Adventures in Santa Cruz

Two weekends ago, JT and I were invited to join a group of couples from church on a weekend day trip to Santa Cruz. We met these couples at church and at a recent new-comers dinner where one of the gals invited me to join them for a weekly girls' night to watch the Bachelor!

We're making progress in the friend department...finally!

Sooo...the trip to Santa Cruz. We both had a great time - the weather was gorgeous, especially after a dreary week of heavy rain. You could tell by looking at the beach there had been a huge storm - the beach was littered with driftwood and kelp where it's normally just beautiful sand.


After brunch at a great little haunt called Linda's Seabreeze Cafe, which is known for its cinnamon rolls, we wandered down towards the marina and its neighboring jetty, complete with a lighthouse. To get to the lighthouse you need to climb up some rocks...a few people scurried up ahead of me as I sized up the rocks, looking for an easy route. I spotted one and stuck my foot out to take the first step. At the moment I began to put my foot down I said out loud, "oh...this is a fury rock," and sort of swept my foot across the top of it instead of stepping down to go up. At the same time, one of the other guys turned around and said, "I don't think that's a rock!"

BAH! Thank GOODNESS he said something. It was a dead seal stuck in the rocks...it looked exactly like a rock. Blurg...can you imagine if I had put my foot through it. That's all I kept thinking about all day...well that and...

The fact that Justin got unexpectedly doused by a huge wave. He was soaked to the bone.

We finally made it up to the lighthouse, took a few pics and then walked past the lighthouse to the end of the jetty to watch the surfers. I stayed on solid ground...we all know I'm not the best with walking or climbing...but Justin jumped over onto one of the "jacks" to take some more pictures. The sea was still a bit angry from the week of storms, and the waves were huge...great for surfers, not so great for curious and adventurous husbands. Next thing you know I hear is a giant splash and people saying, "ooooooohhhhhh no, hahahahaa ohhh no." I turn around to find everyone staring at Justin who is dripping with sandy ocean water. Poor kid. I looked at him and knew we're both thinking the same thing: if it were just the two of us at the beach, we'd already be on our way home.

Justin was a good sport about being all wet and sandy. We all left the jetty and started walking to the boardwalk to check out the rides. Of course the boys went to check out the dead seal and poke at it with sticks. It proved to be not as exciting as they hoped so we continued on the journey across the beach. Now, the storm, as I mentioned, had washed up a lot of debris on the beach. Soon we came across something else that looked dead and the boys again picked up sticks to poke at this new-found, pink mystery item. I glimpsed at it and thought, "humm that's a funny looking thing...nah...it can't be..." I thought silently it may have been part of a manikin. Others said it couldn't be an animal or fish...it looked like rubber. Eventually, one of the boys realized what it was and announced, "Ohh. Um, this is something you'd find at an adult store...." Everyone promptly dropped their sticks and walked away.

Talk about awkward. The girls were all laughing hysterically. I'm still laughing, actually.

The boardwalk was being repaired so we went to the Natural Bridges beach park to take in the sights before going to the Mystery Spot, "a gravitational anomaly located in the Redwood forests just outside of Santa Cruz." It's hard to explain so check out the Web site for more info...it definitely is a weird feeling when you're in the little shed and leaning off-balance, but balanced at the same time!

Natural Bridges -- see the hole in the rock?

Afterward we went for ice cream at Marianne's -- a famous old-fashioned ice cream parlor that's practically a landmark and a must-do when in Santa Cruz. In fact, the store where I work partnered with Marianne's last summer to make a fresh cantaloupe ice cream. Delish!

We did have a great time with the gang and are thankful the weather held up for us until we all called it a day! We're also happy nothing else weird happened to us during the outing! Here are a few other pics at the Mystery Spot:

Justin was in such disbelief about the mystery of this spot that he couldn't keep his eyes open!

Leaning but standing straight!

1 year anniversary

Today marks one year since I started my new job, in a new state. Crazy how time flies! I'm still amazed by the fact that I started a new job exactly 1 month to the day that I left my job in Seattle. Talk about a blessing!

What a load of bologna

During a quick trip to the grocery store Monday night, Justin and I spent an unusual amount of time perusing the deli meats. We get meats for sandos about every other trip to the store...yet I somehow manage to forget that I threw out what we purchased previously because it expired before we used it.

