I Pack Up My Belongings and I Head for the Coast.

Here are some pictures I have taken since getting my new camera at Christmas.

You couldn't see any of the pier deck because there were layers of sealions across every inch of it!

I know these guys look grey, but they are actually California Brown Pelicans.

Trying to figure out how to snag a spot up on the pier.

No room on the pier, guess we'll have to sleep on the rocks!

Looks comfy!

You can't really see them very well but this is like a whole raft of sea otters. There are at least 100 of them in the area, but none got close enough for me to get a good picture of. We are hoping to go out kayaking at this place before we leave and will try and get pictures of these cute little guys up close.

You're looking for a starfish in this picture. It is purple and has bumps all over it.

This is some kind of weird fish that washed up on our beach and Mom dazzled us with her story of finding it and how we just had to go down and see it because it was "like nothing she'd ever seen before." We found it and said, "Huh, is this it? I thought it would be bigger. Isn't this just a flying fish or something?"

Little Sand Pipers.

It's the California State Flower: the California Poppy!

Dad and Boyfriend on one of our walks through the campground.

One of the campsites.

The worst part of going down and walking on the beach or in the campground is then you have to hike up this big hill to get home.

Still hiking up the hill.

We get lots of mushrooms on the trail. About a month ago we had really big ones that were bright orange/red with white spots on them. If I find any again, I'll be sure to get a picture because they were really pretty.

As Boyfriend and I were doing the loop walk yesterday, we came to this part of the path that gets pretty foresty on either side, I was just about to remind him how Dad and I had once seen a coyote or something in the bushes there, when something ran across our path! I think it was a coyote, as it moved like a dog, but then I got a glimpsed of its tail and it was kind of bobcat like. We came across some really, really fresh poop about 5 feet down the path, but coyote and bobcat poop seem to look a lot alike, so we can't be sure what it was. Either way it was pretty neat to have a spotting like that in the middle of the day!

God Only Knows What I'd Be Without You

In an attempt to lighten things up around here, I thought I'd write about the new season of Big Love, which premiered last night.

How are you guys feeling about the new intro song and video? I get that their lives are disrupted and all is not well in the Henrickson family, but I'm not sure I'm feeling it!

Also because the seasons are fairly short and there are huge gaps between seasons, I feel like I need to rewatch last season in order to figure out what is going on now. The only thing I remembered is that they are opening a casino and everyone is mad at Nicki for lying about her job and falling for that other guy.

I didn't remember at all that Sarah had moved out and we only see her character for about 1 minute of screen time for the entire episode. I also forgot the big upset from last season, that Roman had died.

All-in-all I thought this episode was just "Meh", which is disappointing because I love Big Love. I thought the whole thing seemed pretty rushed and disjointed. When did Ben start a band? Why do we care? And he looks really awkward and seizure-y in front of a mic. What was the big deal with the salmon and Mormon's not eating salmon? Why wasn't Sarah there for the opening of the casino? Who cares if they did find Roman's hat? Why was that left as the cliff-hanger to the end of the episode? Did they DNA test it already to know it was his, they don't have a body, so what is the big deal? Why do we really care about Bill's parents anymore? That story line of them going back and forth and trying to kill each other and the mom being so eccentric has run it's course for me.

If I was in charge we'd kill off the grandparents, no more Wanda or Bill's brother, no more Don, and please don't bring back Ana. Also, if you had to replace "Teenie", don't bother trying to bring in a new actress to play her. Nicki's daughter can stay and also bring back Rhonda.

I'm really hoping this season will pick up some steam because I wasn't left wishing that today was Sunday/Big Love night again like I have been with most episodes in the past.

What were your thoughts on the episode?

Where Soul Meets Body

My Grandpa ended up passing away this morning, shortly after I posted last. I'm told it was peaceful. My Grandma hasn't changed her mind so there will be no service. He will be cremated and Grandma is going to sprinkle him in the backyard! Nae took the afternoon off of work and we went to a movie and out to dinner and we're having family time this next Sunday when Mom and Dad come back home. I'm sad if I think about it so I'm trying not to think about it.

I Hope You Sleep In a Perfect Memory

Yesterday my Mom got a call that she should head down to Orange County. I mentioned in my last post that Boyfriend and I had gone to see my Grandpa in the hospital when we were down on Monday and since then he's taken a turn for the worse. He's sedated and Mom says he looks awful. She said there is probably enough time if we want to drive down and see him one last time, but she wouldn't recommend it because she doesn't want us remembering Grandpa in this way. Once he dies, she and my Dad will stay there for a few days and try and get my grandparent's finances in order and also take my Grandma in to the doctor because it seems like her dementia is getting really bad.

All I'm feeling right now is angry, really, really angry. 1) I'm angry that my Grandpa did this to himself. He always told us he was going to live to be 140 because I think he was afraid to die and when he realized he was getting old he decided to drink his way out so he wouldn't know death was coming. 2) I'm angry at my Grandma for a few different reasons: a) for turning my Grandpa's death in to all about her b) for going back and forth about wanting to live in Stockton near her brothers and away from the unhealthy situation of living with my Uncle c) for not wanting to hold a service for my Grandpa. So what if he doesn't want one? Services are for those left behind, not the dead, anyway. And so what if it's only us there? Funerals are not popularity contests. We will miss him and he is Catholic...doesn't he deserve a mass? d) Even though it's not her fault, I'm mad at my Grandma for losing her mind. I know that is an awful thing to say, but she acts so helpless and is so dramatic and she calls us with these hospital updates and gets all the facts wrong so we never really know what is going on. 3) I'm mad at my Uncle. He is miserable living with my grandparents and all they do is fight and yell and talk over each other all day long, but he won't move out. He won't give my Grandma his blessing, so to speak, to move up to Stockton because he doesn't want the gravy train to leave him behind. He also wants my Grandma to stay in the house because she and my Grandpa told him, in an act of total stupidity, that when they were both gone that he would get their house so now I think he's banking on that, which won't happen if Grandma sells the house and then lives in the assisted care apartments. 4) I'm mad at all three of them for the way they've allowed this situation to play out. Boyfriend's grandparents all seem to possess this quiet dignity that my extended family members must have missed out on when God was handing it out. Why do they have to be so weird and dramatic and stubborn? Why can't we rely on them to give us accurate hospital updates? Why can't we have a funeral like normal people? Why does everything have to be so difficult?

