Saturday, September 17, 2011

Blackout Thursday


For those of you that didn't hear about our blackout last week, we were without power for about 10 hours last Thursday.  I had just got to work and the power went out all throughout San Diego county up to Orange County over to Yuma, Arizona and down to Ensenada, Mexico.  I sat at work for 2 and 1/2 hours before they let us come home.

The drive home was interesting, because a lot of people in California don't know or forget that you have to stop at intersections when the lights are out.  People were just flying through intersections.  No working lights also meant a longer than usual drive home.  Mike was off work for the day and walked across the street to see about getting ice to save some of our stuff in the freezer and frige.  He said it was like Armageddon, people were panicking and trying to buy stuff, but all the stores were closed.  The only place he found open was the liquor store, so he bought some beer.  We had a nice evening in the candlelight and watched a couple episodes of Dexter on what power was left on Mike's laptop.  Eventually, we didn't have anything else to do, so we went to bed early.  Other people were have blackout parties in their neighborhoods.  It was funny how everyone was being all neighborly during the blackout.  We had people in our complex all in the courtyard grilling out and sitting out on their balconies talking to each other.

We were to fly out of San Diego the next morning and thought for sure we'd have to stay home all weekend, but the power came back on at about 1:15am Friday and our flight went out without any delays that morning at 10:30am.

Having something like this happen makes you think you should probably keep canned food, a battery powered radio and cash on hand.  Things we are told to keep on hand for emergencies anyway.  Maybe keeping your gas tank full too, some people were stranded without gas after sitting in traffic.  I couldn't even use my cell phone to call or text.  I thought you were supposed to be able to text at least in emergencies...not the case.

At least the ice cream truck came by....

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Quote

This quote was from my yoga class yesterday and I liked it....

 The definition of success...To laugh often and much; To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; To earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; To appreciate beauty, to find the best in others; To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition; To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived.  - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Monday, September 12, 2011

13 weeks Pregnant

Mike and I decided we were ready to start a family this year.  Is anyone ever really ready?  The baby is due March 14, 2012.  It's kind of funny to us, because that will be almost exactly a year after we left for our trip to Ireland.  Maybe we'll have a St. Paddy's Day baby!

8 weeks

13 weeks - those legs were just kicking away!

13 weeks - how cute is this little foot?

13 weeks - nice big stretch

Photos will be stored and shared on this website:  https://picasaweb.google.com/blundellorama

Wednesday, September 07, 2011

Yosemite National Park

We visited Yosemite over Labor Day weekend.  We couldn't get a campsite, but we got the next best thing.  We stayed in canvas tents at Curry Village in the valley.  It's so nice and convenient staying inside the park and waking up every morning to the magnificent cliffs on both sides.  You also don't have to worry about driving in the crazy traffic.  We arrived on Saturday and did 2 short hikes and Sunday we did a long hike that took most of the day.

Our tent in Curry Village

On the Taft Point and the Fissures hike

Sentinel Dome hike

View from the top of Sentinel Dome

Cute deer

Yosemite Falls

Hiking the valley floor

A break for swimming the freezing cold Merced River

Another swimming break, it was so cold it took my breath away.

Tunnel View - the first sight of the valley (which we took on the way out)