Julilet at six

Today was Juliet's sixth birthday party. For the first time, she requested a jumpy house, but it was raining so we had to make do with a toss the bug into the frog's mouth game and a cotton candy machine. Both were very well received by the girls. I say girls because there were eleven little girls... no boys.

All in all, it went pretty well. No major meltdowns, and everyone had fun. Once again, Lisa, "Auntie Lee Lee" came early to help with the cake, and she was a huge help. Candice did he usual awesome job on snacks and drinks, and it was a very nice party overall.

Now on to Christmas!

Halloween

Bittersweet Halloween, remembering what was happening a year ago. Back to normal to some degree. Went to work as a monkey princess, which apparently is my lot for this year's costume after many years as a cowboy.

Blogless Summer

Yes, I'm afraid it's true. Somehow I never found time to blog this summer...since The Fourth.


To make up for it, I'm going to post some pictures from the Lake House. Candice took these.




And now summer is officially over because Candice and Juliet have returned from The Lake House. School starts next week, and we are back into our normal routine. The lazy hazy days of summer are over....for those who really had them, that is.

As for me, I went back and forth a lot between Edgewood and The Lake House, and also refurbished my study (nee Library) into a whole new room, at least it feels that way. At some point, I'll post pictures of the new study and my new Scotch Bar.

Another Fourth at The Lake and Lucy

At Pine Mountain Lake, where the "McKinney Relaxin' Shack" is, the Fourth of July (Independence Day) is THE big holiday, when the normally placid beaches fill up with throngs. Normally, we lay low. But this year, our friends Lisa & Eric joined us (unexpectedly) and we were invited by our neighbors' family to go out on their boat and join the Boat Parade, another fine PML tradition in which folks festoon their boats and parade around spraying everyone else onshore and in other boats with squirt guns, partying, and generally making merry.

Apparently, there are even annual "themes" beyond the obvious red, white, and blue and other patriotic regalia; this year it was holidays. A canoe was made to look like a Thanksgiving turkey rowed by pilgrims and Indians. A prancing leprechaun, festooned in bright green with a red beard cavorted maniacally beneath a pot-o-gold terminated rainbow. Drinks were drunk and music was played. And, as my mother used to say: A good time was had by all.

Until the next day. Lucy awoke not her usual perky self, but lethargic and weak. She appeared to be in pain, and at times, she shivered. We were worried, and I had to return to work and our home in Aptos. Then, Lucy developed a swelling on her chest; Candice took her to the vet twice in Sonora (who unfortunately was leaving imminently). Then Candice decided to come home for a while and consult her usual vet.

Lucy seems to be getting better, but her temperature won't stay down. We're still worried.

Introducing: The Norman Sidecar

This is my own cocktail creation. It's a variation on the old-school classic drink, the Sidecar, but made with Calvados, apple brandy from the Normandy region of France. It's quite simple, but delicious, if I do say so myself.

Mix equal parts:

• Calvados
  
• Coitreau, Grand Marnier, or other triple-sec
  
• Fresh lemon juice
  

Pour over ice and shake. Serve "up" in a chilled martini glass. Garnish with lemon slice if you like.

I plan to make a few of these this summer up at The Lake House.

No rafting this year

We decided that since Colin's trip was so brief, and rafting would be a full, long day, we'd not do the rafting trip after all.

Candice and Juliet are going to Phoenix for our friend Suzanne's 50th birthday. I'm staying home to hold down the fort and keep working. Maybe have a little fun on my own if I can.

Rafting

Planning a one-day trip with my brother-in-law, Colin, and my mother-in-law, KB, on the Tuolumne River in June. This should be fun. I've rafted in New Zealand and Alaska, but--oddly enough--never in Califronia! And our lake house is less than an hour from the put-in. This is a world-class river. Wow!

