Back to normal...sort of

Well, the storm has come and went. This evening, we dropped my parents off at the airport in Palm Springs for their flight back to cold Minnesota. Perhaps I will blog about our Christmas tomorrow or this weekend. I am too tired as of now due to a crazy work schedule and a long day. Only one day left of work this week tomorrow (7-4). This weekend, we are planning on doing some tent camping at 29 Palms, California, near Joshua Tree National Park. Nick's parents are rolling in there in a rented RV for the weekend, and we are planning to camp in a tent on the same site. It will be a cold night, but I will haul some of my Minnesota gear out from the closet. Next week, I will have the same schedule-Monday afternoon off and Tuesday off with working 8-7 on Wednesday and Thursday. The following week should calm down, as the schedule is back to normal! One good thing about the holidays being over! I will write more later and post some pictures!

Getting ready for Christmas....

We've had a really nice weekend with the parents. Saturday, we went down to Nick's work on the other side of town. They have a nice little garden area there that my parents loved looking at. We even were able to pick some fresh oranges and clementines off of the fruit trees. They are really tasty! After having lunch at Panera, we headed back toward Nick's work and took a hike up Mt. Rubidoux (only about a net gain of 800 feet). Mom and Dad had to stop several times along the way to catch their breath due to the incline. Nick and I had a very leisurely walk. We took the "steep" way up, which is about 1 mile and the "easy" way down, about 2 miles. Everyone enjoyed the view from the top and spending time outdoors in the nice weather.

This morning, we headed to IHOP, Dad's favorite restaurant, for breakfast. It was so lovely outside that we were able to eat outside on the patio. Unfortunately, we all walked out with wet bottoms, due to the deep moisture in the chairs. After dropping the parents off, Nick and I went to Wal-Mart and WinCo to do all our shopping for the meal over Christmas. It was busy, as expected, but we buzzed through everything pretty fast. We returned to find Mom and Dad enjoying the sun out on our patio. This afternoon, after a quick nap, Mom and I frosted the cut-outs I had in the freezer. They taste REALLY good. Now, we are just waiting for the meatball dinner to be ready to eat!

Tomorrow, I am working from 7 until 12:30. It will be interesting to see how many patients actually show up, as people were already calling on Friday to cancel for Monday. Monday night we will have our traditional Passakorf supper (Nick will eat something else) and go to church at 7pm. We will return home to open presents!

Tuesday, we are making a turkey and all the trimmings. It should be a wonderful time! I hope everyone back in the Midwest is enjoying the winter storm(s). It was 70 degrees and beautiful here today! Drive safe everyone and have a good holiday!

The Eagle(s) has landed.....

My parents got in Thursday night safe and sound. We drove to Palm Springs and picked them up from the airport. They had a very safe and easy flight and all 4 suitcases got here without a problem. All things look safe. We had a quick supper at Pick up Stix in MoVal and then went home. Friday afternoon, I took them to the Canyon Springs shopping area so they could spend some time while I worked (7-4). Yesterday evening, we went to the grocery store and picked up the turkey and some other goodies. We also made two really good homemade pizzas with WinCo dough balls-always a treat. We are not sure what we will do today, as we haven't decided what we're going to do yet. Will keep everyone updated!

Can you see the sparkle?

