Just Swell - tering

I really ought not to complain though, because it's mom who has stayed in our sweltering home all day long while I'm at an air conditioned workplace... (although it was 81 degrees in the house this morning at 6:30, and at dinner it was merely 92 inside... ugg.).

Well, it's back to work. I've kept myself pretty busy, so that's good at least. Today when I was bringing M.O.'s back from the other building I imagined I was journeying across North Africa, only to step into an icebox when I opened the door. And tomorrow is supposed to be hotter. They say we're even warmer than Eastern Washington. Okay... that's just not fair.

Parents are heading out to NC early in the morning, so for two days it's just my sister and I... and the unmitigated sunshine. Come, sweet Thursday Night!

Jp

Sunday's Adventure

I slept in to a whopping 8:30! I had intended to leave by then, but when on vacation, who cares? Skipped breakfast again, but I did get on the freeway in the right direction. My destination this day was rather silly... but it was loads of fun! I went to Legoland... :) but not for too long. They have hour-long shopper's passes for people who don't want to fork over $65... which is a really good thing. I was interested in poking around in the stores (I was a big Lego Knights fan when I was a kid - so buying a set at Legoland was cool) and checking out MiniLand USA... where they have built Washington DC, New York, San Francisco, New Orleans and Las Vegas... all a little smaller than the originals, of course. And for buying something, they refunded the price of parking.

Legoland was only 45 minutes away from San Diego, so the trip back was much shorter! Drove straight back to University Ave., just north of Balboa Park. I stopped at a Mexican place that I saw on Friday night as I went to Baja Betty's. I had a veggie dish called "Guaco Tacos", a couple corn tacos stuffed with avocado along with sides of the usual rice and beans. Also nearby was a thrift shop, so I peeked in for a moment and found a couple books for my sister and a magazine for myself.


With my last hour before it was time to drop off the car, I went to Balboa Park and visited the San Diego Air & Space Museum. And it was open! :) It was also very well laid out! They really crammed those planes in there! What was special though, was the actual pod from Apollo 9 they had on load from the Smithsonian. Wow! I wanted really badly to touch it, but they anticipated me and had all sorts of signs forbidding it.

I raced back to my car after finishing (and finding a patch in the store! yay!) because it was already a quarter till three, and I still had to find a gas station before returning the car to avoid a $7+ a gallon charge if I didn't. My flight was scheduled to take off at five. Everything ended up working out alright, but I was worried for a moment there when I was still trying to find one at ten till.

No problems returning it, and a stroke of luck when finally checking in: my backpack was a little too cumbersome, so I wanted to check it. Thankfully they didn't charge me the fee for it because I had bought my ticket before they instituted the fees. And they had free wi-fi at the airport! I finished a bit of Saturday's post before boarding.


The flight was uneventful in general, but I did see a forest fire from the air over California (pictured above). This flight I had a layover in Portland, so I ate a bit of dinner there and got back home around 11. My sister and mom were waiting for me (I didn't even have to call after I got my phone back from my checked bag... lol).

And I'm back...
Jp

Yay! What a Day!

Okay... now it's done:

Another wonderful play with playful writing by Rupert Holmes! Did I expect anything else? Not really! And he even included a WENNerism: there was a "if you set a bird free" line, but it was a little different as there were no homing pigeons mentioned... and I'm kicking myself for not having a pen with me to write down the line.

He had some hilarious dumb girl lines: "Welcome to our humble Adobe" and "Meet my finance... I mean my fiance." Brought back lovely memories of Maple slaughtering words. There was lots of up to date humor as well; the play was set in the present day. Jokes about Ipods and IM's and "change being a good thing"... you had to be there for that one! LOL

[I wanted to go to sleep, so the rest of this is posted on the next day]

I started the drive a tiny later than I wanted, but otherwise I thought I'd be cool with everything because this was the second time I was doing this, right? Heh! Without batting an eye I took the wrong turnoff on my first turn... I-805 South, instead of North, like any descent person wanting to go to Long Beach would do. This was the very same stretch of road I was turned around on Friday evening, and it was a good thing I noticed the exit that I took then... because I thought, "wait a minute! isn't that on the wrong side of I-8?" LOL! So just a minute and I was going the right way again... away from Mexico!

