Final Projects and Graduation!

Today my Clarity in English class (ESL) finished their final 10,000 word projects. They have been working on them all semester. We ate Chop Chey ( I am sure that is not the right spelling) and ginger spice cookies and celebrated their accomplishments. Each student chose a different topic to write their project on. The projects were Alzheimer's, Alan Greenspan, Greek Mythology, and How to become a flight attendant. I will miss them.


Tonight California Preparatory College had our first ever graduation!! It has been a long process from sitting around white Costco folding tables talking about how to start a college to having a graduation! We had two lovely graduates who completed their Associates degree. One was Vanity, who was a wonderful student in my undergraduate speech class.


I can tell she has a bright future ahead of her. She is transferring to La Sierra for their combined Master's in business program. It is nice to see the fruit of your labor in such a tangible way. I am very happy to be a part of this important endeavor.

London

My mom may be going to London for the first time next month.  I am really excited for her so I am loaning her all the guidebooks I have about London and telling her where the good places to go are.  She probably has different taste than me though, so do any of you have any suggestions?  Here we are looking at some of my "London Walks" cards.  

Memorial Day Quiche

Well, I didn't do anything for Memorial Day except for smile at the American flag hanging from our front door and make my first ever quiche.  I have a lot of organic vegetables that need to be eaten so I made a quiche and some stew today.  Here is a picture of the quiche.  It is broccoli, zucchini, and bell pepper.  It was pretty good.  

Bad Dog, No Dig!

Mosey has been very bad today.  He dug as he has never dug before, and he has definitely dug before.  Here is our lawn after he did his damage.

  

Here is my foot for size reference.  

I have big feet.  

Still camping but in better weather

Today we got up early and made a delectable breakfast. Jason job was to do the making, my job was to take pictures of him and tell him how he could do it better.

Later we went down to the beach. Jason and the boys went boogie boarding and the girls and I read. Mosey dug and barked at passing....... anything. All in all a very fun day except that I got a capri tan line.

Camping at San Onofre Beach

This Friday and Saturday we went camping at San Onofre Beach with Jason's classmates Rudy and Stephen and Rudy's wife and her friend. Today there was pretty miserable weather. It rained most of the day but stopped for awhile while we ate. We brought Mosey with us camping for the first time and were worried about he would do. He did fine except that he was cold. I mistakenly thought that it would help to snuggle the shivering puppy on my lap in a towel. I forgot how excited he gets around towels.

Apricots

In the space of a couple days, Jason's attitude towards apricots has gone from "What are these called again?  How much were these?"  to "You need to stop by Costco on the way home from work today because there are only three apricots left and I am going to eat two with my dinner."

I mean, I know they are delicious but geez, you keep eating my centerpiece!

Say Goodbye to Your Little Friends.....

Tomorrow morning, Mosey is finally getting neutered.  So this is his last night with these.....

Mosey Graduates....Again!

Tonight Mosey graduated from his intermediate puppy training class.  Honestly, I thought this day would never come.  He has really been having some issues with behavior in class.  During the graduation walk-through he wouldn't do any of his competencies.  So you can see why I was worried.  Tonight though, he surprised all by once again doing everything right the very first time!  I guess he is good under pressure.  

Trouble Visits

Tonight, Trouble came to visit with his owner Louisa.  He and Mosey had quite the galloping time.  Here they are panting after a hard hours play.  

Tapioda Puddin'

That is what my family has begun calling it for some reason.  I made some the other day.  Yummm!  There is nothing like homemade tapioca pudding.  Emphasis on the homemade.  If you haven't tasted homemade tapioca pudding, you haven't tasted tapioca.  Sorry to be snottish...  Anyway, this time I ran out of milk and still needed just a little more for the recipe....  So I used a couple cups of soy milk.  I know this to be a bad idea from previous experience, but I had no other choice.  It actually turned out pretty good!  In fact, Jason really liked it and kept asking for more which NEVER happens with sweet things (with a few exceptions).  This time I put Costco frozen berries on top.  SO good!

Tandem

On Saturday, Jason, my mom, Rudy (Jason's classmate) and Motoko (Rudy's wife) went to Santa Monica to try out our new tandem bikes.  Jason found a good deal and the boys bought one each.  It was quite fun but horrible for me to be out of control because I sat in the back while Jason steered.  It turned me into a shrill nagging hag.  "JASON!  Are you trying to steer us into the sand??" and "What are you trying to prove?  That you have more testosterone than Rudy??!!  Slow down!"  Anyway, Jason is a pretty easygoing guy so it barely ruffled his feathers.

  

You can see me just peeking over the back of Jason's shoulder.  We biked from Santa Monica to Venice beach which is about 4 miles away.  It was quite relaxing when I didn't look where we were going and how close we were to imminent danger.  On the back of the tandem, I could do just that.  In fact, I could even let go of the handle bars without fear of falling.  So that was fun.  

After, biking and laying on the beach for a while, we headed to a Japanese market in Torrance.  Motoko needed to stock up on food stuffs and I was all too eager to follow her around asking questions.  I bought some cool mushrooms that I had in a great soup while in China last year.  I will endeavor to accomplish the same recipe.  We will see.  Then we went to the food court.

