This Just Happened...

That one time, you know... the time my sister had twins and the boy baby came home after twelve weeks in the NICU and the girl baby stayed in.

And it came to pass that the girl baby was still in the NICU after 13.5 weeks and her mommy did become extremely agitated.

And so the twins' (and Q's) Mommy came up with a plan. She went to the hospital and busted baby girl out.

See:

 The W fam. Back together for the first time in nearly four months.

Master Q wasn't so impressed to see the other half of the "TwoBabiees," as he calls them. He kissed baby "A-Rhys" (That's how Q says Avery) on the head and then prompty ignored her. I was told to put her down a few times so he could throw the ball to me. I guess if you can't get rid of them, ignore them. It works for two-year-olds. If you want to read more about this adorable family, check out my sister's gorgeous blog: kellywestover.com


This happened, too:

Remember that credit card I had the fraudulent charges pop up on? Well, turns out Chase Sapphire cards are METAL. And ya can't cut those suckers up with scissors. A friend of mine came over with some fancy tin snips and went to town. And that's how you destroy a metal credit card. Now that you know, your weekend is complete, I know.

WTHeck, Universe??

I woke up this morning in a bad mood.

Bad.

What do you do with something like that? When nothing can wipe the scowl from your face? Normally I say my morning prayers and read the scriptures and have some breakfast, maybe listen to some soft, soothing songs as I fix my hair and face for the day.

But this morning. This morning was a beast of a different nature.

Nothing. Worked.

And I even volunteered in the freaking Temple last night. And usually that's a great mood uplifter and perspective changer and mellows me out for about a week. I probably shouldn't call it the freaking Temple. The Temple. The Oakland Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Amen.

Photo from: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c4/Oakland_Mormon_Temple.jpg

I blame the cold I've been trying to kick for over a week. Except it may not be a cold. It may be yet another sinus infection. I've had at least four over the past couple of years. And they weren't just sinus infections, they were due to the stupid tooth I've now had two root canals on.

So I'm worried, and in a bad mood. Because my sinuses won't clear up, a tooth hurts (the one next to the root-canaled tooth) and I don't want another root canal.

You'd think I was a dental-hygiene challenged hillbilly. But no. I use a Sonicare. I floss, sometimes 3x a day. I use ACT Flouride mouthwash and Listerine. This.Should.Not.Be.Happening.

-Two days ago I nearly lost five days worth of work due to a dumb error.

-This morning I was alerted that someone unauthorized had my credit card and was making fraudulent purchases (Um, I do have to say that Chase is amazing. They alerted me about the fraud and had a new credit card on the way, overnight, within five minutes. Legit.)

-Work is beastly lately. People who don't normally put unnecessary pressure on me are riding my... making me extremely frustrated.

These things on top of the whole past three months being insane due to the redone root canal, followed by 12-week premature babies for my sister (which rocked the foundation of our corner of the world, and we are still making regular pilgrimages to visit the girl baby, Avery, who is still in the hospital.).

And the whole thing is kind of blowing my mind. The colossal, cosmic picture kind of whole thing, as in, starting around my birthday.  I mean, I've written previously about days that are a comedic opera of errors, they're funny and ridiculous, like the time I scratched my eye and melted wax all over my microwave, etc... But, if you know that I've been excited to be 32 my whole life, my entire life I've felt 32 was going to be some kind of extra special, and so far it's been extra... something, alright!

And the only thing that makes me feel any better right now is knowing that if there are so very, very many things going wonky and weird right now, I must be REALLY on the right track to doing something important. And that important something is preparing to move overseas. It's big. Ya know?

Isn't that how it goes?

I'll just press forward, I guess.

*Ouch*Sniff*

I hope your day is going awesomely. That would make one of us.

I'm going to go eat some chocolate for lunch. Maybe that will do the trick. Yah!

That is all.

PS, this post smacks of self pity, and really, I'm not feeling pitiful, I promise, just kind of overwhelmed and like the universe is temporarily converging on me. To make up for it, please enjoy this photo of nephewQ, it's all kinds of amazing:

On Data Loss... And Prayer

When your job is dependant on computers, you're going to have computer problems. It's all part and parcel.

When they happen, you just have to hold on tight, call your tech, and hope to heavens the problems don't involve data loss.

Last night I made an epic mistake. A mistake so magnificent that when I realized what I'd done, I just sat, staring at my computer screen, dumbfounded, for five minutes.

