Impressive, no?

Last weekend, my mom completed her 3rd Avon Walk for Breast Cancer!

She and her friend Loretta walked 39.3 miles over two days in the 90 degree heat.

The whole walk had 3000 participants, including 271 breast cancer survivors, and they raised $6.8 MILLION for breast cancer research.

STRONG.

Congratulations v.14

Congratulations to my cousin Christine and her fiance Kevin! 

They got engaged yesterday :) And isn't this picture sort of ridiculously happy looking (this is not from yesterday, apparently they are always this happy looking).

You may remember this post where I was having dreams about this very event, but my predicting the future skills are a little off - I was about...10 months early.

Dad's visit, Day 3

(Sidenote: My dad came to visit in late March, and he's going to be sending me his account of what we did on his visit. The day he is talking about we drove north to eat oysters fresh out of the water.)

So many highlights – each day was unique and memorable! I’m jumping right to the oyster experience of day 3… sooo cool. The tastes and the ocean ambiance – sun and breezes and water lapping the shore mere feet from our picnic table - were all amazing, but maybe the best part was Kristin’s coming out: she really dug the raw oysters! We ate 3 dozen raw and 1 dozen slightly grilled and barbequed (almost shockingly scrumptious). Best oysters I’ve ever eaten!!

The drive up the coast was peaceful and scenic once we left the highway. The road wove through quaint little towns calling out for further exploration (maybe next time), then chugged through dense forested areas smelling of pine and chilled by shadows and cold mountain streams. Closer to our destination we were treated to expansive vistas with alternating views of near-ocean inlets to the left and steep hills to the right with grazing goats and cows. I can’t get enough of the road not traveled, so being a witness to this part of California – the Pacific Coast Highway - was such an unexpected treat for me, especially since I didn’t have to keep my eyes on the road! (Thanks KK & Dan… now that’s showing respect to your elderly elder.)

Keep the warm thoughts coming.

Well I know after the last blog entry, you probably only thought that things could get better. But, you would be wrong. Not three weeks after my grandmother passed away, my grandfather (her husband) peacefully passed away in his sleep at home. It came as a surprise - while we knew that he was obviously heartbroken and that his own cancer had advanced - we weren't expecting to be dealing with another loss so soon. Before he went to bed that night, he told Janis that he was going to be OK when she left. (My aunt Janis was actually still in Johnstown - she had been there since my grandmother's death, and had been delayed leaving because of all the snowstorms. ) That wasn't to be.

My mom went back to Johnstown last Sunday - just in time for their next snowstorm. His service was yesterday (Wednesday) which they delayed so that he wouldn't be buried on my mother's birthday, which was Tuesday. My family is planning on heading back to their various homes this weekend, and then coming back together sometime this spring to work out what to do with their house and so on.

Everyone here has been incredibly supportive, which has been helpful because honestly, the cumulative effect of everything is building up - I'm having trouble concentrating and remembering things lately, and the idea of interacting with people for long stretches of time is overwhelming. Still in shock. Thank goodness the Olympics are on for distraction.

Also, Dan has been good about trying to get me out of the house when I'm not in my pajamas, so we do actually have fun things to post about too - city walks, birthdays and such. We'll get to them...soonish.

Blog silence over.

Well, it's been awhile - I thought I'd update you on the ridiculousness that 2010 has been so far. I was hoping that February would be better than January, but that theory has been proved wrong already. My co-worker has me convinced that if we follow the Lunar Calendar, it will all get better after the New Year (this weekend) so, that's something to look forward to at least.

Most of you know by now that my grandmother (mom's mom) passed away on January 18th. I'm obviously very happy that I got to visit with her for more than a couple of days over Christmas, and I'm happy that Dan also got up to visit. We talked to her about our plans for the future, and said all the things that you say in these situations. Honestly, I never expected to hear about her passing so soon after we visited. But I'm fairly convinced that she hung on through Christmas and New Years so that everyone could come visit - she had an iron will, after all. So, we made plans to get home to the East Coast for her service. I couldn't imagine not being there. I worked some crazy long days in order to be able to leave again - the halls actually opened again for the spring the day after she passed, so the students and the staff had just barely restarted.

We made plans to leave here on Thursday, with the service being on Friday morning. The plan was for Dan and I to fly to Baltimore, my dad would pick us up, and drive to Johnstown that night and stay in a hotel. Everything was going fine - we got to the airport super early for our flight, and noticed immediately that our flight had been cancelled. Awesome! We were flying through San Diego to Baltimore, which is out of the way, but the other options had us flying through Chicago Midway, which I don't like, especially in the winter. That day, San Diego was experiencing gale force winds, which usually aren't that big of a deal, except this day, the winds were moving north-south. Unlike normal winds, which move east-west. So, San Diego shut down the airport, because planes apparently can't land in gale force crosswinds.

