9 to 5

I made some $5 bargain DVD purchases at Target the other week, including "9 to 5". I think that it was made in 1980 and stars Lily Tomlin, Dolly Parton, Jane Fonda and Dabney Coleman. I was curious to see how well it held up over the almost-30 years since it came out, so I bought it.

While certainly dated in the styles and overt sexism, I am sorry to say that there are still some fairly relevant situations in terms of corporate America that go on today. Of course, it is masked a bit in today's society as we are far more aware of what does and does not count as sexual harassment, but some undertones do remain. It holds up well enough, in fact, that it is a Broadway show with Allison Janney in one of the lead roles (Violet, played in the film by Lilly Tomlin)

It is not going to be one of those movies that endures the decades to find itself on the "50 most influential movies of our generation", but it is kind of amusing in a "I am in the mood to lounge about and just be entertained" kid of way.

That is probably how it found it's way into the $5 discount bin at Target AND a Broadway musical!

Driving Miss Daphne

It would appear that Daphne not only believes that she should always sit in the front seat, she has taken to the belief that she should drive too.

I am waiting for the day that David gets pulled over for letting the dog behind the wheel without a permit!

Summer Solstice

Back on the blog!  It feels as if I have been underwater for the past week or so, and to some degree (figuratively speaking, of course), it is true!  We had a big giveaway event at work last week, which took a full 2 weeks of planning to execute..suffice it to say, I am glad that it is over, and it was a big success.

Life has gone on and I've got my usual observations and activities to report on!

June 20th was the Summer Solstice Parade in Santa Barbara, an event that draws out all of the local color!  I had the good fortune of being stationed at the front door of our store at the corner of State and De La Guerra, so I had a front row seat for all of the floats, music, dancers and cute kids parading by.  

We got seriously busy as soon as the parade ended, so I was glad for the brief bit of time that I was able to peer out the door and snap a few photos.  

Who knew that the celebration of summer could be so garishly loud?

Danger!

I offer this warning as a community service message. Either sunscreen is a dangerous product, or Holly is trying to kill me, or both.

Sunday brought on a church family picnic and softball game where the youth challenge the adults. Schnoogs busted out her mitt and skills from her middle school years when she played in the Conejo League, loaded up on sunscreen and set off.

About 20 minutes later, I came flying around the corner in the entry way for some reason or another and fell flat on my backside...the floor was as slick as ice!

It would seem that Holly liberally sprayed her spf 30 in the hall/entry way, leaving a nice film of slippery sunscreen in her wake.

That stuff should carry a warning label!

Zen

In addition to doing work on the front yard, David also worked on the patio area and really spruced things up.  The evening of graduation was unfortunately a bit too cool to really enjoy the fruits of his labor, but we will enjoy the space as we sit out there throughout the summer.

One of the elements that were added was a fountain; actually, TWO fountains.  The first was one that we have had for quite some time and often requires some amount of repair to either the pump, a tube or a leaking joint.  David spends a ton of time on it every season.  I have suggested that we replace it once or twice, but he seems determined to make it work, which he does (at least for a week or two),

The second fountain, as pictured here is now outside my office, so I can open the window and enjoy the zen sounds of water splashing. It is very nice and relaxing and I rather enjoyed it for the 15-minutes or so until David asked me if I thought that the shape of the fountain looked like a toilet.

Now I have to go to the bathroom!

Keeping up with the Newton's

Props to David for making the front yard a very nice place to view.  

When we bought this house (in 1993), one of the selling points for us was that the only thing that needed work were the yards; the rest of the house had just been remodeled.  Given the fact that David is a Landscape Contractor, it seemed like the perfect fit...except of course for the fact that the LAST thing he wants to do at the end of the day or the end of the week is work on our yard.  

In all fairness, he has done some major work on things over the years, such as putting in an entire sprinkler system, lawn and several trees, but we have never had everything done together.  The looming (and now past) graduation had me asking (without nagging, of course) if things were going to get done.  

With exception of the pilasters (artfully cropped out of the photo and promised to be done by the end of summer), I'd say that big points go to the big guy for making the front yard a beautiful place.

