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!