The Moss Beach Distillery

was our location for lunch today with my friends. This little jewel of a restaurant sits pass the Devil Slide area atop a bluff with majestic views of the ocean. Our initial restaurant was going to be the Chart House which is now the Outrigger, has been closed due to renovation. We drove further down the road and saw the signs indicating the Distillery and followed that. Winding our way through the neighborhood, we saw beautiful homes dotted along the beach front area. It was a little past 1:00pm and the restaurant was quite empty at this time. Our waitress, Courtney, seated us at a table with a commanding view of the ocean. The menu was genuinely authentic with a wide variety of flavors ranging from healthy appetizers to amazingly tasteful entrees. It was a bit expensive but the fare was large in portions and wonderfully fresh. I would definitely love to bring Lynn here for lunch or dinner and go for a stroll along the pathways to watch the sunset. It is absolutely romantic and timeless.
With our bellies full and impeccable service, it was time to go. With restrictions being that we had children to pick up and teenagers that we had to be home for, we were sorry to leave. Another time perhaps and maybe we might even see the "Blue Lady".

Dearest of friends

After a long drive home yesterday from visiting my daughter in Sacramento, I attended a loft party with my group of four very dear friends whom I have known for at least 15 plus years. Cecile's house was the central meeting place with DarRell as the designated driver taking the helm of Sarah's beautiful midnight blue BMW. After a quick snack of homemade chili that Cecile made, we were on the road into The City for "Auntie Ken's" Christmas party.
Traffic moved smoothly and an abundant amount of street parking space was available to us. With presents in hand, we made our way to his live/work loft in which he is an interior designer for his own company. I remember meeting him 10 years ago on a trip to New Orleans for Halloween. He is a flamboyant Hawaiian/Filipino man with dark skin, hair and eyes. His ever infectious laughter and beautiful smile was all he needed to draw you into his circle. Upon entering into his humble abode, we were in awe of his business space. Very simple, yet colorful and practical without an abundance of clutter. It was a warm sensual space with an intimate setting for his friends to enjoy the company of one another without it being overwhelming or isolated. We met Ken's partner, Michael, who is a hula dancer with my former halau. He also stitches Hawaiian quilts one of which he recently sold for $5800.00! The stitch work is meticulously beautiful, mixing old with the new. Not bad for a haole (Caucasian) boy!
The spirit of the evening flowed and ebbed until we had a white elephant gifting which turned out to be a highly charged event and the once serene guests caused a raucous of laughter as each gift turned out to be a coveted prize to possess. Gifts ranging from fine wines, candles and gourmet cook books to liquor candied delicacies . The white elephant gift of the evening turned out to be a cute pink, sequined clutch purse won by a man of stature and being a very good sport about it. With the evening winding down, it was time for us to go as we had another engagement to attend at a Filipino club in South San Francisco called Solita's where our group got our groove on. With DarRell running the show with his sexy muscular body as he glided into the electric slide to Sarah getting freaky with one of our girly table mates. Everyone was on the dance floor, getting sweaty and have a fantastic time. As the band played their last set, Sarah asked me if I was seeing anyone. With her pending divorce on the horizon, my group is very supportive whether you're dating or not and I know she was concerned. With a deep breath, I boldly told her that I am seeing someone and it's someone that is not in our circle of outrigger paddlers or hula dancers. I further explained to Sarah that Lynn is a musician, singer and mother of two daughters. Sarah stated, "As long as you're happy, that's all that matters" and she gave me a big hug. She started saying something about her Catholic school days and girls, but at this time, I think she had too much to drink. Not wanting to go home at 2:00AM, we visited a local casino establishment in the small town of Colma. This place was busy with a large Asian and Filipino community gambling like there's no tomorrow. Our mission was the restaurant, which was just as crowded as we were expeditiously seated in a booth. The menu was a nice variety of Asian and Filipino fare served in ample portions. With our food orders turned in, we chatted about idle topics. Sarah decided to unknowingly Out me in front of Norma, who is the last one in the group to finally find out. "SARAH!", I stated. Kicking her underneath the table. She apologized and started in about my ring being on my left married finger and said, "You're not married and it shouldn't be on that finger". Finally, I couldn't take it, I said, "Norma?" "Yeah", she replied. "I'm seeing someone and you know her", I stated. "Her name is Lynn". "What?" she said, incredulously. "I'm seeing Lynn, who is my partner, my companion, my lover!" I said while searching her face for any eye to eye contact. Her body language started to show how she felt and seemed put off and indignant. Sarah backed me up and basically told Norma to back off and behave. I know that it is a painful issue to process and this is probably how she handles stressful situations. Knowing that I was once a man chasing woman, party hard individual and hearing that I have become someone else without any clues, hint or thoughts, seemed very uncomfortable for her. Oh, the convoluted thoughts that are running rampant in her mind.