Southwest easily and cheerfully rerouted us through Las Vegas to Pittsburgh, my dad easily and cheerfully readjusted our plans, everything seemed good. We had about 90 minutes before our flight boarded, but as we sit there, more and more flights are being cancelled, as the LAX, Burbank, Albuquerque, and Phoenix airports also shut down due to winds. Our flight starts being delayed. 2 hours later, we're still delayed as they keep telling us that Las Vegas is the only airport that has a north-south runway, so it will remain open, just that all flights are now going to Vegas and they're backlogged. Another hour later, I'm having a breakdown in the airport and telling Dan that I just want to get in a cab and go home. He persuades me to wait because he knows I'll hate myself for not trying my best to get there. And then, of course, our plane boards.

We get to Vegas, the flight isn't bad at all. We arrive at 4:30, only 4 hours late! Our flight to Pittsburgh is supposed to take off at 5:10. At 6:30, my second breakdown is coming on as they announce that we can't leave because we have no crew. The crew who is supposed to be on our flight is coming from Phoenix (which, you may remember, has been sporadically closed all day). I call my dad, and tell him that I won't get into Pittsburgh any earlier than 2 AM, which means we won't get back to Johnstown any earlier than 4 AM. He tells me it just started freezing rain in Johnstown. I call my family at my grandparent's house and tell them I'm throwing in the towel, I just can't get there. We've been travelling now for 10 hours and haven't gotten any further than Vegas. My grandfather tells me not to get on any other planes, it's just not meant to work out. And then, my friends, I do the full on ugly cry in the middle of the packed Las Vegas airport.

After a few deep breaths, Dan asks if I want to go back to Oakland that night and I look at him with a "you're kidding right?" face. I couldn't fathom going to bed that night in the same place I woke up, feeling like I hadn't accomplished a single damn thing. So, I called Franklin instead and asked him to look up hotels for us. The Hooters hotel was $20/night. So off we went (thank GOD we hadn't checked our bags that day). The room, truly, wasn't horrible. The bed was super comfortable and there were Hooters wings available right in the hotel. Dan got dinner, and I crashed. The next day, we weren't sure what we were going to do - stay or leave. When we looked out the window, all the trees were bent in half from the wind, so flying seemed to be out. We looked into driving, and the storm bringing the wind was bringing lots of snow to the mountains between Nevada and California...and the roads over the mountains were closed. So, we ordered room service, explored the new City Center hotels, watched the Bellagio fountains and the lions at MGM, and then went to a Cirque show that night. We bought a candle, went back to our room, and I said all the things to Dan that I'd wanted to say at my grandmother's service. It seemed...appropriate.

The next day, the roads were open and flights were outrageously expensive. Cars were cheap, so we rented a car and drove the 10 hours home. And then I put on PJs and ate whatever I wanted and slept whenever I wanted for the next two days. On Tuesday, I finally rejoined productive society.

Eight days later, Dan's grandmother (dad's mom) passed away on February 3rd. Sometimes life is just ridiculous. Anyway, Dan had also gotten down to see his grandmother over the holidays - he was there for two days, without his parents, so he got some good quality time with her, which he's obviously thankful for. Her service was set for the following Sunday - which was last Sunday - which was right after the first blizzard of doom on the East Coast. Looking at the weather, Dan was less worried about flying but concerned about having to drive on rural North Carolina roads to get to the small town of Mount Airy. He decided not to go, which was really hard for him. I offered the perspective that not going is better than trying to get there and failing (which I have some experience with, no?) but it still doesn't make it easy.

In between all of this, my mom was in the hospital overnight for some neurological concerns - headache, double vision, etc. She's OK, after running gobs of tests, they told her it was probably just the enormous stress she'd been dealing with. This did not do well for my own stress level, as her phone died while she was there and so I called my dad flipping the hell out that I didn't know what was going on.

PS - My dad, also, deserves an award for the past few weeks - he went up to my grandmother's funeral prepared to do whatever I needed, and then stayed to help my family out. Then he listened to my crazy phone calls while my mom was in the hospital, and called around to get information so that I could deal with some crap at work. (Ugh, that was also bad news, but I can't talk about it here). Cheers for dad.

Overall, we're doing OK, just a bit broken. Thank you for all of your cards, emails, phone calls, etc. We know you're there.

Amongst all this, I will say that we did celebrate Dan's birthday in grand style. Post coming soon.

Highlights of home

So after the Gorge trip, and working a couple of weeks, I headed back to the East Coast for a week. Dan didn't come with, because when we were making plans, we were unsure about his work stuffs. It ended up being a good thing - he got called for some interviews while I was away! Funny how it all works out.

Anyhow, my main reason for coming home was to celebrate my grandma's birthday, which the whole family came in for. We all stayed for a couple of nights, hung out at my aunt's house, watched some football, went to church and a very fancy dinner. I didn't even know they had fancy dinner spots in Johnstown, but they do! Where I ordered a prime rib side (like surf n' turf) and they brought me a prime rib the size of two people's heads. Seriously. AND, my cousin Megan's boyfriend, of two months, came to everything! Met the whole family (which as many of you know, is kind of overwhelming with my family), came to the fancy dinner AND brought my grandma flowers. It was so cute. He's a keeper.

But overall, my grandma had a great time and didn't have to make one single meal or do a bit of cleanup. Successful weekend.

