Kontan’s Place

back to it…LA adventure I

Back to work today, still buried in paper work. Feeling much better, but can feel the sinus thing coming on. You just have to love the beginning of school. Illness abounds.

Now on to LA…

I am so glad to get to go on this trip with Djembe. I was surprised his work approved it. Granted we had to pay for my expenses, but still. They could have said no way. The first obstacle was getting our girls taken care of. No problem, family stepped up for that and arrangements were made for them to miss school for two days. I hate that part, but my aunt is a teacher so I knew they would not miss out. Unfortunately, we could not fly out of the nearest airport with the cheapest rate. We had to fly out of Bham b/c that is where family is. In the long run the cost was about the same. Since we had early flights it was easier to drive to Bham the night before. I felt bad for my family b/c they felt obligated to wait up for us. We weren’t arriving late, but it had been an exhausting day for them. That morning, in the wee hours, they had put their daughter and her children on a flight home to Abu Dhabi. It was a long day for the household. We made good time to Bham, got the girls settled, and caught some rest for ourselves. The next day was going to be LONG.

Waking up at 4 AM we quickly got ready for the day and headed to the airport. I have to say, early morning is pretty nice. There were no crowds, and everyone still has patience. I expected security to be more than it was. They looked at my carry-on, but nothing major. All of our flights were on time! Once in LA getting to our hotel was a breeze. Luck still with us, we were allowed early check-in. A nap would have been nice, but we were in LA! Time to explore. After a quick refresh it was time to venture to Hollywood.

Going to LA was not my idea of an awesome vacation. I am a relax at the beach kind of girl, all about the hotel and atmosphere of relaxation. Big cities are busy, go and do. I’m not a go and do. My decision to go on this trip was based only on getting to spend quality time with Djembe. Most of the big deal things to see in LA have little meaning to me. I do not watch a lot of TV and haven’t seen a ton of movies, so it isn’t familiar to me. That said, the hotel was nice. Feather pillows, soft comforter, and comfortable bed. I like a little more unique feel, but still thumbs up.

The first evening in Hollywood was nice. Like I said before, we didn’t get to see all we wanted to because of the premier red carpet event, but it was still interesting. The cool part is watching TV and seeing the places that I have seen, knowing their significance now. I also understand why my tour guide kept calling it “Hollyweird”. As normal as most people seemed, there are some strange people hanging out in front of Grauman’s. Everybody wants to make a $ I guess. Later in the trip I even got to see Batman arrested for disorderly conduct. Not everyday you get to see that. As we walked the “walk of fame” toward Musician’s Institute we saw a Scientology building. Not impressed. My first thought was “how pathetic, this is what so many celebs are into? You would think the building would be nicer.” Of course, turns out that was not the celebrity center. On that note…ever read about Scientology? OK..yeah, now there’s some interesting stuff. Reminds me of a joke someone told about their belief in Thetan and questioning if the founder had a lisp…but anyway…it is interesting.

Back to the first day…we just went exploring, ate at the California Pizza Kitchen, and had a remarkable day. There is something special about getting away. It really helps you recharge. I was fascinated by the Babylonian look of the shopping area. The elephant sculptures were seriously cool, even if we do relate elephants to Alabama football. A friend of mine is a serious Alabama fan so I must photoshop one of the elephants to represent AL for her.

I was surprised by Hollywood. As nice as it was, it was not a glamorous part of town. I’m sure that at certain times it is. I think tourism has taken away from some of the glitz and glamour. There were many areas that seemed in need of repair. It was a dirty area, but it was somewhat dingy. Not as bad as other areas I saw on my tour, but still…

Enough for tonight. If I plan to get and stay well sleep has to be a priority. Thanks for stopping by and thanks for the well wishes…we are all on the mend. Hope you were able to follow my ramble…tata

4-0

“Bill” wins.

At home today. It was inconvenient for our admin that handles subs. Lots out today. Um…what do you want me to do? I could come in but it won’t be pretty. I certainly didn’t want to miss and make it yet another partial week of school.

