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.

Thanksgiving Photos

CLICK HERE to go to our album of Thanksgiving photos at Shutterfly. There are also pics from my October Baltimore trip.

Fun with the Hartmans

Our dear friends, Tammy and Dan (and baby Donovan), invited us over for a post-Thanksgiving Thanksgiving feast on Sunday. We were so excited to go because (1) we enjoy these people, and (2) one can never have too much Thanksgiving food. So, after a lengthy computer armoire assembly project on Sunday, we cleaned up and headed over for some great food. The boys were stumped over how to best carve a tender turkey, but we soon decided that it doesn't really matter how you carve it because it's going to end up chewed anyway!

HowManyOfMe.com

There are: 381 people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

Painting

We're trying to think of (or create) positives out of the hellish week we've had. One is that now that I'm not pregnant, we can paint the house and not worry about the fumes. So yesterday, on impulse, we stopped by Home Depot to look at paint swatches. We ended up with one called Camel, which is the greenish, yellowish beige you see above (that's our bedroom, above).It goes perfectly with the bed set we ordered from JCPenney's (above). Together with the furniture mom bought us from Costco (Kona; below), we should be living in style once it all arrives (which should be soon!).Then today, we went to Bed Bath and Beyond and got the window coverings (Versailles by Arley, below). We need to let the hems out a couple of inches before we can actually hang them, but I think they're going to be beautiful. I'm so proud of us for being productive! On the other hand, domestic productivity has left Ken behind with his classwork, so that's not good. We can't win!

On the how we're doing front, time is helping to lessen the sting. I've gotten a lot of comfort from the Grief & Loss message boards at BabyCenter.com. Miscarriage is such a common thing, but it's a downer and often very private, so people don't really talk about it in "regular life." So having people to communicate with who are experiencing the same thing, or have in the past and have gone on to have healthy babies, is very helpful. In fact, I really don't like talking about it with people who haven't gone thru it. Grief is universal and we've all felt that, but beyond that, the connection stops ... unless you've been there. Been here. Funny how things happen in life that, unexpected moments, that change you forever. For better or worse. Not sure which this is yet. Maybe both.

Thank you!

Thanks to those who sent beautiful flowers. The bouquet on the left is from the Hogan Foundation (thanks for the poem, Mr. Hogan; such a literary talent!). And the planter box below is from my work. For those who are following, we're doing OK. I haven't felt much like chatting, so I've mostly been ignoring the phone, but we appreciate your emails and prayers. We'll be 'round again soon.

It's Over

Well, unfortunately, our pregnancy is over. We went for our 11/12-week OB appointment this morning, and the baby apparently stopped growing about a month ago (a few days after the last appointment) and there was no heartbeat. I'm scheduled for a D&C this afternoon. So, the baby news will be on hold for a while...

Borat

We saw the new movie "Borat" as a screening before it was released, and we were absolutely horrified with it. Ken, who, like most men, retains a bit of teenage boy in his soul, liked it more than I did, but he was nonetheless horrified by its crassness. Now to learn that it was more of a fake documentary than a scripted movie, and that most of the participants were unaware that Borat was a fictional character, makes me absolutely sick to my stomach. Especially disgusting is the way people in other countries who are poor and have less experience and knowledge about slimy Hollywood antics were taken advantage of. I mean, paying a poverty-stricken Romanian villager $4 to let a cow use their already-modest living room as a toilet is outrageous. I hope somebody comes up with a way to gut 20th Century Fox for this. People are going to see the movie just to see what all the hype is about, but I hope a greater sense of decency creates a painful backlash for them. Comedian or not, Cohen is just as guilty, if not more so, than anyone else. Hurting people is NOT funny. We're supposed to look out for widows, children and the poor, not use them for our selfish gain. The whole thing is so disgusting that I feel physically sick. Sooner or later, they will be punished, I believe God's punishment will be the most fair, whatever He may choose.

Phoenix

Somehow we managed to leave Phoenix with no actual pictures of US after our weekend visit with Kent and Pam. They took a couple on their camera, so we're looking forward to getting copies of those. However, I did manage to get a surprisingly good shot of the gorgeous sunset (view from their back yard). Nice, huh?

Simi School Fair

The day after our costume party at The Place, the band headed over to entertain fair-goers at the Simi school harvest fair. Fun was had by all, Ken reports.

Harvest Fun

The annual harvest party at The Place this year was a '70s theme (Ken went as a '70s rocker and I went as someone in her 70s who'd misinterpreted the invitation, thinking it was a shindig for seniors in their 70s). Ken had some funky teeth he'd make when he worked at the dental lab, which made it look like he'd been doing too many drugs and not flossing. I had biker shorts stuffed with every pair of pantyhose I own, plus a few bathing suits and even a nightgown. Made for a convincing spare tire. Both outfits were a hit. Ken also played in the band; they've been practicing classic 70s rock tunes for a couple of months now, and were fantastic. I'll try to post video when I figure out how to make it a reasonable size.

Wow

This site knows some really important stuff about people. Scary and amazing.

Baby Blog

For the latest on the baby stuff, visit The Littlest Adams. Though I probably should just include it on this blog, because we probably won't talk about much else. But I'll try. :o) Things are going good at the new place. I say good vs. great, only because we're still living amongst boxes and have no time to unpack. We have one more small load to pick up from the old house, too. Seems like it takes so bloody long to get every last crumb, lamp, shoebox and bottle of Soft Scrub out. But, on the other hand, they've approved demo on the place, so at least I don't have to clean it!