*sigh*...today is my baby's first day as a senior in high school. I didn't know I'd feel so desolate to be so close to the end of her 'school career'. Now is the time to start bucking up...I only hope I don't embarass her too much this year. This is really hard for me. I didn't have a mom around my senior year. So much happens and it all happens so fast.
Not only is today her first day, but she also gets her professional senior portraits done this evening. Oh the start of marathon spending. So much fun.
*sigh*
Monday, August 24, 2009
Thursday, August 6, 2009
June 2009
June started out great! Eric got a job working in Monterey at the Presidio after being off forever. Good thing, too, because unemployment was long gone.
- Tory starred as Cherry in her school play, the Outsiders. She was fabulous and got an “A” in Drama for her effort. In attendance were Patty, Anne, her boyfriend James & his mom, Janet. I don't have photos, but do have video, just trying to get Youtube to accept it. :)
- While Tory, Doxie & Stellie stayed with Patty, Eric and I went to Truckee for a school event at Alder Creek Middle School (hosted by the hostess with the mostest, Sandy Horn).
- We then headed to South Lake Tahoe, where we stayed at the Camp Richardson Resort in the camper, for the Valhalla Renaissance Faire [www.valhallafaire.com]. Joining us were: Cullen & Gwen; Grace & Brian; Philip & Katie, and briefly Teague, Cailin, Katherine & Franz. While we were there we participated with the Valhalla Fellowship, as we have for the last three years. They’re like our other family. Cousins maybe, you know, the ones you really like, but never get to see. J
Eric and Cullen headed back Sunday night as they both needed to work on Monday. Brian, Grace, Philip & Katie all headed home on Monday, leaving Gwen and I alone to fend for ourselves, with the camper.
Gwen and I walked into ‘town’ on Monday, a nice hike (I don’t even recall how far it was now, I just know it wore both of us out), had lunch at McDonald’s, shopped a bit and then headed back to camp. We passed un uneventful night, with Gwen showing her prowess to the fire gods, and left the next morning. Good thing we got an early start, as we ended up blowing a tire on the trailer just north of Placerville on 50. The tire proved difficult to change, as we were parking at an incline on the side of the road (making it difficult to get a jack under the trailer properly) and the tires were probably original to the trailer (circa 1977) as the bolts were not moving easily. After an hour and a half, help from a Cal Works guy, a good Samaritan and finally AAA, we were back on the road. Everyone made it home safe and sound. - On June 10th, our good friend Deb found out that she is expecting, the first child for both her and her husband! The baby is due late February! We’re all so excited!
- Tory finished off her Junior year of high school...fairly uneventfully.
- And lastly, we attended Scottish Renaissance Festival [www.scottishrenaissancefestival.org] in Santa Cruz with our Renaissance group.
May 2009
In no particular order (the order the photos uploaded, actually...one of these days I'll get the hang of this thing) are highlights from May:
These are photos taken while I was in Washington DC from the Smithsonian Museum
I want this Emerald!
Here is the building known as the 'Castle'
I really thought these trees were neat. I've never seen anything like them and was hoping I could get our friend Orion to tell me what they are. I wouldn't mind having one in our yard.
Photos of the Washington Monument & WWII Veterans Monument
Eric, Orion & Morrigan
Myself & Robin
- May started off with Eric's birthday weekend. He spent his weekend watching Wolverine on the big screen. I took him to see it (alone) on Saturday for his birthday, but he liked it so much, he conned me into going again on Sunday so that we could take Tory.
- I travelled for work quite a bit starting in May. Mother's Day found me in the air headed to Washington DC to set up an office in Alexandria, VA.
These are photos taken while I was in Washington DC from the Smithsonian MuseumI want this Emerald!
Here is the building known as the 'Castle'
I really thought these trees were neat. I've never seen anything like them and was hoping I could get our friend Orion to tell me what they are. I wouldn't mind having one in our yard.
Photos of the Washington Monument & WWII Veterans Monument
- The weekend after my birthday (Memorial Weekend) we headed to Porterville to visit with June. We stayed in a Motel 6 that allows dogs, so that we could bring Doxie and Stellie with us. It was pretty nice for a Motel 6.
Stellie sneaking a snooze at Ma's.
