Mission Hills View

Lately, my walks have taken me to this spot and this view as something of a reward. It’s one mile directly west of my house through beautiful Mission Hills. Yesterday morning was sunny and clear and the sides of the canyon were all in bloom with flowers and lush green ground cover. The view is looking west. It looks out over Highway 5 to Mission Bay and the open ocean beyond.

Jim’s Birthday Bash

Last night (Friday) I attended a party at the home of Jim, the DJ at Kicker’s, and his partner, David, to celebrate Jim’s birthday. They have a lovely home in the heart of Hillcrest with an incredible back patio that had room for a dance floor. We had Sangria and lots of delicious food and danced under the stars. With me in the photo are Allen, Marc, Terry, and Christian is in front.

Driving from Home Back to Work After Lunch

I took this video towards the end of January. I tried to up load it to Blogger at the time, but that doesn't always work. I did up load it to Facebook, which worked really well and was very fast, so the folks on FB have already seen it. And they responded very positively to it, which really surprised me since it's so rough.

One day at work they asked me to take some pictures for a proposal that was going out the next day. So for lunch I drove home to get my camera. It was such a nice day and I was having such a great time driving with the top down and enjoying the sun that I decided to see if I could capture any of it on video on the way back to the office. I raised up the headrest of my passenger seat as far as it would go and jammed the camere underneath it and just turned it on.

So imagine a warm breeze in your hair and the sun on your arms as we drive from Mission Hills through Hillcrest and Bankers Hill to Downtown. Look for the Statue of Liberty at the first stoplight.

Quote: Shakespeare

“To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,
To the last syllable of recorded time;
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player,
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.”

Shakespeare: Macbeth

I took the picture on my balcony.

The quote is one my roommate had to memorize in high school and still remembers to this day. It’s a little bit cynical, but it’s also a good reminder of everything’s relevance.

Storm Front: Book One of the Dresden Files

Storm Front by Jim Butcher

My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars
A classic PI “whodunit and I gotta find him before he does it to me” mystery with the added twist that the private investigator is a wizard and his assistant is a magical spirit that lives in a skull. A very fun, easy read. I'm looking forward to reading more in the series. The SciFi channel turned it into a really cool TV show. They made a few changes;nothing major, just polished it up a bit and tweaked it in good ways. I don't know if they're still showing, but I watched all the first season on hulu.com. I like a wizard that uses a drum stick for a wand and his staff is a magically charged hockey stick. Very fun.

Also on Hulu is a show called Secret Millionaire, where realy well-off people go undercover as destitute with only about $100 for a week. They go into blighted areas, learn what it's like to survive like that, and try to find folks they want to help. At the end of the week they go back and give away at least $100,000 of their own money. Finally, a reality TV show that does some good.

And also on Hulu I’m enjoying Journeyman; a guy keeps traveling back in time to help people. It’s inteligently written, showing the affect it has on his family and job.


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Anza-Borrego Desert with Keith

Yesterday morning Keith and I piled into his car with snacks and water and cameras and headed out to Borrego Springs and the Anza-Borrego Desert. The desert wild flowers bloom in February and March and it’s a fun day trip for some easy hiking and photo opportunities. After a few miles on the 8 we took the 79 which is all twisty 2-lane scenic roads making the 2 hour drive part of the fun.

Once there we made a quick stop at the Visitor Center to use the facilities, pick up the latest maps, and check with a guide on where flowers were blooming the most. The Visitor Center is very nice with lots of information about the area and a large area of flowers right there, but Keith had been there last year and I had seen it several years ago and we wanted to get out into the desert right away.

Back in the car we drove a couple miles east, then turned north to Desert Gardens. The last 4 miles are a very bumpy 1-lane dirt road, which is why we were in Keith’s car; mine rides too low. We were able to go past where most other people stopped and enjoyed a really nice, easy hike up into one of the canyons. After a couple hours there we drove back south, then east some more to an area covered with yellow flowers and surrounded by mountains in the distance.

