The L.A. Dime

May 07 2009

Coffee Heaven

It has finally arrived: The Jura Impressa J5 Coffee Station! If the economy gets worse, I will be operating a Café from our kitchen. This revolutionary, life-altering machine was purchased from our friends at The Tabletop, in Venice Florida.

jur1008_l

5 responses so far

Apr 29 2009

Movie Montage

Published by admin under The Miscellany

As I dive into my “late act 2, life is all good, and everything is calm before the storm” montage, I’m wondering what your favorite cliché movie montage moments are.

For instance, DBrazz suggested the 70s Van by the beach at sunset to suggest consummation. Brendan misses the 80s saxophone score to his favorite montages. Anne wants the shot through a rainy restaurant window as our couple falls in love. What’s your favorite montage moment?

Photo by Brian Coggins

One response so far

Apr 02 2009

The Giant Fish

Published by admin under The Miscellany

I posted this story on Facebook today, and thought I’d share it here, too:

There’s an aquarium fish store in Encino called The Giant Fish. I need to get a new filter, some ghost shrimp, and an apple snail, so I Googled “Giant Fish” for their phone number, and this is what appeared:

The Giant Fish

No responses yet

Mar 10 2009

The System is Broken

Published by admin under The Miscellany

Yesterday, my family spent almost half the day acquiring a medical device for Tina that was nearly impossible to get, and once we arrived home, turned out to be improperly set-up, causing her to be on the phone for yet another hour with the manufacturer.

Today, I spent $110, and worse, three hours of my time, to go see a registered nutritionist at Cedars Sinai (the pinnacle of L.A. medicine), who, I swear, knew less about Celiac Disease than I’ve learned by myself in three weeks.

I personally know wonderfully gifted doctors, nurses, specialists and technicians working all across the field of medicine, and have benefited from a great many more in my lifetime that I can’t possibly remember. And yet, sometimes, it seems those folks are an unfortunate minority hidden amidst a swell of growing incompetence and buck passing inundating the entire health care industry.

And please, don’t even get me started on insurance companies…….

4 responses so far

Feb 23 2009

Celiac Post Script

Published by admin under The Miscellany,Uncategorized

It turns out that while at least 1 in 150 Americans have Celiac, it is hard to diagnose due wildly unrelated symptoms, many of which are often mistakenly attributed to other diseases or ailments. Celiac – left untreated – could lead to infertility, osteoporosis, lymphoma, depression & neurological disorders. Celiac disease is more common in individuals with type 1 diabetes, thyroid disease or anemia. Next time you have a check up, have the doctor run a Celiac serology if you feel you are susceptible — unfortunately, if you are related to me, or have any of the above conditions, you’re susceptible.

No responses yet

Feb 20 2009

I’m a Celiac

Published by admin under The Family,The Miscellany

After giving a lot of blood and enduring a couple of painless, but — invasive — procedures, it’s been determined that I have Celiac Disease. Meaning, essentially, I’m allergic to gluten — a substance found in wheat, rye, barley, malt, and a few other rare grains. Evidently, 1 in 150 people have this genetic disease, but it often goes undetected until it leads to serious gastrointestinal issues such as colon cancer. Luckily, we found it before things got too bad. Sadly, my favorite beers, cereals, breads, and pastas are no longer available to me. Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods carry a lot of wheat-free items, and there is a large online community of stores and advice, so while Lucky Charms and Kraft Mac & Cheese are out of the question now, I certainly won’t starve to death.

One response so far

Feb 07 2009

25 things

Published by Tina under The Miscellany

All the cool kids on FB are doing it…

1) I hope I don’t freak you out, cause you to think less of me or share too much

2) I am completely obsessed with keeping our kitchen floors clean and the fact that they are a light, tan color that shows absolutely everything drives me crazy
3) I eat a ton of sweets and am saddened to realize that I’ve gotten to “that age” where it’s affecting my weight

4) I still get excited coming home at night knowing Brad is there; his smile makes everything better

5) The best part of my day is walking into Sophie’s room after her nap and hearing her say “Mama?”

6) I get extremely annoyed with people who don’t try

7) I had a great time in High School and still miss my college roommates and the little house on Williams we all lived in together for 2 years

I wonder if Brad is going to do this – he says he’s “thinking about it”

9) The older I get, the more I realize how hard parenting is and appreciate what my parents did for me

10) I am really afraid of future parenting situations Brad and I will be faced with

11) I am extremely emotional – ranging from flying off the handle pretty quickly to crying at seeing complete strangers getting married

12) Are you still reading this post?

