Part 2: Ace Hotel, Palm Springs

We splurged and stayed a night at the fabulous Ace Hotel. We had a room with a patio - perfect for the Oli dog.

There are two salt water pools, which believe me, spoil you completely. You'll be dread to go into chlorine ever again. They also have coed wet and dry saunas.

You can't believe how comfortable the beds are.

The rooms have record players. We had one record in the room, Lena Horne at the Waldorf Astoria. We played it.

There were also very comfy robes and a walking stick with a wrap.

This picture was taken about 5 seconds after we got in the room and Theron made himself comfortable.

Dogs are allowed pool side but not IN the pool. Well, Oli couldn't stand it. Before we could stop him he had done two laps. We're not really rule breakers, plus we hope to go back someday, so we took some pictures and escorted him back to the room.

That was one happy dog using his webbed toes for what they were made for. Oli's nickname is The Trompler, and you haven't been trompled till the Trompler gets you in the pool. On land, 70 lbs of muscle take a running leap and hold you down with black and white paws. In water you watch in terror and excitement as the Trompler aims his black nose at you like a torpedo.

The food in the restaurant was superb! And it was someone's birthday so the lovely hostess sang Zing! Went the Strings of My Heart. If you ever go, say it's your birthday - this will make you so happy.

It was a mini vacation worth every single penny.

Part 3: On the Way Home

Ode to My Bed On a Rainy, Cold Day

Of earthly layers
Cotton, down, wool, and black dog
A fort, safe and sound

It Never Rains in California, but Girl, Don't they Warn You? It Pours, Man, It Pours

This is our hood! Snow!! It has been raining mercilessly all week to the point that hundreds of homes up the hill from us were evacuated for fear of mudslides from the recent burn areas. Ash has been away this week so I had shorter days to pick up Theron and I have to admit, it has been nice.

Some rainy day pleasures - knitting

Just as my desire to knit something had ripened I got a package of wool in the mail from Iceland. I forgot I ordered it!!

Sourdough flat bread that Ceci and her mom made for everyone at work. It looks like it was cooked on a stone in a rustic Mediterranean village. I toasted mine with blue cheese.

Streaming videos on Netflix. I watched two seasons of Weeds and started a scary British crime drama called Wire in the Blood. EEEeeeeiiiiii - then I try to sleep at night while the wind and rain whip at the windows.

Thursday school was CANCELLED. I couldn't BELIEVE it. Theron was beside himself. But we made the best of it. I decided to be nice and took him to see the Chipmunks - The Squeakual. I've been trying to avoid this. We talked Mike into taking him but then he got busy. One day our friend Carmel asked how her little friend was doing cause she missed him and I told her she could take him to the Squeakual if she wanted and we would give her money. She immediately said yes.

"Really?" I said "Do you want to think about it?"

Carmel: "Oh. Let me sober up and we'll talk about it again".

So anyway, I took him and as much as I like to keep things nice I have to say that was one of the worst movies I've ever seen. I wasn't expecting a tight story line, but it was like one of those chain stories where someone starts and people keep adding to it. And it was just stupid and confounding.

It begins with the Chipmunks in concert in Paris. They are a worldwide sensation. We know this because the concert is being watched on a flat screen television by Eskimos, - in their igloo. Complete with a blue-eyed husky.

Then they come back to the States and are required to go to school for the first time(the Chipmunks, not the Eskimos). They are enrolled in high school, mid year. Really? How old are these Chipmunks supposed to be?

There were jokes clearly aimed at adults. For instance, Alvin is playing football and tells an opposing team member that he's going to grind him up like an acorn and enjoy him "with some fava beans and a nice Chianti", and he does the thing with his lips. I thought,that's funny IS THIS OVER YET?

I guess there were lessons to be learned, such as fat chipmunks will naturally fall in love with other fat chipmunks, geek chipmunks with other geeks, and the beautiful with the handsome. But maybe that's true.

It wasn't all bad because come on, what's cuter than chipmunks in dresses singing "if you like it than you should'a put a ring on it"? I just think the movie would have been ever so much more successful (and enjoyable for a GROWN UP) if it had been a live concert movie thingy. In 3-D.

Happy New Year

Birdyhead has been on hiatus because of holiday fatigue and then Ash was out of town all of last week. That meant that Theron and I were in survival mode and nothing happened that didn't absolutely have to happen.
One night I decided to go ahead and have a couple glasses of wine. It lowered my resistance and I ended up on a PTA committee.
"Okay, as long as my husband doesn't find out".
"You're telling me", she said.

I also agreed to be on a professional committee, since I was on a roll. I think I learned to say YES from our head of publicity who asks me to do stuff once in a while. The first time she did I said no, no, no, no, no. By the time it was over not only did I say Yes, but I was thanking her for the opportunity. She's good. Actually, she asked me to do something this last week, too, and I said YES, because it's just faster that way and life's too short to avoid people who know where to find you anyway.

