Mom's re-doing the kitchen. Cabinets are partially installed. Should be nice!

Katrina

I decided to surprise my mom in Biloxi, Mississippi, with a visit this week. A death in the family spoiled the surprise, because she was considering going to the funeral out of state. Such is life. So I arrived Thursday morning. My return trip, scheduled for Monday morning, is uncertain at this point because hurricane Katrina is bearing down on us. I'll miss some important meetings and a retirement dinner for a much beloved co-worker if I don't get back on time, but I really want to be here to make sure mom is OK during the storm. She's scheduled to work, and they make all the staff stay in the hospital during hurricanes to make sure they have enough to cover shifts in case roads aren't open. So, if Katrina heads here, she, the dogs and I will probably end up in the hospital Monday, waiting the storm out. I think I'll run up to WalMart tonight to pick up a card-reader so that I can upload photos to the blog from my camera. It's sunny and HOT right now — about 94 with high humidity means a heat index of 105ish. Ick. Thank goodness for air-conditioning. Wish we had a pool! Or I could go down to the beach and run around in the background of the The Weather Channel's live broadcast with Jim Cantore. Hehehe...

Magazine Cover

Magazine Cover
This it too cool!

We recently went to Sacramento to celebrate Ken's grandma's 90th birthday. She doesn't look a day over 70; it's incredible! Following are a few pics of family during the trip.

Cousin Shelley and Ken.

Niece Lauren and nephew Brendon.

Worn-out

Had a really fun weekend. Friday morning we rode the horses for the first time in at least a month (it's been too hot til now). That evening, we joined Christye and Kevin at Jeremy and Michelle's for supper. Nice to spend some time with busy friends.

Sabbath we went to The Place. Had a two-hour, late-afternoon nap, then went to a farewell party at BJ's. I'd invited Christye and Kevin, and it turns out Kevin knew half the people there from PUC. Small world, especially with such a sanguine guy. We knew we needed to get up early today because we were scheduled to paint the barn at Ventura Farms at 8 a.m. Had lots of Diet Pepsi with supper, so we had a hard time falling asleep. I finally drifted off just after midnight, but Ken was still up playing his guitar until close to 3 a.m. Obviously, he wasn't thrilled when the alarm went off at 6:20.

So the barn painting went really well. I was so pleased that 26 people volunteered (and most showed up!). They worked really hard in the hot sun. We lost a few each hour as the morning progressed, and the final four of us wrapped up the project about 2:30 this afternoon. I'll post photos as soon as I get them.

This is Carson. He was born about a week ago to my dear friend Stacey and her hubby, Kevin. Congratulations! Isn't he handsome?

Glad for Sabbath

I suppose now that the newness of blogging has worn off (and there's nothing terribly exciting going on with us) that I'm less likely to keep up with it. Tuesday night I did a signing in Ojai. First time I've been up there, even though I've lived here for almost three years. It's only 40 miles. Neat little town; very quaint ... and DARK. The signing was at 9 p.m., and it was very clear that there were no street lights. At all. Really felt like a country town. Quite a drive though, because the road is a little crooked. Anyway, I need to go back during the daytime to see more.

Wednesday Ken had a guitar lesson with a working studio musician named Rick. He really enjoyed it. We're going to The Baked Potato tomorrow night to see the guy's band play their last show before they go on tour.

Yesterday and today I worked from home because they've been painting in our building for a couple of weeks and it's really toxic in there. The smell wouldn't be enough to keep me away, but combine it with stuff covered in plastic and workers bustling around and it's not very conducive to productivity.

We discovered a new frozen pizza we like. Freschetta Sauce Stuffed Crust; really good. The sauce is a little too spicy, but has a great flavor. Cheese and herbs are perfect. Crust is a good texture. I'd give it a 9 of 10 stars (-1 only for the overly spicey sauce). That's my tidbit for the day.

