Contact: Patricia Hurley April 18, 2012
(626) 590-1134

All Saint’s Ed Bacon receives the 11th Annual Thorny Rose!

It’s official! The 11th Order of the Thorny Rose has spoken. This year’s recipient, All Saints Church Rector Ed Bacon has earned its thorny nod-having stood ground against the City of Pasadena and local preservationists over expansion of the iconic church’s property. The Thorny Rose Award is presented annually at the Pasadena Doo Dah Parade to an individual or organization that has created the strongest dose of discomfort and controversy in the community.

Six years ago, Ed Bacon had a vision. The plans called for bringing progressive architecture to Pasadena’s historic Civic Center. When the Rector took it public many people railed against it as too big, too extreme, and too “out there.” Of course, the preservationists got involved. First they swooned, then they got a hold of themselves and threatened roadblocks at every turn. But Ed Bacon and his supporters battled on.

Through the process of commission and committee deliberations, the vision was pared down to accommodate design criticisms. And now, six years later, the EIR and the Master Development Plan have finally made their way to the City Council for approval. At Monday’s City Council hearing, in the face of what one city councilperson called a “brewing thunderstorm,” there was a surprising air of consensus. Of course, the fine points will still be in the hands of the Design Review Commission.

As is the tradition for Thorny Rose winners, Reverend Bacon, or a church designate, will be given an invitation to receive their award in public and be driven along the route of the 35th Pasadena Doo Dah Parade. The unique “Other Parade” takes place on Saturday, April 28th, stepping off at 11:00am at its new Colorado Boulevard location in East Pasadena. The only Thorny Rose awardee to pass up the invitation was Wayne Lusvardi who was the eighth recipient, and last year’s award winners Pasadenans for a Livable City.

The prickly honor is bestowed once a year on Pasadena’s most controversial citizen or group of citizens of the previous year. Past recipients have included former city councilperson Paul Little (twice!), Charles Cherniss, Roy Begley, the PUSD School Board, Mary Dee Romney, West Pasadena Residents Association, Ann Lau and the Falun Gong, and the Friends of Hahamongna.

Patricia Hurley
Managing Director
Light Bringer Project

Most of the plants will be used to refill pots that will be sitting/hanging around the yard except for the moss roses which will go in beds. And now that I have the tomato cages I can put in all the veggie plants that I purchased two weeks ago! Still need to get a boatload of mulch, but that will have to wait until it’s on sale…or at least until I have the time to spread it!

Tomorrow should be a great day for planting since we had tons of rain yesterday and the ground is saturated. I would have started today except that it was chilly and windy most of the day. Tomorrow is supposed to be warmer, so I’m hoping the wind settles down as well. Even the cats wanted to be inside today, that’s how cold it was!

My vet is absolutely the best out there! Not only does she do a great job, but she comp’d me for all the exam fees and I got the low cost/half price deal for all their immunizations! She knows I’ll be back, so it’s worth it to give good deals to good customers I guess.

Made reservations to go to Wisconsin over Memorial Day for my nephew’s graduation from high school. Will be good to see my family, but not looking forward to the flight. Don’t really enjoy being on a plane for 4-5 hours any more. Guess I’m spoiled by the 2 hour flights to Seattle. And now I have to start checking for some deals for another trip up there!

New baby Killian is doing well and Robin is still thrilled being a big brother. And Kevin has a new job…working as a contractor doing game design for a small company just north of Seattle. Hopefully the job will continue for some time. Meanwhile he’s making good money and is able to work 4 days/week from home which saves on the gas and allows him to help out some with the kids.

Still trying to get caught up at work and at home after the trip to Seattle a month ago. Just can’t seem to get motivated to do much. Too many distractions online and on TV. Hopefully the warm weather will start soon and I’ll at least be able to head outdoors.

I stayed home with Robin while Kevin and Chrysoula headed to the hospital at 6:30 am for the C-section since he was about 1 week overdue–unlike Robin who came 1 month early! All went well and we headed over to the hospital around 1 pm. Robin is enthralled with his new baby brother and kept saying “Hi Killian. How are you?”

I was thrilled to be there to meet Killian in person so soon after his birth. But it was rough having to leave today to come home. Back when I planned the trip, I assumed he would be born much closer to his due date and that I would be there to help out when he came home. Unfortunately, he did not want to come out into the cold Seattle temps! So, I spent the week visiting with Kevin, Soula, Robin and Raymond (the person who shares space in their house). I also sorted, washed and folded baby clothes. They stored all the clothes that Robin had outgrown and have just a boatload of baby clothes! Really nice that the only thing they need to buy is diapers!

I had such a good time with Robin and absolutely hated leaving him. He changes so much each time I visit and I’m thinking I need to visit more often than every 6 months. Will have to start checking for airfare deals this week. I really need to see those boys sooner than 6 months from now.

