Peanuts

This is the warning on my bag of peanuts on the plane:
Ingredients: Dry Roasted Peanuts, Salt
Produced in a facility that processes peanuts and other nuts.
Isn't that pretty much "duh"?

I Have Been Tagged

I was tagged by the Queen B. I've been a little swamped, so I don't know who has or hasn't been tagged yet, but if you haven't here are the instructions: 

On your computer, under your pictures folder, in the 4th folder, upload the 4th picture. 

Here is mine: 

This is a log under a fence at Muir Woods when I went there with the Queen and Samantha in search of the elusive Banana Slug. 

Directions On My Hand Lotion Bottle

Personally, I'm pretty well aware of how to use hand lotion, however, the bottle that I recently received had the following on the back:

Directions:
Cranberry Brown Sugar Lotion with Green Tea Extract is a light moisturizing lotion. With Antioxidants and Vitamin E, it will nourish and hydrate when applied to skin. Cranberry and Green tea Extracts have been known to protect the skin from both long and short term damage from the sun's ultraviolet rays. Perfect when used following our Cranberry Brown Sugar Scrub.

I copied this straight from the bottle, inconsistencies in capitalization and all.

Now tell me, where are the actual directions in all of that? I would think directions for lotion would go something like

Step 1. Squeeze out dime-size amount into palm of hand.
Step 2. Rub into skin.
Step 3. Wipe off palms because they are now too greasy to be of any real
use and do not try to turn a door knob because that is just flat out
impossible!!

Happy Anniversary, California

Three years ago on this day, January 13th, I landed in California to work on a 3 - 4 month project and then be sent back to Texas.

Fast forward to May of 2006... It looks like we are still going to need you, but we want you to move from the Residence Inn hotel to corporate apartments.

July of 2006... I pack up my apartment and move everything I own into a storage unit. I then pack up my CRV and head off across the country to drive my own vehicle out to California since they are extending my time and I'm really tired of driving rental cars. I still have tucked in my visor the 3x5 card on which my Mom wrote the directions to take the back roads up to Amarillo to get onto Highway 40. It is one of my little touchstones that keep me connected to my Texas roots.

October of 2006... I've been convinced to just go ahead and pick up and fully move out to California. I get a nice 2 bedroom apartment, have my belongings shipped out, and set up house. I enjoy it. I make friends. I get comfortable.

February 2007.... My folks come and visit me in my first place. Mom and I explore the wine country, which has been very beneficial to some of my California friends as I've introduced them to a couple of the wineries that Mom and I discovered. Dad puts up my shower rod and fixes things around the apartment (that's what he does). We all explore the Alcatraz and Fisherman's Warf. Mom and Dad drive down to Big Sur.

2007... Blurs by. I explore more. I see more of California. I get in a rut and get depressed. I miss home and family and all those other things that one associates with Texas. I have The Queen come out and stay with me one week a month. I visit the Winchester House 3 times. I get my California license and vehicle registered in October. I spend Christmas with friends in Santa Cruz. I spend New Year's Eve in the city. I have adventures.

February 2008... The Queen stops visiting me. I decide I need a change of location. I start purging things from my home.

April 2008... I find an apartment in the city. My sister comes to visit. She and I explore and have adventures. I move into my new apartment and learn about city life.

2008.... Blurs by. I have new adventures. I enjoy bar-b-ques in Sam's garden. I go camping and boating. I go horse back riding. I find new wineries. I take quilt classes. I get depressed and miss Texas and my family very, very much. I start taking Pilates. I start and then stop walking the hills. I go to Healdsburg for Thanksgiving and home for Christmas. I make plans to do things and I ignore plans to do things.

January 13, 2009... Do I have another California year in me? There is still so much that I want to do and see. So many questions keep circling in my head. For now, though, I'll stick it out for a couple of more months.

So, California... Happy Anniversary!! Here's to our relationship of state and individual continuing to develop....

Six Degrees of What the Heck is ABBA Thinking

Today I thought I would share a little insight into the workings of my mind. These are just some of the conversations that went on in my head as I was driving to the office this morning.

"Wow, the Moon is still really big and pretty....I wonder why the Moon is larger some months than others....Does the Moon go around the Earth like the Earth goes around the Sun? (you used to know this)....Okay, so the Earth's axis is tilted which is why we have summer and winter. Right now we are in winter so we are tilted away from the Sun, hence the shorter days....The Earth goes around the Sun like a belt....Do ALL the planets go around the Sun in the same plane as the Earth or do some of them go up and over the Sun? You really should know this...."

