Day Twenty Five - Y is for...

Yellow - with a little help from photo shop!

The photo project is quickly drawing to a close and while I have dutifully completed my entry each day, I am not thinking that any of the entries are going to really put me in a photography hall of fame.  There is some creativity and thought to the process, but since I am using a phone camera for most of the shots, the execution is just OK.

Y is for yellow.  I decided that first thing this morning and was pretty clear in my mind what that needed to look like.  There is a courtyard outside the building that I work in, with a fair number of plants and flowers, including a yellow hibiscus that I have admired multiple times.

The photo that I took and you see here (in a somewhat enhanced state)  was lovely, but the yellow was pale at best, thanks to the fact that I waited until the late afternoon to snap my shot.  I considered pinch-hitting with another item, like a post-it note, but that bored ME, so I can't even imagine how you the reader might feel!

Fortunately, Microsoft Photo has a few settings that can be modified and manipulated, taking the pale yellow flower to something that looks like it grew up out of a nuclear reactor.  Too bad radioactive doesn't start with the letter Y!

Day Twenty Four - X is for...

An X-ceptionally challenging letter to capture!

Science and abbreviations.  That is what the letter X is all about, at least in my cursory review for options.  I really thought about and actually researched the letter for a bit of inspiration today, but there wasn't a lot to be had.

Things I could have done but refuse on principal include the representation of Christmas with X-Mas...that takes the whole point out the season!

X-Ray, thankfully I don't have a need for one of those right now. Xylophone, don't have one of those lying around. Then we get into Roman numerals and a lot of scientific sounding ingredients that I am pretty sure are mostly artificial and I have no idea what they really are...xanthide, for example.

I was starting to feel a little desperate by about 8 pm...I was at Farmers Market/The Grove for our company Christmas party and I knew that my options were getting slimmer by the moment.  I was scanning the area, looking for something to spark my creativity, when I saw a sign on the American Girl store, touting their American Girl experience.

I bring you the letter X, this is as good as it is going to get today!

Day Twenty Three - W is for...

The world wide web is a wonderful thing

The photo itself is a bit lacking in imagination, but the functionality is INCREDIBLE.  I would estimate that I look something up on either my computer or my phone an easy 4-5 times per day, sometimes even more!

It sounds cliche, but I really don't know how we made it without the instant gratification of a search engine at our fingertips.  I have a set of encyclopedias that David and I bought when we first got married - we might have busted them out a few times when Holly first started her school career, but I have to admit that the web served as a far greater resource for her from about 4th grade on.

It makes me wonder what amazing thing will exist in 20 years that we will all declare as hard to imagine living without.  That will admittedly be here faster than I might like to admit!

Day Twenty Two - V is for...

Pluto, our guest Vizsla for a few weeks

The Newton home for wayward dogs has taken on a new charge.  Pluto, a 4-year old Vizsla (and featured V photograph!) has been hanging out with the pack for a week, and will likely be here for another 2 weeks or so, while his owners take care of some things in New York.

Pluto is quite the pup and has fit in nicely with our pack.  His first day at the house would have been overwhelming for most - he first met Charlie and Doug on the front lawn, then went into the backyard to run around a bit with them, before Shaggy came charging out and Penny sort of just said hi.

Pluto played the perfect balance with the pack - not too aggressive, but not a complete pushover either - he held his own!  Pluto loaded up with everyone else to go on a walk the next morning, went to work during the day and by dinnertime it was as if he has been a part of the pack for years.

He is a sweet pup, we will be sorry to have to give him back - this is the fundamental reason why fostering does not work for us, we always want to keep all of the nice dogs that come to stay with us!

Day Twenty One - U is for...

A glimpse at the Underwater world, courtesy of my Camelbak

U was a bit elusive, at least in the ideation phase. I landed on the whole underwater thing, which I thought would be pretty cool, but without an actual underwater camera or an aquarium or other way to catch a glimpse of the blurry world underwater, I was a bit stuck.

I typically have a water bottle around, and realized that the color of the bottle, combined with the water and the light made for a different look and angle on the underwater concept.

Now that I see it here, it is in my opinion a little blurred, not too unlike how things look when I am swimming without goggles!

Day Twenty - T is for...

A customized TREE. handmade by my new friend Carter

I spent the first half of today helping to watch a group of kids, ranging in age from 4 to 8 years old at the "Drop and Shop" event held at church.  The idea is the parents drop their kids off for about 4 hours, giving the parents the freedom to Christmas shop, decorate, or just enjoy a little time away from the little ones.

When I saw the message go out looking for volunteers, I thought that it would be a lot of fun to play with a group of kids for a few hours and give their parents a morning off, given it has been a long time since I have had to worry about looking after someone under 10 years old!

I will have to admit that the task itself was far more challenging than I originally thought it would be (not helping was the fact that I was coming down with a cold), and I was pretty wiped out by the time 2:15 rolled around and the last kid was picked up.  I did, however, have a nice keepsake in the form of a tree ornament that one of the boys made for me.  After he completed the ornament, he asked me how to spell my name, then wrote it on the back and signed it, "from your friend Carter".

