Food - Something New

Last night I went to the San Mateo Obon festival.  I usually don't go to the summer festivals, too many people and you tend to over eat.  I was meeting my art buddy Mike there to pick up some ginkgo leaves (for an up coming art project) since he was going to be there anyways. 

They had something I've never seen or eaten before called "imagawayaki" which is like a thick pancake sandwich with sweet bean paste in the middle. Always in search of something new and different to do down at the Akiyama Wellness Center, I check into it.  It's not bad but I'm not a big fan of pancakes but they were selling like hotcakes at the festival.  So after taking photos and asking a million questions, I tracked down a used machine that I hope to be able to borrow.  After a quick Internet search found out you can stuff it with almost anything.  I'm thinking bacon, eggs and cheese.  When I get the machine down to the center, I will put my great team of volunteers on the task of mastering the timing it takes to make these puppies.

Adventures with Annie







the pose

Annie has not been a happy dog since I've gone back to work full time.  Last night she went into full German Shepherd alert barking at something outside. She wanted her alpha male to go check it out but his human response was "what ever WAS out there isn't any more" which if you heard Annie barking at full throttle, that is a true statement.  Annie would have none of it and made sure we got up to check out the backyard at 4:00 am.  I'm guessing critters are coming into our yard to check out all the beeswax scraps with traces of honey clinging to them the alpha male of the house has all over the backyard. It took me over 30 minutes to calm her down. I was so tired that we didn't get to our morning walk until 6:30 am, an hour pass our normal time.  This is a pose Annie will go into when she doesn't want to leave the park. She won't come to me but stand just out of reach. Notice her tennis ball which is never out of reach.  It's always a stand off.  I decided to take some pictures, which always gets Annie moving.

Grandpa's New Pet - Jerome Slider

Last week hubby came home all excited about what he found. He ran up to show me a bucket with a huge slider turtle in it. Now after raising kids who are very outdoorsy, I'm use to being shown live critters in containers. Hubby said it was a birthday present for my Dad's 91th birthday. Many years ago,my folks rescued a turtle named Cherry. So my Dad has fond memories of turtles. 
Jerome Slider (my daughter named him) lived in our extra bathtub and at the time we didn't know he need a full tub of water to eat.  Poor guy was landed locked until this Sunday. No one wanted to release him in my Dad's backyard, so I took the bull by the horns and plucked him out of his bucket and sat him next to the fish pond. It must have only been minutes after I left he jumped into the pond, where he stayed for the rest of the day. Dad's happy to have a pet, Jerome is happy to be back in water,I'm happy to have my bathtub back - it's a good day. :)

Cards for the Senior Center Card Class

Some of the quick cards the ladies made down at the Yu Ai Kai Senior Center. I still do a card making class for the ladies on Fridays at the Akiyama Wellness Center. It's a little tight on time, but the ladies look forward to the class and it does get me out to my very messy studio.  

One of my regulars could not be there this past Friday, so she asked that I not make anything too cute. She didn't want to miss anything super creative. So, no Emily you didn't miss anything super great this past week. :)

Annie

pick it up and throw it please

If you read my blog, you know I get up at sunrise to walk/run Annie. Without her morning and evening workout, I'm not sure I would have any furniture left in the house. I took Annie into the vet's on Saturday because she was limping and holding her left paw up. Vet said her knees and hips were fine (area of concern in German Shepherds)so best guess is she just strained her front legs. She does have a little cut on the pad of her left foot, so that could be the reason she is holding it up. The vet did tell me to keep her quiet, no tennis ball throwing or running around with her pack.
Annie is a smart dog and when she realized I wasn't going to be throwing her tennis balls, she went and found something I could toss. She was very insisted that I throw this piece of wood. It's hard to walk a 75 pound dog when a block of wood is being dropped in front of you every other step. :) 

Controlled Chaos - Life working in a non-profit

Controlled Chaos
"In chaos theory, control of chaos is based on the fact that any chaotic attractor contains an infinite number of unstable periodic orbits. Chaotic dynamics then consists of a motion where the system state moves in the neighborhood of one of these orbits for a while, then falls close to a different unstable periodic orbit where it remains for a limited time, and so forth. This results in a complicated and unpredictable wandering over longer periods of time."

I know there are those who believe people can't multi-task but then I know they have never worked for a non-profit group either.:) Running the Akiyama Wellness Center requires wearing many different hats all at the same time or what I like to call Controlled Chaos. Imagine planning and hosting several birthday parties, a wedding, conference, counseling sessions and writing a research paper all in the same day. From the moment we walk through the door we hit the floor running and it doesn't stop until we leave - in my case 12 hours later. All of the senior staff at the Yu Ai Kai carry a work load like this because we truly know we are making a difference in lives of the seniors we serve. Without the help from our volunteers, we would not be able to continue the great service and programs. I had to smile on Friday which was a super busy day, with 60+ people coming through the building for various treatments(free massages, medical Qi Gong)and classes along with taking in a furniture donations from a local bank. In the mist of all the chaos, my great band of volunteers were calming working on their tasks as they walked around the growing piles of bank donations. Even with all the chaos going on in the center, they never forgot to take the time to smile and greet the seniors.  

Urban Container Gardening - part two

One of my projects, Urban Container Gardening at the Akiyama Wellness Center is one step closer to happening! The plants have been sprouted and the containers are waiting for the dirt and compost to arrive. I selected a very Japanese theme for the gardens. Shabu Shabu (vegetables that you dip in boiling broth) and Tsukemono (pickling). I also plan to have some cooking classes to tie into the gardens. There is a pickling mash that can last forever. Some our past down from since they develop their own unique flavor. I think it would be fun to sample several families old style "Nuka" recipes.

Morning Walks with Annie

It's been a busy week and it's always a surprise when the weekend rolls around.  Now that I'm back to work full time, I have to get up even earlier (5:30) to walkAnnie. I pass some pretty amazing roses. My cell phone didn't capture the true color of this very red rose. Annie has a sore leg, so I'm not running her at all and let me tell you, she's not a happy puppy. She so looks forward to running full out after her tennis balls.I may have to take her to the vet's just to make sure it's nothing more than a pulled muscle.

House Cleaning Day

Sharing a house with someone who doesn't think helping in keeping it clean is part of his world, it can get down right dirty. I know his mom taught him many things but cleaning house was never on the list. Today I've declared it National House Cleaning Day. Can't really call it a holiday but maybe it can passed for mental health day. It will be a marathon day so please wish me luck.

Bacon Maple Cupcakes

This morning when I walked down to get my double chocolate mocha latte they had some new things in the case. If I hadn't eaten a whole pint of ice cream last night I would have given cupcake a try. Not that I'm a big bacon fan but it does look interesting.

Working Late

So tonight I have to work late. It's a private party that booked at the Akiyama Wellness Center. They hired a private sushi chef to come in and roll while you wait.  Not only is he rolling while you wait he will do special orders. His spicy crunchy tuna roll is really good.

"Hat Bee" card

When I was making this card, nothing was working.  Being super tired after a very long day at work, I decided to make an awning over the bee.  Don't ask me why, I just did. The whole design process late at night goes out the door and silliness comes in.

Quick Card for Class

A super fast card for my ladies down at the senior center. I only had a few hours to get four cards designed and prep for class.  Amazing what you can done when under the gun.:)