Tuesday, December 23, 2014

Heading North

I’m heading north for Christmas in the morning.  Yes, this is the latest in December I’ve ever made the trip to my parent’s in Nor Cal, but I have work to do at my new job.  Possibly could have taken off a day earlier, but I’m trying to make a good impression.  I still think I am, but I want to keep it up.

Anyway, I’m looking forward to a long weekend with my family enjoying Christmas together.  It will be a nice few days away relaxing.  I’ll get to see some extended family and some family friends as well.

Now, I just need to actually get off my computer and pack.  Maybe I’d better to that.

Anyway, have a very Merry Christmas.

Monday, December 22, 2014

Word Association for December 22nd

Time for a little pre-Christmas word association.

  1. Disappiontment :: Sad
  2. Searching :: Finding
  3. Counters :: Store
  4. Snippet :: Excerpt
  5. Carol :: Sing
  6. Tiresome :: Familiar
  7. Booger :: Nose
  8. Freak show :: Strange
  9. Summarize :: Shorten
  10. Heartache :: Painful

Thursday, December 18, 2014

One Week Until Christmas!

Can you believe it’s only one week until Christmas?  Me neither.  Fortunately, I’m further along than I was the last time I posted here.

My decorating has been pretty half-hearted this year, and I don’t see that changing.  Especially with only a week left.  I am sticking with what I have, and that’s final.  On the bright side, it will be much easier to undecorated after Christmas.

However, my Christmas shopping is finished!  Last Saturday, I sat down and figured out what to get and ordered it.  I’m still waiting for one thing to arrive in the mail, but that should show up any day now.  I’m hoping to get a jump on wrapping tonight.  If not, that’s what this weekend is for.

I have done a little wrapping for people in town, including the friends I hung out with last night.  It was great to see them if only for a couple of hours.

Of course, I’ve recorded a couple of Christmas movies on TV – classics of my generation (or maybe a little later) that I’ve never seen.  Time to fix that.  And I still have all the movies and specials I wanted to watch this year to go.  So I’ll be being doing that over the weekend.  Sounds nice and relaxing and fun, doesn’t it?  I’m looking forward to it.

Friday, December 12, 2014

Bugs

I’m way behind on Christmas this year.  I’ve barely started doing my shopping and only about half way through the decorating I was going to do.  And I’d gotten such a great start back in November.

I’ve been easily distracted and haven’t gotten to it like I thought I would during the week at night.  I’m just spending too much time on line these days.

Then, last weekend, I wasn’t feeling well at all.  I caught a cold when I came back from Thanksgiving.  And on Saturday, I was feeling extremely sick unless I was laying on the couch.  Sunday, I was feeling better, until I started doing some decorating.  It was too much too soon, so I took it easy again.  Fortunately, I was fine at work all week.

Well, except for this cough.  I wish I could shake it.


And now I’ll stop whining and talk about some great news on Monday.  I won a table top display piece from my local Hallmark!  And it was one I really wanted to win, too.  It’s a larger version of an ornament I really like from a couple of years back that features a house all decked out in Christmas lights and play to music.  This one is also an MP3 player and works with any song you play through the speakers.  I was thrilled, and I love it.  Not completely sure where to display it, but I truly do love it.

Tuesday, December 09, 2014

Word Association for December 9th

Yep, I'm doing two word association posts in a row.

  1. Fantasy :: Reality
  2. Square one :: Starting Over
  3. Impostors :: Fake
  4. Hydrate :: Water
  5. Card :: Trick
  6. Respects :: Give my...
  7. Big city :: Lots of People
  8. Alert :: Danger
  9. Scrabble :: Crossword
  10. Neighborhood :: Friendly

Thursday, December 04, 2014

Word Association for December 4th

Time for this week's word association.

  1. Smug :: Proud
  2. Swan :: White
  3. Ginger :: Ale
  4. Doctor :: Sick
  5. Handshake :: Friendly
  6. Studies :: Student
  7. Pond :: Scum
  8. Register :: Voter
  9. Surgery :: Hospital
  10. Compass :: North

Wednesday, December 03, 2014

Wonderful Thanksgiving

Of course, I went up to see my family for Thanksgiving.

Okay, so maybe with the new job it wasn’t quite as obvious as it might have been, but I did.  I left a couple hours earlier than everyone else, and that was all the extra time I took off work.  And I got paid for the time off, too, since those days are paid holidays.  I’ve got to say, those little things are exciting.

The drive up was fine on Wednesday.  Thursday, we went to my brother and sister-in-law’s house for Thanksgiving.  They had people bring enough stuff that it was more potluck than anything else, and it was all delicious.  I was sorry I got full as quickly as I did.  And we had some delicious desserts, too.  The only bummer was my niece had been sick the day before, but she was definitely feeling better that day, and she was full of energy the rest of the weekend.

Friday night, my niece and nephew stayed over at Mom and Dad’s, so I got plenty of time with them.  It was fun getting to play with them.  My niece is five and a half, and my nephew is one and three quarters.  They are both fun to be around.  Well, most of the time.  They have their moments, but what kids don’t?  They do bounce back quickly, however.  And they were both thrilled to see Uncle Mark, which always makes me so happy.

Sadly, I came home on Sunday.  This is a busy week at work, and I didn’t want to take any time off from it.  Besides, I also want to keep making them happy they hired me, and it’s just been a couple of months since I was officially hired.  Unfortunately, that drive home was the worst part of the entire trip.  It took me two and a half hours longer than normal, and traffic kept keeping worse as I went along.  I’m just glad I reached my exit when I did because it was still looking pretty slow as far as I could see in front of me.

I get to do it all again in a couple weeks for Christmas.  I’m taking a couple of unpaid days off at that point to go, but I’m used to that.  I’ve been doing that for the last two years, and it’s well worth it.  In fact, I can’t wait!

Tuesday, November 25, 2014

Relaxing and Some Decorating

I’d love to say that I had another fun, eventful weekend like last weekend.  I didn’t.  Not that it was all bad.

I started decorating for Christmas over the weekend.  Yes, I always start this early since I’m never home for Thanksgiving.  Plus it takes me a while and I like to be able to enjoy it.  I didn’t get quite as far as I intended, mainly because I was lazy on Saturday.  Still, trees are up and lights inside and outside are up.  I’d hoped to at least get this year’s ornaments on the tree, but that will have to wait until I get back.  Then Sunday I went out to lunch with some friends and then had dinner with other friends after ultimate Frisbee.  Both were fun meals that I really enjoyed.

Part of me being lazy means my reading fell behind this weekend, and I’ve got two reviews to post this next week.  I’ll have to do some more reading than I’d originally planned on while I’m up for Thanksgiving.

Because yes, I’m leaving Wednesday afternoon for Thanksgiving!  And even better, I’m getting paid holiday time for it this year.  Unfortunately, I am coming back on Sunday this year, when traffic will be horrid and it is supposed to rain.  I’m not looking forward to that trip back at all.  Hopefully, it won’t be as bad as I’m picturing.


Meantime, have a wonderful Thanksgiving! 

Monday, November 24, 2014

Word Association for November 24th

Can you believe it's been almost a month since I did a word association.  I think it's time I got back on the band wagon.

  1. Seal:: the Deal
  2. Grown up :: Serious
  3. Rags :: Riches
  4. Collar :: White
  5. Fears :: Scary
  6. Yellow :: Light
  7. Link :: Website
  8. Patrol :: Police
  9. Fancy :: Party
  10. Ears :: Listening

Tuesday, November 18, 2014

Lazy Update

So I'm just going to be lazy and point you to my post at Carstairs Considers to update you on my weekend this last weekend.  It's cause I have more there than I'd put here, and I don't want to repeat it.

