Twenty Four At Heart

Your Questions; My Answers

It's no secret I'm not great at getting back to people on comments and emails.

It isn't that I don't have great intentions.

It isn't that I never do ...

It's just, I suck.

Sorry, about that.  

I'd promise to do better, and I'd mean it (but then I probably wouldn't do better).  

Therefore, I'll refrain from making promises.

I do read all your emails and comments.

I thought today I'd answer some questions I've gotten recently from readers.  If one person is asking, there are probably other people wondering too.

Here goes:

•  How many of your stories are TRUE and how many aren't?  The "stories" I write are true, any identifying details of the people I write about are fictional.  (This same info is also stated on my sidebar.)  I don't write about anyone, in any way that would be recognizable to those who know me or know the same people I do.  There's a reason writers use the term "creative license."  

[Oh wait, once in awhile I do write about people, and use their real names and real details - but only if I've obtained their permission.]

•  OMG, what happens if your friend's wife reads the post about her?  See the above, and then take a deep breath and relax.  I do actually think before I write.  Also, I think TWICE before I hit "publish."

•  Why aren't you responding to my requests to write about my good cause.  I get this question a lot.  First of all, I get hundreds of PR/Marketing/Good Cause requests from people/companies/associations every week.  (Somehow, I got on everybody's mailing list.)  Most people want my time, my work, my blog space and aren't willing to pay for it.  Some of them have great causes I'd be willing to publicize for free if I thought they appealed to the majority of my readers.  My audience varies greatly in demographics.  (I know you think your cause appeals to every person who reads me.  No offense intended, but I know my readers better than you do.)  

•  What if Phoebe's babies fall in the pool?  She builds a nest in the same place every year.  I used to worry about the same thing, but it's never happened.  By the way, I watched her babies learn to fly (very humorous!) earlier this week.  They have now, officially, flown the nest.

•  Are you rich?  No, are you?  

•  How much money do you make?  How much money do YOU make?

•  Will you be at BlogHer [Beginning August 4th/San Diego]?  Yes, I will be.  I hope to meet as many of you as possible.

•  How does Briefcase feel about your blog?  Good question, I think it might depend on what I published the day you ask him. 

•  I'd like to take photography lessons from you, do you give them?  I've given a few lessons and I'm willing to do more on a limited basis.  (Limited basis because of my arm.)

•  What's your favorite beach photo of all the ones you've taken?

I recently had this one enlarged and put on canvas:

It turned out stunning.  

It's definitely been my favorite for the last several months, but my "favorite" is subject to change on a moment's notice.

•  Could you please just email me one of your photos?  I only want to use it as a screensaver.  (I've also had people inform me digital photos are "free" and don't cost anything for me to take, and then request I please email them the one/s they want.)

I could, and probably will, write an entire post on this subject at some point.  For now, suffice it to say, a single lens can cost a couple thousand dollars ... good quality digital photography is not "free" and neither are my photos.  

•  I'm dying to know what company in Orange County your son got a job with.  I understand you can't put it on your blog but could you just email and tell me?  No, I'm sorry I can't.

•  How do you function so drugged up?  Um, I'm not "drugged up" very often.  I apologize if I've given you that impression.  Yes, I live with constant pain.  I'm on non-narcotic drugs to help me live my day to day life.  Those medications don't interfere with my ability to function or make me "drugged up" at all.  

Most days I take a grand total of one (o-n-e) narcotic pain pill in the evenings.  (By the end of the day, I can't take the pain any longer, even with gritted teeth and clenched fists.)  When I have a bad pain episode/flare-up I take additional narcotic pain meds as needed, but I try to take as little as possible.  I have to be able to get PR to and from school, etc., etc.  I need to be able to function.

By the way, Dr. Painless is perfectly fine with me taking way more pain meds than I do.  It's a choice on my part to be as mentally "present" in my life as possible.

Also?  

Pain-level-wise I could pop pain pills from the minute I wake up.  I don't.

[B.A. (before accident) I always had a very high pain tolerance.   

Make sure and remind me of that during my next pain flare-up.

No don't, I'd probably throw something at you if you did!

Kidding!

Sorta ...]

•  Are you suing the dumbfuck that gave you the drugs you're allergic to and landed you in the hospital after your bionic surgery?  No comment.  And that does not mean "yes" and that does not mean "no."  It simply means, no comment.  But, thanks for asking.

•  Is there any news on PK, the kid who was bothering your son at college?  PK is undergoing psychological treatment in Peru.  My son is home for the summer and his girlfriend, Pretty, will be coming to California and staying with us for a visit soon.  She's never been to California and I look forward to showing her around.

I could keep answering questions for days, but I think that's enough for now.

Thanks for asking the questions!

© Twenty Four At Heart

Random Moments From The Twenty Four Household

It was kind of a strange weekend.

•  On Friday night, Nike came for a visit and we hung out at my house drinking wine and getting caught up.  She helped me with a couple things which required more than one working arm to do.  (I knew if I got her drunk enough I could get some work out of her!)

It's nice to have a friend you can greet while wearing ten year old yoga pants and a t-shirt.  It's even nicer when that friend shows up for an evening of wine-time in her sweats.

•  We had gray weather on Saturday; I woke up on Sunday to rain.

Rain!

In The OC!

In May!

•  The mountains behind my house looked like this:

By noon the sun had come out and the day ended up being beautiful.

I know you've always wanted to see my chimney, haven't you?

•  Nothing evokes memories of my childhood summers more than the scent of star jasmine.  I have some planted near my patio and it makes me so happy to see it blooming.

I smell jasmine and I instantly think "summer on Catalina Island" because my family spent time there almost every summer when I was growing up.  We had jasmine in our own backyard when I was growing up too, but it doesn't seem to matter.  My brain associates jasmine with summers on the island.

•  RC is adjusting to summer vacation at home.  He landed a job with a prestigious company here in Orange County for the summer.  He's very excited.  The boss of the company told him the job was conditional on "his mom" not blogging about the company/the boss.  (I was floored, when RC informed me.)

It SO makes me want to blog about both.

But I won't, of course.

(For one thing, I have nothing to say about them.)

But really?

Ha ha ha ha!  (One of the odder/funnier moments since I began blogging!)

•  A bird flew into my kitchen, and then back out again on Sunday morning.  Our back door was open because the dogs were going in and out.  Someone on Twitter informed me it's good luck to have a bird fly into your house.  Personally, I was just glad the oven was closed.

•  Our canyon seems to be overflowing with wildlife this year, even more than usual.  There always seems to be a critter to watch when I find myself at home.  Of course, this also provides endless entertainment for our retrievers.

•  I've been finding myself self-censoring my writing lately on 24.  I think that's the problem with a larger readership.  No matter what I write, it seems I'm offending someone, somehow.  I'm tired of worrying about it.  I'm tired of feeling like I need to keep everything generic all the time.  I'm going back to being myself and (probably) offending people again.  

Get ready, get set ....

© Twenty Four At Heart

Surviving and Thriving

I found a dead bird floating in our pool on Friday.

I freaked out.

(Thank God for chlorine to kill gross germs.)

I knew, instantly, it wasn't one of the babies from the nest because it was too big.

I was freaking out for quite awhile.  Did I mention DEAD bird in the pool?

I was worried it might be Phoebe.  (It was too water-soaked to tell.)

The water-soaked part made me freak out even more.

I made a MALE person get it out of the pool.  

I know that sounds sexist, but ....

I worried about  the.dead.bird.in.the.pool  possibly being Phoebe for a full 24 hours.

The next day I reluctantly finally spent some time in the pool.

I admit, I waited awhile because I was very freaked out I wanted to be sure the chlorine had killed any gross, disgusting, nasty stuff from  the.dead.bird.in.the.pool.

I might have been drinking wine with Nike in the meantime.

I know it's ridiculous, but I've gotten attached to a bird family.

Phoebe and her mate showed up the instant I got near the pool the next day.  They both chirped incessantly at me while I swam.

I was relieved to see them.

Phoebe's babies are also doing great.

They don't really fit in their nest anymore.

(I feel sorry for the one getting squished at the bottom.)

Ever since I took this photo I keep catching myself singing that old Steve Miller song ...

Time keeps on slippin', slippin', slippin' 
Into the future 
Time keeps on slippin', slippin', slippin' 
Into the future 

I want to fly like an eagle 
To the sea 
Fly like an eagle 
Let my spirit carry me 
I want to fly like an eagle 
Till I'm free 

© Twenty Four At Heart

So I Guess I Collect Antique Cameras

Last week I showed you a photo of my new, actually very old, camera:

It isn't worth much, but it's old, funky, chic, and I love it.  It's from 1915 and it's a Kodak.

When I started looking for an antique camera, I hadn't really planned on getting it.  I had something else, entirely, in mind. 

I wanted an old plate camera.  

I wanted it to have red bellows.  (The bellows are the accordion-type part.)

Wouldn't you know, right after I found the Kodak pictured above, I found exactly what I had originally set out to purchase.

It's a Seroco camera from right around 1900.

It was love at first sight.

Love, love, love!

Yes, I fell in love with a material object.

Call me shallow.

It came with a full set of original plates.

Here's a look at the case it came in:

The plates are stored in the top half of the case.  The camera was stored on the bottom half.  (Obviously, the camera is not in the case in the above photo.)

Inside that little box on the bottom, are a few extra, old, funky, Burke & James lenses.

Have I mentioned I love old and funky?

As I age, I plan on being extremely old and funky myself.

(Except, I don't want to be funky-smelling, because funky-smelling isn't nearly as fun as just plain funky.)

But my story doesn't end there.

You wouldn't believe what happened next.

Someone pointed out an even older very rare, antique, even-more-funky, camera and said, "Omigod.You.Have.To.Take.It.Home.Or.You.Will.Never.See.One.Of.These.Again."

And ...

Because I'm weak, or perhaps because I've been coming out of the depths of hell from my recent pain flare up ...

Or perhaps because Briefcase has been gone for weeks and I was restless ...

Or perhaps because I'm really weak ....

And also, maybe, because I got an amazing (!!) price on it ...

 

I ended up giving a home to this 1890 Eastman Box Camera.

As you can see, the outside is really beat up.

But inside, if you look past the dust ...

It's actually in very good shape.

And thus,

A collection of antique cameras has begun.

Do you collect anything?

And if so, what?

© Twenty Four At Heart

Random Frivolity

I have one or two more serious subjects I'll be blogging about soon, but today I'm going to keep it light.

Light and breezy ... just like a feminine hygiene commercial!

(Because none of us have enough of those in our lives, do we?)

I want to follow up on a few things from prior posts.

•  Thank you to one of my readers for suggesting I get a Saltwater Canvas beach bag for the summer.  I ordered one, and I'm eager to get my hands on it.  It should be arriving this week, and I can't wait to put it to use.

I'm particularly thrilled it's made out of mesh so it won't accumulate sand at the bottom.  Also, it has lots of pockets which will be just perfect for my wine opener suntan lotion.

•  Phoebe's babies are growing so fast!  She's gotten very protective of them, so I shot this photo with my 400mm lens instead of from inside the grotto:

And yes, I only see three babies.  I think, perhaps, the fourth didn't survive.  They're twelve days old now.  They're very crowded in their nest.  They have real wings and feathers.  I think they'll be learning to fly soon.  I'm still swimming in the pool each day, but I've been staying out of the grotto so Phoebe won't chirp like crazy stress out.

•  I recently read The Color of Water by James McBride.  I loved it and highly recommend it to those of you who haven't already read it.

