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Thursday 13
Trying to think of a quick blog post for today, before I run out the door. 🙂 So here it is, 13 Things I did (or shall do) on my Summer Vacation. Graphic from the ‘official’ Thursday 13 page. Getting my hair done today. Took Maya to the airport yesterday for her first solo flight…to L.A. to visit her cousin. I hope she has a GREAT time. Went to visit Cherry and her new baby, Jacob, and her old baby (2 year old) Elizabeth. They live near the airport, so that was a two-fer. Mailed some packages I didn’t have time to mail before now. Did some work. Not much,…
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Provencal Tuna Melt
I saw this recipe on Yahoo Shine a few weeks ago, and I was compelled to try it. (They got the recipe here, which is also where I got the drool worthy photo.) It just seemed like the perfect meal for a hot summer day, when you don’t want anything too heavy, and you don’t want to heat up your house. You do use the broiler, but for such a short time, it doesn’t heat the kitchen up very much. Provençal Tuna Melt Serves 2 1 6-ounce can tuna packed in olive oil* 1/4 of a red bell pepper, 1/4″ dice Green parts of 2 scallions, 1/4″ dice 2 teaspoons…
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Canada
First, I’ll tell about the robbery our parents committed. Then about the murders, which happened later. The robbery is the more important part, since it served to set my and my sister’s lives on the courses they eventually followed. Nothing would make complete sense without that being told first. Our parents were the least likely two people in the world to rob a bank. They weren’t strange people, not obviously criminals. No one would’ve though they were destined to end up the way they did. They were just regular – although, of course, that kind of thinking became null and void the moment they did rob a bank. Richard Ford…
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Monday Meme
As you know, I’m trying to blog every day this week, while I’m on vacation, to see how it feels to be more active in the blogging community again. I’m also trying to spend a bit more time reading blogs, and seeing how that feels again. Thus far, I’m enjoying it. It’s kind of like the first time you jump in a swimming pool after a long cold winter, and you think, “Oh yeah, I KNEW I liked this…I wonder why I stopped?” This is a meme I saw over at Simon Says. Simon is another blogger that I’ve met in person…he and his lovely wife Paola and their three…
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My Hometown
Whilst dining with Heidi yesterday, she asked me about Walnut Creek, where I live now. I said, “Well, it’s bland (aka, mostly white), and if you want to live in the suburbs, you have to choose between the yuppies and the rednecks…so we chose the yuppies.” Driving home afterward, I started thinking that maybe I wasn’t being quite fair. I don’t think of Walnut Creek as my home town, because I came here as an adult, when I was 30. But I moved a lot as a child, and really, I’ve lived here longer than anywhere else. I lived in Fairbanks for 5 years. I lived in Stockton for 11…
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Bloggy Friendships
There are different relationships in blogging. There are people whose goal it is to get as many comments as they can get (and there’s a hint of that desire in all of us, I suspect), so they go out and leave tons of comments everywhere. They do Wordless Wednesday and Book Reviews and all sorts of things where you leave your link so others can find you, and hopefully leave a comment. There is nothing wrong with this kind of blogging. I’ve participated in Wordless Wednesday and Book Review blogs myself, and really enjoyed it. But for me, that’s not where the lasting relationships, the real online friendships, are born.…
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Friday Randomness
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…
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Monday Randomness
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,…
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Ray of Sunshine meme
I haven’t done a meme in a long time. Perhaps years. I found this one at The Spectacled Bean. 🙂 The rules are as follows: 1. Thank the person who gave me this award; 2. Answer the questions below – its all about favorite things; 3. Pass on the award to other sunshine-y bloggers and tell them about it. 1. The Thank You Thank you Ally Bean for this one. I’ve been following her blogs for years now. She has a lot of common sense, combined with a whimsical and caring heart. A wonderful combination in a person…I wish we could meet in real life, over iced tea or a…
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Moonrise Kingdom
Sam Shakusky (Jared Gilman) and Suzy Bishop (Kara Hayward), are in love, and will move heaven and earth to be together. The fact that they’re only 12 makes the logistics a little difficult, but not horribly. Suzy lives on a fictional New England island, with her parents (Frances McDormand and Bill Murray) and siblings. Sam comes to the island every summer with his scout troop. They fell in love at first sight, and planned a getaway via mail, so they could get to know each other better. I don’t want to tell you more than that about the plot of the film, because I really liked not knowing anything going…
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Cherry Tomato & Bread Gratin
This Sunday’s Chronicle had an article about ‘you pick’ farms in our area, highlighting the wonderful fresh produce and excellent prices to be had by picking your own fruits and vegetables. It also included recipes from the farmers that highlight their offerings. There was a delicious looking recipe for a hot tomato and bread salad. They had me at the word tomato, but add a baguette, some basil, garlic, olive oil, and Parmesan, and I’m in love. Happily, Monday, the weather decided to cool down enough (It was 103 (or 108 if you believe the newspaper, which I don’t) on Saturday, and 90 on Sunday….only 74 on Monday) to let…
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The Dud Avocado
“I mean I can’t cook.” “You can’t cook…why, good Lord, Sally Jay, I thought every girl knew how to cook.” He looked at me, his little Floradora Girl, and gave me a wry sort of some-women-are-made-for-only-one-thing smile. Then he shook his head hopelessly. “Marion de Wald cooks,” he said grimly. “She does all the cooking and looks after two kids as well.” I tried to remember one minute that whole week end when Marion and I weren’t either feeding people, or cleaning up from doing it, or preparing to do it again. And presumably she never stopped doing it. But I couldn’t quite see why just because she did, I…
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Homemade Chocolate Cake with Nutella Frosting
For Maya’s 16th birthday back in March, she wanted to hang out with her friends. We have a tiny tiny living room, and we wanted her birthday to be special, so we decided to rent rooms at a nearby hotel. We got the girls a suite, and we had the adjoining room next door. I decided to go against my prior training (which is open box of mix, follow directions) and make a homemade birthday cake. I was inspired by Mel, who is friend with my real-life friend Stacey, and has a blog called Cupcake Friday Project. One cake that caught my eye was a chocolate cupcake with Nutella frosting.…
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Happy Mother’s Day!
Here we are on Mother’s Day, Philadelphia, 1996. It was a humid day, and Maya didn’t like humidity. Good thing we moved back to California, huh? I look so young. That was 16 years ago, so I was 30. Look how dark my hair is! That’s the color of my dad’s hair, actually…his was blonde when he was a boy, and got darker as he got older, just like me. Unlike me, he didn’t care, and let it stay dark. I didn’t want to dye my hair whilst pregnant, so I had it colored my natural color before I got pregnant. Or close. But then I went red for maybe…
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Friday Randomness
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…