So if I told you that we spent last Sunday afternoon, my sorry carcass asleep on the sofa, Kleenex box nearby, the Olympics playing in the background, rain softly falling outside, and Tom upstairs in his office working for a few hours, you would probably wonder why I would even mention it. Mundanus maximus.
Except that it was our anniversary. And not just any anniversary. It was our Fortieth Anniversary. A Big One. Right. So, where was our Big Celebration consisting of any or all of a Big Party, a Big Vacation Trip, some Big Gifts To Each Other?
Well, not entirely absent, the above scenario notwithstanding.
I don't like big parties, for one thing. So, scratch that one from the git-go (Hm--I've never written that expression out before...is it "get" or "git"? Time to google). I'm sure Tom would have loved a Big Party. But, he's so considerate of my sensibilities, that it would never even have come up for discussion.
And, as for Big Vacations, there really isn't time for that, right now. Plus, we considered our weekend in San Diego three weeks ago with our kids and Emi and Mike to be a kind of a combination my-birthday/our-anniversary affair. So much fun!
As for Big Gifts, we are researching the purchase of two kayaks for ourselves, but haven't gotten all the info quite yet. Soon, though. Hilarious pictures to follow.
And we're rather fond of the idea that the whole year is our Celebration (which is to say, that we can justify just about anything we want to do this year as "anniversary-related"--cool, right?). Next piece of the pie=going to see Paula Poundstone in a couple of weeks. Sweet.
We did start out with a nice plan for the day on Sunday, though. Brunch at South Pine Cafe, piano/violin recital in the afternoon--so civilized--and Nepalese food for dinner. Plus, I had made a very indulgent, heart-shaped chocolate/chocolate cake with mint-chocolate chip filling. Who needs more than that, anyway? Seriously.
But, Sunday morning, I woke up with one of those crummy colds that built intensity throughout the day. We did make the brunch--aren't we cute? And we did eat some of the cake (with some B&J ice cream). But the recital and Himalayan restaurant got scratched.
Still.
It was nice. How could it not be? I could just drift in and out of sniffling consciousness thinking about the wonderful and amazing man with whom I've shared my life all these years and what a lovely, lovely life we still have (and, I assume, will continue to have)---that and curling.
Perhaps by our Fiftieth I will have lost some of my Fear of Big Parties. Or maybe not.
There was a funny little quirk in the day, today. You'll see it buried in the following blah blah about gardening and such...
It stopped raining late last week. We're still soggy, though, and moss is growing on--pretty much everything. Besides that, it's been warmer than is usual for this time of year--up into the low 60s a couple of days. Storms will resume this evening, however, we're told. I hope so.
In the sunny gap, I got all "spring"-loaded (sorry) and decided to work outside in the yard while I could. So much to do! A few weeks ago, I had bought my seeds at Peaceful Valley, but hadn't yet put them into their little peat-y wombs. Last year, my early starts didn't do as well as they could have because, since there wasn't enough light indoors, I kept them outside on the deck during the days. Too cold.
I needed a "cold frame", which , if you don't already know, is a mini greenhouse, basically. It's usually a little low wooden enclosure (say, 2' x 4') with a glass or plastic lid. It can keep the little seedlings warmer while allowing enough light. It also keeps them nice and moist, which they like.
On Monday, Presidents Day, I celebrated by planting my seeds in their little pots (as you can see). So full of hope and promise! I love this part! Then I began to study up on good cold-frame design. There are so many options. We have a lot of scrap lumber, so I went out to our shop area to size it up.
That's when I saw it.
The folks from whom we bought our house nearly three years ago, left a few things behind. We being us, it's mostly still piled up out by the shop with a tarp over it. Most of it is just old wooden furniture they might have used in the garage or something. But there are also a few other things, like a plastic snow sled and a little youth-sized bed frame.
I had planned to give it away, but after two winters under a tarp, now, the little bed frame is not so lovely anymore. As a bed, that is. So, suddenly, it became clear! That bed frame, plus a little wood and some clear plastic (also left behind) would make a nice, if unconventional-looking, little cold frame.