This weekend has been a very low key one, not a whole lot going on, but a TON of cleaning here at home! I think everyone should be seeing the sparkle, no matter where they are! Forget Christmas lights!
Saturday, Nick and I went our separate ways to do some errands. We both had a few errands to do for Christmas shopping for the other person. Nick was gone for some time and brought home some presents that he immediately wrapped for me. He even told me that there was one more he was keeping at his office....hmmmmmm. After he returned home, I tackled the job of cleaning the guest bathroom. Not a bad job you would think, since we rarely use it. Wrong. I had a little incident with my paraffin kit a couple months ago in the tub and never cleaned it up. So, I spent a good part of yesterday afternoon cleaning paraffin wax from the bottom of the tub. Real fun-but the majority of it is gone. We had a nice dinner at Chipotle and even found some single serving Sierra Mist Cranberry! I can't seem to find either the 2 Liter bottles or 12 pack cans anywhere! So, I bought 4 of the little bottles-that will last me at least 8 servings. So, that's pretty good.
Today, after our normal Sunday morning errands, we tackled cleaning the rest of the apartment. We have been very lazy on this subject knowing that we would have to do a deep clean right before Christmas, so it was a task. We worked together really well and everything looks really nice. Only a few finishing touches that will have to be done Wednesday night before we pick up my parents. Everything looks really nice and organized (vs. cluttered). I also transplanted 3 of my cactus plants into a smaller pot. I had all of my cacti and succulents in one huge pot, but the succulent has grown so much, it was pushing the 3 cacti out. So, I attempted to transplant these 3 guys without gloves-ouch! I got it done, but we'll see if they make it. It was nice to be outside on the porch and enjoy the cool day (in the 60s).
Tonight, I may attempt to re-make some cereal cookies. I made them yesterday with white chocolate chips vs. vanilla almond bark, as that was all I could find. Although they turned out well, they are a little rich. So, I found some vanilla almond bark today and will try another batch.
I also have some charts to finish. We were busy at work this week, as always. I had 6-7 people there at one time slot, so that was pretty crazy. This week, we are getting some people in to help out with some evals, but I'm not sure where those new patients are going to go to get treated. My boss said she doesn't want me seeing more than 3 people an hour, but we need to get people in. I am really hoping that they will hire another assistant after the new year. We really need the help in my part of the clinic. They had laid off the second assistant in September, but she got tired of waiting and got a new job-I can't say I blame her. Anyway, we sure could use the extra help.
Anyway, we are looking forward to a busy and exciting week with the arrival of my parents on Thursday. It is always fun to see them and show them around Riverside. I hope everyone else stays sane before Christmas! Stay warm back in the Midwest!

All in a weekend!

This weekend was one for the records! We got so much done! I can say that I am really proud of both of us. Friday night was the only exception. It was a cold and rainy night, so it was perfect to stay in, relax, and make a nice pot of soup, which is just what we did.

Saturday morning, we woke up early and headed out for a day of shopping. We hit up several places, including the Harley store in town (not the best neighborhood) and going up to Rancho Cucamonga to Victoria Gardens. We had an extra good time there, as it is technically a mall, but no one from the Midwest would call it that. The "hallways" are actually roadways, which people can drive on, which makes it a bit hard crossing from one side to the other, but we were able to do just fine. We had an extra fun time in Crate and Barrel buying some gifts, among other places. We ate lunch there at the "Food Hall," where I was excited to eat at a Mongolian grill. For some reason, here in California,the only Mongolian grills (or barbeques) that we've found have been in food courts. So, I gave it a try and it wasn't too bad. I was wishing I was in Iowa for a second so I could be enjoying Hu-Hot, but then I realized it's probably about 10 degrees there! I'll take the outdoor mall and not so great Mongolian Grill, thank you very much. We then headed back toward home and hit up Target and Michael's. Upon returning home, I made some peanut butter blossoms and wrapped all the presents. Finally, we are making progress, but we are still not done!

Sunday morning came and we did our usual errands with an additional stop at the post office to get some stamps. This is another area that is not one of Riverside's finest, and there were several people loitering outside as usual. As I was at the self-serve kiosk, Nick was walking around and informed me there was someone sleeping on the floor in the corner! I guess it is a good place to stay warm and safe, but too bad they feel like that is their only option! After coming home, I cleaned and treated the leather couch, as I have been meaning to do this since we moved down to Riverside. It really needed it, but it wasn't a bad job. The first time I did it was much worse, so it must pay off to clean it. Now, that is ready for company. After hitting up Starbucks for a Peppermint Mocha (warm this time), we headed up to Sycamore Highlands park, as it is a high point, and you can see a lot of snow on the mountains. It was cold up there-probably lower than 60! I went and waited in the car. Upon returning home yet again, I took up the ambitious task of making krumkake, one of my favorite holiday treats. It takes forever, as you can see in my video, but it is completely worth it. A full 2 1/2 hours later, I was exhausted! They taste good so far, and I am hoping they will stay crispy, as it was nice and dry here today. Last year when I made it Napa, it was raining and it ended up being soggy and we had to put them individually in the oven to make them crispy. Hopefully, that will NOT happen this year. This evening, I was going to tackle some charts, but I am not sure if I'm going to. I might just reconcile to be super behind this week. I hate to start the week off that way, especially this one, as I am booked seeing 4 and 5 patients per hour. We have no time for paperwork and we are paid hourly, so I hate staying at work any longer than I have to! Anyway everybody, have a great week, and I am sure I will have more tales later in the week!

Winter is here!

