Ann's Day with Adam Lambert

So I’m taking a VC day today yet somehow got up at the crack of 5am to head over to the Fox 5 studios where Adam Lambert (American Idol top three finalist) was making an appearance. He was scheduled to arrive at 7am. I got there 6:15 and was the first one there. The next two ladies showed up around 6:30. By 6:45 there were about 10 of us – all ladies over 35 (cough, cough, some of us way over 35), several with their teenage daughters. Ultimately, there was a crowd of about 40, with several families (of station employees) along with the “granny” demographic. It was GREAT! Our small crowd was on several teaser commercials prior to Adam’s arrival – the news lady Shally Zomorodi was doing the red carpet interviews and she interviewed me during one of these preview spots and asked “if you could ask Adam a question, what would it be?” My answer: “After you win Idol, what type of album do you want to make?” Of course I should have said CD, but I guess I’m just showing my age. So then after Adam arrived, and she was escorting him down the red carpet, he was signing autographs and taking photos with fans – then she came up to me again, along with Adam and I got to ask him my question on TV! Whoo whoo! Of course, the answer was all a blur, some sort of rocky, edgy music, I think! I got several emails already from folks who saw me on TV – my 15 seconds of fame!

Link below to see me on TV!
http://www.fox5sandiego.com/news/kswb-lambert-fox5,0,6398117.story

Anyway, the TV station had monitors outside so we could watch the interviews inside – my impression in general – this guy is genuinely nice! He was very articulate, funny, still humble, all that good stuff. I hope he stays that way! While outside on the red carpet, he was totally into the fans and children, very patiently listening, answering questions, taking lots of time to stop. So on his departure, I got a couple of good photos with him...

Then, onto phase II of the morning. Last night when I asked Jamie about going to see Adam, she refused to go with me – she didn’t want to get up that early. Then when she heard I had pictures with him, an autograph AND was on TV she started wailing and crying “but Mom, I wanted to go…” So his 9am stop was at an AT&T store in Mira Mesa, just 8 minutes from our house. I packed her up with the school backpack ready (for the tardy drop-off) and we headed over to AT&T. Got there 8:30, a decent number of folks waiting, let’s say about 40. They had lots of security, a small 10x10 stage set up, some movie theatre velvet rope barricades. They had an MC, playing Adam’s songs from iTunes and doing Adam and Idol trivia, giving away AT&T ringtone cards. The crowd here did keep getting larger; ultimately I guess there were about 150 of us. But a much more mixed demographic – all ages, ethnicity, etc. Adam finally arrived (in the stretch white SUV limo with a magnetic American Idol emblem on the door). He was whisked into the store through a rear door. About 10 minutes later he appeared, and by this time, the crowd was jammed all around the small stage. He and multiple camera folks came onto the stage (there was an AT&T Uverse /spelling? crew, Channel 8 plus the AI cameras). The crowd was much rowdier than at Fox. Adam said just a few words (thanks for coming type stuff) and then started signing autographs. Then we found out the real purpose behind this visit – he was presented with a custom AI cell phone (all sparkly blue with the Idol logo) and then he got his first special text message on the phone – it was Simon – with the selection of song for next week (next Tuesday each contestant sings one song of their choice, one selected by the judges). Of course, there were multiple messages, I guess to avoid anyone being a “spoiler.” Adam read each of the messages while the cameras were rolling. I think there were two or three song alternatives – I only heard two (crowds screaming) – the first was a U2 song, the second song had “wicked” in the title or the artist and it seemed to be the one Adam was most excited about when he read the choice.


Anyway, after that, pandemonium reigned, with Adam making his way very slowly around the perimeter of this small stage with multiple cameras crowding around and the people in the back pushing, pushing, arms reaching, people screaming, you get the picture… Jamie got the autograph she wanted. But it was looking pretty bleak for a picture, with all the people crowding around. So I had her get on her knees, in front of the rope along the edge of the stage (at this point, hidden behind cameramen). When Adam finally inched his way over, I told her to stand up (and she obeyed!) and she asked Adam to please take a picture with her, and they both smiled and it is a GREAT shot. Of course then immediately afterwards, the 410 pound (not a joke, he gave his weight on TV) bodyguard gruffly told her to get off the stage – but the deed was done!

