Jury Duty

I was called for jury duty this week, and spent a good portion of two days sitting around making new friends. I was called to be on two separate trials, but both were going to take about two weeks. With no childcare that posed a real problem, so I was excused for "undue hardship." I was actually disappointed - I think I would have enjoyed being a juror.

I did meet two really nice young women and we are now Facebook friends. Hopefully we can get together for coffee in the next few weeks. We had so much fun talking and going out to lunch together. Leave it to me to make friends doing my civic duty.

In other news, my baby is growing up. Need proof? I am enrolling her in pre-school this year. How did this happen? It seems like just a few short weeks ago she was coming home from the hospital. Out here if a child turns 2 by August 31 they are eligible to enroll in preschool for this coming fall. We are touring two different schools, although both are co-ops. I'm not sure how we'll fit a co-op into our working schedule, but I do think it's important so we'll manage. I'd also like to tour at least one school that isn't a co-op just to compare.

My doggie is also getting old. Mr. Mickey has totally lost his hearing. We'd suspected it was failing for a while, but as of yesterday we are convinced it's totally gone. He didn't react at all when the doorbell rang. Normally a ringing doorbell results in total chaos around here with barking dogs and a running toddler, but now Mickey just lays on his bed. I fear his time with us is growing short :(

Back to Reality...

We arrived home very late last night after a wonderful sun-soaked extended weekend.

Saturday we met my cousin for breakfast. It was the first time I had a chance to see her condo - it's beautiful! She has done amazing work in decorating the place to fit her personality. It's very trendy and stylish. She was also kind enough to pass on two all-park tickets to Disneyland. Yes, my husband went to Disney and the world didn't stop spinning on it's axis, pigs begin to fly or hell freeze over. I'm pretty sure he even had fun. :)

Disney was awesome! It really lived up to it's reputation of being clean, friendly and fun. Kendra was a little shell shocked at everything that was going on, and totally hated the costumed characters. She did, however, LOVE Goofy's House in ToonTown. It's designed for kids 2-5 and she had a ball there. We took her on a few rides as well, and we knew she was good to go when she started dancing to the music on the Roger Rabbit wild cab ride. We ended up spending most of the day there - much longer than I thought we would.

Sunday morning was spent at the Getty. It's an architectural wonder perched atop the ridgeline with spectacular view of LA all the way to the ocean. The Getty is designed to enhance visual arts in all their forms. Everything from the buildings, to the exhibits, to the gardens are works of art in one form or another. It was the most spectacular place - and we only had time to see a tiny fraction. The entire place is made out of travertine cut into precise squares. It really is amazingingly beautiful (although a bit slippy for baby feet...)

Sunday evening we were guests at the wedding of two wonderful people. Gary and Naomi were married in front of 240 guests at a beautiful Jewish temple. The ceremony was very moving and the reception was amazing. Kendra had a wonderful time dancing and being cute at her first "big girl" party. She was a hit among everyone there.

Monday we finished playing tourist by seeing the Hollywood sign, the walk of fame and driving around LA. We ended up in Venice Beach where we walked along the ocean and watched the sunset. Just to be silly (and use their bathrooms), we wandered the Costco in Venice Beach, then headed to the airport.

Today was laundry and getting life back on track. You knew there were pictures, so here they are!

Welcome to LA

I am sitting in a motel room with the air conditioner running. Yup. In January. It was a balmy 79 degrees today - sunny and beautiful. We arrived late yesterday afternoon, and pretty much spent the day driving around and getting acquainted with the area.

Today we headed to the La Brae Tar Pits and Los Angeles County Art Museum. The Tar Pits were fascinating (and stinky!). The main pit in covered in water and looks vaguely like a polluted lake. You can see bubbles all over the surface, though, where the tar is seeping up from fissures underneath. If you wander to the back area, there are several other pits, including one that is set up for display and one that is being actively excavated. The one for display was really cool. There are fossils in the pit, and they are marked so you can tell exactly what you are looking at. I loved it!

At the art museum we went through a small sculpture park and a large sculpture thing called "urban lighting." It was basically 100 or so light posts all in rows. It was fun to chase and play hide and seek with Kendra in it. :)

Lunch was hot dogs from a hot dog van. We saw so many food vans - Chinese, Korean, Mexican, Thai, Vietnamese, BBQ, ice cream...it was crazy! An entire international restaurant row on wheels. After that we met up with friends from St. Louis who are also in town for the wedding. A couple of us headed to UCLA to wander through their botanical garden and sculpture garden. We enjoyed seeing the campus and spending time with friends we haven't seen in a while.

Tonight was Naomi's bachelorette dinner. We went to fun Mexican place and had a great time. Tomorrow we're heading to Disney, and Sunday is the wedding.

Stay warm!

Welcome 2010!

Happy New Year to everyone!! We rang in the new year with our neighbor and a group of his fabulous friends. We celebrated on east coast time, which means we popped the champagne (and Martinelli's for the kiddos) at 9pm our time. It worked out great - all the little ones got to bring in the new year, and still get to bed at a reasonable time. The adults got to ring it in twice - with twice the champagne!

One of John's friends is a juggler, and put on a performance of juggling fire sticks and fire balls. It was quite the show and a wonderful way to bring forth the new year.

No real resolutions here, or any deep introspection. 2009 was a decent year for us, and here's hoping 2010 is as good.