Other exciting happenings:

I got to visit with Kelley, Laura and the boys for a few hours. They are SO BIG. Not in a "what are you feeding them?!?!" way, just in a "gosh, kids grow so fast!" way. We opened the door and they crawled (!) over to me, and I had to lay down. They are easily the cutest, most adorable, happiest, want to squeeze them babies ever.

Got down to Blacksburg to visit for a couple of days to do lots of buying Tech gear, driving around and exclaiming at new buildings, reading at the river and such. So relaxing. Blacksburg in the fall is wonderful. I stayed with Tony who has the best dog ever (second to Parker and Cosmo, obviously). Anddddddddd she sort of loves me.

Met Lily, Chris and Holly's daughter. She is also a ridiculously happy baby. Except in the car seat, but whatever, no one's perfect. Most of the time, she giggles and smiles at everyone and has smooshable cheeks. It's pretty great.

Day of birth.

It's my Dad's birthday! I would say wish him a Happy Birthday on Facebook, but he doesn't log into his account (boo). So, maybe in the comments?

Fur kids

Well, the cats are doing well. They're getting older, not kittens at all anymore, and recently, some of their behaviors have started to change. Lily doesn't play fetch with us as much (sad face) and James is really not a fan of new people being around. Lily is cuddling more, and James is cuddling a little less. But they're still SO CUTE. Recent happenings below. Hanukkah. Probably the only picture I have of both of them looking at the camera. Watching us cook, completely fascinated. Naptime with Dad. Bubble wrap nest.

Recent goings on...

Well, just to catch everyone up (which apparently is necessary my mom complained today that the blog needs updating)... **My grandmother is doing...OK. She was in the hospital a few days ago for some serious nausea and pain after her first round of chemo - bad news. She had an MRI a couple of days ago and everything looks normal - good news. So, we're kind of all over the place. Obviously, I want her to be feeling as good as possible, which doesn't work out 100% of the time. I try to send positive thoughts her way rather than worrying about her, but who knows if that helps. Thanks to anyone who has been doing the same or praying or whatever have you. So, everything else is going to sound trivial after that. But, life goes on even while serious things are happening, I guess? Last Friday, Dan and I took a day trip to Marin - it was kind of a pre-Vegas birthday/save Kristin's sanity trip - to visit the creamery where our favorite cheese is made. Yummmmmmm. We got a "tour" where they tell us how their cheese is made, got to watch said cheese making and then got to taste all 8 of the different kinds they make. It's nice to find out that our favorite cheese is made from the same local milk we buy our milk from, and use alternative energy to power their factory. Yay. I would totally go back and even survive the long windy drive to hang out in the TINY town they make it in, because the tiny town is super hippy sustainable-tastic. EVERYTHING was organic, compostable, local and whatnot. It blew my mind. I thought Berkeley was intense about it - we have nothing on these folks. The coffee shop we went in, there was a container with a sign that said "Please put used stir sticks here to recycle. They make great kindling!" um, wow. Killing two birds with one stone, our favorite cheese is made closeby to where some of the best oysters in SF are actually (sustainably!) harvested. So, we went to get Dan some fresh-right-out-of-the-bay oysters (I am not a fan). The folks who work there clearly have no patience for the folks who come in from the city to eat oysters, so they don't shuck them and give you about a 3 second lesson on how to open them yourself. Ha, it was fun to watch. But, as you can see below, Dan did OK. Took probably longer than it needed to for him to shuck 6 oysters but hey, he said they were delicious. Cheese=perfect food. Favorite. Dan's (open!) oysters Clearly, they know what they're doing. Cow. There were quite a few. We were out in the country. I took the Friday off to take this trip because the creamery only does tours on Fridays, but also because work has been craaaaaaaaaazy the past couple of weeks. We're right in the middle of choosing the RAs for next year, and the Wed/Thurs AND Sat/Sun of the same week we went to Marin, I was interviewing RA candidates for big chunks of time, as well as doing, you know, my regular job. I was also slammed because I have been teaching my first RAD class in the evenings. So, I was certified to teach a women's self defense program back in October, and this is the first class I have taught (with two other instructors). We had 5 students, and they did SO AMAZING. They started feeling scared and quiet and finished up loud, empowered and confident. This is something I will now totally be doing all the time, that makes me feel like I'm doing something right and good and helpful. It's a nice feeling. To come: Many fun filled kitty photos, to hold you over until Dan and I get back from Vegas this weekend! It's Dan's birthday trip, just a little late. Hooray.

Let down.