•  Briefcase has been traveling nonstop, including weekends.  As a result, I've spent a few evenings getting caught up on movies via Netflix.  I'm always way behind everyone else on movies, but I've recently watched and enjoyed:

     1.  The King's Speech

     2.  The Illusionist

     3.  The Queen

     4.  Temple Grandin

     5.  Secretariat

•  My son, RC (the one in college), is home for the summer so I'm back to having two of my three kids in the house.  There's a lot of testosterone floating around my house.

•  Lastly, but most importantly - I want to thank all of you for being so supportive of me as I've worked my way through this recent pain flare-up.  I know I'm horrible about responding to comments, but I read every single one.  You are OFTEN the strength that gets me through my worst days ... 

Thank you!!

© Twenty Four At Heart 

Mother's Day

It has been a tough few days.

For a lot of reasons, I'm hoping today goes by quickly and I just get through it.

I know holidays bring mixed, or just plain sad, emotions for a lot of people.

I was lucky enough to grow up with a fantastic mother, however.

(I think my dad must have been the one who took the above photo.  He's always loved cameras - go figure.)  

I'm the baby in the blue dress and that's my mom holding me up.  

It seems like she's done that, in one way or another, a million times throughout my life.

Happy Mother's Day to her ... and all of you!

© Twenty Four At Heart

Because I Have a Bird Brain

Wow - it was a whirlwind of a weekend!

Also?

New medication ... lots of side effects.  

Aack!

I have so many things I want to blog about, but I didn't have the time today.

I apologize.

In other words, it was not my intention to post another Phoebe post today, but I ran out of time and mental focus so this is what you get.  (I know some of you love Phoebe updates and some of you don't.  My goal is to keep you updated, but NOT bore you to death with daily bird photos!)

Anyway ...

This is a not-so-great photo of our pool from our deck:

We had winds this weekend, so there are leaves floating around in it - but you get the general idea.  The water is really a deep aqua color due to the type of pebbletec we had the pool made with.  The slide is to the left, normally the waterfall runs down the rocks in the middle and off the diving ledge, and there are stairs leading up to the slide on the right.

Inside the little cave/grotto is a bench that can seat two people comfortably.  Our pool is eight feet deep at the waterfall end, so the bench inside the grotto makes for a comfortable resting spot.

When you're sitting in the cave, on that little bench (assuming the waterfall is not on), the view looks like this:

When the waterfall is on, all you see is a big current of water coming down in front of you.  It's kind of fun.

Lately, I've been keeping the waterfall off so Phoebe can get in the grotto to feed her babies.

Phoebe hates the waterfall.

I'm explaining all this so you understand it's impossible to see Phoebe's nest unless you get in the pool, swim to the grotto and perch your butt on the grotto bench.  If you look back at my first photo, you'll notice you can't see the nest at all.

The babies are now four days old and they're starting to look like birds.  

I think the above is my, so far, favorite photo of the babies.  (And yes, there are four in the nest even though you can only see two beaks in the above photo.)

Phoebe is feeding her babies constantly.  She will even feed them if I'm in the pool swimming, but she won't get near the nest if anyone else from my family is in the pool.

Phoebe and I have, apparently, reached a point of mutual trust in our relationship.

The babies heard the click of my camera and thought it must be mom coming in to feed them again.

Kind of cute in an ugly, newborn, sort of way.

© Twenty Four At Heart

Who Has The Cigars?

Last Wednesday evening, Phoebe's four eggs hatched.

She promptly discarded the egg shells in our pool.

I took this photo within two hours after they hatched.

Can you even tell they're birds?  They look like four fuzzy blobs.

By Saturday afternoon they were three days old and looked like this:

I can only see two beaks in the above photo, but there are four babies in the nest.  They're just huddled in such a way, all four beaks aren't visible.

Phoebe and her mate have been very busy feeding them.

I check on them every day when I swim.

How long do you think it will take until they actually look like birds?

© Twenty Four At Heart

A Horse is a Horse, Of Course ..

I feel like I haven't stopped for a second these last few weeks.

Spring is always a busy time of year at our house because it's baseball season.  My son plays baseball year round, but in the spring the schedule becomes chaotic   insane nonstop.

Anyway ....

Yesterday I had a morning photo shoot with a horse.

Two horses, actually.

I don't know if I've ever mentioned Money Town has its own stables and a lot of equestrian trails?  Along with The Real Housewives, there are horsey people living in Money Town too.

This is Rio:

Isn't he beautiful?

His mane is naturally wavy ... it hasn't been braided to get that fancy hot-guy look.

This is (a very affectionate) Austin with his owner:

They love each other.

I haven't had time to go through all the photos yet, but these two struck me immediately.  I think I'm going to have a hard time narrowing down the best shots, because at first glance there seem to be quite a few special ones.

Getting good horse photos is more difficult than you would think.  Ideally, you want to get a shot with the horses ears UP, but a lot of time the ears are twitching around - first UP and then DOWN.  

And then?  

One ear goes UP while the other ear goes DOWN ....

Well, you get the idea.

Twitchy ears!

I told Rio and Austin's owner I'd like to pay them a few visits so they get used to both me and my camera.  Mainly, I just want to spend more time with them because I fell in love with both of them.

I brought Rio and Austin carrots and apples so they would like me.  (They did.  At least, they liked me as long as I was feeding them!)  Austin is the more curious of the two, and wanted to slobber on check out my camera up close.

Austin accidentally stepped on me.  I was wearing my Nike Free running shoes which means it was pretty much like being barefoot.

It was my fault; Austin didn't even know anything had happened.  Do you know how much a quarter horse weighs?

A lot!  (I think about a thousand pounds?)

This is an iPhone photo of what I'm quite sure is my broken big (and getting bigger by the second) toe.  It's much more swollen and colorful now than it was when the photo was taken.

But that's okay ...

Because guess what?

After all I've gone through, a broken toe is just not a big deal.

Spending a morning with Rio and Austin was worth it.

© Twenty Four At Heart 

Oh Baby Baby Its A Wild World

* Today is a "nature" post.  If you hate the outdoors, come back tomorrow!  (Or go smoke a pack of cigarettes, have a few martinis, and watch a movie - whatever!) *

I was recently talking with a woman in our neighborhood and she commented my backyard is "amazing, it's like a bird sanctuary and wildlife refuge mixed into one."

Indeed it is ....

Our yard backs up to a national forest.  A few large critters are stopped by our fence, but a lot of the others don't really understand where the national forest leaves off and our backyard begins.

Many times I'm too busy running here and there to observe them for long.  Lately, I've been trying to take small breaks to just sit quietly with my camera and watch, shoot (in the photography sense), and enjoy them.

If you've been reading here for long, you already know a lot of hummingbirds hang out in my backyard.  They live here year round, unlike areas with cooler climates.  In fact, we have more hummingbirds than we know what to do with. 

I love everything about the above photo.  I don't know what it is, exactly, that makes me love it so much - but I do.

Leapin' lizards!

This lizard jumped the distance down from our fairly high patio step.  I love how his shadow, as he flies through the air, is visible on the patio below him.  Briefcase wants a copy of the Leapin' Lizard photo for his office.  

Why?  

I guess it's a guy thing ...??

I think this is a Chipping Sparrow.

I might be wrong - and if I am, you're welcome to tell me what type of bird it is in my comments section.  Whatever it is, we have a lot of them.  In fact, we have so many birds of varying species in our yard this year, it's sort of ridiculous.  I won't bore you with all of them, but I'm going to keep trying to get decent photos of the hawks and owls.

Remember Phoebe?  She's (surprise!) a Black Phoebe and has a nest with four eggs in our pool grotto.  The eggs still haven't hatched.  (I check every day when I swim.)  I took this photo of her early one morning with my iPhone.  

Phoebe is almost a member of the family at this point.  One of my readers suggested I get a Phoebe-cam so you could watch her eggs hatch.  If anyone wants to donate one, let me know!

And last, for today anyway, is the wildest animal of all.

Are you ready?

Brace yourself ....

(Taken with my Canon S95)

Yes, dogs DO smile.

I have a companion with me every single time I'm in the pool.  

I don't think he could be any happier.

© Twenty Four At Heart

Snips and Snails and ...? Bits and Pieces

It seems like so much has been going on these last few weeks.

My list of topics to blog about is long.

In an effort to get partially caught up, I'm going to share random snippets today.

I'm always a little random anyway, aren't I?

•  A couple weeks ago, I attended a bridal shower for a woman who used to be the primary babysitter for my kids.  When did she become a woman and not a teen babysitter?  The shower was held in a beautiful home on Balboa Island in Newport Beach.  Here's the view from one of the balconies:

The shower was an all day affair, and beautifully done.  I dreaded getting dressed up and having to act like a girl girly, but it ended up being a very nice day.  My only regret was not having any time to stroll the island.  I'll have to make another trip to visit sometime soon - it's very close to me.

•  I bought this cookbook for my daughter.  Before mailing it to her, I looked through it and decided I wanted a copy too.  So yes, I did go back and buy a second one for myself.

The key words on the cover being "easy" and "fast."

•  Remember Problem Kid ... the mentally ill college student who was threatening my son before being institutionalized?  And then he was released, but threatening my son from New York?  We've been informed his family has taken him to Peru for treatment.  (Which is odd because didn't his family live in Brazil?  On the other hand ....)

It's a bit of a relief to have him out of the country.  I do hope he gets the treatment he needs.

•  I opened a fortune cookie a couple weeks ago and this is what the fortune said:

I feel like I should do something with my life now, but I'm not sure what ....

•  I bought a couple flowers to plant for the first time since the car accident.  (So yes, that means in nearly five years!)

And no, I don't have enough function in my arm to plant them.  They've been sitting around for days now.  I keep batting my eyelashes at Briefcase, but he hates gardening so he ignores me.  I'll let you know if they every get planted.  Sigh!  (Blogging about it today might help .... it's called husband-guilt via the wife's blog.  Not that I would ever resort to tactics like that ....)

•  Mocha enjoys holidays because she gets a few extra table scraps.  Can you tell she's interested?

And lastly, I have a new avatar for Twitter and Facebook.  I took a quick snapshot in the car Friday night and then edited it with the ColorSplash app.  (Don't worry, Briefcase was doing the driving.)  Telling you about our night out deserves an entire post of its own because celebrities (!) and OC madness might have been involved.

In the meantime, if you're on Twitter or Facebook you'll find me looking like this:

(The red scarf was my effort to show team support for the Angels baseball team.)

I know, I know ... Mocha is much cuter.

© Twenty Four At Heart 

Happy Easter, Passover, Spring ...

I hope today is a day of joy and hope for you and your loved ones.

© Twenty Four At Heart

 

Phoebe

I changed course on today's post because so many people (here on 24, on Instagram, and on Twitter) are now interested in the babies I'm expecting.

Well, really I'm not (exactly) the one expecting.

I took this photo of Phoebe yesterday so you could meet her:

(All of today's photos of Phoebe were taken with a Canon 100-400 lens.)

I've named her Phoebe because she's a Black Phoebe and I'm real original like that. (!!)

For those of you who are nature lovers, this is what I know about Black Phoebes.

Black Phoebes live near water.  They eat insects and sometimes small fish.  They build their nests out of mud on the exterior, and dry plant fibers on the interior.  They like to build their nests under things (like cliffs or our pool grotto) so the nest stays hidden from predators.

Here's the current nest for those of you who missed yesterday's post:

Here's another photo of Phoebe taken yesterday:

She thinks the noise of my camera shutter is very interesting.  She cocks her head from side to side when the camera clicks.

Why does Phoebe return every year to make a nest in our pool grotto?

Well, our house is near water.  We have a lake right behind our house.  Also, our pool is a "natural" rock pool and animals frequently think it IS natural.  (The pool is actually a salt water pool, unlike the fresh water lake behind our house.)

Also?

