Kate Kronicles

A Year in Review

2011-08-03T08:25:00.000-07:00

For the last year if you asked me what I'd been up to my most common answer was simply "school." Going back to school was certainly the best decision I've made, even if it did mean I turned into a rather boring conversationalist. However, life at Salt Lake Community College was anything but boring. Between my studies in the ever fascinating field of marketing, Collegiate DECA, and Student Government I was constantly moving! I got to do amazing service projects like Shriners/Build-a-Bear and Family Promise, work on student activities like the Jabbawockeez and Michelle Branch shows, and win national awards for my work in the marketing program. My efforts and accolades earned me a spot on stage at graduation as a "Graduate of Excellence"

as well as a SLCC website profile that included posters with my picture all over campus.

SLCC was definitely an amazing experience! The teachers there were phenomenal and the school in general simply can't be beat. It gave me the opportunity to experience success as I never had before and prepared me for the next step, and one I'd always dreamed of embarking on, a bachelors degree at Westminster College. I am so excited to be at Westminster. The Business Administration degree I am currently working on is a great compliment to my associates degree in Marketing Management. I miss all the involvement I had at SLCC, but I have internships and other activities to keep me busy. I am on the Collegiate DECA state team, which so far has been a great adventure. I am excited to to see where life will take me next!

Build-a-Bear is Back!!

2010-10-27T14:09:00.000-07:00

Last year the Collegiate DECA(formerly DEX) Shriners Hospital/Build-a-Bear Service Project was so successful that we decided to make it an annual event. Our original goal was 75 bears and in the end, 174 bears went to children who are patients at Shriners Hospital for Children. This year our goal is 200 bears. We know we will able to achieve this with the excited response from the community we have already received. Donation kick off starts Monday November 1st and will continue until December 4th when we will gather at 5:00pm in the Fashion Place Mall Build-a-Bear to build animals together.

What An Amazing Morning

2010-07-16T17:00:00.000-07:00

When I went out to the pond this morning I found this little guy in the shallow end. I quickly scooped him up and brought him inside to clean him up and dry him off. He was shivering violently and looked pretty beat up so I called Wasatch Exotic Animal Hospital to ask for advice. I explained that I had found what I thought was an injured baby woodpecker. Amy was very helpful and said to bring him in as Woodpeckers are a protected species.

I put the little woodpecker on a heating pad in my bathroom while I got dressed to take him to the vet. When I came back he had dried off and fluffed out his feathers. He looked much perkier so I called Amy back to see if she thought I would be alright to simply put him back outside. She said if I didn't see the parents after a while, and he didn't take off I might still want to bring him in.

When he hopped up my bathroom towel, in true Woodpecker fashion, and flew over to my curtain I figured he would be just fine.

I placed him on a crabapple tree in our yard and it was then that I saw his very handsome dad. He was black with white spots and a beautiful red quest. I wish I could have gotten a picture.

This last place I saw him was high up in one of our scrub oak.

Meet Wattson

2010-07-09T12:23:00.001-07:00

This is Wattson. We adopted him from Utah Animal Adoption Center Tuesday night. After visiting him twice at the shelter and then taking Stigma to meet him, we knew he would be a great addition to our family. The folks at UAAC said animal services found him roaming the streets very hungry and wary of people. Because he was so timid he was scheduled to be put down. UAAC decided they could work with him and brought him to their facility. He definitely has some trust issues and is very submissive, but he's coming along bit by bit. He's truly an incredible little dog who needed a second chance.

Wattson loves to cuddle and will push his little head against your neck when you hold him. When he wants your attention he will head-butt the back of your leg. He follows Stigma around and mimics everything she does. It's too cute!

Wattson on the ride home from Utah Animal Adoption Center

Stretching out

Exploring the back seat

Home at last

Such a pretty boy

Sharing a pillow with Stigma

Laying in the sun

Gracie and Wattson meeting for the first time

Not entirely sure how she feels about that

Wattson checking out his new yard

NV, OR and WA

2010-06-26T09:42:00.001-07:00

We had so much fun on our two little vacations this summer. I've gotten really bad about taking pictures, but here are the few I ended up with.

First we went to Las Vegas to see Crosby, Stills and Nash. What an amazing concert!!!

At the top of the Stratosphere.

In Planet Hollywood. Of course Jason had to get a picture with Jason

Some really cool flowers in the new high end shopping center.

The next trip was to Portland OR to see Sunshine (aka Alex Wrek) and then on to my brother and sister in law's newly finished home in Winlock WA. Their home turned out so beautiful and the scenery was breathtaking. How I managed to not get any pictures of Matt, Michelle, Una, Russell, Norah, Poppy, or the house is beyond me!

Look it's my X

Sunshine

Some Really cool Statues in WA

Although this one really creeps me out!

J in front of the Winlock Mason Temple

The amazing landscape that I couldn't get enough of

Matt and Michelle's tractor hanging out beneath the trees was just too picturesque.

Our Future Yard

2010-06-02T10:29:00.000-07:00

Since the yard was possibly the biggest selling point when we bought our home, and we had tons of outdoor gatherings last summer, Jason and I decided to spend this spring making it really spectacular. I was going to wait until all the work was done to take pictures and post about it, but well I'm just too excited about what's in store so I figured I'd list some of the things we've done so far and plans for the next couple weeks. A couple weeks ago I planted a Bleeding Heart. Luckily our freak spring snow storms haven't done any real damage.

Plants that have been patiently waiting through this erratic weather to go next to the pond are:

A pink/orange Lily

Sweet Potato Vines(both colors)

Stone Crop

Snap Dragons

Labrador Violets

And New Guinea Impatiens

In addition to the pond, which I'll post a step-by-step about when it's done, we started planting our vegetable box. So far we've planted four types of tomatoes, jalapenos, and Crenshaw melons. I'm also planning on adding some watermelon, lettuce, and spinach.

I put a little box of Chocolate Mint and Peppermint on the brick pyramid that was there when we moved in. They smell SO yummy! I wish I could've found Spearmint too.

A slightly sad little Fuchsia.

Petunias in the pyramid. We also planted strawberries, basil, and Rock Cress here.

Items that are in the mail, or about to be, include:

50 Peacock Orchid/Lily bulbs

10 Ostrich Ferns.

10 Wild Ginger plants.

10 Trout Lilies.

10 Trillium plants.

25 Hosta Plants(2 different kinds).

And 100 Lily of the Valley Plants.

Plants I'm considering for the pond include:

Monkey Flower.

And Bloody Dock as well as several others.

I ordered some tadpoles for the pond too. They are a mix of Spring Peepers and

Wood Frogs

To see a really cool video of the Wood Frog click here Wood Frog

* Note - not all photos were taken by me. Some are from garden stores/websites.

New Bird Bath

2010-05-19T19:30:00.000-07:00

I brought home the bird bath basin that I posted about last time and it is perfect! It had a few cracks, but there were no others like it anywhere so Stone Garden filled the cracks and gave me a really good deal. I was so excited to put it in our yard! It matches even better than I thought it would.
I also started working on my pond. It's bigger than it looks in this picture. I can't wait to put the liner in and add plants.

More Spring flowers

2010-05-14T12:03:00.000-07:00

A flowering tree in front of our home. The blossoms are almost gone. :(

Closeup

Ligularia

I just found a birdbath basin for this little stand that was left by the previous owners. I took this picture to show the folks at Stone Garden so they could match it and decided I almost liked it better like this.

Moonflower seeds growing in my kitchen. Can't wait to plant them along my fence.

Things We Missed Last Spring

2010-05-09T08:44:00.001-07:00

Most of these were already gone by the time we bought our home last summer. Except for the squirrel, she has been talking to us for the last year. I just didn't have this funny bird feeder back then.

One of My Dad's Favorite Fish

2010-01-05T12:05:00.000-08:00

As I've mentioned before, my dad's favorite fish was the seahorse. He also loved pipefish, a close relative to the seahorse. I bought him one once when he had his big saltwater aquarium in Park City and we'd sit for hours watching as it floated through the water snatching up little shrimp and such.

