Wander Life

Work, Play, Eat

The week in review:

TH & KM (two friends from work) had b-days; my employer sprung for ice cream at Baskin Robbins to help support fire fighters; Israeli, Thai, Japanese, Mexican (twice) & German food was eaten (if Weinershnitzel really counts as "German food"); watched Raiders of the Lost Ark in preparation of the 4th one coming out in three weeks; a million sticky notes (for work & life) were written, crumpled and rewritten; there was a muffin break somewhere in there...and a coffee run or two; not to mention golf, a few runs, LOST, ToGo's sandwiches and Iron Man.  And this weekend I added "oil change" to my list of errands & completed it. 

Oh, and I also got a haircut, but, in order to not worry my sister, I  will mention that it was just a trim. 

And now I will go to bed because my energy level for creative thinking is painfully low.  Here's to a week of productivity, people and life.  Perhaps it'll be a simple as this sign makes it - why complicate things with choices, right?  : )

Oh, and two weeks till sister's visit.  Three weeks till lil bro's.  And one till Mother's Day!

(P.S.  I have no good explanation for our work lunch at Weinershnitzel.  Sometimes these things just happen.) 

Also, if you've ever wondered what happens if you eat a whole glob of wasabi...wonder no more.  It's not that bad.

Beach Days & Free Tables

Sorry that I'm still so slow in my communications these days.  I find it kind of ironic that I was better at keeping in touch with people when I was a few thousand miles away in China, but...all I can say is: being on a computer at work all day = not wanting to be on a computer after work all evening.  But, of course, I love keeping in touch with everyone and hearing how you're all doing, so...maybe I can try a little harder.  : )

In other news, no, my apartment is not in imminent danger of catching fire.  But, yes, there have been some fires around.  This past weekend was a scorcher, and, indeed, a few fires broke out in the foothills near by.  But other than a little ash on my car and a dry throat after running yesterday...no real harm or threat to me.  Thanks for the concern.  ...Actually, it seems like I was saying almost exactly this same thing just a few months ago when I moved here in September.  As I recall, there were fires going on then, too.  I guess after hearing about two hurricane summers in Florida, two sand-storm springs in NW China and two fire seasons in SoCal, those of you back home in Washington & Oregon might be thinking...the great Pacific Northwest looks better and better every day, ay?  : )  I think the worst that Colorado has is snow, though, so...perhaps I'm not completely destined for a natural-disaster-filled life.  Here's to hoping, anyway....

And speaking of Colorado, if any of you read the recent edition of my college's alumni magazine, I should probably clarify: I've actually not moved to Ft. Collins, yet.  In October I will.  'Twas a nice shout out, though.

And, yeah, I guess there's not too much to report.  Life and work are going well.  Due to the aforementioned heat wave, went to the beach on Sunday.  And it was actually my first beach venture since moving down here.  Good times.  A little frisbee, a little reading, a little sun (which B's back can attest to....  I, too, got a little, but, overall, felt pretty fortunate considering the well-known "Scandinavian skin + California sun = bad idea" equation.  Guess there's something to be said for SPF 30, after all...if only I could learn to apply it a little better...).

Anyways, yeah, we went to Huntington, and it was pretty classic.  Lifeguard towers, a pier, and about a zillion surfers...who just sat in the water pretty much the whole time we were there.  Seriously, I think they each rode a total of two waves in four hours.  Luckily, there was no shortage of other beach patrons to keep us entertained.  Our particular favorites were people walking up and asking the nearby lifeguard questions about whether or not he had any water they could have or where the best place to get food was....  You know he had to be thinking, "All that training...for this?"  Not exactly the Bay Watch life he had envisioned, I'm sure.

So...it is now thoroughly late, and I, being the regular little 8(ish)-5(ish)er that I am, should hit the  hay.  But speaking of work, here's a little something that some of us at the office have been thinking we need to suggest to the creators of The Office (tv show)....  Like most offices, we have what is commonly referred to as "the free table."  Usually, you can find left over cakes, week-old cookies pastries from Costco, etc. on there, and, regardless of what it is, it will get eaten (and believe you me, I'm as guilty as the next person).  However, recently, other stuff has been making its way on there.  Books, mostly...which isn't too bad, I guess (though food is, obviously, better).  But yesterday...we had a new low.  My co-worker, JD, took this picture to commemorate the occasion.  Do you see it?  Oh, yes, it was really there.  ...Some things you just don't even try to explain.  (Kinda reminds me of China, actually....)  But, yeah, I think they'd really have gold there if they worked it into the show.  I know it provides us with endless water-cooler/interoffice e-mail material, anyway....  : )

Till next time...here's to staying disaster free!

P.S.  My sister & younger bro have both bought their respective tickets to come down and visit me in May (sister - 2nd weekend; bro - 3rd).  Huzzah!         

Richie is my Home(town)boy

Ok, so to reward myself on my few hours of productivity yesterday, I A) saw Forbidden Kingdom last night; and B) went to the Angels vs. Mariners game today.  Forbidden Kingdom was rather cheesy (and had the worst attempt-at-a-Boston-accent line of all time) but, all in all, was fun enough.  If Karate-Kid-meets-Crouching-Tiger-Hidden-Dragon sounds like a good idea to you, you'll probably like it alright....

