october rewind

...back, back, back...from halloween to 10/19

carved pumpkins with M&D and ellie was interested in the innards so she gave them a kiss...plus she dressed up as BatDog...halloween night at A's with L and the 5 [now bigger] munchkins...got ready at L's and G did my makeup, which he was actually quite serious about and he ended up being pretty creative...mummy hot dogs, vampire mouths made of sliced apples/peanut butter/candy corns, cake balls and other spooky treats...trick-or-treating with the little ghouls and remembered my brother and i running around, crazed with the thought of spreading that candy out on the floor once we got home.




L's 28th bday dinner homemade and on the patio with candlelight...fondue, cocktails and desserts - a boston creme pie (M's) and chocolate peanut butter semi-freddo (mine, and darn that martha stewart! i want to hate her but she makes it really hard)...











worst hail storm i have ever seen and did a lot of damage to cars, homes and other things...it left dents all over cars that made them look like they had been hit with tiny baseball bats, some cars even being totaled...my mom said it looked like ice cubes had been discarded onto the ground in the backyard...i hoped that no one was caught outside when it came down and wondered what the animals do in the desert when hail is that large and comes down hard enough to dent vehicles.

hit the farmers market nearby after a bike ride to an al fresco breakfast with A&B...always have my grandma in mind because of the jewish food and baked goods there.

babysat a 4-month old for several hours on a friday night...everything was cool and we were giggling and happy together until his mom left...i swear he realized she was gone, and i was a stranger and he did not like it...he cried really hard for over an hour, nothing soothed him and i had no idea how to make it better...made phone calls to friends and my mom and tried feeding him repeatedly, but he finally just tired himself out, took the bottle and fell asleep on me while eating...had to put him to sleep with only a diaper on since he had gotten so hot from crying, and had to go back later to put him in his sleep sack...our bodies must do some crazy things for us when we have little ones because i am not sure how i could have survived round 2...definitely up there with the hardest things i have ever done, and i am not afraid to admit it ;) also another new perspective into the world of motherhood/parenthood and all of the work it takes to raise a little human.

nice lunch with S & her mom, aunt B...nice to have conversations with them as an adult and in an instant remember looking at them with a child's eyes...sweet faces and perfect skin and angelic hearts and demeanors...thank you for lunch and for inviting me to celebrate your bday, aunt B...xxxxxx

ran in to BH at restaurant near home...met in 2000 at the college gym when it was 10pm-12am workouts for who knows what reason...hadn't seen him since about 2002 and crazy to think that so much has happened since we were younger...surprised to still recall certain moments and events from way back...nice to catch up and prayers for him as he faces the same job search in town.

dinner at K&K's with the two beautiful girls, laughs and of course good food since both Ks are masters...when K told A that i was coming, her eyes grew large and she quickly and emphatically uttered "cake!!!!"...all K could figure was that she linked me to cake because of the angel food cake/strawberries/cool whip i had brought the last time - and that was/is just fine with me!

had a father-daughter day of sorts that started with the farmers market and plenty of sampling including pickled veggies, cheese curds, mini-quiches, granolas...drove downtown for a first-time visit and some real bbq...and later in the afternoon, took his car for the first time to the recurring saturday night-parking lot-car show where my friends and i used to hang out in high school...we were there for about 5 hours and it was fun watching people, looking at other cars and being there to support my dad...felt special being there with him and having the opportunity to share it with him...something i will never forget, and i will never forget his face and how much he enjoyed it once he was no longer worried about someone scratching it. ;)

vroom

went to an event on sunday afternoon at a golf club...put on in part by R's work and others...featured old, really old and new cars in the parking lot, on the patio and on the grass...all works of art in their own, unique ways...music, drinks and food

perfect weather and a pink-orange-purple bursting sunset littered with clouds of all shapes...bright green grass and desert trees and bushes...a pond with ducks, and rabbits nibbling away at the grounds...pale blue lights wound around the trunks of the palo verde trees, dotting the dark landscape later on with suspended specks of light



special because of R's hard work and because D brought his car...lots of ooooh's about it and questions...special when you know all of the hard work that went in to it and what the project and end result mean to two people and more

as much as i love older cars, a few of the newer ones dropped my jaw...

• an enormous rolls royce phantom with reverse-opening doors, an umbrella that slides into the door jamb panel and a knob near the front middle arm rest that controls a variety of things in the car

• a stealth, yellow ferrari with leather hand-stitched upholstery - even on the dashboard - and a special glass panel over the engine so that you can view it in all of its splendor (i sat in this car and pretended it was mine!)

• an off-white, convertible maserati and a silver ferrari

• a lotus, a saab, a corvette, a mercedes and a nissan that were all modified to be superbad!
  

among the oldies...