After a while I put on another Our Miss Brooks to interrupt my music, and half-way through that I noticed that I was passing my exit... LOL! I guess I was a little absent minded or something... so another minute and I was turned around for another attempt at the exit. Whew! Finally no more missed roads! I made it to the Aquarium of the Pacific right around when I wanted to - unbelievably! At first I didn't know if I'd like this one as much as the smaller ones (it's big, flashy, and meant for large crowds), but it ended up being a great experience. And because I got there right away when it opened, I missed most of the crowds. My favorites were the weedy and leafy sea dragons... oh, my gosh! and the octopus! He was moving all over the place... right on the glass... I stayed with him for a long while. :)

I retraced Friday's steps after a little lunch of a cheeseburger in the aquarium cafe, again crossing those huge bridges across harbor island to San Pedro. Saw the SS Lane Victory in the distance, but this time I kept going into San Pedro. I drove to Angels Park on the tip of the jutting peninsula and visited an old coastal battery which houses the Fort MacArthur Military Museum. Active from the War of 1812 through the end of WWII, this battery had a pair of 14 inch guns. The little video they played inside was very fun to see, especially when they showed that big railroad gun firing... yikes! My goodness! after going through the couple sets of displays (it was pretty small - mostly photographs, local newspaper front pages, and a few artifacts - including a US Army missile from the 70's, I think, and part of a 14 inch gun that they're trying to restore), I went out on top of the fortifications... Wow! What a view! The ocean was gorgeous blue and everywhere as far as visually possible. There were four or five big tankers coming into port as far as I could see.

Right across the street from the museum was a marine mammal rescue shelter. They had quite a few seals and sea lions. The first one I saw was isolated for biting someone, but he climbed on top of his short concrete wall and leaned against the chain-link to look at me. Goodness, he was cute! One of the staff came over to answer questions while I was watching/taking pictures, and he said most of the animals only stay for around three months before they are released or sent to an aquarium. Gee, they really behave like big-water-loving dogs. They lie around all day and sun themselves, sometimes playfully chasing each other and then of course they bark. :)

I decided to forgo cutting it really close by going to the Santa Monica Aquarium. It was just a little too far away and a little too late in the day to try it... so I headed back to Balboa Park around 3pm, and yet still managed to run into (not literally) quite a bit of traffic. And yet again, everything (the museums and art galleries) had just closed when I arrived at 5.


I had a really good parking spot, like I did on Friday, and then changed my top again, like Friday, and then ate another fabulous dinner at The Prado (it's pretty much the only restaurant in the park) and then simply relaxed for the hour or so before seating time. There was a lovely tropical garden right nearby, so I took my camera, walked around and just sat down on a bench for a while. Lots of people walked by... couples with photographers being the majority of them. I put everything but my ticket back in the car so I didn't have to worry about carrying anything.

Finally outside the Globe, waiting for the doors to open, I saw someone who could have been Amanda... so choking down my heart in my throat, I plucked up the courage and I asked her. I would have driven myself nuts if I didn't... but it turned out not to be her. Sigh. Right after that, the Globe's doors swung open and I found my seat in the balcony. I now have proof that there isn't a bad seat in the whole place... I was on the extreme right of the last row. And it was great! I suppose it did help that no one sat directly in front of me, but it was good anyway.

Oh, and back at the hotel afterwords, I got to hear that episode again and found out the name of the oft repeated street/town was "Springdale". LOL

Jp

Uncanny

I had the strangest thought last night when I was leaving Balboa Park. I thought how risky it was to have outdoor plays... I mean, what if it rained or something? They'd have to cancel or rent everyone raincoats instead of blankets... and then the actor's costumes would be made to none effect... but I digress. No, it didn't rain tonight, but they sure did cancel Cyrano. There was some sort of malfunction with the lighting system or something. When the lady told me, I first thought of my thoughts last night, as if I prepared myself for it... weird!

So I had them refund my ticket (thankfully no hassles), and I went for a walk, trying to find something that was still open. Nothing was, as it was 7:30, so I decided to check out a restaurant nearby (outside the park) that offered a 20% discount to Old Globe subscribers. I picked one particularly out of the group of them because it was named "Baja Betty's" - I mean, I did drive right near her hometown today, so it was sorta fitting. I had tortilla soup and a house salad, partly to continue my streak of having it every time I've been here. It was very tasty.