This past week went by fairly quickly and by the time we realized it, it was Friday. Friday we had a full day of pouring down rain. We haven't seen that much rain since we moved here. We got over 2.3 inches of rain, which was much needed. Anyway, it was real cool out and it was hard to do anything except be inside. We did venture out to Qdoba and Target in the evening, and watched a movie before going to bed.

Saturday we went up to Rancho Cucamonga, as Nick wanted to look at some things at REI. While we were there, I went over to the Guitar Center to check out digital pianos. I'm not really looking to buy one now, but probably after we move into a larger space. We had lunch at Johnny Carrino's, an Italian place that had been recommended to me by a few patients. It was pretty good and the prices were decent. When we came home, I dashed out to get a quick haircut and then check out Kohl's for some Christmas gifts, but didn't have much luck with the gift end of things. Saturday evening, we stayed in and watched another movie.

Sunday, we did our normal errands and I made some spritz cookies. They turned out really good, but I froze them to save them for Christmas. I did a bunch of charts, and hardly made a dent in my pile at work, but every bit helps. I wanted to get some cut-outs done, but I ran out of time.

This week is going to fly by too. We are only working a half day on Tuesday, as our Christmas party is in the evening (don't even get me started on why it is like this). I plan on doing some Christmas shopping and doing the cut-out cookies. The party is not until six, so I think I will be able to get it all done. I am going to put some pictures of our tree and of our nativity set up, so everyone can get a taste of our small Christmas set-up here. Thanks to the Rice's for adding to our nativity set again this year!

Christmas tree in the daylight in our bronze and gold theme.

The nativity set.

As promised....

I thought I would just write a quick little note. We made it home from Fresno on Sunday evening, taking about 6 hours to return home, due to traffic. It was an exhausting trip. There is no real "good" way to get there (except maybe be plane). The drive does take you through some of the many landscapes of California: the city, the mountains, the high dessert (really out in the middle of nowhere), and the large San Joaquin Valley. Anyway, we made it home and headed back to work on Monday, which was a real drag after a 4 day weekend! It looks like our clinic has exploded Christmas, with numerous Christmas trees, wreaths, signage, AND XM Satellite radio Christmas music. I was about puking by the end of the day, and I like Christmas music! I have to say that it has been especially hard getting into Christmas when it is in the 70s and sunny everyday. I don't even have to put a coat on! I realized that my parents will be here 3 weeks from Thursday and I am freaking out, because I have so many things to do! Cleaning, as always, and making everything "mommy ready" will take a lot of time, plus getting all of the baking done! I'm sure it will get done quickly and be here as soon as I know it. I was able to manage to get my little Christmas tree up and it looks really cute. I was hoping for a small real one, and we may get one yet-we'll have to see! Anyway, here are some pictures of Peterson's gardeners (or are they?) that we took this weekend! Have a great week everybody!

An awesome concert

Last night, we went to the Trans-Siberian Orchestra concert here in Fresno. I am sure everyone has heard of them without knowing it. Here is their website http://www.trans-siberian.com/ and the link to the You Tube video that I think everyone has seen http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hdpjVfGeM1w and http://www.metacafe.com/watch/45390/wizards_of_winter/ We had really nice seats and the concert was really fun. They had great music, lights, lasers, pyrotechnics and even fireworks at the end. It was a really good show-I recommend it to anyone who likes their music and a good show. The show was split into 2 halves basically. The first was a story-like opera type of thing, where they had a story and then would play their version of Christmas songs and some originals. The second half was really unique because they played some classical pieces in their arrangement, which was really neat. Like I said, the show itself was really cool and one of the island stages was right in front of us. Some of the performers were on that and, also some of the pyrotechnics. I do have some pictures that I will post, but we forgot our camera cord for our trip, so you’ll have to wait until we get back to Riverside tomorrow. That’s the last time we will do that! Have a good rest of the weekend everyone!

A Day of Detox

Yesterday we had a wonderful Thanksgiving meal here in Fresno. Everything turned out really nice, except my dinner rolls!!! I will have to look for a new recipe! We all ate until we were stuffed. Nick's parents, Barb and Mike, were nice enough to do most of the clean-up, while we stood on the sidelines. After dinner, we went out for a walk in the neighborhood and went by some really huge mansions. Probably $3-4 million mansions. It was fun to do. Today, the biggest item on the agenda is tonight's Trans Siberian Orchestra concert downtown. We may do a little shopping this afternoon when the crowds die down. Otherwise, I am going to try to drink lots of fluid, eat healthy and maybe get in a little exercise! Guess I shouldn't have eaten those 2 pieces of lefse with cinnamon sugar on them for breakfast! Whoops!

