A random post because I like overalls

"Opportunity is missed by most people because it comes dressed in overalls and looks like work."    --  Thomas Edison

I would totally work in the yard all weekend in this. 

Must have gardening accessory? Yes. 

Window Seat

It's a rough existence. 

Before and After: Found Chair

When we went out to Matt's dad's a few weeks ago to pick up a few of the things we left at his house I noticed the neighbor had moved out and left some gems by the road. It's 'unofficial' freecycling. I didn't get to do as much as I would have liked with this one because it's just so cool, but I really needed a sewing chair stat.

I unscrewed the seat, ditched the plastic, and untacked the existing fabric. It was a really light weight fabric- not something you'd usually find on upholstery. Despite being left out in a drizzling rain the foam was in really good condition. I ended up using the existing fabric as a pattern for a heavyweight tweedy fabric and then went about tacking it all back together. The wicher could use a bit of patching and cleaning, but it works. Any other ideas for the chair? I was debating on painting the wicker after I patch it up and maybe finding some different fabric eventually.

Freecycle

This is newly discovered for us. If you don't know it's a collective of "neighborhoods" around the US where people post things they have and want to get rid of or things they are looking for. But everything is free. You can't charge for any of it. It's fantastic- like shopping Value Village from home... for free! Of course you have to go pick up your stuff. The funny part is that you don't even have to meet the person you're freecycling from. There's no money exchange so people just leave it on the porch for you.

Check it out...

picture frames

 a large unframed mirror

3 pillows- now I have a pillow for the pillowcase I got in India (shown)

11 green wine glasses- no more plastic ones for us!

After picking up the mirror last night I promised Matt I won't freecycle for a while- at least until it gets warm. :)

Now serving No. 27

I came home Friday to a box outside the door. Matt's momma sent me beautiful tulips! Did you know tulips keep growing even after they're cut? I'm all out of vases (I think we donated them in an effort to purge for the move), so I used a clean pasta sauce jar. They don't seem to mind. I love having them brighten up the counter. :)

New books!

Glorious.

I have no idea where the Stieg Larson books went :(

progress!

well, we actually accomplished some things this weekend! Saturday we  did the grocery shopping. We didn't have much on the list, but did more stocking up shopping than anything. Giant and Safeway actually had some things on sale that we buy. That's our biggest gripe with coupons. Most of that stuff are products we never buy in the first place. We save by buying in bulk and only buying what we need. Our fridge and freezer are stuffed and none of our meals are pre-made. We have to do all the work except for snacks... chips and hummus or fruit. I started keeping track of what we were buying, how much it cost, and how much that cost per serving. We started because one of matt's coworkers didnt think you really saved that much by bringing lunch to work instead of eating out. So when I made shepard's pie, we calculated it up. Made 8 good size servings at $1.42 each. Booyah! 

Life in Full Swing

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." -Mark Twain

20 years? I'm already disappointed by what I haven't done! I suppose that's typical thinking around the first of the year, but honestly there have been things that have been nagging at me for a while. So, when I came up with my "resolutions" for the year those things played a big part. Without further adieu:
1. exercise at least 3 times a week. how? joined gym/ have gym at the condo... really this isnt that hard. matt and i used to very regular. 
2. spend money wisely. how? no impulse purchases. more or less just maintaining my financial scruples. 
3. grow a veggie garden- how? build self-water raised planter for the deck and plant a few veggies and herbs. also along with this... start composting. 
4. get outside more. ie. more biking, hiking, etc
5. eat less no fast food. how? will power against the nacho cheesy goodness of the crunch wrap supreme. 
6. pick an instrument and start learning it- probably banjo since i actually have that handy- and practice at least 1 hour a week
7. sew at least 2 projects this year. goal: i have a dress i want to make for National's baseball games and I just salvaged 3 chairs from the neighbors trash to repair and reupholster. 
8. blog weekly. (like on saturdays)- might have to set an alarm, but if I'm working on projects and gardening, etc and whatever Matt has going on we should have something to say at least once a week. 
9. study and take GRE.- I've been planning on taking it for 2 years now and haven't. must stop procrastinating. 
All in all I feel that these are pretty achievable. I've had a sewing machine for several years and have made a total of 1.5 projects with it, despite the fact that I have a habit of collecting/ keeping fabric I intend to use on future project. The banjo, much like the piano and guitar, is something I have started and let myself get away with not making time for it. The garden and compost are probably the biggest and most challenging of the resolutions. It's new and I don't know much about either, but I've been reading up a lot. But, like sewing and music, I feel it's a part of my heritage. When I was little I remember my great-grandmother working in her garden and helping her harvest and can. I care about sustainability and personal semi-independence from corporate America, but most importantly I think gardening is fun and the food tastes a heck of a lot better than store bought. The trick for success on this is to plan ahead and to limit myself to a few items to grow. I'm thinking a lettuce mix, tomatoes, and beans or peas. Maybe a meyer lemon shrub or berry bush and some herbs. We buy Costco bags of frozen broccoli, cauliflower, squash, and carrot mix so I don't think it's necessary to grow those. Resisting the urge to build an entire forest on our deck will be hard, but very, very important to the mission. I have other much smaller homegrown projects that I have planned. One is making our own natural laundry detergent. I finally have the ingredients, now I just need to make it. Tonight I made a bottle of static guard spray because with the dryer weather we're getting zapped every time we sit on the couch or pet one of the cats. I also made two more spray bottles with a non-toxic, natural insecticide for the houseplants and one with liquid plant food. It's Miracle Grow for the time being, but once I get fresh compost (in several months) I'll make compost tea instead. I was doing pretty well with the plants until I decided to set them on the balcony and forgot to bring them in overnight and they got mighty chilly. When we got home today and brought in they we looking terrible. I might be down to two plants now: the emerald gem and the scheflera. I think the 3 pathos are done for, but it might come back. Who knows?

