DSC Art trip (conclusion)

Today, Sunday, November 4, 2007 is our last day here in sunny California! We were awaken at 4:30 AM! We had arrived home from Disneyland around 12:30 AM, got to bed around 1 AM and awakened at 4:30 AM??? I couldn't go back to sleep after that. After awhile I decided to get up and take a shower and get ready for the day, oh, and pack since we were going home. It was 6 AM when I heard some commotion outside. At this time I wasn't sure if my time on my cell phone was correct. I looked outside and saw the bus driver talking to some of the people and he had the door open and the compartments for luggage. I thought that it was actually 7 AM and the others were still asleep. So I told them that they were loading the bus. Boy never did I see three people jump so quickly out of bed. Jen grabbed her stuff and said she's taking a shower. I went outside to see what was going on and the bus driver said he was preparing the bus for us and not to worry. He said because of the early wake up call he couldn't go back to sleep and thought he'd take his time getting the bus ready. It was 6 AM. I went inside and told Lena and Lisa that it's only 6 AM. At 6:30 we got our wake up call!! So most of us were ready to go by 7:30. We boarded the bus and when Glen got on we asked why the early wake up call. He said it was a computer problem they experienced and it was because of the time change. Some people got wake up calls at 5:30, too. We were lucky to not get one! At 8 we were on our way to Forest Lawn, our last stop on the trip. We stopped at the statue of David for a few minutes. Then headed up the hill to view "The Last Supper" at the Memorial Terrace. It's a short program about Leonardo da Vinci's masterpiece "The Last Supper." It's a stained glass recreation of the painting. After that we headed over to the Hall of the Crucifixion-Resurrection. Once we entered the building everyone gathers around to hear Lena sing. Just hearing her sing and hearing the echo in the building is wonderful. First time I heard her sing there, I thought the angels were singing along. She sang "The Lord's Prayer." Her niece, Jen, did the sign language. After that we went into the theater room and watched a program about the Crucifixion of Christ and the Resurrection. The Crucifixion is this huge painting, 195 feet long by 45 feet wide that was done by Polish artist Jan Styka. He brought the painting to the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis in 1904 but was unable to display it because of it's size. Styka was forced to return to Poland without it because he couldn't pay the duty to take it home. He died in 1925 without seeing his painting again. Dr. Hubert Eaton (Forest Lawn Founder and art collector) and his colleagues located the painting at the Chicago Civic Opera Company in 1943. Forest Lawn purchased the painting and began to construct a building to house it. For 25 years Dr. Eaton searched for the epic painting to complete "The Sacred Trilogy." He created a contest for artists to submit their version of "the Resurrection.: They chose Robert Clark, an American artist, painting which was completed in 1965. After the show we were able to go through the small art gallery and bookstore. After that we boarded the buses and headed back to St. George. We arrived in St. George at 9 pm. It was a wonderful trip and I would do it again and again. This was my third art trip. I hope you enjoyed all the pictures I put up. Most of the people on the trip took more pictures than I did. I didn't take much inside the buildings because you can't use flash in there. I was so afraid that my flash would go off so I didn't try to do that. Maybe next time I'll be more braver!!!

DSC Art trip (pt. 3)

On this day we went to Long Beach and had breakfast at the Beach House. After that we walked along the beach and then did some window shopping till it was time to board the bus to the Irvine Art Museum. We spent about an hour and a half at the Irvine Art Museum. After that it was off to Disneyland for the rest of the day. That was for those that wanted to go. The others went back to the hotel and did what ever they chose to do. We had a blast at Disneyland. We rode several rides and there weren't long lines! Most of us stayed at the park till midnight. The walk back to the hotel was way too long. Guess it's from the long hours on our feet. We got back to our room about 12:30 and went sraight to bed. Our wake up call came at 4:30 AM!!! (to be continued)

DSC Art Trip (continued)

On the second day of the art trip we headed out to Farmer's Market. We ate breakfast or lunch (whichever you preferred) while there. We also walked around the shops. Also caught a glimpse of one of the Cheetah Girls. I didn't know and didn't take pictures when we were in that area. After Farmer's Market we headed out to LACMA (Los Angeles County Museum of Art) and spent a few hours looking at the exhibits. Some of us also made a quick trip down to the 99 cent store! Then we boarded the bus for the trip over to the J Paul Getty Museum. We parked the buses in the parking lot, waited for the tram to take us up the hill to the museum. We went through the garden before it got dark and cold. After that we went to eat dinner and then headed out to the buildings to see some exhibits. Once it got dark fog started to settle in. Kind of looked spooky. Then we went outside to see if we can see the cars on the freeway but couldn't. We could just hear them. It was eerie!!! The last few slides we went to this exhibit where you could sit in a chair and see yourself in one of the exhibits. That was pretty exciting to see! It was time to head back to the hotel at 9 pm. What a long day with all that walking! Boy were we tired when we got back to the hotel. Wasn't hard to go to sleep that night!

