July 2024 - A Little Bit of This, a Little Bit of That

(Just a quick note:  If you are landed here because of a comment I left on your book blog, you might be more interested in my review blog, Carstairs Considers.  But you are very welcome to stick around here, too.)

July was a month of a little of this, a little of that.  Nothing major happened, but I did several fun things.

The first weekend I went paddleboarding for the first time since I hurt my shoulder in May of 2023.  It still bothered me a little, mostly in an "I'm not used to this way" not in a "I'm going to be injured again" way.  And it stopped as soon as I got off the water.  I haven't made it back out again, mainly because I haven't wanted to buy passes again quite yet.  I'll probably do that in the spring.  I'm hoping to make it out a time or two before then.

The second weekend, I went to support a friend who was preaching at his church.  This is the first who hosts game day, and much of the group are his friends from church.  The result was plenty of people I know there, which was fun.  We went out to lunch afterwards, and it was the weekend of game day, so we spent a lot of time together that weekend.

I also went down to Santa Monica in July to enjoy the beach and some cooler weather, which was nice.

And I attended the launch party for Ellen Byron's new series, which is set in the California Gold Country.

As you can see, it was a full month even if nothing big happened. 

June 2024 Part 2 - Friend's Wedding

(Just a quick note:  If you are landed here because of a comment I left on your book blog, you might be more interested in my review blog, Carstairs Considers.  But you are very welcome to stick around here, too.)

In the middle of June, I finally made it to St. Louis!  I'm not sure why, but I've wanted to go there for a long time.  Okay, so I was only in the city itself for a few hours, but I did get to go up in the St. Louis Arch.  Going up in the Arch itself was just okay, and I'm not sure I need to do that again.  But I would like to go back and spend more time in the museum.  I really missed out there.  Then I had dinner nearby.

After that, I headed to Southern Illinois, which was my real destination.  I was there for my friend Brian's wedding.  We hung out a lot in college and spent some time together when he moved back to So Cal later.  I was honored to be included in the day.  I enjoyed getting to spend time with he and his now wife and her family.  With the wedding going on, that was the focus of the trip, but I'm glad I was able to be there for him.

June 2024 Part 1 - Camp Pendleton Mud Run 2024

(Just a quick note:  If you are landed here because of a comment I left on your book blog, you might be more interested in my review blog, Carstairs Considers.  But you are very welcome to stick around here, too.)

Saturday, June 1st, I got to get muddy this year. Even better, it was at Camp Pendleton. 

The one mud run I had signed up for cancelled on me (sadly, since it was always fun). I thought I might not get a mud run in this year, but then Camp Pendleton announced they were having a mud run on June 1st and it was opened to the public again for the first time since 2019. I signed up right away!

The course was only 3.5 to 4 miles instead of having the full 10k (6.2) mile course like they used to have. We started and ended with the old route, but had a different part in the middle. 

It was a little cooler than I would have liked.  The sun did come out while I was there, but it was overcast to start with.  Still, I’ve done it in colder weather.

I was disappointed by how few people were there.  Granted, it made getting in and out easy, but even as other events started to die down, this one kept going strong.  I hope they don’t take this as a sign of lack of interest and don’t have it in the future.  The did only announce that it was open to the public six weeks beforehand.  And it was the first one in five years.  So hopefully, they will allow it time to build up again.

Because I had a BLAST.  I think I was smiling almost the entire time I was on base.  Even driving to and from the venue itself.  And yes, I was smiling while running.  It was so fantastic to be back.  Yes, I would have been happiest doing the entire course that I used to do, but I was more than happy to take what they offered me.

After a lunch at the Pit Stop Diner (love that place) in Oceanside, I started making my way home.  But I stopped to visit friends in Orange County along the way.  These are family friends from growing up.  I didn’t get to see everyone I would have liked to see, but it was nice to visit with the ones I could.

September 2nd's Joke

The bartender says, "We don't serve time travelers here."
A time traveler walks into a bar.

May 2024 - A Mostly Quiet Month

(Just a quick note:  If you are landed here because of a comment I left on your book blog, you might be more interested in my review blog, Carstairs Considers.  But you are very welcome to stick around here, too.)

