted parents. I cannot imagine anything worse.

Also while in Stockton, I stopped to see my Grandma, who hasn’t been feeling well as of late. I was dismayed and shocked to see that she has lost quite a bit of weight. She’s always been a tiny woman, so she didn’t have anything to lose. She looks to weigh about 90 lbs, she’s weak and tired. She needs to eat more, to give herself the strength the get better. She has no appetite. She eats two or three bites, and loses interest. Why does it seem to always come down to food? With my mom, who couldn’t eat, and lost 60 lbs in her last few months. She had the weight to lose, but you can’t really live on your fat, your body needs nutrition. With Genevieve, who didn’t eat much, who had to be coaxed. It’s so stressful. So now the thing is to try to get my Grandma eating, hopefully nutritious foods with lots of calories, but which won’t upset her stomach. The other thing to do, which is amazingly difficult, is to try to accept that perhaps this is the beginning of her decline, and that she may not be with us forever. I don’t want to accept that in the least. I love her so much. She means the world to me. But she’s suffering right now, and I don’t want that, either. Sigh. I feel worried. Last night my dreams were of ideas for fattening foods that I might get her to eat. Not very restful.

What else…we saw another really good movie a few weeks ago, Safety Not Guaranteed. It’s about a magazine intern who’s covering a story for her magazine; a man has put an add in the paper, that he’s looking for someone to time travel with him. Safety not guaranteed. So she pretends to be interested in his theories of time travel, and to be willing to go back in time with him, in order to root out the story. Quirky and wonderful, and ultimately quite touching.

Maya has finally gotten Ted and me hooked on Game of Thrones. She’s been trying for awhile. We don’t get HBO, but for some reason it’s working on OnDemand right now. I have no idea why, but we’re enjoying it. We just finished Season 1 last night. Wowee.

Maya took her first AP class this year, AP European History. She got her test results on Friday, and she got a 5! Wow, amazing stuff. The scale is 1 – 5, and many colleges give credit if you get a 3 or above. She was hoping for a 3. Nicely done. She’s also doing swim team this summer, in a very casual, rec-team sort of way, which means she goes to practice every day, but only goes to the meets that she feels like attending. Fine with us. She has already shaved 6 or 7 seconds off of her time from the beginning of the season. She came to the sport late, starting last year at the age of 15, when you swim 100 meters, and most of the kids had been swimming for at least 5 or 6 years, some more.

Ted’s still looking for work. I’m enjoying having him around the house. He’s sleeping well and getting a lot of time in following his favorite hobby, road biking. Nothing like free time to let you improve your health and bike condition, huh? Unemployment isn’t so bad, really, except for the lack of a paycheck. So he’s keeping his contacts and applies for a variety of things. There are a couple of possibilities out there. Keep your fingers crossed for something GOOD to come along very soon.

Sorry for ignoring you, my beloved blog. I really do love you, but I feel like so many of my bloggy friends aren’t blogging anymore, and if they are, they don’t come here…and if they do, they don’t leave me a comment, so I don’t know that they stopped by. I have a handful of readers I can depend upon, and I’m thankful for those friendships. I call them friendships, because I have a feeling that if we were to meet in person, we’d like each other, and at least mostly get each other’s sense of humor, that kind of thing. That’s important stuff, really.

So, what’s new? Well, I saw a funny/sweet feature on the internet, ‘ask a grown man’, where tween/teen girls write advice column questions in to famous actors, and the actors answer. It’s funny because the idea is so strange. It’s sweet, because (at least the interviews I saw), the actors took it seriously enough to give the girls actual advice. Look beyond cool. Don’t rush sex. It’s OK that girls fart too. Wear what you want, not what you think maybe guys want you to wear. That’s all good advice, the kind of stuff that can help a girl become more confident in herself. Here’s one with Jon Hamm, looking a lot like my friend’s ex-husband here…

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkIPwx7_6Vg[/youtube]

What else…well, I was rear-ended in a fender bender (fender scratcher?) last week. I went to Baskin Robbins to get ice cream for Ted’s birthday, and on the way home, a young woman ran into me. She was 21, it was slippery and wet out there, and her tires were fairly bald. Perhaps her brakes were as well. My first reaction was “OH CRAP”, because I banged up my poor Camry just last year, and my insurance went up because of it, and really, it’s no fun to be hit when you’re stopped at a stop light. But when I got out of the car, and saw her young, 21 year old face, it reminded me of the time I rear-ended someone at that very same age. Maybe I was 20, but close. I remember being scared of telling my mom, of wondering what would happen, all of that. So I told her that. I told her, ‘that’s what insurance is for’. I told her, ‘the damage isn’t bad’ (and it wasn’t). I told her, ‘the most important thing is, we’re both OK.’ Just a few blocks down on this same road, a man and his daughter were killed by a young man who was speeding and driving recklessly, just before Easter. So both of us being OK felt like a really important thing, something to remind her of. (Of which to remind her? Something that was important to say? I know what’s right. I just don’t always like it.)

