Homeoblock

A few years ago I noticed that my bite had changed. I couldn't chew with my front teeth, but I didn't think very much about it. While at a dental cleaning a few months ago my dentist told me that if I didn't change my bite, I would probably have to have surgery to fix my mouth. Well, who wants surgery? He told me that an alternative would be to be fitted for a homeoblock appliance - sort of a retainer on steroids. One for the top teeth, one for the bottom. 

The upside, besides fixing my bite, is that it might actually straighten my teeth, and, at least straighten and strengthen my facial muscles. I will probably wear this device at night for the rest of my life. Today I got the device, tried it on in the office, and brought it home with a list of instructions. I can tell that it is going to take at least a few weeks to get used to it. Time will tell.

Gifts for Travel

Daughter L is visiting for the week for a bachelorette party, so she brought my birthday gift with her to keep the celebration going. Both daughters thought to give me something useful to take to Switzerland. C found this adorable purse for me and L brought at moleskine notebook - one that has all kinds of information about Zurich (including maps) as well as places to write. I feel as though I am ready to jump on a tram right now!

Beach Birthday

Second year in a row that my birthday fell on a weekend. A lovely June weekend. With temps promised in the low 100s (which never materialized), I thought that an escape to the beach would be the best way to relax with H, C and B. These days we tend to head toward Laguna and try out any beach where we can find parking.

While on the road, we decided to stop off at 85C for sea salt coffee and then yelped where we could find Mexican take-out in Laguna. Papa's Tacos came highly recommended, and that's where we ended up. The proprietor/chef/server was very friendly and when I told him it was my birthday, he threw in a bag of chips with some salsa. We took our food and ended up at Aliso Beach. The parking lot was full when we drove through, but I spotted a street space across the busy PCH which was still there after we rounded back. Luckily there is a tunnel under the highway for pedestrians.

We enjoyed people-watching while we ate our burritos, which we ranked very highly. Then we read a little, chatted and near the end of our stay we watched a pod of dolphins frolicking in the waves. That was certainly a highlight. 

Back home, after showers and a little phone chat with L, C treated us to a homemade peach and almond cake with vanilla ice cream. 

A most excellent way to celebrate.

Ordering at Papa's Tacos.

Food Trucks for Lunch

We have seen one or two food trucks outside of LACMA before, but this was our first time there during the work week, and we counted nine trucks lining Wilshire. After perusing the options, we split up and H bought lunch at the Thai truck and I got a falafel sandwich at the Kabob Express. 

While waiting for my food, four people dressed in Honda blue polos (you know the ads on tv), came around offering people hand sanitizer and a small tissue pack. When people took one and said "thank you," the Honda people said, "It's our job to be helpful."

This woman was actively hawking her truck's wares, taking orders on her iPad and touting the fact that their truck had a gourmet chef and had been featured on CBS. Maybe next time, Street Kings.

Birthday Trip to LACMA

Last year I joined LACMA for my birthday, especially to see the James Turrell retrospective. It was a deal to join since membership included free tickets to the special exhibit. Little did I know that I would return four more times to get my money's worth for the $110 "Dual Membership". If you are interested, here is a link to my year at LACMA. 

Yesterday we saw Van Gogh to Kandinsky which opens to the public tomorrow, but members got a special preview.  In this exhibit we were allowed to photograph a number of the works with a little sign next to the ones we were not allowed to shoot.

Paul Klee was a Swiss painter. Looking forward to seeing the Klee museum in Berne where he grew up.

I got in trouble for taking this photo. See the gentleman in black on the right side? He came over to me to explain the photographing rules. I just wanted to show the scope of the exhibit and how many people were there. It's a terrible photo, but I thought I'd post it anyway.

So, while I was pleased that our $110 membership had gone so far this year, we had to add an additional $58 to the total spent while going to LACMA this year. We parked on the street to save the $10 parking fee in the lot, and after 2 hours and 10 minutes in a 2 hour zone, we were awarded this lovely ticket from the City of LA. I guess that $168 is still a good deal for 5 trips to the museum for 2 people....

Apricots and Squirrels

Those awful squirrels are at it again. My apricots are NOT QUITE RIPE, and yet, they are being demolished by those terrible demons! ARGGGGGG!!!!!

Summer Swim

This morning I went swimming at Haldeman (at Pomona College) instead of the gym. While I was swimming laps, I was remembering all the good times I had at the side of this pool (as well as at Pendleton, also at Pomona) when my girls were growing up. After a spring of dusty softball fields, I always appreciated the cool blue of the pool, the soothing sound of the water while I watched swim lessons. Then when the girls were older, they were on the summer swim team. After a few years of practicing as a swim team, the coach organized a friendly swim meet with the Mount Baldy Aquatics.  We got the dads to run stop watches, we organized relays, and at the end of the meet in the dark we had a big potluck. Great memories.

Here is a photo from the swim meet in 2002. That was just a couple of years ago, right?

Multicultural Day 2014

Another Multicultural Day has come and gone at Vista. As I have blogged before, my favorite part of the day is when the whole school gathers at the end with all our flags and we sing three songs together. This year we threw in Pete Seeger's If I Had a Hammer. The Kinders made up motions to go with the song and everyone sang it with such gusto.

It occurred to me that we should incorporate singing into other assemblies for the whole school, not just for Winter Sing and MC Day. I will be thinking about what songs those should be and when we can sing together when I come back.

I loved these photos of the kids in Room 4 - looking all Italian!

ARTstART

Another brief, but worthwhile exhibit in the Ginger Elliot Hall next to the Garner House in Memorial Park. This exhibit showcased art from students at Vista, Oakmont and Sycamore. These upper grade students were part of ARTstART sponsored by the Claremont Museum of Art. This program works at many levels starting with college students who mentor high school students to lead the elementary children through three art lessons. 

The Courier's lead story on Friday led me to the exhibition. It gives a more fully detailed explanation of the work that is being done with this exciting program of arts integration across the curriculum, and leadership training for high school students. The exhibit will be open once more - this Wednesday from noon - 4, and if you are free then (and the exhibit is also free), I highly recommend a visit! 

A Day of Music - Claremont Folk Festival

Ya know, I love chocolate cake. But eating an entire cake in one sitting would be too much. Yesterday I almost had too much music. Not quite, but almost. The Claremont Folk Festival, for its 31st year, treated young and old to a day filled with music. You can see more about this festival from my last year's post. The biggest difference, for me, this year is that more of my friends went, so I decided to stay all day.

Then I realized that the Claremont Youth Symphony was having their concert down at Little Bridges, so I took a break at 3:00 from the Folk Festival and went into the nice air-conditioning to hear a handful of my students perform. At the end of the concert, I was pretty tired, so I went home for an hour to relax, eat and put my feet up before heading back to the Festival. (More chocolate cake!)

The highlight of the day was Ben Harper's band performing with his mom, Ellen. It was pretty dark by the time they started, but we had managed to eek out a little space next to a palm tree and made ourselves comfortable on the ground with towels and the tree for leaning upon.

The sweet part of Ben's performance was when he picked up a young boy, maybe 4 or 5 years old, and together they sang Neil Young's Heart of Gold. I caught a little of it on video. Here it is.

Here is Lucas Critchfield conducting the CYSO

Here are a few of the performers at the Festival - Angela Lloyd, Peter Harper and Rick Shea