an attitude of gratitude

When you look at the image to the left, what do you think?
Gosh, my drink is nearly gone or I'm so glad I still have so much left?
It's the eternal question, glass half filled or glass half empty.

Why am I puzzling over this today?
Two things happened to make me ponder this.
I was at an all day meeting today and spent some time with someone I have known professionally for over 20 years. Since we have such a long history and know each other personally as well it was nice to catch up on how the families are doing. Later in the discussion we were relating what we do (Breastfeeding advocates) to chronic conditions such as asthma. Patty says that she remembers the day that Travis (who was a long term breast feeder) was diagnosed with asthma. He was only about 4-6 months old and had recovered from a bout of RSV when his chronic cough signaled something else. Patty says she vividly remembers me coming in to work and saying that finding out your child has a chronic illness isn't great but that seeing a child in the waiting room with a devastating problem was far worse and put our issues into perspective. I was grateful that what he had was not life threatening and we would be able to deal with it. Now, 20 years later, she tells me how my optimism affected her. Wow, funny how you can affect someone without even knowing it!

On the drive home the talk show host was talking about attitudes and how some people just have the healthy outlook that prevents them from becoming mired in their perceived troubles. I hope you are one of those. I think I am. The trick I think is to be grateful for even the little things in your life. Try to avoid feeling entitled . . .that will always back fire on you. Every night before I go to sleep I spend a few minutes just reflecting on my gratitude for the things I have, family, health, etc. Try it, it's free, it won't make you fat and you just may feel better. If you aren't religious, it doesn't have to be a prayer, just a consious decision to be thankful.

I just can't wait until I can add "thank you for helping me master the flip turn"

another civics lesson

How I love the election cycle.
To put it to Christmas music I'm singing "It's the most wonderful time of the year"
hmmm that gives me an idea, I may write new lyrics for that one, anyhow . . .
our California primary is just over a week away. It actually means something this time which is super exciting but once you emotionally commit to a candidate, it's a nervous roller coaster as all the primaries (and caucuses) go on across the US.

And, though it feels like it should be just a numbers game, voting really isn't.

Some Republican primaries are "winner takes all" which means that the winner of the state primary gets to claim all the delegates from that state for the convention. The democrats like to keep it a bit more confusing and A Democratic candidate needs 2,025 delegates to secure his or her party's nomination. For the Democrats, none of the states are winner-take-all; instead candidates normally win delegates by how well they perform by congressional district in each state's primary or caucus, but again, this varies by state. This helps explain how Clinton won the Nevada caucuses, yet won fewer delegates than Obama.

Also add into the mix the concept of "Super Delegates" Immediately I imagine a super hero type person in spandex underpants. Former President Bill Clinton may play a bigger role in the nomination of the Democratic candidate for president than many people realize. The former president is a "super delegate" to the nominating convention in Denver in August. There are more than 4,000 delegates in the Democratic National Convention. Some are "pledged" delegates based on voter support in state elections. Nearly 40 percent of them are super delegates whose support is not pledged to a particular candidate.

This concept sort of bugs me, makes me feel like my vote isn't as important (which it isn't) and evidently the whole concept was put into place after George McGovern won the popular votes in the primary but went on to be handily spanked by Richard Nixon- the DNC just wants to make sure the party could avoid a mistake by voters in nominating a candidate.

okay, I probably managed to bore you, but this sort of stuff fascinates me, especially when I realize that my guy took more delegates from Nevada than did Hillary (who won the popular vote). Winning a prize, without winning the popular vote seems fair when your guy wins, and stinks when your guy doesn't ( Just ask Mr. Gore about the general election of 2000) . . .
get ready to vote!

a little update

Since it is Sunday it is the swim update day.
As of today the total for the year is . . . . drumroll please . . . 26.32 miles. Yesterday and today were both 2 mile days, which are a rarity, to be sure.
I felt however that I need some big days to give me breathing room on my goal.

