Blogachoi

What We've Been Up To...

2009-01-26T21:46:00.000-08:00

Sooooooo........as you've probably heard, we had a baby!! Welcome Eliza! I suppose if you're reading this, you know this already....I really should expand my readership.

I finally got up the guts to try cloth diapering. I must say that I love it! It's extremely satisfying knowing that less of Eliza's pees and poops are going to clog up our landfills. We still use the disposables (called "'sposies" by those in the cloth diapering world) at night and when we go out, but at home, during the day, it's all cloth. The laundry isn't so bad and it's not nearly as gross as I thought it'd be. I'm now venturing into using the wool soaker diaper covers that Mom and I knitted. It's amazing that they work, but they do! Here's a shot of some diapers drying in the lovely winter sunshine.

My family is crazy about Dinosaurs! Not really. Actually, we've all been cooking from the Dinosaur Bar-b-que cookbook. Julia introduced us to this DEEE-licious cookbook. It really is amazing stuff. We've all made at least a couple dishes now and all of them have been outstanding. Most of the recipes incorporate bar-b-que sauce, which they have a recipe for. Make it - it's worth the effort. They call it "Mutha Sauce". Julia thought it was pronounced "mootha". How cute :-) So, if you're craving some good, good, good food, get yourself a copy of this book. Yum, yum.

We have become friends with the owners of Takenoya, a Japanese restaurant here in town. We happened upon it when it had first opened four years ago and we still love going there. Denise and Robert, the owners (and also brother and sister), invited us to their Chinese New Year celebration yesterday. Their mother was visiting from China and she brought with her gifts for Eliza. Here's a picture of her wearing gold bracelets, which are a traditional Chinese gift for newborn babies. The beautiful silk necklace is a good luck charm. Their mother went to a temple and had it blessed for Eliza. After we put it around her neck, she held onto the silk cord the entire time. So sweet.

The New Year celebration was fun! We ate yummy food, including dumplings which are traditionally served at New Years. Robert and the restaurant staff made 386 dumplings! Wow!

Knitting

2008-11-29T10:14:00.000-08:00

I'm back into knitting and tried out some new stuff - new patterns and Fair Isle knitting, which is difficult (especially when you're teaching yourself and have no idea what you're doing!). Here are my three latest projects.
This is a wool soaker, which is used as a diaper cover for cloth diapers. I followed this pattern - Soaker Knit in the Round - and found it pretty easy to follow. Luckily, my mom is a knitting genius, so she helped at one tricky point. Had to try out the Kitchener Stitch which joins the two sections together. See the seam? That's supposed to be invisible. Not so bad for my first try though (and I don't think the baby will care). The dark area at the bottom is there because I thought I was going to run out of yarn so I added a little section with some other yarn I had. Mom says it looks pre-stained :-) The matching I-cord drawstring makes it look a little better, I guess.

I made these two hats this weekend. The left one is my first attempt at knitting in the Fair Isle style. It's very satisfying to see the design emerge, but also very tricky. You have to make sure that it doesn't end up too tight, which unfortunately is what happened for me, I think. I have yet to try it on a baby head (hopefully within the next week or so I'll be able to!), so it might be okay, but right now, it doesn't stretch too much. So, it looks sweet, but may not be wearable! I adapted a pattern from here. It's newborn sized, so if it does fit, it won't for long! It's made of two yarns - the red is Sampa Organic Cotton by Mirasol in Red. The white is Bebe Cotsoy by Queensland Collection (50% cotton, 50% soy) in Ecru.

The hat on the right I made by following the original pattern (that I adapted to make the hat on the left). It's made of some dreamily soft cotton, bamboo and silk blend (Louisa Harding Jasmine in Cypress).

What We've Been Up To...

2008-11-23T21:14:00.000-08:00

The baby has not arrived yet - 9 days till the due date!! We've been spending our time in a variety of ways - mostly relaxing, getting ready for the baby and wondering what the hell we're going to do with it! Ha ha...actually, we're feeling pretty good about welcoming a little one into our lives. It's scary as hell, but super exciting at the same time. The diapers and covers are ready to go, the clothes are all washed and waiting, our freezer is packed with food for the first weeks, our neighbors are on call, the midwives are ready. It's very exciting!! Other than baby stuff, we've been up to this:

Eating Passionfruit - they look absolutely disgusting, but they taste amazing!

We spent a night at El Capitan Canyon Campground (which is a fancy resort "campground"). We got upgraded (for free!!!) from a Safari Tent to one of their nice cabins. It was fabulous! We made s'mores and sat by the campfire. What a cozy and fun way to spend a day off together!!

This is not our cabin, but it was like this.

After our night there, we went for a lovely walk at El Capitan State Beach. Here I am sitting on a picnic table.

