pictures from the trip

The trip that resulted in the missing persons report was nice. I didn't do any exploring or beach walking because rained and hailed the majority of the time I was there. The short bursts of sunshine between the downpours were indeed very short but that's when I took pictures.

I really recommend the place I went, River's End in Jenner. They have adorable little one-room cabins with lovely views and lots of quiet. They have a restaurant which has a pretty nice menu but I couldn't eat there because they were closed due to the power outage. This meant, of course, that I had to improvise dinner. I am happy to always be prepared!

Here are some pictures.




The cabin





My view: The Russian River meets the Pacific Ocean





As I said, I improvised dinner. I had stopped on the way up the coast to get some snacks just in case... I bought cheese and crackers and a spinach & feta calzone. These things came in handy when the restaurant near the cabin and everything else in the near vicinity was closed due to the power outage. So, cheese and crackers became my mid-afternoon snack and the calzone spent a few hours on top of the only heating source I had. It took some time but eventually it was warmed all the way through, crunchy on the outside, and as delicious as a $3 calzone from a gas station can be. YUM! :)





At one point, the wind and the rain seemed to stop but then it HAILED!!!





While my calzone was heating up, it did stop raining and hailing and I saw what almost looked like a sunset.

2 adventures in 1 a.k.a the accidental "missing person"

Today I was going to write about my seaside getaway. Well, river/ocean getaway really. I was going to write about how lovely it was to leave technology behind for a couple of days, how I found a cute little cabin directly on the water right where the Russian River dumps into the Pacific Ocean just outside of a tiny little speck of a town called Jenner.

I was going to write about how relaxing it was to be in a cabin by a fire watching the waves crash on the sandbar between the ocean and the river. I was going to write about how beautiful the rain, the storm, the wind, the choppy water, even the hail and the power outage made everything. I was going to write about how I improvised dinner using the gas-fed stove in my room to heat it up when there was nowhere to get food. I even took a bunch of pictures!

Instead, I will tell you of the other adventure that unfolded while I was blissfully away. When I left town on Wednesday to drive north along the coast, my thoughts were simply that I would take a few days to relax before I start working again next Friday. I had mentioned to a few friends (mainly those outside of California apparently) that I had been thinking about doing this. I told my mother I was going up the coast for a few days.

I didn't tell my friends in Oakland. That, as it turns out, was a mistake.

You see, when I finally made it back to civilization late this morning, my phone started beeping at me like it was possessed. I had 13 voice-mails and at least twice as many text messages. Here's what happened:

When my dear friend Sarah returned from her own trip to wine country on Wednesday, she thought it was a little curious that I wasn't responding to a text she sent that afternoon. Of course, I was on my way up the coast at this time so I had no reception.

She didn't hear from me at all on Wednesday so she tried calling me on Thursday morning. She called both my phones, which were off thanks to the lack of reception (actually one of them was completely dead but I couldn't charge it since the power was out where I was). She emailed me, texted me, and called me. When she got no response to any of these forms of communication, she called a couple of our other friends and asked them if they had heard from me in the past few days.

None of them had. So, as these things go, they discussed the possible scenarios: I could have gone on an impromptu trip. For example I could have flown to the east coast or Ohio or even Germany. If I was on a plane, that would explain the fact that my phones were off. But then they decided that even a long plane trip would have ended by then.

They went to my apartment and, though it was a bit messy, they decided there were no signs of any struggle. My car wasn't there and Sarah was able to determine that my rain boots and rain jacket were gone, as well as my purse and my laptop. (All perfectly normal really, as it was raining and I tend to take my purse and my laptop with me when I go places.) But my suitcase and all of my clothes (from what they could tell - I have a lot of clothes) were there, which made them think I hadn't gone on a trip. They went over every possible scenario and the thing started to take on a life of its own.

When noone had heard from me by Thursday evening and none of the hospitals or jails in the greater Bay Area had any record of me (I'm still curious what they thought I might have been arrested for!), they decided to call the police.

They filed a missing persons report!

When the police officer asked them when they last spoke to me, they said they had heard from me on Tuesday via facebook. But then the officer asked them when they had last actually talked to me, heard my voice. They realized they hadn't talked to me since Sunday and now it was already Thursday! Terror began setting in.

They described me, my tattoos. They had to do math to determine what year I was born (thanks for that!). They knew what type of car I drove and told the officer that I had camping gear in the back of the car. When, in response to a question about what I did for a living, the police officer said "oh, so she's unemployed" Sarah got defensive. She told him I was between jobs, I would be starting work next week. When he still said, "but she's not working right now?" she yelled "SHE'S A LAWYER! She's barred in California" to Naseem, another friend, added "and in Ohio!" as if my profession and my licensure made some kind of difference here. Apparently, they worried that he might think I was down and out, out of work and depressed, and off on a bender of some sort.