So I read alot. You may have heard this before. There are very few books that I dislike so much that I can't finish them, even if I mentally (or verbally) criticize the book the whole way through. Anyway, I picked up a book tonight off my fiction shelf to start reading (yes I have a fiction shelf, and a non fiction shelf. don't judge) and was really enjoying getting home from work around 5:30 and sitting down to read. I finished about half the book before Dan and I sat down to eat dinner and watch the premiere of the new season of the Biggest Loser (yay!) Afterwards, I picked the book back up and within a chapter, things went downhill. Horrible writing and characters, totally predictable ending. Granted, it is technically a "chick lit" book, complete with pink cover, so maybe I was asking for it. But, I had to finish it. So I pretty much sped through the rest and threw it across the room afterwards, being so annoyed that someone actually published it. Ugh. It's so dissapointing for me when books let me down. So, now I will be starting another book before bed to get the taste of that book out of my mouth. *rant over* Good news: Missy Higgins is coming yet again to San Francisco, this time with Justin Nozuka! Even better news, the show is March 23rd, and I leave for a conference in DC on the 24th. Meant to be, clearly. ~Mood shift~ Bad news: My grandma is about to go through another round of chemo, six weeks long. Not as intensive as "traditional" chemo, but still difficult. A catscan this week also showed some new spots on her lungs, which is not good news. The doctors are not sure if the chemo regimen they have planned will take care of these new spots, so...yeah. I have avoided the freak out about her cancer, because her doctors have been overwhelmingly positive and she has sounded very strong when I have talked with her. But I'll admit, this new development officially makes me nervous. So, if you are a person that prays and you've got a spot open on your prayer list...my family and I would be grateful. And, now I don't really know how to wrap up after that. How about... Happy anniversary Missy and Franklin!!

Oh the injustice!

So here I am, in Buzz, which is the best bakery EVAR and one of my favorite spots in the DC area, where they have free wifi. I came partially to do work, which ain't gonna happen my friends, and partially to write a longggggggggggggg entry about everything I've been promising to write about and look at me taking the time to do this on my vacation!! Except, yeah, I don't have the pictures on my computer and Dan has the camera. Awesome. So, you're just going to have to deal with me delaying you for, oh, another month or two while I ramble about something else. Well, the holidays have kind of come and gone, but I personally had a wonderful time. My mom came out to Berkeley for the Christmas/Hanukkah time and we had a good time - lots of firsts! I cooked my first "traditional" Christmas dinner, my mom exchanged Hanukkah presents for the first time, and it was definitely the first time I got a vehicle towed in California, woot. Mom came in on Christmas eve, and so Christmas was spent cooking, opening gifts and doing some cat-sitting for a friend. Day after, we went into SF and took mom up the steps to Coit Tower (Ro, this should sound familiar) and then went to Chinatown. For the first time Dan and I were able to get someone to the SF fortune cookie factory! It was this tiny little doorway in an alley in Chinatown, it was awesome and the cookies are SO GOOD. My mom was impressed with our SF tour guide knowledge. The next day, we went up to Napa (...what else did you think we would do?). Went to 4 wineries, three of which we had never been to before, which was fun, and got mom a little tipsy before dinner. Dinner was lovely, and then the car wouldn't start. So, then there was waving down strangers to try and jump the battery, which didn't work, then a tow truck and then a $150 cab ride back to Berkeley (yes, Enterprise refunded us for the taxi) and, wow. Anyhow, as you can tell, my mom clearly got the highlights! Now I'm back in the 703/202/571 and I've been having a fantastic time. I feel like every bit of my time has been spent relaxing in places I love (like rightthissecond) or with the people I love the most, which is a pretty sweet way to spend a week. I'm not sure I really need to recount any of this week, because everyone who reads this are the folks who I've been spending all my time with, so... (I'm sitting across from a couple who rolled in, got comfy with their identical coffees, and pulled out identical macbooks. I love hipsters.) Anyway, some new years resolutions. 1 - Get a manicure because...damn. 2 - Remember birthdays. ALL of them. 3 - Get over the thing about calling people. 4 - Get lazy ass moving in some form of working out a couple times a week (I did actually find something that I think will work for me...but I won't be bragging until I actually, you know, try it) 5 - Stop buying things I don't need and donate more. 6 - All the environmentally good stuff I talked about a few posts ago. mmmmk thats a lot. lets not go crazy. I just re-found this picture from Fall 07 and kind of love it.

Thanksgiving in Nashville, year two

Well, I'm here with Dan's family in Nashville for the second year in a row. The people are the same, but everyone is a year older. Dan's nephews are still adorable and incredibly well behaved, and Dan's sister-in-law still made a ridiculously delicious Thanksgiving feast. Today was actually a big day - it was the first time Dan's nephew rode a bike without training wheels!! He actually did really, really well - I remember the process being a LOT more painful and physcially scarring than Jacob's experience today. There were many many pictures taken, of course. Anyway, I was reading last year's Thanksgiving post about what I am thankful for, and realized that I was going to have to come up with something creative, as everything I mentioned last year definitely still applies. Off the top of my head, I'm very thankful for my current living situation, job stability, and the ability to travel over the holidays (as well as the ability of my family to travel for Christmas). Also, I'm thankful for travel, email, cards, letters, text messages, Facebook, phone calls, care packages, and everything else that helps me keep in touch (however poorly) with everyone I love from thousands of miles away. I'm thankful for my friends being such an important fixture in each other's lives while we go through all of these crazy life changes we've been experiencing. I'm thankful for memories, and for digital cameras to catch all the memories our minds don't catch. I'm thankful for learning, reading, used book stores, Bookmooch, and libraries. I'm thankful for everyone I miss, and everyone who misses me back. I'm thankful for medical advances - the ones that are saving my grandmother, the ones that created life for some of my friends, and the ones that are continuing to keep some of my other friends, and their babies, healthy through pregnancies now. Of course, I'm thankful for Dan who supports and loves me through crazy plans, life changes, moods that I didn't even know I have, bad times, good times, and all the other stuff too. :) I know we haven't written about the pilgrimage we took earlier this week, and I don't want to spoil the warm fuzziness of this current post, so here's a teaser. I'll write more when we get home tomorrow.

