103/365 It begins...

First day of play in the US Open today! Woo Hoo!

102/365 Louis' Birthday Beach Trip

It was sooooooo hot and miserable up here today, we just had to go to the beach. We hung out all afternoon with Beedge. The guys played smashball, we all played some frisbee (including Louis) I think overall, Louis had a pretty good birthday!!!

101/365 Danny Triant Visits!

I know this is a bit late, but we were out late... Cousin Danny visited tonight from Nor Cal-ish. Cool cat, he knows CODE for god's sake! What a great lookin' family HUH?!

Nice to see some family... :) Gotta go to bed so I can rescue my Jeep in the AM! We gotta move down the hill soon... this commute is killing me!

Supplement...

I just like how these turned out after playing with the editing... so I'm throwing them up here...

100/365 WOW day 100!!!

I can't believe I've been doing this for 100 days... wow...

It was a much better day today... went by pretty quickly... but this new program might not be the godsend our school wants it to be... we'll see...

It's good to be back home!

99/365 Optimism

Ok, this pic WAS taken yesterday, but I didn't have internet access last night in the hotel, and I didn't want to go down to the "business" area to use the free wifi (I was already in my pjs). SO! The stay began with optimism... we got to the hotel just fine, and upon check in, were given warm, yummy chocolate chip cookies... :) Maybe this wouldn't suck so bad after all. But then, Thursday dawned.

This was a gnarly day... it began with the realization that we have been spoiled by the Ventura County Office of Education (VCOE) they alway serve pretty good food whenever we have a training there; coffee, yogurt fresh fruit, juice, water... LACOE (Los Angeles County Office of Education) did not even serve coffee... we were unprepared for that! After two torturous hours another trainee came in with a cup of vending machine coffee, HOORAY! I was saved... for the moment... lunch was pretty decent Quizno's sandwiches & salad. Later that evening, Jon Oates, his wife Sachi, their little boy James, Corrine and I made a valiant attempt to find a family friendly restaurant. The hotel had a list of restaurants and directions to them. We took Jon's rental car so we didn't have my GPS device with us. Needless to say, the directions were wrong and we got pretty heinously lost for about an hour. Finally found our way back to the hotel, gave up, and just ate there... had not great service and they messed up our orders... classic. We complained to the front desk about the bad directions, and to soften the blow, they offered us more warm cookies... gave us two apiece... this made us not hate them quite so much... but still... then we got back to the room to discover that they cut off our internet service a bit early, and I couldn't post! Exhausted, we went to bed to begin again the following day...

98/365 Swimmers...

So... I'm in Commerce in LA... this is part of the view from our room... nice hotel... trying to pretend I'm on a vacation... :)

97/365 Why not?

It's MY turn... I just KNOW it!

96/365 Spontaneous Beach Trip!

I worked from 8 - 2 today, so we decided to go to our favorite beach... Summerland! It was perfect, Brian gave me some football lessons (throwing, punting *ouch*, and running a slant pattern). I wasn't very good, but he was very positive and encouraging... :) He also impressed me with another of his physical abilities... skipping stones! He can skip practically ANY stone... for real... some of them skipped 7 times! And he got a couple to hit the waves just right and they really went flying. Pretty cool... Beedge showed up later and hung out for a while... really nice...

95/365 Enchiladas Verdes...

Dinner tonight! Yum!

94/365 Brian...

Tonight @ eos lounge in Santa Barbara... nice show! Now it's time for bed!

93/365 Change...

Today we at VRCHS said good bye and good luck to a co-worker that we've all truly enjoyed working with. He fit very well into our group, and his absence will be felt sharply. But he's on to some exciting things for himself, and we are all very happy for him! Good luck in grad school at UCLA Antonio!!! It's interesting... I received the following message today from Rev. Karen Wylie:

What an exciting time to be alive on the planet! Everything is shifting and changing and we are part of that change. Everything must change; nothing remains the same. Change is good when we choose to see it that way. Change is coming individually and collectively. In each and every moment, you are becoming. What you are becoming is your choice and your choice alone. Your life experience is not up to someone else. It is up to you.

This may seem like a big responsibility and some of us would perhaps like to turn it over to someone else rather than take personal responsibility; but whether you are conscious of it or not, your life is in your hands. You can make it glorious or you can make it Hell on earth.