There was no guesswork about what my T entry would be for the day, after all, it was customized just for me!

Day Nineteen - S is for...

Scrumptious Squash serves it up

Today is a good example of creative inspiration taking over the best laid plans.  I had already snapped a picture of the salad I ate for lunch (a Greek salad, not too surprising, is it?) but then I cooked up a batch of butternut squash for some quesadillas at dinner and was struck with the wonderful color, texture and smell that was before me, spurring this extreme close up shot of all things squash.

The quesadillas, by the way, were DELICIOUS.  Without a doubt the best that I have made to date.  Handmade flour tortillas with a healthy portion of freshly cooked and smashed squash, topped with Swiss, goat and Parmesan cheeses, plus a sprinkling of fresh chopped sage.

You will have to ask me to make these for you sometime, they will blow your mind!

Day Eighteen - R is for...

RED palm trees...you don't see that every day!

As I was pondering my entry for the letter R, the color red came to mind right away, and then I fixated.  We did the color red last year in the other 30 Days of Photos exercise and I recall being very proud of my avante garde interpretation of my car's tail lights.

Not one to duplicate, I started to look around for options.  An apple...did that for the letter A.  A stop sign...did that for close-up last year.  It is kind of dreary and rainy outside today, so the outdoor shots don't hold a lot of appeal...

Ah, the In-N-Out plastic cup.  Put a red folder behind it, get super close and let the magic happen from there.  It's really righteous, don't you think?

Day Seventeen - Q is for...

Quirky - but always cute and entertaining

I have joined the Sadie Kitten bandwagon and chose to represent the letter Q as a descriptor for our favorite cat - she is (like a good many of us) quirky.

You might notices that Sadie is photographed here with her eyes closed - in a box touting DOG FOOD - and still manages to look above it all.  She could easily be described as quintessentially quirky in the cat world.

Look at that, I squeezed in another Q word!  We have represented the letter well, thanks of course to the charms of Miss Sadie Kitten herself.

Day Sixteen - P is for...

Popchips - how I love thee!

Food features two days in a row!  It would seem that using the lunch hour to create my blog is swaying how I think about the different photo ops!

To my credit, I actually thought of this idea in the morning when I was packing my lunch.  The intention was to pour out all of the chips and get a close up of the pile, au natural.  A very good idea, indeed.

What actually happened at lunch time was I ripped open the bag and wolfed down the 16-chip portion in about 3 minutes, licking the residual thai sweet chili seasoning off of my fingers and tossing the bag into the trash.

It wasn't until almost an hour later that I realized I had not yet taken the photo for the day AND I ate the target subject!  Sheepishly, I fished the bag from the trashcan and did my best to angle it in some flattering light.

The crinkled bag just wasn't working with me today.  Time to step up my photo game and perhaps bust out the fancy camera...these rookie shots may be entertaining to speak of, but they certainly don't create a dramatic, artistic effect...because of course, that is what I am going for!

Day Fifteen - O is for...

Olives, it would seem, are not very photogenic

I will confess to taking the O photo in a hurry and with little more thought than the first thing that came to mind when I considered my options.

Olives are indeed a staple in my diet - not that I am Mediterranean or have any real ties to the cuisine, other than I just enjoy it.  When we went to Turkey and Greece, I ate a Greek salad for something like 10 consecutive days and of course the olive is an important part of that recipe.

The olives here look a little worse for the wear.  I use them in salads at work, so there was at one point 2 or 3 jars going at the same time that I consolidated into 1, draining out some of the brine and in that, it appears I have not preserved the fine look of the mighty olive.

While I offer some apologies for my not so great photo in this assignment, I do not apologize for my love of the olive and therefore my desire to make it the star of the day today.

Day Fourteen - N is for...

A night-lit nativity is nice!

I enjoy today's photo for two reasons - it is a beautifully hand-crafted nativity scene AND the photo was taken at night, really allowing the simplicity of the design, color and lighting to shine through.

The original plan was a night picture - there are already a lot of amply decorated houses with all kinds of colored lights and the occasional inflatable.

We were on our way to Life Group in the evening and I was just remarking that I planned to take an evening shot on our way out, when we walked up the pathway and saw this nativity scene.

That was quite the gift, as far as I was concerned and I wasn't going to pass it up, so as soon as we put the casserole dish and our books down, I was back outside snapping a picture and emailing it to myself.  We might have sounded like we were blathering on a bit, trying to explain to the hosts what we were doing and why, but the finished product is exactly what I was going for...N has been represented nicely!

Day Thirteen - M is for...

No money madness this weekend!

Lots of good M opportunities today, as we spent the first half of the day painting Christmas panels for use in the Worship Arts and then another 7 or 8 hours helping some friends put up their Christmas decorations, including a cool Christmas village.