November, one day at a time

Well, it's already the second weekend of November, and I haven't told you all thank you so much for my birthday wishes yet, which is not cool of me. So, THANK YOU! I feel very loved and appreciated. Thanks for the cards, Facebook notes, phone calls, flowers, emails, etc. You are all awesome. A lot of people have asked what we did for my birthday. So... November 1... Hooray for birthdays! We woke up actually later than planned - we had wanted to go to brunch at my favorite place, and by the time we got down there (in the pouring rain) and realized how long the wait would be, Dan realized that I would be late for my birthday present, which was a 90 minute massage! So, we ate birthday lunch at Baja Fresh (fancy, I know) and then headed to the spa...in the pouring rain. Dan had booked a deep tissue massage for me, because of the class I had taken that week, which was great but it was intense. When I left, Dan wasn't back yet, but the ladies at the spa were sure to tell me that my husband would be back soon to pick me up. A little weird. That night we set out for a night out in SF because we had tickets to a Matt Nathanson concert at the Warfield, which is this incredibly historic venue in downtown SF (the locals call it the Tenderloin district. Could there be a more unappealing name for a location?) Anyway, we went to one of our favorite local places for dinner (Burmese!) and then headed across the bay, still in the pouring rain. Luckily, we got to the Warfield in plenty of time, and the concert was GREAT. If you've never heard of him, you should check him out. He's in the Jason Mraz/John Mayer sort of vein. Anyway, he put on a great show, and is a really funny guy, so the in between song bits were good times. November 2... Another day, another concert. We saw Jason Mraz at the Greek Theater (on campus venue, where I went to see Dave Matthews) - it was a weekend full of skinny white guys playing guitars really. The concert strangely started at 3pm, which was especially weird on the same day as Daylight Savings. Anyhow, he's also great live. He was a little too happy, the world is made of sunshine and unicorns, every little thing is gonna be alright for this sarcastic heart though. BUT, I really appreciated that live, he really sounds like he does on his album, which is important to me. November 3... Good things! My staff had broken into my office over the weekend and decorated - all week I was tripping over the balloons that were all over the floor. They were all really proud of themselves, coming by to make sure that I liked it. Also, I left the office early, because I had to get home to watch Monday Night Football. (Early, because that crap starts at 5 pm here. Which is ridiculous). Anyway, I know Redskins fans know the outcome of the game, but I just wanted to reiterate that the Steelers were victorious. And I was happy about it. November 4... So, I'm not sure if I really need to state the fact that the candidate I voted for won the presidential race, or the fact that he won in quite an impressive fashion, or the fact that I am SO HAPPY ABOUT IT. Yeah, I didn't think so. Election day was interesting here - I was still at work at like, 4 pm, when they started announcing that some of the East Coast states were either going red or blue. The polls had barely closed in California before they called the whole election - it was crazy. Students basically rushed out of the buildings and had a celebration in the courtyard, complete with cheering, chanting "Yes we can" and all out screaming. Luckily, they left the unit, but only to join the cheering MOB that took over all of downtown Berkeley and the whole campus. It was pretty intense apparently. There are pictures all over CNN and Facebook. Also - VIRGINIA? OHIO? I am SO proud!!! I couldn't believe it. What a time to be a proud Northern Virginia Democrat. I didn't do any of the rejoicing and running about, which I'm now regretting. I wish I had taken the time to celebrate, because all of my exhiliration was basically completely sucked out when I clicked over on cnn.com to check on the ballot measures and saw that it was likely that Prop 8 was going to pass in California. In case you've been living under a rock, Prop 8 is the measure that banned gay marriage in California. It ended up actually passing 52% to 46%. I was and still am shocked and completely appalled. I didn't realize how much I was emotionally invested in the measure until it passed...and now, I just don't even know what to say. Of course though, I am thrilled to have contributed to the historic moment of Obama getting elected. November 5... Moping still about Prop 8. November 6... Tech beat Maryland on Thursday night. Fear the turtle my ass. November 7... I actually missed the Prop 8 march in San Francisco on Friday night, because I had to teach my class. But, on the up side, class went really well, and I think a lot of them are really starting to make some progress, which is of course what's really important. November 8... Wow, a lot of good football today. Most of the games didn't end up the way I would have liked, but good games. Penn State, loser. LSU (who I was rooting for after the PSU loss), loser. Cal, loser - which is fine, because they couldn't catch a pass to save their lives. And wow, penalties much? In other news, I'm on my second to last book for the year - I'm actually reading the Diary of Anne Frank for the first time ever, and having some trouble getting into it. I find myself forgetting while I'm reading that she was a real person, in this REAL situation. Crazy. Any suggestions for the 50th book? Also, my grandparents (mom's parents) just celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary on Friday. I have a hard time wrapping my brain around the concept of sixty years. Six decades! They are pretty awesome. I updated you all on the status of my grandmother actually, and I wanted to say thanks for the warm thoughts - she will be going into surgery to remove a tumor, but she is in very high spirits, her doctors are positive and the prognosis is good. So, we will keep hoping for things to go well! Saw my first Christmas themed commercial yesterday. Ugh. The rain has started here almost every day, which means winter is actually here. Between that and the sun going down so GD early, I'm kind of depressed about the weather and out of doors. I hope everyone is staying warm! **Update: So, I was reading through my old posts today and realized that I'm a total hypocrite. When it was March, and Daylight Savings Time went the other way, I was all "Woo Daylight Savings! Extra daylight is the best thing ever!" and now...where's the loyalty? *shakes head sadly*

