Re-Blog...

Oh my goodness! What a long, crazy, fun, work-filled weekend! I promise to blog about it Wednesday. Monday I tried recovering by eating salt & vinegar chips and Killian fruit salad and catching up on all the TV I missed since last Wednesday. Then we headed over to Mom & Dad's for fried chicken with our friend Blip. I was supposed to go back to work today, but I guess all of the work this past weekend, plus the long car trip, plus the storms yesterday all worked together to give me a migraine this morning. I finally felt better at about 4.....I wish it had been earlier so I could have gotten in at least half a day. Oh well.



So while you wait for a blog about the PA slave labor camp, here are the two blogs I did on Myspace after Jason & Meli's wedding in January. Enjoy!



Thursday, January 31, 2008
Domino the Deer Fawn, part 1, take 2


Jason & I went to California Jan 16-22 for Jason K & Meli's wedding. We had a great time! It definitely ranks as one of our best trips ever.

Life Lessons Learned:
1. Don't drink 3 bottles of wine on your own.
2. Don't eat Mexican and then drink 3 bottles of wine on your own.
3. Dodge Caliber = Death Car
4. Avoid the Travelodge @ LAX.
5. Check for panty lines as soon as you get dressed.

The trip out was easy, friendly & on time. Well, the security agent at Louisville wasn't too friendly about that teeny-tiny tin of cuticle cream that I forgot to put in my clear, quart-size bag, but I smiled, apologized & moved on with life. We flew on Frontier. I don't which animal picture was on the 1st flight, but on the 2nd flight, it was Domino the Deer Fawn. The stewardess talked about Domino as if he/she were a real-life crew member. "On behalf of Todd, Lisa, & Domino the Deer Fawn, I'd like to thank you for flying Frontier Airlines." Love that!

We left at 8 pm and were supposed to land in LA at 2am/11pm. I had visions of getting our luggage, catching the shuttle, checking into our hotel & falling asleep by 2:30am/11:30pm. I was looking forward to a good 6 or 7 hours of sleep before getting the rental car Thursday morning, meeting Meli & Gang for breakfast in Oxnard, and helping set up the pergola at Clairmont Farm.

Here's what actually happened…..We landed. I had to make water, but I passed up the bathroom at the gate in order to use the theoretically less busy bathroom at baggage claim. Too bad there wasn't any bathroom at baggage claim. 40 minutes later, we had collected the bags and caught the shuttle to the hotel. It had to stop at another hotel first to drop of another passenger. At this point, I'd been awake for almost 21 hours. And I really, really had to pee. I just wanted to use the potty and crawl into bed for a mere 5 hrs of sleep.

The LAPD had others ideas.

The shuttle driver- lets call him Donald- helped that one guy off with his luggage. After 5 minutes of doing the pee-pee dance in my seat, Donald still wasn't back on the shuttle. I stood up to see out the window, and Donald was at the back of the shuttle getting chewed out by a cop for something to do with the bumper. Well, I think that's what the cop doing. Donald finally returned and explained to another passenger about the delay. En Español. No habla Español. Ditto for Jason.

We finally reached the Holiday Inn, checked in, used the bathroom (yay!), and went to sleep by 3:30am/12:30am.

Thursday we woke up 90 minutes later than planned. We could see the Hollywood sign from our room. It was this big. Jason took a good picture of it, but I got button happy after all the wine tasting Saturday and deleted it. Oops. We had to catch the shuttle back to the airport so we could get on a second shuttle that would take us to the car rental place. Why pay for a cab when you can ride the shuttles for free? Three hours later than planned, we picked up our rental car with GPS. Thank God for the GPS b/c someone reading this blog gives questionable driving directions. I drove so Jason could play with his new temporary toy. Also, I am a horrible, horrible backseat driver, and I wasn't sure our marriage could survive the mid-morning traffic soup if Jason were driving.

We stopped in Oxnard to tour Meli's house and then Meli, Barb, Jason & I went to a cute restaurant in Summerland to eat yummy food. I think it was lunch for them, but for me it was only second breakfast. After we could eat no more, we ladies took turns sitting on the World's Most Uncomfortable Toilet Seat Ever. It was like sitting on a rail-split fence, and it was so high off the ground, it was impossible to hover! I can't remember the name of the place so be wary of all restaurant toilets in Summerland.

