Category Archives: Friends and Family

Letterboxing in February?

Posted in Day Trips, Friends and Family, Me Me Me!, Travel by

It’s true! I drove a few of my friends/coworkers out to Volcan Wilderness Preserve on Saturday where we snagged a bunch of nicely-placed letterboxes. We weren’t able to get all five of the boxes in the Grumpy Grandeur series because the trail leading to the mountain summit was closed for the winter rattlesnake hoe-down. But we did get three boxes, and it was a beautiful day. I also checked on the two boxes that I’d placed in the same area – they were doing pretty well with several visitors, although the actual container holding the first stamp was gone. Strangely, the stamp itself was just sitting right in its hiding spot. Weird!

After boxing Volcan, we found a couple more letterboxes – one near Dudley’s Baker and another near the Wild Animal Park. It was a great day, a mellow drive, and I’m glad I finally got out. It had been too long since I’d gone letterboxing!

Here we are – from left-to-right, Matt, Beck, me, Tricia, and Alyssa.

Not getting my hopes up…well, maybe a little!

Posted in Career, Friends and Family, Me Me Me!, Updates by

I know it has been a while since I’ve posted, Faithful Readers, but I have truly been very busy. I thought I’d share with you my New Years’ Resolution; I’m usually opposed to making Resolutions because I, of course, am Perfect Just As I Am and there’s usually no need to make such petty improvements. However, I’ve realized something during my Year of Miserableness, otherwise known as 2005 to the rest of you, that my friends are terribly important to me. So how about this:

– My Year of Awesomeness (a.k.a. 2006) New Years’ Resolution –
I will strive to keep in better contact with my friends and loved ones!
This Means You!
Aren’t You LUCKY????
I SURE AM!!!
Now that I’ve gotten that out of the way, I can share with all of you some potential brightness: I’ve applied for another job! I’m pretty excited about this one actually – it’s for an interpretive services manager at a wildlife museum in the Bay Area. I think it would be pretty cool to be there because I already know tons of people, and it would be between Mom and Anne and Paul. I actually made it past the first round of the selection process – that is, they didn’t take just one look at my resume and toss it in the good old circular file. Nope! They actually expressed some interest, and asked me to fill out a questionnaire along with some other hopefuls! So, 16 single-spaced typed pages of text and pictures later (that included a Kiss concert photo, by the way) I was told that I would be contacted “soon” about whether I advance to the phone interview or not. So wish me luck, eh? If I don’t make it – oh well – I’m kind of used to it by now. I’ve got some other fun jobs to apply for anyway.
We’ll chat again soon, no? And by the way, I’m pulling out the tough love on myself with the New Years’ Resolution: this blog does not count as “keeping in contact”. Ouch!

Ho ho ho (hey – are you talking about me???)

Posted in Animals, Cats, Friends and Family, Me Me Me!, Non-cats by

‘Twas a quiet Christmas this year: the warm glow of a muted TV, the happy hymns of James Brown’s Funky Christmas playing softly in the background, the smell of apple cider and cinnamon air freshener wafting through the air…and oh yeah…our mayhem-otic zoo of animals trying to destroy each and every present as we tried to unwrap them!!! Chaos reined in our living room, the cats shredding anything with ribbon on it, spacing out on catnip, the dogs trying to see if each package had a squeaky in it. Teddy Bear whining for more dog treats, Michael squawking to get out of the cage, and Leo…lurking in the back room just daring anyone to disturb him while he plotted…plotted for destruction.

Actually though, it was good – Mom and I got lots of great gifts; I think my favorite was an Indo Board that kind of simulates surfing or skateboarding – you have to balance on this roller thing and try not to kill yourself or damage the walls in the house when you fall off and the board goes careening out from under you. I’ll be posting pictures of me with broken limbs shortly…But I also got some PJ’s (thanks for supporting my lounging habit, all), and a watch jewelry box (woohoo! A nice organized home for my Swatch collection!), and various other fun things. After opening all the presents, Mom and I went up to Uncle Danbo’s house where he had bought and prepared a fabulous feast for us – turkey, green beans, cranberry sauce, candied yams, and cornbread. Yum! It was in fact the easiest holiday ever – no cooking, no cleaning up. Merry Christmas to us!