Theron and the dog and the fish all had regular meals. Theron had to set me straight on a few things. Like, yes, he did want a cheese sandwich but he wanted the bread to be WHITE. WHITE as a PIECE OF PAPER. We're worried about him eating enough, so, oh, all right. Oli certainly didn't get enough walks though because if it gets too close to dusk Theron won't go out because of the vampires.

The day Ashley came home I broke the gate and the slide-out shelf under the sink. The next morning I ruined his coffee by shorting out the circuit trying to use the microwave at the same time. So he has about a week worth of disasters to catch up with and boy is he happy to be home!

The Happiest Season

No snow in LA but lots of color and spirit
Christmas tree pinata

We spent Christmas Eve with Grandma Mary and Grandpa Richard. Legos were had. Then we drove to Santa Maria to see Grandpa Flip and Grandma Rita. More Legos. Oh my. I actually can't even say how many more Lego sets. Theron hit the jackpot for sure.

Next, up to Morro Bay to see Joan and her family. We ate a Thai buffet extravaganza made by Joan's step-mother, Rose. Theron played Wii.

The next day we took Oli for his first trip to the beach, both at Morro Bay and Montana de Oro. Oli says, Thumbs Way Up!!!

Their feet barely touch the ground. When I think "Happy" now, I will probably picture this. We hit Morro Bay first, then Montana de Oro.

Where all the puddles were jumped into

All the seaweed was tasted

All the waves were chased

And all the waves were dodged

Happy Holidays!

Plastic bag holders/dispensers for the school Hollydaze boutique.

Interesting ladies from the Southwest

The year winds down and we feel pretty lucky. Theron's doing much better at school and we have a sweetie pup. Theron was concerned he might be on the naughty list because he's had kind of a hard year. So Santa wrote him a letter telling him he knew he was trying, so that wouldn't be the case. He was really touched and asked how Santa could know he was worried about that. Theron had been trying to compose a letter explaining how he is different, and that he has problems, but he was trying. So that Santa understood this without even being told meant a lot to him.

Theron asked me if I'd ever had a letter from Santa. I told him that sometimes Santa would leave a letter thanking us for the cookies we left out. Theron thought about this. Then he said, "Compared to my letter, your letter is poop".

The Last Two Weeks

Oops, it's been awhile. We've been buuuuussssyyyyy. Look and we've been cold, too, that's ice in the birdbath. Wasn't it 90 degrees last week? Thanksgiving we went to Santa Maria with Oli in tow to meet family. He and Theron napped on the way.

Oli also met Mia. Mia, who is 19 now, had spent 2 days in front of the oven waiting for turkey and she wasn't going to let any whippersnapper dog elbow in on her meat. Oli got his face smacked quite a few times.

Here's Oli saying that's okay, it was worth it! He had a good time being spoiled. The only part of the visit he didn't like was riding the elevator at the hotel.

This is the Phoebe of the Porch Light. The phoebe has come for the second year in a row to hang out on the light.

Then it was back to work. Here are a couple things I came across:

taxidermy quail head

And a silk sample

Unfortunately it was folded up and the dyes bled.

But it's still pretty amazing.

Look at the gossamer threads making feathers and veins in the lily pads.


I also worked on crafts for Theron's school's holiday bazaar. I made a bunch of animal iron-ons

I think they're all cute, myself, but I'm kinda partial to the chickens

I also repeated last years contribution by making more pocket tissue holders

And that's not all... Ashley wished the sewing machine had a muffler.

Done!

Ash and I survived another workshop. I thought, oh great, I have my presentation from last year I can just build on and ha, ha, it was gone! Not totally gone, of course, but just a shell of what the final became so I basically had to rebuild. The day before we were to go to San Francisco I realized I left my camera at work with pictures I needed to place in my Power Point. So, the next morning I left the house at 6:30, got it, and came back to insert the pictures - into the presentation I saved the day before - and left - with my notes - at work.

That means I only forgot 2 things - that's good, right???

So it was back to work, on the way to the airport.

But we did it, and because of our small world we got to see some old friends, and it was really great. Yay!

San Francisco is sooooo nice. Where else can you see Homeless Santa eating Jack In The Box? Well, these days, probably everywhere. But people are so fashionable. Nicely dressed man telling his roommate about a job interview and then choosing this moment to also remind the guy to "STOP STEALING MY POT!" "STOP STEALING MY POT!" For real, he's unemployed, give him a break!!!

George waves goodbye

You know what's fun? Flying Virgin. Love them. You can watch movies and play games and order drinks by swiping your card. Lovely and civilized. I played Mahjongg the whole way both trips.

The day before we left I noticed that the frog had been "sleeping" in the same place for a REALLY LONG TIME. And his skin was white. I flipped out. I killed him! But with only hours till our trip we didn't know what to do. 1) Replace with newer model or 2) have the toilet bowl funeral? He's in the freezer awaiting a decision. Poor George!!!

Grandpa Richard generously donated his time to watch the boys. When we got home they came out of the bedroom and both Theron and Oli danced around in circles. We craved more time in San Francisco but it's good to be home!