Other updates:
I was going to revisit string theory (if you haven't read it, scroll down) but will wait until February 1st for that. I've decided that instead of actually cutting the yarn, I'll just make new pieces and put the old ones in a marked envelope. Every quarter or so I'll compare the current piece, to the original piece. At least, today that is my plan.

I've been very good at remaining alcohol free and continue to believe it is helping with the allergies. My dairy hiatus was short (probably about the length of a good nights sleep) I've decided that my figure issues are not "beer belly" but rather "butter bulges" and "cheese chubbies" I'll try to make a better effort, but that will have to start tomorrow as I'm making homemade pizza tonight . . . yummmmmm.

Have a spectacular week!

SAD

Don't fret, I'm referring to the acronym for seasonal affect disorder.
Is it something that affects you?

Like many people, you may develop cabin fever during the winter months. Or you may find yourself eating more or sleeping more when the temperature drops and darkness falls earlier. While those are common and normal reactions to the changing seasons, people with seasonal affective disorder (SAD) experience a much more serious reaction when summer shifts to fall and on to winter.
With seasonal affective disorder, fall's short days and long nights may trigger feelings of depression, lethargy, fatigue and other problems. Don't brush this off as simply a case of the "winter blues" that you have to tough out on your own.

I am affected slightly by SAD. Just a day or two of some sunshine during the week is all I require but lately the sunny days (or partially sunny) have fallen on work days for me and my office is a windowless cell. I arrive for work just as day begins and leave the office when the sun is setting. Consequently, a couple of weeks without sunshine starts to show.

I am reminded of when Ashley was quite little, actually immediately after Travis was born. We used to take a daily walk around the neighborhood, and to the vegetable stand 1/2 mile down the road. At the time Ashley was VERY into Rainbow Bright, so much so that she "adopted" some of Rainbows mannerisms. One of these was to look at the sun. On one of these walks I caught her squinting at the sun and asked what she was doing. Her reply, "I'm getting my energy, that is where Rainbow Bright and I get our energy" Maybe Rainbow, and by extension Ashley, were pioneers in SAD therapy!

This afternoon though, during my swim, the sun did it's level best to make an appearance. The skies were still grey and the sunlight diffuse but it was there. As my swim progressed my joy increased. Probably endorphins from exercise had something to do with it but those little slivers of light were pure bliss. I left the pool after 2 miles and 1 1/2 hours in the water- my skin wasn't sun kissed but my soul and psyche were . . . . just what I needed!

punctuation? ! - .....

I love to write, I hate to think about correct punctuation.
I'm always nervous that one of my super smart friends is going to read this blog and wonder to themselves, I really thought she was smarter than this . . . hmmmm.
So, now you know my fear.
That aside, my tendency to eschew the correct use of punctuation reminds me of one of my favorite actors. Christopher Walken is reputed to have an assistant remove all punctuation from scripts- I did some research and this is what I found
At some point, Walken developed an aversion to traditional punctuation. He's said that he would sometimes cross out punctuation marks in textbooks, and he still crosses out punctuation in his scripts today. Instead, he's explained that he reads scripts and speaks his lines with a dancer's cadence in his mind, sort of vocally "dancing" the lines. The words come out in Walken's signature style, often parodied by impressionists, to Walken's own delight.
So from now on, I'm the Christopher Walken of the blog scene.
Don't worry, I won't entirely stop using punctuation. As you know in English, punctuation is vital to disambiguate the meaning of sentences. For example, "woman, without her man, is nothing," and "woman: without her, man is nothing," have greatly different meanings, as do "eats shoots and leaves" and "eats, shoots and leaves". This in mind, if there is any ambiguity I shall clear it up with the appropriate placement of symbols, otherwise, beware of my usual dots and dashes.

Have a wonderful weekend!

insert expletive here

This should be subtitled, did that really just come out of my mouth, or is there a truck driver in here with me.

