Officer Wes' & Daddy Barry’s 2015

We kicked off the new year with Deputy & Chris back in town, always a sweet treat. We enjoyed Roadkill’s jim’s birthday breakfast, and tea time outdoors on a beautiful day with Melissa, Lavon, Deni & Ann. We stayed out late for Farrah & Kim’s joint birthday celebration. We looked after Lester and Molly while John & Kent were in Texas. We celebrated our anniversary at Que Huong Restaurant. We were thinking it was going to be nicer, but it was still a welcome change of pace. Then we managed to have the perfect mix of folk for my birthday: RK & Jim, John & Kent, Dion, Farrah & Kim & Tracy, jeanne, DB & I. And since it was my birthday we got to play Cards Against Humanity. : ) Melissa had a cold so kindly stayed away, but we caught up with her later at the Chicken Pie Shop.

Art on 30^th took over the space from The Studio Door and Daddy Barry resumed Tuesday evening & Thursday morning classes after the holidays. He began moving art supplies into his own studio there 1/27. Savannah sold. Daddy Barry took Finding Your Visual Voice and embarked on a 30 paintings in 30 days quest. Art on 30^th‘s Grand Opening & Reception All You Need is Love was held 2/14, followed by Think Pink 4/11.

In health news, Daddy Barry was seen by a very handsome Navy doctor 1/13 regarding his right hip pain. Would he try an NSAID named meloxicam? Sure. Turned out to help. Surgery to remove three screws with potential protrusions then followed 3/20. Ivy at Hillcrest Pharmacy let us know they would be an out of network facility for Aetna. Boo! We transferred prescriptions to Walgreen's only to realize that they, too, were not in Aetna’s 2015 network. So we transferred yet again to in-network provider Pride Pharmacy. Meanwhile, any prescriptions which didn’t have active refills dropped through the pharmacy cracks for a while. It was quite a project keeping everything on track. Meanwhile, Daddy Barry’s upper left back / shoulder had a pinched nerve that caused him intense pain. We went at it full throttle: heat, cold, TENS, massages, acupuncture, a Toradol shot, Flexeril gabapentin and oxycontin pills, even a compounded topical cream of lidocaine and ketamine. We also arrived at the conclusion that we both felt a bit big in our tummies. We found local trainer Sly King and started 10 sessions 2/5. Sly also told us to start with new shoes for better balance, so we both got a pair. Then we had colds for a bit. Opa, meanwhile, had an infected pore that required draining and a couple weeks of oral antibiotics and Benadryl.

We also saw the movies "Big Eyes" and “The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel” and took a motorcycle ride along the Silver Strand. I realized that the KZ1000P was a bit kicky on grooved concrete highways, a major disappointment, and put it up for sale. We did taxes, and amended taxes when one last 1099 arrived afterward.

Along with our friend Roadkill, we gathered 13 guys to see the talented Levi Kreis at Martini’s Above 4^th, 4/8. RK, Daddy Barry & I got to meet sweet Levi beforehand, eating and visiting at Khyber Pass. And we had lunch w/Farrah, Loretta, Jef & Anthony @ Simi Deli.

In computer news, we spent some time fixing Daddy Barry’s iTunes, which had long ago gotten out of sync with his substantial library on his iPod. Fixing that sync problem then enabled music on his iPhone. We also bought a Wacom Bamboo Create CTH670 artist’s tablet with PhotoShop Elements.

We took in our annual dental visits, and did a 10-pack of personal training with Scott Ennis & Scott Stevenson at FIX Body Group in April.

May’s highlight was niece Laura’s wedding to Jordan in Delaware. The whole family came out – from Oregon, California, Texas and Virginia – making it both the wedding and a mini-reunion.

The couple held the wedding in Brandywine Creek State Park. It was lovely. In the morning there was an optional nature walk through the woods followed by on-site brunch. It was a great way to meet some of the new interconnected family. The ceremony and reception were later that afternoon, followed by dinner and dancing.

Daddy Barry is a visual artist, so while we were nearby we took in Brandywine River Museum of Art, renowned for its holdings of the Wyeth family of artists. Beautiful. Egg tempera was used with wonderful effect, such as highlighting a single strand of hair.

Back at home, Melissa held a sweet Tiki Tea Party on Memorial Day.

Not long after, I came down with a sinus infection. Not uncommon for me after air travel in particular, and also sitting outside.