They went through my rolodex on the desk in my apartment and started calling everyone they'd ever heard me mention. They called my friends in Ohio, emailed my sister in Germany, called friends all over the place to see if anyone had heard from me or knew where I was. Someone even volunteered to go to the airport to walk the parking lots to see if my car was there. No one had talked to me since Wednesday.

My friends in Ohio were unconcerned as they are used to me taking off to go camping for a few days when the mood strikes but still they decided that if they hadn't heard from me by the end of the weekend, they would join in the worrying.

Of course, the one person they didn't contact was the one person who knew where I was! They had my mom's email address and were ready to write her but decided they didn't want to alarm her just yet.

Late last night (Thursday), Sarah was convinced she needed to prepare herself for the worst and when the police officer called her at 1am she was sure he was calling to tell her they had found my body. Instead he was just calling to say he had gone by my apartment and there didn't appear to be any mail, which I assume he took as a good sign. Poor Sarah's heart was racing and she was completely distraught. (I have since learned that she spent most of the night crying from worry and I am deeply sorry for this.)

I felt awful when I listened to all the voice-mails and read all the text messages and emails. I certainly didn't mean to worry anyone!

I'm alive and fine of course, and although I think they may have overreacted a bit, it's nice to know I am so loved.

Now that the ordeal is over, I'm off to meet the worry-girls for a drink to celebrate my aliveness. Then, tomorrow, I'll post some pictures from the trip like I intended to in the first place.

What an adventure!

Sarah's project is complete!

The project I've been working on for the last couple of weeks is finished and has been given to the birthday girl! YAY! She loved it so it was exactly what it was supposed to be.

Now, as promised, here's the info: For background, there are a few things you need to know. First, Sarah has Cystic Fibrosis (look it up and learn more here http://www.cff.org/AboutCF/) and, although her mother does not recall telling her this, Sarah was not expected to live past the age of 19. Her 30th birthday was yesterday and it's kind of a big deal. 30 is a big deal anyway but...

Also, Sarah loves the color red and she adores hearts (her favorite holiday of all time is Valentine's Day) and a majority of her jewelry features hearts in some way, shape, or form. This has the affect that it is really quite impossible to not be happy around her since red hearts and happiness tend to go together pretty well.

Lastly, you need to know the story of a little boy who had Cystic Fibrosis and who overheard his mother talking about it on the phone one day. When she was done talking, he asked his mother "what is sixty-five roses?" You see, he thought she had said "65 roses" instead of Cystic Fibrosis. Now children with CF are taught to say "65 roses" instead of cystic fibrosis because it's a lot easier to say. Thus 65 roses have become the symbol of CF.

OK, and now for the project:

I knew I wanted to make some sort of wall hanging or quilt or something that had 30 hearts representing Sarah's first 30 years of life and 65 roses to represent CF. I found differently cut wooden hearts at a craft store and decided on a wall hanging. So I bought 30 wooden hearts, some paint, some ribbon, and some glue and went to town.





Then I started ordering all different kinds of roses on etsy. I also found some roses in the form of earrings and necklace pendants, hair clips, etc. I ordered them all!!! MUAHHAHAHAHAHA!!!! (OK, so I admit I started getting a little obsessed with the roses but I promise that I have since stopped buying things with roses on them.)

Here's the beginning of my rose stash (this was the very beginning!).



Then I put it all together. :)

Here's the final product on the wall at Sarah's apartment with Sarah (and Griffey who also liked the wall hanging quite a bit and promptly started licking and chewing it).



Here's a video with close-ups of the final product. You'll have to tilt your head to see it as I have yet to figure out how to rotate a video (I figured out the rotating of the pictures at least!).

The company I keep (or not)

Just wanted to share with you the bizarre and grossly divergent conversations that I had the opportunity to eavesdrop on.

I decided to venture out to my favorite neighborhood restaurant/bar this evening, mainly to get out of the house but partially because I didn't feel like cooking. I now realize I've never been here on a Wednesday and as I saddled up to the bar I felt like a stranger instead of the regular I am. Totally ok though because it allowed me to listen unnoticed to the conversations around me.

Ok, get this: on one side the conversation involved phrases like "today Jimmy told me he played with 3rd graders and my immediate thought was 'oh no! 3rd graders? What the hell is wrong with 2nd graders? Why is he spending so much time with older kids?' but then I decided he should make his own decisions."

Whoa.

Then, on the other side of me the conversation involved phrases like "so when I realized it was Bernie Madoff on the phone, I had to stay calm and keep him on the phone while I got the attention of the FBI and SEC guys down the hall. I was talking about deals that suddenly were being scrutinized where they were completely normal just days before!"