13) LA is a great place to explore, learn from and live in for a while but I still very much want to move back to KY one day — however I’d never want to take the opportunities away from Brad that allow him to live his dream and would not be as readily available back home

14) I met my friend Kelly on the first day of Junior High in the US and we’ve been best friends ever since

15) I am ashamed of my country’s history but don’t ever want to give up my citizenship

16) I really love the seasons
17) I love to scrapbook and even though I don’t have any of those fancy tools, I have books going all the way back to high school and enjoy looking at them to remember the details of each time period
18) I am still friends with my all of ex-boyfriends (I only had 3 before Brad)

19) I always feel under-dressed or like I don’t have the right colors, labels or combination of clothes on

20) I am addicted to teeny-booper shows like “One Tree Hill” and wish “the OC” was still on; we’re getting into “Gossip Girl” now and oh yeah, I watch “Days of our Lives” everyday

21) I enjoy Christmas shopping but not trying to figure out what to get people

22) I feel lucky to have married into such a large family – the love, support and laughter that surrounds us is amazing

23) I think of our first baby all the time and truly believe that Sophie has an extra big heart to ensure he/she will never be forgotten

24) I am not very good at home decorating

25) I enjoy having people at our house and am so thankful for our “LA family” of dear friends that make us feel a bit more at home here

One response so far

Jan 12 2009

Let me explain

Published by Tina under The Miscellany

I have always enjoyed the seasons. Experiencing each month through weather and the activities/events that come with it is what makes each year special and builds those memories that you build your life on. Whether it’s seeing the tulips in the spring, eating elephant ears at the summer fairs, picking out pumpkins in the cool fall air or skiing/sledding in the winter months are some of my favorite times. Living in CA, those events are not quite the same. I know that many of you might find yourselves in nasty rains, cold temperatures and long johns right now but I’d much rather have a true sense of the season than 85 degrees on January 11th! Sunshines does add to a more positive outlook on life and many of my CA friends say that people from all over the country move here for the weather, I just really enjoy the seasons and wish we had a bit more of them here.

What’s better than talking a nice walk on a cool, clear fall day, wearing a cozy sweater and seeing your breath as you see the colored leaves fall off the trees and hear them crackle under your feet? Then you go home, make yourself a hot chocolate, take a nap or curl up on the couch with the fire place on. All of that just isn’t the same when you’re wearing shorts and have the A/C on. I’m just saying……

One response so far

Jan 09 2009

Update on the passport application fiasco

Published by Tina under The Miscellany

Sophie received a letter in the mail yesterday with her brand-new US passport!! Turns out that once we had the right paperwork together, the actual processing didn’t take long at all. Now we’re moving on to applying for the German one.

On a side note, my 2009 word “acceptance” is coming in quite handy for me already since our tree and all Christmas decorations are still up! We’ve had houseguests this whole week so I’ve opted to visit with them rather than taking everything down. It’s on the list for this weekend though.

One response so far

Jan 06 2009

Instead of a New Year’s Resolution

Published by Tina under The Miscellany

Reading through some of my favorite blogs, I have noticed that instead of setting goals, people are choosing one word that they will focus on for the year. This word can be someting tangible or intangible. It can be something you’ve struggled with in the past but are willing to challenge yourself with now. It can be a feeling or an emotion that you’d like to keep at the forefront throughout the year.

I think that this is a fabulous idea and have decided to give it a try. Reading through some of the suggestions and thinking about where I am in my life right now, my word for 2009 is going to be acceptance. One of my most important values in life have always been to be a great wife, daughter and friend. Becoming a mother has added a new dimension to how and where I spend my time/energy. I believe (and hope) that focusing on acceptance will allow me to be ok with the fact that not everything will always be clean, put away and perfectly organized. It will hopefully allow me to be less anxious, stressed and overwhelmed by my never-ending to-do lists and focus more on living in the moment, no matter how chaotic or unplanned it might be.

As we start of this new year, I am excited about giving this exercise a try and will report back on how it’s working for me.

One response so far

Archive for the 'The Miscellany' Category

Coffee Heaven

Movie Montage

The Giant Fish

The System is Broken

Celiac Post Script

I’m a Celiac

25 things

Let me explain

Update on the passport application fiasco

Instead of a New Year’s Resolution

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