This picture was taken 32 years ago. I'm the one on the left, with the "3" sticker on my dress. My sister is sitting next to me (doesn't she look exactly the same?!) You can see that my love for Raggedy Ann & Andy had already begun!
Thursday, April 28, 2005
35!
This picture was taken 32 years ago. I'm the one on the left, with the "3" sticker on my dress. My sister is sitting next to me (doesn't she look exactly the same?!) You can see that my love for Raggedy Ann & Andy had already begun!
Wednesday, April 27, 2005
D'oh!
I hate it when I do things that are simply stupid.
Without going into the details of how or why, I managed to lock myself out of the house today.
I was bringing the garbage cans out from the backyard to the front sidewalk. It was 5:45pm.
Now comes a bit of irony: For those of you who don't know, Dick almost always comes home at 6:00 sharp. (one of the benefits of riding the Caltrain is knowing exactly what your schedule is!) However, every once in a while, he does this thing at work called "Workaholic Wednesdays" where he orders in dinner and encourages people in his team to stay late. It figures that I would lock myself out of the house on the one day that he won't come home for several more hours!
So, how'd I manage to get back in?
I knocked on my next-door neighbor's door. Luckily she was home, but she did mention that she wasn't feeling well today. I asked if I could borrow her phone. Pete & Richard have a key to our house, so I figured I would try to call them first.
Then, it occurred to me: All of my phones have my friend's numbers programmed into them, so I hardly ever dial anyone's numbers, so I don't have many phone numbers committed to memory anymore. Luckily, I do know Dick's cell phone number. I call him at work, tell him what's happening, and he tries to call Pete on his other line. No luck. I think Pete has dance class on Wednesday. Dick says he can call Richard, but he doesn't have his number memorized, so he'll have to hang up with me to call Richard from his cell phone. We hang up, Dick calls Richard, then calls me back at our neighbor's house. Neither Pete nor Richard are answering their phones at home, or their cell.
Hmmmmm..... what to do now....
Dick asks if my sister has a key.
"YES!"
My sister just started working on a new show in Union Square this week, so I know she's there, but I also know that they have a very busy day today, and she wasn't sure what her schedule would be like today. I call her cell phone. Luckily, she answers. She says she doesn't have time to come all the way over, but she could deliver my extra key to the Adlers at their gallery.
GREAT! Jim and Cynde were supposed to drive over to my house tonight to deliver a piece anyway.
So I call Cynde. She said that Jim is running late from his other job in Oakland, and that he probably won't be to the gallery until 7:00 or so.
Time check: 6:15. Okay. that's an hour. No Problem.
I let Cynde know that my sister is coming over with the key, and I'll be waiting for them on my front porch at 7:15 or so.
I didn't want to disrupt my neighbor any longer. She was super nice about everything, but I felt bad because she was sick, and trying to work, too. So I told her that since the weather had cleared up, I'd take advantage of it and take a nice walk around the neighborhood.
I should mention that although I was without my purse, my cell phone, or a jacket, I was still feeling pretty good that I was looking decent in a pair of jeans, and long sleeved shirt and tennis shoes. This all would have been much worse if I locked myself out wearing my bum-around-the-house-and-I-don't-plan-to-see-anyone-clothes, which I would never walk around the neighborhood in. ;)
I walked down to Castro Street, along Market, and made my way over to Church Street. While I was over there, I decided I may as well check out a florist on Church street that was recommended to me. I perused through a great book store on my way back, and picked up a copy of the Bay Guardian to read while I wait for Jim and Cynde.
I made it back home by 7:15, and took a seat on our lovely little porch. It started to get a little chilly, but I thought I could hold out for another 1/2 hour or so.
Jim & Cynde pulled up around 7:50 in their brand new spankin' car. Jim laughed, telling me that he had left me a phone message saying they probably wouldn't make it over tonight because he was leaving Oakland so much later than expected. Of course, when Cynde told him what was going on, he was happy to drive over here.
All is well now. I'm nice and warm in our cozy little home.
As Dick would say, "That's 2 hours of my life that I'll never get back". :)
Tomorrow I'm going to make a few duplicate keys to give to my neighbors and friends.
Without going into the details of how or why, I managed to lock myself out of the house today.
I was bringing the garbage cans out from the backyard to the front sidewalk. It was 5:45pm.
Now comes a bit of irony: For those of you who don't know, Dick almost always comes home at 6:00 sharp. (one of the benefits of riding the Caltrain is knowing exactly what your schedule is!) However, every once in a while, he does this thing at work called "Workaholic Wednesdays" where he orders in dinner and encourages people in his team to stay late. It figures that I would lock myself out of the house on the one day that he won't come home for several more hours!
