A note

This was taken with my new old S400 camera:  Scott on the new couch.  I think it looks a little orange from this camera, but whatev.  

I like the new camera though because it has such a deep depth of field that I don't have to worry about focusing it on the kids' eyes and then they move and the photo is blurry.  Pretty much everything is in focus with this camera.  Last night we went to the golf course to practice baseball and we were in shorts.  Then the sun went down and it got pretty cold.

Tomorrow is Scott's birthday.  He hasn't decided what he wants to do.  Oh, gotta run.

Thought you would enjoy some pictures of things we've been up to lately.  The ice skating rink in Walnut Creek was fun.  The kids did better than I expected and for me, it was the first time I had skated since the hip surgeries.  

Tuesday was Jacquie's funeral.  Heidi dressed the kids all cute and I had to take these shots of Blakey.  He's in the "cheese" stage, smiling at the camera and posing.  What a guy.  I catch him tinkering on his quad with his screwdriver and that gives me a smile.  

This was the only shot I got of Kira, with her cousin Paisley, at the church.

 Dinner at Lark Creek Cafe in Walnut Creek with Sue, Denise, Jacquie's cousins; Heather and Erika, Walt's sister.

In the back on the right are Eric, Walt's cousin,  and Joyce, Eric's wife.  The Maddox's and Zoran are on the left.

Aaaaaaand I got my Lexus!  I wrote all about it on my blog and I am so stinking excited!  Yeah.  Oh, did I tell you about how we got rid of the old couch, chair, and barstools on craigslist?  I took pictures and posted the couch and chair for free.  Within about 20 minutes, a lady emailed and said, "Can you hold the couch for me [for 40 more minutes]?  I wrote back and said, "They are first come, first served, but as of now, it's still there."

10 minutes later, a couple pulled up and took both the couch and chair.  Someone else wrote, "Do you have anything else for free?"  Jeez.  People will take anything if it's free.  I had posted the barstools for $20 and a lady emailed that she would pick them up after 11:00 am.  We had left for Walnut Creek and told her to leave the money under the mat, and she did!  Craigslist!

Exploratorium 2014

The exploratorium is my kind of place.  Advanced science in a friendly, inviting interface.  The kids had a good time too.

They moved the campus from the Palace of Fine Arts to Pier 15 and it is way better.  The outdoor patio was spacious and accommodating.

Scott's favorite part was the design drawer, but you had to take a ticket and wait for your turn.  We drew the ticket at 2:00 and our time was 4:00.  We were already burned out at two but stuck around for Scott, Tyler, and Kira to do their drawings.

We got rid of our table and chairs from the kitchen and replaced it with a nice, cherry wood table with six matching chairs.  Yesterday Heidi picked up the couch and loveseat from a nice home in San Carlos and I am stoked about them!  Real leather!

Yeah, it was funny, we went to check on a "leather" couch in Walnut Creek.  I scratched at the surface, smelled it, and said, "I don't think this is leather."

The seller was like, "Oh yeah, it's leather.  I paid twelve hundred bucks."

"I don't think it's leather.  Let's just check the tag."

I hoisted the couch up, slid underneath, as if I were changing the oil on the van, and found the tag.  It said 70% polyurethane, 30% polyester."

I told her, and she said, "What does that mean?"

"It's plastic."  She was speechless and looked genuinely dumbfounded.  Heidi said, "So, what now?"

"I don't want it.  Sorry."

Still, the seller was speechless.

Then on the way to the exploratorium we were going to check out another "leather" couch.  Heidi asked the girl on the phone, "You're sure it's leather?"

"Yes, I'm positive."

"will you just check?  Because the other day..."

The seller called back and sheepishly said, "It's polyurethane."

Someone got deceived at some point in those transactions, but it wasn't gonna be me.  So now we have our real, genuine leather couches and I'm stoked!  Craigslist.  Yar.

Oh!  I installed new toilets since the old ones barely flushed, and I posted them on craigslist for free and they were gone the next day!  Sweet.  Okay, bye.