For some reason (and a lack of attention is probably the leading cause here), I missed those big chances and landed instead on some greenbacks from my wallet to represent M in the form of MONEY.  

Had I done any of the crazy super sale shopping, this might have been more applicable, but I stayed safely away from the malls and big box retailers - my only real shopping plan for the whole weekend is going to be the Farmers Market on Sunday.

Perhaps the absence of spending is what kept the bills in my wallet and accessible to represent the mighty M!

Day Twelve - L is for...

I can't resist the lure of bright lights!

It is interesting as this project progresses, I find myself waking up each day, wondering what I am going to do for the corresponding letter.  Some days it is very easy and I have a plan, others I find myself looking for some creative inspiration at the very last minute.

Welcome to the very last minute.

Friday turned into a very busy and full administrative workday, with 7 1/2 hours logged at the local Starbucks working on the computer.  Only 1 latte was consumed during that time, so I feel like I got the good end of that deal.

After working all day, Ebe and I decided to see a late (10:05 pm) movie and had both heard that Flight was on the must-see list, so we took advantage of some free passes, short lines and low demand for a movie that had been out for a while.

I realized as we were going into the theater that it was going to technically be Saturday when we came out, so the flashy lights were the winner for L, as they caught my eye and therefore, my fancy.

I am not sure that the same can be said for the movie.  Well-acted, but kind of disturbing, in my mind.  If that was the intention, then I will say that it was well done!

Day Eleven - K is for...

Kind of like a Kaleidoscope, right?

Thanksgiving Day proved to be a little more challenging creatively than I thought that it might for the K entry!

It was getting late in the day when I looked out on the patio at my parents house to see the white lights on and looking very lovely.  They reflected in the sliding glass window and reminded me a bit of a kaleidoscope, so I trotted outside and stood up on a chair to take a close-up picture.

Fail is the only way to describe the output, so then I went on a hunt through the house to duplicate the effect with some other lights.  I found a lamp in the living room with some decorative holes on the top, and...success, at least in my mind!

Happy Thanksgiving.  I am thankful for so many different things, including the opportunity to blog about whatever I want to, including pictures of things that represent letters of the alphabet!

Day Ten - J is for...

It's the tiniest JUNIOR meal in the whole world!

Wednesday was a busy little day, given it was the day before Thanksgiving and I had a full day of work to cram into a 6 hour timeline.

It wasn't until I got to dinner (at about 9:45 pm, after the GREAT interfaith service at church) that I received what I would call inspiration for my J entry today.

Chipotle offers kid meals and since I knew that I would not be eating any lunch leftovers because of Thanksgiving weekend (we all know that we have expanded from a single day of eating to a whole 4-day weekend), it made sense to me to get the smaller meal so that I didn't waste any food OR consume too many calories (relative to what loomed for the weekend).

I got a quesadilla, which is in that little foil packet, but the miniature bag of chips was what really caught my eye in the whole process (it held 5 chips, in case you were wondering).  I guess that this could be considered some brilliant marketing, as the kids get the same experience as a full size meal, but it seemed a little wasteful to me to have a bag that small, even if it is intended for the junior crowd.

I will say that I was glad to have been with Ebe, who got the full sized bag of chips.  5 just wasn't going to cut it for me, especially with that itty bitty quesadilla!

Day Nine - I is for...

The Irony of today's entry is not to be overlooked

I am not a fan of IHop.  In fact, I can safely say that I am rarely ever a customer and I don't think that I have set foot in one for 10 or 15 years.

That context is important to realize on this, the day of I in our project.  I had not settled on a good I image and was walking along Victoria Road in Ventura (I had jury duty today) during the 90 minutes they gave us for lunch.

There are a lot more businesses and strip malls along that stretch of road than when David and I lived there 25 years ago.  I was looking at all of the different signs, trying to figure out what was going to hit the mark for I.

There it was, on the side of the road, just a block or two down from AAA.  IHop.  The restaurant that refused to make substitutions for me on two different occasions to accommodate the deletion of some meat that I requested.  Nope, would not do it.  At all.  No negotiating, not even if I paid extra.

I suppose that all these years later I might actually try an IHop - I am a big fan of pancakes, after all - but at this point it is so ingrained in my mind that I am not sure I would actually be able to enjoy it.

Inflexible could also be applied to today's entry - for both the IHop organization and myself!

Day Eight - H is for...

My favorite H

I knew as soon as we cycled to H what my entry would be...Holly, of course!

Unfortunately, our schedules were not synched up too well, so I had to wait for her to get home from school (she has all late classes and some days is not home until after 10 pm) and then snap an action shot.

Props to the Schnoogs for playing along.  I don't think that I even got out of the chair.  I just said to her, "I need to take your picture." I pushed the camera (phone) in her phase and snapped.

She is a good sport like that!

Day Seven - G is for...

Good grief and gross were my two initial reactions

David and Holly definitely live life in their own way, and every now and again I find something that just makes me scratch my head and wonder what the heck they do when I am not around.