Today we went down to the Santa Barbara Harbor to see a replica of Colombus' ship, the Nina. It was surprisingly small - definitely NOT something you'd want to use for sailing off to a new land. Apparently, it worked for them, though. I did not take this picture, but if I had, I'd be very proud of it. When we saw the Nina, the sails were furled (can sails be furled?) and it was docked. The tour was six bucks each, so we passed up on that, but it was still cool to check out from the dock. Then we went for a chilly walk on the breakwater and watched tiny ducks go diving for food. Rosie came with us and smelled everything.

What 33 and a half weeks can do to your midsection

2008-10-18T22:40:00.000-07:00

I'm feeling good and enjoying my pregnancy. Eric and I are getting the house ready for our new arrival. We had our shower last weekend and it was a blast! Many of our friends came and we enjoyed Mexican bbq and fabulous weather. December 2 is fast approaching!!!

April 10, 2008

October 18, 2008

My sister Maria

2008-10-09T21:09:00.000-07:00

Marvelous
Animated
Responsible
Intelligent
Amicable

Independent
Snazzy

Awesome

Driven
Optimistic
Resourceful
Kind

Gap Fire Update

2008-07-07T18:19:00.001-07:00

Everything ended up working out for us. We were allowed to return home yesterday. Other than the light dusting of ash, it's hard to tell anything exciting happened here. It's been such a surreal experience. I can't believe it was only four days ago that we packed up our lives in our cars. I'm so thankful to the firefighters for saving our property, to Eric, Serena and Michael who packed up all our stuff and to Susan for letting us crash with her. And, to Rosie for being the best dog anyone could ever ask for. Oh, and of course, to all our friends who called us concerned and offered their homes to us. Thank you!!!

Evacuating is no fun

2008-07-04T19:23:00.000-07:00

We had to evacuate from our house last night. It was really scary because the hillside above our house caught on fire. Eric happened to go home right after it caught fire. He, his cousin, who is visiting with her son, packed up his car with our valuables and booked it outta there. We met up and went to my coworker, Susan's house where we spent the night. We're now down in Huntington Beach with Eric's family. It's very odd to distill your life down to a carload of *stuff*. Makes you realize how unimportant stuff is.

The ranch and our house are fine as of now. Luckily, our neighbor happened to see the plume of smoke and called 911. 4 or 5 big trucks came blasting down our road and up into the woods. The firefighters did an amazing job and put out the fire there. Oz's investment in widening the roads on the ranch really paid off. But, what's really scary is that the main fire is moving towards the hills above the ranch. So, we'll see what the next few days bring.

What we learned:

1. Make a fire list - what valuables and other things would you want to bring with you? Keep the list out where you can find it easily. We did this last year during the Zaca fire. Eric, his cousin and her son found it extremely useful and are sure they would have not been able to pack as well without it.
2. Have a meeting place set up. I was trying to get home and couldn't get in because they closed our road. I couldn't call Eric because we have SUCKY AT&T and there's little to no coverage in the area around our house.
3. Have a disaster kit ready with water, food, batteries, candles, flashlights, battery powered radio and corded landline phone. Know where this is!
4. Keep all your important papers together in an easily moveable container.
5. Remember that pretty much everything is replaceable.
6. Even if a wildfire seems far away, it can jump to where you are in seconds.

Life on a ranch is wonderful, except for the evacuating part. Two and a half years ago we had to evacuate due to too much rain. Sure would like to have some of that now.

I'm a Believer

2008-06-10T20:02:00.000-07:00

My dad got me into "hypermiling". This is a strategy for driving that aims to increase your miles per gallon. Let me tell you - IT WORKS! I tried a few techniques on my last tank of gas and was blown away by the results. I normally get 26 in town and 30 on the highway. This last tank of gas was half in-town driving and half highway only (drove down to L.A. for our friend's memorial - more on that later). So, you might guess that I'd get about 28 MPG for this tank. Okay, so....wait for it.....I got 34 MPGs!!! Woo hoo! So cool. This is what I did:

I drive a stick shift, so that makes some of this easier.

1. Accelerated slowly
2. Short shifted
3. Approached red or yellow lights slowly (downshifting when necessary) so that I used my brakes as little as possible
4. Coasted down hills when possible (slightly scary, but fun, too)
5. Went the speed limit on the highway (this was hardest to do - everyone speeds here in Cali)

I didn't think these actions would make that much of a difference, but apparently, they do! I did the math twice just to make sure I really did get 34 MPGs. So cool.

If you're interested, here is a site that I found very useful:

http://epistolary.org/6337.html

I must say that many of those ideas I think are pretty freaking crazy, like turning your car off to coast or drafting off of a big rig. No thanks. I'm not that nuts, just a bit.

Oh, one more thing - I love how these gas saving techniques have made me drive more slowly and calmly. It's nice not to feel like I'm in a rush. I just cruise along, comforted by the thought that I'm saving gas ($$$$).

Big Ben chillin' at Figueroa Mountain

Summer Vacation on Cape Cod! Ooooh la la!

2008-05-06T22:11:00.000-07:00

Looking for something to do this summer? Rent our beautiful, brand new home in Eastham, MA on gorgeous Cape Cod!!! Go here for more details: capecodvacationhome.blogspot.com

Contact us for rates and rental info.