This morning started off just swimmingly, though. Got to Long Beach pretty much right when I thought I would. My first stop today was visiting a merchant marine ship museum (also built in 1945 and served through Korea and Vietnam) called the SS Lane Victory. It turned out to be a rather cool thing to see. Besides exploring wherever I wanted on deck and some below, there were two big rooms filled with museum exhibits. One in the cargo bay (more generic stuff like "how does the ship navigate?", a mine and depth charge, and surprisingly, a lot of model aircraft and ships. The other was in a mess room, and this had lots of cool stuff, mostly from WWII. Anyway, I spent a little longer than I intended there, but it was no problem.

Next up was the Cabrillo Aquarium in San Pedro (just 5 miles down the street from the ship, really). I had read really nice things about it online, so I was very interested. Holy cow! The place was great! They were very detailed with describing the different kinds of animals and how they live; and that's pretty much all they did. There was no huge agenda (the Birch Aquarium had a whole building set aside for preaching about global warming - I just rolled my eyes and kept walking). They had lots of really different stuff! One tank had bunches of tiny nudibranchs! The building was a big maze of exhibits, and the one drawback was many times the room was too bright to take pictures through the glass... but as a saving grace, a person could walk around most of the tanks in dark, behind the scenes rooms... which was very cool. Lots of times the animals were hiding on the dark side of the tank. ;) My goodness! I spent lots of time there... three hours or so. And then I went for a little wading up to my knees on Cabrillo Beach (the Aquarium is right there next to the beach). Looked at all the types of seaweed and had a lovely stroll. I was a little hungry, as I hadn't made time for lunch... and there was nothing quite as convenient as the stand outside the Birch Aquarium, yesterday, where I had that amazing turkey & avocado baguette.

But the pains from not eating soon disappeared (as they do) as I got back on the road to make it to an unnecessary curtain call of 8 o'clock back in San Diego. There's nothing quite like sitting in traffic for a couple hours, then missing the turn-off because a person could finally go faster than 20 mph and because they were singing to the music they were listening to, then getting worried about ending up in Mexico, and then finally having the play cancelled... all without eating since 8am... LOL! A comedy of errors! Although the drive was pretty (I spent lots of that time in traffic looking deep into Camp Pendleton - where my brother had just been for weeks on end - and looking out to sea... it was brilliantly blue and the sun was casting long shadows inland. So beautiful.

So, mixed feelings about today, but it was generally pretty good. At least I have already read Cyrano! LOL - and it's a darned good thing I didn't come down here just for that one! Yikes!

Jp

P.S. - Coming back to SD, as I was listening to the episode of Our Miss Brooks where there is a strange telegram that no one opens... they mention the name of the town where her uncle is from... and then poof! there is a sign above me for an exit to a street with THE SAME NAME as that town. It was a two-word name, and it can't be all that common. What are the chances? Precisely as she says it? Holy cow! Nine-hundred-thousand-zillion to one. Or something like.

Here I Am Again... And Loving It.

I didn't feel like getting up right away this morning at 4:30... until I remembered what I was doing... and then it still took me a second. :) My dad drove me to the airport, and as I had checked in online yesterday, I went right to security and flew right through it, unbelievably. My gate was just a few doors down, and right before arriving I stopped at the Great American Bagel Company and got myself what they call a "Seattle Sunrise" breakfast bagel. Only needed to hang out for about a half-hour before they started boarding. Got sleepy right away after finding my window seat right in front of the exit row on the wing. Woke up when the engines kicked on for takeoff... took a picture or twenty of the mountains... (and the Columbia River, separating Washington and Oregon - a half hour into the flight) - gosh, the cloud cover in front of Mt. Rainier made it look like the world was blanketed in snow...


...and then sort of slept for about an hour and a half. It was the smoothest plane ride I've ever been on. Then again, maybe that's because I was checked out... but I doubt it.

It took a little longer than I anticipated to get to the car rental place and get my car... but my very detailed schedule worked out excellently with it anyway... I had time to spare wherever I went today :)

Drove right to the USS Midway (CV41), right on the harbor drive. The admission includes a self-guided audio tour that you can punch location numbers into and hear the story about the place. Doing the entire thing was estimated at 3+ hours, so I just listened to what sparked my interest. I did everything in an hour and a half. Wow! I want to join the Navy! :) In the ready room for the pilots a former Midway pilot was there to answer questions or whatnot, and we talked for a moment. He was very supportive and nice to talk to. As the carrier lived through three wars, it had planes ranging from WWII to the present day. Very fun indeed! They had the Dauntless (pictured) and an Avenger in the hanger, and then all sorts of modern and older jets and helicopters on the deck.