The one thing I had to go buy was a package of clips. They're in the fourth picture. They snap the plastic on to the frame, which is, conveniently, the diameter of common PVC, for which they are made. I had seen them at a local hardware store. So I went and bought some. That was Wednesday, and my little pots have been outside ever since, cozy in their little bed. I open it up in the daytime and close it at night.
Now, the twist (oh, you thought that WAS the twist?).
This morning--a day our house was SO due for a cleaning, which was my plan for the day--Tom received a phone call from the former owner of our house, whose name is Mark (do you know a plethora of Marks? We do). He wondered if he might drop by with his kids in an hour or so because they were in the area and the kids really wanted to come by and see their old house and yard. Well, of course.
After a flurried hour, or so, of general tidying and a few critical deeper clean-ups, they arrived. The three children, in the 8-12 year range, hadn't lived here since '05 (we bought it in April of 07) and they immediately took off in all directions looking for their favorite trees (who knew we had a "ladybug tree", or a manzanita that hangs you up by your underwear if you're not careful? Forewarned) and frog-hunting places. They, in fact, still have two of the little Pacific Chorus Frogs that they had caught about 7 years before. The boys, the youngest and the oldest, were running about like, well, boys. Olivia, aged 10, made her way out to the back deck and discovered--yes, her old bed. She came running out front to tell her dad, so we went back to show him.
Ha! So funny, that timing. Too bad not even once did I think to take a picture of them all, but especially of Olivia standing by her repurposed bed. She seemed rather pleased about it.
They live in Mill Valley, which is where they were before their three years in Grass Valley. The mom wasn't so in love with the area, so they only lived here a short while. But I'm pretty sure we'll see Mark and the kids again, sometime. Who knows what other ways I can think of to use a little white bed frame by then?
We've been reading and hearing about SoCal rain. Someone should look into that suspicious correlation between big fire events and extra-heavy El Nino precip. Is it just me, or is it true that every giant fiery fall is followed by a giant rainy winter?
In 1964/65, when our family lived in the hills of Glendale, we were evac'd because of fire (dad stayed to fight it with our garden hose, as I remember--houses a few doors up the street were badly damaged). Then, guess what? Bingo! We had big rains that winter causing the hill behind our house to collapse and bury our back yard, swimming pool and all, as we watched dumbfounded from the glass sliders. I think I spent at least a couple weeks taking advantage of the hospitality of school friends till we were allowed to go back home. Then it happened again.
Just sayin'. The Boy's usually chasing a friend of his named El Fuego...
As for us, here, though it seems to rain most days (nearly 30 inches so far), we're still not quite caught up to "average". The good news is that the snow pack was measured at 107% several days ago (collective exhale). And the snow pack is where it's at.
Meanwhile, back on the mean streets of Nevada County, there are folks for whom the weather is the last thing on their minds...
"8:46 a.m.--A man from Highway 20 reported finding a fire extinguisher and a picture of a bear." [Whoa! Slow down, there, cowboy! Start from the beginning...]
"6:28 a.m.--A woman from the 300 block of Bennett Street reported hearing a possible assault or stabbing. Nothing was found. The woman said she might have imagined it again." [again?]
"3:30 a.m.--Officers arrested a man for DUI on the 11000 block of McCourtney Road after they allegedly spotted him driving with a gas pump hose still attached to his car." [Field Sobriety Test=superfluous]
"1:11 p.m.--A caller from Weaver Lake wanted to know what the gun laws are when fishing." [just a quiet, reflective day on the lake, fishing with firearms]
[speaking of firearms...]
