Category Archives: the hubby

Practicing Gratitude

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After having spent a wonderful, if not hot, extended weekend with the hubby, I’m thinking it’s time to show some gratitude (and maybe a little meditation later).

* I am so happy and grateful for my awesome husband and boys. They may sometimes seem to drive me crazy, but really, they’re the best.

* I am so happy and grateful for the change in the weather. Over the next couple days, it will be 10-20 degrees cooler!! I’m SO happy ’bout that. And of course, I’m thrilled to be sleeping in something cooler than 85 in the bedroom.

* I’m so happy and grateful for my work and my upcoming endeavors. Things are really moving along and I’m loving it!

* I’m so happy and grateful for my friends. I love being able to visit with them or being able to just pick up the phone to chat. It’s great knowing that we’re each others’ support systems. It’s good to know where to turn when you need support.

* I’m so happy and grateful that things are financially going along well. Of course, I’m open to anything that the Universe wishes to provide us with, knowing it’s for the good of all involved.

* I’m also so happy and grateful for the killer bargains I’ve gotten over the past couple of days. So much so that I just had to share them with others.

* Overall, I’m just so happy and grateful to just Be.

Screw Thursday Thirteen – Let’s Try to Podcast (not!)

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I am not a geek. I’m just a cheap imitation of one.

No really. I spent all damn day between the tutorials and the actual editing of my CC interview with Megan Crane. Then the hubby comes home, offers to help with one little bit and the next thing I know, he wants me to totally re-edit from scratch because *this one* has better sound quality. So I did. And yes, I knew it would take me longer than the 10 minutes it might take him. Thankfully, I still had my time stamp notes.

Of course, when I was finished he basically just asked me why it sounded like content was missing (it was) and then complained that my editing sucks – all of course, leaving me on the verge of tears (to be fair, he didn’t say it “sucks” but you know, it still hurt to hear since I’d at it for 2 hours tonight on top of all.damn.day already). So I threw a very mature fit ranting that my first edit was much better and why couldn’t I just use the original one. I’m sure he didn’t believe me, but at this point we were left with two options; I go back to the original edit or he completely takes over and edits everything (or the third option, I just flat out lose it).

My stubborn, Taurean pride stepped in, of course, I and chose to go back to the original edit (since it wasn’t missing major chunks of content). So two hours later it’s finally good to go. Now of course, he needs to upload it to the server, then install a plug in on the blog and THEN, finally, I can post the damn thing and walk away. What a major event. I knew there was a reason I wanted to have a margarita with dinner and not that diet pepsi.

I have to be honest here, I’m just not sure it’s worth it. While I love the concept and the interviewing process, I just don’t seem to have what it takes for editing. My eyes, ears and fingers just don’t seem to want to work together (much like with video games). And sometimes I just have a hell of a time wrapping my head around technological crap.

And now it’s 1:10 AM and he’s got it up on the site. Only he of course doesn’t like the sound quality, so he’s doing a quick overall edit (for the second time, mind you – full circle back to the original mess that had me in tears…or so it might seem). I’m exhausted from being locked in the un-air conditioned room all damn day in this crazy heat taxing my brain. I just want a good book and my bed.

So yeah, while I might appear to be a computer geeky gal, really, I’m just a poser. How sad is that?

One of the Cool Things About Living in SoCal

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A while back, the hubby and I were driving back from brunch and took a different, more scenic route home through the hills. And as we were twisting and turning along, admiring the houses, I scream “a Frank Lloyd Wright house! Turn around!!!” Thankfully, my husband, does on occasion listen to me. He turned around at first opportunity and let me oogle it for a few minutes.

The hubby was cute though, he looked at me, all confused and asked me how I knew it was a Frank Lloyd Wright house. I explained that I had seen one of his concrete block homes before and I noticed the National Registry plaques. I get the same way when I notice some Green & Green’s. I think he sometimes forgets all the art appreciation classes they make elementary teachers take – LOL.

This is the Alice Millard House, “La Minatura”* (built in 1923). It was his first concrete block house. It wasn’t the one we saw driving in La Crescenta (see below for that one). I do know where this house is though (not all that far from a slew of Green & Green Craftsmans).

This is the one we saw while driving – James Daniel Derby House* – built in 1926 (according to the National Registry)

* these are not my photos – I told myself that I’d go back with a friend (and I did), but I never got around to taking my own photos, we just did a drive-by.

Overheard: While Out Looking at Open Houses

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We were driving around a local neighborhood looking for a particular open house that was starting in a few (without a map, mind you)…

the hubby: Ooh look!!
me: What? Where? (checking for street signs)
the hubby: A squirrel! (pointing up to the electrical wires above)
me: A squirrel?
the hubby: Ruuuff! Ruuuuuff roooff!
me: What?!?!
the hubby: That’s what Griffin says when he sees a squirrel.
me: ?? (baffled, but amused I just shake my head and continue to look for the correct street)

One Boy, Two Boy, Three Boy, Love

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Today was one of those days that when the hubby left I was just bursting with love and gratitude. Maybe it was the way our cat was scared of the lawn guy’s blowers and was crying and hiding behind my hubby’s legs. Maybe it was the way that our dog was barking at the lawn guys trying to keep them away from us. Maybe it was the way that my hubby just looked at me before he kissed me goodbye as he left for work.

