Flat Stanley

Meet Flat Stanley. He is based on a character from a book authored by Jeff Brown. He flew to Carson City from Massachusetts to visit me. He is a friend of Jonathan G. who is doing a school project. Stanley and I are going to hang out for a few weeks and have adventures. We are going to take lots of pictures and make lots of new friends so he can write about them in a little book and tell Jonathan and his classmates about his adventures. First, I think he may need a cowboy hat since he's in the Wild West. Today we will send Jonathan a post card so he knows that Stanley arrived safely. The post card has a map of Nevada on it so Jonathan will know where Carson City is. Then we shall see where the day takes us. It will be fun!!

Ice is Slippery

I am watching the ISU World Figure Skating Championships. Currently, the pairs are competing but I am waiting patiently for the Women's Long Program portion of the coverage. The title of this post is a response Sasha Cohen gave when asked about a fall she took during a program she was performing. Sort of a "hello, have you forgotten what it is we are doing here...1/2 inch blade on ice???" My gal Sasha doesn't suffer fools gladly and she can get a bit fiesty when the criticism hits a fever pitch.

About three months after I moved to Los Angeles I went in search of an ice rink. I ended up out by the airport in a city called El Segundo. There's an amazing rink out there...2 actually - one for hockey, one for figure skating. I was checking out the schedule for classes and public skate times and wandering around in the pro shop. I was suddenly amazed to be looking directly at one of my favorite figure skaters, the lovely and diminuative Ms. Cohen. I had no idea she was so tiny. Every one looks big on screen and she's quite a commanding performer. I was flumoxed. I wanted so to be a big, goofy fan and go up to her and gush but I was overwhelmed seeing her, I was speechless, no doubt the best possible outcome. She was having her skates fiddled with by the guy in the pro shop. I decided I would hang out and possibly see her skate. I didn't get to see her skate but she did do her pre-skate stretching right near me in the cafeteria area. I was thrilled. Of all the celebrity sightings I experienced I was the most excited by this one. I have followed her career and rooted for her for years. I am hoping she has a top finish at the World Championship.

I am a novice ice skater. I do love it. It is one of those things I rediscovered in my adulthood. I had a year in my early teens where I skated at a local ice rink with a friend every weekend. Somehow, that hobby went by the wayside. Years later a new ice rink was built in San Francisco at the Yerba Buena Center. On a whim I went to a public skate and the enjoyment of it all came rushing back. I took lessons. I got better. I can do some fairly small elements like turns and stuff. I got to a class where we were going to learn how to jump. A simple jump known as a waltz jump, and it does look simple but for some reason I am just terrified of leaving the ice...even for a split second. I still have a waltz jump as a goal. There's a rink in South Lake Tahoe and my skates are in the car.

Here's hoping my gal Sasha has a wonderful program.

PostScript: Always a bridesmaid, never a bride. Sasha came in third. Dang!

Spring NOT

It is the first day of spring. We had snow flurries. The only words that really come to mind are "spring skiing". There will be plenty of that here in the Tahoe area. Might have to take those snowboarding lessons after all. I could feel spring approaching....about 10 days ago it was a really nice, sunny day and I was sitting on the deck eyeing my garden and thinking about planting things. I had to go to the store and buy seeds the compulsion was so strong. That and my other compulsion to clean out my closet is rearing it's head. This is always an internal sign of spring for me, tossing clothes. Now I have flower fever. Some other odd little things have become apparent since moving here and living in a house. I am fascinated by Home Depot. I can walk through there and gape in awe, look at all the stuff you can do!! Today I went in search of a really good broom. One of the drawbacks of driving around in the snow is that alot of the mud and snow comes into the garage on the car and drops onto the floor. This makes a big mess. I was thinking I might need a big squeegee to clean it. I decided a good broom would do it and guess what I found? A big broom with a squeegee on it. Brilliant! I was thrilled. The same sort of excitement now overtakes me when I see new appliances. What the hell is that???? I absolutely adore the washer and dryer in my house. When I saw the top of line refrigerator in the kitchen when we moved in I literally swooned. This is suddenly better than finding a good fitting pair of jeans! It's the oddest occurence. I'm currently skulking about looking for affordable patio furniture.