Bring on the turkey!

We're all ready to take off on our 4 day weekend in the morning! I just have to pack my clothes. I think we will be leaving around 6:30 or 7:00 to beat most of the bad traffic. We had a ton of goodies at work today-pumpkin pie from Coco's (absolutely the best and I don't even like pumpkin pie!), fresh rolls, free water, among other goodies. Too bad it was slow all day! Our cancel list was huge-it was 2-3 pages! I was happy because I got to catch up on a lot of work, which was much needed. I only have to finish up a few evals, which I might do tonight or in the car. I have to do one on the computer (the baby eval), as none of our forms matched it. So, I will just design my own.
I think I will try to switch out my closet tonight, as I have to pack some warmer clothing for central California. It is only going to be in the low 60s! That sounds cold, believe it or not!
Congratulations to Ryan and Julie on the presentation of their new daughter Sophia in Columbia! She is absolutely precious! Good luck with the rest of the process and return home safely (and soon!)

I made it to the finish line!!!

Well, I have made it to Sunday night, and almost everything on my to-do list has been accomplished! I accomplished every thing on my list, except switching out my closet, but that was literally on the bottom of my list. I also managed to sneak in a little extra cooking-pizza and spaghetti-that wasn't on the agenda.


I had a very successful time at Gottshalk's and found two really cute tops that will go great with either jeans or dress pants. I was unable to find a pair of dress pants that I was looking for, but that's alright. Nick and I also went into Target yesterday, as he wanted to pick out a pair of new sunglasses. Thirty minutes later, we came out with a new pair and some new jewelry for me.


Last night, I was longing for a White Russian, but we didn't have any of the ingredients, so I went to Ralph's and purchased one of the pre-mixed bottles with the alcohol already in it. It wasn't too bad-but the original is definitely better. While I was there, I picked up Sierra Mist's cranberry splash, that is only available during the holidays. It is soooooooooo yummy.


Today we did some shopping at K-Mart in Mission Grove (another neighborhood near to us) while the car was getting an oil change. Neither one of us had been in a K-Mart for a long time, so it was fun to look around in there. This afternoon, we were able to slip away to Starbucks for an iced raspberry mocha frappucino. So good!


I am really happy with my results of my cooking. I think the apple pie has turned out the best ever (at least appearance wise). Everything went smoothly and I didn't have to re-do anything, which is always great. Now, I am confidant in starting the week-especially since it is such a short one! We will be heading up to Fresno on Thursday morning, most likely, as I have to work until 7 on Wednesday. We will have a nice 4 day weekend up there, which is badly needed!


I'm hoping this week will be as nice as last. We had beautiful blue skies, clean air, and temps in the low to mid 80s. Let's hope that the 70s (at least) will hold on!!! This is the type of weather that is the pay-off for putting up for all of the other inconveniences that southern California has!
Thinking of everybody else back in the cold Midwest! Happy Thanksgiving!!!

A quick note....

I just thought I would put up a quick note before I write a longer one for the week. I have a lot of things to do this weekend to get ready for our trip and Thanksgiving. Here's a short list:

• Go to Gottschalk's across town to pick up some make-up that I'm out of and look for a new outfit for the holiday. While I'm there, I will hit up Trader Joe's, because we only have one here in town and it is way over there. I have to get some pie crusts there because they have the best ones!
• Take the Malibu in for an oil change and check up. With us making a big trip, it has to be running well!
• Grocery shop for and bake a few Thanksgiving treats (pies, bread/rolls, and salads)

In addition to those things for the holiday, I also have a few other things on my list work related. I found out that I have to do a peds eval on Monday, which is horrible, because I am clueless! I can deal with an ordinary toe walker, but this is a full-out delayed milestone event! I am not sure how old the kiddo is, so I guess I will have to do a crash course in peds!

I would also like to swap some of my very warm weather clothes out for moderate temperature clothes in my dresser and closet. Even though we've had temps in the 70s and 80s this week, I think I am past tank tops and can take out a few more long sleeve things.

This with all of our normal weekend things-grocery shopping, Wal-Mart or Target run, charts and Nick would like to do some hiking-this sounds like a regular work week! Maybe the weekends should be 5 days and the work week should be 2! Plus-there is a Christmas sale at the Joann Fabric Superstore that I would like to check out and it ends today! Aarharh!