DSC Art trip

This past weekend I went on a 4-day trip to southern California with Dixie State College (St. George, UT) and visited several art museums. This is at the Huntington Museum which was our first stop on Thursday. The Huntington Museum is this huge place that has a desert garden, jungle garden, Japanese garden (they are working on opening a Chinese garden), rose garden and 3 or 4 buildings that hold their art collections. We didn't get through the whole park. I was with my friends Lena, Lisa, and Jen (Lisa's daughter). We saw the things Jen had to see for her class (she's attending Dixie State College, her first year!) This is my third time on this art trip. Twice went in April, this is my first time in November. I'll probably go again a few more times. It's interesting to see the different things in these trips. Then to see things you missed on the other trips. There were people on this trip that were on their 12th trip!!! (I believe they go just for Disneyland!!!)
We left St. George at 6 AM and arrived at the Huntington about 2 PM. After that we went to the Norton Simon Museum. I didn't take any pictures at that museum. Not sure why I didn't. Anyway after the Norton Simon Museum we went to get some dinner and went to our hotel in Anaheim. A very long day and we went to sleep rather quickly. Next day we headed out to Farmer's Market..............
PS/ not sure how I got the music on there!! But it's a good song!! I sure know how to surprise myself!!

Flowers

I got this bouquet of flowers from Jan Maxwell. That was sweet of her to think of me. I had minor surgery last week and wasn't doing too great over the weekend. She brought these over to brighten up my day! I enjoy looking at them, it's very colorful and brightens up the room!

Brooklyn

This is Brooklyn. The owner of Brooklyn is Katryna Maxwell. I work with the Maxwells so I see Brooklyn everyday that I go to work. She loves to play at the computer, trying to catch the icon. Sometimes she can sit there for ten minutes trying to get it in her paws.
She's giving some thought as to how she's going to get that icon into her little paws..............................................in the meantime......
She's found something else to play with. Or is she asking me if I want my shoes off? "Here, I'll help you," she says. Lately she thinks my shoe is a scratching post. I just warn her to keep off the leg!!! Other things she enjoys is playing with wadded up paper. She can be on the other side of the house and hear that paper being wadded up and she's right there. She likes to fetch the wad so I sit there for a while playing with her. Silly cat!

Life

No one told me how difficult your life could become. All these years all had been going well with me, healthwise. Sure a little cold here and there but nothing too serious. All that changed last year when I broke my leg! It was hard getting back on my feet but I made it even though it took about 9 months. After that it's been one thing after another and I just wonder when it's going to stop. I just recently had minor surgery and that was a first for me. I had no idea what to expect and it pretty much scared me. But as the time came for that I knew it was all going to work out for the better. These past couple of days after the surgery have been pretty much difficult as I am one that can't sit still for hours. I want to get out and do things, go to work, just get out. I believe there's something for me to learn with all this going on but what is the lesson? I really don't know. No clue. My head is empty!! I am trying to take it easy and take care of myself. Maybe it's more patience. I should just enjoy the time to myself with no worry about anything else. Get ahead on my scripture reading, too!

Look Up In the Sky!

Here are some more Special Shape balloons taken last week at the Special Shapes Mass Ascension! Enjoy.......

We Can Fly

The Special Shape balloons had their day with a mass ascenion on Thursday and Friday. They reported about 100 Special Shape balloons this year!
Now you know there really is a stork that delivers the babies around the world!!! I have proof!!!!
People beware of the Purple People Eater. Once he got up in the air I believe I saw people screaming and scrambling around to hide. Little kids were left crying for their mommy and daddy!! Oh, that happened in my dream, sorry for scaring you!!
Can you imagine the sky filled with the Energizer Bunny, an Eagle, two bees that kiss and hold hands, a turtle, Darth Vadar, dragon, a haunted house, Orient Express, cow, Pepsi can, and many more. Even a flying pig!!! I can't name them all. It was awesome. Someday you might be able to see all my pictures but for now this is it.

Hot Air in October!