It'll be lovely, I promise!!!!

Thanks to Donna, Maria and Dan now shower with a bucket

2008-05-06T22:10:00.001-07:00

Who else will join the Bucket Brigade??

Thanks to Donna, we shower with a bucket

2008-04-06T18:09:00.000-07:00

To lower our water usage, Eric and I now shower with a bucket. Sounds funny, but it's actually pretty cool. We got a nice blue 10 qt. bucket and stuck it in the shower. Since our shower takes forever to warm up in the morning, the bucket catches the 5 or so quarts the shower spits out before the water gets warm. Then, we leave the bucket in there and stand in front of it so it catches any residual water bouncing off our rock hard muscles. It is usually full by the end of the shower. Then, we use it to flush the toilet or water the plants outside.

Ta da! Saving at least 20 quarts a day! That's at least 7,300 quarts a year.

My Eating Life is Changed Forever

2008-04-06T17:56:00.000-07:00

I'm currently reading "The Omnivore's Dilemma" by Michael Pollan. It's truly an amazing book and will open your eyes and mind to what goes on before the food you eat reaches the grocery store or your local farmstand. Today, I went to Vons for the first time since starting the book and I realized how much it has affected how I think about food. I had wondered (and worried) if I would never be able to shop the same again after reading the book. My fears were confirmed after wandering through Vons thinking, "What the hell am I going to be able to buy and eat with a clear conscience???" I felt like I was letting my body and the animals down by buying the shredded mozzarella and ricotta in a plastic container for the manicotti I plan to make later this week. And, that was just dairy products!!! What about the chicken we bought? How can I eat it??? But, I know I will. There aren't any options for locally raised chicken, so I'm stuck with the store bought birds. Even "free-range" means nothing really. Yikes...what to do, what to do. Luckily, our neighbors have a turkey and a chicken, so we get eggs from them. I'm going to have to start raising chickens, growing my own garden, milling my own wheat. Shit...I better get going....I have a lot to do.

Seriously, though - how do you find a balance? Obviously, due to time, space and monetary restraints, I can't be fully sustainable so that I can eat with a clear conscience. Maybe Michael Pollan will give me some suggestions at the end of the book.

This is an amazing book that will make you take a serious look at what you eat and where it comes from. Your eating life will never be the same. So, read it, and let me know if you come up with any solutions.

Travelin' Jones

2008-02-27T20:21:00.000-08:00

Eric and I have been doing lots of traveling lately. After our Maui trip (more on that in a bit) we headed out to Miami for five days. Eric had a conference to go to and I tagged along. Miami was very bright. Quite a gaudy city, actually. I heard a quote that I think is very appropriate: "Miami is where Neon goes to die". This seems to be most true in the Art Deco district in South Beach. We spent three of our four nights there exploring South Beach. We didn't join the kids at the multitude of crazy clubs, but we did spend our evenings strolling up and down Lincoln Road, which is a wonderful promenade with lots of shops, fabulous restaurants and even more fabulous people watching. Pooches were everywhere and welcome in the outdoor dining areas. Made us miss Rosie :-) After one night out, I decided that I don't fit too well into the Miami lifestyle for three reasons: 1. I haven't had plastic surgery (although I do have silicone implants in my eyes!), 2. I don't wear heels every day, and 3. my clothes cover more than just my tits and ass. I spent an afternoon at Bill Baggs State Park on Key Biscayne. It was a beautiful beach with awesome swimming. I kept my eyes out for sharks - yikes! Downtown Miami is basically one big skyscraper with more and more additions being built on every month. The city just approved another 93 storey building with two more impending approvals. It's really unbelievable. Not a place I'd move to any time soon, but apparently there are many people who think otherwise!

On to my Maui review:

The places we stayed were awesome. We ate breakfast and lunch in using the full kitchens in the places we rented. We were shocked at the prices for food at the grocery store - $7.99/half gallon for Organic milk, same for OJ. Amazing! We spent every morning exploring some part of the island and spent the afternoons on the beach. The most incredible part of our trip was when we went kayaking with humpback whales! We joined a small tour group and spent an entire morning cruising around the waters off of the southern side of Maui in kayaks. Eric and I shared a kayak and actually did very well. We no longer call them "divorce boats" :-) The whales swam right near our boats. I knew they were huge, but until you're next to one, you don't realize how big they actually are. We didn't bring our camera on the kayaks, but there are some shots on Flickr taken by folks who've done similar trips click here to see.

I'll upload a few pictures from the rest of our trip:

We drove 1.5 hours to the top of Mt. Haleakala at 4:00am to watch the sunrise. It was awesome and well worth the early morning.

This is the NeNe bird. There are only 250 left in Hawaii. We saw three of them!

The Iao Needle in the middle of West Maui.

Some beach near Ka'anapali in West Maui.

The blowhole created by a hole in the roof of a sea cave. The waves splash in and poof up through the hole.

A field of cairns in West Maui.

A pretty bay, also in West Maui.