And as for the M's game, yes, 'twas a perfect day at the park.  My hometown boy, Richie Sexson (whom my sister went to high school with [in small-town Brush Prairie, WA] and who now, finally, plays for the Mariners) went yard for a two-run homer early in the game, and the rest of the day was just icing.  Despite the powers of the Angels' Rally Monkey (which really did start to have me worried as the Angels went from being down 4-0 in the bottom of the 9th to trailing just 4-2 with the bases loaded before we managed to get the third out), the Mariners still wound up victorious.  Glorious.

And (unlike Monday at the Dodgers game) even though JD & I were cheering heartily for the away team, we never felt that our lives were in danger....  I guess LA and the OC really are worlds apart.

I learn more about California every day.

...which is good because my sister is visiting in four weeks.  And my little bro is visiting in five weeks?  And my older bro & sis-in-law & two nieces are visiting sometime after that?  Time to start brushing up on my tour guide skills....   

So the mother tomato says: Catch-up!

(So, my title is in reference to a joke about getting caught up that I learned from my former teammates, N&K.  "What does the momma tomato say to the baby tomato when it was falling behind?"  Then you slam your fist down like the mother is squishing the baby and yell: "Ketchup!"  ...It's still funny in my heart.  : )) 

Anyways, just a few items of business:

• I'm working on Middle East pictures today!  Hopefully up soon.  Until then, I'll put up a few more Sequoia picts to keep you satiated. (One's here; the rest are at the end of the post.)
• My Facebook world & my blog world are starting to collide.  If you read this blog AND you're a Facebooker, we should probably be friends because I'm sometimes faster at updating FB.  If you're not on FB, never fear - I shall continue to keep up this blog because, despite myself, I really can't curb my occasional need to write....
• I also added a few friends to my "Fellow Travelers" list.  Peruse their blogs at your leisure.
• And lastly, for now, I am slowly but surely catching up on my life.  Or, at least, kind of.  Laundry's checked off, anyway.  And now I'm going to try to tackle some computer stuff (i.e. pictures, e-mails, blog, etc.).  Huzzah for that.

And that's kind of the latest, I guess.  The Mariners had a heart-breaker of a loss against the Angels last night down here...and I blame myself for not being there to support them.  (Although I had fun just chilling with KM & B, instead.)  I'm still debating on going to tomorrow's game or not....  I'll let ya know.

Also, one (out of four) of my nieces, Clover, turned four this week.  She's partying hardy today, so happy birthday to her.  In celebration of her, here are a few pictures of all four of them, taken while I was home last month.  I enjoy my role as the "motorcycle-aunt."  : )

 

And here are a few more pictures of Sequoia.  The photos in my last post were actually JD's 'cause mine were stilling sitting untouched on my camera, but thanks to my great catch-up day, I finally have a few of my own to share.  They depict a few eye-catching moments of the trip: 1) a baby rattle snake; 2) rapid kayakers which invoked envy in me; 3) General Sherman, which is the largest tree [by volume] in the world; and 4) a pretty sweet view.   

Although we were originally planning to go to Yosemite (and had, in fact, been calling the trip "Yosemite is the Remedy"), when push came to shove, we decided that for two fewer hours of being in the car, really, trees are trees...and these looked just fine.   

Of course, we were still in the car for a good bit since Sequoia's about 4ish hours northwest of Pasadena (except that our car took more like 5.5 hours getting up there because we were so easily distracted by Starbucks and an eatery by the name of "Apple Annie's").  ...But it was a fun ride and definitely worth two nights and a day and a half embracing the great outdoors....    

Ok, time to go hug a tree.  : )  Have a great weekend, everybody! 

Backseat: life. Frontseat: outdoors (and baseball, naturally)

Laundry: dirty & mound-like.

Apartment: disheveled.

Groceries: unbought (ergo, lunches=eat-out; dinners=...Dodger dogs & cereal?).

Work: busy (though I will not say "near-frazzling"...because I could never admit that).

Car: unfueled.

Pictures: not uploaded.  Still.

Communication: non-existent. (Sorry, friends.)

Life: slightly behind.

So, instead of managing my life, I guess I've been doing this:

And seeing this:

And we mustn't forget this:

And then, of course, last night, there was this:

So, all in all, I think it's been a fair trade.  I can handle not having clean clothes and an empty fridge in return for a weekend in Sequoia National Park and an evening at Dodgers Stadium.  I think we even got on TV twice during the game last night - one home run flew in our general direction (left field bleachers...where the real fans sit, apparently [a good way to find this out is to cheer for the visiting team, as we were; luckily, drunk people don't have great aim...just a few close calls with some peanuts]), and one was caught just short of clearing the wall, which we were sitting directly behind (front row city, baby).

So, yeah, lots more I could say on that, as always (like some snarky comments regarding the National League [because, clearly, the American League is where it's at] and like a blurb about how great baseball is [how great? so great], but per usual, it's late, and I need sleep.  A few other things I should mention, though:

My older bro's b-day was yesterday.  He's pretty rockin'.  Check out his site.  That link is my gift to him.  : )

Also, I finished my book: Reading Lolita in Tehran.  'Twas good.  Haven't decided what will be next.