I don’t know and can’t rightly say for sure. All I know is that I love all of my boys and today, all day long, my heart was bursting with love. As I’ve said before, sometimes, all you need is love.

Thursday Thirteen – Chicago, My Kind of Town

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Chicago

1. hung out at the ultra-hip, über-trendy hotel lobby, feeling way out of my element
2. walked around Navy Pier
3. ate Chicago deep dish pizza at Pizzeria Due (Uno was too crowded)
4. took the L
5. rode the Metra
6. visited with friends
7. hung out in the suburbs with friends
8. visited the Marshall Fields flagship store
9. had some caramel and cheddar popcorn at Garretts
10. tasted a Chicago Dog
11. got blissed out and pampered at Bliss
12. took tons of photos
13. admired the architecture

Chicago, Here I Come!

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I leave first thing in the morning to head on out for my shuttle to LAX. And no, really, I do mean first thing since I’ll be getting up at 5:00AM!! Keep in mind, many, many nights we don’t go to bed before 3:00AM. So yeah, this is a big deal for me. I’m really looking forward to seeing the hubby again (still missing him and still finding that a tad bizarre) and poking around Chi-Town. I probably won’t post until I get back.

In the hopes of getting some comments from folks (I get the views, just not to comments, it seems), I’d like to ask…where is your favorite US city to go to for business travel and why?

Bye Bye Baby, B’Bye

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So bright and early I got up to take the hubby off to the flyaway shuttle to LAX. Man, I do hate getting up so early and it’s even worse having done it on such little sleep. But oh well, it needed to be done and I’ll be doing it again for myself on Friday. Needless to say, I’ve been frazzled since and fighting off a migraine *yuck*

It’s weird though, the hubby has business trips two, maybe three times a year, and really, I’m fine with it. But today, for some reason, it saddened me to see him go. I don’t normally get sad when he leaves and in fact, we can go days without talking and just touching base through text messages if it comes down to it. But today though, yeah, not the same. Though I’ll see him again on Friday when I get to Chicago, so it’s not really a big deal.

Maybe I’ll just take advantage of the hubby-free time and eat all those things that they hubby won’t eat with me. Take out pizza and Ben & Jerry’s. Yum!!

Eight Bands in Three Nights

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And you thought you had a busy weekend…

Thurs – Great Northern @ the Hammer. This is a great outdoor venue and would be just perfect for a wedding or party. Not the best for live music since the sound just bounces off all the concrete, but really, for a free concert, it was good fun!

Fri – Sara Bareilles, The Last Goodnight, Rocco Deluca. I absolutely love the Fonda, it’s so very art deco. We had the privilege of attending a private pre-concert party a while back up on the roof and it’s an amazing, fun space. We caught the tail end of Sara and for a young’un, she sounded great and really worked the crowd. We went to specifically to see/shoot The Last Good Night as my hubby was at their record launch a week or so ago. They’re quite good – very Maroon 5ish. I have to say though, Rocco Deluca, so not my thing. But dayum can that boy rock a guitar! Impressive.

Sat – KaiserCartel @ the Hotel Cafe. Now with exceptions (mostly being, excessive heat, mass crowds and rude, talkative audience members – see the Hanson show post) I really love seeing shows at the Hotel Cafe. It’s a well-run, small, intimate scene where you can really enjoy the music and the bands’ interaction. And while I don’t see KaiserCartel making it big on the radio anytime soon, their sound was incredible! They ended the night totally acoustic, no mics, wandering around the place singing to everyone. I don’t think I’ve ever heard that place so quiet. It was awesome!

This was followed by…Dave Lichens, Libbie Schrader, Andrea Wasse @ Room 5. This is yet another awesome venue to listen to singer/songwriters. It’s even more intimate than the Hotel Cafe, but believe it or not, they have seating!! It’s upstairs from Amalfi Ristorante over on La Brea. They make some awesome cocktails (and my Cosmo was actually made with Grey Goose!) and they’re not crazy expensive. I hear good things about the restaurant – everything that passed by looked great and again, great prices. We’ll either have to eat there next show, or make it a date night outing. Speaking of, what a great location for a date night…good food, good drinks, good atmosphere and good music. Sounds like a great date to me!

I have to say though, seeing eight performances in three days, well, that’s just a bit much for me. Then again, since the hubby started up with his concert photography biz (before that, he was reviewing live shows), summers are typically like this. It gets to be fun when we get to travel for shows!! I think our next big out of state gig will be Herbie Hancock in Santa Fe, not counting Pitchfork in Chicago (since I’m not going to that).

In closing…holy segue Batman! Can I just say that it drives me crazy when I don’t seem to have a natural ending or a good segue. Mind you, not crazy enough to dwell on it. Just crazy enough to know that it’s out there, for all the world to read.

How do I Always End Up the Designated Driver?

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oh yeah, because it’s less calories to drink diet coke than to drink a rum and diet coke *sigh* Of course, my hubby waited until after I finished my Cosmo and my Grey Goose and Cranberry to let me in on the fact that I’d be the one driving home. Luckily, with two more sets to go, lots of water and some tiramisu (yeah, less calories my ass!) I was good to go in a couple of hours.

Next time dammit, I’m going to be the tossing back the drinks!