 pretty pathetic pathos :'(

 I suppose it's not really "natural" if it has fabric softener... but it is homemade.

-Sam

Day 59, Oklahoma is OK if OK is Defined as Windy and Boring, May 9, 2010

“Okay” or “OK”: adj. adequate but unexceptional or unremarkable; tolerable.



Well, I guess today was OK. Weather was still cooler than we expected. It was in the 90s when we left Palm Springs. Since Williams, the temperature (according to the car) hadn’t reached higher than the low 60s. At least we don’t have to worry about the cats getting too hot. I got up first, showered and ran to the gas station to fill up the car. We were on the road before 9am again for the second day in a row! The cats had taken their quarter of a Dramamine again and the results were similar to yesterday. Tom meowed for a bit, but was quickly snuggled up in the back of the kennel. Lucy was loud, but at least she wasn’t as jittery today. We never had to lock her up in the kennel.



After a little over an hour, we crossed out of New Mexico and into North Texas. Lost another hour. The nice scenery of the West was definitely now in our rearview mirror. We had hit the plains and were now driving through what we usually only see while flying at 10,000 feet from Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, San Diego or LA to Atlanta to make a connecting flight.



Stopped in Amarillo to get lunch. Though, I had never been to Amarillo while I lived in Texas during my AmeriCorps year, it had the same feel as any small Texas city. Very spread out through the highway corridor. This state just has so much room, but the size doesn’t match the actual population. We found a Chick-fil-A for lunch, just because they are available to us again and it is the best fast food ever. Went way out of our way to get to one. Sadly, it looked strangely deserted. Oh, right, today is Sunday. There always has to be a catch when fast food is that good. At In n’ Out Burger, there is always a line. Chick-fil-A is closed on Sundays. Thus, I always crave Chick-fil-A on Sunday. After our 10 minute detour through the streets of Amarillo, we ate lunch at Subway. This was still better than yesterday’s Burger King lunch, which left me feeling bleh. There was a Burger King right next door to the Chick-fil-A but I don’t think I can do another greasy burger for the rest of the trip.



Just east of Amarillo, we blew through Groom, TX, which claimed to have the World’s largest cross. There was one giant white cross surrounded more life-sized ones and nearby a small hill with the three crosses and “bodies” on them. It was set up similiarly to the Washington Monument and there was even a tour bus. Note to small Texas town: having what you claim is the world’s largest cross (and an internet search says there is some competition from Effingham, IL) only proves is that you waste money on creepy landmarks . I am sure that money was well spent on an oversized exhibit of the method of torture and death for Jesus, rather than something like a rec center.



Another hour or so, and we were in Oklahoma. The wind had really picked up at this point. Had to keep both hands on the wheel. This is the first time on this trip that we crossed over into a state that I had never been to. Sam even pointed out that it was reminding her of Anchorage. The sky was overcast with a low ceiling and it was 50 degrees in May. Well, at least Anchorage still had the cool mountains looking over the city. Oklahoma has… a lot of Czechs, apparently. Even though I am half Czech, I had no idea so many of us settled in Oklahoma. There is even a Prague, OK. A Kolache Festival was advertised to be going on this month celebrating the Czech culture. My opinion of Oklahoma went up a bit. On a side note, thank you grandma for settling in Alaska rather than Oklahoma when you moved to the United States.



Missouri. Massachusetts. Georgia. Wisconsin. Arizona. The license plates going by on the 40 were very random and scattered. Maybe Oklahoma is more than a fly over state. It is a “blow through” state as well. We weren’t the only out-of-staters blowing through it at 80-90 mph. Even the wind seemed in a rush to get through. Another strange sight was all of the severe storm and weather SUVs we saw driving down the 40. You know, those giant vehicles with a large antenna (almost looking like a spy van), like the ones in the movie Twister? Yeah, we saw a lot of those in Oklahoma. Most were from the National Weather Service and some from Texas Tech. Creepy, given all the wind and the gray sky.