On the fashion front, the new Summit Sierra mall opened last week. I haven't been yet but there's plans to go later this week. This is the mall everyone is excited about. Full of high end shopping that folks had to go to California for. Dillard's, which appears to be a bit like Nordstrom's, Crate & Barrel, Pottery Barn, Chico's, Coldwater Creek, etc....The mall is located at the base of the Mt. Rose Highway so you don't even have to go into Reno from Carson City to get to it. Decent fitting jeans could be on the horizon after all.

The employment gods came through for me and I am now gainfully employed. I'll be working two different dental offices: one down the road in Minden (15 minute commute) and one in Carson City central (10 minute commute). They are both good offices with nice people. I'm just starting to get my feet under me in one and have only worked one day in the other. I haven't worked this much in quite a while so the days off I do have will be filled with chiropractic appointments and massages. This is how I keep my body going in a field that is notoriously hard on necks and shoulders. I'm excited to have found a massage school run through the local community college that offers very reasonable rates on massages. Along with the fact that chiropractic fees up here are about 1/2 of what I would pay in a urban area it's all highly affordable, plus there's the added bonus of feeling pampered.

I guess you could say the symbology of spring is here. There is a lot of forward movement with work, mulling over flower planting, sweeping out the garage, shopping at a new mall, maybe some new shoes or a new purse. Just need a little sunshine and warmth to complete the picture.

RIP WolfPack

It was over before it even got started for the UNR Wolf Pack. That's right. March Madness decended on Reno. University of Nevada at Reno basketball team won 14 (or maybe it's 16) in a row to secure a spot in the Big Dance. Off they went to Salt Lake City to face Montana in the first round of the NCAA finals and nothin', they got nothin' but a ticket home.

I have never lived in a town where college sport is the only game in town until now.
There's always been a mix of college and professional sports in both cities I've lived in. But with no professional sports teams in Northern Nevada...these folks are crazy for their Wolf Pack. Football, baseball, basketball, volleyball...front page coverage in the sport section year round. Mind you there's plenty of folks who head to Sacramento and San Francisco for a professional sports fix. More SF Giants hats around these parts then I would have ever expected and Oakland Raiders fans....though there's a rabid and vocal Raider contingent in Los Angeles STILL...which I don't really get.

I was excited for the Wolf Pack. I watch the NCAA finals every year because it's such a pure form of basketball. These guys play with heart and soul and the eliminations are fast and furious as is the game. The action can change on a dime, one bad night and you are out. Two years ago the Wolf Pack made it to the quarter finals. Here's hoping there will be a run for the big dance again next year.

Idol Babble

Okay, I'm in. It's American Idol and I've got my top 4 picks.

Chris- rocks the house
Taylor- love his quirkyness
Mandisa- R&B mama
Katharine- suprises me

I try not to participate in reality shows, however, Idol reminds me of my office mates in Beverly Hills. L. would tape Idol and we would watch it together once a week at lunch. It was fun and more so as a group and sort of got me hooked. I don't feel I have to sit down and watch every week but so far that's what has happened. The truly unusual part of it is after Idol I managed to get myself sucked in to Nashville Star. I like Wynona and there's the added addition of Cowboy Troy who I was curious about. So, last night I stayed up way too late watching people chase their musical dreams.

Messages

Once again the snow crept in overnight and I awoke to the wonderful, pristine visage. Then the sun came out which makes it that much more lovely though sunglasses are required. As the snow began to melt atop the lattice work on the deck it began to fall creating these patterns.



I haven't witnessed this process happening before. I've decided that these are, in fact, chinese characters spelling out wonderful fortune for me. Things like you will find happiness and tranquility in the mountains of nevada. Money is coming your way. Peace is at hand. Don't they kinda remind you of that? Then again...could be...finish cleaning up your house before your weekend house guest arrives.

I am having my first house guest this weekend. My dear friend S. from San Francisco is coming for the weekend. I am looking forward to getting out and about with her, showing her the town and maybe playing in the snow. There is the added bonus of lots of girl talk. I'm looking forward to it.

Snow Day

This is the view from my back yard deck. Not only is it an awesome deck but this view grabs my soul and soothes it. I make it a point everyday no matter the weather to walk out there and look at it. Of course, when it is snowing it's enshrouded in dense clouds which is pretty cool. Yesterday I woke up to 4 inches of snow. It may be because I am new here, and snow as an occurence hasn't been a regular part of my life unless I go in search of it, but I absolutely love the pristine appearance of new fallen snow. I saw the aspen tree in the back yard and even before my coffee I had to tromp out there and get a picture of it.