And lastly, I may have a place to live in Colorado already.  I know, I know - crazy for me to even have possible plans this early (the move's not till October!), but sometimes these things happen (not of my doing, of course, but, you know, by friends who are on top of things).  I will admit that if this works out, it will be pretty much opposite of my usual m.o. - that is, it's A) a plan...and early, at that; B) involving commitment...enough said; and C) not living alone.  But, as they say, change is good.  Could be good.  Will be good.  If it works.  : ) 

Anyway, ok, off to bed, for reals.  I will make no promises or guesses on a timeline for when my pictures might be up.  Laundry & grocery needs pretty much trump all other to-do list items.  : ) 

Sign-filled

Still working on the Middle East picts album....  I know, I know.  But stop judging me for my incredible slowness, and just check out this link (another one from JD): http://quotation-marks.blogspot.com/  As we all know, I like weird/humorous wording on signs, and this fits along with it - it's a tribute to unnecessary quotation marks.  Because, hey, aren't we all "guilty" of this, at times?

And since we're on the topic, here are a few of my favorites that I took during my last trip (all were in Israel). 

The baby always wins

My good friend since 8th grade, E, had a baby.  Huzzah!  I got to see this little Sadie character while I was back in the Portland area after returning from my trip to the Middle East.  We didn't really know what to make of each other, but I didn't drop her and she didn't barf on me, so...I feel like we had some sort of an understanding.  : )

In other news, I've been back in SoCal, in my apartment and at work for a week now.  Getting into the groove again, and all is going well.  I was wishing I had my camera on Friday night 'cause there could have been some good mini golf pictures happening, but, alas, I guess for now you'll have to be satisfied with this baby shot.  : )  Hopefully, though, I'll get the photos from my latest trip up in an album before too long - it might take a little while (as there are hundreds!), but...I'm working on it.  (And by the way, if you haven't noticed, the albums are listed over here on the left sidebar.  Thailand is the most recent one.)

So, that's kind of it for now.  My sister says that I ought to do more writing on this here blog, and she's probably right (since it is kinda what I like to do and I can feel my writing muscles atrophying as we speak), but, really...how you can compete with a baby picture?  I think I'll just have to concede this one to Sadie and go work on my trip picts.  Stay tuned for an album maybe/hopefully soon....

Have a great week, all!

         

He is risen! (And I am tired)

Back from the Middle East; had a birthday (aided in the candle-blowing-out by nieces); flying back to LA this evening.... 

That's the skinny.  Happy Easter!  : )

Day 12: Israel Continued

Well, just a couple more days left over here.  In customary group-tour fashion, down times continue to be few and far between, so once again, I'll have to save the descriptions for later.  Until then, here are a few more pictures....  Hope all is well with all of you.  : )

1) Roman ruins in Jordan.  Called Jerash.

2) Sea of Galilee.

3) Caesarea on the Mediterranean.  Herod was crazy but had some incredible places built.

4) View of the Dead Sea from Masada...which was another one of Herod's crazy (but amazing) palaces.  It's like a small city built in the sky.

5) Looking out over Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives.

6) An alley near where King David's tomb could have been (but probably really isn't).  : )   

7) And last but not least: a Palestinian police officer in Bethlehem.

Quite an interesting place....  Ok, that's it for now.  Have a great weekend! 

Egypt, Jordan, Israel: Day 7

Maybe it's a good sign that I haven't posted until now: proof that we've not been sitting around over here, twiddling our thumbs.  : )

But instead of trying to write about everything thus far in detail, I'll just give a quick summary and then toss up a few select photos to give you the general idea:

Monday - flying, flying and more flying.  Time difference is 14 hours, so we got into Cairo late Tuesday night.  Wednesday in Cairo, then overnight train to Luxor.  Thursday in Luxor (this Karnak temple thing down there was preeeetty  sweet...and old).  Friday - back up to Cairo.  Saturday flew to Jordan.  And that brings us to today, which was spent walking around Petra which ranks right up there in top 10 most amazing sights I've ever seen.  (And the good news is that you can see it, too - a lot of the third Indiana Jones movie was filmed there; the place that he has to go into towards the end to find the goblet and all that - that's Petra.  So now I have two movies that this trip makes me want to watch again: that one and also the first Mummy movie.  'Cause mummies coming alive is just plain freaky.)

Obviously, I hope to be able to give better descriptions than this later, but for now...well, I think there's probably something I should be seeing.  : )  One more night here in Jordan and then driving over to Israel tomorrow.  I tell ya, this group tour stuff keeps you on your toes!  (Oh, and by the way, grandma and the fam are doing great.  I almost don't know which is more amazing: the pyramids or a 93-year  old seeing them on a camel.  Crazy.)  : ) 

 

Alrighty, if I get a chance, I'll try to post again from Israel.  If not, rest assured that I'll take a few more pictures and will let you know what I find.   

Until then, stay amazed by big things or small...or just watch Indiana Jones.  : )