Finally - Week 26

I have made it to the 26th week of my project, not missing many days and not duplicating many subjects. Family and cats don't count.

July 14

We went to a retirement party for the CEO of Pacific Life. He is the man that hired both Dennis and me into the actuarial training program in 1976. When Dennis became an officer, he was given this tie. In all those years and logo changes, he never got rid of it.

July 15

I love homemade bread, but don't have the patience to knead it myself. The bread machine makes perfect bread everytime. Warm bread with melting butter - yummy.

July 16

Jim found out that a double shot of Starbucks espresso is very, very hot. Too bad he was at work when this happened. He took a drink and it was so hot he spit it on himself. Fortunately, it was near the end of his day, so he wasn't embarassed for too long.

July 17

Most companies have the US flag, the state flag and the corporate flag. We also have the flag of the Anaheim Ducks!

July 18

This is the view from my kitchen window. I took it from just outside the window. Too bad there is so much contrast. I am not sure how to deal with that with the camera.

July 19

Goofy has found a new resting place in the backyard. This is under the yellow rose bush in the side planter. He has started spending more nights outside. We let him out, knowing that he doesn't climb fences anymore. It used to be that he would come in at night before we went to bed, but more and more he refuses. At fifteen years old, I am afraid we won't have him much longer.

July20

There always seems to be construction in Irvine. This is going to be a new bank in the Oak Creek center. It was late when I was picking up our dinner at Pei Wei and I like how the fence is so bright.

One More to the Half Way Point

Here we go again. So, this week I did have a couple of different events to photograph. Still, I needed to do a cat again.

July 7

Bingo is a culture all it's own. A few years ago, the Grad Nite committee started using Bingo as a fundraiser. They have worked four or five weekends each of the last six years. Even though my kids no longer go to Irvine High, I still work one shift a year to help out my friends who are still involved. Big news is that this was my last Bingo Night! I don't know any of the big volunteers in the classes after 2008, so I will not feel compelled to help the parents who helped me when I was in charge of Bingo or Grad Nite. Bingo players are a very interesting bunch, let's leave it at that.

July 8

My mom and brother.
Mom turned 75 this year and we had a heck of time trying to find a day to celebrate. It was harded than when the kids were little and playing sports. We celebrated two weeks after her birthday at the Temecula Creek Inn. I don't remember who did it, but someone made a 'birthday hat' out of a napkin. We had a great time

July 9

Okay, another night when I realized I had not taken the daily photo. There is so much in the garage, I was pretty sure I could find something that had not been photographed yet and I did - the spokes on the back tire of my bike. I guess I should probably ride it again one day.

July 10

Goofy was watching Lucy, who kept jumping up to play. Goof would smack Lucy who would rest a minute and then jump up again. It was so cute to watch.

July 11

There is nothing too interesting about a 'Do Not Enter' sign except that someone had just entered. The driver had finished getting gas and wanted to go through the McDonalds drive through. Why should a sign make him take the long way? Just a few more yards and no more than 10 seconds were too much for that driver to tolerate. Okay, it was about 7:30 in the morning and there were not many people in the parking lot, but still the sign is there for a reason. People bug me sometimes.

July 12

This is the playground at the end of our street where we used to take the kids to play all the time. I haven't been there in years. Sometimes when Dennis and I take bike rides, we pass it on the way to the bike path.

July 13

We got to have our pictures taken with the Stanley Cup. It was Broadcom Annual Family Day and Dennis left work early to attend. I got my photo taken with it earlier in the day and I got to touch it. The lines were long for awhile and touching was not allowed during Family Day.

Something a Little Different

Different because I only took pictures six days this week. Somehow I missed July 2. Given the exciting life I lead, I am surprised that I have missed so few days.

June 30

We were in the long term parking lot after returning from Davis when we saw this plane approaching the airport. It was soooo cool!

July 1

Lucy loves resting on my craft table. It makes it hard to do anything there. I think she likes being near people.

July 2
Oops - forgot to take a photo today.

July 3

We get two daily newspapers and they don't always get put in the recycle bin as soon as we are finished with them. After a couple of days, the papers and trash from the mail create quite a big pile.

July 4

I used the big Nikon for this photo and had to play around with the ISO setting. I think I set it to 1600. I didn't look through the viewfinder because I wanted to see the fireworks.

July 5

Another garage photo - my golf clubs. That is a Pacific Life whale head cover, too.

July 6

This is what my desk at work looks like these days. There are always water bottles, some empty, some full, some partially full. I drink a lot of bottled water at work - they provide a cooler full of full drinks on each floor. My Ducks fowl towel in on the monitor base. To the left is a Lexmark all-in-one. It is so nice to have a printer right on my desk.

Still Not Halfway Done

It is getting harder and harder to find new and interesting things to photograph. I spend nine hours a day at work - five days a week. So work and home are my life.