• D's '65 mustang, a GT350 and an impala

• an old ford and an old, black convertible alfa romeo
  

• a red convertible jaguar and a black kit cobra

• a bright blue scarab and a burgundy jaguar!
  

thank you M,D for the ticket...great job, R, on pulling everything together! what a treat!

sprouts

at 33, i finally learned from my friend Trader Joe what brussels sprouts look like before they are put in a bag or reach a bin at the grocery store...shouldn't we learn more about our food, where it comes from and all of the work it takes (by nature / man / machines) to get to us?

btw - these stalks (over 2 ft long) were $2.99 at TJ's last week and they fed an army...multiple times

j-o-b

calls, meetings, interviews, almost 100 resumes, 60+ network discussions, 18 recruiters and 6 job board profiles later...i am gainfully employed and should start this week!!!

it's been a looooong nine months and i am thankful for the love / support / encouragement of everyone around me, the time to focus on the search, the courage to stretch and apply for opportunities that weren't exactly what i was looking for and the chance to learn and experience so much more...i am very blessed to have this opportunity, when at one time during my search i couldn't even get an interview at costco ;)

a special thank you to M, D, H, P, G, G for enabling me to take the time to land in the right spot
i will always be grateful and love you so very much

up in the pines

mini road trip with S, A north two hours to flagstaff...mid-70s during day, 50s at night...fresh air...mountains everywhere...pines and aspens...small town...old buildings...very peaceful and a great weekend getaway

arrived late morning and headed to snowbowl skyride for the views and the experience at 11,500ft...lots of color on the way up including yellow-leaved aspen trees...nice and slow ride with plenty of time for pics...got to the top and looked around but a lightning storm was looming and the little trail around the top was closed...took in views a little longer and admired nature...asked an employee about the storm and he said he doubted the area would get any rain...hopped back on the skyride and headed down to bottom...great views again and nice to see everything from another angle...soon after we started down, felt a few drops that turned into a lot more, more frequent drops that turned into small hail! by the time we got to the bottom, we were very wet and very cold but it was well worth it!

"in every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks" - john muir






















headed downtown and walked around...found a restaurant for lunch with an outdoor patio and enjoyed being able to dine al fresco...walked around the little shops and admired the very old buildings and their unique architecture...met up with M and saw little H, hanging on the patio, enjoying the weather and having some beverages

M suggested we hit zane grey ballroom for a sunset drink and/or view and it was perfect...located inside the historic hotel weatherford...hotel looked like a place you might see in an old movie and where you might see a ghost or two (come to find out people have - yikes!)...fresh popcorn in the bar and we found the perfect corner table with a 180degree view of the mountains, downtown streets and storefronts...great place to hang out for a bit


walked back downtown from our hotel later on for some dogs, and after checking out multiple establishments we ended up at our same window table in zane grey for one last hurrah and then called it a night...the place was packed and the balcony was full of people having a good time

after breakfast, hit the farmers market and got some wildflower honey and some pumpkin pecan butter for my dad as a thank-you for the gratis hotel room...checked out some unique shops on the downtown streets and i took a lot of pics of the old buildings...just love to see the weathering and the different architecture...headed back home late morning back into the heat and away from the green pines and breezes but it was a perfect little adventure with friends!


btw - cotton country jams / especial tuna / eagle eye honey

homemade

love to try new recipes and share...here goes!

hummus bi tahini (from the silver palate cookbook)

sooooo good and the best part is that you know what's in it! really great as a dip for veggies or with pita bread/other chips!

• 4 C. (about 2 1/2 cans) garbanzo beans, drained
• 1/2 C. tahini (sesame paste)
• 1/3 C. warm water
• 1/2 C. olive oil
• juice of 2 or 3 lemons
• 4 or more garlic cloves
• 1 1/2 tsp. salt
• 2 tsp. ground cumin
• freshly ground pepper, to taste

- combine beans, tahini, warm water, olive oil, juice of 1 lemon in the bowl of a food processor. process until smooth and creamy, pausing once or twice to scrape down sides of the bowl with a spatula.
- add garlic, salt, cumin, pepper (to taste) and process to blend. taste and correct seasoning if necessary. add more lemon juice to taste. store with cover and refrigerate until ready to use.

greek frozen yogurt (inspired by K&J!)

rich and creamy with no other preservatives and you can control the amount of sugar you add...plus, you can make any flavor you want by experimenting with other ingredients! K&J didn't add much sugar, if any at all, so it was good and tart, and we added diced fruit on top. next to try is chocolate cinnamon!

• 2 C. greek-style yogurt, plain --- if you use a flavored greek yogurt, you might not need any other ingredients!
  
• 2/3 C. sugar --- i recommend 1/4 C. instead. you can use agave or honey too!
  
• 1 TBSP. vanilla --- you can use less to decrease the intensity of the vanilla flavor.
  

- mix all ingredients together and chill 1-3 hrs.
- put mixture in automatic ice cream maker or manual ice cream cylinder and stir occasionally for about 15 minutes or until frozen.
- store in sealed container in freezer until ready to use.

night owl

attended the conservancy's annual event last night with M&D...checked out the winning photos, the exhibits and the animals...live music and some food sampling too...hot night but beautiful spot there...best part was 2 OWLS!

barn owl and great horned owl via liberty wildlife...just gorgeous and captivating...wanted to touch them so badly but the volunteers don't even do that...they imprint on humans so they can't be released...thankfully this group exists, being founded in '81 and having assisted over 60,000 animals in almost 180 species...really amazing and inspiring...didn't know that owls 'pant' but they do and they just open their beaks and ruffle the feathers under their beaks!

barn owl's bones are hollow and if you weighed all of its bones compared to all of its feathers, its feathers would weigh more...its dish-like face acts as a receiver for sound and it is solely nocturnal...feathers had white specks on them and i was admiring each feather's perfect placement...


great horned owl's head rotates 270degrees...huge yellow eyes with great big pupils...all different shades of brown with black and white as well...he panted too and kept rotating his head...and he opened up his wings a couple of times...he didn't like it when D was tapping on a rock nearby with this foot; he looked like he wanted to take a bite of his foot! the owls have different calls they make to communicate and at the tips of their frontmost feathers, the tips are separated so that the wind passes through them and decreases the amount of noise the owl makes while on the prowl...talk about a sneak attack!