Christmas goodies

Fudge, bars and Aunt Lynda's special cookies-please note the very "Martha" presentation.
And, I canned salsa for friends and co-workers.

New Boots-Got boots today and they fit great, yippe for me!

$119 BANDOLINO CAMEO BOOT
NEW IN BOX

• 3" Stacked Wood Heel with Square Toe
• Buckle Detail along side of boot
• Smooth Vachetta Leather Construction
• Manmade Sole
• Inner Zipper along inside of boot
• Inner padding along inside of boot for comfort

Another nice score. Some Nordstrom shop-a-holic cleaning out her closet never even wore these - still in the box.

Super $32 value (yes, including shipping). Her loss is my gain.
For weeks I've been shopping for new black boots and just not finding something I love so I agained turned to my trusty ebay. This will have been my 99th ebay purchase over the years with zero disapointment. My worst experience was a wetsuit that didn't quite fit; but I just turned around and re-sold to break even. My best purchse was the lightly used Patagonia ski vest - retail $159 - I paid $49. When I received it I was checking all the zippered pockets to make sure they functioned properly and found that the seller had left $100 dollar bill in the inside pocket. My attempts to contact the seller went unanswered - so the the vest actually ended up paying for itself AND 3 nights of skiing. Ebay rocks.

Site Meter

Thanks to Kalani and Liz for turning me on to the site meter. It will be fun to see especially the random hits that occur.

Baby Shower

Quilt I made for Karen and the baby.

I'm being watched

For awhile Stacey has had this feeling that someone was watching her when she was outside on the patio at night. Last night she turned around and found this opossum staring right out her - not sure who was more scared.
Does anyone know where the silent "o" derives from? Maybe it is a native language?

Fat Wallet

When I visited Liz I was introduced to island bugs - specifically - they have these micro ants that can crawl right under even a screwed-on peanut butter jar lid. This forces them to keep all open containers in the fridge, which is not the greatest for breads and such.
I have this container that I keep Kirby's food in which is air tight and supposed to be ant proof. It is great because you can work the lid easily with one hand and it keeps food fresh.
I hope if you're careful to screw the lid on tight it will even keep out the micro ants. I just ordered one to be delivered to Liz (happy birthday!) - so watch her blog for a progress report. I'm hoping it will protect her bread/cereal, etc. If it works it could change island living :)

As to the blog title - I bought the container on sale at Petco.com and at the last second thought to jump over to Fatwallet.com. This is a consumer website were people share sales, rebate info and coupon codes. I did a quick search and scored a Petco free shipping code that saved me over $9.00.

Big shout out to Jack for turning me on to Fatwallet. If anyone is into the after Thanksgiving sales you must check out Fatwallet to plan your shoppping strategy.

Finding Nemo

I was snorkling Hanauma Bay in search of a sea turtle for Barb. These guys kept me company while I searched. I'm off to Shark Cove in the morning to continue my quest for a turtle. The under water housing for my camera is some of the coolest money I've ever spent!

Pottery Update

As you know from my earlier post I've had the pottery wheel for awhile. However, I haven't been able to use it. It is heavy and when I brought it home Stacey helped me shove it off my truck bed and onto a work bench but there it sat mocking me because I couldn't coordinate some strong people to lift it down to the floor for me. Finally I thought to place a gig ad on craigslist and in 2 days I was ready to go! Well almost - I needed tools and clay. My fine friend Jennifer Blanck was the final piece of the puzzle. She is quite the Renaissance women...paints, does stained glass, plays piano & writes music, fantastic cook. She was going to give ceramics a whirl too but she decided to forego this one avocation and graciously gave me all her tools and clay. So last weekend I rushed home from Jenn's house excited to see if I remembered how to work the clay. I haven't touched a wheel since high school and I have a lot to learn but after a 24 year hiatus here's the result of my first effort. It's not much but I'm please to know I can still do it!

Can't wait

...to see Liz !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm very excited.

Retro Ralph and Sally

I just picked this up on ebay...was looking for a Dansk teak pepper mill and stumbled across this instead. I am sooooooo excited! Who remembers what it is cool about it?

I Love Ebay

Ebay is just the best for gathering your random desires.

I've always loved this hellenistic Three Graces that hung over Grandma Sally's bathub; but a Museum Store copy is a couple hundred bucks. Today I scored this one on ebay for $29.00 (yes, that includes shipping).

Now I just need the sunken tub, atrium bathroom and the ocean front locale to go along with it.

Not just a cog in the wheel

This morning I was feeling a lot like I was "working for the clamp down" (to quote the Clash) so I ran away to the beach for a couple hours.

