Sunday, March 30, 2008

One Dark Night ...

Quickly, before I begin this story, I have to shut the blinds ... Because something really bizarre has happened.

Not long ago, I was walking at night (on my way home from voting, it was that long ago) through our great little neighborhood. There were lots of folks out - it was election day and ours is a walking type of community anyway.

I was completely spaced out (as is quite normal for me!) and walking across a street - in the middle of the crosswalk, in the middle of the street, and I passed a man who was walking the other direction.

I wasn't quite so spaced out that I didn't notice that he looked at me, did a double take, then stopped, thought a second, and turned around.

Ruh-roh.















This gentleman then says to me, "I know this might seem strange, but we're neighbors."

"Cool." I think. "Why doesn't he look familiar?"

Aloud, I say, "Do you live on the 3rd floor?" (That's local speak for "Surely I don't recognize you because I'm on the 4th floor and most of the people live down on 3.")

"No." he replies. "I live across the street."

Wait for it.

Yep. Across the street as in this guy lives ACROSS THE STREET AND RECOGNIZES ME FROM LOOKING ACROSS THE STREET TO MY APARTMENT! 'Friends' Naked Guy flashbacks anyone?

Later that night I told Talen this story (hoping that perhaps this would be the thing to keep her from wandering the apartment in her underwear) and she said, "Cool, mom. We have a stalker."
Yes. We have our very own, very yuppie, stalker. Don't worry, the blinds are closed so he won't know we're talking about him. He's very nice, you know. For a stalker.

Thursday, March 27, 2008

Help Where It Counts Most

I will be walking for the animals at the Escondido Humane Society this Sunday. Any donation will be gratefully accepted!




Thanks in advance for your support!

Monday, March 24, 2008

Name Dropping ...



Quick, before I forget ...


Rosie and Kelli

Broadway Belters: Shoshana Bean (pictured here)

Quinn, Kevin Chamberlin (Horton!), Julia-Elpheba



























Cyndi, of course. You have to love a woman who walks with a dulcimer!

ANT - He survived a plane crash.

Kent and Vixen from the Amazing Race - Colorful!!
Danny Noriega from American Idol -such a nice guy!
The Daddy Machine cast, including Patty and Rayme!
Ross the Intern from the Tonight Show
the winner of Survivor China,
... and I'll try to remember more!

Saturday, March 22, 2008

Best Product Tip of Cruise ...

Lavish Aromatic Botanical Products definitely wins! I wish I could upload an aroma ...


The singers on board were rubbing cold/flu remedy on their necks and chests to fight off "ship lung". It smelled heavenly and I can't wait to go try some of the aromatherapy products!

P.S. Steve, I promise to never again leave home without a pouf for body wash!

rFamily Vacations

Give me a few minutes, folks ... I am trying to think of how best to recount and reocrd this amazing week! rFamily did a great job - what a fun cruise!


Cyndi Lauper did a great show ... chatted with us, her good friends.

Pictures are posted on myspace ... the first three nights we had: Rosie's Broadway Belters, Cyndi Lauper, and The Daddy Machine ... and those were just the headliners! It was like spending a week at a celebrity schmooze-fest!


And we even made it to Puerto Vallarta ... good thing someone else was driving!

Saturday, March 15, 2008

Severe weather rocks the South





For those of you who may have missed it, apparently there have been storms ... tornados, even ... in Atlanta.







What do I care? Usually wouldn't care at all. After all, those folks all CHOSE to live there, right? We have earthquakes and wildfires, they have ... well, icky weather all of the time.



Today, however, happens to be the day my 14 year-old daughter is flying into atlanta on her way to Washington DC....

Heaven help them ... if they thought tornados were tough, they have some learning to do! They'd better hope for good weather so that Tornado Talen can pass right through ...



... and leave them in peace.







Folks, My Ship Is Coming In ...



It's not everyday that people can actually SEE their ship coming in but TODAY is my day ...





Yep, right there, just past the roof and the red Hampton Inn sign ... that's our ship!









It's hard to take a night photo (this was at 5:45 a.m. after dropping Talen off at the airport ... more on that later) but there she is, still blurry but really there.


BTW, Sven was NOT excited when I ran in to tell him our ship was coming in. He mumbled something about, "Don't talk here." He SO needs to learn about coffee!

Mexico Spring 2008




We are leaving today on an rFamily Cruise.


Why?









Well ...

Sven was in The Daddy Machine, an "LGBT-friendly" musical show that is AWESOME. r Family sent their people to see our people and WHAM! they invited us to perform Daddy on the cruise!


So now we're off to Mexico with Kelli, Rosie, Cyndi Lauper (!!!!!), Ross the Intern rom the Tonight Show .... and many more!



Sven's already packed the camera, batteries, and charger. I'll post pics as soon as we get back ... early next Saturday.






In the meantime, you can amuse yourself with thoughts of a shipload of gay and lesbian folks singing Broadway showtunes and "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun"!







Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Learning to Knit ...

Ok, I know they're just humoring me, but people do occasionally ask me how they might get started knitting. I'm going to post this now but I promise to modify it and clean it up a bit ...

Here's a bit from a Yahoo Answer I wrote. She asked how to learn to knit a scarf, specifically. I agree with Stephanie Pearl-McPhee that scarves require a lot of patience and might not be the best project for beginners but they are certainly achievable!

Scarves can be as simple as gathering needles and yarn, casting on some stitches, knitting them until it's scarf length, then casting off.

How to? Well, there are many great sites but I like Lion Brand Yarns because:
- Their yarns are readily available at the big chain stores - great for beginners.
- They provide volumes of help ... here's "Learn to Knit"


Might I suggest that you do a bit of practice with a worsted weight wool (that's just kind of a regular weight, it will have a number 4 on the weight part of the label) Something like this
in a light color so you can see your stitches easily. Use #8 or #9 needles ... they're about $5 so you may want to try wood and metal to see which you like best.

Just cast on 20 stitches or so, knit, turn, knit ... count your stitches at the end of each row to make sure you're not adding or dropping any stitches ... when it's coming out relatively even, you're ready for the scarf.

I would suggest a chunky yarn for your first scarf ... like Lion's Thick & Quick with either #13 or #15 needles. It can be a bit unwieldy to work with BUT it works up quickly. Don't forget that 5 or 6 feet of scarf is not a tiny project. You'll be glad about the 3 or 4 foot mark that you've chosen a bigger yarn/ needles!

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Goldens Retrievers

And they tell me apartments might not be the best place for a golden?

At least we avoid this ...