Count down to free time...

As of 9 PM on Wednesday, December 5th, I will be free of school work for an entire month! Stacey and I have big plans for fun and relaxation, including a weekend in San Francisco and a weekend in Sonoma. I promise we'll post pictures and other tidbits.

Hope you are all surviving the holiday hubbub. We're almost done with our shopping, working on our holiday cards, and finally having a bit of cold(er) weather.

Road Trip to the Coast

Today my father, sisters, Bernice, Stacey and I drove down to Point Lobos State Reserve, just south of Carmel (according to their website, this is "The Greatest Meeting of Land and Water in the World"). We climbed on the rocks, walked around a bit, and spotted sea lions (in the water) and a deer (on land). It was crowded, but it was a beautiful bright day.

Susy and Bernice are one (two?) with nature

Susy examines the rocks

Becky hopes for sea lion sightings

Stacey's first trip to the (continental) Pacific coast

Better weather than I am used to at Thanksgiving

Working off all the pie

Not even a little bit scared of us

From here, you can hear the sea lions

After Point Lobos, we drove up to Monterey for lunch and visited the Monterey Bay Aquarium, which features two of my favorite marine organisms (otters and jellyfish) and one of my least favorite land organisms: Stupid People. Especially Stupid People with Strollers. I have nothing against what's in the strollers, but people seem about as proficient at driving them as they are at driving cars which, in California, is NOT VERY. Don't even ask Stacey about this unless you have some free time and an ear for cursing.

Happy Thanksgiving!

My sisters, father and stepmother flew out to California to celebrate Thanksgiving with us. We are all rubbing our bellies now after a big feast that included two turkeys: one roasted by Stacey and me...
...as well as one that my cousin Rick deep-fried:

The fried turkey definitely wins the crispy skin contest, but is more of a production in a lot of ways. Also I found it frankly a little distressing, what with all the boiling oil. I am a bit of a pansy that way.

Hope you all found many things to be thankful for today and didn't stuff yourself as much as we did (or did, and enjoyed it).

Autumn in California

For those East coasters who think we don't have foliage (or fall) in California, here is a picture of the courtyard from our patio. Though most trees here do lose their leaves, for the most part they just turn brown, shrivel and drop. But some species do turn colors in this area. I have no idea what this one is, but it's a nice view from our living room.

Stacey and I are gradually finding the interesting places to eat in San Jose. We very much like Falafel's Drive-In (yes, Falafel's, as if Falafel owned the drive-in, which he does not), which is entertaining partly because of the novelty of a drive-in Middle Eastern restaurant, partly because of its flashy sign, and partly because the food is just good. They throw a little of a delicious thick chili sauce on their hummus -- yum! -- and their gyros are more like meatballs than that greasy, crusty pressed-meat weirdness you usually get (which, don't get me wrong, I love -- but this tastes more like real food).

We also like Taqueria La Victoria in downtown San Jose for their "hot sauce" or "orange sauce," which is essentially chorizo-flavored sour cream in a squeeze bottle. Don't knock it till you've tried it. But personal health necessitates that we limit our visits to Taqueria La Victoria. Sad.

I am also including a picture of the 20-foot statue that guards Babe's and Lightning Muffler Service on our street, where Stacey recently had our car serviced. Why? Because it's just weird. That's a golf club he has in his hands, by the way. I don't know what that has to do with mufflers, but when I walk by Babe on my way to the train station, it looks like he's going to whack me with it.

Earthquake!

I don't have a picture of this one... We just had a 5.6 earthquake centered a few miles from our home. It's too late to call you East-coasters, but if you check this, we are all fine! They aren't reporting any injuries or damage from this one, though it was pretty scary for earthquake newbies (and for the cat). We're waiting for the aftershocks now. Stacey says she's coming back East!

Behold the Scotchmallow.

Honey marshmallow + caramel + semisweet chocolate = a sweet force to be reckoned with. I grew up eating See's Candies brought by my aunt each time she visited from California, but I was not astute enough in my youth to single out the most winning confection of the box. Now I know. There is evidently a Scotchmallow bar, but research suggests that the bar, unlike the little Scotchmallow truffle thingy, is wrapped in milk chocolate, not semisweet -- a disappointment. I don't know what makes the Scotchmallow quite so good. Caramel is good. Marshmallow is good. Semisweet chocolate? Good. But somehow the Scotchmallow is more than the sum of its parts.

For those of you who don't know, See's Candies is a Bay Area institution. They are everywhere. Near our house is a See's Candies Outlet Store! As if that wasn't enough, there is a See's Candies in the office complex where I work. Oh, Mary See! Take your Scotchmallow and leave me alone!

I am not the only one to revere the Scotchmallow. I am not even the only one to blog about it! Today, I was in Williams Sonoma with my aunt, and found a cookbook (Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey: Desserts for the Serious Sweet Tooth by Jill O'Connor) that features a Scotchmallow sundae. Now I have Scotchmallow on the brain (but not in the belly). I will resist -- until Easter, anyway. I hear there is a Scotchmallow egg.

Congratulations Dad and Bernice!

I made it home to Massachusetts last weekend to attend my father's wedding to Bernice Dziejma (now Bernice King!) at the Charles River Museum of Industry in Waltham.

Bernice and my dad actually met at Waltham High School -- class of 1966! Bernice probably didn't go for my dad at the time because he was in the Chess Club.

I got to spend some QT with my oldest friend Rebecca Couture, who is having triplets this winter!

The weekend also brought QT with my family, with Lisa "I'm going to rock my exams" Lee, with a Toscanini's Microsundae, with Emily Raine and a herb omelet on her 28th birthday, and with two of the family dogs, Lucy and Oliver, who both seem to have figured out that camera flash won't hurt their eyes if they close them. I have to guess that some people are taking too many pictures of the dogs!



In one of my library classes, we recently dicussed blogs, and how one of the drawbacks is the challenge of maintenance: you start one thinking you will post all the time, and then Life sets in. Don't I know it! I've made a vow to improve the blog, but we will all have to see how that one goes.