Going back to bed. Sleep is a much better state than awake.

correction Congrats

More than just the three additional stations in south AL…

Pitpass can now be heard not only in north MS but…
Richmond, VA
Paducah, KY
Caper Girardeau, MO
Dothan, AL
Tuscaloosa, AL
Gulfport, MS
Mobile, AL
Troy, AL

I’m very proud of Djembe for taking something he enjoys and incorporating it into his work. Hey, if you are going to work you might as well enjoy it!

so far so good

I guess “Bill” is going to spare me, or maybe he fears my lysol bodyguard and doesn’t want to risk the battle. I just hope “Bill” is not planning a surprise attack this week. I can not afford to be out this week!!! Sorry, I’m sounding a little desperate and whiny. This too shall pass.

Sitting here procrastinating. There are tests that I need to finish grading, but I find doing school work at home objectionable. To avoid this task I cleaned the laundry room, refolded all clothes in the girls’ drawers, swept and swiffered. Then I blatantly procrastinated by working on a new site for Djembe. Pretty nice. I’m using 3c-black-letterhead as the theme, with a static front page for his articles, 2 column pages, then linking to a 3 column blog feature. I like it. He says he does. Hope he isn’t just being nice because I’ve spent time on it. Working on it helps me learn PHP and improve my understanding of wordpress themes and code without endangering my own sites. Hey, I broke my blog once, I’m NOT making that mistake again. Now I use practice sub-domains. Anyway, I REALLY like his site, but it is not as functional as I would prefer. The site is an extension of his NASCAR show and I secretly like having a hand in his radio show. Hey, I’m not about speaking on air, but I am fascinated by the behind the scenes stuff. SPEAKING of which…Congrats to Jem for having articles picked up by Jayski.com and for being heard on 3 new stations in the South AL area! ~*~ woohoo ~*~

I keep talking about his site but haven’t told you what it is yet, sorry. Here it is for those truly curious. The site I am working on has the same info, but it is not yet ready to transfer to the main domain.

Rambling…it’s my place so I guess I can. We all know I’m merely putting off the inevitable. OK, 20 minutes of solid work and then I’m going to bed.

Thanks for stopping by. I’ll be posting about LA this week and our frustrating delay in Atlanta so stop back in if you get the chance…

A virus named Bill strikes again…and again.

Just so you know, Bill is evil. Tweety woke up at 3 AM this morning. Jem was sick by 8. OH I don’t want this. Really I don’t, but if I have to have it PLEASE let it be this weekend so I don’t miss school!

**It’s almost midnight. I’m not sick yet. I hope that’s a good thing**

Toilet trained cat?

Sitting in the kitchen about to check my email Djembe spsssst’s me to come look at the cat. Alli is sitting on the toilet in the girl’s bathroom. Jem asked if I think we could train her. I just laughed and came back to my computer. Then a thought hit me…what does Google say? So I typed it in

“how to toilet train a cat”

Amazing how many hits you get. The first was an interesting read and actually sounds doable. You train just as you do most things and use baby steps. Starting with the litter box beside the toilet then slowly raising the box to toilet height. After a time you place the box on the toilet. Then you remove the box and place a metal bowl with litter in the toilet opening. Slowly decreasing the amount of litter until there is none and you begin replacing it with water. Eventually the bowl is taken away as well. That is the article in summary. There are a few other things that must be done as well. But it sounds feasible.

Apparently it worked for the author. I haven’t ever considered it, but it sure would be nice not to deal with kitty litter. Of course, Alli is a little persnickety about her litter. I’m not sure she would give it up. She has no issue with water, but that could be a problem. If I had time to devote to it I would be tempted to try it just to see if it actually works. Depends on the cat I’m sure. Alli is pretty sure she’s in control here. She may be right. After all, who’s the one doing all the clean up?

Seriously, anyone actually tried this or know someone who has?