The biggest news around here is that Ted was laid-off from his job on Monday. They usually do these things on Fridays, to give the office employees time to process and recover. But Ted was home celebrating his birthday on Friday, so they kindly waited until Monday to get rid of him. Nice timing. Last time he was laid off by the same company, it was the week before my mom died. They have a talent that way. Anyway, we’re not too sad about it. The job wasn’t the best fit for his skills, and hopefully, he’ll find something better that pays more and is more stable very SOON. Please send best wishes his way.

Which leads to painful financial decisions around the house. Like cable TV (not gone, but greatly reduced…goodbye HBO…), newspapers and magazine subscriptions (I really like reading the funnies with breakfast, but at $10 a week, it’s kind of stupid), that kind of stuff. We’ll be OK, if we’re careful. At least while he has unemployment, and I’m guessing he’ll get a much better job way before that runs out.

Oh, I almost forgot…Obama decided to Shit or Get Off the Pot, and said he’s for same sex marriage! FINALLY! YAY! I know, it’s a long time coming, and I don’t see why it had to take this long for someone to decide that we all deserve equal rights. But I also know that a lot of religions have serious issues with it, and that politically, it’s a difficult issue. I think of it like slavery, where people KNEW it was morally reprehensible, and yet, it took many many decades before they truly stood up for what was right.

Does anyone else slip up and call their iPod their ‘walkman’? I keep doing that. I know, I’m old. What with being the kind old lady the 21 year old rear-ended and all, I’m almost ready for AARP.

Did you see the woman who sued Nutalla about their product, saying that she believed the commercial, and that it was a healthy breakfast? Come on. I love chocolate as much as the next person, (OK, not really…I’m more of a salty/savory person, with the occasional chocolate) but I know that a breakfast full of sugar isn’t going to prepare your kids to face the day. Don’t you think any reasonable person could figure that out for themselves? Sugar tends to give you a bunch of energy right off, but then it drops you like a hot potato, and you crash. I’ve got some Nutella in my cupboard, actually, but I think of it as a dessert item, NOT a breakfast item. Same for Lucky Charms or Froot Loops. Unless you’re on vacation, and then, what the hell. Who cares if your sugar rush drops you, right?

Work is busy. My coworker was laid off on Monday. Ugh. And I get to do her work, for no more money. Same as it ever was, really. Wait, I don’t talk about work here. I forgot.

Still missing my mom. Mother’s Day is coming. Sigh. It’s a bit easier every year, but not fabulous. Mom’s birthday was a few weeks ago, too, and I was thinking of how lovely it would be to take her for a pedicure and lunch, but of course, I can’t. Sigh.

Still missing my dog. I’d love to see her run up and down the path and maybe spin around a few times, then come plop down in front of me with a big goofy smile on her face. I’d even be OK with (though not thrilled) her farting her smelly farts, right about now.

In true springtime fashion, the weather doesn’t know what it wants to do with itself lately. Warm (almost hot…ok, hot) some days, chilly the next. Then again, around here, that could be almost any time of year. At least it’s light later in the evening. I’m thinking of starting up swimming again soon. I love swimming, but it’s so hard to be motivated when it’s cold outside.

Glad it’s Friday. Work has actually been fine, aside from trying learn new stuff without training. The weather is mostly cool enough at night so I can sleep well without the A/C. We’re relaxed and easing into new routine. Maya has her AP Euro test today. This is her first AP class, she’s only a sophomore. Next year she has 2 AP and an honors. Exhausting, I’m sure.

Have a groovy weekend. Go to Mars if you feel like it.

(Lovely painting of our local mountain, Mt. Diablo, by Mary Lou Correia, found here)

The weather here in Sunny California has been, well, mostly Bright and Sunny, so I’ve been taking a lot of walks. Often I walk along the bike trail to the grocery store, pick up a few things, and walk home. It’s 3 or 4 miles round trip, I think. One thing I’ve noticed on the trail is little plastic bags full of dog poop. At least, I ASSUME that’s what they’re full of….I don’t open them and check. But they’re the little bags that are dispensed periodically along the trail, often next to a garbage can, encouraging people to clean up after their dogs. So my question is, why in the hell would you leave a bag of dog poop on the side of the trail? Who do you think is going to clean that up? Why are you such an inconsiderate pig? Grrr.

