Thursday, January 29, 2015

Let the poop roll

San Francisco is clearly a dog town.  While kids are tolerated, dogs are adored.  Correspondingly, it turns out there are MORE DOGS than kids (120k dogs vs. 112k kids)!  

Before moving into our new house, we installed a fence so we could join the canine clan.   

This weekend we adopted Lucky the lab from Lodi…

She's a love of a dog & we are enjoying discovering dog culture life:
Walks…

The very social dog park…

The doggy bath store…

Best yet - having an excuse to walk to the nearby ice cream store after dinner…
(kind of cruel considering she is on a diet - she walks for exercise and we all stuff our faces)

So far, she ends her days dog tired


And we just keep learning about all things dog in the city.

My San Francisco dog lesson of the day:
Walk up the big hills after your dog has done her business…

On our early walk this morning, she went poop on a steep hill...
Next thing I know - I am literally chasing poo balls rolling down the hill!
(never had to consider street grade and poo before)


Here's to the love of the dogs - rolling poop an all!



Thursday, January 8, 2015

'SO California'


Over the past few weeks, I've run into a few things that have struck me as just 'SO California'

A few examples….

No Pepsi for you
Our kids are at a fab charter school that emphasizes the arts.   As such, before the holidays they had a 'Makers & Thinkers' fair - where each class produced something to share / sell / perform

Zoe's class held a dinner theater & sold handmade cards...

Xavier's class did a dance..

Quincy's class displayed & sold their 'zen-doodles'...
(should I be concerned that this is what they do in math?!)

Parents sold their creations...

Of course, there was food for sale.   I got SUPER excited when I saw soda listed on the menu….
...turns out 'soda' was not the caffeinated, chemically deliciousness I craved, but a fruit beverage

Honestly it's pretty hard to sustain a diet soda habit in this city.


Watch out for the trees
Especially after living in Ukraine, America strikes me as comically cautious / warning happy.  California takes that a step further.

The sign that cracked Quincy & I up while skiing….

Seriously, are they warning us we might find nature out in nature?! 


Church of random
OK - this one is more 'SO San Francisco', but one of my faves!   Zoe's class recently had an afternoon get together…..where?

Looks like a church, right?

Used to be….but, now it's "Church of 8 Wheels"


Full on disco lights, music AND even pro-skaters to add sass…

And irridescent wings….
So one can burst through them….
Now that's a religion we can all agree on!



Happy almost-the-weekend - time to go get those sparkling fruit juices ready!


Here's to loving the hilarious & tolerating the healthy.







Tuesday, January 6, 2015

Cramming it in

Happy New Year!   I hope this finds you in a 'plumped & happy' post holiday state…

Like with corporate P&Ls, most cram in as much as possible into the end of year.  We've been a bit AWOL of late & who knows when the holiday cards will get done.   So I'd like to take a moment to explain what's been occupying us:


Some usual holiday fun…
Cookies:

Getting festive:

Driving to see family:
(this IS boy bonding now, right?!)


Some SF style holiday fun…
Santa's - waiting for their sleigh (J-train) to a Castro district parade

A neighbor who takes spirit & runs with it

(Tom & Jerry have built up to this Christmas spectacular over 30 years)


Some happy to get there…
Logan started a new job with Google mid-December


Some super happy to get into…
We got a new 'vintage' house!!!  
 (Moved in the same day Logan started his job)

Zoe showed her enthusiasm for the move…

And, once again, prioritized packing the important stuff



Some 'kind of wished it didn't' get here….
We are finally reunited with our container shipped from Kiev ~9 months ago

While I fantasized about the boat losing our container, we were happy to be reunited with 'Mr. Yellow'…
(A special call out to Jen & Amy for coming to help place prized objects like him!)


Some YEAH for visitors!
Once again loaded with the 'essentials' - e.g. sic-fi books, wine glasses & Lego's for the masses - we were ready for visitors!

Mom & Dad flew in & EJAM drove up for holiday festivities…including a Union Square scavenger hunt

The good news:  all 3 teams think they won...

The bad news:  the prize……
'Feliz Navidog' - awarded to Q, X & Z - does NOT stop singing :)

The Scheidelman's came for New Years…


All in all - a fun, but a tad exhausting - December.

But as my Dad found out….take a break in December & you might just miss something….



Here's to the holidays & the merry outshining the hairy!