Let me explain

Today, after my swim I left the pool and started driving to the bank. There was a fairly steady mist coming down, but no real rain. I made the wrong turn onto a street which wasn't going to get me to the bank. (note here that I am also in a bit of a hurry, I need to reach the post office before it closes and I have about 30 minutes to do my banking and get to the post office). After a series of turns I was finally headed in the correct direction. To reach my destination I needed to turn right onto Ygnacio Valley Road, a fairly well travelled 6 lane road, it was 4:30 and traffic was heavy. As I waited to turn right onto Ygnacio I watched for a break in traffic as well as the lights in all directions. I noticed the lights go to yellow and knew that soon I would be able to turn, the pedestrian signal was blinking red indicating there should be no person stepping of the curb on my side . . . I creep forward just as a VERY LARGE man steps into the cross walk. Initially stunned I look at him and mouth "sorry" his reply was to give a rather nasty look, ball up a fist and strike the hood of my beloved Miata. In the blink of an eye I went from stunned to FURIOUS. Initial glances at my hood seemed to indicate that no damage had been done, regardless I rolled down the window and shouted at this person, let's say here I wasn't nice, I commented on his size, and his questionable parentage, his intelligence and . . . there was also detonation of the F bomb.

I was still shaking when I arrived at the bank minutes later and while waiting in line the man in front of me kept turning around and staring . . . the still provoked side of me wanted to yell at him and ask him what he was staring at, the calm me prevailed and I didn't pick a fight in the parking lot at Bank of the West.

A couple of hours ago I relayed this story to Kyle. As he heard it he marveled at how calm he thought I remained. His comment was that he probably would have been out of the car, chasing the guy down and then punching him. Wow, I felt a little better already. Just as we finished this discussion I went out to put recycling in the can, and when I went out I noticed that there was indeed a dent where that creep had socked my car! I hadn't noticed it before due to the mist, now there was a greasy little dent in my car! I whole new string of expletives leaped to my lips, but they didn't pass . . . I wasn't going to let this loser ruin my evening too.

Sometimes the appropriate positioning of expletives is what you need . . .

usually not, but sometimes it works.

Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

I got home from the pool about 2 1/2 hours ago and my toes are still cold. As I dressed to go swimming this evening I kept telling myself, "it will be great once you're in and moving, it will be nice, you will feel so good after . . . ."

I lied to myself. I knew it at the time, but felt guilty missing a swim.

It didn't feel great once I was in and moving, it was not nice and after the swim I am still cold. I had horrendous leg and toe cramps, the lady who shared my lane did a butterfly stroke which not only hogged most of the lane but caused wakes that made breathing in the vicinity nearly impossible.

You know what made me keep swimming, despite my near paralysis with kicking due to leg cramps that threatened drowning? It's that damn excel program that I have going to keep track of my mileage. I couldn't face putting nothing in the column for today and less than 1 1/2 miles felt like nothing. Why must I be so compulsively competitive with myself?

Well, I'm off to bed (with socks on to warm my toes). I'll read some Jane Austin (snore) and figure out what time of day tomorrow will be the warmest for a swim. 70 degree weather or warmer cannot come soon enough for me!

Let's face it, I'm much more of a manatee than a polar bear.

FYI a manatee is also known as the sea cow.

mileage update

Ashley suggested I use this forum to update my annual swim mileage. Through Sunday I am up to 18 miles for the year. Still hoping to make it to 300 by the end of December . . . stay tuned, more to come. (although after last week, the shoulder is barking) Taking the time off visiting Travis was a good idea!

travis and moms weekend of fun

I arrived Saturday afternoon to see the beautiful ocean, sunny skies and a big smile on the face of my son. It was so nice to be in the SUN, with my SON!

