Sometimes...

People just make me sad.

The Pony Wall.

The Pony Wall. Is it real? Does it exist? Or is it folktale, myth, urban legend?

Those who have been in my house -- all 5 of you -- have heard tales of a "pony wall". But no one has ever seen it. Normally, people just see a big pile of Stuff, rising up out of nowhere.

Until now.

Ladies & gentlemen, I give you, the Siegel House Pony Wall. Never before viewed by the naked eye.

Father's Day in Leona Valley

It has been a longstanding Siegel-family tradition to go cherry picking on Father's day. Local cherries generally ripen right around mid-June, and only last a few weeks, so the timing is often perfect! We have (non-digitized) photos of a tiny 2-month old Ev sleeping in his baby carrier underneath a cherry tree from Bri's FIRST Father's day outing.

Our favorite place to go is the Leona Valley, near Palmdale. There are MANY farms, so if you go, don't stop at that first big GIANT place you see when you drive into town. Instead, explore the little side streets. Here, you'll find the small family farms. They'll hand you a bucket and tell you to have at it!

We chose Bright Ranch this year. It was LOVELY. Everyone was so nice, and the fruit is the most delicious we've had in YEARS.

GET THEE OUT TO THE LEONA VALLEY and pick yerselves some cherries!

View more pix here.

Starbucks VIA® Iced Coffee

The nice folks at Starbucks provided me with some free samples of their new Starbucks VIA® Iced Coffee! Great way to build buzz you guys -- hand out free samples! I love free stuff. (I actually got it VIA this promotion, which is now over.)

ANYhoo, I'm sippin' it right now, and I'm happy to report that it is a VERY satisfying glass of coffee. It's pre-sweetened and made to be used "on-the-go", so it blends easily with cold water. Preparing it as they recommend would work great for most fans of Starbucks drip. But I'm one of those people who needs ALOT OF SUGAR AND MILK in her Starbucks -- otherwise, it's a little strong for me. Okay, it's ALOT strong. So I added 2 sugars to mine, as well as a generous splash or 3 of half-and-half. :-)

These small adjustments made it pretty much the best iced-coffee I've ever prepared in my own kitchen.

Promotional consideration provided by Starbucks Corp.

Loss.

We lost another co-worker last week.

What is this – the 10^th in the past 15 years? Or is it a dozen? I’ve lost count.

I don’t know what to make of loss anymore.

It used to be, I’d experience a loss – even a catastrophic one like when my Mom died – and I would move through it, and years would pass, and the hole would get a little smaller, and the sadness would lessen. I was able to reason it out. It’s just part of life. I was even kind of proud of my ability to survive and thrive after loss. What doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger, right?

But I dunno anymore. I don’t feel like I’m processing losses properly. Stuff just kind of… happens. And it hits me, and I take the hit. I feel like I’ve been hit, but it doesn’t hurt. I just add it to the various facts stored in my head. “It’s 2010. The sky is blue. I live in California. I am alive. Karin Duran is dead. Karen Berkeland is dead. Joe Dabbour is dead. Antonio Calvo is dead. KC Sluter is dead. My mother is dead. My sister is dead.” And I just… keep moving forward, to quote “Meet the Robinsons”.

Hopefully, as long as I do that – as long as I keep moving forward – I’ll be okay.

But I do grow so, so weary of the losses…