San Francisco

Both D and I had a long weekend for Memorial Day - a rare treat for a couple who works in sports and medicine. We decided to take the opportunity to head north to San Francisco. One of D's friends from college lives in the Bay Area so it was a perfect opportunity.

We woke up bright and early Saturday morning and got on the road by 6am. I didn't take any pictures of the trip up, but once you get out of LA it's pretty much farms and cows. We met up with D's friend and headed to Berkeley for lunch and to check things out. After lunch we headed to a baseball game. D had met his friend while they both worked for the Diamondbacks, who happened to be playing in Oakland that weekend. Their old coworker hooked us up with some tickets and we had a great time.

On Sunday we headed into the city to do some exploring.

We climbed up San Fran's many hills and took in the sights:

We ate the best sourdough:

We went to Chinatown:

We saw the famous streets:

We enjoyed the houses, big and small:

(I'll take one of each)

We checked out Alcatraz, from afar:

We saw things you ONLY see in San Francisco:

And, of course, we took pictures of ourselves:

On Monday it was time to head back to LA, and we decided to take the PCH most of the way home. We stopped off in Monterrey and checked out Carmel-by-the-Sea, and even saw some Redwoods. The PCH was beautiful, but I didn't take one. stinkin. picture. the entire 10 hour trip down. What do I have a camera for, anyway? But believe me, it was pretty, and if you've never seen it you should go!

Dear Friends,

I don't remember if I mentioned this, but my computer has been uncooperative lately. I couldn't get it to recognize my camera's memory card but FINALLY got it to work tonight. This means I will finally be posting about my many escapades - starting next week - with Memorial Day weekend in San Francisco! Yay!

Yar

Got my skinny envelope in the mail yesterday. We all know what that means - they said thanks but no thanks :(

Bummer.

The good thing is that things are starting to come together. I may not LIKE the way the pieces are falling, but at least D and I have a better idea of where we will both be and what we will (or, in my case, won't) be doing. And after the last few weeks of having NO IDEA, that feels kinda nice.

Good News!

D is staying in CA for at least the next 6 months!!!!!!!!!!!!

Nothing yet as far as the big boy job, but the longer he is in CA the more likely that becomes.

YAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!

Now that he's set, let's hope for good news for me in the next week :)

Tap Tap Tap. And Bandwagon.

Hi I'm back!

The holidays were busy. So busy. I cooked a LOT. I ate even more. It was blissful.

But now its 2010 and hopefully I'm back on track here.

Tonight I finally decided to give quinoa a try. I didn't know what to do with it, really, so after a pretty quick search through some of the blogs I frequent (am I the last person to try this stuff?!?!) I decided to go a simple route. Lets just say it was a good decision. I made a really quick saute of cauliflower, brussels sprouts, and carrots with some lime and cilantro and served it with plain quinoa. Deeeeeeeeeeeelicious. Just like everyone says, nutty but not overpowering, and substantial. I'm stuffed. No meat. This is odd for me.

I'm definitely on board with this quinoa thing!

Next

There is more news coming.

Hopefully its good. I'm due for some good news, don't you think??

I'll find out about grad school by the end of the month. I'm so so so nervous!

But... even better... we find out where D will be for at least the next 6 months (in a position that will hopefully become permanent) TOMORROW!!!!! Either way is ok, but we're hoping he stays out in California. We like it there. So much warmer than NY :)

So, readers. Keep a good thought for me, will ya?

Its been a Rough Week

I'm going to be more depressing.

My uncle, my dad's oldest brother, broke his back many many years ago. Twice. Due to these injuries he had many many surgeries, most of which to remove scar tissue that built up and put pressure on his spinal cord. Yeah, ow. During one of these surgeries my uncle contracted Hepatitis C, for which there is no cure, and spent a long long time living with it well managed.

As my uncle got older he got more and more weak, and his hepatitis was able to overcome his immune system. He was sick more often, and hospitalized for pneumonia more often. As time went on he spent more and more time with pneumonia and more and more time in the hospital.

In October we got the tough news that my uncle didn't have much time left. Months, maybe, the doctors told us. Timmy and my aunt decided after one hospitalization that the next time was the last time, and made the choice to not pursue any further treatment. Not long after he got sick again, went to the hospital, was transferred to hospice per his wishes, and the day after Thanksgiving he lost his fight.

My uncle was never one for sadness or for pity. He lived a life full of pain but never complained, never let it interfere with him living his life. His wishes after his death was cremation, which we honored, and a party.

Yes. A party.

We waited until after the holidays, but last weekend many family members and friends made the trip to Rio Rancho, NM for a weekend-long fiesta in his honor. We laughed, cried, hugged, ate, drank (a LOT), danced, sang, and paid our best tribute to my Uncle Tim. I think we did a pretty good job.

William "Tim" Edmund Cozens, Jr
11/4/53 - 11/27/09

"That in death if not life they'll have rest while they sleep
Navigator, navigator, rise up and be strong"