The New Improved Mr. Mom

Candice is up at the Lake House for a well-deserved weeklong mommy-getaway, and Juliet and I are holding down the fort.  So far, we've kept very busy with school, softball closing day, the SCMS Yard Sale, working on her science project, and just hanging out around the house and playing.  We also watched the solar eclipse last night -- we went down to Seacliff State Beach for a better view, since there are so many trees around our house.

It's been much easier this time than the last extended time "on my own" back on 2008 (I think) when Candice went to Canada during her dad's illness.  Juliet is so much bigger now and is really fun to be with.  We're really having a nice time together.

In a couple days, we'll be heading up the PML to join Candice for a long Memorial Day weekend and our first visit to the Lake House in six months.

Marine Layer from hell

This has been a very cool, foggy, and overcast summer in Aptos, and elsewhere in California. Everyone is complaining about how foggy its been. Yesterday, the sun didn't come out AT ALL. Today, it finally broke through at 2pm, and then the fog came back in around 4pm....that's like the best we can hope for these days, apparently.

It's terribly depressing and I intend to get to the Lake House ASAP.

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.

(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.

My BDay

27th is my birthday again.  I don't usually make a big deal of it, but what the hey....  Probably go see The Dark Knight or something.

One of the cool things about where we live is that you can hike to the movies through the redwoods...about a 30 minute hike.  Pretty amazing, really.

Then over to the Britannia Arms for a pint or something.

Edgewood

Our little piece of paradise between the Monterey Bay and the Santa Cruz Mountains, truly at the edge of the woods, ten thousand acres of woods, in fact. We are fortunate to live in a beautiful area, a few minutes from the beach and a short walk to thousand-year-old redwoods. Amazingly, also within commuting distance of Silicon Valley, a world away.

Ft. Worth Round-Up

Just returned from the Texas Jack Assn. biennial "Round-Up" held this year in Ft. Worth, TX.  It was the first (and likely last) round-up that I organized....or master-minded, anyway.  Candice did much of the work of making the arrangements.

Every thing went smoothly, thankfully.  We were subjected to a loud thunderstorm on one night and some rain showers, which helped to cool things down a bit.  Although it was a small round-up, many people told me how much they enjoyed it.

Meantime, California was on fire... The Trabing fire broke out near our house, several miles away, but still too close for comfort.  Poor Jason, who was housesitting, called in a panic wanting to find the cat carriers.  He had to fight two hours of traffic to get down here from Scotts Valley (Beulah Park, actually), which is normally about a 15 minute drive.  Fortunately, no evacuation was necessary.