Homeless

ANNA: As we were checking out at the grocery store tonight, I noticed the man behind us was only purchasing 2 heads of iceberg lettuce. Now I know people buy 1-2 items at the store all the time, but I found it odd that he was pushing around 2 carts of bundled cardboard and paper for recycling. He looked clean and presentable, but was a bit scruffy with his long hair a beard.

Not knowing if the man was homeless, I waited to see where he went after leaving the store. From a distance, I followed him to the end of the parking lot and watched as he sat down on the curb and pulled out a slip of paper to write on. Feeling as if I should help, I approached and reminded him that we had been in line together at the store. Presenting the small gift card, I asked, "I was wondering if you could use this." He politely declined saying he was fine and didn't need it. When I made a comment about all the stuff in his cart, he said "That's just for show. Give it to someone else who needs it. Give it to the Red Cross." And with that, I said goodnight and left.

Living in Los Angeles, I see homeless people every day. I don't carry cash often, but have offered water bottles and fruit from my lunch to beggars on the street corners. But I haven't done it much since one told me he didn't need my food because his wife cooks.

Another homeless woman agreed - she didn't need food. About a year ago, Scott and I had a meaningful conversation with a homeless woman at a different grocery store. She stopped us as we were walking by and began asking us questions about the area - bus travel, streets, neighborhoods and parks. Basically, she was new to our are and was trying to find a good place to spend the night. We spoke with her for over an hour about her being homeless, where she sleeps, shelters and resources, etc. She was very open and genuinely seemed to value our conversation. I felt bad watching the Security Guard eye her for the entire hour. Before we left, we offered to buy her some groceries. She graciously declined saying, she didn't need it at the time - I still remember her commenting that "you can always get food."

Happy Easter!

We hope everyone enjoyed their Easter as much as we did.
After attending church services, Anna helped her hospital patients
celebrate with cookie decorating and an Easter Egg hunt.
It really was eggciting! Then it was off to Scott's cousin's
home for a game of bocce ball and Easter fish.
Nothing says Easter like mahi mahi with herbed Matzo rolls. : )
And check out the fun Easter cards we made -
Anna stamped and Scott colored.

Anna said, "Let's paint!" And we did.

Anna:
Last year, I attended an expressive arts class. The class encouraged us to write, paint and collage whatever came to mind. Last week, I decided to pick up my brushes again.

Scott:
Anna pointed out that people tend to draw/paint at the level they last practiced art. I observed my painting looked like high school (even though I took art classes in college). I needed some expressive music to paint by, so we rocked out to the Beastie Boys.

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/