Oklahoma City came and went. It was still workday afternoon when we got through, so we kept going. Interesting thing about Oklahoma City is that it really isn’t that big, but it seems bigger because there is really absolutely nothing on either side of it. It is an urban sprawl (and not much of one compared to the other urban sprawls across the U.S., such as its sisters to the south in Texas) in the middle of nothing. Not even much in the way of exits leading up to the city. Lucy was still a little loud, but was at least calm enough to stay free of being locked in the kennel. Tom even got a little adventurous and came out to say hello. He laid on top of the kennel, which may have irritated Lucy since it is one of her favorite spots to sit when not in one of our laps.



We made it all the way through Oklahoma and crossed into Arkansas. Finished Duma Key. The book took a while to build up, but the last third was really intense. Fortunately, we had the best parts through the most boring part of the drive. If anyone wants to borrow the 18 CD book for a road trip, just let us know. Stopped for the night in Van Buren/Fort Smith, Arkansas. Arkansas is another state that I had never been to. Knocked out two of them in one day! Oklahoma was #39 and Arkansas #40 by my count. (Only have Maine, New Hampshire, Indiana, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Wyoming and Montana to go)!



Dinner was yet another example of reaching the Bible belt. We went to the Mexican place next to the Motel 6. I perused the menu and didn’t notice any beer or margaritas on there. I asked our waiter for a margarita, hopeful that he had just neglected to give us the drink menu. The restaurant doesn’t serve alcohol. We just drove 600 miles and I can’t have a drink with dinner. Ugh. The food was good, though. And we had a bottle of wine in the car, which we opened in the motel room after dinner. So, it turned out OK.

M.E.

Up Next: Driving through the South Like Sherman.

Epilogue: We are in the middle of a thunder and lightning storm. Tom is sleeping and Lucy is nervous. It's completely backwards. You can actually smell the rain! Matt went outside to the car... in the downpour... to get my camera and the atlas (I think just because he thought it would be fun). Thankfully we are out of Tornado Alley, but there have still been reports of tornados along the I-40 east of here. So we are attempting to determine alternate routes out of here to the south, but we accept that we might be hanging out here if the weather/ road conditions do not improve. Below is the weather situation. We are currently at the southeast corner of the "severe storm" area. Fun!

Day 58, The Grand Canyon in Really Grand, May 8, 2010

We took a side trip today. How could we skip out on the Grand Canyon? I know it is the Disneyland of National Parks (Yellowstone is Disney World), but it is something that needs to be seen on any road trip going through Arizona, and not just on National Lampoons Vacation. We got up early this morning and I went to find some coffee. Gave the cats their Dramamine before hitting the road. Tom was a pain getting out of the motel room. Ah, this routine again. He found his way between the box springs. At least if Tom followed his usual procedure, he would keep quiet in the kennel for the entire drive. We left the cats out of the kennel to start the drive, so of course, both of them meowed relentlessly and couldn’t sit still. How long does it take the drugs to kick in? Tom was back in the kennel in short order, but the Dramamine seemed to make Lucy grumpy. She was fighting the effects and it didn’t help her mood. Ugh, maybe she’ll just crash out soon.



The weather was a lot cooler than we were expecting, which made the day much easier on the cats. We made it to the Grand Canyon around 10am. $25 to get in the park. A little steep, but we came this far…

Drove out to one of the look out points, and WOW! Sam claimed that she thought it was going to be a big ditch in the ground, but this is amazing. The best way to describe it would be the inverse of Denali. There were just layers and layers of carved out rock. I really wish we had more time to stay here and hike down past the rim. Alas, we had little time and could only leave the cats in the car for so long. Thankfully, the weather permitted us to leave them in the car comfortably for longer than if we were still in Palm Springs. We did a quick jaunt along one of the trails on the south rim. Then, back to the car and stopped off at the village to send off some post cards. We were back on the road before noon.



Meow. Meow. Meow. Lucy still refused to succumb to the Dramamine. I am not sure if I am more impressed or annoyed with her. She is a 9 lb cat and even though we only gave her a quarter of a pill; that should be plenty to put her out cold. And this same amount had her drooling yesterday! She was thrown back in the kennel, which was unfortunately a punishment for both cats. Tom had been snoozing happily, enjoying his buzz in the back corner of the kennel. Now he had to deal with a pissed off Lucy in there with him. She made up for the fact that she could no longer crawl all over us by making more noise. We compensated by turning our book on tape up even louder. We were still listening to Duma Key. Another example of how Stephen King can be longwinded. But, the story had been set up during the drive from Oregon to SoCal. Now, we were getting to the good stuff.



