From the Kitchen Counter...

May 21, 2013

When Petunias Score Higher Ratings than CNN…

View from the basket at Home Depot:

Mood Reading: ZZZZ’s (slept pretty well after gardening all day and staying up past my normal bedtime to watch the finale of “Mr. Selfridge” on PBS)

Okay, Okay! I know it’s been weeks since I posted my last blog and I am thrilled several of you have apparently noticed and told me so. I owe you an explanation – and I wish I had a good reason. But I don’t. The truth is…I have several. For anyone following this space regularly, you know (or have figured out) that I’m normally a somewhat chirpy, sarcastic, sometimes witty (if it’s a good day,) mostly upbeat person with a wise ass streak that matches my girth. Several things contribute to what I like to call my “sassy” mood…namely the amount of sleep I’ve had the night before, morning caffeine, evening Sauvignon Blanc, or the reverse of those if it’s been a particularly rough week. Read the rest of this entry »

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April 11, 2013

When You’re Not as Thick Skinned as You Think.

View from the dermatologist office…

Day Before:

Directly After:

Mood Reading: ZZZ’s (slept okay last night considering)

I am going to take a moment here to whine (not wine, that comes later) about the minor surgery I had to remove skin cancer from my face yesterday. For anyone raised in Southern California, with a passion for outdoor activities, or who was an enthusiastic former sun worshipper replete with baby oil, iodine and a reckless disregard for your mother’s overwrought nagging about same, you know what I’m talking about. My sister and I have often lamented the fact that just about all the things our mother warned us about which we thought at the time were alarmist, exaggerated and totally nonsensical, have without exception come true. Every thing from our own inevitable skin cancers, god-awful insect borne illnesses (can you say West Nile or Lyme Disease?), to the nations big banks going bust and if you believe the Republicans, the communists taking over the country – mom predicted it way back in the ‘60’s. Read the rest of this entry »

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March 29, 2013

The Long (but not) Board Races.

View From the Longboard Races Johnsville, CA:

Mood Reading: ZZZ’s (had to get up early to meet tax accountant this morning UGH! —Not my idea of a proper reason to meet the sunrise.)

We took advantage of Spring while it popped it’s perky little head in briefly over two glorious days last weekend. It has since gone back into hiding but nevermind, we managed to get most of the winter cleanup at the cabin done in all of one day and paid the requisite king’s ransom in Advil and aching (belly and otherwise.) But on Sunday, sore as I was, I dragged my sorry backside out of bed to the smell of coffee and the promise of a day out at the unique and somewhat quirky annual Longboard Races up in Johnsville, located just a few miles up the road. Read the rest of this entry »

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March 20, 2013

Spring Is In The Air – (and it put me on my butt!)

View from the road in Johnsville, CA (Mt. Elwell):

Mood Reading: ZZ’s (Too much caffeine yesterday – at 3 a.m. I was wide awake and worrying over everything from sequestration and the national debt to the dog’s vet appointment and the right fabric to choose for the spare bedroom window treatments!)

Spring decided to tease again this past weekend by showing up early – then skipped out on the job as quickly as it arrived — there is snow in the forecast this week but the hubby and I took advantage of the earlier warm temps and high tailed it up to the cabin for some much needed (ahem) R and R, which turned out to be anything but. Got up Saturday morning to sunny clear skies, a mild 60ish degrees and a boisterous boxer begging for a walk that was happily obliged. We set out on what is affectionately called the big loop – taking the back roads into one side of town, down by the old green bridge and back home through the other side of town, all together about a 2 to 3.5 mile trek depending on which one of us you ask. (I being the storyteller in the family, usually opt for the more “interesting” version and live by the adage “never let the truth get in the way of a good story.” ) Accordingly, it was a grueling 7 mile slog but we managed to make it back in one piece, despite the black bear attack and the mountain lion outrun along the way. Read the rest of this entry »

March 9, 2013

A Picture is Worth A Thousand Words (and some of them are obscenities)

View from the front deck (at the cabin):

Mood Reading: ZZZ’s (stayed up to finish the end of a book I’ve been reading and couldn’t get to sleep right away. I love books that stay with you afterwards…)

It’s nothing really, just a little itty bitty thing all marriages deal with from time to time. But what it lacks in size it makes up for in impact on marital stability, so one would be foolish to underestimate it’s small but mighty power. According to virtually all of my friends, it seems to be a universal in truth and obviously worthy of it’s own blog post. Read the rest of this entry »

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March 3, 2013

New World Record in the Women’s Pole Vault – it takes training of the right sort!