You see, I've been working from home for the past five days. I caught a nasty cold and needed to get a lot of work done, so luckily I have the option of occasionally working from home. I'd planned on going into the office today, so I prepped my files, saved everything and then copied my massive video project over to my external to transport back to work.

Except, when I checked the copy, my project file wasn't the newest version. It was the project file from five days ago. Apparently I'd been working from the project file on the external hard drive (having a stuffy head and being on cold meds, I didn't really realize that was why my project had been moving a bit slow). So when I went to copy everything from my computer's drive to the external, I replaced the newest version (already on the external) with an old version (from my computer). And that was all she wrote.

Bam. Five days of work, and data, just vanished. Five days that I don't have to rebuild video projects for an upcoming large, corporate meeting. FIVE DAYS.

After the stupor, panic set in.
And then acceptance.
And then remorse.
And then I just started to pray. I needed a miracle.

I prayed and pleaded.
And then I took a bath and got into bed.

And then, laying in bed, I had the impression that I should try a data recovery program. Now I don't place much trust in data recovery programs. I've tried using them before, with no success. So the impression was somewhat out of left field. But, I got out of bed, switched the computer on and plugged in the external.

After a little bit of searching, I found a recovery program that came highly recommended, It's called Disk Drill (for Mac), in case you were wondering. I installed the free version and then set it to work, having very little faith that it would actually work. But an hour later, lo and behold, a list a mile long of photos, videos and project files were available to be recovered, and among those files, my (I thought) long-lost project file.


So here's my little shout out to heaven for the day, THANK YOU. 



The moral of the story: Pray. Listen. Get a data recover program that you trust.

Exploring Northern California: The Dipsea Trail

Accidental discoveries are probably the best kind, don't you think?

In my recent wanderings, I made my way out toward the Northern California Coast and over to Mount Tamalpais State Park, along with Muir Woods. For hikers, the two places intersect, forming a very large, very challenging hiking haven.

One of the trails available is called the Dipsea Trail. I hiked the trail begining at the top of what is called "Cardiac Hill" and followed the trail down to Muir woods, where I discovered that Dipsea Trail has been around for quite a long time. It originally dates back to use by Native Americans who populated the area long before California became a State. In more recent times, the grueling path has been used yearly as the track for a race.

The annual race is 7.5 miles long. It began in 1905 and has been run nearly every year since.

Trusty Wiki has something to say on the matter:

The Dipsea is well known for its scenic course and challenging trails. The race starts on Throckmorton Avenue in Mill Valley, near Miller Avenue, in front of the old train depot (now a bookstore). After traversing a few blocks in Mill Valley's downtown, runners climb 688 stairs^[4] leading up the side of Mount Tamalpais, and then pass through Muir Woods National Monument, Mount Tamalpais State Park, and the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. The Dipsea Trail is the most direct route connecting the town of Mill Valley, located near the northwestern shores of Richardson Bay, with the village of Stinson Beach, situated along the Pacific coast. Stinson Beach is a popular tourist destination, located about a 30-minute drive north of San Francisco on Highway 1, via the Golden Gate Bridge. The ascent over the southern shoulder of Mount Tam reaches its apex around the top of Cardiac Hill, about 4.5 miles into the race.
Among the challenges facing participants are the Dipsea Trail's uneven footing, single-track footpaths, and almost invariably steep terrain, featuring about 2,200-foot (671 m) elevation gain and loss over the course. The uniqueness of the Dipsea Race course owes largely to the opportunity for competitors to choose from any of several alternate routes on diverging and converging trails, adding a competitive premium for strategy, experience, and familiarity with the course.


Here are my photos from my day hike along Dipsea Trail:
 

Curated Collection:: #FriFotos/Windows

Today's Twitter Meme, #FriFotos theme is Windows. I hope you enjoy my curated collection of window pictures from all over the globe!

The Oculus. In the Pantheon. Rome

 View of the San Francisco Bay from my Jeep's window.

 View of the Caribbean sea from The Crane. Barbados.

Window in a Scottish Castle.

Window to the Sea. Point Reyes, California.

Colonial Windows. Virginia.

Aquarium Window. Monterey Bay Aquarium, Monterey California.

 

Window in a door. Alcatraz. California.

View of the Golden Gate through a frosted window block. Alcatraz. California.

 Window in the Medical Wing. Alcatraz. California.

View of freedom. Alcatraz, California.

Chapel windows in Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia.

 Window into my Sister's world for the past three months.

Rennes-le-Chateau, France.

