Family Time

Last weekend the extended and diverse Forest-related clan came together to celebrate the life of Lucy Forest who, at 94 years of age, finally slipped peacefully into the unknown beyond. While the coming together was bitter-sweet, getting to spend time with Uncle Jim, Nancy, Tamara, Sam, Joyce and Ed helped get me through the weekend in good spirits. I didn't take as many photos as I should have, but here are a few worth sharing.

Uncle Jim at Joyce and Ed's

Nancy at Joyce and Ed's

Nancy and Jim

Tamara and Me

Jim and Tamara

Tamara and Sam

Us at Dinner

Family, however you come by it - by blood or choice - is vital and precious.

I may not have taken any pictures at Lucy's service, but I picture my extended family clearly, from the oldest members of our crazy clan all the way down to our newest editions.

And three cheers for Lucy!

Lucy at her Queen for a Day Celebration of Life

 

I Made Bread: Yup, I Really Did

Here is a story on my recent bread making attempts. I planned to blog it, but Storehouse just makes it too easy to do really nice story layouts. So, click through and give it a read.

https://www.storehouse.co/stories/t1oyp-yup-i-made-bread

P.S. I just made my third loaf today (it's not the one pictured above - that one's #2). I didn't let the second rise go as long as previously, plus the dough went on a road trip with me to S&L's place, where I'm spending the night. The bread seems much poofier. Haven't tried it yet but I'll have some for breakfast and we'll see how I did.

 

Hip-Hip-Hooray

As you may recall, while I was back east I had the chance to visit the Met. I love the Met and if I lived near a museum like that I'd be dropping in all the time.

For some time - okay, since I was a kid - I've loved the famous turqoise blue Egyptian hippopotamus (come on, who doesn't love that hippo?). For a long time I've wanted to aquire one of the ceramic replicas from the Met store. Maybe I saw one when I was little and it stuck with me - maybe my mom had one, I don't know. I'd certainly seen them on past visits to the museum store when I was a broke teen or equally broke college or grad student. I knew I could get it online, but where's the fun in that? So, of my goals while at the Met, one was to see the hippo in the flesh again (done, even got a pic of him) and the other was to finally bring home the replica. On the later I failed. I made poor Michael roam the store with me in search of one. I even asked! But all I could find were cheesy toy versions, or keychains, or puzzles. Sheesh. I got a postcard instead.

Then, in Boston, to my chagrin, over the sink, in front of the kitchen window, the hippo! I said to Steve, "Steve! You have the hippo!" Steve had gotten his hippo years ago and it had travelled around with him from place to place and was now a part of his new life with his family in Boston. I told him my sad hippo story and then, each day while I was at the Gallagher's, I gazed on the hippo with longing. Several times I lovingly adjusted its position on the window ledge, thinking, "Awe, such a pretty little guy." Steve, too, suggested I order one online. "Yeah, maybe I'll do that when I get home, though it's not quite the same."

And I thought about it. When I got back to SF I even went to the online shop to check him out. But a rare moment of restraint held me back. After all, I'd already spent far too much on my trip. This would just have to wait.

Tonight I got home to a box on my doorstep. "Hmmm," I said, noticing the museum's return address, "this doesn't appear to be my missing gnome hat order." With great curiosity I carried the box inside, threw my purse on the couch, sat down at my desk with my scissors and began to open the box, all the while wondering, "What the heck?"

And there he was, in all his blue glory, my very own Egyptian hippopotamus!

Isn't he beautiful? He's all, "Yup, I'm a hippo." Thank you, Steve, John, Gina and Isaiah!

Here's some hippo love back at 'cha!

 

Back in Jersey

Well, I made it to NJ without any issues.

The only excitement during the whole journey was the Super Shuttle ride to SFO. The driver was a little early so I ended up rushing to get dressed. This was not a problem for me as I was pretty much ready, just lacking, well, pants. Being ahead of schedule for one of the passengers, however, proved to be more of an issue. When we got to the third stop after my pick-up we were about 10 or 15 minutes early and the person being picked up wasn't ready. This other passenger, who was sitting in the back row in the seat closest to the door, started to complain about how the rest of us shouldn't be inconvenienced because this other person wasn't ready. Despite being told that the pick up time was scheduled for between 8:00 and 8:15, she felt we shouldn't have to wait around. When the new person came out - at about 8:02 - this other woman barely moved so the girl had to climb over her to get into a seat. I thought to myself, "Talk about inconveniencing people." I mean, really, you can't move in? "Maybe she gets off at one of the first airlines." That's me, giving her the benefit of the doubt. We get to our last pickup and the driver asks her if she can move in so the guy can get in, but all she does is purse her lips and move her knees so this tall guy has to climb all over her. I raised my eyebrows. All of us except miss sour puss chatted nicely with each other - it seemed appropriate we acknowledge each other as the van was at full capacity with 7 passengers and the driver. When we got to SFO, sure enough Miss Can't-Be-Inconvenienced was getting off at United, the last of the stops. I hope she got a middle seat on her flight and was bookended by two really big, smelly guys.