Arizona turned into New Mexico and we lost an hour. Traveling West is always easier than traveling East. Losing hours in the day is always a downer. Though, we were up early, it doesn’t feel like it because there was only 23 hours today. Right across the New Mexico border, in Gallup, we saw a sign for the Ellis Tanner Trading Post. Of all the ironic names for a store along the drive…

We stopped to get pictures and look around. The store was full of Navajo art and jewelry. Wish they had bags or some sort of keepsake with the store’s name on it.



Lucy was allowed out, but was thrown back in the kennel (she had even taken a second quarter of Dramamine with little effect). Our original plan was to stop for the night in Albuquerque. I hear good things about the town and would be a good place to go grab dinner, especially since today is the one year anniversary of our first date (not that we are counting). But, by the time we got there, both cats were behaving. Both of us felt fine. There was still daylight. And our book on tape was really getting good. Lucy was allowed out where she curled up in Sam’s lap and went to sleep. We pressed on. We can get a nice dinner later. New Mexico really is a beautiful state. I-40 drives along the ecological line between desert and mountains. I enjoyed the scenery. We drove across most of the state before crashing at a Motel 6 in Santa Rosa. Not much to the town, but a good stopping point. Made it further than we anticipated.



Up Next: Driving through the flyover states.



M.E.

Wagons East! May 7, 2010. Day 57

Do the day and let the day do you.

So today is the day we finally leave and I should be more excited to hit the road, but I am really going to miss my parents and Ash. Despite the ups and downs I had a really great time. That is the first time we’ve all been together at once since Christmas 2005. Yesterday, Ash, Matt, and I spent almost 2 hours in the pool doing cannonballs, jumps, and seeing how many flips or handstands we could do. It was just like the kind of summer day you remember from childhood.

This morning dad took us all out for breakfast and Bit of Country. We had a goal of getting on the road by 10. Of course we were running a bit late and we all walked the mile or so to the restaurant. As we were leaving the driveway I asked Matt, “you know we aren’t leaving here till at least noon, right?”. “yeah, I know.” A yummy breakfast was had by all and we walked back. Back to packing and piling and configuring belongings into the car. Packing that much stuff into the car reminded me of those 3-D jigsaw puzzles. We ended up dumping a box for them to ship to us to clear room in the truck. We had plenty of room in the back seat but the goal was to have room to keep the kennel open and give the cats more room. Complicating the packing was the intense heat. When we were packing up in Anchorage we were freezing. Now we’re packing in Palm Springs and we’re going to have a heat stroke. It’s been in the mid 90’s this week.  I will really miss the pool. I don’t know how people there survive without one. After lots of goodbyes and pictures being snapped we were getting the last of the luggage and the cats into the car. Meow….  And it starts.

Not even out of the driveway we have the distinct realization that we needed to figure out how to knock the cats out. A trip to Trader Joe’s for water and snacks and off to Petco. I bought other some calming stuff (couldn’t find what I did with the original bottle) and a syringe. Walked across the parking lot to Walgreens to get Dramamine. I looked it up and cats can have 5- 12 mg. With the help of a pharmacist I bought the 25mg tablets and a pill cutter. Then out to quarter them and get them down the cats. We were really on the road now… at 2pm. We had reservations in Williams, AZ, a several hour drive, and the meds were not kicking in yet.

And hour on the road and there are no sights. It’s desolate. The road is straight, but hilly. Not the kind of hills that that are long and sloping. The kind that are short and quick and if you aren’t looking straight ahead send your stomach soaring up into your throat. The cats were hanging in there and pretty quiet. We let them out of the kennel. Lucy came up to sit in my lap. Thomas came out for a look then went back inside to sleep. The Dramamine had one noticeable side affect on Lucy other than drowsiness. Drooling. She was practically foaming at the mouth! It just came down in a slow, steady stream of thick saliva. But she was calm so drool all over my clothes was an acceptable price. We crossed the Colorado River into AZ and stopped in Topock for a gas top-off, bathroom, and some Wendy’s. We passed North of Lake Havasu and more miles to Kingsman, the sun slowly closing toward the horizon behind us, and we finally make it to Williams. We get out and the hotel and brrrrr! It’s chilly here! The low tonight is in the thirties. We’re not in the desert anymore!

SKT

The Month in the Desert; A Vacation, April 8 – May 6, 2010 (Days 28-56)

So, there was a lot of relaxing.  A lot of tanning and not a lot worth writing about that wouldn’t bore everyone to tears.  Sam and I spent the last month at her parent’s place in Palm Springs.  Sam’s sister Ashley was there, so the three of us spent a lot of time hanging out.  I’ll knock out some of the highlights.

-          We took a day trip to Joshua Tree National Park.  Drove the entire park and climbed around on the rocks a bit.

