Sunday, December 28, 2008

After-Christmas sail

We had a wonderful Christmas this year, even though we didn't have Courtney, Dave, Cody and Alex visit us. Courtney is new to her marketing director job, so she has no vacation time saved up. It's so cool her career is going so well. Dave's business is also flourishing -- he did especially well after a freak wind storm last year that downed trees all over the area. Why is it we only succeed in this family through the misfortune of others? My freelance career is also going well because so many people have been laid off, and in this case I actually know the people.

Anyway, back to Christmas, Rob and I made one of the greatest discoveries since we moved here -- a source for USDA prime meat. Forget the "cattleman's reserve ranch" or whatever the supermarkets are calling their saline-injected shoe leather, any beef aficionado will tell you, the best beef is that graded by the United States Department of Agriculture. Prime beef is the best you can buy, but by and large it's unavailable in Southern California. When I wrote my food column, I would commiserate with other transplants who knew their beef about the lack of USDA prime beef.

Rob was reading the LA Times when he noticed an ad for Hows Market for aged prime rib roast for $8.95 a pound. I had passed a Hows Market when I went to the food writing course and had seen a Hows, I dimly recalled. This was such a good deal, we started to look to see where the closest Hows was to us when I noticed there was a Hows in Malibu. In fact, it was on the side of Malibu that's closer to Ventura County, in the Trancas Center. We happened to have an appointment in L.A. for Rob's eye and we were passing right by.

Now we have a great source of USDA prime meat, which is cool,and Hows has pretty reasonable prices on other items. It's worth the drive on the PCH.

We had Ryan, Lindsay and Rob's nephews,Sean and his wife Gen, Duncan and his girlfriend Mary and Colin and his lady Tracy, along with Rob's brother and sister-in-law Marilyn, along with Dena and Dena's mom patty. Dave, one of Lindsay's friends came over too.

I ended up making way more food than I'd planned. We had to travel all over town to find my goose -- a real wild goose chase. Then we had the 8 pound roast, so we could have our traditional beef roast, goose, Yorkshire pudding, asparagus parsleyed potatoes Christmas Eve dinner. The next day, Christmas, people were still wanting food, so I was able to snag a $9 dollar ham at the only open Vons and make some potatoes gratin, which I served with some store-bought rolls, canned beans and salad. All the meals were great.

Dena's mom Patty was out the door Christmas morning when her car broke down, so she ended up staying the night. unfortunately she decided she missed her dogs Titan and Stash, who've been living with us since August, so she took them back to Lompoc with her. We've really grown attached to these dogs and they have formed a pack with our little guys, so we're all a bit sad. You know the old saying: No Good Deed Goes Unpunished ...

Friday Rick, Marilyn, Kaia, Rob and I went to the beach so Rick could look at tidal pools. We went for lunch first and had a great time catching up. Kaia was really cute. she and Marilyn came over a couple of days before to make some Christmas cookies, but Kaia was cranky because she was fighting off a cold. This time she was just her normal sweet, funny self. She, Rob and Rick spent a bunch of time outside playing with a flying bug-thing I got for Rob for Christmas so he'd have something fun.

I got to talk to Courtney and the boys and we talked to them over the web cam today. I'm really excited about visiting them, although I'm apprehensive because flying is really really uncomfortable. Plus there's the whole artificial knee thing with security, which means I need extra time. Nope. I'm not looking forward to the trip at all.

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Pre-holiday catchup



We have all the Christmas stuff up and are in the final countdowns to Christmas. Courtney, Dave and the boys couldn't make it out this year, but I'm going back to Dayton for a week after Christmas. Rob still has some inflammation in his eye and increased eye pressure, so flying probably isn't the best idea.

I have a lot more work for the Ventura County Star these days, especially because they just laid off a bunch of people. I'm not exactly comfortable that someone else's pain is my gain, but it's not as though I'm taking anything from anyone. And with the economic uncertainty being what it is these day, no one is blaming anyone for doing what they can to make a living.

I'm loving doing stories and taking pictures. Tomorrow, I'm off to see a group that plays kazoos and other instruments for seniors. I love doing senior stories. I've always enjoyed them, but now as I get closer and closer to my subject's age, I just seem to enjoy them, and their stories, more.

We had our Christmas concerts last weekend with the Ventura Master Chorale. It's turned out to be everything I'd hoped for and more. I just love having music back in my life. I'm also having a lot of fun getting "The Voice" back in shape. I read a bunch of stuff about Maria Kallas a long time ago, and she referred to her voice as "the Voice," almost like it was a third person. Sometimes I feel the same way about mine, although it does seem awfully conceited. I'm in no way comparing myself to Maria Kallas, although I do call her Tia Maria because she's a distant relative (by marriage), just to be pretentious. (Actually I only do that around Rob.)

Nonetheless, there are time when I feel my voice is an entity unto itself and it pretty much wants to do what it wants to do. Last weekend, however, it was behaving and I was able to go full-voice for the first time in a really long time. It felt so great. It's not something I can do often because my full voice can only be trotted out under very special circumstances. Otherwise it's an painful,ugly and very loud noise.

Singing Christmas music was such a treat this year. I got to sing at the San Buenaventura Mission, which was super-cool, and the St. John's Seminary in Camarillo, which has a really nice chapel.

Lindsay and Ryan are coping with their PTSD issues as best they can, with help. Lindsay has and Ryan have been hanging around more, which makes me very happy. In fact, at the risk of angering the jealous gods, I'm pretty happy these days and it's always important to celebrate the good times because they help get you through those times that aren't so great. I like to store away happy memories like a squirrel. They come in very handy when my head is racing with problems and fears.