new year's eve eve and eve

We started off New Year's weekend with a trip to San Francisco on Friday.  We parked in Noe Valley and took the streetcar all the way to the Ferry Building.  Apparently, the whole F-Market and Wharves streetcar line is now run with vintage streetcars.  We rode to the Ferry Building in one from Milan, Italy.

fun with my camera in the ferry building

 After hanging out at the Ferry Building for a while, we went out and strolled along Market Street.  We stopped by the Humboldt Bank Building, built in 1906, in which I used to work.  Our first floor offices are now a Men's Wearhouse - and the old vault which served as our library now holds shoe stock!

interesting sculpture 

 my desk used to be right here!

 We saw a cable car, still with holiday decorations, turn around, load up, and head off.  Then we walked up to Union Square.  On the way, we found the Oscar Mayer Weinermobile parked in the porte cochere of Hotel Nikko!

 Christmas tree at Union Square

 We headed back to Market Street to catch a streetcar back to Noe Valley, nice and early for a New Year's Eve Eve party!  This time, we rode a vintage car painted in tribute livery to Chicago, IL.  The Gerard's party featured the Benny G Quartet (or something like that).

streetcars from Philadelphia, Chicago, and Milan

 Benny G Quartet

 New Year's Eve was another relaxing day, with a visit to high school friend Karen in the afternoon - bringing the good influence of a Cal T-shirt to her daughter!

And I'll continue with the start of 2012 in the next post!

holidays!

Catch-up time!  I went back to the Bay Area, stopping in Folsom for lunch with Pearl and Rachana.

Next stop - Berkeley!  I strolled around campus for a bit, and did a bit of shopping.

I enjoyed dinner with my good friends Alex and Sharon and their two kids, then taught them how to tune up the edges and then wax their skis and snowboards.

Back in Cupertino, I enjoyed a relaxing time with my parents.  We decorated the Christmas tree, Christmas-shopped, and I read a bunch of books!  We enjoyed Christmas morning opening gifts, then headed out to Fremont Older Open Space for a short hike.

Boxing Day my father and I saw the movie War Horse.  Great movie!  Three days later, we took a trip to Santa Cruz with our bicycles.  We pedaled out to the wharf and saw some sea lions doing what looked to be a synchronized swimming routine!  I looked it up and discovered that it's called a "raft" when they float in a group, and that they stick their fins up out of the water as a means of regulating their body temperature.  We enjoyed lunch on the wharf, a stroll on the Boardwalk, a ride on the Giant Dipper roller coaster, riding out to the marina, the "Secret Garden," and a cool park where I tried the "King Dancer" yoga pose for the first time ever.

riding from the wharf to the Boardwalk

 "King Dancer"

 view of the Boardwalk from the wharf

synchronized sea lions

Next post will continue with New Year's weekend...

tahoe, continued...

  Friday night I got to see Pearl.  We picked out some new bindings for her snowboard and then went out to sushi.  The Sushi Pier in Stateline has great sushi, but the tea and ginger aren't up to snuff.

 Walking her dog later I got to see the stars - that's something I really miss now that I'm living in a big city, surrounded by big trees at home.

 Saturday, Lisa got me a ticket to Heavenly, so Pearl, Lisa, Lisa's niece Harmony, and I all went snowboarding.  We had a fun time cruising around until about 1:00 when it started getting scary crowded.  It was a good time to leave!

 Sunday I rejoined my old worship team at Sierra Community Church for all three services.  It was really good to sit behind the piano and sing and pretend to play it again!  In the afternoon, I met up with Rick at Alpina Cafe.  We headed out to Lily Lake, stopping to admire the frozen Glen Alpine Falls.

 Rick had brought both his and his wife Pam's skates (which fit me with extra-thick socks).  We went ice skating on Lily Lake - I'd never had an opportunity to skate on natural ice before.  It was a little eerie skating over all the cracks and bubbles, but great fun!

  Monday I got to have lunch with my old roommate Trevor and yummy homemade curry with Lisa for dinner.  Tuesday I made a few turns at Sierra before heading back to the Bay.  Despite the fact that only the bunny hill was open, it was amazing to be able to ride at HOME.

more time in tahoe

My Tahoe time was great.  I got to catch up with a bunch of friends, spend time relaxing, and do some fun things.  Jes, Geoff, and I walked out to Fallen Leaf Lake with Roxy (the dog) - it was beautiful out there, and a way to enjoy what would NOT be available if the snow were there as it should be.

We went to dinner with Tiffany and Matt, then over to Tiffany's place for dessert.  They've got a 17 foot Christmas tree which fits because of their high ceilings!

 Geoff provided tickets for us to go up the Heavenly Gondola and check out the view.  If we didn't already know there wasn't snow, it would have been depressing, but as it was, it was absolutely gorgeous.

