2007 In Review

I'd like to think I learned a "lot lot" in 2007 (to quote my niece Zoey). Here are a few of my favorite things:

1. San Diego. After enduring three years of oppressive nor'easters in Bucks County, we made the move back to San Diego. In June I flew out and had six interviews in three days. From that, there were four offers; I chose Jack in the Box. John stayed behind until the house sold, and I drove cross-country in the new, limited edition DeFrias Prius (gotta love 48 mpg!) in August. John and Xander joined me on Halloween, following a complicated house sale in Feasterville. We are all highly enjoying chilling at the beach in our sweet little place right now. San Diego is really where we're meant to be. It apparently took moving away from Southern California in 2004 and being gone for three years to realize what we had here. Looking forward, we're looking to buy a house in 2008, since the housing market is such a killer buyer's market right now.
   
   
2. Education. Nearly 10 years after starting my masters degree, I graduated this past May from the Pennsylvania State University. My M.Ed. is in instructional systems, which is nice since I'm an instructional designer. Go figure. My poor husband is often at a loss to describe exactly what I do when asked by others. Leave it to my mother-in-law, who was down for my graduation in Malvern, Penn. I recited a laundry list of what I do, to which she replied, "So basically, you create the tools companies use to train their employees." Yes, actually, that's exactly right. Thanks, Judy!
   

   WE ARE...PENN STATE.

   
   
3. Dogs. My dog has a habit of behaving like a jackass. But he's just so stinkin' cute. I'm happy to say that after two years of exhibiting all the Labrador retriever energy and, er, mannerisms that are less-than-desirable, Xander's finally settling in to that calm demeanor the breed is so well known for. He turned two on December 16th. About two months before that, he began sleeping outside the crate at night (and on our bed). Last week he started riding in the back seat of the car, and he's totally digging hanging his nose out the window (I only crack it open enough so he can do that -- I'm still a little worried he'll jump out if I open it any further!).
   
   He loves going to the beach with us, and just runs and runs with all the other dogs. We still get the occasional, "Is he a Rottie (Rottweiler) mix?" at which point we educate folks that he's an English lab, so he's got the boxy head and shorter snout. Either way, he loves all the attention he gets and people who stop to tell him how beautiful he is. It really does go to his head.
   

   Be always at war with your vices,
   at peace with your neighbors,
   and let each new year find you a better man.
   --Benjamin Franklin,
   politician, inventor and author

4. Friends & Family. Yes, I'll miss my mom and friends back East, but that's what planes are for. We have John's sister Susan here in Poway (only 20 minutes away), and we both have extended family in the form of long-time friends. They've all helped this feel like home again.
   
   
5. CSAs Rock. More on this later...
   

Happy new year to you and yours!

If You Need Your Giles Fix...

About three years ago, my friend John (not my husband; another friend named John from my NJM days) recommended this little gem of a show called Little Britain. Having lived in England during my junior year of college, I've always been a big fan of the Brits' dry sense of humor.

The show is sketch comedy that we get imported via Netflix. I'm sure if you're rich enough to get BBC America, you can watch it there, but us poor folk here in California wait and put them in our queue. It is, without a doubt, the funniest thing out there. Trust me, we saw Dane Cook in Anaheim two weeks ago, and while we heart Dane, he just doesn't hold a candle to the storytelling abilities of Matt Lucas and David Walliams - the duo who does all the main characters. (And the guy who used to be Dr. Who, Tom Baker, hysterically narrates, if you liked that show.)

My favorite character is Daffyd, a simple young Welsh man who is convinced he is "the only gay in the village." Between his outrageous outfits and the characters who inhabit the town, I'm always in tears when Daffyd (pronounced "David") appears. Obviously, the humor's in the fact that he's sooo not the only gay in the village. Matt plays this role with aplomb, and he also inhabits my second favorite character, Vicky Pollard, a British teen delinquent who has "six kids by seven different men." Her catch phrase of, "Yeah, but no, but yeah, but no" can be heart echoing around our house on many nights.

"Yeah, but no, but yeah, but no..."
- Vicky Pollard

My husband John, however, loves Lou and Andy best. David plays Lou, the caretaker/best friend to Andy, a paralyzed, wheel-chaired bound man who is only faking and can really walk. It's a hell of a lot funnier that it sounds here. Just watch the damn show. Funniest. Thing. Ever.

ps - For those of you readers who haven't quite been the same since Buffy the Vampire Slayer went off the air, Anthony Stewart Head (who played beleaguered librarian Giles on BtVS) has a brilliant recurring role as Prime Minister, who's gay assistant is constantly hitting on him.

