Tag Archives: SoCal

December Update

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Balls at LACMA

Art?

A lot of things have changed since my last post so will attempt a catch-up and update everyone!

At the moment, I am down in SoCal staying at Ryan and Les’s apartment. Mostly here to see my boys and grandboys but also it’s an attempt to miss some of the nasty weather that is happening – and will continue to happen – for the next few months.

But getting back to where I left off…

In a bizarre twist, Chris is back on the periphery of my life – as a tenant in the condo! He had agreed to quit claim it to me as he has no interest in keeping it. When I found out that I may be able to do a loan mod on it, Susan and I spent a day cleaning it up and getting it ready to rent. I took the keys to the property rental people and was getting ready for them to go through the process and find me a tenant. That day, I got a phone call from Chris, asking if I had rented the place yet. And that he was interested in taking it! Immediately! Which meant that he had been asked to move out from his last place/relationship. I was astounded and backpedaled a bit and said I would think about it for a couple of hours and immediately called Susan! We discussed it and agreed it would work – but ONLY if he paid full rent and a security deposit up front and signed a lease. Which he did!

So now both rentals are occupied with rents coming in on time. The Port Angeles house paperwork should be completed and waiting for me when I get home later this week and hopefully, progress is being made on the condo. I am making increased payments on the house on the water to catch up with payments I missed when I so unexpectedly landed up there again, and so far, have managed to do that.

End of the World Burger at Umami Hamburgers

End of the World Burger at Umami Hamburgers

All this means that I have to live extremely frugally and I really hesitated coming here but as my ultra-generous son insisted and has treated me royally while here, I am so glad I did. We have spent some wonderful time together here at the apartment and yesterday at the Los Angeles Contemporary Museum of Art and eating amazing Umami Hamburgers. Later today we will take a walk over to the Farmers Market which is just down the street. We went last week and I was amazed at the variety and quality of the produce and food. Fun!

I’ve been driving Ryan’s extra car that he is in the process of selling, and have been up to Apple Valley to see Cody, Mel and the little boys a couple of times. What little characters they have become! Oliver is four now and Everett two. He is such a cutie and all boy! I will go up there on Christmas Day.

Also went down south to Cardiff to see my dear friends, Steve and Cathy. Those people are salt of the earth and I so love seeing them. As usual, as it is now a tradition, they took me to Fidel’s restaurant where we had a lovely Mexican dinner and a nice surprise when Brynn (their daughter) and her husband Garth and their very new twins and 2-year old showed up as well. Spent the night and headed out early as Ryan and Les were expecting a delivery at the apartment at 11. I was expecting traffic but so far, on all my little forays out into the hustle and bustle, the only time I have hit the dreaded LA traffic was when I left for Cardiff and it took me 45 minutes to go a couple of miles!

I had an amazing Kangen water experience. Ryan doesn’t have a machine – yet – so I was drinking their filtered water for the first few days but I started getting headaches and not feeling so hot, tired and just out of sorts. So I checked around and found a water store not far from here and she agreed to let me have water whenever I needed it. So took a quick drive over there, filled my two 5 litre bottle/bags and my drinking bottle. Within three minutes of inhaling almost a full litre, my headache was gone! Now that is no coincidence! And I found a place close by that actually sells it for a buck a gallon so I won’t have to be without while here any more.

What a relief!

I think the best part of being here is seeing for myself that Ryan is healthy and that he is pretty much completely healed. He has such a positive attitude and has done everything he was told to do by his health professionals (not all Western medicine :) ). So that sets my mind at ease and I can go back up to the cold in a few days, knowing that when he tells me he is doing fine, I can rest assured that he is.

 

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My handsome boys - Everett, Cody, Ryan and Oliver

What a great trip I had. 

From northwest to East Coast to SoCal, my experiences ran the gamut.

My last post was from back east and then when I got to SoCal, I was just too busy with family to post anything. So this is just a brief catch up til now.

