1/1/12 Cheers to a New Year & Another Chance to Get it Right!

(~~Oprah Winfrey)

Just like that, 2011 came to an end.  By far, the fastest year of my life. I know, they say the older you get the faster it goes...and it's damn true!  Definitely a year of ups, downs, and changes.  Some good and some bad...some yet to be determined.

New Year's Day fell on  a Sunday this year which is my usual day off, but I didn't want the day to be just like any other normal day off, so I made plans to head to beautiful San Jose.  My purpose was threefold.  1) To meet a not-often-seen friend for lunch.  2) To pick up our tickets to the upcoming Sharks/Capitals game.  And 3) to get my lazy butt out of the house!

The Sharks were holding practice at Sharks Ice, so I made sure my plans revolved around that.  If I'm going to drive 2 1/2 hours each way to San Jose, I might as well see some damn hockey players! When I got there, the players were already on the ice, although I thought I was actually going to be early.

I climbed up onto the bleachers.  Not too gracefully I might add. Embarrassing. I didn't fall or anything, but I definitely didn't put my best side forward.  haha  But (no pun intended) I HOPE it wasn't the reason Jumbo was staring at me. I tried to take this photo on the down low, so it's not in the greatest focus.

 I must say, this pracky contained a lot of awesome.  I'll let the pictures speak for themselves and interject where I feel inspired. Here, Handzus and Ginner spend some time discussing.

12/21/11 Lightning @ Sharks ~~4 out of 5 Dentists Surveyed Recommend Playing Hockey

I don't know who said that, but I'm sure it's damn true!  And if you ever doubt that hockey players are tough, just imagine getting your wisdom teeth removed and turning around and playing hockey the next day.

Wisdom teeth...  If you're smart, don't take 'em out.  That's my thought after my daughter had two of hers removed on Tuesday, December 20th.  The plans took shape innocuously enough. Her teeth had begun to bother her and the dentist recommended having the top two removed.  Things went downhill from there...

Time Machine! En français ... la troisième partie! Plus "et plus". 8/26/11

Have you ever stayed in a hostel?  I have and it's weird and fun all at the same time.  My daughter would vehemently disagree.

It all started some 15 years ago in New Zealand.  The love of my life (as much as I hate to admit it) was working in Wellington and I took my daughter and his two sons over for a two-week visit.  During the two weeks, we took a mini vacation within a vacation and stayed at the Skotel. I've been enamored of venturing to hostels ever since. In the hostel world, infrequently is frequent enough.

Anyhoo, there are a couple of hostels here in NorCal that are situated in old lighthouses.  I've stayed at the Pigeon Point Lighthouse in the past (awesome) and wanted to check out it's sister hostel a bit further up the coast near Half Moon Bay. So I left the comfy beach and drove north on Hwy 1.

I was pretty hungry at this point so I stopped at the Safeway to pick up some cheese, cold cuts, and crackers and headed over to the Half Moon Bay jetty to see if there were any surfers about.  

Time Machine! Part Deux! This is the "And More" Part. 8/26/11

Interesting day today...but I don't really want to talk about the bad parts.  The good parts were time spent with my daughter and about an hour spent with my mom.  One of the staff played the piano and we sang along (kinda) to some old songs.  Watching my mom truly engage with the music, tap her feet and clap her hands was a lot of fun.

So to disengage my mind from worrying about things I have no power over, I'm going to post some pictures.

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After the Sharks Captain's skate was over, I wanted to head to the DeBrito Chocolate Factory to buy some apples to take home  You may remember me mentioning their delicious caramel apples in a previous post about the State Fair but they are well worth talking about again!

It was a bit longer drive from San Jose to Hollister than I expected. Missing a turn off and having to backtrack once didn't help.  But it was a gorgeous day and I love to drive so what the hell.  Ever wonder where your lettuce comes from?  Beautiful fields of green and red lettuce were growing side by side.

I was a little surprised when I found the address... It was not a Willy Wonka adventure like I had envisioned.  It was not even a typical storefront or factory like I had expected.  To be honest, it looked like a junkyard...  There was a dirt yard with broken down vehicles and farm equipment set on a farm.  The building was hand-painted corrugated metal.

Time Machine!! 8-26-11 Sharks 'n more! Part 1

I finally recovered some photos that were "lost" during the infamous computer meltdown of several months ago.

