Skydiving

Yesterday, while I was at school, Mark was jumping out of a perfectly good airplane! I made him text me so I would know he made it down alive! Mark and his friends went to Skydance out by Davis. He said they were nice and he enjoyed his experience. The only bad part was that it was so smokey from the fires you didn't have as good of view had it been clear.

Mark has a whole checklist of things he wants to do this summer. He is also going to take dance lessons with his friend Ari. Isn't that cool! I need to make a list...

The Old Man is Home

Jason is home and resting.

Jason Number Three

Jason is staying in a motel in Fortuna and is going to be coming home tomorrow. Poor Baby, finally he gets to go on a strike team and he gets sick. Thank you to Chief Jaramillo of the Davis Fire Department for keeping me informed and thank you to Chief Froman for bringing my poor darling husband home. Jason called and said that the people at Redwood Memorial ER were very nice to him and told him I was lucky because he was such a nice man..OMG!!! He told them that he wasn't as nice to me...at least he is honest.

Jason Update Number Two

Last night when Jason called he mentioned that he had thrown up and thought it was from a "bad" sandwich. I thought in my head, oh yeah sure, you are just getting old and can't handle the heat like you used to. Although normally he is like a billy goat and keeps on going. Well, as usual when it comes to my husband's health, I way underestimated it! Jim, the Willow Oak Fire Department Cheif just called to tell me that Jason was taken to a hospital because he probably does have food poisoning. I am such a horrible wife. Jason when you read this, honey, it's just an abrasion. (smooch).

Jason Update

The fact that my husband can call me from the fireline at 2500 feet in the forest in Humboldt County amazes me! He is working for 24 hours, I can barely stay up late, I can't even image working straight for 24 hours! He said they may call his group back in because the fog is rolling in. I don't know if that is because of the visibility or because the moisture from the fog will help the fire slow down. Jacob was very happy to talk to him, he told him "I have been having a bad attitude since you left. You need to come home." Then he went on to tell his Dad that he had to take another week of vacation to make up for this one, and that he wanted to go camping at Middle Site.

Some Vacation...

I was looking forward to having 2 weeks off with my husband. We had no great plans, maybe a few day trips and to catch up on "us" time. The fire gods had other plans for us. Jason is off gallivanting around Humboldt County (his old stomping grounds) fighting fires. Lightening strikes have started like a gazillion fires up in Humboldt and Shasta County. So much for time together. Jacob was very unhappy about the turn of events as well. He was in a horrible mood when he found out Jason was leaving. He even went out to Jason's truck and hid his keys. Luckily for Jason he had a spare set of keys, cuz I don't think Jake would have given them back!

I plan to make the most of my time off. Mark, Jake, and I went bowling yesterday. The balls are sure heavier than I remember! You know, the benches are the same ones that were there when I used to go watch my Dad bowl when I was little. I don't think they have updated anything in that bowling alley other than the computer for scoring and the video games in the last 40 years! Good old Woodhaven Lanes.

Last night I went out for an evening of wine tasting and music at the Woodland Opera House. There was a silent and live auction as well. But, as you all know, since I am a student and I am getting ready to send Mark to college, I am my own favorite charity right now!

Enjoying a little vino.

By the way, my favorite wine from the event was from The Berryessa Gap Vineyard.

I don't see it on the website but it was a Tannat, the woman at the booth said it is an obscure grape grown in Uruguay and South France. It is usually used in mixing. I thought it was really a nice wine by itself, very mellow.

What a horrible picture. It was so hot, I was sweaty, my hair was blowing around...blah, blah, blah. I was having a wonderful time though. The music was great. Dr. Baker (in the background) played piano music. (I grew up across the street from him, I used to love listening to him during the summer evenings.) Then Paul Coker and the Melody Makers played. They were marvelous!

Paul Coker and the Melody Makers

If you want to catch them they will be at the Car Show at Bagel City on July 5th.

Today Jacob and I headed over to Bagel City for breakfast to see our favorite Bagel Sales Associate. (Markie) I finally decided to take the plunge and buy the San Francisco. Because of the moratorium on salmon fishing, prices on salmon (and lox) are getting pretty high, and this was reflected in the price of the sandwich. However, I consider it money well spent, cuz it was delicious! It was also an educational experience, because I learned what the heck capers are. I had no idea. I have eaten them before and liked them, just didn't know what they consisted of!

So for those of you who are unsophisticated like me....wikipedia says: The caper (Capparis spinosa L.) is a perennial spiny shrub that bears rounded, fleshy leaves and big white to pinkish-white flowers. A caper is also the pickled bud of this plant. The bush is native to the Mediterranean region, growing wild on walls or in rocky coastal areas throughout. The plant is best known for the edible bud and fruit (caper berry) which are usually consumed pickled. Other species of Capparis are also picked along with C. spinosa for their buds or fruits.