What? Too weird!

Oh, and p.s. spring is definitely here: on the walk home the air was thick with the sweet scent of the evening primrose and nightshade blooms filling the neighborhood with their honey scented blossoms that make springtime evenings so delicious here. I do love Northern California. I really do.

is it weird...?

OK, I have always loved vegetables and fruits of all kinds but I seem to have a particular affinity for those that begin with the letter A. Seriously. Think about it: Avocados, Artichokes, Arugula, Asparagus, what's not to love? I even like apples although they really don't like me very much (murderous little buggers!).

So, I ask you: is it weird that I have this particular affinity for fresh food items that begin with the letter A?

Just wondering.

Ah... the things one considers when funemployed [sic].

Sleep, where are you? :(

So this is new: after hours of unsuccessfully trying to fall asleep (so far this has included tossing and turning, having a glass of wine & reading, tossing and turning again, sipping sleepy-time tea, deep breathing exercises, and more tossing and turning), I'm back up. I couldn't think of what else to do now so I will write. It's time for some catching up anyway.

For those of you following my posts, my new fancy smarty-pants phone turned itself on at some point today by the way (I actually think it may be smarter than I am). I still have absolutely no idea why it wouldn't turn on or what finally prompted it to turn itself on but it's working now so... yay. I suspect the issue was 100% user error.

Also, I signed a contract. YAY! I have 9 months of full-time consulting work which gets me to the end of the year with gainful employment and it provides me the flexibility and time I need to continue my in-depth job search. I start on April 1st, which is a Friday, but that means I can have a day to get oriented and then have a couple of days to digest the info before I return on Monday for more learning. I think it will work out well. I am a little nervous about being self-employed and all the paperwork and other stuff that goes with it but I am arming myself with as much knowledge as I can thanks to the internet and a good accountant I will be meeting with next week. Hopefully I don't screw it up! (I am trying to take comfort in the fact that lots of people less intelligent and resourceful than I have made it work so I can too!)

In non-work related news, I have started working on a variety of projects. My biggest project for the past few weeks has been a birthday present for my dear friend Sarah. She's turning 30 next week. I won't give anything away here yet but I'm very excited about it. I will divulge that it involves wood, paint, ribbon, glue, a bunch of little "things" (made of paper, resin, glass, metal and other substances), and the whole of my living room floor. I'm pretty happy with it. Pictures and background story to come next week.

Working on this particular project has made me realize that I need a craft space. A place for my sewing machine to live, space to lay out designs, both for clothes and craft projects. So, once I'm officially working and getting paid again, I will work toward the goal of creating a workable space for this that is not my dining room table or my living room floor, both of which I tend to need for other purposes, such as dining and living, respectively. :)

OK, I am off to try this sleep thing again. I sure hope insomnia isn't a new trend in my life. I have been so careful not to fall into a pattern of staying up super late and sleeping in past a respectable morning time (i.e. sleeping all day). I know it would be easy to fall into a pattern like that and I also know it would be terribly hard to break it so I'm resisting. But this is just unfair! It's not as if I have incredible amounts of work stress or other things to be anxious about, my thoughts aren't churning with worry, I don't have a million things to plan and do. I don't understand this. Hopefully it's just a fluke.

Wish me sleep!

unemployment/vacation

Well, I've made it through an entire week of not working. It is very very strange. Partly, it doesn't feel like I'm not working because this week was full of getting new technology, setting it up, waiting for contracts, etc. so there was a bit of anxiety/mild stress that felt very much work-related.

I also have noticed interesting work-related issues: every evening there is a moment when I automatically reach for some piece of technology with the goal of checking the next day's schedule to prepare for the day. I used to do this nightly apparently to mentally prepare for whatever meetings or conference calls I had the next day. Now I have to remind myself, as I'm reaching for a piece of technology, that I have nothing scheduled, no meetings, no conference calls. It really is strange though because there's always a tiny moment of an empty feeling, as though that empty schedule means my life is empty. The moment passes though as the realization spreads through my brain that an empty calendar means that I can sleep in, work on my projects, do whatever I want to do!!!

Yesterday I spent 3 hours sitting at a coffee shop reading my book. And it was lovely.

Today, however, I am fighting with technology again. My new fancy smarty-pants phone, which I have been learning how to use and am pretty excited about, won't turn on. I have charged it, I have yelled at it, I have calmly explained to it that I would really like for it to turn on, I have plugged it in, unplugged it, everything. WHY WON'T IT TURN ON????? ARGH!

So, today's plans, whatever they may be, will include a trip to a t-mobile store.

*Sigh*