The main thing that came out of this trip, besides a lot of fun, was how much I miss being around Ryan and Cody and the little ones. And out of that came two more trips down there; one in November for Cody’s Firefighter graduation and the other over Christmas. Tickets already booked. After that, I will know more about my house loan situation and can make a more educated decision about where I am going.

It’s already really cold here – yesterday didn’t get over 50F and last night was near freezing, and I heard that La Nina is expected this winter so we can expect the same as last year. Not good.

Everett has my gap

But the nuts and bolts of the trip. I flew into Burbank as it is so much easier for Ryan to pick me up there. Spent a few days then headed up to Apple Valley to see Cody, Mel and the little boys. Oliver and Everett are soooo cute, yes, more than grandma cute! So it was great to spend the days playing with them, but also trying to work. They are such time wasters! We took them to a pumpkin patch which was a lot of fun. Went to the local farmer’s market at the college where Cody is training and actually saw him in full firefighter gear, much to Oliver’s delight! Back down to Encino, and a trip with Betsy to Carpinteria to meet my Ecology people. That in itself made the whole trip worthwhile (almost) as now I can put faces to names.

Love that Tonka truck

The day before I headed back north, Ryan and I spent a wonderful day together. I love Les, but it was so good to have Ryan all to myself. We went shopping – seeing as I had got rid of all my winter clothes ready for tropical living – then to brunch out in Topanga Canyon at the Inn of the Seventh Ray. I fell in love with the canyon and it is quite possible that it is the place I go in the near future. When I go back down next month, I am going to explore it a little more. After that, we went wine tasting at Malibu Wines and then home to pack.

All in all, I couldn’t have asked for a better trip. I feel rested, happy to be working and ready to take on the world.

Birthday week in SoCal

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What a great birthday week this is turning out to be!

What with the fantastic weather, seeing the family and wonderful food and friends, what more could a girl wish for?
Oliver at the park
I think I want a personal chef, and Les is my choice! He is turning out to be a really good cook, and loving his Cordon Bleu school. Ryan is certainly benefiting by eating so well! What pleasure to see them so happy and working away in the kitchen – Ryan tactfully staying out of the way, but doing a lot of the cleanup etc. And eating much more than his usual standard fare! They make a good team. The school is something that I would love to do, but really, what would I do with that training? Use it in the Central America B&B? Well, there’s a thought.
The drive down to San Diego county on Wednesday was just beautiful. With all the rain they’ve had down here, the hills are brilliant emerald green, dotted with masses of purple, orange and yellow wildflowers. I could almost overlook the tanks and hummers at Camp Pendleton as they roared by, tearing up the earth. I took the off ramp and looked at San Onofre and the waves were lining up like ribbons, dotted with wet-suit clad surfers. (Cody later told me how cold the water is!) When I arrived at the apartment, Oliver was sleeping. And when he woke he was very fussy, with a runny nose. And very shy! But he is just the cutest little guy!
We went to pick Cody up from work at 3:30 and stopped at Rubios for tacos-to-go and off we went to the park. Oliver is such an active little boy, just like Cody was. It’s either full on, or stopped! No fear, up and down stairs and slides. Mel and Cody are ever watchful as he explores the big world. We fed the ducks, much to his joy – and he wanted to share his sippy cup too, which ended up in the drink! But Cody managed to save it before it sank into the sludge!
Oliver was worn out by the time we got home, and he was in bed and asleep by 7:30 and I headed over to see the Straitiffs and spend the night with them. I just love those peeps! 
LA Traffic – ick!
I woke up early, after sleeping like a log, to find literally dozens of happy birthdays in my email and on Facebook! From all over the world. How wonderful it is to have those connections – nieces, nephews, friends, scattered everywhere, but with the click of a mouse, they are right here! Love it. Had a wonderful breakfast with Steve and Cathy, before Steve went off to be a volunteer science teacher at Devon’s Elementary School. What a difference it must be to teach young, inquiring minds versus jaded teenage hellions! Cathy and I chatted until it was time to go to her volunteer job at the thrift store – oh what a pleasure it must be to be retired! – and I headed out to see Mel and Oliver again before heading back up to Encino.
This time Oliver was in a wonderful mood, full of smiles and talking – or jabbering in his own language – non-stop! We took him out for a run in the park again, but he is more interested in cars! Oh dear! It seems to run in the family. I didn’t get to see Cody again as he doesn’t get off work til 3:30 but will see him this weekend.
New Hairdo :)
Now I remember the SoCal traffic! It was running fine until LA – oh boy, how do people do this every single day! What a waste of time! I got to Ryan’s work a few minutes late and we came home to have made from scratch fish and chips! The best I have ever had! We were planning to have lamb for my birthday, but it turns out Les is “doing” lamb at school today so that’s what we are having this evening! 
And then, after dinner – I got a haircut! Tate couldn’t fit me in at the salon, so he brought his stuff home with him – and I love it! It is definitely wash and wear – I am so not into all the b.s hair stuff and this suits me just fine. And it looks good too! 
So off I go now to meet up with the wicked boys (wicked-pr) about the nut biz – but we are meeting at a local Farmers Market and going to have – supposedly – the best tacos!

