April 1, 2009 by samantha.

Today we had another exciting day exploring Southern California and we visited the Huntington Library and Botanical Gardens. I had never been before and thoroughly enjoyed my visit. The grounds are so big that they are divided into separate gardens.

The Japanese and Chinese gardens were amazing.

I even enjoyed the Desert Garden.

The trails led to a new discovery around every turn. The Huntington also has an art museum. The museum is housed in the former home of the Huntington’s. They amassed a huge art collection. The highlight is the famous Blue Boy. It is spectacular to see in person. Overall, the Huntington is a beautiful place to walk around and soak in the beauty of it.

The fun really started this evening. I borrowed a carpet cleaner from a friend of mine. I was so excited to try it. I went to Lowe’s to buy some cleaning solution and came home ready to clean. After the floor was well vacuumed and the carpet cleaner was prepped, I attacked the carpet. Right now the carpet is drying and I think I did it right. The carpet does look better. Still, I am not too sure that I cleaned the carpet correctly. Thank goodness my carpet cleaner’s owner is coming to check it out tomorrow morning. If the cleaner works well, I think I will have to invest in a Bissell ProHeat 2X.

I cannot wait to see my carpet in the morning!!

Posted in Friends, House, California | No Comments »

March 8, 2009 by samantha.

This morning started out as any normal Sunday. Val and I were up early, we went for a walk, came home to make breakfast. When my Eggos were toasting, I headed to the garage to get Val’s breakfast. This is what was waiting for me at my door.

It is a White-lined Sphinx Moth and he is huge! I have never seen a moth that was so big. He was too high up for me to put something next to him so you could get an idea of his size. He is beautiful. Of course I am a big nerd and I quickly fed Val so I could learn what type of moth he was. After I figured that out, I Googled his name. I run outside every hour so just to see if he is still there. I guess they are pretty common out here, but I have never seen one before. Maybe the time change confused him?

Posted in House, California, Val, Weekends | 2 Comments »

February 14, 2009 by samantha.

Since I had places to be today, I decided to get up at the usually time and follow the same routine I do on weekdays. Val and I went for our morning walk and returned to the house at the normal time of 6ish. The next step in the routine is taking a shower. Too bad I was unable to open the bathroom door! I tried and tried. My door refused to open. See, my bathroom is small and I needed to be creative in the way I stored bathroom essentials. I found a vanity that has a bottom drawer that was perfect to house the staples.

Last night when I closed it I guess I used a little too much force, so when I closed the bathroom door the drawer bounced back out. This is what made it impossible for me to open the door this morning. Back to 6 AM Saturday morning, I was in a panic. I leave for Portland today and I need to get into my bathroom!! I tried taking the screen out of the for the bathroom window. The window is too skinny to crawl through, but at least I could put something through the window so that I could push the drawer back. That did not work out since the window was locked. I tried using a spatula and a wooden spoon, through the slot under the door, to push the drawer back. Still no luck!!!! By this time I was thinking I was going to have to take an axe to the door! I decided that before I did that, I would try to pry the door open one more time. The door opened like it supposed to. And now it is just after 7 AM and I am showered and packed for my trip.

About the drawer, you found my dirty little secret. As organized as I am I cannot keep this drawer tidy. I figure everyone has at least one messy drawer. I organize it all the time and in a few days it is messed up again. Oh well! I have more important things to take care of!

And Happy Valentine’s Day!!!!

Posted in House, Holidays, Val, Weekends, Travels, Rants | No Comments »

January 21, 2009 by samantha.

Usually when someone is in hot water, it is not a good thing. In my case, it is the best news I could have heard today! I believe my hot water heater is fixed and it only cost me $75! I was beginning to think that this day would never come. I was beginning to lose hope. Now I am back on a positive note. I took a hot shower in my own shower for the first time in a week. I am even running the dishwasher. I cannot begin to tell you how happy I am.

Still, I am a bit skeptical and not a hundred percent convinced that the water heater is back in working order. I have been through too much in the past week to believe that all is back to normal. I am trying to think positive. Of course if all comes crashing down, I think I will fall apart. I know that I am overreacting, but not having hot water became psychologically taxing after awhile. I began to have visions of hot water. I was seeing hot water waterfalls in the distance. Everyone I saw began to look like a hot water heater. Does it surprise you to hear me sound so crazy???

Posted in House, Rants | 1 Comment »

January 20, 2009 by samantha.

My first experience as a potential juror was boring and uneventful. I got to the courthouse early and ended up waiting for two hours before anything happened. I was finally ushered into a courtroom. I got to sit in the jury box! I saw the defendants- two gentlemen that were being charged with robbery. Of course they claimed innocence and pleaded not guilty. The judge started to explain the duties and rights of the jury. The judge estimated that the case would take about six weeks. I immediately began to panic. I could not be away from my class for that long and I have travel plans in February! The judge asked if anyone had any reason for not being able to be part of the jury. I raised my hand, told him of my travel plans, he told me to send a postcard, and that I could leave. It was too easy!

The downside is that I may be recalled since I was excused. I will have to make sure to have more travel plans. The upside is that I still was able to watch the inauguration. I had some interesting conversations. I cried as the new President was sworn in.

Now, the day will be complete if I get hot water today. The part from Whirlpool has not arrived, but the plumber is not scheduled to come until 6pm. I am getting tired of taking cold showers. Which reminds me, I want to thank everyone who offered his or her hot water to me. I may be taking you up on it!!!

Posted in Friends, School, House, Travels, Rants | 1 Comment »

January 18, 2009 by samantha.

Well, I still have no hot water. I am getting used to taking cold showers. Hopefully the water heater will be fixed Tuesday night. The part is on order from Whirlpool and I have a six o’clock appointment with a plumber. I cannot complain about the lack of hot water, but I really miss it. I am looking forward to having a nice, hot shower someday soon!

