Our child will be a wine snob!

As a celebration of our growing family my visiting family opened up a bottle of Château Mouton Rothschild 1994 for dinner tonight. Coupled with a nice filet mignon, some roasted potatoes and yummy corn, it was fantastic. While I am normally happy with a bottle of Smoking Loon 2008 (retailing for $5.99 on sale at the local grocery store), I have to admit that drinking a real glass of wine was quite enjoyable and made me see what I have been missing. Now that I am in my 3rd trimester, I have enjoyed a bit of wine here and there (I usually pour a glass, take a few sips and forget where I put it thus finding it much later and when it is no longer appealing), but this glass was definitely worth drinking. Trust me when I tell you that I did not forget where I put this glass. So I guess I shouldn't be surprised when our daughter gets older and only likes the good stuff because technically, the first full glass of wine she has ever had was a bottle worth about $300. Nice.

How the hell did that happen?

6 days until Christmas. Really?

Angels In LA

This morning while watching the local news, I got to see 1 anchor man make a snow angel and 1 anchor man make a sand angel... and both at the exact same time. Only in LA can you have both extremes.

Thank God for Kleenex Lotion Tissues!

Because I am just one ball of snot right now with no relief in sight!

House Hunting is frustrating!

My main job these days has been to find us a new place to live. While we love Venice, it is time to move on and find a more suitable place to live. Finding exactly what we want for a price that does not break the bank has been challenging. I have to tell you that there is a lot of crap out there for a ridiculous amount of money. We looked at one place earlier this week that actually had a kitchen so small that there was no room for a refrigerator and yet they wanted $2400 for it. Yes, it had a yard and a lot of extra storage space, but going outside into the workshop shed to get my milk in the morning does not sound appealing to me regardless of how much extra storage a house has to offer. At first, we were restricting ourselves to one particular area and then it dawned on us that it wasn't so much the area that we were so interested in, it was getting out of apartment living and into house living that was our #1 priority. No, we are not moving to the valley, but we have expanded our search area this week to include a wider selection. While I thought this would just flood my Westside Rentals and Craigslist listing page, it didn't. Not with anything good anyway. I figured that people would want to practically give away a house during the holidays as long as they could rent it before the New Year. It's kind of how we got the place we are in now. We happily moved during the Thanksgiving break and the guy we rented it from was grateful that we did. But this year, we have not been so lucky. I don't imagine moving during the Holidays is for everyone. Personally, we don't mind but I don't imagine we are in the majority. I am a firm believer (as is Jess) that the perfect place will come along when it is meant to and since we aren't in a hurry to get out of our current home, there is no rush in finding it. I am on a mission, however, and my impatience is getting the better of me. I tend to get grandiose ideas on a place (like already starting to decorate it) before we have even seen the place. Like yesterday, I did a drive by on a place in an area we hadn't originally thought about renting in and loved the neighborhood and the house from the outside. It was well within our budget and the perfect size and so I was ecstatic to call this morning and go and see the place only to find out it rented... YESTERDAY! And here is the kicker... it has been on the market for a month. If only we had expanded our search earlier. I had already moved us in there in my head so it is a bit of a let down, but as Jess says (always my voice of reason), it just means that something better is out there waiting for us. So the search continues. I will find a home for my family that is just right for us... I have to believe that.

Murphy's Law

We haven't washed the Civic in a while because it has become the "work" car. (It saves us a lot of money when Jess uses it on his long drives to and from work what with it's great gas mileage and all.) There's no real need to wash it that often because it just gets covered in dirt again. However, today, I had it all day, and I thought it would be nice to have it washed for the Thanskgiving holiday. Literally 2 minutes after I pulled out of the car wash, it started to rain.

I am so cool!

I just won this week's Fantasy Football Pool for the first time ever, and the best part about it is that I know nothing about football!!

Visiting Old Friends.