Although hungry after finishing at noon or so, I got in the car directly and drove up the coast 10 miles to the Birch Aquarium. Now that place was just totally cool! I saw some species for the first time... including upside-down jellies (their tentacles float on top - didn't know they existed) live nautiluses and so many different types of corals, keeping count would have been impossible. And they had five leafy sea dragons! That was so cool! :) It was a simple aquarium, as they are just a branch of a ocean research group, but they sure put on a good show!


I left right around 4PM, and when I saw the line for I-5 South, I was glad I was early! But it ended up moving just fine. Just took a second to get on. Drove straight to Balboa Park, found extremely close parking, walked around for a good bit, exploring and finding three museums that I'd like to peek into if I get the time. I changed out of my sweaty t-shirt into a nice blouse for the evening and I then treated myself to The Prado again, like last time I was here. Had that same salad... and surprise, a pasta dish! :) Last year I had Julius Caesar with me during dinner, but this time I started Animal Farm. Had to have a dish of ice cream too... :)

I've never read Twelfth Night before. In fact, I still haven't. But I realized, as I was watching it (and adoring it) that this is the way these plays were meant to be enjoyed for the first time... with actors! (that's just my lazy excuse for not having taken the time to read it before now like I told myself I would). The director decided to have it set in the 1950's. So they were reading old English lines, but looking like they should be behaving like people from Happy Days. It took a second to get used to, but I did. In fact, it worked just fine. My gosh, I can't imagine Celia as Viola... acting "like a boy!" Oh, dear! :) Oh, and Amanda's husband did all the set designs for these outdoor plays! Awesome! This stage is right next to the Old Globe... the theater which is currently playing the one Rupert Holmes wrote the book for. It was nice to see his name on a big poster :) Gosh, I miss WENN...

I got to the hotel here at 11:30. And that's what it should be for the next two nights.

No problems, no worries, smooth sailing... so far!
Whoa... you mean to tell me I have 2 + more days to go? Sweet!

I like it when hotels have free wi-fi...
Jp

All Packed!

Ready to go... only a few more hours!

Jp

Now That'll Fix It

Hot, Hot, Hot! It's 80 degrees inside, and it's Eleven PM. Ugggg!

And I have Southern California to look forward to. Hey! Not lookin' bad at all... I don't know about that 78% humidity though... But they might at very least have AC. Heh.

Jp

I'll have to check it out

.
Popular San Diego seals win reprieve from governor

What do you know! La Jolla is on my list of stops! :)
"I'll see ya in two days!"

Jp

Planning, Planning

Had just a lovely morning yesterday! My aunt and uncle were taking my grandma to the Seattle Aquarium, and on Saturday evening my aunt invited me to go along!

My goodness, they hadn't been there in years and years, so I showed them around and identified lots of species for them as we went. :) Had a really lovely time with the touch pools! It's been a while since I've stuck my hands in there to touch the sea cucumbers, starfish and urchins, and it was great fun to be with people who were rather unaccustomed to it.

We spent an hour and a half and saw the whole place. And they even let me get a few pictures in edgewise. :) Right afterwords, we went and had lunch in Factoria (near Bellevue) at the Old Country Buffet. Had a huge salad, a bursting soft taco and a bit of pasta and chicken with Parmesan on top, along with lemonade and chocolate milk! What a lovely day! I had such a good time!

When I got home, some of the family was watching the dvd's of us as babies that my other grandma took... random stuff from when we were born and days at the lake in Minnesota. Sigh. Gosh, we were cute!

After that I spent a good deal of time planning out my trip this week. And then in the evening, we watched Little Miss Sunshine (because I had heard it was good - and it was), and then my sister and I took the dog for a walk. Very pleasant indeed!

Today after work was putting the finishing touches on my plans and playing a game with my sister... and it looks like the dog is interested in an excursion... don't want to even type the "w" word. :)

Jp

Horsin' Around

It's good to be back home and sitting down after a day or two of rushing around!

Yesterday rather wore me out: getting done with work about 12:30, then eating a quick snack for lunch (while beating my dad at backgammon again), doing the dishes, cleaning my room for my ritual 'put everything away from the week' day, taking the trash downstairs, going through junk on my desk and the like. By the time I got done, I realized I hadn't really laid out my plans for my trip to San Diego next week, so I worked on that until it was time to rush off to Seattle for the opening reception for our photography class... my parents, sister and aunt came, and then a friend of mine showed up later as well. It was great to see everyone from class again, and to hang out and chat.