"8:42 p.m.--A caller from the 13000 block of Blank Court reported people were firing shots over a wheelbarrow. A person threatened to shoot the caller earlier in the evening over the wheelbarrow. The suspect was leaving in an SUV with the wheelbarrow on top. The caller agreed to put his gun away and would wait for a deputy. Neither party wanted "to be the victim" [Too late. I think they'd both qualify as victims of serious brain loss]
"2:26 p.m.--A caller from Ridge Road and Zion Street reported a 'dog-propelled wheelchair issue.' The person was waiting for the bus." [the ever-present menace of dog-propelled wheelchairs unleashed on the peaceful hamlet of...(sorry)]
"9:11 p.m.--A woman from the 11000 block of Brunswick Drive reported three people running down the road. She believed that it was a little too late to be jogging a this time of night." [the exercise police on duty...]
"5;23 p.m.--A caller from Rattlesnake Road reported a man lying on the side of the road. When the caller went to assist him, the man jumped up and said he 'just scored the winning touchdown for the Raiders and my coach told me to pretend like I am dead.'" [and now it's off to the ol' padded locker room...]
"10:25 a.m.--A woman from Minnesota called to request a welfare check on her sister in the 13000 block of Golden Star Road. She said she called her wheelchair-bound sister and all she heard on the line was panting. The sister was contacted. Her husband had answered the phone and thought it was a telemarketer, so he left the phone off the hook while working out on his exercise machine." [*sigh*]
Yeah, I know. Too many posts for one story. A bloggy no-no. But I wanted to put up more pictures because I love them so much. So, here are just a few more...
Not only were we biking and munching street taquitos on Saturday afternoon, but what San Diego beach experience would be complete without a bit of beach volleyball? Just a little friendly passing--no killer smack-downs. There's a cute photo of Mike and Rachel cruising along, then one of Tom over on the ocean side.
The reason San Diego was chosen as the place to spend the weekend together, was to attend a farewell dinner Saturday night in honor of Craig and Karen Knudsen. Craig's been the pastor of our former church in El Cajon, Community Covenant, for the last sixteen years, or so (and we've known him for more like 28) and has stepped down from that position. So, there was a big party.
Our kids know Craig and Karen well, though they haven't seen them or other church folks for few years. But this would be a totally new set of folks for Emi and Mike. It spoke volumes to us that they so willingly and graciously agreed to come along with us. The party was in full swing, that is, all 200+ sitting down eating, when we arrived. Turns out, there had been a last-minute memo we didn't get about an earlier starting time. So much for quietly blending in.
I don't have any photos of the party. The program's tone went from the usual sublime to the ridiculous and back again. It was wonderful to see everyone (though a bit overwhelming, as well), including several folks from the early years of the church. Mike and Emi (I heard later) handled all the good-natured, but intense attention with great aplomb. Big points.
Next morning, after we checked out of the house, we met Dad and Jean for an early lunch at a California Pizza Kitchen in La Jolla. It had been awhile since Dylan and Rachel had been able to visit with them, plus they got to meet Emi and Mike. More big points.
It worked out that Dad and Jean offered to take Rachel and Mike (both going to Chi) to the airport to catch an early-afternoon flight. That allowed the rest of us to go north to Encinitas for a couple of hours before hopping our plane. Emi's older brother had tragically passed away in San Diego about 7 years ago. In Encinitas, there's a beautiful memorial garden where there's a special bench provided in his honor that has a magnificent view of the ocean and the surfers below. He loved the water. So we spent a little time there. The large bonsai tree is one lovely feature of the garden.
Then we drove back to the airport and flew back to SFO. Tom and I arrived home around 9:30pm.
I can't think of a single thing that didn't work out just right, start to finish. OK, the house had a little musty odor upstairs due to leaks from the storms the previous weekend. And part of the bullnose edge of the granite kitchen counter just fell off while we were out biking. Oh, and the promised internet connection was non-existent. Trifles. I'm a lucky girl. It was the best possible gift. I'm so grateful especially for the generosity of time. It was over the top.
The five of us arrived in SD within minutes of Mike's landing, so were were all together before we'd even picked up our luggage. The first photo shows 2/3 of our little band in the rental-car shuttle at the airport. Cute, yeah?