Aloha! We're off to Hawaii!!

2008-02-10T21:23:00.000-08:00

Eric and I are leaving on Thursday (Valentine's Day!) for Maui! I'm super excited because 1. I've never been, 2. we're using frequent flyer miles so our tickets were only $10, and 3. I don't believe that turquoise water really exists, so I'm ready to be proven wrong. We chose Maui because we're going in the winter and that island is supposed to have the driest, warmest winter weather. Then, we chose to stay in Kihei for the same reason. We rented a little cottage on vrbo.com. It looks perfect for us - check it out. The owner has been really great to deal with and he cut me a deal, eliminating the cleaning fee in exchange for my proofreading services (I pointed out that no cleaning fee was listed on the site). That saved us $100! Then, we're heading to the northern part of the island to stay one night at Mama's Fish House and Inn, a famous place in a funky little town called Pa'ia. We'll post next week with pictures!

Our friends, Donna and Jon will stay and share Rosie duty with our duplexmates, Lara and William. Thanks guys!

I hope we see sunsets like this!!

The Rain in Spain Falls Mainly on Maria Ignacio Ranch

2008-02-03T11:45:00.000-08:00

It's been raining here a lot. We had a nice break from it all week, but it started again last night. I love it! Last weekend was quite an adventure. Saturday night, we got a billion inches of rain and the mud took over. Check out these shots.

A very wet Rosie.

A mini rock slide.

This is the creek we cross every day to get in and out of the ranch. As you might guess, we did not leave the ranch that day. That mud is not supposed to be there.

What We're Reading

2008-02-03T10:51:00.001-08:00

I've always loved going to the library. When I was little, we used to go every week. After carrying my tall stack of books home, I'd look through them, wanting to read them all at the same time. I'd excitedly choose one, and spend the rest of the day reading. I was a true book nerd. I think I still am. What makes me think this? The other day, I said out loud at work, "I have so many books I want to read right now. I wish I could read six at a time." It's a good thing I'm very comfortable with my nerdiness. As an adult, I still go to the library. Eric and I are probably two of their most frequent patrons. We use it for discovering new music, watching movies we'd never pay to rent and BOOKS, BOOKS, BOOKS. I know of someone who doesn't borrow books from the library because of all the germs that they carry. What do I have to say to that? Stop licking your books and wash you hands when you're done (if you're really that concerned).

Here's our current reading list:

Eric: Currently reading "The Fountainhead" by Ayn Rand. He's only read a few pages so far, but he likes it and it kind of reminds him of Harry Potter. It's about a young boy who's sort of an outcast but the difference is that he doesn't care and he enjoys being different because he's very confident in what he wants and what he knows he's good at. It's very long and he has quite a ways to go, so perhaps we'll update his review of the book when he's read more of it. He's reading it because it's supposed to be a classic and someone at work suggested it.

Hannah: Currently reading "I Capture the Castle" by Dodie Smith. It's a delightful book told in first person by a 17 year old girl who decides to write down her life in a journal. The heroine, Cassandra lives in a ruined castle with her gloomy older sister, depressed father, beautiful and kind stepmother, and sweet younger brother. Also living with the family is Stephen, a young man whose parents died. They are very poor, but find ways to live a happy life anyway. They meet the neighbors who have just moved in. Simon and Neil are two young men who have just inherited the property on which the castle sits. They live in a large house a ways down the road. The story reminds me of Pride and Prejudice. It's been a lovely read so far. I stayed up till 3:30am this morning reading it. It's the perfect book for me - no violence, no death (so far anyway) and no sneaking around. I found out about it on NPR in a piece with librarian Nancy Pearl about books that are under the radar, but way too good to miss. Here's a link to that list: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=17958464

Rosie: Just finished "Marley and Me" by John Grogan. She can't believe how misbehaved that dog was. She got a little teary eyed at the end when he died (and was reminded of her own mortality, but she didn't dwell on that for too long). She's glad she's not a lab. She didn't care for Grogan's writing style, but enjoyed the story anyway.

This always makes me laugh

2008-01-22T21:29:00.001-08:00

Paint by Number

2008-01-17T21:42:00.000-08:00

Over the Christmas break, Mom, Julia, Maria and I discovered the world of paint by number - known as "PBN" by fanatics such as us. Thanks to Ocean State Job Lot we now have quite a gallery! Check out our masterpieces (messterpieces?).

A Tribute to Tyler

2007-12-20T13:15:00.000-08:00

My college friend, Rachel just had a baby! Tyler is one month old today! Melissa, Meredith and I visited the proud parents, Rachel and Jason, to meet our new "nephew".

Mommy and Baby

Melissa, with a sleeping Tyler

Still sleeping in Mere's arms

Tyler and I had some fun together!

Furuncle

2007-12-08T14:12:00.000-08:00

In searching for Christmas presents, I came across this. At first, I thought I just wasn't paying attention....

To read more about boiling (furuncling?) irrigate in a twinkle, go here.

To read what furuncle really means, go here.