But all was fine for me. I got through security without having to have a body cavity search, strolled through the terminal in my Ativan-inspired chill mood, bought some new noise-canceling earbuds (which I do not regret at all), and then boarded the plane to my first class seat. Oh, here was some drama - people sitting in the wrong seats! Hah hah hah. Don't people look at their tickets? I mean, really, there are only 16 seats in first class, how hard can it be?

Snow tops! Yay!

Fluffy! Blue!

I read for a while, looked out the window, had lunch, read some more and then napped a little and suddenly we were landing. My luggage was the sixth bag out - yup, take that, sixth out - and then I was in a cab on my way to Maplewood.

Adele had made some fresh chicken noodle soup and I enjoyed a bowl of that. Yes, I am spoiled. We caught up, planned our errands for Wednesday, and then I went to bed.

Sleeping the dreamless sleep of the damned.

End of Day 1.

 

The Tough California Life

Life in California is tough and living in the Bay Area even tougher. Don't let anyone tell you differently. This is especially true when your friends down in Moss Beach invite you over for dinner on what happens to be one of the nicest and warmest weekends so far this year. Me, I'm all for the cold, wet, sinister fog, especially when hanging out on the coast, but even I have to admit it really was lovely weather.

It was eight of us: Diana, Chad, Lesli, AJ, Matt, Julia, Alex and me. Our hosts, Diana and Chad, have a charming cottage they've spent a great deal of time and effort remodeling. Having such a place was a dream of Diana's and damn if she didn't achieve it perfectly.

Front of the cottage at twilight.

Diana, our exceptional hostess.

The reading nook.

Our inviting tablescape.

Their little cottage also just so happens to abut on the edge of a marine reserve, so before dinner we took a walk to check out the cypress grove, the coastline and the sunset.

Some of the Moss Beach coastline.

Just an FYI.

Cypress tree.

A very enLightening group portrait. (I know, horrible!)

The light at this hour was incredible.

And of course Madge and I got all giddy over the cypress trees and I took lots of tree pics, messing around with settings, and being generally geeky with Madge.

The cypress grove, early in our walk.

Yup, some more cypress trees.

Self portrait, in shadow, among the cypress.

"Don't go into the light, Maryanne! Stay away from the light!" The group strolling ahead.

I feel as though I should be on horseback, sauntering lazily along this path on my way home to the family estate only to be waylaid by some handsome but nefarious highwayman who is actually a nobleman in disguise out to capture the real fiends. Said nobleman in disguise falls helplessly in love with me while trying to do his duty to king and country and still maintaining his secret identity. I will, of course be kidnapped by said fiends and then rescued by said nobleman in disguise, at which point I'll fall into his embrace for a passionate and life-changing kiss. Look, blame Avon Books, ok! I can't be held responsible for such meandering thoughts while wandering through a cypress grove lit with the light of the setting sun.

A bit close up.

Then we moved out of the trees...

Sigh.

Sea Lions! Dang, if only I had carried my telephoto with me! Next time.

After enjoying the lazy antics of the sea lions, we headed back through the grove. By this time the light had changed quite a bit.

The red in the trees is a moss of some kind. The setting sun really brings out the intensity of the color.

Oh, the light.

Sigh.

Flock of pelicans.

The slow decline.

Then we went down to the beach to watch the sunset.

Happy beach joyness.

One of my few people shots: Matt and Diana.

And the pièce de résistance: the sunset.

After the sun made his finishing bow, we headed back to the house for dinner. I forgot to take pictures, so you'll just have to trust me when I say it was superb. Everyone contributed to the meal: bread salad, spinach salad, linguini with clams, asparagus, fresh made French fries with a special oyster and bacon soup gravy, and lots of wine. For dessert, a variety of tarts from La Boulange. Conversation was great as all present were intelligent, thoughtful people (yes, I'm including myself and Diana in that statement!).

I was the only one spending the night and Diana, Chad and I stayed up for quite a while before finally going to bed. All in all, a spectacular evening.

This morning the three of us went out for breakfast before I headed back to the city to recuperate. In case you didnt already know this, pancakes and bacon are the solution to all life's woes, though eating crispy bacon after gum surgery (I had that nasty procedure done last Thursday and still have the stitches) is a tad bit challenging. Ah, thick, crispy bacon. Frankly, no matter how I try I just can't bring myself to give up the bacon. In fact, just writing about bacon makes me want bacon. Now. Seriously.

