Happy Places

Date: Tuesday February 2, 2010
Posted in: Friends, california, vacating

I’m sitting here feeling pretty much identical to how I felt last year while trying to sum up my California experience. Travel days aside, I had three full days of, well, awesome. Each day could be a post (or two) in itself but even then I’d miss explaining what made it so amazing. If you are a Flickr friend you may have seen the little blurbs attached to the photos and already have an idea of what I am talking about. I’m going to follow last year’s wrap-up technique of sharing some photos, talking a bit about them and then using my personal journal to capture the rest of it for myself.

First off I just want to state for the record that I love Southern California. I’ve loved it for as long as I can remember. Yes, there are many reasons that people have for hating it but I think there are infinitely more reasons to love it. There’s the sun, the sand, the ocean, the vibe. Each and every time I’ve come here my heart starts to smile the moment the plane starts its descent. I think I could be perfectly happy living here but I also love my home and community beyond belief, so. I’ll just have to settle for visiting here when the opportunity arises.

I got in on Thursday night and took a shuttle to casa Secret Agent Josephine. She was kind enough to save me some supper as LAX has nowhere to buy food on the arrivals level. What is up with that? Anyway, Brenda and I sat side by side on the couch both catching up and playing on dueling laptops. She introduced me to Unhappy Hipsters (Ha!) and The Oatmeal (I love the “How to Suck at Facebook” one. It’s funny because it’s true.) In the midst of this I notice that Kerri Anne was online – she’s in Beijing! We talked about what our respective times were and she said the best quote ever: “Dag, yo. This is awesome. I’m IN THE FUTURE.”

On Friday morning, Brenda, Bug and I meandered down to the small beach that’s carved out of the cliffs. We sat on the lifeguard tower, pulled out our respective moleskins and did some journaling. I kind of love the illustration she did of me.

We met up with Sarah and Wito, jetted to the mall for some Barnes & Noble time and lunch. I spent the afternoon with Sarah (Talking about anything and everything, and) teaching her the manual settings on her camera. I’m excited to see what she does with it.

That night we managed to sneak away without her boys for a dinner out together.

I just love her.

Saturday was a little less jam-packed, which was a nice break. I don’t sleep well (in general, or) when I’m away from home and I only managed to get a sum total of ten hours of sleep between Thursday and Friday nights. I spent Saturday morning sitting in the sun at a Starbucks and reading my book. Sir Danny picked me up for a belated birthday lunch and to present me with my belated birthday present.

If you know Danny at all, then you know that he started working at Oakley at the beginning of January. One of the (many) perks of his job is that he gets a limited number of sunglasses for FREE. Since I’m his Internet BFF and all of that, he asked me if I wanted a pair of said Oakleys. Kerri helped me pick out a set that (we thought) suited me when I was in Portland and I sent off my order. I’ve only ever bought cheap shades and now know why people cough up money for the brand name ones. They are the best. Sunglasses. EVER. He and I picked up our lunch from some deli and went and sat down at Laguna beach. Warm sunshine, cute puppies galore and great chats with my buddy. He’s just one more example that I really do have the raddest friends on the planet.

Saturday night was the dinner with everyone else. Brenda had to babysit but we had a great turnout of some fantastic people.

Rebecca, Sarah and Lisa.

Brandon and Danny.

Lena and Yvonne. Yvonne took some pretty awesome photos of the night.

Sunday was spent driving down to Oceanside to meet Bethany, Annalie and Jen for lunch and to sit on the beach for awhile. The evening was spent lounging on Sarah’s couch and playing Words With Friends against each other while watching the Grammys and realizing how old we truly are. I’d post more photos of the weekend but my brain is fried so I will kindly direct you to the Flickr set.

Monday was a full day of travel (I left her house at 7 a.m. and got home at 7 p.m.) but I am finally home. It’s fun to go away but it’s always so much better to be home. My family is a part of me and there were many times over the weekend where I physically ached…and a few times where I possibly cried. Sigh.

That’s all I’ve got, folks. It was a high level summary but I think you get the general idea. The rest of it will have to remain tucked inside of my heart for those days where I need a little bit of sunshine.

16 comments

Here And There

Date: Wednesday February 4, 2009
Posted in: Photography, california, holidays, vacating

Somehow, some way, Wednesdays have been declared “wordless” by some mystical Internet Fairies. (Who exactly are these Fairies? Are they real? Do they have powers? If so, can they give me a nice rack?) I usually embrace the wordlessness as even I get tired of hearing my own voice. I (usually) tend to take more photos than I ever know what to do with so I have embraced this unspoken “Rule” of the Internet (for the most part) and have stuck to only posting photos on Wednesdays.

Today, however, I HAVE WORDS.

As much as I loved my solo trip to California (and, of course, the Desperate Bloggers), once I was en route back to my Homeland all I wanted to do was get back to see my husband and children. My flights were on time and I thought that I was good to go.

I thought wrong.

Upon arriving at the Kelowna airport (final destination), I received two pieces of news that turned me into Grumpy McGrumpypants.

1. Thanks to the time of my arriving flight, I would have to book it to miss a scheduled road closure due to construction. Any delays and I would miss the half-hour opening.

2. While waiting for my luggage the airline announced that there would be a slight “delay” as they were unloading the luggage off of the aircraft BY HAND. Who needs machines? Us Canadians can do it ALL BY OURSELVES.

