Winter Camp (Weekend in Bass Lake)

(Alternately titled "Leave your socks on, Brennan. We live in the mountains!" or "Welcome to Narnia")

Rain, snow and traffic accidents on the 5 fwy could not keep me from driving up to Bass Lake to visit Molly & Brennan this past weekend. Stocked with plenty of snacks ($17 worth of junk food from Rite Aid), warm clothes and snow chains, I arrived Friday evening after an uneventful drive north.

Peeps kept me company as cars inched along, finally passing a big rig that had spun out on the freeway.

..

Saturday we went out to play in the snow. Someone's dog joined us.

Around the camp...

The Peeps wanted to play in the snow too.

And of course we took a couple self-portraits.

.

Molls was kind (& trusting!) enough to let me try out her new camera (I was terrified!). The experience taught me two things: #1 The camera does NOT make the photographer (I took a lot of crappy photos despite having a superb camera in my hands), and #2 The camera does NOT make the photographer (see paranthetic statement in #1). It did inspire me to practice, practice, practice though. Here are a few shots I did get with her 'baby'.

Thanks M & b for hosting me this weekend! I miss you both already and am desperately wishing all that snow you are getting this morning had come yesterday morning so I could have had an excuse to stay longer.

For M's account of our weekend, click here. For more photos of the weekend, go here.

Here I am!

I sent a text message to a few of you who wanted to know that I arrived safely after my drive up to M's, but it doesn't appear as though you got it and there is little-to-no cell phone reception to make or receive calls.

.

.

So...here I am!

.

.

Having fun with M & B (A's away on a weekend trekking trip).

Load up the car, kids!

Oh wait. I don't have any kids and thus no slaves, er, I mean 'help' to load up. And besides, I already did that this morning since I woke up early.

Currently my car contains:

• The usual misc. junk in box in the trunk (including 2 "waterproof" picnic blankets, some extra scraps of fabric from my couch pillows, a couple of empty water bottles, 3 books I've already read, a scarf and various old school papers and folders).
• My wool coat and a light-weight jacket
• 1 bottle of Aquafina (filled with tap water--I'm not picky)
  
• 4-100-calorie packs (2 each of Sandies and Cheezits)
• A bag filled with clothes for this weekend (2 pair of jeans, 2 sweatshirts, 2 pairs of sleeping pants, 2 sleeping t-shirts, 2 pashminas, a handful of underwear, several pair of socks, a pair of all-terrain "hiking" shoes, slippers, my ankle Uggs (had 'em for 10 years!) and a steal of a pair of rain boots I found at Marshalls last night for $15. And my toiletries, of course.)
• A pillow (as per M's instructions) and a down comforter (in case I get stuck in the snow and have to live in my car for the next 3 days)
• My laptop with essential cords
• 2 umbrellas
  
• My farmer's market basket waiting to be filled up with other road-trip snacks
• Directions
  
• A little present for Molly
  

To do before I get out of Dodge:

• Pick up chains from Pep Boys that I put on hold yesterday
• Get gas
• Get lunch
• Get snacks

To do while I'm there:

• Hang with Molly
• Play with Brennan
• Lay around and do nothing but lay around
• Enjoy the snow
  
• Forget about how I've still not heard from Chicago...

Meet the Spartans

Will you laugh at me if I see this movie? I crack up every time I see the preview. They are making fun of all the fools I laughed at this last year.

ROYGBV

It was a dusting of hail on my car, the rooftops and the ground that greeted me this morning after the night's rainstorm. You know you're in SoCal when everyone is outside exclaiming over the little white pellets, taking pictures.



Hey, no laughing! This is the closest to snow we come round these parts. Now, drive a mere 30-45 minutes and you're sure to encounter lots of the real thing.

As much as I HEART the snow, I'm fearful that it may ruin my weekend plans to visit the Winns in the mountains. I've been so looking forward to this trip--The snow! A weekend away! Visiting with Molly & Brennan! If I have to snowplow the entire Grapevine myself, I. Will. GO. (Still with me, La?)

When this rainbow showed up right outside my office window, I knew it was a sign that God wants me to go tomorrow.
Isn't it beautiful? Amazing how you really can see the colors of a rainbow: Red-Orange-Yellow-Green-Blue-Violet.