June 23

Goofy loves this spot in Steve's room. He gets to look out at the world and get the warmth of the afternoon sun. I worry about Goof. He is 15 years old and really slowing down. He seems old and tired, but I don't want to think that he is on his last legs.

June 24

Dennis took me to the Navy course in Cypress to play golf. This is the course he and Tiger Woods learned to play on. We learned that beginning in July, civilians will have the same tee-time privileges as the military. Yeah! My guess is the green fees will be going up at the same time. There is a plane pearched over that pond that looked to be made out of scrap metal. It is pretty cool.

June 25

For Mothers Day, the kids got me an iPod. This is the stack of CDs I was getting ready to rip to add to my iTunes. Those have been ripped and there is now another stack waiting next to my keyboard. It turns out that iTunes is a pretty memory intensive program, so I usually wait until I have something else to occupy my time.

June 26

Four years ago, we added a nice big bathroom with a very roomy tub. I can count on two hands the number of baths I have taken in it. But I do keep my collection of bubble baths handy so when I am in the mood I don't have to hunt all over. We got a long tub because of Dennis' long legs, not thinking about me. The tub gets slippery and I slide down into an uncomfortable position. I do have a tub pillow which helps until it gets too wet.

June 27

Finally, a Papa John's near us. It is my pizza of choice and now it is the closest pizza store to our house. Occasionally, we will still order form Lamppost, but we have them deliver. :)

June 28

This is the baggage claim area of Sacramento airport. I have seen it before but forgot all about it until we got there to pick up our bags. (Erin wanted to check her bags so she could take all of her regular cosmetics and toiletries.) There are two posts just like this - very cool!

June 29

After a long day of learning about UC Davis and what they have to offer our student, Dennis and I went to the Silo for a beer. There were walking tours being offered, but we had done that in April when we visited. Instead, we went to the bookstore for some t-shirts and then to the Silo to wait for the rest of the group. It felt great to sit in the shade with a cold beer and talk about the school and what a neat experience Erin should have there.

Don't Call it SoCal!

Yes, I live in Southern California - not SoCal - how hard is to say those extra syllables?

June 16

This bothers me every time I go to a Dodgers game. They call it paid attendance and I have to argue that there were not 56,000 people attending the game this day. They may very well have sold 56,000 tickets, but there is no way on this planet that all those people showed up to the game. If they sold 56,000 tickets, call it a sell-out, but don't insult my intelligence and expect me to believe every one of those people showed up at the game. There were too many empty seats for me to believe that.

June 17

Years ago, I planted some gladiola bulbs in the backyard. A few years after that, I dug up a bunch of them. These keep coming back year after year and I think they are very pretty. They are next to the yellow rose bush in the side planter.

June 18

Here's a job for those who like to be outdoors - the hose holder. We got to the Angel game early that evening and watched while the prepared the field. I had to giggle that they had two grown men with the job of holding the hose. I wonder what it takes to be the lucky one who gets to squirt the water.

June 19

I love this spot in Corona del Mar. Dennis and I got sandwiches and took the to little Corona for lunch this afternoon. It was an absolutely beautiful day and it was so hard to go back to work. When we worked together at Pacific Life - then Pacific Mutual - we used to do this regularly. Now that my job has moved much closer to the beach, we can do it again.

June 20

Dennis stacks his reading material next to his recliner and it drives me crazy when the piles get out of hand. This photo is before that happened. We get too many magazines. I am trying to cut back on my subscriptions and I hope I can convince him to do the same.

June 21

That is the Pacific Ocean out on that horizon. I was at the top of the escalator at Fashion Island one day at lunch. I had gone to Macy's to look for shoes. I was dissapointed in their selection, so went outside for a walk. There is always a nice breeze coming up through here.

June 22

I guess you can call this a local landmark - it is the obelisk in the parking lot of the Irvine Spectrum. There was a time when it would change colors, but this night it stayed white. We were on top of the parking structure at 8:30 at night. I was able to steady the camera on the wall.

In the Middle of June

June 9

Erin and I had spent the morning cleaning house. As usual, Lucy had to be with us. Was she making sure I had gotten all the dishes out of the water or making sure I didn't miss a spot on her food bowl? Too bad we can't read the minds of our animals.

June 10

The blimp hangers at Tustin Marine base have been here longer than just about any other building in the area. Unfortunately, the Federal government shut down the base several years ago. All the base housing was demolished, some of it fairly new - built after we moved to Irvine in 1985. It broke my heart that it couldn't have been put to use as affordable housing for the community. Developers have been building new houses, condos and apartments. There have been ongoing discussions about what to do with the two hangers. Last I heard one will stay and one will be demolished. I don't know if that is accurate or not. I think they should be National Historic Monuments.

June 11

I was getting desperate for a photo, so I took this of the condensation on my glass of ice water. Ice water is my drink of choice. My water has to be cold. It is great that work keeps a cooler stocked with cold drinks on every floor. I drink three to four bottles everyday while at work and more cold water when I get home at night.