Afterwords, I rushed home again, got myself together, took the dog for a quick jaunt, then rushed off again to Carnation to spend the night (and today) with my sister at our friend's house. Even though I was driving around 10 o'clock at night over 2 huge hills and 10 miles of country roads after that, I had a glorious drive, singing my lungs out with Jennifer Knapp's "Kansas" with the window down, the AC on, (it's been kinda warm here) and my left leg up on the dash... gosh, that's fun! (I just had a similar experience driving home! except this time I could enjoy the lush green fields and golden sun resting on the fir trees and farms. :)

Anyways, when I finally got there last night (at 10:30) I saw a doe along their long gravel driveway! Too bad I scared her! And when I got in the house, we finished watching the TNG episode she had on, then played Phase 10 with Toy Story 2 on in the background. I had forgotten how much I loved that movie! It's too good! I wonder if the new one coming out will be any good?

I then lay down on the couch (where I slept) as I was just plum tuckered out. I held the one puppy that kept crying in order to calm him down... awwww! there's nothing like holding a little guy in your hand! :) Later after the little guy got put back, I only woke up once or twice before getting up for good at 8:15. A definite improvement over Wednesday night!

For breakfast, we had fresh eggs from the chicken pen and toast, and then played another game, and then took care of the animals. This entailed feeding the horses, taking the two goats out to graze on some weeds, scrubbing the algae out of, and filling the water buckets for the goats and the two dogs in the dog pen, catching the one dog after he got out and went for a romp, and finally watering the horses. About three hours or so... yikes!

I remember that after another couple games, lunch, and Muppet Treasure Island, (we wanted to stay inside from the blistering, cloudless sky for a while), I took an hour nap on an armchair. Gosh, did that feel good! After waking up, we went for a little horseback ride, only on the trails close to the house. We turned to circle around instead of going on to the power lines, and since this meant we were going back to the house, the horses charged ahead when we asked them to run. Roo broke out into a canter immediately! LOL! We were flying! And although short, it was great fun! What a lovely day! Back at the house, it was one more game and then here I am.

(sigh of contentment)
Jp

Uuuuuugggg

It's warm again... upper 80's a while ago... about 79 in the house right now. And here I am again, spending inordinate amounts of time on the Internet... reading blogs, responding to WENNlist, greatly enjoying the NASA pictures through Linda's blog... Oh! but there are mp3's to download... (rushes off to spend more time on the computer).

Jp

Disconnected!

As in... out of range for cell phones and wireless Internet!

Last night I spent a lovely evening at our friend's house in Carnation, as my sister was house-sitting while they were away. It didn't take me too much longer than I thought it would. The 6:15 traffic was probably better than it would have been around 5... so I'm glad I made up some time from Tuesday. After feeding the many dogs (including a new mommy Jack Russell with 8 little three-day old puppies) we watched the 1st disc of Happy Days from season 1, from whoa! 1974! Phase 10 was then played (and I lost... like usual). Went outside to listen to delayed cell phone messages (they came in around an hour-1/2 later than when received) and I was swept away with how bright the stars were. Way more than I usually see at home because our friends live on top of a hill, 10 minutes away from Nowhere, WA. (this is where our horses live. :) The Big Dipper, Cassiopeia, and the Gemini Twins looked different with no gigantic fir trees to hide behind! There are lots of trees up there... a forest, in fact... but the house is in a clearing.

Between the crying of the little baby dogs and the cat hopping on me, I only woke up around 6 times. But driving through the illuminated fog down in the valley in the early morning was worth it all!

Jp

Weekdays

Well, this one is half over! It's a really good thing I have that San Diego trip between now and August! :) It'll be a great way to have fun while making the time go faster... that's an odd pair of things to want at once!