-          Sam and I did a few hikes up in the hills of Palm Springs.  We never took the Sky Tram.  It is just didn’t seem worth it to pay $23 each to go see more snow.  We did a 3 mile Henderson loop out in Palm Desert, too.  I was brave enough to hike about 6000 feet up the Skyline trail one morning (and even met a UCLA law professor in the process).

-          We ate lots of frozen yogurt.  Palm Springs is packed full of the self-serve soft serve fro-yo shops where you make your concoction yourself then pay by the ounce. 

-          Sam took her Fundamentals of Surveying Exam in Pomona.  We stopped at REI to exchange Sam’s Keen shoes to get a better fitting pair.  We also managed to get some Chick-fil-A on that trip.

-          I love having a Trader Joe’s to do grocery shopping again.

-          We did an afternoon marathon of putt-putt.

-          I introduced myself to the grill at Mike and Sue’s (Sam’s parents).

-          We were able to check out the new house that Mike and Sue are moving into in Bermuda Dunes.  No more renting by the end of the month for them!

-          I gave blood.

-          We went to The Living Desert.  A very cool zoo out in Palm Desert.  It has two sections: The North American Desert and the African Desert.

-          In N’ Out Burger!

-          The Thursday night street fair in downtown Palm Springs.

-          I applied for a few jobs out in DC.  Still haven’t heard anything from the Coast Guard about JAG.

-          Lots and lots of lying by the pool.  We actually had planned on leaving on May 3, but Sam’s parents talked us into staying a few extra days.  Sam isn’t supposed to start work until Mid-June and I haven’t heard anything on the jobs that I applied for, so we extended the vacation out a few days.

After all that, we are packed up and got ready for the road again on May 7.  Mike took us out for a going away dinner; all you can eat sushi and we are sad to be leaving.

Up Next: Wagons East!

M.E.

Matt’s Side Trip to Virginia, April 4-7, 2010 (Days 24-27)

So, we haven’t been updating recently, because not much has been going on. Sam has been studying and I have been relaxing. Boring stuff for our friends and family to read. I did have to fly out to DC this week, though. I had called the moving people last week and found out the two pallets worth of our stuff had arrived in Manassas. They needed to be picked up at the terminal or the storage fees were going to start accumulating. It would cost $500 for the moving company to take the two pallets in a storage facility for us. I could still use dad’s Delta benefits, so a quick trip to DC it is!

Flew out of Palm Springs on Sunday afternoon. On a side note, an early afternoon flight felt really strange. Every flight out-of-state out of the Anchorage airport leaves sometime between the hours of 11pm and 2am. Those red-eye flights get tedious, so this 12:30pm flight was rather awesome. Got the last stand-by seat available, so the trip is off to a good start. Got into Salt Lake where I had a 2 hour layover. I spent the entire layover doing a fantasy baseball draft with some of my college buddies. We had to move the draft time at the last minute thanks to my late scheduled trip. Free wifi at the SLC airport now! Of course, it is really slow and takes the equivalent of a long layover to connect. For the second time today, I got the last stand-by seat on the plane. The airport gods were being kind to me. I even got a seat in an exit row! Of course, right before I boarded the plane, I learn that there had been an earthquake in SoCal. I was already the last one on the plane, so I couldn’t stand out by the gate to get more information out of CNN. Got a text from Sam about the earthquake, with no more information. She would not pick up her phone. I finally got some more info while on the plane when I called Sam’s mom and was able to talk to Sam. Everyone is alright. Good enough for me. I’ll now follow orders and turn my phone off.

Got into Dulles around 11pm. I had checked two bags full of winter clothes and dress clothes that would be unnecessary for the rest of the trip. Both bags made it without issue and were off the carousel rather quickly. Hadn’t seen dad since Thanksgiving, so it was nice to see him again.

The time change screwed with me the entire trip. On Monday morning, I woke up early and couldn’t get back to sleep because of the light. Got up anyway on the lack of sleep and went with dad to pick up the truck. Dad had already secured a storage facility for our stuff (along with some of dad’s stuff, which he had been meaning to get out of the house). The facility had a u-haul type truck that could be reserved for free. We had it for Monday. We took the truck home first to grab some of dad’s stuff to take to the storage unit. Then, over to the receiving dock to get the pallets. Both pallets worth of stuff fit into one load with the truck. We had all our stuff in the storage unit before noon. But, since we had a free truck for a day, dad wanted to take advantage. Dad’s bedroom set was older than me. He and mom had had since before I was born. So, it was time for it to be replaced. We took it all apart and moved it into the truck, so it could be taken to the Salvation Army. These dressers were heavy and not easy to get down from the upper level of a 3 level condo. The walls took some damage from the ordeal. Thankfully, dad’s neighbor came over and helped with the final dresser after dad had drawn blood. The moving was successful, so we celebrated by getting lunch at Chick-fil-A and watching Opening Day for the rest of the afternoon. Caught the national title game, as well. The Yankees have won the last World Series and Dook is now the reigning national champion in basketball. The terrorists have won.

