Every Little Thing They Do is Magic

I have been obsessed with Abbot's Pizza Co. in Venice since ny first introduction to this place a couple of years ago. I was at the Marina yesterday (details to follow tomorrow), and realized that I was close to what has got to be one of the best pizza places on the West Coast...EVER!

I knew that it was meant to be when I pulled up front and got a parking place without having to circle the block. There was only 1 person in front of me when I entered...the crowd came almost immediately after I stepped up to order.

I ordered something that both David (Meat Eater's) and I (Goat Cheese) could enjoy, a 1/2 and 1/2 pie is no problem here! Add to the deliciousness a pretzel crust (we went with garlic) and perfection is only a 20 minute wait away!

The place was jammed the entire time I waited, but I didn't mind as I viewed the crowd and enjoyed jamming along to one of my favorite songs by The Police, Every Little Thing She Does is Magic. Ahh, some 80's music, good eats in my near future and all of the people-watching a girl can handle on a work-night.

It certainly did feel magical and it tasted even better!

If I Were a Dog...

I posted a Facebook status update yesterday that started out, "If I were a dog...".  It got me thinking that on some level, that wouldn't be a bad thing.  Of course, I would not enjoy the absence of free will to do as I pleased, but it is fun to just think for a moment what I would be like as a dog and I decided, I probably wouldn't make it in the pack!

I would be one of those dogs that needs to be kept busy, is always in something, needs a lot of exercise and probably would have to be monitored around mealtime so that I didn't wolf down through my food too fast and start working on the next bowl that was sitting out.

Our nice, calm dogs would be about over me after the first 30 minutes or so.  They can handle me now because I get them cheese..without opposable thumbs, I would be useless to them!

It is a good thing that I am not a dog, it works out better for everyone that way!

Chased by a Hippo

The running of the inaugural Safari Park 1/2 Marathon occurred on Sunday.  13.1 miles of combined road and park running, up and down hills...a few more hills than I had factored, but the terrain grousing aside, it was a fun event.

I ran with my peeps - Kris & Ebe - and we did the majority of the course in the interval style that I learned from my new friend Cyndie (you might recall that I met her and Sue at the Surf City 1/2 back in February).  Kris was our official timer, 2 minutes running, 1 minute walking.  It was for the most part very effective, except in a couple of instances where the incline was significant enough that 1 of the 3 of us would declare it time to walk, and then we would get back on the path again.

There was some mysterious knee pain in the last 2 or 3 miles, I suspect that it had something to do with the long climb back up the main road (I think that it is part of highway 78 or maybe just the access road into the park), which was angled in such a way that things felt off-kilter.  The good news is that we just walked it out (Ebe for the record declared herself OVER IT at mile marker 12) and still finished at the 3-hour mark, a personal record for both Kris & Ebe and within 15-minutes of what I had predicted.

We didn't see too many animals in the morning, as I suspect the time change and thunderous hooves of 3000+ runners was more than they wanted to deal with as the sun was rising.  We did see quite a few animals in the last short stretch to the finish line, such as a cheetah (super sleek, I am pretty sure that he could have outrun us!), a giraffe and a baby hippo with its mother, pictured here.

Fortunately, I had Ebe to point out to me the hippo is a rhino.  Glad to know I have such a strong grasp on my wild animals.  I am blaming my apparent lack of observation skills on the run.  That may not be the real reason, but we'll go with it for now.

Next up...the Pasadena Reverse Tri THIS Saturday (yep, 6 days later).  I wonder what wild animals we will encounter there?

Kazakhstan Bound!

There has been talk of this happening for quite some time now, but it has happened...Brittany (aka Little Britty) has left for her Peace Corps assignment in Kazakhstan. 

It is a bittersweet milestone, because we are naturally proud and excited for Little Britty to be selected for the Peace Corps (it is no easy task to get accepted, believe you me!) and her assignment is impressive (teaching English...the first step is going to be learning either Kazakh or Russian!), but sending her off means that she is gone for 27 months! (A 2-year commitment plus 3-months of training)

The farewell at the airport was hard, yet still a very exciting thing.  Brittany looked a bit like the celebrity, between her entourage, pictures and big sunglasses...it is safe to say that she is our own little celeb and as such received an appropriate send-off.

Brittany had a full day of orientation in Washington DC, then got right onto a plane for something like 12 hours to land in Kazakhstan slightly after midnight on March 11th (it was still the 10th for us back home, as we get our news of Little Britty from the future, clocking in 14 hours behind her while we are here on the west coast).  Safe, sound and ready to get on with the adventures, Brittany has arrived and will be chronicling her adventures soon.

We are seriously proud!

Lent Light

Ash Wednesday was of course this week, signaling the start of the Lenten season,...the longest fasting/preparation season of the Christian church year. I always feel a stronger connection to the season when I have followed the entire journey from Ash Wednesday through Good Friday to the whole Easter celebration. To accomplish this, I had to play a bit of planes, trains and automobiles to get from work in LA to church in Mission Viejo Wednesday night, but it was a journey that was well worth it.