Now it was time to head to the Meadowlark Inn in Solvang. The manager of the inn, Margaret, is super nice! I felt like I was visiting an aunt or cousin. She learned Jason's name quickly (since it's the same as the grooms), and she put him to work unloading firewood. Then we drove out to the farm. We had missed the heavy labor, but there were still some things left to help with. Barb & Jason touched up the paint on the pergola. Meli set up some ferns and flower pots. I supervised.

I was very excited to finally meet Jason K. I knew I was going to absolutely love him, but I was worried about whether or not he'd like me. We were telling Jason K, his sister, & his brother-in-law about the restaurant where we had eaten. And I just had to blurt out that it was only second breakfast, and I would be ready for elevensies soon. Oh yes. I said it. "Hello, very-important-man-who-I-want-to-make-a-good-impression-on, I am a huge dork. I freely reference LOTR daily, and I'm dying to dress up as Chewbaca next Halloween." (I don't reference LOTR daily, but I have been planning my furry costume for over a year now. I just have to talk my co-workers into the Star Wars theme.)

Later in the day, Dan & Carly arrived in the Death Cruiser. Carly reworked Barb's wedding veil for Meli to use. She did a beautiful job!

For dinner, Jason K grilled burgers and sausages. I am happy to report that he made my burger well-done, just the way I like it. My dad doesn't even do that for me! We all sat by the fire and enjoyed the good food & good company.

Well, dear readers, that's all for this installment. We've got four more days to go. Some highlights- explanations for life lessons 1, 2, & 4; the wedding; wine tasting; a haircut; and Uncle Fred's walk of fame star. Stay tuned!



Monday, February 11, 2008
Dominic the Deer Fawn, Part 2

Friday dawned bright. Very bright. I'm not used to brilliant sun in January. It's usually gray around here. Margaret made super yummy baked oatmeal for breakfast. I was happy.

Meli had a mission for Barb, Auntie, Carly & me: locate & purchase roses. She gave us directions to a stand right off of Hwy 154. Margaret gave us a map of the area. We marked the location of the stand. I noticed that if we went a different way than what Meli had told us, we could stop by the farm so Auntie & Carly could check it out. Also, Barb & I wanted to make sure that the Farm's Jack Russell, Jack, hadn't marked the gleaming white pergola as his territory. He'd been eyeing it the day before. Luckily, he hadn't marked it.

We left the farm and headed towards 154. Along the way we passed a miniature donkey farm. What is a miniature donkey for? Miniature carts? I recently finished reading Anne Barclay Priest's Trafficking In Sheep, and I learned from her that donkeys make excellent sheep guards. Perhaps miniature donkeys guard miniature sheep?

After driving all over the area looking for roses, we ended up at Albertson's in Buellton. By that time it was lunchtime so we ate at a Mexican restaurant called Rudy's that was in the Albertson's shopping center. The food was good when we ate it.

It seems like time really flew on Friday. After we got back, everyone got ready for the rehearsal out at the farm. Jason & I got to be lazy and stay at the Meadowlark until dinner. I can't remember the name of the restaurant we went to because life was starting to become fuzzy, but we didn't stay there to eat. It was packed. So everyone besides Jason & me drank at least one gigantic beer, and then we headed back to the Meadowlark for pizza & s'mores.

This is where everything goes super fuzzy. I remember Carly & Laura roasting marshmallows for me so I wouldn't set anyone on fire. I remember talking to Jody. I remember telling Jason K that he would never see me that drunk again. I remember talking about knitting with Michelle and the pickle book with Sally. Then somehow it was 4:30am, I was in bed, and I seriously regretted eating Mexican for lunch. I thought I was going to die and miss the wedding.

I am so glad that I lived! The wedding was gorgeous. The air wasn't too chilly, and the all of the colors were vibrant. I had seen Meli dressed up back at the Meadowlark, but it didn't compare to seeing her walk down the rose petal covered aisle. She's never looked so beautiful!

We did wine tastings at Bridlewood, Kalyra, and Sunstone. Sunstone was my favorite. I didn't like the first glasses of wine, but every glass after tasted great. After the wineries, we went to Los Olivos. We broke up into smaller groups for exploring the town (wine cafes). Jason & I walked all the way to the end of town. So yeah, it's not that big if I walked to the end. On the way back, we heard a lot of laughter. All of the people near us kind of looked around in confusion….who or what could it be? It was Auntie!