I had another rough night. My room was too hot and I managed to get a nasty headache, which didn’t seem to want to go away. My headache was so bad by morning that I actually went to Safeway at 6am to get some Excedrin and PowerAde. Dad only had asprin in the house, which wasn’t working. Excedrin may be the greatest headache reliever ever. I cannot believe it took me so long to realize the greatness of Excedrin. Sam introduced me to it about 6 months ago, and I will never go back to Tylenol or Advil. Trust me, get some Excedrin for your medicine cabinet, and thank me the next time you have a headache. After popping the Excedrin and downing some sports drink, I crashed out until almost 11 and woke up feeling great. We had shipped about 10 boxes via USPS for the media rates (cheaper than adding it to the pallet), and some from Sequim to get stuff out of the car. Sam needed me to search these boxes for 3 books to help her study for her exam. She was kind enough to send me pictures of the covers after copying them from some website like Amazon. I had to search all the boxes with books at least twice over to find all of them. One of them was hiding in a box full of my law books. But, at least I found all three. I took all the boxes to the storage unit with the family Honda. I was pretty amazed that I managed to get the 10 boxes into the Prelude with only one trip. I then took off for Trader Joe’s, so I could make a healthy, yet delicious dinner. Got some chicken apple sausage, onion, apples and juice to combine and throw over rice. On the way back, I took a wrong turn off the freeway going into Manassas and discovered an amphitheater. Actually, I discovered Nissan Pavilion (or is it Jiffy Lube Live?). Whatever the corporate sponsorship for the venue, this is where Pearl Jam is playing in May. I had no idea it was so close. So close (3.5 miles to my dad’s front door according to Google maps) that is within walking distance for us. Glad I made that wrong turn and learned something useful. I caved and watched Lost tonight without Sam. Dad fell asleep in the recliner as usual. I was too awake to go to bed early after sleeping in this morning. This is a problem with an early flight out of Dulles Wednesday morning. I watched the Daily Show, Colbert Report and some Sports Center, but still not tired. Forced myself to be by 1. Hopefully I can sleep on the plane.

Up at 4am Wednesday morning! Got to the airport plenty early because Dad had to drop me off, then be at the office early for a conference. Got a call from dad while I was sitting at the gate. My connecting flight from SLC to Palm Springs was now oversold and almost impossible for a stand-by passenger to get on. Great. Fortunately, there was a clear flight that left at about the same time to Ontario, California, which is about an hour and a half drive from Palm Springs. So, just switch the reservation (which cost less than $2), and we were good to go. Sam would have to drive out to pick me up, but at least she could exchange her Keens for a pair that fit correctly and we both could get some Chick-fil-A (Ontario is near that REI I went to last week). Well, my flight luck continued. Much to my surprise, I was cleared for my first flight in first class. Sweet! I get breakfast and a comfy seat. Downloaded some podcasts from ESPN and NPR for the trip and I was ready to board. Sadly Dulles did not have free wifi. Cost me $6 to get on the net and download my podcasts. Upon boarding, I learned that the same plane that I was on was also my connecting flight to Ontario. I would still have to get off and be stand-by cleared again, but at least the gate wouldn’t be far. Got into Salt Lake just to learn that for some reason, my connecting flight was cancelled. Wait, wasn’t that the same plane that I was just on? Did we narrowly avoid death and not know about it? I ran down to gate for my original flight to Palm Springs to see if I could get relisted. Just as I was getting to the gate, my name was called as a cleared stand-by passenger. Guess I was never unlisted for that flight. And I was cleared without even having to talk to the gate agent. I have been lucky on this trip…
Or so I thought. After getting on the plane, the older guy sitting next to me strikes up a conversation. It was the usual getting to know you stuff that you have on a plane. Right after takeoff, though, I got the dreaded question; “Do you pray? Do you believe in Jesus?” Ugh! How long is this flight? There is nothing worse than being stuck on a plane, sitting next to someone who wants to beat you over the head with their religious or political views. I humored him for 10-15 minutes, before finally sticking my headphones in my ears, because “I really wanted to finish the NPR Fresh Air podcast that I had been listening to.” It was only a half lie. I did listen to an NPR podcast to tune him out, but started a brand new one. I had no idea what I was going to listen to when I turned my iPod on, but that Fresh Air podcast about Right Wing extremism was really interesting. I had to endure some more of that conversation when the flight attendant made me turn off the iPod for landing. I was never confrontational the entire time. 20 year-old Matt would have been in a heated argument, but I sucked it up and humored the guy the entire time. Maybe I have matured a little in the last 10 years.