I'm really nice to Phoebe.

I try to keep the waterfall off until she's done nesting and the babies have learned to fly.  It makes it easier for her to fly in and out of the grotto if the waterfall isn't running.  Phoebe does not like the waterfall on.  Phoebe is used to me swimming every day, and she's even used to me checking on the progress of her babies.  

(I peek, but I never touch the nest, the eggs, or the babies once they hatch.)

I keep the dogs away from Phoebe, although Mocha did bark at her once yesterday when Phoebe was being a bit of a dog-pest.

Phoebe in flight after being barked at:

Predators are looming around Phoebe's nest.

Yesterday we had a red shouldered hawk in one of our trees near the pool.

As I do every year, I find myself hoping Phoebe and her hatchlings survive.

© Twenty Four At Heart 

I'm Expecting!

We have a pool with a grotto.

This is what I found in the grotto while swimming last weekend:

(Taken with my Canon S95)

While I swim each day, Mama Bird flies to a rock on the side of our pool and watches me nervously.  The minute I'm out of the pool, she's back in her nest.  Daddy Bird stays nearby and brings her food.

Mama Bird returns to our pool grotto and builds a new nest in the exact same spot every year.

I always worry one of the babies will fall into the pool and drown.  As far as I know, it hasn't happened yet.

In any case, once again, I find myself excited and anxious for the new arrivals.

© Twenty Four At Heart

New(ish) Furniture And A Virtual Tour

** Wow!  I've been amazed at the number of standout/canvas orders pouring in.  Thank you to each and every single one of you! **

We pretty much live outdoors here.

I'm not going to generalize and say that's the case for everyone who lives in Southern California, because it's not.

But?

For me, for my family, it is (in great part) an outdoor life.

When we bought our house, we bought it for the lot and the view.  It wasn't, by any means, my dream house.  Property here is outrageously expensive, as are homes, and we wanted a yard our kids could play in.  We wanted to be able to entertain outside, and host birthday parties and team parties and ...

Well, you get the idea!

After we built our pool, we realized with quite a sticker shock it would take a lot of outdoor furniture to truly make our backyard into the oasis we wanted it to be.

Can I just say, that shit is expensive!

In the last year or two, our outdoor furniture has been looking worse and worse.  The idea of buying such a large quantity of it again seemed ridiculous.  Instead, I went back to the original manufacturer and struck a deal.  For less than a third of the replacement cost, they agreed to come pick up all the furniture, sandblast it, repaint it, replace all the cushions and upholstery, and then redeliver it back to our house.

It was still a costly project, but it was way less costly than buying new.

(By the way, you should always buy outdoor furniture in the winter for the best price.  I was able to negotiate the pricing a lot.)

Yesterday afternoon, our "new" looking, but actually "old," furniture arrived.

I took a few quick snapshots so you could see what we've got going on.

We have a two level, very large, patio.  This three person (glider) sofa and table are on the lower level.  The area is almost always shaded by our deck.  

Mornings will often find me having coffee out on the sofa.  It's just steps outside my back door.  I also, often, write to YOU while sitting there.

If you go up two steps, you'll find yourself on the raised level of the patio.  I designed a raised patio to better take advantage of our mountain/lake view.

We have two bar chairs by the built in barbeque/bar area.  

Sometimes there's a margarita maker up there too.

Also on the upper patio level, is our biggest table.  It seats eight people comfortably, and has a really large fourteen foot umbrella to keep it shaded.  (The umbrella isn't up in this photo - sorry, I forgot!)  The chairs are swivel/rocking chairs too so they're very comfy to sit in.

It's a great table for entertaining, and it gets used a lot.

If you take a little walk, you'll find yourself out in the pool area.

On the farthest side of the pool, we have three slingback chairs.  Slingback chairs dry faster than cushioned chairs.  Nobody wants to get out of the pool and sit on a wet cushion so slingbacks were the way to go by the pool.  The slingback chairs swivel and rock too.

If we want to take a nap, read a book, or just relax - we have two very comfortable lounge chairs.  They share a little side table (not visible in this photo) and a ten foot umbrella.  Umbrellas are a must here because it gets very hot in the summer.

In the background of the above photo, you can see the spiral staircase leading up to our deck.  Before I take you up to the deck, I should show you the other side of the pool by the jacuzzi.

Are you asleep yet? 

Wake up we're almost ready to go up on the deck!  

These additional two chairs provide us with a total of seven seating areas by the pool.  The little side table comes in handy for drinks/sunglasses/sunscreen/etc.  When we have big parties we bring out folding chairs, beach chairs, neighbor's chairs ... whatever we can get our hands on.  We've had up to 150 people in our backyard for parties before.

(Um, we don't just raid the neighbor's houses for chairs.  We borrow chairs, and they let us because we invite them to most of our parties.  Just thought I should clarify ....)

OK, let's go up the spiral staircase to the very, very, very, big deck.

Why do we have such a big deck?

Well, because I wanted (a lot) more shade in our yard.  Honestly, it gets really HOT here in the summer.  Also, the minute I saw this particular (completely unlandscaped) lot, my brain could not stop designing it.  Our backyard is my personal baby.  I will cry if/when we sell this house.  A lot of my brain cells are permanently embedded in the design of this backyard. 

So, up on the deck ...

The deck is basically like two separate, adjoining, rooms.

On the first side, we have another table.  This table seats six comfortably.  It's a "bar" table, with bar chairs.  (That means it sits up high so you are looking OVER the railing of the deck when you're seated.)  Again, I wanted to maximize enjoyment of the mountain/lake view behind our house. 

We've enjoyed a lot of evenings/dinners at this table.  In the morning it gets full, very strong, sun so we rarely spend our mornings here.

On the far side, or next "room" of the deck, we have a more shaded area for relaxing.  There's a single lounger with an ottoman and a double lounger which fits two people easily.

My Golden is very excited the double lounger is back.

He's not allowed on it ....

© Twenty Four At Heart

April Showers

We had a cold front come down from Alaska yesterday.

It was really cold by OC standards.  I'd tell you how cold, but then you'd laugh at me.

We even got hail which is very exciting around here.

Hail on the cushions!

And ... 

Hail on the grass!

Temperatures stayed cool, but a short while later it looked like this:

(View from my deck)

Even when we get fun "bad" weather, it doesn't last for long.

© Twenty Four At Heart

Fantastic Friday!

I am SO ready for the weekend, how about you?

First of all, the winner of yesterday's giveaway is:

MissMolly, with comment #40.

Congratulations MissMolly!

I keep wanting to sing "Good Golly Miss Molly" now!

Thank you to everyone who participated.  I really wish I could send everyone who entered a photo, but I can't.

This was a fun giveaway to do.  I think I'll do something similar again in the future.  Maybe next time I'll do an ocean/beach scene on canvas.  Landscape photography printed on canvas turns out as beautiful as a painting when properly done.  (And I have someone who does the most beautiful work!)

In the interest of keeping today light and breezy ....

Wait - does that sound like a feminine hygiene commercial?

Let me try again ...

In the interest of having a fun and easy Friday, I'm going to share some random photos from the week.  You might have seen some of these on Twitter and/or Instagram if you follow me in either of those places.

Random child playing on the beach.  

Why does it always touch my heart to see children playing on the beach?

(Well, except for the ones who run over my towel when I'm napping and kick sand in my face.  Those kids bug me.)

 

The sun breaking through the clouds at the end of yesterday's baseball game after a few "sprinkles" of rain.  I thought this photo came out so pretty considering it's just an iPhone photo.

We have a lot of lizards in Southern California.  I never think twice about them, but my recent house guests were surprised to see them.  (By the way, all lizards are not geckos and the above lizard is NOT a gecko.  The gecko/lizard confusion has been a big one since the Geico commercials began.)  This particular lizard tried to make a dash into our house, but I thwarted its efforts.

I have a "no lizards in the house" policy.  Well, except for my son's once-upon-a-time pet gecko which really was a gecko.  It was named Gecko (!) and we allowed it to live indoors in a terrarium for a short while before returning it to its natural habitat.  It ate crickets.  That is an entirely separate blog post.

South Orange County has some of the most expensive gas in California:

If my neighborhood wasn't so mountain-y-ish I'd be riding my bike everywhere I go.

I made a purchase for the house recently:

It's a new lamp (from Restoration Hardware) to replace a very old, and recently broken, lamp.  (My walls are not yellow even though they look yellow in the above photo.  I had a filter on my lens when I took the picture.) 

The old lamp broke accidentally when someone was playing:

He loves his giraffe.  

He loves his giraffe very, very, much.

© Twenty Four At Heart

Apologizing For My Worst Post Ever

* I will be hosting a photo giveaway tomorrow, make sure to stop by! *

My guests left on a redeye out of LAX last night.  (Translation:  I was up very, very, late seeing them off.)

I was expecting a well known blogger to be staying with me today, giving me one additional day of playing hostess, but plans changed and I'm now (sadly) famous blogger-less.

With all the guest commotion, I haven't had much writing time so I thought I'd give you a brief update on what I've been doing.

•  Spending way too much time on L.A. freeways.

•  Eating too much, drinking too much, getting too little sleep.

•  Logging several miles of walking/hiking in an effort to counter all of the above.

•  Snapping iPhone photos in my front yard:

•  Drinking a lot of Jasmine Oolong iced tea, which I might be addicted to.

•  Taking a few photos with my "real" camera.

•  Driving baseball carpool.  Baseball carpool involves hours upon hours in the car with smelly teenage baseball players who tell inappropriate jokes and then laugh uproariously.  

•  Helping PR make SIX posters for school.  It took HOURS of my weekend.  (Seriously!)

•  Booking a family trip to Hawaii for this upcoming summer.  Briefcase insisted on the trip, and I was *forced* to go along with his wishes.  I might have added a couple extra days when I made the reservation.  (Shhhhhhhhh!)

•  Omigod Hawaii - that means BATHING SUIT TIME!

•  Noticing funky, unusual, cloud formations in the early mornings.

(Taken while sipping my favorite coffee on my patio.)

Also?

Now that my guests are gone, I'm gearing up to photograph a high school baseball tournament.  There are, I think, seven games in the next nine day period.  I may have to skip photographing a few of them because even the thought of all those hours of photography makes me cringe in pain.  Baseball requires a BIG, HEAVY lens and the games usually run 2-3 hours long..  My monopod has helped my arm a lot, but there are limits to what I can handle pain-wise.

OK, this is the most boring post ever.  I'm sorry - I'm exhausted!

I'll be back tomorrow, hopefully refreshed, and with a great giveaway.

© Twenty Four At Heart 

Signs My Hormones *Might* Be Changing

* I love you, male readers, but you're not going to want to read this post!  Please come back and visit again tomorrow!  xo

Ok, first of all, let's just be honest.

Women's hormones are always changing, even before our first period.  Our gender is screwed by forces out of our control.  

Basically, we're fucked the moment our ovaries develop in utero.

Remember, a couple months ago when I told you there was a shortage of tampons?

Later that same week, I saw my favorite brand of tampons back in the stores and I decided to stock up on them.  (There were rumors they were being discontinued.)  I might have gone a little overboard by buying enough to last me another two years.  Stop laughing ... I was very focused at the time.

I haven't had a period since.

No kidding.

I have a cupboard filled with a two year supply of tampons and I'm pregnant.

Oh wait ...???

I've had a period every 28 days since I was barely 11 years old.  (My three pregnancies being the only exception.)  My body is like clockwork ....

So, what the hell?

"I just went through menopause," I announced to Briefcase when my period was a week late.

"What?" he asked skeptically.  

"Menopause.  I went through it last week while you were gone," I answered.

He raised one eye questioningly, grabbed a beer, and wisely hid behind the newspaper.

