Halloween San Francisco Style

Hollywood Devil

Big Bird and Beaker

70's retro girl and her dog, Buster

Halloween was great! I dressed up as a hollywood devil, Charisse as a 70's girl, her husband was a dog, Mo was a groovy big bird, and her manchop Patick was Beaker from the muppets. We went to see Nathan's band Albino play. Obviously we had a great time!

Yosemite National Park Weekend

I found a nice rock!

Hetch Hetchy Reservior

The Gang outside our Log Cabin

Picture time at Glacier Point

We saved Bill at the top of our exhausting climb!

Bill and Charisse enjoying Half Dome

Charisse, Mo, and Dawn having fun!

Mo, Patrick, Charisse, Bill & Dawn with Half Dome in the background

Half Dome

We were looking at the rock climbers with binoculars, they looked like little ants.

This past weekend I went to Yosemite with friends from work. We rented a log cabin that was located just outside the park. We had planned an 8 mile hike on saturday starting at Glacier Point, but when we got to the village we realized that it was 1 1/2 hour bus ride up the mountain, therefore we would have to hike in the dark. Probably not the best idea. So we went with the backup plan. Drive to Glacier Point and take some pictures that make it appear as if we are doing a difficult hike! Worked like a charm! And then we were able to make it back to the cabin and together made a fantastic surf and turf dinner. On sunday we went to Hetch Hetchy Reservior which supplies San Fran with all its water. My belly hurt from all the laughing that we did! It was great to get away for the weekend. And brodie spent the weekend at Ruff and Ready doggie daycare and boarding. It is run out of these 2 guys' home and Brodie made friends and really like David, according to Jerry. It was nice to know he was taken care of so well! Now he's spent the last 2 days recovering!! Happy dog!

Rowing!

Having fun rowing!

On the boat taking a quick break. 8 people can row at a time.

Rowing in action. I know its a difficult shirt to wear, but I still gotta show my pride sometime!

This past tuesday I tried rowing for the first time. It was a beautiful night. I rowed with Maureen, one of my co-workers, who rows with the Embarcadaro Rowing Club. On Tuesday nights they have a recreational rowing night where anyone can come out and try it. We rowed at night, on a full moon. It was a great to be able to see downtown at night. Also, there was a navy vessel near the bridge being patrolled by the coast guard. (The ship was there from fleet week last week). Anyway, of course, since I was on the boat, yep, you guess it, the coast guard came over to us on their little boat with big guns. Nope, it wasn't to say hi to me and that they missed me, it was to tell us that we were rowing too close to the navy ship and to MOVE AWAY!!! Oh, I've missed my coast guard. One of the guys on the boys was like, wow, we've never been told that before by the coast guard. I figured they didn't know my history! I had a great time and will try it again!

Back in San Francisco at Hardly Strictly Bluegrass

Hello Everyone! So, back in San Francisco for another 13 weeks. One nice part of being back is already having a great network of friends. Last sunday we met up at Golden Gate Park for a free concert that lasted all weekend. It was called Hardly Strictly Bluegrass. There were 5 different stages set up, and we ended up seeing 3 different shows. It started with Elvis Costello, then we saw a band called Gogol Bordello (kind of reminded me of being on a pirate ship), then we ended the night with Emmylou Harris. Good time was had by all.

Busy Busy Busy in Kalamazoo

Well, its been pretty busy since I got home. Vacation--time off-- time to relax! What is all that??? Haven't seen much of it here. I've been very busy working on the house, diving when I can, and getting ready for the baby shower.

The first pic is of wendy and I and the baby block cake. Then next one is of us and the onesie for her new baby to be. After that is a pic of wendy next to my mom, then grandma. Wendy is holding a piggy bank from grandma. Then its the yummy cake. Next is me, my dad, and wendy at my cousins wedding. And finally, a pic of me getting ready for a dive at Gilboa.

Hope you enjoy!!!

Cake Decorating Class

Hello! One week to go!! :) Today I went back to the cooking school and learned how to decorate with fondant (the fancy looking stuff on big cakes/wedding cakes: looks cool--tastes like crap!)

I learned how to cover a cake, make bows, and streamers. I also worked with Gum Paste and made a rose and some daisies! Had a blast with it, and its actually easier than I expected! Here are a few pics of my little cake!

SF Giants Baseball

Today I went to AT & T park to see the SF giants baseball vs Milwalkee. Great game, great seats, the team- well, not so great. I assume they lost as it was the top of the 9th when we left and they were losing 5-2. I went with Maureen (From UCSF), her manchops Patrick, and her crazy brother Mike. Definitely an entertaining day! The seats were great!!! We were about 15-20 rows behind the vistors dugout. We were even in the special section that you can fill out a form and they bring the food to you. And this section has their own bathrooms.....no lines to wait in!!! Can you believe that???? Weather was good and the sun even made an appearance everyonce in a while! Another great SF experience!

Softball Challenge

Hello! A few weeks back the pedi echo lab was challenged by the adult echo lab to a game of softball. Considering that most of us had not played softball since say, middle school, we figured that we would be winning not with talent, but with team spirit and distraction. And our plan worked! Our team was called: Marilala and the woozy chickens! Marilala (or Marilou) was the team captain. And the woozy chicken: a mascot shall we say. Actually we made a great chant with the woozy chicken, and then I brought some feathers boas to help with it. The distraction: an air horn, and lots of whistles! And then of course, we had our hot pink matching wristbands! Hanoi sported the afro wig, which looked fantastic with the boa. And did you know, its very difficult to hit a ball with a boa in your face! For those of you who are thinking...Dawn doesn't play softball....you are correct! But with the magical boa, I actually hit the ball everytime I was up to bat, and scored 2 runs! Not too bad! Hope you enjoy the pictures! I had a great time, even got a little sun on the face! Yes, we won! 17 to 7!