The Dead

Bought tickets for The Dead at Shoreline tonight. Fourteen years later, I never thought I'd be saying that! Of course, it's not the Grateful Dead, with Jerry Garcia at the helm, but I expect they'll be able to evoke him, if not invoke him.

Going with m'pards Jay, Kelly, and Bob. Once more into the breach, dear friends, once more!

Hopefully, the aforementioned doomsday fears won't materialize. Ish....

Pandemic fears

We escaped Mexico just before the flu hit....not sure yet whether this is going to be a pandemic like 1918 or just a mild outbreak. I just keep thinking about The Stand, which starts with a flu-like disease spreading around the world.

All we can do is wait, watch, and hope. And if things start to look bad, prepare...

Back From San Pancho

Returned yesterday evening from San Pancho, Nayarit, Mexico, where we had been vacationing. We had a nice long stay there, and we're all still adjusting to being back home again.

And tomorrow's Easter, which is a pretty big deal for Juliet.... Candice and I just got finished playing Easter Bunny :-)

Plate o' Shrimp

Next in the series of my favorite movies, which I happened to catch on TV the other night: Repo Man. Very 80s, and looking a bit dated these days, but still pretty funny in its odd way. I always got a kick out of Miller's rants, e.g.

A lot o' people don't realize what's really going on. They view life as a bunch o' unconnected incidents 'n things. They don't realize that there's this, like, lattice o' coincidence that lays on top o' everything. Give you an example, show you what I mean: suppose you're thinkin' about a plate o' shrimp. Suddenly someone'll say, like, "plate," or "shrimp," or "plate o' shrimp" out of the blue, no explanation. No point in lookin' for one, either. It's all part of a cosmic unconsciousness.

I'm not quite sure how that applies to my life currently, as it seems like the giant cosmic plate o' shrimp has been dumped all over our heads. But maybe we're just working our way through the lattice of coincidence and will soon come out into the daylight...

(Un)Luck and Equanimty

I thought I would be industrious and cut up the oak tree that fell on our property in the recent winter storms; instead I ended up having a two thousand-dollar accident. As Brian Eno might say: "...just another day on Earth."

With the back of the Audi station wagon mommy-mobile filled with recently-cut oak rounds, and the tailgate up, backing up, it just caught the eaves of our garage. WTF? Totaled the tailgate, bent like a fork. Don't know how much it will cost, but probably a lot.

Chagrined, abashed, sorry? Yes. Upset, stressed? No.... that is among the small stuff not to be stressed about, as Candice so rightly reminds me. We have a lot of other fish frying in the fire at this point in our lives, and they are all bigger than the tailgate of the car, as inconvenient as it may be.

Santa Barbara

Candice, Juliet, Lucy, and I went down to Santa Barbara weekend before last for a brief visit. I hadn't been down there since Juliet was born (over five years!) and I still have quite a few friends down there, so it was high time for a visit.

We rented a little vacation house (duplex, actually) near east beach. It was a cozy two bedroom place with a nice little kitchen, a small back yard, just a few steps from the beach. It was really perfect for our stay. Kudos to Candice for finding it on http://vrbo.com.

The trip down was a bit disconcerting, because we saw two serious accidents. The first, we actually witnessed, near Pismo Beach, when an SUV about 4 cars ahead of us careened off the road and ran directly into the guardrail. The second we drove by minutes after it happened, near Buellton. It was even more serious, and we saw the victims on the roadside, obviously injured. To make it even stranger, Jennifer told us that it was actually a friend of hers, and she visited her in the hospital the next day!

Anyway, we arrived safe and sound in SB. We ordered dinner in from a nice Italian place called Ca' Dario. Then, Jim and Linda came over and we visited with them for a bit. On Saturday, we went to the home of my old friend Jon Southard, whom I hadn't seen in a number of years. I had not even met his wife and two sons, and Candice had not met any of them. Jon made us a nice lunch and the kids had fun playing in their large back yard with all kinds of animals (chickens, rabbit, dog, etc.) Even Lucy came along!