Craig challenged us all to have a GREAT Lent through peace, holiness, grace and love. That is no small task, but the good news is that we have 46 days to work through it. The timing generated quite a conversation between Ebe and I later that evening...what is the deal with Sundays? DO they count in the discipline of "giving up", or are they considered "mini Easters" and allow us to step away from whatever discipline of taking on or giving up that we have assumed for this timing?

It was great debate without resolution, other than the declaration that going back on the discipline every week felt a little bit like we were trying to live Lent LIGHT...all the intentions of the regular Lenten season without as much of the pain and difficulty of adhering to it the entire time.

Looks like we've got a long way to go to really declaring ourselves filled with the GREATNESS of Lent!

All the Time

The Emmaus weekend has ended and the 23 pilgrims plus 50 team are now back in their "regular" day to day routine, absorbing the wonder, glory and amazing gift that our 72 hours together brought for each of us.

The cross pictured above was crafted by David for the walk and has officially come back to our house to live out its 'retirement' years. It is an amazing symbol of the love and work that was performed in all of us over the weekend.

I am typically a wordy one, with plenty to say about everything, but in this case, I am going to leave it to the simple phrase that my Emmaus friends use when something is going particularly well.

God is good...ALL the time.

Just the Two of Us

A friend from work sent this to me today as a joke and reference to sometimes feeling like we are in the minority when it comes to sane people in the building. Just the two of us...this made for an unproductive but enjoyable 5 minutes as she sent it to me, I played it so she could hear it and then we had a good laugh.

Maturity reins at the fancy yogurt place!

I owe tons of info that I hope to start logging tomorrow; this is just something fun to acknowledge that I am back on the grid and the work life is as silly as ever!

Be Bold!

I am blogging to you from the future...or is it the past? Either way, I know that Ebe does not fully approve, but understands that the commitment to blogging sometimes means that I have to multi-task and take advantage of the efficiencies of technology.

The Channel Islands Emmaus (known in the community as CIE) Women's Walk #44 is underway, with yours truly at the helm as the Lay Director. The Walk runs from Thursday night through Sunday afternoon and there is very little downtime during those 72 hours. There will be 24 women attending the walk, all of whom are in for a great experience in their spiritual journey, and who will be affectionately referred to as "the pilgrims" for the duration of our time together. Add to the group of pilgrims a support team of 50 or so, and you have a full house of amazing women.

The scripture for this walk is 2 Corinthians 3:12, "Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold." Bold and hope are two great words in our faith vocabluary, as I have shared in a previous post, and I hope that this scripture inspires our pilgrims to come to understand and embrace their faith in a different, actionable way.

Bold we are, no need to hope that it shines through for the weekend!

Donut Deliciousness

While at Farmers Market on Tuesday, I made a quick stop at Bob's Donuts, an LA institution when it comes to not-good-for-you-but-still-very-tasty foods. I had been once or twice before with some friends who are big donut aficionados, so I remembered that they were good. I knew that David would appreciate a little treat, so I shuffled right up to the window, ordered a few and sat in the common area for just a bit to enjoy the scenery.

What amazes me about a place like Farmers Market is how diverse and eclectic the patrons are. Tourists, local business people, employees, locals who just hang out and "old Hollywood"... people that I would suspect were very much a part of the scene back in the 50's who are living on residuals or trust funds and still come out to be seen.

There was one particular woman who just fascinated me. She was a generously -sized woman, decked out in FULL makeup including fake eyelashes and Cleopatra-like eyes, a full-length fur coat, purse with some kind of rabbit fur on it and a leopard-print cane. Nails done, big bling rings and some kind of gown under the coat, it was very fancy. She was sipping some coffee (from Bob's - it is LA's best, after all) and scratching off some lottery tickets. Not sure what all of that together means, but it made for some good people watching nonetheless.

The donuts made it safely home, David had one for dessert and we split the other two for a sampler the next morning. It is hard to deny the delicious taste of a fresh donut with a nice hot cup of tea. Perhaps I should buy some lotto scratchers...

Fancy Farmers

The dinner tradition for Holly and I is a bit mucked up this semester, so we have been working on lunch instead. Because I work on what feels like the other side of the world, getting here is at times challenging for the young Schnoogs.

We had some scheduling complexities this week, making the prospects of us getting together even less likely; a sad prospect for us both.

Things opened up a bit when Holly and he roommate Cassie got tickets to a concert last night at the Roxy. Located on Sunset Blvd, the girls were reasonably close to where I was, which happened to be at Farmers Market. A quick detour and there we are, meeting up for a quick visit!

I sent the girls out to get a bite while I did some work, then we chatted, visited, walked around and took a few photos. Nothing incredibly significant or major, but a nice spell of time to see my girl and appreciate some of the local LA flavor that I rarely take advantage of.

Leave it to the Schnoogs to bring some culture to my life!