Our neighbors across the street have said that they certainly are enjoying the view.

Celebrity II

The Newton women continue to dominate the world of media, this time in print.  Granted, it is not as much coverage as Shadow recently received on Groomer Has It last month, but it is some print media for...yours truly.

I showed up to the MIMs practice today and was immediately hounded for autographs.  Well, maybe not hounded and maybe no one asked for my autograph, BUT there was a stack of the June edition of Los Angeles Sports and Fitness Magazine and I did learn that I have a picture and a dialogue box with my answers to some questions about women in fitness featured on page 21 (just in case you are reading along at home).  There is also a nice feature on the Moms in Motion on page 23.

I am sure that this is going to be a collector's edition!

Graduated!

It is done...the Schnoogs has graduated.

I have to admit that while there was a lot building up to the day, it was actually pretty smooth and not overly emotional once we got there.  It was exciting, tender, a little sentimental but mostly just a lot of smiles, happiness and pride as we watched our only child take that step into the next chapter of her life.

There was actually one emotional-almost-meltdown moment on my part in (of all places) Trader Joe's, but we got through it and things were fine after that.  The thing that tripped me off was less about the fact that Holly is growing and leaving and more about the fact that she is a great person with a truly kind spirit...it makes me proud and grateful to know what a good kid (young adult) she has become.

The graduation itself was fun and moved surprisingly well given the fact that her class was slightly over 600 kids; that is a lot of names to read, let me tell you!  We sprinted back to the house where we had a really nice evening with about 25 family and friends, many of whom travelled quite a way to celebrate with and tell the Schnoogs what a special person she is.  We took around 150 photos...here are 17 of the select poses to enjoy!

Time to take a deep breath and enjoy the short summer before it is time to pack up and leave for college!

Let the Celebration Begin

It is here.  I blog in anticipation of the big day.  It has certainly consumed much of the text in this space of late, and has been quite a focus around the house too.

We are doing the BBQ dinner at the house post-graduation and at last count, Holly reported a group in excess of 20, maybe 25.  Good grief, I'd better get to shopping!

Enjoy another shot of our Sunday on campus, much to Holly's chagrin!

Twelfth Grade

We have arrived.  Senior year.  This not only means that we have made it through the school years photos, but it also means that graduation is upon us.  Time to sum it all up.

Holly's senior pix came out great.  She was very pleased with herself in her clothing options and I have to say that the photographers did a good job of capturing some nice shots.  They saw me coming a mile away when it was time to preview and select/pay for the photos.

Jack Johnson playing softly in the background, the photos all arranged on a cute little DVD slide show, multiple poses and backgrounds.  Yep, I went for the big package. 

I think that senior year was a big year for us all.  Hard to believe that here it is, 13 years later from the day that the very little Schnoogs flopped back on the couch and asked me how much longer she would be going to class.

Now the college journey begins.  First, let's get through the commencement ceremony.

Lancer Pride

Goofy season has officially begun.  Actually, I just typed that because I realize that I have declared it some kind of season in my last two posts and want to be consistent!  

After attending Holly's Baccalaureate, I coaxed her into riding over to the high school in hopes of finding an open gate so that we could take some good photos in front of the Lancer - a hulking sculpture made of spoons - in the quad.  

At first the Schnoogs resisted, but I wore her down with my stunning logic...I was driving the car and was determined to get a good picture, so better to do it now than with 1300 or so people in the quad after graduation. She acquiesced.

We got lucky and found a gate open back behind the bus entrance.  It was in my opinion a stroke of brilliance to do this, as it is mob-scene central on the night of graduation.  I saw it last year while serving my debt to the then-senior class by serving cookies and punch in exchange for the promise of a preferred parking permit this year (it arrived in the mail just yesterday!)

I believe that even Holly got into the mood, striking some fun poses out front of the TOHS moniker for posterity.

Baccalaureate

Graduation season has officially begun.  Holly is done with classes (has been since Friday), has her Yearbook filled in with all of the signatures she is after, received her cap and gown, is scheduled for rehearsal Tuesday and Wednesday...and attended her baccalaureate ceremony on Sunday.