View from the bull-pen at the USA Indoor Track and Field Championships:

Mood Reading: ZZ’s (didn’t get a ton of sleep last night but WHO CARES! Got a spanking brand new World Record in the Women’s Pole Vault last night to celebrate!!)

The indoor pole vault pit at the Albuquerque Convention Center yesterday was a lot hotter than the chilly temperatures outside. We wandered over from the hotel to catch the men’s heptathlon vault that was scheduled before the women’s event and for a bunch of big guys, they put on a pretty good show. Read the rest of this entry »

March 2, 2013

Planes, Playas, and Platos…and other things that go well with a good margarita.

View From San Felipe De Neri (Albuquerque):

Mood Reading: ZZZZ’s (Decidedly better than the night before)

It felt great to sleep in this morning and I have to admit, I’m moving a bit slow. Not quite sure whether it’s from the time difference, the predawn scramble yesterday morning, or the 2 very strong margaritas consumed last night over dinner, but it felt altogether wonderful to have an old fashioned “lie in”, as the Brits like to say. Arrived in Albuquerque yesterday afternoon for the National Track and Field Indoor Championships after a frazzled and less than illustrious beginning to the journey involving a running hose pipe, a few pine trees and a wayward dog. (see yesterday’s blog) The water issues seem to have followed us however as the hotel water pressure in the shower is only slightly better, and barely enough to work up a lather. Not to worry, as soon as we get out to walk around, it will all dissipate like the fading evening light over the sprawling desert playa. Read the rest of this entry »

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March 1, 2013

To Hell with the Elephants – Water for Humans on a frenzied friday morning…

View from the kitchen counter:

Mood Reading: ½ Z (Didn’t sleep much, spent all night waiting for alarm to go off at ungodly hour. Needless to say, ‘crabby’ is the mood reading this morning.)

4:45 am is not my favorite hour under the best of circumstances. But that is the hour I had to drag my derriere out of bed this morning to catch an early morning flight to Albuquerque for the National Indoor Track and Field Championships. Read the rest of this entry »

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February 14, 2013

When Too Much Fun Can Leave You Dog Tired.

VIEW FROM THE FRONT PORCH: (10 MIN. AGO)

MOOD READING: ZZZ’s (I don’t know what’s been wrong with me lately, waking before the sun comes up…most unlike me. Maybe I need a check-up!!)

Note: * To view videos in blog, click on youtube links, then arrow back to return to blog.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJ6K0M1YntI&feature=youtu.be

Any sojourn to the cabin get-away begins at Whole Foods. I made a trip the day before departure to stock up on only the necessary “rations”. We always declare ahead of time that it will be a weekend of healthy eating and exercise — an idea that usually gets thrown out the window the moment someone mentions guacamole , (all of about 5 minutes into the car ride.) In any case, to be prepared, I picked up a few (relative term) things I thought we would need…kale, salad greens, fruit, mineral water etc. But oh, that raisin bread looks really good, that would be nice in the morning, and ahhh a few fresh baked croissants wouldn’t hurt. And cheese, yes, a bit of protein and maybe some rice crackers…really? No rice crackers suck, Triscuits are better, just this one time. And oh hell, let’s just throw in some corn chips just in case we need a nibble and surely a bit of chocolate won’t hurt….and well, you get the picture. Read the rest of this entry »

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January 28, 2013

Guts, Glory, and the (ahem) Agony of Defeat…

View From the Top of Running Trail:

Mood Reading: ZZZZ’s (four out of five, slept sound – still making up for lost Z’s from last weeks Pole Vault Summit)

A week on from the Pole Vault Summit and I feel like I’m just now getting back to *normal – (*relative term.) I don’t know why it takes so much out of me since I’m not an athlete and don’t compete and don’t actually have an ‘official’ job, except perhaps professional coffee fetcher and “social coordinator” (that’s a nice way of saying ‘pit lizard’, a term borrowed from the air race community describing the groupies that hang around top gun pilots and their cockpits. Though I wouldn’t call myself a groupie, I admit I’ve hung around a few pole vault pits in my time.) But I think it’s that last one that gets to me. It’s not so much the daytime activities at the Summit that are so exhausting as it is several nights in a row turning in past 1 or 2 a.m. I was going to say I’m not as young as I used to be, but I wasn’t much good at it then either. Read the rest of this entry »

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From the Kitchen Counter…