Toastess TJK-28W 1500-Watt 1-4/7-Quart-Capacity Cordless Electric Jug Kettle

Key features Toastess TJK-28W

1500-watt cordless electric jug kettle chop-chop boils up to 1-4/7 quarts of irrigate
Automatically shuts turned which time irrigate starts to furuncle or if plugged in piece juiceless
Concealed stainless-steel warming outlines resists corroding and surmount build-up
Water-level window; hinged cover snaps parsimonious into localize; stay-cool palm
Measures 5-1/2 by 9-2/7 by 10-4/5 inches; 2-year modified surety

This uncommon sounding little contrivance is really a cordless jug kettle that boils irrigate faster than a zap oven or a stovetop burner. It apace starts the stewing treat at the stir of a change - it testament regular furuncle as small as ii compotation so it's outstanding on the side of unitary somebody only if. And notwithstanding added refuge, the jug kettle shuts itself sour automatically at the time the irrigate starts to furuncle; it testament too closed itself sour if the kettle is plugged in spell juiceless. The appropriate unsullied nerve warming natural medium resists corroding and surmount buildup. Please observe: Teakettle is cordless, no more than warming proper state requires an electrical exit. Does non sing.

Which Schmuck Should I Choose?

2007-11-02T14:22:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone! Confused by the plethora of schmucks running for office? Not sure who to vote for? Go here and let this quiz decide for you!!!

Pick me a Schmuck!

The Boss is Watching

2007-11-01T20:13:00.001-07:00

Check out this clever site. Look in the top right corner of the page.

Lastminute.com

More sites need this! :-)

Back to Big Sur

2007-10-28T20:28:00.000-07:00

Eric and I love going camping in Big Sur. It's heaven on earth. We took Rosie with us this time. She is an amazing camping partner - great at hiking, snuggly at night in the cold tent and generally very cute to look at. Here are some shots of our most recent trip the weekend of Oct. 20.

California is on Fire

2007-10-24T19:22:00.000-07:00

Eric and I went camping over the weekend at Big Sur (more on that in another post). While we were there, we were talking about what it would be like if you went camping and were cut off from the world and when you returned to civilization you discoverd that a major disaster had occurred or something drastic had changed in your life. What would you do? How would it feel?

Unfortunately, we came back to civilization to find out that much of So Cal is on fire. It's so sad to hear the stories of the people who have lost their homes, their animals, their lives. I was brought to tears listening to a single father being interviewed on NPR yesterday. He and his two daughters had to leave in a cop car in the middle of the night. Their departure was so rushed that they were forced to leave their cat, fish and dog. The father didn't know what to do, so he left the front door open, hoping they'd escape. He later learned that his entire apartment complex had burned to the ground. Even worse, the SAME THING happened to him four years ago in the Cedar fire of 2003. I've heard so many people say they will stay there, they will rebuild. I'm not sure what I would do. I hope I never have to make that decision. Luckily, the Zaca Fire did not come near us and we are safe during these fires as well.

Here is a blog written by NY Times reporters that is tracking the fires: http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/10/24/tracking-the-california-wildfires-ii/

What strikes me the most is the apparent randomness of the destruction.

It breaks my heart.

Stacie and Derek

2007-10-10T10:01:00.000-07:00

Our good friends, Stacie and Derek were married on October 6 up in Graeagle, CA. Yeah, I didn't know where that was either. It's a bit northwest of Truckee. The recently fallen snow made it very romantic and also, very cold. 28 degrees at 8:00am Sunday morning reminded me of Rochester - reminded me that I used to think that 28 degrees was relatively warm. Yikes! Eric and I, silly as we are, did not bring jackets. We layered very well, although we ended up looking a bit like Joey on "Friends".

"Could I BE wearing any more clothes?"

Anyway, back to the wedding....

It was wonderfully beautiful. Stacie and Derek looked so happy. I've never anyone smile so much. I think Stacie was even smiling when she told Derek, very sternly, "Don't do it!" when he was threatening to put frosting on her face. Here are some shots from the big day. Eric and I had fun playing with Picasa's awesome editing tools.

Red Sox vs. Wankees

2007-09-15T09:50:00.000-07:00

Here's a picture of my uncles Jimmy and Tommy (on the couch) and my father (on the recliner) watching the game last night. Damn Yankees won - the Sox let us down, again. Hopefully they won't break our hearts again today. My Yankee fan husband and coworker, Akil, are going to have a field day if they lose again!!! It's actually quite depressing :-(

Chicken Fingers

2007-09-14T09:03:00.000-07:00

Eric's fingers after breading the chicken for dinner. Chicken Fingers!!!

San Francisco

2007-09-13T21:41:00.000-07:00

To celebrate two blissful years of marriage, Eric and I spent two blissful days in freezing cold San Francisco. We flew up early, early Saturday morning. I returned early, early Monday morning. Eric stayed on for another night for some work training.

A view of downtown San Fran from the park below the Golden Gate Bridge

This is a video of me going down the Seward Street Slides located in the Castro.

