Fire

You may have heard about some of the fires we are having here in CA. We do have some every year, but it is particularly horrible when there are deaths as there have been in this fire set by an arsonist. 3 firefighters and one person trying to evacuate too late lost their lives. The fires are out by Palm Springs and in Riverside, CA right now.

Last night, while watching the news, we saw they were broadcasting about the fires from Beaumont, CA. That is where my brother Ron is living right now. So, I called him.

"Hi, Ron."

"Hi."

"How are you doing?"

"OK."

"Aren't the fires out near your house."

Nonchalantly, "Naw, It's OK."

"But, aren't they right by you?"

"We're fine."

"But, I saw them broadcasting from your town."

"Oh, yeah...(still extremely casually) I did get a picture from my front yard this morning."

Let's hope they get these fires under control. We did have a day of ash and horrible smoke all the way out here in Carlsbad.

Bate's Nut Farm

What a grand day we had today. We went to Bate's Nut Farm for their Fall Festival. It was beautiful. My friend Joanna lovingly calls it Nate's Butt Farm. I am going to simply post a group of pictures. You can click on the pictures if you would like to see them larger.

Ryan's Party

We celebrated Ryan's birthday last Sunday. We started the day at the "Walk of Ages" in San Diego to benefit Elder help which is a group Karen does graphic design for. Joel and Lydia did a modified mile and the rest of us did a modified 3 mile. There were lots of places for cheating...I mean modification. It was a really great event with fun stuff for the kids. Ryan's favorite was the Jumpee.
We then ran home and set up for the party. A good time was had by all. Linda made this amazing Superman cake. It even tasted delicious. Usually these cakes with all the dark icing and decorations don't taste great, but this was an exception.

The Last picture is Ryan after the party passed out with his new pajamas and Superman umbrella. He loved the party and all gifts. Thank you to everyone!

We had a soccer game this morning, off to the firestation open house and then the kids are going to the Pumpkin Plunge at the pool. Busy day. Cheers!

Happy Birthday Ryan!

Ryan is now 3 years old, although he insists he is 5. Some people believe him. Pictures of party to come.

I was watching Cold Case, one of my favorite shows, the other day. I watch it regularly. During the credits at the end, I saw Tracie Thoms and thought I knew someone by that name and she looked an awful like that person. She is a regular on Cold Case and I just hadn't made the connection. She was a swing in Leader of the Pack at the West End in...1997 (I think). It was funny, too, because Joel had just worked with her a couple of weeks before.

Somehow, I'm not really great at recognizing faces of people I've met or known briefly. I must note that briefly could mean for a couple of years, but just not close friends. Most people will say they are better with remembering faces, but I'm better with the written name. That is not just saying the name, but it must be written. I'm exceptionally visual, but with words only. I can only remember one Mom's name in Lydia's Kindergarten class and that is because she was wearing a name tag.

A couple of years ago, I was reading an article on Jaime Foxx. I've always liked him and was a big In Living Color fan. In this article, it said that his given name was Eric Bishop. I thought, I knew an Eric Bishop, and he looked an awful lot like him. I went to college with him. He was in the classical music program, but he used to play the piano for the Musical Theatre people at USIU in San Diego (and was friends with many). I just remembered him as being a talented musician. He also composed songs, but I always thought of him as being really quiet. The sad part is I watched him in In Living Color not long after we graduated and still didn't recognize him; I think I graduated a year after him. He did have Jheri curls, though.
I guess the point to all of this is, if you become famous, could you please tell me? Otherwise, I may never figure it out.