So, how'd I manage to get back in?
I knocked on my next-door neighbor's door. Luckily she was home, but she did mention that she wasn't feeling well today. I asked if I could borrow her phone. Pete & Richard have a key to our house, so I figured I would try to call them first.
Then, it occurred to me: All of my phones have my friend's numbers programmed into them, so I hardly ever dial anyone's numbers, so I don't have many phone numbers committed to memory anymore. Luckily, I do know Dick's cell phone number. I call him at work, tell him what's happening, and he tries to call Pete on his other line. No luck. I think Pete has dance class on Wednesday. Dick says he can call Richard, but he doesn't have his number memorized, so he'll have to hang up with me to call Richard from his cell phone. We hang up, Dick calls Richard, then calls me back at our neighbor's house. Neither Pete nor Richard are answering their phones at home, or their cell.
Hmmmmm..... what to do now....
Dick asks if my sister has a key.
"YES!"
My sister just started working on a new show in Union Square this week, so I know she's there, but I also know that they have a very busy day today, and she wasn't sure what her schedule would be like today. I call her cell phone. Luckily, she answers. She says she doesn't have time to come all the way over, but she could deliver my extra key to the Adlers at their gallery.
GREAT! Jim and Cynde were supposed to drive over to my house tonight to deliver a piece anyway.
So I call Cynde. She said that Jim is running late from his other job in Oakland, and that he probably won't be to the gallery until 7:00 or so.
Time check: 6:15. Okay. that's an hour. No Problem.
I let Cynde know that my sister is coming over with the key, and I'll be waiting for them on my front porch at 7:15 or so.
I didn't want to disrupt my neighbor any longer. She was super nice about everything, but I felt bad because she was sick, and trying to work, too. So I told her that since the weather had cleared up, I'd take advantage of it and take a nice walk around the neighborhood.
I should mention that although I was without my purse, my cell phone, or a jacket, I was still feeling pretty good that I was looking decent in a pair of jeans, and long sleeved shirt and tennis shoes. This all would have been much worse if I locked myself out wearing my bum-around-the-house-and-I-don't-plan-to-see-anyone-clothes, which I would never walk around the neighborhood in. ;)
I walked down to Castro Street, along Market, and made my way over to Church Street. While I was over there, I decided I may as well check out a florist on Church street that was recommended to me. I perused through a great book store on my way back, and picked up a copy of the Bay Guardian to read while I wait for Jim and Cynde.
I made it back home by 7:15, and took a seat on our lovely little porch. It started to get a little chilly, but I thought I could hold out for another 1/2 hour or so.
Jim & Cynde pulled up around 7:50 in their brand new spankin' car. Jim laughed, telling me that he had left me a phone message saying they probably wouldn't make it over tonight because he was leaving Oakland so much later than expected. Of course, when Cynde told him what was going on, he was happy to drive over here.
All is well now. I'm nice and warm in our cozy little home.
As Dick would say, "That's 2 hours of my life that I'll never get back". :)
Tomorrow I'm going to make a few duplicate keys to give to my neighbors and friends.
Of course it's raining....
... I just washed my car yesterday late afternoon! ;)
Actually, I knew it was forecasted to rain when I washed my car. I just couldn't let it go another day. It was really, really dirty!
Actually, I knew it was forecasted to rain when I washed my car. I just couldn't let it go another day. It was really, really dirty!
Wednesday, April 20, 2005
Safari Snafus
Yesterday evening, I installed the Mac OSX update (10.3.9) and the Security Update via my Mac's automatic Software Update.
Among many other things, the OS update included an updated version of Safari. (1.3 v 312).
right after I updated my computer, and restarted it, Dick and I went back to work on our big CSS web project.
Well, it turns out that the new Safari bites, and it broke a few things in my site.
It's really frustrating, because it's the only browser that these problems are happening in, and they didn't happen at all before I updated my OS. Dick managed to construct a hack to get around the problem, but we were both pretty frustrated by it.
Has anyone else out there noticed any Safari problems after the new update? Mine seems to be running slower as well. I can't imagine that I'm the only one experiencing problems.
It may be time to make the permanent move over to Firefox.
Among many other things, the OS update included an updated version of Safari. (1.3 v 312).
right after I updated my computer, and restarted it, Dick and I went back to work on our big CSS web project.
Well, it turns out that the new Safari bites, and it broke a few things in my site.
It's really frustrating, because it's the only browser that these problems are happening in, and they didn't happen at all before I updated my OS. Dick managed to construct a hack to get around the problem, but we were both pretty frustrated by it.
Has anyone else out there noticed any Safari problems after the new update? Mine seems to be running slower as well. I can't imagine that I'm the only one experiencing problems.
