Greetings! Today, and each month going forward, I'm documenting how I spent my month in just one sentence per day.
Turns out that the theme for January was Fun In The Sun! You guys, this month was so full of outdoor activities you'd have thought it was the middle of summer! We started the month hiking under sunny skies, and ended it doing same. It was almost a picture perfect month, save a couple of chilly days when temps stayed in the 50's all day. And with whale migration season in full swing, I finally saw my first whale spouting as a local, while walking along the ridge trail one afternoon. Seriously, this was a fantastic month almost from start to finish, and a wonderful re-affirmation that all of the hard work we went through to get here was well worth it.
January In A Sentence A Month
1. Took hubby on the Colinas Ridge Trail for his first time, seven miles roundtrip, Starbucks for coffee afterward, home to enjoy a well-earned Trader Joe's mushroom and truffle flatbread pizza, then read by the fire for the remainder of the day.
2. Attended training to become Citizen Marine Scientists, then assisted one of our volunteer organization's full time staff person on an amazing tide pool walk during a super low tide.
3. Fabulous 11 mile club hike in our local hills overlooking the coastline, grocery shopping on the way home, then showers and a well earned nap.
4. Woke at 1:00 AM in pretty significant pain, that then got worse and worse and worse, until a trip to Urgent Care, and subsequent X-rays, showed I had a condition called calcific tendinitus that necessitated pain pills to get me through the day.
5. Weaned myself off of the pain pills by white knuckling it for a bit, then an evening get together with our backpacking group to plot out possible trips for 2018.
6. Feeling massively better, ran eight miles with my running club, then breakfast with my daughter and her sweetie, a drop by from my niece, and hubby and I started on preparations for hooking up our travel trailer and heading out to Palm Springs in the morning.
7. Off the the Palm Springs Film Festival for the week in our travel trailer.
8. Hiked up nearby Lykken Trail in the AM, attended two foreign films, Foxtrot from Israel, and The Insult from Lebanon, plus dined at the always-delicious Trio in the PM with the friends we are here with for the week.
9. Attended two foreign films on a rare, rainy Palm Springs day, Germany's well-deserved recent Golden Globe winning In the Fade, and Russia's compelling Loveless about two self-absorbed parents, then pizza and Chianti at the always-excellent Bill's Pizza - bonus points for having the most entertaining waitstaff around!
10. Four mile racewalk in the AM, attended two foreign films, Thailand's entertaining Pop Aye about a man and his elephant, and the Czech Republic's charming Barefoot about a young boy coming of age during World War II.
11. Two wonderful foreign films today, Turkey's beautiful true-to-life Ayla: The Daughter of War set during the Korean War, and Switzerland's hysterical, also true-to-life The Divine Order about the surprisingly late 1971 legislation that finally gave women there the right to vote - this movie is a must see if it comes to Netflix or elsewhere at some point - then to Las Casuelas for Mexican Food, followed by attending the Palm Springs Street Fair afterward.
12. Hiked Lykken Trail again in the AM, then saw Italy's A Ciambra chronicling the real life of Europe's migratory Roma people, and Spain's quirky Lots Of Kids, A Monkey And A Castle documentary, followed by dinner and a show at The Purple Room Supper Club, featuring Broadway at The Keys with Tony award winning Levi Kreis - absolutely fantastic night!!!
13. Five mile race walk in the AM, then just one movie, the US documentary Jane, featuring recently recovered video on wildlife extraordinaire Jane Goodall (so good!), followed by checking out and driving home in the PM.
14. Morning spiritual services, followed by lots of shopping - Old Navy, Big 5, Sprouts and Trader Joes.
15. Physical therapy appointment for my newly diagnosed calcific tendinitis, then cleared out the knick knacks and smaller furniture in our downstairs in preparation for flooring removal and re-installation.
16. Demolition of remaining downstairs flooring began, plus race walked three miles and attended my first Art History class, courtesy of a new Emeritus Lifelong Learning program for retirees in S. Orange County.
17. Hiked 5 miles in Ladera Ranch with my hiking club, returning home to just in time to paint out hundreds of feet of baseboard and 1/4 round trim for the few remaining hours before the sun went down . . . exhausted by day's end!
18. Flooring re-installation begins, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, and why all the painting above on the 17th above occurred.
19. An exhilarating 30 mile bike ride with my new bicycling club up and around Irvine and the Newport Back Bay, along an amazing array of biking trails I'd long heard about but never been on, taking a well deserved lunch break midway at the terrific new-to-Orange County eatery Grater Grilled Cheese, yum!
