Resolve to make music

One of my goals for 2009 is to make more music. Although I enjoy music and have been playing instruments since elementary school, I haven't really played since college. Sadly my guitar, keyboard and clarinet haven't seen much action over the past few years.

So far, I've succeeded in playing 1 of my instruments at least once weekly. And just as I was thinking about ditching my clarinet, one of my hospital patients began taking clarinet lessons. So I played the clarinet again for the first time in about 8 years. I actually sound pretty good (although it's hard not to next to beginning level middle school students).

I've tried playing a few new instruments too - our ukulele purchased during our 2002 Hawaii trip, the Autoharp I found gathering dust on a shelf at work, and a harp at Sylvia Wood's Harp Center. Scott came with me for the free introductory harp lesson. It was lots of fun to play (Scott enjoyed it too - sorry no pics of him playing). But unfortunately renting/buying a harp is not in our budget right now. Hopefully I'll be able to learn the harp some day.

Twinkies for Timberlake

Working at a children's hospital can be trying at times - screaming children, frantic parents, celebrity sightings, etc. Just as I thought it was time to go home, I was asked to answer some questions during a hospital tour. To my surprise - it was for Justin Timberlake! I told him a little about the hospital's playroom and all the things we do to keep the kids busy during their stay. When his friend asked about the refreshments in the corner, I offered them some Twinkies (leftovers from Thursday's birthday celebration). Justin politely declined while patting his belly. I still have the Twinkie I offered him. Could I sell it on ebay?

Stay tuned for more about our celebrity encounters - we've had many over the last 4 years. : )

Elephant Turns 1

We are pleased to announce our baby elephant is now one year old. And we just
hit 15,000 miles one day before it's birthday- perfect! We have fully
enjoyed our boxy car and we look forward to many more years of fun.

(Elephant is our Honda Element, named by Scott's mother with it's gray exterior and roomy trunk)

Hawaiian Puka Dogs

Mmmmmmmmmmm...... Enough said.

After 15 months of cravings and deprivation, we finally tasted the sweet goodness that can only come from a Puka Dog. You may be asking "What's a puka?" A Puka Dog is an original Hawaiian treat that we enjoyed during our visit to the island of Kauai. We probably would have passed it up if not for our friends who told us we could not leave the island without trying one!

Once we ate one (okay - we had a few), we were hooked. But how to get a Puka on the mainland? After repeated emails asking them to ship us some sauce, the Puka people finally started selling their special island sauces online. We ordered three sauces, grilled up some good polish dogs, steamed some bakery-style buns, and had ourselves a Puka party! And of course we invited our friends, the Bowles, who were the first to tell us about Puka Dogs.

Check out the website for more info on Puka Dogs. We like ours with Mango Relish, Lilikoi Mustard and Garlic Lemon Sauce.

http://www.pukadog.com/

Smells like the holidays

Although Christmas usually brings to mind sweet smells of gingerbread and cookies, we've awoken to a quite different smell this holiday season - Eau de skunk. We've been smelling our lovely neighborhood skunk since we moved to Glendale , but he paid us two very special visits in December. First he visited us on Christmas Eve (Scott saw him right outside our bedroom window). Then he partied with us a week later on New Year's Eve. He must have been a happy skunk that night, because the air was especially skunky.

We have an avocado tree in our front yard that's reportedly a skunk delicacy. Scott spotted a half-eaten avocado on our porch on New Year's day (see evidence #1). Hmm... Anyone have any advice? We tried sealing the windows, and Anna's keeping the air freshener next to the bed in case of emergency.