It's been TOO long...

Greetings from partly sunny, cooling California.  The Weather report tells us it's 47 F here at about 9 PM, and believe it or not we had the (little) heater on during the past few nights.  We're obviously still managing to persevere but we'll probably have to bring back some Ohio clothing...when we VISIT OHIO NEXT WWWWEEEEEEEEEK!!!

We're excited.

And one of the pleasant surprises about the cooler weather (which I enjoy, by the way--maybe because Ohio has given me a taste for "variation" in weather...) is that a surprising number of the trees here have turned bright colors.  I guess that might not be a big surprise to some, but we were happy to be reminded of home. I tried to take a picture with my phone on my walk home today, but it was acting up and I didn't want to stop...

Walking home? you say? Didn't want to stop? Yes, indeed, I was walking home. And the beginning of my journey has a great deal to do with this entries title: It's been TOO long...

This picture should explain it:

 

That's a blurry me, smiling because I'd just found out I would be employed. Thumbs up! It's a nice place to work and I've enjoyed the perks (hrnn hrnn). When I get back home, friends and family might too if the stars are aligned in their favor.

So, sadly I can't spend my evenings, afternoons, AND/or mornings surfing the net for deals on electronics and news about whatever it is I'm looking up news about... nor can I write these POLISHED (time-consuming) entries!

But, instead of weeping, let's move along on the fun!

I think now that we've gotten totally behind, we'll change things up. Let's treat this blog sort of like we're telling you about some of our recent news over dinner or something, or what the heck, over holiday treats and COFFEE!

In other words, like with that sort of conversation, we might remember to tell you everything we've done, if time permits, and we will most certainly not follow chronological order. Just like a real conversation, right? And however you want to imagine the setting and grub is fine.

So, speaking of work, Cara's is going well. She's getting along with coworkers and we actually had dinner the other night with a big group in a nice town south of us called Carlsbad. We've also gone to San Diego a few times, with friends and by ourselves.

Speaking of San Diego... our biggest news concerning that city is probably that we are now Members of the Zoological Society of San Diego--WITH certified cards that have a nice Panda portrait... Here's what we look like as Members:

That's us with our new friend, who is the oldest male from the looks of it. Taking a load off...
It was fun to watch him stand up and to watch his friends chew/grind their leafy stuff.

Here we are the first time we went, smiling about having a koala right behind us:

And smiling here on the double decker Zoo Tour bus, partly because of the kettle corn!

On our second trip, we were quite suprised to find a peacock-like bird just standing there on the deck/sidewalk! Lovely colors:

Cara was really impressed and wanted to see how close she could get and continued to follow it:

If the bird was ever as happy to see us as we were it, it wasn't anymore:

We also had to get a picture of the long necky, sticking out of a long necky...

 

And of course a picture with the elaphant! Look out Cara! There's an elephant RIGHT BEH...

Finally, here I am with what looks like a mullet. Not so. Just ILLUSIONS.

After our first visit, we checked out Balboa Park, which the Zoo is part of. It's one of the best places we've ever been--just a beautiful place for people to gather or just hang out. The museums are there, lovely architecture, and big trees! See Cara?

It was around Halloween so someone had decorated the statue of the woman who preserved Balboa Park. Glad she wasn't a witch in real life. Sorry it's sideways..

The view walking toward the museum area, and behind this is a longer promenade that ends with a fountain. Great stuff. (Batt. died before we made it to the fountain.)

So, that's been a lot of fun. Having the membership is great because we can just go for an hour or two even and enjoy ourselves, and maybe do something afterward.

So, lessee, I have no conversation segue to this next topic other than that I found the pictures in iPhoto close to the Zoo

That's a map, but not the zoo. That rugged terrain is Camp Pendleton, the Marine base just north of us. Cara and I ran the Hard Corp Series' Buffalo Alley 5k and 10k. I wisely didn't imagine how bad it could be in the weeks beforehand (I mean, come on, how bad could a Hard Corp Marine Corp race really be??   very bad actaully...  : (    ) But, my not imagining allowed me to run probably the worst course of my life. Neat!

(By the way, the bottom jaggedy blue graph in that picture is the elevation change for the course. As I said, jaggedy.  Neat!)

The good new was that my age group had an off day, so I got second in it, and the REALLY Good news is that Cara was the BLUE RIBBON WINNER! First in hers!

Here she is, with medal, in front of the hill we ran up during the first mile only, yikes:

There were indeed lovely views, which did help, sorta...

We recovered quickly, though, and couldn't pass up climbing the rope. Neat!

Cara tried, too...

 

Overall, as I said, Neat!

 

Us: "Well, (shuffle something on the table and sit up straight to hint that this visit is coming to a close) shall we hit the road __(term of endearment addressed to significant other, such as sweet-y pie)___? "

Sweet-y pie: "Yeah, we will let you folks get some rest. I know it's been a LONG week!" (or in this case, a long entry, after a long break...)

You: (something to quicken the closing of this weird moment/unfunny ending to this blog entry)

Take care!

P.S.
We had lots of fun while Uncle Jimmy visited, especially going to Downtown, Old Town, and meeting cousin Stephan at Farmers Market, Hollywood:

That's a shot taken with another excellent tripod from Uncle: the Gorilla Wrap-Around-Anything Tripod! Thanks!

P.P.S.

I hope we get to tell you, next time, about:

Pete Yorn, and our Less Sunny, Little Miss Sunshine Car Horn Experience.

Getting on TV and Winning a BRAND-NEWW-CAHHRR!?

It was my birthday! I was going to DISNEYLANNND!

The Grandest of Canyons and other indescribable stuff...