After breakfast we loaded up and headed over to the Best Show on Tracks. I enjoyed watching the mules pull the harvester and looking at all the old farm equipment. I imagined life as a farmer's wife back the in late 1800-early 1900's, watching your husband out harvesting the crops, bringing him his meal...(yes I have an active imagination) Jacob was interested in looking around for as long as his corn dog lasted, then he was bored. We got into a little tiff and then left.

On the way home I decided I better get a few sunflower pictures before they wilted all away. I think I will enter one in the fair. What do you think?

Freshman Orientation

Mark and I were at Sonoma State the last couple of days for Freshman Orientation. A couple of Mark's friends rode up there with us, as well as one other mom, my friend Susan. The boys stayed on campus in a dorm, we went to the Best Western down the road.

We checked in and then went and got the boys ID card pictures taken. We discovered that we were going to be attending different activities from the kids, even eating meals separately. I was kinda bummed because I was looking forward to spending a little time with Mark. So off we went, our different ways. I found some of the classes to be interesting and informative. I did end up skipping out on some classes because I couldn't stand the stupid questions that some of the parents were asking.

We had a great dinner at a restaurant called Lattitudes. I had the crab cakes (of course). They were pretty good. The restaurant was on a small lake with geese and had a covered outside dining area overlooking the lake. It was very peaceful. The waiter was a recent Sonoma State graduate so we got the student's view of the college from him.

The second day we started out having better attendance but then we blew off the afternoon classes and went to check out the campus. We found a butterfly garden, and a lake with ducks and geese, we checked out the library, and Charlie Brown's Cafe. I took lots of pictures of the ducks and geese but none really turned out that good.

I feel that I have finally matured enough to go away to college! I am very envious of Mark and his exciting future. I am so glad that I am in school too. I wish that I had taken the opportunity in my youth, but better late than never! I was just not mature enough to handle that at the time. Oh well, I don't think I would like having a roommate anyway. (besides Jason and Jacob that is!)

We joined up with the kids at 330 at an informational fair, I grabbed all the pamphlets my purse could hold. I have tons of information about Sea Wolf Bucks (money card you can reload), studying abroad, meal plans, book store information (Barnes and Noble), student health (I was impressed with their facility), job information (GET ONE MARK), and ultimate Frisbee. There was lots of other booths too, but Mark wasn't interested in joining sports or a fraternity.

After we left we went to a little hole in the wall called the Redwood Cafe in Cotati. I had a Spicy Thai Shrimp Wrap that came with mango salsa. I have to tell you a secret...this meal was ten times more tasty than the restaurant with the great atmosphere. I will even go as far as saying that it was amazing. I can't wait till August 23rd when we move Mark to school and I can go back and have another one!!!

Yolo County Sheriff's Deputy Killed

Last night a Yolo County Sheriff's Deputy, Tony Diaz was shot in Dunnigan during a traffic stop. He was transported to Woodland Memorial Hospital and pronounced dead. Here is a picture of Marco Topete, the murderer. As I watched a news report interviewing a family member, I could not believe as the woman said that the man was such a good man, and she couldn't believe that he did this....yet the man was just released in November after a 12 year sentence for, get this, SHOOTING SOMEONE. Hello....

Rest In Peace Deputy.

Moving On

Jacob was promoted from 6th grade to middle school on June 3rd. They had a nice little ceremony and received a certificate. Jacob is showing his unique fashion sense early in life. This is that hat he bought with his own money in San Francisco awhile back. One of my favorite parts of the ceremony is when the kindergarten class sang a song from The Sound of Music. I can't remember the name but it goes...So long, farewell, auf weidersehen , goodbye.....It is the song they sing when the kids are going to bed during the big "party" scene. It made me cry. There was a picnic for the kids afterwards. The boys played football. Mark came over after school and played football with the boys

Then on June 6th, my little Markie graduated from high school. It was a good ceremony. The speeches were not too long, they were interesting too! I ordered the video from the WAVE because I knew I would not get a good video myself.

Baseball is finished, Jacob's team came in second for the season and second in the tournament. Closing ceremonies were on Saturday, but I haven't downloaded the pictures yet. His last game was on the night of graduation, at least it started on that night! They were down, 1-9 against the Brewers. They caught up and tied...but then at 10:30 they announced that the lights were going out at 10:40, so we had to finish up in the morning. So at 11am, they went back at it. They were outfield first...3 up, 3 down. Then Marcus was up and singled....then Gabriel....Marcus stole all the way to third, Gabe hit one out to left center, Marcus scored and the rest is history! The A's went on to have a similar game against the Cardinals, down 1-9, they caught up, but they Cardinal's kept scoring too. The final score was 8-11, a very good game. I will post pics when I finally get around to it!!!!