WHEN BOREDOM STRIKES.....

What is a married woman living away from her family to do when boredom sets in? Really, I can only entertain the Frat Boys for so long, and most of them have left for the summer ( J/K Lissi! quit freaking out!) So ....I have rediscovered  the beautiful simplicity of Mod Podge, oh so 70's, and quite entertaining.  Chandler had left a large canvas here. My "dorm room" walls looked mighty boring. I had oodles of magazines and a 40% off coupon from Michaels, so of course the natural solution is to do a collage. I have to say it way really fun and rather addicting. It is just a little collage about ME! LIFE! WHIMSEY and DREAMS!

I hope My buddy Jeff Holland keeps his great sense of humor if he ever finds out that I Mod Podged his face, right in the middle of all of my "stuff"...do you think that it is sac-religious? (I think or hope) he would laugh.

So one collage was just not enough, so I have moved onto smaller projects. LUGGAGE TAGS! They are sort of a work in progress. I am trying some different things with them. Give me your honest opinion please. Here are some prototypes:

I didn't bother to take a picture of the back, it just has address and a few more pictures. Some of these are actually being sent in the mail for Birthday's and Thank You's.

My artistic boy Chandler started this whole "Mod Podging Craze" by re-doing an old drum set that we bought. He came up with the idea and did the whole thing himself, including tearing the drums apart. Makes a $50 drum set look like a work of art doesn't it?

CONFESSIONS OF A 15# PURSE

My right shoulder continually hurts. It wakes me up at night. I really notice it if I have been working in MRI all day and use the computer for everything. But I can't help but wonder if this pain it isn't related to my purse and all of its "indispensable" contents.  I have tried to get a smaller purse, but I ALWAYS end up going to a big bag because quite simply, I have too much stuff. It isn't like I have toddlers and have to carry all of their gadgets around. I have no excuse.  I dumped out my purse on the x-ray table (a very boring day with no patients and nothing else to do and a nice surface to purse out my junk on). Obviously I have an abundance of stuff, such as:

1. 5#'s worth of lipstuff. Because really what if I want pink gloss instead of neutral? What if I want lipstick instead of gloss in red not orange? What if I need flavored Chapstick instead of plain Carmex? What happens if the all day lipstick doesn't really stay put all day? And who doesn't need the oh so yummy "Menthe Lip Tint" for a quick fix?
2. What about all of the receipts? It is likely that I don't need every receipt from the daily Diet Coke run @ McDonalds. But what if I need to return stuff? What if I need it to compare to my bank statement? I have too many random pieces of paper. Grocery List's, reminders, BART tickets, gas receipts, several "to do" list's(which include cleaning out purse) unwanted business cards and flyers rudely left on my windshield that get thrown into the mix. I could be more diligent about purging all of this, but it is the least of the weight in my purse!
3. Mints, gum, more mints, Fiber One Bar, just incase I need a snack. Random wrappers from consumed "stuff"
4. 3#'s of loose change that in a hurry gets thrown to the bottom of the bag.
5. Miscellaneous stuff such as: toothbrush and toothpaste, floss, wet wipes, hand sanitizer, nail file and sunscreen samples. My work badge, my x-ray markers. ipod, sometimes ipad.  Calculator, several pens, and I must have the little cleaning kit for my glasses (if it is summer add sunglasses and contact case to the list, plus reading glasses so I can read if I need to put contacts in, damn having bi-focals!).  Numerous recipes clipped from magazines torn out from waiting room magazines (they said I could! and yes, someday I do plan to try them all!)

So you can see why I could not possibly be happy with a small purse. What would I do without all of my vital stuff that no doubt and one time or another I will need? And I forgot to list my cute little pill box with meds like Aleve, for when my shoulder really hurts? I am a good one to travel with because I have anything you might need (probably in duplicate). I have no idea how girls with little purses do it!

THE CITY DOES HAVE MY HEART

And my very favorite way to get to the city is on Amtrak. It is a stress free ride and the trains are always very clean, fast and efficient. I love the sights from the train. It is like a "birds-eye" view of things that you normally would not see driving. Here are some of my favorite sights:

I think the graffiti is so interesting (is it wrong to like graffiti?) I wonder how long it takes these artists to do the many walls you see covered along the rail lines? It is almost like a "free" zone for graffiti artists because they do not paint over the tagging. This one outside of Richmond has been there for several years.

My kids roll their eyes each time they hear me say that I really want to go work at the port of Oakland (seriously, I do). I would love to go learn all about the shipping industry. To me it is fascinating and you get a great view from Amtrak into the port. I think that the coolest job would be the crane operator that loads and unloads the barges (it doesn't hurt that they make over 150K/year). Did you know they can unload, inspect and reload one of these barges in 24 hours? Call me a geek, but I want to go job shadow at the port!

The mothball fleet

I want to know the history of each ship

To me, the "mothball fleet" looks haunted. All of these huge discarded ships, just sitting in the bay wasting away.  They will soon be slowly dismantled and sold for scrap because they are polluting the bay. So many tons of steel sitting there, all with a story. Before they get rid of them I want someone to take me on a personal tour of their graveyard here in the water and tell me their history. (No doubt you won't be surprised to hear that I love watching the Discovery Channel).

The charming home on the left belongs to romance novelist Danielle Steele's ex-husband. Her home (the former Spreckel's Mansion) is just around the corner.  I did not get a picture of it. It happens to be made of Utah Limestone (not a good choice for the SF climate) and as expensive as the massive home must be, her very luxury fleet of cars parked outside were pretty darn impressive. Sadly, she did not invite us in for tea because she spends most of her time in Paris.

My purpose for venturing to the city for Memorial Day was to do a walking tour that I always wanted to do but never could interest anyone else in the family to do it with me, so I jumped at the chance! The San Francisco Library does several different walking tours of the city. Check them out here. This one was the Victorian Mansions of San Francisco. A very pleasant walk (once I reached the top of the hill) It was a beautiful cool but sunny day and away from the tourist crowds of the city. It gave a charming history of the different homes and styles. Several fascinating tidbits about Victorian life were included.  Did you know that in the homes of the era there were always plenty of chairs in the parlor? If the men were in the parlor and the women entered, the men would stand but it would have been totally SCANDALOUS for them to offer a chair to  a woman....because it would be improper for a woman to sit on a chair that a man's bottom had warmed! Times have changed a bit!