It may be time to make the permanent move over to Firefox.
Tuesday, April 19, 2005
Another Dick Craddock?!
I was just doing a search on A9.com for "Dick Craddock" to see what sites would pop up.
To my surprise, an image popped up in the images section - and it didn't look a thing like the Dick Craddock that I know and love.
You may remember my story about the other Trina Chow.
Well, as it turns out, there's another Dick Craddock out there, too!
For the record: this is cracking me up to no end! :)
To my surprise, an image popped up in the images section - and it didn't look a thing like the Dick Craddock that I know and love.
You may remember my story about the other Trina Chow.
Well, as it turns out, there's another Dick Craddock out there, too!
For the record: this is cracking me up to no end! :)
Wedding Check List
venue: check
caterer: check
dress: check
photographer: check
cake: check
band: check
sanity: check :)
caterer: check
dress: check
photographer: check
cake: check
band: check
sanity: check :)
Monday, April 18, 2005
San Francisco Earthquake Trivia
Today is the 99th anniversary of the Great 1906 San Francisco Earthquake.
This morning, during my daily walk, I walked by the intersections of 20th and Church Street in Noe Valley. There is a fire hydrant on that corner that is painted gold. I read a story several years ago that explained the significance of this hydrant. This single, lone fire hydrant saved Noe Valley from the fires following the earthquake. It is given a fresh coat of golden paint every year to commemorate the anniversary, and to acknowledge "the little hydrant that could".
This morning, during my daily walk, I walked by the intersections of 20th and Church Street in Noe Valley. There is a fire hydrant on that corner that is painted gold. I read a story several years ago that explained the significance of this hydrant. This single, lone fire hydrant saved Noe Valley from the fires following the earthquake. It is given a fresh coat of golden paint every year to commemorate the anniversary, and to acknowledge "the little hydrant that could".
A Perfect Sunday
Yesterday, Dick and I had what I consider to be one of those "perfect days".
First, we made our weekly pancake breakfast, which is always a treat.
The day looked clear and beautiful out, so we made it out by 11:00 to go for a nice, long urban hike.
We decided head out towards The Haight, which means that we have to make our way over "the hill" of Cole Valley. It's quite a hike, with lots of long stairways, but it's a really gorgeous neighborhood to walk around. We eventually made our way to Haight Street, and did a little window and clothes shopping. After a quick lunch, we decided to head into Golden Gate Park. We saw some very interesting sites along the way: the group that holds swing dance lessons in the park every week, the Golden Gate Band giving a concert, etc., We also walked near the construction of the new DeYoung Museum. We were fully aware of the work being done on the DeYoung (which opens this fall, I believe) but we weren't aware that the California Academy of Sciences has also been torn down, with plans of reopening in 2008. That was a great surprise to both of us!
We made our way over to 9th and Irving, and grabbed a Jamba Juice (Yum!). By this time, we were pretty tired, and decided to catch the N-Judah train from Irving Street and took it over to Noe Street in our neighborhood. We stopped in to our local Tower Records, where Dick bought the ultimate in geeky magazines: Make: technology on your time.
As we were walking home on Castro Street, I noticed that our local Ben & Jerry's Scoop Store has closed! Oh no! I guess I didn't really go there all that often, but I have to admit, and I really liked knowing that it was there :) Plus, I read yesterday that tomorrow is Free Cone Day! Bummer!
Once we were home, Dick and I dove back into our new CSS project. Dick has been an incredible help for me in developing this new site via CSS. We've made great progress, and honestly, have really enjoyed working on it together!
It should be noted that yesterday was the day that I "saw the light". That light would be Macromedia Dreamweaver, versus Adobe GoLive. I had used Dreamweaver several years ago when I worked with Abbe Don, and was always impressed with it. However, I bought a copy of Adobe GoLive for my business several years ago because I was able to get a hefty discount from the good folks at Adobe.
Yesterday afternoon, Dick and I downloaded the 30-day trial version of Dreamweaver, and I have to say: I'm sold. It really is a superior product. So, for all of you folks who have been using Dreamweaver all of these years, wondering why I use GoLive, please know that I'm joining you now. :)
Ironically, Adobe & Macromedia just announced this morning that Adobe will be acquiring Macromedia.
Anyhow, Dick and I spent the entire late afternoon and evening geeking out with Dreamweaver and CSS. I'm very pleased with how well our project is turning out, plus we've really enjoyed the endless hours of geeky fun that we've been able to share with each other!
First, we made our weekly pancake breakfast, which is always a treat.
The day looked clear and beautiful out, so we made it out by 11:00 to go for a nice, long urban hike.