Sunday night afforded another opportunity to wonder what was going on.  No one was home when I walked in the door, so I decided to do a few chores while I waited for everyone to show up.

I looked on the clean side of the sink and saw this perplexing scenario - a bowl of something cream colored in a bowl with cold water, sitting next to a clean plate in the drainer.

It took me a few minutes to figure out what the heck was sitting in the sink!  To figure it out, I had to back my way into things...the panini press was still out and it was Sunday...Holly must have made bacon on the panini press for breakfast on Saturday (I saw her posting on Facebook) and saved the grease for David to feed to the dogs.  I suspect that he started to warm it up for the pups morning dry food, but forgot about it.

When David and the dogs arrived home, I casually asked what was in the bowl...yep...I was right.  I didn't let on that the mystery substance made it to the G is for GROSS entry, I don't think that David or Holly would have understood why!

Day Six - F is for...

Finished Feet - feeling refreshed after a little rest

Saturday is typically a busy day in the life of the Newton clan, with this week being no exception.

On deck in the events department was the Fishbowl 1/2 Marathon, a nice little regional event held in Fountain Valley, benefiting a group called Students Helping Other Students (SHOS).

The weather was perfect (it looked a little threatening around mile number 9, but it stayed clear), the course was easy, the volunteers friendly and we finished without incident, all good news!

There were many F photo opportunities - Fishbowl, fitness, fun, finish and of course, the things that got me through the 13.1 miles - feet!  The feet pictured here are actually 'day after' feet, because my phone battery died at about mile 11 and I didn't take a picture of them as we crossed the finish line.  The balance of the day was spent eating (pizza and garlic knots, yum!), running errands and (as sheepish as I am to admit this), sleeping from about 8:30 pm on.

I guess that it has been a little while since I have done a 1/2 marathon, so in some ways, F can also stand for fatigued, as I was uncharacteristically exhausted!

Day Five - E is for...

An EXTENDED desktop is a nice thing in the workplace!

The photo challenge continues and I am on the prowl for something different, unique and of course interesting to make this whole process compelling.  There is a big readership to keep happy, after all!

Today's entry was the creative inspiration of a technology FAIL.  I came out from a meeting to find myself staring at a blank computer screen - both the monitor and my computer on the dock were blank and nothing I did could bring either back to life.

I fancy myself somewhat technology-savvy, so I performed a variety of tests before I diagnosed the issue - my monitor was shot and I needed a new one.  The advantage of working in a smaller office and coordinating a lot of work through the IT team is quick and speedy service, so I trotted on over, made my request and within 10 minutes, voila!  Not only did I have a working monitor and computer once again, the monitor is double the size of the old one!

This brings us to the letter of the day...E.  In addition to having an extended screen, I am very excited too!  I would describe this all as EXCELLENT.

Day Four - D is for...

D is for DEBONAIR

I had my eyes out for a good subject to focus on in day 4 of our photo project...I was still feeling good from my C entry and felt that I needed to be creative to keep things moving.

I had a few ideas floating around, but then I saw the creature to the left and I knew that I had found it...my D entry for the day, debonair!

Ebe has a collection of cool lights and a flamingo on her 2nd floor patio.  The flamingo even has little neckerchief thingies that change out with the season, he is cool like that.

A week or two ago, a new flamingo came to roost - a LIGHT UP flamingo!  Elizabeth set him up, plugged him in and somehow decided that he needed to be themed a little more for Thanksgiving (he has a Santa hat on ordinarily), so she grabbed my uber-cool Turkey hat and put it on him.

The result as you see it here is very cool, very sophisticated  very (wait of it...) debonair.  I just hope that I can pull that hat off on Thanksgiving as easily as he can!

Day Three - C is for...

C is for...COFFEE-CREAMER-COCOA-CUP

Today, day 3, was much easier than brown/day 2.  There were opportunities for C items all over the place, beginning with my morning treat, an office mocha (that is the name I give it in the database recipe I added on MyFitnessPal).  I go through phases where I make my little masterpiece 3 or 4 times a week - a coffee made on the fancy office machine with the custom Pinkberry blend, two hazelnut creamers, and a packet of sugar free hot cocoa.  Voila!  The perfect, custom cup of coffee!

I was happy to see also that I was making the coffee in my very own cup - one that Annette bought me that says, Keep Calm and Carry On - more words that start with C!  

The day was well represented and I managed to capture it all in one nice little photo while I was toasting my cranberry walnut bread purchased at the Farmers Market on Sunday   One word - DELICIOUS.  I could have used it for day 4, the letter D!

Day Two - B is for...

B is for...BROWN

It would seem a bit silly to be stumped on day two of the new photo challenge, but I must be honest in admitting the fact that the creative spark was not strong with this assignment.  I had thought of a cool idea on Saturday, but if the rules apply (and they do - Ebe is a STAUNCH rule follower, I can assure you), then the photo would not count, for it is supposed to be taken on the specific day assigned.