Since Travis is a film major, and rarely says "no" to a paid for movie he was agreeable to my choice of Twenty Seven Dresses. I loved it and Travis later described it to Randy as "one of mom's chick flicks", but he liked it too. That evening we dined at Intermezzo (where Ashley used to work), nice dinner- and an interesting flavor combo which I stole and made for dinner tonight. Flat bread, fresh mozzarella, arugula with olive oil, salt and pepper, topped with prosciutto . yummmmmmmm. Back to the hotel where we watched Nanny Diaries. Sunday morning, after a nice breakfast off we went to church to enjoy a service and say hello to all Ashley's buddies (this is where she was a paid singer) The guest Minister was very interesting with his sermon threaded with information from his service as a missionary in Iraq for the past 17 years. After church we raced back to Goleta for another movie Enchanted which we both really enjoyed. Travis thought he would like to go surfing but in the moments it took him to change into his wetsuit and for us to get to the beach (down the stairs from his house) the wind came up and the temp dropped precipitously! After a couple of hundred yards we abandoned this idea and instead drove to the harbor for an early dinner. On the way out to the pier we saw a sand artist and his latest creation . . . a lovely, yet haunting sculpture.

After not being separated for nearly 36 hours I approved of Travis spending time with friends on Sunday night while I stayed "in" doing my old lady knitting and watching Weeds on his computer. Believe it or not, I watched ALL of season three in one sitting! The sweater I was working on showed my inattention, but I thoroughly enjoyed my evening of quiet.

Monday morning we met for breakfast and then did a marathon of grocery shopping- so much fun! Travis is a discriminating shopper and eater. He is quite fastidious about label reading and loaded up on all kinds of organic and other healthy foods . . . it was great. It was hard to leave after such a great weekend but I'm already looking forward to my next visit.

Here is a bit of advice for parents . . . encourage your kids to go to college in a cool place to visit- I scored with Santa Barbara!

blackmail on the internet? . . . .

you must send this within 10 minutes of reading it to at least 5 people or you will have bad luck.
blah blah blah or you will gain 10 pounds
yada yada yada or your spouse will leave you, your hair will fall out, you will lose all your money . . .whatever.
Is anyone else out there as sick as I am of these emails? Who sends them along?
When you get one, are you secretly worried, just a little, that if you don't comply- some evil will befall you? Do you send it along, just to hedge your bet?

If you do, please take me off your list.

I got one in my in box today, and since I do not plan to forward it to anyone I have been warned, " This is the real Deal, try ignoring or changing it, and the first thing you'll notice is having a horrible day starting tomorrow morning - and it only gets Worse from there." ohhhhhh spooky!

Well I have news for Mr Badluck- I'm headed to Santa Barbara tomorrow to visit my son, I anticipate ANYTHING but a horrible day.
So fellow cynics, join me in deleting this mush from our in-boxes. Thank you but we are going to be making our own good luck!

brought to you by the letter B

Last night, as I was swimming, my mind wandered (as it always does) to what I can write about next in my blog. What I did think about was how children are taught using very simple concepts. I remembered hearing a conversation over the weekend (between teachers) as to what letter of the week was being studied. I remembered how much "fun" it was to come up with words associated with the letter of the week. So, for me, I am concentrating on a letter of the day. I've arbitrarily chosen "B". Why? I don't know, it just felt right.

So, swimming away I wondered how I could associate B with anything going on. . . hmmmmmm

In December I made the arbitrary decision to stop drinking any booze. (normally I would just say alcohol but that didn't go with my theme) My thought process was to eliminate most allergens and so far, I must say, I think my allergy situation is improving. I had read somewhere that alcohol may increase allergic reactions, anything to be able to stop the nighttime benadryl was worth a shot. Stopping the benadryl has improved my sleep incredibly- as Kyle reminded me the REM sleep cycle is interrupted by benadryl. I no longer have the bleah feeling when I wake up which I attributed to the benadryl hangover. My next thing to delete from my diet is dairy- and to remain in the spirit of "B" I will call it bovine products. Yesterday I bought some soy cheese and I must say, not bad!

So why all the changes? well, very shortly I'm celebrating a big birthday. When I started thinking about being 50 I realized that it was quite important to take the best care possible of myself so that I could be around for a long time, counting blessings. So, to keep blood pressure in check and to have good blood tests, I'm making the proposed changes.

Boring? I hope not, and now I bid you farewell, I'm off to see a movie with my movie buddy!