More later!!!

A good start to the week

I hope everyone is having a good week. We are off to a good start here in Riverside. I've had a good week at work and haven't been too crazy. I had some extra time today, as one of my one on one patients didn't show up. She was a stroke patient that I just started working with last week. Anyway, she and her daughter didn't show up, which I thought was kind of strange. I was excited, because I got to catch up on my paperwork. Later, I find out that the patient has passed away! I felt horrible! It's so crazy how people can be in therapy one week doing well and then dead the next! Well, hopefully the week will continue to go well. I am anticipating a weekend of heavy cooking and baking to gear up for the big Turkey Day!

A Calm Weekend

After a hectic week at work, we have had a very relaxing weekend, which translates into doing nothing. Friday evening, we went out to eat at Mimi's Cafe, which is a favorite of mine, but Nick didn't remember eating there in the past. I had a great chicken cordon blue, which was very filling, but Nick was less than thrilled with his food. It was still nice to get out and have a nice meal.

Saturday we got up to watch the Iowa vs. Minnesota game-civil war in our household. Since Minnesota's record has been less than stellar and they have the worst defense in college football, I wasn't too optimistic. The game turned out to be 21-16, in favor of the Hawks, which wasn't so bad. It is good for the Hawks, as they will probably go to a bowl game, which is always exciting.

After the game, we decided we would try going to the grocery store on Saturday afternoon (instead of Sunday morning), as last Sunday, it was really busy and there were hardly any cashiers. We went and, of course, it was busy, but when it came check-out time, we sailed out of there, as there were more cashiers working. So, it was a nice surprise. After being home for a while, I headed to Kohl's to find a possible new outfit, as I haven't bought anything new in at least 6 months, since I wear a uniform to work. I was severely disappointed, but I did find some nice towels on sale for a good price, which was worth the trip. We had a laid back dinner of leftovers and watched "Frida" with Selma Hayek, which was good, but not great. A very interesting story though.

Today has been extremely low key. I have been hanging around all day working on some work paperwork, watching TV, and working on my paint-by-numbers painting. No big activities planned for the rest of the day. One thing that we will do is watch the Youtube version of last week's episode of the Amazing Race, as we we just found out today that it was back on the air. I can't believe CBS doesn't have their episodes on their website-come on! Get with the times!

The upcoming week promises to be a busy one for me at work, but the end is in sight, as we only have a 3 day week next week. I can handle that!!!! We will be heading up to Fresno for Thanksgiving, but we're not sure when we're leaving, as I have to work until 7 pm Wednesday night. We're looking forward to seeing Nick's parents and getting out of Riverside for a weekend!

Happy Veteran's' Day everyone!

Seriously tired

Just for the record, I worked 7 to 7 today due to a sick therapist on my team. For those of you who do this every week for an extra day off during the weekend-YOU ARE CRAZY! I am going to bed!

A Beautiful Weekend...

It is hard to imagine leaving California on a weekend like this. We have been enjoying phenomenal weather, thanks to those Santa Ana winds kicking up again. Today, we had a high of around 87 degrees, which made it a great day to be outside. We did take advantage of the weather this afternoon by having lunch at Rubio's, a Mexican restaurant by UCR (University of California at Riverside), which was the first time we had eaten there. It was just alright-for fast food Mexican, I still like Chipotle and Qdoba better, respectively. We then went to the UCR botanical gardens, which has some great hiking and walking trails through a wilderness type area. They had several different varietals of trees, which was nice, as we don't see a lot of green around here. They also had a rose garden and turtle pond. We had a really nice time. After we finished there, we wanted some Italian gelato, which we thought was just down the road in the University Village, as we had been there before-but hail! When we got there, the business has been shut down. So, we went up to Canyon Crest (a neighborhood center close to our home) and settled on some sorbet at Cold Stone. It was a nice afternoon.

This morning, we got up and watched the Iowa/Northwestern game, which ended up being a fun game in the end, as the Hawks ended up on top. We're really looking forward to next week, as it is Iowa vs. Minnesota-so you can be sure we will have our war vests out! I don't anticipate the Golden Gophers beating the Hawks this year, but a girl can hope ;).

