Cherry Blossom Candy Leaf

Shortly after our camping trip, Ben noticed a bulge in the lower abdomen/hip region that wouldn't go away! He put off going to the doctor for a while, hoping the bulge would go away. Soon enough, it was starting to impact just about every moment of the day. Ben decided to go see a doctor even though he already knew that it was a hernia. He was sent to see a specialist, and rather than risk having emergency surgery some day in the near future, we scheduled his hernia operation.

Ben wore a paper gown that had all these tubes hanging from it. I guess they pump the gown with air and the air moves the gown out of the way during the surgery. They also pump warm air through the tubing for Ben's comfort. When the nurse left and just before the anesthesiologist came in, Ben kept pretending to blow air into the tubes or smoke himself like a hookah. It was good to laugh just before his surgery because when they busted out the needles, the doctor thought I was going to faint and had me sit down. I wanted to explain that I was fine and always look this pale and tired eyed, but I just did as I was told.

After surgery, Ben felt fine. He kept telling the nurses how great he was feeling and was trying to get up and move around without assistance. That's when the nurse said, "Just wait until you get him home." He didn't realize how drugged up he was.

The day following his surgery was the worst. And even though I knew he would be fine, there wasn't anything I could do for him. It was awful! But the scar is the only thing that remains now, along with the knowledge that you really have to bend at the knees when you do any heavy lifting!

He is as good as new now!

We finally bought the door I have been admiring for a few months now. It really makes a big difference. The house looks better, the house stays warmer or cooler and now we have less street noise!
The morning light creates a kaleidoscope-like effect on the wall. I just love it!


We bought some plants, like this perfect blue hydrangea.


We also made a trip to the nurseries in Somis in search of a couple trees. I had no idea how relaxing and how beautiful a day it would be. I still plan to head back very soon with a book and picnic lunch.



Perfect, pink magnolias.


After buying and loading the wrong 20 foot tree in the truck, we finally found what we were really looking for: a persimmon tree and a Granny Smith apple tree.

We also made our way back to Wildwood when my friend Amanda had mentioned it to me. For some reason I have to be reminded that this place exists so close to home.

We walked through the tunnel below Avenida de los Arboles to the trail head.




The Lord's candle was in bloom everywhere!

And ducklings galore!

We headed to Paradise Falls to check out the water level. We've had a lot of rain, so it has been flowing.

We found this spot near the end of our hike and even though a trail does not lead to it, I will make one the next time we go to Wildwood.




Wildwood Park is a beautiful and peaceful place!

So Ben knows how much I love Conan O'Brien. Ever since Conan moved to Los Angeles, Ben had been requesting tickets. So you can't even believe how happy I was when he finally got them and couldn't keep it a secret. He told me about it and then about a week and a half before the event, Conan was canceled and the tickets were no good!

Because Conan was no longer allowed to be on T.V., he went on tour. Ben surprised me with tickets to the "Legally Prohibited From Being on T.V. Tour"!

We watched the Kings get eliminated from the Stanley Cup Playoffs on one of the TVs in the Dodgers store at City Walk before we went into the Gibson Amphitheatre.

The "I'm with CoCo" and "Team CoCo" logos flashed on the screen as text messages sent from inside the Gibson Amphitheatre were projected below it. Needless to say, those were funny!


Reggie Watts did an opening comedy act. He uses a mixer to make music from sounds he makes, he speaks in different accents and sings. He performed the song in the video below. Warning: Foul language.


They played a video Conan made in the month before the tour when he didn't have a job or tour. (Please excuse the video quality.)


Then Conan made his entrance and the crowd went wild!

There was a lot of singing, dancing, and, well, comedy.

Because the Masturbating Bear is intellectual property of NBC, Conan introduced a new character to replace him.

... The Self Pleasuring Panda!

Conan introduced Deon Cole, one of his writers. You may remember him from the show.


Conan also bought the inflatable bat from Meatloaf's Bat Out of Hell Tour. It would inflate and deflate for songs.

Triumph the Insult Comic dog talked about Los Angeles. They dubbed in the name of the city and some local landmarks, restaurants etc., depending on where the tour was.


Seth Green, Aziz Ansari, dumb Kenneth from 30 Rock, Sarah Silverman and Jonah Hill came on stage to make fun of Chuck Norris of Walker Texas Ranger fame with Conan.



At one point, Conan came out wearing the pink leather outfit that Eddie Murphy wore on "Raw". Later, he was joined by Jim Carrey to sing that Superman song. At the end, Jim Carrey came out wearing a skin colored body suit with a cornucopia on his privates. It was a great end to a funny show.

Around the time we were going to see Conan, Amy, my cousin Tom's wife, went into labor. Everyone was waiting with great anticipation for the baby to arrive. And like three days later, Luke was born. He is our first American baby! My sister said that I am his first cousin once removed. Someone else said I was his second cousin. But I think I am his teta. I still haven't met him, but Ben and I hope to make it up north to Foster City to see the new family this summer, maybe when the Liebls get back from Hunky Dory.

A day later, Luke's grandma (my Aunt Zdenka) and my dad celebrated their birthdays (they are twins!). I made my dad a chocolate caramel pecan cheesecake.

Sasha and Erik went on vacation to Nicaragua and when Erik popped the question, they decided to come back a week early to celebrate with family and friends. We were lucky to have them over for a day of lounging. Sasha bought an Instyler (a rotating flat iron/curling iron) at Target and the picture below is what her hair looked like before.

Because she looked so pretty with her new straight do', we had to go out and have dinner at Pookie Thai. The food was so good and it was a great way to celebrate Sasha and Erik's engagement. They will be married in May 2011 in South Utah - that sounds like a road trip!!!



Congratulations!

Over spring break, we headed south for our annual spring break camp out. When we arrived, there was a large and long earthquake in Mexico that we felt as we were setting up. Ogie showed up shortly after that. We made her open her birthday presents which included her heart sunglasses - so cute!

Ben helped her set up her tent we got her for Christmas for the first time.


We grilled and enjoyed a nice campfire.

We took turns keeping Boots warm.



The next morning we got up early. There was a chill in the air and rain in the forecast.

It finally dawned on me why no one camps in tents anymore when it began pouring. Everyone shut themselves into their campers, but there we were with no place to hide. We tore open the packaging on the canopy and set it up in 2 minutes!!! I think that's a world record! We deserved a round of beers for that one!

It rained for about an hour and cleared up. It was sunny and gorgeous the rest of the time. I love San Clemente.
We searched the campground for leftover wood and Ben collected these things to get the fire going in the middle of the day, since it was still cool.

Olga collected sappy sticks with enthusiasm.


And Ben jumped for joy when the fire was going!
When the clouds burned off, we headed down to the beach.

That night, we had another great dinner and sat around the fire listening to music, playing games and catching up with Ogie on all the happenings.

The next morning, we decided to do it all again!

Megan, Jason and baby Nate got a hotel room and joined us for Nate's first "camping" trip and beach day.
This is the happy family just before Nathan did a face plant in the sand.

But he was fine and freakin' adorable!

Jo Ellen joined us later.

We checked out the sunset and took some photos before returning to camp where Ben had dinner waiting for us.







On our last night I busted out the thin mints and we made thin mint smores! For just about the rest of the night, we came up with ideas on selling these delicious treats.

It was another successful San Clemente trip. I am already looking forward to next year!