After Bouchercon was over on Sunday, I went down to the beach for a bit.  It was in the upper 70's and a very pleasant day.  I just couldn't rush back, especially since we were having high winds up here that were making it cold.  Didn't want to play ultimate in that weather and didn't want to leave gorgeous beach weather in the middle of November.  We need rain, and I hope we get plenty of it this winter.  But that doesn't mean I'm not going to enjoy the warm weather while we are getting it.

Monday, November 10, 2014

Quiet Couple of Weeks

You’ll notice I’ve been very quiet the last couple of weeks.  I’ll now fill you in on exactly what I’ve been doing that has kept me so busy I could blog.

Exciting, isn’t it?

It’s been a pretty quiet couple of weeks, which after how busy I was for the previous six was a nice change of pace.  Work is still going well, although I have to figure out what to do about shoes that won’t kill my feet and legs by lunch time, much less the end of the day.  My weekends have included longs stretches of time to veg and get little to nothing done.  Boy did I need that.

Of course, I have been writing reviews and watching TV and doing plenty of reading, so it’s not like I’ve done nothing at all.  Well, okay, maybe I have.

This last Saturday, I was able to catch up with Spencer and find out how he’s doing, which was a lot of fun.

In other news, I’ve slipped from second to fourth in my fantasy football league, but I expect to be back up to third after the game tonight is over.  Possibly second, but most likely third.  First is just too far out of reach.


But really, I think that’s about it as far as an update goes.

Wednesday, October 29, 2014

Slime Run 2014

This past Saturday, I tried something new.  Sadly, it was a big waste of time.

Last spring, I started hearing about The Slime Run.  It was advertised as along the lines of a mud run, but instead of mud pits, they shot slime at you.  I figured I’d give it a try.  I hesitated, however, when I discovered that two mud runs were happening the same day.  These are runs I do every year and love.  But I decided to go with the new one even though the others were closer.  Big mistake.

My first clue that I wasn’t going to enjoy this run was when I showed up and realized there was nowhere to clean up or change after the run.  Kind of big deals for a run where you are supposed to get messy.  And I was thinking about going to the outlet mall nearby and then an author signing afterward.  Even if I weren’t doing that, I’d still have to drive home, and it was a two hour drive.  Still, I went ahead and ran it like I usually do these runs – shirtless.  I got to thinking that might be a mistake.  I could peel off my shirt and at least that much would be clean.  But it was too late to worry about it by that point.

This was a 5K, like most races are.  Most races usually have at least a dozen or so obstacles over the course of the run, including mud pits.  This one had exactly 3 obstacles and four stations where you got slime shot at you.  I even went around the last one of those stations because I didn’t want to get messier than I already was.  Kind of defeats the point of the run, right?

Now keep in mind I drove two hours one way and paid to park to essentially run a 5K.  I could have done that at home.  Especially since they were keeping track of the time.

Of course, part of the result was how quickly I was in and out of them.  I was leaving much sooner than I thought I would.

I used a bottle of water to get the worst of the slime off my arm and then put on my shirt.  And I’m glad I didn’t wear it for the run.  I went to the outlet mall and used their sink to clean the slime off of me.  It actually came off fairly easily, and I was able to wear a clean shirt in.  I then shopped for shoes (which turns out to be a bust – I bought some, but they are bothering me, too) and headed to the signing.

That was the best part of the day.  While I’d heard Hank Phillippi Ryan last year, therefore I’d heard most of what she shared already, I still enjoyed getting to see her.  Plus I talked to another fan there.  And this was a bookstore I’ve heard about for years but never visited because it’s so far from home.  It was nice to finally change that.

So that made the day worthwhile, although I really do wish I had stuck with one of the runs closer to home.  Heck, if I’d done an early enough wave, it might have been possible to do both of the runs closer to home and be back sooner than I would have been just doing this one without all the extras.

Friday, October 24, 2014

Shoes

Now here’s a topic you don’t expect to see on my blog very often.  Well, maybe a bit more often since I run, but in this case I’m talking about work shoes.

I have very sensitive feet, and finding good shoes I could wear has always been an issue for me.  This is even truer when it comes to dress shoes, and I’m having to dress up for the first time ever four days a week.  I thought I’d found some good shoes that were comfy, but soon the same problems started.  (After I’d bought two pairs of the shoes, too.  At least they were on sale.)

My issue is the heel.  And here is where all the ladies laugh.  I know, I know, men’s dress shoes don’t really have heels.  But just that little half inch is enough to throw my feet and legs all out of whack.  After two months of wearing these shoes, my legs and feet are killing me by the end of the day, if not lunch time.  My arch isn’t getting the support I need.  And that little bit of lift is killing my thighs, calves, and shins.  Essentially, I’m a mess.

Fortunately, I’ve got a lead on something that might work.  Actually, a couple of somethings.  One would be a walking shoe all in black, and I think I could get away with wearing it.  The other is a dress shoe make with Nike insides.  Nikes aren’t always the most comfortable shoe for me, but these might work.

In the meantime, I have three pairs I’ve bought to try in the last two weeks to return.


I just hope I find something soon before I can’t do mud runs and play ultimate Frisbee.  That would truly be a shame.

Wednesday, October 22, 2014

Word Association for October 22nd

Time for this week's word association.

  1. Freak :: Out
  2. Thrown out :: Short Stories
  3. Wedding :: Day
  4. 99 percent :: Almost perfect
  5. Terminal :: Airport
  6. Culprit :: Villain
  7. Bows :: Curtain call
  8. Stock :: Store
  9. Hospital :: Sick
  10. Dodge :: Ball

Monday, October 20, 2014

Family Visit – Part 2

I hope you didn’t lose any sleep over the cliff hanger from Friday.  Yeah, I didn’t think so.  (Especially since it was only the title that hinted at more to come.)

As you might have expected from that last post, I had family in town again this last weekend.  My brother and his family didn’t visit this time, but my parents were back in town.  They had spent the week in Palm Springs, but they were back in town and pretty much all set up when I got off work on Friday.

Saturday, we went down to Glendale Centre Theatre, where we saw Man of La Mancha.  We were able to get together with friends for it, so that was a lot of fun.  We actually had a good group of six all together.  The play was fabulous, as I expected.  Really, they always do such a fantastic job there.  We met some of them for lunch beforehand, and it was nice to visit with them more.

Sunday was church again, where they were able to meet a few more of my friends.


But other than that, we pretty much stayed around the trailer playing games.  I’d like to say that I won many of them, but I had very poor luck between the two weekends and lost most of the games.  We did go play some miniature golf in town on Sunday.  The weather was perfect and that was lots of fun as always.

Thursday, October 16, 2014

Family Visits – Part 1

This past weekend, it turn out my entire immediate family was in town, some longer than others.

My parents showed up on Friday night, late and stayed for the weekend.  Saturday was pretty much the only day we had together.  I spent Friday night with them in their trailer, which is always fun.  Saturday, we didn’t do a whole lot.  We went to my condo to watch The Amazing Race.  Then, we played some games at their trailer, ate dinner, and I left.  Plus while we were out and about, I took them to my new office.

Sunday, they met me bright and early for church.  Then I helped them pack up the trailer since they moved on to Palm Springs for the week.

However, my visits with family weren’t over for the week.  My brother and his family were driving through town on their way to San Diego for the week, and we met up for dinner at Souplantation.  I really enjoyed some time to catch up with all of them.  My nephew is definitely talking more than he was when I last saw them in June.  He kept pointing at me and saying, “Mark!”  So I’d point back at him and say “Zachary.”  He’d smile so big.  I loved it.  And my niece wanted to sit right next to me to eat.  I loved that, too.  Plus I had a very great visit with my brother and sister-in-law.

So it was another busy weekend but another very fun weekend.  I was driving all over town on Sunday since I did get some ultimate Frisbee in between visits.  But I wouldn’t have wanted to miss a second of it.

Wednesday, October 15, 2014

Word Association for October 15th

Time to get some word association in.

