Hesperia In December

One of my friends from band asked if her son (also in the band) could take our pictures to add to his portfolio for his photography business. I'm glad they guys in my family cooperated, and the weather cooperated, and the timing was really touchy, but we got it done! I am really pleased with the results! Bradley and Ruben did a fantastic job! Thanks, guys!! Photo compliments of B&R Photography, Bradley Weathers 909.786.9981

Rain In My Town

Hesperia has made the news because of the flooding. I think this is day #3 of constant rain. Our home is next to a water retention basin which is now full, and the mallards are loving it! The desert can sure use the rain, but the rain does not soak in, and it just runs off and creates a mess. The dam at Silverwood Lake has been releasing the overflow. The streets from Apple Valley to Oak Hills are just covered with mud since the rain forces the dirt into the roads, the only way to pass some roads is to drive in the middle of the road. The sound of rain is so soothing, it calms the soul when indoors. Check this out, this is not far from my home. I drive the route to and from work.
http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-531566?ref=feeds/oncnn

All over California, storms are in progress!
http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/12/21/winter.weather/

Jazz Time

Hello friends and family, near and far, here are three videos from Troy's winter concert Thursday night.
This stuff is so good, I could listen all day and not get bored. The trumpet Troy has for jazz playing is an old Bach that we purchased from my friends Malinda and Karl. They live in Oregon, and Karl had this trumpet in an old case in the bottom on the closet, not being played. Their daughter plays up-right bass. Troy and I have polished the trumpet, but it still looks old. But the sound...! I hope you enjoy.

The clarinet player, Amber, and her sister made these cookies for the winter concert. She's in the jazz band, but in the front row, so I didn't get her in the video. Listen close and you can hear her.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPGBO0MGLHQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIH2JUQ_4bA

(Listen for the baby sound after the band matches their keys, just before the song starts.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jI_EG3fXZIY

Cranberry Bliss Bar

Happy Wednesday, ya'll!! Today I discovered Starbuck's Cranberry Bliss Bar. I thought this would be appropriate for breakfast, amidst this very busy week. A little treat to myself (and since I still have $ on my Starbucks gift card). I debated between this and a Tall Caramel Brulee, then I remembered I still had a K-cup coffee at my desk, so I opted for bliss! My first bite, I found a crystallized ginger morsel along with the cream-cheese frosting. That was a nice surprise! My second bite was tasty cake and cranberries. Pretty good, but got me thinking if my sister and I could make it better. On the third bite, I found a forbidden food...white chocolate! Chocolate is a no-no food for me (doctor's order's) but I did not have any adverse effects today. I learned that this tasty treat has 310 calories, which doesn't really matter to me because I don't count calories. I Googled (yes - that really is a verb now!) 'Cranberry Bliss Bar' and I stumbled across this:
http://www.topsecretrecipes.com/Starbucks-Cranberry-Bliss-Bar-Recipe.html
I wonder what it would be like in cupcake form? I do believe I will need to experiment this weekend!
So, another day, a different Starbucks, and that brings me to the end of another day. I'm thankful for the beautiful sunset I viewed while driving home from work today. As for the bliss bar, it was bliss! I've added it to my list of my favorite things, along with Trans-Siberian Orchestra. I have the Christmas Attic album in my car, and it's fun to hear old Christmas songs set to new music, and hear new music altogether. Tomorrow is the band winter concert, (another one of my favorite things!) and I've heard there'll be visions of dancing sugarplums!

Stories Are Gifts To Share

The end of another week, ahhhh! And another booster-related, long-standing, banking chore completed! I'm thankful for the cooperation of volunteers who often look to me for direction. Like it or not, I am a leader (I usually like it, except for when things don't go as smoothly as I'd planned in my head!). As always, the weekly and monthly booster-tasks are also done. I am really looking forward to the band concert next week, and then after that I plan to take 3+ weeks from this 'second job' of booster treasurer. Here's a story: Dashing around town Thursday night, I noticed what I could do in 42 and a half minutes. I went to the booster vp's house to get a check signed and picked up her See's candy order (and I turned down the wrong street, so I had a 4 minute detour!); then I dashed to the grocery store with signed check to pick up the scrip cards for the fundraiser (where I ran into the parents of one of the former band members); then I dashed home again, jiggity-jig! These two locations are in the opposite direction of each other, and with the holiday season here, there's lots of people on the roads and in the grocery store. There's always a wait at the store because the manager is the only one who has access to the scrip cards, and they have to scan them through the register and take the check and zip my driver's license through the card-reader thingy. So, in 42 and a half minutes, I thought I did pretty good for getting all that done! The pre-quel to this story is my second job started earlier, when after work (well, and after going to Costco for 4 things) I met up with the director and his family at Sadie's Starbucks to pick up the majority of the See's candy forms and money. While there, I tried a tall Caramel Brulee, decaf. I got there first, and when the director and family walked in, the Starbucks barrista already knew what they wanted, and by the time they reached the counter, their drinks were waiting for them! Talk about service! That's something that happens in a small town. And this leads me to the next story, my name on my Starbucks cup. She got it right this time. I guess because I don't often go into Starbucks (and only when I have a gift card!), my name is usually mis-spelled. When I am asked for my name, I say "Bev", and once it was written as Bevan (ok, that's a cool name, I could take that), another time it was "Bez", and another time that I don't remember what it was, but it wasn't Bev. At work over the phone, I also introduce myself as Bev, but customers call me Beth (uderstandably) or if I say Beverly, the customer thinks I said Debra-Lee (another very cool name). If I were to change my name it would be Bevan Debra-Lee. Mark told me the new energy efficient cars are also named Bev. There's also a liquor warehouse store called BevMo, so I had to get a discount card because it has my name on it. And I will keep my name, Bev, Beverly, Mom, and all the cute little names Mark calls me--there's a new one every day (peanut brittle, patootie, muffin, sweet-potato). But booster-treasurer? Sure, you can call me that, but only for 5 more months!!