There we were, in San Diego as full-on tourists. So funny. Tom had rented a minivan--a Grand Caravan, actually, somewhat updated from the exact same model we'd driven around for 12 years when the kids were younger. I must say the double automatic side doors and back windows that open all the way are wonderful improvements in the intervening, uh, 22 years since we'd bought ours. Still with Dad at the wheel and the kids in back, we experienced just a bit of de ja vu, I must say.
Online, Rachel had found this big, vacation-y house rental with lots of windows on Mission Bay, smack in the middle between the Belmont Park and PB. Great location! We occupied the top two of three levels. But who wants to stay inside? It had been 10 degrees when Mike left Chicago earlier that day, so 62 with a little onshore breeze must have seemed rather balmy.
We took a long stroll up the boardwalk toward PB, watching the waves and dodging cyclists, on the hunt for some classic SD eats. We ended up at El Gringo near the pier, on Mission Blvd--a little more upscale Mexican than the taco stands we'd passed on the way, and with a pretty patio, fire ring and giant margaritas. Doesn't everyone look happy?
The time spent indoors was fun, too, though. Besides just hanging out, talking and laughing and eating ice cream and popcorn, there were Tom's crossword puzzles and the Skymall catalog I'd snagged from the plane. 
Check out the funny article about the Skymall from last Monday's Divine Caroline, the online mag for which Emi works, at http://www.divinecaroline.com/22270/92145-wtf--fourteen-odd-products-buy#1 It highlights some of the products we found so amusing as we leafed through it over the weekend. Who buys this stuff?
Next day, we rented cruiser bikes to ride up into PB, down to South Mission (where we took this picture of ourselves) and all over Mission Bay. Did we do any of these things during the 31 years we actually lived a few miles away? The answer is too embarrassing. Along the way, Tom and I spied some friends from Rachel's high school volleyball days and caught up a little bit along the shore.
Hang in there for one more posting to cram in a few more pictures...
It was a little like a Chinese puzzle. There were a bunch of unique pieces that came together to make something wonderful.
My birthday was last Thursday and the number signified was one of those big round kind that draws a bit more attention than is usually comfortable for me. 60. I'm not one bit bothered by the sound of it because I've actually been practicing out loud for a few months. I was a little worried about the potential fuss made of it.
But my fabulous family worked out the coolest celebration ever, if a little over the top: We took a little trip together to San Diego. Sounds simple enough, but it required extra time off from intense work schedules and some logistical creativity to make it all work out. And not just for the four of us. Emi took time off her job and Mike flew in for the weekend from Chicago so that we could all be together the whole time. Seriously.
Thursday morning, Tom and I drove to San Francisco to meet up with Dylan at his shop. Dylan has several orders stacked up and one of them, a bed frame, had to be delivered that afternoon. So we snagged him for some lunch and then we helped him put a final wax coating on the pieces (first photo) before loading it into his friend's truck for transport.
Later, the three of us picked up a few items (on our way to Rachel's place) for the perfect dinner that Emi and the kids had planned: Artisanal cheeses to start, main dish of make-our-own sushi, and chocolate layer cake for dessert! The cake was Emi's first-ever from-scratch cake and it looked (as you can clearly see) and tasted (believe me) as though she were a seasoned bakery chef. "Ganache" frosting, for heaven's sake. 
The cheeses were fabulous. I can't remember their names--Rachel, the Resident Expert, chose them. Cows AND sheep were represented, however, as I recall. And the sushi was wonderful! Salmon, ahi, scallops. We took turns designing different rolls. Dylan's was most elaborate, of course (that design dominance). And, as if that all weren't enough...
...we spent the night at Rachel's, and, by late morning, we were all on our way to SFO for our flight to SD. More in the next post...
So if I told you that we spent last Sunday afternoon, my sorry carcass asleep on the sofa, Kleenex box nearby, the Olympics playing in the background, rain softly falling outside, and Tom upstairs in his office working for a few hours, you would probably wonder why I would even mention it. Mundanus maximus.