After eating some great udon, I taste-tested some "siduhowbogi" that they gave to my mom for messing up her order.  It was not what I was expecting. 

As Jason said after taking a huge bite, "Hmmmm... a salty gummy."  Which is exactly what it was.  It tasted like a bouillon gummy bear.  I will let you know how the mushroom soup turns out.  

Blanket Monster!

I was washing the dishes when I decided to check on Mosey because he had been really quiet for awhile.  I looked into the living room and this is what I saw.  

To the untrained eye, it may appear to be a simple blanket laying on the floor.  But I (having......trained.....eyes.....) immediately saw that Mosey had decided to tangle himself in the depths of the throw all by himself.  

Mosey's favorite part of the taking baths is when I dry him with the towel.  In fact, if I don't dry him long enough, he barks at me.  Anyway, I think he was trying to recapture that moment here.  

End of the year bash

Next week is dead week and then finals week and then the school year is over!  It has been quite a busy year for the faculty and staff at CPC, founding a college and all, but someone has to do it.  :]  Anyway, our end of the year bash saw us eating pizza and ice cream sundaes.  

Yes, there is ice cream under all those toppings....

Is there a cuter dog?

I submit that there is not.

 Who can resist a face that greets you like this every day?

Intermediate Obedience Class

Every Tuesday night, Mosey and I go to his intermediate dog training class.  Tonight we did the practice for graduation next week.  Mosey did pretty badly.  Here are some of the dogs doing sit stays for 1 minute.  

Mosey rarely got past 20 seconds.  The annoying thing is that usually stay is his best trick.  Oh, well.  Maybe he had an upset stomach that made him not care about the treats.  Afterall, he did vomit everywhere as soon as we walked into the house and onto the carpet.....

OMGoodness!

I was innocently strolling through the grocery store looking for the frozen peas when I came across this beauty.  

And it gets better inside.  If you like grasshopper pie, this is the ice cream for you.  My favorite ice cream is mint chocolate chip.  Forget the cheapo kind that has actual chips (yes I am talking to you Breyers) in it, I like the splintered chocolate in my mint chocolate.  This ice cream with oreos is even better.  I had to work hard to limit myself to one small cup today.  It was really hard to stop.  Even though this is not a commercial for Dreyers, it is most definitely an endorsement.  Although I have always been a die-hard Dreyers fan, I now feel that it is important to tell the world.  That is all.  

Mother's Day

Today was Mother's Day so we went and got pedicures.  There is a pretty nice place near here so we had a good time reading gossip magazines, watching a Vietnamese soap opera, and getting our feet pampered.  

After that, we went home and cooked some stew which Jason had requested.  For dessert, we made a berry bliss with the strawberries I got from the organic food co-op.  I found the recipe in this month's Family Circle magazine.  Yum!!!  A very good meal if I do say so myself.  

Big Bear

Today we went up to Big Bear Lake to mountain bike, kayak, and fish.  Well, we didn't end up fishing but we had fun doing the rest.  Here I am with Mosey taking a break. 

 

That is my mom's trailer.  She always goes biking with Pierre (her pug) in the back.  Mosey stays back there too because he can't be trusted to stay next to us while we are ....... well, doing anything.

Today also marks the first day that Mosey swam on purpose.  :]  Jason and I were going to take our turns on the kayaks so my mom was holding Mosey's leash on shore.  We went off and when we came back, my mom says he was bounding and bounding in the water and finally he was over his head so he swam.  Jason and I wanted to see for ourselves so we tried to make him do it again.  That is when my mom got this cute video.  

Beach Vespers

Tonight, my school had beach vespers at Corona Del Mar beach.  We played beach volleyball for along time until I injured myself like an old biddy.  I am fine, I just jarred my neck.  Anyway, we enjoyed 'smores and hot dogs.  After we ate, we got together in groups to create some charades.  Our group had Gideon.  We were discussing how to effectively show the conversation between the angel and Gideon without the use of words when crowds of people started running toward the water.  As they passed I heard snatches of excited exclamations "Seal!"  I grabbed my camera and followed them all.  I got there just in time to see Rebeca, a student from Peru, walking toward the seal with her hand outstretched.  Now, if the seal had been healthy, she would probably be missing a finger or two now and I wouldn't have caught this great picture.  

Someone called some animal rescue place but I think the seal took off before they got there....because I don't think anyone actually ever came.  But the seal actually stuck around until everyone got bored and went back to charades.  I hope it is ok...

 

All in Good Time...

These pictures show you the cleanest my office has been in 6 months.  Really, I am actually proud in a backward sort of way.  