Ok, well enough with my dramatics or I'm just as bad as the people I'm bitching about! Since there isn't going to be a funeral, I will share with you all what I would have shared about my Grandpa if there had been one:

My Grandpa is/was a pretty reserved kind of guy. He wasn't the hugging, heart-to-heart kind of grandpa, but he did take us fishing a few times, which was cool because it was something he really enjoyed doing and he did take us rock collecting at the beach, which we really loved, especially when he would polish them in his machine for us, and he did on a few occasions let us put makeup on him and do his hair, which looking back on, I can't ever believe he let us do, especially when we would twist up his hair and put it in barrettes and comment about how his hair was the texture and consistency of Troll hair! And that's what I would've shared and it's what I got to tell him one last time this Christmas, and for that I am thankful.

Hope you all are having a good weekend. Once we get things figured out around here, Boyfriend and I are taking off to walk the Golden Gate Bridge hopefully and then up for two days in to Oregon and then back down the Northern California coast. After that, we will only have about two weeks left in California, before we head back out to Australia.

M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E

Image via http://travelcuts.files.wordpress.com/2008/05/mickey_minnie_disneyland.jpg

Sorry I've been M.I.A. again for a few days, but I've been visiting the happiest place on Earth! Boyfriend and I traveled down to Orange County to meet up with some of his friends from Australia who have been staying in Park City, Utah and the husband has been working as a ski instructor. It was a big three days as we drove for 7 hours Monday, saw my Grandpa who had just been admitted to the hospital, then took Boyfriend's friends to dinner at this Mexican food place in Santa Ana that my family has been going to since my parents were teenagers. Tuesday we got up and did Disneyland and California Adventures all day and then hung out with Bun's family that night. It was so nice to be with them all again because I used to spend a lot of time at their houses and it felt like old times and really comforting to just be hanging with them and listening to their funny stories again. Wednesday we got up and the friends met us in Huntington Beach, where we had breakfast at the best local place, Sugar Shack. We then walked down to Jack's, where I used to work, and I actually saw someone who worked there when I did and had been good friends with and we had a good chat and gossip session and I also got to chat with one of the owners and congratulate him on how well the business was doing (they have opened 2 new stores since I've left and there is another one opening later this year). We then walked out on the pier and saw schools of fish, some dolphins, and a sealion. The weather was incredible the whole time we were there: it's the middle of winter and it was about 74 degrees! Watching the surfers and how clean the water looked (for once), I got the biggest urge to be out there surfing with my sister again. I would love to be there for a week in summer to do just that with her...maybe someday. We then took PCH up to Crystal Cove State Beach and Boyfriend and the friends got shakes from the Shake Shack (we seem to have lots of "shacks" around, don't we?) and then it was time for us to take off. Boyfriend had picked out a skateboard earlier in the day so we rushed back to Huntington to pick that up and then we got driving. It took us about 7 hours to get home and we were exhausted when we pulled in at about 10:20 last night. Since then, I've heard the coyotes run past our house late last night and we had a 4.1 earthquake rattle the house this morning. I'm just about to head out with Dad and Boyfriend to the campground to do some "treasure hunting", my first time this whole trip!

E.T.A.: Does anybody else find it creepy when couples take their honeymoon at Disneyland? If while planning our wedding my fiance suggested Disneyland/world/a Disney cruise a big red flag would go off in my head. Honeymoons are for laying on the beach and making sweet, sweet love not walking around in silly mouse ears and getting autographs from Chip and Dale and Princess Jasmine!

Hello, I Love You, Won't You Tell Me Your Name

The Hairdresser and the Soccer Player finally had their baby! He was born on Dec. 31st and weighed in at 7lbs 1 oz. I've heard from the Hairdresser and she is doing alright and that the baby is beautiful. LC says he looks like the Soccer Player and has feet already as big at baby Lo's, who is 6 months old now. I'm so excited for them and can't wait to meet the little guy. Welcome to the world baby CJ!

And a Happy New Year

We are in San Francisco with our friends Bun and Markie, her boyfriend. We spent the first few minutes of 2010 under the Bay Bridge watching the fireworks and then we walked in to the bar you can see in the bottom right of the picture. It was called the Hi Dive and it's a total divey, neighborhood bar. It was the perfect place to ring in the new year. We also ordered Chinese earlier in the night and had it delivered because none of us had ever done that and it seems like something you always see them do in movies when the characters live in a big city.

We've walked around AT&T Park (home of the Giants), went to the highest point in the city to look out over the Bay, explored the zoo, and ate down near Fisherman's Warf. All in all, a very fun couple of days! We leave in the morning, Bun and Markie, back to Orange County and me and Boyfriend back to Santa Cruz to celebrate Dad's birthday. We are also headed out with Nae to a concert tomorrow night. Then Monday we are making a quick trip down to Orange County to see a few of Boyfriend's friends who are coming out from Utah (they are Aussies, working as ski instructors for the season there).

I'm exhausted! I feel like I need a few days to recuperate from all the fun and exciting things we've been getting up to.