Family, Sun, Warm

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OK, I have been a slacker about this blog. Lot’s of excuses but none of them hold water.


So I am here in sunny Southern California, soaking up the warmth and the sun. I sat out in the sun for about 10 minutes and could tell I was getting burned – I am SO pasty – ick! Tomorrow I head down to Oceanside to see Cody, Mel and Oliver and will spend the night with the Straitiffs, then head back up here on Thursday for a birthday dinner that Les is cooking for me! What  a treat. I am amazed at how far he has come with his cooking. It was just about a year and a half ago that he could barely boil water and now he is in culinary school, whipping up gourmet meals like it’s old hat! Tonight he is doing halibut and other wonderful stuff and for my birthday dinner, lamb chops. How spoiled I am – and loving it.


It felt really good to get away from Washington and the cold – and the negativity that has invaded my house. I do have empathy for him, but his thinking is so skewed and I watch him spiral himself in with the negative talk and it is just too much to deal with sometimes. And frustrating! Because I will not fall back into the helping mode and do everything and yet he won’t pick up what needs to be done. It’s as if the world owes him. So it’s good to be away and get some perspective.


Being down here also reminds me of how much I need the sun – and people. I know I will have to work for the rest of my life so I might as well find something that I really enjoy doing, in a place that I like, around people that I want to be around. So the old idea of the B&B in Costa Rica resurfaced and I think of how much fun that could be, near or on the beach, people around, and I can get back into doing the type of writing and photography I love to do, which has been shoved on the back burner. I also realize that I can do the nut biz from just about anywhere – as long as there is someone who can physically pack and ship the orders. Wouldn’t that be cool? A warehouse in California or somewhere, and me in the tropics, taking care of the “stuff” while somebody else does the grunt work! 


The site is coming along with the revisions but as usual it is always slower than anticipated. Especially when the designer is off sick and then the Project Manager is sick. And of course there are the constant glitches – I had no idea what really went on with web sites in the background. So often, on a site, there’ll be something that doesn’t work quite right, and I gloss over it, but when it is your own site! Oh dear, what a difference that makes. 


We are gearing up for a media blitz as soon as the site is revamped and that will be a lot of fun. The PR guys are getting stuff organized and have been a big help so far. I get to meet them on Friday. Now that is going to be a treat as I am meeting them at a Farmers Market in Hermosa Beach and apparently they have the best tacos! Real Mexican tacos, not the wimpy Washington ones. And the Farmers Market is year round, what a treat – not just the months it’s ok (sort of) to be outside. I’ll post pix.


And then I am getting my hair cut by Tate, a friend of Ryan’s who has wanted to cut it for ages! The last cut I had in Port Townsend was terrible and I have let it grow out so he will have a lot to work with.


So it’s all good! I just keep a vision of the B&B in the tropics and know that I have a direction to go.