I went up to set yesterday to watch the shoot and visit everyone I used to work with and had such a great time. I was nervous at first seeing as how I bring a whole new physique with me that not everyone knows about and it has been a while since I have seen everyone, but it only took about 2 minutes for that to go away. I was greeted with big smiles and lots of congratulations and requests to touch the belly. I felt missed and loved and it was such a nice feeling to go home with. Everything looked great and it looked like they had really been working their butts off which made me realize that I was glad that I had not returned for this season. I do miss the work and the camaraderie of a working so closely with everyone, but the job I have right now just seems so much more important and maybe it took a visit to an old job to see that. Good luck guys... I miss you too.

Ahhhh... Christmas preparations.

The Christmas Tree lot across the street is starting to set up to sell trees. I am so excited!!! Now if I could just get it to snow here!

What a difference an off shore breeze makes.

So the fires are finally under control, the air is clearing and people are heading back to what is left of their homes. The destruction was unreal but the communities seem to be banning together to help out those who lost everything. It is sad to think that Thanksgiving is next week and thousands of people will not be able to sit down in their own homes and enjoy a Turkey dinner. Not to mention all of those kids who are wondering how on earth Santa is going to find them now that they don't have a house. We will be in town for the Christmas holiday and will be finding a way to pitch in and help those families that are just looking for some form of normalcy during a usually festive time of year.

Jesse's schedule has been upside down since those early morning phone calls the other day and is just now starting to work itself out. The ranch that the set is on was directly threatened by the Sylmar Fire and has now become a command post for the local fire crews that are still battling the last of the fires up there. Luckily no structures in that area were effected due in part to the amazing efforts of the fire department as well as the fact that a fire burned up there in 2006 and left little for the current fire to feed on. I am heading up there at the end of the week once the air is completely clear and will be sure to shoot some of burnt brush on my drive.

For now, we are just happy to have the fires more contained and happy to have the off shore breeze back which is making it easier to breath. Hopefully this is the end of the fire season and we can expect some light rain in the coming weeks. Just don't pray for a lot of rain or our winter will be filled with mud slides and that will be the beginning of a whole new set of disasters.

LA is on fire again...

...thank you very much Santa Ana winds. Yes, I am up at 5am on a Saturday morning and have been up since 3am after Jess started getting calls about a spreading fire just north of us that is hindering travel to his job this morning. They have just closed part of the 5 fwy which is going to wreak havoc on the greater Los Angeles area seeing as how it is the only thruway for this part of Southern Cali. so it will be an interesting Saturday morning for anyone trying to go north or south through LA. The fire is growing so rapidly and the winds are so strong that the fire has managed to jump an area of the 5 freeway that is 10 lanes wide. This fire is now heading towards the area that I blogged about earlier and will hopefully stop when it hits the already previously burned areas. Unfortunately it puts my friend Harriet at risk again, and I will obviously be checking in on her at a more reasonable hour. For now, Jess is on the phone calling the crew to cancel the shoot for the day and I am keeping a close watch on the news to see what is happening. Will update more as I know more. For those not familiar with the area, we are safe where we are on the west side of LA which is about 25 miles south west of the fire. Keep your fingers crossed for those people in the fire's path and send good thoughts to those who have already lost their homes this morning.

More for Charlie

It wasn't enough that the company I ordered the shirts for Charlie's Walk from had some of the best customer service reps I have ever dealt with, NOW they have offered to donate money to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation because of the shirts I ordered. I just love it when companies shock the crap out of me in a good way. So here you go - if you have the need for screen printed shirts, please use these guys. They are amazing.

Custom Ink

For Charlie

About a month ago, our friend Kevin and his wife Erin asked me if I could design a shirt for an upcoming event benefiting the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF). Of course, I jumped at the idea and got to work designing just the right shirt to help represent the "Walk For A Cure" that family and friends would be participating in to show support for their 3 year old son Charlie who had recently been diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. Naturally the name of their team of supporters is called "Charlie's Angels." I could not resist going a little retro with the design. This is the final outcome from the walk on November 1st and that is Charlie on his mom's shoulders.

Fun for Kitty.