There were a few obvious B options - bowl, ball, brush...I wasn't feeling any of them (and I was really fixated on my good idea from Saturday!)  As is often the case with creative inspiration, it came at an unlikely moment - as I was sitting at my desk and I looked under my desk to find the powerstrip, I realized that today was brown day in my wardrobe.  Pants, socks and shoes, all pretty much the same hue.

The resulting photo (two attempts, got a weird flash spot in the first one) is a monochromatic masterpiece indeed...or at least that is what I am telling myself as the letter B is officially represented in BROWN.

Day One - A is for...

A is for...Apple

A new photo-journaling program has cropped up, courtesy of some good investigative skills by Ebe. We enjoyed our 30 Days of Photos last year (last year for me, last year AND a little bit of this year for Elizabeth!) and are now going to start another session.  Technically, it is 26 Days of Photos because we are doing A-Z, but in the spirit of things, we will leave it with the 30 Day label.

A is for apple.  I would bet that this is the first thing that comes to mind for anyone in the English-speaking world; it is a very fundamental principle when discussing our alphabet.  I gave this one some thought, as it is the kick-off, but decided that this is how I wanted to go.

The apple is an organic Pink Lady, purchased from the Laguna Nigel Farmers Market by Ebe yesterday (1/2 price happy hour - a total SCORE to go over after church and get the deals before the vendors pack up and go home).  I initially was going to hold the apple up and take it against the blue sky, but decided I didn't like the way that it looked, either with my hand in the shot or cropped in such a way that it looked like the apple was floating eerily.

I saw the trees in the courtyard and thought that would serve as a nice base.  We are studying Genesis in bible study right now, so setting up the apple made me think of the fruit from the Tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and then I started thinking that I was hungry, AND THEN I thought that it would be cool to take a bite out of the apple for the ultimate shot.

That's how things work in my head sometimes, fast and furious, but we eventually get there and now you know how!

Kabuki Cooking

Deliciousness prepared...tableside!

I had the opportunity to go to Benihana with a group for dinner last week - it has been at least 2 years since I have been there last and I must admit that I have forgotten just how good it is and how much fun it can be!

Besides the standard cool tricks - shrimp tails landing in the chef's hat and pocket, the volcano of steam and the impressive knife skills - it can get rather rowdy and boisterous, especially if you go with the right group of people!

The best trick is to tell the hostess or chef that there is a special occasion at the table, even when there is not.  We (as in I) have been guilty of setting people up as engaged, celebrating an anniversary, and, the good old standby, a birthday more than once in my large group visits to Benihana.

Birthday was the celebration of choice and PETE was the one to take that bullet for the team.  I am very proud of our GM team from New Orleans, as they were the ones who set it up as soon as the idea was planted in their head and PETE was a good sport, allowing us to make a fuss in November for his birthday that had already occurred in June.

Even better in the whole deal was after we sang happy birthday and all of the sparklers/candles died down, the bill came.  Guess who was assigned to pick it up?  PETE.  Apparently, we don't put a lot of value on birthdays in our work group!

Seahorse DOWN!

The creative abilities of my office team are always appreciated

Life is rarely dull, in or out of the office, although some of my more interesting stories do come from work.  This past week was indeed a busy one, with some staffing, position, and reporting changes that impacted my entire team in one way or another.  Humor is a good coping mechanism, which is the avenue they took to entertain us all.

One of the people in the office, Bob, once told us a story of an incident he had while working as a character in one of the parades at Walt Disney World.  The story is much longer, but the punchline is Bob, on the ground in a giant seahorse costume and unable to get up on his own.

We use the "seahorse down" analogy for anything that might be off in Bob's world, and the team decided to use it for our personnel changes as a good laugh.  I was impressed with the level of detail, including Bob's face pasted onto the seahorse.  The prop was staged and in place for Bob's arrival in the morning, however the comedic timing was a bit thwarted by the cleaning staff, who picked up the seahorse and put it on a desk nearby.

The seahorse down was more of a seahorse lost issue for a bit, but once we found him, it made a lot more sense.  Perhaps you had to be there.  We laughed quite a bit!

Walking with Purpose

THE team - Jan, Ebe & Brandy

This post is technically a week overdue, as I am reporting on an event from LAST Saturday, but just roll with me here and we will get back on track.

Elizabeth and Brandy have been doing the Alzheimer's Walk for at least 6, maybe 7 years in honor and memory of Ebe's Mom.  I joined up about 4 years ago in support of the cause; right after David's Dad passed away from the same disease.

My boy...the perfect mascot!

The event is held at Huntington Beach and is typically always a BEAUTIFUL day along the beach.  Ebe has had a team each year, some years with more people than others and, for 3 of the years, we had a mascot...my boy Freddy!  We decided to forgo the mascot and the larger team this year, so it was an intimate group of Ebe, Brandy and me.  We still managed to raise a good chunk of money as a team and of course we had an enjoyable time.  A little misty-eyed at a couple points, remembering Lucille, Lin and Freddy, but it was nice to think about and honor them all.