I consider myself an organized person, but I guess I work best when someone has put an organizational system into place and I just follow the rules.   Organizing myself seems to be a different story.  I tell myself that if anyone criticizes me, I will tell them "This is a working office.  I am far too busy to keep it looking like a museum."  That would show them!  We will see if anyone mentions it and if they do if I will have the guts to be such a snob.  :]

Giving Into Temptation

Every time I go into World Market, I lust over these beautiful asian inspired blossom dishes.  I always tell myself to wait.  Lately though, I have been thinking about these dishes even when I am not in the store.  I find myself being worried that I will got to World Market and they will be discontinued and then what will I have waited for?  Heartbreak!  So I bought 1 set today.  Yes.  ONE.  I know that means that Jason can't eat off something beautiful with me.  I still gave into temptation and bought a set anyway.  Watch, I will go back to get another set and they will be discontinued and I will be stuck with my own personal dishes forever....

Sushi: Korean Style

Today, some of my students made me some Korean sushi.  It has a Korean name but I didn't memorize it.  Anyway, they are a husband and wife and the wife gave me a tupperware of it while her husband was out of the room.  She said "All vegetable" so I would know it was vegetarian.  I promptly popped two into my mouth and chewed happily.  They were good!  The husband came in and said "You are vegetarian but you eat fish right?"  Ummmmm..... no.  Uh-oh.  Turns out the whitish pink thing was imitation razor clam.  But imitation just means it is halibut flavored like clam.  Ugh...  I looked at my beautiful tupperware of sushi and at their stricken faces and started to push the pieces of offending meet out 'Jenga' style.  I put the clam on a paper towel and gave it back to them so it wouldn't go to waste.  They bowed and thanked me.  I thanked them and chowed down on my sushi trying not to think about the two pieces I had eaten before.  Now I had 8 pieces of sushi that looked like rice donuts because of the hole in the middle.  

Sadly, the sushi tasted better with the clam.  But they were still delicious!!

Fun with Photo Booth

Since I am lazy tonight and don't feel like being creative, I will let my computer do that for me. Here is me right now, being normal.

"Anime Damsel in Distress"

"Tara the Timid Turtle"

I call this one the "Rosie O'Donnell and Jay Leno love child".

"I collect Sponge Bob paraphernalia "

Arbonne

Today I had an Arbonne party at my house.  Arbonne is a skin care line developed in Switzerland.  It has only very natural ingredients and is very nice.  Anyway, I was just hosting the party for my neighbor and invited about 20 people.  My mom came...... but we spent a lot of money even with just the two of us so I am sure that my neighbor is happy.  Jason probably isn't.  My mom and I finished off the Trader Joe's spincah and artichoke dip just fine by ourselves.  

Mountain Biking and Fondue

My mom loves mountain biking and I have never been interested. Today, she insisted that I go with her. Ok fine. We had a really good time. She gave me some good tips so that I wouldn't fly over my handle bars and it really helped. We came to some nice water and after contemplating for a minute or two, my mom decided to ride her bike into the water. After that, I had to too. Here is a video of me doing so.

The water was actually pretty cold which is why I was shrieking. :]

Here is me going down a hill.

I was scared stiff at first but when I did it the second time, I wondered what my problem was before. I am such a wuss sometimes....

Tonight, we went shopping and I used up 3 of the 5 gift cards that I needed to. My wallet feels much lighter, but in a good way. Afterwards, my mom was dying of hunger so we stopped at "The Melting Pot", a fondue restaurant!!! It was so good! I have always loved fondue and this place was good, and not that expensive. Here we are partaking....

Night Light Improv

The first Friday night of every month, Night Light Improv performs.  We have been together for about a year.  We basically get together, have some fun "Who's line is it anyway?" style and then have a sermonette and some signing.  Anyway, it is a lot of fun.  Here is a picture of us about to start.  You can watch a video of one of our scenes here:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFyz9aacReQ

Some Mean Insect

Last night, about 10 minutes after brushing Mosey's teeth, he looked at back door suddenly and seriously.  He obviously wanted out.   When I went out a minute later to see if he was done, I saw him crouched over an enormous pile of vomit.  Big deal, dogs vomit a lot, plus

 there were the remains of some of his toys that he has recently destroyed in the slop.  He wouldn't come back inside with me.  He stood out there.  Then he started vomiting again.  I looked at him and it seemed like he had been digging; his upper lip was brown.  I went to feel it and it was hard as a rock and swollen.  I freaked out and ran in to get Jason.  Mosey vomited a total of 5 times and then a mess came very suddenly out the other end.  He was definitely having some sort of allergic reaction.  He rushed him to the emergency vet clinic.  He was drowsy and I held onto him the entire drive to make sure he was still breathing.  

The vet was really nice.  She gave him two shots and then we just waited to see if 

he got a little better.  I guess he had hives too.  Vets must be good to be able to see hives under all that fur.  She said such a serious and sudden reaction is pretty rare.  He was very pathetic, trying to crawl into our laps the whole time.  Anyway, here he is on the examination table. 

Obviously we didn't grab our camera as we ran out the door to the ER so we had to rely on our bottom of the line camera phones.  Jason got a pretty good shot of the swelling.  We figure he got a hold of a slow moving mean insect of some sort and had this terrible reaction.  The vet said that when they are this young and have a bad first reaction, they usually grow out of it.  So that was a relief.  He is back to normal, thank you Jesus!  Here he is this morning in the bathtub.  I don't know why decided to crawl in there and curl up while I was brushing my teeth.  Maybe he was hot.....