You can certainly tell I'm my father's daughter when walking through my home, but I haven't quite gotten to the point of setting up a saltwater aquarium and I miss the seahorses and pipefish. Well, the other day I was in Fish 4 You and I saw a handful of freshwater pipefish. I had to bring home a couple in honor of my dad. These are the best pictures I've been able to get so far.

I also couldn't resist this little doll. Another nod to salt water.

DEX Build-a-Bear/Shriners Hospital event

2010-01-05T08:37:00.000-08:00

When the Salt Lake Community College chapter of Delta Epsilon Chi (DEX) gathered to discuss our annual service project, it was obvious this year needed to be special. With the economy in its recent state, everyone is asking for help. We wanted to do something different, something creative. We decided to team up with Build-a-Bear and Shriners Hospital for Children to do something for some of the less fortunate children in Salt Lake City. Shriners Hospital is such an amazing part of our community. December 5th at 5:30 p.m. we gathered at Fashion Place Mall to make bears together. The goal was to build stuffed animals for 75 children at Shriners Hospital. We killed that and made 174.

Matt, Barbie, and me

Tommie, Ryan, and me Shriners and DEX

Jason's Nieces

So often we donate our time and money, but do not get to see the end result. Having some of the kids from Shriners there that night and then delivering the bears to the hospital ourselves was amazing!

One of the Shriner's kids holding her snowmanShriners kids showing off their poniesDelivering Bears to the Hospital

Goodbye Little Condo

2009-12-02T15:23:00.000-08:00

Even though Jason and I have a great new home, I was a little sad to let my downtown condo go. Mom and I went through for the last time to make sure we'd gotten everything out and take a few pictures. I filmed a nice video also, but for some stupid reason none of the videos on my camera will download to my computer. Duh!

DEX Collegiate Leadership Academy in NYC

2009-11-15T17:23:00.000-08:00

Tour of the NYSE

My awesome team for the case study

Halloween Fun

2009-11-06T23:04:00.000-08:00

Kids Halloween Party at SLCC

Kristy, Jaqui, and me in the PR office Ashlee's girls doing a cakewalk
Costume Contest

J and me

Ashlee and J

What a great costume

Halloween Party at our home

Brian

Robert, Chris, and Aub - Robert made this costume

Bergandee and Ashlee

J and Bergandee

Getting creative with the cupcakes

Ashlee and me

What a princess

Posing for the camera

Halloween Shenanigans in Holladay

2009-11-03T19:09:00.000-08:00

Halloween night wasn't party night for Jason and I. We had a couple friends over and then I decided it was necessary to watch at least one scary movie before retiring for the evening. Jason called it a night halfway through Interview with the Vampire, but I was determined to see the whole thing.

After the movie was over, around 12:40am, I wandered upstairs, got ready for bed and was just about settled in when I heard a tremendous crash. It was loud enough to wake Jason, a normally deep sleeper. I jumped out of bed and ran for the door. I was in my front yard within about 20 seconds and saw a man apologizing profusely to one of my neighbors who kept replying "Sorry's not good enough," a badly mangled Dodge Charger, and another neighbor's Dodge truck that had been thrown across the first neighbor's yard into his Honda. I was stunned. My neighbor quickly called 911 and the driver was on a phone call of his own. There was a woman lurking around the crashed cars for a moment that quickly disappeared. I assumed it was another neighbor who had checked to see what happened and then went home to call 911. I didn't see her again.

Jason came running out after a moment with no shirt or shoes. I finally convinced him to go back and grab shoes and a sweatshirt for me. One of the neighbors had brought out blankets for all of us, but it was still freezing. When Jason emerged from the house he ran directly to the door right across the street (where the owner of the Dodge truck lives) and rang the doorbell. I joined him and he pointed to damage on a PT Cruiser that we hadn't noticed yet. After a moment a young woman came to the door and looked on suspiciously as we explained that there had been an accident involving two of their cars as well as another neighbor's. She confirmed the PT Cruiser was hers and came out to inspect the damage. The driver of the Dodge Ram walked over and asked "I hit that too?" then said "I hit the curb and spun out of control." He had repeated this a few times throughout the night. He pointed toward the stop sign a few yards away, which has a large dip. I assume the dip is what he was talking about. He must have blown right through the stop sign. He seemed like a nice guy though obviously drunk. Jason and the young woman from across the street both smelled alcohol on him.

The police were there within a few minutes, faster than I had expected, and started asking questions. Car after car showed up with more officers. I explained to them what I had seen including the woman who had disappeared. They asked us to fill out witness statements so we all walked inside to sit down and stay warm while writing what we saw. After a moment a sheriff came inside. He started with "As some of you may have guessed by now, the driver was a police officer and he was driving his undercover car. He was off duty." Jason apparently had an inkling, but I was completely surprised.

I was finally able to pry the speed of the driver out of one of the officers. We measured the distance that the truck had been moved; almost 50 feet. The officer said he would have had to be driving at least 50 miles per hour to have pushed it that far. I wonder how fast he was going before he hit the dip by the stop sign and the PT Cruiser, which would likely have slowed him down before coming to the truck.

We finally called it a night around 3:30 am tired and glad we atleast didn't have to be up early the next day. The young woman across the street called a few local news stations and when I got home today there were several business cards taped to my front door. There's even a guy setting up a camera in the street right now. The news programs were the first time I heard the driver's name. My heart goes out to Mr. Salazar's family who must be in terrible pain right now.

Link to the news story J and I did.
http://connect2utah.com/content/video/?cid=60251

A couple pictures I took of the Charger, the truck, and the PT Cruiser. The truck was a lot worse than it looks in the picture.

All photos property of Kate and may not be used without permission.

Disneyland 2009

2009-10-27T18:21:00.000-07:00

So this year I promised myself I was going to get tons of pictures with all of us in them and.....failed miserably. I did get some really amazing videos, but for some reason they won't download to my computer. Hopefully I can figure it out soon and post them.

Portrait of Sally in the Haunted Mansion

Another slightly blurry Haunted Mansion picture
Alanna and Nadine going into Small World

My favorite picture of Lauren and Malcolm

Still getting the hang of the new camera

The entrance to D-Land

What a cool baby

Making a call

In California Adventure

A flower I fell in love with

Malcolm and Alanna waiting in line

The End

The outside

2009-10-27T17:01:00.000-07:00

I finally have a few pictures of our new home to post. I was excited to get some shots of the fall leaves in our front yard. Inside pictures will come once we're completely moved in.

The Front

Our Cool Apple Tree
Cute Little Stairway on the Side

View From the Deck(it's way better at night)

I Love These Red Trees!

J and me

Revenge of the Wasps

2009-08-19T20:40:00.000-07:00

Yesterday morning I took a branch off one of the beautiful oak trees in our new back yard to be examined by the staff at Millcreek Gardens. I had noticed a particularly large amount of puffy, green nodules on the branches that seemed to be killing the trees.

I was told that the nodules were called "galls" and that they were caused by a tiny, silver-winged wasp that creates them to house it's larva.

The kind man at Millcreek told me that unfortunately there was not much I could do, but removing the galls might help. Well better said than done. There are thousands of these galls on our trees. Regardless, I set about walking through my backyard with a large garbage bag in hand determined to pluck as many of the little suckers off as I possibly could.

Tonight as we were driving home we ran into what I believe was an indignant group of these ferocious little beasts. I was on the phone with my brother Matt, when were attacked. Thousands of the winged creatures began pelting the car as we stopped at our local gas station. They were literally raining from the sky like some cliched 1960s creature flick. I could hear Jason screaming as he quickly pumped a couple gallons in the car. We got out of there as quickly as possible.

I have never seen anything like it. My skin is still crawling. Yuck! Jason said the lights must have attracted them, but I have to wonder if they were really just getting their revenge.

So Trivial

2009-07-01T21:43:00.000-07:00

I started to post a comment on facebook about how excited I was to get the keys to our new home today, but I stopped. It seemed so senseless to be writing “Yay” when people who I truly care about are in pain right now. I hit the delete key and walked away thinking about a dear friend of mine that I saw holding a homeless and hungry sign by a freeway exit this morning. I struggled over the meager five dollars I had slipped into his hand before driving away in my comfortable, air conditioned car.