I appreciate having the opportunity to share the love of those near and dear to me through thought and action combined - I am indeed thankful to be blessed with so much purpose in my life!

Rocked the Vote

Rewarded with my very own badge, just for voting!

Tuesday was of course election day and I adjusted my schedule a bit to allow myself the time to go place my ballot.  After years of absentee ballots because of travel for work, I really enjoy being able to show up in person to vote.

We have been voting at the same polling place for the last 20 years - Holly actually went to elementary school there for 3 years - so I knew exactly where to go and was in line shortly after the polls opened - I think that I was voter #16 in that location.

We had a good laugh at home prior to my departure, as David and I were sharing information - I helped him with all of the propositions since I did my homework on them, he helped me with the right local offices since he is practically the Mayor in T.O. and then...we cancelled out each others vote for President.

Oh well, I think that our politics at home closely mirror the divide that our whole country is experiencing.  Whether you agree with the selection or not, getting out and exercising your right is always the right thing to do!

Inspiration

A random message on the ground

While in San Francisco (doing the "bootleg" version of the 1/2 marathon, as you may recall from an earlier post), I came across this sign on the ground during our walk to Coit Tower.

It is a nice message, albeit a bit random and vague, given that it is just lying on the ground, but I snapped a shot anyway, because the general sentiment was a positive one.

Sometimes it is just nice to see/hear/receive a little positive reinforcement every now and again, so enjoy!

Redemption!

Office contest WINNER!

I had the opportunity to dress as Gumby in the office for Halloween yesterday; I was Pokey for the party with our Fellowship group (you've already read about that).  One thing that I failed to mention from the Fellowship group party is the Gumby/Pokey duo did not receive ONE vote in the contest!

There are a variety of reasons why this happened - we were only allowed two votes, since we entered together, we could not vote for each other and the remaining people (men judged the women costumes and vice verca) stated loud and clear that they had to vote for their wives.  Not helping was the Charlie's Angels entry - a sentimental favorite over Gumby and Pokey with that group!

At any rate, Ebe and I were flabbergasted that we did not garner a single vote, but we let it go, traded costumes and went our separate ways on Halloween since we both had to work.  Ebe's work did a little potluck for Halloween, but no costume contest.

Here at the swirly office, we didn't have a potluck, but we DID have a costume contest and about 20 people or so participated, myself (as Gumby) included.  THIS group loved Gumby and most wanted to take a picture with "The Girl Gumby" as I was dubbed (we know why - see the previous post!).  I was not expecting to win, so it was very exciting to receive the award shown here AND to have another member of my team win "Most Creative Costume" - she was dressed up as Pebbles from the Flintsone's and had a whole campaign around bringing Fruity Pebbles back to the Topping Bar at Pinkberry - a little inside humor that was fun to see played out.

I was delighted to win and indeed feel redeemed for the snub that the little green glob of clay (and his pony pal Pokey too) received  a couple of weeks ago...GUMBY!

Gumby is a Girl??!!

Gumby and Pokey for a new millennium

Happy Halloween!  I must confess that I am not the biggest fan of dressing up for Halloween - I am not sure that I ever was, unless you count being a ballerina for several years in a row during the elementary school years.  As an adult, I have been more prone to wearing a costume only when forced to, and it is typically with some amount of grumbling to accompany it.

Our Fellowship group celebrated Halloween in early October, with the mandate to every member to show up in a costume that depicts our favorite TV or cartoon character.  That is an easy call - Gumby!  Not being of the creative ilk, I immediately went to Amazon.com to see my choices and I was pleasantly surprised to see that the costume options were good AND relatively inexpensive.

A quick call to Elizabeth confirmed her willingness to go as a paired set of Gumby and Pokey (David is neither one for dressing up or the Fellowship group!), so I ordered the costumes and let them sit a week or two until the day of their debut at the party.  I tried both costumes on at home for David and Holly to see, they gave their approval and Holly snapped my photo.  As I reviewed the shots, I could not help my first reaction to the Gumby, "Are those my boobs??"  We had a good laugh because the answer is of course...yes and there is really no hiding it.

Elizabeth and I put the costumes on for our party at the side of the car, a couple of doors down from our destination.  She opted for Gumby, I for Pokey and we marched in, feeling very much the iconic duo of 60's claymation.  A neighbor of the host's house was out in her driveway and as we walked up, the first thing SHE said was, "Gumby is a girl??!"  Ebe had the right response, "It's Gumby for a new millennium."

We totally rocked those costumes.

A Whole Lot of Delicious

Fun notes in the kitchen

Damon (my friend at work) enjoys baking, and he also tries to eat a fairly healthy diet.  The end result is often a new treat baked with ingredients and in such a way that you may have never considered before, but realize that is very good, should you opt to give it a try!

