Summer Birthdays

A weekend of family in Tehachapi --- we love it! Derek's side of the family trekked up to our neck of the woods so we could celebrate Kyranda's and Dad Flinspach's birthdays. We enjoyed playing host and here are some pictures: *note that active two year-olds are very hard to photograph as they are running by - there are a lot of blurry pictures :)






The theme was 'tools' as that is something Kyranda and Dad Flinspach have in common -- so Bob the Builder regalia was out in full force - complete with hats and balloons!

Baby Bison?

Derek and I were sitting on the couch last night. He was skimming the PennySaver - he loves to do that to see what's out there! We were laughing at baby goats for sale...can you imagine what the dogs would do with those? Probably about a month or so ago, we were out garage-sale-ing and there was a house down the block from the one we stopped at who had a baby goat just bleating away -- it was a regular house, not a farm, and sure enough they even had a boxer dog and another kind of dog -- and there was the baby goat on top of the barbecue just making all kinds of noise -- very cute! but noisy.

So Derek adds, "What about a baby bison? There's one in here that's 8 weeks old" -- I said, "A bison? Someone's selling a bison?" and he said "Yeah, people own bison" -- which is true, but I was like, "Don't they raise them in herds or for food?" I thought it sounded strange for even the PennySaver. So I looked over his shoulder and saw he was looking at an ad for a "Bichon"!!! I busted up laughing! I'm like, "that's a little white dog, honey! a little lap dog!" and we both just cackeled.

Not sure if it's the same telling it on the computer, but it was a fun moment!!!

It's Raining Popcorn

Let's say GOODBYE to the popcorn ceiling! Derek, with a friend, has been working the last few days on this big project -- there's still a little left to do, but it already looks SOOOOOO much better!

Apparently it starts with making a big mess as we bring everything out of the bedrooms and put it all sorts of places:


Then all of the gunk comes falling down:


There's some patchwork and sanding:


The first night we slept on the couches in the family room. We didn't want to tear down all the plastic until everything was done the next day:


Ahhhh...smooth ceilings in the hallway:

Next week we'll finish a few things and do some final painting -- it's going to look awesome!

Bring It!

This is going to be mine and Derek's new mantra for the next 90 days. In an effort to get more fit (and I want to lose some pounds) we're taking the P90X challenge -- a new set of intense workouts that will hopefully get us on the right path. I'm not sure if I'll get the "totally ripped" body that's advertised, but exercising once a day for about an hour is bound to make some positive difference! And Derek and I get to do it together.....ahhhhhhhh, isn't that sweet? We do genuinely do like working out together and it gives us a goal and focus in the evening after a day's work.

Of course we've only done 3 days - but what a workout they've been! Day 1 was Chest & Back (I've never done so many push-ups), Day 2 was Plyometrics and yesterday was Shoulders & Arms -- tonight we've got Yoga! My muscles are definitely rebelling and throwing tantrums - they cannot figure out why I would choose to do this to them - so I'm definitely feeling it and getting stiff and sore - in the good kind of way. Plyometrics totally kicked my behind on Day 2 - I didn't even know what it was but it's basically doing controlled jumping and quick movements like training for sports! Whew, I had to take some long breaks during that one and couldn't even do some of the moves. But, like the video says, I'm just going to "Bring my best, and forget the rest!"

The Home Stretch

This weekend celebrates the final coming week of Derek's teaching in his current classroom. While it has been rather stressful, he has persevered with great strength and stamina....I'm so proud of him! And true to form, as we all tend to do when "things" are finally over, the poor guy has gotten sick -- I remember that happening to me the week I left Children's Bureau. So, please pray for energy and health for him as he finishes up....there is light at the end of the tunnel!!!!!

Indiana Jones

Who doesn't like a good movie that brings back fond memories of the past?!
Sunday night, Derek and I went to see Indiana Jones - our church had rented out one of the theaters at our local Hitching Post Theaters - and about 120 people from the church got together and enjoyed this fun movie. I'm not going to give any of it away - but a fun movie that I would recommend for a good time. Now if I can just get the theme music out of my head...

Beware the Thai Chili!!!!

Well, to celebrate a Friday (for they are always wonderful things!), Derek and I went for Thai food here in Tehachapi. One of the dishes we ordered had these small greenbeans on the side and so I popped one in my mouth -- hey, I love green beans. Instantly I knew it was NOT a greenbean, apparently it was a Thai chili. OH MY GOSH - it was the hottest thing I have ever tasted - instantly burning my tongue, making my eyes and nose water, I couldn't talk! I just let the ice from my water melt in my mouth. The waitress/owner came by and said, "Oh no, that's a Thai chili, you're not supposed to eat those!" -- Yeah, well I had already figured that out!

