Homeward bound

During my last hour or so of driving home from Bakersfield, I got to see the sunset. So, its not so bad, all this driving. I might have missed this beautiful sky had I already been home.

What a ball!

January 20th, 2009. Barack Hussein Obama become the 44th president of the United States of America.
Max took an oath of his own:
Last night we had or own inaugural ball.

And it was really fun. Even the most cynical got pictured with our new president. And why not?


The Teelings:
Gwen and her sock:


Mario and Monisha:
Maria and Luciano:

OK, so the arts and crafts table at our party was more of a hit with the grown ups.


Not to be outdone, Max corrected the image of his new president.

The standard line at this point is, "so now the work begins..." but I'm thinking, we HAVE been working, and it was great to take a break to celebrate, break some bread, drink some wine and breathe a sigh of relief.

I may have to go to Tulare today, but I still have a bit of a skip in my step.

Surviving week 1

289 + 282+ 176.4 = 747.4 miles in one week. That's just three days of driving. My new territory. So, I am trying to see the positive spin on this and for real, there are a few upsides of being away from home and sitting in a car for many hours at a time.

1. Sightseeing
2. Learning about new cultures
3. Meeting criminals and gathering great stories to tell at some later time (over many drinks)
4. Learning to text safely while driving. Oh, that's right, its illegal.

So my first stop last week was in Fresno.
I got there pretty quickly, under 3 hours and had a few meetings, shaking hands and meeting a few new clients. While there, I dropped the name of my new landlord-to-be (the guy who is renting me a room in his lovely house starting toward the end of the month) and my clients went silent. Then nervous laughter.

Does Grand Theft Auto mean anything to you? Well, to me it just brings up images of silly movies but there are people in real life who steal cars professionally, in bulk, if you will. So that is kind of the deal with my almost landlord-to-be. Too bad. He seemed like a nice guy, but I guess he's going away for a bit and will be wearing some striped clothes pretty soon. Do guys in jail still wear zebra clothes?

Next stop, Bakersfield. I arrived at night and was exhausted. It wasn't until morning that I smelled the manure. I am a city girl. Just spoiled. I'd rather smell coffee brewing, or chocolate or even bread baking (as if I ever smell bread baking). Ah well. I spent a good part of the day in this very far away city and then drove and drove and drove home. Do you realize that Bakersfield is almost LA? Shit. No, apparently still manure.

Final new city for the week was Oakdale,

which, I am not sure qualifies as a city no matter what they tell you.

I am very excited to report that there is a Cowboy Museum which I cannot wait to investigate and, the town/city has an annual rodeo every second weekend in April. This seemed VERY exciting to me, the ex-New Yorker, since I have never been to a rodeo and I thought it would further bond me perhaps to BZ and his parents since they are from Rodeo country (Texas, right?). BZ asked if I knew what a rodeo was really like and if I was sure I wanted to set up this family outing for real...apparently they make Barnum and Bailey look like the good guys.

Next week, Chowchilla (that's just fun to say), Fresno, Clovis and Modesto. I'm bringing Netflix, knitting projects, Audio books ....and a sense of humor.

Christmas and the holidays in general can be a bit tiring.
But, they are also exciting. I love watching the kids open their gifts.
All the classic stuff like race tracks and tents and even light sabers (the new classic).


Some gifts can be practical, like shelving, for example.
Not very fun to unwrap but pretty great when the closet is redone and I can find things. I suppose its like getting a scarf gift as a kid.Or a new book...until its read.

I love the holidays. Even with all the craziness. Its great having all the family time, seeing friends, eating lots of desserts. Now that the gift giving is over and we've all slowed down, its nice just to hang. And reflect. And rest.

Christmas Eve

Last night, Max and I went to get my parents at the airport. He brought his wand along just in case.


Tonight, we hung our socks up on the fireplace waiting for Santa's magic. We can't wait until morning. Based on the giggles and screams from the other room, the morning may be a long way off.

Ho ho ho and a Happy Hanukkah!

Hanukkah. Night 2. Time to decorate the tree. What fun, I love the holidays.

Wait, its time now to light the menorah...and then of course there's the Chanukah gelt and latkes and jelly donuts....mmmm.


OK. Completely out of order but I thought I should add a picture from this past weekend, truly the first day of the holidays...a night out with BZ. We were at a wedding party in downtown SF and there was a photo booth and alcohol and well, the rest is history. Or, at least a few silly pictures.

Babysitting

Yes. It's the 1st night of Chanukah but not for these other kids.
Their moms are out at a spa night. This is my holiday spirit. The only
one missing is the baby. She's in my lap. Getting my fill of baby
smells. It should hold me for a while.