teaser

deb's in town

and tomorrow, we get to play!

i only get her for a few hours, so i'll head up to la after general conference, and play tour guide. since i haven't actually been to la yet, i may be a little out of my league on this one. but i am a google queen, and i've put together a nice little itinerary.

in thinking about what i wanted to do, and what we would have time for, i thought it was high time i start the 'california must-do list'.

see...when i lived in utah, i constantly regretted that i had lived so long outside our nation's capital, and hadn't taken full advantage of it. so i made a list of all the things i needed to do, and when i moved back, i started crossing things off my list. museums i had never seen, annual activities i had never participated in, restaurants i'd never tried.

there were only a couple of things left on the list when i moved here, and doing all of those things made me truly appreciate 'home'.

being in california, i know, is temporary. i've always known it. and though i don't know if 'temporary' means a year, or 2, or 5, or 20, i know i'm not here for the duration. the last thing i want to do is to leave, when the time comes, knowing that i didn't really live here.

i guess i needed an impetus though, and deb's trip is just the right motivation. so, here's how the list begins (and feel free to send me any additions you may have!)

Theaters & Studios
Grauman’s Chinese Theater/Walk of Fame
Kodak Theater
Paramount Studios
Sony Pictures
Universal Studios
Warner Brothers Studios

Amusement/Theme Parks
Disneyland
Knott’s Berry Farm
Six Flags Magic Mountain

Museums
The Museum of Tolerance
The Getty Museum

Other (Los Angeles)
Hollywood Sign
Venice Beach
La Brea Tar Pits

National Parks (Around California)
Joshua Tree
Channel Islands National Park
Death Valley National Park
Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Park
Yosemite National Park
Lassen Volcanic National Park
Redwood National Park

Other (Around California)
Santa Monica Pier
Third Street Promenade - Santa Monica
Queen Mary - Long Beach
Wild Animal Park - San Diego
Sea World - San Diego
San Diego Zoo (again)
Winchester House - San Jose

three signs you should have stayed in bed this morning

1. you get the company car towed


2. you are mandatorily (is that a word?) evacuated from your office building


3. you lose an exhibit booth needed at the show site tomorrow



it's a pretty rough day when the highlight is the tow truck guy saying 'you must be here for the mercedes' upon your arrival at the impound lot.

to be fair, none of these things were actually my fault, and i was completely uninvolved in the evacuation. i promise! frankly the hour long wait to get back in the building while the four fire engines and an ambulance figured out the problem, was kind of a nice break. of course, having it occur in the middle of a conference call that's been scheduled for a week, not so much. funny that a little smoke from a burned out elevator motor could cause so much commotion!

as for the car...it was only sort of my fault. maybe fault isn't the right word. i happened to be slightly involved in a series of events which all aligned at exactly the right time and in exactly the wrong way, with annoying consequences.

and the booth? well, i can't help it that fed-ex is incompetent. but i'm not sure the exhibitors are going to sympathize with me.

i knew i had to give my boss a heads up, though i was hesitant to do so given that she, and several of our exec staff are at a retreat in colorado. nonetheless if there is one thing i know about her, it's that she is a straight shooter, and expects the same. i tried to infuse a little humor and posed the following multiple choice question:

which would you like to hear about first? a) the mercedes being towed, b) the mandatory evacuation, or c) the lost booth

her answer? "they towed rosie?"

unbeknownst to me, the car has a name. after explaining what had happened, and my suspicions as to why it happened, her response was simply, 'well, it's actually the perfect time, since no one will be in town for a few days.' have i mentioned how much i love my boss?

by the end of the day, rosie was safely ensconced back at 'home'.

as for the booth, i am praying that the fed-ex tracking is delayed, and the booth has safely arrived, along with it's counterpart that definitely has.

in other news...i got to play with my cousin mel and second cousin katie this weekend! they were in town doing the disneyland thing, so i kidnapped them on sunday, dragged them to church with me. then they voluntarily came with me to the beach and to mick and jenny's for dinner, where i laughed so hard, my stomach was killing me on monday! my family is seriously awesome.

