San Francisco

submitted to Lensday: Cityscape

CKU-San Jose

A few of you probably have no idea what Creating Keepsakes University (CKU) is. I'm mostly writing this for the benefit of my local stamping/scrapbooking friends who lurk here. But it's a major scrapbooking event where students take a bunch of classes during a long weekend with leading scrapbook artists/teachers.

I volunteered as a Teacher's Assistant for a couple of days and it was a lot of fun. I was lucky to work with great teachers. But as a paper artist, the main thing I wanted to know was if I decided to go as a student, was it worth the registration fee? It's 3 1/2 days, intensive classes. I'd almost definitely (that's a good one, huh?) say YES!! The classes that I TA'd for were so cool. The only reason I say "almost" is because I'm susceptible to sensory overload and when I max out, I meltdown (ask Phin). The classes are fast paced and start at 8:30am and can go till midnight. But I think that since I'll know that going in, I'd be able to handle the sensory overload better. The more I talk about it, the more I wanna go...so...Doris...keep that in mind! heehee!

Me and Debby Schuh. She's an AWESOME designer and I love, love, love her Encyclopedia of Alterations class. I'd definitely sign up for that when/if I go as a student. She is sooo kind and organized.

Me and Anita Oldham. Wow, Anita has energy!! She is so much fun! Her class was very in.ten.sive!! It was awesome. So much stuff going on. I was exhausted after TA'ing for her Friday morning class but it was really cool. 

Aloe Vera

Didja know that aloe vera blooms a flower?

I was surprised when I saw this growing out of my MIL's aloe vera plant. Interesting. Looks like little bananas.
 

Car Woes and Global Warming

Hello, my name is Madretz and I'm an SUV driver.
It's not really something I yell out to the world. But in my defense, it doesn't get "that" bad of gas mileage considering typical SUV mileage. And we actually use it's 4wd capabilities. Since we have a cabin that is up a mountainous road with an average snowfall of 40 inches per year, we need a car that has a high clearance and won't (hopefully) get stuck in the snow or mud. We try to be responsible SUV drivers. If/when this car dies, we've talked about getting the hybrid version or Toyota Highlander's hybrid version.

However, with gas prices the way they are and evidence that we really need to pay more attention to how we're affecting our environment, I'm tempted to park my car and not drive it at all.

Jimmy's car is still at the mechanics (day 11). My "check engine" light came on a couple of days ago. Luckily we can function with only one vehicle, but I can't help but be concerned about that check engine light. Coincidentally, it came on the day after we watched "An Inconvenient Truth."

After watching that movie, I can't help but pay attention to these coincidences. The flooding back east, the droughts in the southwest, and the record temperatures we've had in the west. At the very least, you have to scratch your chin.

Jimmy photoshopped the racing advertisement onto my car a couple of years ago just for the halibut. I particularily like the purple rims. :-) The original photo was taken about a mile from where I grew up. 

Dallas ATCs

 

Lucy ATCs

Memories of childhood, curled up on the couch with my mom watching "I Love Lucy". 

Poipu Beach

submitted to Thursday Challenge: Wet  

Belated Father's Day Post

Me and my dad.
Yup, my dad. Not my grandfather.
He was 64 when I was born.
He'd be 101 now.
As an adult (and now that he's gone) I'm thinkin'...geez, what a stud!
Fathering a kid at 64??

He was my hero.
And he spoiled me rotten (to my mother's dismay - she ruled with an iron fist).

And, theoretically, I'm his only kid.
But there are a lot of years that he was a Single.Man.

Grew up an only child.
Now I can't help but wonder...

The Cows Path

"It's time to go in,"
said the lead cow to the rest.
"The farmer calls us." 

Pathway Haiku

Follow the right path-
Longitude and latitude.
Found! Geocache there!

This week's theme for One Deep Breath's weekly challenge is Pathway. Last night, I was tucked in bed last night ready to bag some z's when a little 5-7-5 prose hit me and I had to get up and write it down before falling asleep because I knew I'd never remember it otherwise. However, after looking through my photo bank today, I decided to create a little haiku dedicated to geocaching.

If you're not familiar with geocaching, visit their website for more detailed information. But essentially, it's a scavenger/treasure hunt. On the website, they give you the coordinates, and with your GPS, you find the treasure. You can see most of our finds on our family website here.

This photo was taken a few weeks ago with our nieces, geocaching in Morro Bay.