That night we had dinner with Jennifer and John at a swooshy new place called Cafe Luck. Michael Keaton and his wife were sitting near us, and on the way out we saw Dennis Miller. A true Santa Barbara moment.

Sunday we went to the charming Santa Barbara zoo. In the evening, Rod came over and we grilled steaks and watched the Oscars.

All in all, an enjoyable, if somewhat rushed visit. I still have fond place in my heart for Santa Barbara.

Sully and Suley, the pilot and Octomom

This opinion piece by Peggy Noonan of the Wall Street Journal is very well-written. It does sort of capture the zeitgeist....

Here's a partial synopsis:

"There's a sense that everyone's digging in. President Obama has dug in on this stimulus bill: Pass it or see catastrophe. Republicans are dug in: Pass it and see catastrophe....

And there's something else,... It's Sully and Suleman, the pilot and "Octomom," [...] Sully, the airline captain who saved 155 lives by landing that plane just right—level wings, nose up, tail down, plant that baby, get everyone out, get them counted, and then, at night, wonder what you could have done better. You know the reaction of the people of our country to Chesley B. Sullenberger III: They shake their heads, and tears come to their eyes. He is cool, modest, competent, tough in the good way. He's the only one who doesn't applaud Sully. He was just doing his job.

This is why people are so moved: We're still making Sullys. We're still making those mythic Americans, those steely-eyed rocket men. Like Alan Shepard in the Mercury rocket: "Come on and light this candle."

But Sully, 58, Air Force Academy '73, was shaped and formed by the old America, and educated in an ethos in which a certain style of manhood—of personhood—was held high.

What we fear we're making more of these days is Nadya Suleman. The dizzy, selfish, self-dramatizing 33-year-old mother who had six small children and then a week ago eight more because, well, she always wanted a big family...."Suley" doubletalks with the best of them, she doubletalks with profound ease. She is like Blago without the charm.....

Any great nation would worry at closed-up shops and a professional governing class that doesn't have a clue what to do. But a great nation that fears, deep down, that it may be becoming more Suley than Sully—that nation will enter a true depression.

All I can say is: ouch!

Slumdog Millionaire

This was the first movie that Candice and I saw together since Juliet was born, over five years ago. We've both been to movies separately, but for some reason not together since then....wow.

It was entertaining and engaging, but not a masterpiece. Candice said it gave her a headache because it was too loud and frenetic. I liked it, but I don't think it will get (or deserves) the Oscar for best picture, though it was nominated.

Wii!

Yes, I got one for Christmas...a Wii. So far, it's pretty fun, but mostly seems like just a novelty due to its motion-sensitive joystick. Wii Sports, which came with the box, is OK, but I wasn't too impressed with the Star Wars Lightsabre duel game. Candice loves the 3D Pinball game, though.

I think I'll be more impressed when I find some truly interesting games.

The Big Lebowski

For no particular reason, I was thinking about this movie. It is one of my favorites, from the Cohen brothers, who have made LOTS of great movies. But this one is just so quirky and funny. The Dude Abides, indeed.

I guess I just sometimes wish I were The Dude, takin 'er easy for all of us sinners, as the man said. Well, I'm not, and I have a real life with responsibilities (some of whom I love more than life itself!) but I can drink White Russians, and relax in other Duderific ways and laugh at this crazy Chandleresque burlesque....

Hoping for a better '09

We celebrated the New Year at our lake house, taking a brief break from our daily routine at home. Candice's mom, K.B., kindly visited and helped to look after my dad while we were gone.

We drove up to Yosemite for lunch at the Ahwahnee Hotel, and then spent a few minutes sledding at the Crane Flat snow play area. It started snowing on our way out of the valley, and we had to put chains on Candice's car for the first time, which was something of an adventure.

Anyway, we're all hoping for a better year. For Juliet, a big change will be that she will start going to school for a full day, rather than half day. That will give Candice a bit more free time, which she can surely use.