Saturday Chili and Cornbread

We enjoyed homemade turkey chili with fresh cornbread for dinner this evening. Up in the hills to the southeast flames poked above the Newhall Pass Ridge; we could see flames from the upstairs window. Today all looks well to the south. The winds have died down. I am itching for change of some kind; more later today!

Warm and windy

The weather has been warm and windy since yesterday; as a result there are yet again wildfires burning. The Montecito fire destroyed 111 homes in Santa Barbara Thursday and Friday, the Sayre fire was reported at 10:29 p.m. yesterday in Sylmar and now covers 2600 acres and 10000 people have been evacuated. This second fire is pretty close to our valley; just south over the hill so we have a lot of smoke coming our way.

Thursday night we went to a great concert at The Canyon Club in Encino, about a 30 mile drive southwest. We heard Glenn Phillips from Toad the Wet Sprocket and then Jonatha Brooke, a singer-songwriter favorite of mine. She has just released a new album written by combining her music with bits of lyrics she found in the music library of Woody Guthrie. Pretty amazing. Unfortunately, Glenn lives in the area of Santa Barbara that had just started burning, so he was anxious to get home. I was surprised he even played the concert. He switched billing and played first, and kept saying things between tunes like "Well, my neighborhood's on fire. My wife can see flames from the driveway. I won't be hanging out tonight; I need to go home and evacuate." Poor guy. I hope his home was spared.

Dowtown adventure

Today I am taking the train to LA to meet a friend for a shopping adventure! She will be taking the train north from Orange County, and we'll meet in the middle at Union Station. For some crazy reason, I've been waking up early on my own (no cat or alarm clock) all week! Must be the time change. I woke up at 5:30 every weekday, and 6:30 today! I was showered, dressed and out the door to the bagel shop/gas station by 7:30. crazy! DH is sleeping in, as he loves to do on Saturday. There is a bagel sandwich waiting for him downstairs though.

I started going through clothes and packing for our Thanksgiving trip today. I am packing up clothes for my 15 and 11 1/2 year old cousins. That's pretty fun! I used to love hand-me-downs when I was a kid. Well, I still do! It's a beautiful day and I am looking forward to wearing myself out in Los Angeles and coming home with at least one new treasure! Have a great Saturday!

A Day in the Life-24 hours

8 pm Wed. sit by roaring fire watching TV and filling out my student teacher's final grade report
8:30 Wed. adjust heat to a toasty 74 degrees and get in bed with a book -currently The Inheritance of Loss
9 pm Wed. totally asleep
5:30 Thur. awaken naturally...no cats or alarm clocks needed
6:30 Thur. drive to Corner Bakery for a pumpkin muffin...the first of the season
6:40 Thur. go to Starbucks next door to Corner Bakery since CB not open yet.
7:00 Thur. arrive at school 45 minutes early for a change...nice! ease into the day
8:10-11:40 teach AM K
11:50-12:30 lunch in room with colleague (I always eat in the lounge. nice change) 1/2 egg salad sandwich (from Starbucks!)
1:15-3:15 Professional Learning Community (PLC) meeting at school
3:15-4:05 sign card for ill colleague, help pick out flowers with team for ill colleague and more flowers for expectant colleague
print report cards and turn in
4:15-4:30 get mail, water plants in backyard, hug kitty
4:30 whole wheat with margarine, 1/2 glass milk and the winter parks and rec guide
4:40-5:45 hang out in lavender room, journal, blog, surf listen to Krishna Das -Live on Earth Disc One
predicted:
5:45-6:00 call DH and friend to make plans for dinner and Saturday, respectively
6-7 either prep dinner or stretch/meditate, depending on outcome of phone call to DH
7-8 eat dinner/watch a show
8 go to bed with a book!

24 hours-slice of life

A Day for the History Books

Back in 2004, after canvassing Florida neighborhoods wearing an oversized Kerry tee-shirt for hours on Election Day, I really thought I would be more "into" this election. I remember consoling myself the day after thinking that I would quit my job and rally for the first woman president all summer and fall of 2008. Somehow, I didn't get involved. Too self-oriented, perhaps? Too uncommitted? I have to admit I am excited. After all, in a 180 degree turn from '04, my candidate won this time. But boy is he walking into a lion pit. What a job he will have. I don't doubt his ability, and I sincerely hope the people of the U.S. continue to rally behind his message of change. Many McCain supporters seem to be embracing the change, and looking at it more as a step in history than as a loss. However you feel about the results, isn't it a little bit refreshing to think of the possibilities.

On a local election note, Prop 8 looks like it passed, banning gay marriage again in California. This has been the issue of the day locally, with opposing groups lining up on opposite street corners for weeks waving their signs. It looks like it was 51% for and 48%(ish) against. hmm.

I wish you a red,white, and blue day.

Rainy Day

Yay- A rainy day! We do not get too many of those out here. It actually thunderstormed overnight-delicious! Luckily the rain held out on Halloween, so we could hold our first annual Halloween block party! Several neighbors (about seven families) brought out hot dogs, crock pots of tortilla soup and baked ziti, fresh cornbread, chips and of course the requisite Halloween treats and hung out from sundown til about 10 pm while the neighborhood kids entertained themselves in a rented Monster Truck bounce house at the end of the cul de sac. Fun times!