  1. Crime :: Punishment
  2. Whoops :: Accident
  3. Lipstick :: Red
  4. Linda :: Story
  5. Triple :: Decker
  6. Badge :: Honor
  7. Contempt :: Hatred
  8. Stunt :: Double
  9. Van :: Shoes
  10. Judge :: Jury

Tuesday, October 14, 2014

Busy Weekend

That first weekend of the month was so busy I’m just now recovered from it enough to write about it.  Or some such thing.

Seriously, it was a busy but fun weekend.  It started with Ornament Debut at Hallmark, when the second half of their ornaments for the year come out.  I went and bought the ones I wanted to buy that day on Saturday morning.

Then Saturday afternoon, I went down to see Thoroughly Modern Millie at Glendale Centre Theatre with Angelique and Ann.  I’d never seen the musical before in any form, and I had a blast.  Afterwards, we grabbed dinner.

Sunday, I was at it again, starting with a book signing in Santa Monica.  Stuart Gibbs always does his book signings there on Sundays, and I rarely go, but this time I decided to squeeze it in.  It was lots of fun.

But squeeze it in I did because I rushed back so I could go to lunch with Joe and Erica and their kids.  It was great to see them and catch up, plus they treated to lunch to celebrate my new job!  Can’t go wrong with that.

From there, it was home to change to play ultimate Frisbee.  Then it was over to the Coopers to watch Once Upon a Time.

Obviously, it was very busy, but it was also very good.  I wouldn’t have traded any of that if I could.  Still, after weekends like that, I joke about going back to work to rest, and that’s pretty much what it felt like.

Wednesday, October 08, 2014

Word Association for October 8th

Quick, let's do the word association for the week before I forget again.

  1. Candle light :: Dinner
  2. Kevin :: Kelvin
  3. Fireplace :: Romance
  4. Pots :: Pans
  5. Scarf :: Cold
  6. Colossal :: Mistake
  7. Golf :: Ball
  8. Construction :: Site
  9. Reason :: Answer
  10. Washington :: DC

Tuesday, October 07, 2014

Second Day at a Permanent Job!

Yes, you read that title right.  After two and a half years or temping and not really landing anything, I have a permanent job.  The job I started six weeks ago went from temp to hire in that time, and my first day as an official employee of the company was yesterday.

To be honest, I’m a little surprised.  Not that they hired me because they’ve been talking like they’d be making the decision soon.  But I figured they’d want me to go through two month end close cycles before they made the decision.  But after only one, they brought me on.

The drive only takes me 15 minutes to get into work in the morning.  It’s more like 25 going home at night, but it’s still much faster than commuting out of town would be.  The pay is better than I expected.  And I am getting benefits again.

There is a part of me that keeps pinching myself since I feel like I am dreaming.  But it’s real.

What is amazing is how I can look back and see how God orchestrated things the last two years, the good and the bad and the temp jobs I did land, to bring me to this place.  Of course, it is easy to see it looking back, and at times in the middle I doubted.  Yet once again He has proven Himself faithful.  And yes, I am giving Him full credit for landing me the job here.

The job definitely keeps me busy, especially during month close.  There’s a high volume, but it seems manageable if you fully apply yourself to it.  I think I’m only working at over time one night a month, and then only a couple of hours.  Definitely manageable.  And I like my co-workers, too, which also helps.

I’m very happy, just in case you couldn’t tell.

Friday, October 03, 2014

Premier Party

Sunday was another party day.  Can you tell I had a busy weekend?

I started out hanging out with my friends Luke and Sarah.  I’d been seeing them this year at some of the plays I went to at Glendale Centre Theatre, but this was fun to just hang out and relax.  Lunch, visiting, and a few rounds of Big Boggle.

The next stop was Christy and Scott’s for the premier party for the new season of Once Upon a Time.  This year, we were supposed to dress up in costume, which threw me a bit.  Christy helped me come up with a costume, and I made a good Dr. Hopper if I do say so myself.  There were more people than normal, which was fun, and some of the costumes were great.  I kept doing double takes at Belle because she looked just like her, for example.

The episode itself?  I wasn’t as impressed as I hoped I would be, but I’m still looking forward to seeing how it all unfolds.  But the night was a blast, and I’m already looking forward to next year’s party.

Thursday, October 02, 2014

Ornament Signing

For the third year in a row, I’ve made it to an ornament signing.  It certainly helps that Hallmark has scheduled them for Southern California every year.  (And had one last year when they normally wouldn’t have one.)

This time, the artist was Sharon Visker who creates one of the series I collect.  I only got a couple of those signed and then had her sign event pieces and some of the standalone ornaments she’s done.

A friend of mine is involved in the club that won the signing, and she let me sneak in to the early signing time, which is probably the only way I got as many ornaments signed as I did.  The idea was that I’d help out as needed the rest of the day, but they had things running fairly smoothly and didn’t really need me.  I did stick around and help break stuff down when the signing was over, so at least I earned a little bit of my perks.

Overall, it was a fun day.  Sharon is very nice, and I had fun talking to other collectors.  The weather wasn’t too hot either, which was a huge blessing since we were outside all day.

On the way home, I stopped and hung out with my friends Chris and Stacey for a little while, even grabbing a pizza with Chris.  Since I hadn’t seen them for a while, it was good to catch up.  But it got me home after 8, and I crashed no too long after.  The day had started early.  While it was fun, boy was it tiring.

Wednesday, October 01, 2014

Word Association for October 1st

How did it get to be Wednesday already?  Better do this week's word association before I blink and the week is gone.

  1. 20 :: 30
  2. Spark :: Fire
  3. Hangnail :: Clip
  4. Distant :: Thunder
  5. Muffin :: Tin
  6. Compute :: Calculate
  7. Bangs :: Hair
  8. Mattress :: Sleep
  9. Tense :: Relax
  10. Sarah :: Abraham

Friday, September 26, 2014

Survivor Mud Run 2014

Last Saturday, I got to introduce a friend to the joys of mud runs.  David, a friend from ultimate Frisbee (and the friend who plays under water hockey), joined me for the Survivor Mud Run down at Lake Elsinore.

This is actually one of my favorite mud runs because they always make the mud so thick and gooey.  Plus there’s the inflatable slide down into the lake at one point.  Both of those things still held true.  The obstacles were pretty much standard.  And I really, really need to learn to do monkey bars.

While we were dropping off our bags, one of the new friends I’d made at the Gladiator Rock ‘n’ Run back in June spotted us.  He did the run with us a second time, so there were actually three of us going through the course.

Even better, David seemed to enjoy himself, although I think the next one he wants to do is one close to home.  But he is talking about a next time, so that’s good.

Unfortunately, they put the changing tents way far away from the bag check.  And it looks like the lines for the bag check was super long, at least when we got there.  Fortunately, there was a separate drop off line, which was super short.


As always when I go down there, it was a long day.  But it was also a fun day.

Wednesday, September 24, 2014

Word Association for September 24th

I missed last week, but let's get this week's word association done.

  1. Equality :: is not something to be grasped (and I can't remember what that quote is from)
  2. Strappy :: Strong
  3. Kitten :: Cute
  4. Program :: School
  5. Inventory :: Reduction
  6. Choice :: Election
  7. Scuba :: Dive
  8. Purchase :: Price
  9. Promotion :: Sale
  10. Organization :: Event

Monday, September 22, 2014

Trying Something New

Wow, I neglected this blog again.  Seems to be happening every other week right now, doesn’t it?  That’s especially too bad since I actually had something new to talk about last week.

One friend I’ve made through ultimate Frisbee here in town mentioned at the start of the summer that he plays underwater hockey.  With pool fees, it’s expensive, at least when you aren’t making any money, so I thought I’d put it off until I got a job.  Then I promptly forgot about it until Tuesday when I was looking for something to do other than run.  Yes, I love to run in the heat, but even I had to agree that 106 was a little too hot for a run.