Okay, part of that is new digital camera mania which is that much more exciting because I can put them on my computer and my blog. Still, I am easily disappointed if the weatherman predicts I will wake up to snow and it's not there. One of the benefits of living in Carson City versus Lake Tahoe (and who wouldn't want to live in Lake Tahoe) is that the snow often doesn't stick around for very long or pile too high. I have shoveled my driveway a few times mostly for safety sake and to keep the ice to a minimum. Over in Tahoe, those folks are digging there cars out all the time. Enlisting their friends with snowplows mounted on trucks to come get them out. As beautiful as it is there that's a lot of work just to get to work....

I don't know if my affection for the snow will fade but it is always a welcome suprise when I wake up to a beautiful winter wonderland in my backyard.

All Shiny and New

This is what the new State of Nevada quarter looks like. Isn't it pretty? One of the advantages of living in the state capital of Nevada is there are some pretty interesting things going on and it's all down at the capital mall, composed of several very old and several very new buildings. Having just received a digital camera for my birthday I plan on taking some pictures to post later. The state treasurer actually put the call out to the public to help design the quarter. It appears from the unveiling ceremony that many a young child was involved and they were all there participating in the unveiling ceremony. I went too and stood in a very long though organized line to buy a roll of bright shiny new quarters. It is totally geeky but since they started the state quarter program I have been collecting them. I got myself a cardboard map of the US with the little holes for the quarters and I've been diligently adding to it with each new release. The neighborhood market near my home in San Francisco always seemed to have the latest quarters in a timely fashion. In Los Angeles there's a bakery/deli near Cedar-Sinai medical center that actually puts new releases aside and you can go in and ask for them if you know about it. I figure with the number of quarters that must flow through this state with all the slots and casinos I shouldn't have any difficulty finishing up my collection. I'm not a gambler, so when moving here there wasn't a casino/gambling reference in my mind. Imagine my suprise at the local Albertson's on my first grocery run to pass by an alcove in the front of the store full of slot machines. So far it is not clear if you can smoke in there or if there's a waitress who comes and gives you watered down complimentary cocktails. I've been to the Nugget in downtown where you can get a very good breakfast in the coffee shop at bargain prices. I had dinner at the colorful and new Fandango where there is a fake parrot on a track above diners heads that flys around and drops dollar bills in various combinations on unsuspecting noshers. It's sort of a low tech disneyland type thing. No one around us seemed to be hit with a money bomb though. So here I am getting out and about a bit in my new small town with shiny new quarters in my pocket.

Happy Heart Day

It's Valentine's Day. It's my birthday. I have chocolate cupcakes and a box of See's candy so all of my expectations have been met. I am turning an age that is an even number which always gives me a peaceful feeling. I don't know why. I got a call today from an office I interviewed with. They would like me to come in for a working interview later this week. This is a good present. Employment has been high on my wish list. The Winter Olympics are going strong and I will be happy to sit home tonight, have a pizza delivered and watch figure skating while I TiVo Gilmore Girls and House.

In the spirit of the day let us reflect on the words of Rainer Maria Rilke:
"For one human being to love another human being: that is perhaps the most difficult task that has been entrusted to us, the ultimate task, the final test and proof, the work for which all other work is merely preparation."

Blue Skies

You might wonder from my last post what I would be doing out on the deck reading. It is, after all, February in the mountains. I am, indeed, surrounded by snow-capped mountains but we here in Carson City seem to be enjoying a bit of false spring. The last ten days have been gorgeous outside. One day I even sat out there in bare feet.
This has been a nice occurence for me. I was a bit nervous should northern nevada have a slam/bang winter like last year. A type of which they hadn't seen in many years. Alas, the weather gods are smiling on me this first winter in Nevada. Now if the employment gods would step up my gratitude would grow exponentially.

All This Newness

I am a certified city girl - San Francisco and then Los Angeles- who has relocated to the country: Carson City, Nevada. 15 minutes over highway 50 to Lake Tahoe, 40 minutes outside of Reno. There are cows, horses, huge open green fields, hawks. It's amazing here from my perspective. At the same time it's a huge lifestyle change ( though I am loving the lack of traffic and the fact that my car continues on its course in a steady way rather than stop and go). So anything is possible with all this newness in my life. We shall see where Nevada takes me. Mostly it has taken me outside on the deck to read. It's a start.