Julian's 26th Birthday

Rick and I took a trip up to visit Julian for his birthday which fell on Easter this year. He's in Mountain View, California.

We also enjoyed time with Carole Polan and Hank Love. The newlyweds moved from Michigan to Berkeley last Fall. Julian and Carole grew up together, especially Summers at Higgins Lake, as we are close family friends. It was fun to have the "kids" together. Now we just need her brother James to get out there and take on Silicon Valley.

Julian directed us around the best of Mountain View and Palo Alto, with a drive through Stanford University, and by the high tech companies we all know so well: Facebook, Google, eBay/PayPal, Intuit, AOL, and more.  Then we took a drive up to Skyline Ridge which gave us views of the San Francisco Bay and surrounding cities. It was a long winding road through beautiful wooded scenery and while just minutes away for all that is Silicon Valley.

Julian just left his job at Zynga to take a few months off, and that give us time to spend Monday going to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, which is always cool!

Dinner at La Strada Restaurant in Palo Alto!

Julian, Carole Polan, Hank Love
Skyline Ridge near Palo Alto, CA

Monterey Bay Aquarium

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Happy 24th Birthday Julian! and an Earthquake in San Diego!

Happy 24th Birthday Julian!

Rick and I are up in San Francisco and celebrating Julian's birthday with him!

If you are on Facebook, and especially if you play FarmVille, you'll understand this gift to Julian!  He's a programmer for FarmVille, in San Francisco.  Last week his first original idea was implemented on the game!  He came up with the option to "TP" other friend's barns! 

We are sooooo proud!  haha.  It was fun, and funny.  Hence, the end of the roll of toilet paper for a gift from mom! 

Later in the week I found this photo (1987) and posted it on Facebook with the note "who would have thought this would be his future?!?"  Hey, the brat could be making "6 figures" before he's out of college two years.  Bring on the TP!!!   

Love that 1972 flooring.....

Meanwhile, I missed mentioning that I was looking around San Francisco thinking about the possibilities of "The Big One" hitting while we were there.  And what happens?  Easter Sunday a good size earthquake shook San Diego!

Facebook accounts alerted me to what had been happening and while the 7.2 quake was actually just south of the border in Mexico, it splashed water out of local swimming pools (maybe ours too, but we were not there to see) shook homes and cars for 45 seconds.  That's a long time when you are in one!

Click:

San Diego Earthquake story

Neighbors are worried now about our month-long Italy trip!  Since the great fires a few years ago happened while we were in our RV "up north", strong storms hit while we were on our Florida RV trip, and now an earthquake shakes it up while we are in San Francisco.....  !!

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Karpo Komes To Kalifornia

Alex Karpowitsch, Julian's long-time neighborhood and school buddy, came to San Diego for a few days this week.   He's on break from University of Michigan and flew into San Francisco to hang out with Julian.  They immediately drove to Lake Tahoe and went skiing.  The next day he flew down here.

I gave him SD101: Introduction to San Diego.  

• Lunch at "The Wave House", "Villa Simioni", Wild Animal Park, ostrich farm (ostrich jerky!), Carlsbad Village. Then,

• a full day tour of the San Diego coast line:  Oceanside Pier & harbor, down through Encinitas, Solana Beach, Del Mar.
• and then La Jolla where we stopped at the Torrey Pines Golf Course, the glide port, The Children's Beach (or Seal Beach), stopped for a quick snack (while an old woman backed into my car trying to get out of the parking lot for 10 minutes). 

• Finally, Ocean Beach & Pacific Beach, found a great sports bar before sending him back up to San Fran!
 

He had fun, and so did I!  I think he'll be back!  Hopefully with Julian, and Chelsea, and.....

He'll be checking out the night life in San Francisco tonight, and flying back to Michigan tomorrow.  whew.  He's young.  I'm old.  I'm tired just thinking about all that!

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My Birthday, Our anniversary, and Mother's Day!

It's always a bit busy this time of year when my birthday, our anniversary, and Mother's Day, all fall in the same week. I had a great time!