A Very Babette Christmas

A couple of weeks ago my friend Liz (who I met at Toastmasters and who happens to be our new wonderful realtor) asked me if I'd like to go to A Very Babette Christmas. I must have had a puzzled look on my face, since she went on to explain it was a drag queen show. Well, then, that settled it for me! Being the former-fag hag and current best friend to a friend of Dorothy that I am, I quickly answered, "I'd love to go!"

So last Monday I had the absolute pleasure of heading down to Hillcrest with Liz and our friend Heidi to catch Babette's limited engagement show at Martinis Above Fourth. Billed as "San Diego’s favorite diva" Babette Schwartz emceed and performed her way through a rollicking good show, along with five or so of her favorite gal pals. Between the mile-high teased coifs and lip syncing that put Britney to shame, I've honestly never laughed so hard in my life. These girls were good. Personal favs included, "All I Want for Christmas is a Hippopotamus" and the "Don't Rain on My Parade" medley. I had tears running down my face and must've been laughing too hard because Babette herself told me to knock it off. :-)

Mark your calendars for next year, kiddies; Babette's show is not one to be missed!

God Bless Us, Every One

This is what happens when you take a cute Christmas photo of a kid, and at the last minute you say, "Show me your boo boo, Eddie!"And said boo boo is on his middle finger... gotta love my nephew!

Merry Christmas!

Don't Hate Me Because It's Beautiful

Sunset last night in Solana Beach, where we live. Pic taken by my great little iFaux-ne.

Blast From The Past

So I'm in Home Depot in Encinitas over the weekend, and as I'm tooling around in the garden section trying to decide between pond rocks and bricks for our little 20'x7' patio/porch/garden, I see this guy with bright blue eyes and a shock of dark hair. I pause for a moment, then walk on. I had a feeling I knew him, though, so I turned around to take a second look and he's looking at me, too. (In case you're wondering where John was, he was off looking at plants for us.)

Finally, I say to the guy, "Is your name Pete, by chance, Pete Tomaszek?" He says, "Yes." I introduce myself as Kara Vichko, now DeFrias. Yep, it was a classmate from grade school. In Burlington, New Jersey (pic of school above). Only now I'm talking to him at the Home Depot in Encinitas, California, 18 years after we graduated 8th grade together and 3,000 miles from NJ!

"Only you, Kara. This only happens to you."

It was wild. As my mother would say, "Only you, Kara. This only happens to you." Mind you, I'm aware that people run into old acquaintances some times. It happens ALL the time to me. Like the time my junior year of college when I ran into my high school basketball coach at Notre Dame in Paris...but that's another story for another day.

Turns out Pete's been out here for eight or so years, which means we both moved out here around the same time (1999), but I never ran into him before! Wild...

Xander Turns Two

So yesterday Xander turned two, which means we can't excuse his jackass behavior at the dog beach by saying, "Oh, sorry he [insert foolish act here]... he's still only 1 1/2 years old."

"Oh, sorry he [insert foolish act here]... he's still only 1 1/2 years old."

We've gotten in the habit of bringing him to the dog beach after work at night. Basically, we run into the house, I feed him, John changes into his water-friendly flops, and we jump into the car. It only takes us about 3 minutes to get to the beach from our house, and he gets to play in the water as the sun (that's him and his little friend Bodhi playing in this picture above).

It's a great little ritual, and we reap the benefit of having an exhausted dog all night. :-)

I Raced for the Cure

Just a short, sweet post on how I walked a 5k yesterday -- the Race for the Cure.




Due to the fires, the race had been postponed until yesterday, Dec. 2. The event was held in Balboa Park, and there were easily over 12,000 runners/walkers. One of my friends from college asked me to join her team, and it was a lot of fun meeting her friends and doing it with them. Of course, most of them ran, but she and I walked. The above pic is our view rounding the bend to walk into the museum area of Balboa Park.

It was a brisk day, and it was amazing to see all these people out there in unison supporting such a great cause. I walked the 5k in 1 hour, 7 minutes (dude, there were big hills!). It was gratifying, moving, and beautiful to be surrounded by so much love and hope.

Here's another below. (Sorry they're not better, but it's a camera phone!)



My mother is a breast cancer survivor, and I have had friends battle it as well (battle the disease, not my mother). I participated in the Race (and by participating, I mean walking, of course) with the hopes of raising as much money as possible to provide for research programs. This was my first time as a walker (I know - it's about time!) so I set a high goal for myself (and by myself, I meant my friends and family who donated their hard-earned money).

At the end of the day, I raised $760. They are, however, accepting donations until the end of the week, so if you want to help me reach my goal of $1,000 - visit my Race for a Cure page. Thanks!