The beautiful Golden Gate Bridge.

A fountain in Embarcadero Center across from the Ferry Building.

Betcha didn't know we rent videos for a living!

Happy Anniversary!

Obama at SBCC

2007-09-10T20:45:00.000-07:00

Obama came to Santa Barbara City College for a "grassroots rally". Eric and I missed it (up in SF for the weekend - post coming soon!). Around 4,000 people went. Vickie and Oz joined in and said that it was great. He was very well received and everyone who went has told me it was a great experience. I have heard no reports of anyone getting toted off and interrogated by the Secret Service, which is what happened when Clinton (Bill) came on his campaign tour. Yikes!

Nuthin' But an App Thang

2007-08-22T18:50:00.001-07:00

Eric's sister Julia's husband, Josh works for Vertical Response. They provide email marketing solutions. They partner with Salesforce and made this video to promote their partnership. Josh is the one with the white shirt and black jacket. Even if you have no idea what they're talking about, it's still a pretty clever song/video.

Zaca Fire

2007-08-15T09:55:00.000-07:00

Back on July 4, some ranch workers accidentally started a small brush fire near Zaca Lake. It is still burning today and has now burned over 105,000 acres. For a few days now we've seen a massive plume of smoke rising ominously behind the mountains. We have a great view of it at SBCC. We make sure to take time for "plume viewings" during the day. Here's a photo I snagged from the SB County Fire website (www.sbcfire.com). It's truly awesome.

Woof! I love you!

2007-08-13T21:55:00.001-07:00

I can watch this video over and over again. So funny!

How I Plan to Save the World

2007-08-01T18:09:00.001-07:00

What are you doing to "save the world"?
What changes are you making in your life lessen your impact on Mother Earth?

Here's three things we've done:

1. Made cloth napkins. Save money, reduce use of paper and plastic. Just toss 'em in the wash with the load you're running already!

2. Built a worm bin from found materials and use it for food waste management. Reduce!

3. Started a garden. Reduce trips to the farm stand and grocery store. Pesticide free.

Rosie in the Hosie

2007-07-07T21:43:00.001-07:00

Rosie loves playing with the spray from the new nozzle we got for the hose.

What a great way to cool down a black dog on a hot day!

Jumping high and looking much more ferocious than she is!

Tracking moving objects is one of Rosie's skills - look at the attention she gives the spray of water above her head.

Worm Bin

2007-07-07T21:19:00.001-07:00

Eric and I built a worm bin today. Just one more thing we're doing to save the world ;-) Seriously, though, it is a great way to minimize the amount of food waste we're putting into our trashcans. Eric says he likes to just eat a lot to minimize how much food we throw away, but I thought we could decrease it even more by owning worms. The worms live in the bin and we put our food scraps in there - no dairy or meats, but lots of veggies, bread, etc. They also love paper! We haven't started the bin yet, but I will be picking up some worms from Island Seed and Feed in Goleta on Monday. It's very exciting. I mean, as exciting as worms can get.

Here you can see the bottom bin with its holes for ventilation. The top bin rests in the bottom bin. The worms will live in the top bin until it becomes full. At that point, we will put another small bin on top and the worms will crawl into the new bin through holes in the bottom. We will then harvest all their poo, which is technically called "castings", but poo is much more fun to say. The poo is used for fertilizer.

Here you can see the holes we drilled in the bottom of the top bin.

The lid is a ventilated lid made of two lids attached together. The bottom lid has a hole in the middle. The top lid is attached to the bottom lid with spacers in between to keep them separated a bit. This keeps it dark in the bin, but allows air to circulate.

We decided to make the bins out of some Rubbermaid storage containers that we already had but didn't need. Using these helped us reduce waste by not buying new containers.

Go here to see the plans that we followed. Thanks to the Solid Waste Department of Klickitat County, WA for their slightly confusing, but excellent plans.

Pot Garden Update

2007-07-07T21:08:00.000-07:00

We like to call our container garden a "pot garden". It makes me giggle every time. The garden has now been growing for three weeks. The roma and cherry tomatoes are doing very well, still small and green, but looking happy and enjoying the sunshine. The jalapenos are growing like crazy, just as they did last year. The Anaheim chili is having a tough time. Three of the flowers, stem and all, have fallen off. The garden helper at OSH thought maybe I was watering them too much. I will cut back and see what happens. The basil likes its new home on the back porch and the parsley is not sure where to live and is currently residing in the dining room by the back door. Here are some photos.

Bonsai Pepper

2007-06-17T20:00:00.000-07:00

Last year, Eric planted some jalapeno peppers and made delicious pickled peppers, carrots and onions. We left the pepper plants in the pot after they stopped producing. Then, the frost (yes, we actually had a frost here in Santa Barbara) came and ruined the plants. But this spring, out of the lower part of the stem, grew some tiny leaves. And, they stayed tiny. And then, two beautiful tiny peppers appeared. And, so far, they are still tiny! I think we unintentionally bonsai-ed our pepper plant! Take a look.