This is the optional service that is held at a local church, recognizing the efforts of family and faith in a student's life.  It is lightly attended, less than 10% of Holly's 600 some-odd person class attended; but it was a nice ceremony and a good warm-up for the main event on Thursday.

I am surprised to report that while I got a little misty-eyed when the officiating pastor started talking about all of the milestones that parents celebrate with their children (he had me at, "first word" and then went on to catalogue the years), I did not cry, weep or wail, as Holly had predicted I might.  I blinked, snapped a few photos and held it all together.

Let's see how long that will last.

Swimming with the MIMs

Triathlon season has officially begun!  

That may not sound like an exciting declaration to everyone, but I am happy to report that the MIMS (Moms in Motion, as you may recall) are back in action, kicking off the 2009 summer Tri season with a record-breaking 42 mom/member team in Westlake.  

I have always thought that I was a pretty decent swimmer, but have been humbled down to accepting the fact that I swim like I run...slow and steady.  There are some regular little dolphins in our group, or at least it seemed that way to me once they started lapping me.  I started out swimming in the #3 position of our 6 person group in the lane, but was quickly repositioned to #6...and I had to kick off almost immediately after the person in front of me so that the first person didn't catch up to me!

Next week we swim and bike.  Let's see if I can pull out some dignity there!!

Inspiring

I have professed my love for NPR several times in this blog and in person, if you have been (un)lucky enough to get into a conversation with me on radio and TV programming.  This morning (Saturday) while on my way to the first MIMs meeting of the season, I was fortunate enough to hear a story on Major Phil Packer.

Read the story on this incredible man, but the long and the short of it is he was injured and lost the use of both of his legs in March 2008 while serving with the Royal Military Police in Iraq. 13 months after this happened...Phil ran the London marathon.  It took him 2 weeks and he did most certainly earn the distinction of coming in last...but what an amazing story of sheer determination.

He has also rowed the English Channel and plans to climb El Capitan Mountain.  He is still serving in the Royal Military and considers himself lucky.  As I listened to Phil speak in the interview, I was floored at what an incredibly humble and genuine person he seems to be.

It certainly inspires me to persevere through whatever TRIVIAL issue I might have in front of me on any given day!

Eleventh Grade

Pressure!!!!  The big graduation day is drawing ever closer.  Junior year was a pretty good one for the Schnoogs.  She was in the midst of Band Camp when photos were taken; hence the stylin' shirt here.  There was much teasing and heckling about that, I can assure you.

I enjoyed Holly's 11th grade, as this was the year that I went along on the Band/Color Guard competitions as a worker/chaperone.  I wore my kelly green band booster shirt with pride.  I did EXACTLY what I was told to do with the props (the Mom who was in charge of that section, and to whom I was assigned as a personal assistant had been in the program for something close to 12 years with the way her kids were spaced out and she was clearly senior to yours truly!)

Holly got her act together with her study habits too, and although she wasn't sure what she wanted to do and would get a little stressed whenever anyone spoke of college plans, we continued to move ever-closer to the big year.

I'm with you Holly, I don't think that I am quite ready for it either!

Lake Balboa Bullets

We did a group event at Lake Balboa this weekend for a good cause. The Virginia Avenue Project hosted its inaugural 5K Run for the Arts. It was held at Lake Balboa in Encino/Van Nuys and welcomed runners, walkers...anyone who wanted to participate to help support a good cause.

In addition to David, Holly and myself, Eric and Briana joined us, as well as Shadow, Scooby, Daphne and Roxy - Briana's dog. We made quite an impression as we strolled along the course. Shadow was feeling a little stiff, so we slowed things down a bit with her. (I actually think that it was Eric who was slowing things down, but we let him blame Shadow because it made him feel better)

I have to admit that we were something of the celebrities on this event, with people cheering us on and offering the dogs water at every aid station. We loped across the finish line a little after an hour of the start, and they promptly started tearing things down once we had cleared the timer.

It's OK, we had a good time, raised some money for a good cause AND went to Las Fuentes for brunch afterwards. THAT is a win/win scenario if ever I've seen one!