For my birthday we met neighbors Pattie & Charlie for breakfast at our favorite "Curbside Cafe". Then for a little treat Rick and I took a leisurely drive up to Mt Palomar to see the observatory. It was a beautiful San Diego day and just nice for a drive. Julian has cycled up here but we have not even driven up before! We also stopped by Pala Casino and had a little lunch at the Noodles restaurant. Thanks to everyone for the phone calls and birthday greetings!

For our 33rd anniversary, we spent the night on Coronado, and checked out a few areas we were not familiar with. We enjoyed lunch in San Diego's Little Italy, while we waited for Julian to fly in on Friday night. It was his first trip here since starting his job at Intuit 500 miles north in Mountain View, California. ...And he paid for his own ticket! whoo hoo

It was great to have him around for a couple of days, we enjoy him and his humor - like his gifts for me: "A San Francisco Treat" -- a box of Rice-a-Roni! and a bottle of wine from Napa Valley - nice touch!

Another Simioni tradition: the 3 of us went to see the new "Star Trek" movie! He had to fly back too soon (for us, anyway). It is nice to see him enjoying life after college and new adventures in the Bay Area. What a great place for him to be!

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Julian moves to Mountain View, California

Julian started his full-time job at INTUIT in Mtn. View, California this week. He's working for a great company, in a perfect place for him: Silicon Valley! http://about.intuit.com/ Lots of people would like to work there!
Congrats again Jules! We're proud of you!

Rick and I drove him and his belongings up there this past weekend. He's about 500 miles north of us (about the same as Detroit to Knoxville). He showed us around their campus, drove by GOOGLE, and through Stanford. It's very nice up there!

While he went to work his first day, Rick and I took the CalTrain up to San Francisco for the day before heading home Tuesday.

Now we'll enjoy the 20 degrees about normal 85 degrees while the rest of the country is in a frozen state!

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Merry Christmas!

Peace and Goodwill to all!

Nice socks Ronee~ (you can click on the pic to enlarge it)

Julian is heading out for his 6-day bike trip out of San Diego tomorrow -- the first day they are to dress for Christmas. We just sewed a hat on to his helmet!

Here's a link to the group trip with the San Diego Hostel's 52nd annual Christmas ride:
www.sandiegohostels.org/bike.shtml
December 26:
San Diego to Pine Valley, 50 miles. Pine Valley is a small mountain village.
December 27:
Pine Valley to Warner Springs, 55 miles. A great day of riding. Stop for apple pie in Julian!
December 28:
Warner Springs to Palm Desert, 100 miles. Great desert views & riding. Grab a date milkshake!
December 29:
Palm Desert to Hemet, 64 miles. Occasional head winds build character.
December 30:
Hemet to Fallbrook, 50 miles. A fantastic ride along oak tree shaded country roads.
December 31:
Fallbrook to San Diego, 55 miles. Soak up the sea air as you ride along the stunning San Diego Coastline.

400 Miles in 6 days! And it's COLD this year!
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Julian Graduates from MSU!

GO GREEN! MSU beats UofM!!

YEAH! After 6 years, Michigan State finally beats the University of Michigan!!! Whoo Hoo!!! and at the Big House in Ann Arbor! THAT hasn't happened since 1990!

We had a good time with our neighbors Pat and Tom across the street -- they are from Farmington Hills, Michigan! and, 3 of their children went to UofM! So the 4 of us watched it together. It was strange cheering opposite each other!

I brought green jello with white whipped cream! and an appetizer of blanched broccoli and cauliflower (bright green and white!) Before we went over I stopped at Eric and Suzanne's (also across the street) and hung our green and white MSU blanket on their fence, which, gee, just happens to be up the hill and right behind the family room window of where we watched the game!

Pat and Tom greeted us with the Wolverine fight song blaring and Bob Ufer screaming on a cd, and of course they had all their UofM goodies out: including blue and yellow M&Ms!

Julian was down in Ann Arbor at the game in the UofM student section with his buddy Karpo and other friends. What fun! We are all so happy that the Spartans finally won one before he graduated!