It's time to stop blaming someone else for why our life isn't working. It's time to let go of our self-destructive patterns and wake up to who we truly are as powerful, creative geniuses. We cannot continue to hide out and deny our power and perfection. It is time to step into our greatness in a whole new way -- unafraid to be seen and heard or to reveal who we truly are. The truth is our life is not determined by our history. It is determined by the choices we make in each moment. We can change everything by simply making a different choice -- a choice that promotes love on the planet.

~ Rev. Karen Wylie

92/365 play

Did a little hooping tonight... decided to play with my new remote shutter release... and then I decided to play with photoshop too!

91/365 I make no apology...

I will drink my over-priced, bourgeois corporate swill and every sip will help me get through this day...

90/365 The book you should be reading.

This is a great book. I read another by him "Running With Scissors" a few years ago, but this one just grabs you! Kind-of sad, but hopeful...

89/365 Bubbles!

When we were at the fair last week, I bought a bubble blowing gun... such a stinkin' cool thing! I remember as a kid trying to blow as many bubbles as possible, or as BIG as possible... I want to find more ways to use it for pics....

88/365 Cozy Dell...

Another of our favorite hikes... this is the top of the first saddle. 600 vertical feet in one mile. But then you get to go back down! A bit hazy from the fires and marine layer... but still a pretty amazing view.

87/365 PIE!

Perfect way to finish off our dinner... rhubarb and blackberry pie from Clementine's in Carpinteria. Beedge's treat! YUM!

86/365 The Great Turkey Stampede!

Today I went to the Ventura County Fair with Debbie, her son Eric, and Eva! A great time was had by all... I'm not sure which was best, petting the goats, the turkey and pig races, or the funnel cake...

85/365 More Experimentation...

Sometimes, I just have to be my own model...

84/365 A Whole New World...

I really need to take a photoshop class so I can stop just stumbling on all these AMAZING things it can do....

I discovered downloadable preset brushes.... TOO FUN!!!

83/365 Faves

The Pedi!!! I love how soft my feet look and feel afterwards, and how shiny and smooth the polish is... such an indulgence!

Today I also discovered a new level of photoshop... the preset brushes that you can download!!! LOOK OUT! ) notice how the sparkle seems to just ooze from my toes???

82/365 California Quail...

I just love these fat little birds with their little feather caps. They're REALLY hard to sneak up on to get a good picture of, but they've been frequenting our back yard lately, and I snapped a few shots... you can totally tell I took it through a window... eh!

I forgot to bring my camera with me today, I felt nearly naked. When I do that, I'm always SURE something is going to happen and I will wish I had it... like when you forget your cell phone...

81/365 Hawk as a totem

The Hawk symbolizes strength, truth and intuition. The hawk is a messenger, the bearer of news. The hawk teaches us to scope out situations and focus on our talents. Hawk learns to see the big picture in order to understand the past, present, and future. The hawk asks us to be observant of our surroundings so we won't get distracted from our path by others.

He was waiting in my back yard for me when I got home today. Waiting to have his picture taken. He even called until I came outside, let me take a few shots, then flew away...

80/365 Fiesta!

You really need to click on this and view it large to really appreciate it. These girls were SO cute! I had a little artsy fun with Photoshop...

79/365 The more things change...

the more they stay the same...

This is Rachel. She's one of my best students. Smart, witty, and that fashion sense... remind any of you of anyone else you know??? Hmmmmmm....

78/365 African Violets and Windmill Cookies

My Gramma Gert always had African Violets in the window of her dining room, and windmill cookies in the drawer of her kitchen... good memories. I think of her every time I look at my violets.

77/365 Inspired Ride

Another major find in the Trader Joe's parking lot! I think it's a pretty new paint job too, there was still tape on the windows... mobile artwork!

76/365 Fave 2- Mornin' Java

This pic turned out to be a toofer... one of my favorite parts of the day is my morning coffee, and another fave is my computer!

75/365 Backyard Sunset reprise...

74/365 Padaro Beach

We see dolphins a lot when we go to the beach... luckily, I had my camera, AND the right lens on to catch this pod as they came by on a fishing trip!

73/365 Greek Festival '09

Today we went to the Greek Fest in Santa Barbara. GREAT music, lots of dancing! Really sweet little festival... Eileen should have been there, she could have taught us the dances!!!