I just had a happy thought! My candidate is Barack! Yipee for B

yeah, I know Bush is B too, don't rain on my parade. . . I will not highlight him.

just a little fun fact

I was with my friend this weekend who has just completed her weight loss goal of 75 pounds. Isn't that remarkable? As she puts it, "a small fifth grade child". We wondered out loud, where does that weight go?

so, out of curiosity, I did a little research and this is what I found:
When you consume fewer calories than your body needs, your body turns to fat for energy. Body fat is broken down through a series of complex metabolic processes. Your body uses the energy produced by these processes. The waste products from these processes are water and carbon dioxide. You excrete water primarily through urine and sweat, and carbon dioxide by exhaling.

This evening when I was swimming I had to exit the pool twice during my swim to use the ladies room . . . while swimming I wondered to myself, could I actually be losing weight here?
then I let reality sink in . . .I swallow a heck of a lotta water on those damn flip turns, I'm just getting rid of what I'm taking in!
arghhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Health care . . . I think a fix is needed

“The immediate goal is to make sure there are more people on private insurance plans. I mean, people have access to health care in America. After all, you just go to an emergency room.”

This brilliant quote comes from our president in a July 2007 speech in Clevland. Now, with this in mind consider what has been widely reported in the press that ER waiting times have increased by 36 percent for all patients, to an average of 30 minutes per patient. And the sickest sometimes have to wait the longest: As many as one-quarter of all heart attack patients had to wait 50 minutes or longer before seeing a doctor.

Frightening, isn't it? And it isn't likely going to get better quickly until people stop using the ER as their primary care clinic.

This is one time I'm particularly happy to be with Kaiser. Not only do we have a PCP (primary care physician) but there is urgent care clinics that keep you out of ER and incredibly good triage in the ER that sends non emergency patients to the correct clinic for their needs. There are only rare walk ins of people not insured and they too are then appropriately triaged, a cold isn't seen in the ER. I've been to the ER a few times and each time was into a room and seen within minutes.

So, next time people complain about Kaiser (and they are usually non members) I will smugly remember that in case of emergency I don't have to wait as a Mother is seen with her child suffering from a crusty rash and a snotty nose.

String theory for dummies . . .

Certainly you have heard of string theory?

It all started when Isaac Newton invented calculus to describe the motions of falling objects and orbiting planets...

I've co-opted the name for my own string theory of sorts. With exercise one would hope that they could lose extra pounds accumulated over the past decade. This however, has been quite a struggle for me. I avoid a scale at all costs, mostly out of denial but I have a new measurement tool. I cut three pieces of string, color coded (actually it's yarn, but that didn't work with my title) and measured the three normal measuring parts of the body, chest, waist and hips. My plan is to "snip" off the extra string as my dimensions decrease. Now I'm not expecting overnight results. My goals are a bit longer term. With any luck there will be some decrease and then who knows, perhaps I'll brave it to the scale!

And now, since I've advertised this adventure- I damn well better perform!

how is that for self inspiration?!

p.s. had seven succesful flips at the pool today!

pictures of you, pictures of me

Coincidence? The last song I listened to on my swim mp3 player during today's workout was a song by the Cure "Pictures of you" A couple of hours later I am at a memorial service for a friends husband in which the daughters had created a lovely slide show. Pictured in the presentation were images of Peter from early years to present day. While watching that I realized something, though there are heaps of pictures of me as a young girl, and through school, once I had kids of my own the pictures seldom include me. I am not blaming anybody but myself for this. Like many women I'm not particularly pleased with my appearance. I remember the days where I did look good, with little effort- those days are very long gone and to see myself, as I actually look today, isn't something I enjoy. But, I must remember, this is how I go through each day . . . each one of you are subjected to this appearance, and rarely anyone runs away screaming!. And so, I've made a deal with myself , though I'm not going to become a camera whore (as I was when little, just look at the family movies) I am not going to run away from every photo op. This is me, this is how I look, I've got a family who loves me as I am. so there!
This unfortunate self picture was taken minutes ago when I made this decision. With luck, future shots will be a little kinder!


