Well it’s official.  I am now a South County resident.  Due to the wife and I both being in school, she just quit her job and I have dropped to part-time, we have moved in with her parents for a few months.

So now I am a Dana Point resident!  In fact, I’m just a mile or so away from our very own pittrolie!

My question for our readers is, what is there to do down here??  I am familiar with the area, as the wife lived in Laguna Niguel when we started dating, and her parents have lived here the whole time, but I have never found anything really fun.  Can you help?

Sometime in the last few days I noticed mama hummingbird, whom I’ve decided to name Gloria, has been away from the nest a little more often. I began to pay more attention to her comings and goings. Low and behold when she came back to the nest one time it sure looked like she was feeding her hatchlings.

Gloria going in for a landing to feed her two little ones.

So, yesterday, I took a closer look and there are two little babies in the nest. I was able to get a photo of the little guys, whom I’ve named Cam and Mitchell, this afternoon whilst Gloria was out. Also, I’m pretty sure I was mistaken when I reported three eggs.

My two babies, Cam and Mitchell. I think they kind of look like wooly worms. Can you see their little beaks poking up?

For spilling 500,00o gallons of your crap, literally, into the ocean.

As a result, beaches from Dana Point to Capistrano Bay are predicted to be closed through the weekend.

In honor of the Vernal Equinox “springing” tomorrow at 10:32 a.m. PDT and the predicted gorgeous SoCal weather go outside and enjoy it. I know you may be temped to stay inside and watch college basketball, but let’s be honest many of you probably already had a bracket buster yesterday … thanks for nothing Notre Dame and Georgetown. Although I’ll give you a pass if your team is playing ;).

In case you need some ideas … follow me after the jump

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For those out there who don’t know, I’m in nursing school.  In fact I’m in my final semester! w00t!  I got here thanks to some great instructors and some fantastic equipment that our department purchases for us to learn with.  Due to the fact that there is a severe budget crisis, we don’t have as much income as we used to.  This means future students will be learning outdated information on outdated equipment.  For this reason, the Santa Ana College Student Nurse Association (SACSNA) is holding a fundraiser tomorrow at Knowlwood restaurant in Santa Ana.  The money from this fundraiser will not only go towards new equipment, books and videos, but is also used to send students across the country to the National Student Nurse Convention.  This is an excellent opportunity for those selected and is made possible thanks to fundraisers like this.

So PLEASE, if you are able, come by and help us out.  We will receive 15% of your order, as long as you mention Santa Ana College or nursing or SACSNA.

Here are the details:

Knowlwood Restaurant

2107 East 17th Street
(& Tustin Avenue)
Santa Ana, CA 92705
(714) 541-0555

We get our discount from 11am-9pm.  Tell your friends too!!

I’ve been seeing a Hummingbird near our backdoor for the past few weeks. Then, the other evening, when I was taking photos of my garden flowers, I got dive-bombed, by what I thought was a giant bee. Those suckers are called Hummingbirds for a reason, their wings seriously hum.

The papier-mache looking nest

Last evening whilst I was on our patio, I noticed something that appeared to be a little nest in the potted ficus tree, which is literally at our back door. This morning I investigated further. Low and behold it is a nest with eggs in it! Little teeny tiny Hummingbird eggs. Now that I know she is there I’m afraid to go outside.

I just hope I’m around when they hatch. They will be sooo small. If anyone has any suggestions of what we should do/not do please comment away. I am going to get a Hummingbird feeder for her/them. I think she should have a name … any suggestions?

Check out the rest of the photos, after the jump.

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Sorry for the last minute post, but I just found out about this. Pinkberry is giving away free small yogurts tonight from 5pm-9pm to celebrate their new Mango flavor!!

More info can be found here.

I’m not so much a fan typically, but maybe I’ll give this new flavor a shot since its FREE. Enjoy! Have a great weekend.

Image courtesy dpfestivalofwhales.com

Are you looking for an inexpensive family-friendly event to attend this weekend or next? If so, Dana Point’s 39th Annual Festival of Whales may be just what you are looking for.

The Festival kicks off tomorrow, Saturday, March 6th at 10:00 a.m. with a parade along Pacific Coast Highway. According to the website all events are weather permitting, so you may want to call (1.888.440.4309 or 949.472.7888) before venturing out.

For more information check out the the official event program. Some of the events include: guided family tide pool hikes, street faire, free fishing clinic and trip for kids, cars, art, movie in the park and much more.

This years promotional poster was designed by John Van Hamersveld. You may not recognize the name, but you definitely know who he is. He designed one of the most iconic surfing images ever, The Endless Summer film promotional poster.

… well, at least here in SoCal. As you know, I’m from Pittsburgh and let me just say it rains there. A lot. The sky is also gray quite often. Living in Orange County for the past five years made me appreciate rain and – gasp – even miss it.

I know we’re all spoiled by the warm sunny weather here and get annoyed when it’s cool and rainy. So, I just wanted to take the time to show my appreciation for the rain and to say I enjoy the change of pace. It’s funny though, all of my East Coast friends and family think we live in the tropics, even after half a decade. I’m constantly reminding people that while it’s warmer here than Pittsburgh or Philadelphia or Washington, D.C., etc. 65° is NOT beach/pool weather.

As I’ve been driving around South County the past few days I’ve been noticing flowers and other plant life in bloom, thanks to the aforementioned rain. The onramp to the 5 North at Stonehill has some really pretty wildflowers. Seeing everything in bloom inspired me to take a closer look at my own yard. The people who lived here before us (remember, we just moved in December) really had a green thumb and things are sprouting and blooming all over the place. Of course, being the Dr. Kavorkian of all things green I figured I better document this while I can.

So follow me after the jump to take the time to “smell” the flowers.

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To read a hilarious post on the real estate woes of former OC Housewife Jeana Keough, go here.

Seriously, Your Mama is one of the most entertaining writers on the interwebs.