Us, December 25, 2021: Leo, Roy, Ondine, John, Shadow
Us, December 25, 2021: Leo, Roy, Ondine, John, Shadow
Tomorrow will be June! Last week was a short week due to the Memorial Day holiday.
John still had a full week even though he only worked four days, because two of them were 10- to 12-hour days in Vista and Oceanside, woof! This week, though, he's actually off! Just in time to do some serious clearing-out before our trip. He finally started a page for our 2024 Coast to Coast Walk, which he'll keep working on as he can, adding photos and videos and more detailed text from our trail notebooks. Click here to check out our adventure on Wainwright's Coast to Coast Walk! And, he hopes to get out some mornings to swing the metal detector and maybe do some photography.
Ondine has started knitting again, and her latest project is a sweater for herself. She taught herself “continental” style knitting from YouTube videos, a technique that's apparently gentler on the hands and wrists than regular knitting, plus it's easier and faster for people used to crocheting. Friday after work she went to a happy hour evening with friends in Lucy's salt-water hot tub. Then, Saturday, she did a big clear-out of one of the closets. She also found the chords to “City of Stars” from the movie La La Land, and is learning to play it on the ukulele. Ooo, and she just submitted a piece of flash fiction to a contest! And and and, she's working on a OWL newsletter!
Speaking of the ukulele, we're hoping to get back to playing our ukes again. We missed the meetup this month, but might could just about make the June meetup.
Leo officially accepted UCSD's offer, so he'll transfer into UCSD's electrical engineering program come Fall semester. The offer included on-campus housing and a meal plan, so he's kind of excited about that! (He's lived in shared housing before, when he was attending Point Blank Music School in L.A.) Meanwhile, his last semester at Grossmont College (a local community college) is winding down; he had finals last week and a timed essay due this week, and then he's done!
Roy has a birthday coming up!
Our kitchen remodeling project is still in the planning stages. We're waiting on an estimate from the place we visited last week, and we hopee to get two more estimates.
Our summer trip to Germany and England is just weeks away now! Leo will be joining us, since he'll have graduated from Grossmont College with multiple associate's degrees, so he'll be on summer hols before starting at UCSD in the Fall. As for Roy, he couldn't get off work. We're looking forward to seeing Dax und Jurgen, and also reconnecting with some of the friends we made on our 7-week home exchange way back in 2004. And, we'll be visiting Heidelberg to connect with Desiree. The England leg is fully booked, with stays in London and Bristol, and visits to Cambridge, Bath, and Stonehenge, and maybe even Wales!
A couple weeks ago, we had our front yard cleaned up by a landscaper who does work for a neighbor, and today he's doing the back yard, pruning trees, clearing weeds, and doing general clean-up. He did a fantastic job, in that the yards have not looked as good in a long time. But, due to a misunderstanding, we're mourning the tragic loss of all our reachable pomegranates for the next few years.
Neighborhood gas prices range from $5.79 to $6.29 per gallon for regular unleaded.
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