Browse Author: beakatude

House Hunt

We’re up in SF this weekend to start our search for housing. It’s crazy how little space you get for so much money. We have a couple of possible places and have decided that we will most likely purchase something. I still think it’s crazy that within less than a week, we’re up in SF looking for a place to live and planning life outside of Irvine. As we walked around, I was scoping out places for Koa to pee and where the closest ATMs were. This is insane.

Oh yeah, we got to see Ryan and Michelle’s newly renovated loft.  Nice job, guys!!  Here are some photos.

Farewell Beigia. Hello Gaysia.

baybridge.jpgWe are moving to San Francisco!! That’s right! Jes interviewed with Jimmy’s company on Wednesday and got an offer on Monday morning. It’s amazing how much can change in less than a week.

So, the husband, dog, and I will be leaving the land of perfectly groomed lawns and 10:00 curfews for a place where rainbow flags wave freely and public transportation is no longer an inconvenience.

Jes will move up first to start his new job at the beginning of July while I stay behind for at least another month to complete the school year (goes until end of July).

Where will we live? In the city…hopefully close to the baseball stadium.

What am I going to do? Sit around and play WoW. Haha. Just kidding. I’m just considering all my career options. Should I jump right into another school-based job? Should I consider a hospital setting? Perhaps I should find something completely different! Anyone need a photographer?!

Am I excited? Yes. Will I miss my family? Of course. Am I nervous? Absolutely. Do I look forward to lots of visitors from Southern California?! You betcha!!

Violated

img_5822.jpgThis past week, Koa was walking a little funny so we decided to take him to the vet on Sunday afternoon. Poor doggie…as soon as we stepped into the vet’s office he started to shake and looked so nervous. How did he know he was going to see the vet?!

Our vet was pretty friendly and tried his best to calm him down. After a couple questions, the vet proceeded with his exam. Unfortunately, that involved Koa getting felt up, squirted in the nose with a Bordatella vaccination, and then taken to the back for a quick poking in his butt. As Jes held him down during his exam, he gave me the saddest look as if he was saying “help me out a little over here?” When the vet brought him back, he told us that dogs sometimes need to have their anal glands “expressed” and the vet said it was pretty stinky. I guess that’s what was bothering him all week. Poor dog…hopefully he won’t need to get violated for another couple years.

Did you just cut that wire?

img_5815.jpgOur garage door is really temperamental. When the sun is out at a certain angle, it’s impossible to close the garage door without having to physically pull it down. Jesse usually has to unlock the chain, pull down the door by hand, push the remote again, and then wait for the track to close the door all the way down. I think it has to do with the way the sunlight hits or reflects onto the sensor. Anyway, it’s been doing this for a few years now and it’s quite a pain when you’re trying to leave the house between 12:00 pm and 3:00 pm.

So, today after we washed the car, I found Jesse hunched over the sensor with wire cutters. He cut the wire and attempted to switch the sensors around. I stood there watching and scratching my head and I was so ready for the garage door to be completely toasted for good. After a mere 10 minutes of tinkering with wires and connectors, the moment of truth arrived. I pushed the button and the garage door went down!!! Woo Hoo!! You should have seen the pride oozing out of Jesse’s eyes and ears and a grin that went from ear to ear. I think he was more impressed with himself than I was. Good job, handy man!

exhausted

May and June are always busy for me at work but I feel like it’s much worse this year.  Somehow 8 hours pass before I get a chance to sit down at my computer to answer emails.  I’m running from meeting to meeting during the day and going home to write report after report.  I’m simply exhausted.  On top of that, I tweaked my back during an assessment yesterday as I was trying to help a mother control her child.  *sigh*  So, today I managed to leave work early (around 4 pm) for the sake of my sanity.  I’ve been clocking 12-16 hour work days for the past two weeks and needed a break.  In fact, today was my last darkroom class and I surely made the most of it.  I arrived an hour early per the request of my instructor and made a final print of my OC Fair Photo Contest entry.  I also managed to print 3 other photos that I feel may be worthy of framing and hanging in my home.  It’s nice to have something to “escape” to when I’m mentally stretched to the limits.  Hopefully my photo will pass the first round of judging.  I’ll have to cross all my fingers and toes and hold my breath for that to happen.  Nighty night…off to bed now.

almost a month old

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We had a family lunch today at Pish and Debbie’s house. My uncle and aunt were in town to visit their granddaughter so we all gathered to have some of my mom’s yummy chicken rice together. Little Katie is almost a month old and looks like such a happy baby. So far she’s been on a pretty regular nap, feeding, and pooping schedule and growing quickly. Unfortunately, I didn’t have much time to get some photos of her before it was nap time but I managed to capture this one. I think she’s going to be a fun subject to photograph over the years. I’ll just have to find another day to continue our photoshoot.