In June we got to see John’s mom Rhoda Bertsch, fairly recently widowed. Always lovely to see her. And bittersweet. We also took two tours of the new downtown library, which opened late 2013. One was an architectural tour, the other a general tour. Really, really well done. Big windowed reading rooms with views of the city and bay, all topped by a handsome dome made of eight latticed metal “sails”

July we had Farrah and Henry over for dinner and a game night. We thinned items stored in the shed and also some blue Rubbermaid containers inside. We took in the Veterans Museum & Memorial Center in Balboa Park and relaxed at Meshuggah Shack. The Subaru got new tires. Lester & Molly walked us while John & Kent were in Seattle. Daddy Barry began a monthly excursion to Kickers C&W bar to dance with George and Tony. We ate at Chocolat + took in some Comic-Con spectacle. Watched the well-done Amy Winehouse biopic “Amy”. Cigars & Boots + spending time with Patrick & JT. Melissa hosted another tea with Lavon and we brought fluffy fruit. Art in the Garden. Koffee with Karl. Trans 101 Training at The Center. Getting the Kawasaki carburetors serviced.

In August Wes took his usually-twice-annual trip to Astoria to see the parents. The family held a reunion at Cullaby Lake. He helped Charlotte thin & pack for their upcoming move back to Texas. After returning, we again stopped at Meshuggah Shack & took in the delicious Bottega Americano. Summertime at Art on 30^th. The movie "Shaun the Sheep". Cabrillo National Monument, where we learned that summer tides are higher than winter tides – so there are no accessible tide pools. Wes got to spend a day with John. We both ventured out to Harness with Matt H. Melissa hosted Luna Tea. Dinner with jeanne at Kensington Café. Magnum's 25th anniversary party. Daddy Barry’s birthday party with RK, John & Kent, Farrah, Kim, dog, Melissa, jeanne, Joe; and dinner at Alexander’s afterward. dog was in town for two weeks. Daddy Barry hung out with Vinny and tried something adventurous. We saw the movie: "Mission: Impossible. Rogue Nation". Socialized at San Diego Leathermen's Potluck. The Center hosted a Volunteer Appreciation Picnic in the park. Plus we took Opa to Dr. Potter to investigate a sudden onset of incontinence that hadn’t responded to tapered water and the addition of a late walk. Adding low-dose Proin perhaps tipped the scales.

During September we went to Babycakes. Daddy Barry hung new paintings at Pleasures and Treasures, and kayaked. We went to the U.S. Sand Sculpting Challenge and 3D Art Expo. When our utilities spiked after an introductory year expired, we cancelled AT&T U-verse Voice, which we’d not used. But that also made it pressing that we debug the VOIP system's problem where any call went straight-to-voicemail. Daddy Barry hung the Mentored Artists/Studio Artists show II at Art on 30^th, plus went to Harness on the 2nd Friday and Jaunt the next day at Bamboo Lounge. We had Patrick & JT over for dinner. Daddy Barry went to Pump Weekend in Palm Springs and I updated the leather site and re-read Slavecraft. Then Daddy Barry vacated his studio at Art on 30^th. We returned to the VA’s SPID in La Jolla when Daddy Barry’s left shoulder pain resumed. And our friend Paul had "top" surgery, followed by a series of serious infections. We utilized a new credit union, and hung out at a bonfire & potluck.

October was all about the now-usually-annual sibling vacation, this time a two-week excursion hosted by Elaine in Ka’anapali, Maui, Hawaii. Opa stayed with Lester & Molly and their humans John & Kent. Meanwhile we hung out, played board games – Acquire, Settlers of Catan, Blokus Trigon, Qwirkle -- and Daddy Barry suntanned. We also snorkeled, went SCUBA diving with Lahaina Divers (where Wes saw his first sea turtles), ate pancakes, did a bit of shopping, and enjoyed a delicious thank-you lunch at Mama's Fish House Restaurant. We don’t have a big group picture of all of us, unfortunately, but here are some favorite other pictures:

The Westin Ka’anapali pool, palm trees and ocean view

Watching the sunrise at Haleakala (House of the Sun) volcano

The two of us, and…

Sister Elaine’s beautiful “black pearl” dessert at Mama’s Fish House

The other high points in October were friend Farrah finally getting her kidney transplant and it going without a hitch for both donor and recipient, and passing out candy with Melissa on Halloween.

dog visited early in November, always a highlight. We got to be walked by Lester & Molly. We attended Kane & Steve’s annual leathery birthday/house party. And later Daddy Barry and I had a lovely Thanksgiving with the Cuilty family.

In December our friend jeanne moved back east to explore a love interest. Meanwhile, Daddy Barry flew to Tucson to spend a week helping friend Mary recuperate at home after an extended hospital stay. I got intensely sick and briefly had a 104.7 fever. Aspirin & ice cream helped bring it down. Later a sinus infection took hold and zapped energy. In computer news, we transitioned from Windows 7 to Windows 10 while it is free. Primarily we only had to change our backup program to a newer edition. So far so good. The year closes out with a two-week trip to see the family.

As always, may this find you happy & well.

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