For those of you chained to your desk today... greetings from the top of Grandview in Leucadia.

Besides I have to keep my skills in shape for that crushing northshore break when I visit Liz in October.

-totally stoked
Jennifer

Wonderful Night in Laguna

Last night I gathered my great friends; Terry, Jennifer and Stacey to see the Pageant of the Masters http://www.foapom.com/ in beautiful Laguna Beach.

We met at my house on a perfect California afternoon and Jenn drove us to an excellent restaurant that she had researched and found to be one of the best in town http://www.tiamolagunabeach.com/
The restaurant was charming, the service lovely and the food terrific. The menu is Italian Mediterranean; it is one of those places where every item sounds so good you have trouble just deciding what to order - I had talapia accented with yummy lobster ravioli.
The night was made more exciting because it was the Gala Evening. It is a black tie event with a Mercedes raffle, celebrity guests and host - Miss Terri Hatcher. She was quite charming and talked about the arts with great passion.

It was such fun to wear a fancy dress and heels and spend such a special evening with these fantastic women - I'm lucky the have such great people in my life.

Please refer to the picture below

That baby is having a baby.
3 cheers for Karen, hip hip hoorah, hip hip hoorah, hip hip hoorah

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM

5 things my Mom taught me

How to tie my shoes
Gentleness
Loyalty
How to use tools
How to go to Europe on a dream

Kirby Bopeep-Wonka-McKinley-Pernal

I can't believe my sweet pug-nugget turned 10 years old this week.

You've all met Kirby but not all of you got to see him when he was just a pup, so here's some old pics. He is about 2 mo. and 6 mo. in these shots. I could hold him in one hand when we first brought him home.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KIRBY

Meet Yvette

I've received my sponsored sister package and I've been matched with Yvette. She is 20, married with a young son and daughter and also cares for a school aged sister. They live in a hut in a rural area and depend on kerosene. There is no running water available. Her goals are to develop vocation skills and literacy.

Happy Birthday Dad

5 things my Dad taught me

Bodysurfing

Sarcasm

How to be wrong

How to play basketball

Faith

Just Do It

A couple months ago I saw Sarah McLachlan’s “world on fire” video ( view video at: http://www.worldonfire.ca/ )

What struck me most vividly were the graphics that showed how a very small (and I don’t me relatively small, but rather, literally small) amount of money can make a transforming difference in a person’s life. Examples such as 1 term of schooling for 100 students in Ethiopia takes only $200 struck a cord with me. For me, it has been easy to sit back and do little because it seems that no true change would come from the little I might be able to give. Now I believe that in the right places in the world and through the right organizations true change can happen.

So I researched some organizations and decided to get involved with Women for Women International. They're well respected and highly rated by charity watchdog groups. It is a sponsorship program where for one year I get to offer support through writing letters and providing $27 a month. The particular woman I'll be paired with will have specific needs and goals, but in general the $ goes to support literacy, income producing training and leadership skills for women.

Any day now I will receive information on the woman I will be paired with - I know she is in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. I will share with you more about her soon.

New Purchase

As you know, my high schools days were spent ditching school. Even when I was on campus I still skipped english/geometry/biology in favor of spending several hours a day in ceramics class (very cool teacher, but where did Mrs Crannell think I was supposed to be all that time?). Anyway, ever since then I've wanted to get a pottery wheel but it never worked out. Finally, last week I got one. It's a monster (260lb Lockerbie) kick wheel - the wheel I always dreamed of having, plus it has the bonus electric motor that will really help in centering big hunks of clay. I hope I can remember how to throw. I hope you all won't mind getting lopsided vases for christmas for the rest of your life.

Tattoo

Ok – just to be immediately contrary to my blog title I have a rather not boring post. Last weekend I got a new tattoo. Your comments are encouraged, but understand, tattoo etiquette demands that you say “you love it” or “amazing” :)

I’m posting a pic along with and the original artwork that inspired the design – it is a wood-cut print by artist Kirstin Francis, titled
'Poseidon’s Rodeo". I got the tattoo done by Kelly Jordon at Avalon in Pacific Beach and I am truly happy with the result.

Day One

Well, Elizabeth has been doing such a wonderful job posting pictures and journaling (has every noun become a verb?) that I feel more connected than ever to her and the whole family. She has by osmosis inspired Jack to start posting; and now Jack and Liz have been putting pressure on me to start a blog of my own. I'm not convinced that without growing kids to report on that my life will be as noteworthy and rapidly changing - but here you go.