So lesson learned....and for anyone else who likes Thai food, here's what the little buggers look like:


STAY AWAY FROM THEM! From a Thai food website: "The most famous one must be 'prig kee nu'. It's a very short, small green and red pepper. It is about one inch in length. It is the hottest of the pepper family."

Lazy Weekend

This weekend was a nice, low-stress weekend...I got to sleep in and everything!

Here is Derek and the pups watching TV:


I got to do some gardening...my roses are starting to bloom -- these give one big round of blossoms and then don't do much the rest of the season:


I have one little columbine that has bloomed -- I love it because it's a transplant from San Clemente:

I also got to go with some of the Middle-Schoolers at Church to go see Prince Caspian at the movies -- have to say that it was VERY well-done and I enjoyed it a lot!

2 Years!

Just wanted to give a 'shout out' to my man, my one and only love....my honey!....my husband of 2 years!!! :) Derek and I had our second anniversary yesterday and I kept thinking of fun moments and memories. Of course, 2 years ago today I was on a beach in Hawaii, and right now I'm looking out my office window in Bakersfield....but hey, maybe that palm tree in the distance can be my pretend Hawaii! We played it low key since we've both been working a lot, but we have plans for a dinner out on Saturday night that I'm really looking forward to - a local little Italian restaurant, La Belle Amore. This 'marriage thing' may be a roller coaster at times, but I can't imagine my life without Derek. Love you, Honey.

Mockingbird?

Okay...so we have this bird...who just will NOT shut up at night. I'm all for having a bird friendly backyard - heck I make sure they have food....but this one! this one just sings away for hours around 3AM. I looked on the internet which said that, commonly, unmated male mockingbirds will sing in the night - so I'm thinking that might be it....but I haven't actually seen the little bugger so I haven't been able to make a positive identification.

I also brought in my hummingbird feeder last weekend and cleaned it up - it had been rather icky all covered in dirt, etc. So I put some fresh sugar water in it and sure enough the little hummers found it within a week. They are so cute!

Oh, and if anyone is looking for a yummy dinner for those summer nights, check out this recipe for a chicken-orzo salad with goat cheese:

http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=1723375

I fixed it last night and it was quite delicious!

My Oriole

I was out today doing some weeding and saw a flash of bright orange. Grabbed my binoculars and sure enough, we have an oriole in the neighborhood! They're quite striking...and while I didn't have my camera handy, here's a picture from the internet... my oriole looked just like this one!

Birthday Plants

Here are some of the plants my folks got me for my birthday....I love new plant babies:

Here's some lettuce and parsley for the pigs:

A Chinese Lilac - I can't wait for it to bloom

A rambler rose I got with some birthday money from my grandma....I'm hoping it will want to grow over the arbor:

Disney Photos

Finally some Disney pictures:

My newly learned trick -- take a digital picture of where you parked:

On the tram to the main entrance:

Our "enchanted moment"

Me and my honey at the Happiest Place on Earth...

Eric & Leah outside Pirates of the Caribbean:

Two manly-men....Derek & Captain Jack Sparrow:

"Dance the Magic" - a mini pre-parade of dance troupes dancing down Main Street to the song "Footloose"

Parade Time:

Some Disney characters:

Here are the princesses...thinking of you, Aubrey!

Disneyland

Saturday, Derek and I got to go to the Magic Kingdom, the Happiest Place on Earth....yep, Disneyland. This was a dream come true for me as I realized I had never ridden an actual roller coaster with my husband (if you don't count almost 2 years of marriage).

So Saturday morning, we woke up early (amazing how easy it is when you want to go where you're going), and met up with Eric and Leah in Santa Clarita. Then we all carpooled down to Anaheim where Jenna treated us to some free entry tickets (THANK YOU, JENNA!)

We headed straight for Space Mountain and from there, it was a blast! I will hopefully post a couple of pictures when I can pull them off of our camera (our computer is being a pain in the backside by promptly shutting down everytime I turn the camera on when it's plugged into the USB -- so I'm looking for my card reader, but heaven only knows where I last put it!) But truth be told, it was pretty hot during the day and so we aren't missing much seeing Michelyn all hot and sweaty.

The four of us did get treated to an "Enchanted Moment"....we had lined up for lunch at the Tomorrowland Terrace and got offered a 'reserved' table where servers would bring us our food - complete with a linen tablecloth, linen napkins and condiments inside of little glass sealed jars. It didn't cost any extra so we were game! Apparently this year's theme is "Year of a Million Dreams" so they do fun little stuff that they call "enchanted moments" throughout the day and throughout the park with random people.