Today is shaping up much like yesterday: foggy, cool morning (58 degrees), promising to burn away into bright sunshine by the afternoon. Last night I tore around driving pictures from class to the UW for the people who are hanging it. Picked up some, dropped them off, returned a set from the previous one... and it only took me 2 and a half hours to do all this. Rush hour isn't the easiest time to navigate the University district :) However, the way there didn't seem so bad, as I was enjoying myself heartily on two episodes of Our Miss Brooks... Thanks Mike! I could have died when Mr. Boynton reeled in that fish. Not literally though... I was stopped at a stoplight. LOL

And last night we put in the last regular episode of MASH... (sob)... I can't believe we don't have four seasons left to go, or something. It's been a long journey. I've seen the two-hour special before... twice. But I'm looking forward to it again. What a... bunch of characters! They really created some nice ones... I got to like Charles quite a bit by the end, and surprisingly, BJ just a little less. He really could be rather mean by manipulating people and "joking". Margaret had her moments over the seasons (and really was much nicer towards the end), but she really stuck to her Army-loving self. Hawkeye... oh, Hawkeye. It took him lots of seasons to grow up a bit, but he did. Father Mulcahy is almost always a delight, and I really love how Colonel Potter can yell really loud and be very tender from moment to moment. Colonel Blake and Radar will always be dear to me, but they totally brought a different feel to the show. I ended up not missing Frank at all. But who can describe Klinger? :)

Jp

Weekends

Nothing of real note yesterday... picked up my room, watched lots of TV... we're down to four episodes of MASH left! Did a little Get Smart and F Troop as well. I've been enjoying a couple days of easy going. Yesterday's weather was in the 80's, but today it's cold! Completely cloudy (even a little rain!) and here I am, sitting in my sweatshirt... where yesterday I was just sitting in sweat... :) Wild, wild Washington weather.

This morning I woke up in a great deal of pain (it's that time of month), my sister proscribed some mind-distracting episodes of silly 60's TV, the pills kicked in, I read Johnny Tremain (I think I'll finish tonight), had some breakfast, played cards, got a call from my brother, read a little of CS Lewis's The Four Loves (again), had a little bit of Bible reading and hymn singing with my mom, and I am generally enjoying the day. And to think, if I had so desired, I could have been doing that Seattle to Portland bike ride my friends were going to do yesterday and today... yikes!

Life is good.
Jp

No Sooner Said...

...than it turns to brilliantly sunny and 80 degrees. I suppose tomorrow will be overcast now that I say that... hmm..."It's sunny, it's sunny, it's really, really warm!" We'll see... :)

Yesterday my dad took off on a weekend trip with his friends, so I took my mom and sister out to eat after work. It was a pleasant little evening... after getting home we watched an episode of Foyle's War and MASH, but both were rather somber.

Today after work (life really doesn't begin until then), I had a little of my leftovers from last night, and then my sister and I went out for an errand and a visit to the antique store in downtown Kirkland. Last time we went there, I found a white mug with a figure of a knight lancing a dragon and the words "George & Dragon" emblazoned on it. I had to take it home with me, so I did. :) Mostly the stuff is overpriced, but quite fun to look through from time to time. Among the little stalls, my sister found a brand new riding helmet from Germany that was decently priced... and she had been needing a new one! What a find!

Back at home and after a MASH, the three of us went out for dinner again, this time to the Olive Garden... and my! did we all have a feast! I had a new dish; a light pasta and creamy sauce with seasoned steak medallions... um, it was the best I've had there! We all had a chocolate mousse and cheese cake combination... um, perfect! And by the time we got home, it was time for more MASH, one my sister hadn't even seen before!

For the rest of the evening, I've been reading Johnny T., and I plan on taking the dog on a walk, and then take a shower... hmm, I like Fridays. :)

Jp

Stormy Weather

Well, this week we've been back to cloudy and overcast with degrees in the 60's. Of course, that was right after I got new Capri pants on Sunday (which was when it was still warm :) I'm not complaining by any means... I really enjoy the cool much better than the hot.

Other than that, this week I've been just beside myself thinking about the future, being uncertain, and wishing I could just decide about everything all at once and get it over with. I had a thought again about being a band instrument repairman. That would be something else I could do at a University somewhere... maybe supplemental to librarianship... maybe instead. Hanging out with a university marching band would be loads of fun. I remember the guy at the UW was my first official band person I met when I borrowed a mellophone to practice over the summer before I tried out. He was awfully nice.

As for storms, my dad is driving me nuts, treating me like a little kid, and generally making me want to throw up my hands and get the heck out of the house (even though I love being there). The general problem is that he really doesn't care what I think about anything. Everything has to be "happy" or "his way" all the time, even if it isn't.

And then there's the Photography show next week... I know I will really enjoy it, but I wish I didn't have to wait for it to come. With that and my pair of vacations coming up, right now is just waiting, waiting, waiting. How do you 'live for today' when next week(s) promises to be so much better?

Jp

Oh, The Most Fun I've Had In a While

And I generally have a good time anyway...