Mitch Albom's Detroit Free Press article: SPARTANS WIN!
Here's part of it:

"Normal? Michigan State was sick of normal. Normal meant losing. Normal meant hearing U-M call them “little brother” and “second tier” and whatever other words exist for “also ran.” Normal meant 18 years without a win in Michigan Stadium. And even before this game began, you knew certain Spartans were done with that: several players did a silent trash talk to their Wolverine rivals, holding out two fingers and five fingers to rub in U-M’s 2-5 record. It was as subtle as a bottle rocket up your nose. This is your year to lose, Wolverines. We’re done with it."

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Good News!

While fires are still burning around Vista some, there IS good news around here too. In addition to the stock market jumping 900+ points today, Julian got a job offer from Intuit! He can start in January. Good Job Julian! He will graduate from Michigan State on December 6th.

His room will be FOR RENT in February. hahaha

Also: October 10th was our 3rd anniversary of arriving here in California!

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Super Mom?

So, last night I thought I'd be a good Mom and make my son something to snack on at college. Good ol' Rice Krispie Treats! Yummy! Haven't made them for awhile.

This morning I sent them to Michigan State. Geez, $8.25 to mail them Priority Mail! (OK, I did include a big cycling magazine in the box.)

I was feeling pretty good about it -- I know he'll enjoy them especially since he's been complaining about big (negative) changes to the food at the MSU cafeterias this semester.

Then I watched our favorite Food Network Show: Every Day Italian with Giada DiLaurentiis. Her whole show was on a bunch of goodies she was making for her niece away at college. She was, as you might expect, making all kinds of homemade goodies.

Everyday Italian
Episode EI1018

AIR TIMES: Sep 13, 2008 1:00 PM ET/PT

Care Packages
Giada shows you how to whip up love in a box for those far-flung college.

Recipes

	Balsamic Chocolate Truffles
	Lemon Ricotta Cookies with Lemon Glaze
	Pancetta Balsamic Vinaigrette
	Sweet Potato and Beet Chips with Garlic Rosemary Salt

I didn't see a Rice Krispie Treat anywhere. Dang.

That's OK. He will eat MY food! I don't think he'd touch that other stuff!

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Rick & Julian's Cross-Country Drive

Julian had a great summer up in Silicon Valley working for Intuit at their headquarters in Mt. View, California (between San Francisco and San Jose).
He had a lot fun with the other interns, going to concerts, festivals, beaches, dance clubs, and having weekly Sunday BBQs. One female intern, a UC Berkeley Comp Sci student, Diane, became a special interest for much of the summer. He joined the San Jose Bike Club, and also rode with the Webcor/Alto Velo Bicycle Racing Club. One of the USA's female cyclists in the Beijing Olympics right now is a member here. www.altovelo.org

And now it's time to return for his final semester at Michigan State University!

So, he and Rick are driving cross-country in his Ford Escort packed with his belongings and 3 bicycles hanging off the back! It will be like a Grand Prix event! Julian needs to get back to get the MSU Bike Club rolling, so the guys are driving THREE 10 to 12 hour days! WHEW!!! (Plus the day before Julian spent 7 hours driving down to our house in Vista! He was barely here 12 hours, including sleep time.)

Then on Wednesday they need to drive up to MSU and move Julian in one last time!

Rick will be dead for about 3 days after that I suspect! Hopefully, he'll have enough energy to make to his return flight!

Rick and I will both be back in Michigan for Julian's graduation on Saturday, December 6th.

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State News: "Hello, My Name is Julian Simioni"

Now of course we think this is way cool!

This story was published yesterday. Click: STATE NEWS - Julian Simioni (MSU)

...on his 22nd birthday no less!

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HAPPY 22nd BIRTHDAY JULIAN!!

I think it's been at least 3 years since we saw you on your birthday! The early ones were probably more fun for us... The recent ones more fun for you!

2nd Birthday (with Andy Hoppe)


Cycling then:


Cycling now:

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