We decided head out towards The Haight, which means that we have to make our way over "the hill" of Cole Valley. It's quite a hike, with lots of long stairways, but it's a really gorgeous neighborhood to walk around. We eventually made our way to Haight Street, and did a little window and clothes shopping. After a quick lunch, we decided to head into Golden Gate Park. We saw some very interesting sites along the way: the group that holds swing dance lessons in the park every week, the Golden Gate Band giving a concert, etc., We also walked near the construction of the new DeYoung Museum. We were fully aware of the work being done on the DeYoung (which opens this fall, I believe) but we weren't aware that the California Academy of Sciences has also been torn down, with plans of reopening in 2008. That was a great surprise to both of us!
We made our way over to 9th and Irving, and grabbed a Jamba Juice (Yum!). By this time, we were pretty tired, and decided to catch the N-Judah train from Irving Street and took it over to Noe Street in our neighborhood. We stopped in to our local Tower Records, where Dick bought the ultimate in geeky magazines: Make: technology on your time.
As we were walking home on Castro Street, I noticed that our local Ben & Jerry's Scoop Store has closed! Oh no! I guess I didn't really go there all that often, but I have to admit, and I really liked knowing that it was there :) Plus, I read yesterday that tomorrow is Free Cone Day! Bummer!
Once we were home, Dick and I dove back into our new CSS project. Dick has been an incredible help for me in developing this new site via CSS. We've made great progress, and honestly, have really enjoyed working on it together!
It should be noted that yesterday was the day that I "saw the light". That light would be Macromedia Dreamweaver, versus Adobe GoLive. I had used Dreamweaver several years ago when I worked with Abbe Don, and was always impressed with it. However, I bought a copy of Adobe GoLive for my business several years ago because I was able to get a hefty discount from the good folks at Adobe.
Yesterday afternoon, Dick and I downloaded the 30-day trial version of Dreamweaver, and I have to say: I'm sold. It really is a superior product. So, for all of you folks who have been using Dreamweaver all of these years, wondering why I use GoLive, please know that I'm joining you now. :)
Ironically, Adobe & Macromedia just announced this morning that Adobe will be acquiring Macromedia.
Anyhow, Dick and I spent the entire late afternoon and evening geeking out with Dreamweaver and CSS. I'm very pleased with how well our project is turning out, plus we've really enjoyed the endless hours of geeky fun that we've been able to share with each other!
Friday, April 15, 2005
What happens when you mix Craig's List and Google Maps?
This is so frickin' cool:
http://www.paulrademacher.com/housing/
It's an amazing resource for finding housing listings!
http://www.paulrademacher.com/housing/
It's an amazing resource for finding housing listings!
Thursday, April 14, 2005
I'm baaaack!
Oh my.
Where to start.....
My vacation was absolutely incredible. A fun, fun time was had by all.
Here now is my attempt to actually capture a small amount of the fun and craziness in one consolidated write-up.
Thusday: I flew out of SFO and arrived in Chicago around 5:30 pm. My friend, Tammy met me at the airport. It should be noted here that Tammy had just returned very early that morning from a 6 day trip to Costa Rica. She arrived at 2:00am, managed to get a couple of hours of sleep, went to work early, left work, and drove directly to the airport to pick me up. Poor thing. She was exhausted. We drove to her Mom's house (where Tammy had slept the night before) to pick up Tammy's car, and had a nice dinner together. We got to Tammy's house around 9:00, and even though we were both wiped out, we managed to stay up past midnight catching up. (After all, I had to see her photos from Costa Rica!)
Note: Time change: I had to set my watch ahead 2 hours. Tammy had to remember to set all of her clocks ahead 1 hour since she hadn't been home since Daylight Savings started.
Friday: slept in a little bit, packed our weekend bags, and headed out for a big breakfast before the big road trip. We had a nice, leisurely drive from the suburbs of Chicago, through Indiana and eventually to Ohio. Along the way, we stopped off at some random truck stop in Indiana that had a Dairy Queen inside! We were drawn to this particular truck stop because of all of the billboards along the way announcing their Log Rolls, and their collection of souvenirs from all 50 states! What a hoot that was. One Dairy Queen Chocolate Covered Cherry Blizzard later, and we were back on the road. We usually stay in the Miamisburg/Dayton Mall area (where I lived in 1989/1990) but the hotels that I liked were sold out this year. Instead, we stayed at The Courtyard Marriott in Beavercreek. Tammy used to live in that area, but we were amazed to see how much it has changed in the last 15 years. (Imagine that) Turns out there's a NEW Mall in this area, and every chain restaurant you could possibly imagine. We check in to our hotel around 9:00pm then head out to a local Chili's for dinner.
Time change #2: set watches ahead another hour. this is getting confusing!