I don't know what it is about the idea of sandwiches that makes us buy deli meat. I take leftovers to work for lunch or throw a bunch of odds and ends in a tortilla, and Justin's boss usually gets the team lunch, so there really isn't a need for sandwich makings. Or bread, for that matter, but we'll talk about that another time. There is just something about sandwich meats that calls our name and makes us think there will be a beautiful, already prepared sandwich waiting for us in the fridge in the morning.

Source

Reality seemed to smack us square in the face while looking at deli meats Monday, but just as we were walking away from the section, deli-meat free, Justin said, "ohh bologna! My mom used to make us bologna sandwiches!"

To which I replied, "mine did too, and I remember peeling the ring off from around the edge of the bologna..."

"Ooo me too! I remember that," said Justin, with a sudden look oo-can-we-pleeaassee-get-some in his eye.

"I have a nasty confession to make," I continued. "When I was really young I used to make bologna sandwiches with grape jelly...I'm sure my parents thought it was extremely weird, but apparently I used to like it."

Then we stood there for another minute. Looked at each other, then back at the bologna. Then I picked one up and tossed it in the cart.

So tonight I got home and Justin asked me, with a slight look of disgust on his face, "do they make hot dogs out of the same stuff used to make bologna? I just had a slice, and it tastes exactly like cold hot dog."

I guess we'll just wait until we have kids of our own to try out the bologna again. Needless to say, I think we'll be tossing out an almost full container of bologna in about 3 weeks. I also noticed, to my utter disappointment, there is no ring to peel from the edge of the bologna...There's nothin' like the good ol' days!

(And yes, I sang the Oscar Meyer song while spelling out b-o-l-o-g-n-a.)

America's 75 Worst Commutes

Dear followers - I'm not joking when I say traffic is a pain here. Traffic is a pain when present anywhere, but now I can prove my point while pointing to expert data as printed in the

The Daily Beast
America's 75 Worst Commutes
1/19/10
LINK

They are the highways to hell in the country’s most gridlocked cities. The Daily Beast crunches the numbers to determine your ultimate morning nightmares. How did your commute in rank?....

#11, Bayshore Freeway (US 101), San Jose
Weekly hours of bottleneck congestion: 231
Worst bottleneck: Northbound, Old Middlefield Way
Length of worst bottleneck: .34 mi
Weekly hours of congestion on worst bottleneck: 27
Speed of worst bottleneck when congested: 20.2

Commuter Buzz: “There are stretches that look like a fault line with jagged edges,” says Mike McPherson.

This, my friends, IS WHERE I GET ON THE FREEWAY EVERY DAY. I would also like to note that #7 in Seattle was the closest on-ramp to I-5 for me when I lived in Fremont, but thank goodness for Hwy 99. I'm sure that ol' eye sore saved me from throwing a shoe at someone while driving down the road.

Ever wonder why there are shoes scattered on the roadways? I believe it's due to road congestion. And I wouldn't be surprised if I come home one shoe down one of these days.

Source

A year of lessons

Justin and I have had quite a year! As of December 29th, we've been in California for a year. We rang in 2009 in the hotel in which we were living down in Morgan Hill. This year we rang in 2010 in our apartment in Mountain View and even took a stroll down to Castro Street for a brew at our favorite pub.

To celebrate the start of 2010 we've put together a list of things we've learned in the last year. We'll probably make additions later, but here's a start:

In 2009, Team Thompson learned:

• There are too many people to go somewhere and be alone. Even on a hike or a mountain biking adventure many miles from civilization. There is always at least one other person who thought that was a great place to get away.
• It's best to check the drain before turning on the disposal. Especially if you love your new silverware. Or measuring spoons.
• The horrible smell that takes over the town of Morgan Hill from time to time is from mushrooms. The smell is so vile it almost knocks you out cold...only if you're an out-of-towner. Residents are are apparently immune...similar to how people in the Yakima Valley don't know what stink you're talkin' about when you say it smells like manure.
• How to take a "navy shower" to conserve hot water.
• We are truly blessed. The Lord works in mysterious ways!
• If Christine pays as much attention to our future children as she does to the deck garden plants, she'll be a wonderful mom.
  
• Justin really doesn't, and probably never will, like squash.
  