Our oldest cat Paget learned a really neat trick from his cousins Mercury and Mariner years ago while we were living with my brother, and while it is somewhat adorable, it is also quite gross. He tends to think that the water in the toilet is much more tasty that the fresh filtered water in his bowl. When he was a baby he even fell in (it seems Merc and Mar didn't teach him everything and he learned by trial and error) but he was persistent and at 8 years old, he is still doing it. I try to remember to put the lid down, but sometimes 3am pee breaks just don't warrant me caring enough to do it. However, I am quite sure that if we had one of these, we would always remember to put the lid down and Paget wouldn't mind so much that he could no longer get to his precious poo water.

Parental Units

Our parents are hanging out together this week in NY. I just think that is pretty cool.

It's a good week to be stuck at home.

This is what I like to call a gift from a higher power. It makes things worse when you are stuck at home and the sun is out, but when there is a storm coming in and the temperature starts acting like it is finally Fall, getting to watch the clouds roll in from the confines of the couch isn't so bad.

Huh?

Can someone please tell me where October went? It's Halloween on Friday. How the heck did that happen?

Wanna make a bedridden pregnant woman laugh?

Do this!

Laptop fixed... Card to be torched.

I got my laptop fixed for under $200 (new hard drive) so I was happy about that and the guy at the Genius Bar at Apple was great to work with. I still lost some stuff, but happily, I backed up not long before it died. As for the Flash Card... it is done. I will happily set fire to it and buy a new one. Lesson learned... again. Back up card the minute you get home. But all is not lost. Proving once again how amazing a husband is, he has offered to re-do the birthday festivities again and go back to the pumpkin patch. We might even grab lunch at the Farmers Market again and catch a movie. I love him so much. And hey, maybe I'll get some even more amazing images this time.

Uh huh...

My Compact Flash 1 gig card full of pictures from the pumpkin patch on my birthday took a shit too. I mean, a real shit. No recovery program on the planet can fix it! I tried. Maybe the baby is electromagnetic. I mean, I was nicknamed "Magneto" when I worked on Fear Factor after voluntarily being electrocuted. Maybe she got some residual electrical charge from that. Who knows. All I know is that I need to stay away from electronics for a bit.

My laptop hard drive took a shit!

Ask me how I feel about that!

It's October... so of course, LA is on fire.

Normally when I watch the fires I feel a little disconnected since they rarely come close to my friends or family, but this time, it is a little different. A very dear friend who took me in years ago and let me live with her is, as I write this, packing up her valuables and getting ready to evacuate. As always, the Santa Ana winds are wreaking havoc on the area and causing misery for the fire fighters. The Sesnon Fire is burning in the park behind her neighborhood right now and getting dangerously close to the houses. She is luckily a few streets in, but as we have all seen in the past, when one house goes up, it is hard to stop the rest of them from going as well. I'll update when I know more but for now all I can do is watch and hope that the winds shift in the right direction or die down enough to make handling this fire a little easier.

I love my husband.

I just had the greatest birthday ever and my husband helped make it all possible. I'll explain it all tomorrow, but for now, it's time to go to bed. I am exhausted.

Non-avoidance

Normally when I go for a walk at the beach, I avoid the area right where our street plops us on the boardwalk due to the ridiculous amount of guys there trying to hand out their music CD's or make you listen to their music. I don't have anything against self promotion (Lord knows I am horrible at it) but when you pass the same guys every day and every day they want you to listen to their music and take one of their CD's, it gets old. It's not a big deal to avoid them, but today, I have a cold, I feel like crap, I am in a daze and I missed the turn off that bypasses these "music" guys. I didn't realize it until I saw one of them shoving a pair of headphones on a poor unsuspecting and very pale tourist. I had my IPod on so I figured I was safe, but I was approached by an older guy who offered me his CD. I made sure I smiled as I quietly declined and instead of hassling me, he told me to have a great day and that I had a beautiful smile. Not that I thought he would hassle me because he had a very kind demeanor to him unlike the usual crowd, but that wasn't really the point. Today, feeling as crappy as I did, I really needed a total stranger to tell me I had a beautiful smile. It was as if something had steered me away from avoiding the "music" men just so someone could make my day. Sometimes being in a daze isn't a bad thing.