By this time, Tammy and I are remembering that of the best things we can remember about our years of living in Ohio is how nice everyone who lives there is. We had very nice service and help at our hotel, and all of the restaurants that we went to. Another thing I had to get used to was that smoking is still allowed in restaurants/bars. Sitting in the non-smoking section of a restaurant really doesn't do much good.
Saturday: Wake up at 9:00am to meet my friend Rob for breakfast. Rob is my friend from the UK that I've known through color guard since 1988. We've been fortunate enough to see each other almost once a year at WGI. Last September, Dick and I traveled to Spain and spent some good, quality time with Rob, and his (ex) Partner, Andrew. When we picked up Rob from his hotel in Miamisburg, I reminded him that the last time we saw each other was in Spain.... and now here we were in Dayton, OH. Go figure.
We were going to eat at the local Bob Evans, but poor Rob was needing a break from the whole color guard thing, and the restaurant was simply swarming with color guard people. Instead, we decide to get off the beaten track, and we found a lovely mom-and-pop diner in downtown Miamisburg called "Happy Days".
Side note: There's something in water in Miamisburg. It's BIG Hair central. When I lived there, I had the biggest hair ever.
After we eat breakfast, Rob mentions that he doesn't have any afternoon plans, so Tammy and I invite him along to our big Saturday afternoon event: Drive to Kentucky to the GAP Clearance Center!
The Gap Clearance Center was all we remembered it to be: jeans for $9.99 or less, shirts/skirts/sweaters for $7.99. It was great shopping! If you're ever in the area, I highly recommend it! :)
We drove the hour route back to Dayton, had a quick dinner at a TGI Fridays (I'm telling you, it's all about the chain restaurants in Ohio!) then we made our way to World Class Finals at the UD Arena.
Finals started at 6:00, but we got in a little late - 7:30. We made it in for top 4 of Scholastic World, and for all of Independent World. That's 19 guards in all, plus a couple of exhibitions, so it turned out to be PLENTY!
side note: what's in these days in the color guard world? Apparently, straight, long hair is in (and I thought perms were making a comeback!), variety in themes again (thank goodness! no more guard-after-guard of classical music!) crushed velvet is in again? who knew? Oh - really cool, intricate floor designs. Floors have come a long way, baby.
But really, it's no longer about the show for me. I enjoy watching still, but I don't really want to watch more than 20 guards at a time. This must mean that we're getting old, but it's really all about going to Headquarters after the show to socialize and have our annual reunion with friends.
True to form, we stayed at Headquarters until 4:00am this year. You gotta love that. I really love seeing everyone, and feel fortunate that we have a date and venue that we're all at each year.
Sunday: we set our alarm for 11:00am, since check-out is at Noon. One quick big breakfast at the local Bob Evans, and we're off again! We made very good time on the trip home, and made it back to the 'burbs of Chicago by 6:00. We had a wonderful dinner with Eileen and her family at their home. It was the perfect way to end the WGI weekend. (Thanks Eileen!)
Monday: We hooked up with my friend Jason, who had just moved back from 3 months in Australia. We also had dinner with Tammy's new friend who she met on the Costa Rica trip. Jason brought us to a fantastic little Italian restaurant in The Heart of Italy.
Tuesday: We spent the afternoon at one of the coolest museum exhibits I've ever seen:
Body Worlds.
It was fascinating. So well presented, and so educational.
I know that there's a simliar exhibit being presented in San Francisco, and I really can't recommend it enough.
So, that's the very long scoop. Can you tell that I put less and less detail in each day as I wrote? ;) Good to get it all out, though.
Longest. Blog. Post. Ever.
:)
Here are some photos from the trip!
Where to start.....
My vacation was absolutely incredible. A fun, fun time was had by all.
Here now is my attempt to actually capture a small amount of the fun and craziness in one consolidated write-up.
Thusday: I flew out of SFO and arrived in Chicago around 5:30 pm. My friend, Tammy met me at the airport. It should be noted here that Tammy had just returned very early that morning from a 6 day trip to Costa Rica. She arrived at 2:00am, managed to get a couple of hours of sleep, went to work early, left work, and drove directly to the airport to pick me up. Poor thing. She was exhausted. We drove to her Mom's house (where Tammy had slept the night before) to pick up Tammy's car, and had a nice dinner together. We got to Tammy's house around 9:00, and even though we were both wiped out, we managed to stay up past midnight catching up. (After all, I had to see her photos from Costa Rica!)
Note: Time change: I had to set my watch ahead 2 hours. Tammy had to remember to set all of her clocks ahead 1 hour since she hadn't been home since Daylight Savings started.