Oh, and as an aside, Ashley thought it would be a good idea to post my progress to my 300 mile swim year. My year to date total is 12.15 miles. (and three successful flip turns)

now, time to make dinner and then watch Amazing Race!

as suggested by my sister . . .

This year, both Groundhog Day and the State of the Union Address fall on the same day. As Air America Radio pointed out: "It is an ironic juxtaposition: one involves a meaningless ritual in which we look to a creature of little intelligence for prognostication, and the other involves a Groundhog."

in case you are confused, the picture on the left is the groundhog.

and we will miss you . . .

Within the last several months I have had an aunt pass away. Kyle had a friend die weeks before Christmas, my friend lost her husband days before Christmas and just yesterday Randy's Uncle Ron succumbed to a short battle with lung cancer. But, this isn't going to be a gloomy post. Each of these people remain in our hearts and thoughts, today I'm only going to talk about one though. Uncle Ron was a force of nature. A career military man who was as comfortable on an aircraft carrier as he was out hunting or playing pinochle with the family. I have a good Uncle Ron and Randy story and of course, it involves hunting. Ron was always looking for a hunting partner when he came to Napa, or more recently to our home in the East bay. Many years ago (about 26 or more) when in Napa visiting his mom (Nana) he invited Randy to go out duck/geese hunting with him. They had a great time and scored well (see picture below). Randy's goose was especially large and my Mom dressed that bird and made it for New Years dinner that year. It wasn't especially tasty though and I couldn't blame my Mom for that. It wasn't until a bit later that we discovered that that giant goose was instead a swan! Can you imagine? Several years ago, during a visit North, Ron invited Kyle to go pig hunting with him. Kyle had a great time, and often comments on Ron's unorthodox hunting rules . . good times.


Uncle Ron will be missed- especially in May at Bay to Breakers. What will the naked girls do without his comments? Looks like we are going to have to sent a contingent over to run in his memory, and keep up the dialogue with passing runners. Not always politically correct, Ron called them like he saw them . . . and would tell us after the race what he said to people on the road.


I'm sure that once he made it to heaven yesterday he checked in with Nana, whistled to Judy and Turtle and took off for a hike and a little hunting- that would surely be his vision of heaven.


we will miss you Ron.

unintended noises

It could be my age, it could be my size, my fitness level, I'm not sure the reason but I find myself making little unintended groans occasionally. It's a sound I expect from an old man, not a nearly 50 year woman. Don't worry, I'm not groaning for no reason- it's usually during some sort of exertion. Murray makes a sound every time he lays down, a long exhale with a rumble in the back of his throat. I am finding myself making some noises recently too. Thank goodness they aren't as deep and resonating as Murray's, but I'm hoping to stop it before they get that way!

My car is low to the ground, when exiting it's a bit of a workout and on occasion and I'm finding myself making that "ughhh" noise, do you know the one I mean? I've always had super good control on involuntary noises. The only exception in memory was that weird jungle growl I remember making when Kyle was born . . sorry- TMI. Anyhow, I started thinking about this today when I was swimming. (3500 meters, not a single flip turn). There was a man in the lane beside me and with each breath he made an "ugh" sound. Worried I started analyzing my breathing and wondering if any noise was escaping as I gulped for air. I didn't want people to refer to me as the lady who grunts as she swims, and can't make flip turns. I think I'm safe, I didn't hear any noises.

Great, something new to worry about!

as Homer would say "D' oh"

Let them grow up already . . .