I am a good wife.

Jess's birthday present. So he can play "Call Of Duty" in style and be comfy too. I even managed to get it to match the couch.

We still love you!!

Even though the curse continues. Maybe it was a 100 year curse and maybe now it's finally over because that last game was painful. Next year Chicago. We'll still be there rooting you on like always. For now, get some rest, drink massive amounts of alcohol and enjoy some time with your families. Until next year! Go Cubbies!

IT'S RAINING IN LA!!!

And I am so excited!!

I am loosing my mind.

I spent all day yesterday thinking it was Wednesday and now today feels like Saturday. What is wrong with me??

I know our bed doesn't vibrate normally.

3.0 earthquake actually centered 3 miles from us just hit 10 minutes ago. Fun. They never come this close. Makes you put a few things into perspective like, maybe I should update our earthquake kit.

Shocking!!

It rained in LA today for a split second. Of course it was while the sun was out, but I'll take any sign of fall that I can get!!

Goodbye blue eyes.

It was one of my favorite movies of all time and I am sad to hear that one of the great gentlemen of the acting world has passed away. His sense of humor always cracked me up and his use of his power as a well known actor to contribute to those less fortunate has always kept him in a special place in my heart. He is survived by his wife of 50 years (which, let's face it, in the film industry is nearly impossible), 5 daughters and 2 grand kids. When asked what kept his marriage alive for so long, he once told a reporter that his wife puts something in the food.

**UPDATE** on The Whaler

I did a little asking around and this is what I found. (Notice that they wrote the article because I did a little asking around.)

The Venice Whaler - SOLD

So sad!

Here is an article about a local that used to sit in our carport in the mornings and read his paper. Not a morning went by that he didn't say a warm hello to me as I drove out of the driveway. He will be missed.
Mike

Thats IT!!! We're moving!

I always said that when they took my favorite local bar of 8 years away from me, that we were going to move. Well, the assholes did it. Someone bought the Venice Whaler for $10,000,000 and are firing the whole staff. There is a vicious rumor that they are going to turn it into a Japanese restaurant. Eeek gads! Really??? Where oh where is my little Venice going????

Post Office regulars.

I am used to always being asked for money or spare change when I go to the local post office. Our little city at the beach is known for it's colorful residents so it is to be expected. Why they pick the post office, I have no idea. It's pretty smelly over there. I am usually in and out so fast and I try to avoid them. Today however I was walking a little slower and in a slight daze and I came across the most interesting of requests. A local gentleman actually asked me if I could spare $70,000,000 to help the homeless. I laughed and said "I wish." It was definitely a new approach and I have to say that if I had had a spare dollar in my hand, I would have given it to him just for being original.

Verrrrry Interesting!

Did you know that Forever 21 bags have John 3:16 stamped on the bottom of them? I didn't!!

YIPPEEEEE!

It's officially fall today and for some reason, this year I am so excited about it. Halloween is coming, birthdays are coming, cold weather is coming, the beach will be quieter, and I can finally dust off my sweaters. (Yes, people in LA own sweaters) Ahhhh. Can you feel it?? Well, maybe not today seeing as how it is 80 degrees and sunny outside and the Santa Ana's are on their way this week which will bring 90 degree weather and hideous winds to the valleys, but I am hopeful that Fall will show it's face here soon.

My boys are back!!!

Yippeeeeee!

Wii Fit

Don't let anyone tell you that Hula Hooping is not hard and a damn good exercise! We have a new Wii Fit in the house thanks to Jess and it kicks my butt. I played the standard Hula Hoop enough times that I unlocked SUPER Hula Hoop and let me tell you right now that my legs will pay for this tomorrow. The yoga on the Wii Fit is great too because it helps you balance correctly and tells you when you are doing the poses wrong. All around AMAZING addition to our household. Now if we could just get it to do our taxes for us and make dinner, we'd be all set!