The rides as always were fun. I noticed that because of the fastpass system, most of the waiting is done outside - which wasn't so bad when there was shade. But for a couple of lines, there was no shade just folded up umbrellas that they wouldn't open because of some 'wind advisory.' We mostly didn't have to wait more than 30-40 minutes even without fastpass. The only 'bad' line was for Indiana Jones as it was the end of the day and for a couple of hours it was shut down, so they were trying to jam tons of people through the ride when it re-opened. One of the rides I really enjoyed, surprisingly, was the new Finding Nemo Submarine ride. Granted, I haven't been on the subs for ages, but I thought they did a great re-imagining of that ride!

After 11 hours of walking, our poor little feet were tired. So after some shopping (Michelyn got a great new sweatshirt) we all decided to head home...humming various themes from the rides. Can't wait to go back!

Garden School

Saturday, I got to go along with Launa to Garden School - a series of classes in a variety of gardening topics. This weekend I got to learn about houseplants and plant propagation. Very interesting! And I got to bring home a baby Pathos (basic houseplant) that I'm going to try to grow from a clipping. It was held on the campus of Soka University - a beautiful campus in Aliso Viejo. It totally got me in the mood to start gardening at home now the weather is changing!

Courtesy of Launa's fresh herb garden, I got to bring home some fresh cut cilantro and lettuce for the pigs to enjoy....look at them munch away!

Isn't is supposed to be Spring?

Here's a video clip of our freak mid-March snow:

Kaiser

Today ends my first week at my new job....Kaiser Permanente....and it's gone well I think....

Monday, I visited my 'old haunts' by attending a general orientation meeting in Pasadena! Drove by the condo on Marengo for memory's sake...

The remainder of this week I've been in my new office in Bakersfield. Just today I got my password to log on to my desk computer....but next week is when I'll be attending more training about different things, like the software for the electronic medical records.

Everyone has been tremendously nice and welcoming and I've gotten to sit in on a couple of group sessions -- they have some really talented therapists here! I'm excited to be part of the team...

Goodbye Gifts

It has been a 'good' goodbye to my friends and co-workers at Children's Bureau. Even though there have been times of stress because of the job, the wonderful people who I have come to know are who I will miss the most. I had a great group of therapists and behavioral staff on my team! As tokens of appreciation, I made for them a menagerie of 'thera-pets'...little crocheted buddies to keep them company while I'm gone...

Wednesday was the last staff meeting I would be at, so I brought them then - I even made some Heavenly Hash to go along...

I also got to celebrate with a cake, some flowers, a wonderful card....and most sentimental to me, this awesome plaque! I was so taken by surprise at their thoughtfulness and caring....I will miss them deeply!

Winding Down

This is my last week at Children's Bureau...and it is sad to say goodbye to some really great people I've worked with. I've been taking things home from my office and today people were saying how it's starting to look empty. I've come to the conclusion that I'm going to try my best to get things in good as order as I can as I leave, but then I'm going to have to walk away and trust that the remaining loose ends will be taken care of by my colleagues. I'm coming to terms that my fantasies of leaving everything 'perfect' as I walk out the door are just not going to happen...it's probably a chance for me to grow a bit in this area.

As luck would have it, I've come down with a bit of a cold yesterday and today - I liken it to cramming for finals and then coming down sick right afterwards in college. My sinuses are hurting and I'm really tired. I think this weekend I'm going to try and get a lot of rest to gear up for Kaiser. I can't believe that starts on Monday! I was so happy to hear from the Kaiser credentialing department that I officially "passed" credentialing and I'll be getting a confirmation letter in the mail....so watch out Kaiser, here I come!

Ouch

Well, as I make my way closer to my new Kaiser job, I've had to get up to date on vaccinations, etc. Today I got three shots in my arms! I got a Hepatitis B vaccination - optional, but what the heck, I'd rather not worry about contracting that disease! I also got a TDaP - Tetanus plus Diptheria and Percussis - yep, I'll be vaccinated against those ugly diseases too, although this is the one that will make my arm sore! The one I was totally surprised by was a measles shot! Now you might be asking, like me, didn't I have that in an MMR shot like when I was two or something? Yep, I did, but for whatever reason, sometimes they wear off with age (just what I needed to hear as my birthday is in another month) - and my blood level was 0.83 when you need at least 1.00 to be considered "immune". Go figure! Well, to all of my little nephews and nieces who have had shots/vaccinations...Auntie 'M empathizes.....

Kip's 40th Birthday

Another fun weekend with family. Saturday, Derek and I trucked down to a 'surprise' 40th birthday party for Kip. The theme was western!