Anyway, we went to see “Memoirs of a Geisha” on Christmas Eve – excellent flick, you should go see it. It’s a little long and the book was better, but still outstanding if you like that sorta thing. And just so you can get a picture of how my weekend went, here’s a photo montage of Zoe during her reign of terror as we opened presents (yes, her eyes naturally have an evil glow about them that the camera captures quite nicely; this, my friends, is the horror I live with daily):

Oooooopss! Here are some pictures I forgot to post!

Posted in Friends and Family, Me Me Me! by

 

 

 

 

Ok, so last in the beginning of November Miranda and her friend Aron came with me to the Wild Animal Park for a little bit of fun. While I’m working, there are a lot of parts of the park I don’t get to see, so I caught up on all the goings-on that I couldn’t check out while I was on the clock. We went on the 3D simulator ride, the carousel, spent some time in the petting kraal, and then went up on the hot-air balloon that takes you 400 feet up above the park. Here’s a picture I took of the campsite from above (it looks better at ground level, I tell you):

Here’s a frisky Desert Bighorn Sheep, and me with a little (actually quite fat) gazelle named socks.

Hakuna matada, man…hakuna matada.

Posted in Entertainment, Friends and Family, Me Me Me!, Music and Dance by

Yesterday I went to see the Lion King with Bre and her family for her birthday. It was such an amazing show – it was performed live in downtown San Diego in the huge “broadway” theatre, which I had never been to before. The costumes and sets were absolutely incredible – they had antelopes, elephants, a rhino, zebra, and giraffes which were operated by people walking on all-fours using stilts! The costumes were a combination of makeup, clothing, and puppetry – the people actually had the body shapes of the animals, after they were all made up. We had seats in the very back, about as high up as you could possibly go, but it didn’t really matter because it was such a good show (although I wish I could’ve seen the detail on the costumes a bit better). It has been a while since I’ve done something cultural like that, and I’m so glad Bre invited me to go with her – we got all fancied up, and I liked seeing all the little kids there in their cute little outfits, too. Bre’s mom treated us to drinks (try carrying two full glasses up to the third floor balcony amidst screaming kids and women waiting in line for the restroom without spilling…) and dinner afterwards at the Olive Garden. I had my standard sausage and peppers with penne pasta – yum!

Thought you’d like the update – oh – and I finished my Christmas shopping for the year, too! But don’t get too excited – I’m rather poor this go-round, so I didn’t have very many presents to buy 😦

Back to work…

Blast from the past!

Posted in Friends and Family, Me Me Me! by

A couple of weeks ago I got the craziest email – I discovered that my old friend from Virginia lives only about 15 minutes away from me. What a small world!

Tina McKay (now Gomez) decided to look me up and she found my website online. She lives in Rancho Bernardo with her four kids (two girls and two boys) and her husband, who moved out here three years ago when Compaq merged with HP. Tina lived next door to me from 4th through 9th grade, and I haven’t talked to her since I moved to California in 1989. So we had a lot of catching up to do!

Tina invited me over to her place for dinner, and Chris grilled us up a fine meal. We looked through her 1992 Robinson yearbook and I saw people I hadn’t even thought of for years. She has kept in touch with a lot of people and was able to get me updated on who was married and how many babies everyone has. I’ve often wondered what Tina ended up doing; she seems happy with her family and is doing a great job raising her kids. Something that would be a tough job for me!

Tail-End of the Camping Season

Posted in Career, Friends and Family, Me Me Me! by

Saturday night was the last night of the Roar and Snore camping season at the Wild Animal Park. And because it was so close to Halloween, we all decided to wear cat ears and tails (that’s my tail in the middle). And, to end things with a bang, we had probably the rowdiest group of kids of the entire season! Worse than girl scouts, and dare I say it, even cub scouts! It was bittersweet – after an entire summer of giving the same tours over and over again, I think everyone was ready to move on. But, it was sad saying goodbye to my new friends (really, my only friends here in CA) and my employment at the park. I’ll be able to hang onto my employee ID for a little while so that I can continue to visit the park for free, and enjoy the new balloon ride and the Glacier Run simulator and get down to the zoo.

I really hope that we can all stay in touch. My friendships with the people on the night crew are so important to me, and whether or not they realize it, they’ve given me a lot during a rough time in my life. I’ll probably always look back on this job as one of the funnest I’ll ever have; it has given me some great ideas of what I’d like to do with my life, shown me some of my strengths, and given me a boost in confidence. I’m so fortunate to have had this opportunity!

