Whale Watching

Today we decided to play hookey from church and get a little nature. It was a gorgeous day; sunny, no wind and 70-some degrees. What could we do, we wondered, that would be more exciting that sitting on the sand at the beach but just as close to home? Channel Islands Harbor is a mere stone's throw away (OK, more like 10 miles, but close enough), and in the four years I've lived in southern California, I've never even been to the Harbor, much less out on the water to the islands. So, away we went on a whale watching trip! Gray whales are migrating from Alaska during this season, apparently. I wouldn't know personally, as we never actually saw a whale. However, perhaps even cooler than a whale might've been, was the playful group of perhaps 1,000 or more dolphins that we trolled with for most of the afternoon. I've been on the water a lot and never have I seen more than 10 or 12 dolphins in one place. This was perhaps the most amazing aquatic thing I've ever seen. Hundreds and hundreds of them, as far as the eye could see, riding our wake, racing and jumping and criss-crossing back and forth. TOOOOOO cool. God is SO awesome.

Cool Slideshows

Jingle Bell Rock

Ken and his two best buddies, Dan (left) and Brendon (center), were part of the worship team this past Sabbath. Not sure what they were all looking at!

Christmas puppy

Holiday Party

Our Christmas party / house-warming was a success. We ate haystacks (taco salad, in layman's terms) and decorated cookies. Here's Dan, Tami and Donovan, showing off their creation. Yummy!

Family Photo

Most of you have seen this, as it's the photo from our Christmas cards. But I thought I'd post it here, too.

Reheating Pizza

I hate leftover pizza. I don't like it cold, I don't want to wait for the oven to heat up, and the microwave just ruins it. BUT, I read somewhere recently that reheating pizza in the skillet is the solution, and let me just say, YES! Finally, no more wasted pizza. The crust gets crispy, the cheese melts evenly, and it's quick and easy. Thank you!!

RSS Feed

For those who hadn't noticed before, you can subscribe to this blog via RSS feed (if you use that).

OOOWWW!

So Wednesday night Ken and I started hanging the curtains in our bedroom. But we only got the first of three brackets installed before we had to leave for dinner with a friend. After dinner, Ken went out to play music with Dan and I came home. I thought it would be nice of me to finish the curtain job so he'd have a nice surprise upon arriving home (I'm a sweet wife like that). So, I measured, leveled, marked, drilled and inserted the flush-mount pegs that support weight in drywall. As soon as I picked up the bracket, I realized I'd gone blonde for a moment and drilled/pounded in the spots where I wanted the top and bottom of the bracket to sit, not where the screw holes were. DANGIT! So, after a brief rant that would require editing for publication, I jumped into the truck and zoomed to Home Depot for putty, texture, etc., to fill my holes and repaint, which I did quite well. As I picked up the ladder to move it to the third bracket, it suddenly felt as if someone behind me had hit me on the top of my right shoulder with a bat. Jesus saved me from my own stupidity, because I'd left the drill, complete with three inches of drill bit attached, sitting on top of the 8-foot ladder, and it fell off when I moved it. Thank goodness it wasn't my HEAD (or the drill bit). Anyway, still sore from that. DO NOT leave stuff on top of ladders!! Overall, not a good night, though the curtains are lovely now!

Resonance Experiment

This is a WILD video of a sound resonance experiment. Makes you wanna run out and study geometry, huh? God is SO cool; www.upyourvideo.net.

Studio 60

I just wanted to say how much we enjoy "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip" on NBC (Monday nights, 10 p.m. Pacific). It's an hour-long dramedy (drama/comedy) series with Matthew Perry and Amanda Peet as its most famous faces. This is a show for smart people with quick wit. The dialogue is smart and funny, quick and not trite. I like that it's about something different, not just some who's sleeping with whom this week "plot". Boring! Here's a very brief synopsis: the show covers the drama behind the humor of producing a popular, late-night comedy sketch show, "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip." Basically, it's a fictionalized look at the production of "Saturday Night Live." Start watching it! (You can even see entire episodes online at the above website.)