"Maybe we're going to have a BABY!" I suddenly exclaimed wide-eyed.

(long silent pause)

"A BABY!" I said again, in case he hadn't heard me.  "That's why my jeans are so tight!"

I instantly began worrying about my unborn fourth child, and what my three existing kids might think about a sibling so much younger than themselves.  Baby names started popping into my head at an alarming rate.

"Um, Suzanne?  Do you remember having your tubes tied?" Briefcase asked questioningly.  "It was around fifteen years ago ...?"

"Oh, that's right," I frowned.  I absently tugged on my too-tight jeans as I pondered the idea I might simply be - fat. 

Clearly, that is not an acceptable possibility.

"My tubes must have grown back together!" I announced suddenly.  

Briefcase gave me a panicked look, then sighed, and shook his head no.

(He seems to do that a lot around me.)

I turned to Doctor Google and began muttering out loud as I read.

  •  I haven't had any night sweats - it can't be menopause.

  •  I'm (so!) lacking "mental clarity" - it must be menopause.

  •  I haven't had any hot flashes - it can't be menopause.

Here are my symptoms:

I've been getting a lot of headaches and they seem hormone related.  (Meaning they're the kind of headache I often get when I'm PMS-ing.)  But maybe they're related to my arm/shoulder/neck injuries instead?   

The music I chose, and put on my own iPod, is irritating the hell out of me.

On Tuesday I woke up with a pimple on the left side of my nose.

By Friday it was gone, but I had a new one on the right side of my nose.

On Sunday, I stared in the mirror, horrified, as I watched mustache hairs sprout out of my face right before my eyes.

I'm completely lacking in energy.  I'm considering a full time job as a couch. (Or just, perhaps, taking a nap - whatever!)

I'm craving carbs (especially chocolate!) just like I do when I'm PMS-y-ish, but no period.

I cried a ridiculous amount at a sad movie the other night.  I always cry at sad movies, but not as much as I did at this one.  (Broken hearts are a tragedy, let's all sob out loud together and hold hands while we do it!)

I seem to be going through some sort of I don't know what I want to be when I grow up crisis.  Also?  How did my life turn out like this, what the hell?

I suddenly don't know who the frumpy lady in the mirror is, but I wish she would give the old me back.

So Internet, what do you think?

Am I pregnant?

Am I perimenopausal ... whatever that is?

Or maybe I really did have a one week jump into full blown menopause?  Is that even possible?  Without any hot flashes/night sweats ... anything?

© Twenty Four At Heart

Busy as a Bee

My guests have been surprisingly easy, but still - 

I've been very busy since they arrived.

Not too busy to snap this photo yesterday, though.

© Twenty Four At Heart

Memories

It's funny how in the span of just a few days ...

I went back in time and relived so much of my past.

I laughed, I cried ...

I submerged myself in all of my past experiences, and feelings, again.

And then?

Just like that ...

I knew it was time to put the memories away, and close the door.

© Twenty Four At Heart

Ruffled Feathers

I get a lot of wildlife roaming through my backyard.

People always seem surprised to hear it because this is Orange County, the land of Disneyland and bad reality TV shows.  Nonetheless, I live adjacent to a "national forest" and I see a lot of critters.

Recently, a pair of doves have taken up residency in a tree adjacent to my patio.  I imagine they're building a nest because our yard seems to be the favorite nesting place of every.single.bird living in our little canyon.

Yesterday, one of the doves became upset when Mocha (our chocolate lab) chased her off our patio. 

In fact, you might say Mocha ruffled the dove's feathers.

I'm feeling like that dove today.

I have a second round of house guests arriving tonight.  I have a lot to do to get ready for their arrival.  I'll be driving up to LAX to pick them up, and I don't expect to get home until well after midnight.

I shot a baseball game yesterday which means I also have a team full of parents waiting for me to edit several hundred photos.  I have no time to edit them, because ... house guests.

In other words, I'm feeling very overwhelmed by my "to do" list.

I plan to continue posting through the chaos of the next week, but if I miss a day you'll know why.  I might even subject you to whatever else I find in my old photo albums if I don't have time to write.

Also?

I'm very excited because next week I'm going to do a giveaway.  I'll be giving away one of my photos which I made into a "standout."  It turned out so beautiful!  (I'll have details next week.)

In the meantime, if any of you have any tips on house guests made simple for hosts with one working arm, please let me know.  I tend to stress myself out way more than I should when I have visitors.

© Twenty Four At Heart

Proving (Once Again!), I'm Willing to Humiliate Myself on the Internet

We've been doing some cleaning out, and rearranging, at home lately.

Yesterday, I found a huge box of old photo albums Briefcase had recently moved into our garage.  Our garage gets really hot during the summer.  I didn't want all our old photos ruined from the heat.  I opened the box and began moving them inside.

Of course, I got sidetracked and started looking through old albums.

And, of course, my arm started flipping out (!!) on me for having moved the heavy box.  (I only moved it a total of six inches, but!)

I decided moving all the heavy albums, without help, wasn't a smart thing to do.  So I stopped moving them, left them strewn all over the floor for Briefcase to swear at   find  pick up later, and sat down perusing the albums I had so far rescued.

And then ...

I began to giggle.

Why?

Well, because .....

 

In 1984 I was very skinny, and now I'm fat.  I also had big poofy hair, because it was the eighties and there was some kind of rule about having Farrah hair right about then.  

It seems hairstyles changed frequently, because by 1985 my hair went perm-curly-crazy.

Napa - summer of 1985  (Photo taken by Briefcase.  He was new to my life.  At the time, I never in a million years would have believed I'd end up eventually marrying him.  He, clearly, was not my type.)

Please notice the horrible Dolphin shorts in the above photo.  Yesterday, one of my readers asked me what Dolphin shorts were on Twitter.  She's, obviously, a young-un.  I explained to her Dolphin shorts were all the rage in the 1980's for some un-Godly reason.  Dolphin shorts made the thinnest of thighs look fat and were not complimentary on anyone.  And ... they were very, very, SHORT shorts.

You probably also noticed, even in 1985, I had a camera around my neck.  Photography and I go waaaaaaaaaay back.

Well, 1985 rolled on and by the end of the year Briefcase and I were serious enough to take a vacation together.  We took off for a week at Club Med in Cancun, Mexico.

Oh yes, we did!

How eighties is that?

One day, on our Cancun Club Med vacation, as I was pulling back my wild-permed hair to head out to the beach, Briefcase was being annoying and snapped this photo of me as I said, "Don't take my photo!"

Look!  

I was unintentionally sexy in a very 80's way.

I wish my body still looked like that.

Do you know, at the time, I thought I was fat.

Seriously, I did.

I'm 5'5" tall and I weighed 115 pounds.

I guess, like many women, I've always felt insecure about my body - even when I was thin.

Also?

I had never touched the color of my hair.  That horrible, brassy, look in the above photo?  It's, no doubt, from too much sun combined with the 1985 perm.

(Now, of course, I've tried all sorts of different things with my hair ... pink, purple, highlights, low-lights - you name it!)

Okay, I suppose I've given you enough laughs for one day.

Did you hear me?

I said you can stop laughing (at me) now ....

© Twenty Four At Heart

And Then I Went to the Beach

I'm basically a corporate widow these days.

Actually, I think I've always been a corporate widow - but even more so lately.

It's making me grumpy.

On top of being single-ish, last week was a dreary week without a lot of sunshine.  

It's supposed to be up to 80F/27C by Wednesday.

Thank Gawd!

Anyway, I feel for all of you who live in cold climates because I go stir crazy after a day or two without the sun.

On Sunday afternoon, I knew I had to get to the beach regardless of wind, rain and/or clouds.  I drove about 20 minutes and was quite pleased to discover the weather was actually better at the beach than at my house.  (Often, that's not the case.)

The storm clouds were still present, but the sun was (sort of) shining through and there was blue sky.

Yay!

I roamed up and down the beach with my camera, happily clicking away.

Have I ever (four hundred bazillion times?) mentioned I love pelicans?

I wonder how they decide who gets to be their leader?

(Yes, I AM drinking wine as I write this post ... why do you ask?)

I took a lot of photos, most of which I haven't even looked at yet.

Nonetheless, I wanted to share this next photo with you.  Technically, I know it's not a great photo, but do I care?

No, I don't care ... because I LIKE it, and sometimes that's all that matters.  I took it from inside a cave at the beach, looking out at the pretty view in front of me.

I like the above photo because the sun is sparkling in it.

Can we all applaud for the sparkling sun?

(I seriously have only had ONE glass of wine.  I'm such a lightweight with alcohol.  In case you're interested, the wine I'm drinking is called Decoy and it's made by Duckhorn but it's more affordable than most of their wines.)

Back to the beach!

Isn't it pretty?

© Twenty Four At Heart

Mocha

She just might be the happiest dog ever ....

Photo via Camera+ on iPhone.

© Twenty Four At Heart

Happiness

It looks like it's pool time again!

© Twenty Four At Heart

I'm Blinking, Not Winking

:: Blink ::

:: Blink ::

:: Blink ::

"Hey there, how ya doin'?" he asked leering at me.

I looked away, blushing.  

I wasn't trying to WINK at the man I passed.  I just have a bit of a one-eye BLINKING problem this week.

I woke up a few days ago with a scratchy, red, right eye.  Fortunately, the very next day I had my once-a-year eye check-up.  

Isn't that eye-ronic?  

Talk about timing!  

My weird not-so-imaginary, less-than-a-full-blown, ailment couldn't have timed itself more perfectly.

"What's going on?  Why's your right eye so red?" my eye doc asked immediately.

"Allergies?" I asked.

"No ...," he said peering into my eye.  

(He loves it when I give him an EYE-full!)

"Is it going to fall out?" I asked.

He laughed, "You're always so funny, Suzanne."

(Um ... I was SERIOUS!  I think I have a little bit of an eyeball-phobia.)

As it turns out, I have a clogged tear duct and it's no big deal.  It should get better on it's own in a few days.  In the meantime I'm supposed to use moisturizing drops to keep my eye wet and put warm compresses on the area of the clogged duct each night.

NOT A BIG DEAL!  

It doesn't hurt, my eye just feels kinda scratchy.

I later explained to my pharmacist I need something to get me a little wetter, and asked if he had any suggestions.  Then I promptly began stammering and turning all sorts of shades of red.  I tried to explain what I meant and he openly snickered.  

(I am SO overdue to write a series post about my pharmacist!  Coming soon to 24 ....!)

I'm also supposed to wear sunglasses for now on when my eyes are digesting piles of brick dust as I photograph baseball games.  As it turns out, if you station yourself by third base you, and your eyes, eat a lot of dust as players slide (or run) by you.  

* For those of you who aren't baseball fans, brick dust is what they put on baseball fields.  It makes the infield that sort of reddish color.  It's also what causes me to do so much laundry. *

In any case, if you run into me this weekend - maybe now you'll understand.

:: Blink ::

:: Blink ::

Or did I mean ...

:: WINK ::

:: WINK ::

       ?

P.S.  The above photo REALLY IS my eye!  Aren't eyeballs freaky?   

© Twenty Four At Heart

My (so far) Favorite Apps

Not all of you have the same phone I do, but don't go running away quite yet.

A lot of the same apps I'm learning to love on my iPhone are available, or will be soon, on other phones too.

Several of my friends have recently purchased new phones and asked me to share with them which apps I find myself using the most.  Since I've had the same conversation four times in the last month, I thought I'd write my thoughts here.  Next time someone asks me what apps I like, I'll just send them a link.

Just kidding!

Of course, I always love to hear what other people like too.  I've found all my favorites from friends and readers.  

You people are the best!