So, at the last minute, after tracking down information, I showed up at the pool.

The last minute thing didn’t exactly make me popular, but David, my friend, helped me get some equipment, and I plunged into the pool.

Turns out the group was getting ready for a tournament this coming weekend, and there were more people out than normal.  Which explains why it was incredibly crowded.  I basically spent the next hour swimming back and forth.  I dove down some, but never contributed anything.  For one thing, I had a hard time swimming to the bottom of the pool.  I just float too easily.  For another, there was that whole really crowded thing.

After about half an hour, my mask started to leak, too, meaning I was getting water up my nose.  That wasn’t fun.


So would I do it again?  I really don’t know.  The sport sounds fun, but the reality just didn’t seem to work for me.  If I do, I will definitely try to show up earlier than I did this last time.  That is one thing I can absolutely control.

Monday, September 15, 2014

Survived My First Month End

I don’t remember if I’d mentioned it before or not, but my new job closes in 9 business days.  That put the close for the first month on Friday.  And it turns out that days 8 and 9 are crazy busy.

Up until that point, I was doing pretty well, or at least I thought I was.  There was nothing too bad happening, and I was on top of things.

Then I got hit by the tidal wave.  All my centers took a look at their preliminary statements and started requesting changes.  It was a crazy 24 hours when I had to get all that stuff researched and journaled as needed.

In fact, by noon on Friday, I was feeling very overwhelmed.  However, my boss told me that afternoon that I was doing about as well as most new people they brought in.  Obviously, I was hoping for above average, but I will certainly take it.


Now the trick is to figure out how I will improve so that next month they’ll see the changes.  Because I really want to keep this job.  The commute is awesome, the pay is good, and the people are nice.

Tuesday, September 09, 2014

A Day at the Beach

Saturday was a nice, fun, relaxing day.

It all started because of getting together with friends for brunch.  The original group was supposed to be bigger, but it wound up just being Sue Ann Jaffarian, an author I love, and Heide.  Instead of our normal trip to Disneyland (part of the group who was missing is the reason we meet down there), we met up at a restaurant in Santa Monica.  We were a few miles from the beach, but it was still cooler than at home.  We had a grand time eating and just talking.  In fact, we were there almost four hours.

But I couldn’t be all that way down there and not go to the ocean.  I managed to find a parking spot a few blocks away and went down and enjoyed the beach.  I started out heading a little south and looking at the stores in Venice right on the beach.  Then I headed back up north and went out on the Santa Monica Pier.  I hadn’t been out there for a couple of years.  Granted, there isn’t a whole lot of excitement there, but I enjoyed it.

And yes, I jumped in the ocean twice while I was walking out there as well.  The water was a little chilly, but it always is, and I enjoyed it.

All told, it was a very pleasant day.

Thursday, September 04, 2014

Word Association for September 4th

I missed last week's word association, so let's be sure I get this week's in.

  1. Brownie :: Chocolate!
  2. Randomly :: Exclaim
  3. Congratulations!  :: New job
  4. Curls :: Biceps
  5. Lipstick :: Red
  6. Memory :: Happy
  7. Tea :: Drink
  8. Bulletin :: Church
  9. Fragrance :: Pretty
  10. Pace :: Run

Tuesday, September 02, 2014

You Can’t Fool Me

There is no way that was a long weekend.  I feel like it was just Saturday, and then I was back to work.  Imagine how I would have felt if it were a normal weekend.

Maybe if we review why it was so busy.

Saturday morning, I went out and bought a new laptop!  And a printer!  I haven’t had a printer at home for years.  I’ve been limping by with the library, but I’m going to like having a printer at home again.  Of course, that was a lot of money.  I’m really banking on this new job working out between the clothes I’ve bought and the new computer.  Of course, that did then take up time transferring over files and the like.  My old computer was from December of 2006, and I was running Office 2003 on it, so it’s nice having the latest software and the same stuff I’m using at work.  Heck, if I need to figure something out, now I can spend some time at home playing with it.

Saturday, my second new roommate moved in as well.  That really didn’t take much of my time other than helping him actually move boxes into the condo when he arrived.  He seems really nice, and since the other roommate and he are already friends, they’re getting along great.  They are both nice guys, and I think this is going to be a fun year with them as roommates.

Sunday was church and ultimate Frisbee, aka the usual.  I had to go buy an external CD drive on my way home from church; turns out many computer these days don’t come standard with them and yet I had software to install from my printer.  Spent some time playing around with that, but otherwise I pretty much lazed around between church and ultimate.

Monday, I buckled down and did all those things I intended to do earlier in the weekend.  Three reviews to write?  Wrote them all on Monday.  Reading?  Did that on Monday.  I got half of a book read – I was hoping to be close to finishing it by the end of the weekend.  And the movie I was going to watch?  That didn’t happen either.  I did go out to lunch with my roommates, which was nice.  And I spent a couple of hours hoping to play ultimate, but that fell through.  Heck, if I’d stayed home and read….

And here it is Tuesday and back at work.  So far, this crazy close seems to be rather slow.  I have a feeling the process will speed up toward the end of this week and most of next week, but I guess I’ll find out as it progresses.

Tuesday, August 26, 2014

Day Two Report

So, I've now finished my second day on my new job, and I really like it so far.

Admittedly, yesterday was a very slow start.  I didn't get a computer until part way through the afternoon, so I was sitting and reading procedures.  There's only so much I can absorb without actually doing it.

However, today has been much better.  I've been working on some analysis and budgeting, and I feel it's been going well.  And my co-workers all seem nice, which is a huge step up as well.  Plus there's the flexibility of schedules, which means I don't have to stress if I'm running a little late.

Traffic yesterday was perfect both ways.  Of course, I started at 9AM and left at 6PM.  Today, aiming to arrive at 8:30AM, there was a bit more traffic.  Still, it was less time than I was commuting to my last job, and that was without the school/college traffic that has been building back up.


So far, I'm very happy.  Hopefully, they are, too.

Friday, August 22, 2014

New Job!

So, it’s been obvious to me since week 1 or 2 that the job I started at the end of June wasn’t a good fit for me, and I’ve kept looking.  That’s paid off because I am now officially done with that job!

I’m starting a new job on Monday for a bigger company.  The pay is better, and it’s in town, so I won’t have to get on the freeway.  Considering those colleges start up on Monday and my commute was about to get much, much worse, that’s a very good thing.

I’ll still be doing accounting, but on a much bigger scale since I’ll be responsible for a bunch of branches of the company.  Sounds like it is a lot of work, but I’m looking forward to tackling it and learning more in the process.

I’ve known for a week now but was keeping it fairly quiet until I knew for sure my current job knew I was leaving.  That happened yesterday (finally).  And that’s when it felt real, and I’ve been celebrating.

The only down side is that I have to actually dress up, which has meant buying a new wardrobe.  The hardest part has been dress shoes, but I think I’ve finally found some that will work.  Going to try to buy a second pair tonight after work, in fact.

This new job is temp to hire, but that’s what I was still doing at the job that just ended.  I’m sure I can do it and get hired on there, so I’m very excited overall.

Wednesday, August 20, 2014

Word Association for August 20th

And here we are at the word association post of the week again.

  1. Chocolate :: Yum!
  2. Spike :: Dog
  3. Puppy :: Cute
  4. Corner :: Bakery
  5. Charcoal :: Grill
  6. Game :: Over
  7. 28 :: Divide by 7
  8. Summitt :: Mountain
  9. Tuxedo :: Wedding
  10. Winner :: Game

Monday, August 18, 2014

Mostly Quiet Week

It's amazing how quiet my week gets when I don't have an ultimate Frisbee game in it.  Heck, my blog had pretty much become an all ultimate blog anyway, so what do I have to talk about?

