Home Again, Home Again, Jiggety-Jig

I had a lovely little trip to the coast, and now I am safely home (at Mom and Dad's), showered, and I have blogged about my trip. I took a lot of pictures, all available for viewing on The Anxious Traveler, of course.

Here's a preview...

Hi-Ho, Hi-Ho, It's Off to the Coast I Go...

Tomorrow I'm off to Fort Bragg, home of Glass Beach, the Skunk Train, and sitting on the amazingly beautiful Northern California coast. I'm excited to get out of the valley for a few days.

Not sure I'll be able to blog while there, but I'll definitely be putting my pictures up on The Anxious Traveler when I get back into town on Wednesday.

A Day in the Hot, Triple-Digit Sun

I went to A Day in the Zone today, and while it was stinking hot all damned day, I'm glad I made the effort to see Train. Because they rock live.

Drops of Jupiter has been my "theme song" since 2001. I absolutely love it.

I arrived at Discovery park at about 2:00 this afternoon. I missed Howie Day entirely, and thought I'd wait in the shade while Colbie Caillat and Hoobastank played. I had an ice cream and stared at some cute cops, before getting up to look around.

A fire truck blasted water out over part of the park, and people stood cooling off in that. It was nasty hot today--over 100 degrees. There were food vendors galore, and Keith Brooks, a Zone DJ, threw T-shirts into the crowd from the ladder truck that was on hand.






Colbie Caillat was adorable, and very good live. Her guitar player was easy on the eyes, too. She had a couple of very drunk fans standing in front of me. I took a video of one of them dancing.










I had wandered down near the stage, figuring I'd like to be as close as possible when Train played. This meant standing there for two hours in the sun, guarding my spot jealously. No bathroom breaks.

Hoobastank was up next. I'm not a huge fan, but they were entertaining. The bassist was pretty hot, if you like multiple tattoos (he had a fabulous smile, too).







Finally, my long wait was over and Train took the stage. I sang along at the top of my lungs with their awesome songs like "Get To Me" and "Meet Virginia."

Pat (lead singer) invited four little girls up and dubbed them the Trainettes. They got to sing along.

Then he took his shirt off, to the delight of the women and gay men in the crowd.







The guitarist totally rocked out on the ukelele for "Hey, Soul Sister." After that awesome song, they played their last number of the day, my all-time favorite, "Drops of Jupiter." It was marvelous. Some more shots:







All in all it was a great day, and I'm glad I went, even though it was hotter than hell and I was drenched with sweat. Tomorrow is so laundry day. Then on Monday, I'm off to Fort Bragg!

Packing

Two o'clock this afternoon found me racing out to my car in the school parking lot, motoring home, grabbing the cats and throwing them in the car. Tonight finds me at Mom and Dad's house.

You see, it's my fall break. Two glorious weeks off with no teaching, no craziness, just fun and relaxation. I leave for Fort Bragg on Monday. : )

Anyway, last night, I packed. I had a mental checklist that I ran through:

Underwear? Check.

Socks? Check.

Pajamas? Check.

Hoodie for Fort Bragg? Check.

Harley?



Check.

Cat Photography

It only took about ten tries to get a picture of Millie and Harley with both looking at the damned camera.







Finally, I got a shot before Harley turned his head.

Bag Boy

What is it about cats and paper bags?



It took Harley all of 15 seconds to find my stash, once I moved them out of the coat closet and into the pantry.

Feel the Sexiness

I am trading in last season's Chorale dress for a smaller size. Thanks to all that training and stuff, my frame is much svelter (is that a word?) than it was a year ago, when I bought my first potato sack dress.

I tried on the new one tonight, and it's AMAZING. That's not to say it's sexy--heaven's no, this outfit will never be sexy. But I don't have to roll the skirt down six times at the waist to keep the hem from dragging the ground. I won't have horrible nightmares about stepping on the hem as I walk up to the stage, dragging the skirt down and exposing my pantyhose-clad posterior to the audience.

Holy Shoulder Pads, Batman! Pardon the red, just-washed look of my face, and the messy ponytail that's been there since 7:00 this morning.

Wow. Just...Wow.

Tony Amato, superintendent of SUSD, was fired last night in a unanimous vote by the school board.

There was a standing ovation at this news.

St. John's of Stockton

I'm not a churchgoer, by any stretch of the imagination. However, I appreciate church architecture, especially that of St. John's here in Stockton, where Chorale rehearses every Monday evening.

Last week, I got a few late-day shots of the exterior. It's not a huge church, but it's very pretty.

The Furbabies

'Cause they're so sweet, and they make me smile. Just can't get enough of my furbabies.