Tomorrow, we have nothing planned but regular Sunday errands and I have to attack a mountain of paperwork for work on Monday. I am going to be pretty busy this week, and I don't want to start the week with 10 unfinished evals on my desk, so I will be busy for 2-3 hours on Sunday finishing those up. Our clinic is staying busy, which is a blessing. A lot of the clinics around the area have closed, due to poor reimbursement from insurance companies. I think southern California is one of the worst places to be for that. Even the outpatient therapy at the hospital had to close, which is a huge shock. Our owner had to take a $500,000 loan out to have our clinic stay afloat, as she is waiting on that much money from insurance companies. Our clinic has had to let a few therapists and staff go, and have had to cut back the hours of an assistant. They are trying to get us therapists to eval as many people as we can, so we can give that assistant back her hours in order to treat all these new people. So-that means lots and lots of paperwork for me!

Thanksgiving seems to be right around the corner and I can't wait! I love turkey, and even better, 4 day weekends! The count is on! Have a great week everybody!

Closing up October

We have had a pretty nice weekend here in Riverside, CA. Yesterday (Saturday), I went out to do some errands in the morning and came back to see Nick had transformed our living room into a campsite (see photo). I'm not sure what made him decide to do this, but he said he wanted to vacuum it out for when we decided to use it. Well, we definitely accomplished getting it clean, but I'm not sure when we'll be using it. We'll see! We also took in the exciting Iowa game, which ended up being a win for the Hawks, which was exciting for us out here in CA. We got about 10 seconds of rain yesterday, which was exciting, but unfortunately, didn't last. We ate dinner at Qdoba, my second favorite high end fast food (Chipotle is still my first, but Qdoba is closer to our place) and went to Cost Plus World Market to buy a basket for the living room. We then watched the end of Game 3 of the World Series.

Today, we have just completed the usual: Wal-Mart, WinCo (groceries), and Starbucks (iced frappucinos). Nick has also completed our laundry, so I suppose I will have to get folding! I also need to clean the toilets (so fun). Today we actually can see blue sky, which is a nice change. It is really warm out-probably a high of 90 degrees. We still can see the smoke from the north especially, but it sounds like things are getting under control. That's about it from CA for this weekend...thanks for checking in!

Unexpected Holiday!

Today was Friday, which is my early early day at work. I woke up at 5:30 as always and got ready and was watching TV before I headed out the door. Just as I was preparing to leave at 6:45, the lights flickered and then completely went out. I live about a mile away from my work, so I was thinking-I bet this is off at work. I went into work, and sure enough, no electricity. It was really dark inside, so we had some candles burning, flashlights, and someone had glow sticks in their car. The phones were, of course, not working, so we had to use our cell phones to call our patients and try to cancel. But before any of that happened, I had a 7 AM eval and he was already there-so we completed most of the eval out on the picnic table in front of the building. It was sort of nice. Anyway, I did have a couple patients show up due to not getting the message, but we were able to treat, as we had enough light for a couple tables in the gym. Our boss came in and announced that everyone was to cancel the rest of the day and go home at 11. Of course, after all this happened, the lights came on about 9:30. But, we were still allowed to go home early, which was a nice early start to the weekend. Of course, we won't get paid for that time, but that's alright-I will try to make it up next week. Apparently, a transformer exploded on one of the freeways and actual electrical lines were on the road, and of course, it started a small brush fire. It sounds like they have everything under control.
Our air continues to be smoky and disgusting. Our air filter has to be running while we're inside, because we really notice the difference when it's not. The mountain has become really hazy from our place-especially on the north side, which is closer to the mountain fires. Anyway, we're still hiding inside for the most part.
No big plans for the weekend. Just the usual. We will probably get a pizza from Domino's' tonight. It's only $8 for a large, which is a steal. That's all for now!

Wind reversal....

Today, we had our first true effects of the fire. All day, it was supposedly sunny, but we never really saw much sun (it was light out, but the light was of a green/yellow color) due to the smoke from the fires near LA. Yes, the winds are back to normal-sending all that horrid smoke out to us in the in Inland Empire. All day the sun was orange-ish and the moon was also that color tonight (see photo). The particulate matter was high (I'm not sure the number), and it felt like really dirty air when you were breathing it in. And just to put this in perspective: I've been in Mexico City, which I thought was the worst air I'd ever experience-until this week's air arrived. Most schools have cancelled classes for the remainder of the week and parents are being advised not to let children play outside due to the air quality.