Thursday, I went to hang out with some friends.  We hadn't all hung out in a couple of months, so that was nice.  That did mean I missed my mid-week ultimate Frisbee game, however, which was a bummer.

Other than that, I stayed home.  My new roommate was able to fix my garbage disposal and I finally got him a new facet for the bathroom sink.  That dragged on longer than I intended.

Saturday was a work day at church.  I showed up late, but they were still able to use me for a few hours.

See what an exciting life I lead outside of ultimate Frisbee?  Heck, my next mud run isn't even for a few weeks.  Not until the 20th of September.

Well, there is one thing, but I'm going to wait until the end of the week to blog about it.

Yes, a blog post with a cliffhanger.  Now you've seen everything, right?

Monday, August 11, 2014

Summer League Tournament 2014

I will admit I found myself looking forward to Saturday starting on Tuesday.  No, it wasn’t because I was looking forward to the weekend that much, but I was looking forward to the Summer League ultimate Frisbee tournament.  I’d missed it last year, and I really enjoy it every year.  It certainly helped that my team was the #1 seed going into the tournament.

Unfortunately, we were missing several of our key players, which meant we were down excellent players and down men.  We only had three subs all day instead of the normal six we’ve been having all season.  But I was ready to dig and do my best.

Since we were the top seed, we started out playing the eighth seed and immediately went down 2-7.  I’m not sure what was going on that first half, but we battled back to win the first game 14-12 in overtime (these first two games were to go to 13).

Semi-finals proved to be the easiest game of the day.  We won that one 13-6.  Again, I don’t know why exactly, but the other team just didn’t seem to have it together when we played them.

Which put us in the finals!  I honestly thought we’d be eliminated in the semi’s.  But by this point, most of the team was exhausted.  I probably should have played more, but I got plenty of playing time in the finals.  This game was to 15, and we wound up losing 8-15.  No one on my team was mentally in the game and we were making some pretty basic mistakes.

However, I was 100% for the day.  With how little I played, I really only got open once.  They threw it to me, and I caught it and successfully passed it on.  No drops.  No turns.  No throw aways.  (If only I could say the same about my pickup game on Sunday.)

Honestly, I am still very happy about the outcome.  My winter league team finished in 5th, and that’s been my best finish for years before this.  Remember, my beach league team didn’t win a game this last spring.  To go from that to only losing two games all season is wonderful.  And this was my first time in the finals for a while, too.

Can’t wait until next season.  Meanwhile, I’ll enjoy the glow of this finish for a little while longer.

Thursday, August 07, 2014

We’re Number 1!!!

Tuesday night was the final regular season game for my ultimate Frisbee team.  It was a rematch against Green, the only team we’d lost to so far.  Since they also only had one loss, we were in second because of that loss.  However, if we beat them, we could take over first since they’d have two losses.

We beat them handily.  It helped that we had even more subs that normal – 9 of them, instead of the usual 6.  Only seven play at a time, so we had over a line of subs.  They had two subs.  Now that is not a guarantee of who will win or not.  I’ve seen teams with no subs beat teams with as many subs as we had.  You have to keep your head in the game at all times, and it is easy to do if you are playing quite a bit.

But in this case, it was an indicator of things to come.  We started out on a 4 point run.  They got 2, we got 1, they got 2 more to make it 5-4.  But then we went on a 4 point run again to take it to half at 9-4.

I didn’t keep tabs on the score quite like that in the second half, but we came out on top 17-11.  Not only does this get us top billing going into the tournament this weekend, but it also means that we don’t have to be there until the second round starts at 11AM.  I’m much happier about that than 9AM.

I only played two points during the game, one each half.  But I’ll get more play time on Saturday since at least 5 people won’t be there who were there Tuesday night.  Since they have all been key contributors to the team over the course of the summer, it will be interesting to see what this means for us come Saturday.  Not only that, but no team that is ranked first going into the tournament wins (at least I don’t think so).

Either way, it’s been fun to be on a winning team again for a change.

Wednesday, August 06, 2014

Word Association for August 6th

And here's this week's word association.

  1. I think I love :: ultimate Frisbee (okay, so I already know I do.)
  2. Obsessed :: Dangerous
  3. Dancers :: Lovely
  4. Guitar :: Worship
  5. Hurry up! :: We're late!
  6. Thump :: Upstairs
  7. Conquest :: War
  8. Lights :: Camera Action
  9. Rose :: Perfume
  10. Birthday :: Party

Monday, August 04, 2014

Roommate Shuffle Again

Yep, I’m doing the roommate shuffle again.  Since my job isn’t paying enough to live on, I’m having to find some new ones.  I thought I was done with that part of my life, but obviously God has other plans.

Anyway, my last roommate moved out at the end of July, and one of my new roommates moved in Saturday.  The other one will move in the end of the month.  The two of them are friends, so that is a huge help in how they will get along.


So far, both of them seem nice.  I’ve just interacted with the one via e-mail and phone, but the one I’ve met in person is a friendly, pleasant guy.  Hopefully, all three of us will get along great.  I think that will be the case.

Thursday, July 31, 2014

Come From Behind

Monday night was a little different for my ultimate Frisbee team.  We were actually down at half.

We were replaying the team we beat the first week, and they were out for revenge.  They started out strong and got several more points than we did early on, leaving us with a 7-9 deficit at half.  Normally, we have the lead by this point, so it was a bit different for us.

But we settled in early in the second half and took the first 5 points of half, making it 12-9.  They got several points in, but we traded at best.  I think the final score was 17-14.  Either way, we definitely won.

I didn't play much that game.  I don't like to go out there unless I have to during close games, and we always have enough subs that I don't have to go out there.  I did play some.  I never got scored on, although the guy I was defending did get a disc a few times.  And I never got the disc myself, but I still felt good about my performance given the amount of play time I actually had.

Wednesday, July 30, 2014

Word Association for July 30th

Here we go, one last word association for July.

  1. Fish :: River
  2. Dreaming :: Sleep
  3. Living :: Life
  4. Expectations :: Met
  5. Mug :: Coffee
  6. Jacket :: Cold
  7. Bowl :: Ice Cream
  8. Confession :: Priest
  9. Socks :: Shoes
  10. Tank :: Aquarium

Monday, July 28, 2014

Party Friday Win!

You know, I'm having trouble coming up with new post titles for all the wins this season in summer league.

IT'S WONDERFUL!!!!

Summer league has started doing what they call Party Fridays.  A couple of Fridays during the summer, more than two teams play at the same time.  They then get some pizza after the game, and everyone hangs out and talks more than normal.  It started last year, and it's kind of fun.

Friday night was the first, and my team was playing.  We were playing the team from the one game I've missed when I was on vacation with my family.  That game was a decisive victory for us, so I was looking forward to playing this team.

We had our normal number of players show up (a full line of seven and six subs).  They had...seven.  Of course, I've seen close games with rosters like that, so I never take anything for granted.

This time, it was not to be.

I think the final score was 17-6.  Yep, not even close.

Not that I did my part to help.  I managed to get open and get the disc several times, but a couple of times I threw it away or the other team got it.  When I did complete a pass, I always made my team work for it more than I wanted.  Yep, nerves.  I really need to calm down and throw.  I know how to do it, but the nerves always come since I want to prove myself.


And we're playing again tonight.  Can't wait to get back out on the field!

Friday, July 25, 2014

Two More Wins

My ultimate Frisbee team has had two more wins!  One was Thursday night two weeks ago and then one a week ago on Friday night.  Neither was a close game at the end, although the one last week started out with us trading points until we started to pull away.

Unfortunately, that was also the game where I made the most contribution, and it wasn’t that good.  I had several discs thrown to me that I just couldn’t catch because they were badly thrown.  And one I could have caught, but I thought someone else was going to collide with me if I did.  In truth, he wasn’t close enough to be an issue.  Then I got scored on a couple of times.

But we won, and that’s all that matters.