We met up with Meli, Barb, Auntie, Bob, Mike, April & Jason K at Consilience for one last tasting (for Jason & me, anyway). Then we headed over to Mattie's Restaurant for cocktails before dinner.

Dinner was excellent. We definitely sat at the rowdy table. Let's just say, if you want to behave, don't sit with Casey & Bob at the same table. They are baaaaad!!! I bet April & Auntie would agree with me. Okay, okay……I may have been a bad influence on Casey & Bob. But I didn't have anything to do with Santa Claus making an appearance at the table!

Much later I enjoyed sitting by the fire with the two Jasons, Benny & Andy. We made fun of Jason K because the sole of one of his government issued boots had completely melted away from the boot! I shouldn't have laughed, though; the sole of one of my Birkenstocks shrunk from the heat of the fire!

Sunday was a day to unwind. We picked up at the farm, and then chilled at the Meadowlark. Dan took me for a ride around the driveway in the Death Cruiser so I could say I'd survived. By dinner time it was just Barb, Meli, the Jasons & me. We were going to eat by the fire again, but it got really chilly and started misting so we ate in Barb's room. Jason K remembered to grill my meat well done. Isn't he wonderful?

Getting ready for bed that night, I decided that I was tired of brushing out my waist-length hair and braiding it every night, and it was time to cut it off. Jason said he was okay with that. He was getting tired of all that hair, too.

Monday, Margaret made an appointment for me to get my haircut. Jason & I had an hour to kill between Meli, Jason K, & Barb leaving for Oxnard and my appointment. So we headed into Solvang. I had up to this point avoided looking at Solvang b/c I could tell it was the type of town to have an awesome knitting shop. I found it in two seconds! It's mainly a spinning & weaving shop. Great. Now I want to learn how to spin my own yarn. When do I have time for that???

Luckily, we made it out of the shop with only a small dent to the bank account. And plans to go to a knitting/crocheting/spinning/yarn convention in Chicago in late Summer. The shop owners from Solvang will be there, and I hope to meet up with them.

Got 16" cut off. The ponytail would have been longer than that had I cut it off. I think John the Hairdresser was worried that I would be upset so he didn't want to cut my hair too short to begin with. Dude, it's just hair. There was a psychiatrist in the seat next to mine; she was freaked that I wasn't crying. (Maybe I should've talked to her about my new inability to cry?) Seriously, though, I was ready, and I haven't had one moment of regret.

We went back by the Meadowlark to show off the haircut to Margaret, and then we stopped by the house in Oxnard to show it off and say goodbye again.
Then it was time to visit Uncle Fred's star. It took an amazing long time to get from Oxnard to Hollywood. (The detours probably didn't help, but how many chances do Jason & I get to dip our feet in the Pacific Ocean or cruise down Rodeo Drive?) It was so awesome to see Uncle Fred's star!! He's Jason's step-mom's mom's uncle, but it's easier just to call him uncle. He was a director. Fred Zinnemann. Go now and Google. We've heard really cool stories about him, and I wish I could have met him.

I had to make water yet again, and I knew I couldn't hold it till we got to our hotel. There was a restaurant called Lucky Devil on the way back to the car so we decided to eat there and use their facilities. Don't eat the Philly cheese steak at Lucky Devil. Jalapenos don't belong on a cheese steak Jalapenos ruin a cheese steak. I do recommend the restaurant, though. It's small and has an easy-going atmosphere.

Just don't order the cheese steak.

I'll make my next piece of advice as brief as possible: Don't stay at the Travelodge at LAX. There is no elevator. It's not all one building. It's very confusing. The employees are idiots. And they say they will send the shuttle to pick you up after you've dropped off your rental car, but you'll have to wait on the sidewalk in Inglewood for 40 minutes in the damp, chilly darkness of night before the shuttle shows up for the- literally- 3 minute drive back to the hotel. If we had known where we were, we could have walked back to the hotel in a third of the time it took for the shuttle to pick us up. It was a surprising and crappy ending to one of our best vacations ever.

The End.