I volunteered to play for a short gig (10 minutes) for the UW Alumni Band, because the people we were playing for (Seattle Tennis Club) were going to donate $500 to our Band scholarship fund for the trouble. I had to leave work a tiny bit early, but I thought, "why not?" There probably won't be any other mellophone player there... (I was right). But what made the evening incredibly fun was the following:

I emailed the tiny group of volunteers, asking for carpoolers... and who should respond (I hadn't noticed him on the list), but my Jr. High band director (my favorite teacher of all time). He would pick me up at the Jr. High school parking lot and we'd cross the lake together! My goodness! We talked (and laughed) the whole evening! What a dear! I know of several hundred people who would have loved to have been in my shoes tonight! And they're all in my facebook group that is dedicated to him. :) Big smile!

Jp

And...

As for the rest of today, I went to church this morning, then did a bit of a clothes shopping trip for work, made an incredible sandwich for lunch, finished watching season 10 of MASH with my sister and parents when they got home, ate quite a bit of leftover angelfood cake, processed and organized a bunch of pictures, read a chapter of Johnny, all before we watched the second installment of Foyle's War from Netflix. Oh, darn... tomorrow is Monday.

:)

Jp

New Website!

In order to (1) coincide with the pictures I will have hanging at our photography show on Friday the 17th of this month (as a way for people to get in touch with me and find more of my photography) and (2) in order to have fun thinking about marine biology again, and (3) make my plans to see as many aquariums as I can mean something... I give you:

http://www.aquariumvisitor.com/

Wow, that was fun!

Jp

Happy Fourth!

Happy Independence Day!

Already we're hearing explosions in the near distance... and my poor puppy is barking his head off. It is the most difficult holiday for him, this and New Year's.

Well yesterday felt like Saturday, and this morning I woke up wondering weather I cared for going to church or not... and then I remembered that it was Saturday again... :)

Yesterday I worked for a long time on my new website, while watching MASH in some of that process... and did some organizing of pictures on the laptop, here. They tend to get disorganized every few months. It was particularly bad this time, because part of the confusion was that I was saving new pictures to different files than the ones that I transferred over from my old laptop. So I basically just did computer stuff all day... it did get rather warm again (90's) so sitting in one place wasn't a bad thing.

And last night our shared friend of Zac's came over and we watched Spiderman 2 & 3 on his projector downstairs. My goodness, how I had forgotten how I loved those! As my sister says, he's the thinking man's superhero. We stayed up quite late, but this morning I didn't get out of bed until 10 am to make up for it. How I love weekends like this!

After praying in bed for a while, I popped out of bed and did a few pushups and then ran around our 1/2 mile block. Some of the flem in my sinuses cleared out, so that was really nice, even though I had to do some awful running to get it running.

Maybe I can be almost done with almost being sick.

Yay!
Jp

Boiling Point...

Well, without air conditioning, 85 is a little warm.

Work went rather fast today... and since I was on Friday mode all day, I got lots of things done! :) I was done at 3 pm! And I finished all of those nasty UCR's that have been piling up for too long!

When I got home, I ate a late lunch and played Backgammon with Dad. We went to the bank, and then started watching US Marshals with Tommy Lee Jones when we got home.

Before dinner, my sister and I listened to the pilot episode of "The Shadow" from 1937. What fun! A guy was framed with a bank robbery and murder for driving the getaway car to make a few extra dollars... hey... just like Mackie... it was very fun to listen in. And yeah, the guy that played him at the convention did a great rendition of 'the laugh'.

Gee, I'm tired!

Jp

The Morning After

I had an incredible idea last night!

I have been sickish for about a week or so, been pretty tired all the time, and have been staying up late all the time... maybe these are related to each other? LOL

Okay, so yesterday I got frustrated at work with all the little annoying things, that I was nearly snapping at people... driving home, I felt like I was in some sort of unhappy daze. I didn't want to talk to anybody... so when I got home, I went directly to bed and even slept 20 minutes before dinner.

Johnny Tremain had come in the mail yesterday, so that's what the family watched last night. How fun it was! Even though it was obviously white-washed history, it was a great endearing story... and is sort of a history in itself... of our remembering the past.

But after taking the dog for a short walk, it had become 9:30 pm or so... and I thought to myself: "Why not go to sleep?" And so I did.

Today I've been awake and busy, and am doing fine! Hey, sleep works!
Maybe I ought to do that some more, sometime.

Jp