Lei'i, happy puppy
- Tory had dive finals. Here's one photo from those. I did make quite a few videos, which have been uploaded to Youtube and are here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CPYclUqtw30&feature=channel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nEGxsIkmYv4&feature=channel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6SPAJTrniD0&feature=channel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XV0JBamDDH4&feature=channel
Eric, Orion & Morrigan
Myself & Robin
Here's a photo of the Alexandria office I was working on
- For my birthday Eric and Tory suprised me with an ice cream cake from Baskin Robbins. It was the first birthday cake I've had since the mud pie my dad bought me for my 18th birthday. I was very surprised & very touched.
- My office at work was moved at the end of the month, which just added to the general upheaval in my life in May.
April 2009
Some highlights from April:
We attended a Renaissance Faire in Visalia (Tulare County Renaissance Faire), here are two photos, one of the event and one of the beautiful sunset on the way home. For more information, check the blog at http://danceanddestruction.blogspot.com
We had a training for our Renaissance thing [see http://www.danceanddestruction.org/] if interested in more information. Here are some photos from that:
The infamous 'lamb cake' ;)
Robin wearing Anthony's 'prize'
Barda & Daddy
Tory & her prize
We attended a Renaissance Faire in Visalia (Tulare County Renaissance Faire), here are two photos, one of the event and one of the beautiful sunset on the way home. For more information, check the blog at http://danceanddestruction.blogspot.com
We had a training for our Renaissance thing [see http://www.danceanddestruction.org/] if interested in more information. Here are some photos from that:
- Eric installed irrigation & grass in the backyard at the house. It's gorgeous!
- Tory received her first 'First Place' in a dive meet on April 8th!
- We had an Easter barbeque for our friends on April 12th. The following folk were in attendance: Patty; Kieran, Robin, Kieran's Mom & Anthony; Elspeth, Dirk, Evie & Barda; Killian; Orion; Fyonna; Tory's friend Laura; Tory's boyfriend James & his family, Derek, Janet & Jeff. We had an Easter Egg hunt in the back yard, which the teenagers thought was pretty fun (it was Anthony's first time & he said it was cool).
Here are some photos from Easter!
Doxie, 8 years old!
The infamous 'lamb cake' ;)
Robin wearing Anthony's 'prize'
Barda & Daddy
Tory & her prize
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Anaheim: Thursday, February 19, 2009 - TORY'S 16TH BIRTHDAY!
Today is Tory's 16th Birthday and she's in Spain. *snif* I tried calling her, left a voice mail on her calling card and sent an email, but was unable to reach her. I hope she's having a great time!
The park was crowded! It still wasn’t as bad as it was at New Years, but there were a lot more bodies, and longer lines. It was also HOT! Temperatures were in the low 80’s, but when you’re wearing jeans and a thick shirt, it’s hot! Eric was wearing shorts, so he doesn’t think it was as hot as I did.
We managed to go on the new Finding Nemo ride. I vaguely remember, maybe going on the submarine ride when I was really little, so this was a fairly new experience for me. We waited 45 minutes to get on it. The seats on it were so small, we figure they didn’t upgrade those since the 70’s. The ride itself was rather hum-drum, with the first part probably a duplicate of the original ride, and the second part in a cave with holographic (or projected) images from Finding Nemo. Neat for a one time thing, probably never need to go on it again...unless it’s something that Tory wants to go on when we bring her back this summer.
Next we headed to Peter Pan’s Flight...and lo and behold we found the smallest line for that ride since we’d arrived, so we jumped on in. We waited perhaps 20 minutes. I just love that ride. It’s so ... original.
We then hit a few of our favorite rides (Big Thunder Mountain Rail Road, The Haunted Mansion, Pirates of the Caribbean and Indiana Jones & the Temple of the Forbidden Eye) before heading out of the park.
That night we had dinner at Outback Steak House & it was very relaxing as we prepared for home.
The park was crowded! It still wasn’t as bad as it was at New Years, but there were a lot more bodies, and longer lines. It was also HOT! Temperatures were in the low 80’s, but when you’re wearing jeans and a thick shirt, it’s hot! Eric was wearing shorts, so he doesn’t think it was as hot as I did.