Sam picked me up from the airport, and it was great to see her again. Even just a few days apart can be too long sometimes. Her sister, Ashley, was now at the house with us. So, her parents now have to endure both their adult children and me. I tried sitting out in the sun and swimming in the pool for a bit this afternoon, but was just beat from the early morning and the travel. I downloaded the last episode of Lost for Sam, since she hadn’t seen it yet. I made it about 10 minutes in before I was out. Guess it was a good thing I had already watched it.

Up Next: More Sporadic Updates

M.E.

April 4, 2010, Easter Earthquake

It’s Easter Sunday! God bless everyone!

Today Matt went to DC to get the pallets from the moving place and put them in storage. I dropped him off at the airport at 11 and about 15 minutes after getting back to the house I hear mom calling me. Matt needs me to come back because they found his grandfather’s pocketknife in his backpack. So back to the airport I went. Sucks that he had to go through security twice, but I think it was worth not giving up the knife. The terrorists really did win.

I just studied the rest of the afternoon in the sun. Suddenly, the ground started shaking. After living in Alaska for 11 years I’m not shocked when this happens. What did surprise me is that the intensity kept increasing. I sat there for probably 10-15 seconds then decided to make a run for the house. Mom and dad were running for the door out of the house. It went on for about 5 more seconds while we stood by the pool which was nearly sloshing water over the sides. We later found out that it was a 7.2 earthquake that originated in Mexico. It was the strongest one I’ve been in since the one in Kodiak in 2000. As bad as it was nothing even fell off the walls or shelves. A friend in San Diego posted this verse and I thought it was pretty appropriate: Mathew 28:2: There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it.” vs6 and 7, the most important part: “He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come see the place where He was lying. Go quickly and tell His disciples that He has risen from the dead…”

I found a few recipes. Maybe I’m inspired by the weather here, but at least three of them (there was 4, but I was afraid that was massive overkill) that are mediterranean. Good thing my parents like that type of food! 

(There's no picture because I can't get one to load with this weak signal. Boo hiss.)

Days 19-20, Tuesday, March 30-31, 2010: This Desert Life (Hanginaround)

So, we are now in Palm Springs for a month. Well, maybe. I may need to fly to DC to unload our pallets into a storage facility. I woke up this morning and thought about unpacking the car and calling about the pallet. Then, I decided to get some coffee and make a bagel. An hour later, caffeinated and with something in my stomach, I thought about the unpacking again. Sam is still in bed and Tom is still under it. I went ahead and unpacked everything out of the car and moved it into the garage. Sam’s dad took off this morning so there was no car in the garage. I could not leave our bedroom door open, because the cats were not allowed out into the rest of the house, with the birds wandering around. After all our stuff out of the car, I called the pallet place in Anchorage. Our pallet was not in DC yet, and I would get a phone call when it gets there. All I could get was that it had been through Ohio. OK, I’ll just wait to hear something. When I walked back inside, Sam was up and drinking coffee. Tom was still under the bed. We pulled everything inside and cluttered our room. It hasn’t even been a day yet, and already we had a mess. This can be cleaned up later.

We jetted off in the car to run some errands. First, to downtown. When we had come down in October, Alaska Airlines lost our bag. It was never recovered. The one item being lost that upset me over all others, was my pair of Keen Hybrid Shoes. Anyone who has ever owned a pair of Keens probably understands why this upset me so much. I never bothered to replace them over the winter, because, well, who really needs a shoe that is half sandal for the Alaskan winter? Well, I wanted to replace them now that we have a real spring and are moving closer to a hot summer. I had remembered some shoe stores in the downtown strip when we were here that may have the Keens. We found a store sans Keens, one that had gone out of business and finally the Birkenstock store. The latter had Keens. All were full price and the selection limited. No sale. REI is having a sale, so I will try again later. The one thing I did manage to accomplish was to sell Sam on the Keens. She wanted a pair now, too.

We drove across town to Target and Trader Joe’s. We needed kitty supplies, such as a new litter box and scratching post, as well as some toiletries at Target. After the the cats and bathroom were equipped again, we ran over to Bahama Mama frozen yogurt for some fro-yo. This place was awesome. Self-serve yogurt and toppings. They then weighed your concoction and charged by the ounce. Sam and I were just as interested in the fresh mango and kiwi to put on the yogurt as we were the frozen yogurt. We are coming back here. Next, over to Trader Joe’s to do a bit of grocery shopping with Sue. (All these stores are in the same shopping area). Oh, how I have missed Trader Joe’s since moving to Alaska. I shopped there all the time while I lived in Eugene and became an addict. The selection and price of sausage, juice, chips/dip, trail mix, coffee, among other things is unrivaled.