The Republican primaries are interesting, no? At this point we’ve had Gingrich win a few, Romney win a few, and Santorum win a few. It’s worse than the Obama/Clinton primaries in ’08. I wonder how long it will take for them to decide? And as a liberal Democrat, I felt like when we were choosing between Clinton and Obama, we had two pretty decent choices. They’re both pretty darned moderate, and neither as left leaning as I would prefer, but at least they seemed like they would know what they’re doing. I wonder how Republicans feel about their options this year? I heard a Republican comedian, PJ O’Rourke, say something akin to, ‘all of the good Varsity team were out sick when the draft was going on, so now we’re stuck with these bozos’. I don’t know if that’s a common feeling in the party, or if my Republican friends might feel like they could get behind and support whomever comes out the winner. And if so, is it just to beat Obama, or is it because you really like their policies? If it’s just to beat Obama, I can sympathize. Because while I genuinely liked Obama and Clinton in ’08, I think I would have voted for just about ANYONE before letting Bush have another term. (I do know that Bush wasn’t up for another term…I’m just saying that I hated having him as a President THAT MUCH).

Genevieve has a UTI, and the anti-biotics that the vet gave her made her so nauseous that she threw up and wouldn’t eat. So now guess who learned to give her a shot of anti-biotics? That’s right, I did! YAY me! It was actually kind of interesting and very easy.

Do you ever miss your college days, or wish you had gone? Did you know that you can download lectures on iTunes U? I didn’t, until Ted told me about a really great class he was listening to on The Civil War. If you’re at all so inclined, it’s under ‘Open Yale Courses’, and the class is titled ‘The Civil War and Reconstruction Era, 1845-1877′, taught by Professor David Blight. It’s fascinating, and the professor is made for audio. He doesn’t um and ah, and he has a great radio voice. I’ve learned a lot in the class, though surely not as much as if I were reading along with the student, and taking notes in class. But it’s well worth your time if you find yourself in the car looking for a good diversion, and maybe want to learn something. Ted downloaded it, so I’m not sure how you go about doing that part. He’s tried a few other classes that he didn’t think were worthwhile, but this one is a keeper.

Guess what I did the other night while my curried shrimp sauce was simmering on the stove? I organized my spices. I cleaned that stupid cupboard out, and threw away the things that I never use, like seasoned salt, allspice, pumpkin pie spice. Also, we had a ton of duplicates, so I looked at those and tried to figure them out. Keep both? Toss one? Combine? I know, it’s not amazing or anything, but it made me happy to think that I might actually be able to find something when I want it. My mother (who always had her spices alphabetized and would have been HORRIFIED at the state of my spice cupboard) would be proud.

Looking for something to watch on DVD, aka, Netflix? Ted and I got completely hooked on ‘Gavin & Stacey‘ a couple of years ago. LOVED it. So darned charming, so darned funny. But only Season 1 was available at the time, so I put Season 2 in our queue, and forgot about it. Then at some point our queue got empty, and so I cancelled the disc service, and forgot about poor G & S. Well, this last December, Maya decided she wanted to watch a DVD that they saw in her European History class, and the only place we could find it was Netflix. So we turned the disc feature back on, which encouraged me to look at our queue, which encouraged me bump G & S back to the top of the queue, and we got HOOKED again, and couldn’t stop ourselves. The thing about G & S is that while the ‘main characters’, Gavin and Stacey, are charming and sweet and young and lovely, their sidekicks, Smithy and Nessa (played by James Corden and Ruth Jones, who are the writers) are the real heart of the show. LOVE them. Also, Gavin’s parents are hilarious, and Stacey’s uncle is great. Really, you will love this show. You can watch season 1 on Netflix right away, and see how you feel. Seasons 2 and 3 are only on DVD. They’re honestly really worth paying for the DVD service for a month if you so desire. Netflix will let you do that. Just join and cancel whenever you want. See if you find yourself saying, “OH!” and “What’s occurrin’?”

Are you a George Clooney fan? He was on NPR’s All Things Considered yesterday. You can hear the interview, here. He has some interesting points about aging on camera for all the world to see, and being famous. And if he wants to shake your hand and say hello? Put down your stupid cell phone camera and be in the moment. Good advice in a lot of circumstances, I think (though I love my camera).

This weekend is giving blood (blech) and picking up girl scout cookies (I like the yummy lemon ones this year) and borrowing snow clothes from Maya’s cousin for a trip to Tahoe over Presidents’ Day weekend. Also? Some exercise and walks and naps and who knows what else.