Friday: slept in a little bit, packed our weekend bags, and headed out for a big breakfast before the big road trip. We had a nice, leisurely drive from the suburbs of Chicago, through Indiana and eventually to Ohio. Along the way, we stopped off at some random truck stop in Indiana that had a Dairy Queen inside! We were drawn to this particular truck stop because of all of the billboards along the way announcing their Log Rolls, and their collection of souvenirs from all 50 states! What a hoot that was. One Dairy Queen Chocolate Covered Cherry Blizzard later, and we were back on the road. We usually stay in the Miamisburg/Dayton Mall area (where I lived in 1989/1990) but the hotels that I liked were sold out this year. Instead, we stayed at The Courtyard Marriott in Beavercreek. Tammy used to live in that area, but we were amazed to see how much it has changed in the last 15 years. (Imagine that) Turns out there's a NEW Mall in this area, and every chain restaurant you could possibly imagine. We check in to our hotel around 9:00pm then head out to a local Chili's for dinner.
Time change #2: set watches ahead another hour. this is getting confusing!
By this time, Tammy and I are remembering that of the best things we can remember about our years of living in Ohio is how nice everyone who lives there is. We had very nice service and help at our hotel, and all of the restaurants that we went to. Another thing I had to get used to was that smoking is still allowed in restaurants/bars. Sitting in the non-smoking section of a restaurant really doesn't do much good.
Saturday: Wake up at 9:00am to meet my friend Rob for breakfast. Rob is my friend from the UK that I've known through color guard since 1988. We've been fortunate enough to see each other almost once a year at WGI. Last September, Dick and I traveled to Spain and spent some good, quality time with Rob, and his (ex) Partner, Andrew. When we picked up Rob from his hotel in Miamisburg, I reminded him that the last time we saw each other was in Spain.... and now here we were in Dayton, OH. Go figure.
We were going to eat at the local Bob Evans, but poor Rob was needing a break from the whole color guard thing, and the restaurant was simply swarming with color guard people. Instead, we decide to get off the beaten track, and we found a lovely mom-and-pop diner in downtown Miamisburg called "Happy Days".
Side note: There's something in water in Miamisburg. It's BIG Hair central. When I lived there, I had the biggest hair ever.
After we eat breakfast, Rob mentions that he doesn't have any afternoon plans, so Tammy and I invite him along to our big Saturday afternoon event: Drive to Kentucky to the GAP Clearance Center!
The Gap Clearance Center was all we remembered it to be: jeans for $9.99 or less, shirts/skirts/sweaters for $7.99. It was great shopping! If you're ever in the area, I highly recommend it! :)
We drove the hour route back to Dayton, had a quick dinner at a TGI Fridays (I'm telling you, it's all about the chain restaurants in Ohio!) then we made our way to World Class Finals at the UD Arena.
Finals started at 6:00, but we got in a little late - 7:30. We made it in for top 4 of Scholastic World, and for all of Independent World. That's 19 guards in all, plus a couple of exhibitions, so it turned out to be PLENTY!
side note: what's in these days in the color guard world? Apparently, straight, long hair is in (and I thought perms were making a comeback!), variety in themes again (thank goodness! no more guard-after-guard of classical music!) crushed velvet is in again? who knew? Oh - really cool, intricate floor designs. Floors have come a long way, baby.
But really, it's no longer about the show for me. I enjoy watching still, but I don't really want to watch more than 20 guards at a time. This must mean that we're getting old, but it's really all about going to Headquarters after the show to socialize and have our annual reunion with friends.
True to form, we stayed at Headquarters until 4:00am this year. You gotta love that. I really love seeing everyone, and feel fortunate that we have a date and venue that we're all at each year.
Sunday: we set our alarm for 11:00am, since check-out is at Noon. One quick big breakfast at the local Bob Evans, and we're off again! We made very good time on the trip home, and made it back to the 'burbs of Chicago by 6:00. We had a wonderful dinner with Eileen and her family at their home. It was the perfect way to end the WGI weekend. (Thanks Eileen!)
Monday: We hooked up with my friend Jason, who had just moved back from 3 months in Australia. We also had dinner with Tammy's new friend who she met on the Costa Rica trip. Jason brought us to a fantastic little Italian restaurant in The Heart of Italy.
Tuesday: We spent the afternoon at one of the coolest museum exhibits I've ever seen:
Body Worlds.
It was fascinating. So well presented, and so educational.
I know that there's a simliar exhibit being presented in San Francisco, and I really can't recommend it enough.
So, that's the very long scoop. Can you tell that I put less and less detail in each day as I wrote? ;) Good to get it all out, though.
Longest. Blog. Post. Ever.
:)
Here are some photos from the trip!
Wednesday, April 06, 2005
Mid-West Vacation
I'm heading out tomorrow for my semi-annual trek to the mid west.