My mind is swirling and I'm not sure that this is going to make much sense, but I'm going to try anyhow. Excuse me as I climb up onto my soapbox . . .okay, I'm up here, now here I go. My frustration today is with parents. I often am asked by patients "if I hold the baby all the time, and respond early to crying, will I spoil them?" answer: "no, you don't spoil with affection or attention, you spoil with stuff" "if you don't buy them a pony on their demand, (or any item they wish for capriciously) you probably won't spoil them". Take this a few years into the baby's future. If you constantly give in "because it's easier" you've set up a dynamic in which the kid rules the roost. This behavior crosses all social/economic strata. Families who can't afford to buy the latest games or electronic equipment give in to their children by way of groceries. High sugar drinks and high fat snacks are what many kids ask for, and the obliging parent gives. I heard on the radio today that with the burgeoning diagnosis of type 2 diabetes this generation may well precede their parents in death . . .frightening isn't it! Carry this further down the road, if you continue to support your adult children, past the point of reason, you are spoiling them. Why does this matter to me? These "grown ups" are now in society, making decisions which do affect me (voting) and their attitudes toward things is through their rose colored glasses. Many of these kids live far beyond their own means, heaven help them should the gravy train run dry and they actually have to figure things out.
And what, you may wonder, makes me think I have any authority to write about this? Well, not much except in the case of obese toddlers, I had none (of three kids) . So far I only have one "child" who can be considered an adult- college graduate and living on her own. All expenses are self paid (except her cell phone which I laughingly say i will pay until she makes more money than me) This isn't to say that if she needed help for something I wouldn't be there- but, she doesn't rely on me for day to day help. I have still two kids to go, here's to crossing fingers and hoping they do as well.
Well, I warned you- told you my mind was swirling. Now, down I come from the soapbox and will try avoid too many trips up there to rant.

setting goals

I returned from my swim today with cold fingers and toes. Brrrr, it was cold. With all the wind from the last two days of storming, the tarps evidently had blown off at night and the pool lost a significant amount of heat. I only had the umph for 2000 meters today which translates to about 1 1/4 mile. Once home Randy suggested that I track my mileage for the year. Pretty easy to do as it's only the 5th, and due to the holiday I've only swam twice since the first. Randy thought a good goal for the year would be 300 miles. Sounds a bit lofty to me, but heck, I'll see what I can do with it! oh, and in case you are wondering, still no success at the flip turn. . .

Walkabout

Walkabout is an Australian pidgin (or perhaps quasi-pidgin) term referring to the belief that Australian Aborigines "go walkabout" at the age of thirteen in the wilderness for six months as a rite of passage. They then trace the path of the ceremonial ancestors of their tribe, following the exact route that those ancestors took, and imitating in a fashion, their heroic deeds.
Why, you wonder, am I sharing this information with you?
Murray, our eldest golden retriever, on occasion finds the need for what we call his walkabout. Though at nearly 10 he is way past that 13 year old age that the Aborigines consider appropriate for this activity (if the old "1 dog year is 7 people years" is true, Murray is nearly 70), Murray goes, usually about 2-3 times per year on his own little adventure. For years we attributed this to Tucker, they younger "wilder" dog and assumed Murray was just a co-conspirator. As time went by we realized that Murray is the mastermind of the escapes and Tucker was just going along for the ride. The past several great escapes have been solo adventures for Murray as Tucker remains behind.
This morning, after a long night of hard rain and incredible winds I got up (late) for work. After an abbreviated shower and uninspired clothing choices I packed my bag to leave for work. Before leaving though, I thought it prudent to bring the boys (Murray and Tucker) inside. Tucker was asleep in front of the patio door but Murray was no-where to be found. After whistling several times I realized that he was likely not in the yard. I walked the property for about 10 minutes (and ended up just as wet as apres' shower) and at this point knew that if I didn't get on the road, i would be more than an hour late for work. Reluctantly I woke Kyle and told he what was up. I got into the car and set out for work, eyes sweeping each street looking for Murray. I drove through the last neighborhood he walked to about 3-4 months ago which is over 2 miles from home, but alas- he wasn't there either. As I made my way to work my stomach was in knots and I was so incredibly worried that I didn't even fuss with the long drive in horrible weather. Once at work I checked messages at home hoping someone had called having found Murray. I studied the animal shelter website to determine what to do next and then finally called Kyle. Kyle had found Murray, just about 100 yards from home having visited our neighbors (which was always his destination as a puppy). Now I'm breathing easier and Randy and I agree it's time to get that boy (Murray, not Kyle) out for his regular walks. He has spoken loudly that not going out is not okay with him! Below you will see a depiction of a conversation between Murray and Tucker (Tucker speaking) as Murray plans another great escape.



