End o' week musings

Look! It's a bird! It's a plane! No, it's the holidays just flying by! And did they ever. It seemed I just tied my last ribbon and blink it's the Friday after New Year's Day. Now I'm looking ahead to my already-full calendar for the month... but wait, then there's the eventful past!

Friday I went over to Valerie's for our gift exchange. She made a nice dinner of fish, green beans and rice. Valerie makes the BEST EVER rice, so I had an extra large helping... It's funny because she shared her recipe with me, but my rice never turns out as well as hers even when I make it exactly the same. What's up with that? Any way, she gave me a lacy blouse, a beautiful necklace, a nose ring and a belly button ring (is that too much information? And no, I don't normally set off metal detectors at the airport or concerts).

Saturday I went to McGinty's Gallery at the End of the World for the Doo Dah Parade float planning meeting. Dave Lovejoy is spearheading the project and has been researching castles all over the world, from historic places in England and France to California's Legoland (my personal favorite) and had several schematics of his designs and his truck's transformation from artist's stuff-toter to rolling royalty. Cool and impressive!

Later I went to see my friend Byron. He is a photographer at Disneyland and quite a good cook as well. He created a decent meal from Christmas leftovers, plus made a sweet potato pie from scratch. I especially enjoy taunting his cat J.T. Byron says it stands for John Thomas, but I think it's really Just The, as in Just The Cat. Either way, the critter is massive. J.T. must weigh a good 20 or so pounds and he's solid! If he wants to sit on you and have you pet him, you'd better... not because he's so big, but because if you don't, J.T. will bite you!! He doesn't draw blood, but he makes his point for sure...

New Year's Eve was more than fun. My special guy met me after work for drinks, plus nachos, and plenty of good conversation. Then I met up with Angela, her son Benny and his friend Art at City Lights in Hacienda Heights. The Jam Katz were playing, which is cool because their lead vocalist and guitarist Devon Lucas went to college with me. He and I were in a band called Freeway and I have sat in with a number of his other projects as our paths have crossed over the years. We stayed at the club for about an hour and then went to Art's uncle's house in Covina for his party.

The house was beautiful, as was the party area. There was a nice tiled patio where a DJ had set up his equipment, plus a full bar and lots of tables and chairs. The DJ was spinning old school, hip-hop, dance and Spanish music. Art dragged me out onto the dance floor at one point and the music changed from disco to Spanish. He asked if I had ever danced a cumbia before and I said no, so he told me to follow his lead. The steps employed a lot of hip action and movement across the floor, so it was a challenge, but I quickly got the hang of it and really had fun.

I got home late and slept about three hours before I was off to my friend Lafayette's house in Pasadena. His gorgeous girlfriend Courtney was there and we sipped OJ and chatted before bundling up to head to the Rose Parade route. It was less than a four block walk to find a good spot. We watched all the floats, bands, horses and everything else go by providing our own commentary and gradually taking off our layers as the sun warmed up the day.

I was particularly taken by the sheep on the farm-themed float-- it looked like it actually had wooly hair. I also loved the float with the big elephant. Courtney is a nurse so we gave an extra big cheer for the organ donor float too (we've both signed our organ donor cards and encourage you to do the same... but don't take my liver now, I'm still using it lol!). All the floats were stunning, as the television just doesn't capture the amazing flowers' colors or all the little details. And the bands' music sounds so much better live. Oooo and the horses' coats shine and the... well, you get the idea.

Lafayette's mom showed up toward the end of the parade, so when it was over we trekked back to the house, jumped in the car and took off to Noodle World in Pasadena for lunch. We each picked a dish for the meal. "Mom" selected the Thai satay chicken, Lafayette picked Vietnamese hand rolls, I opted for pineapple fried rice and Courtney asked for her favorite-- chicken tom kah.

I have had satay before and enjoy it. It's skewered meat (we had chicken) served with two sauces, one is peanut and the other is a chili type mix with chopped cucumbers.

I hadn't had the other dishes before. The hand rolls are little nibbles of veggies wrapped in rice paper with a peanut sauce for dipping. My rice diesh included shrimp, chicken, cashews, raisins and pineapple chunks. The tom kah soup boasted seafood, mushrooms, lemon grass, noodles and spices in a coconut based broth. The soup was strange at the first few spoonfuls and then it began tasting better and better. I cannot describe the flavor, as it is unlike anything I have ever had before, perhaps that's why it took a little getting used to, but it ended up being a dish I would definitely have again. In fact, I wouldn't mind some now!

After the meal, we went back to Lafayette's place to watch the parade replay on TV. His mother soon left, as she hadn't slept since the previous night. What a dynamo, huh?! Courtney and I chatted as Lafayette went into the kitchen to make his "famous" Italian soup. Finally, around 2:30 p.m. I decided it was time to head home for some more sleep.

I was asleep for about a hour when my phone rang. Angela was calling to invite me to a blues jam at the Route 66 Roadhouse in Duarte. How could I resist. I took a shower, fixed my makeup and got ready to get out the door again. The music was good, as was the food and the drinks. I even took to the dance floor for a few numbers. ... Of course I got in late again, but it was worth it.

Today I spoke with Paula Nelson (the daughter of Willie Nelson). She has a great band and will be coming to the Coffee Gallery Backstage in Altadena in a couple of weeks. I really liked her-- Paula was smart, funny, and just a great woman to speak with. She isn't using her father's fame to carry her, but has come up with her own sound and style and it rocks!

Tonight I'm going to take it easy because tomorrow I have another bridesmaid dress fitting, then I have to help build the float at the gallery and later I am going to the Chinese New Year Spectacular in Pasadena. Sunday I have a rehearsal with Andrew's Bad Stuff for the tunes I'm going to sing with them at the Pre-Doo Dah Party on the 10th. The rest of my week is busy with all kinds of stuff.... I hope yours is too!

Photos we got 'em: Terry Miller sent me some shots he found from when I posed with him for the Pasadena Museum of History's purses exhibit, I also have a few pics of Joe Walla that his sister took over Christmas (what a ham! ha ha!) and a couple cute pet photos.

In rotation this week: HorrorPops, Britney Spears, Punisher soundtrack and an old blues compilation disc my friend gave me.

Thought of the week: Get movin'. I know that the new year brings many resolutions, the most popular being lose weight, but I think it really should be get healthy. I've been slugging around as I call it (think moving slowly as in snails) because of my knee and finally it's feeling good enough to push a bit. I started my evening walks again and have amped up my morning routine. I'm planning to resume my normal Saturday morning classes in a few weeks once the doctor gives me the OK. And sure, I want to (need to) lose some weight, but my more important goal is to get and stay healthy.

You know the adage: Things in motion stay in motion. Well, I'm hoping to stave off osteoporosis, arthritis, heart disease and all the other things time and age do to a person. My back may limit some of the things I do and my knee is posing a problem presently, but there's other ways of keeping in motion. I'm doing it, so can you. By the way, there are some nice side effects to exercise-- it reduces depression, sex is better (can I say that? It's a medical fact), it keeps you young and you just feel so darn good and not just when you stop.

Keep on rockin'

Mickie