Sunshine & The Getty

It is mid-November (already?!) and a sunny 78 degrees in Los Angeles today.  This weather really does make everything a little brighter.  I feel so much more motivated to get out of the house and explore the city!   At the beginning of this weekend, I was a little tired of the city, craving air that’s not polluted and smoggy.  I had a great week at work, but was tired. My kids are fantastic – I really feel myself falling in love with each of them. I am continually amazed by their unconditional love. No matter how angry I get at them or how “mean” I am (particularly during clean-up time…it’s the most rushed and stressful part of the day), they run up to me with a huge smile and hug the next afternoon.  “Hi Miss Z!!” is one of my favorite sounds to hear.

[[Funny side note –my students can’t keep names straight. While they all know I am Ms. Z, they often mix up my name with Theresa’s (Ms. G…understandably confusing). Sometimes when they don’t at all stop and think before talking, they just holler “teacher, teacher!”  My favorite way to make a first grader laugh is to respond with a very loud, energetic “student, student!” Without fail, they start laughing and try again: “Miss Z, Miss Z!” Works like a charm. Yes, I’m a cheeseball with them, and I love it.  They think I’m funny (usually) and seeing them laugh at me is priceless.]]

Anyway, this weekend has been a perfect combination of relaxation and activity.  After 3 of us in DK hit up the various branches of the LA Public Libraries for DVDs, we’ve watched many of the movies we took out.  [Another side note – for community night last week, Zach and I picked out a DVD called “Do you Want to Dance?”…it was an instructional dance video promising lessons for ballroom dance, latin dance, country line dance, and even wedding routines.  It was kind of a dud, but I’m on the search to find a good one that will teach us all the merenugue!]  So, Friday was a movie night followed by a Saturday morning of catching on TV shows. 

In the afternoon, I went to the Getty museum with Julie and her friend Ingrid who is visiting this weekend. It was absolutely phenomenal. It is a new, beautiful art museum in the hills to the north of Los Angeles with breathtaking views of the whole county and the water.  My favorite part was the central garden, designed by an artist (not a gardener or landscaper). The colors, smells, sights were the perfect combination of beautiful.

View of LA from the Getty
Downtown Culver City is in the middle and downtown LA is in the distance on the left

The Central Garden

Julie and I found a tree changing color!
We miss fall!

On Saturday night, we found a fantastic Mexican joint by USC where I ordered a chorizo burrito that would have made my father oh-so-proud! This morning we returned to Holy Name for a beautiful Gospel Mass. Overall, another great week in the City of Angels.  Let the church say AMEN!  Today, John and I went grocery shopping (we make a great Food4Less team) and then spent a couple hours getting creative in the kitchen…here’s a shot of our pumpkin pie and homemade granola!!

Too bad I forgot about the granola because I was writing this...now it's a little burned.

A 6ft map of LA county in our kitchen