Upon the return to our new temporary home, we cleaned up the room and basically moved in. All the vacuum bags were unpacked into the dresser and closet. The cats were set up with their new necessities. I even hooked up the Wii in the front room. Tom is still under the bed. Lucy had strategically laid herself out on the bed right under the fan. She was not used to the heat. I brushed her with the new brush in an effort to help her lose some hair so she could cool down a bit. She grooms herself so well, it didn’t seem that too much hair was coming off. Tom was goaded out from under the bed eventually, and I tried the same thing on him. Managed to get some hair off of him before he took refuge under the bed again.

I looked up the nearest REI. There is not one in Palm Springs or the surrounding area. If I want to go to REI, I have to drive all the way back towards LA to Rancho Cucamonga. That is over an hour away. Well, I really want my Keen shoes. If I need two pair, it is worth it to go to REI, because I will get 20% off one pair and the second pair will be applied to my REI dividend. Sam has to study tomorrow, so I will make the drive.

I found an old iTunes gift card in our stack of gift cards that the two of us and accumulated and compiled before we left. Score! Stuck it on my iTunes so I could download episodes of Flash Forward and Lost since Sam’s parents don’t have cable. We watched an episode of Flash Forward after dinner before crashing in.

We had a lazy morning on Wednesday. Got up, had coffee. I made some of the mango chicken sausage for breakfast that we bought at Trader Joe’s. Sam started back into her studies. The birds were outside this morning, so the cats were once again free to roam the house. Lucy jumped on the opportunity. Tom finally decided he wanted out from under the bed after being there for about a full day. I made the decision that I was going to drive the hour plus to the Rancho Cucamonga REI for my Keens. If I was going to pick up a pair for Sam, too, I needed her size, style and color preference. We drove back to the Birkenstock store to let Sam try on a pair. Got her size and she liked the girly-style Whisper over the other Keen styles. She is great. This style is cheaper than the normal Keen Newports. I took off for the REI. Since this is really the highlight of the day, now would be a good time for another rant about must-have items. I already blogged about the Contigo in the Day 6 posting. The Keen shoes will be my second rant. If you don’t own a pair, go out and get a pair this spring. They are hybrid shoe/sandals; like sandals with all the support and comfort of a cross-training or tennis shoe. They keep your foot cool in warm weather and surprisingly warm when the weather is cooler. Obviously, I wouldn’t suggest wearing them in January in Alaska, but even up there, you could wear them more than just in the summer. They last forever (or, at least until an airline loses them with your bag), and are versatile enough to be worn on the beach or in the woods on a hike or out camping. These shoes are the bomb!

To recap must have items:
1. Contigo Travel Mugs – Costco, $20 for a two-pack.
2. Keen Hybrid Shoes – REI, $95 for the Newport (mens and womens), $85 for the women-style Whisper. REI is having a sale until April 18, where members get 20% off one full price item. Of course, you could always get lucky and find a 2009 style on the sale rack.

The trip was a success. I found my size in the cool-sounding India Ink (dark blue) color on a pair of Newports. After a few calls back to Sam, some texting, and her using the REI website to visualize the color combinations, we settled on the bright green and gray for her. Two pairs of Keens, $175 with my discount, and some money for my REI 10% dividend coupon next year. On a side note, there was a Chick-fil-A right across the parking lot from the REI. I didn’t even know these things existed on the west coast! I thought about grabbing a chicken sandwich, but then thought it would be best to save the first Chick-fil-A stop on the move for a time where Sam and I could eat together.

Drove the hour plus back, which was a bit shorter, because the traffic wasn’t as bad going east. Definitely some clouds and some rain heading east to the desert. I noticed an email on my iPhone about a Dept. of Homeland Security Immigration Law job that I had applied for back in the winter. It said I had been rejected. Though, the title of the email only mentioned the job announcement number, so I had no idea what job I was being rejected for. Turned out it was the immigration attorney spot that would have placed me in Portland or Tacoma. Ah well. I never expected to find any good results applying through USA Jobs. Too many applicants and it always helps to have a foot in the door when applying for these jobs. I hope to have more success when we get to DC and I can start meeting people. And I am feeling cautiously optimistic about the Coast Guard JAG (or direct commission lawyer) position, too (though, the board doesn’t meet to make decisions on that until the end of April). It only took them three months to send me an email about it. At least I know that my application was received and was complete enough for someone to review. Based on the lack of response from DHS, I had no idea if anyone bothered to open the email I had sent.

Sam tried on her new shoes when I returned. She liked them, except for one of the left straps rubbed against her foot as she walked in a way that would cause a blister. UGH! We may have to go back to exchange her pair for another. She will try them on again later to play with the straps, when she is not in the middle of studying. Both cats had made themselves at home. They were free to wander around the house and Lucy is now strutting like she owns the place. Tom is finally not darting under the bed every few minutes and seems more comfortable. Dinner. Caught up on Flash Forward. Bed.

Up Next: More Hanginaround

M.E.