Another thing that has been on my mind since this all happened is how a lot of the media are saying how this response is so much better than Katrina. For example, evacuees at the stadium in San Diego have been served sodas and Cesar salads, had entertainment, and opportunities for massage and acupuncture. What a change from the absolute nothingness that was done in 2005 during the aftermath of Katrina. I can't help but think of the socioeconomic differences between the two groups. In San Diego and surrounding areas, most of the evacuees are white, upper middle class (at least) residents. (For those of you who aren't familiar, San Diego is a very expensive place to live.) Most of the folks that lived in these areas around the fire had upscale homes, for the most part, due to the sheer fact that they lived close to wilderness and not concrete. I just wonder if the response would have been as welcoming this time around if the group we are dealing with was similar to that from Katrina. I am not sure if so many amenities would be offered, as we are seeing in San Diego. Now, I am not saying that the people that have lost their homes are lucky or fortunate, but I don't' foresee any of these people living in a FEMA trailer for 2 years while their home is rebuilt, if you know what I mean. Too many campaign contributions for that (to both sides of the aisle). Just some food for thought.....let me know what you think.

Kind of sad...

Well, today we have had the last of the "evil" winds and we have had warm temperatures. It was actually hot when I was out at lunch and when I left work at 7, it felt like a warm summer evening. Very bizarre. I heard this morning that the number of people who have had to evacuate their homes is 900,000-that's a huge number. Nick was telling that two of the fires were started by arsonists. He also told me that the cops up in San Bernadino arrested a man who was trying to start another fire up there. Pretty sick. Anyway, we continue to be safe here, but the fires up toward the mountains continue to rage. I'm happy that we were just up there for our anniversary, because, now, the roads are closed to get up to Big Bear.
Only 2 days left in the work week! I feel like I have a decent chance of being caught up by the end of the week! That's always a great feeling. =)

More of the same...

We had another gusty day here today. This morning when I left for work, you could actually smell the fires. I was waiting for some ash to fall on our porch, but just tons of dust. I have been suffering with my allergies, which is a new thing for me here in California. I only was bothered with corn dust and fresh cut grass back in the Midwest. Hopefully, things will go better after the winds die down. My co-worker wasn't in today-they stayed up all last night trying to pack up what they could. What a nightmare. I can't imagine having to do that. Hopefully, her home will be safe. Nothing new, except the winds are supposed to die down. We then will get some normal weather-let's hope!

The winds continue....

Today we had our second day of the Santa Anas. We have even more wildfires around the area-some fairly close to us. One of my colleagues lives north of here toward the mountains (north of San Bernadino) and was alerted to a voluntary evacuation. She said that the mountain behind her house was engulfed in flames. Needless to say, she left early. I think they wanted to save as many valuables as they could (photos and such that cannot be replaced). A patient of mine has a sister down by the San Diego fires and she was evacuated and was sitting in a parking lot trying to figure out what to do. I guess the 1 1/2 hour drive up to Riverside to be with her sister was too difficult to ponder?
The air continued to be really crappy today. My allergies were really kicking up this morning after I came back from my workout at the gym. Nick and his crew drove an hour out to a site where they were going to be working, only to be called back to the office because the air was considered hazardous. One of my patient cancelled because of the wind-a pathetic being or a really bad excuse-not sure which. School sports practices were cancelled and, apparentely, some schools were closed.
We should be okay where we are at-we're not close to much brush or wilderness, but the conditions are more than dangerous. This morning it was 4% humidity and a negative dewpoint number (not sure how that works), so the conditions are prime for the tiniest spark to make something huge. We have one more day for sure of these winds and warm temperatures. Tomorrow it is forcasted to be 100, but we'll see if it makes it. At least it is cooling down at night, which is nice. Then again, we can't really have our windows open (due to both the air and the safety issues). I will keep you updated on the chaos as it progresses!