Getting there...

Our new bedroom set was delivered yesterday, so here I am, posing on the bed. You can't get much feel for the set from this pic, so I guess you'll just have to come visit to see it!

Snap, Crackle, Pop!

The humidity here today is TWO percent. How is that possible? When I took my socks off in the dark last night, I saw dozens of sparks. Poor dog; whenever he gets up from his blanket, he gets zapped with static sparks, and it scares him.

Speaking of Brady, we went to the vet this morning. They rehydrated him by injecting fluids under his skin, so he looked like a camel with a hump on this back. She also gave him an injection of a bowel sedative and a bottle of Flagyl. They didn't call me back with the results of the stool test, but I'm hoping that the antibiotics get whatever's got him going! He's much better this afternoon. The dehydration was getting so bad that his back legs were too weak to barely stand up if he was sitting or laying down. Sad little boy. :o( But, no diarrhea since 2 this morning, so, much progress.

Sorry to ramble so much about dog poo. Our new bedroom furniture came today, so when it's light tomorrow I'll take a pic to post. That'll be a diversion from the poo. :o)

Chillin'

Ken and I both worked from home today. I had a major deadline with the magazine, so I wanted to edit without all the distractions from the office. Ken had to study. But at some point, the dog had had enough of being ignored and demanded some attention. Ken broke down and handed out the daddy love. Good stuff.

On a more frustrating note, said dog is still spurting diarrhea, so we may have to visit the vet tomorrow to test for parasites. It's possible he picked something up last week while eating a pile of vomit and/or snacking on pug terds in the lawn. GRRRR.

I'm watching "Deal or No Deal" for the first time. It's pretty fun, but I doubt I'll ever be sad if I miss an episode. It's weird to see Howie Mandell bald.

The smoke mostly cleared today. Thank goodness.

Holiday Decorating ... Fun!

Tonight we did some holiday decorating; good stuff! I baked oatmeal walnut chocolate chip cookies while Ken wrestled the lights and garland onto the tree. Then we both hung the ornaments and I added a few other touches to the room. So, we're fully in festive cheer mode, and are about to settle in for some hot chocolate and a movie (even though it's now 10:15 p.m.). Fa-la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la!

O, Tannenbaum!

Saturday night Ken and I went with our friends, Fred and Andrea (below), to pick out Christmas trees. Here it is! We had both our trees tied to the top of our 4-Runner, and I forgot they were up there and tried to go 75 on the freeway. "Why on earth can I not seem to go faster than 68?!" I lamented. Ken quickly reminded me that we had lots of extra drag because of the trees; duh!! When we got to their house, their tree had turned in the wind so far that it was half hanging off the truck. Yikes!

Smoke inhalation

We woke up this morning coughing and sputtering, our condo filled with smoke. One of the joys of living in California ... A brush fire started in west Moorpark at 2:30 a.m., which is, as the crow flies, about seven miles from here. It's spreading west toward Somis and the strong Santa Ana winds are blowing the smoke straight at us. Ug. We smell like a campfire after taking the dog out for his morning diarrhea. Fabulous.

Pumpkin sucks

I have to add an addendum to my previous post. Do NOT give your diarrhea-stricken dog pumpkin if you have new white carpet and no yard. Runny orange poo and vomit is VERY hard to get out of the carpet.

Squirt

We've had a nickname for Brady the past 48 hours ... Squirt. And it's not a term of endearment, but rather a description of his unfortunate bowel problem. Thursday evening he started with diarrhea, which, unfortunately, presented itself every two hours, all night long. As we live in a condo on the second floor, urgent dog poo requires a special regiment of slip-on shoes and sleeping in one's clothes. Not fun. Especially when it's 37 degrees with 50mph Santa Ana wind gusts. That was a LOOOOONG night. For supper last night, Brady enjoyed half a can of pumpkin with two Immodium tabs. Sweet relief. For all of us.