Cat Not Included

The funny thing about purses...they're mysterious and oh so very personal. Or so we think. Unless she's your very best friend, you don't go rifling thru a gal's purse. But I was visiting Jodi101's blog and she shared her contents and...well...ya know how these things go...next thing I knew I emptied my purse on the floor (thus the curious cat) and shared the contents of mine. I thought I'd have to fight the urge to clean up or hide anything strange, but obviously I'm not that strange aside from the 3 packs of tart candies.

So, here's my bag. My coveted Fake Spade gifted to me from my ex-boss. Most of the time I'll fess up that it's fake, but if a stranger happens to say "nice purse" and I don't feel like going thru all the explanations so I'll just say "thanks". But like I said here, I don't discriminate against cheap/expensive purses. Love 'em all.

I really should set up a Flickr account so I could easily tag each item with notes. But I don't so inside my bag I have:
-40% off coupons for misc. craft stores
-Costco receipt, coupon for cheese, Macy's card (not in wallet), 2 pens
-hands-free cell phone thingy
-1 styrofoam peanut (how'd that get in there??)
-coins found at the bottom of my purse and empty change purse
-flowered notebook
-Cell phone and wallet
-business card for Chelokababi - Persian restaurant...delicious!!!
-lotion
-allergy pills
-3 packs of tart candies. The 2 rolls of Spree need to go into the glove compartment of my car. They're our usual "Car Candy" and for some reason, whenever you're feeling a wee bit drowsy at the wheel, chew on one of these and amazingly, you'll feel refreshed! Phin just gave me the package of mini shock-tarts on Friday.

BTW, this purse is bigger than it seems. I could probably fit the cat in there. I've fit my digital SLR in there a couple of times, books, magazines, bottles of water, sandwiches. My cousin referred to hers as "luggage". Another friend complained about back trouble after carrying hers for a few months. The trouble w/ big purses though is they fill up. And I can never find my cell phone because it's always under everything else. 

"One Word" Meme

Yourself: obsessed
Your Lover: funny
Your Hair: straight
Your Mother: dead
Your Father: dead
Your Favorite Item: camera
Your Dream Last Night: forgettable
Your Favorite Drink: water
Your Dream Home: open
The Room You Are In: office
Your Pet: feisty
What You Are Now: dirty
Who You Want to be in Ten Years: confident
What You Want to be in Ten Years: thinner
What You're Not: outspoken
Your Best Friend: loyal
One of Your Wishlist Items: lens
Your Gender: chick
The Last Thing You Did: clicked
What You Are Wearing: red
Your Favorite Weather: 70’s
Your Favorite Book: Alchemist
The Last Thing You Ate: rice
Your Life: good
Your Mood: quizzical
Favorite article of clothing: bags
Favorite color: red
School: children
Song: upbeat

See more at: Ragged's and Cate's

Please join us!

Moonstruck Haiku

I'm maniacal
when the full moon rises high
only magic calms

submitted to one deep breath: Moonstruck 

Webb Ranch

This morning I went to Webb Ranch in Portola Valley to pick berries with the Bowens. I've never gone to a U-Pick farm before so I was looking forward to it. There were loads of blackberries to choose from, but alas, my least favorite berry.
They were beautiful, though!

So I went over to the raspberries but because of the late rains this season, they weren't quite ready. There were a handful, so I spent most of my time looking for the elusive ripe ones.

Little WBowen seemed to be having better luck than I was. He was a little camera shy and not exactly sure if he remembered me.

I ended up with 2 small baskets of raspberries and 1 basket of blackberries. They said that by the end of June the raspberries should be in full bloom so hopefully I'll be able to go back. Raspberries are one of my favorites. The loganberries should be fully bloomed, too.

I was reading Ragged's blog and she was singing praises of summertime fruits and veggies. So I had to follow suit and post my berrylicious story, too! 

Thanks Rhonna!

I'm giddy with excitement!

I just won Autumn Leaves "Designing With Type" book from Rhonna Farrer!
She's one of my favorite artists and scrapook designers and
Autumn Leaves is one of my favorite companies!

Thanks sooo much Rhonna!! I know I'm gushing but I'm truly thankful for your generosity!

I used Rhonna's digital kit offered in Autumn Leaves "Designing with Digital" book for the graphic above. 

Orange

submitted to See it Sunday theme: Orange  

Well there ya go

Your Political Profile:

Overall: 20% Conservative, 80% Liberal

Social Issues: 0% Conservative, 100% Liberal

Personal Responsibility: 0% Conservative, 100% Liberal

Fiscal Issues: 50% Conservative, 50% Liberal

Ethics: 0% Conservative, 100% Liberal

Defense and Crime: 50% Conservative, 50% Liberal

How Liberal Or Conservative Are You?