I use the Twitter app a lot, Facebook less, and the Weather Channel at least once a day.  Go ahead and laugh at me about using the Weather Channel.  (I want to know if it's going to be in the 70's or 80's ... is that okay?)

I've, of course, tried a lot of photography apps.  I know Instagram is the trendy social media photo app right now, but it doesn't thrill me the way it seems to thrill everyone else.  I think it's great for sharing photos, but the photo quality doesn't do a whole lot for me.  Photo quality is important to an obsessive photo person like me.

So?

My favorite photography app right now is Camera+.  I love the ease of use with it, and I love the variety of filters, etc.  It was initially recommended to me by a Twitter friend who is a professional magazine photographer and editor.  It's the photo app I come back to most frequently.  (My second favorite is 100 Cameras.)

If you're new to photography and want a basic how-to guide, Photo Caddy might be a helpful app.  It gives tips, suggestions, and typical settings for different situations.  

The app I use the most every day, however, is a productivity app called Things.  Things is expensive as apps go (I think it was $9.00), but I live and breathe it - all day, every day.  Things is, so far, the best to-do list, get yourself organized, don't forget anything, app I've seen.  Are there better apps out there?  Maybe, but I haven't found them.  (I have, however, found several productivity apps which don't work as well for me.)

I've had an insanely busy few weeks and Things is the thing keeping me on track.

My two favorite music apps are Pandora and Shazam.  I don't think I need to explain those, do I?  (Maybe I do?)  Briefly, Pandora is like a personalized radio station in your pocket and Shazam identifies music and tells you what you're listening to.

My favorite vice app is Wine Ratings.  Oh, how I love this app.  I used it when BevMo recently had their five cent wine sale.  It's worth every penny if you like to try new wines and step out of your wine rut.

You ARE in a wine rut, aren't you?

(I knew you were!)

I keep a running grocery list on Grocery Gadget and do my grocery (and pharmacy) shopping off of it.  I no longer make a "regular" grocery list ... it's all done through this app.  I love using it when I'm out and about and suddenly remember I need something on my next trip to get groceries.  I add it to my Grocery Gadget list immediately because it's always with me.  (Fewer forgotten items means fewer trips to the store.) 

I'm really not that much of a game player, but when I'm waiting for PR to come out from baseball practice, or sitting in a waiting room somewhere I'll play them.  What am I playing?  Well, most of the time it's Angry Birds, Tiny Wings or DoodleJump.  Again, I don't play games enough to need a lot of them.

I find myself using Lifestyle apps a lot on the weekends.  I like Yelp, AroundMe, Wikihood, Where and YPmobile best.  They each have different strengths, and all of them have been valuable to me at different times.

FlightTrack is a must-have travel app if you, or someone in your family, travels by plane a lot.

Educational.  My dad spent his career working for NASA, which rubbed off on me a little.  I like both the NASA app and Star Walk.  I realize these are nerdy apps, and not everyone would be interested in them.

I have other apps I like a lot too, but the ones I've mentioned today are the ones I use the most on a day in, day out, basis. 

What am I missing?

What are your favorites, or the ones you rely on the most? 

I love hearing from you, because you have the BEST ideas!

© Twenty Four At Heart

Learning Curve

My new lens arrived yesterday morning.  I strapped it to my monopod and shot a couple quick practice shots in our backyard.  A few hours later I was off to shoot another high school baseball game.

When I got home at the end of the day, the sun was setting.  I raised the lens with a very weary, painful, arm and took one more photo.  It ended up being my favorite of the day.

* Posted in the Miscellaneous album in my gallery. *

Isn't that just beautiful?  

It goes to show, the unplanned photos are often the best.  I think I'm going to like the new lens.

This is what I learned yesterday:

•  There's a learning curve with a monopod.  I might have bopped myself in the face with it a few times.

•  There's a learning curve with a 100-400mm lens.  (Let's just leave it at that!)

•  I'm getting the hang of this sports photography thing and my photos are already vastly improved from a week ago.  Yay me!

•  Photographing a 2-3 hour high school baseball game is very physical and not just for my bum arm.  I felt like I had actually played the game by the time I was done.  Maybe I can call it exercise????

•  Someone is always going to be angry they have to pay to purchase photos.  Do they really think I should spend hours photographing, editing, uploading AND developing photos for free?  Do they not realize it costs money to do that?

•  Uploading and editing hundreds of photos is a pain in the ass, but taking them is a joy.

•  Brick dust and sweat aren't attractive on me.

•  A pain pill on an empty stomach is always a bad idea no matter what.

•  Hummingbirds are so much prettier than high school boys.

© Twenty Four At Heart

Why I'm Fighting This Fight

I'm writing this while sitting outside on my patio.  I'm enjoying the beautiful weather, the mountain view, a cup of tea, and a few moments of quiet.  My retrievers are napping at my feet, happy to have me home.

Right now, my arm is covered with three large pain patches, which is the maximum number a person can safely wear, or so my doctor tells me.  (Twelve hours on followed by twelve hours off ... never to exceed three pain patches at a time.)  

My bionic arm is turned up to the highest frequency it's currently programmed for.  It's a frequency I rarely use because the high frequency, in and of itself, often hurts.  I've already taken prescription strength ibuprofen, a narcotic pain pill, and cocooned my shoulder in heat.

And still ...

The pain is breathtaking - awe inspiring really.

I've asked myself, more than once, the question I've recently heard from some of you.

Why am I doing this?

Why am I so determined to live my life behind a lens?

Why am I photographing a season of nonstop baseball games for a local high school?

Why do I do something I know will only cause me substantially more pain?

Why?

On Saturday, I was at the baseball field when a visitor stopped by to watch a portion of the game.  The visitor was a woman I knew from the local sports community before my car accident.  I also saw her during the first few months after my accident.  At the time, my life consisted of nothing more than surgery after surgery.  Since then, our lives have moved in different directions.  We've been out of touch for several years.

There she was though, stopping by to catch a few moments of a local high school game.  The first words out of her mouth when she saw me were, "You've got a camera in your hands again!"  She said this with a huge smile on her face, genuinely thrilled to think I'm able to resume this part of my life.  Photography, she knew, was a huge part of my life prior to the accident.

Her words echoed in my mind for the remainder of the day.  Memories rushed back of years, and years, and years of traipsing everywhere with my camera around my neck.  Recollections of the hundreds of baseball games I've attended over the years, all with my camera by my side, also came back to me.

I thought back to the day I received my current camera.  I didn't know if I'd be able to even hold it, but I bought it anyway.  I bought it because I knew if I did, I'd find a way to use it come hell or high water.

For the first time since the accident, I've realized the stubbornness determination which exists inside me.

I've also realized I'm capable of enduring more pain than most people have the ability to even conceive of.  The pain is always there, wanting to stop me in my tracks.  There are moments when it does, but then I forge on.  I do so, not because I'm strong or "inspirational," but because to do otherwise is unthinkable.

I've gained a new perspective on how much I hate being told I'm disabled and/or that I'll never be able to do certain things again.  Since the accident, I have refused to accept the words "can't," "don't," and "never again."  I hear these words.  I listen to them, I acknowledge them, and then I go about my life as if they were never spoken.

There are around one hundred people involved with the team I'll be photographing for the next several months.  Out of all those people, only two are aware there's anything "wrong" with me.  To everyone else, I'm a normal person.  I'm a photographer.  They don't know I'm "disabled."  They don't know the pain I live in, or the increased pain I experience when I use my camera.  

I wear long sleeved shirts to cover my scars and pain patches when I'm in public.  I've learned to use my left arm, and hand, in ways to make my motions seem normal even when they're not.

I'm a fake.  

I'm an impostor. 

And yet, it's a victory of sorts because they don't even know.

I'm fighting, daily, to have a semblance of the life I was "supposed to have" prior to the accident.  

Living my life the way I want to live it causes me increased pain.

But what kind of life would it be if I gave up the things I love?

What kind of life would it be if I let my pain, my injuries, my disability, dictate how I live my life?

And so yes, there are times when the pain is so intense - even I second guess my choices.

But it's a fight worth fighting ...

It's the life I was meant to lead.

© Twenty Four At Heart

Lake Mission Viejo

When Briefcase and I first married, we lived in a small starter home in the city of Mission Viejo.  The city, and the Mission Viejo lake, hold a special place in my heart.

© Twenty Four At Heart

Countdown to the Weekend!

PR had a great day celebrating his 16th birthday yesterday.

I'm shuttling my guests up to LAX airport today.  It's about an hour drive each way if there's no traffic.  There WILL be traffic so I imagine the errand will take several hours to complete.

(By the way, the guests had nothing to do with PR's birthday - the timing was pure, exhausting, coincidence.)

Tonight?

Tonight I plan to do nothing but enjoy a glass of wine and hang out on my couch.

To say I was overextended this week is an understatement.

Tomorrow is another baseball game to photograph.  (Number five for the week - egads!)

For now, I thought I'd just share with you this humor from the airport, which is currently undergoing some construction.

© Twenty Four At Heart

Knock, Knock??

Are you still there?

Thank you for your patience while I'm completely out of my mind this week busy for a few days.

Today is PR's 16th birthday!

He's the little one on the right.

Except?

He's not little anymore.  In fact, he's bigger than me.  (*sob*) 

My house guests leave Friday afternoon.

By Monday, I will (hopefully) be back to my normal routine.

Yesterday, I took my guests out to lunch in Laguna.

We had beautiful, perfect visiting-from-the-east-coast (never-been-to-California-before) weather!

The above shot was of my car thermometer as I was driving around Laguna.  My guests were in heaven!  (It was in the low 30's back at their home.) 

Here are a few shots from my afternoon.

My car GPS:

I've lived in California my whole life and I STILL think it's awesome to see all the blue showing up on my GPS indicating OCEAN!

Remember the flooding I wrote about back in December?

It washed out a portion of the boardwalk at Laguna Main.  They're rebuilding the damaged section now.  Do you think it's marked clearly enough?  Maybe they need a few more caution signs?  How much do you want to bet someone will still manage to fall off the boardwalk?

I'm in love, love, love, with the above photo.  (I'm crazy about the lens flare.)

Yes, I AM a photo geek - why do you ask?

Here's what my arm looked like yesterday:

Those are Lidoderm pain patches wallpapering my body.  Pretty?

I think it's safe to say, I shouldn't be photographing baseball games.  The lens I need to use is big and heavy.  The games can easily last three hours.  My pain level is currently off the charts after taking, (very poor), photos of just one game.  

I have another game to shoot this afternoon.

What the hell was I thinking with this official team photographer stuff?  Maybe the monopod I ordered will save me.  It should arrive for next week's games.

Will I ever accept just because I want to use my arm, doesn't mean I'm able to use it?

Denial is really an art form, isn't it?  

I seem to have perfected it.

One last Laguna Beach photo, via my phone ......

Ahhh ... it was such a beautiful day yesterday!

* Yes, this post was written under the influence of pain meds.  Did I make sense?

© Twenty Four At Heart 

Girls, Girls, Girls!

I'm sorry for the half-ass-ish-ness of this post.  (And possibly a few more posts to come.)

I'm crazy out-of-my-mind busy with house guests, PR's 16th birthday this Thursday, and a baseball tournament which accounts for FIVE games in a one week period.  

I could just NOT blog ... but that's sorta against my religion.

On the other hand, have I mentioned I love my iPhone?

I especially love the camera on it.

I hope you don't mind if I update you with iPhone photos until my life settles back into a normal routine.  

Last Friday night was Girl's Night Out.  