Before heading home we stopped back at the Visitor Center for a last pit stop. I also bought a small book on all the different areas of the State Park. It’s huge with a lot more than can be seen on 1 trip. And I’m thinking it’d be a good one-night camping trip as well, to catch the good light around sunset and sunrise.

Kidnapped to Coronado

2 weeks ago Heriberto and Skip sent me emails about going to Tijuana for lunch, but I was unsure about what documents are now required to get back across the border into the U.S. so I suggested Julian. Several emails went back and forth, but nothing was confirmed so I figured nothing would happen that weekend and we’d get together another time. But I underestimated Skip and Heriberto.

Sunday, the 15th, I came home from church, went into my bedroom, closed the door, and laid down for a nap to make up for a poor night’s sleep. A short while later our doorbell sounded, I heard voices as my roommate let whoever it was in, and then I got a knock on my door. Going out into the living room I found Skip and Heriberto wanting to know what the plan is.

Heriberto said we’ll be like Sex and the City; four friends going out. I observed that if we’re going to be like Sex and the City, we’re going to need cuter shoes!

So I threw on a some clothes and went with Skip and Heri to Starbuck’s a block away while Keith showered and met us there shortly (former military boys clean up quick). We decided to drive downtown to the cruise ship terminal and take the ferry across the bay to Coronado and have lunch at Panera.

We piled into Heriberto’s car, which is one of those really well-designed cars that are small on the outside but have plenty of room for four big guys on the inside. Heri found great parking; we soon had our tickets and just had a short wait to board the ferry. Even though the day was cold and cloudy, it’s a fun 30 minute ride across the bay to Coronado. Skip was super hungry so as soon as we got off the boat at Coronado we boarded a bus for a faster trip to Panera.

It was a really fun excursion. Skip had a new pocket sized Canon camera, Heriberto had his big Nikon, and Keith took his new video camera so I left my camera at home. The top picture is from Skip and the other 2 are by Heriberto. You can see more of Heri's photo on his blog. Skip took more photos and also a video at the restaurant and Keith has yet to download his video, so I’ll add those as soon as I get them.

And we’re still working on the shoe thing.

Beef Stew and Annie Lennox

For the past, oh, really long time, my cooking strategy has been to purchase mostly healthy, mostly yummy frozen food from Trader Joe’s and heat it up in the microwave for dinner. This plan succeeds on several levels: It allows me to get dinner quickly when I’m tired, hungry, and/or need to get back out the door to some event. It also allows me to get in and out of the grocery store quickly. And it doesn’t take much brain power, which is typically at low levels after working all day. This strategy has failed recently, though, because I’ve become really tired of eating the same stuff all the time. It’s good, balanced, but I’m craving variety.

Therefore, I’ve decided to start actually cooking once in a while. I know the basics; ex-boyfriends and former roommates have been good for something (Mom, too). And it’ll give me a good, creative, rewarding project to take my mind off the job search.

So last night I printed out this recipe from Men’s Fitness. I thought it would be good because it gives me a chance to use the 5-quart slow cooker I got from my father a long time ago. It’s the best gift he every gave me; didn’t teach me to shave, gave me a slow cooker. Go figure!

For a soundtrack I put on the earphones and fired up my Zune to Annie Lennox’s recently released collection of greatest solo hits (plus 2 new tracks) that I found out about over at Joe.My.God. and recently downloaded. Zune’s Marketplace has gotten cheaper—most albums are $10—and easier; I’m finding most of what I’m looking for now. And being able to download music right away without having to go out searching, then housing the CD somewhere, is so nice. Did I mention I’m not much of a shopper?

This album is of the awsome! I had a great time browning the beef on the stove while cutting and chopping the other stuff and revelling in Annie Lennox’s amazing music.