20. Attended the Women's March for the first time, compelled to do so in the wake of the tidal wave of sexual assaults against women ripping through our nation, not the least of which is the recent USA Gymnastics scandal - as one woman's poster proclaimed, I can't believe I'm still protesting this sh*t!
21. Morning spiritual services, then a matinee showing of The Post in nearby San Juan Capistrano . . . the movie was well done, but discovering how cute downtown San Juan Capistrano is was even better.
22. Final day of flooring installation, hooray, a walk along the Dana Point Headlands Trail with a girlfriend followed by breakfast at always delicious Pain du Monde, an Intermediate Spanish class (excellent class, excellent instructor), then a quick dinner at home followed by a couples meeting in the evening.
23. Long day cleaning, dusting, and moving everything back into place downstairs, while electricians simultaneously worked in our family room installing recessed lighting and in our kitchen hanging two pretty new pendants over our kitchen island . . . love!
24. Six mile hike with my club in the hills of Mission Viejo, then lots of errand running afterward.
25. Shutters installed over kitchen bay window, worked an information booth shift at the harbor, enjoyed sunset at the beach with hubby, then a fascinating lecture about the gray whale's annual migration from Alaska to Mexico and back in the evening.
26. Uber-fun 25 mile bike ride over to scenic Corona Del Mar with my biking group, then rushed home to clean up and welcome my dad to our new home for the first time.
27. Took my Dad on a hilly 10 mile hike - at 81 years of age he did great - then home to prepare homemade pizzas for dinner.
28. A gorgeous 85 degree day which we spent with my dad kayaking, tide pooling, and scenic beach walking.
29. This was my dad's last day here, so we took him to San Clemente for breakfast at Ellie's Table, followed by a beach walk to the San Clemente Pier where we spotted whale breaching - so exciting - plus I managed to make my Spanish class and a couples workshop in the evening after Dad departed, whew!
30. Worked a volunteer shift at the harbor, attended my Art History class, and made a delicious mushroom risotto for dinner.
31. Painters arrived to finish off our kitchen cabinets, so we escaped the house for the day by joining our hiking club for a gorgeous 7 mile hike along Crystal Cove Beach, after which we enjoyed burgers, fries and ice cream shakes at the iconic Shake Shack in Newport Beach.
And so went the month of January!
1. Took hubby on the Colinas Ridge Trail for his first time, seven miles roundtrip, Starbucks for coffee afterward, home to enjoy a well-earned Trader Joe's mushroom and truffle flatbread pizza, then read by the fire for the remainder of the day.
2. Attended training to become Citizen Marine Scientists, then assisted one of our volunteer organization's full time staff person on an amazing tide pool walk during a super low tide.
3. Fabulous 11 mile club hike in our local hills overlooking the coastline, grocery shopping on the way home, then showers and a well earned nap.
 |
| This sign cracked me up! Legend has it that once upon a time it read 'Environmentally Sensitive Trail' but someone with a sense of humor removed the first few letters, and the rangers liked it so much they left it as altered. |
5. Weaned myself off of the pain pills by white knuckling it for a bit, then an evening get together with our backpacking group to plot out possible trips for 2018.
6. Feeling massively better, ran eight miles with my running club, then breakfast with my daughter and her sweetie, a drop by from my niece, and hubby and I started on preparations for hooking up our travel trailer and heading out to Palm Springs in the morning.
 |
| That's me on the left! |
7. Off the the Palm Springs Film Festival for the week in our travel trailer.
 |
| Our itty-bitty Trail Manor; but look at those views! Plus, the RV park has a pool, spa, club room and pool table, and we are within walking distance to downtown Palm Springs, all for a paltry $45 a night. |
8. Hiked up nearby Lykken Trail in the AM, attended two foreign films, Foxtrot from Israel, and The Insult from Lebanon, plus dined at the always-delicious Trio in the PM with the friends we are here with for the week.
 |
| At the top of Lykken trail, our turnaround point. |
9. Attended two foreign films on a rare, rainy Palm Springs day, Germany's well-deserved recent Golden Globe winning In the Fade, and Russia's compelling Loveless about two self-absorbed parents, then pizza and Chianti at the always-excellent Bill's Pizza - bonus points for having the most entertaining waitstaff around!
10. Four mile racewalk in the AM, attended two foreign films, Thailand's entertaining Pop Aye about a man and his elephant, and the Czech Republic's charming Barefoot about a young boy coming of age during World War II.