I got together with a couple girlfriends and went to a local Money Town bar.  The people watching was fantastic - there were plastic OC/Barbie women everywhere.  One woman, sitting in a booth near us, was particularly entertaining.  She had long, long, bleached-pure-white hair, all sorts of OC fakeness going on ... and her foot in her date's crotch all night.

It was good for a lot of giggles since the entire room was watching her elaborate foot action.

Of course it was too dark to get decent photos in the bar.  I forgot to bring my tiny Canon S95 camera (which takes excellent low light photos).  I'll try to go back to the same bar sometime soon - just so I can bring you pictures of some real (plastic) OC people.

My night began with a pomegranate martini:

I'm not a big drinker ... which is code for saying I get drunk on one drink.

But did I stop after ONE drink?

No, I did not ....

Cheers!

Drunk girlfriends:

They seem to be having a good time.

I had a good time too.

In fact, by the end of the evening I looked like this:

I should be embarrassed to show you the above photo, but hey ... it's not the first time I've humiliated myself by over sharing.  

(And I'm sure it won't be the last either!)

© Twenty Four At Heart

House Guests

I have people staying at my house for the next week which means I'm busy, busy, busy!

I also have a really bad migraine.

The migraine is tied to the very (!) bad pain flare up I'm experiencing.  (My neck/shoulder/upper back muscles get all spasm-y-ish as a result of my injuries and cause migraines sometimes.)  I attempted lifting something I shouldn't have over a week ago and my pain has been spiraling out of control ever since.  

In any case, I'm not in great shape right now ... and did I mention I have house guests?  (Very bad timing for a pain flare up.)

We had a beautiful weekend here though.

Absolutely beautiful .... 

Beach volleyball anyone?

I even got a little sunburned at the high school baseball game on Saturday.  It was 85F (29.4C).  I was way too hot in jeans and a long sleeved t-shirt.  I'll be at the baseball fields a lot over the next several months.  The spring baseball season has officially begun and there are five games this week alone.  

Have I mentioned I'm the team photographer?

THAT should be good for my arm, don't ya think?  

I just ordered a monopod and I'm hoping it helps.  I don't think I'd be able to do a season's worth of games otherwise.  (Baseball requires big, heavy, lenses.)  It will make things much easier on my bum arm.

Of course, not all the local kids are hanging out at the baseball fields.  You'll find a lot of them shopping here:

I thought you might also want to see one of my favorite little shopping centers.  It's in Crystal Cove (Newport Beach).

There are a couple great restaurants, a lot of shops, a Starbucks, etc. located in this center - all conveniently overlooking the Pacific.  There are days when I just like hanging out in the parking lot because the view is so nice.

When it comes right down to it though, I'd rather be ON the beach instead of just looking at it.

Breathtaking, isn't it?

© Twenty Four At Heart

Friday Randomness

I've been really busy lately.  The next ten days are going to be even busier (house guests).  I feel like I've got a lot of topics, and a lot of photos, to share.  I just haven't had much writing or photo editing time.

Here's a dose of randomness in honor of the upcoming weekend.

 

My car can only take premium gas.  Ouch!  It makes me want to cry!

This is Charlie, the basset hound.  He loves me.  I love him.  I especially love his soft ears and droopy eyes.  I met Charlie while out for a walk one day.  Believe it or not, one of my readers spotted me as I was just beginning my walk.  She introduced herself by saying, "I'm not a stalker, but ...."   We ended up walking a few miles together and she took the above photo.  (Thank you Cathy!)  By the way, Cathy is not the same person (at all!) as Pigtails from my recent post.

 

My pink pepper spray arrived!  Stalkers beware!

My new Twitter avatar.  

Of course, I Photoshopped out my wrinkles, wouldn't you?

A heron watching the traffic go by.  (The above photo was taken as I walked around the Mission Viejo lake - more MV lake photos in future posts.)

A bee caught mid-flight.  I love how he looks all fuzzy since my camera was focused on the flower.

My favorite sneakers drying after they once again got soaked by a wave.

Speaking of ...

I hope you have a great weekend!

© Twenty Four At Heart

Arctic Storm

The weather people are predicting "record cold temperatures" for us this weekend.

We also are under two severe weather warnings -

One is a flash flood warning.

I'm thinking about building an ark.

© Twenty Four At Heart

Campus Insecurity

I had a different topic planned for today, but I need to write about this for my sanity's sake and I know you'll have words of wisdom in return.

After yesterday's post published about my encounter with a frightening man on the beach, I was given a few tips by friends and readers.  For instance, Di informed me where I could buy pepper spray, and I promptly ordered some.  (Why have I never thought of having it in my purse or in my photog backpack before?)  

Sue told me about an awesome self defense course she recommends.  I'm not sure it's something I'd be able to do with my disability, but I forwarded the link to my daughter in Boston because they offer courses there too.  

Personal safety was weighing heavily on my mind yesterday.  

I was thinking about how much more vulnerable I am now, since the car accident.  I was pondering pepper spray and self defense classes.  I was thinking about how I "lose myself" when I'm in photographer mode and need to be more aware of my surroundings.

And then an email from the Dean of my son's college arrived.  The email sent all my concerns about safety through the roof.

If you were reading here last month, you're already aware of the nightmare my college-aged son went through.  May I add, it was also a parental nightmare?

If you're a new reader, I will sum it up like this.  A student, PK, had a psychotic break and was making death threats against my son.  He was also very focused on my son's female friend, Pretty.  After a harrowing week, PK broke into a dorm in an attempt to attack Pretty.  He was tackled before he hurt her, and a fight ensued.  The police were called and PK was taken to a psych ward where he was involuntarily committed.  (There's a lot more to this story, but that's it in a nutshell.)

The last I heard, PK's family had arrived from Brazil and it was my understanding they had taken him out of school on "medical leave" for the remainder of the school year.  I presumed he was back in Brazil with his family. 

Since that time, Pretty broke up with her boyfriend.  She's now dating my son.  (Anyone want soap opera rights?)  I think the whole PK ordeal brought them together as more than friends.

In turn, PK's parents took PK out of the psych ward and didn't take him home to Brazil.  Instead, they sent him to live with his adult brother in New York.  Did they not want to bring him home?  I have no idea if he's getting any type of psychiatric help.  The school can't give us any information due to "privacy concerns."

PK has recently begun emailing my son, Pretty, and one of their friends.  From the emails, it's very clear PK's mental illness has escalated rapidly.

The emails make no sense, are completely delusional, and are incredibly frightening.  In them, PK says he's going to come back to the campus for Pretty because he must "fulfill a prophecy" and marry her.  He hasn't threatened my son (this week) except to make a vague reference saying "he better watch it."  My son has blocked PK from Facebook, but PK knows a lot of students at the college and has seen photos of my son and Pretty arm in arm via other student's Facebook pages.

PK now talks openly about having divine powers and embracing Satanism.  He says his mental illness diagnosis is nothing more than an "evil tactic."  He proclaims he "must marry" Pretty soon and writes Mark Zuckerberg (founder of Facebook) will be his best man at the wedding.  

PK is very focused on the following:  Pretty, my son, Mark Zuckerberg, the "conspiracy" against him, and "the brotherhood" of Satanism.

(By the way, Pretty has never dated PK and his relationship with her is entirely a figment of his illness/hallucinations/imagination.)

I could go on and on, but hopefully that gives you enough to realize how seriously ill PK is.  And yes, I do have sympathy for both PK and his family.  My sympathy, however, is secondary to my concern for the safety of everyone else involved.

I received multiple emails from the Dean of my son's college yesterday.  He, of course, can't release any contact information for PK's family to me.  He did contact PK's family, however, to make them aware of the latest flurry of emails.  (PK has repeatedly violated a "no contact order" from the school.)  PK's family has told the Dean PK will not make contact again.

His family has said that before, by the way.

The college has offered victim counseling for my son and Pretty.  I've urged my son to take them up on the offer of counseling.  He was hesitant initially.  I think he's now considering it.  The stress is weighing on him heavily, in part, because he feels he has to protect Pretty.  He's also trying to be a strong and calm "rock" for her because she's very scared.  (Who wouldn't be?)  I think my son is incredibly worried for her safety and very fearful for his own as well.

PK is over five hundred miles away from them, as of yesterday.  He's also expressing his determination to get back to them.

The scary thing is, we just don't know what PK's REAL situation is.  Does he have access to money?  His family is very wealthy, but does he (personally) have access to money right now?  Is his brother keeping close tabs on him?  Could he travel back to North Carolina where my son and Pretty are?  Could he get his hands on a weapon?  

Or perhaps, his family has taken away all access to cash - limiting his options to go anywhere?

Is he a danger, five hundred miles away - or is he not?

We just don't know and that is part of the fear -

The not knowing.

© Twenty Four At Heart

President's Day Weekend

Today is a holiday in the United States.  I know a lot of you don't live in the U.S., but I'm using it as an excuse to be a little bit lazy.

I had all sorts of interesting things happen over the weekend.  I can't wait to tell you all about them, but I'm going to hold off since I know a lot of people are off playing today and won't be here to visit.

Today, (out of the pure laziness I just mentioned), I'm just going to share a few miscellaneous photos I've taken in the last few days.  

In other words, it's just like any other day around here!

Storm clouds - taken with my iPhone.

(By the way, if you're on Instagram my user name is 24atHeart.  I have almost no followers yet, so pleeeeeeeaaaaaaase be my friend!)

The DMV (Department of Motor Vehicles for you non-U.S. people.)  It's sort of like a torture chamber.  Also, did I mention PR now has his official Driver's LEARNING permit?  (Not to be confused with his actual driver's license.)  I feel OLD!  And yes, the DMV photo was ALSO taken with my iPhone ... I'm having fun playing with my new toy.

 

Tulips blooming - possibly my favorite flower.  At least, they seem to be my favorite flower this week.

Very ominous clouds approaching!  This was taken from my backyard.  On the right hand side of the photo you can see the wrought iron spiral staircase which leads up to our deck.

The love note I left for Briefcase.  

Don't get me wrong, I've cleaned up a lot of dog barf over the years.  In this case, Briefcase let our golden retriever eat something he shouldn't have so I let him be in charge of clean-up duties.  I'm a loving wife like that!

The snow is a result of the ominous clouds I showed you in a previous photo.

We've had all sorts of craziness with our weather the last few days.  The above photo is of "my" mountain as seen from our backyard on Sunday morning.  I get so excited when our mountains get snow.  They're at a much lower elevation than the Los Angeles (San Gabriel) mountains so it doesn't happen very often.

© Twenty Four At Heart

Blonde Moments

Do you ever have a month day when you feel really stupid?

As if, perhaps, your IQ is dropping ten points at a time every half hour?

No?

Yesterday morning my iPhone arrived.

To know how excited I was, you'd have to understand how much I've come to hate my Blackberry.  I would have hugged the UPS man, but it wasn't my normal UPS man.  Instead, it was an unknown UPS man who might have been alarmed if I went flying into his arms when I opened the door.  (My regular UPS man is used to all sorts of unpredictable behavior on my part and wouldn't have blinked.)

After he left, I tore into the box, eager to play with my new toy.

The directions informed me all I needed to do was sync the phone to my iTunes library and the phone would be activated.

Go me!

The phone synced (apps loaded, etc.), but the phone itself did not activate.

Hmmmm.

I called Verizon for help.

A NICE man was instantly on the phone helping me.

I explained the problem to him.

"Hmmmm," he said.

"Exactly!" I replied.

It didn't take long for him to look up my account and say, "Ma'am?  You don't happen to be calling me from your Blackberry right now?"

"Yes, I am," I answered, amazed at how intuitive he was.  (I even forgave him for calling me ma'am - which I hate - because he was SO smart!)

"Well, ma'am you'll have to turn that phone OFF in order for your new phone to activate on that same phone number."