So we are now 6-1 and in second place, but only because we lost to the team in first.  We play again tonight, and this is the one team we played while I was on vacation with my family.  That was an easy game, but it sounds like they were missing a key player.  I’ll be interested in seeing how it goes tonight.

Wednesday, July 23, 2014

Word Association for July 23rd

Here's this week's word association.

  1. Strong :: Weak
  2. Bathing :: Suit
  3. Title :: Book
  4. Tick Tock :: Crocodile after Hook
  5. Dispute :: Argument
  6. Magazine :: Subscription
  7. Stupid! :: Mistake
  8. Safely :: Home
  9. Reposition :: Army
  10. So wrong :: So good

Monday, July 21, 2014

Accident

So, blogging obviously didn’t happen this last week.  Let’s get up to date on some things this week.

Like starting with the auto accident I had a week ago Saturday.  I was heading to ornament premier at Hallmark. (Yes, they have released some of their Christmas ornaments already, why do you ask?)  I was at a light, and it changed very quickly.  As in two cars went through, the second on yellow.  The car in front of me stopped.  I stopped.  But the car behind me ran into me.  Fortunately, it was just the two cars and two drivers involved.  At first, I thought my spare tire cover was all that was damaged, but then I started hearing a scrapping sound.  Turns out my exhaust pipe is hitting some support bar, so I took it in to a body shop.  They found damage on the door and are checking out my spare for me in addition to everything else.  I should have the car back at some point this week.


I also have a rental, which has been fun.  Plus I’ve been enjoying the AC in it (mine in my car went out in June).  Ironically, we’ve had an usually cool spell for July with temps in the mid 80’s.  By the time I get my car back, it’s supposed to be over 100 again.

Tuesday, July 15, 2014

Word Association for July 15th

I really need to get some updates going, but for today, let's do the word association for the week.

  1. Joke :: Laugh
  2. Away :: Home
  3. Reaction :: Shock
  4. High :: Low
  5. Movie :: Fun
  6. Decide :: Vote
  7. Afternoon :: Evening
  8. Contrarian :: No!
  9. Understand :: is a three edge sword
  10. Zone :: Defense

Wednesday, July 09, 2014

Word Association for July 9th

Time for a little word association, don't you think?

  1. Onion :: Cry
  2. Greek :: Food
  3. Construct :: Building
  4. Crunch :: Sit up
  5. Bottom :: Out
  6. Cream :: Ice Cream!
  7. Slamming :: Door
  8. Jerk :: Inconsiderate
  9. Closed :: Open
  10. Texture :: Smooth

Tuesday, July 08, 2014

Mostly Quiet Fourth

Last weekend was a three day weekend.  And how did I celebrate?  Wild and crazy person that I am, I didn’t do a whole lot.

Friday, some friends invited me over for a BBQ, so I spent most of the afternoon and evening with them.  We watched a couple of movies with their kids and played with them some, and meanwhile we chatted and caught up on life.  It was a great time to just relax and enjoy each other’s company.  We didn't try to go see any fireworks, although we did hear some illegal ones the neighbors were setting off.

Saturday?  I didn’t leave the condo all day.  Do I know how to party or what?

Sunday was the usual – church and my ultimate Frisbee pick up game.  Actually, I should point out that I started the long weekend with my other usual pick up game on Thursday night.  Lots of ultimate going on these days, just like I like it.


Now it’s back to work for a full week.  At least today I feel like I’m making progress with my assignment.  When I left work yesterday, I wasn’t sure I had it, but it all clicked into place today and the help I’ve gotten from co-workers has made that even more obvious.  It feels great.  Hopefully, I’ll still feel that way when I get into work tomorrow.

Thursday, July 03, 2014

Decisive Win

I was late to my ultimate game on Tuesday night.  After picking up my car from my mechanic, I had some things to do at home, some of it involved just vegging.  Anyway, I got to the field about 45 minutes after the hour.

And we were already up 7-2.

Yeah, it was almost pointless for me to have gone.  But I did jump in the field once for the first half and several more times in the second half.  I was our sixth sub, almost an entire team in subs.  They had one sub, who showed up about the same time I did.

After I got there, we let  them score a few more points than before, although I was only scored on once.  Final score was 17-11 or 10, depending on who you ask.  I heard both.

Unfortunately, I didn’t real feel like I contributed anything other than run around on the field.  I was never really open, so I never got the disc.  Heck, most of the scores were real quick hucks to the end zone (on both sides), so there wasn’t time for me to contribute much.

Still, after our close loss last week, getting a big win like that was definitely wonderful.

Wednesday, July 02, 2014

Word Association for July 2nd

Here's this week's word association.

  1. Delicious :: Dessert
  2. Element :: of Surprise
  3. Cohesion :: Working Together
  4. Course :: Meal
  5. Blister :: Foot
  6. Incomplete :: Sentence
  7. Socks :: Shoes
  8. Instruction :: Teacher
  9. Pill :: Swallow
  10. Impressive :: Work

Tuesday, July 01, 2014

New Job

This is my second week on a new job!

I’m working for a company just a tad further north than I was working in Burbank.  It makes taking an alternative way to work in the morning very attractive, although it still won’t help me in the fall when schools start back up again.  Half of my horrible commute to work will still be trying to get out of town.

This is a temp to hire job, so it could still only be a temporary thing, but I do have money coming in again.  Unfortunately, the pay as a temp isn’t that great.  Hopefully, it will go up if I am hired.

So far, I’m doing basic accounting type stuff.  It seems like it could be more challenging, but hopefully that will come as I prove myself.

Of course, I’m having to adjust my reading and hobby time again.  I really was enjoying all that free time.  But considering what my bank accounts were saying about not being fed, this is a very, very good thing.

Friday, June 27, 2014

And a Loss

Yep, I'm leading with the big news again.  My summer league team finally had a loss this year with our Tuesday night game.

We knew it would be a tough game from the start since the team we were playing was the other undefeated team.  And we were right.  We started out with an early lead.  And my early lead I mean two points.  That was all the lead anyone would have all night.  The usual pattern was one point ahead, tie it up.  And at the end, we didn't have our usual three point surge for the win.  Instead, we let them get two in a row to end it 15-17.

However, we are now 3-1 overall.  That's still a winning record.  I can live with that.  I can live with that big time.  In fact, I'm thrilled with that record considering winter league is the first time I've had anywhere near a winning record in years (and we had an even record).

Personally, I don't remember getting scored on all night.  I was thrown the disc once, and I passed it on no problem, even gaining us some good yardage.  So even though we lost, I'm actually still quite happy with the night over all.

Wednesday, June 25, 2014

Word Association for June 25th

Here's this week's word association.

  1. Closed :: Business
  2. Tourists :: Vacation
  3. Footsteps :: Sand
  4. Ginger :: Snap
  5. Way :: One Way
  6. Designer :: Clothes
  7. Mattress :: Bed
  8. Disaster :: Natural
  9. Chips :: Salsa
  10. Campaign :: Election

Monday, June 23, 2014

Gladiator Rock n Run – Irvine

Just over a week ago on the 14th, I did the Gladiator Rock n Run in Irvine.  It will be the last event I do at the Great Park since that area is about to become a subdivision.  Honestly, I don’t think they ever did much with the land, but it was a great place for obstacle races.

I actually met up with some new friends down there.  While I’ve been part of the meet up group for mud runs, I’ve never actually tried to meet up.  This time, I did, however, since I couldn’t get any of my friends to do it with me.  I met up with three guys who were very nice, and we had fun running together.  Of course, it did highlight just how out of it my upper body is since I couldn’t do any of those obstacles.

Anyway, it was a fun day.  The course was challenging without being too challenging.  I had fun and got muddy.

Afterwards, I got together with family friends Chris and Joy for a late lunch and a fun afternoon of visiting and hanging out.  It meant I didn’t get home until very late, but it was so worth it.