 One of my favorite windows, porthole view of Hawaii. 

Louvre. Pyramid Windows. Paris.

 

Notre Dame. Paris.

 Peterhoff Palace through a window. St. Petersburg, Russia.

 

Southern Utah. Rock Window.

 Most ironic windows. Apple Store, London.

Greek Isles: The Most Beautiful Place... EVER

There's this tiny island in the Meditteranean sea, you see.

It's part of the Cyclades chain of Greek Isles.

The name of this place is Thira. But it's more commonly known to everyone as Santorini.

And standing high atop a seaside cliff, looking out at the Caldera from amidst white-washed houses and white churches with blue-domed roofs, I realized that of all of the places I've seen, Oia, Santorini is the most beautiful place I've ever been. And quite possibly will ever be. It's beautiful in both look, and in feel. It's Just stunning, absolutely perfect.

You may be tempted to scoff. You may think I've simply jumped on the bandwagon of people who've fallen (predictably) for Greece. You'd be right about the latter, wrong to do the former.

Whatever you may think, go. Go and look out at the Caldera. Watch the sun set over the sea, enjoy the artwork, the history and the magic of Greece. And then you'll understand, too.

Eleven Weeks...

I mentioned how crazy life has been.

It all started eleven weeks ago. Eleven weeks ago a pair of 3+lb precious twins were brought into this world via emergency C-Section, 12-weeks before their due date.

The twins are still in the hospital. But they are thriving. And today, fingers crossed, little Rhys will get to come home if the doctors give a final Okay. Little Avery is a few days behind her brother in the lung-development department, so we expect her home soon as well.

ELEVEN WEEKS, y'all. 

Eleven weeks of trips to the hospital, scrubbing-in (call me crazy, but I really want a scrub sink in my house now... every time I scrub in, I want to yell "Get me the hemoglobin, STAT! Scalpel!"), wearing hospital gowns and juggling my favorite two-year-old as part of a familial tag-team of babysitters. Eleven weeks of love and struggles and hugs and packing and unpacking and moving.

And I'm not even the Mom.
Eleven weeks of my sister being a rock. Rock-solid superstar Mom bearing a huge, heavy, terrifying burden and ninja-drop-kicking the living daylights out of that burden.

We're almost there. 

 Rhys, 74 days old. Little stud-muffin

 Avery. 74 days old. (That's her *Agnes, behave yourself* face)

 And this, Ladies and Gentlemen, is my darling Nephew Q.

Somehow he is old enough to pretend to be a ninja.

He loves all things Spiderman.
He jumps around the house, ninja-kicking, saying hi-ya
and singing the Spiderman theme song.
Except it sounds like "Buttonman Buttonman"
He's two. It's adorable.

And happily, he still calls Shaun the Sheep, Shaun LeBeat.

It melts my heart every time.

Airplane

While hiking in the foothills of Mt. Diablo with my friend Cameron, a large airplane flew over us.

"I don't care where that plane is going," said I. "I just want to be on it."

It's about time to start wandering again, thinks me.

Robert Louis Stevenson would approve.

What are you up to these days?

Greek Isles: In Between

Did you know that most of the Mediterranean is so severely over fished that National Geographic recently called it a "Dead Sea?"

The last passage we made on my week-long GAdventures sailing tour of Greece was from Koufonissia to Santorini. The day was lovely, mid-eighties and sunny. We saw the first breeze of the entire week and did a bit of proper sailing for a good hour or so before we had to switch again to motoring.

But for an hour we were under sail, no sound but the wind and the snap of the sheets and the lapping of the waves against the hull. I spent that hour in my favorite spot on the boat, portside forward, legs dangling over the side.

"Dolphins!" Came a surprised cry from our skipper. A small pod had joined us, frolicking happily in our bow wave. They stayed with us for nearly ten minutes, jumping in and out of the way of the ship, playing with us. The ancient Greeks deemed this a good omen for a journey. It's easy to see why, the beautiful, sleek animals exude a happy vibe. Luck was with us.

Because the Med is so very  over fished, the fish that are found there are generally very small and few between. The very few areas of the Med that are healthy are protected marine reserves. Because there isn't much food to be found for large marine mammals, seeing Dolphins at sea is a very rare occurrence among the Greek isles. And I'm told there aren't sharks in the area at all. Sad. Well, not the lack of sharks, because I'm sure that if there were sharks on this trip that I would have been attacked, with my luck. But sad that the sea has been so grossly abused.