I could have recovered them sooner, I suppose, since my wonderful friend Erik saved the laptop from a certain death quite a while back now.  But while it's life was saved, it's identity was not and since then our lovely Comcast provider refuses to recognize it's IP address and therefore deny it internet access.

So it was just more trouble than it was worth to really solve the problem or at least figure out a way around it.  But then it occurred to me that I had about 80 photos on there...all edited and ready to go...

Truthfully that's the hardest part of keeping up with this photo-centric blog.  With my archaic equipment the whole process of saving, editing, and posting is pretty time-consuming. Some day I'll be able to channel money into more modern equipment that makes it easier, but that time is in the definitely not TOO distant future.

But when I recall the happy day of peace and rest that these pictures represent, I felt compelled to actually use my blonde brain and get the job done.  You're welcome.

The day was August 26, 2011. I had originally asked my boss for Friday through Sunday off because I wanted to road trip up to Washington state to surprise my oldest brother for his birthday.  I worked on Thursday (my normal day off) and then was supposed to leave that evening to make the 14 hour drive.  However, reality (and the price of gas jumping) intervened and the budget wouldn't allow for that long of a trip or that much time off.

Deciding that I deserved at least a bit of my solitary road trip, I told my boss that I at least had to take Friday off and headed west to San Jose. It was wonderfully hot and sunny in the valley, but approaching the 680 junction showed me that I was probably in for a foggy day...at least in some parts of my route.

 Interestingly, I remember that the fog paralleled 680 pretty much all the way to San Jose.  So it was temptingly close and made for some beautiful vistas without taking away my sunshiney day.  Perfect!

I arrived at Shark's Ice just in time for Captain Skate.  I was excited and hopeful because the Sharks had recently acquired Brent Burns (who is supposed to take us to the promised land - no pressure) and this was my first opportunity to see him.  IF he was even there!  You just never know who's going to show up to Captain's Ice...especially in the early stages.

Give 'em the old razzle dazzle! Blackhawks at Sharks 11/21/11

Here's the thing...when we had to put my mom in a memory care facility back in May, I really thought I'd be able to regain a life of leisure.  Well, not leisure but I thought I'd at least have the energy to update my blog more frequently.  So far it's not working out that way.

Not be ask for sympathy or anything, but in some ways it's harder.  It's nice to be able to do things, such as go to Sharks games, without hiring a 'sitter and worrying the entire time.  But at the first home we placed her in, I felt I had to go there almost every day to check on her and interact with her.  We moved her to a different facility in August.  Read bigger, more staff, more activities...overall a much better fit for my mom's needs.  So now I don't feel guilty for not going more than 2 or 3 days a week because I know they are taking good care of her.  But the trade off is that it's further away and traffic is horrific at the times I am able to go.

Bottom line...I'm tired.  And between being tired, working full-time, visiting mom, holiday bustle, my daughter, and a very scant social life...well, I obviously haven't updated this.  And also I'm having trouble remembering details so be prepared for a lot of pictures.

Thanksgiving.  I love it.  I love everything about Autumn from the beautiful colors as California changes for the season to staying up all night prepping Thanksgiving dinner after getting home from the Sharks Blackhawks game at 1 a.m.  This year, traffic was a little bit lighter so that was a plus and we didn't feel as stressed getting down to the South Bay. Soon we were settled in by the glass at the Shark Tank.

Anyone who talks hockey with me knows the Blackhawks are my second favorite team.  Have been for a long time, even through the many years when I was a casual hockey fan and didn't really follow that much.  So seeing the Blackhawks as much as possible each year is a real treat for me.  Unfortunately, this might be our one and only chance this season.

Warmups are a case of me not knowing where to shoot. I want to watch the Sharks! But there are the 'Hawks! Oh dear, there's Jumbo and Patty...must get a photo (even though I'm aware I have a bazillion that look pretty much the same).  But, but there's Toews and, of course, Sharpie! So here's a jumble of photos that is pretty much my state of mind during warmups.

We Sittin' In Here Talkin' Bout Practice - Sharks Pracky 11/2/11

One of the best videos ever.  Ev. Er.

Allen Iverson can't get excited about practice but I sure can!  Especially when it's a San Jose Sharks practice and I rarely get to attend one due to my work schedule.  

So the day before the Penguins game, my daughter and I decided to head to San Jose in the hopes of catching at least one and possibly two practices.  Unfortunately, the Pens practiced at HP Pavilion which is closed to the public.  But we did not feel at all let down.