Beef and Sweet-Potato Stew

A quick no-mess, one-pot dinner (there’s a little bit of mess)
by Elizabeth M. Ward
Serves 6

Ingredients:
1 pound lean boneless chuck or stew beef, cut in 1-inch cubes salt and pepper to taste
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 peeled sweet potatoes, cubed
1 cup frozen corn
1/2 cup large diced carrot chunks
2 garlic cloves, finely minced
1 dried bay leaf
1 cinnamon stick
1 large onion, cut into chunks
1 can (28 oz) tomatoes, undrained
8 dried apricots, cut in half
TO MAKE:
1. Trim fat from beef; season with salt and pepper. Heat oil in skillet over medium heat. Brown beef in the oil, stirring to brown all sides.
2. In a large slow cooker, combine beef, sweet potatoes, corn, carrots, garlic, bay leaf, cinnamon stick, onion, and tomatoes. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours, or until beef is tender.
NOTE: If you don't have a slow cooker, allow the stew to simmer on the stove over medium-high for 30 to 45 minutes or until beef is tender.
3. Add apricots.
4. Cover and cook on low 20 minutes or until apricots are soft. Chuck the bay leaf and cinnamon stick; eat.
Per Serving: 249 calories, 18 g protein, 33 g carbs, 6 g fat

Ater browning the beef and adding it to the pot I looked at all this crusty stuff left in the frying pan and I thought: “I don’t want to wash that down the drain.” So I grabbed an open bottle of chianti of my roommate’s, splashed some in and put it back over the heat. While the wine heated up and started to simmer I used the spatula to scrape up the yummy crusty bits and then poured it into the pot over the other stuff.

This morning I took the pot out of the frig, put it in the cooking base, and watched it heat up all day. Tonight Keith and I gave it a try and we’re both still alive as of 9pm. The recipe is good as it is, although I really love cooked carrots so I’m going to double that next time. And I’m going to double the ground beef, as well, to kick up the protein a little bit; there’s plenty of the other ingredients still to balance it.

Old News

Friday, January 30th, was my last day at AVRP and I joined the ranks of the unemployed. Due to the economy and lack of new projects coming in they just couldn't support as many admininistrative people. We'd lost staff slowly for several months prior and a few more have had to be let go since. Everyone has been super nice and supportive. We'd really worked hard to create a supportive work environment and had become quite the well-oiled team. We’re all hoping the economy turns around quickly so we can all get back to working with each other.

These pictures are from Pizza Nova in Hillcrest where they took me to lunch to say good-bye. I’m normally uncomfortable being the center of attention but I really appreciate how nice they were to do it. We had a great time and I so miss seeing all of these terrific people everyday.

And, by the way, Jackie and David D. joined me for the short drive from the office downtown to the restaurant and we had a great time cruising along with the top down on one of San Diego's spectacular, warm, clearer-than-usual days. Driving down Banker’s Hill on the way back to the office we could clearly see all the way to San Diego Bay, the Coronado Bridge, the Silver Strand, and beyond that the open ocean.

I think working for AVRP was my favorite job so far. Even though it's a big architect firm it’s the smallest company I’ve worked at and I really appreciated being more than a set of numbers in a managers folder. It was very rewarding to work at a place that has high standards and works hard to maintain them, but also nice to be somewhere that didn't expect you to work at a sprinters pace all day, every day. I also loved having a wide variety of things to do; if I was tired or stressed or not quite awake I could still be productive with something that didn't require as much brain power. But the best part was being part of a group of really great, talented people who did their best everyday and welcomed me into the team.

Wild Animal Park 01.10.09 with Keith and Robb

Through facebook I recently reconnected with college boyfriend, and roommate (but that’s a whole ’nother story), Robb, and his partner Greg, who I hadn't seen for nearly 20 years. They were already planning a trip to San Diego for a conference of Greg’s so we made arrangements to get together.

Friday, after work, I met them at Top of the Park to get reacquainted. We had a great time bringing each other up-to-date on our lives, meeting friends, and enjoying the views of the city. Eventually we walked across the street to Jimmy Carters for Chicken Mole.

Saturday morning, after Greg went to his conference, my roommate, Keith, and I picked up Robb and went to the Wild Animal Park. It was a perfect day for it; warm but not hot and incredibly clear, Santa Ana winds having blown any hint of haze back out to sea.