It is fun that we in the office never know when we are going to be the lucky recipients of his efforts.  Sometimes I will have an inkling if he posts a picture or comment on Facebook and I see it, but more often than not, it is a total surprise and delight moment (Pinkberry speak) when I saunter into the kitchen and spy one of his Tupperware containers sitting on the table.

One of the things about Damon's baking that always entertains me is the detailed listing of the ingredients...today we have a clear picture of what IS in the cookie, as well as what is NOT.  I even found out from another source that the caloric content was known (120 calories and well worth it) and shared; something that is always appreciated when trying to balance out the whole calories in/out formula.

It should be noted that I added the last item in the These cookies do contain column...truth in labeling laws are very strict, you know!

Missing the Desert

More scenery at Whitewater

As I upload the photos from my camera to my computer, I find myself a bit wistful for a recent quick trip to the desert.  Looking at the calm and dramatic coloring we experienced, I am rather impressed with the diverse landscape that So Cal affords on a regular basis.

The shot here was taken at a little lake at the edge of the Whitewater reserve, which is a trail-head for the Pacific Trail (and should not be confused with the Whitewater scandals unearthed in the early Clinton years).

Barb took my camera and turned it on Elizabeth and I, since I was taking so many pictures of Barb and Joan.  We are shaded a bit, but the still water and dramatic reflection of the blue sky make for what is in my opinion a great picture.  It also makes me a bit wistful for some more time hiking and exploring, instead of being tied to an office most days!

Flora

Ah, the joys of a great subject and capable camera

It may not be known to all that I made an investment in a fancier camera before I left on my pilgrimage to Turkey, Greece & Rome.  It intimidated the heck out of me before I left for the trip, but thanks to some good tutorials from Craig and the subsequent trial and error use of the camera, I have quickly come to appreciate the benefits and joys of using a larger, more complicated camera.

The flowers you see here, for example.  My old camera would not have been able to capture as much detail and color without potentially blurring everything.  In fact, this is but one of at least 6 or 7 pictures that I took on a walk up the Coit Tower stairs in San Francisco a few weeks ago.  There are houses along the steep stairway, most adorned with some really nice gardens, all in a fantastic mid-autumn bloom.  California - especially San Francisco - can be rather spectacular in early October.

My capturing of the SF flora is but a small percentage of what Ebe photos on a weekly basis, but I am indeed rather pleased with the results, more a function of a great camera than a great photographer, but I will take it any way that I can get it!

Desert Hike

Ebe, Joan & Barb at Whitewater, in Palm Springs

Had the opportunity to visit some friends who own a GREAT vacation rental in Palm Springs - Barb & Joan live in the Bay Area, but periodically have an open week or so at their vacation rental, so if they are in the general So Cal area, I try to make my way over to see them.

The only day that worked was Thursday, so it was a vacation day for Ebe, a working remote day for me and a sad day for David and Holly, who could not go due to work and school.

We really made the most of the 22 hours that we were there, including a hike on part of the Pacific Trail called Whitewater. It was a beautiful day and spending some time on this portion of the Pacific Trail made me think - even if just for a moment - that I would enjoy the adventure of hiking this iconic trail north as far as it might go.

We did some reading up on the path to take for our 4 mile round trip jaunt.  Elizabeth read it out loud to us so that everyone would have a solid sense of where we were going and how.  We set out along the path and within , oh, maybe 1/4 mile...we had gone off the suggested path and never got things back on track quite the same again.

We weren't lost, we just weren't finding the trail markings or paths that we thought we would, so we walked through a lot of nice terrain without ever getting to the fabled red dome that we intended.  We actually spent a nice bit of time standing on a little island (it was an area between a fork in the river/stream that was flowing), munching on some snacks that we brought.  We had a good chuckle over some other hikers who were following us...hope they enjoyed their time in and around the water!

We probably only hiked about 2 miles total, but it was still a lot of fun and definitely on the list to go back and do again.  As far as the whole Pacific Trail is concerned, if I ever seriously consider doing that, I will be sure to hire someone to take me through it, as there is no way I should ever consider trusting my own orienteering instincts!

Shenanigans

Googly Eyes and a marshmallow gun...typical day in the office

Most people spend a good number of hours at work, and I am no exception.  I will admit that in the last 6 months or so, things have shifted a bit in terms of who is in the office and sitting in my general area, and I must say that the change is refreshing and disturbing all at the same time.

My team likes to have fun.  A LOT of fun and sometimes probably with a little more noise and enthusiasm than others in the area may like, but when you get right down to it, it makes the office a heck of a lot more enjoyable.

Let's take yesterday as a standard example of what goes on.  Annette had the above pictured "googly eyes" on her car (a Halloween costume, as I understand it), which fell off in the middle of some intersection during her commute in.  Just because they aren't road-worthy, it doesn't mean they shouldn't be in use somewhere, so into the office they come.