I also thought about our friend Allen who lost his son Monday to Leukemia. What a great kid Danny was!

I feel like an idiot for pouting over the $1,500 bill to fix my car last week, the flood in our new home, and the teacher who hates my guts. Although it all seemed like such a big deal at the time, it just seems so trivial right now.

House Hunting

2009-06-15T18:05:00.000-07:00

So as I said before Jason and I have been looking at houses. Our two little condos just aren't working anymore. We need a place that is big enough for Jason, me, Stigma, Yankee, Gracie and all our stuff. In our search we've seen some interesting and fun places, but this was by far the most conversation worthy!

The house is 3,912 square feet in Holladay with an asking price of $329,900. For those of you who are not familiar with the Utah housing market, that is a STEAL! We decided to see why they were asking so little. First I thought maybe it was the street it was on. Nope, it was located at the end of a prestigious private road, surrounded by million dollar homes. Then I thought maybe the lot was small or needed attention. Nope, the lot was huge and filled with trees behind an attractive iron gate with a code. Our friend, and Realtor, Tony pulled the key from the lock box and said "I guess we're about to find out why it's priced so low." We were all thinking it must be trashed inside. Nope, other than some scary decorating decisions(the owners have an affinity for flowery wall paper and dead things. Bears, ducks, deer, coyotes, etc.) it was very nice. We were all stunned!

We walked onto the back deck and looked out over the sprawling yard. "How peaceful" we said. Then we noticed an odd little flower bed toward the back of the yard. A few stones surrounded what looked like fake mums. Mom laughed and said, "What if it's a grave?" Jason walked over as I dismissed it saying "It's probably just an oddly placed flower patch." Jason then looked back at us shocked and motioned for us to walk over. There at our feet, was a bronze plaque that read "Private Cemetery." Beneath that were the names of 35 people and the dates they had been buried.........in the back yard! Ok, I like scary stuff, creepy stuff, intriguing stuff, but the thought of hitting a coffin while planting a nice hasta is just a little much even for me. Also, is it just me or does all the dead stuff inside the house now seem ironic?

Inside the home we found a large, hardbound, professionally printed, book with a history of the family who owned the home. What interesting people! We saw actual photographs of the folks who now rested just a few feet away.

Good luck to whoever ends up with the place, because it's a hell-of-a house! But the owner is responsible for taking care of that cemetery, legally, and as much as I respect the dead, I think it'd be awfully hard to have that hanging over you.

Did I mention I wholeheartedly believe the Zombie Apocalypse is near?

Hints of Something Else

2009-05-29T07:52:00.000-07:00

Those of you who know me, know I am not a religious person, but I do like to think there is something bigger than me out there. Ever since my dad passed away I have seen hints of that something bigger. There are times when I simply know he is still with me. This was one of those times.
Things have been pretty hectic lately. School has been stressful, and Jason and I are trying to plan a wedding and find a home. The other day I was at the Sugarhouse Petco picking up some food and such for the kids, when I decided to stop by Old Navy. I walked in and saw a table full of t-shirts with different fish designs and started sifting through. My dad was crazy about fish, especially seahorses. I had a hard time finding anything in my size and was about to walk away when I felt a shirt fall on my foot. I reached down to pick it up and found a large seahorse design sitting there in my size. Slightly startled, I grabbed it and headed for the dressing room. At that moment the words "Just go back to the places where we used to go, and I'll be there" rang out on the intercom. Of course it was just one of the many 80s songs programmed in to Old Navy's music that day, but it still got to me.
Long-story-short, I bought the shirt and maybe it'll replace that seahorse tattoo I was planning on. Maybe.......

Old but fun

2009-05-22T14:14:00.000-07:00

This video is from a couple semesters ago. My Math 1050 teacher, Cindy Soderstrom, was a lot of fun. She constantly had great ideas on how to make math fun and easy to relate to. We did a lot of problems that had to do with cows so Cindy brought this little guy to class one day.

Catching up IIII: The Utah Real Estate Challenge

2009-05-05T13:55:00.000-07:00

When Spring semester started, one of my marketing teachers told our class about a competition sponsored by the University of Utah called the Utah Real Estate Challenge. The competition entailed developing some type of real estate proposal in Utah. The prize money was $20,000. He said if we entered this contest he would give us points that could be used to supplement other assignments in the class. He went around the class and asked if we thought we wanted to enter the competition or simply go along the regular track. It was an easy choice for me; The possibility of $20,000 or $0.........No question!

My team mates and I chose to propose the restoration of one of Salt Lake City's beautiful historic buildings. We selected the Crandall Building because of its history, its location, and mainly because our marketing teacher knew the owner. It was exciting to learn about the extensive history of the building and Salt Lake City as well. I, as I'm sure my team mates did, became very attached to this building and its very gracious owner Mr. Robert Crandall.

When we got to the finals we were ecstatic. It was a big deal for students in their 1st year at a community college to do so well against U of U and BYU students; many of whom were graduate students. Six teams advanced to the finals and those who did not win were still given $2,000. We worked hard and in the end, unofficially placed 2nd (we were told by one of the competition organizers that this was so). Winning certainly would have been nice, but I wouldn't trade the experience for all the world. I met many amazing people along the way. I would like to say a special thank you to our teacher Jeff Morrow. I would also like to thank Bob Moore and Vasilios Priskos.

Early Photos of the Crandall Building

These intricate carvings can be found everyone on the building
The Crandall Building in 2009 with City Creek development in the background

City Creek Promises to bring much attention to this area

Catching up III: I'm Getting Married

2009-05-05T12:55:00.001-07:00

One of the hardest things about losing my dad was realizing he wouldn't be there to walk me down the aisle if I ever got married again. Gaining the closeness we had in his later years made it important for him to be a part of that. After my first botched effort at marriage, I also hoped that the man I might spend the rest of my life with would have the class and respect to ask my father first. When losing my father became a real concern, I realized this would likely never happen. Jason and I had talked about getting married someday but never to any serious degree. I spent many nights crying while my dad was in the hospital, thinking about all the things in my life that I so badly wanted to share with him.

In January, Jason had a waitress at Settebello deliver a black envelope to me on one of our date nights. Inside was a letter stating that I was to be ready at 6:00pm, on Feb 13th, wearing a black dress, and to bring my skeleton key (an antique key Jason gave me a week into our relationship with a very long story itself). Friday the 13th came with eager anticipation. Jason had made such big deal of it that I couldn’t help but guess at what the evening might be like. Mom I went shopping for a new black dress and she lent me her pearls for the evening. Thursday night Jason and I were settling in when he noticed an odd puffiness to Stigma’s ear. I called the vet who said it was an ear hematoma and that we could wait till morning but she’d have to have surgery. So early the next morning I took poor Stig to the hospital. Jason was a nervous wreck the whole day. I thought surely he’d want to cancel our date. Stigma is his life. She got through the surgery fine but had a tight bandage on her little ear.

Stigma with her bandaged ear

That night I was ready at 6:00pm, waiting for him to walk in the door and take me to dinner. At 6:05 there was a knock at the door. I thought to myself “How cute. He’s being formal.” I opened the door to a man in a suit who said “Ma’am, your limo is here.” Jason was not in the limo. My heart pounding and mind racing I figured Jason would be waiting somewhere at a restaurant. The limo drove in circles for a moment. I thought he was trying to keep me from guessing where we were going. I found out later he was just lost but it added to the whole experience.
After a moment the driver stopped at the Masonic Temple (Jason’s a Mason and the temple here is amazing!) and said he would wait for me. I walked in and our friend Chris gave me an envelope and said inside was my pass. Another friend, Rick, took me upstairs to the “Gothic Room”, which is my favorite. I was told to knock once and a voice from inside said “Enter.” I walked in to see two more of our friends, Robert and Michael, standing behind a podium in the dimly lit room, wearing tuxes. An antique box with a heart shaped lock sat on the podium. Robert asked for the pass and my key and matched my key up to an outline on black paper, then gave me a smaller key in exchange that opened the box. Inside was a green paper heart with directions to our next location, Liberty Park, and another pass.

