SwimFinsSF

Another Adventure

To add to the list of things to do in the Bay Area for those looking for pointers – Mount Diablo. Kevin and I went camping up there this past weekend and had a great time. It is an EASY 30 minute drive from San Francisco and its gorgeous. Very warm California terrain and the camp sight we camped at was just below the summit with CRAZY gorgeous views of the bay area. Well worth checking out – either for camping or just for a day hike.

Few words of warning though. First – NO ALCOHOL.. We learned this the hard way – ranger found us hangin out by the campfire drinkin and made us pour EVERYTHING out.. Felt like I was in the dorms again.. it SUCKED.. (Especially pouring the bottle full bottle of Gin and Jack out. ugg..)

Second.. There are Rattlesnakes up there. They generally keep to themselves and steer clear of people – but Kevin managed to stumble into one on a hike. Bent down to tie his shoe looked up to see a rattler coiled and rattling 6 feet in front of him. And pop quiz – when you see such a thing do you a) stop and slowly back away quietly without making sudden moves or do you b) scream like a girl, turn and run, throwing sticks as you do, and fall and skin your knee. I’ll let you all guess which one is the correct answer and which one kevin chose! 😉

Anyway.. Worth checking out… If ya wanna see the pictures here they are:

Mt. Diablo Camping

SO DAMN CUTE

So I got to see and hold Audrey for the first time last night when Matt and Brian brought her home from Riverside.. She is SO FUCKING CUTE I can barely stand it. Granted she didn’t do anything but sleep (as much as Grandma Michelle tried to get her to wake up) but that was fine.. Still too cute..

A little Advice

And… The new parents… A little advice on what not to do.. 😉

CONGRATULATIONS…

Congratulations to Matt and Brian… They’ve spent a LONG time waiting and now Audrey’s here… I’m SO EXCITED!!! :):)

Where I grew up

Was just browsing around online today and found the home page for the city I grew up in (Irvine, CA) and, more disturbingly, found the demographics page they have posted.. The two that caught my eye in particular were these two:

Ethnicity:

White	57%
Asian & Pacific Islander	29.8%
Hispanic	7.4%
Black	1.4%
Other	4.4%

Registered Voters:

Registered	71,490
Republican	48.4%
Democrat	29.2%
Other	22.4%

Just confirms what I already feared but couldn’t confirm – I grew up in Stepford. ACK.

Inspiration

In case you haven’t heard it you NEED to listen to Bill Clinton’s speech from the Democratic National Convention last night. I’ve gotta say it gave me goose bumps listening to it. The speech was totally inspirational and SPOT ON. There were a TON of amazing quotes from that speech but among my favorites was this:

Their opponents will tell you to be afraid of John Kerry and John Edwards, because they won’t stand up to the terrorists—don’t you believe it.  Strength and wisdom are not conflicting values—they go hand in hand. John Kerry has both. His first priority will be keeping America safe. 

Strength and wisdom are NOT conflicting values and we need to remind everyone we know of this at every turn. Settling for anything less is, quite frankly, treasonous.

As a country we spent WAY too much time during the last administration worrying about things that didn’t have ANY impact on everyday life and the matters of our nation. Today we have a raft of issues that effect every american and citizen around the world and DESPERATELY need attention and our elected officials and far too many individual citizens are asleep at the switch. That HAS to change. This country is better than we have been over the last 4 years and its time to remind ourselves and the world of that…

So keep this in mind over the next few months:

At every turning point in our history we the people have chosen unity over division, heeding our founders’ call to America’s eternal mission: to form a more perfect union, to widen the circle of opportunity, deepen the reach of freedom, and strengthen the bonds of community.

It happened because we made the right choices.  In the early days of the republic, America was at a crossroads much like it is today, deeply divided over whether or not to build a real nation with a national economy, and a national legal system. We chose a more perfect union. 

In the Civil War, America was at a crossroads, divided over whether to save the union and end slavery—we chose a more perfect union.  In the 1960s, America was at a crossroads, divided again over civil rights and women’s rights.  Again, we chose a more perfect union. As I said in 1992, we’re all in this together; we have an obligation both to work hard and to help our fellow citizens, both to fight terror and to build a world with more cooperation and less terror. Now again, it is time to choose.

Since we’re all in the same boat, let us chose as the captain of our ship a brave good man who knows how to steer a vessel though troubled waters to the calm seas and clear skies of our more perfect union.  We know our mission. Let us join as one and say in a loud, clear voice: Send John Kerry.