Because my complete political stance can be figured out in 10 questions. ;-)

Walking in Nature - Haiku

white petals of spring
appear when coldness retreats
barren tree anew

submitted to One Deep Breath: Walking in Nature

A Good Friday

My dogs are tired, but it was a good day on the Peninsula.

We only had 1 car today b/c Jimmy's was at the mechanics so we carpooled to Menlo Park. He dropped me off about an hour before my train, so I stopped at one of my very favorite places to grab a bite, Crepes Cafe.
I ate brunch on the patio under the warm sun reading the daily rag. I laughed at Atherton's Police Reports:

"Police stopped to investigate a construction site that had a light on."
"Twenty bicyclists were in the roadway."
"A resident wanted to talk to police about a dispute with a neighbor about a fence."

Ou...real crime happening in Atherton. Atherton is one of those neighborhoods where crime doesn't seem to exist so the residents create something to complain to the police about. This is how the police fill their time. Jimmy and his buddies used to tease one of their friends who lived there about how the police would change the cat litter when he was on vacation because there was nothing else for them to do.

I also read an article that Stanford is looking for participants who suffer from sleep apnea. I'm seriously considering signing up for that. In addition to possibly finding a cure for my severe snoring problem, they'll also pay $500 upon completion.

Mostly though, I just savored my delicious Le Complete crepe and Guatemalan coffee (they were out of French Roast) while basking in the warm sun. Good thing I had a hearty meal because I had a lot of walking a head of me.
After breakfast, I headed to the train station. I love Menlo Park. It's one of my top-5-cities-I'd-love-to-live-in in the Bay Area. But that's not reality. :)
I was heading to San Mateo to meet Doris at the fairgrounds to go to the Gem and Jewelry Show. Well, I miscalculated where I needed to stop and ended up getting off at the wrong station. The next train back would have been another 40 minutes and I knew I could walk back faster than that, so I called Doris, told her about my snafu, and started walking. About 25 minutes later, Doris and I were wide-eyed looking at all the beautiful gems.

Well, it's almost a good thing that I've been really scatterbrained lately. Because I left my wallet at our hideway in the mountains so I had no credit cards and only a limited amount of cash. (Shhh...I've been driving w/o my license.) But the deals at the show were incredible! Many booths offered 50% to 80% discounts. But seeing all those colors, all those sparkly things in one building was the biggest treat. It was pure eye candy. Unfortunately, they didn't allow photos, otherwise I would have been snapping away at the rainbow of colors.

But one thing I kept thinking, man...my mom would have loved this. She loved discounted jewelry and she loved to haggle over prices. I was always so embarrassed by it, but it's one of those vivid memories I have of her.

We walked around the showroom for 3 1/2 hours then walked around Hillsdale Mall for a little while till Jimmy picked me up and we met the Bowens for dinner at one of our favorite restaurants: La Higuerita. It's new, but owned by the same people who own La Morenita in Palo Alto. After dinner, the 6 of us walked to Dairy Belle and had ice cream.

I'm in the middle of training for my 5k Training and typically, I wog (walk/jog) with Phin on Friday's but I had to bail b/c I Jimmy had the car and turned out that I wasn't gonna be around all day. But I wogged yesterday and promised to wog on Saturday since I thought I was going to be slothlike all day today. I'll still wog tomorrow, but I definitely logged my share of miles today!

Snow Drift

Wind blowing atop Half Dome in Yosemite.

submitted to Thursday Challenge: Weather 

Step Right Up

The ever elusive prize at the carnival.

Submitted to Lensday: Childhood 

Carpet of Wildflowers

as far as the eye can see.

Near Oakdale, CA.

submitted to Tuesdays Photos: Landscape 

The Graduate

Oh, I hope my niece forgives me.

This weeks Illustration Friday theme is "Portrait". I haven't been very regular with my IF submissions lately (or any submissions for that matter) and since I've never drawn a portrait of anyone outside of a stick figure, I truly believed this theme would pass me by. But I was looking a photo of my neice and thot: what the hell, I'll just try to sketch it and see what happens. And considering I'm completely unskilled in drawing (I can doodle swirls like a maniac, though) I'm pretty happy with how this turned out. Her eyes are wonky, and I couldn't draw lips so just gave her a big goofy grin. And she's WAY cuter than this obviously, but...I really thought I'd do much worse! 

Flawlessly Fragile

Collage Haiku I made a few months ago.

Flag Book

Made this cool little book at my stamp club last night.

The pics are of my dad in the 1950s.

Thanks JT for sharing a very fun project!