I can barely Contain(er) myself!

2007-06-17T18:42:00.000-07:00

After an inspiring conversation with my lovely Santa Barbara girlfriends, I declared to Eric that I wanted to make a garden. Two years ago we tried, in vain, to plant herbs - a hungry bunny (or other creature) had a delicious salad dinner one night and left us with one inch stems. Last year, we had a bountiful crop of jalapeno peppers, but the frost got them (see Bonsai Pepper entry). This year, I decided to try my hand at a more extensive container garden. This morning we went our local nursery and picked up some starters (we'll try seeds next year) - Roma and cherry tomatoes, jalapeno and anaheim chiles (or chillis or chilis depending on where you're from), basil and parsley. Here are some shots:

You'll have to tilt your head - I'm not uploading this again :-)

In the far right picture, from left to right- jalapeno chile, cherry tomato, Roma tomato, basil, dwarf lime tree and behind that are more jalapenos and tomatos. I still have to plant the parsley.

Poncho Silliness

2007-05-24T20:05:00.000-07:00

Congrats, Julia!

2007-05-24T19:48:00.000-07:00

My sister, Julia graduated from Colgate University on Sunday. With perfect Central New York timing, the rain began exactly at the beginning of the ceremony and ended exactly at the end. We had a blast anyway and are so proud of Julia!!! Smart girl, too - magna cum laude!!!

Vote for Rosserford!!!

2007-05-06T09:32:00.000-07:00

My friend, Ross, with whom I went to University of Rochester, has entered a contest to win a spot as a host of a public radio show. Listen to his entry and vote for him!!!! You have to register to vote, but it's very easy and doesn't take long at all (and you don't have to worry about hanging chads).

http://www.publicradioquest.com/user/4319

To listen, click on "listen to Rosserford's recent audio files"

Smile!

2007-05-03T21:29:00.000-07:00

My current favorite photo of Rosie.
Eric took this photo on our camping trip to Big Sur this past weekend.

Our Family Grows

2007-04-26T18:14:00.000-07:00

Here's to Rachel and Jason!!! A new baby will be born in November, bringing the University of Rochester Family baby count to 5. Woo hooo!!! All the best to you guys!!!

Zoe

2007-04-26T18:06:00.000-07:00

My family adopted Zoe from the MSPCA in Brewster, MA in 1995. Zoe is 13 now. She is a fine looking dog (this is what we thought my aunt was calling her - in actuality, she was saying that she is a "funny" looking dog). She thinks that barking is a sport and loves to feign deafness when called. Despite her quirks, I still love her. She has been sick for the last week. Things seem to be improving, but I am posting this to send her strength and good health.

Boston

2007-04-10T14:03:00.000-07:00

I went home to Cape Cod, Massachusetts this weekend to visit my family. It was Spring Break at SBCC - a perfect time to skip town. After a red-eye on Tuesday night (through which I slept like a log, thanks to my "gear" - eye patch, ear plugs, hooded jacket and neck pillow), I landed in FREEZING cold Boston (it was around 30 degrees - in Rochester I would have thought that was balmy).

I took the bus back to the Cape, but the fun began before we even left the terminal. The bus driver attempted to pull into the next designated bus stop at the airport, but couldn't because of a fancy, sleek black car which was parked right in front of the bus stop sign. Our don't-f%#k-with-me driver (who looked like a very normal, boring person) laid on the horn. Nothing happened. He laid on it again. Still no sign of life from the car. Someone wondered out loud if it was even occupied. The bus driver then pulled up and angled himself next to the fancy, sleek black car. He laid on the horn again, this time for at least a full minute. Still nothing!!! We could see that there was a guy in there, so the driver opened his door and yelled, "You can't stop here!" The driver rolled down the window and said in the most pathetic whine I've ever heard (better than any of my preschoolers), "But I'm waiting for someone." The bus driver obviously did not give a crap and told him to pull up. The bus driver then proceeded to pull into the bus stop - which was void of passengers! He concluded the show by telling us that on the day he retires, he's going to knock the mirrors off everyone who gets in his way.

Emilie

2007-04-09T22:23:00.000-07:00

This is Emilie, my little cousin (first cousin once removed). She is the daughter of my cousin Mina. She is two years old and quite possibly the funniest person I know. She's absolutely adorable and such a ham. I think these pictures say it all:

Slippery Rock Ranch

2007-04-01T21:08:00.000-07:00

This morning, Oz (our landlord, but also part of our adopted family here) took us to see Slippery Rock Ranch, about five minutes from where we live. With some investors, Oz is buying the ranch and will place it in a land trust. The investors get the tax write off and the land gets protected. It's an incredibly beautiful piece of property. There are a bunch of guys here from the Chico area who are working on the property - they're making the roads usable and safe, digging a pond and having a grand old time driving around big ass pieces of equipments like D9s and motor graders. And, they get paid a hell of a lot to do it.

Here are some shots of me, Eric, Oz and Rosie exploring the "Rock Garden".