I'll be flying into Chicago, and staying with my good friend, Tammy.
We'll be driving to Dayton, OH on Friday to attend WGI - Winter Guard International over the weekend. It'll be my 18th trip to the competition since 1986. Egads!
While we're in Dayton, we're going to take a sidetrip to Kentucky. The Gap Clearance Center is there (not to be confused with the Gap Outlet at Outlet Malls). This is very, very exciting. We always find loads of great buys there.
We'll head back to Chicago on Sunday, and will have dinner at our friend, Eileen's house.
I'll be in Chicago for 2 full days - Monday and Tuesday. On one of these days, we'll also have a chance to catch up with Jason, who just returned from 3 months in Austalia. Jason writes travel books and articles for travel magazines. His first book was recently released, and he's starting a whole new series now.
I'm really looking forward to this vacation. It's my chance to see so many old friends, all at the same time. Most of my color guard friends still attend WGI each year, and I'm so happy that we get to spend time with each other year-after-year.
Dick will be staying at home all of this time, of course. For some reason, he doesn't seem to be very interested in coming to Ohio with me to watch color guards! ;) I'm sure he'll be up for some Xbox Live if anyone is interested!
I'll be flying into Chicago, and staying with my good friend, Tammy.
We'll be driving to Dayton, OH on Friday to attend WGI - Winter Guard International over the weekend. It'll be my 18th trip to the competition since 1986. Egads!
While we're in Dayton, we're going to take a sidetrip to Kentucky. The Gap Clearance Center is there (not to be confused with the Gap Outlet at Outlet Malls). This is very, very exciting. We always find loads of great buys there.
We'll head back to Chicago on Sunday, and will have dinner at our friend, Eileen's house.
I'll be in Chicago for 2 full days - Monday and Tuesday. On one of these days, we'll also have a chance to catch up with Jason, who just returned from 3 months in Austalia. Jason writes travel books and articles for travel magazines. His first book was recently released, and he's starting a whole new series now.
I'm really looking forward to this vacation. It's my chance to see so many old friends, all at the same time. Most of my color guard friends still attend WGI each year, and I'm so happy that we get to spend time with each other year-after-year.
Dick will be staying at home all of this time, of course. For some reason, he doesn't seem to be very interested in coming to Ohio with me to watch color guards! ;) I'm sure he'll be up for some Xbox Live if anyone is interested!
Tuesday, April 05, 2005
Google Maps
This is so cool!
Type in your address, and see your house via satellite maps!
Cruise around the city, county, state, or country!
Type in your address, and see your house via satellite maps!
Cruise around the city, county, state, or country!
Monday, April 04, 2005
GO HEELS!
Horray!Tar Heels win first national title since 1993
Yes, I stayed out of the room the entire time.
It was stressful enough just waiting in anticipation, and hearing Dick yell from downstairs!
Dick is very happy now, and that makes me happy, too :)
Perhaps now, we can put that whole Santa Clara incident to rest ;)
My boyfriend is a CSS GOD!
We spent a large part of the day yesterday working on a big CSS project together. It was SO helpful for me, and we had loads of fun, too. (isnt' this what most couples do for fun on the weekend?)
I'll just add it to the long list of qualities that I love about him. :)
I'll just add it to the long list of qualities that I love about him. :)
Sunday, April 03, 2005
Spring Forward
Did you set your clocks?
In 1990 my sister and I were living in Dayton, OH for color guard. Our big competition of the year fell on the weekend with the daylight savings time change. Since we were gone all weekend, and other people were in charge of our schedule, we didn't really think about the time change at all. The competition was in Buffalo, NY, so we took a bus, and didn't get home until Monday night.
We completely forgot about the time change.
That Tuesday or Wednesday, we had to return the U-Haul truck (we were moving back to CA) that we had used to bring some of our furniture to a friend's house.
About an hour before the truck was due, we realized that we had totally spaced on the time change, and we only had about 5 minutes to get the truck back, or we'd be charged for an entire extra day!
So we rushed over there, made it just in time, and felt like complete dorks that we had gone a whole 2-3 days without remembering about the time change.
In 1990 my sister and I were living in Dayton, OH for color guard. Our big competition of the year fell on the weekend with the daylight savings time change. Since we were gone all weekend, and other people were in charge of our schedule, we didn't really think about the time change at all. The competition was in Buffalo, NY, so we took a bus, and didn't get home until Monday night.
We completely forgot about the time change.
That Tuesday or Wednesday, we had to return the U-Haul truck (we were moving back to CA) that we had used to bring some of our furniture to a friend's house.
About an hour before the truck was due, we realized that we had totally spaced on the time change, and we only had about 5 minutes to get the truck back, or we'd be charged for an entire extra day!
