Greek Festival

I just got back from the 59th Greek Festival at the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Greek Orthodox Church behind my condo. Some of my friends came over and we all walked there together. It was fun and cheap so I'll definitely go again next year. Heck, I may go for a few hours tomorrow!

Click here for a slide show that I put together if you are interested. If you hit the little arrows in the bottom right hand corner of the slide, this will open full screen and you can read my witty comments (info on). Hit the arrows again and it returns to this view. Very easy, eh?

Sorry about some of the comments about the dancers while video taping...

Cookies

A friend of mine has had a tough week or two (I luv ya T!!) and I wanted to do something that would show her that I was thinking about her. So I decided to make cookies for her and her family.

From. Scratch.

I think the last time I turned on my stove was Christmas 2006.

I snapped a few pictures of the process and outcome. No animals were harmed or baked. And if anyone is reading this who ate the cookies, I did thoroughly clean out the stove after my cat sniffed around in it.

Seriously, these were the best cookies I've ever made AND the best oatmeal cookies I've ever tasted. I found the recipe online here if anyone else wants to try them. If you make them, let me know if your prep time is really 10 minutes!!

Want more? Slide show here.

Misty Update

Update to previous post here.

Dixie Cups

Isn't funny how something seemingly innocuous can bring back a flood of memories?

My friend Carolyn sells real estate in her spare time. Tonight a few of us helped her do some cleaning in a house that she is selling. When I cleaned the bathroom, I saw these "Dixie" cups hanging in the bathroom. I immediately thought of my Grandma's house on Merchant Avenue. When I was a little kid staying with her, I loved brushing my teeth because it meant that I got my own Dixie cup, each time!! I haven't seen these since. One of my other friends said that her Grandma had them in her bathroom too.

Before and after

Ah, the joys of being a home owner. Yesterday, I happened to look up at my air conditioning unit in the ceiling (the main piece is on the roof) and noticed that it looked like this:

Click on the picture for an up-close view, if
you think you can stomach it!!

So, I promptly went to the hardware store (betcha can't guess which one!!) and bought new filters. Did you know they are supposed to be changed every 3 months at a minimum?


I remember that the last time the filter was changed, it was because my father did it for me. During that visit, he also helped me paint my bedroom. So I looked at the date on the paint can label: Aug 16, 2006. A little more that 3 months between changes, huh?

If my father had been here to help me (read: do it for me) with my filter this time, it probably would have been the correct size and not jammed up in the ceiling right now...did any of you notice the difference in the sizes before now?? Maybe a better question would be, do any of you even care?? : )

Never thought I'd see the day...

when gas was under $4 a gallon in LA! I'm going to fill up while the getting's good!

Surfing's the source...

In case any of you were planning to visit me and bring your surf board along, read this on The Consumerist about airlines hiking up the fees to carry surf boards.

Okay, okay, you got me. I just wanted to have a reason to post this picture that they have. Did you know that there is going to be a Point Break sequel...written by the same guy who wrote the original? Yes, it is true!!

Lastly, a bit of sad news...the actor who spoke the immortal line "Surfing's the source...", Christopher Pettiet, died of an accidental drug overdose in 2000. He was 24.

Beach Volley Ball GOLD

Long Beach's Misty May-Treanor & Kerri Walsh win Olympic Gold Medal in Beach Volleyball.
Read all about it here in the Long Beach Press Telegram...
Congrats ladies!!

UPDATE: Looks like Misty is going to be on this season's Dancing with the Stars on ABC. Now, this isn't a show that I normally watch but...I think I may check it out this season. Unfortunately, I can't vote for my home girl Misty...any of you who have known me a long time will know who I (and Susie Q too!!) am rooting for...

Hi, I'm testing the...

Hi, I'm testing the new Jott to see how the functionality works, and how it ends up posting to my blog. So listen to this, if you like it go to www.Jott.com and it's pretty cool. Later, over and out dudes. listen

Powered by Jott


I have been a subscriber to Jott for a while now but forgot about it over the last few months. (I used it frequently when I was driving a lot at CSD.) I was totally playing around with the message above (disclaimer: it is a really lame message off the top of my head.) If you are interested, you can listen to the message and then see how Jott transcribed it and then Jott posted it to my blog! (It was posted in under 2 minutes from the initial phone call!!) As you can see, the transcription was a little too perfect!

Happy Independence Day!

Remember I said that I would be creating some old posts?

The Sunday before Independence Day, I went to The Beach House restaurant in Laguna Beach to have brunch with some friends. Unless I am pressed for time, I always take the scenic route to Laguna (PCH all the way). On the way home, I snapped some pictures of these cute dolphin topiaries dressed up for the 4th. I think they were in Newport Beach.

Fast forward to August in Ohio...when I was walking to the Clintonville market in Columbus. I snapped a few pictures of this house, where they are still celebrating the 4th!

Introducing Desmond

My second nephew is no longer called TBD!! He has been officially named Desmond Mathew Kegham Thomas. Here's a picture of him when he was at the hospital and using the pseudonyms "Z", "TBD Baby" and "Wiggle Worm."

I'm on Facebook

While I was in Ohio, Tinu convinced me to join Facebook. From what I've read, it's becoming more popular than MySpace (Gene!!). It is definitely addictive once you are on it but the majority of my friends are NOT on it. I searched every name and email address I have to make sure I didn't miss anyone. I did connect with some people who were old friends (Star, Andrew) and a few high school buds (Melissa, Bill). Evey time I connect with a "friend" it is so exciting until I realize that Tinu has 92!! You can click on the my new Facebook module on the left (under the weather) to go to my Facebook page.

More than feet

In case you actually wanted to see a picture of my new nephew, here is one where he and his mother coordinated outfits for a trip to the doctor.

What's in a name?

I am sure most of you know that I now have a second nephew. He was born on July 30th and as of today his name is still pending. I was affectionately calling him "wiggle worm" when I was in Ohio but he will likely grow out of that nickname shortly.

"That which we call a rose by any
other name would smell as sweet."

I'm baaack!

Wow! When I was in Ohio last week, Ruth said that she could not pull up any posts past June. I looked into it and discovered it was because I haven't posted anything since then. So, I sincerely apologize to anyone who regularly reads this (all 5 of you - ha!) I have lots of things to post about so over the next week, I will start randomly adding them.
The day I left for Ohio (July 29th), there was an earthquake in Chino Hills, CA. Chino Hills is in an area that I call the Inland Empire. It is about 35 miles away from me. See the map below.


View Larger Map

Anyway, it was a 5.4 I think. Not too big but big enough that people in Long Beach could definitely feel it. When I had my layover, many people from all over the US had either emailed or texted me to call home. Thanks to everyone for their concern. Everything (except my coat closet) in my condo was fine. I didn't even discover it until this morning. I guess the weight of all my heavy coats (sniff, sniff - that I never get to wear here) was too much when combined with the movement. Boring damages, I know...


This is as much as I could open the door.

I am guessing you can figure this one out!