Long time, no blog

Figured I better catch up here since I've been neglecting the blog. Sorry to those who follow us here. Let's see; a summary of recent happenings... During the same week as the heinous altercation with the mean notary lady, I got slammed with hate mail and threats from readers of the magazine I edit because I'd chosen a cover photo that included Hillary Clinton. Now all these hateful people have called me names for two weeks, saying what a communist idiot I must be to promote her presidential campaign on the cover of a conservative Christian magazine. Personally, I have little interest in or knowledge about politics. I don't have a clue what Hillary stands for, votes for, etc., much less that she's actually considering running for president. I used it because it was a good shot of our religious liberty associate director interacting with her during an official Adventist event. Frankly, Hillary Clinton probably has a more "Christian" attitude than some of the people who've written and called in about the photo.

Anyway, during that same week (after July 4), a rat died in/on the air conditioner motor of my car, so my ride was FOUL. Had to take it to the dealer for a clean-up, but also because the thing had broken the A/C motor. They had it for almost a week working on it; scrubbing, anti-bacterializing, etc. GROSS. At the same time, we had to buy a new washer/dryer for the same reason (dead rats up inside, stinking up our house). Extra foul now that it's really hot. I'm really mad that the administrators of the school campus where we live won't help with the rodent control. I suspect they're legally liable for it anyway. I'm going to have to press them on the issue, because it's not fair that I'm paying for rodent control for the whole campus.

Last weekend we played hookie from church and Jon/Amy, Tim/Kim (plus their daugter and Kim's mom), Jeremy/Michelle, Ken and I went to the beach. We grilled out, Boogie-boarded, and just hung out. Nice time. Then we gathered for a haystack supper. Yum. They convinced me to play spoons or something like that. Card game where you grab a spoon as you're done; sorta like musical chairs... The one left without a spoon loses. I lost. Not surprising, considering the week I'd had.

It's been really hot here; in the 90s and no breeze. We don't have A/C in our house, so it's almost intolerable. My computer even had a overheating error and shut down one afternoon. Sheesh. Today we went to the school pool, which happens to be at the end of our driveway. What a blessing!

Ken got a new computer game today so he can play against Jeremy online; Medal of Honor, Allied Assault. It's a WWII game, pretty neat; looks real. I probably won't see him again for a week; he'll be in here playing it (our two computers are side by side in our office; he's on mine now because it runs the game better, and I'm on his laptop, which is really hard to type on).

Guess I better go finish the vaccuuming before sundown.

Petty and paranoid

I've just had the most ridiculous encounter with another notary. Out of the blue this afternoon, this woman calls me and says that my website looks too much like hers, that I must've copied it, and that I must change it. Her tone started out pleasant enough, but by the end of the convo, I could tell she was getting herself worked up. I said sure, I'll take a look and make any changes if something's the same.

I'd looked at at least a dozen other mobile notary sites to see what the going rates are since I really didn't know the range. I copy/pasted lots of little phrases from several of them to save myself having to retype, because the basic services are the same. I made changes to fit my own business, etc., so my site didn't end up exactly like anyone's, but similar to all others. (Mine is far more professional-looking that hers anyway.)

We were driving back from Redlands, and by the time I got home and checked my email, this woman had written me a nasty letter saying she would take legal action for copyright infringement if I didn't change my site this very evening, how dare I copy her hard work, etc., etc. Her accusations are so insane; it's like Wendy's calling McDonald's and saying, "Hey! You can't list a hamburger after the cheeseburger on your drive-thru menu, because I thought of it first! And you can't charge 89 cents, because mine is $1.09. You're trying to steal my customers! I'm calling my lawyer!"

I swear, it's like reasoning with a 7-year-old. She kept harping on the issue of cut/paste, but the point is, our sites ended up different, regardless of how the shell of my page started. If an author-A copies a sentence from author-B's online book: "She tried to intimidate the newcomer with threats and sour words;" but author-A changes half those words: "He couldn't intimidate the bear with threats and big sticks;" then clearly, the new work has not infringed the original's copyright, even if author-A copied the original sentence directly from author-B's web book.

Anyway, when I've done something wrong and someone brings it to my attention, I try to do the right thing (which is why I cheerfully agreed to examine my site when she called me this afternoon). But when someone gets nasty with me when I didn't do anything wrong, it's hard not to let it get under my skin. I can feel that my blood pressure and heart rate are up and I'm really having to pray for a better attitude, because right now I really don't like this hateful and threatening woman. Who, by the way, sounds like a chain-smoker on the phone. Perhaps that will work to my benefit in the long run. See? That was a hateful thing to say.