About 1 o’clock we left the Park and headed across the wilds of North County to meet Robb’s oldest brother, Rodney, and his wife, Joy, for fish tacos in La Costa. Later that evening, after dinner at The Prado, Greg and Robb dropped by Kickers to watch the line dancing and Robb joined me for a 2-step.

Mom’s not doing so well.

This photo of my mother was taken, I think, in 1995. I know it was shortly after her 60th birthday. It’s a glamour shot, where she got all made up with fancy clothes and jewelry and the photographer took extra time to get flattering shots. She got a lot of different pictures from this; I just wasn't thinking fast enough when I was at her house with her over Christmas to have her get them out.

I know looks are mostly a matter of genetics and not smoking, but I can’t help but think that someone this beautiful in her 6th decade is doing something right on the inside as well. Of course, I’m not prejudiced at all.

At the end of this past summer a cancerous tumor was found in her brain. The doctors said the average survival time from this diagnosis is one year.

I haven't written about it on Blogger before because when she was well my mother read this blog and I didn't want to make her feel worse than she already does. I wrote a couple notes in facebook and my friends there have been incredibly supportive. Thanks, guys!

Right after her diagnosis she had surgery to remove the tumor. Shortly after that she had some radiation and very mild chemotherapy to further treat the cancer. The plan was for her to recover from all of that and then enjoy herself until the cancer returns. Unfortunately, she's never recovered from the radiation and chemo. Ever since November she's been in a nursing home because she's been too weak to take care of herself. All of her blood counts are really low. Every 1 or 2 weeks she gets to feeling really bad, ends up in the hospital where they give her transfusions, and then she's back in the nursing home.

For Christmas, SKEA and I got to DRL’s house in Peoria very early Chrstmas Day. That afternoon we drove to Bloomington and took Mom to her house to open presents and have Christmas Dinner. We had a nice time and Mom seemed to do well, until about 7pm when she was very tired and asked to be taken back to the nursing home.

The next day, Friday, we picked Mom up again and this time we all went to Borders bookstore. I had sort of bailed on being creative with presents and just got everyone gift cards. But they were all great sports. Becky printed out online coupons for everyone and we had a nice time picking out books and music and sharing what we got. Then we went back to Mom’s house for left overs and games.

Saturday afternoon we picked Mom up from the nursing home and we all went to see The Tale of Despereaux. A fun movie, although we couldn't figure out why a land dominated by soup was called the Land of Door. After the movie we all went to Famous Dave’s for barbecue. It’s a fun place and one of Mom’s favorites. We were gratified to get Mom to eat more in one sitting that she had up until that point.

Sunday the plan was for SKEA and I to get an early start from Peoria and drive back to Kansas City. But Mom hasn't felt up to going to Church since this all started and mentioned a couple of times missing it and the new Pastor, who she liked a lot. So early in the morning we all got up, dressed and packed, to pick up Mom in time for Church. DRL stayed home to a well-deserved day of rest, and SKEA and I headed to Bloomington. She was really happy to go to church and everyone there was surprised and very happy to see her. After church we went to Panera, another of her favorites, and she ate her entire half-sandwich and cup of soup, which amazed us all.

Although it tired her out and her knee was really bothering her Sunday morning, she seemed to do well getting out everyday. She liked all the attention and enjoyed going out to eat. So I’m feeling a little guilty about not being back there to take her out to eat more often.

This morning I got an update from my brother, Dan (who’s doing an amazing job of taking care of her):

“ Mom went into the ER New Years eve, in a lot of pain from her right knee, which was very swollen. (The ER on New Year's eve is VERY interesting!!) They drained the knee, but also found she had a urinary tract infection, and her blood levels were low. They did admit her for transfusions, and also found she had a staph infection. They are going to keep her in the hospital over the weekend, and probably send her back to the nursing home on Monday.”

I’ll be flying back to the midwest sometime in the spring to see her again, possibly for my niece’s high school graduation.

In 1995 I was doing customer service work in an office of mostly women in their 30s, 40s, and 50s. They all had glamour shots done and had a lot of fun bringing in all their pictures and talking about it. When I brought in the pictures of my mom, they put all of theirs away.

