Tuesday, September 28, 2010

It's Too Darn Hot!

Summer came late to Orange County.  Yesterday's temperature peaked at 111 degrees.  My brother posted this lovely picture from the back patio at his house in Fountain Valley, where the cool ocean breezes blow.


Granted, this was taken in direct sun, but you get the point.  I don't care what they say about dry heat or humid heat.  111 degrees is stupid hot!  It's hellfire and brimstone hot. 

The day started out fine.  The A/C was pumping and I was cool as a cucumber at home.  Then it came time to pick up the kids from school.  I opened the front door and it was like opening the door to a blast furnace.  Making two trips back and forth from school in a car with the A/C on the fritz was when things started to roll downhill.  I came back in the house and collapsed on the sofa with a glass of ice tea, desperately trying to cool down.

I always try to make the best of every situation, so I thought it would be fun to conduct a little experiment.  I've always heard the phrase "hot enough to fry an egg on the sidewalk," and figured this would be the perfect day to see if it could be done.

I wasn't kidding when I said it was hot.  The poor little egg was sweating before we even started. 

We decided to try our experiment on two surfaces, the lighter colored sidewalk and the darker blacktop of the road.   In case you're wondering at this point, yes, my kids do think I'm nuts and I have absolutely no idea what my neighbors think when they see me cracking eggs out on the street.




Well, my kids might think I have a few screws loose but they still joined in on the fun. 

We cracked our two eggs and there was no immediate sizzle, so we set our timers for half an hour and went inside to escape the scorching sun.


By this time, I think the heat was starting to get to me, and I started hatching a plan for another experiment. 




Half an hour later and our sidewalk egg looked the same as it did when we first cracked it.  Our road egg was beginning to look a bit more promising however, so we left it out there to simmer for a bit longer and went back inside.

After about an hour and a half, the yolk of the egg was cooked.  This picture may not show it, but it is firm.  The white of the egg didn't change color much but that egg was definitely cooked.
While all this egg cooking was going on I started wondering about crayons, so we set up a little experiment in the backyard to see which color of crayon would melt the fastest.

Now, yesterday, as I was doing this, it all seemed perfectly normal to me.  Today, as I sit at my computer and write it all down and look at the pictures I realize how strange the whole thing really is.  Sometimes something sounds so good in my head but then when I say it out loud or tell somebody else...

Anyway, this is what I really and truly did yesterday.  I'm blaming the heat, because things didn't get any better.  After an hour of cooking in the sun our little black crayon was starting to look like a little black puddle.  The red crayon and orange crayons were beginning to sweat and the white crayon was as cool as a cucumber. 

This is when the A/C quit.

The rest of the evening is a blur.  We sat in the house for a while praying it would come back on.

Because of the high energy use all over southern California, there were rolling blackouts.  When the temperature inside our house hit 90 degrees we abandoned ship and headed for cooler pastures (our local Mimi's restaurant,) where we tried to cool off with gallons of ice water.  But even in the restaurant the air conditioner was having a hard time keeping up with the heat.  Our poor waiter was looking very wilted and when we were done we headed back home praying that the air was back on.

By this time however, the heat had done it's damage.  My fun little experiments with eggs and crayons were nothing compared to what the heat had done to my family. 

The rest of the night literally melted down.  Homework and life just became more than anyone in our household could manage.  I wanted to curl up under a fan and sleep for a year.  But that wasn't possible.  The heat had short-circuited our brains and our emotions and we all wound up in a blubbering overheated mess. 

Last night we turned that A/C up high.  There was an Arctic breeze blowing through the house and it felt good.  We woke up with our parkas on and I'm praying that this hot spell is over and that sanity returns to our home. 

(I wonder if you could make s'mores by melting marshmallows in the sun?)

Monday, September 27, 2010

Up!

Last Friday Steve and I got a birds-eye view of Orange County. 

We rode the giant balloon at the Orange County Great Park.  Those of you who live in Orange County will remember the heated debate that went on for years following the closure of the Marine Corps Air Station in El Toro.  Plans to develop this site into an airport were thwarted and this area encompassing over 200 acres is being developed as a multi-use park

On Friday, the Media Alliance of Orange County hosted an event at the park to promote awareness of this site.  The Media Alliance is an organization that was formed to promote media business in Orange County.

At this time, a small portion of the park has been developed, with plans to expand the park more each year.  While the park is under expansion, the undeveloped areas are available to use as sites for filming, photography or hosting special events.  Thanks, Brian for the great tour of the park and the amazing spaces surrounding it!

There are several runways that are still operational.  They are used on an ongoing basis for car testing and to film car commercials.  They have also been transformed into multi-lane highways for filming movie scenes.  There are abandoned airplane hangars and other outbuildings throughout the grounds that have been used in movies such as The Transformers and Eagle Eye and in the television series 24.