Here's Ken on Balanchine, one of my favorites. Bali's about 12, so he's pretty young compared to most others in the program. I was riding Antares, a 5-year-old mare, but we didn't get a good photo because of the shadow.

Loan doc, anyone?

Well, Ken and I are officially California Notary Publics and National Notary Association Certified Loan Signing Agents. Yee-haw! I got our Adams Notaries site up and running tonight, so as soon as our seals arrive, we're in business. I can't wait!

Michael and MeeRa drove down Wednesday night and we went to dinner at Buca di Beppo and strolled Universal CityWalk. Thursday we did Disneyland and Disney's California Adventure theme parks. Fun!

Photo Books

I highly recommend making printed books with your digital photos. I've used (and been very pleased with) Shutterfly to create photo books, but MyPublisher.com looks pretty neat, too... CostCo members get a 20% discount. Gotta love the flexibility of digital cameras!

And, by the by, went to a movie screening yesterday for "Nana's Boy." Not sure when it comes out, but DO NOT go see it. It glorifies smoking pot and playing video games with some sexual perversions thrown in for good measure. Quite a few funny moments, but 95% trash (including most of those funny moments).

New Do

Well, here's the before and after. I'm loving it so far. The first photo is from this morning. The middle three are outside this evening, and the last one I took inside earlier. The last one is the most accurate of the color. Not sure why the middle three look so light, except that it must've been the light. I'll have to post again when I style it curly.

I have a hair appointment Tuesday for a hair makeover. Mine's gotten too long and the highlights are growing out, so I look unkempt. Having long hair is nice when you take the time do blow it out or whatever, but I rarely have the patience for that. So I need something shorter that will dry quickly. Mine is naturally curly, which makes my choices a little more difficult since I have to be mindful of frizz and puffiness. I also need bangs because of my tall forhead, but most styles can adapt to that. I'm also thinking of going darker and redder rather than blonder. The coloring things is new to me. The highlights I have now are the first I've ever done. I'm a little nervous about making a drastic change, but I'm excited, too. I get nostalgic looking at my long hair now when I actually bother to style it, but if I'm honest, how often do I do that? Anyway, look for photos Tuesday night of my new do. Yikes!

For some Sunday afternoon recreation, we headed down the driveway into the school pool. Here, Brendon does a fancy cannonball for a big splash.

Cooling off.... It's been foggy and June gloomy lately, but the gray usually burns off early afternoon. We were glad that today was no exception.

Ken diving. Woo!

Michele has a friend who works at NBC who was able to get us VIP tickets to a taping of The Tonight Show. However, she forgot to tell us that the taping time had changed from 4 to 3:30, so we were late and didn't get good seats. In fact, when the show aired, you could see people who had regular tickets and we were in a shadow and weren't visible at all! Oh well, it was really fun anyway, and while we were walking around on the backlot of NBC, I walked through "Salem Place," which is the set they use for the outdoor mall area on "Days of Our Lives." That was probably the coolest part of the whole day!

Ken's nephew, Brendon, is visiting from Sacramento this week. We picked him up at the Burbank airport today. Here he is with Brady.

As soon as we got home, we headed for the hills with the dog so we could all stretch our legs.

We recently started volunteering to exercise horses for 15 Hands Rescue, a Hogan Foundation organization. 15 Hands is an organization that gives underpriviledged kids an opportunity to interact with and ride horses. Most of the horses are retired Arabian brood mares donated from Mr. Hogan, Ventura farms and others. I'm really excited to do volunteer work, but frankly, I think we are getting more out of it than anything. In fact, we're just underpriviledged adults being given the opportunity to ride. :o) This is us after returning from a trail ride; Ken, Kalila and Alicia.

By the way...

Happy Birthday, Mom!

I take it back.

Turns out the live scanning lady at the sheriff's office today was very nice afterall. I shouldn't have been thought the worst of her when she didn't help us on Thursday. Bad me.

Flying to Sacramento and driving over to Napa for a meeting tomorrow, then home again tomorrow night. Long day!

Lots of editing to do before I leave, so I'll get back to it now.

