Anne's Visit: Monday

Monday was all about Safari West. We slept in, had brunch at the Black Bear Diner and got to SW early for our 1pm tour. The ring-tailed lemur island was right near the gift shop so Sallie and I spent awhile watching a young one play around in the tall grass. She was a bit worried it might tip over into the moat.

With the weather still a bit rainy, we only had two other parties along with us on our tour for a total of eleven plus the guide. We all fit on one jeep. First, though we started out on a walking tour of a few exhibits including a walk-in aviary where we got up close to lots of tropical birds and even some blue duikers, teeny little antelope. We saw four cheetahs including two sisters.

Once in the jeep we headed out into the large enclosures where we saw Masai giraffes huddling in their barn, a white rhino pair, an ostrich that got almost right in Anne's face, lots of antelope and impalas, gazelles and oryx, a family of Cape buffalo, wildebeest and gemsboks, springboks and waterbucks, some zebras and a herd of Watusi cattle, the only domesticated species in the preserve. I highly recommend saving up to go check out Safari West.

The fish and chips place I had wanted to eat at for dinner is unfortunately closed on Mondays so after a bit of wandering around Santa Rosa we ended up at the Olive Garden. I've been wanting to go there for awhile. I got the rosemary chicken with broccoli over orecchiette in a garlic cream sauce. It was delish!

Anne stayed with me on Monday after sleeping on Sallie's airbed Friday and Saturday nights. She finally got her laundry in late and we didn't get to bed until after midnight. I don't know what time Anne got up but she was almost ready to head for the airport when I stumbled out at 5:45am. I dropped her off in Oakland then went back to bed and slept until 1pm. It was a great mini-vacation and fun was had by all!

Anne's Visit: Sunday

Our plan for Sunday was to meander our way along the Silverado Trail and Route 29 in the Napa Valley eventually arriving in Santa Rosa for dinner at Guy Fieri's Johnny Garlic's restaurant and then overnight in Rohnert Park. We hoped to get to Calistoga in time to see the geyser before it closed but we weren't in any real hurry.

Luckily I still had a wine country guide in my car so we could identify which wineries we were passing and which ones might be interesting to see. Anne also had a couple recommendations from her friends. None of us are real wine enthusiasts but we enjoyed the sights. It was raining a bit so we ended up eating lunch in the car at one of the wineries. I'm glad we decided to bring food along since cheap places to eat are few and far between.

We made it to the geyser with plenty of time since they've already switched to summer hours. With the water table being so high from recent rains, the geyser was erupting every few minutes but for a short duration. I think I saw it go off five times. We also enjoyed the baby goats and sheep there. The lambs were only about a week old.

Because it was raining we didn't want to take the walk through the Petrified Forest but we browsed the selections in the gift shop. I was tempted by some fossils but I really don't need more things sitting around collecting dust.

Our dinner at Johnny Garlic's was pretty yummy. I had the Cuban Pork Chop with a side of mac & cheese (of course). The pork was good but the mac was below average. I had to add salt, pepper and parm to make it worth eating. We made our way south to our hotel, watched The Amazing Race and turned in.

Anne's Visit: Saturday

Anne needed to log in to her work account but with Sallie having dial-up and me having a Mac we decided to try the library on Saturday morning after some shopping at the farmers market. I tasted the chicken curry again at the new Indian tent. They had a tandoori oven there baking naan. So good!

I recruited Sallie to help me figure out why my new Dyson ball wasn't working so we left Anne with my library card at the computer and went back to my house. I supplied a small screwdriver and Sallie did the rest in getting my vacuum working. She even vacuumed the living room! Thanks, Sallie! I tried to have her change my toilet seat but she discovered the metal screws were rusted and she couldn't move them. Oh, well. I guess that's what the maintenance guy is for. I forgot to have her install my new showerhead. Maybe if I feed her she'll come over again soon.

We picked up Anne (who was unable to log in after all and spent the time picking out paperbacks to buy) and drove up to the Oakland Zoo and ate our picnic leftovers in the car. We got to see most all of the animals; even the warthogs were out and about. I was making stir-fry for dinner so we headed home to my newly cleaned carpets. Sallie napped while Anne and I did some Facebooking. After dinner Sallie read while Anne and I created a tune on Garage Band. It was nice to have a relaxing evening before our road trip north.

Anne's Visit: Friday

Sallie and I selected some picnic foods at the grocery store on Friday morning then met Anne at the San Francisco airport and headed to the coast. I always make Anne drive when we're going over lots of hills so I navigated and she drove. We stopped at Point Montara Lighthouse Hostel, north of Half Moon Bay. There were picnic tables and amazing views so we enjoyed a light repast with the gulls and crashing waves.

We then headed north up Highway 1 through Devil's Slide and Pacifica stopping at Fort Funston. The air currents were perfect for hang gliding and we saw up to six in the air at one time. Funston is a happening place for canines and their people. We walked the old roads of the fort towards the north and looked down the stretch of Ocean Beach. Once back in the car, we braved rush hour traffic on our way to Alameda, with a quick stop on Treasure Island to catch the best view of the City by the Bay.

