So, a quick update about life and a few random thoughts along the way:

– I am full-flungly immersed in an EMT class. I really like it but it’s a lot of work… basically rote memorization.  We have our second test on Tuesday and I’m not ready… Yet.  I have learned a lot and better learn more by Tuesday.

–My parents are in town for a quickie visit and it’s lovely to have them here. Actually seeing them while they’ve been here has been a little harder this time since I have been busy working and with my class, but it’s still fun to come home and see them and chat and eat mom’s killer cuisine!

– I sprained my knee a month ago… it is still recovering. I took it for a swim for the first time on Saturday, so am hoping to put it into rehab and get it back to normal functionality. Any tips on healing and strengthening a knee after a bad sprain are welcome!

– On the same day I sprained my knee, the rest of my family were all in a car accident in Wisconsin. Thankfully, their injuries were fairly minor. I guess it just wasn’t our day!

– A blog I have checked a lot recently is www.prayfordaisy.tumblr.com. It tracks the progress of a sweet little 5-year-old girl that we know named Daisy Love Merrick. She was recently diagnosed with cancer. She and her family are an amazing testimony. Her dad is the pastor at Reality Church in Carpinteria, and if you check out the web site, I highly recommend listening to the sermon he gave a week after he found out his 5-year-old sweet pea had cancer. You’ll see the link for his sermon and it’s titled “When My Heart is Overwhelmed”.

– I plan to spend Halloween in SB Cottage Hospital doing ER observations for my EMT class. Hopefully it’s interesting!

– Last week I watched a show that some of you may have heard of … Grey’s Anatomy. Tonight at church I saw a set of twins who played a role in that show that I watched last week. Only in California…

– I found out that my friend Krista for whom this blog post is named and her husband may be heading to Argentina as missionaries. Rock on… that is RAD!

– My gramma turned 82 this month, and my grampa turns 83 next month. I still have all four of my grandparents and they’re all in their 80′s. I feel very fortunate!

– We hold elections in November because it’s a good time to pick a turkey. Do you have your turkeys picked out yet?

– I hope/plan to be in Venezuela for Christmas and in Mexico circa Valentine’s Day.  I’ll be here in Santa Barbara eating my turkey on Thanksgiving.

– I probably shouldn’t be writing this post, because I still need to learn about congestive heart failure, aortic aneurysms, grand mal seizures, status epilepticus, and a few other random things.

But it’s been fun. For each of you who have taken the time to read… thanks. =)

“There are no stupid questions, but there are a lot of inquisitive idiots.”

Dodger Day Away 2009... We made a little escape from work today and went down to LA to watch the Dodgers play the Colorado Rockies (Dodgers won!) Nothing like a good old American baseball game (to help celebrate Canadian Independence Day!) These are some of the guys I get to work with. They are great, and might I add, highly entertaining. =)

]]> http://jodilicious.wordpress.com/2009/07/02/me-the-boys/feed/ 0 jobonjodi Dodger Game 2009 http://jodilicious.wordpress.com/2009/06/25/the-road-not-taken/ http://jodilicious.wordpress.com/2009/06/25/the-road-not-taken/#comments Thu, 25 Jun 2009 01:54:04 +0000 Jodi http://jodilicious.wordpress.com/?p=220 ]]> Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveller, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I–
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference

…Robert Frost

***

I like this part…..

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I–
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference

“I have not failed 10,000 times. I have successfully found 10,000 ways that will not work”

- Thomas Edison

Someone made a mark.  A few hundred thousand someones.  I encountered something brand new in this little world of mine.  Something that I never would’ve thought of.  It is Bubblegum Alley and it lies in the lovely city of San Luis Obispo, California. Chewed bubblegum has become an art.  Of course.  Why wouldn’t it be?

You really can’t believe it until you stand in the middle of it.  It’s disgustingly alluring.  While on one hand you’re completely grossed out, you almost have to resist the urge to grab a few pieces of someone else’s Bubblicious off the wall and start chewing.  Don’t worry… I managed to resist.  My colleague and I, however, dutifully fulfilled our calling as citizens of America, chewed a piece of gum on site, and stuck it to the wall as artfully as possible.

Sick.

Here’s a few fun facts for you to chew on:

1. Santa Barbara has the oldest working wharf in the county… Stearn’s Wharf.

2. From our coast, you can watch the blue whales migrate to Baja California.  This year we had a whale come live in our harbor for several weeks and he could be seen frolicking around and blowing off steam.

3. Oprah lives here (or at least owns a shack here) and thinks it’s the best city in the nation.

4. Santa Barbara almost became Hollywood… the first major movie studio was opened here in 1910 and produced hundreds of silent films.  Thankfully, we eventually shipped them off to LA.

5. The first Motel 6 and the first Kinko’s were in Santa Barbara.

6. McDonald’s Egg McMuffin was invented here in 1968.

7. Santa Barbara has more non-profits than any other locale in the nation.

8. Clark Gable said “I do” to wife #4; and JFK, Jackie O, Julia Roberts & Sandra Bullock all honeymooned in SB (not all at the same time).

9. Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing was named for Hidden Valley Ranch in Santa Barbara County.  A local restaurant called Cold Springs Tavern was the first joint to serve the white creamy stuff that went on to become America’s dressing of choice.

10. The environmental movement began in Santa Barbara in response to a major oil spill in 1969.

11. Santa Barbara boasts more open space per capita than any other city in the country.  It is home to 53 parks and more than 24,000 public trees.

12. Santa Barbara has been threatened by three major wildfires in the last 10 months.  The most recent fire caused the evacuation of more than 30,000 residents.

13. Santa Barbara has a Land Shark on which one can tour by land and by sea all in one ride.

14. SB is originally home to my mom and is still home to her fam.  Her parents still live in the same house that they moved into when she was in 2nd grade.

15. AND, we’ve got some cool Farmer’s Markets…

…to which I availed myself of on Saturday.  After two weeks of fire camp food, I decided that it was time to get on board with Santa Barbara.  It was time to go green.  I was ready to join the rest of the nation… It was time for change.  The Farmer’s Market is a wonderful little spot that all the locals bring their produce to.  It brings out lots of cool hippie holistic hemp types, and it brings out the local singers who’ll croon to you for a buck or two, and it brings out soccer moms who’ve gone organic, and it brings out your grandparents with their little push carts, and it brings out your green machines, and it brings out your everyday peeps like me who like to get a good tomato on their plate and will get a bushel of strawberries for the road.  It’s kind of a little city gathering.  You can hardly go there without finding someone you know who’s perusing a squash or casting eyes on an avocado.  It’s a fun local spot where you can bump into your neighbor and where people take the time to smell the flowers… and the fruits and veggies.

Strawberries - Change I can believe in

Going green with basil and mint... two of my favorite hhherbs. Yes I can!

Oh yes I did...