Robin is very anxious about his new brother and when he will arrive. Robin likes a very ordered life. M-T-W-T are school days. F-S-S are home days. Christmas is on 12/25, Halloween is on 10/31. His brother will be born on ??? That just doesn’t work well for Robin. He wants an exact day. Not sometime in February. Not maybe tomorrow. It’s a good thing they can tell him that grandma will be there on Thursday, 2/23. He can easily relate to that.

Meanwhile, I’m having a lot of difficulty at home trying to motivate myself to get ready for the trip. I’m able to do bits and pieces here and there, but don’t seem to completely finish any one thing. Some of the laundry is done, some of the kitchen is cleaned, some of the shopping is completed. It hasn’t helped that I developed a sinus infection last week just after recovering from a bad cold. Have been doped up with sinus meds to the point where I have little energy for doing much of anything. The good news is that my sinus cavities are beginning to clear today! It’s been 5 days since I could breathe freely! I’m hopeful I’ll be in relatively good shape by the time I leave on Thursday. Taking lots of meds with me just in case.

Finally got new tires on my car yesterday. A flat tire on Friday made the decision for me. I knew I needed to do this months ago but holidays (and sickness) allowed me to keep postponing it. Nice to have that done and not have to worry about sliding my way to work the next time it rains!

The cats will no doubt be furious when they realize I’m not coming home next Thursday night. And then they will become very confused and anxious when others come to feed them and then they are left alone again. And not going outdoors for 10 days…I don’t even want to think about what the house will look like after they’ve been penned up for that long! Nate continues to have anxiety issues resulting in urination in places other than his litter box. We’ll see what inappropriate spots he chooses while I’m away!

So I’m off to start in on my endless list of chores…and more waiting for some news from Seattle.

Probably won’t schedule any of the tests until I get back from Seattle since I really won’t have enough time between now and next Thursday to take off work. Sounds like a good excuse since I’m *really* not excited about either, especially the colonoscopy!

Getting eager for this new baby to arrive! That’s how it was with Robin, too. I didn’t really get into the fact that I was having a grandson until near the end. Of course with Robin, the end came sooner that we all expected! At this point, though, it could be any day. I keep waiting for the phone call…

Grateful this weekend is a 3-day so that I can get all my laundry done and packed as well as getting the house cleaned. The nasty cold I had last week really did a number on my house. In other words, I haven’t done any cleaning since I can’t remember when! At least I won’t be staying up all night on Wednesday!

To be fair, January is the busiest month of the year for me at work. I felt like doing nothing when I’d get home from work at night so could only work on the cleanup/packup on the weekends. And I’ve had other things going on this month as well. So I’ve decided to cut back on the decorating next year to save myself all this stress. Still don’t have the house itself back to ‘normal.’ I packed up lots of the carnival glass and other chatchki’s and still need to get all that stuff back out.

Went to the Lakers/Mavericks game with Vanessa on MLK Day and had a great time…especially since the Lakers won! It was Vanessa’s first Lakers game which added to the enjoyment of the game. Tickets game from Patrick’s company and they have upgraded the seats this year to the premium seating area complete with waiters to take our drink and snack orders!

On Sunday Vanessa took me to see ‘Wicked’ at the Pantages Theatre. All I can say is WOW! What a fabulous Christmas/Birthday gift from Vanessa! We got home and I found a vase filled with a dozen red roses on the dining room table along with a Kohl’s gift card from Patrick! Later that night Kevin and Soula sent me a video of Robin saying “Happy Birthday, Grandma”! All in all it was one of the best birthdays I’ve had in a long time! Thanks everyone!

Over the past week, I’ve spent close to $1,400 clearing out my medical spending account. My dentist under estimated the cost of a dental procedure last year so I had lots of $$$ remaining to be spent by the end of the plan year. Unfortunately the plan no longer allows me to purchase OTC meds, so I had to get creative. I purchased a year’s worth of contacts, 2 pairs of glasses, 8 bottles of contact lens solution, 7 bottles of eyeglass cleaner, 6 first aid kits, 10 boxes of bandaids and a thermometer! And I still have $46 remaining to be spent! Not having nearly as much money going into the account this year–mostly just enough to cover co-pays for my doctor’s appointments and Rx’s. Will be nice to have a little bit more money in my paycheck.

Not much new with the cats. Now that all the Christmas decorations are down, they are once again learning to be content with playing with the cat toys. They are enjoying going outside more often as the days are getting longer. Additionally, the weather has been so nice and warm and they spend most weekends outside. I’m sure they won’t be happy when I head for Seattle on 2/23 and they have to stay indoors for 10 days.