The SLC Masonic Temple

We arrived at the North East corner(the significance of the ne corner is that all buildings are started at the ne corner) where our friend Tony was waiting with a heart shaped box. Inside the box was a card with instructions to go to the Castle Creek Inn, ask the front desk for a package, and walk up to the room matching the keys in the package. The whole time I was in the limo I was so anxious that I couldn’t speak and my hands were shaking. I walked into the CCI and asked for the package. The woman handed me a box of Ethel M’s Chocolates (we fell in love with these in Vegas) and the room key. I walked up the stairs and placed one of the two keys in the door, my hands still shaking. It wouldn’t turn. I quickly pulled the key out and used the other which worked. Jason was inside on one knee surrounded by 80 or so little candles. He held out an elaborately decorated frog box(how cool) and told me to lift the nose. Inside was a ring and he asked “Will you marry me?” I said “Of course” and then he pointed to a camera that had been taping the whole event.

The Castle Creek Inn at night

Our room, the Romeo and Juliet Suite

The view from our room

We then took the limo to Tuscany (one of my favorite Italian restaurants), where dinner was fabulous and we had and amazing chocolate, hazelnut tart for dessert.

One of the dining rooms at Tuscany

When we returned to the Castle Creek Inn, he told me an amazing story. When my father was home on hospice care a few days before he passed away, Jason had called my mother and asked if he could come up to Park City and talk to my parents. My dad was very weak and not able to speak much at this point. Jason told them how he had been wanting to talk to them for a while, but just hadn’t been able to find the right time to do it. He told them that he wanted to ask them for their permission to marry me. With the very little strength he had, my father stated “nothing would make me happier.” I of course burst into tears hearing this. Dad loved Jason and that meant the world to me. Mom wrote down the whole story also and gave it to me for Valentines Day. It was fun hearing Jason tell his version and then seeing mom’s.

Jason trying to make me laugh as I told my family the story of our evening

We’ve been together for over two years now. I can’t picture my life without him. I’m so excited to spend the rest of my life with him!

Catching up II: My Dad

2009-05-05T09:05:00.000-07:00

It’s taken me a while to be able to write a few words about my father. I guess I just didn’t want to have to actually accept that he’s gone. As the days go by it becomes more and more obvious though he’s not just back in the bedroom sleeping late again. There are moments when I come across something I’d want to share with him and I think “I need to show this to dad” or “I need to take dad here” and then it hits me I can’t. Even though these moments are hard I feel lucky to have them. As many of you know my history with my father is not entirely rosy. We spent years at odds and there were times in my life when I probably wouldn’t have wanted to share anything with him. I am in glad in the later years that we were able to form a strong bond and enjoy each other’s company. We spent many afternoons watching funny movies and enjoying take out from one of our favorite restaurants. Setting up his little aquarium together was a lot of fun and his excitement when I found Bronwyn, his feline companion, made me very happy.

My father passed away December 17^th, 2008 in his home, surrounded by Matt & John, my mother, and myself. We were sad my third brother Mark could not be there.

It has been a long hard road. Dad had been sick for many years. First colon cancer, then heart surgery and for the last few years with symptoms that left every one of his many doctors at a total loss for any sort of explanation as to the cause. He even attended the Mayo Clinic without success. Regardless of the pain he felt, he just kept pushing through and I suppose I had almost come to believe he would never leave us.

It was during my weekly visits that I started to notice something new. After a while, dad didn't eat much of the food I would bring up for our hang out sessions. He said his stomach hurt too much. We both have always had stomach problems so other than quickly mentioning it to my mom, I didn't give it much thought.

On Monday, December 1^st, my mom called to tell me that she had taken dad to the emergency room for a stomach ache the night before. He said it felt like his stomach was exploding. I told a few people that day that I was so used to getting that call that I didn’t really worry much about it anymore. I added that one of these days it was going to be serious and I wouldn’t take it as such until it was too late.

A few days after dad was admitted to the hospital, test results showed he had stage four pancreatic cancer. Doctors said he would have six months at most. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. How unfair that someone could completely survive the hell of one cancer only to years later be diagnosed with an entirely new one?! I tried my best to push through finals week with this on my brain. My teachers were very supportive and I wouldn’t have been able to do as well as I had if they had not been there for me.

By the time I got to the hospital to see him he could barely speak. He slept most of the time but would intermittently open his eyes and smile. Sometimes he would look at me and start talking as if everything were suddenly fine but a few words into the sentence he would form an expression as if someone had shocked him and his words would trail away. His lips would still move but there was no sound. Then he would be asleep again. Mom put him on the phone once when I was at home and he tried to speak, but I could barely understand him. The only thing that came out clear was the words “When I’m gone.” I stopped him and said “Dad please don’t say that. We’re going to have lots of time together.” Now I wish I knew what he was going to say. I was just convinced that we had more time, that this would be another one of those scary times that he’d push through. After that night he would smile when I came into the room and mumble “I love you” when I left, but we never had a real conversation again.

There were a few moments that we will always talk about fondly that I’d like to mention here. My dad wasn’t able to eat or drink on his own in the final days so we would take turns giving him water through a syringe. One such time my brother John was giving him some water but apparently too slowly and dad suddenly reached up, grabbed john’s shirt, yanked him down and yelled out “WATER.” Another time my mom was giving him water the same way and he kept mumbling something that sounded like “fear.” She asked him if he was saying fear and he mustered all the strength in his body to utter the words “Bottle of beer.” After that we alternated syringes full of water with syringes of good beer. My favorite story though was one night when mom and dad were alone and she decided, on the advice of a family member, to tell him about how much he meant to her and such. After a moment he said “Slow down.” She laughed and said “I wish I had your sense of humor.” He replied, “That would be nice.”

These combined with a lifetime of fond, and some not so fond, memories of dad will always stay with us. They are what made him who he was.

Catching up I: Annual Disneyland trip 2008

2009-05-05T08:34:00.000-07:00

Time has really gotten away from me this semester. A lot has happened in the last 6 months! With finals over and finally a moment to spare, I figured I would take the time to catch up.

In 2006, Lauren, Alanna, and I started the annual fall Disneyland trip. In 2008, I brought Jason along (for a surprise birthday present) and his friend Erik met up with us for one day as well. Lauren had her new little addition, Malcolm, and Lauren's mom, Nadine, came.

No matter how old I get Disneyland still seems magical, especially at night. The first year we had dinner in the Blue Bayou (the restaurant in the Pirates of the Caribbean ride). We got to sit right by the water. Way cool.

Alanna, Nadine, Lauren, Malcolm, me, Jason, & Erik

I waited outside with Malcolm while the crew went on this ride. Yes I know I am a huge wuss

Jason and I in California Adventure

Little Malcolm and me. He was so fun!

Sleepy Jason

I love Hibiscus and this was one of the prettiest I've seen

We took a day to check out other parts of L.A. We drove through Hollywood and then down to Santa Monica pier so Jason could get his ocean fix.

Alanna under the pier

Jason and Alanna playing on the beach

The way home was a little odd. They told us to get to our plane we had to go down this creepy, long, hallway that was completely deserted. It felt like something out of a horror film.

A sign in the hallway

Jason wondering if it would ever end

Finding happiness in tiny packages

2008-10-25T08:28:00.000-07:00

On the ugliest of days these little guys remind me of what the world is capable.

Leucomelas

Begonia Prismatocarpa

Badis Buxar

Not sure what this flower is but I love it

Green Leg Lamasi

Ventrimaculatus

One of my favorite miniature orchids. I'm blanking on the name.

Pumilio Bastimentos

A small vent if I may

2008-08-20T14:58:00.000-07:00

The other day Jason told me that he wanted to see an "original copy" of the Declaration of Independence, that is currently traveling the country, during it's stop in Utah. After pointing out that "original copy" is an oxymoron I agreed to come along. At first I pictured a new but nicely made copy of the DoI and thought I was agreeing to a 20 minute, or so, event. We walked into the capital, where the document was displayed, and were immediately pointed toward a video that was playing with an explanation of what we were about to see. I was wrong. The document on tour was not a new copy, it was one of the original Dunlop Broadsides which are technically older than the signed DoI. At this point I was actually quite excited to see this important piece of American History.

