Reflections on 40

So next week is a big week. Celebrant classes start again, and I turn 41.

It’s been a very busy year.

• I turned 40 and we celebrated with ride in the country, then dinner, followed by helping a girl who was freaking out a bit fix a flat tire.

I took this picture the day I turned 40. It's been all twists and turns since then.

• That weekend, we had a huge party celebrating my and the Wookie’s birthdays.
• I saw my niece earn her black belt.
• I started pottery classes.

©Cristina Kollet 2011

• Wookie Graduated EMT school.

• I saw my Celebrancy practice grow to include Memorials and a rally for abused animals.
• I was investigated by police for bribary—I learned to check the marriage license envelope for my wedding fee before I mail it in.
• I lost my job; becoming unemployed after 15 years of continuous work.
• We found out that Frankie had cancer.

©Cristina Kollet 2011

• I learned to give subcutaneous fluids to a cat.
• I taught the Social Media course I developed for celebrants for the second year.
• I presented at the Celebrant Foundation Collective Wisdom conference and celebrated the 10^th Anniversary of the Celebrant Foundation and Institute.
• I watched my third class of Celebrants graduate.

©Paul Skehan 2011

• We had friends over from Canada for Graduation and I got a tiara.

• I celebrated my fifth year as a certified Life-Cycle Celebrant® by entering into the Master Celebrant course.
• I got henna for the first time.

• We had some SCUBA fun.
• I went to NYC to celebrate the start of Marriage Equality in NY.

• Frankie passed away.
• I attended a social media conference in NYC.
• We had an earthquake, and a hurricane, and our basement flooded, all in about a week.

• I tore my cornea and learned a few weeks later that I should stay away from over the counter eye drops because…
• They might trigger something called Aides Eye—which looks a lot like an aneurism.

• I learned that my EMT husband knows which local hospitals have fully staffed MRIs and the shortest routes to them. (I went to the eye doctor and it turned out not to be an aneurism, but it was good information to have.)
• I drove to Arizona with a friend.

©Cristina Kollet 2011

• While I was gone my house flooded.
• My awesome husband made it so that I could continue on the trip without coming home.
• When I got home I helped Wookie teach his Dive Squad CPR.
• I ran a successful online fundraiser for the Celebrant Institute.

• I learned that I need to improve my math skills before ordering at the all-you-can-eat sushi place again.

• I learned I can’t eat squid ink.

• I took over 6000 pictures.
• I enjoyed another year with my Wookie, my family, and my friends.

©Cristina Kollet 2011

It’s been one hell of a year. 8 days to go.

Here’s hoping 41 is a good year.

Ink Is Not for Eating

Back when the Wookie and I were in the early days of our courtship, two strangers emailing each other via Match.com, he asked me what kind of food I like. I responded with a long and diverse list of cuisines ranging from Italian to Spanish, Chinese to Vietnamese. Wookie’s response was simply, “wow, you have eclectic tastes!”

My friend made a similar comment when we were at dinner the other night. I had just ordered pasta made with (I think it was) squid ink. She said I was adventurous and I commented that, as I had no known food allergies, I felt I could afford to be.

(Yeah, I know it's an octopus, not a squid, but this sculpture outside of Cliff House in San Francisco was the closest I had to a squid.)

Even as I let the words slip from my mouth, I knew I was tempting the Fates. So really, it should have come as no surprise to me when, roughly five hours later, I found myself making sacrifice at the porcelain throne.

It was at that point that Wookie walked in and declared, “no more ink pasta.”

You see, I’d had it before. And while all I remember from the experience is thinking that I didn’t like the consistency very much, Wookie remembers that night ending in a similar late-night serenade to the gods of plumbing.

Apparently, there is something I cannot eat.

It’s not a huge loss really, after giving the dish two tries in two different restaurants, it was tasty, but not a favorite anyway. Though I did prefer having a short list of things I would not eat and nothing in the “can’t eat it” column.

Still, the crème brulet was delicious. 

A Boat Load of Sushi

So the Wookie and I took the Mighty Jeepster to see our friend Rich this week. We ended up the evening in a place with all you can eat sushi.

I had envisioned a buffet setup, but when we arrived, we were given menus, a slip of paper, and a pencil. On the slips were printed the names of the various types of sushi rolls and tempura available.

Wookie looked at the menu and headed next door for pizza. (He rejoined us later for dessert.) Rich and I started checking off what we wanted. I had several items checked off, some with 2 rather than 1. Rich reminded me that each 1 was 6 pieces and I changed most of those 2s to 1s. 

After courses of miso soup and salad, with that lovely ginger dressing that sushi places use, the waitress put this in front of us...

I thought for sure it had to be what both Rich and I both ordered...until the waitress said that another boat was on its way. It took me a while to stop laughing so I could eat.

In the end, I had to admit defeat. This is as far as I got. 

(The much more reasonable looking plates at the top of the shot are Rich's order. He was short a few pieces, but it wasn't the barge I wound up with.)

I think I need to seriously work on my math skills before I go back...but I will be back!

The Catch-Up Post

The Wookie is wise.

He's noted that I returned from the Road Trip a bit out of phase because, while I was away, I was torn between having a good time and worrying about what was going on at home.

It's taken me a few weeks to get back into the swing of things. In the mean time, we've been drying out the house and I've been getting ready to teach the Celebrant Institute Class of 2012 in November.

I did promise more on the road trip though, so here are a few more photos from the trip and the last couple  of weeks.

On the New Mexico/ Arizona leg of our trip, we passed many of these on Old Route 66.

We debated over what they might be. I finally settled on wings for gliders.  As it turns out, they are for windmills. (Wookie knew at first glance of the photo!)  There were a great many wind farms along the way.

Here's a picture of me in Arizona.

I've already posted a few pictures from the Montezuma Castle National Monument near Camp Verde, AZ. I found this little guy while I was there. (I have not identified what he is yet.)

Here he is in action:

There park system out there is made up of several parks. I also enjoyed Montezuma's Well. I am deeply impressed by the people who walked out into the dessert and made their home there.

When it came time to fly home, I did my usual routine. I jotted down some thoughts about the trip.

And I took pictures from the plane. This time I caught something I'd never seen before, a cloud with a 90° corner.

I'll skip coming home to view the damage from the flood. I was welcomed by hugs from my Wookie and that's really all that matters.

A week after I got back I went pumpkin picking with my family. Here's mine.

I still had the SLR camera that I borrowed for the trip so I took advantage of the chance to take the close ups I really love.

So now I'm back in the groove of things. And back to pottery class. I'll post later with pictures of what I made last time around. Here's what I made this week.

More Pickles Please

I can't believe it is Friday, already. I still have a few things to say about the road trip, but since I've been back, life has been a blur of errands and playing catch-up. I am exhausted and when I get tired... well, let's just say that verbal communication isn't always my strong suit.

Today, while looking cameras with Wookie, I argued that the new Nikon Coolpix has more pickles than the one he gave me last year.

Road trip

Final destination