When the parents are sleeping...

...the cats will play. Now, we are used to tufts of fur everywhere after a night of playing, toys out of the toy box, papers pushed off the coffee table, etc... But this was new for us! Notice the "I'm trying to look cute" guilty face on Kash!! I still have no idea how they got the mat out from under both bowls but only managed knock one bowl off the microwave.

El Cid

We actually left the West side last night to venture to Los Feliz to see my friend Rob's band play at El Cid. I was up way past my bed time, but we had a lot of fun and El Cid is a great little venue.

Ike

Seems the South side of Key West is getting a little wet, but that is normal when hurricanes hit. My parents are still hunkered down and doing well. It should pass by tomorrow and as long as the tidal surge does not reverse like it did during Wilma in '05, they will be fine. Hoping they got lucky with this one and used it as a good trial run for worse ones to come down the line. At least my dad doesn't have to prune the palm trees this week.

Wannabe Plumbers Part 2

We will be installing an "In Line Water Filter" this week. Stinky cubes are no fun and our ice maker is an older model so a filter is not built in. Apparently you can attach a universal filter directly to the water line. Wish us luck.

Wannabe Plumbers

After years of making our own ice cubes, enduring the never ending mundane process of filling each individual section of each tray, buying bag after bag of ice from the local liquor store when we just couldn't bear making any more, we finally ran a water line across our kitchen and to our fridge and are currently enjoying the sound of fresh new ices cubes crashing into their tray in the freezer. I am the happiest person on earth right now!!

Well THIS doesn't look good.

The parents are hunkering down with fuel, food and water to wait out the storm, but have promised to evacuate if it gets really bad. For now, evacuation of all of the tourists is happening (you couldn't pay me to be on that 2 lane road out right now). Those locals that want to leave will follow in phases. My brother waited out Wilma in 2005 and it was a good thing he did because it allowed him to get the 2 feet of water out of the house the second it receded. In case anyone is wondering, the house is strong, there are storm shutters installed on the house, all necessary things like generators are off the ground and my parents are as ready as they can be for now. I'll keep everyone posted. Cross you fingers. It's only September. This will be a bumpy season.

Today is one of those days...

...when I would give an arm and a leg for our own washer and dryer. Of course, without and arm or a leg, laundry would be a little difficult, but you get the idea!!

In case you are feeling sorry for yourself today...

...you should read Alison's blog.

Alison

And if that didn't hit your soft spot... you should read her husband's blog.

Thomas

Makes me wonder what the hell I am complaining about.

I have GOT to get me a pair of these!

I live at the beach. Why haven't I thought of rocking my bikini with a pair of these fantastic, beach appropriate shoes before???? So practical, so classy, so in fashion! Excuse me while I run to Hollywood Blvd to get me a pair.

I love thunderstorms!

Hanging in FL with friends and family and loving the afternoon thunderstorms. I could do without the Mosquitos though.

If you look reeeally hard...

...you can see us in the background.

Not really, but I swear we were there. I have no idea how the paps find out about obscure things like little Dannielynn and her dad flying out of LAX. They are vultures. We just happened to park in front of them when we dropped Sara off last night and only noticed someone "picture worthy" was getting out of the truck behind us when Jess stepped on the biggest wad of green gum I have ever seen. Fun times at LAX.

As temperatures keep climbing in LA...

...I am happy that I have the whole ocean to swim in to cool off and am not restricted to this situation in Penglai in Sichuan, western China. The headline of the original article was "Anyone seen my rubber ring?" How fitting.

The plumbers are back.

And setting off the smoke detectors now. The cats are nuts, we have a hole in the wall right next to a poorly patched hole from the last time something like this happened, I will have to clean the crap out of our not-easy-to-maneuver-around shower AGAIN, we will have to call in someone to dry wall the hole, but when this is over, I will not need vice grips to turn on and off the shower. Ahhh, the silver lining to 2 days with the plumbers. I can't WAIT to own our own place!