We walked upstairs and stepped into line. Judging from the length of the line I thought maybe we'd be looking at 45 minutes, maybe an hour. We moved along slowly, so slowly in fact that at one point I sat down to give my aching feet a rest and the line didn't move enough for me to get up for 25 minutes. I can't imagine having been one of the several families with small children in line. After three hours Jason walked up to the front to ask why it was taking so long and could we find a way to speed things up. It was at this point that I got a clear view of how the viewing was being handled. They would have each party to walk up separately into the circle of rope surrounding the document and allow them whatever time they wanted. Even after Jason spoke to the attendant I saw a family of 7 or 8 walk up to the document, take a family photo, turn around and read for a minute or so, take another family photo, turn around and read some more and then take individual photos with the document before turning around one last time to read. Is it just me or is this little excessive? Well we and the several other families who had to leave, after over 3 hours of waiting, without getting to see the document, certainly thought so!!!!! I was so angry at standing in line for so long only to have to leave, so that we could make 7:00pm dinner plans with friends, that I yelled the whole way out of the building. Maybe excessive on my part but damn it I was mad! What I find most interesting is that we left at 6:30pm foreseeing at least 2 more hours of wait time ahead of us should we stay. The gal Jason spoke with said that the exhibit closed at 8:00pm and that they might be able to allow those in line to stay a bit after 8:00pm. Might?! How could they seriously have the heart to just kick people out after they waited 4 maybe even 5 hours to see this?

Anyway, if it comes to your town let's hope your event planners are smarter than the ones in Utah. It seemed like a really cool thing to see!

Update

2008-08-19T14:31:00.000-07:00

Gracie came through just great. She even seems a bit calmer now. Although it may just be that she doesn't want to move from the new heated bed I bought her. Regardless I'm so relieved. I am also extremely happy to have found a great new vet in SLC. Besides being the folks who have tended to Yankee and Gracie since birth, they are the nicest people I've talked to at any of the veterinary offices in SLC. Thank you Central Valley!

I miss Gracie

2008-08-15T10:39:00.000-07:00

I took Gracie to the vet early this morning to be spayed which was long overdue. We went to Central Valley which is not the cheapest by far, but it's her breeder's vet and I wanted someone who wouldn't say "What's a Devon Rex?" They are very nice and I felt confident they would give her the best of care.
She cried the whole way to the vet and I almost turned around several times. I know it's absolutely the best thing to do but those pitiful meows were really getting to me. I took her out of her cage when we got there and just held her for a bit while they filled out paperwork. She snuggled right into my chest and buried her head in my neck which is a little unusual for her. She is Yankee's companion and has only ever let humans give her attention at her will.
I choked back tears as I walked from the office and tried not to think about the iv going into her tiny, fragile little arm. I'm a wreck right now waiting for the vet to call and tell me everything went great. I can't pick her up until 4:30pm. I miss my baby girl. Just look at those big beautiful eyes. I'm sure Yankee is a mess without her.

My favorite five gallon

2008-08-01T14:36:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple recent photos of my favorite aquarium. The little red things are food that I threw in trying to coax the zebra Shrimp out for a photo. Please excuse the ugly equipment and lack of photographical prowess. I am no Takashi Amano.

Felix Mas

2008-07-28T18:25:00.000-07:00

I fell madly in love with this artist on a recent trip to CA. We nearly bought one of his paintings titled Sirena. I also had a hard time walking away from Caballito De Mar. The pieces that were displayed in the gallery we visited can all be seen here world-wide-art.com.

Here are a few of his works. The man is a genius.

Green Rocket Shrimp

2008-07-24T07:00:00.000-07:00

I'm pretty excited. I picked up a few of these little guys the other day. First of all I just love the name. "Green Rocket Shrimp." It has a bit of a punch to it. These are some of the more interesting shrimp I've brought home. Some are a light apple green and others show tints of red. I like that the coloring is subtle. You have to spend a moment looking for them in the aquarium and then there they are, right in front of you. Just wish I had better photography skills.

Fungus Amoung Us

2008-07-16T18:02:00.000-07:00

My paludarium is going through a bit of a moldy stage right now. It happens often when the wood is fairly new to a wet environment and usually goes away with time.
Most of what I've seen is your garden variety, fluffy, white mold, but Monday I found this little gem. I know it's sortof odd to get excited over a mushroom but this bright orange little guy was straight out of a faery tale.

How Cute is This?

2008-07-16T17:57:00.000-07:00

We were walking through Petsmart the other day and came across these little dolls all huddled together. I love birds. someday when I have a greenhouse I'd love to raise some little Finches like these in it .

Dario oh Dario

2008-07-15T18:12:00.000-07:00

My poor little Dario Dario is losing color on his left side. I'm told this is common but I'm still sad!

Ridiculousness

2008-07-11T11:20:00.000-07:00

Throughout my life I have been sortof an accident magnet with around 20 car accidents to my credit. Now I'm sure your first thought is "I'm never getting in a car with you." I wouldn't blame you. So why write about them now? Well on 7/1/08 I was rear-ended yet again. The most common theme being I sitting quietly at a stop light while some jerk blasts into the back of me, this was no exception. Although to be fair this guy was not a "jerk." He was actually quite nice and concerned for my well being. As I wade through numerous phone calls and procedures I recall that a nearly identical situation on 7/3/01 had never been settled. You'd think a simple stop light rear-ending would be fairly cut and dry right. Nope.
I called my insurance sobbing one day after the other guy's insurance company had relentlessly harassed me at home and work for over a week. My always helpful insurance agent suggested I claim the car through State Farm, pay my deductible and other such necessities, and let them collect on the other guy. I did so and went on with my life. For a couple years I called consistently, hoping "any day now" I'd be reimbursed but was always told the same thing, "his insurance is still fighting us." Something to do with the fact that he was an ex cop and that he hadn't been willing to stay around and wait for the cops to show up. Isn't that technically a hit and run? Well unfortunately the cop that showed up to the accident didn't write it down as such. Now seven years later I decided to call and see just what even happened to that claim. Now stop me if you've heard this one before because certainly this has to be a joke. I was told that because there was damage to another area of the car the insurance company wasn't going to accept liability. Their reasoning............if I were to ever get this other area(the left rear quarter panel) fixed I would have to repaint the bumper anyway so that the paint would match. WHAT?! Ok this is the most ridiculous rationalization I have ever heard but hell what can I do?

Car accident roll call.........
My first car accident ever was in my parents' 1987 Mercedes Benz. I can't remember the month or year even but we were cruising along the freeway when my dad had to stop short for traffic and a lady in an old Mercury Cougar slammed into us going 70 mph or so. No one was hurt thankfully.

My second car accident was in my grandmother's 1981 Buick Skylark. She bonked someone while changing lanes and repeatedly announced it was because the guy was in her "blind spot." For years I was afraid of this mysterious "blind spot."

My third car accident happened to be in this same Buick Skylark but years later when it was my turn behind the wheel. I was driving I-80 eastbound when I came upon a patch of black ice and suddenly realized that so had everyone else. I sailed through a blur of spinning automobiles finally coming to rest against a red Jeep Cherokee that happened to spin off into that location prior.

Throughout high school I had my share of necessary beginning driver dings, scratches and crunches.

In July of 1997 I got my first "mine" car. You know that first car that no one in the family is just loaning you. It was a 1994 strawberry red Geo Prism and I promptly
proceeded to add it to the damage club when driving to work one morning. I was turning left and some guy came roaring around the corner "like a bat outa hell" and slammed right into the side of my pretty little girl. Lame!

The next accident was not so much an accident but one of those "no see ems." My brother and his wife were watching the house while my mother and I were out of town. We left them the keys to my car should they need to move it from the driveway. Upon arriving home I found a large dent in the left quarter side panel(That same dent that later on caused problems). I asked if they knew what had happened and they said no. Hmmmm, maybe my enemies are sneakier than I thought.