For large corporate events, there is a large venue that was developed for the Cirque du Soleil Kazoo show.  For smaller events, the Hangar 244 is a great option.  If you are interested in filming or hosting an event at the Great Park, visit eltorofield.com.

For families, the Great Park has plenty to offer.  I don't know about you, but I am always looking for something that is cheap or free to do with the family.  Balloon rides are free, as are all of the events listed below.  Parking is $10 per car. 

Look at the variety of events they are offering in October alone!

-Saturday, October 9 @ 7:00 - Load up the car and bring the whole family for a movie on the lawn, The Karate Kid.  Bring your lawn chairs and some blankets and settle in to watch this fun family movie on the big screen. (free parking for this event)


-Saturday, October 23 there will be a Great Park Pumpkin Harvest and Food Drive with plenty of activities for the whole family, including a pumpkin patch (every child takes home a free pumpkin!), arts activities, carnival games, a hay maze, horse drawn wagons and more.

 - Saturdays at 10:00 through November 6, The Orange County Great Park is presenting a series of gardening education workshops in sustainable home gardening led by the University of California Master Gardeners. (free parking for these events)

I have provided just a snapshot of what the the Orange County Great Park has to offer. 

It's definitely one of Orange County's best-kept secrets.  Check it out!

Thursday, September 23, 2010

100 and Counting

I have been a member of the blogosphere for almost four months now and in those four months I have posted just over 100 times.  I have discovered that blogging is far more rewarding and way more work than I ever imagined it would be.  There have been several times I have felt like throwing in the towel, but I am compelled to continue.

I adore writing and I love hearing from you.  It is so gratifying to complete a post and hit that "PUBLISH POST" button, but I'm so very human.  When you send me your little messages or leave comments telling me that I made you laugh or cry or think about something in a different way, it makes my day!

Knowing how much effort it takes to maintain a blog, I thought I would share with you some of the blogs that I enjoy.  I have chosen just a few and they cover a variety of topics.  Check them out.

Last Christmas my son Sam and I stood in the middle of Barnes & Noble laughing out loud.  If you have ever heard me laugh, you know, I do not giggle quietly and we caused quite a disruption in the store.  The source of our hilarity was a book called "Cake Wrecks."  Sam bought this weird and quirky book for his sister Ashley as a Christmas gift.

Imagine my delight when I discovered Cake Wrecks has a blog!  I can sit in the privacy of my home and cackle, snort and guffaw to my heart's content.

The cakes range from the horribly misspelled


to the outright bizarre.  There's no better way to celebrate an oil spill than with cake!

But, be warned before you sit down to look at this site with your kids.  Some of the cakes are beyond weird and range into adult content.  People put strange things on cakes!

Another one of my favorite blogs is Design Sponge.

I can get lost in here for a looong time.  It is an interior design blog and it is filled with beautiful images and inspiring ideas for your home.  My favorite section is their before & after section.  This is where they highlight vintage finds and show how they have been transformed from something ordinary into something lovely and extraordinary.

I have to limit myself when I'm in this site or I would be lost in here forever and never get any of my own blogging or housework done.  This is a truly inspiring site.

It was hard for me to choose my favorites but here are two that particularly inspired me.

I love this first before & after - victoria's chandelier,  because I have this exact chandelier out in my garage.


I have been debating what to do with it for a while, whether or not I should paint it or send it to the Goodwill.
This has given me the motivation to get out the spray paint and transform that brassy chandelier into something bold and beautiful.  All I have to do now is decide on a color!

My second pick from Design Sponge is chairs.  I am looking to reupholster my own kitchen chairs to I am drawn to chair transformations and I love the lines of these lovely chairs.


Heather's chairs were sweet before but they are stunning now.  I love the way she painted just the back of the chair and left the wood peeking through the stenciled leaves.

There are so many great ideas, big and small, included in Design Sponge, plus recipes, products and more.  But don't say I didn't warn you.  It is highly addictive.

Another favorite of mine right now is wedding blogs, for obvious reasons.  As we are planning Ashley and Daniel's big day, it is fun to browse through the various wedding sites.

Green Wedding Shoes is specifically geared toward the Southern California bride.  It is filled with tips, ideas, vendors and more.

Ruffled is a visual delight, filled with inspiration for decor, flowers and every aspect of a wedding.

Style Me Pretty is loaded with more visual eye candy.  Whether or not you are a bride, or know a bride or plan on being a bride, you should check out this site.  I dare you to visit here for just five minutes and leave.  Every picture is more stunning than the one before.

The last blog I want to mention is written by my friend Josh.  It is called Finding Me.  Just a month ago he started this blog, chronicling his weight loss journey.  It is a candid and honest account of his struggle and at his first weigh-in he had already lost 26.4 pounds!  Way to go Josh!

I hope you enjoy my picks.  I would love to hear from you.  What are your favorite blogs?  I'm always looking for more ways to avoid housework!

Thanks for being with me over the past 100 posts, sharing the laughter and the tears.  Here's to another 100!