katie, me, and mel

the whole kit and caboodle (sans mick)

it's 10am when my eyes flutter open. i see flowers and think my nightstand must have been made for flowers. then i realize that my morning sleep has gone undisturbed. no yelling children outside my window. no visiting house guests meeting for the day's adventure. no motorcycles marring the peaceful quiet.

it's the first morning i can remember sleeping, and, without the interruption of an alarm clock or some other agitation, waking up on my time.

what a perfect beginning. today will be all about 'my' time.

with a quick shower behind me, i waste only a few minutes getting ready, since where i'm going, it won't matter.

window down, breeze blowing. a perfect southern california day, and a perfect day to enjoy the beach.

i spend the next three hours doing nothing. the bag i've brought, stuffed with books and music, lay untouched. the only soundtrack or commentary i need today is the laughter of the families nearby, and the gentle rhythm of the ocean.

eventually, i know it's time to return to reality. and then it occurs to me that this IS reality. i'm not on vacation. this is my life.

nonetheless, it's time to get on with it. and so i do, heading towards some long overdue pampering.

as i slide my toes into the warm pedicure bath, the sun i've enjoyed is already making our little dalliance evident. both the woman at my feet and the one at my hands, neither of whom speaks a word of english, gesture and tease at the pinkness of my skin. but the teasing is for naught. i know that tomorrow the pink will have given way to a golden brown, and i smile in spite of myself.

i consider that this might be the greatest indulgence i've allowed myself for some time. then i consider that great indulgences are made even greater when made possible by others--this one coming thanks to an employer who values my work.

it 's far too soon when the time comes to exit from my massage chair. but it's made easier in the knowledge that the only things left on the to-do list today, are to slide into my favorite pajamas, crawl into my bed, and to enjoy the latest little gift arriving in it's red envelope. tonight, my date is the kite runner. i understand i'm in for a treat.

recapping

all in all, today was a pretty good day. someone special sent me flowers (tulips--my favorite), we had a banana split party at work, and my size 2 roommate asked if she could borrow a shirt. and despite all my protestations about how it would fall off her, it actually looked good.

flowers, chocolate, and feeling thinner than i am. three of my all time favorite things!

now to the easter weekend photo recap:

the weekend began on saturday morning with a celebration of drew's 8th birthday at pioneer park. as the name might indicate, the park had a western feel, and the kids attire would follow suit.

jenny had asked for my expertise (which in this case ended up being highly overrated) in planning the party. ultimately, i took responsibility for the games and foisted the rest back on jenny (see what i mean about being overrated?!) as i suspected, or at least thought possible, most of the games were left untouched, though the squirt guns were a big hit. it was a 75 degree day that felt like a 95 degree day and rachel and neighbor hannah wanted to make sure i wasn't overheating.

the children weren't the only ones enjoying themselves. several of jenny's family members came in from out of town for the weekend festivities.

after the party we headed back to mick and jenny's and arrived to find that my aunt marcia and uncle mike had made it safely from idaho. we spent the next few hours talking and laughing (there would be much of this over the course of the weekend), before we all get ready for the evening's celebration--drew's baptism.

i haven't been to a baptism in several years, and i found this one quite moving. perhaps because drew (and his siblings) now occupy a very tender place in my heart.


after church on sunday (sorry, no pictures), there was a traditional easter dinner, games, and expanding swordfighting peeps. you know, same 'ol, same 'ol.

the rest of the evening was passed with more talking and laughing.


easter is such a strange holiday. it's importance is not lost on me, but it has never felt like a 'real' holiday. my logical mind says that it should be more significant than christmas, but we don't put up trees a month in advance, we don't listen to easter carols in our cars, and we don't start treating one another more nicely, just because it's the spirit of the season. this year, being around so much family (even though most were not actually my own), and having drew's baptism serve as such a poignant usher to the spirit helped make this year's celebration quite meaningful.