Vitally important information

Executive decision: I'll post a proper congratulatory photo of Kel, Mike and the boys when we get a really good shot of all 4 of them. They are a family after all. (Crazy!)

So, life has resumed to normal after the recent travels. I do love to travel, but going away 3 of the past 4 weekends has kind of made me feel like a crazy person at work. Seriously, I got back from Vegas with my mom on Monday afternoon, and on Tuesday, I got up and went to my Monday meeting. I'm awesome. And professional.

Vegas was nice - we really just met up out there for my birthday present, which was a ticket to go see Bette Midler. She was great live - sang the songs I wanted to hear, told dirty jokes, and had back-up showgirls who didn't look like sticks, which is always appreciated. She's so little in person! The whole time we were there, I couldn't help but think of Missy's dad, because Irv is a huge Bette fan (little known fact).

Sunday night, we went to see Love, which is a Cirque du Soleil show based entirely on the music of the Beatles. It was seriously like being inside the lyrics of the songs for 90 minutes. It's a huge headtrip. I can't believe someone was able to conceptualize that show and then someone else came along and actually made it happen! Cirque is amazing. If you ever get out to Vegas and have an option of shows to see - Love is totally worth the money.

Anyway, it was nice to see my mom - she was actually on her way back from a trip to Hawaii to visit Mike, which apparently was nice. She will be back out on this coast for Christmas - hooray for not having to travel when plane fares are ridiculous! This does mean, however, that we have to acquire a Christmas tree, Christmas ornaments, stockings and the like.

Anddddd I'm boring. I think bullet points may be a useful tool at this juncture.

• there was some sort of explosion on the freeway this morning. an oil tanker or gas tanker or "something like that" says dan. cool.
• i am having a serious craving for macado's - which is a southwestern VA sandwich place. YUM. they make really good queso. dan and i used to go on "dates" there. awwwwwwww.
• so, election. soon. i'm nervous.
• i only have 6 books left to read this year to meet my goal!
• i am not currently enjoying the biggest loser. one of the women on the show really bothers me because she's a big liar. but i do still love bob.
• i'm thinking about taking up yoga. rosa inspired me.
• there is a possibility that dan and i could be hanging around our apartment for new year's eve, which makes me really sad. people should come visit!!

Clearly, the bullet points aren't working. Look! Kitty pictures!

Lily discovering the cupboards.

They love each other.

I learned how to link!

10 years ago, I was in high school. 13 years ago, I was in middle school. With some of the people who read this blog. Who have been my family since then. We are close. We rely on each other. We have been through a lot. High school, college, grad school. Graduations, moves, apartments, new homes. Break-ups, breakdowns, marriage, divorce, death, and now birth. We've welcomed so many partners and spouses into the fold - and even though we can be a tough group to warm up to - now I can't imagine us without them. Now our family is growing in a whole new, beautiful way. It is hard for me to even comprehend that some of us have started a family of their very own. I can not believe that we're growing up enough to do that. And I can not believe that we still have each other to watch this all unfold together. I'm still kind of overwhelmed by it all, so you should just read Laura's post over here and I'll write some actual cohesive thoughts later.

Lists. How I love thee.

Things that were amazing: 1. Having so many of our friends here for ridiculous amounts of good times. It was nice to be able to really be around people we love in a place we love (for those of you who are slow, that place is here in Berkeley) 2. Getting to take said people around San Francisco having quality fun times, even though we were sweating like crazy because........I can't read weather reports correctly. 3. Also getting to take our loved ones around Napa for a day - we had SUCH a good time. Plus, we totally helped Franklin develop an addiction to wine, and sent them home with a case. Ben and Jess went home with a case + 2 bottles. Awesome. 4. Jean and Lee's renewal ceremony. Laura, Jean, Rosa and Josh all looked hotttttttttttttt. 5. Playing Taboo in our favorite local (yet deserted) bar...as it was last call on a Sunday night. 6. No one having flight trouble!!! Can you believe it? 7. Two Dave Matthews Band concerts in three days. I heard 4 of my top 5 favorite songs. If you really want me to list them, I can. 8. Getting to watch the VT/Georgia Tech game with Laura Anne Benson yesterday down in Palo Alto 9. After dinner, which her godfamily had Dan and I over for (they are AWESOME), watching Blades of Glory with Frank, Blue, Laura and her whole god-family. I didn't expect it to be nearly as funny as it actually was. 10. Watching two teenagers breakup. Most amazing thing I have EVER seen. New things to still look forward to: 1. Dancing with the Stars, The Biggest Loser, Dirty Sexy Money and Grey's starting again. Don't judge me. 2. The rest of football season 3. Matt Nathanson concert (on my birthday!) 4. Mom coming to visit for Christmas/Hanukkah Things we should blog about: 1. City walks 2. The good times recently had with everyone here Best cupcakes everrrrrrrrrrrrrr. Ben got frosting on his pants. And then cried about it all day. Japantown. Wine is tasty. And the concerts. That's my boyfriend on the middle screen there.