That's a manzanita tree behind us.

Kailana and Kaelyn

2007-04-01T20:52:00.000-07:00

My wonderful friends Karen and Kevin have two little girls. Kailana (3 1/2) and Kaelyn (4 months) are two of the cutest kids in the world (and I'm not just saying that because I'm their Hannah). They live in Sacramento, so we don't get to see each other like we used to when they lived in Santa Barbara. The four of them went to Karen's friend Mariel's wedding in Malibu, so we met up in Ventura at the beach today.

Kaelyn looking at
her Daddy,
who is
calling her
"Burrito" because
she was all wrapped
up in blankets.

Don't interrupt - I'm googling.

2007-03-15T13:03:00.000-07:00

My sister Julia told me about her friend, Jonah (name changed to protect the innocent) who thinks a lot before he speaks. The result is that he says exactly what he means. She and her friends say that he is "googling" before he speaks. Julia and I decided that we don't "google" - we just click on "I'm feeling lucky" and hope that what we say makes sense.

Too bad you can't patent an idea.

Camping in the Sequoia National Forest

2007-02-21T21:21:00.000-08:00

We went camping this past weekend in the Sequoia National Forest. They allow dogs in the campgrounds and on all trails, so we brought the Rosester along. She did really well. Didn't bark much (she never really does) and was good enough to say off lease, I mean, stay off leash, most of the time while we were in the campsite. She was very good about not attacking the two little ratdogs in the site across from us (who never stopped barking!). We discussed it and decided it would be best to leave them alone.

Me and Rosie up at Alta Sierra on Rt. 155. Very high and very cold.

The weather wasn't that great, but we got two days of no rain and semi warm weather. It rained the second night. We packed up our wet gear and left in the morning. Those who know my family's history of rainy camping trips will not be surprised to hear that it rained. Eric and I have had pretty good luck so far and that was the first time it really rained hard while camping.

We didn't get to see any Sequoias. They have something called "snow" up there and apparently it prevents people from driving on the roads safely, so they closed most of the more northern roads. We were bummed, but had a great time exploring what we could.

The view from our campsite.

Check out this tongue

2007-02-10T12:12:00.000-08:00

What We've Been Up To

2007-02-09T20:32:00.000-08:00

Hannah:
My mother is an incredible seamstress and I am lucky that she taught me the basics about sewing. I really enjoy sewing and I don't do it nearly enough. When I do drag the machine out, I love to make quilts for the new babies of my friends and cousins. Unusual combinations of colors and patterns make it interesting, and I love the idea of creating something that will keep a baby warm. Here is a close up photo of my latest project. I made it for Kaelyn, the daughter of my dear friends Karen and Kevin.

Eric:
Eric has been researching new cars. His Maxima is literally falling apart - last week, on the way to lunch with his coworkers, a fellow Citrite went to open the door and the entire handle and cover came off in his hand. The engine runs great, but you can't get out of the car! Anyway, he's ready for a new one. Leaning towards an SUVish thing so we can go camping without having to feel like we're doing a puzzle trying to arrange everything in the car so it fits. Eric has also been kicking butt at Citrix Online.

Rosie:
Rosie has been doing a lot of lying around, catching the frisbee, running, walking, smelling stuff and being really cute.

My favorite things about Narita Tokyo Airport

2007-02-04T20:59:00.000-08:00

We spent our layovers at Narita airport on our way to and from Thailand. The following is a list of our favorite things about this airport.

1. It's incredibly quiet. After a long flight (12+ hours) on a loud airplane, this airport is just perfect for resting ones ears. There was no music playing over the intercom. The security agents at the security checkpoint were practically whispering to us. When we tried to walk through the wrong metal detector, no one barked at us. They simply whispered, "Go through this one, please." When the flight was ready to board, the gate agents held up signs announcing which groups were boarding. When they wanted to remind us to please show our passports along with our boarding passes, the agent simply walked among the travelers holding up a sign with that message.

2. The food court is wonderfully simple. There were a few restaurants offering a variety of foods, such as Italian, sushi, and noodles. We chose the noodle soup and it was deeeeelicious! Who'd ever think you could find delicious and healthy food at an airport?! The women working at the food court wore face masks. A little creepy looking, but at least you know they're not sneezing onto your food.

3. The best thing about Narita Airport..........the bathrooms!!! Everything is automated (except the flusher, which is a bit odd). There are little chairs to put your child in while you wash your hands. And, the best thing about the bathrooms???? The toilets! Western style (thank god) and amazingly advanced. Look at the picture of the instructions on how to use the various toilet tools.

The toilet user has the option of playing a "flushing sound" to muffle toilet sound, playing the sound of running water and changing the volume of that sound, washing the rear and using a deodorizer with increased absorption strength for removing odors.

I find this toilet an interesting comment on Japanese culture. Don't rock the boat, even while on the pot!

How does this thing work?

2007-01-21T18:41:00.000-08:00

Eric and I have joined the world of blogs. I hope this post finds you well. Check back for more!