Browse Author: beakatude

Loving Retirement

My parents are having way too much fun. I used to worry that when they retired, they’d be sitting at home in front of the TV bored to tears. But no, it’s been about 6 months since my mom retired and 18 months for my dad and they have a more interesting social life than mine. In fact, they’ve take trips to Thailand, Catalina, Mount Rushmore, Yellowstone, and of course, SF. 🙂 They’re out all day, take naps in the afternoon, and go out some more with their friends. I can’t wait to retire.

Shuck and Suck Sunday

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We drove to Tomales Bay for some oysters and a little BBQ by the water. We arrived early enough to snag a table and grill by the water and enjoyed a day of oysters, BBQ, and sunshine. Koa also came along and got to run off-leash along the water and he even ran into the water a few times to get his feet wet. Jack had his first taste of Kalbi and got a kick out of hangin’ out with his buddy Koa. On the drive back, we stopped just short of the GG Bridge and took a couple touristy photos. What a beautiful day it was today!

Wine Tasting

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This morning I got up and went for a run up to Chinatown with Koa, Brother, and Joy. Once we got to Chinatown, we picked up some porridge and Chinese doughnuts. We then caught the 30 bus back home and Koa had his first bus ride. We brought the muzzle along but the bus drivers and passengers were cool so he didn’t need it.

After our porridge breakfast, we headed up to Napa. Our first stop was Pride Mountain Vineyards, which turned out to be pretty fun. The tastings were only $5/person and their wine was really good. Thanks for the recommendation, Vyl! We also went to Taylor’s Refresher for some bacon/cheese burgers and chili cheese fries. Yum. We had one more tasting but it wasn’t very good. Dinner was at Brix, which had a really pretty garden in the back. The food was pretty tasty and Brother tried a little Absinthe, which turned out to be pretty crappy.

Another thing that I got to do today was try out the D300. Brother’s company got one for the office and he brought it up. It’s a slightly larger/heavier camera with all the bells and whistles. For example, my D70s has 5 points of focus to choose from while the D300 has 51!!! It was so much fun to play with it today and the photos were amazing! For some reason, the color saturation and sharpness were both so much better than my D70s. I sooooo want a D700 now.

Summer Homework

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I’ve been working with a 2nd grader on his handwriting these past couple months.  He’s on a month-long vacation this month and I gave him “homework”.  I like to call it “suggested home program activities”.  Ha.  Anyway, one of his assignments was to write me a letter every Wednesday and mail it to me.  A week and a half passed and I totally didn’t think I’d get a letter.  But, I was wrong.  In my mailbox at work this afternoon was a handwritten letter from my little pen pal Max.  Sweet.  And looking at his writing…we’ve got some work to do when he gets back.  🙂

Never sharpen again!

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I’ve always loved crayons.  There’s nothing like a brand new set of crayons – all perfectly sharpened and in order.  The worst (and most painful) thing about crayons is when you’ve used up the tip and it’s time to carefully peel a centimeter of the wrapper and sharpen it.  Despite having a sharp tip, it’s never the same as when they’re brand new.  *sigh*

Anyway, before your eyes begin to roll, I must tell you about a new invention from Crayola.  They’re twistable crayons!!  You never have to peel the label and the crayons can’t break!!  I tested them out on my new Hello Kitty coloring book and the coloring quality is the same as the original and I’ll never have to make a sharpening mess ever again!  If you have or work with kids, you’d understand the excitement.  If you don’t, you should get some and start coloring again.  There’s something very relaxing about coloring.  I colored about 3 pages on Saturday and it was so much fun.  These guys are coming to Belize with me fo’ shizzle!

Therapeutic Jazz and Beer

My man-friend doesn’t like outings. He’d rather sit at home in his PJs playing video games. He usually grumbles when he has to go outside and mingle with the public. Today’s outing to the Fillmore Jazz Festival seemed to go better than usual so I thought I’d document his progress in a SOAP note.

(KEY: S=subjective, O=objective, A=assessment, P=plan)

S: Patient arrived by bus with cash and an empty stomach. He reported that he had skipped a day of playing WoW to attend the festival.

O: Patient fully participated in all festival activities with minimal encouragement. Stood for 30 minutes to watch Kim Nalley with smile on face and clapped for performances spontaneously. Sat for 30 minutes to watch Jazz Quartet featuring dude playing xylophone with smile on face. Stood for another 20 minutes to watch a band play as a man sang some old R&B tunes. Perused booths filled with candles, handbags, jewelry, photographs, paintings, and other random wares. Drank a total of three 24-oz. cups of Sierra Nevada and two cans of Coors Light. Walked a total 1.2 miles with breaks for toileting x4. Patient ate whole hot link with grilled onions and brown mustard, 3 lumpias, and 4 bites of jambalaya with chicken. Self-fed with fingers and spoon independently. Patient reported “buzzed” feeling and slight headache during ride home.

A: Patient appeared to enjoy afternoon at Jazz Festival. Tolerated crowd well with no complaints of fatigue or annoyance.

P: Continue with outings 1x/week. Consider bringing Coors Light on non-preferred outings.

I had a great time too. The festival was well-organized with plenty to do, see, and eat. The best part was the open-drinking that was allowed along the street. The bus rides weren’t bad either.