Visiting with friends

Yesterday we dropped Dad off at the airport in the early morning hours, Mom and I tried our luck at seeing what those "After Christmas Day" sales were all about ... while we got some good deals, we had to catch up on sleep when we got home ;)

So today we set off early to head to Loma Linda to show Mom around that area of Southern California.

View the Visit to LLU album

The day proved clear and beautiful & we even ran into
Flora, Igor & their family, that we hadn't seen in some time :)

The afternoon and evening also turned out quite nice, with a visit to Yusty & Lauro's home, filled with all the Ecuadorians that they could round up from the area ... some of whom Mom hadn't seen in decades. Food, friends and laughter ... a great evening that lasting into the wee hours of the morning, but totally worth seeing the expressions on everyone's faces of being able to catch up after such a long time.

Visiting with family

Christmas day, we had the pleasure of having Elmer and Tía Elda (Mom's cousin & aunt) over for a short while. We caught up on life and laughed and enjoyed having the extra company (especially when they came bearing homemade baked goods ;) ).

Elmer, Tía Elda, Mom & Dad

Día y noche buena

The best laid plans ....

... the day started with plans. Special plans.

As you've probably seen in a previous post, you all know my love for every food that is Bolivian :) So, to share the love, we planned a little trip to Encinitas to introduce Mom and Dad to our local connection to Salteñas & chicha morada .... but nope, it was closed. But at least we got to see this one store that reminded us of Leeny :) So instead of yucca frita, we decided to head of to Oggie's pizza.

The afternoon was spent preparing the fixings for our special dinner as well as Dad getting everything ready to put up the floating shelf in the red nook project.

With dinner in the oven, we managed to hang and secure the floating shelf and then I came to the sobering realization that my oven had given up its spirit ... the lamb and veggies were only warm and I scrambled to throw it into our little toaster oven (thank goodness we weren't 10 people !) and hope for the best.

To pass the time, we went to visit Candy Cane Lane, one of many neighborhoods in San Diego that go all out with Christmas decorations. Lots of my pictures came out blurry, but from the few that I managed to get, you can just imagine what the rest of the neighborhood looked like :)

Upon our return, it seemed like things had cooked properly, so we sat ourselves down at the table to eat our meal. The night concluded with the opening of presents and after a very full day of sightseeing, driving, cooking, diy-ing, and just spending time together, we all went to bed after midnight :)

:) :) Merry Navidad everyone :) :)

View the Dia y Noche Buena album

A whale of a time ...

Shamu is still at Seaworld, but Mom, Dad, Matt and I decided to try our luck at finding some whales off the coast. The afternoon tour gave us a chance to see a mother and baby whale
(no jumping out of the ocean, but we did see them come up for air several times) as well as enjoy the great fresh air.

View the Whale watching album

Exploding and floating lights

To finish off a great afternoon of walking, we headed over to the San Diego bay to see the annual boat parade and fireworks (though most of the pictures of the boats came out too blurry).

View the Christmas Boat Parade album

Though San Diego is warm, even a December night can get on the chilled side ... so to end the evening, we made sure to stop by a great little place where we got some great pho (Vietnamese chicken soup), a first for Mom & Dad.

Walking through Balboa

How could we have my parents visit San Diego without a stroll in Balboa park ?

View the Balboa with the Parents album

Singing children

Church was highlighted today with special music by the children

(and us being funny ;) )

Are you ...

... fit ? :) Trying out some Wii Fit yoga with Dad.

Not as easy as it may appear ;)

Time to get decorating !

It's that time of year again ... and, in anticipation of Mom & Dad's arrival
(Dad, tomorrow & Mom the next day), it's time to decorate the awesomely huge
tree we got from Freecycle :) :)

A second night of lights

After a quite cool afternoon of French celebrating (tangerines, cheese and a traditional French Christmas movie), we met three new friends, Claire, Xavier and David
and went to the final night of December nights at Balboa park.

Lights and nights in December

A tradition here in San Diego around Christmas time is something called December nights. One weekend in December where Balboa park is transformed into a Christmas bazaar, with lights, rides, food ... Friday night was spent with Camila & Peter.

View the December Nights album

Going home

Heading back to San Diego in the wee hours of the morning ...

View the Back to SD album

Opa !!

A wonderful Greek sendoff from Orlando :)
It was sooo hard not to order everything off the menu.
The great childhood memories of the delicious food Mom made
as well as all the Greek get-togethers and festivals.
This place did not disappoint :)

View the Taverna Opa album

A three hour tour ...

... but not we weren't stranded anywhere ;)

The four of us enjoyed a great boat trip on one of Orlando's many lakes. Great views, impressive mansions, and lots of fresh air.

