It's COLD outside

Well, it's official, we are in the trenches of winter, and most people know how I feel about winter here. I DON'T LIKE IT! However, there can be days that some winter fun can be had and yesterday was one of those days. Max and I had a great time sledding with a buddy of Max's (Steven and Steve, Steven's Dad) here on a little slop on base. I of course enjoyed the pictures taking more so then the sledding but I did swoosh down the slope a time or two. Good fun. Thankfully we were able to pack in lots of downhill excitement, giggles and such within a short period of time, I think we were only able to tolerate the very cold temps for about 30 minutes, and then we called it quits. Max and Stevens cheeks and chins were cherry red, and Steve senior and I could barely feel our toes by the time we packed it all up. Still, it was a great time and Max and I were very happy to have been invited to join in on some winter fun. This picture is proof positive that winter and fun can coincide. ;0)

Happy Winter All.
Jane

A sad day

I know that life's not fair. We're taught this from a young age. It took me a while, well into young adulthood to really understand that this is true and to accept it. Really what else can a person do but accept this truth, right? Why fight it? I've realized that life has been good to me, despite the idea above. Yesterday was a reminder though that life really isn't fair at all and that SUCKS!!!! I learned that a high school class mate of mine died at the age of 39 of a rare form of cancer. To say this girl was a friend would not be true, but she was a good person to the core, I had no doubt of that. She's was very kind, unaffected, intelligent......she would accomplish a lot in her life, that I was certain, and she did. So to find out that she had lost her life to cancer at a relatively young age is bitterly disappointing. My heart breaks for her family. People lose their life every day, so why her death should affect me emotionally the way that it has is irrational, especially as I mentioned because we were not friends, but I'm sad despite that. I don’t wish pain, suffering or death upon any one, good or evil, but really why does this have to happen to the nice ones? I hope she is comfortably watching all of us from above smiling down and holding a place for all of those that she loved and adored. There is no doubt that she made it to heaven. Her name was Padma, which means Lotus Flower in Hindu, so I made a digital creation in her honor. I hope she would have liked it.

Written with great sadness today.

Jane

Fun Zone

So we have what we call "The Fun Zone" in our home. It's the family room but we've furnished it in a way that is suppose to be fun, and I think we've accomplished that. Essentially it's stuffed w/ Max's toys, books, my computer desk w/ computer, graphics tablet, t.v. and brightly colored play mats on the floor. Do to the nature of this room I felt I would start digitally altering some of my favorite photo's and hang them in the fun zone to make it that much more fun. This picture is my first digital alteration, I only have eleven more to go. It's a picture of sweet little Max when he wasn't even a year old. I had just pulled him out of the bath, wrapped him in a towel and plopped him on our bed. It's the cutest little picture of him, in fact one of my favorites so this is the first one I chose to alter. Too much fun as always.

Other then that, it's the same ole' thing for me around here. We're getting ready for Terry's promotion on Friday. That should be a great time, we've got lots of wonderful friends and family coming in for the event. Can't wait. We're even going to have an early Thanksgiving dinner since we'll all be together. What fun is that!!!!

Gotta run, happy day all.

My Big Boy starts kindergarten

It's been forever since I've been on my blog much less added a new posting. I finally got around to it today. In between avoiding some homework and doing some house work I made another digital memory of Mo's first day of kindergarten. He's been in school for five or six weeks now but I've just been so busy that I didn't make the time until now to post a picture of him. I can't believe he's already in kindergarten. I know it's just the beginning of his school career but I also know that it's just going to fly by like the rest of time does. It's strange that he's is no longer, and hasn't been for some time now, a baby. He even lost his first tooth last week. Holy Cow! Big Sigh. My little guy is growing up, thank goodness he's turning out to be a wonderful boy and a blessing of a son.

Happy Day all,
Jane

Arrggghhhh, I see Pirates!