OH!

::  Light bulb!  ::

I've got to give him credit for not laughing at me, at least not while I was still on the line with him.

Ahem.

An hour later, I was in a waiting room biding my time until my annual mammogram.

"What a great opportunity to play with my new phone and learn all its tricks," I thought.

I clicked on one app, figured out how it worked, and then moved on to try another.

I got bored quickly and decided to play Angry Birds for awhile until it was my turn to go back for the test.

I've played Angry Birds many times on our iPad.

No big deal, right?

Except the next thing I knew Angry Bird music was BLARING in the (previously) perfectly quiet waiting room.  I didn't know how to silence it.  I didn't know how to turn the phone off.

I basically don't know how my own phone works at all.

And oh yes, you can laugh all you want.  Because you know what I did?  I sat on my phone to try and muffle the Angry Bird music.  Yes, I did.  Sitting on my brand new iPhone only accomplished one thing ...

It made it sound like my ass was singing.

I don't even have words to describe the looks I was getting from the other women in the waiting room.  The expression on the face of the nurse who came to call me back for the test was priceless.  As I rose to walk back with her, an iPhone appeared out of my ass with increasingly loud music.

I was so embarrassed.

I kept pushing and touching things on it and eventually it got quiet.  I'm not sure HOW I silenced it, but I did.

Really, you ought to just come walk around with me for a day.

I'm full of unexpected laughs and you'll never be bored.

© Twenty Four At Heart  

Dancing In The Moonlight

I've recently realized I have almost no photos of my life growing up.  I'm sure a few photos must have been taken ... but where are they now?

It's as if I didn't exist until I reached my twenties.  And then, of course, once I hit 24 I became camera shy.

My son's girlfriend invited him to her high school's Winter Formal last weekend.  They had a great time.  I was honored to be selected as their photographer for the event.  (And yes, I did rouse myself out of my sick bed to perform photographer duties.)

Have I mentioned I love photography?

I don't share photos of my kids here, but I think the following photos all protect my son's privacy.  (You know, so he can post all the ones showing his face on Facebook instead of me posting them on Twenty Four At Heart.)  If you were following me on Twitter last weekend, you may have already seen some of these.

My son, of course, is the one who opted to wear sneakers with his tux.  He can't help himself, he inherited the casual gene from me.

Waiting for their friends to arrive for a photo session.

The flowers:

The wrist corsage, and my son's boutineer, were made by the same florist so they matched perfectly.  Very pretty!

I wish I had photos from the dances I went to as a teen.

At least I know my son will have these to look back on.

© Twenty Four At Heart

From The Deck

The upstairs deck off the back of our house provides unbelievable views of our canyon.

My dogs can stay up there for hours watching for wildlife.

[Wildlife equals:  birds (including hawks, quail, vultures, ducks and owls), rabbits, deer, bobcats, coyotes, snakes, squirrels and an occasional mountain lion.]

I can too!

© Twenty Four At Heart

Random

I seem to be unable to do more than sleep all of a sudden.  It's like someone is sneaking sedatives into my morning coffee.  I wake up, get PR off to school and fall back to sleep until it's time to pick him up again.  I never sleep this much when I'm sick ... this year's version of the plague has seriously knocked me on my ass.

Hopefully I'll feel human again by tomorrow.

I have a story to tell you, but no energy to tell it.

Instead, I offer you a few recent photos to hold you over for another day.  

Thank you for your patience, by the way.

I love lavender.  It makes me so happy.  This photo was taken in my backyard not too long ago.  Even the photo makes me happy .... lavender - yummy!

We have clear, very windy, weather right now, but a couple weeks ago there was fog at the beach.

It wasn't super cold, but I was still surprised to see this couple emerging from the water after a swim.

In fact, I thought this other couple was a little smarter:

They looked so romantic out on their walk.  Maybe they were really arguing the whole time?

Here's a photo of the boardwalk by the Huntington Beach pier.

It's always so busy there.  Lots of people, lots of activities ... lots going on.

The last photo I want to share with you today is one I took last spring.  I keep staring and staring at it in my photo library, but for some reason I've never shared it.

I took this photo in San Diego county.

It's a Danish style building.  It's located about a a block from the ocean.  I was on a small hill looking down towards the building  when I took this photo.  The fog was rolling in from the ocean, but had not yet enveloped the building.  

I don't know why, but this photo captivates me.  I find myself staring at it again and again.

I hope you like it too.

© Twenty Four At Heart

Knocked Flat on my Ass

A lot of people I know have been really sick lately.

*Ahem*  *Nike*  *Ahem*

On Friday, it hit me too - suddenly and hard.

But, earlier in the week, before it did?

I met Nike for coffee and girl time.

I went to the Money Town car wash.  I snapped this photo (with my blackberry, through my car windshield) just for you:

It kind of sums up the OC.  The S-Class Benz (which seems to be about the only car on the road around here), and the woman with the fake boobs sticking  STRAIGHT. OUT. FROM. HER. CHEST.  

I'm sure she's a really nice person.

I really don't fit in here.

Anyway, back to my whining.

I know you came here to listen to me whine, right?

I've been running a high fever for four days now.  I alternate burning up and having the chills.  I have a really bad sore throat, and no voice.  (I think, perhaps, my family doesn't mind the no-voice part.)

I have the most horrendous cough I've ever had.  I sound like a foghorn, amplified.

I got a flu shot this year.  I'm sure it's not the flu.

Briefcase thinks I have pneumonia.  (I've had it before, and once you've had it you're more susceptible to getting it again.)  I don't think I do, but quite honestly ... I'm sicker than the once-upon-a-time when I did have it.  In fact, this is the sickest I've been in a zillion years.

I had a bottle of antibiotics here from one of my surgeries.  I began taking them on Friday.  I don't think they're strong enough.  Saturday found me seriously considering whether anyone has ever died from a high fever and cough.  OK, so that's a little dramatic (or, perhaps, a little fever-induced delusional), but at that point I was wallowing in my misery.

I'm going to try to get in with a doc today.

I wish I could say I've been sleeping a lot, but I'm coughing too much to get sleep.  I'm exhausted.  I'm miserable.  

Whine, whine, whine.

I've been streaming a lot of Netflix movies (via our Wii) in an effort to distract myself.  I've got to say, I'm a huge Netflix fan.  If you've got any favorite movies to recommend, list them for me in the comments section.  I'm watching movie marathons until I feel better.  I'm actually really behind on my movie watching - so there's a positive ... I'm getting all caught up with everyone else now.

Of course, Briefcase is out of town for a week.  And, oh yes, I have both morning AND afternoon carpool for PR this week.

Of course I do ...  

I almost never have BOTH morning and afternoon carpool in the same week.  (Two different groups of kids ... the afternoon group is all smelly! baseball players.)  It only happens when I have a fever over 102 and a cough that will scare the bejeezus out of the kids I'm driving.

That's the way things always happen around here.

Hopefully I'll be feeling better by tomorrow.  In the meantime, I apologize for being Debbie Downer today.  Or Wendy Whiner.  Whatever!

At least I shared a photo of a Money Town woman with you, right?

P.S.  If you'd like to drop off groceries for PR, or soup for me, I won't turn you away.  Can you believe the kid actually wants to eat?

P.P.S.  Just kidding.

P.P.P.S.  Sorta.

© Twenty Four At Heart

A Glimpse of ...?

I was gone every single moment of yesterday. 

It began with sitting naked in a steam room.  Steam rooms are one of the most relaxing things in the world to me.  (Saunas are okay, but I love steam rooms!)  It was followed by 75 minutes of bliss as I was wrapped in heated blankets, steaming eucalyptus leaves, and massaged from head to foot.

Yes, the massage was a little tricky with my arm/internal wires/neurostimulator.  But?  It was doable, and my muscles were so tight and knotted in spasms, I needed it done.  That's a more factual statement than you might think.  I can't move my arm or surrounding muscles on my own, I actually need someone else to move them for me.  

Did it help my pain?  No, it didn't.  It made it worse.  I'm in a very bad pain fog right now. (!!)  I know it would be even more intense without the bionics in my arm.

I keep reminding myself of that - it would be worse without the neurostimulator.  But when pain gets to a certain level it almost doesn't matter.  It's just BAD.  Impossible to think, to think clearly ... to function normally.

It's my first bad flare-up since I was implanted with the neurostimulator.  It will get better in time.

I don't think I realized how very stressed I've been until I felt some of that stress melting away at the spa.  Have I mentioned, at least a million times, it's been a tough few weeks?

My next stop was at a waxing salon where I gasped as a smiling esthetician ripped out my cooter hairs.  I left the salon completely bald.  (By the way, the salon is currently selling gift cards and their slogan is, "Give the gift of baldness!")  The salon was packed.  Orange County women are hairless.

My next stop was the Fat Farm to be weighed in.  I lost another pound.  Go me! 

Then I stopped home long enough to shower, change, and head out to a high school baseball parent meeting for the night.  I came home with four baseball sweatshirts.  (Go team!)  

Fun times?

Since all that running around didn't leave me much time for writing, I thought I'd share a couple very random photos today. 

This first photo reminds me of college.  I went to UC Santa Barbara which sits right on a bluff overlooking the ocean.  The main form of transportation there is by bike.  This also seems to be the case in Huntington Beach:

I love the blown out look of the above photo.  (Yes, I made it look like that intentionally!)

The center of a gerber daisy:

You don't see many people like this in The OC:

Buckets of flowers:

And, of course, I need to close with the ocean - because it is a part of me.

© Twenty Four At Heart

A Campus Threat, Part II

If you missed out on the first part of this saga, you can get caught up by reading this post. 

There have been more developments in the situation my college-aged son is facing with a student I've dubbed PK (Problem Kid).  In yesterday's post, I conveyed my frustration with university administrators who seem slow to respond to the threats made by a mentally unstable student against my son.  The Dean assured me the student, in his opinion, would not carry though on his threats and was just "seeking attention."

WRONG Dean!

On Wednesday night PK's erratic behavior became even more bizarre.  He began rambling about imaginary conversations he was having with Mark Zuckerberg (founder of Facebook).  PK was, literally, hearing voices and completely delusional.

Later that evening, PK's roommate returned from studying at the library to find he was locked out of his own room.  When he knocked, PK refused to open the door and kept calling out, "Go away, xxxx."  (xxxx being my son's name).  The roommate said, repeatedly, "PK it's me, not xxxx - open the door!"  PK refused.  An RA was called to unlock the door so the roommate could sleep in his own room.

Why the students didn't call for help at that point, is beyond me.  I suppose they were confused and didn't know how to handle the situation.  If you've never seen mental illness up close before, I suppose it's very confusing.  (Let's be honest, it's very confusing and scary even when you do understand what's happening.)

At 3 a.m. on Thursday morning PK decided he needed to see Pretty, my son's friend.  He began texting her nonstop.  Her boyfriend was with her, in town, visiting.  Pretty's boyfriend texted PK and told him to stop communicating with Pretty NOW. 

PK didn't like that at all.

PK headed over to Pretty's dorm.  PK got into the dorm.  (No one is sure HOW yet, because it's locked after midnight.)  He sent a text to Pretty stating he was in the dorm and on his way to her room.  Pretty's boyfriend went to head him off before he got to Pretty.  A fight occurred.  Campus police were called.

The campus police, of course, were completely up to date on PK as a potential danger.  They commented to Pretty and her boyfriend they didn't understand why the school was moving so slowly on the PK "situation."

PK is now being held off campus as an in-patient in a psych ward.  His family is flying in from Brazil and will be arriving today.  They'll be meeting with school officials this afternoon.

The Dean tells me they're meeting to discuss "options."

Options?