The plumber is here.

I have no idea what he is doing to the shower, but I can bet that I will have to get back in there and scrub the tub white again once he finally figures out how to fix our faucets... tomorrow morning. Oh joy. Rental living. I guess we will be stinky until tomorrow night.

Determination.

I have spent some of my free time over the last few days trying to find a small but useful purse for those days when I only want to carry my phone, my small wallet and my point and shoot (oh, and of course, some lipgloss). Something that would be perfect for bar nights or quick trips to the store. While I love EBay, I scoured under every description I could think of and still, I couldn't find a thing. Discouraged, but not defeated, I woke up this morning and decided that I could just make my own purse. Not bad for my first effort. I learned a few things from this one and will do it a little differently for the next one, but it was quite successful in the end. Now, I am off to visit a friend and I am bringing my new purse with me.

1st Day off.

So yesterday was my first day off and probably meant to be spent in bed with a cocktail and a good book. However, being stuck on an early schedule, I promptly got up after Jess went to work and started my day. Just simple errands, nothing special except that I finally changed my passport to my married name (lazy me). There was one thing I saw today that was worth mentioning however. While driving on the 10 East, I happened to see a car on the side of the road and wished more than anything that I had my camera out and ready to shoot. I could have gotten off the freeway and looped around to shoot it, but then I do believe in a girl's right to poop without someone taking a picture of it. Right before the Robinson exit was a maroon minivan pulled over with the back open and mom grabbing something out of the driver's side door. In the back for all of Los Angeles to see (while whizzing by at 70 miles an hour) was an adorable little blondie sitting on her portable potty taking what could only be a poop. Not being a mother, I was struck by how amusing this was. I am guessing potty training is a pretty serious matter and while it seemed quite out of the ordinary to take a poop on the side of the 10 fwy unless you are a homeless person (yes, I have witnessed this a few times on my way to work), I have to give her credit for teaching her daughter that sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta do no matter where you are. Ahhh, yet another thing to look forward to one day when I become a mom.

Really???

102 in the shade at 9:30 am. Are you kidding me right now! My only joy at the moment in this Godforsaken heat wave is a perfectly placed ice-cube tucked in the back of my ponytail that is ever so softly melting down my neck and onto my boobs. Ahhhhh. So refreshing. Of course once it reaches my feet, it will have turned into mud as it collects all of the dust and dirt from my neck down and then I will be standing in my own refreshing pool of mud in my used-to-be-green Crocs. I bet you wish you were out here with me right now, eh? Sweet paradise!!

We're Done!

It's over. Last night of shooting. I should get an award for leaf direction in a man made storm. Mother Nature would have been proud of my crew. I should feel nostalgic, but I don't. I am glad it is over. I will not miss this place nor will I miss the politics on set. My crew was great though and they made me look good so I cannot complain. Now I am off to sleep until Monday when we begin our wrap. Phew.

We left work early...

...for a very important meeting! Cubbies at Dodger Stadium. Couldn't miss that.

It was a long hot day...

...and Eric has an active imagination.

Catching some rays.

Sara had some down time at work the other day (actually waiting for my department to fix something) and managed to catch some zzzz's. I am envious! It is nice to have my sister in law and my hubby a work with me though. I can't complain.

Exhausted!

That's all.

Really????????

This thermometer is in the shade and these two readings are 3 days apart from each other!

This is not a tan line...

...this is dirt. Do I need to go any further into how rough my job has been? All of you who have air conditioning please think of me while my crew and I sweat in 100 + degree heat 12 hours a day. I miss you guys. I am sorry I have been out of touch. This job is ruling my life right now.

It's gotten so busy at work...

...one of our Effects guys is actually living on set.

Bring Your Mom To Work Day

When you have to work on a Saturday and your parents are in town visiting, find a way to bring at least one of them to work with you. I had a big sewing project at work to finish and I figured that getting mom up at 6am while she was at the end of her vacation to sew 80 lbs of vinyl in the shape of a gingerbread man might be fun. She is a good sport.

