Catch-Up Post

Today is the last day of June and the mark of the half-way point through the year. So much has happened this year that it feels like several years have already passed! I'm not going to go into a review of the last six months, though, only the past couple of weeks. Whew!

Moving out of Cliffrose: We moved our necessities to the hotel on June 24. It took a couple of car loads, but we finally settled in around midnight. I was stressed about moving from a 4k sq. ft. house to a hotel and, looking back, I shouldn't have have been. Of all days, I was also sick. My throat was on fire, I had a fever, I had all the flu symptoms, etc. Timing is everything!

The next morning, Derek got up early to go pick up the U-Haul while Ashley and I set up our new home. We both decided that we didn't want Ashley dealing with all the stress at the house that day and that she would have a better experience with mommy at the hotel. As it turned out, that was a good decision. The stress at the Cliffrose house was unbelievable. After Derek got there with the U-Haul, the moving helpers that we hired never showed up. At 3:00 Derek found a couple of other guys out in Riverside that could come out at the last minute, but it cost us $100.00 more. If we didn't have such heavy stuff to take downstairs and load into a U-Haul, we probably would not have needed them. However, since we had a washer, dryer, Ashley's bedroom set, and our Cal King mattress, we had no choice unless we left it behind. So, fast-forward to loading the U-Haul. We had a 26 ft. U-Haul and thought it would be too big. Wrong! That thing was packed solid at the end and we even had to leave our split-level coffee table, a bookcase, and a few other little things behind in the garage. Damn! Now it was 7:00 pm and Derek led the caravan to the storage place where we have a 10 X 20 unit. I'm thinking that there's no way it's going to fit. It toook 3 hours to unload the U-Haul and by some miracle it all fit. OMG! Derek wants to get another small storage unit for our inventory because he can't work with the stacks like they are.

The next day, we were wiped out. We surfed the internet to find out interesting things about the area we now live in and scheduled a few things to do with Ashley. It was a pretty low-key day, but we had fun hanging out together.

As it turns out, the hotel we're living in is in the middle of everything. This is a lot different from the Cliffrose house, where we lived in the sticks. Everything is within walking distance or at least a very short drive. When we lived in the Valley, we still didn't live this close to it all. I never thought that this woud be so much fun!

Yesterday, we went to Old Town which is about a mile away from the hotel. OMG! That place is so awesome! We had lunch, went junking, saw a lot of artists with their sidewalk chalk art (they did some amazing stuff!), and showed Ashley the history of cowboys and Indians. When we got back to the hotel, I was on Cloud 9. This area is so exciting and I cannot wait to go back again!

Today, I'm taking Ashley to a duck park. It's beautiful there. There's a decent size lake with grass and trees around it and picnic tables. I'm going to make us a picnic lunch and we're taking the camera. We're going to turn this into an educational experience for her like we did yesterday.

So, there you have it. All the chaos and changes wrapped up in a few paragraphs. (I wish I could have experienced it this simply!) Life is definitely getting better and we are really glad that we have the opportunity to experience where we live now.

Life's Rich Pageantry

Temecula Secular Homeschooling Support Group

Temecula Secular Home School Support Group

Well, I'll be damned...

I found the password!

Gerald Ford

Former President Gerald Ford died a few hours ago. I was fairly young during his presidency -- my most vivid memories of him in office are of him falling down (and, of course, of Chevy Chase impersonating him falling down). However, I can say that he was one of the few Republicans that I did not dislike, and judging by the current crop of Rs, he may be one of the last.

James Brown

I just saw the news that James Brown has died. Just an hour ago, I was sitting in a car (driving, actually), arguing with someone over whether James Brown is a 'living legend' or not. I took the stance that he was, without question, and I think it was the first time that I admitted to this particular person that I thought so highly of James Brown, knowing that it would set me up for a load of crap from this person. (Earlier, he refused to admit that Chuck Berry was a living legend on the grounds that he thought that Berry was dead.)

I just told my wife about the conversation in the car about fifteen minutes ago, she agreed with me about JB, and others, and had her own picks. I just had to tell her that we can cross one off the list.

That sucks.

Where We Are Now

I have no idea...

Seriously, this blog got way too serious, way too heavy-handed there for a while. The last thing I want to do is come on here and write about politics every day. So, in the future, IF this blog continues, we are going to change the tone. Will the tone change? No. Why did we ever think the tone would change? Whoops -- goddammit, there I go again. NO MORE POLITICAL JUNKI-NESS. I'm even out-geeking the geeks I know with this stuff.

Let's talk about something else. How about Michael Richards. I assume that you all have heard about his tirade, and hopefully have seen the video. But I am not here to give value judgements on him or what he said. I just wanted to say: by coincidence, that annoying guy from Seinfeld, the one who played 'Jerry', was booked to be on Letterman tonight. During his appearance, they interviewed Michael Richards on satellite (ooooooh! Satellite!!) from L.A., and let him have a nervous breakdown on the show while that Jerry guy sat in judgement, and the audience giggled and squirmed. WOW! Now THAT was some uncomfortable television!!

Gameday (#3)

I have been informed that I need to do a witty and/or sarcastic post tonight regarding the election results. However, I shall hold off, as there are still a few races that haven't settled (MT-Sen, and VA-Sen, although realistically, I think they're done), and some House races that are still within 200-500 votes, and it seems silly to do final analysis on stuff like that.

Still, WOW! This was some night. MSNBC is currently projecting the new House at 235D-200R. I would like to squeeze one more R defeat out of there (are you listening, HEATHER WILSON, or you, MARILYN MUSGRAVE??), to drop the Rs below the Mendoza Line.

...to be continued (probably in court).

Gameday (#2)

More predictions! This time from Tbogg, and definitely worth a read!

Gameday!

Let's start the big show today (yeah, start... it's already noon on the East Coast) with a quick prediction. I'm not usually one for making predictions (BWAHAHAHAHA!), and after my Lieberman/Lamont/Other Guy prediction, I should probably just shut up. But, I will offer this quick forecast and suggestion:

Tonight, in the CA Governor's race, after Angelides calls Ahhh-nold to concede, at about 8:02pm, Schwarzenegger will take the stage at his re-coronation ball and say the following:

(Using trumped-up Austrian accent that makes Holocaust survivors wake up screaming) "I told you I would be BACK!"

At that point, I believe that beginning recall proceedings immediately would be in order.

I told everyone -- vote for Arianna, vote for Arianna, vote for Arianna. Did anyone listen? Nooooooo...

Calling Dixville....

Hello? Calling Dixville Notch, do you copy? We are awaiting your returns.

(They do the midnight voting thing for midterm elections as well as Presidential elections, right?)