No seriously...

...I am cursed and so are those around me. Dan's flight home from NYC last night (he was there for work - the NYC marathon!) was cancelled and he flew home early this morning instead. They said it was because of "weather" but really it's because "Kristin is cursed." I'm sorry in advance LB if you have trouble getting home from London. **We did go whale watching a couple of weeks ago in Monterrey, which was lovely and COLD. We saw anywhere from 3-5 whales (no way of telling if they're the same or different ones) and while we didn't get too up close and personal, we definitely could see them breach the surface, and heard them, and got some great shots of them diving deep and their flukes coming out of the water (yeah, flukes. I know the lingo). However, on the way back in we came across probably 40-50 dolphins who were jumping and frolicking about right up next to the boat. There were 3 different species and they played around for probably about 10 minutes - it was awesome! The people on the boat said it was some of the best dolphin sighting they hadd had all season. Of course, they probably say that to all the people who don't get to see a lot of whales, but I'm going to choose to believe them. It is pretty crazy to me that we can drive less than two hours south of here and go whale watching. Anyway, we plan to try again - maybe next summer. Maybe we'll get actual usable pictures then! **As I said, Dan was on travel for work and he went to the play ("Boeing, Boeing") that Bradley Whitford is in and got to meet him and take a picture with him. No really, it's fine that both Missy and Dan have met him and I haven't. Seriously, I'm fine with it. **Work - ack! I started training for this coming school year last week, and we kicked it off by going on overnight retreat. All of a sudden my to do list is insanely, crazy long. I'm trying not to get stressed out before I really need to but it feels like a lot already! August is such a crazy month. Two weeks of training my staff for about 10 hours a day, followed by two days of move in (1400 students in two days!), followed by two weeks full of activities put on by my staff, followed by the CC coming into town! You all will very much be my relaxation after a very stressful time. **Usually, I'm reporting on a ton of books I've read, but recently I've seen a whole bunch of movies. Dan and I went to see Wall-E, which was pretty adorable. I think I do prefer Pixar adventure movies to Pixar love stories though. We also went to see Iron Man in a really cute second-run movie theather/bar which Dan really enjoyed (it's the geek in him). I was really impressed with Robert Downey Jr. Who would have thought he could have been sober enough to pull that off?? And I finally saw Batman Begins so I could go see The Dark Knight this weekend on IMAX. Has anyone else seen it? People here who have said it was really, really good and that Heath Ledger is really, really disturbing. Considering the last action movie I saw was "Wanted" I feel pretty confident that this will be an improvement. **My aunt Janis was just in town! Her boyfriend is out in SF for about a month, working on...many different things, so she came out for the weekend to visit. We all got to go out to dinner, which was lovely. I was surprised at how nice it was to see some family, in between what seems like will be the regular twice-yearly visit home. **In other family news, my mom and I are going to Vegas in October to see Bette Midler!!! You can make fun all you want, I'm excited.

I fully believe that I am cursed.