I think this will be the only Gladiator Rock n Run I get in this year.  They are doing one in San Diego in August, but I’m not willing to travel down that far.  Sounds like fun and it is their longest one.  Four different companies have mud runs scheduled for the last weekend in October, and Gladiator’s annual trip to Pasadena is one of them.  I’m signed up for a different race, however, so that one is out.  I guess that means I’ll just have to wait until next year.

Friday, June 20, 2014

Summer League Game 3

I missed our second game since I was in Yosemite with my family when it happened.  It sounds like it was a fairly easy game, unfortunately, since I would have enjoyed playing in it.  But I was there for our game on Tuesday night.

It was looking like it would be fairly easy with us taking a quick 3-0 lead.  But then they started to fight back and tied it up.  We kept going in that fashion most of the night.  They took the lead a couple of times, but we were ahead most of the time.  We finally finished out the game with a 17-14 win.

That's right - My team is officially still in first with a 3-0 overall record!

I didn't play much in the second half, and only one point was I able to get the disc at all.  I caught both passes no problem, but I threw one of them away and almost threw the other away.  Not my best performance, but at least I got the disc.

Our next game is once again on Tuesday, so we'll see how it goes.

Wednesday, June 18, 2014

Word Association for June 18th

Looks like it is time for this week's word association.

  1. Today :: Wednesday
  2. Lips :: Sealed
  3. Seethe :: Anger
  4. Desired :: Unattainable
  5. Patrol :: Car
  6. Nails :: Chalkboard
  7. Pastry :: Chef
  8. Jacket :: Chilly
  9. Button :: Shirt
  10. Feel :: Touch

Monday, June 16, 2014

Family Trip to Yosemite!

I got to spend almost a week with my family in Yosemite!

I headed up there a week ago Friday and came back on Wednesday.  My brother and his family left mid-afternoon on Tuesday, and Mom and Dad went home on Thursday.

And yes, that means I got to spend time with my niece and nephew!  Have I mentioned recently how cute they are?  I ate up time with them.

And we hit all the tourist spots.  We did a little hiking, although not anything too hard because of the kids.  We saw the water falls and drove up to Glacier Point.  Really, it's hard to go wrong with the awesome scenery there.  It's truly beautiful.

While Bridalveil Falls was fairly dry, the other falls had enough water in them to be spectacular.  Yes, they were low, and I'm sure come August and September they will be pretty dry.  But I was happy with how full they were given how little rain and snow we've had this year.

All told, it was a great, relaxing trip.

And I got to see my friends Donald and Heather and their daughter Aria on the way up and back since I drove right through the town where they are now living.

Friday, June 13, 2014

Word Association for June 13th

Better get in this week's word association.

  1. Fringe :: Outside
  2. Helicopter :: Hover
  3. Netflix :: Movie
  4. Humor :: Laugh
  5. Niece :: Cute!!!  (Mine's the cutest)
  6. Summer :: Pool
  7. Crazy :: Stupid
  8. Arrival :: Departure
  9. Nipple :: Chest
  10. Code :: Break

Tuesday, June 10, 2014

Summer League Game 1

Yep, being June, that means that summer league for ultimate Frisbee is off and running again.  Hard to believe I know.

We actually had our first game the first night - Monday of last week.  I'm in Men's league this year - wasn't lucky enough to get into coed this year.

My team will be interesting since several of the guys know each other and have played together at the college level for several years.  Also, we're running an offense I'm not super comfortable with since it leaves me on the side most of the time with nothing to do.  However, when we tried to run the other offense, it looked horrible and we were losing big time.

We started out going down right away and were soon down 3-6.  That's when we switched offense and mounted our comeback.  At half we were down 8-9.  We tied it up at 11's and then traded points for a bit until we finally pulled ahead and won 17-15.

Hopefully, we can keep that momentum going for the rest of the season.  It would be nice to be on a team that wins more than loses for a change (although winter league was 50/50).

Thursday, June 05, 2014

Camp Pendleton Mud Run 2014

Sunday, I ran the Camp Pendleton Mud Run for the 5th year in a row.  Honestly, I can't believe it.

Every year, I'm reminded why I enjoy doing this run so much.  The scenery is nice, and it's just a nice atmosphere.  Plus, at 6.2 miles, it gives me a little something extra to train for.

This year, with all the fires down there recently, a mile or so of the course had been burned out.  That was a bummer, but overall it was still nice.

On the other hand, the weather was the nicest I think it has ever been for it.  The sun was out when we started instead of being overcast.  That makes the running in the first part hotter, but it is nice when you hit the mud in the second half.  I just hope we get enough rain soon to make the lake part a swim part again.

I did it with Spencer this year to make up for his having to miss last year.  So this was only the second time I actually ran with the people I signed up to run it with!

And we spent the night before with Ian.  Okay, at least at his place since he was out much of the time.  Still, it was nice to catch up with him and the price was certainly right.

Plus he recommended a couple of great local places to eat.  I want to go back to both of them.  Too bad they are 2.5 hours away.  For dinner Saturday night, I had chicken strip wraps that were delicious.  Then for lunch on Sunday, I tried raspberry orange pancakes that were amazing.  My mouth is watering just thinking about them.

I always prefer to do this one with someone, so I need to start drumming up interest in doing it next year.  I want to go for six in a row.

Wednesday, June 04, 2014

Word Association for June 4th

Time for some word association.

  1. Travel :: Fun!
  2. Glitz :: Glamour
  3. Bark :: Bite
  4. Wicked :: Oz
  5. Fifth :: Sixth
  6. Photography :: Picture
  7. Yellow :: Coward
  8. Counter :: Cash Register
  9. Country :: USA
  10. Speech :: Boring

Tuesday, June 03, 2014

Quiet Memorial Day Weekend

I actually had a fairly quiet Memorial Day Weekend.  I wound up going to see a play on Saturday night.  Glendale Centre Theatre is doing The Music Man, one of my all time favorite musicals, so naturally I had to go see it.  They did a wonderful job as always with a great cast of mostly people who we hadn't seen before.  I was surprised because I'd already mentally cast the play with their regulars.

Sunday was the usual ultimate Frisbee and church (not in that order).

Then Monday, some friends had a last minute BBQ.  It was wonderful hanging out with them.

So as you can see, pretty quiet and ordinary and not much to report.

Monday, June 02, 2014

Hot an Dirty Mud Run

I am so far behind, I need to start working hard at catching up.

For example, two weeks ago, I did a mud run with my friend Chris.  It was his first run, and we hit up one that was about 30 minutes from me.  I'd done this one last year and wasn't that impressed.  I liked it much more this time around.

The difference?  One was that we got there at the time we were supposed to start and were ready to go on time.  The other?  There were actually people around, so it didn't feel nearly as cut rate and cheap as the first time I did it.

And it was fun.  Lots and lots of fun.  There's a hill that is part of it that gives a great view of the valley.  There were a couple of fun water slides as well.  I liked them last time, and I liked them more this time.

Really, it was a great way to introduce him to the joys of mud runs.

Now to get him to sign up with me again.

Wednesday, May 28, 2014

Word Association for May 28th

I'm still trying to get my brain to warm up, so this week's word association might be interesting.  Or just hard for me to complete.

  1. Apple :: Pie
  2. Queasy :: Seasick
  3. Cheeks :: Rosy
  4. Nostril :: Flair
  5. Tee shirt :: Slogan
  6. Enough :: Stop
  7. Maybe :: I Will
  8. How? :: Come?
  9. Palace :: King
  10. Satelitte :: TV

Okay, guess it wasn't that different after all.  Unless I read something wrong.

Friday, May 23, 2014

Home for Mother's Day

Yes, I really do intend to catch up at some point.  Let's start with my trip to visit Mom for Mother's Day.