Three more weeks and I’ll have another grandson. It hardly seems possible that another baby will be born in just a few weeks. I know it’s seemed a lot longer to Soula, but the time went by quickly for me. Kevin is still looking for work. Had one interview with Amazon but that proved to be a bust. He is collecting unemployment. Thankfully he got quite a bit of vacation/severance pay from his other job so they are not in dire straits financially right now.

Time to shut it down tonight. I really do need to do these updates more often than once a month!

Patrick, Vanessa and Keith came over on Christmas Eve and we snacked on pulled pork sliders and various other small goodies while playing Trivial Pursuit. Christmas Day’s menu was prime rib, roasted potatoes, green bean casserole, waldorf salad and rolls. The prime rib was spectacular (Paula Deen’s recipe) and we (Patrick, Vanessa and Keith) filled ourselves to overflowing with beef!

Patrick and I didn’t head off to Forest Lawn until Christmas morning which worked out okay as the traffic was extremely light. We took our usual wreath and poinsettia plant to Mike’s grave and, once again, marveled at all the tacky decorations on lots of the other graves. It was a beautiful day, though, and somehow it seemed a bit less tacky than in years past.

I’ve spent most of the remainder of my time off talking with family and just laying around. I just can’t get motivated to do much else. This crud in my head and chest has really been a downer and I’m ready for it to be over!

I did miss seeing Robin this year. He’s old enough to understand all about Santa and was excited beyond belief! Maybe next year…

So the decorations will stay up for another few days and I’ll start putting it all away on Friday. Have to go to work tomorrow and Thursday, and then am off again for another 4 days as the Rose Parade madness begins. Not looking forward to that craziness at all!!!

About 10 days before Thanksgiving I bit the bullet and had all my citrus trees trimmed back as well as having one taken out completely. It was a large tangelo tree that was intermingled among the power lines leading to my house as well as to my neighbor’s. I didn’t like the tree to begin with and worried that Santa Ana winds could cause power problems if a branch fell. So I spent the $$$ and had it done. I was happy to see the result and it is much, much easier to keep that side of the house clean. Plus I won’t have the neighborhood squirrel (or rats) eating fruit and dropping the remains all over the ground.

The following week my pool man informed me that four of the pool filters were cracked and needed to be replaced. Great. Another unexpected cost. He took care of it and my pool looked great after a thorough cleaning and filtering through the new equipment.

Not sure of the exact date, but I think it was the week before Thanksgiving that I saw Soula’s post on G+ saying that she had been in a head-on collision! Turned out that she was okay…and the baby is okay as well. Some woman was not paying attention and plowed directly into Soula as she waited in the left turn lane to go into the grocery. Their car sustained $6000 worth of damage and is still in the shop being repaired. Thank God it was only the car that was damaged.

Thanksgiving was very nice…the calm before the storm, literally! We had a traditional dinner of turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, ambrosia fruit salad and pumpkin pie. Enjoyed staying at home (and not out shopping) for the entire weekend. Did a lot of talking with family in other parts of the country, relaxed and started to prepare the house inside and out for Christmas decorating. I had considered starting in on the outdoor decorations, but just ran out of time which turned out to be a good thing.

On the following Wednesday, 11/30, all hell broke loose!!! Weather reports predicted high Santa Ana winds that night, so I checked the backyard and gathered up any pool toys and any other loose items sitting around. Folded down the patio chairs and put the cover on the grill. I wasn’t worried about much else since Patrick had tied down my shade structure to rebar posts that he had pounded into the ground and we rebuilt my fence with super heavy duty steel posts on which the wood was mounted.

At about 8:30 pm Patrick called to ask if it was windy at my house. I was in my office on the computer plus had the tv on and hadn’t been paying attention. And then I looked outside where the winds were pummeling everything in sight! The tarp covering for the shade structure had torn, but the steel poles were still in place. The grill cover had blown off (I retrieved it) and a few other things had blown around, but only the tarp was damaged. When I checked again about 45 min later, the winds were blowing harder than I’ve ever seen and the steel support poles were moving toward the pool. After a phone call, Patrick was here to take down the structure as much as possible and keep it out of the pool. It was all both of us could do to keep from blowing over ourselves! About 1/2 hour after he left my neighbor’s fence (to the north) went down into my yard. Helped him get it up and laying flat on his property. And then tried to get some sleep. Right. The winds blew all night and at times it felt as though the house was moving. The cats were scared to death and surrounded me on the bed. Every time a loud gust would hit, they would all go flying into the air. Needless to say it was not a restful night. I was scared, too.