• Advise your brother not to reciprocate the "mean face" the woman made at the fact that your moving van was kind of in the way at your new apartment complex. Chances are she's your neighbor...
• Dishwashers are a luxury.
• There are no back ways or short cuts in the Bay Area. Everyone else knows them, too.
• Creepers in California follow me around just as much as the creepers in Washington.
• Camping is different in California.
  
• El Toro Brewery in Morgan Hill makes the best burgers.
  
• Never get on a Sicilian's bad side.
• Lizards like to swim, too.
  
• If you've asked Justin to put something away and later you can't find it, look up high, like on top of the wardrobe or hutch. I don't know why...
• Not everyone is amazed with the fact that Oracle, Yahoo, MSFT, Google, Salesforce, IBM, Adobe, etc., etc., are what we call "the sights" around Silicon Valley. I guess you have to be a former Tech PR nerd or technology junkie to truly appreciate these "sights."
• If you and your partner are both over the age of 70, it's mandatory that you wear matching velor suits to Costco. And don't forget your small dog, either.
• You might live 12 miles from work, but it can take 2 hours to get there. Rain or shine.
• Everyone goes to Half Moon Bay during the weekends in October so you should never go to Half Moon Bay at this time. Even if you leave at the crack of dawn. You'll only get there in time to turn around because it'll be dark by the time you get there.
  
• If the sign says Happy Feet Spa, it doesn't mean this is where you go for a pedicure.
  
• It's not a good idea to go to Walmart in Mountain View past dusk on a Sunday.
• Life is short. Love like there is no tomorrow.
  
• Never ask your wife if a Pamprin will help her feel better. Even if you're 100% sure about some things. She'll never, ever think it's appropriate or funny.
  
• People ride horses down the street in Morgan Hill.
• Keep this in mind next time you look at a sink full of dishes:
  

  Thank God for dirty dishes,

  They have a tale to tell.

  While others may go hungry

  When we are eating well.

  With home, health, happiness,

  I shouldn't want to fuss,

  By the stack of evidence,

  God's been very good to us. (Thanks, Aunt Camille!)
  
• Always hold down the pooper tube with your foot while emptying the black tank in an RV.
• And last but not least...it's best to empty the black tank at night, under a veil of darkness, so if the pooper tube does blast out of the hole and splatters fun all over the lot for the neighboring RV, they won't know where it came from.

Epiphany

We don’t have a dishwasher. Yeah, yeah…I know people 100 years ago didn’t either and they had to walk to school barefoot and uphill both ways, too. But really, not having a dishwasher is 0% cool.

And yes. It’s still 0% cool when there are only 2 of us and we are both at home and awake for maybe 4 hours total a day, which is time enough for at least one meal at home. We still have a lot of dishes to wash. And silverware...The bane of my existence.

I despise washing silverware. Don’t get me wrong, I do wash them, but I leave them for last or even until the next day when I ask JT to help wash the dishes. Muahhhhahhahaa.

A few weeks ago I had an epiphany on my way to work. What if JT and I each pick out a heavy duty plastic plate and matching bowl that we use for each meal? Meaning, if your plate is sitting in the sink, you have to wash it off, dry it and use that one and that one only.

I proposed my idea to Justin and he actually went for it! I thought he'd say it was silly, but I guess he hates washing dishes just as much as I do! There was only one hesitation he had: "What if I want to heat up chicken nuggets...we can't put those plates in the microwave?!?!?!!!"

Well, apparently he hasn’t noticed, but I stopped buying nuggets a few months ago. Muahhhhahahaa.

We picked out plates and bowls at Target...Justin chose black, naturally, and I chose red. So far so good with the plates. We did use real dishes for holiday treats, and even busted out the China for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

The dishes still pile up though. They aren't all dishes, per se...it's really more the pots, pans and cooking utensils that pile up. And silverware. I just enjoy cooking too much and love using all my fun gadgets and cookware to figure out a solution for that problem.

If you have any tips...aside from using paper plates, plastic flatware or aluminum pans...feel free to send them our way! And please don't think poorly of us for finding ways to cheat Mr. Clean.

So I made 2 more...

I made 2 more Elf Yourself videos...enjoy!

The Thompsons: WATCH

The Emersons: WATCH