Diana and Chad, thank you for a great getaway! Perfect scenery, delicious food, and wonderful friends. Life truly is tough here in California.

 

Just Some Randomness

I'm in the market for a more advanced camera option to supplement my great point and shoot Panasonic DMC ZS3 and have been picking the brains of my photography friends. This past Saturday my fount of info was Andrew. After getting lots of ideas, an offer to borrow his Canon 50D and a promise of a poker game in the near future, I headed for Slacker's. As I was walking down Andrew's little block to my car I came across this lovely. Painted vehicles make me smile.

Three eyes are always better then two

This afternoon I got home from my deliciously decadent mani/pedi and found a letter from Linda, as well as two postcards: one from Santa Barbara (Ng-Ult), the other from creepy Deer Lodge, Montana (Woodens). The postcards were enjoyed and then put away for safe keeping in my postcard books. Traveling somewhere? I love postcards (hint hint).

Postcards!

I then read, and re-read Linda's letter. I love reading her letters.

Her letter motivated me and I wrote a bunch of cards to assorted loves of mine. Let's hope I remember to get them in the mail in the next day or so. I still have postcards to send from my weekend up in Russian River.

Luckily, I also remembered I had to prep my computer for the SQL & PL/SQL class I'm taking online this week. As I was doing the various system tests, installing necessary plugins and ensuring my login worked, I noticed a detail in my confirmation email I had previously failed to comprehend: the class starts at 8:30 a.m. EASTERN time! Oh, for pity sake. I honestly can't remember the last time I woke up at 5:00 a.m. I got everything ready, though, and all I can hope is that I won't ignore my alarm tomorrow morning.

A clean desk to aid my learning

 

Bored at Home

I'm home sick today. Annoying headache and my stomach is bothering me. Plus I'm bored. Whine.

I watched last night's A.I. Candice and Kree blew all the other performances out of the water.

Yesterday was a gorgeous day in the city, so I took a few pics from the Lone Mountain patio looking north and east. I never get tired of this city.

On Monday we had our work-place "Almost Annual Chili Cook-Off". There were ten cooks this year and the competition was fierce. I thought my chili was good, but it wasn't good enough. I didn't even place. *Sniffle.* I voted for my favorite and apparently most others agreed with me as she won. Business & Finance took 1st and 2nd place, their first wins, and ITS took 3rd. Even though I didn't win, I thought my chili looked lovely. I'm going to have to work on my recipe.

Speaking of food, the Ng-Ult pair are back from Hawaii and they brought presents! A jar of Passion Fruit-Orange-Guava preserves. Insanely tasty. AND a perfect selection of mochi from Two Ladies Kitchen. Oh. My. Goodness. The picture doesn't do these lovelies justice. I think my favorite was the one at the top right - brownie inside. Yum.

Finally, to those of you who suspect I've given up physical books for electronic ones, I say pish-posh. I happened to find myself in the Marina this week and dropped in to Books, Inc. Of course there were lots of tasty morsels, but I managed to escape with just one selection and a handful of cards. "City of Thieves", by David Benioff. Hope it's good. I'll be bringing it with me when I go up to the Russian River for a weekend getaway.

That's all for now.

 

For Your Viewing Pleasure

I've got a bunch of pictures to share in this posting. Felines. Friends. Foliage. And randomness.

First, of course, felines.

Ng-Ult Feline Horde. From left: Leo, Long, Angel, Wu Mei.

Long stretched along my lap and keeping me warm.

Leo, Katja's litter bro. Notice his different eye colors?

Keiko snozzle. Seriously.

Friends. Sweet Ebru has gone back to Istanbul. Even though the distance is minimized with technology, she's still too far away. The day before she left, Abby, Ebru and I went across the bay to have breakfast at Brown Sugar Kitchen. Sadness can always be softened with tasty food!

Abby and Ebru

Ebru, we miss you!

And the precious Leila, who I babysat last night. We were supposed to party while the parents were at the movies, but she fell asleep almost immediately. I spent the next three hours watching her in between AI performances. She was much more entertaining.

Leila, oh oh oh, oh, Leila.

Foliage. Just a few pictures taken while walking around.

On a fence along Octavia.

Along Octavia.

A blossoming cherry tree.

And randomness.

From a recent ATM withdrawal. Seems reasonable to me.

My friend's birthday cupcakes. I had one of the ones in the second row. Holy crap it was good!

Ending on cupcakes makes me want to go out and find one. I wonder if I could convince Slacker to go on a cupcake quest. There happens to be a Kara's in the vicinity somewhere.