11. Two wonderful foreign films today, Turkey's beautiful true-to-life Ayla: The Daughter of War set during the Korean War, and Switzerland's hysterical, also true-to-life The Divine Order about the surprisingly late 1971 legislation that finally gave women there the right to vote - this movie is a must see if it comes to Netflix or elsewhere at some point - then to Las Casuelas for Mexican Food, followed by attending the Palm Springs Street Fair afterward.
12. Hiked Lykken Trail again in the AM, then saw Italy's A Ciambra chronicling the real life of Europe's migratory Roma people, and Spain's quirky Lots Of Kids, A Monkey And A Castle documentary, followed by dinner and a show at The Purple Room Supper Club, featuring Broadway at The Keys with Tony award winning Levi Kreis - absolutely fantastic night!!!
13. Five mile race walk in the AM, then just one movie, the US documentary Jane, featuring recently recovered video on wildlife extraordinaire Jane Goodall (so good!), followed by checking out and driving home in the PM.
14. Morning spiritual services, followed by lots of shopping - Old Navy, Big 5, Sprouts and Trader Joes.
15. Physical therapy appointment for my newly diagnosed calcific tendinitis, then cleared out the knick knacks and smaller furniture in our downstairs in preparation for flooring removal and re-installation.
16. Demolition of remaining downstairs flooring began, plus race walked three miles and attended my first Art History class, courtesy of a new Emeritus Lifelong Learning program for retirees in S. Orange County.
17. Hiked 5 miles in Ladera Ranch with my hiking club, returning home to just in time to paint out hundreds of feet of baseboard and 1/4 round trim for the few remaining hours before the sun went down . . . exhausted by day's end!
18. Flooring re-installation begins, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, and why all the painting above on the 17th above occurred.
19. An exhilarating 30 mile bike ride with my new bicycling club up and around Irvine and the Newport Back Bay, along an amazing array of biking trails I'd long heard about but never been on, taking a well deserved lunch break midway at the terrific new-to-Orange County eatery Grater Grilled Cheese, yum!
20. Attended the Women's March for the first time, compelled to do so in the wake of the tidal wave of sexual assaults against women ripping through our nation, not the least of which is the recent USA Gymnastics scandal - as one woman's poster proclaimed, I can't believe I'm still protesting this sh*t!
 |
22. Final day of flooring installation, hooray, a walk along the Dana Point Headlands Trail with a girlfriend followed by breakfast at always delicious Pain du Monde, an Intermediate Spanish class (excellent class, excellent instructor), then a quick dinner at home followed by a couples meeting in the evening.
23. Long day cleaning, dusting, and moving everything back into place downstairs, while electricians simultaneously worked in our family room installing recessed lighting and in our kitchen hanging two pretty new pendants over our kitchen island . . . love!
24. Six mile hike with my club in the hills of Mission Viejo, then lots of errand running afterward.
25. Shutters installed over kitchen bay window, worked an information booth shift at the harbor, enjoyed sunset at the beach with hubby, then a fascinating lecture about the gray whale's annual migration from Alaska to Mexico and back in the evening.
26. Uber-fun 25 mile bike ride over to scenic Corona Del Mar with my biking group, then rushed home to clean up and welcome my dad to our new home for the first time.
27. Took my Dad on a hilly 10 mile hike - at 81 years of age he did great - then home to prepare homemade pizzas for dinner.
 |
| It was a three generation hike, in that my older daughter joined us. |
28. A gorgeous 85 degree day which we spent with my dad kayaking, tide pooling, and scenic beach walking.
 |
| We kayaked. |
 |
| We tidepooled and beach walked. |
 |
| We ate! |
29. This was my dad's last day here, so we took him to San Clemente for breakfast at Ellie's Table, followed by a beach walk to the San Clemente Pier where we spotted whale breaching - so exciting - plus I managed to make my Spanish class and a couples workshop in the evening after Dad departed, whew!
30. Worked a volunteer shift at the harbor, attended my Art History class, and made a delicious mushroom risotto for dinner.
31. Painters arrived to finish off our kitchen cabinets, so we escaped the house for the day by joining our hiking club for a gorgeous 7 mile hike along Crystal Cove Beach, after which we enjoyed burgers, fries and ice cream shakes at the iconic Shake Shack in Newport Beach.
 |
| Hubby and I shared a strawberry banana shake, so good! |
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And so went the month of January!