In the summer of 1998 I was backing out of a parking place in the alley behind PC main street. I was nearly out of the spot when BAM. Young and dumb, I let the guy who hit me, scare me with tales of "company insurance companies that I didn't want to deal with." His excuse......."I saw you backing out and I thought you would have been gone by the time I backed out." What?! Duh Kate! If he would have said that to the cops they would have laughed. Oh well, the damage wasn't too bad.

A few more minor bumps and bruises later and we come to 7/3/01. Sitting at a red light, two cars in front of me, minding my own business. I look in my rear view mirror to see a red Corvette barreling down on me with a driver that is looking down at something on the passenger side. I braced myself for the hit and WHAM!

About a week after I got my car back from the body shop I was rear-ended again at a stop light. This time just as the light turned green. Apparently I wasn't moving quite fast enough for the poor teenage girl who's face was panic stricken as she exited the car. No damage to either car and I told her not to worry about it.

A month or two later I was again sitting at a red light, looking in my rear view mirror and thought "yep he's gonna hit me." The white truck racing up behind did manage to stop in time, but the moment the light turned green, BANG! What is wrong with these people? What was worse, I had my poor Chihuahua Diablo sitting on my lap, dazed from the drugs the vet had administered for his neuter operation. The guy begged me not to call his insurance and promised to pay for whatever damages were done. He made good on the promise and I fixed my car again.

I finally decided to retire little red and traded up to a 1994 Volkswagen Jetta later that year. Great little car other than being mildly possessed. I didn't mind so much that the seat heaters worked only when they wanted, or that the buttons to roll down the door windows changed which window they rolled down on a daily basis, but the sunroof opening and closing on it's own got irritating. This car started out without much better luck. A friend of mine rear-ended me while pulling out of a parking lot. No damage, other than to his pride I'm sure, but come on Richard. I mean I know your car was ten times faster than mine but couldn't you have waited until I was out of the way to prove that? All jokes aside things were looking glim.

In the summer of 2003 I was again at a stop light about to turn right. The guy in front of me went and so did I. It was a sneeze that did me in. Damn summer cold! In that split second where my eyes closed, he jammed his breaks and I ran right into the back of his truck. Ugh! How embarrassing!

In spring of 2004 I fell in love with Subaru's WRX and traded in my Jetta on a bright blue one. On 7/5/04 I rolled it off a cliff. When I dodged to miss the large truck that had come over in to my lane, my little car went over the side and rolled twice down the hill. After tons of tears and a lengthier story than need be written here I decided another WRX was all that would do.

I bought Belle, my first brand new car, on 7/18/04 and promptly wrecked her on 7/19/04. It was the morning of the SCCA(Sport Car Club of America) races and terrified as I was to drive again, I figured a planned course with an instructor beside me was the best way to get back at it. A few runs into the day I was feeling more confident. I came around the last big turn of the course but wait the breaks weren't working. The car was actually going faster. The instructor and I screamed as I did my best to dodge course workers and others cars. I ended up going through a large guard chain and hitting a parked truck. Thank god I'd steered well enough to miss the brand new BMW M5.

One more hit and run, to the driver side door, on poor miss Belle and that brings us to last week. Funny enough I passed the guy who hit me going south on I-15. I looked at the large load of loosely packed items, boards and such, in the back of his trailer and decided I didn't want to be behind him. I passed him and got off on the 45th south exit. He smacked into my bum at the first light after the freeway exit. The damage is fairly minimal and the insurance companies are being unusually helpful so hopeful this will be over quick.

No more accidents K.

Because I am a nerd. Ode to fish.

2008-06-27T11:34:00.000-07:00

When I'm not doing school work or lavishing attention on Yankee and Gracie I spend most my time on fish. So this is my obsession and it deserves a moment in the spotlight regardless of how dorky it is.

I've always loved fish going back to the ten gallon community fish tank that my parents set up in my bedroom as a small child. I don't remember much about it other than a Firebelly Newt that I named Getaway because of his propensity for escaping. I would often wake up in the middle of the night to find him gone, run screaming into my parents' room that Getaway had once again gotten away and we would organize a search party. We typically found the newt close by, slightly dried out, but none the worse for wear. I the suppose the fact that my father was an importer and our basement was routinely full of saltwater fish waiting to be sold to the local fish stores may have also had an impact. Of course I'm being facetious when I say "may." I remember colorful fish in all directions, octopus and of course my favorite, the baby nurse shark.

In high school I again ventured into the fish world, picking up a small blue fish at Walmart to add to an aquarium which currently held a common Betta. The small blue fish turned out to be a Cichlid, which quickly dispensed with the Betta. I was enamored with the little fish and started to read about Cichlids in general. I kept several more throughout the following years. Probably a couple hundred or so.

In 2005, I decided I needed an eel. No idea why but for some reason it just had to be. I went around to local fish stores and inquired as to what they had in the way of eels. Steve at Mark's Ark pointed me toward a small spotted freshwater Moray Eel. That was it. He came home with me and was a great companion throughout the next couple years. I named him Flotsam and planned to acquire a Jetsam when I could afford a larger aquarium.

When I moved into my condo in SLC I adopted a Leaf Fish. This guy had major personality and responded to me almost as well as the cats. I loved the way he'd beg for food when I came home from school in the afternoon.
In May of 2007 I saw an online contest for planted aquariums. I was completely bowled over by the beauty of these setups. I went to Fish 4 You and walked up to their "planted show tank", promptly telling the owner Chris "I want to do that." He sent me home with a 10 gallon aquarium, a bag of substrate called EcoComplete, a few plants, a bottle of fertilizer and three small fish that he called Rasboras. He told me later on I might want to pick up some Cherry Shrimp. I had never done anything like this and had no idea what to expect. Within a few months I had this..........
A far cry from the pictures I had seen online, but I was just told to give it some time. I added a few more plants and in August went looking for Cherry Shrimp. None at the local fish stores, but one of the employees told me I might find some one who breeds them on Utahaquatics.com. I looked up the website and found that the local planted tank enthusiasts had a club called NACU(National Aquarium Club of Utah). I asked if I could come to the meetings. I learned a ton on that first night like who Takashi Amano is, the importance of light and filtration, and how awesome adding CO2 is. I followed advice and within a few months the aquarium looked like this.......
The Cherry Shrimp quickly became a favorite. I even named one of them which made even the guys in NACU laugh. Pictured here is Big Red. I could always tell him apart from the others by his size and coloring.

A berried(pregnant) female Cherry Shrimp.
It wasn't long before I was bitten by the shrimp bug entirely and started to research freshwater shrimp to find all the different varieties enthusiasts were currently keeping. I set up a second planted aquarium just for shrimp and brought home Amano Shrimp, a great algae eater
Mandarin Shrimp, very pretty but do not reproduce in fresh water
And Tiger Shrimp from Fish 4 You.
Soon after I came across what I decided was the cutest fish I'd ever seen, a Scarlet Badis or Dario Dario. I put four of them in with the shrimp.

My next planted aquarium came along in December. An odd size, it was a bit of a challenge but still fun.
One of my favorite pictures of Jason's niece with the aquarium.
Riccia pearling.
I added Blackberry Shrimp to this aquarium.

As well as another unidentified little red shrimp.
This small "pico" tank was set up in February 2008 with the hopes of someday adding the one shrimp that captivated and terrified me. The Crystal Red Shrimp. The plants are much thicker now.
One of my many terrariums when I stripped out the soil to convert it to a paludarium(half water). I'm waiting until it looks a bit better to take pictures with the water.
In March I started a new planted aquarium with a specific purpose in mind. I used this for a school project and documented every step. This was the best aquascaping I had done and I had stayed on a strict fertilizer schedule. The aquarium flourished. I added Amano Shrimp and Nerite snails to control algae and eventually a few Pygmy Corys, bigtime favorite. I wish I could get a picture of the Corys but they move too darn fast. Take my word for it though, they are a great little fish.