View the Boat ride album

Thanksgiving

Giving thanks is commemorated every year in the US at the end of November. This year, we were fortunate to be able to spend it in Florida with Eileen, Zach, Zach's parents, Tim & Karen, and Zach's sister & brother-in-law, Lauren & Sid.

Though we try to be aware and grateful of everything we have throughout the year, it is nice to be able to sit around a table with friends and family and remember exactly what we have.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

View the Giving thanks in Florida album

A little bit of Christmas in November

Today we took a little trip to the Orlando Museum of Art to check out some amazingly decorated Christmas trees, ready for auctioning off to the highest bidder and all in the name of an interesting charity helping the blind.

View the Charity Xmas trees album

Surprise delivery

A very unexpected and delightful gift found its way to my sister's doorstep for us in Florida :)


sooooo very yummy :)
Thanks Leah & Yehuda!

Mmmmmmmmm ....

donuts :) :)

Our first Dunkin Donuts in a very very (too) long time ;)

To infinity ....

... and the Kennedy Space Center, one of Matt's favoritest places in Florida,
and perhaps, anywhere else :)

View the Cape Canaveral album

A little bit of Indian

A late lunch out with Leeny, Zach & Matt materialized as very yummy Indian food ... which I proceeded in capturing a picture of just that ... the food ;)
Matt, who also captured his food, digitally ...
... also managed some more diverse pics as well.

While in Orlando ...

While in Orlando, we couldn't pass up the chance to attend ORUG (the Orlando Ruby User Group), where Matt gave a presentation.

Disneyyyyyyyyyyyyyy :)

Touted as 'the happiest place on Earth', we visited Epcot today :)
Leah & Yehuda in front of the big golf ball
Epcot by night
The final part of the evening was an impressive firework display in and over the man-made lake
A final look at the golf ball on our way out of the park
Our experience was a good one as we went to visit Mickey's friends at Epcot (only Mickey's friends because Matt's convinced that Mickey is just plain creepy). If you want to see more pictures of our time at the park, just check out the web album.

RubyConf Orlando

Thankful for the extra day cushion we planned between travel & conference (Matt had something baaaaad at the airport in San Diego that had him in bed all day), today dawned a new day, the first day of RubyConf in Orlando. Rather than doing a day by day account, this will be my post for all that is and was RubyConf. The rest of the pictures can be found in the RubyConf08 album.

There were logos, pictures and presentations ...
... there was discussion ... (and the release of Merb 1.0, just in time for Leah's birthday :) !!) ...
... even more discussion ...
... quite a bit of fooseball thrown in there too ... (and quite a number of francophones !)
... and (only at the end) a little sleep.

I asked for an economy ...

... so of course they gave us an SUV :P


I'll admit, it's nicer to drive than I would have expected. And the parking is easier that I thought it would be. All in all it wasn't half bad ... especially since I was filling with gas that was ...

Yeah, I flipped when I saw this price :) Pretty cool, huh ?

Election / Travel Day

Traveling cross country on Election Day was interesting.

Not a whole lot of crowds, but then again we did kind of leave early (thanks for the ride, Anna).

But everywhere we turned, there was either a newspaper or closed-captioned news programs on tvs talking about the election.

I've cast my ballot ... now the wait. Hold on, our flight's being called. We're on our way to RubyConf in Orlando.

Florida here we come :)

The birthday boy :)

Wow, the year has just flown by ! And now we find ourselves in November, celebrating Matt's birthday.

The day started off with breakfast in bed ... freshly baked muffins, some fruit, and cereal (thanks again Robinson family for the tray ;) :) )
And then came the present ... a guitar :) ... the better to serenade me, right ? :)
Then to Old Town we went. To eat some excellent, authentic Mexican food ...
... and also celebrate El Día de los Muertos ...
More pictures of this fun day can be found on the birthday boy's web album :)

Halloweeeeeen

With the sun netting, we readied ourselves for the hordes of children that would soon be knocking and ringing at our door. Though not in the 'Halloween Spirit', like many of our neighbors, we did think that giving out candy is more than enough to make the kids happy :)

After all was said and done, we ended up having about 30 kids stop by, including our next door neighbor's little 6 month old girl, dressed as a little chicken :) I was so struck by how cute she was that I didn't think to take a picture !! The evening ended with a small amount of left-over candy ( ;) ) and memories of several kids amazed at getting a big handful of candy (apparently other neighbors weren't as generous). It was a good first Halloween experience (and no one t.p.-ed our house or tree ... another reason why you should give generously !).

A civic duty

And that's all there was to voting this time around. Sorry, I should have taken a picture of the actual ballot, but I had already started filling it out when the thought crossed my mind.

This year was pretty incredible though. Apart from being an important election, lots of merchants were jumping on the 'sale/special' bandwagon. To all those who voted (at participating shops, of course) Starbucks was giving away a free coffee; Krispy Creme, a free donut; and many department stores were giving addition % off online and in-store purchases.