June 12

Every night, Dennis dumps his change in a bowl on his shelf. Periodically, I will empty the change compartment of my wallet into the stash. Eventually, he takes it to a coinstar machine to cash it in. Their service charge is worth it to him not to have to wrap it and take it to the bank.

June 13

Management at work sends the admin staff to one or two seminars a year. I went to this one by myself, so after finishing lunch, I grabbed by book and sat by the pool to read for a little while. This is what I saw when I looked over my head. The hotel was very near Disneyland and during lunch I got to listen to the family behind my discuss their plans for the day at the resort. I haven't been in ages, and I am expecting to get some free tickets from work, so I will get to go soon - after the summer crowds die down.

June 14

One of the phobias I have inherited from my mother is the fear of running out of toilet paper. We have three bathrooms and I want them all stocked at all times. Each bathroom is used several times each day, so I have to be ever vigilent.

June 15

When we got the house tex-coated we got a new side door for the garage to outside. For the first 22 years we have lived in this house, this door was solid, so the garage was always dark. I still freak out when I go into the garage and it is light. I think someone left the door open and allowed Lucy to escape. I hope it doesn't take 22 more years to get used it.

The Post with no Name

June 2

Aren't these a pretty color? This plant has been in our garden for years and it keeps coming back. It was in really bad shape after the workers got done with the windows and texcote, but it fought back to this healthy state.

June 3

We have several hoses and together they are very long. Having automatice sprinklers, we don't usually have to water, but we had the sprinklers turned off while the work was going on, so we watered by hand and manual sprinkler a little bit. Also, the workers used the hoses to wash down the yard when they were done at the end of each day.

June 4

Papa Corbett was a career Army man who fought in World War II and Korea. During those years, he earned many medals and honors, of which he was very proud. This is a photograph that Dennis' brother had done of the original medals that he gave us for Christmas one year. It holds an honored space on our wall, a place where we see it every day of our lives. Visitors also see it whenever they are in our home. It is too important to hide it in a bedroom or den.

June 5

Me. I played with the timer on our little Canon PowerShot SD630 and found that it works very nicely. I was sitting about 10 feet away from the camera in this photo. I wish the camera could take off 10 pounds. :)

June 6

The Ducks won the Stanley Cup. It was a very exciting year to watch Ducks hockey and since we couldn't be at the Honda Center, we watched every game of the playoffs in the comfort of our living room. This game was a Wednesday and Dennis had golf after work. I recorded it and did not watch it until he got home. I told Jim, who was watching it somewhere else, not to call us at the end of the game because we wanted to pretend we were watching it live. This is not a very clear shot, but it is Scott N. passing the Stanley Cup to his brother Rob - what an emotional event.

June 7

This is supposed to be my new bible. Dennis read the original, "Younger Next Year" and felt so compelled to follow the advice that he bought the women's version for me. One of the things the authors tell readers to do is exercise 6 days a week. Dennis decided in January that he would do that - sort of. He made a commitment to go to the gym every work day. I have joined him, however, I have not been as dedicated. When the company moved and I had to be at work at 7am several mornings, I did not go to the gym. When he was traveling on business a couple of times, I skipped a day or two. We do skip holidays and vacation days.

June 8

Just another silent auction win, probably from the same event where we got the bottle of Conundrum. This is hung right inside the front door - definitely not elegant decorating, but there is nothing elegant about our house.

Another week, another 7 photos

May 26

Leaving Dodger Stadium was absolutely brutal, so we just hung out in the parking lot for a while. Unless it has rained recently, there is always haze in the air in Los Angeles, so this photo is not unusual. In fact, the day wasn't too bad as far as the haze was concerned. I just wish the new and improved parking system was die a quick death, it has been so much trouble.

May 27

Our cats don't play together much, but I loved watching them stare out into the front yard. Goofy, on the right, can go outside, but I only let him out back. We are trying to keep Lucy as an indoor cat. So far, so good. But she does love to watch what is going on outdoors.

May 28

I love fountains! This one is in the food court in the Marketplace where we had lunch.

May 29

The newest addition to our back yard - I love sitting out there in the evening after work with a good book and a glass of wine. The yard faces east, so the chairs are in the shade and it is relaxing, making it very difficult to go in the house to make dinner.

May 30

We could not go to any of the Ducks playoff games, but we watched them all. Too bad Cox does not broadcast Versus HD.

May 31

I don't believe it! Erin eats tomatoes! She picks them out of her salad and most of the time orders her food without them. This time, she ate them. Apparently, she can eat cooked tomatoes. Who knew? Working at CPK and getting free food, has caused her to try more new foods. Good for her. Now that she is a server, the free food is no longer available.

June 1

This spring was especially good for Jacaranda trees. They were beautiful. Jacaranda trees are all over the city and many meridians have a long row of them. As beautiful as they are, I am very glad we don't have any in our yard. They are extremely messy!