Not much happened in May.  It was a cool month, especially for So Cal.  We can be pretty hot.  We can also be pleasantly warm.  It's rare that it was a cool as it was.  We had one week where it didn't hit 70.  That's winter weather!

Other than that, it was work and my monthly game day.  The friends who started that a couple of years ago and kept it up.  It's definitely a highlight of my month.

Speaking of them, I did have them over the last weekend in May.  They're huge fans of the show psych and hadn't had a chance to watch the last couple of movies.  Since I have Peacock, we fixed that.  They were okay.  Definitely not the best the show/franchise has to offer.

I also went to the theater a couple of times.  I discovered my theater offers discounted tickets on Tuesdays, so I went to see Unsung Hero and The Fall Guy.  I thought I might take more advantage of that, but I haven't been back.

Other than that, I played disc golf a couple of times with friend who also happens to be my pastor.

As I said, quiet.

July 9th's Joke of the Week

Be thankful it's not snowing outside.

Imagine shoveling snow in this heat.

Lunch with Friends - April 2024 Part 2

(Just a quick note:  If you are landed here because of a comment I left on your book blog, you might be more interested in my review blog, Carstairs Considers.  But you are very welcome to stick around here, too.)

There were some authors who were going to be at the LA Times Festival of Books on Sunday, and I was considering going back for day 2, until I got a text from my friend Donald.  He and his wife, Heather, were going to be coming through town Sunday afternoon and wanted to know if I wanted to have lunch.  I immediately said yes.

We met over on the other side of town from where I live, but it wasn't too much out of their way.  Not a big or fancy restaurant, but it was a delicious.

And it was very nice to get a chance to sit and catch up with them.  We could have talked much longer, but they needed to drive home.  I always wish we could spend more time together, but a small visit is better than nothing.  And I'm usually the one who has to drive away since I usually visit them driving to and from visiting my family.  So I really can't complain too loudly, can I?

LA Times Festival of Books - April 2024 Part 1

(Just a quick note:  If you are landed here because of a comment I left on your book blog, you might be more interested in my review blog, Carstairs Considers.  But you are very welcome to stick around here, too.)

April was the LA Times Festival of books again.  I went down on Saturday and just Saturday this year.  I had a fantastic time.

The real highlight was getting to spend the day with my friend Angelique.  We've been going together for decades at this point, which is scary to think about.  Heck, it's scary to realize we've been friends that long.  Doesn't really seem possible.

Naturally, we spent most of the time around the mystery booths.  We got to talk to some authors that we've become friends with over the years, which is always fun.  We did wander around the rest of the festival as well, but the mystery section (and the booths are all right together) is always home base.

I managed to get away with only buying one book, too, which was pretty amazing for me.  Of course, considering how many books I have around here I haven't read, I need to show more restraint like that.  Or find more time for reading.

The festival isn't what it once was.  We can often get through what we want to see by early afternoon.  But we found a nice bench to sit on and just talk, which was so much fun. And the weather was nice.  Not too warm, not too cold.  Considering how cold April and May were overall, that was a blessing as well.

July 2nd's Joke

I went to buy some camouflage trousers the other day but I couldn’t find any.

March 2024 - Family Trip to San Diego

(Just a quick note:  If you are landed here because of a comment I left on your book blog, you might be more interested in my review blog, Carstairs Considers.  But you are very welcome to stick around here, too.)

The middle of March, I met up with my family in San Diego.  We'd done it a couple of years ago, really enjoyed it, and decided to do it again.

Mom and Dad rented up a place to stay right on the beach.  It was a different place from two years ago, but still very nice.  In fact, we might have liked it a bit more in some ways.  The plan was to enjoy the beach, plays games, and be a bit of a tourist.

We did still play tourist a bit, spending one day at Sea World and another at the San Diego Wild Animal Park.

However, we got sick while we were there.  My nephew had gotten sick a couple of days before, and Dad started to get sick our first night.  I was just getting over being sick, but I got sick again.  And my brother got sick.  The ladies stayed healthy, until we left.  Then they got sick at home.  What's the weirdest is we all seemed to have slightly different symptoms.  I was the quickest to recover, and it took some longer than others to get over it.  But eventually we all did.

So it was a bummer of a trip in some ways.  But we did still have fun, and we are glad we went.