I actually hadn't been home since Christmas, so it was good to get up there and see everyone.  I drove up on Friday, and got to see Mom, Dad, and my niece right away since they had her over for the night.  Saturday, Mom, Dad, and I went for a hike at a county park I had never been to before.  Sunday was Mother's Day as well as the day my nephew was dedicated at church.  It was really special to get to be there for that.  Finally, Monday my brother and his family joined up for a trip out to the beach.

As you can see, we kept plenty busy with fun stuff to do, and I really did enjoy just getting to relax and spend time with them.  My uncle and aunt came up Sunday as well, and it was wonderful to see all of them.

I drove back on Tuesday.  It was a great trip, but it just wasn't long enough.

The down side is that my nephew was sick while I was there, although he was definitely getting better by Monday, and none of the rest of us got sick, so that was a good thing.

Thursday, May 22, 2014

Word Association for May 22nd

Time for this week's word association.

  1. Submit :: Review
  2. Evidence :: Crime
  3. Investing :: Observation
  4. Awkward :: Moment
  5. Body :: Human
  6. Extension :: Deadline
  7. Period :: Waiting
  8. Support :: Structure
  9. Carried :: Away
  10. Anxious :: Worry

Friday, May 16, 2014

Ending Beach League

While I haven't been blogging, life has been happening.

For example, almost two weeks ago now, we had the tournament for beach league ultimate Frisbee.  We went into the day without a win, and we ended the way without a win.  Yep, we had a perfect loosing season!  It was so much better than last time when we won our final game to end our streak.

The weather was great.  Actually, it was a little on the warm side, or at least the sand was.  My feet were burning during our final game, it was hard to stand.  But that made jumping in the ocean afterwards that much more fun.

And I threw one of our scores in the second game!  Overall, I thought I played pretty well in that last game.  Why is it I always do my best in the final game of the league no matter which league I'm in.

Speaking of which, summer league starts up in a few weeks.  I didn't make the cut for co-ed this year, so I'll be playing in Men's.  It's been a few years since I did that, so it should be interesting.

Thursday, May 15, 2014

Word Association for May 15th

Wow, almost two weeks since my last post.  But here's this week's word association at least.

  1. Warning :: Danger
  2. Resume :: Job Hunting
  3. Meeting :: Adjourned
  4. Squares :: Circles
  5. Alternate :: Reality
  6. Prison :: Camp
  7. Swamp :: Water
  8. Games :: Fun
  9. Months :: Years
  10. Share :: Give

Friday, May 02, 2014

Word Association for May 2nd

Look!  It's the first word association of May!

  1. Action :: Movie
  2. Submit :: Review
  3. Love :: Marriage
  4. Online :: Game
  5. Scam :: Artist
  6. I know :: You Know
  7. Nude :: Clothes
  8. Penny :: Big Bang Theory
  9. Tinted :: Windows
  10. Sexy :: Dress

Thursday, May 01, 2014

Windy, Windy, Windy

We've been having bad Santa Anna winds the last few days.  Predictions I was seeing were for gusts of 30 miles an hour, although at times it was hard to call the "gusts" from the regular wind.

And have I ever mentioned just how much I hate wind?

Fortunately, they were dying down at night.  I even managed to go out for a run Tuesday night while it was calmer.  Still some wind, but not enough to make the run truly unpleasant.

The wind is supposed to be a lot less today, so it shouldn't interfere with my ultimate pick up game tonight.  Ultimate is never any fun to play in the wind, as I was reminded just last Saturday when I had to play my beach league game in the wind.  Way too many wild throws going all over the place.  And there was sand blowing all over the place, too.  I wanted to enjoy the day at the beach; really I did.

It didn't help that we lost.  The official final score was 10-13, but we had lost when it was 8-13.  No one listened to me on that, however.

Afterward, I got to head out to Glendale Centre Theatre and enjoy Cash on Delivery, a wonderful farce that had me and my friends laughing hard.  Recommended play if you ever get a chance to see it.

Friday, April 25, 2014

Two More Beach League Losses

I was actually able to make it to one of our two game weeks this last Saturday for beach league.  Unfortunately, as the title of this post suggests, we lost them both.

We actually started out ahead in the first game, but the team we were playing didn't have any subs.  When subs started arriving, they began to pull ahead and eventually beat us.

We lost the next game by an even wider margin.  We just couldn't get it together.

On the plus side, the weather outside was absolutely beautiful.  Sunny and pleasantly warm.  On the negative side, I had to leave right away since my ride had to leave right away.  I so wanted to take a few minutes to jump into the ocean.

Looks like it is going to be at least 10 degrees cooler tomorrow.  We just have one game, but hopefully we'll be able to take advantage of playing a team that has already played a game and win one before the tournament the next Saturday.

Tuesday, April 22, 2014

Word Association for April 22nd

Okay, it's time for this week's word association.

  1. Steady :: As she goes
  2. Sleep :: Bed
  3. Thumb :: Finger
  4. Straighten :: Up
  5. Wake up! :: Morning
  6. Diminish :: Returns
  7. Scarred :: Straight
  8. Horn :: Blow
  9. Pace :: Running
  10. Correspondence :: Letter

Friday, April 18, 2014

Week at a Glance

So let's take a look at this last week, shall we?

Saturday and Sunday, I was at the LA Times Festival of Books.  It was a fun as always, although the event doesn't seem to be as big as it used to be.  Still, there were several authors to visit with and plenty to see and do.  And I had enough fun I managed to go back on Sunday.  Actually, there were three middle grade authors there on Sunday only that I needed to get autographs from.  Saturday, I spent the day with Angelique and my friends Luke and Sarah were there, too.  Sunday, I was by myself, so I left after I got that last signature I needed.

Tuesday, I drove down to Anaheim for dinner.  A Trixie friend from Australia was in the area, so I had to get together to meet her.  Diana was really nice, and it was fun getting to talk to her face to face.  Vivian and her daughter and Angelique and her boyfriend were also there.  It was a great time.

Currently?  My car is in the shop.  After my allergy shots yesterday, I had a hard time getting it started.  Finally did, however it died again almost right away.  After that, it ran until I got it to my mechanic.  Unfortunately, they don't seem to be able to replicate the problem.  They kept it over night to play around with it more today.  I hope they can figure out what it is and fix it so I don't get stranded somewhere.

I think that's about all the news on my end for the time being.

Wednesday, April 16, 2014

Word Association for April 16th

Here we go with this week's word association.

  1. Shame :: Embarrass
  2. Business :: Decision
  3. Cats :: Dogs
  4. Green :: Purple
  5. Politics :: Religion
  6. Boston :: Marathon
  7. Healthy :: Adult
  8. Pint :: Beer
  9. Owner :: Business
  10. Sorrow :: Death

Yes, I know that business was one of our words and then I used it for owner, but honestly that was the first and only thing that came to mind.

Monday, April 14, 2014

Men's Beach League - Report 1

Yes, I'm doing Men's Beach League again this year, and I suspect the results will be about the same as last year.

If you remember, last year we barely won the final game of the tournament.  This year, my team is on another losing streak.  And yes, it's a different team than last year.

Considering I've missed two of the three weeks we've had so far, I can't claim sole responsibility.  And I'll admit that always makes me feel better.  Of course, I'd feel best if we actually won.

The one game I went to was very close.  We were way behind at half, but brought it back to close out at 11-13, which I call a respectable loss.  I had a couple of wild throws that were caught and a few good throws as well.  We only had a couple of subs, so I got plenty of playing time whether I wanted it or not.  I don't tend to play as much in league games, but I can't complain too loudly this time.

Unfortunately, there is a fifth team this year, so every team gets two games for 3 weeks of the regular season and one game for the other 2 weeks.  Even worse, the two weeks I have to miss are some of our two game weeks.  As a result, I'm only going to get to play four of our eight regular season games.  Hopefully, we get at least two games in the tournament in May.