Da Goddess

Oh, the discrimination!! The horror!

The HUMOR!

I’ve been looking forward to visit from the moment she started talking about it. It all started while I was still in Vegas. At one point, we were planning on driving out to California together. Then I left Vegas and she was worried about driving to California on her own.

She got over that real quick because next thing you know, she’s all up and down the coast!

And last night she finally arrived in San Diego!

Kimberley is every bit as lovely and dear as the woman I’ve come to know online for the past 10 years.

Anyone who says you can’t trust people you meet online just isn’t looking in the right places.

Wow, that totally made me think of Tora! Tora! Tora!

I’m silently cursing you, all the while giggling as well.

That said, I took Pam’s advice and went out to the backyard to just shoot and get the creative juices flowing.

Everybody’s dad has a skull in the backyard?

The kid just doesn’t take me seriously.

I don’t understand why.

Ya think it might be something I said? Something I did?

Oh, how I love going out in the morning and plucking a bit of citrusy goodness off one of the trees!

Tangerines two days in a row.

My dad says, “they’re not ready yet.” I say, “did you try one? There are a few that are ready!”

We’ve also had some oranges. Yummy, yummy oranges.

Sigh.

Few weeks ago, we had a negative tide in San Diego so of course I was there!

Just one of the images from that day.

The house is almost done. Dad will be coming home tomorrow and we have to have everything put back to “reasonably normal” before them. Still lots to do, but not as much as could be!

My sister takes the top prize for getting the most work done, for having the vision, and for keeping us on track. She’s been a spider monkey on crack getting this stuff knocked out. You got a project that needs completion? You’d do well to hire her! In fact, let me just say this: She should run for office. She can balance budgets, clean a cabinet of unwanted and unnecessary detritus, and she can sweep clean the entire corrupt stable of yes-men and boondogglers!

You think I’m kidding, but the woman is a whirlwind and gets shit done!

My little sis has been here, too, helping with the yard and turning it into a glorious green haven. It’s beautiful! After one day of new flowers in one basket, we’ve had an increase in butterflies. And hummingbirds. Now if only the oranges would ripen faster! We’ve had a few and they were delicious. The rest need only to catch up so we can enjoy their incredible sweet flesh!

My bro-in-laws (technically, bros-in-law, but what.ev.er) have both been here helping, too. Bathroom redone. Huge room repainted. Everything taken care of.

We’re three + weeks into this project and nearing the end. All of us are still alive and accounted for. That’s success!

Now, fingers crossed that my dad loves what’s been done and what little projects we have lined up for him.

Mostly, I hope he realizes that this brought his girls together because we love him and would do anything for him. That should hold off some of the yelling for at least 20 minutes. (Fingers crossed!)

Time to get ready for the craziness of the day!

New discovery: I sleep very poorly the first night or so of a Santa Ana. I’m not right. I can’t get comfortable. I just don’t feel like I’m in the right skin.

My dreams are messed up when I do sleep. My body is rebeling when I’m not sleeping.

I’m beginning to think all the years of living in California meant nothing to the state, because, upon my return, I’m being tested so harshly.

Pppphhhhhttt!

I warned you there’d be photos!

Just a couple for now.

I’m addicted to the show about people living in buildings that were once something else completely. Abattoirs, churches, hotels, speakeasies, barns, stores, firehouses, brothels, factories, showrooms, etc.

As someone who was raised by people who appreciate the old and unusual, I’m attracted to this idea like a nail to a magnet and wish I could find the perfect place (after I win the lottery, of course) to renovate into a home/business/fascinating destination for friends and family.

You Live In What? is great viewing and great inspiration. And the perfect show for me to watch when I wake up in the middle of the night after falling asleep during regular primetime viewing.

Okay, back to bed. I have a busy day ahead of me. Visit Dad, hit the hospital for meds, get downtown for a gig, etc. Gotta get the sleepies out of my system fast!

Today’s happy event: Reader Feast. FOOOOOOOOOOOOD! Drink! People!

Woke up yesterday to find lizards in the house.

I like lizards. Love ’em! But when you’re not expecting to find them running around indoors, it can be a bit surprising. Plus, then you start thinking, “If lizards can get in here, what else might be lurking around the corner?” That’s what creeped me out the most.

Anyhow, I got the first lizard out just fine. He was a big guy. Sluggish. Didn’t put up a fight at all. But his smaller friend who’d warmed himself on the cable box was full of vim and vigor. It took another two hours before I convinced him to leave.

And as the music surges forth, we begin our montage of my sisters and I moving furniture, cleaning, cutting back plants, hauling out trash, painting the house, etc.

In lieu of actual video of that, we have a video of Annie Lennox and Aretha Franklin singing the song that ran through my head for three days. Now it’s stuck in YOUR head. You may thank me later. Or actually, please thank me immediately in cash (paypal or direct credit payments) the amount of $29.75 for my storage unit that must be paid today, $14.95 + something for my domain renewal, $24+ for my Flickr renewal, $50 for my phone bill, and for anyone who contributes over $50, I will immediately give you a new, gentler song of mutual agreement to be stuck in your head.

Yeah, everything is due at once and I don’t get paid until November 15-ish.

We have let go the dream of contributing to the repair of my father’s car.

In the meantime, let’s get to the video!

While I was in Vegas, I didn’t gamble. I never felt the need. People couldn’t understand it. Well, here is the reason:

This is the slot machine my dad brought home when I was 5 years old. The first night it was in the house (in the basement, specifically), they had to bring my dinner down to me because I kept playing. And winning. So I ate in the basement. Hot dogs. With ketchup. I remember it like it was yesterday.

Once you’ve played a slot machine for hours and hours over the years, it becomes apparent that The House always wins. Sure, you might have a lucky streak, but you just never know when that streak will end. So I never bothered to play while I was in Vegas.

Pretty machine, eh?

Yep, I’ve run into this a million times. Before I left Cali and since I’ve returend. Doesn’t faze me anymore except when I see it fazes others.

“A friend that I think is interesting, smart, and not insane
has told me that her ex-boyfriend
has decided to give up vegetarianism
as per the advice
of a food psychic.

‘Food psychic.’

Sometimes, living in California
is a lot more like
living in a mockumentary about California
written by my father
and directed by my grandma.”

And that, my friends, is why I love Clayton‘s observations.