 We took a walk to Ski Run Marina on Friday before my father left, braving the wind and freezing temperatures to enjoy the sunshine.

 He got on the bus that afternoon and headed back to the Bay Area while I stuck around for more adventures.

"geographical identity crisis"

The title of this is borrowed from a friend.  It comes from leaving home (Atlanta) to come home (my parents' home) and then to drive home (Tahoe) but yet not be able to be home (my house here).  All four of those places are home in a way, especially now when I don't feel fixed in any one place.
Anyway, I made it back to California with an unplanned night in Salt Lake City.  Delta Airlines delayed my flight out of Atlanta for an equipment change (but neglected to make sure the passengers all got the word).  En route, we were assured that Salt Lake City had a small airport and there shouldn't be any problem catching our connecting flights.  I rushed through the airport in time to see my plane at the gate with the jetway still attached, but no one in sight in the terminal.  I watched, helpless, for several minutes until the jetway was retracted and the door to the plane shut.  After a couple more minutes with not a single person in sight, I retraced my steps until I found Delta personnel.  They were not very friendly, but gave me minimal instructions to accompany two food vouchers and a hotel room voucher.  I was told that my bag (forced gate checking of my carry-on) was probably on my flight and on its way to San Jose.  The gave me an "overnight kit."  Check this out:

It also included a massive t-shirt.  I checked with Delta baggage and found out that my bag was NOT on the flight but instead was there in Salt Lake City - I'm glad I checked, not only because I now knew my bag would make it to San Jose with me, but at least I had a toothbrush!  Notice that the "overnight kit" included toothpaste - but no toothbrush.
Friday night I got to see Alice's daughters perform in the Christmas program at Community Baptist Church of San Jose.  Her oldest did a phenomenal job playing harp for the prelude and for interludes between the different acts.

 Her middle daughter sang with the kids choir, while both danced in a ballet choreographed by one of the kids, a talented dancer.
Saturday night we went out for a yummy Chinese dinner for Janet's birthday:

Sunday, my dad and I headed up to Tahoe.  On the way, we had In-n-Out for lunch.  There's something you can't find on the east side of this country.

 We checked into the condo so graciously provided by Mrs. Hendrickson.  Pretty snazzy place, recently remodeled and very comfortable.

There is unfortunately no snow, so our plan from months ago of spending our time out skiing and snowboarding has gone to pieces.  Nevertheless, it's been great to be back home in Tahoe and having a chance to catch up with friends.  Monday I got the opportunity to go horseback riding with my good friend Marissa.  The first shot is of four of the horses there - clockwise from top right: Maverick, Scout, Tango, and Little Bit.  They were all looking for treats, and Scout is so close because he wanted to sample my camera after the ride.

It was a fun ride, and I rejoined my dad for a sushi dinner.  I've had sushi once since I got to Atlanta, so that was a great treat.  More coming soon on more time in Tahoe!

free at last!!

I am done with two semesters now - and these were supposed to be the hardest semesters of the program!  I finished my last final about an hour ago and am home finishing up laundry and packing my bag to get out of town.  My ride comes in about three and half hours, my flight leaves in about seven.  I can't wait to get back to California, for a month.  I'm excited to see family and friends, to read books for pleasure without guilt, to sleep without an exam hanging over me, and I could continue this list on for a while.

These past couple months have included walking to school in the dark and seeing the sunrise sometimes:

Walking home and watching the sunset - in this case with the moon in the upper left of the picture:

enjoying more little snatches of fall color - this in my front yard:

And having a chair collapse beneath me Monday night as I was sitting STILL (I HAVE A WITNESS) studying:

It was actually terrifying, a slow-motion fall with absolutely no control over what was happening.  I am thankful that I didn't hit the floor too hard because it was slow motion.  My back is sore but getting better and I hope the pain will continue to decrease.  I am now throwing out both this chair and one of the other chairs that has cracks in it so this doesn't happen to anyone else!  Thankfully, my other two chairs are pretty solid.

On that pleasant note, look forward to my next post being from and about CALIFORNIA!

thanksgiving! and the countdown...

I spent a very pleasant Thanksgiving with my mom's cousin and family.  Adam and Bernard took charge of an amazing turkey, mashed potatoes, chickpea salad, collard greens with smoked turkey wings, and Georgia shrimp.  Linda cooked up some delicious stuffing and sweet potatoes with marshmallows and pecans.  Rachel added some oven roasted asparagus and squash and I brought my homemade bread.  Top it off with pumpkin pie and Dutch apple pie and you have six happily stuffed people!

Traditional after-Thanksgiving family Christmas picture

Rachel and me

Linda and me

Dinner was followed by Monopoly which was followed by card games.

I went home the next day and pretty much straight to work.  Now I'm trying to catch up with all of my end-of-semester projects and it's probably time to start studying for finals.  BUT, the countdown is ON!  I will be flying back to California eleven days from now!