Argh, their be pirates Matey

We're settling back in from a wonderful two weeks in Hawaii. It was heavenly. Our second week we stayed on the win ward side of Oahu, specifically Lanikai where we saw all kinds of wonderful Hawaiian things, one of which was none other then the "Black Pearl" of Pirates of the Caribbean. We knew it was tied off at Kanehoe Bay where cast and crew were filming but other then taking a quick site seeing trip out with the hopes of ssatisfying Max's curiosity we did not see it. Fast forward three more days, I was rounding up kiddo's for a day trip out, went out the back of the house in search of something (probably a missing flip flop, or sunscreen) when I happened to glance up and low and behold out on the horizon was this very old looking sail boat. "Wow", I thought, "Its hard to believe a boat that old can still float" when duhhhh it hit me, OMG that's the Black Pearl. I yelled for all of the kids to have a gander, grabbed my camera and snapped a few shots. Regrettably the boat was too far away to identify any bedraggled but still cute Captain Jack Sparrow's. Aye Matty, no matter, still fun to see the boat and play with the image in Photoshop.
Cheers

A day in Huntington Beach

Final project for my Sessions Advanced Photoshop class, I have no idea what kind of grade I'll get on it but it was sooo much fun to do. It's my interpretation of a great day in my home town. We just got back from a three week vacation there and I'm really missing it, it's just SOOOOO HOT here and not there. Ughhhh. Any way, happy summer all. Here's to a quick end to this heat wave.

Vintage Bicycles, a heavenly experience

Okay so this entry is off topic for me but I had to post about it anyway. Today would be defined as one of those Great Days! After stuffing ourselves with Sushi Max, my mom and I headed to the coolest bicycle shop I've ever been to. Mind you I'm a HUGE fan of Jacks Bicycle shop in down town Huntington Beach and always will be, but I discovered a hidden and wonderful secret of a bicycle shop that I'm certain few other places could rival. Before going on at length I must give "Props" to my friend Michele who told me of this treasure. If it hadn't been for her I would still be sadly ignorant of this bicycle haven. Also, for those of you that don't know, that may be many if not most of you, I'm a bicycle enthusiast. They can't be just any ole' bike however, they've got to be "Beachy Cool" and these bikes fit the bill.

Upon Entry

Here's some of the goodies to choose from.

So the shop is in a most understated, almost seedy old strip mall in Westminster, CA. Apparently the owner of this shop has collected vintage bicycles for over twenty years but she has only been in this location for two. I think the shop originally occupied only one store in the mall but over the last two years it has needed to spread it's inventory into the store directly adjacent to it which can only be accesses through the back doors of both shops. The main restoration of the bicycles are done on the opposite adjacent structure (a home) that shares the same alley of the strip mall. This home is also where the owner lives full time. I imagine she must enjoy the bicycle scattered yard once the store is closed for the day, it appears to be a wonderful little sanctuary of pretty flowers, comfy outdoor seating and of course colorful bikes. There are hundreds of them in all shapes, years and sizes peppering her side and back yard not to mention the two store fronts. All three structures complete the shop.

Creepy alley pictured here, also shows the only entries into the adjacent shop and restoration/home area.

Quaint grounds of the home and bicycle restoration section

Why am I blathering on and on about this shop you ask? Well, if you or any one you might know are in the market for a truly unique, possibly even one of a kind beautifully cool vintage bike, then this is your place. The bikes here range in price from $125 for a basic, current day restored beach cruiser to extremely rare, late 1800's, early 1900's bikes in all states of restoration and price. The most unlikely bike that caught my attention as top billing was a 1963 1/2 Schwinn (first day production) sunset orange, banana seated goodie. If you're in the market for something like this it will set you back $5000! That's right, you read the price correctly, $5000. I wouldn't pay a price like that for this bike but I would consider many of the other beautiful, nostalgic ones they have in stock. The average price for a rare vintage bike was roughly $1,500, some were more some were less. They'll even custom paint your own bike if you bring them a pattern, how cool is that. I’m not sure how they determine the pricing for the bicycles but I can only assume Lynda (the proprietor) probably knows a bit about value on these bikes since she’s been in the biz for twenty years or more.

The $5,000 very rare 63 1/2 Schwinn

Pedals and name plates are just a few of the accessories offered.

This place was amazing, it's very shabby standing lent well to the overall feel of the bikes and the shop itself. This place is about vintage bicycles and parts and not about presentation. What you see is what you get, but it was all good by me. The staff I have to add were terrific, friendly, helpful, willing to answer any questions. They'll even give you a "tour" of sorts if you'd like.

The only down side to the store is there atrocious web site. It's practically none existent, there's only one poorly designed page, even the phone number is incorrect, BUT it does provide an address and a map and thankfully those are correct. I’ll have to drop a bug in their ear about an up and coming web designer that also happens to be a vintage bike enthusiast.

For all of you bicycle fans out there, this shop is a MUST SEE and Patronize.

Happy riding all,

Jane

A couple other samples of their goods.