Defiance

Defiance: The Bielski Partisans by Nechama Tec

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
Defiance is a historical, well researched through interviews and documents, account of how Polish Jews attempted to survive WWII by escaping into the dense Belorussian forests. Specifically the book tells the story of the creation and survival of a group led by Jewish Tuvia Bielski that grew to over 1200 Jews by the war’s end that not only had to avoid, and sometimes battle the Nazis, but also Polish and Russian anti-Semitism. It’s an amazing, harrowing tribute to the will to survive against unspeakable evil.


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Life After Death: The Burden of Proof

Life After Death: The Burden of Proof by Deepak Chopra

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
A thought provoking, fascinating book. Deepak Chopra pulls insights from all the world's spiritual traditions and life-after-death experiences. I like his general assertion that the world of spirit isn't somewhere else, but right here, in the same space we inhabit; it just vibrates at a higher frequency that we usually can’t see, much like radio waves coursing through the air that we don’t detect. I also like his general conclusion; that after death what the souls sees and experiences is largely what it expects to see and experience. Beyond that, of course, it’s impossible to know.

The last section of the book is a description of what we currently know through quantum physics. That he does this in a very easy to understand way, without any technical jargon, is masterful writing. As we discover and study smaller and smaller particles and try to understand how they behave, his conclusion is that the overall course of the universe seems to be guided.


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Ghost of Christmas Past

Like other bloggers, while visiting Mom's house for the holidays I scanned some old photos on her computer and emailed them to myself.

This is me, 1967, our first winter in the house on Graham Street, I think. But it may not necessarily be from around Christmas time so I'm using artistic license with the title. Those are my two older brothers peeking out from underneath. That mulberry tree sat at the back of our backyard and had a tire swing that was the center of summertime activity for the neighborhood. There was an alley just behind me and that's our neighbor's house in the background.

I remember that coat as a favorite. We didn't usually get so much snow but I always liked it when we did. Dad would often take us sledding on the big hill at the golf course on the south end of town or ice skating on frozen lakes.

Christmas 2008

Airfare from San Diego, through Denver, to Kansas City: $464.00

Travel time from Kansas City to Peoria by minivan: 6 hours.

Helping my brother chip ice off sidewalks and driveways while my niece and nephew try out her new sled and enjoying the smell of wood fires: priceless.

Obama: “Fags Under the Bus.”

Before the campaign started, before the primaries and everything, I thought that Bill Clinton had acted like a bad boyfriend to gay people, giving us two bad black eyes with the Defense of Marriage Act and Don't Ask, Don't Tell. And I was afraid the next Democratic Preident would turn out to be just as bad; saying just enough to get our votes and money and then turning on us when push came to shove. Imagine my horror when the current President-Elect didn't even wait until he was in office, didn't wait until sacrificing the homosexuals was the best compromise, as Clinton claimed with DOMA and DADT. No. Obama has decided to “reach across the aisle” and give a national stage to one of the most vocal of homophobes, this just after the passing of Propoition 8 left us more vulnerable than ever. And his gesture has been like a big green light to other homophobic Democrats to proceed with their anti-civil rights agenda. Even before taking office Obama has back-handed us across the face to add a big bruise to our two black eyes.

And we're expected to go crawling back to him because he's so much better than Republicans on gay rights? Forget it! I'm shedding my internal homophobia. I'm no longer begging for the approval of Mommie and Daddy Dearest in the form of Hillary and Barack and whoever else is supposed to be looking out for my best interest. In 2012 my vote and my support will be for the most viable third party candidate out there. I hope that enough people do the same to siphon off any margin of victory for the Democrats. The country has not done well under the Reagan/Bush era, but it hasn't come completely apart. Hopefully they'll get scared enough to do more than pay enough lip service to get our vote; they'll actually come to us and beg for our support and protect our rights as they're constitutionally bound to do.

No longer will I vote for someone who has, as my roommate said, “thrown us under the bus as soon as they need some traction.”

In 2012 I'm walking.