A virus named Bill and other tidbits

I would like to introduce you to Bill. Apparently that is what our oldest has named her virus. I have yet to make it to school for a full week. The assumption is that having a break each week is a good thing. Well, spending the weekend in LA was. Spending the day at home with a plagued 9 year old is not so good. Froggy woke up with a stomach bug. I’ll spare you the details, but it wasn’t pretty. I quickly got dressed and ran to school so that I could get my room prepared for subs. Unfortunately I had to rely on the kindness of fellow teachers today. Teacher Support Team (TST) had meetings all day so permanent subs were already scheduled for various other classes. It works out. I had a test scheduled for today and am more comfortable with classroom teachers giving it instead of a sub. Nothing against subs, but the classroom teachers know the students and the students know them. Students do not realize that subs are usually teachers in waiting, “real” teachers. Anyway, got in, got out, returned home. Froggy wasn’t feeling too froggy. She spent most of the day curled on our bed…which just reminded me lysol was in order. When Froggy doesn’t take an interest in watching TV, you know she’s sick. I was able to get a few things done. Nice to relax, but I know catch up tomorrow will not be fun. Djembe will take the day tomorrow. I’m very fortunate to have someone who will share the parenting duties even when they get a little gross. Just another reason he is Mr. Wonderful.

I haven’t told you why the virus is named Bill…I thought it was cute. About mid-afternoon Froggy was back on the couch cuddled with my favorite blanket. She looks up, pitiful but with her humor still intact, “I named my virus Bill.”

Tweety has been very sweet in taking care of her sister. She’s getting her drinks and trying to make her comfortable. I just hope the tables don’t have to turn. I hate stomach bugs more than anything. The symptoms are bad enough, but it just seems it has to go through the entire family at least once before it will go away. Oh I hope not.

My Aunt asked me about this picture:

It was a work displayed in front of MOCA (Museum of Contemporary Art). My tour guide called it “Wreck at the airport”. There’s another name, but I have no idea what it is. Wreck at the airport is appropriate. Everyone has a different definition of art.

MOCA was one of our quick photo op stops. Also on this stop was the Walt Disney Concert Hall

and the Daily Planet building from the 1950s Adventures of Superman

Thursday Thirteen 8/24

WOW it has been busy this week! I never imagined it would be this difficult to catch up with school stuff and get over the “oh so tired” of four days off! My apologies for not visiting anyone, and if you have been checking in to see how the trip went, thanks…sorry I haven’t satisfied the curiousity. Here is our trip to LA in 13 blurbs. Some deserve their own post and I will certainly add it later.

1. We drove to Bham on Wednesday so that our kids could spend 4 fun filled days with my Aunt. The early morning flights on Thursday were uneventful. I expected security to be much worse than it was. No problems and no major searches.

2. Arriving in LA we were fortunate that our room at the Hilton LAX was ready. Woohoo! Very thankful to have a place to safely deposit our bags and freshen up before heading to Hollywood. Realize, I am a hotel snob. While not the best place I have ever stayed it was certainly not a red roof motel 6! I was concerned that being so close to the airport did not bode well for a relaxing time with my husband. However, we were never disturbed by the take-offs and landings nearby.

3. After checking in we chose to spend the evening in Hollywood. Getting there was an adventure in itself. As I mentioned in my last post there was a red carpet event that night so the area in front of Grauman’s was being secured. We looked at all the stars on the walk of fame and found several that are our favorites.

4. Lunch was at the California Pizza Kitchen. Cute place, good food. We explored various shops then I was able to talk Djembe into a tour of the wax museum. Many were far from realistic. Others were eerily close to the real deal.

5. Our last stop in Hollywood the first evening was Musicians Institute. A friend of Jem’s studied there so he wanted to see the location.

6. As cool as visiting Hollywood was, I was surprised at the fact that it isn’t all that glamorous.

7. Friday Jem had to go to his conference. I decided to take my camera and head to Manhattan Beach. It didn’t feel very touristy. It is more of a residential area with some shops thrown in. Loved it. Lots of sidewalk sales that day and shops to keep me busy. I spent hours exploring, walking the beach, and watching people from the pier.