Stay dry Californians!
oh, and way to go Mr. Obama yesterday in Iowa (YIPPEEEEEE)

Caucuses . . . primary's . . can we just get rid of Bush already?

First I apologize for the snarky title. I should just keep my anti Bush vitriol to myself . . no, that isn't probably going to happen. Okay, I didn't want to turn this into any sort of civics lesson, but I was entirely confused by the whole caucus vs primary procedure. Being a California girl through and through I never considered how people outside my state ran their political process. I am a bit of a political junkie. What I mean by that is this is the season which I adore. Gearing up for primaries , waiting to see who the candidates will be, watching debates and then voting. I love the voting process. I vote at the precinct, in person- none of this "mail it in" for me. When the kids were little I would drag them along to the precinct- their favorite part was the cookies provided. This is why I'm liking what I read about the caucus process. Here is a link that explains it quite nicely (if you care) http://www.howstuffworks.com/question721.htm. After reading this I thought how FUN it would be to do a caucus. Obviously it is an in person experience. It sounds like you actually get to "argue" for your candidate. It then combines two of my favorite passtimes, observing and participating in the political process and arguing!
Well, I'm not an Iowan so I will have to watch this race on TV.

Let it be said though, "this Mama is for Obama"

Happy New Year, sweep the needles and pass the black eyed peas please

Happy New Year!

Here is hoping that 2008 is healthy, productive and allows you to achieve whatever bliss you desire. Yesterday (New Years Day) we started the New Year with the removal of the Christmas tree and all Christmas adornments around the house. It's great to clean away the decorations we have enjoyed for more than a month as a sort of symbolic cleaning of house and preparing for the new year. This year we had a mammoth tree, over 10 feet tall and not actually pine, but Douglas fir. Thank goodness for the new wood floor- after we were done clearing out the tree I swept up 2 litter boxes full of needles!


New Years Day is such an interesting holiday to me. Not only is it the beginning of a new year, but it is considered national hangover day. Did that apply to you? So many of us connect what we do on the 1st to how the rest of our year will go. There are so many interesting superstitions surrounding the day as we attempt to guarantee, through our acts, a fantastic new year. I usually make soup or chili on the first day of the year. Into which ever recipe I decide to use I always add black eyed peas. Eating black eyed peas on New Years is a southern tradition which hopes to attract both general good luck (financial in particular) to the one doing the dining. I'm not from the south, but adopted this tradition many years ago. Monday night, after dinner, I made a big pot of split pea soup, but forgot (because I hadn't bought any) to add the black eyed peas. Regardless of my two trips to Safeway yesterday I still forgot to buy the peas so we supped on non lucky soup. I was a little bummed about this omission until I happened upon another New Years legend. This one is called "first footing". To paraphrase what I discovered: The first person to enter your home after the stroke of midnight will influence the year you're about to have. Ideally, he should have dark hair, be tall and good looking. Blonde and redhead first footers bring bad luck, female first footers should be shooed away before they bring disaster down on the household. "Aim a gun at them if you have to, but don't let them near your door before a man crosses the threshold." The first footer should knock and be let in rather than use a key. and a final note, first footers may not be cross-eyed or have flat feet or eyebrows that meet in the middle. Now, why do you think I've adopted this as my 2008 lucky charm? (remember that I didn't follow through with my black eyed peas). Monday night Randy and I stayed up to midnight and then off he went to get some pre-garage sale sleep- I stayed up knitting and watching "Weeds" (to which I am shamelessly addicted) anyhow, both boys had made plans to stay at friends houses. At about 2:45 am Randy heard a noise outside. He got up, checked doors and before coming back to bed heard a knock on the door- it was Kyle who decided to come home after all. Randy let him in and lucky for me, he is tall, dark haired, good looking, without crossed eyes, flat feet or eyebrows which meet in the middle. Based on this, 2008 should be quite good for the Harrell's