A Lovely Spring Day

So, I think this California is beginning to grow on me a bit… at least parts of it are. Zeke and I are looking to rent a larger place in the more peaceful Morgan Hill, about 15 minutes south of our current location. Oh how NICE it will be to get out of the San Jose rat race!

We went down there today to look at a potential abode, and then we drove less than a mile up the road to a tasting at a brand new winery, Castillo’s Hillside Shire. The tasting room was the garage of a house, but it was definitely the nicest garage I’ve ever been in. The owners’ 17 year old daughter does the artwork for all the eye-catching labels. She and her parents were there chatting with the visitors while a family friend served the wine and their German Shepherd casually observed from a cool spot under an UTV.

Afterwards, we went to the local brew pub, El Toro, where we enjoyed a beer and an ice cream sundae and shared a laugh with a couple of old biker dudes on their way to a Sharks game. The waitress from our last visit came over with a big, genuine smile to say “Hi” and ask how the house hunting was going. How nice it was to be remembered!

It was a breezy, sunny, beautiful, laid-back day. Yes, I think I like this place called Morgan Hill!

 

The Goings-on

Zeke’s dad came out to visit last month. He was here for only a day and a half, but we had a great time none-the-less. We visited the always creepy, always weird Winchester Mystery House, ate potato & truffle pizza on Santana Row, introduced Jack to the wit of Eddie Izzard, and Zeke and he made the usual trip to see the lovely Japanese Hakone Gardens.

Two weekends ago, Christy and I went up to San Francisco with the Foss family, who are native to the area. The purpose of our trip was the Festival of Sail, the annual tall ship parade and celebration. We had a grand time! Our trip involved a stroll through the Ferry Building for gourmet delights of fragrant sourdough bread, hot java, fresh-out-of-the-oven cherry turnovers, and visually stimulating pastas. Yummm! After all that goodness had been had, we trekked down the road a ways towards some of the vendor tents and tall ships. The crafts area was, in the words of Maria’s mother, “an endless crap hole,” but the ships were great! We boarded the HMS Bounty, built for Mutiny on the Bounty and more recently used in Pirates of the Caribbean II. (And oh yes, the beautiful Johnny Depp had filmed on the very deck upon which I stood!). We also went aboard the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Barque Eagle. I enjoyed both ships and initially thought the HMS Bounty would be my favorite; however, the Eagle just felt more “real.” I guess that was to be expected since it was built for actual military purposes, constructed and used by Nazi Germany in 1936 and then taken as a war prize by the United States in 1946. I definitely plan on going back for next year’s festival to add a couple more vessels to my tall ship experience!

Last but not least, we got to see two of our favorite bands this month. We went to the Campbell BBQ and Big Band Festival to see Lavay Smith and Her Red Hot Skillet Lickers. Her voice is straight out of the ’40s and the band is on fire! She does, however, dance like a drunken sorority girl. Ha! The Red Elvises were live at Club Avalon, and I got to dance on stage with the band! There were a few other gals up there too, but they just didn’t seem to appreciated the experience as much as I did. I mean, c’mon… it’s the bigger than life, incredibly talented, very Russian, brightly bizarre RED ELVISES!!! Fun! Fun! Fun!

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention the sword fighting tournament we went to. We got to watch our friend, Max, get smacked in the head and smack other people in the head with a sword. The sparks were flying! It was also a bit clangy.

 

Food Diary, You Say?

Okay, I have come to the conclusion that I need to better my eating habits, tone-up, and lose a few pounds to feel better. I seem to be struggling a bit with getting myself motivated to change so have been seeking out ways to give myself a little kick in the pants. I know the big rage now is food diaries. A Kaiser Permanente study found that people who log their food intake tend to lose twice as much weight. This little tidbit has been on so many news programs recently. (I am home a lot right now, you know.) Well, the fact that people are determined enough to write down every speck of food that enters their mouth means that they are serious about losing weight in the first place. I wonder how many people began a diary and quit due to frustration? Here are my thoughts in a nutshell. I think a food diary might be a good start to achieving a better diet but that it should be used only for a short while, perhaps a week or two. It may just help one get a reality-check on their eating habits and learn how to correct them. However, long-term use of a diary is impractical and promotes an unhealthy relationship with food, particularly for the obsessive/compulsive types. It is just another way that our modern world is encouraging us to become unnaturally preoccupied with food and, basically, stressing us all out!

 

Seaside Fun

Zeke and I had a great Independence Day weekend! We went to his coworker’s for a cookout on the 4th. The house set atop a mountain ridge in Los Gatos, overlooking the valley. We could see five or six fireworks shows from up there and imagined our viewpoint to be reminiscent of what Francis Scott Key may have seen and heard when he wrote the anthem. It was perfect!