Today, some friends and I went to Train Days at the San Bernardino County Museum. It was more fun then I could have imagined. I had never been to the museum and I was much nicer than I expected. The museum was filled with model trains. People were dressed as conductors. Kids were wide-eyed with excitement. It was great.

I am sure most people missed one of the funniest things that I saw at the museum. A lot of the model train displays had oil wells. Many of the oil wells were working, pumping up and down. But one in particular had two Arab Sheiks observing the well. I found this so wrong that it was funny.

Am I the only one that find this funny?

Posted in Friends, House, California, Weekends, Rants | No Comments »

January 17, 2009 by samantha.

Lo and behold, I am frustrated again! I started to have issues with my water heater on Wednesday. I thought the problem was fixed. Nope! I tried relighting the pilot light a few times and each time I got a false sense of hope. The pilot light would relight for a few hours and I was happy. Now the pilot light will not light at all and I have no hot water!!! The water heater is just over a year old and should be working great. I called the gas company and hoped they would be my knight in shining armor. No such luck. I called the toll free number on the water heater and talked to people on the other side of the world. They were very nice and tried to help me, but they have no idea what is going on! I want someone that is standing in my garage and able to fix my problem. They informed me that my water heater needed some parts replaced! ARGGG!!!! I have to order the parts, that will not be here until TUESDAY!!!! Why do I have to order the parts? Because it seems that no one carries them. Whirlpool has all the toys and is not sharing! I called Lowe’s (where we purchased the water heater) and a zillion plumbers. They all said that I would have to order the parts. Of course, all the plumbers are more than willing to come over on Tuesday.

Would my troubles end there? Since this is me we are talking about, the answer is no. I may be called in for jury duty on Tuesday. I will not know until Monday night if I have to show up. I already was not looking forward to my showing up, but now I really want to stay home to get the water heater fixed! I never knew how dependent I was on hot water. I cannot shower, do laundry, steam clean the floor, anything that I feel like doing. Honestly, how often does anyone feel like cleaning the floor?

What is the silver lining to this whole fiasco? I actually have two. First, one of the plumbers I called may be able to fix my water heater today. I am not getting my high hopes up, but I am asking everyone to think happy thoughts for me. My second ray of light is probably the best and most important one. Just like most people in these troubled times, I am in fear of losing my job. Well, I just found that the half year I worked (my hire date was January 23, 2006), will work in my favor. Talk about a sigh of relief! I was crying I was so happy.

Is it greedy for me to still ask for hot water today? Probably. But I really want to take a hot shower this weekend!

Posted in School, House, Rants | 2 Comments »

January 14, 2009 by samantha.

So, my morning was bad from the very beginning. I woke up at four o’clock from a horrible nightmare. Obviously, I was not anxious to get back to sleep. I turned on the light, the television, and asked Val to jump on the bed. I thought I would never back to sleep, but thankfully I was able to.

When the alarm went off at five, I had no idea that I would have to take a tepid shower. No one is happy to take a tepid shower, especially at five in the morning! I tried a few of the faucets in the house and I had no hot water. And yes, I paid my gas bill!!! I had no to choice, but to head to work and deal with the situation when I got home.

When I got home, I had my fingers crossed that I would have hot water. No such luck! First thing I thought of checking was the water heater. I could not see a pilot light and I was hoping that it would resolve the problem. My neighbor just happened to be out, so I asked him what he knew about water heaters. Thanks to him, I had hot water within an hour! I was even able to wash my dinner dishes.

At first I was not looking forward to going to sleep, for fear of another nightmare. Now I am anxious for the morning to come so I can take a hot shower!! Nothing beats a hot shower in the morning!

Posted in House, Val, Rants | 1 Comment »

January 11, 2009 by samantha.

First and most importantly, the parents are gone and far away in Florida. They left Saturday morning, very early, and I have been enjoying my solitude since then. Still, I have them to thank for a fantastic trip to France, a great Christmas, and my new couches, coffee table, end tables, and lamps!

Since I can never remember which is the family room and which is the living room, I call the two rooms the TV room and Val’s room.

Here is how Val’s room used to look.

Here is how it looks now.

Here is how the TV room used to look.

Here is how it looks now.

Here is the lamp I instantly fell in love with.

And I am sure you are worried about what happened to Val’s old, ugly couch. Here it is waiting to go to the city dump. It did a great job of serving Val’s needs and she will miss it. I am so happy to get rid of it.

Posted in House, Europe, California, Val, Travels, Family | No Comments »

January 4, 2009 by samantha.

Tomorrow I must return to work. This break has seemed to last forever and I think I forgot what my classroom looks like. I have enjoyed my vacation, but I think it is time to return to the normal routine. Of course, the routine will not get back to normal until my parents leave. It seems like they have been here forever and on Saturday they will finally head back to Florida. They decided to stay a bit longer so that one of my best Christmas, a shower door, could be installed. I am so excited and I hope to be able to use it by this weekend. Keep your fingers crossed!

Yesterday, I made a large and much needed purchase. I bought myself a new couch, loveseat, coffee table, and end tables. My current couch and loveseat have been used and abused. They will be turned over to Val and put in her room. My coffee table and end tables come from Tallahassee. I never cared for them, but they have done a great job. These too will be moved to Val’s room. The new furniture will be delivered on Thursday and I am sure you will all check back to see pictures.

Now I am going to enjoy my last few hours of freedom and digest my mom’s tacos. For a Frenchie, she makes the best damn tacos. I requested them tonight and they never disappoint!

Posted in School, House, Val, Family, Rants | 2 Comments »