Anne got a tour of Borders (and burned a CD) and I did some shopping at Trader Joe's for Saturday's supper. Sallie had solicited some recommendations for dinner near her store and we ended up having Thai at Toomie's. It was delish! I'll definitely be going back there again.

I'm taking the week off

čtvrtek

I'm a bit confused about what's happening on Idol. People were eliminated. Now they're back. Are the extra three (if that's how many it is) getting chosen tonight or are they just singing? Are we going to be voting for them or is it Judges' Pick? I guess I'll have to watch tonight and find out. I think I'd choose Anoop, Jesse and Megan (she's so odd).

After watching Idol last night it was all about the models. First I watched Make Me a Supermodel on Bravo. I like how they changed it up this season so Tyson can be on the side of the models and not a judge. I think my fave so far is Gabriel.

Then came America's Next Top Model with Tyra and the Jays. It's always so fun watching what they put those poor girls through. Who else thought crazy Sandra should've been gone? Yeah, me too. I love how she tried to justify all the things she did poorly. "I just don't screw up." Uh-huh. Sure. I'm going to wait a week or two to choose a fave. There are too many to choose from.

I have tomorrow off as a furlough day so I'll be doing laundry and cleaning the house in anticipation of Anne's visit next Friday!!

středa

I tried a new noodle dish at Siam today: Pad Woon Sen. I just love the tiny clear bean thread noodles (aka cellophane noodles) so thought I'd try this dish out. It came with both chicken and shrimp along with egg and various veggies like carrots, spring onions and cabbage. I liked the taste a lot until the noodles started burning my mouth. I should've asked for it mild. I'll order it again, I'm sure, when I'm feeling like Pad Thai but just had it two days before. Maybe I'll try it with tofu instead of both chicken and shrimp. The egg rolls and Thai iced tea were delish as usual.

Today I downloaded the Picasa app that's now in beta for Macs. It searches your whole hard drive for image files and then you can easily upload them to your Picasa albums. I uploaded all the pics my mom sent me last week. Here's some more samples:

Our family portrait from 1978 minus our oldest who was in college. I'm the 11-year-old in the striped shirt in the lower left. I remember those great glasses. They may have been my first pair.



John and I at Craters of the Moon National Monument on our trip to Idaho in the red Toyota Tercel with Mom and Dad for Mike's wedding in June 1984.




February 1985 with my cat Pushka on our deck in Michigan. I was so ahead of my time with those long sleeves under my T.

úterý

It sure has been raining hard today. When I left home it was really pouring and we got some heavy rain here in the City today too. It was very windy yesterday; the windows were rattling in their casements. I heard one report of hail in Berkeley today. The Weather Channel last night was describing our weather as "relentless." I hear that. I don't normally use an umbrella as I'm just scurrying a bit here and there outdoors but I decided to use it yesterday morning and it wouldn't open! It's a bit of a piece of crap anyway. I wish I hadn't lost my lovely Rick Steves umbrella that I bought especially for our trip to the UK. Now that was a fine umbrelly!

We got a handful of our magazines fresh off the bindery machines yesterday special for the international meeting we've been hosting the last few days. We got some very nice comments on this issue. I have to say I wasn't all that excited about this particular one. I've liked other pages in other issues better, though overall this may be our best issue yet as far as look.

pondělí

Days of the Week language this week: Czech

I've left little time to write today as I need to hurry over to the library to pick up three books: two Honor Harrington books (In Enemy Hands and Honor Among Enemies) and Jim Butcher's new Codex Alera volume, Princeps' Fury. I think I'll need to read a summary of the previous Alera book to get me on track. There are so many characters and political alliances that I always feel a bit lost when I start reading them. I'm nearing the end of Kitty Raises Hell so I'll need something to read come tomorrow.

Anne will be here in a week and a half! Which means we need to start making some firmer plans, like where she's going to sleep and who's picking her up at the airport. This will be the first time Sallie and I have hosted a guest since she moved out here a year ago. I'm really looking forward to it.

vendredo

Today I got some photos my mom sent me. What a treasure trove! So many good memories. Thanks so much for holding them for me, Mom. I've scanned in everything and have about half edited for posting online.

Here's my favorite birthday photo, from my first birthday in Michigan, number 6. Mom made the cat cake and Anne made the cat toy that I'm holding.



Another really great one that I had forgotten about is from when I was just a couple months old We were tent-camping and Mom had an ingenious way to give me a bath.




Some of the items she sent were not photos. There's a cutting from the local newspaper announcing my class' valedictorian (me) and salutatorian; a couple graduation announcements; the program from the prom; my first resume; and, best of all, my original, typed copy of my valedictory. I remember being so nervous about writing it that I didn't let my brother or parents read it ahead of time. I had some good material to work from since our class song was "We are the World".