Sunday, we went to Half Moon Bay. It was so nice being in a laid-back town. We walked around and peeked into some shops, including a great nook & cranny yarn store. Zeke treated me with the gift of a very fashionable hat and a pendant from a little French boutique. (He is such a good picker-outer.) We had an early dinner at the San Benito House restaurant and met some really cool people at the bar– in particular, a couple of older ladies who were shoppe owners. The words “hoot” and “sophistication” come to mind. The whole atmosphere of the place was great. People actually talked to each other! And, there were mounted animal heads on the restaurant walls… in hippie NorCal! I guess one just has to venture out of the cities to find a bit of normality and grassroots culture.

After eating, we went up the road a ways to Vasona Beach. It was lovely! There were only a few people, and it was very clean. The landscape was such that we half expected to see a bunch of murlocs running up and down the coastline going “mgurlurlurlurl.” (Fellow WoW players will know what I mean.) We hadn’t seen the ocean in so long! I know we live right next to it, but we had only ventured to Santa Cruz, which is on Monterey Bay, and to Carmel-by-the Sea. It was thrilling to finally see the white breakers of the Pacific! We were like children running back and forth with the tide and laughing. I felt like such a little girl again, squealing with delight when the water splashed up to soak my pant legs. It was so tempting to just dive right in, but we knew the ride home wouldn’t be much fun. That’s okay, we will go back soon with our bathing suits, our unused kites, and a picnic lunch! It is just too bad the camera battery died before we actually got down to the water. Oh well, the mental pictures are very clear!

 

Short and Sweet

Well, I just wanted to write a quick update before leaving for family vacation.

I still don’t have any job leads, but my hopes remain high that I can land one shortly after getting back.

Zeke’s mom came out to visit for his birthday at the end of May. We had fun just hanging out at the apartment, playing games and watching movies. We made it out for a bit of shopping, a visit to the Hakone Gardens, and dinner at The Tandoori Oven, one of our favorite restaurants. So yummy!

Finally, here is my new hair color, fresh out of the salon! I’m not too sure about it yet. We shall see what it looks like in a few days. Red can be tricky!

Toodles!

 

My Deflated yet Hopeful Balloon

A few hours ago, I got a call from the direct hire agency I went to see on Monday. He called to see if I could do a job interview… TODAY! A more experienced candidate was scheduled but was, apparently, in a car accident. Despite the unfortunate situation from which this opportunity arose, I jumped at it and agreed to go. I had an hour and a half to get ready and get there. I was so excited, picked out my outfit, hopped in the shower, shaved the legs, put on the make-up, and fluffed the hair. Alas, though, I never left the apartment because there was one person at the firm needed to be present at the interview who was unavailable. Bummer!!! I assume they needed this extra person to take part in deciding whether I, the new and inexperienced candidate, was worth training. It was quite a let down after getting so excited upon such short notice, but I am hopeful that the interview will be rescheduled for next week.

I am flattered that the agency recommend me for the position, so if nothing else, this has boosted my confidence in my capability and probability of landing a great job. I’ll be keeping my fingers crossed for next week. (At least I’ve already got an outfit picked out.)

 

Tactile, Creative, Satisfying

I have been knitting since October 2007. Well, I actually learned a little the summer before but didn’t really pick it up until deciding to knit scarves as Christmas gifts. Hopefully, I am nearly past the rectangle stage and soon on to bigger, better things. (I have made one hat, but it turned out so small as to fit only a bedknob.) It is wonderful to be able to get my hands on something and go through a creative process. It is a very tactile, satisfying experience. Oh, the joy of knitting!! I believe it has saved my sanity!

 

What am I doing?

After quitting my job back in January, visiting family and friends, traveling to the other side of the earth, and just spending time at home, I finally feel that I have regained a proper scope on life and am now getting antsy to re-enter the world of receiving paychecks and greeting coffee-sipping coworkers of the morning. My hope is to find something enjoyable and satisfying instead of an office with an overriding atmosphere of crazy. How to go about achieving this goal, though, is the question. If anyone has any promising leads or pieces of advice, please share.

 

To blog or not to blog?

Well, I’m not sure if I need or want a blog. I tried it already, on a different site, and let it fall by the wayside, mostly. Is anyone interested in what I have to say or what is going on in my life? Better yet, do I want people to know? I suppose the good thing about blogging is you only have to tell what you want. So here is my second attempt. We shall see how it goes.