A Death and A Dress

The death of Heath Ledger...shocking and sad. As it always is, it's shocking to have someone so young die so unexpectedly. Sad to know that his daughter will not have her father there.

All of the stories online, the photo memorials, the timeline of his career, have reminded me of something I'd forgotten.
How much I LOVE this dress. The color, the style, the way her hair, makeup and jewelry all perfectly suit the dress. This dress was a love-it or hate-it at the 2006 Oscars. I loved it then. Still do now.

(Photo from TalkLeft.)

Avoidance

Or perhaps I can turn this into a spiritual thing and say I'm "fleeing from temptation" rather than avoiding a situation that I should learn to deal with.

Ever since I went on my strict savings plan, I've been so proud of my self-control and restraint (though I suppose those 2 descriptors are essentially the same thing) in shopping and spending without hesitation or consideration. I find myself feeling guilty for spending $20 at Target for a jacket that was on clearance. I took it back. (Though I should confess that it wasn't very flattering and so not worth the guilt.)

Shopping when you have no money to spend isn't very much fun. I've even stopped browsing sites I love online because I don't want to be tempted or frustrated that I must abstain. All of the glorious and beautiful and unique design blogs I used to read, not so much fun anymore without a home of my own to decorate and money to decorate with. Don't you agree?

In other news, I'm reaching the "really, really annoyed" stage of impatience. And I still have weeks to go. I need to harvest this impatience and go for more walks.

Another Hometown Birthday

The folks seem to have something for Hometown Buffet. They claim to choose it for the kids, but I think it's really them who loves the mini corndogs and dessert bar. So to HTB we headed to ring in Dad's 54th birthday. A lot happened on the way to the buffet line. Check it out...

Audrey ate olives. She likes to stick them on her fingers first.
.

Samuel thought. And he thought. And he invented something cool in his head.

..

Kirsten explained how Samuel & Lance are obsessed with her hair, twirling it between their fingers and petting her head.

Pops scored some cool birthday presents: A reminder of his daughter's recent graduation, The Clapper and some dough to buy a couple fingers worth of heated motorcycle gloves he wanted. Yeah, he scored big time.

There was some good ol'fashioned sibling rivalry over why Bay & Samuel look alike.

Lance swiped frosting off of someone's cake while B hugged on Bay.

.

Audrey & Bay communicated telepathically (while the little girl in the background stared at me).

We took the requisite Grandparents/Grandkids shot so mom & dad can keep with up with the Sorensens.

And after the Probsts drove off, Nanay and Audrey played shadow puppets.

See how exciting it was? I told ya! Maybe next time we'll invite you.

Did you know? I'm a highly-sought after photographer for my super-great photos.

This morning I received an email from Schmap (an online travel/photo guide service to various cities) that one of my photos from last October's trip to Boston had been "shortlisted" to include in their Schmap-Boston February 2008 publication. I followed the link, eager to discover which photo had been selected, only to find it was this one:Now, Tacos El Charro did provide tasty Mexican food, and was highly recommended in my Fodor's guide...but really? This photo? This is the picture they want to use? This poor lighting, flash-overload image?! Oy vey.

True?

In anticipation of my Dad's birthday celebration this Sunday at the ever popular (and Shaw-family favorite!) HTB, I had to share this chart from Indexed.

I think I'm going to have to buy this book for multiple people. It would make for great bathroom reading.

(Found via White Skinned Goddess)

No news is....Good?

It's interesting for me to note my daily response to opening up my email in hopes of finding a gem inviting me to come for an interview. Although word for 3 of the 4 schools will not likely come till mid-February, there was a good chance (based on logical reasoning) that I would have heard from one by today. But alas, there is nothing there. Sort of like coming down on Christmas morning and finding no presents under the tree.

(Random thought/question: Does Christmas seem a long, long time ago for anyone else?)

This morning I didn't even bother to rush to open my email, doing so after I'd been at work for 15 minutes or so. Yesterday it was maybe 10 minutes. Each day my expectations are lowered and lowered until one day I may forget to open it entirely.

Sigh. I hate waiting.

Motivational Posters (The Not-Ugly Kind)

A few of my favorite motivational posters from Right Brain Terrain:

Relax..........................Patience..........................Create..........................Integrity................

(Found via Dooce)