Eligible for social security

It's good to know that I can claim social security should I become completely disabled and not work at my current employment. My disease, Rheumatoid Arthritis, is covered under their umbrella of eligibility. My doctor is going to release me back to work on January 13th, 2008 and if all goes well, I'll be able to pick up much needed ours to pay most of my bills that will come due. It's not easy staying home from a disability after being able to work since I was 18 years old. I went to a Junior College for one semester and that's all I needed to find out that College wasn't for me. While I was there, I took up your general education subjects, accounting, typing, recreation, writing, P.E. and made the woman's softball team. I didn't have a direction or goal until I took up a "recreation class" under the guidance of Tony Ruiz. He was a short bearded man with a passion for recreation and the arts. From there, I went to work for Daly City Recreation Department as a playground team leader for the city of Colma. I received my own playground with an awesome group of kids. Summer time was best because of the field trips that I would go on and supervise. Later, I would monitor Tennis Courts and then graduated to monitoring and supervising the War Memorial Gym. I had the keys to the city, literally.
After my two girls were born about five years later, I worked as a Bus driver in those yellow buses for San Mateo for about a year. A hula brother of mine approached me and recruited me to drive for a travel agency where he worked in accounting. I would drive a little GEO around San Francisco and the East Bay and deliver airline tickets to Departments such as the Postal Inspectors, Department of Energy, Department of Justice and a Science Lab. Two years later, I was let go because of the economy's downturn. At this time, I was a steers woman of a premier team of Outrigger Canoe paddlers and winning regattas every chance we got and I danced for a hula troupe in San Francisco and we were untouchable in competition and exhibitions. Soon that had to slow down because my children were getting older as well as my parents and I needed to stay home more. I interned and eventually went to work for an airline, Mark Air which is now defunct and my friend and supervisor, Alan, called and asked me to work as team lead in his reservation department for another start up carrier, Sierra Expressway over in Oakland. They flew to Sacramento and other hubs operated by United Express. A year later they dissolved. A few months down the road, I answered an ad in the paper for a major airline at the San Francisco International Airport. It was an open call and on the first day 300 people showed up at the 1st session! I'm not sure of how many people they were looking for but a few days later, I went for an interview and and got the job. It's been a little over 11 years now with the same company and am very happy being here. I love my coworkers and the travel benefits are unbeatable. I look forward to going back to work and seeing everyone. This time off has been a breath of fresh, much needed, air.

Savers

is another "thrift" type store and is only two blocks from me and what a convenience it is. I love it since I rarely buy clothes for myself because most of my money goes towards my mortgage, bills and my son. When I do buy clothes, I frequent Savers...a lot! Today is my "Paris" group's annual holiday party and I need something nice to wear instead of my usual jeans and t-shirt. I found quite a few things and carted them off. Going so early in the morning, you get your pick of the best things that they tagged and put up on racks and shelves. Plus it was purple tag day and everything associated with that was half off....Ka-ching! I did manage to get a few nice blouses, shirts, pant and shorts. Yes, shorts, being Hawaiian I wear shorts rain or shine, hot and cold weather...whenever.
It's a potluck party and I am making potato salad. It's one of the favorites among this crowd and easy to make. The eggs were done boiling by the time I got back from Savers and in went the potatoes. My "Paris" group that I'm referring to is my over 40 in age group of friends that I've known 20 plus years ago when I paddled Outrigger Canoes in San Francisco and have kept in touch since. Our particular demographic is that we are all 45 this year and try to celebrate with a big trip. At 40, five of us took a week long trip to Paris and Nice. Inspite of our differences, it was a fantastic vacation. This year was very busy with everyone going to school, work, laid off from work, starting a new job and other set-backs that we weren't able to secure a date or destination. We still have until the end of this month to vote on a destination. It might even be a trip up to Napa for wine tasting and spas or a winter casino trip up to Lake Tahoe. I don't know yet, but I'll bring it up at our event tonight.
Lynn is out shopping at the Flea market in Palo Alto and doing her part in the spirit of the holidays. This is the start of her concert week and ends next weekend, so she'll be very busy rehearsing. I am trying my best to stay out of the malls and doing my shopping online and taking advantage of those companies that offer free shipping. It's so much easier and less hassling than going out and fighting for parking, the gifts and the people. I just don't enjoy doing that anymore. My sweetie's last concert will be next week and I will be spending a weekend in Santa Clara, Saturday and Sunday. During that time, we'll exchange gifts, spend some much needed time together and celebrate the holidays. I'm looking forward to that time with her very much.

Choral concert season

is in full swing and I can attest to that by being invited to a women's group from Walnut Creek by Lynn and her daughter Camden. It was an interesting concert more so than the usual ones that I've been attending with Lynn. Her director is the same man, very cute in the gay boy circle and partnered with a jealous older man. Hmm, we'll see how long that relationship will last. Conductor boys are prissy little things that need constant attention and primping. They are the darlings of the choral world.
The melodious sound of the guitar player was so soothing that I fell asleep every time he played. The concert was wonderful with similar twists to that of Lynn's chorus group. The finale was "Silent night" and done in a circle around the crowded church pews. It wasn't as throaty or had that deep womanly sound like Lynn's group, now there is a women's chorus. All in all, a good concert. Afterwards, a reception was thrown in the back room with cookies, cakes, veggie plates and wine. I was looking for coffee to keep me awake on the ride back over the Bay Bridge but one small glass of wine will do. Someone recognized me from my old outrigger paddle days, it was an old friend I used to co-ed with. I hadn't seen Bobby in 15 years and he still looked the same, a little heavier and a lot less hair but still had a great sense of humor. He introduced me to his 2ND wife, Lauren, who was also part of the concert as a dancer with her troupe. We talked about old times, the people we knew and where they are, the amount of drinking we used to do and trouble we used to get in to. How during camp outs he would sing a song but could never remember the words to the ending. That was the good ol days. We exchanged phone numbers and will hopefully keep in touch with each other. That was the highlight of my day. I was a bit tired from the reduction of my medication and am feeling the effects of it. I'm now at half a tablet of prednisone every odd day until I see my RAtologist on Dec 12Th for my third phase of the medication bout. I keep thinking healing thoughts.