Working on my farmers tan.

Well the job is in full swing and I spend most of my days picking sawdust or dirt out of my teeth and working on my farmers tan. It is anywhere between 75 and 90 degrees on set right now and it will only get hotter. My office is in a storage container and I use at least one can of air a day dusting off my computer. That is when I am actually IN my office which I share with my other Art Director. I spend a lot of time walking the set and checking up on how my crew is doing or building mock-ups for the show that my crew will later re-build and multiply. Thus the farmers tan. I guess it beats sitting behind a desk all day, but there will come a time when smelling like dirt day in and day out just won't be appealing anymore. Having Jess with me at work now makes all the unpleasant and stressful things so much better though. We carpool in the economical car and save tons in gas not to mention that I drive up the 40 minutes to work and he drives back. It has been quite nice.
Now, to be fair, I must post a little about the bathroom situation.
As you may recall, there was a little hostility on my part about the facilities on the Pilot. It seems that having your husband work as a Line Producer has some perks. He knows who to talk to about getting things done or he just does them himself. On the second day up in the Mud Bowl (which I really must rename the "Dust Bowl") I got a key to the "Women's" restroom and although it may not look like much to those of you who enjoy the finer things like indoor plumbing, it is like a 5 Star bathroom in my eyes.

There are 4 to 5 girls up there at a time and we enjoy a clean and smelly free bathroom every day. Of course, for those times when you just don't feel like running back to your office to grab the key, there is always the old stand-by Luxury Loo out in the middle of the field again.

My old friend. How I have not missed you.

Hmmmmm

What the hell happened to April?

Dog Day Sundays.

Does it really need a comment other than AWWWWWWWW??!! (I will mention that we were on the 405 North doing about 65 mph. OK, you can say it even louder now... AWWWWWWWW.)

Thank goodness for high speed shutters.

We spent Saturday in Long Beach at the Toyota Grand Prix soaking up the sun and playing with my Nikon. I had never tried the high speed setting and was happy to say that it worked. Without it, most of my shots would have simply been images of the track... no cars. The whining sound of the cars flying by is deafening at times, but still amazing to listen to. It certainly does not rival my love of the sound a Huey makes, but its pretty high up there. With Tecate beers in hand, we strolled the areas around the course, enjoyed the interesting fashion statements that accompany the races and made silly phone calls just so we could share the noise with other people. All in all, it was a just a nice day with my husband.
As for this guy here, I think maybe he should have brought his wife to the track. She might have been able to dissuade him from bringing home such an interesting souvenir.

Here We Go Again

Back in the mud pit with a job I swore I would not go back to. Seems when your husband takes the job before you, you are automatically on the crew.

Here are 5 reasons I can't complain too much:
#1 The mud pit has since dried up and I am only wearing 2 layers of clothing now
#2 I have a great new crew and got a raise
#3 We are essentially putting back what I already know how to build and hence will not make the same mistakes
#4 My office is made of metal and has a door this time (I dare you to try and knock me over now Mr. Wind!)
#5 Soon I will get to see my husband on set every day. While some people might view this as "too much," trust me when I tell you that being able to walk 50 ft to get a hug from the one you love when you are having a bad day is priceless.

Here are 5 reasons I CAN complain:
#1 The drive
#2 The wind
#3 Knowing that we are going to have to scramble sooner than later even though we have a ton of prep time
#4 Dirt, dirt and a little more dirt
#5 Men are still pigs. 20 guys, 2 girls, 2 much nicer bathrooms, just as much filth as in the crappy Luxery Loos from the past. **SIGH**

Pics to come soon.

Some Crappy Jobs Have Great Perks

Wrapping out the "Sticky" mansion this week and have to admit that having this as my view all day was not a bad thing.

Hmmmm

Where the hell did March go?

Rest In Peace Sweet PoPo

Kitty heaven took you too soon. Thank you for being one of Bean's first friends and for taking such good care of Robin for so long. You will be missed. We love you.

