Friday morning, and instead of exercising like I should, I’ll write a post. Good thinking, right? So, what’s up in the world of J and her family, and the world at large? Genevieve is still blind. Not that that’s going to change. We still don’t know if she has Cushing’s or not, and if she turns out to have it, we’re not sure what we want to do about it. Blech. Last Saturday was Diwali, and after a day in the City that included a trip to the Conservatory of Flowers and some yummy crab melts, we put on our salwar kameez and went out to have a lovely puja…

(photos from SF Gate, except where noted) That I stopped enjoying earthquakes. Before October 17, 1989, I thought earthquakes were mostly fun. The surprise of it all. The wondering if it might get worse, which it never did, so there’s that danger that’s not really dangerous feeling in your stomach. The feeling that for at least one brief moment, everyone in the area is thinking the same thing at the same time. Turn on the radio, and suddenly instead of baseball or politics or celebrity gossip, everyone is talking about the earthquake, trying to figure out how big it was, etc. It’s kinda cool. (San Francisco Oakland Bay Bridge) But…

By not watching TV during the day time. Or being near a computer. Thursday is my day to deliver meals for Meals-on-Wheels, and this week I was training a new person, so I didn’t hear the story of the boy being aloft in his family’s homemade hot air balloon until it was well under way. The last house on my route, the woman asked me in to watch, and there was the balloon, at about 1,300 feet. Colorado had a lot of snow over the last week or so, so I’m guessing that high up would be really, really cold. I don’t know about oxygen. My heart sank for that…

(picture found here) Happy Thanksgiving to my Canadian friends and family!  I say family, because Canada clarified their regulations recently, so that all you have to do to prove your citizenship is to show your birth certificate, that you were born in Canada.  Which Ted was.  Yay Canada!  So tonight, for dinner, I’m thinking Stuffed Turkey Rolls, yams, cranberry sauce, and salad.  Fun, huh? Maya has the day off of school today, for Columbus Day.  I have the day off of work for the same reason.  Poor Ted, the Canadian in the crowd, has to work.  Not fair, really.  It’s a good thing that Maya has the day off, though,…

(picture found here…wish I had at least been jumping…) So I fell off a horse last Saturday morning.  (Stupid horse…)  It wasn’t anything dramatic or crazy, like being bucked off or doing dangerous jumps, or riding a crazy horse or anything.  Just him zigging and me zagging and me not holding on like I should have, so I lost my balance and fell.  Damn, that really hurt.  REALLY. HURT. For the record, I didn’t feel like anything was broken, so I got back on the horse, and showed him who was boss.  Made him walk backwards and in the direction he didn’t like.  Not sure it helped.  Helped my pride…

(I couldn’t resist this little kitten…remember those stupid posters that said, ‘hang in there baby’. HA! Anyway, picture found here.) My bloggy friend Michelle wrote a lovely post yesterday about things that she has learned after her husband was laid off from his job 6 weeks ago. One of the things she mentioned learning was that now she knows what to say to people when they are going through something similar. She’s always been caring and concerned, but now she really *gets* it, you know? The worries and fears and shame that so often go along with such a thing. That struck me, because since losing my mom, I also…

Photo from SFGate.com. We awoke early this morning to a rare event in Northern California…a thunder and lightning storm!  Our summer weather usually consists of some hot days, and some days when the coastal fog comes in far enough to cool us off.  This is what happens when you have some of each…reminds me of the storms we used to have in Philly.  We lived on the 16th floor of an apartment building, which was the only tall building around, so our view was a canopy of tree tops, and we could see quite far.  It was fun to watch the lightning from up high. It was 100 degrees yesterday,…

I wonder how many years will go by before we can hear the words, “September 11th” without it taking us back to that horrible day.  How long before we forget the tragedy of those who died that day, those who were badly injured, those who continue to carry the harm of that day around inside of them. How long before we forget the sight of people jumping to their deaths from the top of the towers.  Before we forget the gut wrenching signs all over Manhattan, of people missing, while their families hoped against hope that they might have somehow survived. How long before we forget the fear and anger…

I paid $10 for pasta sauce the other day.  I know, I must be insane, right?  It all started at the orthodontist’s office (as so many torrid tales are wont to do), where I sat reading an issue of Cooking Light while various sadists tortured my lovely daughter.  The magazine had a delicious looking recipe for Chicken Parmesan, as well as a taste test of several different pasta sauces.  Just a month or so ago, I saw a taste test of pasta sauces on America’s Test Kitchen, but unfortunately, I don’t think that the winner of that contest and the winner of this contest were both included in either taste…

(photo found here) I spied a single flip flop in the road this morning, the kind of thing which makes me wonder…where’s the other one? Is the person missing their shoe? Or were they trying to throw them both away, and just dropped one? Who knows. But it reminded me of a story from my miss-spent youth. When I was 22 or so, living in San Francisco, in a lovely flat on Fulton Street, I came home from work one night to find a young woman asleep on our doorstep. I was worried about her, but not worried enough to call the police. (Perhaps that would have been the smart…

Really? Is this all I have left in me, blogging wise? Random updates on my life, music videos, and the occasional recipe or book review? Yes? OK, whatever. Sorry if you came here looking for a wonder eulegy of Ted Kennedy, or more debate on the Heath Care issue. Let’s get to the randomness, k? Awhile ago, I read a book called “Why Do I Love These People“, by author Po Bronson. He has a new book out soon titled “Nurture Shock“, in which he talks about how parents’ constant praise of their children hampers them, hampers their school performance, and makes them decode your words and pretty much see…