This little Cherry Shrimp was accidentally bagged with the Amano Shrimp and the tiny orange Pleco to his right was won in an auction at a NACU Meeting.
When I came across this brilliantly colored little Badis I had to have him even if it meant making poor Amber at Fish 4 You chase through the tank for the exact fish I wanted.
Facing off.
For my dad's birthday I promised to set him up a small planted aquarium so he could have some of the shrimp I had grown to love so much. It took a few months but, in June, we finally put this little beauty together. We hope to add some colorful little guys soon.
And here we are, to my excitement...........my first Crystal Red Shrimp. He's tiny and his coloring is not immaculate but I am thrilled to have him. He's been in the Pico for a couple weeks, eating well, and growing.

Three nights ago I picked up these beauties at the NACU meeting which was held at Fish 4 You this time. They called them Zebra Shrimp and they were reasonably priced. They hide constantly and I had to sit still, waiting for quite a while after dumping a favorite shrimp food into the aquarium to get these pathetic pictures. Hopefully you can atleast get the idea.

So this is my fish tale up until June of 2008. I'm a nerd. What can I say?

Our new animal friends

2008-06-05T09:07:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday we were at Megan and Adam's house. Half way through the evening they told us they had a goat living in their back yard. Apparently the neighbors had bought it to eat but had left it tied to the tree in M&A's backyard for 3 weeks. The dad had said he had gotten too attached to the goat to kill it himself. Hopefully he's gotten too attached to kill it at all. I wanted to steal it and take it to Matt and Michelle's house . Isn't he just the cutest little thing?! I love that beard.

The next day we took Stigma to the park. She loved playing in the water.
Jason screamed like a girl when I found this little guy stuck to his pants. What an adorable little worm.

Dreams: The Little Grey Ones

2008-05-30T10:07:00.000-07:00

I am consistently having the strangest, most vivid dreams so I decided to start writing them down. This one was about a month ago but it’s been stuck in my head ever since. Forgive me, I am not an avid suspense writer but I’ll do my best to capture the moment.

2 years after the bomb hit life was somewhat back in order. We had begun to re-colonize the affected houses and were starting to get back on track. Life had certainly taken on a different look though. The landscapes were barren littered by skeletal remnants of trees and blank dusty fields stood where grass had been. All food had to be grown in large greenhouses. A few farm animals had survived but we no longer used them as a food source as there was no way to cultivate them in large numbers with the desolate lands. They were now free to roam the planet, living off whatever they could find to eat. A few pockets of rainforest remained though the predators there had become so voracious that humans did not dare venture near.

Only those of us with strong immune systems had survived and anyone within close range of the bomb had been killed on impact or shortly after. The children with Down syndrome had been hit the hardest. The chemicals left hanging in the atmosphere had merged with their 21^st chromosome, changing and mutating them. They were no longer able to withstand even the tiniest amount of sun. Their flesh which had turned a translucent grey as a result of the darkness, felt like shaved velvet. Their bodies were soft and squishy with an overall lack of muscle. Their spines were curved and made their crooked shoulder bones protrude forward like oversized doorknobs. They moved slow and awkwardly, more slinking and creeping than walking.

The transformation had left them with a zombie like hunger for human flesh and they set out each night in search of food. They were not adept hunters and possibly this is what kept them weak. They were strong collectively and once they had you there was no hope of escape, but their atrophied muscles would not allow for extensive reach. They would creep into the houses at night in groups searching for anyone who might have been caught unaware. You were safe in bed if you slept toward the middle of the mattress where they could not reach you. Sometimes you would wake up to the scuffle of bare feet across the floor and if the moon was high enough you might catch a glimmer of light reflecting in their huge black eyes. You would quietly curl to the center of the bed and hope desperately they had not noticed your movement. I remember the night they came. The pitter-patter of tiny feet on the hardwood was what first alerted me. Tiny whispering voices were nearly inaudible. “Had they discovered I was lying here silently?” “Was the information about their short reach true?” “Would I truly be safe if I stayed far enough from the edge?” “Had I left anything on the floor they might use to climb higher?” These questions raced through my mind as I tried to stay still as a statue. I could feel their spongy fingers searching the edge of the mattress. One grazed my cheek and quickly pulled away. A chorus of little voices arose and then numerous hands reaching toward my body. I moved further away from the edge, shaking and terrified. When they could not again feel my flesh, they turned and crept toward the door. I prayed my neighbors would be safe as well.

Side note: I googled "little grey ones" and come up with many pictures. This was my favorite.

New York was fabulous!

2008-05-27T08:17:00.000-07:00

Background note: My mother and I went to NYC from May 20-25 to sell my grandmother’s painting at Sotheby’s, when it turned out to be worth more than anyone in the family wanted the responsibility of owning. The painting is nearly identical to this one.

My mother and I arrived Tuesday morning at 6:00 am, desperately tired and discombobulated. We had originally planned to go out and see the city, but were not quite in a state to do so. Instead we went straight to our hotel, The Yale Club, hoping they might have an open room and willing to pay a half-day rate if so. The gal at the front desk told us there might be something open around 7:30 so we left our things with the bell staff and staggered over to Grand Central Station to grab a bite to eat.

We found a place called Dishes, which had a delightful array of fresh pastries, sandwiches, fruits, smoothies and other such fare. I had a “bagel press” which consisted of a sesame seed(always a favorite) bagel with herb cream cheese, feta, and plum tomatoes pressed on some type of grill. It was absolute heaven! We walked back to the hotel after enjoying our breakfast and inquired about a room. They said nothing was available but maybe around 11:00 when folks started to check out.

We plopped down on one of the couches in the oh-so-elegant lobby and discussed what to do next. Mother had grabbed one of the cards describing the dress code from the front desk and we began to read through. No jeans, no tennis shoes, no casual sandals. Dress shoes, tailored pants or skirts, and dress shirts only. Very strict. Well I’m in basically a sweat suit and thongs and mom’s freaking out about her crocs. We both fumbled over ideas of where to go and what to do, both terrified to walk across the lobby and have someone comment on our attire. I had somehow gotten out of the house without my raincoat so we decided to hit the streets and try to find one as the NY weather had been rather wet. I finally worked up the courage to walk down to the front desk again and inquire as to where I might buy one. We wasted away an hour or so at the suggested spot and came back to find they had found us a room.

The view from our window.

After sleeping for about 2 hours, we decided to relax for the rest of the day, get to bed early and make a better go of it on Wed. A leisurely stroll around the immediate area and dinner sounded like just the ticket. We ate at an upscale Greek restaurant called Ammos which had simply superb, although tiny, Spanikopita. The walnut spice cake with honey, and cinnamon ice cream, was perfect and the rice pudding with fresh raspberries was the best I’ve ever had.

The next day we decided to go to the Trinity Church(the subject of the painting we were selling at Sotheby’s) and ground zero. I must quickly mention the fabulous grilled cheddar cheese sandwich with plum tomatoes alongside a flavorful Thai tomato coconut soup from Dishes, that I enjoyed before setting out. Wow! There was not much to see at ground zero and it was horribly windy and rainy so we didn’t explore as much as we might have otherwise. A church across the street from where the twin towers had been did have a beautiful old graveyard and some rather tear provoking memorabilia from 911.

Origami Crane chains sent in support by children in Asia.

We ducked into a discount designer clothing store, Century 21, to escape from the weather for a moment and were pleasantly surprised. We left with a large bag of goodies including clothing, hats, and jewelry and headed toward Trinity. Trinity Church is beautiful!

I did my best to photograph it from Wall Street like the painting.

Mom in front of the Church.

Of course, I had to take this picture for Jason.

We also stopped by the building where George Washington took his oath as President.

Wed night we went to see The Lion King. It was utterly amazing!

The music, the costumes, the dancing was all so colorful and engaging. The highlight of the show was Raffiki, played brilliantly by Tsidii Le Loka.

After the play, we stopped by Gaby for Dessert. We split an appetizer, goat cheese brie on baguette with greens in a balsamic reduction. It was incredibly delicious. I swear the greens were watercress although mom disagrees. I was talked into the pineapple carrot cake by our waiter who assured me it was like none I had ever tasted. He was right. The tiny square looked more like cheesecake, and the cream cheese frosting surrounding the dense, fruity cake certainly was rich enough to be. It was served with yogurt sorbet, which was again like nothing I’ve tasted. Light yet creamy with a perfect yogurt zing.