Sooo… After the excitement, off we went to school, only 55 minutes late and all are happy.

Adam is heading to his high school (there now) but I’m hearing that the stadium there only holds 4000 and there are both high school and elementary students, plus their families who will all be admitted first and all those total WAY more than 4000. So I’m skipping the high school stop – I’m guessing that will be featured prominently on next week’s Idol show, so I am totally fine with that. After all, we got more up-close and personal at these smaller events.

So, anyway, Jim is totally laughing at me, can’t believe the stories (no, I take that back, he knows me, he totally believes it!). I DVRed the Fox show on two different recorders, if I’m able to download somehow to my PC and edit, I might try to upload that to this blog, too.

Anyway, go Adam!

Happy Mother’s Day, all – and good weekend!

Jamie's Cheer Competition

Hi, everyone. I thought I'd test out Blogger's capabilties for uploading and sharing videos. I took this one of Jamie's cheer squad at their competition last weekend (November 2). They are too young to actually compete, but each Mitey-Mite squad (7 and 8-year-olds) got to perform a 2 minute routine. Hopefully you'll all recognize Jamie, she starts out in the back row, third from the left. Enjoy! (and go Falcons!)

Surfer Girl

Summer is over but not without a great send-off. We took a day and a few afternoons off the last week of Jamie's summer break and headed to Disneyland, the beach and got prepared for our big annual Kanafest party.

We caught up with Karen and her family (husband Dave and daughter Anita) who were visiting from Seattle. Very great to see them and share our Disney favorites.


San Diego Dog Beach was a great new experience for us and the girls. The very very smelly girls (the dogs, I mean). That's an experience I don't think I want more than once a year or so... Jamie had a blast, turned into a surf (boogie board) maniac. Very Southern CA, like, you know...




Kanafest was a success, with too much food, two very large batches (in a bubba tub) of margaritas downed and the kids hogging the pool... Sue, Sammy and Loren made it in from Arizona (we miss you!). Jill and her beau (now fiancee! Congrats) Don also drove down from Hermosa.

Emma Rose Clegg - Song Contest

For those who have lost the link, here is the link to the radio station web site where you can hear Emma's song... (they've taken the link off their main page)

http://www.radiosophie.com/pages/2443366.php

Happy 10th Anniversary!

Jim and I just returned from a GREAT trip for our 10th wedding anniversary, wine tasting and golfing. This one was a bit of a turnaround - the golfing (at Pebble Beach) was my idea and the add-on of the wine tasting was his! Both are great hobbies of ours, so not too much of a stretch, but defintely a role reversal from some couples!

Email us if you want to see all the pictures - we posted them at Costco's photo site. I'll include some highlights here.

Thank you Nan (Nana) for coming over from Texas to stay with Jamie while we were gone - she had fun and said you put her to bed at 8pm each night?!? What's your secret???

We did three days of wine tasting, followed by two days of golfing, with some driving/travel thrown in. We planned the trip around the Pebble Beach tee times/dates, then added onto the front for our wine tasting. We had bid on and won a charity auction item at the San Diego Bay Food and Wine Festival last November, so we had three pre-paid nights at hotels in Sonoma/Napa. If you haven't done this particular festival, their Grand Tasting event is THE BEST! Non-stop quality wines and food pairings, like tasting in Napa without the driving.

We flew into Oakland, rented the car and headed straight to our first regular stop - Viansa. We love the foods and deli there, we really stopped for the food but were pleasantly surprised by the wine tasting this time, too. Then from there visited Valley of the Moon, Ravenswood and finally Landmark...

Our night was in Sonoma County, where we had a room at Landmark Winery. They have a guest house and guest suite - we stayed in the suite right in the same building as the tasting room. What a great, relaxing place! We highly recommend it! You'll feel totally immersed in the wine culture, with nonstop views.

Finally! New Pictures!

Sorry for the major delay in posting. I know, I know... EVERYONE is busy. Well today was a rare rainy day in San Diego so we've been catching up on long overdue items, this being one.

Our "stories" in pictures (by popular demand):

In December, we had our new annual tradition - a small wine tasting party where each guest brings a bottle of wine to taste along with food to complement it (or is it vice versa?!?). Picture below is of the (empty) bottles that were served. GREAT idea for a party, by the way! Very fun and fairly low preparation required!