We managed to go on the new Finding Nemo ride. I vaguely remember, maybe going on the submarine ride when I was really little, so this was a fairly new experience for me. We waited 45 minutes to get on it. The seats on it were so small, we figure they didn’t upgrade those since the 70’s. The ride itself was rather hum-drum, with the first part probably a duplicate of the original ride, and the second part in a cave with holographic (or projected) images from Finding Nemo. Neat for a one time thing, probably never need to go on it again...unless it’s something that Tory wants to go on when we bring her back this summer.
Next we headed to Peter Pan’s Flight...and lo and behold we found the smallest line for that ride since we’d arrived, so we jumped on in. We waited perhaps 20 minutes. I just love that ride. It’s so ... original.
We then hit a few of our favorite rides (Big Thunder Mountain Rail Road, The Haunted Mansion, Pirates of the Caribbean and Indiana Jones & the Temple of the Forbidden Eye) before heading out of the park.
That night we had dinner at Outback Steak House & it was very relaxing as we prepared for home.
Anaheim: Wednesday, February 18, 2009
I want this fairie dress for the next Mid-Summer's Night Feast...Dame Bri, can you make it? :)
We had four free tickets to Knotts Berry Farm, so Eric and I decided to use two of them while we were there. We’d never been to Knotts, so thought we’d check it out before taking Tory. Because it wasn’t a prime time of year, the place was practically deserted, with many rides not in operation. It was quite disappointing. We did go on one kind of neat little roller coaster, called the Pony Express, which Eric liked. The best part of it was the way they seat you. I can see huge lines there during the summer, as it’s a very short ride, with getting into the seats taking longer than the ride itself. Definitely not something that could be put into Disneyland or Magic Mountain. ;)
We left Knotts at 2pm and then headed back to Disneyland. Thank goodness we had season passes. Disney was much busier this day, because there was no rain.
We left Knotts at 2pm and then headed back to Disneyland. Thank goodness we had season passes. Disney was much busier this day, because there was no rain.
Anaheim: Tuesday, February 17, 2009
We headed over to get the information for our free accommodations Tuesday morning. We were in luck and stayed at the Travelodge on Harbor about a mile down the street from Disney. We couldn’t check in until 2pm, but managed to get them to let us park there until we checked in, so we could just walk to Disneyland and not incur parking. We had dinner reservations at the Blue Bayou, which was a first for both of us.
Disney was a lot more crowded than we expected, but a big difference from when we were there in January, so we weren’t complaining. The weather was kind of poopy, with frequent rain. We loved it because it kept the big crowds down. We were able to get fast passes for both Indy and Space Mountain with ½ hour waits. We’d grab the fast pass, get in line, ride the ride and then get back in line with our fast passes and go again.
We also went on Small World because I’d read something recently where they had changed the ride, adding in the Disney characters from the movies. There’s a lot of controversy about whether it’s just a way for Disney to market it’s product, or for the betterment of the ride. We thought it was very well done. The characters were placed in the appropriate regions, and were done in the old style, like the original ride (with round heads).
Dining at the Blue Bayou was an experience...an expensive one. A bit more than we thought we were going to pay, but definitely a once in a life time experience. Because we were on our honeymoon, they put us at a table right up against the water and included a chocolate mousse for free. The wait service was superb.
Getting out of the Blue Bayou it was kind of late, so we went one final time on Pirates of the Caribbean and then snuck out of the park before Fantasmic finished. ;)
Disney was a lot more crowded than we expected, but a big difference from when we were there in January, so we weren’t complaining. The weather was kind of poopy, with frequent rain. We loved it because it kept the big crowds down. We were able to get fast passes for both Indy and Space Mountain with ½ hour waits. We’d grab the fast pass, get in line, ride the ride and then get back in line with our fast passes and go again.
We also went on Small World because I’d read something recently where they had changed the ride, adding in the Disney characters from the movies. There’s a lot of controversy about whether it’s just a way for Disney to market it’s product, or for the betterment of the ride. We thought it was very well done. The characters were placed in the appropriate regions, and were done in the old style, like the original ride (with round heads).
Dining at the Blue Bayou was an experience...an expensive one. A bit more than we thought we were going to pay, but definitely a once in a life time experience. Because we were on our honeymoon, they put us at a table right up against the water and included a chocolate mousse for free. The wait service was superb.
Getting out of the Blue Bayou it was kind of late, so we went one final time on Pirates of the Caribbean and then snuck out of the park before Fantasmic finished. ;)
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