Inevitability

Posted in Friends and Family, Me Me Me! by

Grandpa was brought home to Mom’s house Sunday afternoon, and peacefully passed away yesterday morning around 6 am. I took Monday off of work to be with him and Mom, and we spent all day just waiting for the inevitable. Grandpa was pretty much unconscious the entire time he was home; hospice workers were there the entire time and kept him comfortable with medication. Monday night I slept on the sofa, listening to his breath all night. Early that morning, Mom came out from her bedroom to check on things; we were joking around on the couch, were laughing about how tough Grandpa was in the fact that he just kept hanging on. I’d noticed that since Mom entered the room his breathing slowed down quite a bit, and all of a sudden, he was gone. He didn’t move, gasp, or struggle. He just didn’t take another breath. I’m glad that he waited for Mom that morning – two minutes after she came out to the living room he finally let go, and I can only imagine that he was cheered by us laughing and playing with the dogs in his final moments.

It was Mom’s birthday yesterday, and she saw his hanging on until her birthday as a final gift.

Today Mom and I went to pick out his urn; we were originally going to get a simple wooden box, but I spotted a beautiful porcelain-like urn that Mom connected with right away. It was bright red and orange, and had autumn leaves on it outlined in gold. Grandpa’s favorite color was red, and he especially liked autumn. Mom has fond memories of taking family car trips in the fall, going up to Vermont to see the leaves change color. And, I found an urn for me, too! It’s really cool – mountains, trees, hills, and a waterfall in all the colors I like. So keep that in mind for my wish list, ok? Just kidding about that last part!

What a relief though – not only for us, but I’m sure for Grandpa, who had suffered these last years with back pain, sickness, and a deteriorating mental state. I’m so glad I had this past year to get to know him, and am happy that we were in each others’ lives even for a short time.

I’m so very tired!

Posted in Complainments, Friends and Family, Updates by

This week has been a blur. But for those of you who are interested, here’s where I’m at:

The “Check Engine” light came on in my car.
Teddy Bear threw up and diarrhea’d in my living room and the smell won’t go away.
I worked 15 hours yesterday (I started a 10-week full-time temp job, and then I had to guide for Roar and Snore).
No one came to my little get-together on Thursday due to traffic accidents and hospitalized people and sickness.
I have no food in the house, and neither do my pets.
Zoe keeps licking my hands until they bleed, and I can’t stop her because she’s too damn cute.
Grandpa’s condition continues to worsen.

So let’s update you on that last part. I haven’t gotten to the hospital for the past couple of days because I’ve been so exhausted, so I’m getting all this info through Mom, who struggles through each day (and with a nasty head cold at that). Apparently two days ago Grandpa lost his ability to swallow liquid and food, so he’s now getting nothing but hydration through an IV. Mom had to make the very difficult decision to not give him a feeding tube, and came to that decision because he would a) just try to pull it out, worsening his condition and b) continue to linger on in this horrible state he is in for who knows how long. Recovery doesn’t seem like an option right now, really, and it’s just so hard to watch Grandpa go through this. His dementia is very bad, and when he’s awake he’s hallucinating, yelling, and trying to rip out his tubes and his gown. So they’ve had to sedate him not only with morphine and valium, but now with thorizine, which is used to calm people with hallucinations and the general crazies. I imagine that today he’ll go to a skilled nursing facility, but if he’s not eating or drinking, I’m not sure how long he’ll linger there. I’ll write more when I know more; in the meantime, thanks for your support and thoughts.

Update on Grandpa’s Condition

Posted in Friends and Family, Me Me Me! by

After four days at the hospital I needed some time to myself, so I’m sitting here this morning and updating my blog. After the doctor’s grim report on Sunday, we had Grandpa moved to an intermediate care unit and put on comfort care. Amazingly, his bleeding has stopped, and as of this morning, his blood count is up, his blood pressure is good, and his pulse is back to normal. Last night I suggested we put him back on an IV (because we knew the bleeding had stopped at this point), and I think that helped. So, the doctor said she’d like to keep him at the hospital for another 24-48 hours to really get hydrated, then they’d move him to a nursing home facility for recovery. Now don’t get me wrong, I really don’t know what’s going to happen with him – I think his condition could go either way. His dementia is really bad right now, and we’ve had to restrain his arms because he keeps trying to rip out his IV, air tube, and yank his hospital robe (yeah, I saw that once and didn’t want to see it again!). Everything’s kind of up in the air.

But thank you all SO MUCH for your kind words and thoughts – Mom and I both really appreciate your support right now. It’s been a really tough time, and we don’t know how this will turn out yet. But you know me – I’ll keep you posted!