A Fall Day in the Mountains

I have always enjoyed seasonal activities, so last Sunday Liam and I joined some friends at Riley's in Los Rios Rancho, near Yucaipa. It's a great little place you can go to pick apples and pumpkins and enjoy some great BBQ and apple pie. There's even a little country store there if you'd like to do a little shopping while you're at it. It was great to get out of the city for awhile and enjoy a beautiful mountain day. This was the first outing I've had with Liam that I felt he was ready to get down and walk around, and--as you can see from the pictures--he had a lot of fun exploring his surroundings. I admit a major motivation for me in making the trip was to get a few cute pictures of Liam playing in the pumpkin patch and toddling around the ranch. I may be biased, but I think it's safe to say, "Mission accomplished!"

Look at that big boy getting around in shoes!

Liam did a great job getting around in spite of the uneven ground. He did take several tumbles, but none of them seemed to phase him. I was also happy to see that he doesn't seem to mind having shoes on--they didn't seem to trip him up very much, either.  Since Liam is still new to walking, I was able to keep up with him pretty easily this time, but I have a feeling this job won't be so easy in the near future! On this particular trip my main responsibility was to keep him from putting things he picked up off of the ground in his mouth. For the most part he was far more interested in the dirt than the bright, orange pumpkins, which is why in most pictures you see his little hands holding the dirt and other debris he collected during his explorations. Yay, dirt!

Mommy and Liam--this one is my favorite. 

I call this one, "Baby of the Corn."

Almost August

On Tuesday I returned to work after a weekend getaway to Tucson, Arizona to visit my friend Laura and her family.  As you can imagine, Tucson in July is a heck of a lot hotter than L.A., but that didn't stop me from having a great time.  All of our 21st century technology makes keeping in touch much easier than in times past, but nothing beats a good old fashioned real life visit.  As parents of two with another on the way, both Laura and Keith had lots of parenting tips to share, which I duly noted like the diligent student I am.  I also enjoyed commiserating with Laura on the joys of pregnancy.  (And yes, I use the word "joys" with a certain amount of sarcasm.)  When I left for my return trip to L.A., I was happily loaded down with all sorts of baby boy clothes that Laura very generously passed on to me.

Having all of this baby stuff slowly accumulating around the apartment is a constant reminder to me of the mission that must be accomplished by the end of next month:  Our second bedroom, which Eric has used as his personal catch-all room, must be cleared out and converted into the baby room by the end of August.  Otherwise, we will not have a place to put everything from the baby shower.  This project sounds simple enough, but the room is a total disaster area--just looking at it is enough to induce an anxiety attack in me--and it is a task that is almost entirely up to my husband to complete.  Sure, I could make it easy and just start filling trash bags, but I am pretty sure Eric would take offense at having his crap--I mean, his stuff--summarily tossed into the dumpster.  And so, I must wait patiently and encourage (he would say "incessantly nag") him to get started on this project.  It's almost August, so we'll see how things progress.  As I keep trying to tell him, the fall will be here before we know it...

When Mom Came to Town

Sandy, Kara, and I

Last week Mom came out to L.A. for a visit. We had no particular plans, but somehow every day was filled with plenty to do. Her first night in town we went out for a girl's night with my friends Sandy and Kara. A great time was had by all, although we narrowly avoided an encounter with angry fans when Kara decided to (loudly) heckle the Lakers and cheer Denver.

One day during her visit was "bring Mom to work day." We hung out at the Villa and I showed Mom around and she got to follow me on my gallery talks. She saw my talk on religion in Greco-Roman Egypt and attended my hour of the gem handling session for that day. The gem handling sessions, as we call them, are associated with our "Carvers & Collectors" exhibition on ancient engraved gems and modern copies. We have a "touchable" collection of various gemstones and engraved gemstones in different stages of completion that we discuss and pass around amongst visitors who stop by. It is very different from the other kinds of teaching I do in that these are times when I just sit down and converse with visitors for an hour. As with most teaching, I find it exhausting but fun. Mom also got to meet some of my coworkers, who later told me my mother could pass for my sister.



All things considered it was a great visit. Now Eric and I are getting ready for his sister's wedding this weekend. All sorts of friends and family are converging on the Wells household at the moment, since the big day is tomorrow. This morning Eric and I packed and loaded the car so we can leave straight from the museum and head for the South Bay. It will be a crazy busy couple of days, I'm sure, but hopefully a lot of fun as well!

Dodger Game

Last week I had quite a busy schedule. On Wednesday I went out with a couple of friends after work for a girl's night out, and then on Thursday evening I went to my first baseball game of the season. I went with my friends Amy and Devi and we had a great time, in spite of the rather chilly weather. I'm looking forward to our next planned outing at the ballpark in August when the Cardinals come to town. That day will find me decked out in my Cards gear rooting for the visiting team, of course. The Dodger hat is only out as long as L.A. is playing a team other than St. Louis. In this case it was San Francisco, so I had absolutely no problem rooting for the Dodgers to trample the Giants--which they did. In fact, they swept the series.

Amy and Devi.

Dodger Dog and garlic fries - ballpark cuisine

For some reason, Eric does not like baseball. I admit watching a game on t.v. is not very entertaining, but at the stadium it is a completely different experience. Who doesn't enjoy watching a game with friends, having a beer, hot dog, and garlic fries and singing "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" during the 7th inning stretch? It defies the imagination.

A Weekend at Big Bear

We closed the month of February with an escape from city for a long weekend in the mountains at Big Bear. This trip was not a romantic getaway for two, but rather a group trip with several friends. All told there were nine of us, plus little Ava and Lucy the dog. We stayed in a three-bedroom cabin and spent lazy hours playing board games, listening to music, enjoying some excellent California wines, and eating junk food.


In the past weeks there has been some significant snowfall in the mountains, so there was also plenty of fun to be had in the snow. Eric and Jason went snowboarding, Abby and Helen did some skiing, and on Saturday night some of us went night sledding at the Alpine Slide.


It had been awhile since I had experienced the rush of a downhill slide, eating snow kicked up by my boots, burning lungs (from the cold air), and a numb butt (from the cold snow). For about two hours we ran the loop of climbing the hill and sliding back down as fast as we could. It was the first time in a long time that my mind was completely distracted, free of the usual grown-up thoughts and worries, thinking of nothing but the fun of the moment. A good time was had by all. We left damp and numb (particularly in the posterior regions) from the cold, but returned to a toasty cabin where a spaghetti dinner awaited us. It's not often you have days as an adult which you would have enjoyed just as much as a ten year old, but that day was definitely one of them.

L to R: Elynar, me, Jason, Helen, Steve, and Nhu

L to R: Abby, Josiah, Ava, Steve, Nhu, Elynar, me, Eric, Jason, and Helen with Lucy

Helping Hands

Today I helped build a house. I was up with the sun and on the 405 shortly thereafter in order to be at the job site in Pacoima by 8 o'clock. Along with my friends Carla and Nicole, I'd volunteered to work for Habitat for Humanity for the day. There were several other volunteers--many from UCLA (Go Bruins!)--and we had a blast all day sweeping, moving windows, and painting. I genuinely enjoyed getting dusty and dirty doing some physical work. Museums are all well and good, but nothing makes you feel like you've put in a good day's work than going home sweaty and dirty with a backache. (Check, check, and check.) There's nothing better than having fun and knowing you're doing something good for someone else at the same time.

Carla, Nicole, and I at the job site.

We even met one of the future home owners. Gregorio is a little over halfway through his 300 hours of service to Habitat, and pride and excitement was apparent on his face as he spoke of the prospect of owning his own home. "It's a good dream," he said.

That it is.