My suitcase arrived into the airport lobby A FULL HOUR AFTER I DID.

I was worried that I would miss the scheduled opening to get through the construction and not make it home in time to tuck my sweet kidlets into bed. Upon (finally) retrieving my suitcase I ran out of the airport…only to be confronted with snow and wind. This is where I mention that while I was wearing jeans and a long-sleeved shirt, that ensemble was completed with an Old Navy hoodie and some American Eagle canvas shoes, sans socks.

I dragged my suitcase across icy roads as I made my way to the long-term parking lot where I had parked the 4Runner. In the five days I was gone it had dumped TWO FEET OF SNOW.

So. There I was. Sockless, in a hoodie, wading through snow drifts in order to get to my truck. I managed to haul all of my crap gear into my vehicle. The snow was so thick and heavy that the wipers were rendered immobile and could not help me in my quest to, you know, SEE OUT OF MY WINDSHIELD. I then realized that I did not have a brush to assist me. I took off my hoodie, wrapped it around my hand, and brushed the snow off of the truck. Did I mention that I WAS NOT WEARING SOCKS? And that I WAS NOW NOT WEARING ANY KIND OF JACKET?

Cold is an understatement. Canada, you are on notice.

I drove down the highway as fast as I (legally) could, but of course I missed that half-hour window. I got to sit on the highway, a mere fifteen minutes from home, with nothing to do but Twitter my predicament. By the time I got home the kids were fast asleep and my only option was to tiptoe into their rooms to gaze upon their awesomeness.

Tuesday was a day where I hit the ground running. In addition to unpacking, doing laundry and, you know, loving on my offspring, there was work to be done and errands to be ran. While battling the Frozen Tundra. YOU HAVE NO IDEA. Instead of trying to capture the Day Of Catch-Up/Back To Reality/WHY DO WE LIVE HERE?, I will leave you with some more photos from my Second Home; California.

Happy Wednesday, folks.

19 comments

More Than Words Can Say

Date: Monday February 2, 2009
Posted in: Blogging, Family, Friends, california, holidays, me, vacating

I am a person who is rarely at a loss for words. I am known as a chatterbox, as someone who has so many words tumbling out of her brain that her mouth sometimes cannot keep up. To remedy this I will throw out a “blah, blah, blah” to give my mouth a chance to catch up and to keep the story moving along. I also like to wave my arms around wildly in some sort of attempt to keep said story going.

I have spent the last four days cramming all sorts of awesome, along with a plethora of amazing and a dash of spectacular into what can only be described as the best solo vacation of my life.

I sit here struggling with how to put the whole experience into words. Have you ever experienced something similar? Where you are so overwhelmed with the greatness of what you have experienced that you cannot seem to find the right sentences to string together in order to give it any semblance of justice? And afraid that any attempt that you make to quantify it all will cheapen it somehow? Not reveal the glory of what it was?

This is what I have struggled with all day. I miss my family immensely, of course, but this trip was about me. For me. It delivered far more than I thought even possible. I came looking for some sun and to see a few friends. The sun did not disappoint; it shone big and bright and warmer than it usually does at this time of year. I left with new friends that I did not expect, with a better first meeting with online friends than I could have ever imagined, with a far deeper relationship with the friends I already knew in the flesh. My spirit is full to bursting and I do not want to pop that bubble of sigh.

The best thing I can do is give some anecdotes, pepper them with photos, and hope that the gyst of what I experienced comes across. If it does not, well, that is perfectly fine. My heart is beaming and my soul is full of sunshine. You will have to take my word for it.

I could ramble on about the first two days that I spent with Bethany and Brenda but they both have captured it all too well that anything I say would be a redundant repeat. I do have a photo of me with those two lovely ladies and their lovely girls.

That was taken on Snail Mountain in San Diego.

Friday afternoon we headed back to The OC and I was dropped off at casa Whoorl. Her little dude Wito was so enamored with me that he buzzed around from the time we got there until we headed out. I think he has a crush on me.

And head out we did. Leah had organized a meet up on behalf of Brandon being in town which Sarah (Whoorl) had told me about. This is one of those moments where I confess that while I had heard references to Leah and Brandon before I did not know either of them online. Upon looking them up I was wondering what rock I have been hiding under. Seriously.

Leah was (is) absolutely awesome and pandered to me while I chatted her ear off. She even let me capture the moment with her and Sarah.

Upon being introduced to Brandon he exclaimed, “Kerri and Chris stayed at your house!” Wait. What? Anyone who is “a gold star member of the Kerri Anne international web club” is a friend of mine. Also. Anyone who can throw the west side gang sign in the company of Eden Kennedy is pretty cool.

If you do not know who Eden is it is time to dig yourself out from under that rock you are under. One word: NaBloPoMo.

So. That dude on the left. You might remember him from this post. That would be one Danny Evans, aka Dad Gone Mad. Not only does he have a great blog and a book coming out, I managed to get him to join the team over at Work It! Mom. I thought it wise to get a photo of the three of us who write over there.

That one is for you, Nataly. The other photos from the night can be seen here.

The rest of the weekend was filled with more of that same brand of stellar; this was but a snippet.

Both Brenda and Sarah filled my days with long walks, beaches, sunshine and great conversation. The weekend that was is truly beyond description. All I can do is try to show a few pieces of what I captured.