Yes, I am back safely in California after a wonderful visit to the East Coast. Why yes, my flight home was awful and got me to San Francisco almost 3 hours late, why do you ask? It just makes me tired to think about. And thankful that the next time I will be on a plane probably won't be until October. My dad and I sat through about 45 minutes of traffic to get me to BWI in the first place, but he got me there on time, even a little early, as he always does. I had time to check in, and grab some dinner and as I was eating, I could see down to my gate. As I start looking closer, I see this man who clearly is upset, harassing and yelling at the gate attendants. (Yeah, the one place you don't yell at people is at airports or on airplanes. Wow, what a quick way to get arrested.) Eventually, some security shows up and they take the guy down the jetway toward the plane, and close the door behind them. Shortly, two lovely police officers show up and join the party. The gate attendant then comes out and tells everyone that the flight is going to be delayed until "the situation is handled." (Translation: Until this crazy man is off the plane.) so after about 10 minutes, the door opens, crazy man is escorted out by police officers, and we finally board. I find out from the flight attendant that the flight started in NY and on the way he created a ruckus, they kicked him off in Baltimore. And he wan't pleased. His brother dd go ahead and stay on the pkane though, which made me laugh. SO, we're already delayed for about 20 minutes, but all seems well - the flight is really smooth, I did the entire "difficult" crossword puzzle, etc. We have to make a stop in Phoenix. Phoenix has thunderstorms and 50 mph winds. We circle. For 45 minues. We eventually land (right before we got diverted to Tucson which would have made me hurt myself) and then we sit. For another hour. Thankfully, there were only about 30 people on the plane, so everyone had their own ow to lay down. Ugh I was tired when I got in, as it felt like about 5 in the morning to me on East Coast time. Seriously, even though both of my flights were awful and the stuff of nightmares, it was really nice to be back in DC and to see everyone. My mom and I went up to Johnstown for Fourth of July weekend to hang out with my grandparents, who my mom and my aunts think are "slowing down." But, seriously, my grandfather is 83 and he still works out at a gym a few times a week, and is active in the Knights of Columbus and carves and...I don't know what to say about that. I mean, he's obviously slower now than when he (and they!) were younger, but seems like he's doing pretty darn well to me. The last time I saw my grandparents was at Christmas when my entire family was at the Sheep Farm, so it was nice to be there when only my mom and I were there. It's much quieter. We all spent some time on the Fourth hanging out and eating (really, what else do you do for the 4th of July?), celebrating my aunt Debi's birthday, and then the next day we also all remembered my uncle Bill, who passed away two years ago July 6th. It was...sad, obviously. (I bet you all would have inferred that if I hasn't said anything) Also, fun fact: We stayed at a hotel where the desk clerk mentioned that Barack Obama and his entire staff had stayed a couple of months ago during a stop. Who knew that candidates came to Johnstown? (It didn't do any good with my grandparents. Staunch Democrats, but they're voting for McCain. *sigh*) I do start to miss Reston everytime I go back. But, as I was discussing with Brian, I think it would be different if everytime I went back no one was there. Do I really miss the place or the people? This time, Jess was there, being all engaged and such, Brian was home visiting (for his birthday!), Missy and Franklin were obviously there, my mom, my dad, my aunt/uncle/cousins, etc. So I don't know. I had a great time enteraining myself during the day (which mostly entailed going to coffeeshops I really like that had free WiFi) and then meeting people at night to do fun things. Franklin, Brian and I saw "Wanted" one night. WOW was it bad. Funny thing is, Dan actually refused to see it with me. This is odd for a few reasons. 1) Angelina Jolie. 2) He LOVES bad movies. Movies that you think are going to be horrible, Dan gets psyched up for. He can't help it. 3) Angelina Jolie. I wanted to go because the premise seemed fun - get messages from the future about who is bad bad bad and assassins kill them in the present to prevent the future badness. I think as a concept, that has potential. However, they kind of sort of completely squashed it and just made it horrible. I haven't seen a bad movie in the theater in a while (I try to avoid them, as it's friggin expensive to see movies these days) but this one wins the prize. I think the last one I saw that falls into this category was "Crank" with Jason Statham (the guy in the Transporter movies) who I swear can NOT make a good movie. Anyway, Crank was also horrible. Annnnnd I'm rambling. OH but there was a preview for the Batman movie, which creeped me out (the whole Heath Ledger thing). So yes, it was lovely to visit, but I'm home again with Dan and the kitties. While today is the 12th, I will be postponing 12 on the 12th for another edition of 13 on the 13th because we're going whale watching tomorrow! Woot.

Triathlon results

Rose = My dad and my uncle's relay triathlon team [relay meaning one of them swam (jeff), one biked (Mike) and one ran (my dad)] finished in front of 25 other relay teams. As my dad said "Not so bad for old guys" Thorn = 25 other teams finished before them. That's right, they finished EXACTLY in the middle of the 51 team field. I'm pretty impressed.

This weekend's roses and thorns

When we have staff meetings and things, we use "roses and thorns" as a fun way to say "highs and lows" where people share the highlights and lowlights of their week, or day or whatever. How student affairs of us. Anyway, we went to the beach this past Saturday - we revisited Stinson Beach to lay out on the beach, soak up the sun and the unseasonably warm weather and pretend we were on the East Coast. Thorns = Getting sunburned in ridiculous patterns, finding out painfully that the "continuous spray" sunblock really doesn't work for crap, and then remembering the horror of aloe vera gel. Roses = Day at the beach, which was awesome. Listening to the waves, falling asleep on a towel while reading a book, and eating slightly melty Oreos. Thorn = My mom ended up not being able to visit, for various reasons having to do with her work schedule, which stinks, but I will be home in about 10 days to visit! Mom and I are going up to visit my grandparents in Johnstown for a few days, over the long weekend. We will be visiting, seeing fireworks and painting my grandparetn's house, which I'm psyched about doing in the July heat and humidity. And then I will be back in the DC area to visit with people and see Jess's engagement ring in person. :) Rose = I went to the Container Store. Yes, this is actually pretty thrilling for me. Mock me all you want. I love to organize. Thorn = I went shopping while sunburned. Let me emphasize that this is not good for your self-esteem as no clothes compliment "Bright red in weird ass patterns" in a dressing room mirror. Rose = I made a quiche. Thorn = My life here is not nearly as cool as Laura's in London. Rose = My dad and uncles did their triathlon!