Mandi was munching on some marshmallows right out of the bag, which seems a bit extreme, even for her.  Turns out that her new marshmallow gun was not working, so she set it up to make it look like fangs for our googly-eyed friend.  From there, we had quite a discussion around the mechanics of a marshmallow gun and what it takes to make it work, then there was some energy spent adjusting it and the next thing I knew, we were under attack by a rapid fire battery of marshmallows.

While there was a temporary disturbance to the workflow, productivity quickly resumed, save for the occasional outburst by someone who unwittingly stepped on an unseen marshmallow.  For those of us in the corner, that is just a normal part of any workday!

Confessions of a Bootlegger

Bootleggers above SF Bay

I admit to being a bit of an event junkie...if memory serves (and let's be clear, sometimes it does NOT), I have been active in running, biking and swimming events since 2006.

Over the years, I have had some great experiences and personal "bests" doing these events and have come to a point where I really enjoy selecting activities that offer a great charity partnership and provide lots of support to both the community and the participants.

Since I've started up on the events, I have been fortunate enough to find some great friends to do these activities with, between both groups of MIMs (Moms in Motion and Ministry in Motion), I have met and completed events with a gaggle of fun people.

All of this context leads to a confession - for the first time ever, I was an event bootlegger...I wasn't formally signed up and registered for an event, but I did it anyway.  Worse still, I dragged Elizabeth into this seamy underworld of unspoken and unappreciated participation, for I guided her through the process!

Here's what happened - Nike Women's Marathon (NWM) in San Francisco is a SUPER popular event that  has about 25,000 participants, mostly women, running through the streets of San Francisco from Union Square to the "Great Highway".  It has become increasingly more difficult to actually get an entry each year, with most people relegated to crossed fingers for acceptance via a lottery system.  It was quite disappointing to be informed that the MIMs were NOT accepted this year, especially after I had already booked a flight and room reservation.

Holding out hope that there would be a way to get in, I kept the reservations and talked the event up to Elizabeth; we were psyched and ready to do it...but still, no official entry!  After discussing our options, I offered the one thing that is typically frowned upon in the event community...we could "bootleg" the event, leaving from Union Square and running down to the Embarcadero (parallel for about a mile and a half, until we merged together at the Ferry Building).  We trotted along with everyone else until we hit the 1/2 way point - a great outlook over the bay pictured above...and then we turned around and ran back to the hotel on our own!

It sounds like a good plan (and actually, was rather lovely for us), but I am well aware on why this is frowned upon...it potentially takes away from resources for those runners who have actually paid to do the event!  For the record, we were completely self-sustainable with water, snacks and even our own chocolate for the famed "chocolate mile" (which I hear was discontinued this year, glad we got to enjoy our extended chocolate mile with hot chocolate from a stop at Ghiradelli on the way back!). We did use the porta-potty at mile 6.5 or so, but there were no lines and short of the spot of hand sanitizer we used, I'd say that we were pretty neutral in the footprint for resources that we used.  While we got to enjoy the experience, we did not get the bragging rights of the technical t-shirt or the coveted Tiffany necklace.

I feel better to have this confession off of my chest. It is not intended to be a habit and in fact we are signed up (and PAID) for an event later this month - the Fishbowl 1/2 Marathon, benefiting Caring S.H.O.S. (students helping other students).  Being a bootlegger is not a regular practice but I will admit, we had a fun weekend in San Francisco and the 13.1 miles completed, whether "official" or not were legit all the way!

Ped Xing

I recognize that the car is king, especially in So Cal, but it is really appalling sometimes to see how little consideration is given to the pedestrians, at least in the land of all that glitters - Beverly Hills.

I took a jaunt out to the bank yesterday at lunch time.  The trip is .75 miles in each direction, certainly easier to navigate on foot than in a car and I am of course happy for the exercise offset to my daily caloric intake!

In the eight crossings that I had to make (four intersections, twice), I encountered THREE different drivers who would have most certainly hit me had I not stopped and let them through.

I am not a risky crosser in Los Angeles (New York, that is a different story, but I am just fitting in with the locals when I jaywalk there), so it kind of aggravates me to have cars zipping in front of or behind me to dodge me in the crosswalk when I am walking WITH the light. In the most offensive of near-misses, I had to stop mid-street AND do the soccer mom arm for a pedestrian who was coming up behind me.

I would like to say that in my griping I have a solution to this, but I don't.  Consider this fair warning when walking the streets of Beverly Hills and cross the street at your own risk!

Welcome Back

Photo credits go to Ebe while in Ventura at Emmaus earlier this year

While I did accomplish a fine bit of blogging for the recent pilgrimage to Turkey, Greece and Rome (hope you caught it, if not, check it out at SOTH Pilgrims), my personal blogging habits have fallen off.  Discontinued, really.

No longer, though, for we are back.  Ebe is finishing up her 30-days of photos and then we will start some cool new photo-journaling program.  Until then, prepare yourself for my daily musings.  You know that you are excited!