Live scanning

I just have to vent for a moment about the process of live scan fingerprinting. At least the process of getting an appointment at the Thousand Oaks sheriff's office. I called the number from the State of California CPS website and inquired about making an appointment. The lady I spoke with said that I needed to wait for my paperwork to come from the State, but that I wouldn't need an appointment (error #1); just come on in. So, when our paperwork arrived, we went on in. The lady at the window said they only do live scanning on Thursdays (error #2) by appointment and to come back at 10:30 and 10:45 Thursday for our appointments. Turned out that our optometry appointment ran very long, so I called to cancel the appointments and rescheduled for 4:30 that same afternoon. So when we arrived at 4:30, the lady who does the live scanning, who had been on vacation until that day, she said, had absolutely no record of our appointments (error #3); not the 10:30/45 a.m. nor the 4:30. As per typical clock-watcher employees, she said she was outta there the minute her current appointment was over, so she couldn't help us (unhelpful #4). We'd have to reschedule... AGAIN. So, we'll go back Monday morning. At least this time the live scanner herself put our appointments in the book, so there shouldn't be anymore errors. We'll see.

New Blog

I just started another blog as a place to jot cool things I want to remember. Check it out.

Tidbits

I don't like to go days or weeks without blogging, but sometimes it seems we go days or week without anything newsworthy happening. Or else I'm lazy or I forget. :o) We had friends over for lunch today. We bought a grill last week, put it together yesterday ("Assembles easily with only a screwdriver!" ... Liars!). But it works (though there was one fireball incident), and we've cooked three straight meals out there. Yes, even breakfast this morning. Who knew that buying a grill would get hubby so excited about cooking that I may well have a personal chef all summer?! Money well spent.

Tomorrow we're planning to see movies; the boys will watch the new "Star Wars" and Amy and I will see something else. Maybe "Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants" or "Madagascar" or "Monster in Law."

Speaking of movies, we joined the Blockbuster Online DVD rental program. We used Netflix last year and were really happy with the service. The movies came next day, which is the best turn-around one can hope for. However, they jacked up their price about the time that the new TV season was starting last summer, so we cancelled the service. Now that the TV season is over, we're ready to start again, but thought we'd try Blockbuster this time. They're $3/mo cheaper than Netflix ($14.99 rather than $17.99) and you get two in-store rentals each month. Since we have a BB about a mile from us, that's really convenient. HOWEVER, the movies they sent Friday didn't arrive today (Saturday). They'll probably come Monday, which means they have a TWO-day turn-around. That may be a significant issue. We'll see how we feel after the free trial.

I think Amy and I will go for a very early morning horseback ride on Monday. Then Ken and I have to go to the sheriff's office to have our live scan fingerprinting done for our Notary Public commissioning. I'm pretty excited about the Notary thing. We passed the test and are now working on our signing agent certification. Could be a great way to make some extra money. We'll see. Anyway, the process to get commissioned isn't a cakewalk; takes time and hundreds of dollars for seminars, testing, supplies and miscellaneous expenses. But it's pretty exciting to learn something new. I really miss school. I loved buying school supplies and new clothes and learning who would be in my classes and all that excellent stuff that goes with education. Ken thinks I'm crazy when I get all worked up over pencil grips and Trapper Keepers. If it paid well, I'd just be a professional student. *sigh*

We're spending more and more time lately fantasizing about owning property, something that is completely out of reach in Southern California. I can't imagine having a $600,000 mortgage for a 1,200 sq. ft. house built in 1971 on a postage stamp-sized lot. It's just sickening. I keep hoping that my company will go virtual so that we can move somewhere affordable. But right now we're in a good situation with high-cost area incomes and fairly low cost housing here on campus (low cost is relative; our rent is about $1,200/mo, which is more than most of my out-of-state friends pay on their mortgages). But if we have to move off-campus for any reason, we'll probably have to leave the state, because we can't afford to pay $2,500/mo rent for a comparable space off-campus. God-willing, by the time we have kids, we'll have at least five acres for them to play on. Kids need dirt to play in and animals to play with, pools and treehouses and forts. Good stuff. I miss that.

Sunday I drove down to Lakewood for my cousin's daughter's college graduation party. I'm sure I'll slaughter the spelling of these names, but here we go, from left to right: Alicia, Janice, Nasime, Par, Affie, Karl, Blanche, Vern, Tamara, and Laurel.