In my opinion, the only option at this point is for PK to leave the university permanently and get the mental health care he needs.  He's only 20 years old.  I sincerely hope, with anti-psychotic medication and a lot of therapy, he's able to go on to lead a healthy, productive, SAFE life.  I don't think it's a good idea for him to be in the United States when his entire family is in South America.  I think he should go home, be treated, and receive the support of his family.

By the way, my heart does break for PK and his family.  I can't imagine what they're going through.  But, the safety of everyone else must come first.

I sent an email to the Dean which said:

Dean XXXXXX,
xxxx contacted me this morning with details of last night.
Clearly, PK presents an imminent threat of violence to my son and others.
My understanding is that he has been temporarily removed from campus.

I'm requesting to be notified if he is allowed back on campus.
We will need to remove our son from [University] either temporarily or permanently if he is permitted back.

The Dean has informed me that my son, Pretty, and a few other targeted individuals have been offered post-traumatic counseling if they wish to accept it.  (I'm wondering if they would offer this service to the parents of the targeted kids also?)  

Pretty and my son were the two primary "targets" for PK.

In a convoluted way, the attempted attack on Pretty is a good thing.  PK is somewhere where he can't hurt anyone now.  He is, hopefully, getting the treatment he needs.

I'm still amazed and frustrated at how slowly the university addressed this situation.  Apparently, the wheels of campus bureaucracy are not equipped to handle a campus threat swiftly unless there's a gun present.  (Or perhaps, at all until a violent act is committed?)

I'm hoping we hear soon that PK has returned to his home in South America.  I know he's in a secure facility right now, but honestly ...

I don't think I'll feel one hundred percent better until I know he's far away from my son.

© Twenty Four At Heart

A Parent's Perspective on a Campus Threat

If you've read my recent tweets and/or posts you know our family has been going through a nightmare situation.  A mentally unstable student at my son's college has been sending him email and text threats, including death threats.  It's a situation you never expect to find your kid in when you send him off to college.

My son is attending college on the other side of the country, over 3,000 miles from home, which makes everything about this situation more difficult.

Here's a little background:

•  My son and Problem Kid (PK) live on different floors in the same dorm.

•  PK is a foreign student from South America.  He has no family here, or nearby.

•  The threats to my son were unprovoked.  That's not just my (mom) perspective, but also what's been determined by the university.

•  PK has a history of psychiatric problems and erratic behavior.

•  PK has a substance abuse problem.

•  PK is currently on probation for threats he made against a teacher and administrator last semester.  This is not the first time he's exhibited this type of behavior.

•  My son has been staying off campus, with a friend, in an effort to stay safe.

•  PK posted a sign on his door that said "Don't RIP xxxx"  (xxxx being my son's name).  I wanted to vomit when I heard.

•  Shortly after posting the sign, PK had a Bible delivered to my son.  I got chills when I found out.  He's also alternated threatening my son with violence and inviting him to church.  Clearly, PK needs help NOW.

•  As a result of his recent behavior, PK is being ostracized by everyone in the dorm.  I don't imagine feeling isolated helps his mental state.

•  All emails/text messages, etc. from PK to my son have been forwarded to the Dean.

•  The Dean has informed university staff, teachers, and police of a potential threat/problem with PK.

•  It took three phone calls and two days for me to hear back from the Dean at the school.  For that, I give the school a big fat "F" on their parent report card.  (In fact, I didn't get a call back until I left a message mentioning we were considering transfering our son to another university.)

The Dean informed me they're working on moving PK to different housing on campus within the next 24 hours.  It didn't happen by last night as expected.  It will hopefully happen today.  I agree with the Dean, moving PK is an important first step.  It would be nice if my son could get back to his own room/environment as quickly as possible.  

The Dean also told me PK is being evaluated by both a substance abuse counselor and a psychiatrist over the course of the next two days.

The psychiatrist evaluating PK this week is the same one who evaluated him in prior incidents.  Maybe he/she will do a better job this time?

Once the substance abuse counselor and the psychiatrist have written their reports, the university "Threat Assessment Team" will make a decision as to what, if anything, the university is going to do about PK.

In the meantime, PK has been given a "No Contact Order" from the university which states he's not allowed to have any contact, whatsoever, with my son.  He didn't follow police orders over the weekend to stay away from him, leaving me unconvinced he'll follow the No Contact Order.

My son has been given the phone number of campus police to call "if anything happens."  

Somehow, that isn't very comforting.

The Dean told me he doesn't *think* PK will actually carry out his violent threats, but admitted he's not a psychiatrist and "no one can be sure."  He told me they're taking the threats "very seriously," but from my perspective - they're not taking them seriously enough.  The Dean has dealt with PK before due to prior incidents and said he believes PK "thrives on drama" and "creates situations so he can get a lot of attention."

He seems to believe that translates into violent threats but not violent action.

However, if PK wants drama and a lot of attention, wouldn't a violent act on campus give PK exactly what he wants?

How can anyone assume violent threats won't be backed up with violence?

Basically, it comes down to this:

PK is mentally unstable (everyone seems in agreement on this point) and has made threats to teachers, administrators and students on campus over the course of this school year.  The university feels the best way to deal with this is to keep evaluating him every time a new incident comes up.  The university doesn't, at this time, appear to be considering removing him from campus.  Apparently they want to wait until he actually physically harms/kills someone to take action.

Do they need PK's tuition that badly?  

I ask that question in all seriousness because I think tuition money for the university is one of the factors here.

Color me cynical.

I was surprised to hear the Dean had not yet talked to PK's parents.  He said he planned to call them within 24 hours.  "I've talked to them before, over other incidents" he said nonchalantly.

???

One thing is clear, the university is incapable of moving quickly.  Also, the university appears unable to act decisively until/unless someone is physically hurt or PK has a gun in his hands.

I've told my son he can come home until this is resolved.  I've told him he has our support if he wants to transfer to another school.  He's afraid for his safety, but at the same time he wants to stay where he is.  He doesn't want to "lose" a semester by quitting or transferring.  His friends and social life are there; he doesn't want to give up the college life and good friends he's established.

Shouldn't the student making threats to others be removed?  Isn't it totally backwards that the student receiving the threats must consider leaving for his own personal safety?

What's wrong with our universities?

And yes, I would love to hear from you if you work for a college and can shed some light on this for me.

My son told me he's concerned PK will come back and attack him at some point in the future.  "What happens if I think this has been resolved, and he comes after me a few months down the road?"

I think that's a very good question for the Dean, don't you?

* You can read what happened next in this saga by clicking here. *

© Twenty Four At Heart

Mother Nature's Show

* I know a lot of you are interested in getting an update on yesterday's post.  I appreciate all the information, advice, and kindness you've extended.  As of right now, the situation is still bad.  Maybe worse.  It's also in flux.  I will try to have an update for you tomorrow.  *

I haven't been able to get enough of the beach, the warm weather, or our spectacular sunrises and sunsets lately.  Mother Nature has been in all her glory.  I've taken over 1,000 photos in the last week.  I won't, obviously, bore you with all of them.  (Your welcome!)

There are a few I thought you'd enjoy though.

Sunrise over "my" mountain (taken from my patio):

The above photo sold the morning I took it.  I sent it out on Twitter via TwitPic and someone promptly ordered it.

The golden hour, just prior to sunset, in Newport Beach:

Fishing at sunset:

Sometimes the sun does funky things at the end of the day.  

I love it ....!

Surfers headed home after a day of surfing:

And last, another exceptionally beautiful sunset.  We've had so many the last few weeks.  It has truly been incredible.

© Twenty Four At Heart

When A Threat Is Made

There are certain calls a parent never wants to get.

A few days ago, I got a call from one of my college-aged kids.  It left me feeling physically ill and sent my world into a tailspin.

In an effort to be a little bit vague (in the name of safety), I'm going to refer to this child simply as "Kiddo" for today's post.  I'm also going to refer to Kiddo as a "he" for the sake of this writing - but that doesn't necessarily mean Kiddo is a he.

Kiddo called with a shaking voice and fear in his every word.  Kiddo is receiving threats (some of them death threats) from another student at his campus.  Let's call the kid who is doing the threatening Scary.  

Scary was almost kicked out of school last semester.  Scary was caught cheating and when he was caught he "lost it."  He made threats against a teacher and administrator, and sent them emails mentioning Hitler, destruction, and other ramblings which made no sense. 

Scary is mentally unstable, violent, and also very, very angry.  

The school required Scary to see a school psychiatrist a few times, but then ended up allowing Scary to stay on campus as a student.  I've been told Scary is a master at smooth talking his way out of any situation.

Scary has developed a crush on a girl I'll call Pretty.  Pretty has a boyfriend and has no interest in Scary.  In fact, Pretty finds Scary ... downright scary.  Pretty is also a good friend of Kiddo's.  

A few days ago Scary began sending threatening, text messages and emails to both Pretty and Kiddo.  Scary lives very close to Kiddo so Scary is hard to avoid.  Since they live close to each other, Kiddo is taking the brunt of Scary's anger and violent threats.  Pretty lives further away and is in semi-hiding.

The campus police were notified of Scary's threats and went to talk to him.  Scary stayed calm, turned on the charm, and convinced the officers there was some type of misunderstanding.  He was warned to stay away from Pretty and Kiddo.  The police left and Scary promptly threatened Kiddo with violence again.  

The new threat, after the police left, was promptly reported to campus police and they returned.  The police informed Scary they have a "three strike" policy.  They also told him threats are a serious matter, and that he would be "taken in" if there was another incident directed at Pretty or Kiddo.  

Since then, Scary has sent text and email messages to students in Kiddo's group of friends.  The messages are threatening, rambling, and a bit incoherent.  As of this writing, he hasn't sent a message to Kiddo during the last 12 hours.  He has, however, referred to plans for violence against Kiddo when rambling to other people.

Kiddo is afraid of Scary and he's not the only one.  Pretty and a lot of their friends are also afraid of him.

It was a three day, holiday, weekend here when most of this was going on.  That means the school offices were closed and we were unable to get in touch with campus administrators.

I have instructed Kiddo:

•  Not to be alone for a minute until this is resolved.

•  To keep doors/windows locked at all times.

•  To forward all threatening emails and text messages to the dean of the university.

•  To do everything possible to avoid running into Scary on campus.

•  To try and make arrangements to stay with a friend for a few days.

Briefcase and/or I will be calling the dean to discuss the matter this morning.  I'm afraid of what Scary will do in anger if he gets expelled.  I'm afraid of what Scary will do if he's allowed to remain on campus.  I've seen the text messages and emails from Scary and they make no sense.  It's clear Scary has a serious mental health issue.

I'd feel so much better if this was just about an argument between rational thinking students, but it's not.  I'd feel so much better if this wasn't taking place 3,000 miles away from me, but it is.

The most frustrating thing is waiting for the wheels to turn so this matter can be resolved.  Expulsion, suspension, restraining orders - whatever, all take time.  Also, Scary has already ignored police warnings to stay away from Kiddo.  I have no faith that he'll take a restraining order, or action by campus administrators, seriously.   

I'm trying to stay calm and not to overreact, but it's almost impossible.

Someone is making violent threats against my child.

An angry, mentally unstable, person is targeting my kid.

© Twenty Four At Heart 

It's Winter, Isn't It?

We've had beautiful, warm, weather this last week.  In fact, temperatures will be in the 80's (27+C) here today.  

Oddly, I noticed the leaves have finally changed color on the Liquidambar trees in my backyard.  (Liquidambars are one of the few trees with leaves that turn fall-ish in the Orange County climate.)

Clearly the trees are confused.  They were supposed to turn in October, not mid-January.

Regardless, I think they're beautiful, don't you?

© Twenty Four At Heart