So we rushed over there, made it just in time, and felt like complete dorks that we had gone a whole 2-3 days without remembering about the time change.
Saturday, April 02, 2005
Puttin' in time at 251 Post Street
I've been spending a lot of time at the building on 251 Post Street lately.
The Adler's Gallery is on the 5th floor. We're working on redesigning their 8-year-old site right now, so we've had several meetings lately.
This Wednesday, I spent a few hours at Takada Gallery on the 6th floor. Takada recently had a nice site designed for the gallery, but needed some one-on-one tutorials on Photoshop and Dreamweaver so he can do his own updates. It was a very productive meeting, and he plans to hire me a few more times until he feels more confident.
After my meeting, I walked down to the 5th floor to check-in with Cynde. She suggested that we should try to set up an appointment with the Bridal Salon on the 2nd floor while we had some time. When she called over, they were already booked for the rest of the day, but they suggested that we make an appointment for Friday when they start their 2-day trunk show.
Cynde and I went in yesterday afternoon. I liked many of the designs that they have (which hasn't really happened in any of the stores that I've gone to so far) but I especially liked the designer who they were featuring in their trunk show. We selected about 6 dresses to try on, but I put my favorite one on first. That was it - I found "the dress" :)
Let's hear it for Serendipity!
It's funny, because I thought we have been doing really well with this whole wedding-planning-timeline so far: we've booked our venue, the caterer, the photographer and the band. I figured 6 months was plenty early to start looking for a dress. Well, what do I know! The employees at the Bridal Store said that they'd have to pull some strings and put my order through as a rush to have it made in time. They said they like to plan on 6-9 months to have a dress made and delivered! That's crazy!
There's a really funny story about the style name of the dress that I really want to share. However, if I put it up on my Blog, Dick will know the style name (he already knows the designer) and he'll be able to see what the dress looks like. Oh well, too bad. Remind me, after the wedding, to tell you what the funny style-name story is.
The Adler's Gallery is on the 5th floor. We're working on redesigning their 8-year-old site right now, so we've had several meetings lately.
This Wednesday, I spent a few hours at Takada Gallery on the 6th floor. Takada recently had a nice site designed for the gallery, but needed some one-on-one tutorials on Photoshop and Dreamweaver so he can do his own updates. It was a very productive meeting, and he plans to hire me a few more times until he feels more confident.
After my meeting, I walked down to the 5th floor to check-in with Cynde. She suggested that we should try to set up an appointment with the Bridal Salon on the 2nd floor while we had some time. When she called over, they were already booked for the rest of the day, but they suggested that we make an appointment for Friday when they start their 2-day trunk show.
Cynde and I went in yesterday afternoon. I liked many of the designs that they have (which hasn't really happened in any of the stores that I've gone to so far) but I especially liked the designer who they were featuring in their trunk show. We selected about 6 dresses to try on, but I put my favorite one on first. That was it - I found "the dress" :)
Let's hear it for Serendipity!
It's funny, because I thought we have been doing really well with this whole wedding-planning-timeline so far: we've booked our venue, the caterer, the photographer and the band. I figured 6 months was plenty early to start looking for a dress. Well, what do I know! The employees at the Bridal Store said that they'd have to pull some strings and put my order through as a rush to have it made in time. They said they like to plan on 6-9 months to have a dress made and delivered! That's crazy!
There's a really funny story about the style name of the dress that I really want to share. However, if I put it up on my Blog, Dick will know the style name (he already knows the designer) and he'll be able to see what the dress looks like. Oh well, too bad. Remind me, after the wedding, to tell you what the funny style-name story is.
Friday, April 01, 2005
Napolean Dynamite
Just got this off of Bruce's Blog:
Napoleon Dynamite on Letterman
That is just too funny.
If you haven't seen the movie, you really must.
If you're like me, you'll sit there the entire time thinking "this is really odd". Then, you'll start to laugh. Then, you'll wonder if it's okay to laugh. Then you'll remember that you really knew someone like that in high school. And possibly, you may even recognize that there's a little bit of Napoleon Dynamite in each of us.....
Seriously, the movie is even more funny after you've watched then entire thing, and think about it over and over in your head.
Napoleon Dynamite on Letterman
That is just too funny.
If you haven't seen the movie, you really must.
If you're like me, you'll sit there the entire time thinking "this is really odd". Then, you'll start to laugh. Then, you'll wonder if it's okay to laugh. Then you'll remember that you really knew someone like that in high school. And possibly, you may even recognize that there's a little bit of Napoleon Dynamite in each of us.....
Seriously, the movie is even more funny after you've watched then entire thing, and think about it over and over in your head.