Back home...

...again. When I say "I love my husband" the words sometimes don't seem like enough. We just got back from a spontaneous trip to San Francisco (Thurs, 1:00pm - "Babe, can you pack a bag for me too... we are leaving for the airport at 7:30pm and I won't get home until 7pm."). He knew I needed this... he know it would make me feel better... he just did it without a thought except to make me happy and spend time with me. It was a wonderful trip packed with good photos, good food, old friends, being able to make our room 74 degrees all day and night, a lot of laughs, rain, sun, wind, hangovers, donuts, pizza (lots of pizza) and fun new memories.

Thank you! You are my hero.

"We kill the cows humanly...

...with Ninjas."

Spoken by a very interesting and drunk bar patron at the Whaler last night when explaining that when you slaughter a cow the regular way (shoving it through a line of slaughter so to speak and then shooting it) you cause anxiety and thus ruin the meat and when you kill them the humane way, you sneak up behind them and slit their throats. Viola... no anxiety.

Regardless, we bought him another Guinness.

Yes...that is paint!

And yes, that is carpet. Seems a few days before I got to Diane's to visit her and the kids, Matty and a friend, in a fantastic display of being the middle child, decided that it would be fun to re-decorate the spare room. While I appreciate his creativity and his desire to follow in Auntie Rachel's footsteps, I don't think mom appreciated it as much.

Oh, and by the way, this was AFTER both mom's spent hours scrubbing the floor, the walls, the bed, the curtains and anything else in the path of the 3 year old mini Picassos.

I have come a long way...

I am not sure what has changed on this trip to make it any different from any of the other trips to Atlanta, but I feel that the dreaded loathing of this city is lifting with each day. Maybe it is because I have no agenda here and am on vacation for the first time. It seems that every time I come here, I am on a time schedule and there are people to see and things to do and it is like I live here again.
I spent my first full day here this time driving around and remembering. It was like my mind had forgotten on the surface, but deep down the memories unfolded with each corner I turned and each place I visited. My real goal for the day was to go to my favorite art store (Sam Flax) and stock up on some good art supplies, but I found myself driving through my old campus on the way and taking old routes I used to take between GSU (where I studied) and GA. Tech (where I partied - I mean, can you blame a girl - 36 fraternities with a 4-1 guy to girl ratio! I never paid for anything!). I never got lost and I never used the navigation. It was great. I drove past old apartments and houses that I had lived in and was amazed by the growth of the city. Most of the people I ran across still possessed that southern charm and hospitality that I came to love in the early 90's which surprised me considering how much I thought that was disappearing when I fled the city in the mid 90's. I say fled like I was in trouble. I was just so ready to go at that point that the car couldn't go fast enough! I think part of the reason I thought the city had lost it's charm was the way I interacted with the people in it. No, not everyone is nice and happy to meet you, but when you are angry and annoyed on the outside, most people are not exactly going to bend over backwards to be nice to you. I am generally a happy person these days and I think it shows. Basically you are an asshole if you can't be nice to someone who is genuinely being nice to you. Those people that I ran across I just laughed at, but that is the same in any city.
My second day was spent remembering the public transportation system and getting lost on my old college campus. I even felt compelled to buy a GSU t-shirt and hat which I never even owned when I WAS a student. Being a downtown campus, I ventured on a photo tour of the city as well. I will always love the buildings in Atlanta. They are some of my favorite to photograph. It was a good walk and I think I did most of it with a smile on my face.
Anyway, I just felt it necessary to make a point about how I feel about this city. I have had such animosity towards it for so long and it has really taken be by surprise that I am enjoying the city so far. I am meeting up with an old friend of mine and her girls tomorrow and then off to see my best friend at the end of the week to hang out with her children. It's like a mini reunion for the people I love that are still attached to this city. Even if the rest of the week is blah and uneventful, I am happy to have been able to warm back up to the city that sheltered me and helped me grow from the end of my teen years and into my early 20's. Sometimes life can really surprise you!