8. Lunch was a cute cafe where I was able to enjoy a humus and grilled chicken wrap. The temperature was perfect to sit outside to have a great meal with the light ocean breeze.

9. After spending the morning exploring I decided it might be a good idea to rest before spending the evening with Djembe. Good idea. Hate to go to LA and come home to say I thoroughly enjoyed a good nap, but that’s the truth.

10. Glad for the nap because when Jem was finished for the day we went back to Manhattan beach for dinner. Totally different at night! Still not very crowded, but all the places that I couldn’t tell what they were turned out to be restaurants. We found a cute place called the RocknFish and enjoyed dinner in their open air area. Feels like inside, looks like inside, but the ceiling is just beams. Fortunately it wasn’t cold, but I was glad to have my jacket while the pier earlier in the evening.

11. After dinner we made our way back to the trolley stop to go back to the hotel. As I said before, traveling in LA was an experience in itself. There were several singing Italians on the trolley home. They did not let on that they spoke much English. However, they knew many of our favorite childhood songs. Old McDonald’s Farm being the one that will NOT leave my head. The ride home was nothing short of amusing.

12. While Djembe went to meetings on Saturday I took the LA Grand Tour. Mark was our tour guide. Straight-forward, tell it like it is, highly amusing guy. We did a circle of the city seeing Venice Beach, Marina Del Rey, The Walt Disney opera house, MOCA- Museum of Contemporary Art, Hollywood, The Farmer’s Market and Grove, and Olvera Street. Truly enjoyed this day and now have a good idea of many things I want to see when we return.

13. Saturday was our last night in LA. We took the trolley to Manhattan Village for dinner. Living in a small city there isn’t much for teens to do so they go to the mall area. Not the case in LA, too much to keep them entertained.

We had a great time. Even though we are both trying to recover from the catch up at the beginning of this week, it was great to have the opportunity to recharge. It would have been just as fun with our kids, but I’m thankful to have had the time just us. It helps knowing they were well taken care of and fully entertained in Bham…

If you notice, I didn’t mention the flight home. . . still a little bitter about that.

Pics on the photos page if you’re interested…Have a great day, thanks for stopping by!

Home sweet home

We’re back! I really had a wonderful time. It was great to relax and enjoy Jem’s company without the distractions of home and pressure of work. Unfortunately he had to attend meetings during the day, but there was plenty of time to enjoy the evening together.

Our flights to LA were uneventful. Thursday afternoon we were able to explore Hollywood. Despite that we were both exhausted it was a really great afternoon. We were not able to view the footprints and handprints in front of Grauman’s that day. The area was roped off in preparation for the “Snake’s on a Plane” premiere. We were still able to enjoy the area and see other things of interest. Jem’s meetings started Friday morning so I spent the day exploring Manhattan Beach. It was a great day for it too, lots of sidewalk sales and perfect outdoor weather. On Saturday I took the grand tour of the city and am now familiar with everything I would like to do when we return. Flying home Sunday was not nearly as easy as our Thursday flights.

I know I haven’t told you much about the trip. I intend to. Currently I’m scrambling to catch up with school work. I knew what to expect when I decided to accompany Jem on this trip. Totally worth it, but I think we need a vacation to rest and recover from an exhausting weekend! Funny how that works.

I’ve uploaded some pics to flickr so check out the photos page.

Off to LA

Sitting in the Bham airport waiting for our flight. We’re off to LA!!! So nice not to have to go to school today. Much needed break. That’s sad isn’t it. Need a break after only a week, LOL. Ah well, I’m sure you can understand.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope everyone has a great day!

Thirteen things in my carryon…
laptop
battery
camera
snickers
Peanut M&Ms
Plain M&Ms
3 Muskateers
keys
boarding pass
book
eye drops
ice breaker mints
pen
notepad

There ya go! Smiles and kontan jou!