Cont...........

New York was fabulous! II

2008-05-27T08:16:00.000-07:00

We had decided not to cram too many plans into Thursday’s schedule, as we were not certain how long the auction at Sotheby’s would last. The auction was exciting, full of beautiful art selling for ridiculous prices. I simply don’t get some modern art. I watched a couple black lines drawn through various circles and squares, completely uninteresting in my opinion, go for I believe it was $500,000, much more than its listed value, while some of the classic pieces did not even sell. Our painting went for more than the estimated value and we were happy in the end.

When the auction ended earlier than anticipated, we decided to go to another play. I chose Cat on a Hot Tin Roof featuring James Earl Jones(one of my very favorite actors), Phylicia Rashad, and Giancarlo Esposito among its very talented cast members.

We went to Sardi’s for dessert after the show and had a somewhat forgettable strawberry concoction, which happened to be their specialty.

Friday we figured we’d do the touristy must sees of New York, the Empire State Building and The Statue of Liberty. Well silly me for thinking that we would just walk into the ESB and casually waltz up to the top to have a look. We piled into the line outside the door where we were promptly taken by a couple of New York hustlers. The story was that if we went on their “New York Skyride” we would be able to bypass the lines and get to see more of the city for about the same price. After dropping $76 for the two of us, we followed the young men through a back entrance to the building and up to a cheesy “Star Tours” type ride that showed a video of New York. After the ride, we still waited in about an hour worth of lines before getting to the top. It was cold, windy, and crowded but still fun.

We took the Staten Island Ferry to see the SoL since it was free.

Great views of the city all around

and a kind fellow ferry rider took our picture.

We went to see Rent Friday night. The set and costumes were well done and the music was lively. Tamyra Gray was certainly a credit to the show, which I felt was actually lacking in its character and story development.

Angel, the shows charismatic drag queen deserved a bit more attention in my opinion, but it’s hard to explain more without giving too much away for those of you who have not yet seen the show.

We skipped dessert and went to bed early by comparison. Wed and Thurs nights had extended themselves until around 2:00 am.

Saturday I joined Jacob for Brunch in Union Square. Stupid me, I didn’t get any photos. I had tasty dish that included tofu scramble, black beans, guacamole, salsa, veggie sausage and corn tortillas to wrap it all up. I asked Jake how much a typical tip was in NY not wanting to look stingy with my standard 20% and he advised servers were lucky to get 5%. What?! You New Yorkers are a tightfisted lot! Come on! After, I walked around the farmers market while I waited for mother to join me. I bought a photograph of a goat, which I later decided needed to go to my brother Matt, a gingersnap and a cranberry walnut pastry. What great vendors! I could live off this market alone.

I had seen an add for a Brazilian Rainforest exhibit in South Port bragging about a recreation of the Amazon. Of course, I coerced mom into going. Disappointing! I expected something similar to the greenhouse exhibit in the Chattanooga Aquarium. No such luck. A few potted plants lined a canvas walkway. There was a shop at the end with Brazilian made products explaining the importance of fair trade. Ok good for them in that respect. We walked around the port a bit and looked out over the water,

then headed to the Bodies exhibit next since it was just down the street.

Mom was a little wary of the gross out factor. The exhibit was done tastefully though with information versus exploitation. I would certainly recommend it to anyone. The preservation was phenomenal. It is so amazing to see what’s lurking just under our surface.

When plans with my NY friends fizzled out, we decided to hit another Broadway production. November, starring Nathan Lane, was simply too irresistible. I adore Nathan Lane!

Funny, quirky, and constantly entertaining, the only gripe I had was that constant use of the word F%*# took away from some of the jokes. Honestly, I often enjoy a well-placed expletive, but sometimes it just kills the flow of the funny.

After the show, we planned to go to a vegetarian restaurant who told us they would be open late. They weren’t, the bastards. Thankfully, an adjacent European bistro was more than happy to seat us. In fact they didn’t seem to want us to leave when the meal was over. We enjoyed a four-cheese fondue. The bread was tasty but wanting a bit more, I asked if our waiter could bring out a few fruits or veggies for us to dip. He obliged with a platter full of tomatoes, carrots, and green apples. The green apples were my favorite; such a great compliment to the pungent cheeses. We shared a flourless chocolate cake, which was accompanied by a light pistachio ice cream and called it a night.

Sunday morning we woke up early, packed our things and had breakfast in the hotel’s rooftop restaurant.

After eating, we stopped by the hotel’s extensive library,

paused for mom to pose with one of the hotel’s beautiful flower arrangements, and then set out for Central Park.

Cont..............

New York was Fabulous! III

2008-05-27T08:15:00.000-07:00

What a beautiful place to spend a day.

I just wish the roses had been in bloom but I took photos of many other flowers. You know what a flower enthusiast I am.

I was so taken with this little bird picking happily at an apple core. She wasn’t too keen on having her picture taken, but I managed to snap a quick shot.

After the park, we headed over to The Museum of Natural History.

My lord, a person could spend a whole week in this place! They actually make you sign up for a specific time in the special exhibits to keep traffic down. We unfortunately couldn’t see it all in the limited time before our flight home so we chose the butterfly vivarium, the horse exhibit(for mom of course) and the reptile exhibit(for me of course) and quickly walked through the dinosaur, Indian artifact, and northern animal halls. The butterflies were stunning, the horse information very interesting, and the reptiles fascinating. We actually saw a Green Mamba and a Gaboon Viper, two animals I had only ever witnessed on TV. Considering my experiences and collections, that’s saying a lot! Unfortunately, the camera battery died half way through the butterfly exhibit so the pictures are lacking in this area but I did get these.

When we got back to the hotel to grab our things and head to the airport I ran over to GCS to stop by an extraordinary little chocolate shop I had been eyeing all week. I was determined to bring home something decadent for Jason and Michelle. The shop was closed, but there was still someone inside. I rapped on the window and asked the girl if she knew of somewhere else to buy high-class chocolates, secretly plotting to get my foot in the door. After a moment of discussion she said she’d let me in. I chose a box of unusual fruit flavored chocolates for Michelle and hand picked a few for Jason.

I got carsick on the cab ride to the airport. Ugh! I don’t get carsick ever, the cabby just drove so erratically that my poor head was spinning. The plane ride home was a bit bumpy too, which didn’t help. To the credit of Jet Blue though, I must say their planes are very roomy and comfortable. The headrests all had TVs which boasted Direct TV. Such a savior on long flights! The service was impeccable as well.

So now, safe at home, I still have a bit of vertigo but at least school doesn’t start until June 4^th. The chocolates by the way are astounding! Apparently, Neuhaus Chocolates has been around since 1857, and boasts the invention of filled chocolates and boxes to protect them. I could die happy after eating just one.

Rocky Balboa

2008-05-18T10:23:00.000-07:00

So I was talked into watching Rocky Balboa. Ok fine, I hadn't seen any of the other Rocky's but Jason convinced me that it was not necessary for me to know the back story. We had heard that it was really great so I was somewhat excited to see it. I must admit Mr. Stalone is in prime shape! There was some inspiration inserted into the flick, but honestly I was quite disappointed. I think if one of two things had happened I may have been satisfied. You may want to stop reading now if you have not, and still plan to, see the film.

A. Rocky had won the fight at the end.

B. They hadn't talked about the guy Rocky fought being a wuss throughout the film, stating the only reason he was undefeated was that he had not had any real competition thrown at him.

I mean if they had built this guy up to be some great unstoppable force and Rocky had done well but still lost ok I could see it. But Rocky losing to the guy after what had transpired in the film...... totally lackluster and not inspirational in my opinion. What made it worse is that the fight ended with Mr. Cocky undefeated guy still acting cocky. Come on, give me a winner goes over and grabs hand of loser raising it to the sky and praising him for a good fight kind of ending. Anyway, blah, not impressed.