This morning as I left for work I noticed that it was a bit colder than the previous mornings! And that bit of cold made me think about the time of year and just as I was walking to my car I heard that familiar noise that told me it's Fall! That noise was the sound of the propane burner from a hot air balloon! I love to see the balloons up in the early morning hours. So this means that the Albuquerque International Hot Air Balloon Fiesta starts in 9 days!!!! I am sure this weekend there will be plenty of balloons in the air in preparation for the big event. They say that at least a million people will make their way for this event. The RV park across from the balloon field is starting to fill up!! They seem to come earlier each year! Well, you want to get the best spot!! Even though any where is best since the balloons can fly in any direction! The Balloon Park is located on the north side of the city. It's about the size of 54 football fields. I'm not sure how many balloons are expected this year. Somewhere in the 700 to 800 range. Can you imagine hundreds of balloons of different shapes, sizes and color up in the sky? It's just beautiful.
What makes it so special here? According to the balloonists they love to fly here and look forward to coming for the event. There's a 'box effect' that they enjoy. What that is, they can leave the balloon field, say going south. They can then change altitudes and head back north, change again, go east, etc. The box effect is because of the winds coming over the Sandia Mountains, which is located east of the city. There are days that the box effect isn't available. One of the most popular events is the Special Shapes. They have two days devoted to just them. It's wonderful to watch these different shaped balloons flying over the city. I heard that Darth Vadar will be here this year!!
I am pretty excited about the Fiesta coming up on October 6th. It runs for 9 days. Hope that the weather will cooperate this year. Sometimes there are days that the winds are too strong for anyone to fly. Sometimes the pilots are allowed to fly at their own discretion. Sometimes it's just too dangerous. Some of them get blown into power lines. So they take their chances.
I haven't been on a hot air balloon. At one time it seemed like fun. Then I see that sometimes they have hard landings and there's not much you can do about it. If you fall out, you fall out. Not from way up in the sky. When they land and the baskets take up hard landings and go bouncing on the ground. Some people get thrown out. Not many seem to get hurt bad. It just doesn't look like fun. Maybe one day I'll be brave enough to get in one.
Hopefully by the time the event starts I'll know how to put pictures here and share them. Wish me luck!!!!

Wide Load

Today as I was driving on the interstate I saw a truck with the sign "Wide Load" and following was a truck loaded with a huge tractor. Reminded of something that happened back in June. I went on a long road trip with my niece, Juella. She has her very best friend living in Landisville, Pennsylvania. I thought it would be nice to get away from home for a few days and travel. I knew she wouldn't say no to a trip to see her best friend. Her best friend, Fran, moved with her family to Pennsylvania about 6 or 7 years ago. They would take turns visiting each other each summer. They really hadn't had any plans this year so I sort of made it for them. So we spent the first night in Oklahoma City. We left early the next morning. Juella is not an early bird like me. So she fell asleep once we were on the interstate. As I was coming up to Shawnee, OK, I passed this huge truck hauling some huge equipment. Way up ahead was the truck with the "Wide Load" sign. I'm driving along and Juella wakes up just as I was going to pass the truck. She looked at the truck, looked back and saw nothing behind us. We had just went over a hill so there's no vehicles in sight. So she looks at the driver as we passed him. He was a big guy and he was eating a doughnut. Juella said "Is that why he has the sign on his truck?" I looked over and I started laughing because of what she said. I looked in my rearview mirror and saw the top of the truck coming over the hill. And she asked what was funny. I told her the sign was for the truck coming over the hill. She looked back and saw it coming over the hill. She just laughed about it. She thought he was just saying to beware of the wide load in his truck.

Bunny Foo Foo

One day I went to pay my nephew's cable bill at the cable company. As I left the building, I was heading home. So from the parking lot I take a left on the street. It curves around and heads in a southeast direction. Well, as I was turning the curve I saw this bird, a hawk, possibly, hovering on the ground with it's wings spread. I thought "What is he doing?" Then as I got closer he must have heard me and started to fly off. I saw something in it's claws!! OMG!! What does he have? Just as he was getting off the ground I started to honk my horn, hoping I can save whatever he had as it was struggling to get loose. The bird dropped it prey and this little bunny started hopping away. The bird wanted it and tried to get it but I continued to honk my horn. Poor bunny was trying to get away. Then the bird gave up and flew out to the west. I stopped my car by then and watched the bunny hop along it's way. Here I am saying "Run Bunny Foo Foo, run. I'll make sure you make it home! Run, Bunny Foo Foo........" I made sure that bird wasn't coming back before I left. They little bunny was out of my sight by then. Must have found his home! I was on my way home. Not sure if anyone heard me honking. There's a car dealership just on the other side of the field. Hope that no one heard and thought I was in trouble.
I saved Bunny Foo Foo's life that day. I felt like a hero!

My First Post

Greeting from Albuquerque! I was introduced to blogspot by a good friend, Tacy Marie. It took me a few weeks to get started. I thought way a great way to share things with your friends. And an easy way to get to a lot of people instead of writing to each individual. Not that I won't write to an individual any more...........
I hope I can make this more interesting, adding things, like music, photos. I am not computer literate like some people are. It will take me a while to figure something out. I think it has something to do with old age. Not that I am old even though some people may think I am. But it takes me time to figure it all out. Maybe it's just that I have so many things going on. (Yeah, I am trying to come up with good excuses!)
Tacy, if you see this one, WE MISS YOU!!!!