what a crazy summer

whew it has been (and still continues to be) a wild and crazy summer!

Sibling *finally* tied the knot last weekend, and it was a wonderful and fun family and friend-filled week and weekend! We had a blast, and I couldn't be happier for he and the new wifey.

Three weeks before that, K's lil sis got married, and it was also a wonderful family and friend-filled weekend and a beautiful occasion.

throw in several short weekend trips for work (gettysburg) and play (CO for wedding-stuff) and also a show in between all of that (ongoing through the end of August) and wow. I am counting the days to Labor Day holiday.

In other news: AZ is t-minus 2 months and counting to her big wedding date; my folks are in town this weekend to see my show; and Ty is moving to the midwest for work. Lots of folks leaving SF, actually. It's very strange. I've lived here for 9 years, and you'd think I'd be used to saying goodbye to people, but I think it just gets harder. I am not a fan, so much. Ess left for London with her beau and to start school, and P ships out this fall on deployment #2 and am hoping to get a chance to see him before he leaves.

'tis a flurry of activity!!

On a note: please pray for AZ and her family. After an already difficult year (with her father passing away, and relatives in Mexico mourning lives lost in the family related to the escalting drug wars), her 30-year-old cousin's cancer may possibly be back after two bouts in remission. Wednesday is prognosis day, and we're hoping/praying/fasting for good news. God be glorified in all things, though.

Holiday Weekend

This coming weekend is a holiday weekend, which means a three-day weekend for me. And I'm going to Colorado for a mini-break and to have a chance to see P while he's home on his 30-day redeployment leave.

Not *ONLY* is it a three-day weekend - it's a three-holiday weekend:
Valentine's Day - Saturday
Sibling's Birthday - Sunday
President's Day - Monday

I'm not celebrating any of the aforementioned days this weekend, though. Sibling will be on the East coast with S; President's Day is just a day off; and Valentine's Day? Well, that will be a miniature Christmas celebration in our house this year. Since P was in Iraq over Christmas, and missed out, we're going to make up for that by listening to Christmas music and making Candyhouses. Random? Yes. But good for the heart and soul. Looking forward to it!

variables

I feel like there are so many variables floating up in my life this year. Not bad variables, just unknown variables. Funny how life really *is* a "choose your own adventure" book, right?

I do have constants in this equation. And thank God for that (who is one of the constants to begin with...). Along with faith, I would count my amazing family and equally amazing friends among those constants.

But back to those mysterious unknown variables. I think what drives me crazy is:
1. Lack of knowledge/control
2. The "What-if's"
3. Fear of making the "wrong" decision (and yet - who decides what is right/wrong, not in a moral sense, but in a ... decision sense, I guess)

All of the above reasons, however, are in some kind of conflict with the feeling that as I get older, I am finally learning to let all of that GO and just get on with my life. Let go of the what-if's; let go of thinking what anyone "thinks" is right for me, and just make my own damn decisions. It's not as easy as you'd think. But I'm getting there. And trying to decide what it is exactly I want out of life - I only have this one chance! Better make it a good adventure . . .

The Christmas Letter

Two years ago, I started writing "The Christmas Letter" update. I never thought I would ever do that, but I did. And a lot of my family and far-away friends liked reading it.

I've been trying to write this years, but I got nothing so far. I think I was too witty the first time - set the bar too high hahaha.

Or, it could be that I'm not feeling so hot.

Oh well. I'm going to sleep on it. Gotta big weekend ahead!

Doings

1. Make pumpkin bread done - though a tad *over* done, too...oops

2. Pack up pumpkin bread for care package done - with lots of saran and foil. Maybe it will still be edible when it gets to its destination...

3. Put care package together for P done - pumpkin bread included

4. Get plastic bins for bathroom cabinets done - Linens n' things is going out of business, which means cheap storage solutions!

5. Organizing the bathroom cabinets will have to happen tomorrow. Good times.

This post brought to you by the letter "C"

Coca-Cola Cup (in Sacramento): Chocolate Cafe sign:


*Cheesy* Cocoa:

Cute Coopers (extra-mini):
Crazy-ass Cutters:

fun

Today, as I walked by a laundromat, I noticed that inside the laundromat was a Hammond organ. For real. So, you can play some Funk while you get the funk outta your clothes. Made me happy to see that.

too many choices

SO I have a lot of things I want to blog about for real - as opposed to these little cop-out shorty posts this week - but I haven't yet had enough time to commit anything to "paper," as it were. However, I'm hoping that this weekend I'll have a little more time to flesh those things out (since I'm going home to CO and everyone there goes to sleep early, leaving me awake and alone with time to kill!)

Just to whet your whistle:

- A little more on my theatrical/musical life [since Ms. BagWag asked so nicely :)]

- Changes happening here at our humble little abode

- All about meeting and falling in love with the Cutest. Boy. Ever.
(It's not what you're thinking...!)

Oh and I'm updating my profile page...w00t...and adding an email address. So feel free to drop me a line!

figure of speech

Today's word-of-the-day is asshat.

Enjoy.

motley crew, indeed

The last 10 keyword searches leading to this blog (in random - natch - order):

1. late night laundromat san francisco
2. marrakech whores [oh yeah - that's my favorite one hahahah]
3. The song where the chicken clucks all thru it, and no other singer
4. how do you spell rose in Greek
5. yanni chole
6. "Mr FdC"
7. katharos meaning
8. poems about laundry [Hey AZ, maybe you can help me out with this one...lol]
9. random point of view
10. nicholas sparks random facts

hilarious, the lot.

Surf's Up, Dude

So, yes, we ended up going down to Mavericks this weekend - and it was awesome!
Got down to Half Moon Bay around 9:30pm Friday night and as I rolled into the hotel parking lot, there They Were: blond, blue-eyed skinny surfers...three of them in the lot, clearly ready for the day to come. (lol...it was a running weekend joke that the Queen had dated two of these types of guys, and I never have).
Anyways, I knew I was in the right spot!

We woke up at o'dark thirty to make our way North to the beach. We rolled up by 6:30 and actually found free(!) parking. Loaded with our gear (blankets, picnic, water, binoculars, coats, hats, gloves, etc) we made our way to the so-called shuttle. (There was - supposedly - a shuttle running from the Half Moon Bay airport to the beach site...we never found it). So we made the hike ourselves - and it was beautiful. Watching the sun rise over the bay, making our way up the hill with a hundred some-odd of our "closest friends" felt like we were part of some really-cool, underground event.

Now the think about Mavericks is . . . if you stand on the beach you don't see any of the action. The big waves (read 30-40 footers) break about half and mile out, and if you're standing on the beach, you can't see over the waves breaking on the shore. So, the place to be is high up on the cliffs overlooking the ocean. This is where we were headed. Our path was cold and muddy, but the reward was an amazing view. We picked out our spot, set up camp and waiting for the 8am start time.

And we were not disappointed. I can't believe the waves that these guys tackle - they are HUGE and dangerous! One guy's board snapped in half one of his first times out. Crazy!

We ended up staying there until 2pm (having arrived at 7:30). By that time, most of the biggest waves had already made their appearence. All in all, it was a great time - lots of cool people, big waves and beautiful scenery made for a memorable Saturday. I look foward to going back next year!

I took a few pics - none of them had the big waves, though...! However, you can check out these pictures here from SFGate.