Santa Ana Weekend

We have had a crazy weekend here in southern California. Yesterday, we had a beautiful day-great air, nice clear blue skies, and warm temperatures (around 80º). Last night, the Santa Ana winds kicked up, causing all hell to break loose. For those of you who aren’t familiar with how our air works here in Riverside, here is a quick 101. We are almost due east of LA and surrounding urbanity that causes massive air pollution. The wind usually comes from the sea, which is west of LA, blowing all that mess east, toward us in Riverside. That’s why I am always commenting on the air. Well, now that the Santa Anas have started, we are getting an east wind from the dessert, causing very warm temperatures (to be in the 90s) and all the smog to be blown back out to the sea-right? Guess again! Since the wind is so strong (gusts up to 60 and 70 mph), it’s kicked up just about everything that flies (doesn’t help that we’re in one of the worst droughts in 100 years) and is blowing all that out to the ocean. The particulate air count is currently at 475-that’s a scale out of 500. It usually is about 40 or 50. Right now, I can’t even sea the blue sky or the huge mountain that is 5 miles away. It’s that bad. Oh yearh, and we woke up to fires in Malibu, which they're having trouble containing because of the crazy winds! At least that smoke is blowing out to the ocean and not in my face! Anyway-enough of my ranting, here are some links to check out if you’re interested.

http://www.atmos.ucla.edu/~fovell/ASother/mm5/SantaAna/winds.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Ana_wind


As for the rest of the weekend…

On Saturday, I went to the salon and got some highlights freshened up in my hair and also had a tiny trim, as my last haircut was a nightmare. After lunch, we headed up to Redlands (about 25 minutes when the traffic is good on the freeway, which is never) to buy some shoes for Nick at DSW. For those of you who aren’t familiar, this is THE BEST place to buy shoes of any kind-great selection and great brands. While there, we visited BevMo-another of my favorite stores-and I stocked up on some wine, as they were having their 5¢ sale. Coincidently, none of the varietals we bought were that price, but oh well. We then capped off with an iced mocha raspberry frappucino from Starbucks and sat on the freeway to get home-definitely one of the top disadvantages of living in southern California. In the evening, we headed to Jose’s, a Mexican restaurant, for dinner and then returned home and watched “Thank you for Smoking.” A very nice satire if you like things like that.

Today, I’m staying close to home doing some cleaning (badly needed) and baking (pumpkin bars). I brought home some paperwork from work, which I probably will take a couple hours and do so I am caught up for the start of the week. We completed our grocery shopping this morning at WinCo (should be called GhettoCo, but hey-the prices are really cheap) and made our weekly Wal-Mart run. Our U-Verse (cable service) is out, so I imagine we’ll be dealing with that at some point. The week ahead looks uneventful and fairly calm-but we shall see. You never know with those Santa Anas!

Some photos from our porch-so maybe in the first one you can see a tiny bit of blue sky......but still this is pretty bad-even for Riverside! We're supposed to be used to this stuff!

A photo of Box Springs mountain from the parking lot. This moutain is not far away-like I said, maybe 5 miles. We can usually see it very clearly-unlike this photo.

Anniversary weekend in the mountains

This past weekend, we headed up to the moutains to celebrate our one year anniversary. It's hard to believe that we've already been married a year, but there it is. Anyway, we went to Big Bear Lake, which is in a valley high in the San Bernadino National Forest, about 7,000 ft above sea level. They have also established a large man-made lake that is fed from mountain streams and melted snow and ice. The lake is beautiful and is a big attraction to folks around these parts. There are also several ski resorts that look really fun too. We hit the shoulder season, being neither summer lake season or winter ski season, so there weren't many tourists up there. We also were around actual trees, that were truly in the peak of turning colors. We enjoyed the crisp tempeatures, clean air, and fall atmosphere.

We took advantage of the Alpine slide, which neither of us had done since we were kids. It was a blast, as we both took the fast lane and wizzed by some 10 year girls in the slow lane moving slower than turtles. It was truly exhilirating, and really made me feel like a kid again.

Next, we roamed around the little downtown/tourist spot of Bear Bear Lake (city) and drank a Starbucks (my first warm drink of the season).

We then checked into our neat Alps-like hotel, which was so beautiful situated in the forest. Our room had beautiful antique furnishings with a wonderful view of the forrest (and some cabins) from the balcony. The hotel also had a great restaurant, where we had a beautiful dinner. It was really nice.

Sunday, we made our way back down the moutain to complete a day of shopping and errands (aka back to reality). Still, it was a nice weekend to get away from the city and decompress.

Today it was back to the stress machine-a typical Monday. We have tranferred one of the assistants that I use to a smaller satellite clinic, so we were super busy. I was even happier we had a relaxing weekend! Now I'm ready to take on 10 patients at once if I need to!!!

Welcome to my blog!

So I have finally caught up to the times and started my own blog! It's hard to keep up with everybody living so far away, so this should help. I'm also on Facebook, which will also have pretty much the same info on it. Anyway, welcome and I will write a real posting later!