"Sheesh, this song is annoying...Whoever said this person has talents was seriously mistaken....I guess I could change the station....Nah, it'll be over in a couple of minutes...."

"I wonder what the schedule is for the Dish....Do they start staying open later in the evenings come February? I really need to start walking again.... I'll take my phone with me and take pictures from the top of the Dish so that people will have an idea what I'm talking about when I do that walk.... That'll be a good blog.... I really need to remember those Moon thoughts so I can blog about them when I get to the office...."

"Ooooo, the 3 Day Walk for Breast Cancer....I'm gonna do that this year.... October, good I have plenty of time to do some training... I wonder if they have Blackberry chargers at the camp sites so that I can charge my phone at night... I figure I can update Facebook and mobile blog during the walk..."

"Where am I? I really need to stop spacing out on my drive into the office. Going on autopilot is really not good. Oh, okay, Sand Hill Road, I haven't missed my exit yet...guess I should start getting over though.... I can't believe last Thursday when I left the office I completely spaced out the entrance to the highway....I had to go 5 miles south just to get to the next exit so that I could turn around and go north...."

"I really need to get some new black loafers....When did I buy these? These aren't the ones that I got years ago at the family reunion, are they? Hmm, when was I in a Bass Shoe store... It had to have been.... Wow, these are really old... No wonder they are so comfortable I finally have them broken in and now they are on the cusp of wearing out.... I wonder if I really can learn to make my own suits.... I really want to find a different style... I'm very, very bored.... ah well, I'll just wait until I lose some weight and/or the clothes I have are worn out.... I really need to keep that budget in mind...."

"I wonder if I pissed off my boss's boss with that email that I sent...I should have checked his response before I got in the car.... Nah, what are they going to do, fire me? I haven't really had a blemish on my record.... They can't get rid of me for telling the truth, can they? I guess we'll just have to wait and see...."

"What are all of the planet names.... Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars.... What is that memory technique that was supposed to help me remember those.... My Very Something Mother..... Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Pluto (I know that isn't a planet anymore but back in my time).... I'm forgetting one....Neptune?.... No that's the god of the sea.... Dang, this is going to bother me all day...."

And that is pretty much how my drive into the office went this morning. There were other thoughts going through my head and I wish I could record them all to include in here, but perhaps they will come back to me and I will entertain you all with more "Tales from the ABBA Train of Thought".

Saturday Was A Good Day

Samantha decided to take advantage of the beautiful weather that we are having in the city and take a trip down to the Ferry Building and then shuttle over to Sausalito for a drink on the water. We were going to go to Tiburon as well, but it turns out that there isn't a ferry that goes to both places (different companies) so we are already planning on doing that trip next month. 

We left the Mission District around 11:30 on BART (the subway in San Francisco) and arrived at the Embarcadero about 11:50. We walked to the Ferry building where they were holding their weekend Farmer's Market. Inside the Ferry Building there are a number of permanent shops, but outside a lot of the area farms come into town and peddle their wonderful fresh foods. Here is a picture of the inside of the Ferry Building: 

We bought our tickets and had some time to kill before the ferry left so we wandered around the market. Across the street are a number of arts and craft vendors. There were some very pretty jewelry pieces and pictures. We also tasted some of the samples that the shops had available, yummy fruits and jams and olive oils. However, it was soon time to board the ferry so Sam and I headed to the dock. 

Once on the ferry, she and I sat on the upper deck and enjoyed the sun. Here are a couple of shots from the ferry: 

Bay Bridge Off The Boat

Boats Out On The Bay

Samantha and I on The Boat 

We landed in Sausalito and walked around a bit finally ended up at Horizons restaurant and had a nice drink and an appetizer while over looking the water. 

Samantha and I then headed back over to San Francisco. More Pictures: 

Golden Gate Bridge

Port of San Francisco

After the trip to Sausalito, Samantha and I headed back to her place where we had a fire in her fire pit: 

For dinner Samantha and Rick, her gentleman friend, took me to an Ethiopian restaurant, Cafe Colucci, where I had the opportunity to try a whole new cuisine. While some parts of the meal I enjoyed a great deal (the chicken, shrimp, and I think I would have liked the lamb except it was too spicy for me, I liked the Buticha and Salata), other parts, like the bread stuff that is used to eat with (there is no flatware), I really didn't like. 

Afterwards, we headed home, they dropped me off, and I basked in the great day that I had.