I had a meeting at work the next day at 7 am. Had a feeling that wasn’t going to happen. Boy was I right. The damage was unbelievable. The steel supports for my fence were bent and the fence was leaning at about a 45 degree angle into my neighbor’s yard to the south. A front fence panel next to my garage was completely blown down. The shade structure tarp was literally shredded and patio furniture, flower pots, etc rested at the bottom of the pool along with tons of leaves and branches. Most of the bushes, shrubs and trees in my yard were no more than naked branches denuded of all their leaves and flowers. And then there was the front and the street.

A number of trees along the curb were uprooted and laying in the street completely blocking it. And there were branches down everywhere! I’ve never seen such destruction. It looked like a bomb had gone off! Reports were than the winds blew through at a rate of 90-100 mph!!! Someone finally cleared a path down the street and I was able to go to work around 10 am. Trying to get there was unbelievable. Turns out Pasadena was one of the hardest hit areas and my street was just the tip of the iceberg. There were so many blocked streets that a normal 15 minute drive to work took about 45 min. There were trees down on houses and cars, and lots of people had no power. I was extremely lucky to have suffered no damage that altered my life all that much. And, BTW, I was sooo glad I took out that tangelo tree!

I took the following Friday off work and spent the day cleaning up the backyard. My gardener came on Thursday and cleaned up lots of the leaves and small branches from the front yard. Also called in an insurance claim and got a fence company out to give me an estimate. Fortunately my deductible is only $500 so it won’t be too costly to get the damage repaired. All in all between the tree pruning, the pool filters and the insurance deductible, I’ll have spent in excess of $1000–not something I would have planned for November/December just before Christmas.

Had hoped to get my Christmas decorations up that weekend, but predictions of more wind made that impossible. I did a bit of inside decorating with what little time remained after working outdoors for most of the weekend. And then it was back to work. The city cleanup has progressed slowly so that every day I’ve had to find an alternate route to work to avoid the cleanup crews or the electric repair crews.

The following Saturday (12/10) was the date our annual neighborhood Light-Up was scheduled to begin. And I still had no lights or any other decorations up on my house. Patrick came over on Saturday afternoon and helped me put up the street decoration and we got it lit up for that evening. Then we had two parties to attend–Vanessa’s Open House in the afternoon and the Dreamhost Office Party (where Patrick works) that evening at the Disneyland Hotel. Vanessa’s party was great and we were sorry to leave. The Dreamhost party started at 6 pm so we felt we’d get there in plenty of time by leaving Vanessa’s at 5:15. Except we hadn’t counted on that traffic accident on the 57 fwy. It took us TWO HOURS to get to Disneyland!!! While the party was great (the food was fantastic!), I was just too exhausted to really enjoy it. I was grateful to finally get home that night.

Still had to put up the lights on the house and hedge on Sunday. Got up early and got everything up except for the icicle lights on the roof. Patrick came over and helped with that and finished everything just before dark. I was beat. About an hour later I walked outside only to realize that all the lights on the house were out. Apparently we hooked up too many strings to one circuit and blew a fuse in one of the strings. The lights on the garage and the hedge were still on, so I have some decorations but I need to wait until I have some daylight hours to figure out where the fuse is blown and also hook up part of the lights to another circuit.

It couldn’t get any worse than all this now, could it?! Oh yes, the worst is yet to come…

Kevin lost his job today. His company is going out of business and he will be without a job within the next few weeks, if not sooner. I guess he’ll get all the details tomorrow. Not a good situation at any time, but especially right before Christmas and with your wife about 7 months pregnant with your second child! In addition, Raymond, the guy who lives with them also works with Kevin meaning he lost his job as well.

2011 is certainly going out with a bang.

I worked in the yard yesterday doing a bunch of trimming. We had a huge rainstorm last Wednesday (it was great!) and a number of the branches on my bushes were pulled down almost to the ground. It was impossible to move around one end of the pool–meaning the pool guy couldn’t clean when he comes on Wednesday. So I had to get busy. While I could have done more, I completely filled the yard waste can and didn’t want to leave a mess for the gardener. So other trimming will have to wait for another nice weekend when the temps are back down in the 70′s-80′s. The backyard does look nice, though.

The cats have been loving the outdoors this weekend. Nate and Sophie were out most of the day and Hayes has been in and out. Poor Mitsy still has to stay inside until she gets spayed. I expect that will happen on the 18th, so she should be able to go out toward the end of the month. We’ll see how she does. I’ve been very lucky that the others come inside when called. I’m hoping she follows after the others…

Meanwhile, Nate is still having medical problems. He is licking off the fur on his legs as well as a few other small spots on his body. He was tested for ringworm and the tests came back negative so I have another appointment with the vet on Tuesday. I’m also going to switch litter as I’ve read that some cats develop an allergy to some kinds of litter. What a nightmare this has been.

Not ready for work tomorrow. Weekends really are too short.