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Saturday, November 24, 2012

November Portrait #24 - Samala Coffey


Samala Coffey

state park hoppin'

Another busy day! Though I parted from Ma & Pa & Nate earlier on. Still! Whoo nice to be out and about and doing all sorts of things.

Got up. Showered. Had cinnamon rolls and tea at the motorhome. Then we returned to my place, well we picked up some maps at the Visitor's Information place first, and we dropped off Holly. Poor doggy, brought all the way down to Santa Cruz and spends most of the time in my back yard. Still, it is a nice back yard. Plenty of room for pooping.

We drove on to this steam train thingy north of Santa Cruz. Ma and Pa ruined the joke I was trying to tell. It is a very good joke, but hard to tell, and then messed me up. So they don't get the punchline!

The Roaring Camp & Big Trees Narrow-Gauge Railroad had a steam train that you can ride up into the redwoods. We met Nathan there. I got some jerky to gnaw on during the course of the ride. There were kids present, but the kids in our section of the car were really well behaved. The only way I can stand kids is if they are not screaming, which none of these were. It was awesome.

The trees were nice, and it was a lovely day. At the top was a break area, and I got a candy cane from Santa. And some hot apple cider. There was a family hiking up the trail, and they kept pace with the train. A straight line up versus a zig zag along the track. Pops got me a train shirt, though it wouldn't pass snuff if it was printed at MY shop (pin hole and registration).

Back at home we had leftovers for lunch and gave Holly some attention (and turkey skin). From there we went to (sans dog) Wilder Ranch State Park and walked around. Looked at the visitor's center. Saw a bit of the sunset. I chased Nathan with the threat of tickles. Generally a good time was had. Nate returned to Redwood City. Ma and Pa did some shopping and I dropped them off at the motorhome.

So active! So many things to do! Tomorrow shall be more parks, more turkey, and...I dunno? But it is back to work the day after tomorrow. Yay work! I actually do like it, as I have said. Don't mind doing my job at all. Dad needs a Santa Cruz shirt. A proper one.

Blue Sky Friday

Wow. I can't have too many full days like this in a row! I'm so tired, and this is supposed to be a vacation, right?

Anyway, I did catch plenty of Z's. And being still largely full, I didn't have breakfast. I just showered, pulled the shelves out of my car (parents brought down a lot of furniture for me, more than I asked for, but hey, all of my things should be sorted away now. No more line up of boxes on the wall!). Went and picked up Ma and Pa. We left Holly in my backyard and drove to the UCSC Arboretum. It was a beautiful day to spend amid the gardens. There were plants from New Zealand, South...America?, and Australia. The Australia plants were the coolest because they had all these interesting shapes. I must go back to the Arboretum with my sketchbook and draw some of the cool plant shapes.

We had leftovers for lunch back at my place, and Nathan and Helen came down for the rest of the day. We once again left Holly behind (poor doggy, but we'll do something pet friendly tomorrow probably). We went to Natural Bridges State Park, which is a lie because there is only ONE bridge. Singular. We walked the loop through the park, saw the monarch butterflies, fiddled with anemones in tide pools, and I asked about what presents people want for Christmas.

From the park we drove down Cliff Drive and parked in the residential area, and walked out along the Wharf. Saw the sun go down and the boardwalk lit up for all of an hour it seemed. Saw the sea lions make their rucus and had some fish and chips. No leftovers! I think leftovers can really only be eaten for 2/3s of the post-Thanksgiving meals.

And Nathan got us dessert. Caramel apples and fudge (though Mom has since whisked away the fudge and I know not where it is). We drove back to my house, dished up some leftovers for Nathan, and said adieu to him and Helen. I drove Ma & Pa back to the campsite soon after. Tomorrow there will be a train adventure of sorts. Hopefully I won't be surrounded by too many children.

I spent the rest of the night catching up on portraits (as you can see below) and relaxing. I banged my hand on my desk, so hopefully it won't be too bad come morning.

Friday, November 23, 2012

Thursday, November 22, 2012

I'm thankful for having an awesome family

Ohhh boy. I don't think I'll need to eat till Saturday. Made too much food, ate a bunch of it, then ate some more.

But lets start at the start.

Alarm went off at 6:45. I got up at 7:15ish and set the over to preheating. Took a shower, then I put foil around the turkey and popped it in the oven. Then I went to pick up ma and pa. I hung out in their motorhome for a bit and drank tea, and then it was time to get the cooking underway. Hurray!

The finished menu ended up being: turkey, cranberry sauce, avocado creamy pasta, tearaway bread rolls, this sweet potato thing, some apple juice and a couple bottles of wine, green beans, salad, and crab stuffing courtesy of Carmen & Josh. Oh and two pies. This was for FIVE PEOPLE. I don't know what I was thinking. We could easily have done away with the pasta, at the very least I didn't have to double the recipe. And didn't need to double the recipe on the sweet potato thing. We also didn't have the spices right, so it was lacking a bit. The pasta sauce was a bit strong on the lemon. Buuut the turkey was good, the cranberry sauce was primo, the stuffing was tasty stuff.

I made the cranberry sauce, the pasta, and the bread, and the sauce that went with the sweet potato stuff. Dad arranged the sweet potatoes. Ma made the salad. They tended to the turkey. It was a steady pace of cooking, but not too overwhelming. Ma made the pies, and oh they were good. Well the apple, my favorite, was swell.

Between meal and pie, we went for a walk down to the beach. Walked Holly.

Carmen and Josh arrived right on time as things were finishing up.

It was a bright day, not the warmest but bright.

When I returned Ma & Pa to the motorhome, we had tea and watched Apollo 13.

I'm so allergic to that cat. Boo.