Next, Jamie's 8th birthday party - this year she chose a party at home. We had an animal theme, with a great live animal show from Pacific Animal Productions. Here's our "baby" blowing out her candles.




Also in January (and in February, and in March...) - it's Girl Scout Cookie time! This year Ann is one of the troop's Cookie Moms so we are immersed in cookie paperwork, cookie boxes, cookie distribution, etc. Here's Jamie in sales mode.







Our first major trip in 2008 was a week-long ski trip to Breckenridge. We stayed at Beaver Run Resort, just at the base of Peak 9. The accommodations were average, but the location was GREAT. We skied 5 days and did a day of tubing at Keystone. I never thought I'd say it, but a week-long ski trip was a bit too long. We had allowed an extra day at the end of the trip to make it to Denver (in case of bad weather). We were calling the airline for options to return early, we were ready to play golf!!! But all in all, a good trip. Jamie is very comfortable (but cautious) on the slopes, and had fun in ski school for 3 1/2 days.

We had 3 fantastic weather days, the rest of the time it was a bit gray with some snow flurries. Our last ski day was sunny, almost Spring ski conditions. Jamie got tired of skiing, so Jim and I took turns with her at the resort pool. Great contrast to see her in her bathing suit and Jim skiing up to say "hi" in the background!


Family photo at Keystone... The next photo below is of the Keystone tubing hill. And finally, pictures of our own snow bunny!!!











On our way from Breckenridge to Denver, we made a stop at the Phoenix Gold Mine in Idaho Springs. Greeted by two old "geezers" totally in character with the mining theme, little did we know this would be one of the highlights of the trip! Totally fascinating tour, and quite a famous gold mine, too. Our guide chipped some small sample stones for everyone in the group so now we have our own gold-veined nuggets. I'd totally recommend this stop if you're ever in Colorado.

2007 Holiday Letter

Happy Holidays to our family and friends… We hope this letter finds everyone safe and healthy! It’s been another busy year with work, school and travel. For Ann and Jim, not much has changed in terms of work. Ann is still a VP at Fair Isaac and Jim still a Master Black Belt at Solar Turbines. Ann’s traveled a bit more this year – to the FI User Conference in Lisbon in February with a stopover (for fun) in Ireland. Then after Thanksgiving, she took a two-week trip to Singapore and Bangalore, making Christmas preparations a bit challenging!

Jamie is doing well in school (she’s in 2nd grade), and we keep her involved in lots of activities. This spring she played Little League (boy’s) with her friend Sammy, and Jim was one of the assistant coaches. She’s still taking dance (three classes/ week), is in Brownies and Pop Warner cheer. Cheer started in August with practices 4 times a week for 2 ½ hours each. It was much more intense than last year, continuing with either practices and/or games 4 days a week through mid-November. Ann was the head coach for Jamie’s squad, and though it was fun and rewarding, the time commitment and stress of leaving the office a bit early every day took its toll… so, Ann’ll be watching from the stands next season!

After our ski trip over Christmas ’06 to Aspen/Snowmass, we took one more ski trip to Utah in March. Then we met up with the extended family for Vanessa’s first communion in St Louis in April. Our vacation highlight was a Disney Cruise in the Mediterranean, sailing from Barcelona to ports in Italy and France. Ann’s Dad and Nan joined us so it was a special treat to have the three generations traveling together. We started the trip with a great couple of days in Madrid (highly recommend it!) and then ended with a stopover in Heidelberg.

We were lucky again with the San Diego wildfires in October. We evacuated for just one day – packed up both cars and dogs and headed out… Schools were closed for a week, work for a couple of days – it was a stressful time. Unfortunately, our friends Jacques and Marcyn weren’t so lucky and lost their home.

We’re still golfing as much as possible. We cheer for the Padres, attending about 10 games a season. This year we saw a few traveling Broadway musicals, and headed up to Los Angeles to see Wicked – it was great! Jim and Ann work out together with our trainer on Thursdays, and Ann squeezes in additional workouts over lunches. We’re in the Superbowl next week for our Fantasy Football league – wish us luck!