So things I learned for the future:

  1. when making a lot of dishes, don't double up recipes.
  2. use the right spices.
  3. if people are bringing a dish, you don't need to make as many dishes.
  4. seriously, you don't need to double up recipes like that.
It was nice. Now I will be well fed for a while. Turkey sandwiches!

Curly Anne

Work was one full length shift. Ran one job, that was one color, but lots of different shirt sizes, thus requiring several palette changes, and taping many screens because all the images were different sizes as well. I cleaned some screens. I burned some screens. Didn't tape those ones though. I also caught shirts, and Andrew boxed. Finished 14, started The Well of Lost Plots. The Thursday Next series is seriously good!

At 6:30 I was outta there, and I went straight to the park where Ma and Pa are staying. I was hoping they had arrived by then, and they had! With kitty and doggy in tow. That cat, formerly known as Salvador and currently known as Dali, is getting so big!

We packed up my car with some food stuffs and went to my place. From there we figured out what we needed to buy, and went to Trader Joe's for a food run. Food and sweets. Then we went to Woodstock's and got pizza for dinner. They misheard my name, so when it came time to call us forth to receive our pizza, they said, "Curly Anne?". Ha! That is a new mishearing.

Back at the house, we ate the pizza and watched Downton Abbey, and then we lathered up the turkey and got it ready. I am aiming to get it into the oven at around 7. Early start! Time for me to go to bed.

And when I dropped Ma and Pa off, they put some of the stuff they brought for me into my car, so now I have a second lamp, a drafting table, some shelves...and I have more coming my way.

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

November Portrait #21 - Mads Mikkelsen


Mads Mikkelsen

there is tension in my jaw, like I've been clenching it....

Just finished the portrait for tomorrow. Ohhh boy. It looks really good! I am very pleased with it, and can't wait for y'all to see it. Getting better all the time! WHooo!!

Work was pretty busy. Ran some more shirts in the morning, cleaned some screens, taped some screens, there were about seven boxes worth of shirts & sweatshirts to unload and in all sorts of sizes, and not readily grouped together, so it was my assignment to find all the zips and pullovers and put those into their piles, then the ladies tees, and the white unisex tees, and the youth, and the childrens and all these things. Hehe. Tomorrow a lot will be printed and then it is the long weekend! Hurrayay!

I am almost done with 14 and it is positively riveting! It went straight up crazy Tesla Lovecraft, and I am all on board for that.

Did my laundry. Figured out the Thanksgiving menu. Looks like brussel sprouts and gravy are not on the menu...can't make TOO much good stuff, but we shall try.

November Portrait #20 - Ryan Gosling



Ryan Gosling

Monday, November 19, 2012

good times are now and ahead

Oh man. Oh man. I've been listening to 14 by Peter Clines and it is RIVETING!! Soooo good. Very intense. It's all I can do to keep myself from listening to it all the time. Have to recharge my mp3 player batteries some time!

Got my tickets for coming home. 20th-29th I'll be in Kitsap! Whooo! Talking about December. And Christmas. Guess I should put a Christmas/Birthday wish list in my side bar on my blog.

Need to figure out my Thanksgiving menu. I got wrapped up with drawing and listening to 14....

Dang it has gone chilly again.

Work, we troubleshooted and adjusted the off contact and everything went awesomely. Finished two jobs, so that is awesome. I caught and boxed and broke down the press. Also added more oil and helped at the high heat lube to the press. Nice work day. I work tomorrow, then Wednesday, then holiday time! I asked for Thanksgiving and the Friday after off, all though I was pretty sure they were already given off. I also have two weeks for Christmas off. HA! Awesome job. So much time off (though it is time during which I am not making any money, which sucks) but nice to not have to stress about working during certain times.

Anyway. Back home I drew and relaxed and things were pretty nifty.

Life is good for lil ol' Trillian.

And I like being able to say that. I'm coming round on 25 and I feel good about where I am right now.

November Portrait #19 - Acey Thompson


Acey Thompson

November Portrait #18 - Louis CK

Louis CK

soon I shall see family and it will be grand

Got up at a more respectable hour. It was a beautiful day. It poured down a bit last night, but it was sunny and warm enough all day long, which is pretty awesome for mid November.

Took my bike out and pedaled down Laurel and up Mission to meet Ray for brunch at Cafe Brasil. Or Brasil Cafe. A little place with tasty brunch food. I had poached egg and avocado on baguette, and it was scrumptious. Can't go wrong with those three things. Had a nice little meal and we walked around the neighborhood chatting. Santa Cruz is really quite nice.

Back at home I put my feet up and drew some portraits and ate leftover pizza.

The Walking Dead is seriously good this season. Intense! To the point! And some damn good filming. Now to watch Homeland and then go to sleep. Got a busy week ahead of me!

Sunday, November 18, 2012

pizza is good

Ahhh sleep. I dig it. Did a grocery run. Candy Cane Joe-Joe's are at Trader Joe's!! I'm so happy. As are tons of other holiday seasonal sweets. Tasty tasty stuff. Also got fruit and pasta and pasta sauce. Those things.

Steve came down (from San Jose) for the evening, and we got pizza from Woodstock's. Mmm can't go wrong with feta, chicken, basil, and onions. Numm! I need to get a takehome menu, so I can phone in orders, instead of waiting in the restaurant for a while for the pizza.

Fairly relaxing Saturday. I have brunch plans tomorrow and then I think I'll spend the rest of Sunday drawing some portraits. That will be nice. Then back to work! Hurray!

November is going by REALLY fast. Holy cow month, SLOW DOWN! I don't even have any Christmas shopping done. Though I'll probably just make a print for people. A Christmas print. And they'll ENJOY IT! So help me they will...